Turns out the gun for hire who wrote the piece forgot to note that the French wealth tax was recently modified and now resembles that which the Greens propose.
(new) Labour + National two side of the same Liberal coin….
Interesting that the only time the beloved Ardern loses her much touted pragmatism and draws a firm line in the sand is when it comes to NOT having capital gains tax and NOT taxing the super wealthy…but I guess when you come from the Tony Blair side of the Labour ideology this should come as no surprise.
Internal Green Party polling provided to The Spinoff suggests that the massive number of advance votes are running against legalising cannabis, but it’s likely to be close. The poll, conducted between October 9-12, asked people if the election was held tomorrow how they would vote on the Cannabis Legalisation and Control bill.
The poll did not ask any of the respondents how they had voted. However, out of the 1,286 people asked, 278 people said they had already voted. Of that second group, 50% said they did not support the bill, compared to 47% in favour. In the other group of 1,008 people who had not yet voted, 45% supported the bill, 41% were opposed, and 14% were undecided.
I think it's amusing that Collins keeps trying to scare voters off Labour by using the wealth tax – poll tonight will show if paranoia is that contagious. She needs a 5% shift.
Had a bunch of commentators here yesterday riled by my reference to the tax being designed to help losers. Telling the truth seems non-pc to some. I just think they are being weak in yielding to that sociopathic attitude.
Obviously the system was set up to divide the electorate into winners and losers: representative democracy has always been based on binary division and competition. The winner gets to be govt, the loser doesn't. The ruling class always wins, the lower class never wins. That's why Labour doesn't want the wealth tax. Wannabe winners.
Trying to pretend that history never happened just makes those commentators delusional. They ought to spit the dummy & get real.
Had to laugh at Emma Mellow jumping on the bandwagon.
Surely Auckland Central is the last place National want to drive votes from the Greens to Labour.
Then I went in search of what Mellow's place on the list is and found this (15/10/2020, 12pm):
In the 2020 election Mellow defeated Helen White of the Labour Party and Chlöe Swarbrick of the Green Party in a tight three-way race.
Misrepresenting other commenters is not getting you any closer to the truth and is thus an act of delusion.
Name-calling is your MO to lay down the truth as you see it and silence anybody who disagrees with you. Deliberately using language that rubs people the wrong way and demeans others is neither constructive nor inclusive, believing it so is delusional.
Stubbornly sticking to your guns and putting your own truth above that of others is delusional and does not make for positive debate.
This site encourages robust debate and your obtrusive commenting style and egotistic attitude are counter-productive.
The Wealth Tax won't shift people from greens to labour, it has been around long enough that there would be a very small number of green supporters that don't like the wealth tax or what it represents. Talking it up by the Greens may pull more left voters from Labour to the Greens.
Judith is trying to push some labour voters to NZF, but not too many (enough to take them to 4.95%), and thus wasting them. That drops labour to midish 40's, which may be close enough if Greens do dip under 5%
Nothing about talking up the wealth tax by Greens or National drops the green vote
The optics of making the rich pay their fair share is what is important here, and it is the sort of optics that The Greens need to push harder…cos Labour sure as hell are not going to.
Sweet Mary mother of Jesus, the Greens are such a fucking political liability.
Would they kindly just STFU and stop constantly talking about their wealth tax TWO DAYS OUT FROM A POTENTIALLY HISTORIC CENTRE LEFT WIN?
What a bunch of morons.
Their ill-thought out and high handed approach to the anti-smacking legislation cost Labour nine years in opposition and by the look of things they haven't learnt a single thing.
I hope Labour can govern alone and those political idiots in the Greens get to see their party drop below the threshold so they can spend three years thinking about how being a bunch of political dilettantes cost them their place in parliament.
Yes Sanctuary let us all just go along with Labour's steady as she goes asinine policies where the top 5% continue to hold more and more of the wealth while 235,000 kids are living in poverty.
Labour's 39% tax on over $180k raises bugger all-$500m. The Greens' WT raises SIXTEEN times that to alleviate poverty-that is transformative. And 94% are totally unaffected by the WT.
Personally I think the Green WT should be modified to target the top 4% rather than the top 6% but it is the Labour pro-establishment centrists who need to STFU.
I'm not against some sort of wealth tax. Geez… just look what the wine-boxers got away with back in the 90s.
But having made sure everyone knows they plan to push for such a tax – or a derivation of it – just shut up and stop giving Collins more opportunities to spread false information. All its doing is causing unnecessary panic among the voters.
The Greens will be the losers because many voters are vulnerable to misinformation when they are lead to believe a policy is going to negatively affect them.
Not sure if anyone is listening any more to the bollocks, sorry misinformation, that Collins is spouting. I guess we will find out on Saturday. The poll tonight may give us a pointer.
A few journalists have been repeating it, instead of doing their jobs. All over bar the shouting anyway – those who trust JC, or JA, are unlikely to change their minds in time absent a significant event.
A government serious about increasing tax revenue could do worse than to patch up some of the deliberately formed loopholes that let people pretend that they, or their money are really somewhere else.
A centre-left win that delivers nothing (to be fair – will deliver a better outcome than more active wrecking by NAct)? We need to deal with corrosive inequality and child poverty – and we need to stop a handful of rich people controlling our government and society. The Green's wealth tax is a step in the right direction and creates discussion on what really needs to be fixed.
yes, time the greens looked at the big picture, and that picture is, if you want change, you need power, to get power, you have to play the political game, which is, when you have a scab, someone else will pick it.
In assembling her unbeatable electoral coalition, and holding it together, Jacinda has had to give an explicit promise not to enact the sort of urgent fiscal programme the country requires.
This will be the new government’s dilemma. How to do what needs to be done without breaking its word, and without breaking up the cross-class alliance of voters that brought it to power.
To overcome this dilemma, the prospective Labour-Green Government will have to devise some way of persuading its working-class, middle-class and ruling-class supporters to pursue change together.
Creating a common-ground basis for a Labour-Green Government is an intellectual challenge in an era where intellectuals are deemed irrelevant. Muddling has pushed its way to the forefront of the political scrum. Common interests of those three classes? Players will be consternated. Eyes will glaze over. An heroic saga awaits…
They're not keen on Covid – so they're united against a common enemy. But the reigning economic narrative of the last few decades has led them up the garden path.
Avoiding a violent revolution might be a common interest. Better a negotiated one if you face the prospect of your backs against the wall. And less messy and fatal all round for the rest of us.
The numbed sensibilities of the oligarchs that benefited from the great Rogergnomic ripoff cannot be protected forever – however desperately the liars trying to peddle it as success pretend otherwise.
Plenty of common interests, if you look at them from an individuals perspective.
That my children get good education. That my housing is warm, dry, and affordable. That my water is clean. That my air is clean. That my food is healthy. That I have amenities to enjoy. That I have opportunity. That I have a place in my community.
No class divide in that lot. Just that for some, much of the list is simply assumed.
To be part of something greater than ourselves. Actual progress and working toward a better world. Only one class of people don't want that: they're called assholes. You can find assholes in trailer parks, leafy suburbs, and boardrooms.
I could be wrong, but I always thought that was the american version of the english term (but both have currency here).
I like your identification of common ground elements. Resonates as common sense, I suspect. Although people do say common sense ain't all that common these days…
The main class problem is that the Greens get the great majority of their votes from central city Auckland and Wellington – the areas most affected by the Green wealth tax because of expensive housing.
So Ardern signalling that the tax is dead on arrival is doing the Green voters in those areas a huge favour.
And of course also signaling that the really rich will pay more tax. Which is as it should be.
Other than that they want just slightly more than Labour on most things. It's going to be the easiest coalition discussion we've ever had.
It's going to be the easiest coalition discussion we've ever had.
Strikes me the numbers will hinge on the perception problem. No amount of calm dispassionate advocacy of the policy by James & Marama can prevail against the wilful reluctance of many in the target market to do the math.
They presented well with Garner this morning. He's anti, but seemed respectful & quite muted in his sceptical questioning, and seemed to be listening.
A Land Tax might be easier to gain acceptance for and implement than a Wealth Tax….though we could have both.
The problem is the farmers who have a lot of land that, while it is much much less valuable per hectare than Ponsonby, a LT would arguably unfairly impinge on them and their profits. A lower rate for land above (say) 20 hectares in size might be the solution.
Exactly BG. Most agricultural land is valued at a far higher rate than its income generating value. It's value in NZ is often dictated by it's desirability as very wealthy persons bolthole. A Land Tax on a sheep or beef farmer could be many times ( to be worth collecting ) its real income so is counter productive if forcing on-sale to someone who really doesn't give a shit about about a 1 or2 % tax.
A lot, lot more work goes into the implications of taxes than wish fulfilment, just look at Piggy's dopey booze fueled reactionary tax ideas in the early 80s. His 20% tax on "luxury" NZ made goods that he plucked out of his arse proves the point. A lot of businesses went under and it failed to bring in anything because it killed the producers off including my own small boat building one. In fact it cost him money in higher unemployment. What he failed to realise was that the vast amount of customers were ordinary working class grafters saving a little bit a week to own a boat or home built car kit. They just said "Fuck you Piggy "and didn't buy anything
The last thing you want is a Land Tax that leads to even faster corporate ownership of our productive land.
Land taxes lead to better use of land as those who are land banking have to make an income to pay the tax.That would help urban land use but farming is very cyclical with no guaranteed income from year to year a Capital gains tax would be a better way of land tax for rural farming to become more productive and profitable .
But you would need to reduce income taxes by an equivalent amount for these type of taxes to be accepted.
CGT is very complicated to implement and the income raised is unpredictable.
That goes for any new tax.
All the 'easy' taxes are in place already, and those that aren't are because they are very complicated to implement and the income raised is unpredictable.
At least with a CGT you have an objective transaction to buy the asset and another to sell it. Where it gets complicated is deductions for expenses incurred between buying and selling, so privately held assets have to be treated like a business which gets into a huge can of worms.
Wealth taxes are completely subjective, and dependant on market conditions at the time. How do you value a business that could be overtaken by a new idea tomorrow, especially smaller businesses that are totally dependant on the owner's skills and knowledge. The art market verges on a scam and even property and shares are only a loss of confidence away from their value becoming meaningless.
The records and paperwork needed for a CGT are very similar to what is required for a wealth tax. But for a CGT you only need to sort it out and file it when you sell a liable asset which would be a rare event for most, whereas for the proposed wealth tax you would need to do it all every. single. fucking. year.
Yeah, and you'll be going through that valuation and return process every year from a point well below the threshold to prove you don't owe anything. And with the complexities of valuing businesses and art, probably requiring professional input, so a good addition to your costs for very little, if any tax paid.
I can see that you are warming towards a WT Andre. At least it has boosted the Greens profile to 8% (9.5% in Roy Morgan). Some people obviously like it.
A Land Tax is probably the easiest option to administer, with predictable and high revenue outcomes. Lower LT rates would be needed for genuine farming operations above 20 hectares.
The thing would be to implement CGT in stages – on housing, on small businesses, on farming, on trading and investment.
The complexities of each area not compromising the approach to others, so that small businesses are not taxed on goodwill they have developed, but are on land value appreciation for instance. Dividing the introduction would also divide the opposition to the tax, and let the public consider the issues in more detail.
It's value in NZ is often dictated by it's desirability as very wealthy persons bolthole.
This suggests that a risk-free-rate-of-return tax as suggested by Gareth Morgan could be appropriate – perhaps, but not necessarily, alongside a much lower land tax.
Exactly what I mean than more complicated and intricate than wish fulfilment would have you believe. For every clever or mostly not so clever bugger devising taxes there are 10 more working on getting around it. Simplicity is key.
Say what you like about Roger Douglas but when he was questioned about GST on food he said that he upped the benefits by the amount of GST on essentials but he had been to enough dinner parties in Remuera where the food cost $500 ( read $1500 today ) so fuck'em they can pay.
A very cleavour and articulate person on a very dangerous topic – And I do recommend all watch this
"Without aid from a teleprompter, he explains to whites that their privilege isn’t "saying your life hasn’t been hard – it’s saying your skin color hasn’t contributed to the difficulty."
One needs to be a little careful generalizing from the US to NZ – there is significant employer prejudice against kiwis here – access to cheap exploitable foreign labour has made it abundant.
I may have read you comments wrong if so excuse.me. What I meant was that this topic is so divisive and to hear anyone articulate these so well and thoughtfully with passion – It moved me and brought me to understanding and counter what has been peddled from those "against" this e.g. The counter to "All/White lives also matter" and why an African American can use Negr* and why others shouldn't and not even sing along using it. And I was first made aware of Emmanuel from a ESPN doco on American Football.
Judith Collins just interviewed on RNZ (will be available online in about 30 mins)….I have never heard a candidate forPM with so much ill informed vague policy 'reckons' in my life…think it safe to conclude that Nationals 'plan' is minimal involvement and oversight of the NZ economy and let the chips fall where they may.
What summed Collins up for me (amongst other things she said) was her casual, almost contemptuous dismissal of the doctors' union. 'Oh, union.'
She has no sympathy or understanding with or of the people uniting to achieve a goal. Even a well-heeled 'union' like the doctors. God help the poorer people.
Yes – I pricked up my ears when she said that Labour 'stopped' them from doing it when the previous National Govt. wanted to modify (destroy) the MRA. My memory is blank on this – can anyone explain how Labour 'stopped' them when the National Govt + ACT had a parliamentary majority and could simply outvote Labour whenever they wanted to?
Is this yet another example of Judith being 'less than honest'?
Yes as I understand it Nats and Act had enough MPs to have passed any legislation they wanted between 2008 and 2011 and again between 2014 and 2017. From 2011 to 2014 I think they would have needed votes from either Peter Dunne or the Maori Party.
Pat, Mum had lunch with some friends earlier this week, there were two ladies there who are true blue, they admitted they are so embarrassed of judith collins that they will NOT be voting national for the first time ever.
Blue women are turning off judith in droves, Mum is not the first person who has said such in recent weeks.
Fishing used to be a widespread occupation with considerable operator independence. The QMS, aside from having no merit as resource protection, granted a monopoly to quota holders, chiefly three or four companies, who exercise disproportionate power over the lives of their workers. Ostensibly independent contractors (to allow the companies to sidestep ACC), kiwi employees nevertheless can't even have a can of beer at the end of a shift, because it does not suit the whims of the oligarchs.
As for the slave fishermen – any pretense of progressive values by government is auto-debunked by them.
Okay, so with the fishing industry, vessels have to carry crew with certain qualifications who have done a certain amount of sea time in order to sail, especially on deep sea trawlers. Sure factory staff don't have to be qualified, but all the officers do.
Nelson has the only fishing school in NZ, it takes years to get qualifications for certain sea going roles.
Sealord have used and exploited foreign crew for years. Iwi are responsible for those decisions and for not using local workers. Sealord is half owned by Iwi and half owned by offshore interests. 20 yrs ago the exhusband worked as an officer on Sealord vessels, even he was surprised at the time of the amount of foreign workers onboard.
There was an attempt last century to open up places for Maori by having a quota of trainees to be Maori which was being encouraged by government. When Nelson Polytechnic tried to do this they were threatened with a legal challenge by Sanford. So the big companies were not encouraging the participation of Maori in fishing as was hoped for. The challenge was against reverse discrimination I think it was called. I felt that Sanfords felt that Maori were being advantaged and wanted to put a stop to it.
you missed the end of the sentence – at the dreadful wages and conditions offered.
Time to stop discrimination against New Zealand employees and Labour should have extracted a decent plan out of the companies to replace the labour force with kiwis . Starting this summer.
Some one is a little upset there. The right wing are feeling threatened?
What it is telling us is that the RW fear that Jacinda now she has the space will go for bolder policies and show that the neo lib settings are basically stuffed. At which point countries like Australia and the Uk may be wanting more of what we have.
I am inherently lazy and enjoy successes that I could easily surpass if I tried harder. And yet, I feel that merely not having Judith Collins as PM, feels like setting the bar at a subterranean level.
Thanks for that Observer. As far as I can tell no government has moved up from the early 60% Confidence – until this year with this Government in the 70% range. Thanks for pointing that out as well.
Auckland University certainly doing right by their Vice Chancellor, 5 mill for a superior Parnell house, 1 thou a week in rent. They'll be pretty keen to get those foreign students back in I guess.
Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
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Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
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Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
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David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
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A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
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Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Photo by Jari Hytönen on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Williams Veazey, ARC DECRA Research Fellow, University of Sydney DavideAngelini/Shutterstock In the 2007 film The Bucket List Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman play two main characters who respond to their terminal cancer diagnoses by rejecting experimental treatment. Instead, they go ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mohan Singh, Professor of Agri-Food Biotechnology, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences at the University of Melbourne., The University of Melbourne Tanja Esser/Shutterstock Australia’s vital agriculture sector will be hit hard by steadily rising global temperatures. Our climate is already ...
The Acumen Edelman Trust barometer reported that New Zealand’s political trust score now sits below the global average, a topic explored in a recent discussion paper by Maxim Institute. ...
Greenpeace Aotearoa executive director Russel Norman says, "The Fast-Track Bill is the most damaging piece of environmental legislation any Government has introduced in living memory. People are angry, and it’s time to march." ...
The school lunches programme has been retained – and will be extended to some preschoolers. So how is it going to cost $107 million less? To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. The minister with many hats David Seymour wears a number of hats, but this week ...
“Show us the bird,” I found myself muttering at times while reading Hard by the Cloud House by Peter Walker, a deeply thoughtful, often hilarious, at times rambling – but somehow delightfully so – search for the story of a big bird. But not just any bird: the bird. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Marley, Environment + Energy Editor, UK edition DPVUE .images/Shutterstock Your home was probably designed for a climate that no longer exists. As long as humanity continues to burn fossil fuel, padding the heat-trapping blanket of gases in Earth’s atmosphere, the ...
A senior lawyer has filed a complaint about tikanga becoming a required law school module. Law lecturer Carwyn Jones explains what he’s getting wrong. “…the first law of Aotearoa, a law that served the needs of tangata whenua for a thousand years before the arrival of tauiwi.”– Ani Mikaere ...
In 2019, an Auckland woman woke up from surgery to find that she had undergone a treatment she didn’t consent to. She tells Alex Casey about her experience. From her very first period at the age of 14, Laura experienced “debilitating” levels of pain that forced her to withdraw from ...
Opinion: What if we got rid of our existing drug laws and replaced them with a new law that legalised and carefully regulated all psychoactive substances, from cannabis to MDMA, methamphetamine and LSD to magic mushrooms? And which also included legal drugs such as alcohol and nicotine. “Wow,” you might ...
In the gloom following director-general Al Morrison’s job cuts in 2013, the Department of Conservation restructured its operations arm. Eleven conservancy districts were whittled into six new “conservation delivery” regions, under which the Rēkohu/Wharekauri/Chatham Islands area, comprising 40 scattered islands more than 800km east of Christchurch, was tethered to the ...
One of th e country’s top litigation lawyers says New Zealand is seeing a lift in court action between companies. Chapman Tripp partner Justin Graham, who oversees a team of around 80 litigation specialists, says the courts are now so log-jammed that it’s taking over two years to get cases ...
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Comment: Concerns about the state of the economy are creeping up to the top of firms’ list of challenges. That’s evident in both surveys and the tone of our recent client discussions. Skimming the past few weeks of eco-news, it’s not hard to see why. – Retail card spending fell ...
Opinion: Could former co-leader James Shaw still make a difference to working with National? The post How the Greens could be contenders appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government is talking up the crucial role of gas as a transition fuel “through to 2050 and beyond”. In a gas strategy to be released on Thursday, the government envisages the fuel’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Next week the government will again next try to get its legislation through to deal with non-citizens who won’t cooperate with efforts to deport them. The bill, which the opposition and crossbench refused to rush ...
A long-term project that will set out an alternative vision for Aotearoa that looks beyond the narrow confines of the policy straight jacket adopted by successive governments. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bree Hurst, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Law, QUT, Queensland University of Technology TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock A much-awaited report into Coles and Woolworths has found what many customers have long believed – Australia’s big supermarkets engage in price gouging. What started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Ghezelbash, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney The Albanese government wanted to avoid an inquiry into its migration amendment bill. The report, handed down yesterday by a senate committee that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne Lobbying is at the heart of government. Who has access to and influence over key government officials shapes the decisions governments make – and how they make them. The ability to influence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myfany Turpin, Associate Professor, Ethnomusicology, Linguistics and Ethnobiology, University of Sydney The act representing Australia at this year’s Eurovision contest has sadly not qualified for the grand final. Yet for Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross, the duo that makes up Electric Fields, ...
In announcing changes to the school lunches programme, David Seymour said kids would no longer be served ‘woke’ foods. To clear up any confusion, The Spinoff has compiled a guide to the wokeness levels of some common food items. Apple = NOT WOKE Avocado = WOKE Avocado, smashed = EVEN ...
The Minister Responsible for GCSB and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security have been notified of this review, and have been provided a finalised Terms of Reference. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Minglu Chen, Senior Lecturer, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney Robert Way/Shutterstock As the past few years have illustrated so clearly, the Australia-China relationship is complicated. As such, it is crucial for Australians to develop a more nuanced understanding of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mariana Campbell, Research Lecturer, Conservation, Charles Darwin University Marilyn Connell Australian freshwater turtles are facing an alarming trend. Almost half of these species are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. The Mary River turtle (Elusor macrurus) is one of Australia’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debbie Passey, Digital Health Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Josephine Barbaro, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, Psychologist, La Trobe University Unsplash We’ve come a long way in terms of understanding that everyone thinks, interacts and experiences the world differently. In the past, autistic people, people with attention deficit hyperactive disorder ...
PNG Post-Courier Papua New Guinea’s deputy opposition leader James Nomane has accused the government of “reckless economic management” that has forced devaluation to manage loan repayments in foreign currency and placate the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Prime Minister James Marape “must stop lying to the people of Papua New Guinea”, ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Jane Arthur, author of Brown Bird, and former bookseller at Good Books.The book I wish I’d writtenI have been working on not comparing myself to others. On accepting that what I can ...
The final decision on the Wellington District Plan makes it official: High-density housing is legal across most of Wellington. Housing minister Chris Bishop has announced his decision on the Wellington District Plan, approving a series of amendments to radically upzone most of Wellington, allowing tens of thousands of new townhouses ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to ...
RNZ News As Israel presses ahead with strikes in Rafah and seizing the Rafah crossing from Egypt, aid agencies are sounding the alarm of a “catastrophic humanitarian situation”. Rafah was “significant” because it was the only part in Gaza that had not been terribly damaged by the conflict, United Nations ...
With funding set to be scrapped for the Hamilton-Auckland commuter train, Te Huia enthusiast Georgie Dansey argues for it to be thrown a lifeline. It’s 5.45am and the chain of my crappy old bike falls off slugging up the one hill in Hamilton. I contemplate yeeting the bike into the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Cooke, Honorary Fellow, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland We feel ecological grief when we lose places, species or ecosystems we value and love. These losses are a growing threat to mental health and wellbeing globally. We all see ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shauna Brail, Associate Professor, Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto A shift to hybrid and remote work continues to affect worker presence in Toronto’s downtown.(Shutterstock) Downtown Toronto, the core of Canada’s largest city, continues to reel from the lingering ...
Responding to an Auditor-General's report slamming failures in the administration of the 2023 General Election, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said: ...
Productivity apps now make up a big chunk of the software market. But do they work? And why do they all have AI integrations?Despite being firmly on the record as a physical planner fan, I sometimes dream of something better than my pretty diary and its scrawled, ugly, interior ...
The Taxpayers’ Union says the Beehive need to lead by example, following reports of more than $50,000 spent upgrading video conferencing equipment and furniture in the Prime Minister’s office. Taxpayers’ Union Campaign Manager, Connor Molloy, ...
An objective list of the 50 most powerful people in New Zealand, as judged by the Spinoff Editorial Board. It’s power list season, baby, and we want in on the action. Sure, there’s the rich list and the powerful “c-suite” list and the young people with power (hmmm) but here, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the names of deceased people, and describes ongoing colonial violence towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. First Nations people in Australia ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Simpson, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Macquarie University Netflix Baby Reindeer’s phenomenal success has much to do with its writer and lead, Richard Gadd, who plays Donny in a tender semi-autobiographical account of sexual abuse, harassment and stalking. Gadd’s story has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle KarolinaGrabowska/Pexels If you didn’t have food allergies as a child, is it possible to develop them as an adult? The short answer is yes. But the reasons why are much ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Moon, Professor of History, Auckland University of Technology Ans Westra, self-portrait, c. 1963. National Library ref AWM-0705-F They try but invariably fail – those writers who believe they are capable of encapsulating in prose or verse the essence of ...
Stewart Sowman-Lund looks at the growing concern around the world in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. What’s all this? When Covid-19 arrived on our shores in early 2020, some argued we were too slow, or crucially, ill-prepared for a pandemic. So ...
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https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300132298/tax-the-wealthy-i-dont-think-so
Turns out the French tried a wealth tax and guess what it didnt work .
The wealthy dodged it .
Let this dog of policy go .
yeah, lets only tax the poor
ffs
the plot has been lost
Turns out the gun for hire who wrote the piece forgot to note that the French wealth tax was recently modified and now resembles that which the Greens propose.
https://www.moore-global.com/insights/articles/french-wealth-tax-for-non-residents
The vested interests arnt going to roll over and pay without a fight….they dont even care who runs things as long as they get the settings they want.
Exactly.
They're quite happy that governments around the world keep rewarding them for being bludgers.
(new) Labour + National two side of the same Liberal coin….
Interesting that the only time the beloved Ardern loses her much touted pragmatism and draws a firm line in the sand is when it comes to NOT having capital gains tax and NOT taxing the super wealthy…but I guess when you come from the Tony Blair side of the Labour ideology this should come as no surprise.
Liberalism and Fascism: Partners in Crime
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/10/14/liberalism-and-fascism-partners-in-crime/
The correct response isn't to drop the policy but make sure that people can't dodge it.
Polls are oscillating but the race is tight:
Good wishes Barfly.
Thanks
I think it's amusing that Collins keeps trying to scare voters off Labour by using the wealth tax – poll tonight will show if paranoia is that contagious. She needs a 5% shift.
Had a bunch of commentators here yesterday riled by my reference to the tax being designed to help losers. Telling the truth seems non-pc to some. I just think they are being weak in yielding to that sociopathic attitude.
Obviously the system was set up to divide the electorate into winners and losers: representative democracy has always been based on binary division and competition. The winner gets to be govt, the loser doesn't. The ruling class always wins, the lower class never wins. That's why Labour doesn't want the wealth tax. Wannabe winners.
Trying to pretend that history never happened just makes those commentators delusional. They ought to spit the dummy & get real.
Stop complaining and find a more popular policy.
Collins is trying to scare votes from Greens to Labour.
And everyone else is wrong about you.
Had to laugh at Emma Mellow jumping on the bandwagon.
Surely Auckland Central is the last place National want to drive votes from the Greens to Labour.
Then I went in search of what Mellow's place on the list is and found this (15/10/2020, 12pm):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_New_Zealand/politics/New_MPs/Emma_Mellow
So all is good ahaha
Heh. Wonder how many other righties are declaring success while they can?
the phrase 'winners and losers' disappeared (publicly) with Key….it was starting to have the opposite to its desired effect
Misrepresenting other commenters is not getting you any closer to the truth and is thus an act of delusion.
Name-calling is your MO to lay down the truth as you see it and silence anybody who disagrees with you. Deliberately using language that rubs people the wrong way and demeans others is neither constructive nor inclusive, believing it so is delusional.
Stubbornly sticking to your guns and putting your own truth above that of others is delusional and does not make for positive debate.
This site encourages robust debate and your obtrusive commenting style and egotistic attitude are counter-productive.
if we dont have a wealth tax
does that mean
we are left only with poor taxes?
think about it
reduce the poor taxes I say
talk about the poor tax
poor tax
poor tax
poor tax
Oh horseshit.
Our most regressive tax is GST. They could bring that back to 5%.
The Greens insisting on this "discussion" is just pushing votes from them to Labour.
Yep, not strategic enough to see what Collins wants. Zipping it now would be the smart move.
The Wealth Tax won't shift people from greens to labour, it has been around long enough that there would be a very small number of green supporters that don't like the wealth tax or what it represents. Talking it up by the Greens may pull more left voters from Labour to the Greens.
Judith is trying to push some labour voters to NZF, but not too many (enough to take them to 4.95%), and thus wasting them. That drops labour to midish 40's, which may be close enough if Greens do dip under 5%
Nothing about talking up the wealth tax by Greens or National drops the green vote
Right on ! @you_fool
The optics of making the rich pay their fair share is what is important here, and it is the sort of optics that The Greens need to push harder…cos Labour sure as hell are not going to.
The game Monopoly has pay a poor tax but not pay a rich tax.
The winner always ends up with all the properties as well.
In the Sixties we played socialist Monopoly. At the end of the game, all profits were divided equally amongst all the players.
We also played cards, gambling for money, and the winners were the ones who got the fast food in.
Sounds like fun nights at yours….our games of Monopoly usually ended in some sort of ugly fracas!
Yup, always one ended up having the pip, usually not the ‘winner’.
Sweet Mary mother of Jesus, the Greens are such a fucking political liability.
Would they kindly just STFU and stop constantly talking about their wealth tax TWO DAYS OUT FROM A POTENTIALLY HISTORIC CENTRE LEFT WIN?
What a bunch of morons.
Their ill-thought out and high handed approach to the anti-smacking legislation cost Labour nine years in opposition and by the look of things they haven't learnt a single thing.
I hope Labour can govern alone and those political idiots in the Greens get to see their party drop below the threshold so they can spend three years thinking about how being a bunch of political dilettantes cost them their place in parliament.
Yes Sanctuary let us all just go along with Labour's steady as she goes asinine policies where the top 5% continue to hold more and more of the wealth while 235,000 kids are living in poverty.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/10/11/new-zealand-elections-4/?fbclid=IwAR1B_srPjVuVDMsvLhDbS1q7QdlCxit16urBhl5yOo3DNlJRL-bRw6jNefo
Labour's 39% tax on over $180k raises bugger all-$500m. The Greens' WT raises SIXTEEN times that to alleviate poverty-that is transformative. And 94% are totally unaffected by the WT.
Personally I think the Green WT should be modified to target the top 4% rather than the top 6% but it is the Labour pro-establishment centrists who need to STFU.
Timing.
So a political party should keep quiet about its key policies during an election campaign Sacha. Brilliant; just brilliant.
Easily goaded?
No Bearded Git.
I'm not against some sort of wealth tax. Geez… just look what the wine-boxers got away with back in the 90s.
But having made sure everyone knows they plan to push for such a tax – or a derivation of it – just shut up and stop giving Collins more opportunities to spread false information. All its doing is causing unnecessary panic among the voters.
The Greens will be the losers because many voters are vulnerable to misinformation when they are lead to believe a policy is going to negatively affect them.
Look at Trump Land.
Not sure if anyone is listening any more to the
bollocks, sorrymisinformation, that Collins is spouting. I guess we will find out on Saturday. The poll tonight may give us a pointer.Hope you're right but there's some pretty thick creatures out there who will believe anything.
A few journalists have been repeating it, instead of doing their jobs. All over bar the shouting anyway – those who trust JC, or JA, are unlikely to change their minds in time absent a significant event.
A government serious about increasing tax revenue could do worse than to patch up some of the deliberately formed loopholes that let people pretend that they, or their money are really somewhere else.
I put up a post about it.
https://thestandard.org.nz/about-the-greens/
Why should they shut up? They're a political organization with their own policies that they believe will be to the betterment of NZ.
Surely they aren't just there to be Labour lapdogs.
Timing.
OK, let's look at that.
If JuCo goes berserk about communism and Labour tanks to, say, 46%, Labour would probably need the Greens, so more leverage for Green policies.
Worst case, Labour get a boost from nats who are scared of Greens.
If polling is at all relevant, a NACT government is an extremely slim possibility.
If anything, with half of votes already cast, the Greens should have gone "People's Flag" a couple of weeks back and kept the momentum up, lol.
Hey welcome back Sanctuary.
Make sure you come along to the westie Labour party with me on Saturday night.
We are going out to a posh hotel and spa/dinner package on Saturday but we could pop in 🙂
A centre-left win that delivers nothing (to be fair – will deliver a better outcome than more active wrecking by NAct)? We need to deal with corrosive inequality and child poverty – and we need to stop a handful of rich people controlling our government and society. The Green's wealth tax is a step in the right direction and creates discussion on what really needs to be fixed.
yes, time the greens looked at the big picture, and that picture is, if you want change, you need power, to get power, you have to play the political game, which is, when you have a scab, someone else will pick it.
Trotter nails the conundrum looming: http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2020/10/lets-make-jacinda-break-her-promises.html
Creating a common-ground basis for a Labour-Green Government is an intellectual challenge in an era where intellectuals are deemed irrelevant. Muddling has pushed its way to the forefront of the political scrum. Common interests of those three classes? Players will be consternated. Eyes will glaze over. An heroic saga awaits…
Creating the common ground goes hand in hand with political engagement…and we know the propensity to vote correlates with having something to lose.
Common interests of those three classes?
They're not keen on Covid – so they're united against a common enemy. But the reigning economic narrative of the last few decades has led them up the garden path.
Avoiding a violent revolution might be a common interest. Better a negotiated one if you face the prospect of your backs against the wall. And less messy and fatal all round for the rest of us.
Poverty, for some, is violence already.
The numbed sensibilities of the oligarchs that benefited from the great Rogergnomic ripoff cannot be protected forever – however desperately the liars trying to peddle it as success pretend otherwise.
Arguably, the ruling-class has benefitted from Covid. Home ownership doesn’t seem to have suffered much either.
I imagine construction of new housing paused significantly with the lockdowns. Those with less than robust circumstances won't have saved much either.
Plenty of common interests, if you look at them from an individuals perspective.
That my children get good education. That my housing is warm, dry, and affordable. That my water is clean. That my air is clean. That my food is healthy. That I have amenities to enjoy. That I have opportunity. That I have a place in my community.
No class divide in that lot. Just that for some, much of the list is simply assumed.
To be part of something greater than ourselves. Actual progress and working toward a better world. Only one class of people don't want that: they're called assholes. You can find assholes in trailer parks, leafy suburbs, and boardrooms.
only one thing to disagree with there….the spelling of 'assholes'
I've always liked that version of the word as it has connotations of donkeys.
According to Webster's it's correct.
I could be wrong, but I always thought that was the american version of the english term (but both have currency here).
I like your identification of common ground elements. Resonates as common sense, I suspect. Although people do say common sense ain't all that common these days…
according to Websters it would be…but then Webster was a cowboy
The main class problem is that the Greens get the great majority of their votes from central city Auckland and Wellington – the areas most affected by the Green wealth tax because of expensive housing.
So Ardern signalling that the tax is dead on arrival is doing the Green voters in those areas a huge favour.
And of course also signaling that the really rich will pay more tax. Which is as it should be.
Other than that they want just slightly more than Labour on most things. It's going to be the easiest coalition discussion we've ever had.
It's going to be the easiest coalition discussion we've ever had.
Strikes me the numbers will hinge on the perception problem. No amount of calm dispassionate advocacy of the policy by James & Marama can prevail against the wilful reluctance of many in the target market to do the math.
They presented well with Garner this morning. He's anti, but seemed respectful & quite muted in his sceptical questioning, and seemed to be listening.
If a Wealth Tax is a third rail option, what about a Land Tax?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/118373157/should-new-zealand-just-tax-land
A Land Tax might be easier to gain acceptance for and implement than a Wealth Tax….though we could have both.
The problem is the farmers who have a lot of land that, while it is much much less valuable per hectare than Ponsonby, a LT would arguably unfairly impinge on them and their profits. A lower rate for land above (say) 20 hectares in size might be the solution.
Exactly BG. Most agricultural land is valued at a far higher rate than its income generating value. It's value in NZ is often dictated by it's desirability as very wealthy persons bolthole. A Land Tax on a sheep or beef farmer could be many times ( to be worth collecting ) its real income so is counter productive if forcing on-sale to someone who really doesn't give a shit about about a 1 or2 % tax.
A lot, lot more work goes into the implications of taxes than wish fulfilment, just look at Piggy's dopey booze fueled reactionary tax ideas in the early 80s. His 20% tax on "luxury" NZ made goods that he plucked out of his arse proves the point. A lot of businesses went under and it failed to bring in anything because it killed the producers off including my own small boat building one. In fact it cost him money in higher unemployment. What he failed to realise was that the vast amount of customers were ordinary working class grafters saving a little bit a week to own a boat or home built car kit. They just said "Fuck you Piggy "and didn't buy anything
The last thing you want is a Land Tax that leads to even faster corporate ownership of our productive land.
Agreed Adrian…farming is a major contributor to the economy (unlike rising house prices) and needs to be fostered, sustainably of course.
Land taxes lead to better use of land as those who are land banking have to make an income to pay the tax.That would help urban land use but farming is very cyclical with no guaranteed income from year to year a Capital gains tax would be a better way of land tax for rural farming to become more productive and profitable .
But you would need to reduce income taxes by an equivalent amount for these type of taxes to be accepted.
CGT is very complicated to implement and the income raised is unpredictable.
That goes for any new tax.
All the 'easy' taxes are in place already, and those that aren't are because they are very complicated to implement and the income raised is unpredictable.
At least with a CGT you have an objective transaction to buy the asset and another to sell it. Where it gets complicated is deductions for expenses incurred between buying and selling, so privately held assets have to be treated like a business which gets into a huge can of worms.
Wealth taxes are completely subjective, and dependant on market conditions at the time. How do you value a business that could be overtaken by a new idea tomorrow, especially smaller businesses that are totally dependant on the owner's skills and knowledge. The art market verges on a scam and even property and shares are only a loss of confidence away from their value becoming meaningless.
The records and paperwork needed for a CGT are very similar to what is required for a wealth tax. But for a CGT you only need to sort it out and file it when you sell a liable asset which would be a rare event for most, whereas for the proposed wealth tax you would need to do it all every. single. fucking. year.
Yeah, and you'll be going through that valuation and return process every year from a point well below the threshold to prove you don't owe anything. And with the complexities of valuing businesses and art, probably requiring professional input, so a good addition to your costs for very little, if any tax paid.
I can see that you are warming towards a WT Andre. At least it has boosted the Greens profile to 8% (9.5% in Roy Morgan). Some people obviously like it.
A Land Tax is probably the easiest option to administer, with predictable and high revenue outcomes. Lower LT rates would be needed for genuine farming operations above 20 hectares.
Does this work for you Andre?
The thing would be to implement CGT in stages – on housing, on small businesses, on farming, on trading and investment.
The complexities of each area not compromising the approach to others, so that small businesses are not taxed on goodwill they have developed, but are on land value appreciation for instance. Dividing the introduction would also divide the opposition to the tax, and let the public consider the issues in more detail.
It's value in NZ is often dictated by it's desirability as very wealthy persons bolthole.
This suggests that a risk-free-rate-of-return tax as suggested by Gareth Morgan could be appropriate – perhaps, but not necessarily, alongside a much lower land tax.
Personally I'd like to tax the bolt hole premium at say 100% per annum but might be difficult to implement.
I’m all ears for a wine cellar tax.
Exempt agricultural land then. Limit it to res and comm zoned.
I think you would find that plenty of one hectare lifestyle lots would suddenly be growing a few onions and peaches and claiming agricultural status.
Exactly what I mean than more complicated and intricate than wish fulfilment would have you believe. For every clever or mostly not so clever bugger devising taxes there are 10 more working on getting around it. Simplicity is key.
Say what you like about Roger Douglas but when he was questioned about GST on food he said that he upped the benefits by the amount of GST on essentials but he had been to enough dinner parties in Remuera where the food cost $500 ( read $1500 today ) so fuck'em they can pay.
Can I change my zoning by growing vege?
A very cleavour and articulate person on a very dangerous topic – And I do recommend all watch this
"Without aid from a teleprompter, he explains to whites that their privilege isn’t "saying your life hasn’t been hard – it’s saying your skin color hasn’t contributed to the difficulty."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2020/06/05/emmanuel-acho-viral-video-george-floyd-eagles-texas-sam-white-black/3152632001/
One needs to be a little careful generalizing from the US to NZ – there is significant employer prejudice against kiwis here – access to cheap exploitable foreign labour has made it abundant.
just an aside, and curious this keeps popping up, https://newsone.com/3785854/stereotype-black-people-articulate-obama-cleveland-councilman-kevin-conwell/amp/
I'm sure it's an unconscious thing and I can't be bothered arguing with RL again but it needs repeating as it gets noticed. Rock on!
I may have read you comments wrong if so excuse.me. What I meant was that this topic is so divisive and to hear anyone articulate these so well and thoughtfully with passion – It moved me and brought me to understanding and counter what has been peddled from those "against" this e.g. The counter to "All/White lives also matter" and why an African American can use Negr* and why others shouldn't and not even sing along using it. And I was first made aware of Emmanuel from a ESPN doco on American Football.
Cheers Herodotus, that is the best 9 minutes I have had in a long time.
Why not using the n word, white privilege, BLM… lotsa learnings.
Judith Collins just interviewed on RNZ (will be available online in about 30 mins)….I have never heard a candidate forPM with so much ill informed vague policy 'reckons' in my life…think it safe to conclude that Nationals 'plan' is minimal involvement and oversight of the NZ economy and let the chips fall where they may.
I'm alright Jack personified
Any chance she'll be PM after the weekend? Well, since I ask:
FAT CHANCE
is an 'obese chance' less likely than a 'fat chance'?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018768450/election-2020-national-leader-judith-collins
For my sins, I listened to the full interview!
What summed Collins up for me (amongst other things she said) was her casual, almost contemptuous dismissal of the doctors' union. 'Oh, union.'
She has no sympathy or understanding with or of the people uniting to achieve a goal. Even a well-heeled 'union' like the doctors. God help the poorer people.
Yes – I pricked up my ears when she said that Labour 'stopped' them from doing it when the previous National Govt. wanted to modify (destroy) the MRA. My memory is blank on this – can anyone explain how Labour 'stopped' them when the National Govt + ACT had a parliamentary majority and could simply outvote Labour whenever they wanted to?
Is this yet another example of Judith being 'less than honest'?
Yes as I understand it Nats and Act had enough MPs to have passed any legislation they wanted between 2008 and 2011 and again between 2014 and 2017. From 2011 to 2014 I think they would have needed votes from either Peter Dunne or the Maori Party.
I think Peter Dunne refused to support it.
Not often I hear good of Peter Dunne, but Bravo if this is true.
Pat, Mum had lunch with some friends earlier this week, there were two ladies there who are true blue, they admitted they are so embarrassed of judith collins that they will NOT be voting national for the first time ever.
Blue women are turning off judith in droves, Mum is not the first person who has said such in recent weeks.
I've heard similar comments myself
"Is this yet another example of Judith being 'less than honest'?"
Is she ever anything else?
How did that advert start? "Let me be straight with you" Lol Lol haha really Judith?
Too little too late!!
Well looks like we can say goodbye to Labour focusing on training locals and demanding that companies have concrete plans to hire and train locals.
Border exemptions for several hundred machinery drivers and 500 hundred fishing boat crew. The fishing industry has made a promise to:
In return, the industry has promised to remove barriers to employing New Zealanders.
Where is the plan not just an empty promise – or didn't Labour insist on one.
These are visas for close to a 1000 adult jobs.
https://www.ruralnewsgroup.co.nz/rural-news/rural-general-news/the-calvary-arrives-finally
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/123082031/russians-jet-in-to-save-new-zealands-beleaguered-deepsea-fishing-industry
[Fixed errors in e-mail address]
The barriers are the industry themselves.
Fishing used to be a widespread occupation with considerable operator independence. The QMS, aside from having no merit as resource protection, granted a monopoly to quota holders, chiefly three or four companies, who exercise disproportionate power over the lives of their workers. Ostensibly independent contractors (to allow the companies to sidestep ACC), kiwi employees nevertheless can't even have a can of beer at the end of a shift, because it does not suit the whims of the oligarchs.
As for the slave fishermen – any pretense of progressive values by government is auto-debunked by them.
Okay, so with the fishing industry, vessels have to carry crew with certain qualifications who have done a certain amount of sea time in order to sail, especially on deep sea trawlers. Sure factory staff don't have to be qualified, but all the officers do.
Nelson has the only fishing school in NZ, it takes years to get qualifications for certain sea going roles.
Sealord have used and exploited foreign crew for years. Iwi are responsible for those decisions and for not using local workers. Sealord is half owned by Iwi and half owned by offshore interests. 20 yrs ago the exhusband worked as an officer on Sealord vessels, even he was surprised at the time of the amount of foreign workers onboard.
There was an attempt last century to open up places for Maori by having a quota of trainees to be Maori which was being encouraged by government. When Nelson Polytechnic tried to do this they were threatened with a legal challenge by Sanford. So the big companies were not encouraging the participation of Maori in fishing as was hoped for. The challenge was against reverse discrimination I think it was called. I felt that Sanfords felt that Maori were being advantaged and wanted to put a stop to it.
Used to be that you only got a job on a fishing boat if the cops were after you. Another job that Kiwis don't really want to do.
you missed the end of the sentence – at the dreadful wages and conditions offered.
Time to stop discrimination against New Zealand employees and Labour should have extracted a decent plan out of the companies to replace the labour force with kiwis . Starting this summer.
You must be joking – plenty of folk never wanted to do anything else.
Wow, Aussie 'journalist' Greg Sheridan certainly has a bee in his bonnet – is he simply bitter and twisted, harbouring a bad hangover, or perhaps he's part of ScoMo's comms team. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/election-2020-australian-columnist-greg-sheridan-criticises-jacinda-ardern-as-shabby-fraudulent/LCQMA6LQGXRPR5CFAEJCOVNQBQ/
He's a Murdoch man through and through. Almost even too right wing for many Aussies.
Thanks for that Prickles – it had occurred to me after posting that he could well be a Murdoch man. Sensitive wee sausage.
Some one is a little upset there. The right wing are feeling threatened?
What it is telling us is that the RW fear that Jacinda now she has the space will go for bolder policies and show that the neo lib settings are basically stuffed. At which point countries like Australia and the Uk may be wanting more of what we have.
Shedders invented a halo just so he could take potshots at it. Why can't she be a petball like our ScMofo?
I am inherently lazy and enjoy successes that I could easily surpass if I tried harder. And yet, I feel that merely not having Judith Collins as PM, feels like setting the bar at a subterranean level.
another 150k voted yesterday…now total 1,565,421
And 2,630,173 to catch 2017 total. 2,630,173 – 1,565,421 = 1,064,752 to go in 3 days + Specials. Wow!
The new Morgan poll will have a very short shelf life … overtaken by 6 pm today
But anyway – usual caveats, minor parties over-rated, scroll down for the real story: confidence rating. No mood for change.
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8543-nz-national-voting-intention-september-2020-202010142349
Thanks for that Observer. As far as I can tell no government has moved up from the early 60% Confidence – until this year with this Government in the 70% range. Thanks for pointing that out as well.
Auckland University certainly doing right by their Vice Chancellor, 5 mill for a superior Parnell house, 1 thou a week in rent. They'll be pretty keen to get those foreign students back in I guess.
Saw this book on trademe bwaghorn and wondered if you had read it.
Its called – Dining with the cats: An autobiography of a farm worker.
He's spent a lot of time in the high country.
https://www.trademe.co.nz/books/nonfiction/new-zealand/listing-2817458925.htm?rsqid=rmlwn-59d65d243f5b4b408c197b976c28ac63-001
An uncareful strong argument for reality can cruise for many a long mile through the bullsh fictive the strong rely on to manufacture consent to them.