Lotto : more Harm..than good. RNZ and Guyon Espiner.
New Zealanders now spend $1.5 billion a year on Lotto's gambling products – Lotto, Strike, Powerball, Keno, Bullseye and Instant Kiwi – nearly double what they spent a decade ago.
Selah Hart said that like fast food and alcohol outlets, the gambling industry looked to the demographic most likely to buy their products.
"NZ's Luckiest lotto stores" ? Fabricated..if not an outright LIE !
Good work, Guyon and RNZ . I hope Jan Tinetti as Minister…investigates this insidious, well advertised/promoted everywhere, harmful to the target communities, ..as much as Guyon has.
There are more in this series Links on RNZ
Incl 9 year olds !
Any promotion of any aspect of institutional gambling; Lotto, Instant Kiwi, TAB, should be made illegal.
Additionally, all pokies should be shut down. The revenue they raise for the community is far outweighed by the harm they cause.
Aye. lotto has become some kind of "acceptable" monster….
When the Lotto Powerball jackpot went up, food sales dropped.
The documents also show that, at some stores, staff are spending more than $5000 a month on Lotto products and sometimes more than $500 in one transaction
And absolutely re pokies! Always touted as of great benefit to their communities….the reality is they suck all benefit…out, and into the pokie owners bank.
I am heartened to see change from some NZ Councils…who can see the harm. Waitaki an example…apart from right wing "humourist" ol' Jim Hopkins.
John Ralston Saul said it such a long time ago (Doubter's Companion, 1995).
When governments raise money by acting as croupiers, the systems they manage are degenerate and closer to their end than their beginning… Early in the 1970's Western governments turned to licensed gambling to provide the funds which taxation no longer seemed able to raise.
Oh thanks for that ! Have to say that the Standard and Standardistas (first time user: ) does raise the bar…as to previously unknown (well to me anyway ! ) Authors,Scientists, Economists,Historians,etc; etc;
Great stuff : )
His work is known for being thought-provoking and ahead of its time, leading him to be called a “prophet” by Time[3] and to be included in Utne Reader’s list of the world’s leading thinkers and visionaries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ralston_Saul
Out of the three greatest (IMO) Federer has always been my favourite. I think Nadal is probably statistically the best as he's won the most grand slams. I think Djokovic will eventually become the 'greatest' or most grand slam winner as long as he remains injury free.
A little over wrought I would say. I mean having a choice about vaccinations and mask wearing for the good of society and oneself are really shameful breaches of basic human rights.
60 days seems to be the vital period in America for walking on eggshells.
"The Department of Justice may now hold off making any decision on whether to criminally charge Donald Trump until after the midterms in order to abide by the so-called "60 day rule."
While the 60 day rule is not official legislation, there is a long running tradition that the Department of Justice will avoid making any decisions that could affect how people vote so close to an upcoming election or elections."
The DOJ prioritises not wanting to affect how people might vote instead of prioritising not wanting to deal with people who commit crimes.
”That is what has been lost in the US: the acceptance that democracy rests on a contingent economic and political compromise between the electorate and elites. Workers agree to accept capitalism in exchange for better wages, job security and living conditions, including educational opportunity and access to affordable housing, drinking water, transportation, power and the like. Elites agree to use a percentage of their pre-tax profits an/or increased corporate and individual taxation to provide the mass of wage-earners with the material conditions required for social peace. Regardless of partisan identity, governments mediate interests and administer the broad terms of the bargain.
That is a central feature. What brings this all together as a workable outcome over time is a regularly refreshed political bargain between agents of elites and workers in all of their guises–lobbies, unions, parties, non-profits, community organisations etc. They all have their specific interests that make for differences in priority and approaches to pursuing them. But they have a larger common interest in seeing the system work because it is the best guarantee that everyone comes away with something now and in the future. All political actors understand this and governments act accordingly.”
“My decision comes with a heavy heart but given the strength of concern about issues that need addressing across our region, it is important to avoid splitting the centre-right vote.”
One of the worst campaigns in recent political history.
Beck started out as a front-runner, a "moderate" Nat, apparently more reasonable than the Leo Molloy clown show. Then the curse of Jordan Williams struck, and she put out nasty social media posts and destroyed her own chances. She got what she deserved.
The objectives of a business are narrow, comparatively simple and self-interested. Government is the opposite. Its responsibilities are wide, horribly complicated and involve service to the common good. Business is therefore terrible preparation for government – other than the habits of diligence, sociability and problem-solving that it can foster.
In any case, it's clear that the instruction has gone out and Beck has done as required. Collins will need decent turnout I fear – and Brown has the grumpy old white man who knows all the answers and the problem is that no-one is listening to him because they are all so woke vote all sewn up.
I mean, this is just absurdly funny … and she wanted to run a city?
Auckland Council have confirmed Viv Beck can’t technically pull out of the race at this stage. Any votes she receives will be counted and if she wins, she’d have to resign or take office.
Latest polling shows National and Act overtaking the Greens and Labour.
As we approach the dying days of the Ardern administration.
If the Prime Minister wanted to get a lift in the polls and see her administration last beyond the next election, all she has to do, is end the housing crisis.
She could do this easily and immediately, without any cost to the tax payers..
Ending the housing crisis would be the easy part, convincing her fellow cabinet Ministers to want to, would be the hard part.
As Chris Trotter so aptly put it, the neo-liberal fanatics in Labour would rather keep their control of the losing side than, than lose their control of the winning side. Neoliberals would die in a ditch before allowing our homeless families to be housed, if it was at the expense of the banksters, the housing speculators, the profiteering rack-renters, the wealth storing creeps, (ie their people).
What Auckland’s ‘ghost homes’ could do for the housing crisis
There are about 40,000 ‘ghost houses’ in Auckland. Cat MacLennan asks if a tax on these empty homes could help house homeless people and low-income workers.
….According to the 2018 Census, there are approximately 40,000 empty private homes in Auckland. That is 7.3 percent of the total, up from 6.6 percent in the previous Census in 2013. And Auckland is not the only place in Aotearoa with vacant homes at a time when accommodation is expensive and in short supply…
….a significant number are empty simply because the owners are focused on capital gains. This is now an international phenomenon. In England it is called “buy to leave,” in New York it is described as “warehousing,” while in British Columbia it is known as “wealth storing”.
….
Vancouver was the first city in North America to introduce a tax on empty houses. The 1 percent tax was levied on 2538 vacant homes in 2017, but on only 1989 properties in 2018. A 22 percent drop in the number of vacant homes taxed occurred at the same time as the number of properties rented to tenants climbed by 7 percent. There was also a 21 percent leap in the number of condos being rented out in the city.
It is very early days for the tax and there are many reasons for variations in property occupation statistics, but the first results from the levy are encouraging.
…..Heavy lobbying by real estate agents sank such a tax in New York City.
….an empty homes tax might be more effective at providing housing than building more homes, as the key issue was intense competition for desirable properties, rather than a lack of properties.
Interesting. I increasingly think however, that polls should be required to report undecided, and actual levels of support, which gives a more realistic picture to the voting public, rather than pretending that either party commands a valid majority.
The overall general downward trend is what is what is significant.
The P.M. would have to do something dramatic and progressive to reverse that general downward trend, if she wants to stay in office.
In my opinion an empty homes tax would do it.
The PM would have a hell of a battle on her hands to convince her cabinet colleagues.
The struggle over the CGT is instructive. This mildest of tax reform on housing speculation, recommended by the Tax Working Group, was rejected out of hand by the government.
I think we can safely conclude from this failure to achieve even the mildest conservative reform to deter housing speculation, that this government has done all it's going to do on progressive legislation. It's done. That's it. Sayonara
…..The Secretariat of New Zealand’s Tax Working Group in 2018 prepared a paper titled Taxing vacant property. It took a negative view of such taxes, describing them as difficult to enforce, contentious to define and likely to involve high administration and compliance costs.
In short, the document had nothing good to say about empty homes taxes. That is a pity and does not seem borne out by the overseas experience.
The Tax Working Group’s final report released in February 2019 recommended the introduction of a capital gains tax in New Zealand. However, the Government swiftly put the kibosh on this suggestion, making no attempt to sell it to the electorate even though it is obviously an essential tool to rebalance investment away from housing.
It would be very helpful for New Zealand to introduce a tax on empty homes, to create Empty Homes Officer positions in councils, and to encourage the owners of vacant properties to bring them back into use….
It was certainly a bizarre move. When an organization as conservative as the OECD recommends a CGT, you have to wonder how far right Labour have drifted to ignore them.
Land taxes, wealth taxes, inheritance taxes. Let's do a Jubilee every 49 years. Let's make all land leasehold for 99 years. No more private landowners building disgusting little billionaire fiefdoms all over Aotearoa
Seems to me to be a major issue with this narrative. That being that, in extending the bright line test to 10 years and some minor reforms at IRD the govt did implement a CGT. This was also accepted by National, with the caveat that Key was happy with the two year bright line test.
I mean what is the problem with the understanding that if your speculating on housing appreciation that you will pay tax on that activity in NZ?
I remember Mickeysavage alluding to this point in a recent tax post. Maybe some credit should be given for actually following through on a Labour campaign promise. This is probably due even if twitter doesn't really understand that its the same policy with a different name.
Otherwise some reflection seems due on what critical differences exist which make it impossible to acknowledge a policy success. Surely the policy name is not an important part of the policies workings?
Yes agreed. I am also a bit uncomfortable about this poll. It's done by a right wing National party operative (Farrar) for a far right think tank (Taxpayers Union). If Farrar had done it for a reputable client I would be OK with it – because the client would actually care about the methodology and accuracy of reporting, and Farrar would lose the contract if these weren't up to scratch. But the whole purpose of the Taxpayer's Union is propaganda – and we are in an age where polls are increasingly weaponised and used to form opinion, rather than to merely report it.
That said, I have no doubt that it's all very close between the two sides now, and has been for some time – because other polls show something similar.
Some polls are tools for measuring public opinion, other polls are tools for manipulating public opinion. The polls might be sound in their own right, but the timing of release, the reporting, the ‘affiliated’ narrative, et cetera, can change the context considerably. Watch for click bait headlines each time a poll comes out.
If Curia-for-the-Taxpayers-Union were consistently slanted – we'd see this in the results of the polls (see link to the invaluable Wikipedia resource, above), and we don't.
While I'd say that right/left are still too close to call (my default position on poll differences under 5%) – the difference is starting to widen. And, will be giving Labour numbers men (or women) cause for concern.
This polling period did cover the fall-out from the Sharma affair (though I suspect this was more of a beltway issue). But the issues people are claiming influence their voting, are economic ones – rising cost-of-living, etc. Which Labour have little control over, but the government wears the blame for.
The general downward trend in government support has hit the point of intersection. In my opinion reversing the direction of this trend and make it head in the upward direction, or even level off will take some effort. The cost of living crisis is not of the government's making, but more affordable and attainable housing will go some way to address it.
I might suggest taking GST off food and replacing the lost revenue with an FTT, (Robin Hood Tax), as another measure to address the cost of living crisis. The Labour Party once supported removing GST off food in opposition. But in government, removing GST off food is a step way too far for most neoliberals, (even in an unaddressed cost of living crisis that could see them turfed out of office).
P.S. Fancy that, just like Labour when they are out of office, Jim Bolger is out of office, he is all for tax justice.
Former Prime Minister Jim Bolger backs letter calling for tax on rich
Zac Fleming 14/07/2020
Former Prime Minister Jim Bolger is backing calls for taxes on the rich to be raised, saying the wealthy need to help pay for New Zealand's COVID-19 recovery.
"The tax system is totally unbalanced," Bolger says, "and the multibillionaires, and the billionaires, and the millionaires are all not paying their fair share of taxes."….
….The Millionaires for Humanity letter was organised by the United States group The Patriotic Millionaires, and says that while they aren't essential workers with frontline skills, "we do have money, lots of it.
"We ask our governments to raise taxes on people like us. Immediately. Substantially. Permanently," the letter continues…..
I have some difficulty in how a land tax would work. On one income it is already hard enough to pay bills let alone try and save for retirement for two people and the occasional getting kids out of the shit when bad things happen. I already pay an extra $6,000 a year more in tax than two people earning the same amount as me.
Rates, house and contents insurance all continue to rise faster than my income (I'm begrudgingly delaying some maintenance while I save for paint) and yet I think I'm fortunate to at least have a job and a reasonable income – though my middle and single son earns $30,000 a year plus more than I do.
So I'm thinking how do I even start to pay a land tax on my over inflated land value when I'll still be paying my mortgage into my just past mid-60's.
Then I think about all the old people who were fortunate to buy a house in the 70's who only have NZS as an income but whose land values have also risen to ridiculous levels.
My house and land value is a nonsense and certainly doesn't reflect disposable wealth. We bought it and took on its mortgage when young to live in and live in it we still do. From my perspective it is worthless as an asset unless it is sold and its benefits are safety and security and stability. It costs money rather than generates an income.
I'm not convinced of a land tax unless something gives elsewhere like rebates for dependent partners – or exempting the family home that you actually live in.
Agree. The issue with a lot of these tax proposals is they make and carry completely incorrect assumptions of how the economy works around with them.
For example, replacing GST with a FTT. This carries the assumption that the ideal balance of govt payments is what ever the present state is. Thats almost certainly wrong and will definitely fluctuate over time of that policy change. On the other hand just dropping GST is a perfectly reasonable proposal by itself.
On land taxes, the fundamental assumption is that the country is selecting to have too much land sitting idle (under housing) and by taxing land it will change investment to put more land into use. Now, for one thing thats a very simplistic view of the drivers of productive land use, so I doubt this is the key decision point between these two uses. But also there are regular payments due to owning property, called rates. I know what popular opinion is on rates and its typically that councils waste too much money and so rates are too high.
Dont even get me started on Gareth Morgans proposals for a basic income, so that the tax base can be fundamentally reconfigured, so that every asset must be productively invested to avoid tax.
I've oft argued for a turnover tax to spread the tax burden across all businesses so every business pays tax. This would simplify the tax system and allow it to be collected at the transaction time for electronic sales.
Also reduce the ability to transfer costs off-shore and mean that expenses are mainly between shareholders and the business as they make no difference to the tax position.
Couple this with a commitment that a portion of any annual surpluses being returned to business's – say 40% of a surplus when good years occur.
This would also simply business's in that they wouldn't need to do all the vertical integration they do to minimise tax – in fact it would discourage them from doing so. It would also reduce the under-the-table black economy as their would be little point.
South Africa has turnover tax and some of the EU has started putting in turnover tax rates for businesses who operate in their country but do not contribute to the taxation system in that country – again on the basis that they should contribute towards the country they are selling products in.
As things like robotics takes an ever increasing number of jobs the lack of PAYE that robots pay will also start to reduce the tax take. The greatest proportion of tax is paid by workers not businesses. Different models are needed particularly with globalisation.
It isn't about taking more tax it is about spreading the same tax burden across every single business. May will pay less than they do now, others more.
I've yet to hear an answer from the GP on how land-rich, but income-poor people (i.e. elderly who own their own home, but don't have other significant assets) would actually be able to pay this 'wealth tax'.
Over $1 million is 3/4 of the houses in Auckland (well, it may change with the dropping house prices – but the average is still well over $1M). That's a heck of a lot of people potentially affected.
The 'Granny Tax' headlines will have frightened off all of the other political parties.
No different from paying rates then and any other costs, for that matter. There should be a mechanism for asset-rich cash-poor grannies to defer the wealth tax to the estate, so it effectively becomes an estate tax. Wheeling out old mourning grannies makes for good counter propaganda but not for a strong counter argument against Wealth Tax. Bring it on!
So, effectively, then, Estate duty, would be a better/fairer argument.
The argument against ‘Bring it on’ is that the Greens floated this at the last election (may have been in 2017 as well) – and no one else (i.e. Labour – since it doesn’t really matter what ACT/National policies are, since the Greens won’t go into coalition with them) wanted a bar of it.
Given that the Green vote is persistently around 10%, unless they want to declare this as a bottom line in negotiations (which seems against their standard practice, to do) – the chances of the policy going anywhere, seem ….. minor.
Nope, a Wealth Tax primarily, for each individual who has a net wealth of more than one Million dollars. Under exceptional circumstances only, such as demonstrable economic hardship, the tax could be put against the value of the property (with interest), because that’s what we mostly talk about here, and then settled upon sale or death.
I don’t speak for or on behalf of the Green Party, I speak for myself and I think something like a Wealth Tax is a good thing. That said, unlike many others, the Green Party doesn’t drop as many policies or proposals because they are too hard and/or not popular enough, mainly with the middle class that occupies the large political centre – I’d call that integrity – and that’s very likely one of the reasons that they seem to have a base of around 10%. I do hope that next government will be a true MMP coalition, be it what it may.
Replying to your point below (run out of 'reply' function)
And the GP are (demonstrably) not selling it to the electorate as ‘fair’. [my italics]
That’s inaccurate and misleading, but since you made the assertion you need to back it up with evidence although you will have difficulty proving a negative – I can disprove it with one simple positive – the onus is on you.
Curia research poll for the TU showing that 3/4 NZ against. [I know that TS don't like Curia or the TU – and I'll welcome a GP commissioned poll showing something different, however I was unable to find one]
It's clearly a GP platform, but there is no evidence that they are gaining any cut through with the electorate. There is no evidence that increased numbers of Kiwis are being convinced this is the right way to go. The GP remain at (or around) 10% in election polling – this is not shifting their base-line of support upwards.
And, as I said above – given that it's been ruled out by Labour (National and ACT are irrelevant, since the GP won't go into coalition with them) – unless the GP make it a bottom line for negotiations – it's going nowhere.
The Green Party is most definitely and demonstrably advocating for fairer taxes in NZ and their Wealth Tax policy is a major plank (mechanism) of and for that. Whether you and/or others don’t want to buy it as such is a different issue and one that’s more of your own making. AFAIK, the Green Party hasn’t dropped the proposal and are not going to. It is all about increased fairness, for as long as the problem remains, and the policy is a tacit admission that it won’t go away any time soon. So, a Wealth Tax makes eminent sense, at least to me.
The tax on wealth advocated by the Green party seems to apply to wealth over one million dollars (excluding any and all single assets worth <$50,000), so those legions of elderly (retired) individuals living alone in mortgage-free homes worth ~$1,156,000 (the median house price in Auckland in June 2022), and driving a typical NZ car would have to find $156,000 x 0.01 = $1,560 per annum, or about 0.14% of the value of their home.
And who knows – if Auckland house prices continue to fall, they might end up being exempt from any wealth tax before it could be introduced.
If two people are living in the home then they pay nothing until the value of the home and other combined high-value assets exceeds $2,000,000.
Seems simple and very fair to me, as long as some of the tax revenue is invested in getting people out of tents, cars, garages, motels etc. and into their own homes. I’d be happy to pay my share.
Is this a tax on all homes worth more than $1 million?
No. Many people with homes worth more than $1 million would not pay any wealth tax.
The tax would only apply to the portion of an expensive home that someone owns outright and isn’t mortgaged. For example, if someone’s home is worth $1.2 million but there is a mortgage for $700,000 of that, then their net asset is only $500,000 and no tax would apply.
And the tax would apply to individuals: so a $1.2 million home is actually only $600,000 of assets each if it’s split across a couple.
Median isn't very useful in this area – as it includes a heck of a lot of lower value apartments.
Try 1.5 million, which would leave the single occupant (usually Granny) with a 5,000 pa bill. A lot to find off a pension, given that you also have to pay rates, insurance and maintenance.
As I said, the headlines would kill this proposal dead in the water – which is why only the Greens espouse it.
Agree entirely Drowsy that it is "simple and fair". IMHO a WT is the best tool available to alleviate the chronic wealth imbalance we have in NZ.
And Incog's idea to defer the WT to an Estate Tax (with interest applied of course) is a good one. This should only be an option where hardship can be demonstrated.
Try 1.5 million, which would leave the single occupant (usually Granny) with a 5,000 pa bill. A lot to find off a pension, given that you also have to pay rates, insurance and maintenance.
@Belladonna (4:17 pm): With a 1.5 million asset, most Grannies could survive several few decades via a reverse mortgage, which would progressively shrink Granny's wealth tax.
Here's the real problem a wealth tax tackles – is there a better way?
Maybe they could. Though most (I'd guess) would be very unhappy to be in that situation. Most older people have a very strong aversion to reverse-mortgages.
The real problem, that the illustration you're showing represents, is people owning more than one house. Which Granny (in my example) doesn't.
So, effectively, you're taking a chunk of her single meal away, and giving it to people further down the table. That doesn't seem fair to her….
If the CGT (bright line) excludes the family home – then how come the Wealth tax doesn't?
And, a Wealth tax (as proposed by the GP) does absolutely nothing about the buy-do-up-sell, rinse and repeat cycle, which does so much to drive up the housing market.
Though most (I'd guess) would be very unhappy to be in that situation. [Belladonna @9:54 pm]
Depends which side of the table you're sitting on, don't you think? Most of the Grannies you seem concerned about might indeed be "very unhappy" at the prospect of shifting closer to the centre of the table, and resist moving with every fibre of their being – so disappointing.
Guess I'm more concerned about the relatively miserable lot the very large number of Kiwis at the 'wrong' end of the table, and how much happier they might be to suddenly find themselves in "that situation", i.e. owning sufficient personal assets to be affected by a wealth tax.
Why poverty in New Zealand is everyone's concern
Liang describes poverty as a "heritable condition" that perpetuates and amplifies through generations: "It is also not hard to see how individual poverty flows into communities and society, with downstream effects on economics, crime and health, as well as many other systems. Loosen one strand and everything else unravels."
A Kete Half Empty Poverty is your problem, it is everyone's problem, not just those who are in poverty. – Rebecca, a child from Te Puru
The point being that “taking a chunk of her single meal away“, along with a larger chunk of the multiple meals enjoyed by those at the ‘top’ of the table, leaves Granny with much more on her plate than most other Kiwis – and you talk about ‘fairness’?
Its up to the Green Party (and presumably those who support their Wealth Tax provision) to sell it as 'fair' to the rest of NZ.
And, as I pointed out, originally, they've not succeeded in doing so, to date – given the fact that no other political party is willing to countenance the idea.
Granny – living in her house for 50 years – and who hasn't participated in the do-up-and-sell ponzi scheme (fueled by mortgages – so entirely untouched by this tax – how is that 'fair') – is a pretty solid example of people who are 'unfairly' affected by this proposal.
Its up to the Green Party (and presumably those who support their Wealth Tax provision) to sell it as 'fair' to the rest of NZ.
Not seeing how introducing a Wealth Tax would make our current tax system, that funds programmes and public services, less 'fair' overall – perhaps one has to have a neoliberal mindset to see this.
The impact of New Zealand’s macroeconomic
frameworks on living standards [March 2022; PDF]
Available measures appear to indicate that New Zealand’s tax and transfer system redistributes less than the average OECD country and that our level of redistribution has been falling since the late 1980s.
Imho, those who are broadly comfortable with the current distribution of (abundant) wealth in NZ must be wearing fairly expensive rose-tinted glasses if they can't see the harm its doing, i.e. how much less resilient and less sustainable Kiwi society is becoming as a whole.
Granny – living in her house for 50 years – and who hasn’t participated in the do-up-and-sell ponzi scheme (fueled by mortgages – so entirely untouched by this tax – how is that ‘fair’) – is a pretty solid example of people who are ‘unfairly’ affected by this proposal.
And yet the majority of Kiwis can only dream of being “‘unfairly’ affected” in this way. Maybe it comes down to where you’re sitting at the table, and what your prospects are.
So, how about you design a wealth tax scheme targeted at the people who are actively participating in the property Ponzi scheme? The people who are (or were – not sure what they're doing right now with dropping property prices) – actually pushing up the prices, and shutting out first home buyers.
You're still not selling it to me as 'fair'. And the GP are (demonstrably) not selling it to the electorate as 'fair'.
The cry of 'do something' doesn't mean that people will accept 'anything'. And, really, it's not the 'majority' of Kiwis who are affected – Census stats say 65% of households (down from the historic high of 74% in the 80s)- and basically stable between 2013-2018. I'd say it's unlikely to have dropped since then, and may well have risen.
And the GP are (demonstrably) not selling it to the electorate as ‘fair’. [my italics]
That’s inaccurate and misleading, but since you made the assertion you need to back it up with evidence although you will have difficulty proving a negative – I can disprove it with one simple positive – the onus is on you.
It seems much simpler to reverse some of the changes that have bought us to this position than to design something new i.e. bring back stamp duty so tax is paid at the transaction point (increase it even), increase taxes on high incomes and reduce GST, allow rebates for dependent partners, bring back estate duties, increase tax rat eon businesses and trusts – in fact make the trust rate higher. Establish a trust register to show who is entitled to benefit from such trusts and who is actually benefitting (as these aren’t always the same people).
Renationalise electricity and tele-communications – things that give government other income streams other than taxation.
You're still not selling it to me as 'fair'. And the GP are (demonstrably) not selling it to the electorate as 'fair'.
Not trying to 'sell' anything, just saying that the GP Wealth Tax appeals to me as a way of increasing the redistribution of wealth in NZ.
If we agree that a more even distribution the (abundant) wealth in NZ is desirable, then I don't mind what mechanisms (as per DoS’s suggestions @2:06 pm) are used to achieve that goal for a more sustainable and resilient society, as long as any ‘sale’ is substantially free from the taint of self interest.
One thing's for sure – smoke and mirrors aren't very nourishing.
Why poverty in New Zealand is everyone's concern
Liang describes poverty as a "heritable condition" that perpetuates and amplifies through generations: "It is also not hard to see how individual poverty flows into communities and society, with downstream effects on economics, crime and health, as well as many other systems. Loosen one strand and everything else unravels."
A Kete Half Empty Poverty is your problem, it is everyone's problem, not just those who are in poverty. – Rebecca, a child from Te Puru
Given Ardern's very …. cautious … approach to anything controversial – I think the chances of a new tax would be very slender, indeed. Especially as she ruled out a CGT while she was PM.
If NAct gets the nod at the next GE it'll be tax cuts galore – too soon to be sure about ‘directions’ should Labour get over the line. If we only knew now what the global and regional climatic/economic/pandemic conditions will be next year…
Driving around Auckland gives me the impression that the housing crisis is just about over, I see three residential cranes from my window in suburbia, and everywhere I go I see areas of massive development, and those I talk to tell me of the swathes of development in areas I don't go.
I feel the big beat up is just a last chance to make mileage of a situation that will soon disappear. But then again the borders have reopened so I may be wrong.
I've seen what you see. North, South, East and West of Auckland are changing astonishingly with all the houses going up. Go to Christchurch you'll see the same.
Yes, our drive to the supermarket takes us past half a dozen apartment developments on New North Rd, and we come back through Hendon Ave in Owairaka where Kainga Ora is redeveloping whole streets. Add to that the Kiwis who came home in 2020/21 when their overseas consultancy jobs dried up who are now moving out of the dwellings they bought when they returned and are selling or renting those as they return to Lindon or New York.
Now, I'd hope that some of this is the slow-down on building completion caused by the building supplies shortages (certainly some of the sites around us have had quite substantial down periods where no one was working) – and that there will be a rush of completions in the 2nd half of this year.
However, there are also pessimistic forecasts that building activity has already peaked, and is now in decline
So, apart from KO building – which is relatively unaffected by building costs (though would potentially be affected by a change in government) – developers are not committing to new work.
I’d say that the housing crisis is an affordability issue, primarily. Locking in first home buyers into a lifelong debt spiral cycle by assisting them to get on the first rung of the property ladder is sending the wrong message and simply perpetuating the meme that owning property leads to financial wealth and in fact is a sure and best bet to get there. It’s an f-ing Ponzi scheme where the rich get much richer must faster with a lot of (indirect) help from the government. Not to mention the banks, and the whole FIRE industry that benefit from the government largesse.
I agree about the affordability. However, I don't see a solution to this (apart from huge Government building projects – which seem (given the KO budget blowouts) to be off the horizon for now. The biggest part of building cost is land (around half of the value of the home) – and the next biggest is building materials and labour – with the actual developer profit, fairly low down on the list. I don't see any way that the Government can control any of those factors.
I don't think that it's untrue that owning your own home (well, at least once you've paid down a reasonable bit of the mortgage) is a route to financial stability in NZ. Or, to reverse it, not owning your own house is a route to financial insecurity.
What other alternatives (apart from Lotto /sarc/) are there for financial security? Renting is insecure tenure AND you'll be paying off someone else's mortgage, rather than your own. [Even Eaqub has admitted that he was wrong about renting being a better solution– in NZ at least]
Now, if you're talking about buying for capital gain (not that that looks like a viable option in the market ATM) – then I agree that it is indeed a Ponzi scheme (though, perhaps one reaching the end of its life).
And the money the Government has spent on motel rents – giving bloated profits to motel owners with crappy 4th grade buildings – is obscene. It's like the accommodation supplement (aka landord supplement) on steroids.
After three days on a Greyhound bus, Lela Mae Williams was just an hour from her destination—Hyannis, Mass.—when she asked the bus driver to pull over. She needed to change into her finest clothes. She had been promised the Kennedy family would be waiting for her.
It was late on a Wednesday afternoon, nearly 60 years ago, when that Greyhound bus from Little Rock, Ark., pulled into Hyannis. It slowed to a stop near the summer home of President John F. Kennedy and his family. When the doors opened, Lela Mae and her nine youngest children stepped onto the pavement.
[…]
But President Kennedy was not there to meet her. And there was no job or permanent housing waiting for her in Hyannis. Instead, Lela Mae and the others were unwitting pawns in a segregationist game.
"It was one of the most inhuman things I have ever seen," recalled Margaret Moseley, a longtime civil rights activist in Hyannis, in a televised interview a few years before her death.
Fuming over the civil rights movement, Southern segregationists had concocted a way to retaliate against Northern liberals. In 1962, they tricked about 200 African Americans from the South into moving north. The idea was simple: When large numbers of African Americans showed up on Northern doorsteps, Northerners would not be able to accommodate them. They would not want them, and their hypocrisy would be exposed
well, no, it was never wrong to refer to Africans as other than savage if you asked Africans themselves. Likewise, ask lesbians.
If it's just up to individual choice, then words have no meaning. Maybe this is the point now.
(wondering what's going on? Gender ideologists believe and are pushing hard the idea that males who self ID as women are then lesbians. Self ID being based on a male saying they are a woman, and nothing else is required. Understandably lesbians aren't ok with this).
Suspension of Sanity over yet?
When are we allowed to discuss Aotearoa having a new Head of State that does not live here, takes million in cash as back/handers from despots, has appointed an even more corrupt brother his deputy, married a 19yr old for breeding purposes only, a Head of State that no one here elected?
How did we end up with not just a foreign king as HoS and a crock of a human being. This adds insult on top of insult.
Is there any platform in Aotearoa up to having this debate?
Hi,I wanted to check in and ask how you’re doing.This is perhaps a selfish act, of attempting to find others feeling a similar way to me — that is to say, a little hopeless at the moment.Misery loves company, that sort of deal.Some context.I wish I could say I got ...
I have hitherto been fairly quiet on the new season of Rings of Power, on the basis that the underwhelming first season did not exactly build excitement – and the rumours were fairly daft. The only real thing of substance to come out has been that they have re-cast Adar ...
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 ...
“The thing is,” Chris Luxon says, leaning forward to make his point, “this has always been my thing.”“This goes all the way back to the first multinational I worked for. I was saying exactly the same thing back then. The name of our business needs to be more clear; people ...
Buzz from the Beehive It’s been a momentous few days for Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision which blocked a summons order from the Waitangi Tribunal for her. And today she has announced the Government is putting children first by introducing to ...
In 2014 former Australian army lawyer David McBride leaked classified military documents about Australian war crimes to the ABC. Dubbed "The Afghan Files", the documents led to an explosive report on Australian war crimes, the disbanding of an entire SAS unit, and multiple ongoing prosecutions. The journalist who wrote the ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – According to the respected Pew Research Centre, “In seven of eight [European] countries surveyed, the most trusted news outlet asked about is the public news organization in each country”. For example, “in Sweden, an overwhelming majority (90%) say they trust the public broadcaster SVT”. ...
David Farrar writes – Kata MacNamara reports: Details of Tony Blakely’s involvement in the New Zealand Government’s response to the pandemic raise serious questions about the work of the Covid-19 Royal Commission of Inquiry over which he presides. It has long been clear that Blakely, a ...
Chris Trotter writes – Are you a Brahmin or a Merchant? Or, are you merely one of those whose lives are profoundly influenced by the decisions of Brahmins and Merchants? Those are the questions that are currently shaping the politics of New Zealand and the entire West. ...
RNZ reports – It’s supposed to be a haven of healing and spiritual awakening but residents of the Kawai Purapura community say they’ve been hurt and deceived. It’s the successor to the former Centrepoint commune, and has been on the bush block opposite Albany shopping centre since 2008. It ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. Usually we have a video chat to go with this wrap, but were unable to do one this week. We’ll be back next week.Several reports ...
The Transport Minister has set a hard 'fiscal envelope' of $6.54 billion for transport capital spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy is settling into a state of suspended animation as the Government’s funding freezes and job cuts chill confidence and combine with stubbornly high interest rates to ...
To be precise, the term “anti- Zionism” refers to (a) criticism of the political movement that created a modern Jewish state on the historical land of Israel, and to (b)the subjugation of Palestinians by the Israeli state. By contrast, the term “anti-Semitism” means bigotry and racism directed at Jewish people, ...
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Because hurricanes are one of the big-ticket weather disasters that humanity has to face, climate misinformers spend a lot of effort muddying the waters on whether climate change is making hurricanes more damaging. With the official start to the hurricane ...
Yesterday the Mayor released what he calls his “plan to save public transport” which is part of his final proposal for the Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP). This comes following consultation on the draft version that occurred in March which showed, once again, that people want more done on transport, especially ...
And it's a pleasure that I have knownAnd it's a treasure that I have gainedAotearoa’s coalition government is fragile. It’s held together by the obsequious sycophancy of Christopher Luxon, who willingly contorts his party into the fringe positions of his junior coalition partners and is unwilling to contradict them. The ...
The Select Committee hearing submissions on the fast-track consenting legislation is starting to become a beat-up of regional councils. The inflexibility and slow workings of the Councils were prominent in two submissions yesterday. One, from the Coromandel Marine Farmers Association, simply said that the Waikato Regional Council’s planning decisions were ...
Back in April, the High Court surprised everyone by ruling that Ministers are above the law, at least as far as the Waitangi Tribunal is concerned. The reason for this ruling was "comity" - the idea that the different branches of government shouldn't interfere with each other's functions. Which makes ...
Buzz from the BeehiveTolling was mentioned when Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced the government was re-introducing the Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme, with 15 “crucial” projects to support economic growth and regional development across New Zealand. All RoNS would be four-laned, grade-separated highways, and all funding, financing, and ...
or the past 14 years, ever since the Spanish government cheated on an autonomy deal, Catalonia has reliably given pro-independence parties a majority of seats in their regional parliament. But now that seems to be over. Catalans went to the polls yesterday, and stripped the Catalan parties of their majority. ...
David Farrar writes – Radio NZ report: Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins said the Electoral Commission should make sure the system ran smoothly and “taking away the right of thousands of people to vote” was not the answer. “Thousands of people enroled and voted on the day. If ...
Don Brash writes – There was a rather revealing headline in the Herald on Sunday today (12 May). It read “One in 8 Auckland homes on market were bought during boom, may now sell for loss”. The first line of text noted that “New data shows one in ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – At a time when universities are understandably nervous regarding the establishment of the University Advisory Group (UAG) and the Science System Advisory Group (SSAG) it may seem strange – or even fool-hardy – to state that there are long-standing issues in the tertiary sector ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – A lack of perspective can make something quite large or important seem small or irrelevant. Against a backdrop of high-profile, negative statistics it is easy to overlook the positive. For instance, the fact that 64 percent of Maori are employed is rarely reported. For ...
Earlier this year, the Herald ran a series of articles amounting to a sustained campaign against raised pedestrian crossings, by reporter Bernard Orsman. A key part of that campaign concerned the raised crossings being installed as part of the Pt Chevalier to Westmere project, with at least 10 articles over ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 19 include:PM Christopher Luxon is expected to hold his weekly post-cabinet news conference at 4:00pm on Monday.Parliament is not sitting this week. It resumes next week for a two-week sitting session up to and ...
Hi,Thanks to all the beautiful Worms who came to the LA Webworm popup on Saturday.It was a way to celebrate the online store we launched last week — and it was super special.As I talk about a lot, I really value our community here — and it was a BLAST ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 5, 2024 thru Sat, May 11, 2024. (Unfortunate) Story of the week "Grief that stops at despair is an ending that I and many others, most notably ...
Last night the largest solar storm in decades resulted in Aurorae being seen across Aotearoa, causing many to ask why?Why was the sky pink? What was all this stuff about the power grid? Have we, as so many have wondered since the election, reached the end of days?I had a ...
We have been on the road in England, squeezing down narrow lanes, flying up the M6, loving hedgerows and villages and cathedrals, liking the 21st century less.There have been moments when it’s felt like a movie trope. The pub in Exford, lovely seventeenth century bar, almost more dogs than people, ...
There’s a solar-storm on at the moment, and since the South Island is having a day and night with clear skies, that means Aurorae. I have just got back from a midnight visit to Tunnel Beach – southwards-looking over the Sea, and without the light pollution. Quite a few others ...
Michael Bassett writes – I’m not sure that it’s much comfort to anyone to know that the post-Covid surge in violent crimes, gang activity, ram raids, random shootings, thuggery and stabbings is occurring in other countries as well as New Zealand. These days, wagging school, out-of-control welfare and ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – Cast your mind back to mid-December. A new Prime Minister had just been sworn in, the new Government started its 100-day programme, and Christmas was only days away.Amid all the haste, a report landed that would have deserved our attention.I am talking about the ...
TL;DR: An unseasonally early icy blast at the same time as some long-overdue maintenance almost caused Aotearoa-NZ’s electricity system to black out this week. That’s because a quadropoly of gentailers1 have prioritised paying dividends from their rising profits and adding debt over investing in 1.5 GigaWatts of new wind farms ...
Hi,Before we crack into today’s Webworm, I wanted to acknowledge the fact that Israel is pushing into Rafah. Over 100,000 Palestinians are now attempting to flee the one place that was deemed “safe”.Trouble is, the place they’re fleeing to is already destroyed. Total annihilation is the end goal here.“Israel is ...
‘It has been said that figures rule the world. Maybe. I am quite sure that it is figures which show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.’ GoetheI was struck at a recent conference on equity for the elderly, how many presenters implicitly relied upon Statistics New Zealand. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveReporting on defence spending late last year, RNZ said the coalition government will have to make some tough calls this term to help the force address staff shortages and ageing infrastructure. “These are huge, huge amounts of government spending. It’s a significant proportion of the government’s ...
Peter Dunne writes – I am always wary when I hear that the Controller and Auditor-General has commented on or made recommendations to the government about an issue of public policy that does not relate strictly to public expenditure. According to the legislation, the role of the Controller ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought NZ to the brink of economic and cultural chaos Chris Trotter writes – TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition ...
And why did the Crown not challenge the Tribunal’s jurisdiction? Gary Judd writes – Retired District Court Judge, David Harvey, has posted on his A Halflings View Substack an excellent summary of Justice Isacs’ judgment declining to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result?As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and ...
Macklemore isn’t someone I’d usually think about. Sure I liked his big hit from a few years back, everybody did it was catchy and cool with some memorable lines. But if I was going to think of artists who might speak out on political matters or world events, he wouldn’t ...
Another week goes by in the Luxon government’s efforts to roll back the past 70 years of social progress. The school lunches programme is to be downgraded by $107 million, and women need bother their heads no longer about pay equity, let alone expect ACC to provide adequate sexual violence ...
Brrr, the first cold snap of the year. Hope you’re rugged up nice and warm. Here are some stories that caught our eye this week… This Week on Greater Auckland On Monday, we had a post from a new contributor, Connor Sharp, who dug into the public feedback ...
Almost all of the Wellington City Council’s recommended zoning changes to allow many more apartments and townhouses in its inner-suburbs have been approved.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guest on geopolitics, ...
Open access notablesA Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future:Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
Thus far May has followed on from a quiet April in the blogging department, but in fairness, it has been another case of doing what I am supposed to be doing, namely writing original fiction. Plus reading. So don’t worry – I have been productive. But in order to reassure ...
Buzz from the Beehive A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency. As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “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 look at who is funding them. The ...
Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
In December 2006, Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in a coup. He ruled Fiji for the next 16 years, first as dictator, then as "elected" Prime Minister. But now, he's finally been sent to jail where he belongs. Sadly, this isn't for his real crime of ...
Don't like National's corrupt Muldoonist "fast-track" law? Aotearoa's environmental NGO's - Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, WWF, Coromandel Watchdog, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, and others - have announced a joint march against it in Auckland in June: When: 13:00, 8 June, 2024 Where: Aotea Square, Auckland You ...
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 ...
The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
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 ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
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 ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“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 look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Today’s justification from the Minister for Children for scrapping protections for our tamariki was either a case of ignorance or deliberate deception. ...
The Green Party says the Government’s misguided policy on gangs will fail, following the announcement of the establishment of a national gang unit and district gang disruption units to target gang activities. ...
“With Police pay negotiations still unresolved after six months in Government, Mark Mitchell has today rolled the Commissioner out for a rebrand of their approach to gang crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Te Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
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 ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners. “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
“The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, other Members of Parliament Acting Chief of Defence Force, Secretary of Defence Distinguished Guests Defence and Diplomatic Colleagues Ladies and Gentlemen, Good afternoon, tēna koutou, apinun tru It’s a pleasure to be back in Port Moresby today, and to speak here at the Kumul Leadership ...
Health, infrastructure, renewable energy, and stability are among the themes of the current visit to Papua New Guinea by a New Zealand political delegation, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Papua New Guinea carries serious weight in the Pacific, and New Zealand deeply values our relationship with it,” Mr Peters ...
The coalition Government is launching Roads of Regional Significance to sit alongside Roads of National Significance as part of its plan to deliver priority roading projects across the country, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The Roads of National Significance (RoNS) built by the previous National Government are some of New Zealand’s ...
A high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office. “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
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. ...
What happens when cash is king – and then your bank leaves. A businessman in a town that hasn’t had a bank for three years says the Reserve Bank’s plans to put more cash in the hands of its people and introduce digital cash could save hours of time. John ...
The people have spoken, in their hundreds. Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton has been overwhelmingly voted the favourite New Zealand book of 2023 as nominated by ReadingRoom readers. The vote can informally be regarded as the People’s Choice award – ahead of tonight’s Ockham book awards, where Catton’s novel is competing ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matt Garrow, Editorial Web Developer The government has handed down its budget for 2024–25. It’s delivered a $9.3 billion surplus for the financial year just about to finish but is forecasting a $28.3 billion deficit for next year. Here’s the key points: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Jim Chalmers has produced a benign third budget aimed at soothing hard-pressed voters agitated about their high cost of living and punishing interest rates. At the same time he has walked a tightrope, trying ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND A $300 energy rebate for all households from July 1 and a 10% increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance are key measures in a budget targeting cost-of-living relief that put ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra Treasurer Jim Chalmers promised an “inflation-fighting and future-making budget” and he has delivered by introducing measures aimed at directly bringing down inflation. Combined, his A$300-per-household energy rebate and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra Treasurer Jim Chalmers promised an “inflation-fighting and future-making budget” and he has delivered by introducing measures aimed at directly bringing down inflation. Combined, his A$300-per-household energy rebate and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Bartos, Professor of Economics, University of Canberra Treasurer Jim Chalmers has been bitten by the giveaway bug. This budget contains not only the well-foreshadowed tax cuts for all taxpayers, but a range of new spending measures in health, education, infrastructure, aged ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Greste, Professor of Journalism and Communications, Macquarie University Governments and their agencies wield awesome power. At times, it is quite literally the power over life and death. That is why in any functioning democracy, we have robust checks and balances designed ...
As the world commemorates the 71st Everest Day, it's not just a celebration of human achievement but also a reflection of the enduring bond between New Zealand and Nepal. This day marks the historic feat of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa ...
Individuals in Wellington, led by City Councillor Nīkau Wi Neera, are working to use the ‘hecklers veto’ to shut down Inflection Point , a gender-critical event to be held at a Te Papa venue this weekend featuring speakers such as Bob McCoskrie ...
The transgender community, whānau & allies will rally outside Tākina/Wellington Convention Centre against anti-trans confederation “Inflection Point NZ,” who are hosting a conference to encourage parliamentarians to restrict trans people’s ...
A strategic asset for Auckland that has been fought over for years as either sacrosanct or a sacred cow looks certain to be sold and the proceeds of around $1.3 billion put in a new investment fund. A year after bitter political struggle ended in a compromise in which Auckland ...
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Lotto : more Harm..than good. RNZ and Guyon Espiner.
"NZ's Luckiest lotto stores" ? Fabricated..if not an outright LIE !
Good work, Guyon and RNZ . I hope Jan Tinetti as Minister…investigates this insidious, well advertised/promoted everywhere, harmful to the target communities, ..as much as Guyon has.
There are more in this series Links on RNZ
Incl 9 year olds !
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/474574/government-under-pressure-to-change-law-as-9-year-olds-buy-lotto-tickets
Any promotion of any aspect of institutional gambling; Lotto, Instant Kiwi, TAB, should be made illegal.
Additionally, all pokies should be shut down. The revenue they raise for the community is far outweighed by the harm they cause.
Aye. lotto has become some kind of "acceptable" monster….
These will be just the visible. Harmful …but extremely well promoted . Definitely a conflict of interests here in NZ
And absolutely re pokies! Always touted as of great benefit to their communities….the reality is they suck all benefit…out, and into the pokie owners bank.
I am heartened to see change from some NZ Councils…who can see the harm. Waitaki an example…apart from right wing "humourist" ol' Jim Hopkins.
Are we to question the social harm of casinos as well while we're at it?
Go for it ….
John Ralston Saul said it such a long time ago (Doubter's Companion, 1995).
Oh thanks for that ! Have to say that the Standard and Standardistas (first time user: ) does raise the bar…as to previously unknown (well to me anyway ! ) Authors,Scientists, Economists,Historians,etc; etc;
Great stuff : )
His work is known for being thought-provoking and ahead of its time, leading him to be called a “prophet” by Time[3] and to be included in Utne Reader’s list of the world’s leading thinkers and visionaries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ralston_Saul
Oh Roger Federer.
The most elegant player we've ever seen.
Hope you go out on a high.
Out of the three greatest (IMO) Federer has always been my favourite. I think Nadal is probably statistically the best as he's won the most grand slams. I think Djokovic will eventually become the 'greatest' or most grand slam winner as long as he remains injury free.
Alcarez may get too strong b4 djocj can overtake Rafa. BTW alcarez is coached by rafas uncle Tony
A tennis great indeed, but I have always found Nadal to be a nicer guy. Federer is a bit too much into himself for me.
Djokovic is an anti-vax wanker of course.
Of course!
'But, but, but don't you know who I am?', as well? & Mountains and mere public health whims of multiple Govts must be moved for me
My partner's aunt in Staffs is keen on Andy Murray and she would want me to throw his name in somewhere.
Of course he's a wanker. He's standing up for bodily autonomy and basic human rights that many on the left were fine with trampling all over.
I'm sure you are right…..NOT!
A little over wrought I would say. I mean having a choice about vaccinations and mask wearing for the good of society and oneself are really shameful breaches of basic human rights.
/sarc.
We’ve been told not to upset those who are in the 10 week mourning period for the late monarch. So I’ll focus on some interesting facts.
I haven’t had a pint since the Elizabethan Period.
Brian Tamaki was in Hotel Bonaparte in Paris during Elizabethan times.
Matthew Hooton hasn’t rolled a National Party leader since the Elizabethan age.
How am I doing? Anyone else with interesting facts?
60 days seems to be the vital period in America for walking on eggshells.
"The Department of Justice may now hold off making any decision on whether to criminally charge Donald Trump until after the midterms in order to abide by the so-called "60 day rule."
While the 60 day rule is not official legislation, there is a long running tradition that the Department of Justice will avoid making any decisions that could affect how people vote so close to an upcoming election or elections."
The DOJ prioritises not wanting to affect how people might vote instead of prioritising not wanting to deal with people who commit crimes.
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-unlikely-charged-crime-midterms-60-day-ruledoj-1741535
Not something James Comey cared about in 2016.
Very true.
Pablo always an interesting read. You can see elements of what is happening in the US being attempted here.
https://www.kiwipolitico.com/2022/09/democratic-compromise-as-the-mutual-second-best/
”That is what has been lost in the US: the acceptance that democracy rests on a contingent economic and political compromise between the electorate and elites. Workers agree to accept capitalism in exchange for better wages, job security and living conditions, including educational opportunity and access to affordable housing, drinking water, transportation, power and the like. Elites agree to use a percentage of their pre-tax profits an/or increased corporate and individual taxation to provide the mass of wage-earners with the material conditions required for social peace. Regardless of partisan identity, governments mediate interests and administer the broad terms of the bargain.
That is a central feature. What brings this all together as a workable outcome over time is a regularly refreshed political bargain between agents of elites and workers in all of their guises–lobbies, unions, parties, non-profits, community organisations etc. They all have their specific interests that make for differences in priority and approaches to pursuing them. But they have a larger common interest in seeing the system work because it is the best guarantee that everyone comes away with something now and in the future. All political actors understand this and governments act accordingly.”
Viv Beck pulls out of the mayoral race:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/474881/auckland-mayoralty-viv-beck-pulls-out-from-race
So, down to brown vs. Brown then?
Now it's a two horse race.
One of the worst campaigns in recent political history.
Beck started out as a front-runner, a "moderate" Nat, apparently more reasonable than the Leo Molloy clown show. Then the curse of Jordan Williams struck, and she put out nasty social media posts and destroyed her own chances. She got what she deserved.
OMG the papers are printed and go into the mail today. It's too late.
Auckland mayoralty: Viv Beck withdraws from campaign with 'heavy heart' – NZ Herald
What a comprehensive meltdown for C&R.
$$millions down the drain, right on the eve of the actual voting.
Thousands of voters will put their vote beside her dutifully since they are loyal to C&R, and they will be disenfranchised because of this stupidity.
The right-leaning citizens should not hold back on this.
She will have come under massive pressure from the rich old white men in the "smoke filled rooms".
They have probably reimbursed her election expenses and lined her up for a plum job somewhere.
I'd expect she'd go straight back to her actual job as CE of Heart of the City.
This is funded by CBD businesses and Auckland Council.
Next time you're told that we need that right wing business competence because the left couldn't run a bath, remember this:
Viv Beck has withdrawn from the mayoral race in Auckland only after the ballot papers are printed and sent out, and after the hoardings have gone up.
Vote Viv!
There are Molloy advertisements still up.
I encourage adding Malloy in as a write in candidate at this stage.
The objectives of a business are narrow, comparatively simple and self-interested. Government is the opposite. Its responsibilities are wide, horribly complicated and involve service to the common good. Business is therefore terrible preparation for government – other than the habits of diligence, sociability and problem-solving that it can foster.
In any case, it's clear that the instruction has gone out and Beck has done as required. Collins will need decent turnout I fear – and Brown has the grumpy old white man who knows all the answers and the problem is that no-one is listening to him because they are all so woke vote all sewn up.
I mean, this is just absurdly funny … and she wanted to run a city?
Auckland Council have confirmed Viv Beck can’t technically pull out of the race at this stage. Any votes she receives will be counted and if she wins, she’d have to resign or take office.
https://twitter.com/katieabradford/status/1570548287689883649
It’s a toss up between a clusterfuck and a fucking shambles …
Oh, c'mon Incognito, be fair, Just BAU.
Posted from the antipodean far reaches of ChCh, And giggling!
Latest polling shows National and Act overtaking the Greens and Labour.
As we approach the dying days of the Ardern administration.
If the Prime Minister wanted to get a lift in the polls and see her administration last beyond the next election, all she has to do, is end the housing crisis.
She could do this easily and immediately, without any cost to the tax payers..
Ending the housing crisis would be the easy part, convincing her fellow cabinet Ministers to want to, would be the hard part.
As Chris Trotter so aptly put it, the neo-liberal fanatics in Labour would rather keep their control of the losing side than, than lose their control of the winning side. Neoliberals would die in a ditch before allowing our homeless families to be housed, if it was at the expense of the banksters, the housing speculators, the profiteering rack-renters, the wealth storing creeps, (ie their people).
Oh really !..And I dont think Mr Trotter would know apt from ass…even if he had to sing it. Perish that….
Interesting. I increasingly think however, that polls should be required to report undecided, and actual levels of support, which gives a more realistic picture to the voting public, rather than pretending that either party commands a valid majority.
The overall general downward trend is what is what is significant.
The P.M. would have to do something dramatic and progressive to reverse that general downward trend, if she wants to stay in office.
In my opinion an empty homes tax would do it.
The PM would have a hell of a battle on her hands to convince her cabinet colleagues.
The struggle over the CGT is instructive. This mildest of tax reform on housing speculation, recommended by the Tax Working Group, was rejected out of hand by the government.
I think we can safely conclude from this failure to achieve even the mildest conservative reform to deter housing speculation, that this government has done all it's going to do on progressive legislation. It's done. That's it. Sayonara
Cat MacLennan
What Auckland’s ‘ghost homes’ could do for the housing crisis
Cat MacLennan is a barrister, journalist, and media commentator.
It was certainly a bizarre move. When an organization as conservative as the OECD recommends a CGT, you have to wonder how far right Labour have drifted to ignore them.
Land taxes, wealth taxes, inheritance taxes. Let's do a Jubilee every 49 years. Let's make all land leasehold for 99 years. No more private landowners building disgusting little billionaire fiefdoms all over Aotearoa
The P.M. would have to do something dramatic and progressive to reverse that general downward trend, if she wants to stay in office.
I know. She could come out and say that climate change is her generation's nuclear-free moment.
Oh wait …
(She could still show how the government was going to lead us – including farmers – to do something meaningful about it).
Seems to me to be a major issue with this narrative. That being that, in extending the bright line test to 10 years and some minor reforms at IRD the govt did implement a CGT. This was also accepted by National, with the caveat that Key was happy with the two year bright line test.
I mean what is the problem with the understanding that if your speculating on housing appreciation that you will pay tax on that activity in NZ?
I remember Mickeysavage alluding to this point in a recent tax post. Maybe some credit should be given for actually following through on a Labour campaign promise. This is probably due even if twitter doesn't really understand that its the same policy with a different name.
Otherwise some reflection seems due on what critical differences exist which make it impossible to acknowledge a policy success. Surely the policy name is not an important part of the policies workings?
Yes agreed. I am also a bit uncomfortable about this poll. It's done by a right wing National party operative (Farrar) for a far right think tank (Taxpayers Union). If Farrar had done it for a reputable client I would be OK with it – because the client would actually care about the methodology and accuracy of reporting, and Farrar would lose the contract if these weren't up to scratch. But the whole purpose of the Taxpayer's Union is propaganda – and we are in an age where polls are increasingly weaponised and used to form opinion, rather than to merely report it.
That said, I have no doubt that it's all very close between the two sides now, and has been for some time – because other polls show something similar.
Some polls are tools for measuring public opinion, other polls are tools for manipulating public opinion. The polls might be sound in their own right, but the timing of release, the reporting, the ‘affiliated’ narrative, et cetera, can change the context considerably. Watch for click bait headlines each time a poll comes out.
Well said AB 1OO %
Talbot Mills has also come out with much the same figures over much the same period (2 days earlier)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_New_Zealand_general_election#Nationwide_polling
They have Labour slightly higher than Curia does – though both have National ahead.
Talbot Mills polls for the Labour Party
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/latest-political-poll-points-to-tight-race-for-national-and-labour-with-right-and-left-blocs-even/4DB2VOP7W4XVSRWGRZ2N7KZP4U/
If Curia-for-the-Taxpayers-Union were consistently slanted – we'd see this in the results of the polls (see link to the invaluable Wikipedia resource, above), and we don't.
While I'd say that right/left are still too close to call (my default position on poll differences under 5%) – the difference is starting to widen. And, will be giving Labour numbers men (or women) cause for concern.
This polling period did cover the fall-out from the Sharma affair (though I suspect this was more of a beltway issue). But the issues people are claiming influence their voting, are economic ones – rising cost-of-living, etc. Which Labour have little control over, but the government wears the blame for.
Nats/ACT 49
Lab/Gr/MP 44.5
Hardly definitive when the government is suffering from a Cost of Living crisis not of its own making. 14 months is a long time in politics.
The general downward trend in government support has hit the point of intersection. In my opinion reversing the direction of this trend and make it head in the upward direction, or even level off will take some effort. The cost of living crisis is not of the government's making, but more affordable and attainable housing will go some way to address it.
I might suggest taking GST off food and replacing the lost revenue with an FTT, (Robin Hood Tax), as another measure to address the cost of living crisis. The Labour Party once supported removing GST off food in opposition. But in government, removing GST off food is a step way too far for most neoliberals, (even in an unaddressed cost of living crisis that could see them turfed out of office).
P.S. Fancy that, just like Labour when they are out of office, Jim Bolger is out of office, he is all for tax justice.
As I have said many times on TS, a Wealth Tax is what is desperately needed to reduce inequality….only the Green Party supports this.
Even Piketty has backed away from wealth taxes because France tried one and failed. Land tax would work though.
I have some difficulty in how a land tax would work. On one income it is already hard enough to pay bills let alone try and save for retirement for two people and the occasional getting kids out of the shit when bad things happen. I already pay an extra $6,000 a year more in tax than two people earning the same amount as me.
Rates, house and contents insurance all continue to rise faster than my income (I'm begrudgingly delaying some maintenance while I save for paint) and yet I think I'm fortunate to at least have a job and a reasonable income – though my middle and single son earns $30,000 a year plus more than I do.
So I'm thinking how do I even start to pay a land tax on my over inflated land value when I'll still be paying my mortgage into my just past mid-60's.
Then I think about all the old people who were fortunate to buy a house in the 70's who only have NZS as an income but whose land values have also risen to ridiculous levels.
My house and land value is a nonsense and certainly doesn't reflect disposable wealth. We bought it and took on its mortgage when young to live in and live in it we still do. From my perspective it is worthless as an asset unless it is sold and its benefits are safety and security and stability. It costs money rather than generates an income.
I'm not convinced of a land tax unless something gives elsewhere like rebates for dependent partners – or exempting the family home that you actually live in.
Agree. The issue with a lot of these tax proposals is they make and carry completely incorrect assumptions of how the economy works around with them.
For example, replacing GST with a FTT. This carries the assumption that the ideal balance of govt payments is what ever the present state is. Thats almost certainly wrong and will definitely fluctuate over time of that policy change. On the other hand just dropping GST is a perfectly reasonable proposal by itself.
On land taxes, the fundamental assumption is that the country is selecting to have too much land sitting idle (under housing) and by taxing land it will change investment to put more land into use. Now, for one thing thats a very simplistic view of the drivers of productive land use, so I doubt this is the key decision point between these two uses. But also there are regular payments due to owning property, called rates. I know what popular opinion is on rates and its typically that councils waste too much money and so rates are too high.
Dont even get me started on Gareth Morgans proposals for a basic income, so that the tax base can be fundamentally reconfigured, so that every asset must be productively invested to avoid tax.
I've oft argued for a turnover tax to spread the tax burden across all businesses so every business pays tax. This would simplify the tax system and allow it to be collected at the transaction time for electronic sales.
Also reduce the ability to transfer costs off-shore and mean that expenses are mainly between shareholders and the business as they make no difference to the tax position.
Couple this with a commitment that a portion of any annual surpluses being returned to business's – say 40% of a surplus when good years occur.
This would also simply business's in that they wouldn't need to do all the vertical integration they do to minimise tax – in fact it would discourage them from doing so. It would also reduce the under-the-table black economy as their would be little point.
South Africa has turnover tax and some of the EU has started putting in turnover tax rates for businesses who operate in their country but do not contribute to the taxation system in that country – again on the basis that they should contribute towards the country they are selling products in.
As things like robotics takes an ever increasing number of jobs the lack of PAYE that robots pay will also start to reduce the tax take. The greatest proportion of tax is paid by workers not businesses. Different models are needed particularly with globalisation.
It isn't about taking more tax it is about spreading the same tax burden across every single business. May will pay less than they do now, others more.
Read the Green's last manifesto to see how a Wealth Tax would work. It spells it out very clearly.
I've yet to hear an answer from the GP on how land-rich, but income-poor people (i.e. elderly who own their own home, but don't have other significant assets) would actually be able to pay this 'wealth tax'.
Over $1 million is 3/4 of the houses in Auckland (well, it may change with the dropping house prices – but the average is still well over $1M). That's a heck of a lot of people potentially affected.
The 'Granny Tax' headlines will have frightened off all of the other political parties.
You do know it is one mill per person, yes?
Yes, I do. Grandpa dies (typically first), and Granny is left with the wealth tax.
No different from paying rates then and any other costs, for that matter. There should be a mechanism for asset-rich cash-poor grannies to defer the wealth tax to the estate, so it effectively becomes an estate tax. Wheeling out old mourning grannies makes for good counter propaganda but not for a strong counter argument against Wealth Tax. Bring it on!
So, effectively, then, Estate duty, would be a better/fairer argument.
The argument against ‘Bring it on’ is that the Greens floated this at the last election (may have been in 2017 as well) – and no one else (i.e. Labour – since it doesn’t really matter what ACT/National policies are, since the Greens won’t go into coalition with them) wanted a bar of it.
Given that the Green vote is persistently around 10%, unless they want to declare this as a bottom line in negotiations (which seems against their standard practice, to do) – the chances of the policy going anywhere, seem ….. minor.
Nope, a Wealth Tax primarily, for each individual who has a net wealth of more than one Million dollars. Under exceptional circumstances only, such as demonstrable economic hardship, the tax could be put against the value of the property (with interest), because that’s what we mostly talk about here, and then settled upon sale or death.
I don’t speak for or on behalf of the Green Party, I speak for myself and I think something like a Wealth Tax is a good thing. That said, unlike many others, the Green Party doesn’t drop as many policies or proposals because they are too hard and/or not popular enough, mainly with the middle class that occupies the large political centre – I’d call that integrity – and that’s very likely one of the reasons that they seem to have a base of around 10%. I do hope that next government will be a true MMP coalition, be it what it may.
Replying to your point below (run out of 'reply' function)
No support from Labour
https://www.interest.co.nz/news/105763/green-partys-wealth-tax-sees-jacinda-ardern-distance-herself-policy-and-national-lump
Review of the wealth tax (op ed piece) – basically saying 'no' it's not the best form of tax
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2020/08/10/should-aotearoa-have-a-wealth-tax-.html
Poverty advocate against the wealth tax
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/10/nz-election-2020-why-a-poverty-advocate-is-against-the-green-party-s-proposed-wealth-tax.html
Curia research poll for the TU showing that 3/4 NZ against. [I know that TS don't like Curia or the TU – and I'll welcome a GP commissioned poll showing something different, however I was unable to find one]
https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/asset_tax_polling
It's clearly a GP platform, but there is no evidence that they are gaining any cut through with the electorate. There is no evidence that increased numbers of Kiwis are being convinced this is the right way to go. The GP remain at (or around) 10% in election polling – this is not shifting their base-line of support upwards.
And, as I said above – given that it's been ruled out by Labour (National and ACT are irrelevant, since the GP won't go into coalition with them) – unless the GP make it a bottom line for negotiations – it's going nowhere.
The Green Party is most definitely and demonstrably advocating for fairer taxes in NZ and their Wealth Tax policy is a major plank (mechanism) of and for that. Whether you and/or others don’t want to buy it as such is a different issue and one that’s more of your own making. AFAIK, the Green Party hasn’t dropped the proposal and are not going to. It is all about increased fairness, for as long as the problem remains, and the policy is a tacit admission that it won’t go away any time soon. So, a Wealth Tax makes eminent sense, at least to me.
https://www.greens.org.nz/progressive_tax_reform
The tax on wealth advocated by the Green party seems to apply to wealth over one million dollars (excluding any and all single assets worth <$50,000), so those legions of elderly (retired) individuals living alone in mortgage-free homes worth ~$1,156,000 (the median house price in Auckland in June 2022), and driving a typical NZ car would have to find $156,000 x 0.01 = $1,560 per annum, or about 0.14% of the value of their home.
And who knows – if Auckland house prices continue to fall, they might end up being exempt from any wealth tax before it could be introduced.
If two people are living in the home then they pay nothing until the value of the home and other combined high-value assets exceeds $2,000,000.
Seems simple and very fair to me, as long as some of the tax revenue is invested in getting people out of tents, cars, garages, motels etc. and into their own homes. I’d be happy to pay my share.
Median isn't very useful in this area – as it includes a heck of a lot of lower value apartments.
Try 1.5 million, which would leave the single occupant (usually Granny) with a 5,000 pa bill. A lot to find off a pension, given that you also have to pay rates, insurance and maintenance.
As I said, the headlines would kill this proposal dead in the water – which is why only the Greens espouse it.
Agree entirely Drowsy that it is "simple and fair". IMHO a WT is the best tool available to alleviate the chronic wealth imbalance we have in NZ.
And Incog's idea to defer the WT to an Estate Tax (with interest applied of course) is a good one. This should only be an option where hardship can be demonstrated.
@Belladonna (4:17 pm): With a 1.5 million asset, most Grannies could survive several few decades via a reverse mortgage, which would progressively shrink Granny's wealth tax.
Here's the real problem a wealth tax tackles – is there a better way?
Maybe they could. Though most (I'd guess) would be very unhappy to be in that situation. Most older people have a very strong aversion to reverse-mortgages.
The real problem, that the illustration you're showing represents, is people owning more than one house. Which Granny (in my example) doesn't.
So, effectively, you're taking a chunk of her single meal away, and giving it to people further down the table. That doesn't seem fair to her….
If the CGT (bright line) excludes the family home – then how come the Wealth tax doesn't?
And, a Wealth tax (as proposed by the GP) does absolutely nothing about the buy-do-up-sell, rinse and repeat cycle, which does so much to drive up the housing market.
Depends which side of the table you're sitting on, don't you think? Most of the Grannies you seem concerned about might indeed be "very unhappy" at the prospect of shifting closer to the centre of the table, and resist moving with every fibre of their being – so disappointing.
Guess I'm more concerned about the relatively miserable lot the very large number of Kiwis at the 'wrong' end of the table, and how much happier they might be to suddenly find themselves in "that situation", i.e. owning sufficient personal assets to be affected by a wealth tax.
The point being that “taking a chunk of her single meal away“, along with a larger chunk of the multiple meals enjoyed by those at the ‘top’ of the table, leaves Granny with much more on her plate than most other Kiwis – and you talk about ‘fairness’?
'Fairness' is in the eye of the beholder.
Its up to the Green Party (and presumably those who support their Wealth Tax provision) to sell it as 'fair' to the rest of NZ.
And, as I pointed out, originally, they've not succeeded in doing so, to date – given the fact that no other political party is willing to countenance the idea.
Granny – living in her house for 50 years – and who hasn't participated in the do-up-and-sell ponzi scheme (fueled by mortgages – so entirely untouched by this tax – how is that 'fair') – is a pretty solid example of people who are 'unfairly' affected by this proposal.
Not seeing how introducing a Wealth Tax would make our current tax system, that funds programmes and public services, less 'fair' overall – perhaps one has to have a neoliberal mindset to see this.
Imho, those who are broadly comfortable with the current distribution of (abundant) wealth in NZ must be wearing fairly expensive rose-tinted glasses if they can't see the harm its doing, i.e. how much less resilient and less sustainable Kiwi society is becoming as a whole.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/16-08-2022/the-side-eyes-two-new-zealands-the-table
And yet the majority of Kiwis can only dream of being “‘unfairly’ affected” in this way. Maybe it comes down to where you’re sitting at the table, and what your prospects are.
So, how about you design a wealth tax scheme targeted at the people who are actively participating in the property Ponzi scheme? The people who are (or were – not sure what they're doing right now with dropping property prices) – actually pushing up the prices, and shutting out first home buyers.
You're still not selling it to me as 'fair'. And the GP are (demonstrably) not selling it to the electorate as 'fair'.
The cry of 'do something' doesn't mean that people will accept 'anything'. And, really, it's not the 'majority' of Kiwis who are affected – Census stats say 65% of households (down from the historic high of 74% in the 80s)- and basically stable between 2013-2018. I'd say it's unlikely to have dropped since then, and may well have risen.
https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/homeownership-rate-lowest-in-almost-70-years
That’s inaccurate and misleading, but since you made the assertion you need to back it up with evidence although you will have difficulty proving a negative – I can disprove it with one simple positive – the onus is on you.
It seems much simpler to reverse some of the changes that have bought us to this position than to design something new i.e. bring back stamp duty so tax is paid at the transaction point (increase it even), increase taxes on high incomes and reduce GST, allow rebates for dependent partners, bring back estate duties, increase tax rat eon businesses and trusts – in fact make the trust rate higher. Establish a trust register to show who is entitled to benefit from such trusts and who is actually benefitting (as these aren’t always the same people).
Renationalise electricity and tele-communications – things that give government other income streams other than taxation.
Not trying to 'sell' anything, just saying that the GP Wealth Tax appeals to me as a way of increasing the redistribution of wealth in NZ.
If we agree that a more even distribution the (abundant) wealth in NZ is desirable, then I don't mind what mechanisms (as per DoS’s suggestions @2:06 pm) are used to achieve that goal for a more sustainable and resilient society, as long as any ‘sale’ is substantially free from the taint of self interest.
One thing's for sure – smoke and mirrors aren't very nourishing.
Given Ardern's very …. cautious … approach to anything controversial – I think the chances of a new tax would be very slender, indeed. Especially as she ruled out a CGT while she was PM.
The 10 year "bright line test" for residential property purchased after March 2021, is a partial CGT that was brought in by Jacinda and friends.
However, she's claimed, repeatedly, that it's not a new tax – simply a readjustment of the qualifying period of an existing one.
BTW I forgot to say that I support the 10 year BLT.
Key ruled out an increase in GST during the 2008 election campaign, but tax cuts for the wealthy from 2009 onward were always going to cost more than the revenue generated by transfering public assets to private hands.
If NAct gets the nod at the next GE it'll be tax cuts galore – too soon to be sure about ‘directions’ should Labour get over the line. If we only knew now what the global and regional climatic/economic/pandemic conditions will be next year…
Yep. A reliable crystal ball is much needed…..
Driving around Auckland gives me the impression that the housing crisis is just about over, I see three residential cranes from my window in suburbia, and everywhere I go I see areas of massive development, and those I talk to tell me of the swathes of development in areas I don't go.
I feel the big beat up is just a last chance to make mileage of a situation that will soon disappear. But then again the borders have reopened so I may be wrong.
I've seen what you see. North, South, East and West of Auckland are changing astonishingly with all the houses going up. Go to Christchurch you'll see the same.
Yes, our drive to the supermarket takes us past half a dozen apartment developments on New North Rd, and we come back through Hendon Ave in Owairaka where Kainga Ora is redeveloping whole streets. Add to that the Kiwis who came home in 2020/21 when their overseas consultancy jobs dried up who are now moving out of the dwellings they bought when they returned and are selling or renting those as they return to Lindon or New York.
I agree that it feels as though there is building all over.
However, the completion totals don't seem to bear out the contention that we're getting on top of the housing crisis.
https://www.interest.co.nz/property/116242/new-home-construction-auckland-down-94-year-ago
And here's an interesting snapshot of what's being built
https://knowledgeauckland.org.nz/publications/auckland-monthly-housing-update-june-2022/
Now, I'd hope that some of this is the slow-down on building completion caused by the building supplies shortages (certainly some of the sites around us have had quite substantial down periods where no one was working) – and that there will be a rush of completions in the 2nd half of this year.
However, there are also pessimistic forecasts that building activity has already peaked, and is now in decline
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/129579736/residential-construction-has-peaked-forecast-to-slide-to-decade-low
So, apart from KO building – which is relatively unaffected by building costs (though would potentially be affected by a change in government) – developers are not committing to new work.
I’d say that the housing crisis is an affordability issue, primarily. Locking in first home buyers into a lifelong debt
spiralcycle by assisting them to get on the first rung of the property ladder is sending the wrong message and simply perpetuating the meme that owning property leads to financial wealth and in fact is a sure and best bet to get there. It’s an f-ing Ponzi scheme where the rich get much richer must faster with a lot of (indirect) help from the government. Not to mention the banks, and the whole FIRE industry that benefit from the government largesse.I agree about the affordability. However, I don't see a solution to this (apart from huge Government building projects – which seem (given the KO budget blowouts) to be off the horizon for now. The biggest part of building cost is land (around half of the value of the home) – and the next biggest is building materials and labour – with the actual developer profit, fairly low down on the list. I don't see any way that the Government can control any of those factors.
I don't think that it's untrue that owning your own home (well, at least once you've paid down a reasonable bit of the mortgage) is a route to financial stability in NZ. Or, to reverse it, not owning your own house is a route to financial insecurity.
What other alternatives (apart from Lotto /sarc/) are there for financial security? Renting is insecure tenure AND you'll be paying off someone else's mortgage, rather than your own. [Even Eaqub has admitted that he was wrong about renting being a better solution– in NZ at least]
Now, if you're talking about buying for capital gain (not that that looks like a viable option in the market ATM) – then I agree that it is indeed a Ponzi scheme (though, perhaps one reaching the end of its life).
And the money the Government has spent on motel rents – giving bloated profits to motel owners with crappy 4th grade buildings – is obscene. It's like the accommodation supplement (aka landord supplement) on steroids.
As Mr Clemmens is reputed to have said, history may not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.
https://twitter.com/lindyli/status/1570269725711814657
After three days on a Greyhound bus, Lela Mae Williams was just an hour from her destination—Hyannis, Mass.—when she asked the bus driver to pull over. She needed to change into her finest clothes. She had been promised the Kennedy family would be waiting for her.
It was late on a Wednesday afternoon, nearly 60 years ago, when that Greyhound bus from Little Rock, Ark., pulled into Hyannis. It slowed to a stop near the summer home of President John F. Kennedy and his family. When the doors opened, Lela Mae and her nine youngest children stepped onto the pavement.
[…]
But President Kennedy was not there to meet her. And there was no job or permanent housing waiting for her in Hyannis. Instead, Lela Mae and the others were unwitting pawns in a segregationist game.
"It was one of the most inhuman things I have ever seen," recalled Margaret Moseley, a longtime civil rights activist in Hyannis, in a televised interview a few years before her death.
Fuming over the civil rights movement, Southern segregationists had concocted a way to retaliate against Northern liberals. In 1962, they tricked about 200 African Americans from the South into moving north. The idea was simple: When large numbers of African Americans showed up on Northern doorsteps, Northerners would not be able to accommodate them. They would not want them, and their hypocrisy would be exposed
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2020/02/29/809740346/the-cruel-story-behind-the-reverse-freedom-rides?
I'm finding it increasingly difficult to understand some people's thinking and logic.
https://twitter.com/Shenshenpshen/status/1570403738837286916
well, no, it was never wrong to refer to Africans as other than savage if you asked Africans themselves. Likewise, ask lesbians.
If it's just up to individual choice, then words have no meaning. Maybe this is the point now.
(wondering what's going on? Gender ideologists believe and are pushing hard the idea that males who self ID as women are then lesbians. Self ID being based on a male saying they are a woman, and nothing else is required. Understandably lesbians aren't ok with this).
and,
https://twitter.com/nikrowda/status/1570485869685112834
"The question is, which is to be master? That's all." Humpty Dumpty
No-one is erasing women.
https://twitter.com/janeclarejones/status/1570566127906062336
Suspension of Sanity over yet?
When are we allowed to discuss Aotearoa having a new Head of State that does not live here, takes million in cash as back/handers from despots, has appointed an even more corrupt brother his deputy, married a 19yr old for breeding purposes only, a Head of State that no one here elected?
How did we end up with not just a foreign king as HoS and a crock of a human being. This adds insult on top of insult.
Is there any platform in Aotearoa up to having this debate?
Go on then,
Stretch your mind and put up a post on the next move in NZ constitutional reform.
Patience, Bill….
I would imagine the floor is yours Bill. Interested to hear your views on it.
Hoping it doesnt include any politician ( from any party, or some dreary Maori aristocracy tho). The current system spares us either non entities.
But other than that Im all ears!