National used a phoney excuse to claim they could not afford to pay $4 Million to fix a 1km slip that closed the Gisborne Napier rail service but were very happy to $15 Million to be spent on one cycle trail.???? Un-believable.
CleanGreen Yes Keys logic seem unbelievable I use to take the Train from Gisborne to Napier a few years back It is a beautiful safe scenic ride like all OUR rail route .
Even the roads are shocking the Napier Taupo road once you get over the Tarawera ranges the road to Gisborne are shit I don’t go up north much once but that was before key got the wheel and the roads up north were ok then they are not roads that one expects for a rich civilized society all OUR wealthy people won’t no this as there main mode of transport is a plane. I wonder what motive key had to starve these regions of funding for the maintenance of there infrastructure . Ka pai
being 73 born in Auckland and brought up in Napier from a six yr old we always used rail to go north and south as many others did then.
Most freight also went by rail too.
Today our regional roads are truly a disaster, as we have potholes and sinking road bridge aproaches all over the regions between Palmerston North all the way up the East Coast to Opotiki now .
The roads are so bad now simply due to the extra weight, size, and volumes of trucks now allowed on these primary roads not built for these heavier trucks.
Those heavier trucks are now destroying the roads faster than they can be fixed, as the road contractors are writting these pproblems inour local press advising us all anbout those problems.
Road repair crews are now continually “patching these highways with cement dust and cold tar mix, but come back a week later and the roads again have big holes in them.
The hage cost of road repairs now are cripling most local councils who are allowing these extra heavy trucks on our narrow fragile roads so we are deep in the shit.
Anwser; – To Labour Coalition;
Bring back all regional rail services now please labour coalition, as you have promised and make our lives safer and more enjoyable.
“I use to take the Train from Gisborne to Napier a few years back “.
How time flies. Just a few years back the man says when he means the best part of 20.
The last passenger service was at the beginning of the century, just over 16 years ago.
“On 7 October 2001 the Bay Express from Wellington to Napier was cancelled and passenger services on the line ceased.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier_Railway_Station,_New_Zealand
You have a very good memory if that only seems a “few years”.
At face value you seem to be judging someone negatively for having a different perception of time to you – so petty alwyn and bigoted btw – do you consider anyone else before writing?
At face value I would have to say you seem to have had your eyes closed and your brain in neutral when you read what I had written.
I don’t see, and there certainly wasn’t meant to be, anything derogatory about what I said. It is just a reflection on how fast time seems to pass when you get older. Something that seems to have been “just yesterday” turns out to have been a decade ago.
You may find the same thing when you reach maturity, if that ever happens.
NZ is going backwards now as rail is needed more than ever but no Government except for Micheal Cullen/Helen Clark & this labour coalition has been prepared to balance the freight and regional passenger services or better said “level the playing field” between all modes of transport.
Alll the papers and studies from scientists are now saying get awayy from road freight and use rail to lower the Climate change emmissions of CO2 but national well and truly dig a hole for us by attempting to totally close down our whole regional rail serrvices. http://uic.org/Energy-and-CO2-emissions
So that didn’t take long for the strikes to begin, its not a problem now but if strikes keep happening it’ll start to remind people of the bad ‘ol days of the 70s
[lprent: Perhaps you’d like to actually tell us what strike this is? A link would be sufficient.
The union’s general secretary Wayne Butson said employers Transdev Wellington and Hyundai Rotem, which operate and maintain Wellington’s rail network, were trying to remove longstanding conditions from staff collective agreements.
Rail and Maritime Transport Union general secretary Wayne Butson said they were unimpressed at how the matter had been handled by the company so far.
“This is the first time since 1994 that there has been a complete shutdown of the Wellington metro system,” he said.
“In fact, it has taken 15 years for us to get an employer who has angered the workers sufficiently to cause a strike.”
Transdev, a French-headquartered multinational company, took over the contract to run Wellington trains from KiwiRail last year.
Mr Butson argued Transdev had mishandled negotiations and risked bringing New Zealand back to an earlier age of industrial turmoil.
Ok. looking at the style with which you presented that, it looks to me like you are just deliberately fire raising.
That didn’t take you long after your last ban. Let treat you like you’d probably want to treat the workers striking to retain their existing conditions when a new employer tries it on.
The bad old days when people got a living wage, there was barely any unemployment, houses were affordable, when our health and education systems were well funded……,
Chris, are you a National troll who rejects democracy.
Rail workers have not had to strike for 25yrs until National allowed a private french company out bid kiwirail two years ago and national allowed this private company to strip the 25yr collective bargaining rights from those workers.
So do you wish to stop colective bargaining rights?
To me it sounds like it. so please explain.
By the way, – I am not in any union or rail workers organisation.
I am part of a community group who want to see more rail used to reduce the increasing truck gridlock down to a tolerable level so that our roads are safer than they are now and residential areas are not continually exposed to truck noise, vibrations, and air pollution destroying their health and wellbeing.
Reject democracy? Nope, I ‘m quite happy with democracy and MMP even with all its flaws as its the best system we currently have.
I’m pointing out that in the 70s there was quite a bit of industrial action, mainly around the interislander at holiday time to be far, enough that even as a youngster I still remember and that it ticked off enough people that the erosion of unions wasn’t exactly mourned by the majority of voters
I’m saying that very shortly after the new government theres a strike and at the moment its not a biggie but if theres more it may (or may not) remind the older voters of what NZ used to be like
[lprent: You really are a dipshit. From one of the links on my last note above.
Mr Butson said the union had a mandate to call a strike between 13 November and 1 December.
Doesn’t sound like a holiday period to me.
Lets add another arbitrary 2 weeks removal of your writing rights for lying and false equivalences. ]
When farm working for a time I met a carpenter who also worked on the ferries. We were discussing the issue of strikes that occurred often during holiday periods.
He told me the reason for one strike in the Seventies.
The first was the size of the new mattresses fitted into the crew bunks which did not fit but overflowed the bunk’s raised edge.
Oh dear!
I must have looked blankly at him for he explained that if you were lying in that bunk and the ship rolled, as they do, you got rolled as well …….over the edge of the bunk, onto the floor.
Holiday periods of course occurred three or four times a year, for a total of thirteen weeks. There was a good 1:3 chance that a strike period would overlap with a holiday period.
This unionist believed that difficulties for the workers were deliberately timed for these periods by management to allow public pressure to be brought to bear. There wasn’t much ‘relationship’ in ‘industrial relations” in that industry at that time.
Jesus, talk about false equivalence. Shortly after the National government there was a Global Financial collapse and an earthquake. We didn’t blame that on them.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if an employer refuses to bargain and the only power you have is to strike, then holding a strike at a time convenient to the general public is hardly going to sway the employer to come back to the bargaining table is it?
All it would have taken to avert the strike was for Transdev to come back to the bargaining table. They have, instead, bet on the strike leading the general public to turn against the union. Classic industrial move.
You could just as easily have come out and said “look at that – we get a Labour government and all of a sudden there’s employers forcing unions to use the only power they have left”.
Except that most of the bastardry took place under a National government. Sigh…
The old union strain: All it would have taken to avert the strike was for Transdev to come back to the bargaining table. They have, instead, bet on the strike leading the general public to turn against the union. Classic industrial move.
and if ….the only power you have is to strike, then holding a strike at a time convenient to the general public is hardly going to sway the employer to come back to the bargaining table is it?
Some of us care about railway workers and them being treated fairly. Some don’t. Some of us care about young people not having their education disrupted. Who knows, it might lead some in that cohort to being able to tackle the economic system so it works for all.
Certainly though, having a strike during exam time is a kick in the guts for the anxious students, a strike against railway workers and organisers who seem self-centred and lacking the brains to understand education is important, and another strike against unions. The railway workers have not done anything for positive attitudes to unions and should have planned their strike judiciously, because there will be all sorts on consequences, some legal.
But in reality there is no perfect “judiciousl” time to strike, but since the new ‘progresive’ government now have only two weeks left operating as a “government in parliament” (according to the Radio NZ midday news)
I wager the RMTU had very little time to begin a “industrial strike” expecially when we don’t really know how the transdev workers contract system is working for or against them all at this time.?
Just the consideration that Wayne Buston did say the RMTU union members have not no strike action for 25 yrs!!!!!
Perhaps the employer, having received advance notice of the strike for that important day could have tried harder to resolve it. In a country that has so eroded pay and work conditions the “couldnt they have chosen a better time” is a form of victim blaming. We see DHBs behave the same when they force nurses and drs out of sheer frsutration to withdraw their services.
There is a rock-solid link between increased unionism and better worker pay and conditions. This is a very good thing and these benefits to society massively outweigh the occasional industrial dispute, in my opinion (and those disputes are as likely to be the fault of the employer as the union / workers)
It’s irritating to people who are just getting by to hear the general good cited when they are confronting the particular and individual pain.l Basically it is applying economic theory and ‘principle’ which doesn’t look at an alternative and presses forward with plans which leave those who lose out just externalities.
No-one, unionist, or not wants to be one of those disposable, crushable human ‘externalities’. So were the railways forced to go on strike this week because of unalterable timetables, or was it done in a determined move to act NOW no matter what, or was it chosen to hurt people and create controversy because of the timing.
This is what the Cooks and Stewards were wont to do on school holidays. I suggest that they didn’t make people feel that they were being treated fairly by other working men and women. That drove an unforgettable division between them and the other ordinary strugglers and small businesses.
“So that didn’t take long for the strikes to begin,….”
It’s rather telling you focus on the strike and not the reason for it. One might also note it didn’t take long for the new (foreign) contractor to shaft their workers.
“Similarly if you act like a machine (ie a troll) you will be treated as one – a form of spambot. A troll is generally defined on this site as someone who clearly isn’t bothering to engage their brain when commenting. The standard is that the troll could be replaced with a dictionary of lines and phrases, and no-one would know the difference. Typically trolls do not interact with other commentators as they either ignore what others say in reply or write a reply that ignores what they said. In either case it is ignorant, anti-social, annoying to read, and will often result in a banning so that others don’t have to read the comments of someone living with their sense organs turned off.”
I wasn’t debating you. But this is standard behaviour with you – you do the troll (often the single word as your entire reply) accusation with monotonous regularity.
Read the policy. Because you are being a boring and predictable troll.
For some people its a very big deal, this is the defence minister, the one that makes the big decisions, a former serving officer and he can’t even put his medals on correctly
Hey PR how do your wear your medals? I wear mine how they were mounted by the company paid to do it. I have no idea if that is the wrong order but really it is a minor issue as far as I and any of the other currently serving military personal I talked to this morning are concerned.
Not going to answer my original question then? Guess that confirms you are one of those who is more than happy to feel offended on behalf of service people without ever actually serving.
Yea we did talk about the claims that he was SAS. There have been a few over the years who have claimed it and they have always been caught out when not true.
Here’s the thing. Nothing in what you have linked show Mark claiming that he was in the SAS. A reporter appears to have made a mistake and unless you can point to the quote where he made the claim then you might need to try shifting the goal posts again.
There may be an issue from the original report and that is the wearing of his Oman medals. It is made clear when you receive these types of medals that they are not to be worn without specific approval. If he didn’t get this then he should cop a bit of flack for it. Lets be clear though, it would be for wearing medals he earned but shouldn’t wear as opposed to the common issue you see on ANZAC of people wearing medals they bought off the internet.
I was discussing this a couple of weekends ago over beers, which result in a very hearty debate about RM. Like me, RM’s last serving country was Oman natural these medals come first with his NZ medals last and my case the ADF medals first with NZ medal last followed by a ET Government medal as per the manual of dress (note I have been pinged as Walter Mittie in the UK and in NZ with my rack of gongs, headdress, tie etc). Now the Grey area that RM find himself in as the MoD does put his NZ first and the Oman medals last, but if he was in the NZDF this would be the case as per the manual of dress. As a minister of the crown does this apply as per the NZDF manual of dress or as he is a civilian does last country of service comes first with NZ medals last.
I’m not au fait with this by any stretch of the imagination but I’d go strait to the NZDF to get a decision and if its still a grey area then go with common sense, hes the MoD of NZ therefore he wears NZs medals first (has a bit of a ring to it)
Fair call, i’m not going to argue over it. I’ve got bloody 9 or 10 can’t bloody remember how many of these bloody things I’ve got plus a MUC and be i’ll ****ed if some muppet came along demanding me to change them around as i’ll telling them where to stick their bloody finger up somewhere because my NZ Medal is second last on my rack.
Also i’m getting sick and tired of explaining what every medal is and what order they should be when I go to the tailors when I’m given another one. I got pinged last week for not having the RAAF Ground Combat Badge and my reply was **** off as I’m starting to look a bloody yank or have more chrome than second hand car dealer.
Its bad a enough with the jokes a work like, where’s your wheelchair or your zigger fame kiwi for those gongs etc
The only plus side is I get to go to a lot cocktail parties.
The standard you walk by is a very true statement. However it is hardly his responsibility to issue a correction for someone else’s error. For all you know he contacted them and told them he wasn’t in the SAS and they felt it wasn’t important enough to correct.
I am no NZ1st supporter but this is a pretty minor point to get hung up on.
By the way you should probably apply for that 3 year medal other wise you will out of the rig of the day at next ANZAC day. Standard I walk by and all.
In my defence it came in after i’d left and I’d only just recently learned of it 🙂
But seriously the real reason is that when i look at the old guys with their chests full of medals and i rock up with four then I’d feel like a bit of…not fake but…not quite as…worthy?
I know what you mean there. I know a lot of currently serving personnel who don’t wear their medals on ANZAC simply because they don’t feel they hold a feather to what the old boys did for theirs.
Morena, if you have elderly neighbours, keep an eye on them please.
Yesterday I heard the firewood truck arrive at the oldies house next door, I couldn’t hear anyone helping Mr 80 with the wood, so I went over to check. There he was kneeling on the ground half slumped over a wheel barrow, trying ever so hard to do it himself, to the point he was about to collapse. After telling him off and making him sit down, my friend and myself took over and made sure all his wood was stacked.
See the oldies will try and be independent until their last breath, they find it hard to ask for help because they think that everyone wants something. He wanted to pay us for helping, I’m like get real, that’s not how I roll. He’s like but it’s not right you doing all of this for nothing, nah whats not right is him stacking the wood in his state, turns out he’s going in for an operation in a couple of weeks.
So please keep an eye on the oldies, teach the kids to respect them and help them. Oldies are so important, stubborn, vulnerable and awesome.
My thoughts exactly Cinny we must look after all OUR elderly people as they use to look after us. We must teach our moko to look after all our vulnerable people.
To Brodie your very Kiwi personality will be missed and It’s a shame you are leaving Breakfast . But I’m sure you will keep having a positive effect on our New Zealand Society with your new job all the best to you many thanks for your support there is a bigger picture to this story Ka pai
Now I no that they have sent people into my wifes work and now they are breaching her privacy rights . I.m not stupid my wife does not no how power full Eco Maori is .
I just tell her that the Eco Maori sign on my truck are just to boost my blog viewers. So a lot of people know about my fight for equality for all humans and for Mother Earth . These people who are attacking my credibility will say and do anything to under me and my whano and won’t give a fuck who they hurt in the prosess I no that the people can see this with the actions these people take to try and steal my Mana .
The fools are just adding to my MANA many thanks to them for this is my fate .
Kia Kaha
God bless you Cinny. 4 We all need neighbors like you. Norman and I struggle to do the big physical tasks now, and have learned to be thankful for help.
We have a firewood guy who does the wood in disposable bags. This is not much dearer but easier to stack and bring in as needed. May help someone else xx
That was nice Cinny and very welcome to the person involved.
Unwelcome though, is any attempt to actually look at the situation the country is in with increased ageing and dying long after people are incapacitated mentally, internally, bodily with lack of mobility or all of them. How many operations for people over 80? How can we manage our hospitals while we have a government that can’t take a clear direction from people as to how the priorities should go and have them enshrined in law and properly funded? I think that this means that an op needed for a very young child should be performed ahead of one for someone over 70 if there was a priority situation.
Everyone wants to be considered as part of a democracy, but don’t want to be registered when it comes to a workshop on deciding future political actions and what is the most ethical way to manage them. So everyone get warm fuzzies about helping others, which should be encouraged but also get out there and look at the looming problems that our poor hospital staff are coping with. Doing your bit as responsible mature people pushing the government is a less immediate way of helping others.
There are people who are working on in NZ still under the principles and practices that we had as a decent country that attempted consideration for everybody and didn’t treat every part of life as a potential opportunity for a business, for someone to profit from. Those people working hard are being driven into the ground. But when citizens request law changes that will have an ameliorating effect they get ignored by the don’t-do-nothing-till I tell-you Nat government and we hope that won’t extend on to the present.
In the meantime we can’t have the right to euthanasia when we want it, I think from the age of 70 without having to make a case as being terminally ill. At 75 (my age) I’m still useful to others and myself but I will have to take a back seat sometime after a fall etc and have no wish to wait long enough to get alzheimerrs or become so unsettled I get paranoic. That is just one aspect of our need to discuss health, treatment, and what can be afforded and that one can make a rational and ethical case for. Would it be better to fund hospices so people who are terminally ill can get their last year of two with good care, but less expensive life-extending treatment. It is complex.
Isn’t it time that we had a Citizen Policy Information and Planning Group (PIP)? A small pip could lead to growing a healthy system. We can’t trust the advisors or academics, they have mind control applied by their university board or the government treating them as puppets to be jerked when required, they can be informed but take a slant that is personality-based or individually advantaged, and should be listened to and then tested against others.
Am no angel lmao, but my folks are good people, looking out for neighbours and oldies is what I was taught, what I’m teaching my kids, we are trying to change the world 🙂
I wonder if ‘helpful neighbour’ is not so common anymore because many people are unable to own their own home. If everyone was able to own their place, some how, would they feel more secure, be more friendly, stronger communities, better communication etc etc etc?
Hey that’s a great idea ‘PIP’. Do we now have a Minister for Seniors? Having a vision of seniors winz, with a classy name, no security guards, full of info and networking, a place they can get their pension sorted that they are proud and happy to go to. A Seniors HUB.
It’s a concern that some see the oldies as ‘cash cows’ exploiting the vulnerable. Rest homes, home help, Dr’s etc. I wonder how that is monitored?
It was the centenary of the Russian Revolution about a week ago and yet this hugely significant event has past almost completely unnoticed.
“The Soviet Union will be looked at in history, not as the end of Communism but as its first valiant experiment…… It will be the petre dish where Communists and Socialists will learn from – not reject.”
You mean a bit like where this neoteric liberalism is leading us.
All authoritarianism looks the same in the end, be it left or right.
No one in their right mind would argue against the Russian Revolution going off the rails during the civil war, and the rise of the bolsheviks. For a few months, people, average stiffs actually had control of their lives away from monarchs, leaders, and authoritarian types. People, average people threw off the shackles of oppression. Yeah they were duped, and as always some bloke and his ego took over, then crushed the whole thing.
But you gotta love the fact this was a revolution by the people, for the people that almost worked. Unlike the USA one which was by the rich and for the rich – with very clever use of language.
I put it in the who gives a fuck catagory – for a few months this or that – meanwhile for a few decades the opposite of worker freedoms and rights. There are lessons to learn from the revolution but using it as a template for revolution today isn’t one of them imo.
Edit prob a bit harsh – I stand with the sentiment that started the Russian revolution and I get that some, including lefties commemorate the event. Sorry for being disrespectful to you.
I live here and are very interested in our history.
Edit. Why do you care about it so much? Why is it important to you? For me it is really a very small but important event. I like Marx. It led to the Soviet bloc, the cold war and now Russian meddling in the us election to put the trump in there. Sorry forget the last bit of the last line i couldnt resist the humour.
But you gotta love the fact this was a revolution by the people, for the people that almost worked. Unlike the USA one which was by the rich and for the rich – with very clever use of language.
Had a quick look at the Waingakau village site, and the development will be a combination of 76 co-housing units, with 44 normal subdivision properties.
“This development will deliver high quality homes at approximately $2025 per square metre – this cost was the average quality build cost for Hawke’s Bay as at August 2017. Waingakau is affordable as the homes will have a compact footprint, so will use less materials and energy, and the land is cheaper. As an initial indication, based on these costs homes will be priced from $140,000 to $380,000 for 1 to 4 bedrooms.
Housing will be available for mixed economic situations from subsidised rental homes, assisted purchase, market rental properties, through to owner occupied properties. If you are interested in buying or long term renting”
The cohousing development – along with the intended amenities – sounds very much what an indigenous form of housing would be like in NZ. And the structure plan gives a good indication of the benefits of planned housings units with shared spaces. I would enjoy living in one of those units I’m sure.
I wonder why they included the conventional housing, and why they are going to release those on the market? Whether it was just too big a move away from convention for the stakeholders, or if it was that a return was required to get the project off the ground. The 44 conventional houses appear to take up the same area as the 76 cohousing units and associated marae and community hub.
(Unfortunately, participating in the market does have an effect on their concern regarding affordable homes in the long-term).
The “affordability” seems to be closer to the real meaning of the word than when it is usually used. I hope that the interest in the cohousing component is such that it ends up comprising most of the development.
This is disgraceful
The % interest for pay day loans
From 300% to 800% pa
Many are advertised heavily on TV
And
Remember, ‘friendly’ loan companies are always associated with unfriendly collection agencies. Best to avoid getting caught up with any of that.
“My initial action was absolute horror. I was really, really confused. The first thing I did was look at my mum and, while he was still standing there, I didn’t say anything. What does a teenager say to the ex-president of the United States?”
I can read the confidence of my oppressors just by observing my neighbors and one of them is my main oppressor he imposes his ideological neo liberal view on the rest of my neighbors and 3 family’s have left because of this peacock . I thought of crowd funding to hire a lawyer to represent me but with the amount of resources they are pouring into monitoring everything I do. I no they will stop that as they have stopped me from getting legal Representation on many occasions . They are digging and scraping at the hole they have dug into my past and as soon as they think they smell shit they spread it around as if it is fact and nothing is fact until it is proven to be fact isn’t that what our law states on no not for a poor Maori let’s get this strait the same applies to any poor person in our western society it is just that Maori get more discrimination than the rest of the other cultures in our paradise called New Zealand. .
I have challenged them on many occasions to arrest me and lets have the courts decide whom is breaking OUR laws so why wont they arrest me and get It over and done with are they will get there asses handed to them and that’s why they won’t arrest me. I have ask to negotiate but no they don’t negotiate with a poor Maori.
So what should this tell you that us poor Maori cultured people need to join together and stop any bullshit happening to OUR moko’s and to make sure that our moko have a bright future and not a future under the bridge or in jail. Kia Kaha
P.S at least they have stop blasting the neighbor hood with there sirens this was quite a frequent well come home experance for me as my neighbor’s can confirm Ka pai .
I am finding it really weird how none of the lefties around here are making the effort to help eco maori. (But perhaps they are, e.g. by sending him private messages)
Maybe they are scared to do or say anything I think. They may also be worried because they might say the wrong thing and also because he uses Māori in their handle. Personally ive been worried about that poster for a while but it is a mod issue not a commenter issue imo.
I see it as a community issue here (i.e. both mods and commenters).
EM comments about politics all the time, just like everyone else here. So there is no need to moderate from the perspective.
We have people with a huge range of mental health capacities and illness here. I don’t see that as being an issue myself.
If you ever have concerns about someone acutely you can either email Lynn (who I guess can make a decision about whether its ok to keep publishing comments*), or you can grab the attention of one of the moderators.
For the commenters, I suggest not being mean to people perceived as struggling.
*personally, I don’t think that someone having mental health issues should preclude them from commenting so long as their comments aren’t causing a problem for the site legally or in terms of the community getting wound up or threads getting derailed (i.e. same rules apply as to anyone), but I’m not sure if it’s ever been discussed in the back end.
We all work with what people write and that is all we get.
If the mods are okay I’m certainly not going to do anything apart from being compassionate when I deem appropriate and skimming their comments the rest of the time.
Doing something, doing nothing – both can be difficult if a person is having mental health issues.
I work in mental health. I have been focusing on mental health for colonised indigenous peoples particuarily around suicide prevention for Māori for all age groups.
That is where I’m coming from I’m not diagnosing anyone and my only interest in this subthread is about ensuring people are okay which is why I said bms initial comment was compassionate.
Leave Eco Maori be, personally I read his threads and like what he writes. Okay he can be a bit odd but so what, this makes life a bit more edgy and interesting. God forbid we all should be the same, I for one, would die of boredom. And, by the way every one of us is a bit odd to some people some of the time, you’d better believe it.
What’s a little paranoia anyway – if more people had their antennae up and were more tuned in then this world would be a better place.
Hang in there Eco Maori – we’re all in this together.
That’s similar to how I feel. We have no way of knowing what is going for a person. I don’t read all of EM’s comments but as far as I can tell he’s talking about politics and life most of the time. And yep re appearing odd, what’s wrong with that anyway?
Not too happy with people applying mental health labels to others out of their own discomfit.
Me to Kate i enjoy a chat to eco maori as we both had back on 1.1 & 1.1.1.
Leave my friend eco maori be a peace.
Mum always taught me to speak out your troubles in your soul and it begins to ease, actually James Taylor sang a song about this exactly in the 1970’s when I was a lonely kiwi in canada & very lonely and it warmed my soul then.
There’s not many options available to help an pseudonymous poster, and any intervention by mods (who might actually have a legit email address to contact eco) is between the two of them, none of our business. And maybe eco’s posts really are part of a cunning plan, like they say they are. Who knows?
The comments don’t seem to be escalating in intensity or focussing on individuals, so that’s a plus if eco really is having psych issues. And eco’s referred to spouse and family, so if there’s a problem they’d be better placed to persuade eco to get help.
Also, we have no way of knowing what kind of help any person is getting or not. Add that to the fact that getting help can too often be something that harms people, I think really from this distance it’s none of our business until someone asks here for support. The exception to that would be if someone sounded like they were harming themselves or others, but again (as above) that’s a rule that applies to everyone.
The nuisance neighbour syndrome is expanding at the same rate as road rage (increasing) and they seem to have similar issues.
Too many people in NZ and expanding at the 3rd highest rate per capita in the world. Councils are useless at keeping the bylaws. They are also obsessed with allowing out of scope development everywhere turning communities into war zones.
Sometimes like the Kaipara council they just screw over the rate payers and bankrupt themselves and then get their ratepayers to bail them out when they plan their pie in the sky expansions.
Or with Auckland council just screw everyone over which explains the Auckland council’s extremely low rating from the public, who appear to hate them for the most part. Funny that this low international rating does not seem to impact on their pay levels?
I am finding it really weird how none of the lefties around here are making the effort to help eco maori. (But perhaps they are, e.g. by sending him private messages)
I would have thought the criteria for helping someone who is struggling would be that one is compassionate/gives a shit. But interesting to see that as a righty you believe that is the responsibility of left wingers.
I have been replying to his posts on a “you should seek help” basis which up until now no one else has bothered to do. The “lefty” reference may annoy some but at least it has got some people to engage on the issue.
No problem, cleangreen. Gave me a chance to make a pun on the Welsh/welsh whatever his fecking name is (literary reference to Irish plays by Padraic MacDonagh.)
I don’t know Gareth Hughes at all. But he seems a Very Earnest Young Man, as opposed to the World-Weary Bored Nouveau Riche Biker Entrepreneur with a Token Social Conscience.
A lot of money equals money for accountants = using the legal but generally unknown loopholes to pay less taxes.
The trick for government is to close the loopholes.
It’s way worse now, as people can just flit all over the world and reside anywhere more convenient and use even more loopholes.
The real money is made on paper.
Still seems weird Gareth is paying so little though when he seems to actually want to pay tax. Imagine what’s going on with the people who don’t want to pay tax or are criminals!
I was wondering if he had set his affairs differently if he would be paying more tax. e.g. he could be drawing paye income from his businesses and paying normal income tax.
Only he could tell us but I expect it’s just playing with numbers. By all accounts he’s pretty frugal and he got a fair old windfall when his son sold Trademe. He probably doesn’t spend much of his investment earnings and may only pay tax on the drawings. The top tax rate is 33% so if he only spend an eighth of his earnings, and the rest was in growth funds & the likes, then you’d get the 4% effective tax. (33% divided by 8)
I mean, if I put $100K in the bank and earned interest on that, wouldn’t that interest be taxable income? ie. RWT, the rate of which I think is determined by general income tax rate for that person.
It would be taxed if you put it in the bank. That’s basically a cash transaction and you can’t call it anything but income.
Shares and property are different. If you buy shares for $1 each, and they go up in value to $2 each, there’s no tax on that gain. (unless the IRD decide you bought the shares expressly for the gain.)
As I said I’m just speculating but he was a Kiwisaver provider for a while so i’d expect him to have some pretty good advisors on growth funds and may have invested a lot of his dosh into that market.
Speculating is fine, and the explanations are good.
“If you buy shares for $1 each, and they go up in value to $2 each, there’s no tax on that gain. (unless the IRD decide you bought the shares expressly for the gain.)”
Sorry, what? What other purpose is there in buying dividend paying shares apart from for gain?
Property I understand, although if you buy and sell too often you will get taxed right?
Investments, are you saying that mostly people aren’t paying tax on investment income?
The other way to ask my question is, could Morgan have been a businessman and paid more tax by choosing different ways of using his money? That’s a differentiation between wanting to do business (i.e. something useful) and simply making money.
Confusing income and capital. Income is always taxed, currently capital is not.
Income from bank deposits = interest, which is taxed (usually RWT)
Income from shares = dividends, which are also taxed at marginal rate of the investor
Income from property = rent, which is taxed in the same way as dividends
Value of shares and property can (and has) increase, that gain is currently not taxed in NZ unless you declare yourself as a “professional investor or speculator” (or IRD declares you to be) in which case those gains are taxed only when they are realised (shares or property are sold) at the marginal rate just like other forms of income
GM will be paying 4% effective tax because of the way he has structured his investments using trusts with himself as a beneficiary.
It can all get confusing can’t it weka, including to me. Kiwisaver providers for example are nearly all PIEs (portfolio investment entities) and as such Kiwisavers are not required to pay tax on capital gains on shares even though the providers are, obviously, professional investors acting on our behalf.
The short answer to the inevitable question is “because they’re all doing it too”.
The trust one confused me there too. Trusts don’t have any tax breaks I know of, they pay the same tax rates as the rest us, so I’d be interested in knowing how using trusts can minimise your tax.
“Kiwisaver providers for example are nearly all PIEs (portfolio investment entities) and as such Kiwisavers are not required to pay tax on capital gains on shares even though the providers are, obviously, professional investors acting on our behalf.”
ok, but that’s two different things right? Morgan as a business owner (of an investment firm) and Morgan has someone who has his own Kiwisaver. I assume they get taxed differently.
Still not quite seeing how Morgan ends up paying less than 4% tax.
I’m not sure he is a business owner any more… is he? I read some time back he’d sold or disposed of Gareth Morgan investments and I’ve been assuming his income is derived from his personal investments.
Trusts do pay tax on their income, to keep it simple let’s say a trust has all its capital invested in shares then it will pay tax on the dividends. If a trust distributes all of its income (dividends in this example) to its beneficiaries then the trust doesn’t pay tax, the beneficiary does. The thing is, quite often the beneficiary marginal rate is lower than the trust tax rate.
Even further, sometimes a trust will accumulate its income, dividends in our example, to add to capital. Periodically it can make a “distribution” of capital to beneficiaries. This is untaxed as it is deemed capital and as I said earlier in NZ currently we do not tax capital. Thus the effective tax rate of the beneficiary drops massively.
Thanks. I understand most of that but can’t see it significantly reducing tax for the wealthy, the next top rate of 30% cuts in at ‘only’ $48,000 and people like Morgan would surely have earnings in the $millions.
I’d think those with serious income would need to use a lot of trusts and then they’d risk being deemed tax evaders by the IRD.
That’s a great explanation and makes sense of something I’ve never understood. My parents have a Trust, they draw on dividends and other income for their own income, and afaik they pay tax (or the Trust does).
But what you have just explained is how Trusts are used to work around having to pay tax.
Also, capital gains taxes aren’t just about property. Does this mean no capital gains in NZ is taxed?
syclingmad are you sure that trusts can (still) be used in NZ to evade tax through ‘distributions’ in the way you describe? I do not think that is right. If it worked then everyone would be doing it.
Then he needs to be clearer. Most kiwis view tax as paye. If he didnt want us to think he arranged his affair to reduce his income tax he is being disingenuous
“Value of shares and property can (and has) increase, that gain is currently not taxed in NZ ”
And the elephant that is not mentioned – is that this type of wealth stream is almost exclusively the preserve of the already wealthy – and forms the lion’s share of the wealth increase of the very rich. And yet of all the forms of gaining wealth (wages, salary etc) THIS is the one that is entirely or almost entirely tax free!!
The stupidity is the rule about the speculation of the gain. It should be obvious that people invest in growth shares for the capital gain! IRD should not have to prove that with each individual case.
They need to get rid of the ‘intention’ and just have the same rule no matter what.
Also the National government has allowed NZ to become a welfare country to the offshore wealthy. Come here, invest in what have you (property, farms, assets, businesses) and then they make losses or pitiful income and the person never even resides and works here.
But the family and person can come and use the health system, super and if they fall on hard times (or restructure their affairs) the social welfare system. Win, win.
There is a massive time bomb brewing.
Massive expansion of retirement villages being built, but guess what, normal Kiwis can’t afford the fees for the most part, they are being built for when all the offshore working residents chose to retire back in Sunny Nu Zilland. Free health, free retirement fees (if you structure your affairs to have under $200k), free super, etc etc.
It costs more to retire someone in NZ than the prison system. It’s neoliberal Kafta. Absolute Absurdism.
The bizarre thing, is that apparently the NZ strategy for migration was to pay for the local superannuation by importing in skilled workers, but it’s turned into creating a much bigger superannuation and health crisis because the rules are so ridiculous to get around and the people being imported in are often on minimal wages and have to be subsidised themselves and the family members will need retirement. It’s adding to NZ social welfare problems not as was proposed helping them.
sure, I was just wondering how that worked. i.e. I’m guessing he doesn’t have to do it that way and he could instead set things up so he pays more tax.
I am no fan of Gareth Morgan by any means, but for years, he himself has been vocal about the fact that people like himself are paying far too little tax.
Sorry, off out to commitments and don’t have time to find links etc, but there have been stacks of media articles etc over the last 10 ? years with Morgan ranting about the inequalities of the current tax system and the unfair LOW proportion of tax paid by the wealthy.
No one really understands it apart from a select few accountants, they new trick seems to be accountants turned politicians who seem to have little morals, John Key, Judith Collins who champion tax loopholes that nobody thinks much of but helps them and super rich cronies to prosper.
Meanwhile the left hasn’t caught on and still thinking its about the 2nd property of some police office or teacher and losing elections over it, while the .1% turning over hundreds of millions are not even on the radar.
It was anonymous Samaritans that exposed Panama and Paradise papers and revealed it all, the politicians and their advisers obviously were never going to get to the bottom of it. The media at first refused to print the Panama papers and John Key sent Judith Collins to be our representative on glueing up the tax loopholes. Need we say more!
Collins made a career of it as a tax lawyer. One of the reasons her pretense at not thinking her Oravida behaviour was a conflict of interest , was such a joke.
“I am no fan of Gareth Morgan by any means, but for years, he himself has been vocal about the fact that people like himself are paying far too little tax.”
Yes, that’s is a well known issue. But the point I raised was about whether Morgan could be paying a reasonable amount of tax and chooses not to.
Well of course, he can pay as much tax as he likes. Anyone with a bank account can make voluntary payments to IRD any time. However he does not wish to pay more than is required by law.
In New Zealand, when you receive dividends from a NZ company, you also get imputation credits for the tax that company has paid. So when you file your personal income taxes, those imputation credits reduce your tax owed. Assuming Morgan declares income over $70k, he’s in the 33% bracket, so he only has to pay the additional tax due from the 5% difference between the company rate of 28% and his personal rate of 33%.
My understanding is crediting of company tax on dividends is unusual internationally. Australia is the only other country I’m aware of that also does it, the US definitely does not. In the US, dividends are paid after company tax, and the recipient then pays their full income tax on those dividends, so they are taxed twice.
I agree, but I also think that if someone wants to be a politician then being someone who games current law for their own ends is problematic. This is worth discussing in public given he makes a point of the low tax rate.
He could, for example, calculate what it would be if he had the system he wanted and give it to a charity that houses poor families… and then make his point.
Facebook is asking users to send the company naked photos and videos of themselves so that it can block the images if they are later uploaded as revenge porn.
A trial of the feature in Australia asks people worried that their intimate pictures might be posted by an ex partner to provide the images to Facebook, so that it knows to prevent them being uploaded in future.
It’s almost a good idea but I don’t actually want a private corporation to be able to recognise me anywhere in the world.
For anyone interested, in a break with tradition, the PM and the Deputy PM are both in the House for Qtime today. Usually the PM, Opposition Leader are not in the House on Thursdays.
Winston Peters was sworn in having been overseas with the PM and also there are further Labour MP maiden speeches today after QTime.
A good session so far – a few laughs and JA and WP did a wonderful tag team act with Question 1 – Paula Bennett asking the PM whether she stands by all her policies. I presume PB expected it to be answered by Kelvin Davis as per all other questions to the PM this week but got JA instead.
Most of the session so far has been worth watching.
It was good to hear the PM remind the House that it’s a pity the National Party weren’t as enthusiastic about Paid Parental Leave in their 9 years in government as they now, apparently are, in Opposition.
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Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
National used a phoney excuse to claim they could not afford to pay $4 Million to fix a 1km slip that closed the Gisborne Napier rail service but were very happy to $15 Million to be spent on one cycle trail.???? Un-believable.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/98924498/sdc-ponders-how-to-pay-for-46m-of-completed-cycle-trail
CleanGreen Yes Keys logic seem unbelievable I use to take the Train from Gisborne to Napier a few years back It is a beautiful safe scenic ride like all OUR rail route .
Even the roads are shocking the Napier Taupo road once you get over the Tarawera ranges the road to Gisborne are shit I don’t go up north much once but that was before key got the wheel and the roads up north were ok then they are not roads that one expects for a rich civilized society all OUR wealthy people won’t no this as there main mode of transport is a plane. I wonder what motive key had to starve these regions of funding for the maintenance of there infrastructure . Ka pai
Yes eco maori.
being 73 born in Auckland and brought up in Napier from a six yr old we always used rail to go north and south as many others did then.
Most freight also went by rail too.
Today our regional roads are truly a disaster, as we have potholes and sinking road bridge aproaches all over the regions between Palmerston North all the way up the East Coast to Opotiki now .
The roads are so bad now simply due to the extra weight, size, and volumes of trucks now allowed on these primary roads not built for these heavier trucks.
Those heavier trucks are now destroying the roads faster than they can be fixed, as the road contractors are writting these pproblems inour local press advising us all anbout those problems.
Road repair crews are now continually “patching these highways with cement dust and cold tar mix, but come back a week later and the roads again have big holes in them.
The hage cost of road repairs now are cripling most local councils who are allowing these extra heavy trucks on our narrow fragile roads so we are deep in the shit.
Anwser; – To Labour Coalition;
Bring back all regional rail services now please labour coalition, as you have promised and make our lives safer and more enjoyable.
“I use to take the Train from Gisborne to Napier a few years back “.
How time flies. Just a few years back the man says when he means the best part of 20.
The last passenger service was at the beginning of the century, just over 16 years ago.
“On 7 October 2001 the Bay Express from Wellington to Napier was cancelled and passenger services on the line ceased.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier_Railway_Station,_New_Zealand
You have a very good memory if that only seems a “few years”.
At face value you seem to be judging someone negatively for having a different perception of time to you – so petty alwyn and bigoted btw – do you consider anyone else before writing?
At face value I would have to say you seem to have had your eyes closed and your brain in neutral when you read what I had written.
I don’t see, and there certainly wasn’t meant to be, anything derogatory about what I said. It is just a reflection on how fast time seems to pass when you get older. Something that seems to have been “just yesterday” turns out to have been a decade ago.
You may find the same thing when you reach maturity, if that ever happens.
Thank you for your graciousness – always alwyn always be gracious, it will help you a lot.
Cleangreen 1 Now isn’t that typical?
Yes Patricia,
NZ is going backwards now as rail is needed more than ever but no Government except for Micheal Cullen/Helen Clark & this labour coalition has been prepared to balance the freight and regional passenger services or better said “level the playing field” between all modes of transport.
Alll the papers and studies from scientists are now saying get awayy from road freight and use rail to lower the Climate change emmissions of CO2 but national well and truly dig a hole for us by attempting to totally close down our whole regional rail serrvices. http://uic.org/Energy-and-CO2-emissions
So that didn’t take long for the strikes to begin, its not a problem now but if strikes keep happening it’ll start to remind people of the bad ‘ol days of the 70s
[lprent: Perhaps you’d like to actually tell us what strike this is? A link would be sufficient.
This one perhaps “Full-day strike to shut down Wellington trains“.
and it appears that you missed the same issue happening last month
Ok. looking at the style with which you presented that, it looks to me like you are just deliberately fire raising.
That didn’t take you long after your last ban. Let treat you like you’d probably want to treat the workers striking to retain their existing conditions when a new employer tries it on.
Two weeks ban this time. ]
The bad old days when people got a living wage, there was barely any unemployment, houses were affordable, when our health and education systems were well funded……,
Why do you support the interests of the 1% troll?
Ed; – [deleted]
[don’t try and guess the real life identity of people using pseudonyms here. – weka]
Hi Cleangreen, you may be unaware but its considered a bit of social faux pas to suggest who someone might be behind their nom de plume
[deleted]
You know continuously running around replying to comments you don’t like calling someone a troll – actually makes you one right ?
A sad and not very clever one, but a troll none the less.
Just like you are doing now James?
Barfly, you are right on the button.
Chris, are you a National troll who rejects democracy.
Rail workers have not had to strike for 25yrs until National allowed a private french company out bid kiwirail two years ago and national allowed this private company to strip the 25yr collective bargaining rights from those workers.
So do you wish to stop colective bargaining rights?
To me it sounds like it. so please explain.
By the way, – I am not in any union or rail workers organisation.
I am part of a community group who want to see more rail used to reduce the increasing truck gridlock down to a tolerable level so that our roads are safer than they are now and residential areas are not continually exposed to truck noise, vibrations, and air pollution destroying their health and wellbeing.
Reject democracy? Nope, I ‘m quite happy with democracy and MMP even with all its flaws as its the best system we currently have.
I’m pointing out that in the 70s there was quite a bit of industrial action, mainly around the interislander at holiday time to be far, enough that even as a youngster I still remember and that it ticked off enough people that the erosion of unions wasn’t exactly mourned by the majority of voters
I’m saying that very shortly after the new government theres a strike and at the moment its not a biggie but if theres more it may (or may not) remind the older voters of what NZ used to be like
[lprent: You really are a dipshit. From one of the links on my last note above.
Doesn’t sound like a holiday period to me.
Lets add another arbitrary 2 weeks removal of your writing rights for lying and false equivalences. ]
Born in 73?
So no idea of what life was like then.
The national trolls are now out in force, all of them including james.
‘They are loosing it’ because their past sense of power has been taken from them.
National were to arrogant as they adopted “the born to rule” attitude, which all three term governments do.
So we shall see if this enduring Laboour coalition government adopts this “born to rule” attitude in nine years time.
Hopefully Labour coalition will learn from the those National Party mistaken notion that we all would carry on taking their ‘poison’.
Thank God we are all free from national party oppression.
When farm working for a time I met a carpenter who also worked on the ferries. We were discussing the issue of strikes that occurred often during holiday periods.
He told me the reason for one strike in the Seventies.
The first was the size of the new mattresses fitted into the crew bunks which did not fit but overflowed the bunk’s raised edge.
Oh dear!
I must have looked blankly at him for he explained that if you were lying in that bunk and the ship rolled, as they do, you got rolled as well …….over the edge of the bunk, onto the floor.
Holiday periods of course occurred three or four times a year, for a total of thirteen weeks. There was a good 1:3 chance that a strike period would overlap with a holiday period.
This unionist believed that difficulties for the workers were deliberately timed for these periods by management to allow public pressure to be brought to bear. There wasn’t much ‘relationship’ in ‘industrial relations” in that industry at that time.
Jesus, talk about false equivalence. Shortly after the National government there was a Global Financial collapse and an earthquake. We didn’t blame that on them.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if an employer refuses to bargain and the only power you have is to strike, then holding a strike at a time convenient to the general public is hardly going to sway the employer to come back to the bargaining table is it?
All it would have taken to avert the strike was for Transdev to come back to the bargaining table. They have, instead, bet on the strike leading the general public to turn against the union. Classic industrial move.
You could just as easily have come out and said “look at that – we get a Labour government and all of a sudden there’s employers forcing unions to use the only power they have left”.
Except that most of the bastardry took place under a National government. Sigh…
The old union strain:
All it would have taken to avert the strike was for Transdev to come back to the bargaining table. They have, instead, bet on the strike leading the general public to turn against the union. Classic industrial move.
and if ….the only power you have is to strike, then holding a strike at a time convenient to the general public is hardly going to sway the employer to come back to the bargaining table is it?
Some of us care about railway workers and them being treated fairly. Some don’t. Some of us care about young people not having their education disrupted. Who knows, it might lead some in that cohort to being able to tackle the economic system so it works for all.
Certainly though, having a strike during exam time is a kick in the guts for the anxious students, a strike against railway workers and organisers who seem self-centred and lacking the brains to understand education is important, and another strike against unions. The railway workers have not done anything for positive attitudes to unions and should have planned their strike judiciously, because there will be all sorts on consequences, some legal.
Good comments Greywarshark;
But in reality there is no perfect “judiciousl” time to strike, but since the new ‘progresive’ government now have only two weeks left operating as a “government in parliament” (according to the Radio NZ midday news)
I wager the RMTU had very little time to begin a “industrial strike” expecially when we don’t really know how the transdev workers contract system is working for or against them all at this time.?
Just the consideration that Wayne Buston did say the RMTU union members have not no strike action for 25 yrs!!!!!
We should give them some grace to be fair.
Trouble it is an own goal. If there were reasons why they had to do it just now, let them EXPLAIN not just expect popular sympathy.
Perhaps the employer, having received advance notice of the strike for that important day could have tried harder to resolve it. In a country that has so eroded pay and work conditions the “couldnt they have chosen a better time” is a form of victim blaming. We see DHBs behave the same when they force nurses and drs out of sheer frsutration to withdraw their services.
There is a rock-solid link between increased unionism and better worker pay and conditions. This is a very good thing and these benefits to society massively outweigh the occasional industrial dispute, in my opinion (and those disputes are as likely to be the fault of the employer as the union / workers)
One example
https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/impact-trade-unions-jobs-and-pay
It’s irritating to people who are just getting by to hear the general good cited when they are confronting the particular and individual pain.l Basically it is applying economic theory and ‘principle’ which doesn’t look at an alternative and presses forward with plans which leave those who lose out just externalities.
No-one, unionist, or not wants to be one of those disposable, crushable human ‘externalities’. So were the railways forced to go on strike this week because of unalterable timetables, or was it done in a determined move to act NOW no matter what, or was it chosen to hurt people and create controversy because of the timing.
This is what the Cooks and Stewards were wont to do on school holidays. I suggest that they didn’t make people feel that they were being treated fairly by other working men and women. That drove an unforgettable division between them and the other ordinary strugglers and small businesses.
“So that didn’t take long for the strikes to begin,….”
It’s rather telling you focus on the strike and not the reason for it. One might also note it didn’t take long for the new (foreign) contractor to shaft their workers.
Emboldened by a system that gave us hobbit laws and systematically sought to undermine conditions and pay.
Elegant as!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11944462
Ok so this tops anything anyone has done thus far in Labour or National
Troll
Here let me help you.
From the policy:
“Similarly if you act like a machine (ie a troll) you will be treated as one – a form of spambot. A troll is generally defined on this site as someone who clearly isn’t bothering to engage their brain when commenting. The standard is that the troll could be replaced with a dictionary of lines and phrases, and no-one would know the difference. Typically trolls do not interact with other commentators as they either ignore what others say in reply or write a reply that ignores what they said. In either case it is ignorant, anti-social, annoying to read, and will often result in a banning so that others don’t have to read the comments of someone living with their sense organs turned off.”
I engaged at 2.
Then I realised at 3 you weren’t interested in meaningful debate.
I wasn’t debating you. But this is standard behaviour with you – you do the troll (often the single word as your entire reply) accusation with monotonous regularity.
Read the policy. Because you are being a boring and predictable troll.
You’re the troll James and we all know it sad sack.
Speaking of which, I left two moderation notes in yesterday’s OM, one of which needs a response from you.
Pretty sure you’ve been warned about this before Ed. Give it a rest please.
Geez Chris if that’s all you’ve got to moan about life is pretty good.
For some people its a very big deal, this is the defence minister, the one that makes the big decisions, a former serving officer and he can’t even put his medals on correctly
Hey PR how do your wear your medals? I wear mine how they were mounted by the company paid to do it. I have no idea if that is the wrong order but really it is a minor issue as far as I and any of the other currently serving military personal I talked to this morning are concerned.
Are they aware that its been suggested hes also ex-SAS: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/kiwi-troops-just-40km-from-isis-forces-ex-sas-mp-6333081.html
http://nominister.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/on-ron-mark.html
Not going to answer my original question then? Guess that confirms you are one of those who is more than happy to feel offended on behalf of service people without ever actually serving.
Yea we did talk about the claims that he was SAS. There have been a few over the years who have claimed it and they have always been caught out when not true.
Here’s the thing. Nothing in what you have linked show Mark claiming that he was in the SAS. A reporter appears to have made a mistake and unless you can point to the quote where he made the claim then you might need to try shifting the goal posts again.
There may be an issue from the original report and that is the wearing of his Oman medals. It is made clear when you receive these types of medals that they are not to be worn without specific approval. If he didn’t get this then he should cop a bit of flack for it. Lets be clear though, it would be for wearing medals he earned but shouldn’t wear as opposed to the common issue you see on ANZAC of people wearing medals they bought off the internet.
*Sigh* I have three medals I’m entitled to wear from my service and I could apply for a fourth, due to time served
No but he certainly didn’t go out of his way to issue a correction so he was more than happy to have people assume he was
Lets be clear about all this, “The standard you walk by is the standard you accept”, you of all people should know this
I was discussing this a couple of weekends ago over beers, which result in a very hearty debate about RM. Like me, RM’s last serving country was Oman natural these medals come first with his NZ medals last and my case the ADF medals first with NZ medal last followed by a ET Government medal as per the manual of dress (note I have been pinged as Walter Mittie in the UK and in NZ with my rack of gongs, headdress, tie etc). Now the Grey area that RM find himself in as the MoD does put his NZ first and the Oman medals last, but if he was in the NZDF this would be the case as per the manual of dress. As a minister of the crown does this apply as per the NZDF manual of dress or as he is a civilian does last country of service comes first with NZ medals last.
I’m not au fait with this by any stretch of the imagination but I’d go strait to the NZDF to get a decision and if its still a grey area then go with common sense, hes the MoD of NZ therefore he wears NZs medals first (has a bit of a ring to it)
NZ medals First not NZ medals Second 🙂
Fair call, i’m not going to argue over it. I’ve got bloody 9 or 10 can’t bloody remember how many of these bloody things I’ve got plus a MUC and be i’ll ****ed if some muppet came along demanding me to change them around as i’ll telling them where to stick their bloody finger up somewhere because my NZ Medal is second last on my rack.
Also i’m getting sick and tired of explaining what every medal is and what order they should be when I go to the tailors when I’m given another one. I got pinged last week for not having the RAAF Ground Combat Badge and my reply was **** off as I’m starting to look a bloody yank or have more chrome than second hand car dealer.
Its bad a enough with the jokes a work like, where’s your wheelchair or your zigger fame kiwi for those gongs etc
The only plus side is I get to go to a lot cocktail parties.
The standard you walk by is a very true statement. However it is hardly his responsibility to issue a correction for someone else’s error. For all you know he contacted them and told them he wasn’t in the SAS and they felt it wasn’t important enough to correct.
I am no NZ1st supporter but this is a pretty minor point to get hung up on.
By the way you should probably apply for that 3 year medal other wise you will out of the rig of the day at next ANZAC day. Standard I walk by and all.
In my defence it came in after i’d left and I’d only just recently learned of it 🙂
But seriously the real reason is that when i look at the old guys with their chests full of medals and i rock up with four then I’d feel like a bit of…not fake but…not quite as…worthy?
I know what you mean there. I know a lot of currently serving personnel who don’t wear their medals on ANZAC simply because they don’t feel they hold a feather to what the old boys did for theirs.
Personally, I wear my medals very privately on any trousers that still have buttons in the fly.
James is like Paula bennett, both are exhibiting the signs of ‘battle fatigue’.
My advise to paula and james is to take a break andplan xmas for family as we are so tired of your consant trolling.
Morena, if you have elderly neighbours, keep an eye on them please.
Yesterday I heard the firewood truck arrive at the oldies house next door, I couldn’t hear anyone helping Mr 80 with the wood, so I went over to check. There he was kneeling on the ground half slumped over a wheel barrow, trying ever so hard to do it himself, to the point he was about to collapse. After telling him off and making him sit down, my friend and myself took over and made sure all his wood was stacked.
See the oldies will try and be independent until their last breath, they find it hard to ask for help because they think that everyone wants something. He wanted to pay us for helping, I’m like get real, that’s not how I roll. He’s like but it’s not right you doing all of this for nothing, nah whats not right is him stacking the wood in his state, turns out he’s going in for an operation in a couple of weeks.
So please keep an eye on the oldies, teach the kids to respect them and help them. Oldies are so important, stubborn, vulnerable and awesome.
Next time ask for a cup of tea 🙂 But seriously good job
oh my gosh, for once i agree with you.
Don’t worry it won’t be the last 🙂
My thoughts exactly Cinny we must look after all OUR elderly people as they use to look after us. We must teach our moko to look after all our vulnerable people.
To Brodie your very Kiwi personality will be missed and It’s a shame you are leaving Breakfast . But I’m sure you will keep having a positive effect on our New Zealand Society with your new job all the best to you many thanks for your support there is a bigger picture to this story Ka pai
Now I no that they have sent people into my wifes work and now they are breaching her privacy rights . I.m not stupid my wife does not no how power full Eco Maori is .
I just tell her that the Eco Maori sign on my truck are just to boost my blog viewers. So a lot of people know about my fight for equality for all humans and for Mother Earth . These people who are attacking my credibility will say and do anything to under me and my whano and won’t give a fuck who they hurt in the prosess I no that the people can see this with the actions these people take to try and steal my Mana .
The fools are just adding to my MANA many thanks to them for this is my fate .
Kia Kaha
Bless you Cinny. Good work.
God bless you Cinny. 4 We all need neighbors like you. Norman and I struggle to do the big physical tasks now, and have learned to be thankful for help.
We have a firewood guy who does the wood in disposable bags. This is not much dearer but easier to stack and bring in as needed. May help someone else xx
onya
Cinny, good on you and your friend..
An important message..
Cinny,
You are a real gem.
Pity we all dont have a past government that allowed it to come to this.
I am 73 also and grew up duing the 1950s with a profound respect for the elderly.
But that attitude has all but vanished today untill good peope like you demostrate how shallow and un-caring our society is today.
Bless you Cinny.
Totally agree CG. The world needs more people like Cinny. The BEST sort of neighbor to have. A big wraparound hug to you Cinny.
That was nice Cinny and very welcome to the person involved.
Unwelcome though, is any attempt to actually look at the situation the country is in with increased ageing and dying long after people are incapacitated mentally, internally, bodily with lack of mobility or all of them. How many operations for people over 80? How can we manage our hospitals while we have a government that can’t take a clear direction from people as to how the priorities should go and have them enshrined in law and properly funded? I think that this means that an op needed for a very young child should be performed ahead of one for someone over 70 if there was a priority situation.
Everyone wants to be considered as part of a democracy, but don’t want to be registered when it comes to a workshop on deciding future political actions and what is the most ethical way to manage them. So everyone get warm fuzzies about helping others, which should be encouraged but also get out there and look at the looming problems that our poor hospital staff are coping with. Doing your bit as responsible mature people pushing the government is a less immediate way of helping others.
There are people who are working on in NZ still under the principles and practices that we had as a decent country that attempted consideration for everybody and didn’t treat every part of life as a potential opportunity for a business, for someone to profit from. Those people working hard are being driven into the ground. But when citizens request law changes that will have an ameliorating effect they get ignored by the don’t-do-nothing-till I tell-you Nat government and we hope that won’t extend on to the present.
In the meantime we can’t have the right to euthanasia when we want it, I think from the age of 70 without having to make a case as being terminally ill. At 75 (my age) I’m still useful to others and myself but I will have to take a back seat sometime after a fall etc and have no wish to wait long enough to get alzheimerrs or become so unsettled I get paranoic. That is just one aspect of our need to discuss health, treatment, and what can be afforded and that one can make a rational and ethical case for. Would it be better to fund hospices so people who are terminally ill can get their last year of two with good care, but less expensive life-extending treatment. It is complex.
Isn’t it time that we had a Citizen Policy Information and Planning Group (PIP)? A small pip could lead to growing a healthy system. We can’t trust the advisors or academics, they have mind control applied by their university board or the government treating them as puppets to be jerked when required, they can be informed but take a slant that is personality-based or individually advantaged, and should be listened to and then tested against others.
Am no angel lmao, but my folks are good people, looking out for neighbours and oldies is what I was taught, what I’m teaching my kids, we are trying to change the world 🙂
I wonder if ‘helpful neighbour’ is not so common anymore because many people are unable to own their own home. If everyone was able to own their place, some how, would they feel more secure, be more friendly, stronger communities, better communication etc etc etc?
Hey that’s a great idea ‘PIP’. Do we now have a Minister for Seniors? Having a vision of seniors winz, with a classy name, no security guards, full of info and networking, a place they can get their pension sorted that they are proud and happy to go to. A Seniors HUB.
It’s a concern that some see the oldies as ‘cash cows’ exploiting the vulnerable. Rest homes, home help, Dr’s etc. I wonder how that is monitored?
It was the centenary of the Russian Revolution about a week ago and yet this hugely significant event has past almost completely unnoticed.
“The Soviet Union will be looked at in history, not as the end of Communism but as its first valiant experiment…… It will be the petre dish where Communists and Socialists will learn from – not reject.”
100% EP.
I’m sure people don’t miss:
Monitoring of people’s activities.
Mass imprisonment
People forced from their jobs on the basis of flimsy accusations
…oh wait..
You mean a bit like where this neoteric liberalism is leading us.
All authoritarianism looks the same in the end, be it left or right.
No one in their right mind would argue against the Russian Revolution going off the rails during the civil war, and the rise of the bolsheviks. For a few months, people, average stiffs actually had control of their lives away from monarchs, leaders, and authoritarian types. People, average people threw off the shackles of oppression. Yeah they were duped, and as always some bloke and his ego took over, then crushed the whole thing.
But you gotta love the fact this was a revolution by the people, for the people that almost worked. Unlike the USA one which was by the rich and for the rich – with very clever use of language.
I put it in the who gives a fuck catagory – for a few months this or that – meanwhile for a few decades the opposite of worker freedoms and rights. There are lessons to learn from the revolution but using it as a template for revolution today isn’t one of them imo.
Edit prob a bit harsh – I stand with the sentiment that started the Russian revolution and I get that some, including lefties commemorate the event. Sorry for being disrespectful to you.
Yeah my opinion of the American revolution is exactly the same, really made woking people’s lives much worse.
The Phoenician revolution was pretty good for a couple of years but not if you were in their ships as a slave rower.
So can you see the difference the Social Revolutionaries made to the Russian revolution then?
Not really no
So you think it would have been better under the Tsar?
I live here and are very interested in our history.
Edit. Why do you care about it so much? Why is it important to you? For me it is really a very small but important event. I like Marx. It led to the Soviet bloc, the cold war and now Russian meddling in the us election to put the trump in there. Sorry forget the last bit of the last line i couldnt resist the humour.
Adam, write a post!
QFT
Of course we don’t miss those – they happen all the time as John Key and National passing legislation to respectively make it all legal proved.
Persecution of Jews, homosexuals, disabled
Stalin deserves as much vilification as Hitler yet… and in Russia todsy being a homosexual still gets you hard labour.
Da comrade, yet in Wellington we have http://www.pravdacafe.co.nz
The truth cafe
I noted it.
Great initiative for all
http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/indigneous-co-housing-development-flaxmere
Thanks for that mm.
Had a quick look at the Waingakau village site, and the development will be a combination of 76 co-housing units, with 44 normal subdivision properties.
“This development will deliver high quality homes at approximately $2025 per square metre – this cost was the average quality build cost for Hawke’s Bay as at August 2017. Waingakau is affordable as the homes will have a compact footprint, so will use less materials and energy, and the land is cheaper. As an initial indication, based on these costs homes will be priced from $140,000 to $380,000 for 1 to 4 bedrooms.
Housing will be available for mixed economic situations from subsidised rental homes, assisted purchase, market rental properties, through to owner occupied properties. If you are interested in buying or long term renting”
The cohousing development – along with the intended amenities – sounds very much what an indigenous form of housing would be like in NZ. And the structure plan gives a good indication of the benefits of planned housings units with shared spaces. I would enjoy living in one of those units I’m sure.
I wonder why they included the conventional housing, and why they are going to release those on the market? Whether it was just too big a move away from convention for the stakeholders, or if it was that a return was required to get the project off the ground. The 44 conventional houses appear to take up the same area as the 76 cohousing units and associated marae and community hub.
(Unfortunately, participating in the market does have an effect on their concern regarding affordable homes in the long-term).
The “affordability” seems to be closer to the real meaning of the word than when it is usually used. I hope that the interest in the cohousing component is such that it ends up comprising most of the development.
Just wondering where the government was on medical cannabis?
http://healthy-life-box.com/marijuana-chewing-gum-relieve-fibromyalgia-pain/
Pay day loans.
https://www.interest.co.nz/personal-finance/90075/david-chaston-reviews-effective-cost-credit-being-interest-plus-standard-fees
This is disgraceful
The % interest for pay day loans
From 300% to 800% pa
Many are advertised heavily on TV
And
Remember, ‘friendly’ loan companies are always associated with unfriendly collection agencies. Best to avoid getting caught up with any of that.
Go and look at the article.
Need to ban and or heavily regulate those loans. Just praying on desperate and vulnerable people!
Yes.
Key’s “We’ll do whatever it takes” should have read “Someone else will do whatever it takes”:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-16/pike-river-mine-body-search/9155184
An interesting piece of news in interest.co.nz
Australia has decided to tax overseas buyers who leave properties empty thousands.
Further they will not be able to claim travel to check their purchase.
Sounds sensible to me, as it may then be more profitable to let them out?
They can claim travel as a tax deductible! Shocking! No wonder so many people are buying up houses who don’t live in the country!
There should also be an extra yearly charge like rates but going to the government for houses owned by non residents.
And a stamp duty for non residents.
Look what a capital gains tax achieved in Canada for non residents.
If you are not banning non resident buyers there should at least be ways for the locals to get some sort of tax out of it.
GROPERS
No. 1: George Walker Herbert Bush
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/13/sixth-woman-accuses-former-president-george-hw-bush-groping/
http://time.com/5019182/george-hw-bush-groping-allegation/
“GROPERS” is researched and presented by GroperWatch, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.
I can read the confidence of my oppressors just by observing my neighbors and one of them is my main oppressor he imposes his ideological neo liberal view on the rest of my neighbors and 3 family’s have left because of this peacock . I thought of crowd funding to hire a lawyer to represent me but with the amount of resources they are pouring into monitoring everything I do. I no they will stop that as they have stopped me from getting legal Representation on many occasions . They are digging and scraping at the hole they have dug into my past and as soon as they think they smell shit they spread it around as if it is fact and nothing is fact until it is proven to be fact isn’t that what our law states on no not for a poor Maori let’s get this strait the same applies to any poor person in our western society it is just that Maori get more discrimination than the rest of the other cultures in our paradise called New Zealand. .
I have challenged them on many occasions to arrest me and lets have the courts decide whom is breaking OUR laws so why wont they arrest me and get It over and done with are they will get there asses handed to them and that’s why they won’t arrest me. I have ask to negotiate but no they don’t negotiate with a poor Maori.
So what should this tell you that us poor Maori cultured people need to join together and stop any bullshit happening to OUR moko’s and to make sure that our moko have a bright future and not a future under the bridge or in jail. Kia Kaha
P.S at least they have stop blasting the neighbor hood with there sirens this was quite a frequent well come home experance for me as my neighbor’s can confirm Ka pai .
I recommend you go see a mental health professional as soon as possible, you seem to be suffering from acute paranoia.
[deleted]
please don’t attempt to armchair diagnose – weka]
BM = as usual you have the soul of a empty vessel.
Actually he was being compassionate imo
I am finding it really weird how none of the lefties around here are making the effort to help eco maori. (But perhaps they are, e.g. by sending him private messages)
A.
Maybe they are scared to do or say anything I think. They may also be worried because they might say the wrong thing and also because he uses Māori in their handle. Personally ive been worried about that poster for a while but it is a mod issue not a commenter issue imo.
I see it as a community issue here (i.e. both mods and commenters).
EM comments about politics all the time, just like everyone else here. So there is no need to moderate from the perspective.
We have people with a huge range of mental health capacities and illness here. I don’t see that as being an issue myself.
If you ever have concerns about someone acutely you can either email Lynn (who I guess can make a decision about whether its ok to keep publishing comments*), or you can grab the attention of one of the moderators.
For the commenters, I suggest not being mean to people perceived as struggling.
*personally, I don’t think that someone having mental health issues should preclude them from commenting so long as their comments aren’t causing a problem for the site legally or in terms of the community getting wound up or threads getting derailed (i.e. same rules apply as to anyone), but I’m not sure if it’s ever been discussed in the back end.
We all work with what people write and that is all we get.
If the mods are okay I’m certainly not going to do anything apart from being compassionate when I deem appropriate and skimming their comments the rest of the time.
Doing something, doing nothing – both can be difficult if a person is having mental health issues.
yes, and doing normal is an option too 🙂
Edit.
Just to clarify a few points.
I work in mental health. I have been focusing on mental health for colonised indigenous peoples particuarily around suicide prevention for Māori for all age groups.
That is where I’m coming from I’m not diagnosing anyone and my only interest in this subthread is about ensuring people are okay which is why I said bms initial comment was compassionate.
I am not engaging in this subthread anymore.
Leave Eco Maori be, personally I read his threads and like what he writes. Okay he can be a bit odd but so what, this makes life a bit more edgy and interesting. God forbid we all should be the same, I for one, would die of boredom. And, by the way every one of us is a bit odd to some people some of the time, you’d better believe it.
What’s a little paranoia anyway – if more people had their antennae up and were more tuned in then this world would be a better place.
Hang in there Eco Maori – we’re all in this together.
That’s similar to how I feel. We have no way of knowing what is going for a person. I don’t read all of EM’s comments but as far as I can tell he’s talking about politics and life most of the time. And yep re appearing odd, what’s wrong with that anyway?
Not too happy with people applying mental health labels to others out of their own discomfit.
Why are you saying that to me – did you actually read my comments? Try directing your opinion to the right place.
Me to Kate i enjoy a chat to eco maori as we both had back on 1.1 & 1.1.1.
Leave my friend eco maori be a peace.
Mum always taught me to speak out your troubles in your soul and it begins to ease, actually James Taylor sang a song about this exactly in the 1970’s when I was a lonely kiwi in canada & very lonely and it warmed my soul then.
Here’s one for you eco maori. – shower the peole you love with love, show them the way you feel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfWQS5fWxxU
Saying what, even if it were possible?
There’s not many options available to help an pseudonymous poster, and any intervention by mods (who might actually have a legit email address to contact eco) is between the two of them, none of our business. And maybe eco’s posts really are part of a cunning plan, like they say they are. Who knows?
The comments don’t seem to be escalating in intensity or focussing on individuals, so that’s a plus if eco really is having psych issues. And eco’s referred to spouse and family, so if there’s a problem they’d be better placed to persuade eco to get help.
Also, we have no way of knowing what kind of help any person is getting or not. Add that to the fact that getting help can too often be something that harms people, I think really from this distance it’s none of our business until someone asks here for support. The exception to that would be if someone sounded like they were harming themselves or others, but again (as above) that’s a rule that applies to everyone.
The nuisance neighbour syndrome is expanding at the same rate as road rage (increasing) and they seem to have similar issues.
Too many people in NZ and expanding at the 3rd highest rate per capita in the world. Councils are useless at keeping the bylaws. They are also obsessed with allowing out of scope development everywhere turning communities into war zones.
Sometimes like the Kaipara council they just screw over the rate payers and bankrupt themselves and then get their ratepayers to bail them out when they plan their pie in the sky expansions.
Or with Auckland council just screw everyone over which explains the Auckland council’s extremely low rating from the public, who appear to hate them for the most part. Funny that this low international rating does not seem to impact on their pay levels?
Sympathy for Eco Maori – if the Neighbour has caused 3 neighbours to move he sounds like a nightmare nuisance neighbour!
I am finding it really weird how none of the lefties around here are making the effort to help eco maori. (But perhaps they are, e.g. by sending him private messages)
I would have thought the criteria for helping someone who is struggling would be that one is compassionate/gives a shit. But interesting to see that as a righty you believe that is the responsibility of left wingers.
What have you done?
I have been replying to his posts on a “you should seek help” basis which up until now no one else has bothered to do. The “lefty” reference may annoy some but at least it has got some people to engage on the issue.
A.
I am finding it really weird how none of the lefties around here are making the effort to help eco maori.
I find that not making ignorance-based diagnoses of someone’s mental health on the basis of a few blog comments is often helpful.
You’d think it would be easy to simply scrap the Hobbit legislation and the 90-day legislation. But the backtracking has already begun.
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/11/14/what-the-90-days-and-hobbit-legislation-reforms-tell-us-about-the-labour-led-government/
Can someone please explain to me how and why Gareth Morgan is paying less than 4% tax?
“Totally agree, my current tax rate is under 4%, & I’m about to get NZS. This is a real issue, not what gossip columnists in NZ focus on”
https://twitter.com/HighbornHavenot/status/930937245946613760
Geez weka
We alll need a good accountant like Gareth hughes must have.
Only pays 4% tax what a bloody hypocrit!!!!
And a bloody leech.
Gareth who?
Hughes and Morgan are both Welsh names but only one I know is welshing on his social responsibilities.
Gareth Meowgan
Reading that calls to mind Felix, that sharp and wise commentator formerly here. He/She is missed.
OOOPPPs Big mistake there,
Thanks Mac1
Not Gareth Hughes!!!!! so sorry Gareth Hughes.
I of course meant Gareth Morgan, as he is a very insensitive rich prick.
My friend Gareth Hughes is a moderately humble man we see around his & mine Gisborne area now and then.
No simalarity there sorry Gareth Hughes my silly slipup.
Please accept my humble appologies.
No problem, cleangreen. Gave me a chance to make a pun on the Welsh/welsh whatever his fecking name is (literary reference to Irish plays by Padraic MacDonagh.)
I don’t know Gareth Hughes at all. But he seems a Very Earnest Young Man, as opposed to the World-Weary Bored Nouveau Riche Biker Entrepreneur with a Token Social Conscience.
A lot of money equals money for accountants = using the legal but generally unknown loopholes to pay less taxes.
The trick for government is to close the loopholes.
It’s way worse now, as people can just flit all over the world and reside anywhere more convenient and use even more loopholes.
The real money is made on paper.
Still seems weird Gareth is paying so little though when he seems to actually want to pay tax. Imagine what’s going on with the people who don’t want to pay tax or are criminals!
He doesn’t have to take super
yes, it will be interesting to see if he applies for it. One would hope not and that he was just trying to make a point in the tweet.
Much of his campaign was based around changing super because he didn’t need it and he would just end up wasting that money.
My guess is he’ll be getting super to follow through on his campaign promise.
He probably invests in growth shares or property. Except for speculating capital gain on shares isn’t taxed, only the dividends are taxable.
I was wondering if he had set his affairs differently if he would be paying more tax. e.g. he could be drawing paye income from his businesses and paying normal income tax.
Only he could tell us but I expect it’s just playing with numbers. By all accounts he’s pretty frugal and he got a fair old windfall when his son sold Trademe. He probably doesn’t spend much of his investment earnings and may only pay tax on the drawings. The top tax rate is 33% so if he only spend an eighth of his earnings, and the rest was in growth funds & the likes, then you’d get the 4% effective tax. (33% divided by 8)
why would the 7/8th not be taxed?
I mean, if I put $100K in the bank and earned interest on that, wouldn’t that interest be taxable income? ie. RWT, the rate of which I think is determined by general income tax rate for that person.
It would be taxed if you put it in the bank. That’s basically a cash transaction and you can’t call it anything but income.
Shares and property are different. If you buy shares for $1 each, and they go up in value to $2 each, there’s no tax on that gain. (unless the IRD decide you bought the shares expressly for the gain.)
As I said I’m just speculating but he was a Kiwisaver provider for a while so i’d expect him to have some pretty good advisors on growth funds and may have invested a lot of his dosh into that market.
Speculating is fine, and the explanations are good.
“If you buy shares for $1 each, and they go up in value to $2 each, there’s no tax on that gain. (unless the IRD decide you bought the shares expressly for the gain.)”
Sorry, what? What other purpose is there in buying dividend paying shares apart from for gain?
Property I understand, although if you buy and sell too often you will get taxed right?
Investments, are you saying that mostly people aren’t paying tax on investment income?
The other way to ask my question is, could Morgan have been a businessman and paid more tax by choosing different ways of using his money? That’s a differentiation between wanting to do business (i.e. something useful) and simply making money.
Confusing income and capital. Income is always taxed, currently capital is not.
Income from bank deposits = interest, which is taxed (usually RWT)
Income from shares = dividends, which are also taxed at marginal rate of the investor
Income from property = rent, which is taxed in the same way as dividends
Value of shares and property can (and has) increase, that gain is currently not taxed in NZ unless you declare yourself as a “professional investor or speculator” (or IRD declares you to be) in which case those gains are taxed only when they are realised (shares or property are sold) at the marginal rate just like other forms of income
GM will be paying 4% effective tax because of the way he has structured his investments using trusts with himself as a beneficiary.
how is professional investor/speculator status determined? Would that apply to Morgan?
“GM will be paying 4% effective tax because of the way he has structured his investments using trusts with himself as a beneficiary.”
So Trusts don’t have to pay tax?
It can all get confusing can’t it weka, including to me. Kiwisaver providers for example are nearly all PIEs (portfolio investment entities) and as such Kiwisavers are not required to pay tax on capital gains on shares even though the providers are, obviously, professional investors acting on our behalf.
The short answer to the inevitable question is “because they’re all doing it too”.
The trust one confused me there too. Trusts don’t have any tax breaks I know of, they pay the same tax rates as the rest us, so I’d be interested in knowing how using trusts can minimise your tax.
“Kiwisaver providers for example are nearly all PIEs (portfolio investment entities) and as such Kiwisavers are not required to pay tax on capital gains on shares even though the providers are, obviously, professional investors acting on our behalf.”
ok, but that’s two different things right? Morgan as a business owner (of an investment firm) and Morgan has someone who has his own Kiwisaver. I assume they get taxed differently.
Still not quite seeing how Morgan ends up paying less than 4% tax.
I’m not sure he is a business owner any more… is he? I read some time back he’d sold or disposed of Gareth Morgan investments and I’ve been assuming his income is derived from his personal investments.
It’s hard to explain but here goes…
Trusts do pay tax on their income, to keep it simple let’s say a trust has all its capital invested in shares then it will pay tax on the dividends. If a trust distributes all of its income (dividends in this example) to its beneficiaries then the trust doesn’t pay tax, the beneficiary does. The thing is, quite often the beneficiary marginal rate is lower than the trust tax rate.
Even further, sometimes a trust will accumulate its income, dividends in our example, to add to capital. Periodically it can make a “distribution” of capital to beneficiaries. This is untaxed as it is deemed capital and as I said earlier in NZ currently we do not tax capital. Thus the effective tax rate of the beneficiary drops massively.
Now I’ve probably confused everyone…
“It’s hard to explain but here goes…”
Thanks. I understand most of that but can’t see it significantly reducing tax for the wealthy, the next top rate of 30% cuts in at ‘only’ $48,000 and people like Morgan would surely have earnings in the $millions.
I’d think those with serious income would need to use a lot of trusts and then they’d risk being deemed tax evaders by the IRD.
@ syclingmad
That’s a great explanation and makes sense of something I’ve never understood. My parents have a Trust, they draw on dividends and other income for their own income, and afaik they pay tax (or the Trust does).
But what you have just explained is how Trusts are used to work around having to pay tax.
Also, capital gains taxes aren’t just about property. Does this mean no capital gains in NZ is taxed?
Why do we allow that?
syclingmad are you sure that trusts can (still) be used in NZ to evade tax through ‘distributions’ in the way you describe? I do not think that is right. If it worked then everyone would be doing it.
A.
Then he needs to be clearer. Most kiwis view tax as paye. If he didnt want us to think he arranged his affair to reduce his income tax he is being disingenuous
Yes, I thought that aspect was unclear too. Is he talking personal tax? Business tax?
“Value of shares and property can (and has) increase, that gain is currently not taxed in NZ ”
And the elephant that is not mentioned – is that this type of wealth stream is almost exclusively the preserve of the already wealthy – and forms the lion’s share of the wealth increase of the very rich. And yet of all the forms of gaining wealth (wages, salary etc) THIS is the one that is entirely or almost entirely tax free!!
The stupidity is the rule about the speculation of the gain. It should be obvious that people invest in growth shares for the capital gain! IRD should not have to prove that with each individual case.
They need to get rid of the ‘intention’ and just have the same rule no matter what.
Also the National government has allowed NZ to become a welfare country to the offshore wealthy. Come here, invest in what have you (property, farms, assets, businesses) and then they make losses or pitiful income and the person never even resides and works here.
But the family and person can come and use the health system, super and if they fall on hard times (or restructure their affairs) the social welfare system. Win, win.
There is a massive time bomb brewing.
Massive expansion of retirement villages being built, but guess what, normal Kiwis can’t afford the fees for the most part, they are being built for when all the offshore working residents chose to retire back in Sunny Nu Zilland. Free health, free retirement fees (if you structure your affairs to have under $200k), free super, etc etc.
It costs more to retire someone in NZ than the prison system. It’s neoliberal Kafta. Absolute Absurdism.
The bizarre thing, is that apparently the NZ strategy for migration was to pay for the local superannuation by importing in skilled workers, but it’s turned into creating a much bigger superannuation and health crisis because the rules are so ridiculous to get around and the people being imported in are often on minimal wages and have to be subsidised themselves and the family members will need retirement. It’s adding to NZ social welfare problems not as was proposed helping them.
I guess it’s a reference to the fact much of his wealth isn’t taxed – just his income.
sure, I was just wondering how that worked. i.e. I’m guessing he doesn’t have to do it that way and he could instead set things up so he pays more tax.
Exactly, Bill – as i understand it.
I am no fan of Gareth Morgan by any means, but for years, he himself has been vocal about the fact that people like himself are paying far too little tax.
Sorry, off out to commitments and don’t have time to find links etc, but there have been stacks of media articles etc over the last 10 ? years with Morgan ranting about the inequalities of the current tax system and the unfair LOW proportion of tax paid by the wealthy.
No one really understands it apart from a select few accountants, they new trick seems to be accountants turned politicians who seem to have little morals, John Key, Judith Collins who champion tax loopholes that nobody thinks much of but helps them and super rich cronies to prosper.
Meanwhile the left hasn’t caught on and still thinking its about the 2nd property of some police office or teacher and losing elections over it, while the .1% turning over hundreds of millions are not even on the radar.
It was anonymous Samaritans that exposed Panama and Paradise papers and revealed it all, the politicians and their advisers obviously were never going to get to the bottom of it. The media at first refused to print the Panama papers and John Key sent Judith Collins to be our representative on glueing up the tax loopholes. Need we say more!
Collins made a career of it as a tax lawyer. One of the reasons her pretense at not thinking her Oravida behaviour was a conflict of interest , was such a joke.
“I am no fan of Gareth Morgan by any means, but for years, he himself has been vocal about the fact that people like himself are paying far too little tax.”
Yes, that’s is a well known issue. But the point I raised was about whether Morgan could be paying a reasonable amount of tax and chooses not to.
Well of course, he can pay as much tax as he likes. Anyone with a bank account can make voluntary payments to IRD any time. However he does not wish to pay more than is required by law.
A.
I wonder what stops him given his clear anhorrence to it
Huh, I didn’t know that. How does IRD manage that against someone’s tax accounting?
I’m not sure, as I have never felt the desire to donate large sums of money to the IRD!!
A.
(Edit: Perhaps at some point one would be offered a refund. There is no obligation however to accept that refund)
In New Zealand, when you receive dividends from a NZ company, you also get imputation credits for the tax that company has paid. So when you file your personal income taxes, those imputation credits reduce your tax owed. Assuming Morgan declares income over $70k, he’s in the 33% bracket, so he only has to pay the additional tax due from the 5% difference between the company rate of 28% and his personal rate of 33%.
My understanding is crediting of company tax on dividends is unusual internationally. Australia is the only other country I’m aware of that also does it, the US definitely does not. In the US, dividends are paid after company tax, and the recipient then pays their full income tax on those dividends, so they are taxed twice.
Thanks Andre. That seems a reasonable explanation regarding Morgan’s comment.
Thanks Andre
Um. He gets it cos he deliberately arranged his affairs that way. He could operate in a different way but chooses not to and blames the system.
A better ststement would be “I could be paying only 4% but have chosen to pay my fair share. It is time we closed access to this behaviour”.
This just makes him a self righteous wanker
True, but it is important that the system does not allow paying tax to be merely a choice for some of the population. The system does need changing.
I agree, but I also think that if someone wants to be a politician then being someone who games current law for their own ends is problematic. This is worth discussing in public given he makes a point of the low tax rate.
This
A better ststement would be “I could be paying only 4% but have chosen to pay my fair share. It is time we closed access to this behaviour”.
Thanks, that’s what I was wondering. And how he is doing it. A suggestion above is via Trusts.
Agree, and your point at 15.6.1.1
I would have guessed it was untaxed capital gains
A.
Untaxed capital gains it is.
Effective tax rate is just the tax you pay vs total income (I use that term loosely because by income I mean genuine income + capital gains).
As capital gains are not taxed, the effective rate is low. Not to be confused with marginal tax rates.
@weka family trusts are most commonly used to protect relationship property, so it might be that was what your parents were doing. But not always…
He could, for example, calculate what it would be if he had the system he wanted and give it to a charity that houses poor families… and then make his point.
I am not in the business of defending Gareth Morgan, I think he is a tosser
A.
Facebook to users: send nudes
It’s almost a good idea but I don’t actually want a private corporation to be able to recognise me anywhere in the world.
I can see no way that could possibly go horribly wrong.
Question Time today
For anyone interested, in a break with tradition, the PM and the Deputy PM are both in the House for Qtime today. Usually the PM, Opposition Leader are not in the House on Thursdays.
Winston Peters was sworn in having been overseas with the PM and also there are further Labour MP maiden speeches today after QTime.
A good session so far – a few laughs and JA and WP did a wonderful tag team act with Question 1 – Paula Bennett asking the PM whether she stands by all her policies. I presume PB expected it to be answered by Kelvin Davis as per all other questions to the PM this week but got JA instead.
Most of the session so far has been worth watching.
It was good to hear the PM remind the House that it’s a pity the National Party weren’t as enthusiastic about Paid Parental Leave in their 9 years in government as they now, apparently are, in Opposition.
Bennett was very quiet during the election but this past week or so has been front and centre again