Open mike 17/10/2024

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 17th, 2024 - 36 comments
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36 comments on “Open mike 17/10/2024 ”

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  1. dv 1
    17 October 2024 at 8:05 am

    NATZ

    We have a plan

    We are working really hard to shambolise the country.

    Next on the plan is Wellington.

    We are on track.

    • Matiri 1.1
      17 October 2024 at 9:07 am

      Newsroom on takeover bid for Wellington. Good analysis from Jonathan Milne.

      https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/10/16/govt-hostile-takeover-bid-for-wellington-city/

      • gsays 1.1.1
        17 October 2024 at 9:23 am

        The longer these clowns are in control, the more decisions they make, the saying:

        They know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. Rings true

        Luxon, Reti and Levy could not articulate the many and varied benefits of the Dunedin hospital. A once in many generations opportunity and they want to scrooge it.

        Willis and the ferry debacle, taking a 2-3 yr balance sheet view of a 30year infrastructure project.

      • Bearded Git 1.1.2
        17 October 2024 at 9:42 am

        From Milne's article:

        "Tory Whanau told me the council now has about $2.8 billion of its assets left uninsured – it hasn’t been able to sustain the rising premiums. “Should the worst happen in our city, like an earthquake, we have very little to access in terms of rebuilding our city. Hence, the sale of the airport.”

        Nobody is quoting figures on this insurance cost. People bandy around figures like $2.8 billion, but what is the cost per annum of the premiums?

        I would have thought that the cost of these premiums would not be be significant in comparison with the many other costs faced by the WCC, especially for infrastructure and 3-waters.

        If this is true, then this is not the real reason that the airport shares were proposed to be sold.

      • Mike the Lefty 1.1.3
        17 October 2024 at 12:42 pm

        The CoC could always implement their alternative to Three Waters to assist and ease the burden on ratepayers.

        Oh that's right – they don't actually have one, it was all a ruse to get elected.

        Just like their threats to electricity companies to take action over soaring power prices, they did nothing in the end, as I predicted.

  2. Chris Clark 2
    17 October 2024 at 8:28 am

    What's the bet Luxon will fold on this, eventually?

  3. PsyclingLeft.Always 3
    17 October 2024 at 9:00 am

    Kiwibank says it needs a more level banking playing field – as well as a potential cash injection – to really make a difference in the New Zealand banking market.

    Quelle surprise…

    The main four Australian banks all told the committee they felt that was unnecessary.

    KiwiSaver provider Simplicity said it would be interested in investing in Kiwibank if that were made possible.

    First Union said the solution was not to open it up to private investment, but instead to have it fully publicly owned and well capitalised.

    As part of a submission made with other domestic banks, Kiwibank said there needed to be changes to bank capital requirements.

    It said the big four Australian banks had much easier access to cheaper capital options as well as the backing of their parent banks, and the cost of banking regulation was disproportionately borne by the smaller players.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/531026/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-kiwibank

    The definite anti-competetive nature of our Australian owned banks..sucks. We need our own bank. Way past time for it to be a level playing field !

    • mikesh 3.1
      17 October 2024 at 2:43 pm

      We need to stop the banks creating money. Government alone should have the power to create money and they could then lend some of that money to the banks, with the proviso that it be used only for the purpose of financing production.

      • PsyclingLeft.Always 3.1.1
        17 October 2024 at 5:26 pm

        Back in the day..apparently you could cash up your family benefit? Seems that was the way some got their First Home…

        Now? Next to no chance….

        "It's hard to believe today, but in the 1960s the capitalisation of the family benefit was the equivalent to a third of the price of the average house in New Zealand."

        https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/524528/a-history-of-new-zealand-housing-affordability

        • joe90 3.1.1.1
          17 October 2024 at 8:01 pm

          The old man was a Beazly builder. A family could walk in, select from a plan book containing around 20 designs. all of which could be mirrored, reversed, extended or otherwise altered to suit, start the ball rolling to capitalise on family benefit and apply for a State Advances loan and leave with an appointment to view sections in one of several developments. Six months later they could move in.

          • PsyclingLeft.Always 3.1.1.1.1
            17 October 2024 at 8:19 pm

            Cheers, thanks for that link. And that photo. I do recall hearing about those Beazly homes. And 20 plus possible Designs ? Amazing. There is some real NZ history. And nice that your old man was part of it….

            Gotta wonder..what happened to that NZ ? Where did those actual good old days go?

            • joe90 3.1.1.1.1.1
              17 October 2024 at 8:34 pm

              ..what happened to that NZ ?

              Shareholder revenue.

            • Cricklewood 3.1.1.1.1.2
              17 October 2024 at 9:08 pm

              My dad as a builder could go to the bank to buy land then the materials supplier and essentially form a partnership with them where the materials would be paid for once the house was sold his take was essentially slightly better wages than working for someone else and been old school he did everything except for the electrical … very different times these days there are margins added multiple times before the invoice gets to the person who pays the bills. Can be 3-4 layers and like compounding interest it adds up quick

              • PsyclingLeft.Always …
                18 October 2024 at 8:25 am

                Yes, does seem (from personal knowledge) that a lot of Dads were, if not Builders, some form of Tradies. Also from joe90's comment it certainly seems NZ's progress has not all been for the better. With particular reference to the very intrinsic..having a place you can own and call Home.

    • SPC 3.2
      17 October 2024 at 3:48 pm

      Kiwi Saver Funds, NZSF and Kiwibank (and government) should look at co-operation in providing a lower cost option in home insurance.

      Similar to car insurance, the gap in premium pricing for house insurance policies is widening. In Q2 2023, data from Market Scan showed the premium difference across insurers was $890. As of Q2 2024, that difference has increased to $1,028 – an increase of 15%.

      https://quashed.co.nz/blog/the-average-cost-of-car-house-and-contents-insurance-premium-in-new-zealand/

      Apart from using collective resources to more accurately identify risk for homes and still have profitability), there is also the possibility of coordinating premiums with EQC policy and increasing the assets held.

      (One idea would be having a low insurance premium option where the insurer takes ownership of land and leases it back when re-financing a home rebuild. A bit like how retirement villages operate).

      • PsyclingLeft.Always 3.2.1
        17 October 2024 at 5:19 pm

        Thanks for that. You obviously have Financial Knowledge..and interesting thoughts on same. This sounds to have potential?

  5. Reality 5
    17 October 2024 at 11:36 am

    Seeing Jacinda receiving her award from Prince William brought back nostalgia for the time we had a PM who cared, who actually liked people even if they were not millionaires, who was always dignified (no embarrassing photographs in Christmas pyjamas). She had genuine empathy in difficult times. She never bragged and boasted or put people down. I could go on and on.

    • bwaghorn 5.1
      17 October 2024 at 11:48 am

      Yip labours response to a very real crisis(covid,housing) was to throw everything at keeping people employed ,alive and housed, nationals response to a supposed debt crisis is to sack people and kick them onto to the streets, while letting corrupt partners profit

      • koina 5.1.1
        17 October 2024 at 12:34 pm

        Yes The simple divide between the left and the right.

        Yet ACT won their seats on their "we are one people" rhetoric.

        In reality ACT really meant "We are dump " people

      • Mike the Lefty 5.1.2
        17 October 2024 at 12:48 pm

        We can only imagine how many more people would have died, how many jobs would have vanished , how many kids would have gone hungry, how many businesses would have folded if the NACTS had been in government then.

        • David 5.1.2.1
          17 October 2024 at 2:29 pm

          I’m fairly certain that had National been in government when covid hit, they would’ve done pretty much the same as Labour. They may have wanted to get out of the lockdowns quicker, and the financial assistance from government may have been less.
          I think in general, the government of the day must follow the advice from the senior civil servants or change the law.

          Had the Nat’s been in office at the time, during the time of covid, Labour would have won last years election and the economy would be in the same shape or worse than today.

          • Patricia Bremner 5.1.2.1.1
            17 October 2024 at 3:46 pm

            Gee, can I borrow your crystal ball?devil

          • KJT 5.1.2.1.2
            17 October 2024 at 4:20 pm

            If you want to see how COVID would have happened under National/ ACT you only need to look at the UK under Johnson or the USA under Trump. A disaster!

            • PsyclingLeft.Always 5.1.2.1.2.1
              17 October 2024 at 5:03 pm

              You probably well remember those NZ Covid Plan B advocates..(and Sweden of course, those useless old people.. : (

              One Simon Thornley…

              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Thornley#Covid_Plan_B_group

              Here a good rebuttal…

              Dr Mark Thomas

              Why a Plan B when Plan A is working so well?

              The messages the Plan B group continues to promote: dismissing the harms that would be caused by the spread of Covid-19, exaggerating the costs of fighting the spread of infection, and exciting fear that vaccines will not be available for the foreseeable future, largely have fallen on deaf ears. Past experience has helped of course. These are the same people who only a few months ago confidently told us that: “a second wave is extremely unlikely”; “a travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand is now safe”; “harsh social distancing measures have little to no effect”(Simon Thornley, June 5 2020), and “the suppression strategy has left us in an international and economic dead end” (Simon Thornley, July 28, 2020).

              https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2020/09/04/why-plan-b-when-plan-a-working-so-well.html

              And another. Simon..Thornley his own words

              A key part of the stated rationale for plan b is that many of the deaths from Covid-19 would have occurred within 12 months any way, given that it is killing mostly those with other underlying conditions. “It may be that that increase in mortality is what we call a 'harvesting effect', where people who are likely to die in the near future all die at one point and there's a little spike in mortality”, according to Thornley.

              Plan b is similar to the approach adopted by Sweden, which is based on voluntary restrictions and some protection for older age groups, with apparent acceptance that there will be several thousand deaths, but with the wider population acquiring some immunity as the virus passes through.

              https://www.me.co.nz/blog-all/me-examine-the-potential-economic-implications-of-plan-b-for-new-zealand-as-proposed-by-simon-thornley-and-his-associates-drawing-on-covid-19-data-for-sweden

              I note that the so called "economic" benefits were foremost for the Plan B's…and that wasnt in any way certain .

              Yes..NZ could have suffered severely. Thousand of needless deaths. Thank fark for who we had in charge. Jacinda Ardern, Ashley Bloomfield et al. I still thank our great fortune in that. : )

    • Rosielee 5.2
      17 October 2024 at 12:03 pm

      And the captain's call on CGT?

    • Patricia Bremner 5.3
      17 October 2024 at 12:25 pm

      yesheart 100%
      Yes I could not imagine anyone calling PM Luxon dignified or empathetic.

  6. Subliminal 6
    17 October 2024 at 12:28 pm

    From David Hearst, chief editor and co founder of Middle East Eye:

    The picture of an 11-year-old girl with napalm burns running naked down a road in Vietnam was deemed so shocking in 1972 that it won a Pulitzer Prize.

    "The Terror of War" became the iconic image of the Vietnam War.

    Today in Gaza and Lebanon, there are so many pictures of burning people, burning tents, bodies piled up on the streets of the Jabalia refugee camp, and dust-encrusted survivors staggering out of the rubble with the lifeless bodies of their tiny children in their hands, but no one even bothers to publish them.

    Images of "The Terror of War" being committed by Israel in Gaza or Lebanon are not entered for Pulitzer Prizes. Nor do they elicit statements of condemnation or disgust from US presidents or British prime ministers…

    To suggest that Israel is deliberately killing children in Gaza is a "blood libel" that reminds British novelist Howard Jacobson of the pogroms of Jews in 13th century England, sparked by rumours that they were eating the remains of Christian children in Matzah bread.

    But Israeli forces are deliberately killing women and children in Gaza and Lebanon and domestic opinion in Israel is urging their soldiers on.

    There are no taboos in the debate in Israel about the final solution for north Gaza or south Lebanon. No hang-ups about using words like "extermination''.

    This is what Uzi Raby, one of Israel’s most sought-after experts on the Middle East, does. The senior lecturer at the department of Middle Eastern and African studies at Tel Aviv University said in a TV interview last month: "Anyone who stays there (north Gaza) will be judged by law as a terrorist and will go through either a process of starvation or a process of extermination."

    https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-middle-east-for-ever-wars-pave-way-demise

    All of Biden, Starmer and Scholz continue with their unconditional support and all three refuse to limit arms in any meaningful way.

  7. Ad 7
    17 October 2024 at 12:35 pm

    Jimmy Carter just voted for Harris, after turning 100.

    Total honourable legend.

  8. tWig 8
    17 October 2024 at 1:42 pm

    The use of AI to generate deepfake propaganda by authoritarian regimes.

  9. SPC 9
    17 October 2024 at 4:09 pm

    The Minister of Local Government says he is concerned about what the rates rise might be in Wellington.

    The average nation wide is c15%.

    The one proposed there was 16.9%.

    It is 17.9% in Christchurch. 16.5% Hamilton. 15.9% Tauranga (but a transfer to commercial and industrial – lower for residents). 17.5% Dunedin.

    Maybe when areas outside Auckland get help with a borrowing facility (as per Water Done Well) they can get their rates down too?

    • Belladonna 9.1
      18 October 2024 at 1:57 pm

      The question is what the rate rise will be after the LTP is re-worked (to remove the sale of the airport shares).

      Will this result in Wellington cutting their coat to fit their cloth (remain within the signaled rate rises by reducing expenditure); or result in additional rate rises to finance the current plan. We don't know at this stage.

      • SPC 9.1.1
        18 October 2024 at 2:57 pm

        Based on at the (TU) ratepayer reports for Auckland and Wellington, it appears that Wellington has a lower level of debt.

        https://ratepayersreport.nz/wellington-city-council/

        https://ratepayersreport.nz/greater-wellington-regional-council/

        https://ratepayersreport.nz/auckland-council/

        Auckland $17,000 debt per unit, Wellington $2400 per unit (plus $3000 on the regional council as well $5400).

        Wellington appears to have a higher cost of debt per dollar of debt than others (a problem here for some reason).

        Auckland has 525% net debt to rates revenue, Wellington City only 6.8%, but its at 318% for the Regional Council (water).

        Wellington could look at increasing debt to provide for an insurance fund (defer impact on rates)***. And have less new spending down the line, rather than face an abrupt adjustment now.

        Maybe when areas outside Auckland get help with a borrowing facility (as per Water Done Well) they can get their rates down too?***

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