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.
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
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Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
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When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
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Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
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A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
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The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
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 ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to ...
RNZ News As Israel presses ahead with strikes in Rafah and seizing the Rafah crossing from Egypt, aid agencies are sounding the alarm of a “catastrophic humanitarian situation”. Rafah was “significant” because it was the only part in Gaza that had not been terribly damaged by the conflict, United Nations ...
With funding set to be scrapped for the Hamilton-Auckland commuter train, Te Huia enthusiast Georgie Dansey argues for it to be thrown a lifeline. It’s 5.45am and the chain of my crappy old bike falls off slugging up the one hill in Hamilton. I contemplate yeeting the bike into the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Cooke, Honorary Fellow, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland We feel ecological grief when we lose places, species or ecosystems we value and love. These losses are a growing threat to mental health and wellbeing globally. We all see ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shauna Brail, Associate Professor, Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto A shift to hybrid and remote work continues to affect worker presence in Toronto’s downtown.(Shutterstock) Downtown Toronto, the core of Canada’s largest city, continues to reel from the lingering ...
Responding to an Auditor-General's report slamming failures in the administration of the 2023 General Election, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said: ...
Productivity apps now make up a big chunk of the software market. But do they work? And why do they all have AI integrations?Despite being firmly on the record as a physical planner fan, I sometimes dream of something better than my pretty diary and its scrawled, ugly, interior ...
The Taxpayers’ Union says the Beehive need to lead by example, following reports of more than $50,000 spent upgrading video conferencing equipment and furniture in the Prime Minister’s office. Taxpayers’ Union Campaign Manager, Connor Molloy, ...
An objective list of the 50 most powerful people in New Zealand, as judged by the Spinoff Editorial Board. It’s power list season, baby, and we want in on the action. Sure, there’s the rich list and the powerful “c-suite” list and the young people with power (hmmm) but here, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the names of deceased people, and describes ongoing colonial violence towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. First Nations people in Australia ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Simpson, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Macquarie University Netflix Baby Reindeer’s phenomenal success has much to do with its writer and lead, Richard Gadd, who plays Donny in a tender semi-autobiographical account of sexual abuse, harassment and stalking. Gadd’s story has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle KarolinaGrabowska/Pexels If you didn’t have food allergies as a child, is it possible to develop them as an adult? The short answer is yes. But the reasons why are much ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Moon, Professor of History, Auckland University of Technology Ans Westra, self-portrait, c. 1963. National Library ref AWM-0705-F They try but invariably fail – those writers who believe they are capable of encapsulating in prose or verse the essence of ...
Stewart Sowman-Lund looks at the growing concern around the world in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. What’s all this? When Covid-19 arrived on our shores in early 2020, some argued we were too slow, or crucially, ill-prepared for a pandemic. So ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Franco Montalto, Professor of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering and Director, Sustainable Water Resource Engineering Laboratory, Drexel University Water runs into a storm drain in a Los Angeles alley on Aug. 19, 2023, during Tropical Storm Hilary.Citizen of the Planet/Universal Images ...
The inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones has turned up a new witness who says he saw two teenagers and a small child in a high vis vest in the area where the boy’s body was found the day he died. Lachie’s body was discovered face up ...
Stories from the tenancy trenches, featuring spider infestations, cupboard rats and same-sex discrimination. Lucy’s brother was living in a damp 1930s building in Mt Eden where “he had to tie the cupboard doors closed so the rats didn’t get in”. Although he shared custody of his six-year-old son, his property ...
Simeon Brown, Chris Luxon, and Wayne Brown climbed into a hole and announced a plan to solve Auckland’s water woes. This is how it’ll work. New Zealand’s pipes are munted. They’re cracked and leaking, and struggling to handle all the extra poos excreted by our rising population. It’s a big, ...
What do a sombrero in Argentina and cognitive driving tests have in common? Don’t worry, we’re not setting up a bad joke. Hinengaro Clinic dementia clinician Gregory Winkelman has the answer on today’s episode of The Detail. “We ask a patient’s spouse or son or daughter: If you went to ...
Wellington long jumper Phoebe Edwards is back and she’s having fun again. Until this year, Edwards, a top athlete in her teens, had never competed as a senior athlete in New Zealand. In March, the 26-year-old won a national long jump title in a lifetime best of 6.28m after ...
After replacing a fifth of their caucus in just four months, the Greens’ opportunity to reset, reshuffle and refocus on the Government is quickly slipping away The post Persistent Green Party scandals delay caucus reset appeared first on Newsroom. ...
I knew Taika Waititi quite well when he was a kid. His mother lived in a tall narrow house in Aro St, and my youngest sister had a similar house two doors along. They were both single mums, they each had a son aged seven. Taika and my nephew Stepan ...
Opinion: “As time passes, knowledge of the circumstances of the August 2016 outbreak will fade and its immediate impact will be lost.” This statement is from the 2017 report of the Official Inquiry into the Havelock North campylobacteriosis outbreak. The then National-led government established the inquiry after the outbreak left ...
Opinion: Nicholas Khoo looks at two key points in the high-stakes foreign policy pact debate – and asks if NZ can engage with as little drama as possible. The post Where to next for the Aukus ruckus? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Opinion: ‘Reference-class forecasting’ is at the heart of improving pricing a project and identifying the expected timeframe but it doesn’t appear to be in use here The post ‘Think fast and act slowly’ is failing big projects appeared first on Newsroom. ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
By Robin Martin, RNZ News reporter A New Zealand local authority, Whanganui District Council, has passed a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, condemnation of all acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides of the conflict and the immediate return of hostages. It comes as ...
Asia Pacific Report The Aotearoa chapter of the Women’s International league for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has appealed to the New Zealand government to call out Israel over the “cruel and barbaric use of force” in Gaza and demand a permanent ceasefire. The league’s open letter was sent to Prime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will invest $566 million over a decade on data, maps and other tools to promote exploration and development in Australia’s resources industry. The project will fund “the first comprehensive map of what’s ...
Asia Pacific Report Following an open letter by Auckland University academics speaking out in support of their students’ right to protest against the genocidal Israeli war on Gaza, a group of academics at Otago University have today also called on New Zealand academic institutions to “repair colonial violence” and end ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Linda J. Graham, Professor and Director of the Centre for Inclusive Education, Queensland University of Technology Ryan Tauss/ Unsplash, CC BY Two male students have been expelled from a Melbourne private school for their involvement in a list ranking female students. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The Reserve Bank is now assuming Australians will see no interest rate cuts this year – and quite possibly none before the next federal election, due next May. That’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University The Victorian budget offered more of the same on Tuesday, with the only change being how the budget papers were packaged. The usual shrink wrap was gone, hinting at savings in the pages ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Coalition is demanding extensive amendments to the government’s legislation targeting non-citizens who refuse to co-operate with their removal. In a dissenting report to the senate inquiry into the legislation, the Coalition says it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vanita Yadav, Senior Research Fellow, Urban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University Brett Boardman/Belvoir The complex and grappling issue of violence against women takes centre stage in the soul-stirring solo dance drama Nayika: A Dancing Girl. During a dinner conversation ...
Disruption to patient care from a nationwide junior doctors strike is bordering on unsafe, a senior doctor claims, despite what health officials say. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Ground Picture/Shutterstock The anti-cancer drug abemaciclib (also known as Vernezio) has this month been added to the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to treat certain ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic McAfee, Postdoctoral researcher, marine ecology, University of Adelaide Robbie Porter, OzFish Unlimited Around Australia, hundreds of people are coming together to help a once-prized, but decimated and largely forgotten marine ecosystem. They’re busy restoring Australia’s native oyster and mussel reefs. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Webb, Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology Austin Human/Unsplash How does Earth stop meteors from hitting Earth and hurting people? –Asher, 6 years 11 months, New South Wales Alright, let’s embark on a meteor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rory Mulcahy, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of the Sunshine Coast Professional sports organisations regularly promote and develop initiatives to support diversity, equity and inclusion. While sport has the power to change attitudes by sparking conversations about political issues and social ...
Comment: The weekly Monday post-Cabinet press conference is a useful forum for observing Christopher Luxon and how he is developing into the job of Prime Minister. He attempts to convey the impression of a man of action, speaking fast, delivering memorised National Party strategies in a connect-the-slogans kind of way, ...
Double votes, missing ballot boxes, tired tech and stressed staff: how tick-tallying went astray at last year’s election. Cast your mind back to November 2023, that bleary-eyed post-election period duringwhichwewaited, andwaited, for a coalition deal to be hammered out. A distraction from the hotel-hopping of our ...
International audiences are starting to discover what New Zealand already knew about After the Party.When After the Party aired in New Zealand last year, the response was fast and furious. In his preview for Rec Room, Duncan Greive said it was a “gritty, wrenching and highly confronting” series. By ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shahram Akbarzadeh, Convenor of the Middle East Studies Forum (MESF), and Acting Director the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Iran’s leadership has been a direct beneficiary of the months-long war in Gaza. With every missile that Israel fires ...
Claire Mabey reviews the haunting and sexy debut novel from Sinéad Gleeson, who is about to touch down in Aotearoa for a string of live events.When Irish writer Sinéad Gleeson was in Aotearoa in 2018 with her spectacular collection of essays, Constellations, she told me she was working on ...
PNG Post-Courier Bougainville Affairs Minister Manasseh Makiba has described the Post-Courier’s front page story yesterday regarding a meeting between Bougainville and national government leaders as “sensationalised” and without substance. The Autonomous Bougainville Government (AGB) had warned it might use “other avenues to gain its independence” should the PNG government “continue ...
Where some saw the worst press conference given by the government to date, Anna Rawhiti-Connell recognised girl maths game.Nicola Willis, recently exasperated by comparisons to Ruth Richardson, said she was “a bit sick of being compared with every female finance minister that’s ever been out there.”Some think that’s ...
The March results are reported against forecasts based on the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2023 (HYEFU 2023), published on 20 December 2023 and the results for the same period for the previous year. ...
Jamie Arbuckle, the district councillor who became an MP but decided to keep getting paid for both roles, will instead donate one salary to charity. ...
Adding gender to the Human Rights Act would simply make the implicit explicit. So why is it so controversial? Paul Thistoll explain. At present, Aotearoa’s 1993 Human Rights Act (HRA) includes sex, marital status, religious belief, ethical belief (meaning a lack of religious belief), colour, race, ethnicity or national origin, ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an 18-year-old who’s studying and working in hospo shares their approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Transmasc Age: 18 Ethnicity: Pākehā/Māori Role: Student, ...
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