Where are the shareholders of Briscoes, Sommerset, The Warehouse, Hallenstiens, insisting that their ill gotten gains be returned to the taxpayers of Aotearoa?
This was on the tranny a few days ago and had my blood boiling.
From what I recall (does that stop me/TS being sued?), Briscoes paid out a dividend to its shareholders, one indivdual received 75% of those dividends.
Sommerset paid a dividend even though they did not make a profit, so had reserves from which wages could be paid.
I get the onus on directors to maximise profit. This naked greed and immorality hopefully will impact on future trading when the good folk of NZ decide to boycott these parasites.
Fair enough with the greedybastardy n'all, but the government put fuckall safeguards to ensure they could lever the money back. Which would not have been hard.
Absolutely, hindsight should inform future action however. This issue could have been avoided if the 'helicopter cash' went to individuals instead of employers.
And I'd agree with Robertson at the outset but a better system needed to be planned and implemented shortly after rather than extending that bait for the corporate kleptocracy.
"Foodstuffs says New World stores that have applied for the Government's wage subsidy will withdraw their applications.
The Government database of employers who have applied for the wage subsidy – which has now topped $6.6 billion in payouts for more than a million workers – shows a New World Metro with 71 employees was paid $482,124 and Waikanae New World was paid $140,592 for 20 employees."
But ONLY after some intense "feedback". Greedy pricks….
And yet supermarket Staff…even with the Covid stress, customer abuse etc; are still fighting for a Living Wage. Food Essential Service. And Workers Essential too….
You will find that these are distinct individuals, often chairs on several boards spreading the greed mantra of yesteryear, behaving not unlike the virus itself.
Warehouse declared a dividend prior to lockdown but cancelled it when lockdown came into effect. They posted a loss for the year and are now declining to pay a final dividend. They say, also, that the staff layoffs that occurred later were planned well before the pandemic started.
Since late March just over 750,000 businesses have claimed $14 billion worth of wage subsidies, of which about $440 million has been paid back in refunds by roughly 15,000 companies.
My bold.
I'm actually impressed by these companies honesty.
Now, the question is how many should have paid back.
Of course, it would have been better just to give everyone a decent unemployment benefit so as to maintain spending and put in place protections so that people wouldn't lose their homes during lockdown.
At the risk of seeming provocative, someone oughta suggest that Labour establishes a commissar of subsidy reclamation, to head up a team of ex-gang heavies for doing the collection. After the election, of course…
yes, could co-opt some of the nats raptor strike force. break down a few doors, kick a few heads,,,, pictures at eleven….would make the revenge lovers happy, for about a minute!
Of course, it would have been better just to give everyone a decent unemployment benefit so as to maintain spending and put in place protections so that people wouldn’t lose their homes during lockdown.
No, it would not have been better because you’re comparing apples with oranges.
As I saw it, the Wage Subsidy was an emergency measure to helicopter cash out as quickly as possible with few restraints and with a clear purpose in mind, at the time, albeit untargeted and general by ‘design’. That purpose was not primarily to maintain spending (in order to keep the economy going) and/or to avoid people losing their homes.
Wage subsidy schemes
Financial support for businesses and workers who are financially impacted by COVID-19 to maintain an employment connection and ensure an income for affected employees.
What Robertson did was good – for a short time but it can't be maintained over the entire time of the pandemic thus something else needs to be done. That would either have to be a fairly high unemployment benefit to maintain spending or a jobs guarantee within the public sector that paid the Living Wage.
IIRC, one of the few criteria for receiving the Wage Subsidy and passing it on to employees was a marked demonstrable loss of income compared to some previous period. Nobody knew what was happening at the time. The fact that some (?) businesses have apparently enjoyed a post-lockdown rebound and strong surge in business and therefore in profits does not make it morally wrong to have claimed the subsidy in the first place. I think this makes the accusation misguided and misleading. The Professor’s field is not ethics, is it?
I also note that the Professor’s ‘research’ was highly selective in that it only looked at “the top 50 companies on the NZX”, which is a minute fraction of all businesses in NZ – 10 out of 750,000 is only 0.00133%.
Your business must have experienced a minimum 30% decline in actual or predicted revenue over the period of a month, or 30 days, when compared with the same month, or 30 days, last year, and that decline is related to COVID-19.
There's also a requirement that you have to do everything you can to mitigate the impact
Your business must have taken active steps to mitigate the financial impact of COVID-19.
This could include:
drawing from your cash reserves (as appropriate)
activating your business continuity plan
making an insurance claim
proactively engaging with your bank
This last bit could prove interesting in an audit and I'm of the understanding that audits are occurring. This could be a shot across the bows to induce voluntary repayment
In a lot of cases profit could less affected than revenue over the period because expenses went down due to the business being closed, so reduced power and telecom, depending on the lease no or reduced rent and lots of other incidentals would have dropped of for a while.
I am not saying they shouldn't have applied for the subsidy. What I am saying is they should have refunded the subsidy before paying a dividend to shareholders.
The shareholders must take the good with the bad.
As to the professor not being an expert in ethics, you don't have to be qualified to see that a lot of this behaviour is unethical.
The top 50 companies on the NZX is a good place to start. Potentially larger numbers to focus on/seek repayment from. Alas these 'leaders' of commerce are setting an example for other aspirational business folk to follow.
University of Auckland accounting professor Jilnaught Wong says his investigation shows 10 of the top 50 companies on the NZX claimed the wage subsidy and morally some companies should not have. [my italics]
There's the rub. The government did one really dumb thing – they took an approach of trusting people.
Had they not, the scalpers would have been in the raucous mob complaining about not being trusted and being treated like children.
So, the choices: To treat people as mature, having a sense of civic responsibility, untrustworthy, as children or scum? Whatever, some took the scum road.
It will be interesting to see a wash up of the high trust, publicly open information model used for the wage subsidy compared to the zero trust, confidential model used in most other welfare government assistance situations.
Was there any difference in false claim and payment rates? Did the greater spend on administration compensate for any reduction in fraud in the zero trust model. Did the speed of the high trust model give less negative outcomes that would have been the result of delays due to approval of applications in the zero trust model?
I've got a feeling that the high trust model may turn out to be a lot more efficient was of distributing government assistance.
Yes good post Graeme, and Peter too. Rather than criticising the wage subsidy on the basis that some took advantage, we might wonder if it is in fact an efficient and more equitable model for other forms of welfare.
I thought of this when during one of the debates Ardern said she didn't need a tax cut and Collins replied, well then you can give it back – ie she was comfortable with giving the better off choices, but not beneficiaries or the low paid. Might the same argument be applied to welfare or the minimum wage – make these generous and if it turns out those benefitting didn’t need assistance after all, they can give it back …
Jacinda Ardern’s popularity may have dropped in last night OneNews Colmar Brunton poll, but her Labour Party is now powering its way to an overwhelming victory in the election.
Meanwhile there is international speculation that Ardern may tonight win the Nobel Peace Prize. Time magazine has her in their top three picks to win. if she won, that would give Labour’s campaign another boost.
The minor parties battled it out on TVOne last night with divisions opening up about our relationship with China. On the campaign trail, both Advance NZ and ACT have been calling for a re-calibration of New Zealand’s foreign and trade policies away from China. “What we’ve also done is put too many eggs in the China basket,” said AdvanceNZ co-leader, Jami Lee Ross. “We need to expand our trade agreements to our more traditional trading partners. “And I think we should also need to come down hard on China and not be afraid of them.”
Maori Party co-leader, John Tamihere, took another view. “They’re an outstanding and huge economy, and we need to trade with them.”
NZ First Leader, Winston Peters is also Foreign Minister and has been subtly shifting New Zealand’s foreign policy emphasis away from China and closer to the United States and Australia. Peters agreed with Ross the Chinese money was coming into New Zealand politics. “I don’t see it in the media, and I don’t see it in the serious fraud office,” he said. “I think this is catastrophically bad.” “We’ve got too much dependence on one market. “And they(the National Government) walked into it without their wise eyes wide open. “They were always going to be outsmarted by the Chinese. “Don’t blame the Chinese; blame our past leadership.”
Quite so. However they were simply following Bilderberger instructions from the 1990s globalist agenda. That's requisite for mainstream political leaders. Left or right brand differentiation is irrelevant in geopolitics. I presume the Bilderbergers will pivot away from China now, anyway, since a resilient global economy can only embed via a diverse trading strategy post-pandemic.
Goodness – Ardern in the running for a Nobel Peace Prize! She would no doubt accept it on behalf of all NZers, many of whom will have Ardern in their thoughts, and prayers.
If she does accept it on that basis, I'd like to see her specify the political common ground that made it possible:
"The peaceful state of mind in Aotearoa has been achieved by going hard and going early on the pandemic response. Getting that right has enabled kiwis to maintain complacency – our traditional pacific state of mind. Our people have resisted the rightist siren call of division and separatism: we are united in our addiction to neoliberalism!"
"We will keep trading with China because money is more important than ethnic tribes in concentration camps: that's what Labour stands for! We embrace this bipartisan stance because it has become traditional, and we like conservatives – that's why we made peace with them. Progress can be made if we do the same old stuff forever. Labour remains a party of the establishment!"
Dennis, our PM will surely give your considered opinion the attention it deserves; I look forward to her extraordinary Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.
Tbh, I haven’t perceived a lot of bipartisan political ‘peace and love‘ of late, but maybe the rancour is just a show for the gullible masses.
I'm moderatelyvery grateful to the Government for their decision to 'go hard and go early' in response to the serious health threat that the COVID-19 pandemic represents – getting that response right certainly saved lives, even if (as you suggest) that was only a collateral outcome, and it's done wonders for my immediate peace of mind. After all, we're all in this together.
Empress has fantabulous clothes on? So glamorous that nobody will notice the trading policy link? Close enough to trad Labour thinking that it could work.
I am sure you and the Greens can show how New Zealand can replace is 30% of exports to China and 40% of imports from China. Sometime about now since it's an election will do.
And those fantabulous clothes are all from China, and you're wearing them.
Meantime Labour is leading the country through the worst economic crisis in a century without the assistance of foolish preening from the Values wing of the Greens.
In principle, I agree. The principle being self-sufficiency (Jeanette F always called it self-reliance). In practice, however, trading seems hard-wired into human nature.
Trading networks are detectable throughout history and seem ubiquitous – perhaps only relatively so, since some indigenous cultures are collectively self-reliant. A comprehensive documentation of the extent by antropologists collaborating with sociologists would be enlightening (I haven't encountered one).
Barter can even happen naturally within a family. I have distant memories of doing a bit with my younger brothers from time to time. I suspect it is part of being a social animal. Other primates do sharing of food, and trading food for sex has been established as a common pattern of behaviour.
The principle being self-sufficiency (Jeanette F always called it self-reliance). In practice, however, trading seems hard-wired into human nature.
Self-sufficiency means each country producing what it needs to survive indefinitely. Trade between countries then becomes a nice to have which pretty much means luxuries that a country can't produce itself. Trade would still exist but would decrease from where it is now.
Thing is, as far as I can make out, the only reason why we have trade is so that the producers have a larger market to sell to which then makes them richer. This is, as we're learning, unsustainable.
Your description of a reslient economy is correct. Neoliberalism requires co-dependency (in mass psychology) as the tacit basis of the system. To explain this problem to politicians it would help if economists adept at mass psychology were facilitating the discourse. Silo thinking in academia still prevents such sophisticated culture from emerging…
It will be interesting to see in this election how close the final few weeks' polls are to the actual result. They could be expected to be closer than ever, especially as a good chunk of people answering pollsters’ questions at this stage will have actually already voted.
Cunning rightist plot to drop the Greens below threshold & out of parliament:
LIKE THE EXCLUSIVE BRETHREN in 2005, the Taxpayers’ Union is poised to launch a well-funded, last-minute attack on the Greens.
According to Richard Harman’s Politik website, the right-wing, anti-tax, lobby group is about to send a personalised letter to every homeowner whose property is valued at more than a million dollars. The letter “explains” how the Green’s proposed 1 percent Wealth Tax on property valued at more than one million dollars will apply to them.
When questioned by the veteran broadcaster and journalist about the source of the sizeable funds required, the Union would say only that the money had been raised in response to a special appeal for financial support.
Harman also makes clear that the Taxpayers’ Union has registered itself with, and obtained all the required approvals from, the Electoral Commission. The latter has duly authorised the Union to spend up to $338,000 on its “political campaign” against the Greens’ tax policy.
Given the polls and the fact that Labour have ruled such a tax out, won't that just encourage those homeowners to vote Labour? Pushing Labour towards 50% is the only way to ensure this tax won't happen.
I doubt any Green voters owning homes worth $1M will be swayed by a letter from the Taxpayers' Union, so don’t see how this campaign would help push the Greens under 5%. In that case, voting Nats-Act only makes a Lab-Green coalition more likely.
I am predicting the National Party vote to collapse this week for that very reason. There are now only two scenarios come election night. Labour majority government, or Labour Green coalition government.
Which one do you think traditional National voters would prefer?
This is the problem, spelt out in the article linked by Dennis above, and is the reason that Labour voters need to strategically vote Green.
"For most strategic thinkers on the right, the only viable path to victory for National is over the dead body of the Green Party. If the Greens can be driven below the 5 percent MMP threshold, and the so-called “Trash Vote” pumped up to something approaching 10 percent, then a combined tally of National and Act votes of around 45 percent should be enough to reclaim the Treasury Benches. Assuming Act stands firm on 8 percent, National need only lift its Party Vote to around 37 percent for it to be “Game On!
Is that funding from the money they received from the Government's $60 000 to keep them afloat? They have $300 000 to waste on this? Paid by???? Nats????
Yes for some reason I received said letter. Have no idea how they got my address. Hubby wrote a hilarious letter back saying thanks for pointing out the Greens policy. We are not Green voters, but are now considering voting for them
tempted to also write asking them how do they expect the country to afford the wage subsidy Tax union received without finding new avenues of income for the govt……arseholes
I would think that anyone owning a million dollar plus home would probably not be a green supporter, and in any case would be well aware of how the wealth tax would affect them.
mikesh….the tax is based on NET assets above $1m, so if you had a home worth $1.2m and a mortgage of $200k, even though you have an asset worth $1.2m you pay no Wealth Tax at all.
The Wealth Tax proceeds are proposed to alleviate poverty in NZ.
But will the proven liars in the Taxpayer Union explain any of this?
Nasty campaigns like this can have the opposite effect to that hoped for when the media gets hold of it and may push votes to the Greens.
The greens probably won't get this through, and there will be no CGT either, so implement a wealth tax on portfolio and overseas owners instead. The more houses you own, the more tax you pay. Bought property from overseas and don't live in it, tax it hard, and again, rising with the more you own.
this letter writing campaign should be given as much publicity as possible AND should also be publically compared to exclusive brethren dirty tricks. that alone would make taxrorters hide in shame.
I dunno, drive around Rocks Road from Nelson to Tahunanui where the houses are more expensive than Paratai Drive ( well, almost ) and count the number of Green hoardings.
I would think that anyone owning a million dollar plus home would probably not be a green supporter
Speculating from a position of complete ignorance? They do exist, and if my circles are any indication (which they likely aren't), they likely make up a significant portion of Green support. Or used to, anyways.
When considering the impact of a policy like the wealth tax, it won't just influence those that are directly hit. It will also influence those that see themselves moving into the bracket in the near future, those that aspire to move into the bracket, and those with family and friends in the bracket.
The usual mindless repetition of the Green line that they can defer the tax coming in 3 … 2 … 1 …
Which completely ignores the many explanations already given of how a mounting debt affects the psychological well being of those people at a life-stage where debt-free financial independence is of high importance.
Take a drug test and show us the results before starting to debate!
A deferred wealth tax payable on death is not an estate tax. It's an ill-conceived tax that in some situations bears a passing resemblance to an estate tax. If an estate tax is wanted, then propose an honest upfront estate tax instead of trying to backdoor one by pretending something else is one.
Personally, I'm of the view that an estate tax and a gift tax and a capital gains are all needed to reintroduce some much needed fairness and equity into our tax system and broader society. But to me the Greens' proposed wealth tax is so badly designed, and it will produce harmful distortions in investment and life choices generally, that I don't want anyone so clueless that they get behind it to be anywhere near the levers of power.
I'm also unimpressed by the argument that it doesn't really matter because Labour will never agree to it. If you're going to make noise about something that's never going to happen, at least make it something that would be sensible and work well if it were implemented. Greens do that on other issues, so it's not like they're incapable of it.
A deferred wealth tax payable on death is not an estate tax.
Not in name, but it achieves much the same – but for only those with real wealth.
90% of New Zealanders would not be impacted – whereas they would with an estate tax.
A gift and estate tax system would not work in an era where parents are the bank of childrens equity in homes. Your alternative is worse and will never get electoral support. This is the best and only way.
Not sure how anyone paying a wealth tax on equity/wealth over $1m single or $2m couple would feel insecure about a mounting unpaid wealth tax bill they chose to defer against the estate.
In most periods the asset wealth would be rising much more quickly than this "debt".
For a lot of people that have made their lives and put down roots in a particular place, debt-free financial independence has an outsize importance. Any kind of deferred payment is equivalent to going back into debt, and takes away that sense of independence and replaces it with a feeling of being beholden to and under the control of someone else.
I've seen it happen with an elderly neighbour forced into deferring her property taxes in the US, I've heard reports of people completely losing their peace of mind after taking out a reverse mortgage.
In all cases, it would be easy to say it is irrational, because their offspring were all successful and were already significantly well off quite a ways beyond the small top up they would get from the eventual inheritance. As it happened, the deferred taxes case was finally resolved by her son paying off the deferred taxes, at the cost of a significant rift in the relationship because she felt her independence was being disrespected by her son. So it's easy to say it's irrational, and may be difficult to understand if you've never seen it happen, but it's also very lacking in empathy.
Deferred tax debt does not necessitate a need to reverse mortgage a property.
Where property values are rising, not necessarily so in the USA, some/many homeowners are considering leveraging lower debt to buy a rental – get more debt. Debt is not feared.
Older people worth over a $M not required to pay a penny in wealth tax until they die (if this is introduced) ARE not become my first concern as to well being.
Those without home ownership over 65, those without housing for their age mobility, those without home support, or access to pallitative care, Pharamac drugs, medical procedures to maintain well-being
You're sounding like Chris T over at The Daily Blog not supporting CGT on the farmers and other aspirational success stories of his generation. Or Collins full of compassion for farmers and landlords … .
As to drug use and revenues derived from – a billion in tax revenue would be nice.
So the wealth tax is unfair because a person it applies to chooses to behave irrationally, and that those who don't believe it unfair are lacking in empathy? Seems to me that you expect all governments to base their policies on whether or not this person will be disturbed by such policies.
Your comment reads like you think one small aspect of the many problems with the proposed wealth tax is the entire argument against it. I'm sure there's a specific name for that particular fallacy, but I can't be arsed looking it up.
CGT is very complicated and brings in far less revenue than the wealth tax proposed by the Greens, which applies to only the top 6% of the population. A CGT could apply to many more depending how it was framed.
The Greens WT could be amended so that it applied to (say) the top 4% rather than the top 6%.
Make it 10% then but the instant you have loop holes those you want to tax most will dodge it.
Shit if I had brought a house in auckland 8 years ago instead of taumarunui when i started living on the farms i worked on i would have made $500 k atleast tax free while i paid 20% +on the measly wage I've made in that time .
Yep – I've said before that the primary purpose of a wealth tax shouldn't be to raise revenue, but to limit the political power of the very wealthy – the vicious cycle where wealth produces power which produces more wealth.
It therefore needs to start at a higher threshold than the Greens propose and be at a much higher rate – effectively applying only to accumulations of wealth that cannot possibly be proportional to effort, innovation or contribution. It shouldn't apply to wealth that is a reasonable aspiration for fairly unexceptional people.
When we say that only 6% of people would be affected by the Greens' proposal, we mean 6% of those alive at the moment. More than 6% will be affected by the tax at some point in their lives. A better measure would be to look at everyone who has died in the last 5-10 years and see how many of them would have paid the tax (inflation-adjusted) at some point.
That said – I still voted for the Greens this time to help them get over 5% and I think they will probably refine this policy. To me it has the look of a slightly sour grapes over-reaction to the scuppering of CGT.
More like a feasible option, when Labour, for some unfathomable reason, took CGT totally off the table. And. It wasn't lack of public support. A large proportion of possible Labour/Green voters approved of CGT.
So, the only option going forward is either higher income and or consumption taxes, or something similar to the Greens wealth tax, or TOP's.
It is perfectly obvious that the Government share of the economy needs to be increased, or we will become, Seymour's third world libertarian "paradise".
The reason for the one million individual threshold, is that it excludes almost all "Family homes" even in Auckland. While including the million dollar beach mansions , laughably called, "family baches".
Not the best option, but doeable..
I don’t favour a tax on unrealised gains. Should be on sale, inheritance or other windfalls, but that seems currently off the table. Maybe after a few years of unrealised gains taxes, there will be more support for CGT and inheritance taxes.
It is perfectly obvious that the Government share of the economy needs to be increased, or we will become, Seymour's third world libertarian "paradise".
Under ACTS preferred policies we'd probably drop down to Fourth World status.
Aspirational – by sitting on a property title they can gain more in wealth in a year than most workers or business owners earn in a year or two or three …
Collectively NZers are wealthy – but how to redistribute a small percentage of that wealth more evenly? A wealth tax might contribute to maintaining and even improving public services, and helping citizens in times of need, e.g. during a pandemic.
I like the look of the Swiss wealth tax which generates a relatively large amount of revenue. It's not centrally administered, so regional variation offers choice.
"Wealth taxes appear to be losing, rather than gaining, political support: Table 1 shows that of the 14 OECD nations that raised recurrent taxes on wealth in 1995, only 5 still did so in 2014." https://www.nber.org/papers/w22376.pdf
Why might that be, I wonder? Could be informative to graph individual opinion (including politicians) of a wealth tax (favourable/unfavourable) against individual wealth.
The primary purpose of the proposed wealth tax is to generate revenue – can't rule out the possibility that a big "screw you" to the 'top' 6% was also a motivating factor.
Andre, re taxing wealth, could you and the orange shit gibbon be on the same page for once? Btw, nice Trump – Oompa-Loompa comparison.
Would be reassuring to know that those objecting to a wealth tax on the basis of design flaws might be comfortable paying a similar (presumed) increase in tax via a 'properly' redesigned tax regime. Proper redesign takes time, of course.
My favourite is "Like trying to solve a Rubik's cube with a baseball bat."
I've already said it a large number of times, including on this very thread.
Capital gains taxes are a much better answer to taxing the income from capital.
Estate taxes and gift taxes are a much better tool for tackling inequality.
In terms of my comfort level, I've paid about 4 times as much in capital gains taxes (to the US) as I have in what is effectively a wealth tax (to NZ) on my US retirement savings. But the capital gains taxes have never bothered me, because they are levied at a time when what used to be a significant part of my life had been turned into a mere financial instrument with the cash at hand to pay the tax. But the wealth tax fucks me right off every time, because it has nothing to do with any underlying cashflow, government contribution to success, it just feels like a mafia shakedown.
Paperwork associated with capital gains taxes are cited as a reason against them. But a wealth tax has pretty much the same paperwork burden every. single. fucking. year, as opposed to just the occasional instances for capital gains taxes.
As for an illustration of the difference in how wealth taxes and CGT operate, and get contributions back from those that benefit from government actions creating wealth, I gave examples here in my tale of three rich pricks: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-24-09-2020/#comment-1753161
Got it – less ‘theft‘, more a “mafia shakedown.” And I get that they're rich, but why are they "pricks"? Ah, the rich – so hard on themselves, when life is 'so rich'.
Moriarty: Could I borrow a match? You see my gas has gone out and my batter pudding was just about to start browning.
Seagoon: Certainly, here… No, no, no… Keep the whole box, I have another match at home.
Moriarty: So rich! Well, thank you m'sieur, you have saved my batter pudding from getting cold. As you'll agree there's nothing quite so bad as being struck down with a cold batter pudding.
Thanks Dennis – The Goon Show is an enduring absurdist influence. I’d recommend "Lurgi Strikes Britain" to Johnson, and indeed Trump, Bolsonaro et al. in these uncertain times.
Capital gains taxes are a much better answer to taxing the income from capital.
No one is claiming that wealth taxes are an effort to tax capital gains.
In the lack of a CGT (see real world Ardern not while PM), there is only wealth taxes or gift and estate taxes.
Gift taxes will not gain support when the bank of parent loans out home equity to children. And most New Zealanders do not want the family home of the 90% not so weathy New Zealanders to be hit with an estate tax. No one seees Labour going from no CGT on the family home to an estate tax on family homes.
So its either this form of wealth tax or nothing but waiting for the 2030's for someone to lead the Labour government to election victory with a CGT policy. By then the average home will be worth over $1M on current trends.
Tax works best if it is simple, easy to understand and broad based.
You can see with current CGT how accountants can drive a bus through anything else.
Eh? How about we get rid of income tax on workers." It is a blunt tool at best".
Even Adam Smith thought labour should not be taxed. Unfair that those who work hard all year get taxed up to 33% while those who sit on their arse watching asset prices go up, mostly because of improvements in tax funded infrastructure, and immigration levels that require even more tax funded infrastructure and services, can escape tax.
Tax works best if it is simple, easy to understand and broad based.
That was, of course, how they justified GST despite how regressive it was. The income from GST was then used to cut the taxes from 66% despite the fact that such high tax rates weren't really about government income but to, effectively, put in place a maximum income and thus create a more egalitarian economy/society.
And, yes, that would require that the present tax loopholes that allow massive income to remain untaxed to be fixed. A capital tax is part of that.
Covid is making the resemblance ever stronger, with an ever more delightful colour contrast between the creepy withered bleached-white microscale raccoon paws and the dayglo orange modelling clay trowelled on up top.
Hadn't come across that one before. But we gotta give him credit, he's gotta be a contender for World's Most Tremendous Air Accordion Player like the world has never seen before.
More stuff you never knew you needed to know – it seems Merkin von BanKrupt has his very own sign language name. It's inspired by the appearance of the roadkill rodent perched atop his head about to get blown off in the breeze.
I thought that was some very positive work. Looking like quite a proportion of agriculture could already be carbon neutral, and maybe negative, with a slight (maybe) change in the definition of forest. Would have been nice if they'd gone into the nitty gritty of what has to change in the definition to show whether the idea's practical and economic from a farming sense.
Still be really good if we can get most sheep, beef, and probably deer, operations carbon neutral with not much more than changing some words. Would have some profound impacts on land and landscape management if that scrubby gully or face was making a positive contribution to the balance sheet, rather than being viewed as non-productive.
Also give those farmers something pretty cool to talk about in selling their produce.
Some of the more modern intensive dairy operations might find it a bit hard by comparison.
All the creeks and wetlands being fenced will be increasing the carbon storage, remnant bush areas would to especially If they get fenced off . Then get the deer population back under control( because it is exploding out here in the hills ) would massively increase storage in bush guts and gullies.
Good link. It may be sufficient to separate sheep and beef from big dairy to begin with.
It'd be nice to see a bit of oxygenation going on where nitrate levels are problematic – it takes 4.5 oxygen molecules to convert one molecule of animal pee ammonia to plant accessible and much less toxic nitrate – doesn't take much at that rate to degrade streams.
"The report also underlines previous independent work by the University of Canterbury that sheep and beef farmers are making an unparalleled contribution to NZ’s indigenous biodiversity."
What????
Agriculture, with it's simplistic grass pastures and ravenous livestock has supplanted the bulk of New Zealand's indigenous biodiversity and now wants praise for returning snippets of it? Really???
Good question Robert G. However it was rhetorical wasn't it! If we had all neural pathways functioning well at least 75% of the time we wouldn't have our present theatre of farce and hypocrisy, self-centredness and materialism par excellence.
Points to ponder in this analysis – and the contrary commentary:
This week the New Zealand Initiative published their latest missive addressing the supposed “rot at the core of schooling in New Zealand”. Briar Lipson’s report titled New Zealand’s Education Delusion: How bad ideas ruined a once world-leading school system claims to explore “the origins and consequences of New Zealand’s unchecked adherence to child-centred orthodoxy, contrasts the scientific consensus about how children learn with the different and, in many ways, contradictory advice given to educators and policymakers, it exposes how parts of the research community confuse evidence with values, and uncovers how curriculum and assessment policy rest on a flawed philosophy”.
I see the two sides as a dialectic, finding myself in sympathy with both. Fostering narcissism was never likely to work as social policy – yet kids do need self-esteem to develop & flourish. How to do it is the key.
According to the New Zealand Initiative website, Lipson is a research fellow specialising in education. Before joining the group, she was a maths teacher and assistant principal in London, where she also co-founded the Floreat family of primary schools.
Lipson has worked for international education consultancy CfBT, the Westminster think tank Policy Exchange, and holds a Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Edinburgh.
During her time at London-based conservative think tank Policy Exchange, Lipson worked with Conservative Party MP and former UK Education Secretary Michael Gove. Lipson is clearly a right-leaning “researcher” who works for equally right-leaning conservative think tanks. Ironic that her report calls out “groupthink” when she clearly represents exactly that.
Quite so. Yet defenders of the education establishment fail to own their bias too! Centrists therefore must balance both. I hope govt will design an integral plan, so policy progress will emerge via synthesis.
The New Zealand Initiative (The New Zealand Initiative is a pro-free-market public-policy think tank and business membership organisation in New Zealand. It was formed in 2012 by merger of the New Zealand Business Roundtable and the New Zealand Institute)
They deliberately misunderstand what Child Centred Learning is. But rest assured the more any learner has a stake in their own learning and can see a relevance to their own lives, the more reason they have to read and write and add and explain. Powerful incentives. The NZI was party to the National Standards which might explain the fall off of standards.
In reality, NZ education is not doing so well due to an overkill on "standards", one size fits all, education as cannon fodder for industry and "bums on seats" tertiary institutions, rote based learning and too much summative assessment.
Imposed on teaching by right leaning idealogs, who ignore research, and Teachers insights into how we learn.
Collins today in a public meeting. The only way to stop the Greens is to two tick National. The Greens are now the bogey. They are also being used, she said, by Labour to bring in a Wealth Tax since Labour has eschewed a CGT. It's all to do with Grant Robertson machinating out the back.
All of you people with more than a million owned in assets will get taxed $7200; and if your assets aren't in cash, then the government would get it when you die……. It's all a hard left conspiracy to take all your hard-earned money, though she does believe in taxation. She said the difference was that National would not tax and waste.
She still believes in testing people before they get on planes to come here, and that people should pay for their own isolation.
180 in the venue. Reception was a stand up applause for her entry, applause at her digs at her opposition, tame questions but all a bit muted. Applause for her announcing that the local MP would make an excellent Cabinet Minister in her next government. One Nat stalwart in conversation with me, knowing my politics as he does, said that the election is a foregone conclusion. The concern for him was whether the Greens would be in government with Labour. He agreed that Labour might just be able to govern alone based on the numbers.
Her lengthy spell pushing technology went beyond people’s attention levels and she spoke often in generalisations and three times made accusations based on such generalisations and then had to withdraw a bit as she realised that her remarks could be critical of her audience- about Labour only having public servants experience, that Labour had to call on old hands to save their covid strategy and then realised the age of her audience, and third criticised Labour’s tax plans as being grabs at people’s wealth and then having to backtrack to say that National too believed in taxation- just not waste tax payers hard-earned money.
"They are also being used, she said, by Labour to bring in a Wealth Tax since Labour has eschewed a CGT. It's all to do with Grant Robertson machinating out the back."
I take it, Weka, that you don't like gold, don't have a garage full of petrol-guzzling classic cars and don't have assets of more than $2 clear million between yourself and your hardworking partner to so advocate for a wealth tax paying an extra $7200 in tax?
Not sure if I even know someone with a million dollars assets in the clear. I have farming relatives, so some of them possibly are, or they have debt on the farm.
The model for the net wealth tax is based on a combination of data from Stats NZ’s Household Economic Survey and the Reserve Bank’s Household balance sheet. Stats NZ’s data allows for a breakdown of assets, liabilities,and net wealth by various demographic indicators, however it tends to under-report the total value of net wealth in Aotearoa. The Reserve Bank’s data is an aggregate, so does not allow a breakdown but gives a more accurate overall figure of net wealth.
Dang, United Arab Emirates currently test all passengers before they fly, it's done bugger all to help.
Last I heard you had to give a clear test something like 72 hrs before boarding a UAE flight, with no isolation requirements in the hours after the test prior to boarding.
Good on you for checking it out and thanks for sharing. Sounds like jude was preaching to the converted and possibly losing a number of them in the process.
Where did the $7200 come from? Doesnt it matter how much more than $1m you own? For instance, if you own $1,000,001 your annual wealth tax would be one cent. To get taxed $7200 a year you would have to own $1,720,000. Just seems like a random number for Judith to pick out.
Maddow read some newly un-redacted excerpts last week and informed us that a judge had ordered a large tranche to be similarly released on or before the 3/11.
I don't know whether everyone has caught up with this. It may have been good advice from a doctrinal POV from Electoral Commission but hey the place would have turned to moosh by then.
And something I dislike is hearing foreign accents, especially 'American' or possibly Canadian when official announcements are made. I heard a spokeswoman for the Electoral Comm on Radionz this morning and got this cold feeling of possible Trump-virus symptoms.
Long deep breaths also help to reset the body and prepare it for deep sleep, he says.
But changing habits is also necessary to addressing mental adversity. “We like to run in neural pathways, so patterns of behaviour and these are very difficult to change. It was once said that it takes 21 days to break a habit. We now know that’s not true. It might be if it’s a small habit but it can take as much as 80 days.”…
He says writing lists, validating worries and working through these worries practically, amounts to self-induced neuro-plasticity.
“What we’re doing is using the brain’s natural positive chemicals to start working on things that were worrying us. We can do two things – work on worry or work on what’s worrying us.” Busy-brain syndrome, as Burdett calls, it is when the brain works too hard at resolving worry, becoming overwhelmed, leading to lack of memory and concentration in the present.
This stuff is gold. It all rings true, and making time to take it in and follow the guidelines could be a game changer in NZ. It could be as crucial as that while we are perched at the tipping-point of so many crucial matters.
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
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Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Where are the shareholders of Briscoes, Sommerset, The Warehouse, Hallenstiens, insisting that their ill gotten gains be returned to the taxpayers of Aotearoa?
This was on the tranny a few days ago and had my blood boiling.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018767274/wage-subsidy-research-looks-at-who-took-advantage
From what I recall (does that stop me/TS being sued?), Briscoes paid out a dividend to its shareholders, one indivdual received 75% of those dividends.
Sommerset paid a dividend even though they did not make a profit, so had reserves from which wages could be paid.
I get the onus on directors to maximise profit. This naked greed and immorality hopefully will impact on future trading when the good folk of NZ decide to boycott these parasites.
Fair enough with the greedybastardy n'all, but the government put fuckall safeguards to ensure they could lever the money back. Which would not have been hard.
That is setting a low bar there
JudithAd.Robertson clearly decided that the benefit of essentially helicopter cash at a time of crisis was worth the risk of some corporate kleptocracy.
In this scale and speed of crisis, some bits get a little rough around the edges. Hindsight is so pure.
Absolutely, hindsight should inform future action however. This issue could have been avoided if the 'helicopter cash' went to individuals instead of employers.
And I'd agree with Robertson at the outset but a better system needed to be planned and implemented shortly after rather than extending that bait for the corporate kleptocracy.
"Foodstuffs says New World stores that have applied for the Government's wage subsidy will withdraw their applications.
The Government database of employers who have applied for the wage subsidy – which has now topped $6.6 billion in payouts for more than a million workers – shows a New World Metro with 71 employees was paid $482,124 and Waikanae New World was paid $140,592 for 20 employees."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/120876197/new-world-stores-will-withdraw-claims-for-wage-subsidies
But ONLY after some intense "feedback". Greedy pricks….
And yet supermarket Staff…even with the Covid stress, customer abuse etc; are still fighting for a Living Wage. Food Essential Service. And Workers Essential too….
You will find that these are distinct individuals, often chairs on several boards spreading the greed mantra of yesteryear, behaving not unlike the virus itself.
Maybe it is my age, I see a marked difference in business leaders and politician's from last century and the current crop coming through.
Agree. I will not shop at Briscoes any more… have emailed.
On behalf of other tax payers, Thank you Patricia.
I am not one to frequent red sheds or Briscoes.
Warehouse declared a dividend prior to lockdown but cancelled it when lockdown came into effect. They posted a loss for the year and are now declining to pay a final dividend. They say, also, that the staff layoffs that occurred later were planned well before the pandemic started.
The government initially had a cap on the size of the business eligible for the wage subsidy – but National wanted no such cap and so here we are.
So how did National force the gummint to do that?
When National sided with businesses excluded by the cap, they made the matter political.
Right, and the gummint always does what Nact and big business want eh.
Probably.
Doing what business wants is, after all, the whole meaning of neo-liberalism.
So true! The trickle down people are still waiting like a cheque in the mail.
National is now claiming the government was wasteful for doing what they said they would do, not have a cap, They are who they are.
National has no power at all. Are you suggesting Grant calls Goldie for approval?
They clearly had sufficient influence at the time (their poll ratings were higher then) that government changed their mind on having a cap.
1. It meant no political opposition to spending more on a wage subsidy
2. It meant more workers got their jobs protected
My bold.
I'm actually impressed by these companies honesty.
Now, the question is how many should have paid back.
Of course, it would have been better just to give everyone a decent unemployment benefit so as to maintain spending and put in place protections so that people wouldn't lose their homes during lockdown.
At the risk of seeming provocative, someone oughta suggest that Labour establishes a commissar of subsidy reclamation, to head up a team of ex-gang heavies for doing the collection. After the election, of course…
yes, could co-opt some of the nats raptor strike force. break down a few doors, kick a few heads,,,, pictures at eleven….would make the revenge lovers happy, for about a minute!
No, it would not have been better because you’re comparing apples with oranges.
As I saw it, the Wage Subsidy was an emergency measure to helicopter cash out as quickly as possible with few restraints and with a clear purpose in mind, at the time, albeit untargeted and general by ‘design’. That purpose was not primarily to maintain spending (in order to keep the economy going) and/or to avoid people losing their homes.
https://www.employment.govt.nz/leave-and-holidays/other-types-of-leave/coronavirus-workplace/wage-subsidy/
What Robertson did was good – for a short time but it can't be maintained over the entire time of the pandemic thus something else needs to be done. That would either have to be a fairly high unemployment benefit to maintain spending or a jobs guarantee within the public sector that paid the Living Wage.
IIRC, one of the few criteria for receiving the Wage Subsidy and passing it on to employees was a marked demonstrable loss of income compared to some previous period. Nobody knew what was happening at the time. The fact that some (?) businesses have apparently enjoyed a post-lockdown rebound and strong surge in business and therefore in profits does not make it morally wrong to have claimed the subsidy in the first place. I think this makes the accusation misguided and misleading. The Professor’s field is not ethics, is it?
I also note that the Professor’s ‘research’ was highly selective in that it only looked at “the top 50 companies on the NZX”, which is a minute fraction of all businesses in NZ – 10 out of 750,000 is only 0.00133%.
The initial Wage Subsidy also included the expectation of a 30% reduction in revenue.
There's also a requirement that you have to do everything you can to mitigate the impact
This last bit could prove interesting in an audit and I'm of the understanding that audits are occurring. This could be a shot across the bows to induce voluntary repayment
In a lot of cases profit could less affected than revenue over the period because expenses went down due to the business being closed, so reduced power and telecom, depending on the lease no or reduced rent and lots of other incidentals would have dropped of for a while.
I am not saying they shouldn't have applied for the subsidy. What I am saying is they should have refunded the subsidy before paying a dividend to shareholders.
The shareholders must take the good with the bad.
As to the professor not being an expert in ethics, you don't have to be qualified to see that a lot of this behaviour is unethical.
The top 50 companies on the NZX is a good place to start. Potentially larger numbers to focus on/seek repayment from. Alas these 'leaders' of commerce are setting an example for other aspirational business folk to follow.
I was commenting on this from your link @ 1:
Militant Protestors advocate breaking NZ Laws !
https://www.odt.co.nz/rural-life/rural-life-other/farmers%E2%80%99-freshwater-protest-message-gets-serious-traction
Were there any Pretty Communist signs?
There's the rub. The government did one really dumb thing – they took an approach of trusting people.
Had they not, the scalpers would have been in the raucous mob complaining about not being trusted and being treated like children.
So, the choices: To treat people as mature, having a sense of civic responsibility, untrustworthy, as children or scum? Whatever, some took the scum road.
It will be interesting to see a wash up of the high trust, publicly open information model used for the wage subsidy compared to the zero trust, confidential model used in most other welfare government assistance situations.
Was there any difference in false claim and payment rates? Did the greater spend on administration compensate for any reduction in fraud in the zero trust model. Did the speed of the high trust model give less negative outcomes that would have been the result of delays due to approval of applications in the zero trust model?
I've got a feeling that the high trust model may turn out to be a lot more efficient was of distributing government assistance.
Yes good post Graeme, and Peter too. Rather than criticising the wage subsidy on the basis that some took advantage, we might wonder if it is in fact an efficient and more equitable model for other forms of welfare.
I thought of this when during one of the debates Ardern said she didn't need a tax cut and Collins replied, well then you can give it back – ie she was comfortable with giving the better off choices, but not beneficiaries or the low paid. Might the same argument be applied to welfare or the minimum wage – make these generous and if it turns out those benefitting didn’t need assistance after all, they can give it back …
Harman considers the imminent Labour landslide: "never have the minor parties mattered less than they do this election." https://www.politik.co.nz/2020/10/09/fighting-for-political-relevancy/ | Politik
Quite so. However they were simply following Bilderberger instructions from the 1990s globalist agenda. That's requisite for mainstream political leaders. Left or right brand differentiation is irrelevant in geopolitics. I presume the Bilderbergers will pivot away from China now, anyway, since a resilient global economy can only embed via a diverse trading strategy post-pandemic.
Goodness – Ardern in the running for a Nobel Peace Prize! She would no doubt accept it on behalf of all NZers, many of whom will have Ardern in their thoughts, and prayers.
If she does accept it on that basis, I'd like to see her specify the political common ground that made it possible:
"The peaceful state of mind in Aotearoa has been achieved by going hard and going early on the pandemic response. Getting that right has enabled kiwis to maintain complacency – our traditional pacific state of mind. Our people have resisted the rightist siren call of division and separatism: we are united in our addiction to neoliberalism!"
"We will keep trading with China because money is more important than ethnic tribes in concentration camps: that's what Labour stands for! We embrace this bipartisan stance because it has become traditional, and we like conservatives – that's why we made peace with them. Progress can be made if we do the same old stuff forever. Labour remains a party of the establishment!"
Dennis, our PM will surely give your considered opinion the attention it deserves; I look forward to her extraordinary Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.
Tbh, I haven’t perceived a lot of bipartisan political ‘peace and love‘ of late, but maybe the rancour is just a show for the gullible masses.
I'm
moderatelyvery grateful to the Government for their decision to 'go hard and go early' in response to the serious health threat that the COVID-19 pandemic represents – getting that response right certainly saved lives, even if (as you suggest) that was only a collateral outcome, and it's done wonders for my immediate peace of mind. After all, we're all in this together.You guys should STFU and concentrate on ensuring your actual political survival before you start linking Prime Minister Ardern to concentration camps.
Empress has fantabulous clothes on? So glamorous that nobody will notice the trading policy link? Close enough to trad Labour thinking that it could work.
I am sure you and the Greens can show how New Zealand can replace is 30% of exports to China and 40% of imports from China. Sometime about now since it's an election will do.
And those fantabulous clothes are all from China, and you're wearing them.
Meantime Labour is leading the country through the worst economic crisis in a century without the assistance of foolish preening from the Values wing of the Greens.
Developing the economy would work.
Developmentalism would put all those non-performing hacks in Treasury out on the street. Doing that to everyone else never seemed to trouble them.
Keep telling yourself that. As Labour adopts more and more Green policies.
Prefacing
ordersadvice with "STFU" may not have the desired effect – oh look!No.
A resilient global economy can only come about if trade is not needed.
In principle, I agree. The principle being self-sufficiency (Jeanette F always called it self-reliance). In practice, however, trading seems hard-wired into human nature.
Trading networks are detectable throughout history and seem ubiquitous – perhaps only relatively so, since some indigenous cultures are collectively self-reliant. A comprehensive documentation of the extent by antropologists collaborating with sociologists would be enlightening (I haven't encountered one).
Barter can even happen naturally within a family. I have distant memories of doing a bit with my younger brothers from time to time. I suspect it is part of being a social animal. Other primates do sharing of food, and trading food for sex has been established as a common pattern of behaviour.
Self-sufficiency means each country producing what it needs to survive indefinitely. Trade between countries then becomes a nice to have which pretty much means luxuries that a country can't produce itself. Trade would still exist but would decrease from where it is now.
Thing is, as far as I can make out, the only reason why we have trade is so that the producers have a larger market to sell to which then makes them richer. This is, as we're learning, unsustainable.
Your description of a reslient economy is correct. Neoliberalism requires co-dependency (in mass psychology) as the tacit basis of the system. To explain this problem to politicians it would help if economists adept at mass psychology were facilitating the discourse. Silo thinking in academia still prevents such sophisticated culture from emerging…
As transparent and honest as S#!t, Bunch of thieves.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300127263/election-2020-ginny-andersen-tells-voters-shes-been-cleared-by-commission-but-labour-hasnt
It will be interesting to see in this election how close the final few weeks' polls are to the actual result. They could be expected to be closer than ever, especially as a good chunk of people answering pollsters’ questions at this stage will have actually already voted.
Cunning rightist plot to drop the Greens below threshold & out of parliament:
So cunning they're leaving it until at least 25% of votes are cast before they drop it.
Thus exposing themselves as a front for the interests of the most wealthy New Zealanders.
They should be "the tax avoidance union" instead !
I'm sure that the people who support them understand that already.
Given the polls and the fact that Labour have ruled such a tax out, won't that just encourage those homeowners to vote Labour? Pushing Labour towards 50% is the only way to ensure this tax won't happen.
I doubt any Green voters owning homes worth $1M will be swayed by a letter from the Taxpayers' Union, so don’t see how this campaign would help push the Greens under 5%. In that case, voting Nats-Act only makes a Lab-Green coalition more likely.
I am predicting the National Party vote to collapse this week for that very reason. There are now only two scenarios come election night. Labour majority government, or Labour Green coalition government.
Which one do you think traditional National voters would prefer?
AND the threshold of 1$m is really 2$m for a couple.
So, excluding almost all "Family homes".
Yes I think so.
Seems a lot of scaremongering in my view.
This is the problem, spelt out in the article linked by Dennis above, and is the reason that Labour voters need to strategically vote Green.
"For most strategic thinkers on the right, the only viable path to victory for National is over the dead body of the Green Party. If the Greens can be driven below the 5 percent MMP threshold, and the so-called “Trash Vote” pumped up to something approaching 10 percent, then a combined tally of National and Act votes of around 45 percent should be enough to reclaim the Treasury Benches. Assuming Act stands firm on 8 percent, National need only lift its Party Vote to around 37 percent for it to be “Game On!
NATS&ACTS will not get 40%
[Removed text from user name]
Is that funding from the money they received from the Government's $60 000 to keep them afloat? They have $300 000 to waste on this? Paid by???? Nats????
Yes for some reason I received said letter. Have no idea how they got my address. Hubby wrote a hilarious letter back saying thanks for pointing out the Greens policy. We are not Green voters, but are now considering voting for them
tempted to also write asking them how do they expect the country to afford the wage subsidy Tax union received without finding new avenues of income for the govt……arseholes
Presumably if they’ve had such large donations they’ll be paying back the wage subsidy?
I would think that anyone owning a million dollar plus home would probably not be a green supporter, and in any case would be well aware of how the wealth tax would affect them.
mikesh….the tax is based on NET assets above $1m, so if you had a home worth $1.2m and a mortgage of $200k, even though you have an asset worth $1.2m you pay no Wealth Tax at all.
The Wealth Tax proceeds are proposed to alleviate poverty in NZ.
But will the proven liars in the Taxpayer Union explain any of this?
Nasty campaigns like this can have the opposite effect to that hoped for when the media gets hold of it and may push votes to the Greens.
The Green Party Wealth Tax explained.
https://www.facebook.com/nzgreenparty/videos/689344815326033/
The greens probably won't get this through, and there will be no CGT either, so implement a wealth tax on portfolio and overseas owners instead. The more houses you own, the more tax you pay. Bought property from overseas and don't live in it, tax it hard, and again, rising with the more you own.
this letter writing campaign should be given as much publicity as possible AND should also be publically compared to exclusive brethren dirty tricks. that alone would make taxrorters hide in shame.
Don't hold your breath on that with our media who have shown time and again they are part of this cycle.
The rorters have no shame so I wouldn't rely on that either.
They would love you for that.
AND for a couple that is 2M$, $1m each.
I dunno, drive around Rocks Road from Nelson to Tahunanui where the houses are more expensive than Paratai Drive ( well, almost ) and count the number of Green hoardings.
At least we are still a little bit egalitarian.
I would think that anyone owning a million dollar plus home would probably not be a green supporter
Speculating from a position of complete ignorance? They do exist, and if my circles are any indication (which they likely aren't), they likely make up a significant portion of Green support. Or used to, anyways.
When considering the impact of a policy like the wealth tax, it won't just influence those that are directly hit. It will also influence those that see themselves moving into the bracket in the near future, those that aspire to move into the bracket, and those with family and friends in the bracket.
and considering a 1m dollar home is a pretty normal dwelling in NZ …
It will also be a major consideration for elderly couples who are not liable currently but will become liable when one of them passes away.
Go the caring greens, heaping financial anxiety on top of grief.
The usual mindless repetition of the Green line that they can defer the tax coming in 3 … 2 … 1 …
Which completely ignores the many explanations already given of how a mounting debt affects the psychological well being of those people at a life-stage where debt-free financial independence is of high importance.
A deferred tax makes it an estate tax. There should be an estate tax.
My IQ and thoughtfulness is higher than yours and any reply to my post proves you have every right to your inferiority complex.
My IQ and thoughtfulness is higher than yours …
Take a drug test and show us the results before starting to debate!
A deferred wealth tax payable on death is not an estate tax. It's an ill-conceived tax that in some situations bears a passing resemblance to an estate tax. If an estate tax is wanted, then propose an honest upfront estate tax instead of trying to backdoor one by pretending something else is one.
Personally, I'm of the view that an estate tax and a gift tax and a capital gains are all needed to reintroduce some much needed fairness and equity into our tax system and broader society. But to me the Greens' proposed wealth tax is so badly designed, and it will produce harmful distortions in investment and life choices generally, that I don't want anyone so clueless that they get behind it to be anywhere near the levers of power.
I'm also unimpressed by the argument that it doesn't really matter because Labour will never agree to it. If you're going to make noise about something that's never going to happen, at least make it something that would be sensible and work well if it were implemented. Greens do that on other issues, so it's not like they're incapable of it.
Not in name, but it achieves much the same – but for only those with real wealth.
90% of New Zealanders would not be impacted – whereas they would with an estate tax.
A gift and estate tax system would not work in an era where parents are the bank of childrens equity in homes. Your alternative is worse and will never get electoral support. This is the best and only way.
perfect physical specimen
Not sure how anyone paying a wealth tax on equity/wealth over $1m single or $2m couple would feel insecure about a mounting unpaid wealth tax bill they chose to defer against the estate.
In most periods the asset wealth would be rising much more quickly than this "debt".
For a lot of people that have made their lives and put down roots in a particular place, debt-free financial independence has an outsize importance. Any kind of deferred payment is equivalent to going back into debt, and takes away that sense of independence and replaces it with a feeling of being beholden to and under the control of someone else.
I've seen it happen with an elderly neighbour forced into deferring her property taxes in the US, I've heard reports of people completely losing their peace of mind after taking out a reverse mortgage.
In all cases, it would be easy to say it is irrational, because their offspring were all successful and were already significantly well off quite a ways beyond the small top up they would get from the eventual inheritance. As it happened, the deferred taxes case was finally resolved by her son paying off the deferred taxes, at the cost of a significant rift in the relationship because she felt her independence was being disrespected by her son. So it's easy to say it's irrational, and may be difficult to understand if you've never seen it happen, but it's also very lacking in empathy.
Older people worth over a $M not required to pay a penny in wealth tax until they die (if this is introduced) ARE not become my first concern as to well being.
Those without home ownership over 65, those without housing for their age mobility, those without home support, or access to pallitative care, Pharamac drugs, medical procedures to maintain well-being
You're sounding like Chris T over at The Daily Blog not supporting CGT on the farmers and other aspirational success stories of his generation. Or Collins full of compassion for farmers and landlords … .
As to drug use and revenues derived from – a billion in tax revenue would be nice.
So the wealth tax is unfair because a person it applies to chooses to behave irrationally, and that those who don't believe it unfair are lacking in empathy? Seems to me that you expect all governments to base their policies on whether or not this person will be disturbed by such policies.
That's just batshit crazy
Your comment reads like you think one small aspect of the many problems with the proposed wealth tax is the entire argument against it. I'm sure there's a specific name for that particular fallacy, but I can't be arsed looking it up.
Fuck, how do you think parents going without food so that their kids can eat or have shoes affects psychological wellbeing? Cry me a river.
Yip it's a shit tax. A cgt is so much better ,its a pity Ardern let them corner her . But key proved you can lie about tax and get away with it.
CGT is very complicated and brings in far less revenue than the wealth tax proposed by the Greens, which applies to only the top 6% of the population. A CGT could apply to many more depending how it was framed.
The Greens WT could be amended so that it applied to (say) the top 4% rather than the top 6%.
Na you just make a cgt on all properties and shares and have the tax set a 5% or there abouts . Simple cheap to operate totally unavoidable.
The lowest rate of CGT in the world. The one you have when there is no effort to be serious about taxing capital gains as income.
Those paying tax under the brightline test would love it at 5%.
Make it 10% then but the instant you have loop holes those you want to tax most will dodge it.
Shit if I had brought a house in auckland 8 years ago instead of taumarunui when i started living on the farms i worked on i would have made $500 k atleast tax free while i paid 20% +on the measly wage I've made in that time .
A tax isn't always about how much it brings in. After all, as a currency issuer, the government doesn't actually need an income.
Yep – I've said before that the primary purpose of a wealth tax shouldn't be to raise revenue, but to limit the political power of the very wealthy – the vicious cycle where wealth produces power which produces more wealth.
It therefore needs to start at a higher threshold than the Greens propose and be at a much higher rate – effectively applying only to accumulations of wealth that cannot possibly be proportional to effort, innovation or contribution. It shouldn't apply to wealth that is a reasonable aspiration for fairly unexceptional people.
When we say that only 6% of people would be affected by the Greens' proposal, we mean 6% of those alive at the moment. More than 6% will be affected by the tax at some point in their lives. A better measure would be to look at everyone who has died in the last 5-10 years and see how many of them would have paid the tax (inflation-adjusted) at some point.
That said – I still voted for the Greens this time to help them get over 5% and I think they will probably refine this policy. To me it has the look of a slightly sour grapes over-reaction to the scuppering of CGT.
More like a feasible option, when Labour, for some unfathomable reason, took CGT totally off the table. And. It wasn't lack of public support. A large proportion of possible Labour/Green voters approved of CGT.
So, the only option going forward is either higher income and or consumption taxes, or something similar to the Greens wealth tax, or TOP's.
It is perfectly obvious that the Government share of the economy needs to be increased, or we will become, Seymour's third world libertarian "paradise".
The reason for the one million individual threshold, is that it excludes almost all "Family homes" even in Auckland. While including the million dollar beach mansions , laughably called, "family baches".
Not the best option, but doeable..
I don’t favour a tax on unrealised gains. Should be on sale, inheritance or other windfalls, but that seems currently off the table. Maybe after a few years of unrealised gains taxes, there will be more support for CGT and inheritance taxes.
Under ACTS preferred policies we'd probably drop down to Fourth World status.
Aspirational – by sitting on a property title they can gain more in wealth in a year than most workers or business owners earn in a year or two or three …
Collectively NZers are wealthy – but how to redistribute a small percentage of that wealth more evenly? A wealth tax might contribute to maintaining and even improving public services, and helping citizens in times of need, e.g. during a pandemic.
I like the look of the Swiss wealth tax which generates a relatively large amount of revenue. It's not centrally administered, so regional variation offers choice.
https://www.nber.org/papers/w22376.pdf
https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=REV
Personally don't understand all the fuss – it's not like a wealth tax is theft.
it is blunt tool at best
A hammer sometimes gets the job done.
Why might that be, I wonder? Could be informative to graph individual opinion (including politicians) of a wealth tax (favourable/unfavourable) against individual wealth.
A hammer sometimes actually gets a screw into a bit of wood. But mostly the result is a munted screw and a munted bit of wood.
A tool properly designed for the job at hand is a much better strategy.
Yes, it might be better to just screw rich people.
That does indeed appear to be the sole intent and purpose of the proposed wealth tax.
The primary purpose of the proposed wealth tax is to generate revenue – can't rule out the possibility that a big "screw you" to the 'top' 6% was also a motivating factor.
whatever
Andre, re taxing wealth, could you and the orange shit gibbon be on the same page for once? Btw, nice Trump – Oompa-Loompa comparison.
Would be reassuring to know that those objecting to a wealth tax on the basis of design flaws might be comfortable paying a similar (presumed) increase in tax via a 'properly' redesigned tax regime. Proper redesign takes time, of course.
My favourite is "Like trying to solve a Rubik's cube with a baseball bat."
I've already said it a large number of times, including on this very thread.
Capital gains taxes are a much better answer to taxing the income from capital.
Estate taxes and gift taxes are a much better tool for tackling inequality.
In terms of my comfort level, I've paid about 4 times as much in capital gains taxes (to the US) as I have in what is effectively a wealth tax (to NZ) on my US retirement savings. But the capital gains taxes have never bothered me, because they are levied at a time when what used to be a significant part of my life had been turned into a mere financial instrument with the cash at hand to pay the tax. But the wealth tax fucks me right off every time, because it has nothing to do with any underlying cashflow, government contribution to success, it just feels like a mafia shakedown.
Paperwork associated with capital gains taxes are cited as a reason against them. But a wealth tax has pretty much the same paperwork burden every. single. fucking. year, as opposed to just the occasional instances for capital gains taxes.
As for an illustration of the difference in how wealth taxes and CGT operate, and get contributions back from those that benefit from government actions creating wealth, I gave examples here in my tale of three rich pricks: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-24-09-2020/#comment-1753161
Got it – less ‘theft‘, more a “mafia shakedown.” And I get that they're rich, but why are they "pricks"? Ah, the rich – so hard on themselves, when life is 'so rich'.
Just in case afficionados were wondering where you found it…
http://www.thegoonshow.net/scripts.asp
Thanks Dennis – The Goon Show is an enduring absurdist influence. I’d recommend "Lurgi Strikes Britain" to Johnson, and indeed Trump, Bolsonaro et al. in these uncertain times.
No one is claiming that wealth taxes are an effort to tax capital gains.
In the lack of a CGT (see real world Ardern not while PM), there is only wealth taxes or gift and estate taxes.
Gift taxes will not gain support when the bank of parent loans out home equity to children. And most New Zealanders do not want the family home of the 90% not so weathy New Zealanders to be hit with an estate tax. No one seees Labour going from no CGT on the family home to an estate tax on family homes.
So its either this form of wealth tax or nothing but waiting for the 2030's for someone to lead the Labour government to election victory with a CGT policy. By then the average home will be worth over $1M on current trends.
Tax works best if it is simple, easy to understand and broad based.
You can see with current CGT how accountants can drive a bus through anything else.
Eh? How about we get rid of income tax on workers." It is a blunt tool at best".
Even Adam Smith thought labour should not be taxed. Unfair that those who work hard all year get taxed up to 33% while those who sit on their arse watching asset prices go up, mostly because of improvements in tax funded infrastructure, and immigration levels that require even more tax funded infrastructure and services, can escape tax.
That was, of course, how they justified GST despite how regressive it was. The income from GST was then used to cut the taxes from 66% despite the fact that such high tax rates weren't really about government income but to, effectively, put in place a maximum income and thus create a more egalitarian economy/society.
And, yes, that would require that the present tax loopholes that allow massive income to remain untaxed to be fixed. A capital tax is part of that.
Covid is making the resemblance ever stronger, with an ever more delightful colour contrast between the creepy withered bleached-white microscale raccoon paws and the dayglo orange modelling clay trowelled on up top.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/james-corden-striking-contrast-in-trumps-new-video_n_5f7f150cc5b6e48b1684c0c4
he doesn't look well at all, def weekend at bernies.
Hehehe have you seen the piano accordion trump?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhDz8xMXU8s
Hadn't come across that one before. But we gotta give him credit, he's gotta be a contender for World's Most Tremendous Air Accordion Player like the world has never seen before.
Cracking up laughing here… too funny Andre.
Regeneron! Call NOW for special offer!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdAEtkjDO3k
Hahaha hadn't seen that one 🙂
Loving the Lincoln Project, they've put out some powerful pieces.
More stuff you never knew you needed to know – it seems Merkin von BanKrupt has his very own sign language name. It's inspired by the appearance of the roadkill rodent perched atop his head about to get blown off in the breeze.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/deaf-u-how-to-sign-donald-trump-netflix_n_5f7f5d82c5b6da9ba1ee5ac0
Oh no, dang! How perfect lolololz. Trying it out now, yup that works… Lmao!!!
https://farmersweekly.co.nz/section/beef/view/ghg-study-a-game-changer-for-sheep-beef-farms
If your going to tax it you need a truly accurate stock taking system that includes all carbon storage.
I thought that was some very positive work. Looking like quite a proportion of agriculture could already be carbon neutral, and maybe negative, with a slight (maybe) change in the definition of forest. Would have been nice if they'd gone into the nitty gritty of what has to change in the definition to show whether the idea's practical and economic from a farming sense.
Still be really good if we can get most sheep, beef, and probably deer, operations carbon neutral with not much more than changing some words. Would have some profound impacts on land and landscape management if that scrubby gully or face was making a positive contribution to the balance sheet, rather than being viewed as non-productive.
Also give those farmers something pretty cool to talk about in selling their produce.
Some of the more modern intensive dairy operations might find it a bit hard by comparison.
All the creeks and wetlands being fenced will be increasing the carbon storage, remnant bush areas would to especially If they get fenced off . Then get the deer population back under control( because it is exploding out here in the hills ) would massively increase storage in bush guts and gullies.
Good link. It may be sufficient to separate sheep and beef from big dairy to begin with.
It'd be nice to see a bit of oxygenation going on where nitrate levels are problematic – it takes 4.5 oxygen molecules to convert one molecule of animal pee ammonia to plant accessible and much less toxic nitrate – doesn't take much at that rate to degrade streams.
"The report also underlines previous independent work by the University of Canterbury that sheep and beef farmers are making an unparalleled contribution to NZ’s indigenous biodiversity."
What????
Agriculture, with it's simplistic grass pastures and ravenous livestock has supplanted the bulk of New Zealand's indigenous biodiversity and now wants praise for returning snippets of it? Really???
Reward good behavior there Bobbie boy and more will do it.
Are they children?
Where's the self-awareness and sense of responsibility to repair the damage?
Good question Robert G. However it was rhetorical wasn't it! If we had all neural pathways functioning well at least 75% of the time we wouldn't have our present theatre of farce and hypocrisy, self-centredness and materialism par excellence.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018767157/ben-macintyre-discusses-his-new-book-agent-sonya
sounds interesting.
I'm thinking that ayn rand was a sort of soviet device – an ied?
Interesting idea, that Ayn Rand was a Soviet plant to destroy the USA.
Certainly succeeding.
Though, in NZ, just as we were congratulating ourselves on being more sensible than the USA. Polling shows 8% are prepared to vote for a Randian twit.
That would be better than the ~25% of USians that voted for Trump or the ~50% that didn't vote at all.
Points to ponder in this analysis – and the contrary commentary:
I see the two sides as a dialectic, finding myself in sympathy with both. Fostering narcissism was never likely to work as social policy – yet kids do need self-esteem to develop & flourish. How to do it is the key.
Quite so. Yet defenders of the education establishment fail to own their bias too! Centrists therefore must balance both. I hope govt will design an integral plan, so policy progress will emerge via synthesis.
The New Zealand Initiative (The New Zealand Initiative is a pro-free-market public-policy think tank and business membership organisation in New Zealand. It was formed in 2012 by merger of the New Zealand Business Roundtable and the New Zealand Institute)
They deliberately misunderstand what Child Centred Learning is. But rest assured the more any learner has a stake in their own learning and can see a relevance to their own lives, the more reason they have to read and write and add and explain. Powerful incentives. The NZI was party to the National Standards which might explain the fall off of standards.
What the NZI claims is absolute rubbish.
In reality, NZ education is not doing so well due to an overkill on "standards", one size fits all, education as cannon fodder for industry and "bums on seats" tertiary institutions, rote based learning and too much summative assessment.
Imposed on teaching by right leaning idealogs, who ignore research, and Teachers insights into how we learn.
Collins today in a public meeting. The only way to stop the Greens is to two tick National. The Greens are now the bogey. They are also being used, she said, by Labour to bring in a Wealth Tax since Labour has eschewed a CGT. It's all to do with Grant Robertson machinating out the back.
All of you people with more than a million owned in assets will get taxed $7200; and if your assets aren't in cash, then the government would get it when you die……. It's all a hard left conspiracy to take all your hard-earned money, though she does believe in taxation. She said the difference was that National would not tax and waste.
She still believes in testing people before they get on planes to come here, and that people should pay for their own isolation.
Political wilderness, here she comes………
What's the turnout and reception like
180 in the venue. Reception was a stand up applause for her entry, applause at her digs at her opposition, tame questions but all a bit muted. Applause for her announcing that the local MP would make an excellent Cabinet Minister in her next government. One Nat stalwart in conversation with me, knowing my politics as he does, said that the election is a foregone conclusion. The concern for him was whether the Greens would be in government with Labour. He agreed that Labour might just be able to govern alone based on the numbers.
Her lengthy spell pushing technology went beyond people’s attention levels and she spoke often in generalisations and three times made accusations based on such generalisations and then had to withdraw a bit as she realised that her remarks could be critical of her audience- about Labour only having public servants experience, that Labour had to call on old hands to save their covid strategy and then realised the age of her audience, and third criticised Labour’s tax plans as being grabs at people’s wealth and then having to backtrack to say that National too believed in taxation- just not waste tax payers hard-earned money.
"They are also being used, she said, by Labour to bring in a Wealth Tax since Labour has eschewed a CGT. It's all to do with Grant Robertson machinating out the back."
Fuck, I hope so.
I take it, Weka, that you don't like gold, don't have a garage full of petrol-guzzling classic cars and don't have assets of more than $2 clear million between yourself and your hardworking partner to so advocate for a wealth tax paying an extra $7200 in tax?
Not sure if I even know someone with a million dollars assets in the clear. I have farming relatives, so some of them possibly are, or they have debt on the farm.
half of Auckland has that much, probably half of Wellington too.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/117257165/data-shows-there-are-185000-new-zealanders-whove-hit-international-millionaire-status
The article states there are 185000 millionaires in NZ and half the population have assets of at least $100,000 in 2018.
"New Zealand has 0.4 per cent of the world's top 1 per cent wealth-holders, despite only having 0.1 per cent of the global population.
Stats NZ said that between 2015 and 2018, the median household net worth in New Zealand increased from $289,000 to $340,000.
The richest 20 per cent of households had 70 per cent of total household net worth."
I would be astonished if more than a small fraction of those people. especially in Auckland, have a million in assets, debt free.
Yes, after subtracting debt is quite an important qualifier. Freehold millionaires are thin on the ground.
"half of Auckland has that much, probably half of Wellington too."
you just made that up right?
As opposed to, you know, actual data.
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/beachheroes/pages/12689/attachments/original/1594876918/Poverty_Action_Plan_policy_document_screen-readable.pdf
Dang, United Arab Emirates currently test all passengers before they fly, it's done bugger all to help.
Last I heard you had to give a clear test something like 72 hrs before boarding a UAE flight, with no isolation requirements in the hours after the test prior to boarding.
Good on you for checking it out and thanks for sharing. Sounds like jude was preaching to the converted and possibly losing a number of them in the process.
Where did the $7200 come from? Doesnt it matter how much more than $1m you own? For instance, if you own $1,000,001 your annual wealth tax would be one cent. To get taxed $7200 a year you would have to own $1,720,000. Just seems like a random number for Judith to pick out.
yep. She's making shit up. Kind of like how National imply that a tax increase is on all income not just the top tax bracket.
heh
https://twitter.com/TheRealHoarse/status/1314375722459377664
Maddow read some newly un-redacted excerpts last week and informed us that a judge had ordered a large tranche to be similarly released on or before the 3/11.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018767157/ben-macintyre-discusses-his-new-book-agent-sonya
sounds interesting.
I'm thinking that ayn rand was a sort of soviet device – an ied?
I don't know whether everyone has caught up with this. It may have been good advice from a doctrinal POV from Electoral Commission but hey the place would have turned to moosh by then.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/427970/ardern-overrode-electoral-commission-s-advice-on-new-election-date
And something I dislike is hearing foreign accents, especially 'American' or possibly Canadian when official announcements are made. I heard a spokeswoman for the Electoral Comm on Radionz this morning and got this cold feeling of possible Trump-virus symptoms.
Mental health, managing stress and the dark thoughts from someone with experience and nous.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018767288/combatting-the-dark-thoughts-in-our-brains 😀 😀 😀 😀
Long deep breaths also help to reset the body and prepare it for deep sleep, he says.
But changing habits is also necessary to addressing mental adversity.
“We like to run in neural pathways, so patterns of behaviour and these are very difficult to change. It was once said that it takes 21 days to break a habit. We now know that’s not true. It might be if it’s a small habit but it can take as much as 80 days.”…
He says writing lists, validating worries and working through these worries practically, amounts to self-induced neuro-plasticity.
“What we’re doing is using the brain’s natural positive chemicals to start working on things that were worrying us. We can do two things – work on worry or work on what’s worrying us.”
Busy-brain syndrome, as Burdett calls, it is when the brain works too hard at resolving worry, becoming overwhelmed, leading to lack of memory and concentration in the present.
This stuff is gold. It all rings true, and making time to take it in and follow the guidelines could be a game changer in NZ. It could be as crucial as that while we are perched at the tipping-point of so many crucial matters.