Open mike 07/08/2013
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6:00 am, August 7th, 2013 - 114 comments
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- Australia (still) needs a dedicated and public-facing national security adviser
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI released Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report developed for the next government and to promote public debate and understanding ...19 minutes ago - Vietnamese reunification 50 years later: ‘let bygones be bygones’
On 27 January 1973, the conflict in Vietnam was brought to an end with the formal signing in Paris of the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring the Peace in Vietnam by four parties: ...3 hours ago
- A “secret” that wasn’t
Back in 2018, Aotearoa was in the midst of the Operation Burnham inquiry. During this, it emerged that key evidence was subject to a US veto under an obscure and secret treaty. Part of the Five Eyes arrangement, this treaty was referred to by a number of different names in ...3 hours ago - Nicola Willis’ Austerity Threatens New Zealand’s Future
I hate to sound the alarm, but New Zealand’s economy is teetering on the edge, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis is wielding her austerity axe with a reckless abandon that could plunge us into a prolonged recession. The 2025 Budget, with its brutal $1.1 billion reduction in baseline spending, is ...4 hours ago - Nicola Willis’ Austerity Threatens New Zealand’s Future
I hate to sound the alarm, but New Zealand’s economy is teetering on the edge, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis is wielding her austerity axe with a reckless abandon that could plunge us into a prolonged recession. The 2025 Budget, with its brutal $1.1 billion reduction in baseline spending, is ...4 hours ago
- Punish That Criminal !
Crime Pays for the PoliticiansThis morning, Paul Goldsmith, the Minister who wants Te Reo Maori scrubbed, announced that prisoners who are serving terms of less than 3 years be barred from voting. From left, Police Minister Mark Mitchell, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith & Mental Health Minister Matt DooceyNZ’s Electoral Review ...5 hours ago - Four Walls
Well, I can't see and I can't hearThey've burnt out all the feelingsAnd I never been so crazy, and it's just my second yearFour walls, wash basinFour walls, wash basinFour walls, wash basin, prison bedSongwriter: Don Walker.The coalition parties are mulling the austerity budget they will soon put to the ...5 hours ago - The Left Must Rally Behind Andrew Little
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- Progressive Resurgence
Trump Kills A Sure-Thing In Canada, the Conservatives fell from a 21 point lead a few months ago to a decisive loss yesterday. The Canadian Liberals are ~ 2 to 3 seats short of a majority, which means PM Mark Carney but will still need to work through opposition parties ...5 hours ago - Defence and Trump shape Australia’s election
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- Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes on Wednesday, April 30
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Truly, these are tough times for our nation’s leaders. In future, how on earth are they going to find the sort of money they’ve been happy to throw at landlords, tobacco companies, and wealthier New Zealanders ever since they got elected? On Defence, how are they going to find those ...16 hours ago - Bad advice on public sector discount rates
A couple of months ago now I wrote a post about the new set of discount rates government agencies are supposed to use in undertaking cost-benefit analysis, whether for new spending projects or for regulatory initiatives. The new, radically altered, framework had come into effect from 1 October last year, ...23 hours ago - Indonesia is hooked on Huawei
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- Bookshelf: The myth of American liberalism
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- Cutting even deeper against the grain
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The Herald had another announcement today about a new solar farm being officially opened - this time the 63MW Lauriston solar farm in Canterbury. It is of course briefly "NZ’s biggest solar farm", but it will soon be overtaken by Kōwhai park at Christchurch airport (168MW) and Tauhei (202MW), both ...1 day ago
- Shoving the future aside
I woke this morning to the shock news that Tory Whanau was no longer contesting the Wellington mayoralty, having stepped aside to leave the field clear for Andrew Little. Its like a perverse reversal of Little's 2017 decision to step aside for Jacinda - the stale, pale past rudely shoving ...1 day ago
- A pre-Budget speech
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- Weak tax revenue is a national security issue
Of the two things in life that are certain, defence and national security concern themselves with death but need to pay more attention to taxes. Australia’s national security, defence and domestic policy obligations all need ...1 day ago
- Chris Penk’s Leaky Homes 2.0
The Coalition of Chaos is at it again with another half-baked underwhelming scheme that smells suspiciously like a rerun of New Zealand’s infamous leaky homes disaster. Their latest brainwave? Letting tradies self-certify their own work on so-called low-risk residential builds. Sounds like a great way to cut red tape to ...1 day ago
- Assumed Competence
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- National Has Mismanaged The Economy
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- Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes at 6am on Tuesday, April 29
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- Bernard’s Dawn Chorus & Pick ‘n’ Mix for Monday, April 28
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In the 1980s and early 1990s when I wrote about Argentine and South American authoritarianism, I borrowed the phrase “cultura del miedo” (culture of fear) from Juan Corradi, Guillermo O’Donnell, Norberto Lechner and others to characterise the social anomaly that exists in a country ruled by a state terror regime ...4 days ago - Northern Australia: fortress, gateway and resource powerhouse
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Nicola Willis announced that funding for almost every Government department will be frozen in this year’s budget, costing jobs, making access to public services harder, and fuelling an exodus of nurses, teachers, and other public servants. ...1 day ago
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- Education Should be Led by Experts-Not Economists
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- Release: Transparency needed on changes to early childhood education
The Government is putting children at risk in early childhood education (ECE) by proposing to loosen the requirement for qualified teachers. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt funding needed to combat invasive seaweed
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- New Zealand First Introduces Bill Defining ‘Woman’ and ‘Man’ in Law
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Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins joins those mourning the passing of Pope Francis. ...1 week ago
- Release: Boot camps blog post fails to provide clarity
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- Release: Inflation rises and families feel the squeeze
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- Release: Govt doesn’t know how to fund new hospitals
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- Release: $10 million for only 215 students in charter schools
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- Release: Food prices further stretching the family budget
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- Release: Mental health staff and patients at risk without plan
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- Release: Driver licensing proposal doesn’t put safety first
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- Release: Students struggling as Govt sits on hands
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- Release: More must be done to stop children going hungry
More children are going hungry and statistics showing children in material hardship continue to get worse. ...3 weeks ago
- Greens continue to call for Pacific Visa Waiver
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- More children going hungry under Coalition govt
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Longer wait for treatment under National
New Zealanders have waited longer to get an appointment with a specialist and to get elective surgery under the National Government. ...3 weeks ago
- Ka mate te Pire- Ka ora te mana o Te Tiriti o Waitangi me te iwi Māori
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...3 weeks ago
- Chris Hipkins speech: Treaty Principles Bill second reading
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- Release: End to the Treaty Principles Bill, but challenges remain ahead for Aotearoa
Ka mate te pire I te rā neiThe bill dies today ...3 weeks ago
- Ka mate te Pire, ka ora Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Treaty Principles Bill dead, Te Tiriti o Waitangi m...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...3 weeks ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Micah Boerma, Researcher, School of Psychology and Wellbeing, University of Southern Queensland Nitinai Thabthong/Shutterstock One of the highlights of the school year is an overnight excursion or school camp. These can happen as early as Year 3. While many ...60 minutes ago - Which Roman emperor was most like Donald Trump?
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http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9009941/Dunne-lashes-back-at-noisy-protesters
Methinks it ain’t the protesters who are the irresponsible scum here, Dunny. Or is it Dunce?
“They are the lowest form of life imaginable.” – Peter Dunne re protesters.
Huh ! Projection projection projection !
Who does not reflexively distrust and mock that man ?
lol – shows that dunne has no imagination
GCSB the only government department that really listens to people.
Dunne would win re-election if he could bounce Key out of office with “I’m not with stupid anymore”.
“They are the lowest form of life imaginable.”
I thought he was talking about Nat politicians.
Smug and deluded man, that Dunne: not worthy to hold office in a democracy.
Not willing to listen to the voice of the people.
How to Lose an Election, Part 94: Let your larger donors buy their kid’s selection as a candidate:
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/abbott-could-yet-rue-not-finding-a-greenway-solution-20130806-2rdhy.html
Yup the pre selections have been nasty affairs in a few seats yielding candidates like muppet boy Diaz.
Could you see our MSM doing such a number on Jamie lee Ross or banksy as an example.
do jamie lee ross…!..please..!..please..!..please..!
phillip ure..
The Queensland State government is full of idiots who make Diaz look presidential. The talent pool in both ALP and Liberal is very shallow.
Heard Collins called Canadians feral inbreds. For shame.
Blame Canada!
Let’s see how many trading partners we can alienate in a week.
when & where? thats absolutley disgusting! i presume its regarding that judge?
If anyone ran into the database outage earlier this morning ~0600-0630, that was me.
Was using the illuminated keyboard in the dark upgrading the database to a later version and changing some parameters on it.It MAY get rid of the double posts on the comments.
Poverty
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10909153
and wealth
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10909180
how about the news today that kelloggs’ frosties are 41.3% sugar..?
..whoar..!
phillip ure..
you’re surprised?
i am surprised at that level..i knew a lot of them are around 30% sugar..
..people fret about the obesity-epidemic..?..and wonder why..?..really..?
..maybe the people at kellogs are working towards a ‘healthy’ breakfast cereal..that will be 100% sugar..?
..a big sugar crystal..?..coated in caramel..?..just for that extra sugar-kick..?
..phillip ure..
do you understand that Ribena is more than 80% sugar ? and it’s fed to babies in their bottles as a healthy drink …
On pages 428-429 of Jared Diamond’s book ‘The World Until Yesterday‘ he notes the following:
“Around the year 1700 sugar intake was only about 4 pounds per year per person in England and the U.S. (then still a colony), but it is over 150 pounds per year per person today. One-quarter of the modern U.S. population eats over 200 pounds of sugar per year. A study of U.S. eighth-graders showed that 40% of their diet consisted of sugar and sugar-yielding carbohydrates.”
Also, in relation to your 100% sugar breakfast cereal comment he describes the temptations for his children in a trip to his supermarket:
“Among breakfast foods, my kids were tempted by the choice between Apple Cinnamon Cheerios and Fruit Loops, respectively 85% and 89% carbohydrate according to their manufacturers, with about half of that carbohydrate in the form of sugar. … Snack choices included Fruit Bears (92% carbohydrate, no protein) …“
Picking up from a comment by Travellerev a couple of days ago, le’s take another look at how the BS flows, blatantly as news!
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/05/world/yemen-us-drone-strike
Hold on a minute… – This link has many links to re-used so called AQ leaders
http://www.legitgov.org/CLG-Al-Zawahri-back-dead-issuing-new-al-Qaeda-terror-threats
It strikes (no pun intended!) me as curious that, faced with international condemnation, the American NSA spooks conveniently raise a “major” scare about Al Queda. Embassies are closed, a worldwide warning goes out.
Meanwhile, in NZ our PM raises the issue of home grown malcontents being trained by Al Queda just at the time that his GCSB legislation comes under increasing criticism.
Coincidence anyone? Or an I irredeemably cynical?
Here is what is odd.
After making massive complaints that Snowden had given “the terrorists” important clues about the capabilities and activities of the spy listening agencies, the US has just spent the last 3 days trumpeting as loudly as possible through the media that they’ve overheard something, that chatter is up, that al-zawahiri has been heard giving orders for attacks etc.
Yeah right, American intelligence ”we can even pick up on what the dead are talking about”…
“American intelligence” is an oxymoron……
Random thought for the morning … maybe NSA et al have something on Key causing him to bluster with all the urgency and bullying and complete disregard for our rights ? Is it really just for his ego and his next job ?
In a total surveillance state you can never have actual democracy, only the appearance of it.
Frank Zappa ….
“”The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre.”
I reckon this building is gonna come down into its own footprint in freefall speed soon!
But then again that only happened three times in the entire history of highrise buildings. All on one day, in the same city, in the same neighborhood. Funny that!
And no mainstream questioning of this, even by independent journalists.
And to a different type of high-rise building which used different construction techniques.
How tall is that building? A dozen floors?
Love it when nutbars pretend to be structural engineers.
About a thousand of them (engineers and architects, not nutbars) are members of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth.
Out of how many architects and engineers in the US?
Edit: 105,000 architects in the US. The nuttiest <1% agree with you.
1800+ all vetted and registered Architects and Engineers. Also 17,535 citizen signers. Here is another site compiling High profile American Patriots who want a new and independent investigation into what happened on 9/11.
What are your credentials?
Unlike us, McFlock is a Not-Nut-Bar.
🙂
I understand what the words “free-fall speed” actually mean.
You’re overqualified in that case.
Red Flag _ Say no more.
Fukushima crisis continues
Tepco admit they cannot stop radioactive contaminated water flowing into the pacific. Surely time for the Japanese government to step in and the rest of the World as well to help them?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23584008
http://www.activistpost.com/2013/08/radioactive-water-from-fukushima-is.html
There’s nothing to be done. No amount of money can resolve this situation in an acceptable time frame. A hard lesson to learn about how nature and physics always trumps financials on the last roll of the dice.
Who the heck keeps leaking to Whaleoil? Is it Labour MPs or their staff?
Take your pick plus the good old ‘reliable source’ which could be one of the voices in his head.
Oz just had over 50 parties registered for the 7/9 poll date, twice last elections so folk are over the ‘centre’ as it’s just not working for the non 1%’ers.
To save us a dive into the sewer, can you link us what he’s saying.
Just last week Banks was declaring that we hated China
because china were amongst the world of foreign non-residents
that were going to be stopped from buying investment properties.
This week China may have real concern that we might actually
hate them, sending them allegedly tainted baby formula, pretty
stiff. Banks using the race card.
The bitter fruits of inequality are being sampled by that home of the 1% the neoliberal paradise of the U$. Our own Yankey wants to continue down the same road destroying the commongood which glue keeps societies together. 🙁
“11 Examples Of The Escalating Crime And Violence That Are Plaguing Communities Across America”
“Even though communities all over America now feel under siege by the growing wave of crime and violence that we have been witnessing, the truth is that this is only just the beginning. When the next major economic downturn strikes things are going to get much worse.
The seeds that we have been planting for decades are now springing to life, and America is about to reap a very bitter harvest.”
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/11-examples-of-the-escalating-crime-and-violence-that-are-plaguing-communities-across-america
So..
Government control of the wholesale price of power (for the benefit of consumers) = bad, communist, bad, end of the world, bad etc
Government control of the wholesale price of broadband over copper lines (for the benefit of Chorus shareholders) = good?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1308/S00095/governments-telco-intervention-unprecedented-says-tuanz.htm
Huh?
Yeah, that’d be right.
I figure that if we hadn’t sold Telecom the Commerce Commission’s suggested wholesale price that Chorus gets to charge ISPs is what we’d actually be paying for a private phone line. The only thing removed is the middleman’s (the ISPs) ability to make a profit for providing nothing.
From today’s Herald-online, rents in some areas of Auckland have spiked over winter by as much as $60 a week,
Most of that spike admittedly is in the higher end of the market, 5-$600 a week rentals, but while the spike has yet to translate into the lower end of the rental market 3-$400 a week rentals you can bet that this is only a matter of time,
How the hell do the low waged working families survive paying such rents, i suppose that if mum and dad are working then 2 wages will keep them out of the food bank, just,
According to the Herald there is a growing trend of families doubling up in rental properties so as to afford the rent, this they are apparently doing on ‘the sly’ to avoid the attention of Landlords who object to 2 families paying the one rent,
Hello Labour Party, the flagship housing policy is looking more and more like a sinking ship, what is needed in Auckland and Christchurch is 10,000 new State houses in each city directly targeted at low waged working families,
At the point of writing this there might be support up into the 70%s for barring non-residents from speculating in the New Zealand housing market and there might be some smudge of support for Labour’s grand plan of shoe-horning the children of the middle class into home ownership,
But none of it, such support if it exists has so far turned up in the political polls for Labour, and i doubt whether it will,
Meanwhile, back in the jungle while Labour fiddle the low waged working families, the traditional base of previous Labour Governments are left with nothing, tortured on the device of the free market rack-rented by the Landlords while Labour Housing spokespeople have only ”we will have to look at the numbers” and ”we will release our state House policy close to the election” as cold comfort in an ever uglier rental market…
I suspect a 70%+ support for banning foreign ownership outright.
From RadioNZ National a piece of news better labelled new-speak, how to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat when announcing employment figures,
The claim is that there are now an extra 46,000 people in the workforce than six months ago, led of course by more workers required in the Christchurch rebuild,
Unemployment tho has risen in the past 3 months from 6.2% to 6.4% and there are now 153,000 registered unemployed,
i personally fail to see how this is good news for anyone let alone the Government as described on RadioNZ National such figures simply show that this Government’s only good news is that it has profited politically form the disaster of the Christchurch earthquakes and despite it’s attacks on beneficiaries nothing has been gained…
[citation needed]
For???, i am citing RadioNZ and the info comes from their website, of course if we use the figures of those told to look for work by WINZ, Bennett and this ugly little Government adding another 100,000 to the figure just about gets you there…
So, why didn’t you link to their website?
This could be something to do with the fact that i am a computer illiterate and unless there’s a obvious www link i wouldn’t have a clue about how it’s all done,
Then again it might be because i am a lazy little sod,or a combination of both…
Found it
I saw this on 3 news on monday and could not believe my eyes, at the end of this video – what’s the dog doing at the plant running around machines? So much for safe food practices.
http://www.3news.co.nz/What-is-Botulism/tabid/1160/articleID/307650/Default.aspx
The dog is in a cow shed not the factory..tricky juxtaposition…TV3 are tricky mongrols.
Mongrels or Mongols 😈
I feel concern about the effect that overload has on the public.
I believe this is one of the tactics of the ‘disaster capitalist’ approach.
If you pile a whole lot of dodgy leglislation/problems at the public all at once; people get overloaded and a lot of dodgy laws and approaches will get passed due to this overwhelm.
The concept is the same as the game ‘bullrush’. A large amount of people running toward a line; one person trying to catch them. Some will always get through
I would like to see the many problemS New Zealand has faced since this government has been in power to be explained to the NZ public in a simple and clear way; the reason mostly all of the problems are occurring is aligned with concerns expressed very early on after Mr Key took the reins (if you can call it that) regarding the lacksidaisical and hands off style of ‘managing’ that Mr Key and his lapdogs are pursuing.
This would be more digestible, accurate and provide a practical positive way forward for people rather than this barrage of disasters we are being fed nearly every week for years now that simply leads to overwhelm.
It is not all gloom. Some good indicators in the consumer trends survey. Nearly half of the population planning an overseas holiday this year. That suggests that there is a lot of spare money about for many people – not just the top 1%.
http://tonyalexander.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BNZ-Nine-Rewards-August-2013.pdf
@ Srylands,
Excellent.
All that money earned in NZ will be going out of the country to be spent elsewhere.
Brilliant news, thanks
Yeah well we can hardly ration overseas holidays.
Correct.
Rationing only occurs amongst those in unfortunate positions in NZ and the Western world. Rationing for those in comfort is considered sacrilege. Its all about equality, you see.
‘
And what a good example our Minister of Tourism sets. Where was his last holiday? Singapore. (Although scouting out old haunts looking to line up a directorship sinecure or two for next year as a reward from one’s capitalist masters might not count as most people’s idea of a holiday.)
Easily done, if required.
Our Dear Leader – Minister of Tourism – spends all has overseas.
So do you retract your statements from a few days ago about unemployment being down?
that was yesterday’s spin, and judging it against reality is unfair.
Now half of us are going on holiday (and 9% are thinking about emigrating, apparently)
I see you’re busy again today …..trolling on this site.
To enrich the 1% the Government must have enough support from the voting public to enable it to stay in office long enough to pass the legislation and regulation which provides that 1%’s continual enrichment,
The present Slippery lead National Government has accomplished this by use of the ‘tax switch’ where the top 50% of earners in the economy gained the greatest benefit from the tax switch and the bottom 50% of earners in the economy gained the least on a sliding scale from the middle to the bottom,
So for the top 50% of earners it’s all good news and for those from the mid point of the earnings ladder it’s all bad news which gets worse the further away from that mid point in earnings any particular person finds themselves,
Unemployment in the last quarter moved up from 6.2% to 6.4%, which is simply bad news and highlights the failure of this Government to ensure a balanced economy…
“where the top 50% of earners in the economy gained the greatest benefit from the tax switch and the bottom 50% of earners in the economy gained the least on a sliding scale from the middle to the bottom”
The bottom 50% of houselholds don’t pay any net tax.
You are missing the important point that the tax system is highly progressive, especialy after taking account of transfers. But it is even highly progressive before transfers.
BEFORE TRANSFERS
In 2013 taxpayers earning less than $30,000 paid 12 % of all tax
Taxpayers earning > $30,000 pay 88% of all tax
The top 2% pay 21% of all tax, up from 19% the previous year.
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/budget/2013/taxpayers/02.htm
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/budget/2012/taxpayers/02.htm
AFTER TRANSFERS
If you look at households and the effect of net transfers the picture is very stark.
The lowest-income 43 percent of households currently receive more in income support than they pay in income tax.
The 1.3 million households with incomes under $110,000 a year collectively pay no net tax—that is, their total income support payments match their combined income tax.
The top 10 percent of households contribute over 70 percent of income tax, net of transfers.
http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/business/qoa/49HansQ_20110713_00000002/2-tax-system%e2%80%94fairness
David Farrar has compiled this table that show the interaction betwen transfers and the tax system by household income
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/nettaxpaid.png
Better than spending their time deleting John Key’s emails concering his misuse of the powers of office for personal reasons by instigating a grievous breach of privacy to help soothe the severe butthurt he experienced after having a cuppa with noted criminal John Banks.
David Farrar is not a reliable or impartial source.
Arguing about percentage tax paid by a strata of earners is a deeply dishonest way of presenting a case as you are using two different denominators.
For “percentage tax paid” you are talking about a percentage of an amount of money (tax). For “top x% of taxpayers” you are talking about a percentage of people. One cannot fairly compare the two percentages as they are based on different things (an amount of money vs a number people).
The fair way of doing this comparison is of course to look at the “percentage tax paid” versus “percentage income earned”. If one does this comparison, it is immediately obvious that higher earners receive a large proportion of total income and therefore it is unsurprising that they also pay a large proportion of total tax*. Of course, the proportions are not exactly equal, because we have a progressive tax system and therefore the higher earners do pay a slightly larger proportion of tax than their proportion of income.
However, such data are not used by individuals such as yourself, because if you do it becomes immediately obvious to most people that the higher earners are getting more than their ‘fair share’ of the cake, and therefore the response of most people would probably be “tax them more!”
* an example of this is that done by Keith Ng a few years ago: http://publicaddress.net/onpoint/table-62-rich-pricks-others/
edit: Also, as it seems you are still visiting this thread, please respond to my comment at 19.2.
Even further compounding the dishonesty is that right wingers prefer to only quote income tax proportions.
Like Srylands, above.
GST and other taxes are strongly regressive as people on lower incomes tend to spend all they earn. Not to mention the more than half of New Zealand’s 300 or so wealthiest individuals who have a declared taxable income of less than 70k. (The source for that is the IRD).
The result is that wealthier people actually pay a considerably lower proportion of the total tax than their proportion of the national income. And even less, compared to their proportion of the national wealth.
Shcrilands the top income earners would not exist if not for the rest who spend all their money in their business’s !
Crosby Textered wool pulling Romney anyone!
Further, the survey you cite is a doubly self-selected survey. It only covers the 60k-odd people who decided to join “Nine Rewards” and even then only 500-odd people of this community who decided to complete the survey.
In other words, your statement that “nearly half of the population planning an overseas holiday this year” really means “nearly half of the population of people who joined Nine Rewards who could be bothered responding to the survey said that they were planning an overseas holiday”.
@wtl
Thanks for correcting Srylands inaccuracies.
The thing that really ‘gets’ me about the ideology that Srylands promotes is that it is a good reflection of the b/s that people actually vote for.
I note how Srylands never responds to any comment that requires more than a neo-liberal slogan.
This shows the level of reasoning available to neo-liberal ideology – there is none.
Sryland only has slogans because there is no rational argument for someone not in the elite to support neoliberal policies.
@ Paul
Agree, however I will add:
There are no rational arguments for neo-liberal policies full stop.
There is also plenty of evidence to support the view that such policies are destructive to society.
Agreed.
Hope they follow it up to see how many of those overseas holidays actually happen. I doubt half the population will have said holiday, maybe a lotto win dream influenced their answer, after all I’m planning to date a supermodel this year.
FTFY
And more than half looking at lowering debt which means lowering the amount of money in circulation and thus heading us towards recession.
It’s a problem with the debt based monetary system that we have.
550 people in a minor rewards programme is not a sound basis for extrapolating a national economic position on anything. Srylands, do you honestly, in your heart of hearts believe that half of our country are planning an overseas trip in the next year? You probably think carnival games are legit.
🙄
‘
Oooooh . . . Winston Peters has just said that John Key, via Wayne Eagelson, was “kept in the loop” about the police accessing Winston’s phone records as part of the investigation into Bradley Ambrose. This follows on from a question Winston put to Key asking if Key had ever used “any agency of the state” to monitor the phone records of a citizen in circumstances which did not involve national security. John Key decline the answer the question without first “taking advice”.
. . . and the beat goes on.
I wondered what Peters was getting at with his question (twice) to Key – and Key was extremely uncomfortable and playing avoidance tactics in his reponses.
Peters claim in the first speech of the General Debate left me gobsmacked – cannot believe he would make the claim without good evidence. Did you note Peters checking his watch? Was it “will this make the 3pm news?”
As Peters said, at the time of the Ambrose teaparty, Peters was a “private citizen” – not a politician.
There might be a time-limit on statements made in the General debate, Lolz did you notice the Speaker try and get Slippery off the hook, and then think better of barring Winston from asking the question the second time…
Carter was being very careful today – with the Speaker of the UK House of Commons sitting in the House!
Re the General Debate, this is limited to 12 five minute speeches.
Here is the Herald’s article on Peters’ claim, by Audrey Young.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10909502
And here is the Stuff one – http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9013698/Peters-claims-link-to-tea-tapes-probe
RNZ National 4pm news also covered it, but nothing up yet on their website. But the 4pm news bulletin in now up.
://www.radionz.co.nz/radionz/programmes/news-bulletin/audio/2564823/radio-new-zealand-news
I expect it will be covered in Checkpoint and the 6pm TV news, as Peters has obviously given press interviews after leaving the House.
Thx for links … this is veteran Peters and he has some ammunition it seems. He does do revenge so sweetly, have to admire his courage.
This is so exactly like Nixon and Watergate .. drip, drip, drip, splosh, splosh, splosh — then belly dive !!!
But still desperately seeking our own Martha Mitchell to spill the beans …
More links in my comment here http://thestandard.org.nz/hypocrisy-in-the-house-gcsb-bill/#comment-676275
These are Peters’ speech in the General Debate, and his earlier questions in Question Time trying to pin Key down without giving away the reason.
I am wondering if Winston has already done an the official information inquiry to the Police and has he got a whole pile of paper back with the Prime Ministers Chief of Staff Wayne Eaggleson’s fingerprints all over it…
‘
Thanks for the links, V. Good to see the Press Gallery are paying attention.
And now for a quick reminder of John Key’s views on Winston and NZ First:
The police accessed the phone records of the leader of a political party/MP as part of an investigation into the (bullshit) teapot tapes saga? Frak me. Totally unjustifiable.
Oooops, Slippery the Prime Minister having to a certain extent slipped out of the net closing around Him over the Dunne/Vance email/phone scandal by blaming the civil servant Andrew Kibblewhite for supposedly keeping Him in the dark over such dirty dealings is hauled back into the mud by Winston Peters,
Winston, who just yesterday i said seemed to be past His best just resurrected the scandal around the ‘Chimps tea party’ the meeting in the cafe between Slippery the Prime Minister and the then ACT candidate for Epsom John Banks,
Winston in the House today got to ask Slippery the Prime Minister IF he had any knowledge of any arm of the State, excluding the SIS, GCSB, had attempted to gain access to anyone’s phone information,
The answer of course was He didn’t know, it now appears that the Police with the full knowledge of Eaggleson, the Prime Ministers Chief of Staff while investigating the taping of the ‘chimps tea party’ had tried to get Winston Peters cell phone records,
There will be more to come on this, the Prime Minister still has to give Peters the answer to the question asked today and i assume will be called upon to provide any correspondence between the Police and Slippery’s Chief of Staff Eaggleson,
Now that will make interesting reading…(shall i leave this comment here,Blip while i was typing has already noted Winston’s lifting of Slippery’s toupee)…
Don’t know if anyone else has shared this: the Guardian has created a political slogan generator especially for the Australian election. Some of them aren’t bad…
Time’s up, John!
Spy, lie, Bye!
+ 1 Tautoko Viper
Excellent!
If it was another country (other than NZ) he would have reached his demise.
Come on GCSB, spy on me. But not on Tuesday. I go to knot lying classes. Never know when you need the appropriate knot.
The legislation which will ban gang patches from government buildings is being debated in the House,
My view is it has an entirely erroneous focus and a more positive piece of legislation would be the requirement that all Gang members wear suits in public, they would then be indistinguishable in word, actions and intent from the members of the present National Government…
Wish I could have thought up that little picture before I penned the comment below !
I think the “PORIRUA 4 EVER” tats would be a give away.
i grew up in Porirua and never once saw a Tatt with the words ‘Porirua 4 ever’,
You appear a little retarded today, lift your game…
Poor old Srylands……….too stupid to see that his ridiculous throwaway “PORIRUA 4 EVER” is the very response the author of this virtually unenforceable anti-gang legislation seeks to draw out. Work the hatred baby, work the hatred…….
Srylands being played for a dummy by his idols. Hahaha !
Come to think of it, and apropos Bad12’s mention of suits, I would have thought that the author of the bill Todd McClay might have every personal reason to include in the “danger profile” underlying the bill, those men in suits who are close to home and whom he and we all know, steal.
More like “I LUVS RED SQUAD” or “BASH MINTO TODAY”. Those ones show who are members of dangerous organisations devoted to violence.
The Minister being able to dictate that specific colours alone can be deemed representative of gang affiliation is a little worrying when you consider the rampaging anti-democratic hubris of the current administration. The potential for abuse of this aspect of the new law should be of serious concern.
To legally restrict someone’s access to Government land for simply wearing a particular colour with no proof of gang affiliation or criminal wrongdoing sounds like a very simple way to stifle protest activities in New Zealand during an election year.
This might have been covered above – no time to check – Richard Prosser NZF of Muslims fame in the House about 5.30 today I think – mock Churchillian voice booming – detached fixed demeanour of the tinpot dictator – eyes never off his notes – a ritual of bile and hatred re gangs.
“We’ll wipe them out !”
Wouldn’t it be good if we lived in a society where we own our social questions rather than simply ranting for $145,000 a year plus allowances – and feeling very elevated and righteous for it.
Sack this bludging prick who only talks shit !
You are so right North. That Prosser is evil!!!