Murray McCully says there’s no link between a New Zealand businessman Earl Hagaman’s $101K donation to the National Party and his company winning a contract to manage a resort in Niue. Tui anyone? The resort is heavily subsidised by the NZ Government.
Well i guess you have to read the link.
but I feel generous today, so I do a little copy and paste and let the Mr. McCully speak for himself and his government.
Quote from the above posted link:
“Mr McCully said there was no link between the two events, nor the $7.5 million in aid funding to expand the resort a year later.
In October 2014, New Zealand’s Scenic Hotel Group announced it had “secured” the Matavai Resort in Niue.
The Niue Tourism Property Trust, whose trustees are appointed by Mr McCully, carried out what the minister said was a fully commercial process to find a company to run the resort.
That contract was won by the Scenic Hotel Group.
The month before, Earl Hagaman, that company’s founder, donated $101,000 to the National Party, making him National’s biggest living financial donor in 2014. Only a man who had died and left his estate to National gave more.” Quote End.
Now you can make up your own mind. But you should really put more effort in your reading abilities. It would make you less hopeless.
Why James, do you want to try to implicate Labour into it too?
I mean what the Fuck – why is National giving 7.5m in aid to expand resorts, first question, second question is why McCully, national party and Scenic Hotel Group is not being investigated by the SFO?
I would suggest that in the circumstances McCully would need to produce evidence to prove there was NO connection.
Because on the face of it, a large donation to a political party (and $100k is about 3 times the median income in this country) and the donor then benefiting from a special arrangement to the tune of $7.5m absolutely demands transparency.
If you cannot provide that transparency it is YOU who has the problem.
This case is easier to explain away than Murray’s saudi sheep fiasco. He can plausibly claim no involvement in either Nat donations nor the tendering process. Let’s not over-egg this one.
Perception in regards to being re-elected not whether a government is corrupt or not…of course if a corrupt government gives the perception of not being corrupt and the people don’t believe the government is corrupt then is that bad thing?
Actually there’s more than that – persons in positions of responsibility are expected to maintain clean hands – lawyers can be disbarred for not doing so. It’s not a lot to expect the same standards from government ministers, most of them are lawyers.
So it’s not just getting elected, it’s about conducting the affairs of the country in an honest and responsible manner.
“Ministers are expected to act lawfully and to behave in a way that upholds, and is seen to uphold, the highest ethical standards.” (Cabinet Manual)
The contemptible McCully is clearly corrupt and has broken this pledge repeatedly. Although enforcement lies first of all with the PM, the malefactor is in fact responsible to us, the citizenry, his masters.
So, if the public are baying for the blood of any of this worthless pack of crooks and scoundrels that Key dares to pretend to call a government, then they have a perfect and well-established right to do so.
Elections or scurrilously dishonest polls have nothing whatsoever to do with it.
indiana, citizens have expectations of decent moral and legal behaviour from MP’s and Ministers for good reason – they are paid by us to run a democratic government.
When it appears that democracy is for sale, ie, a political party can be brought off for personal gain, citizens have a right to ask questions.
As RedLogix points out, the onus is on McCully to produce evidence there was no connection between the events of Hagaman making a massive donation to the National party a month prior to the company he foundered being given “aid” of $7.5 mil for their resort.
On another note, are you ok with your tax payer money funding an offshore private business?
Are you really ok with NZ tax payers funding a private business offshore to the tune of $7.5 mil?
Here’s another one. Are you ok with living in a tax haven of a country? What’s not morally corrupt about a PM that changes the law to make it easy for corporates to evade the tax that is due to benefit the citizens of the country?
Please note, it’s not the Mana Party running the country. They are not employed by us, there is no Mana MP in parliament.
“Are you really ok with NZ tax payers funding a private business offshore to the tune of $7.5 mil?”
If you are asking this question as you believe that the Govt is corrupt and that you are trying to call me out on accepting a corrupt govt, then I have no answer for you – your mind is made up, my opinion is irrelevant.
“Here’s another one. Are you ok with living in a tax haven of a country? What’s not morally corrupt about a PM that changes the law to make it easy for corporates to evade the tax that is due to benefit the citizens of the country?”
If you believe that NZ is a tax haven, which I am not sure why you would think that as NZ doesn’t even register in the top 20-30 countries acknowledged as a tax haven, then I’m ok with living in NZ’s perceived highly imaginative tax haven. I’m sure you have all the hard evidence to prove beyond all reasonable doubt how our government blindly permits corporates to pay no tax in NZ what so ever.
No, it’s because the MSM flunkies asked no questions about Donghwa Liu – that’s the asshole who secretly bought an election – and baldly set out to neutralise Cunliffe by barefaced dishonesty. Even far-right shill John Armstrong was ashamed of his part in it. If NZ ever holds treason trials, Liu and his accomplices will be a major feature. Dotcom made his play openly, as anyone is entitled to do. Not through a festering stew of corruption like cabinet club.
except KDC and mana was out in the open and was an upfront funding of an election campaign broadcast far and wide by the people doing it
this issues is a donation and a favourable business circumstance with in a close time frame – which requires someone to go through paperwork to establish and publish for us to know about
Have you been living in a bubble, McCully has a reputation for this type of behavior spreading back to the “leaky Home Syndrome”, for which he was responsible, and then there is the corrupt Saudi affair, the man has no conscience or integrity, although those remarks probably apply to most Nat members, waky, waky, James, ignoring reality doesn’t solve the problem.
When I heard this on the news, I thought I saw a flock of pink pigs flying by the window. Do these politicians think we all came down with the last shower of rain. How many more sound bites of news are we supposed to believe is the truth. Beggars belief.
This has nothing to do with supporting the welfare of the people of Niue and everything to do with the corrupt favours handed out in cabinet club.
First off, pacific aid provided by the NZ government should be going to improve infrastructure that benefits the people of Niue. Instead $7.5 mil has gone to Scenic Group for their resort, a private business interest. That’s what we’re funding fellow tax payers!
Secondly, it’s too easy. Give a $101,000 donation and hey bingo, a month later, your company is the recipient of a $7.5 mil “aid donation”. How freaking corrupt is that?
Why do we keep letting this government get away with this kind of shit? (Jude got away with a slap over the wrist with a wet bus ticket for the Oravida scandal) Why do we not march like the Londoners?
PS: Edit. Niue is also a tax haven. What else has that Hagaman character been up to?
Political parties have no intrinsic right to exist and do not deserve public funding.
Private funding needs to be capped and corporate funding (of which unions are part) strictly forbidden. Corporations have no right to political representation – only their constituent citizens, and then only if they are New Zealanders.
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
― R. Buckminster Fuller
This makes sense. And this: What the history of both Keynesianism and neoliberalism show is that it’s not enough to oppose a broken system. A coherent alternative has to be proposed. For Labour, the Democrats and the wider left, the central task should be to develop an economic Apollo programme, a conscious attempt to design a new system, tailored to the demands of the 21st Century.
–George Monbiot
Michael Moore, in his new doco “Where to invade next” has used this principle to produce a positive glimpse into what could become a reality since it is actually a reality in certain countries. He cleverly contrasts the good ideas in action with the current situation resulting from neoliberalism. I have deliberately been vague because I don’t want to spoil the impact of this doco for you, but it is inspiring.
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” ― R. Buckminster Fuller
Agreed, but a viable model will not persuade voters through words, theory or persuasion. It has to be demonstrably effective as a way of life that honours individuality, draws on innate talent, works cooperatively rather than competitively, and embraces the restoration of the planet’s integrity as existential imperative.
The spread of co-ops globally and all manner of co-creative enterprise is gaining momentum as people discover the incentives of one-up-manship, competition and amassing wealth are more easily shed than imagined. Sheer force of numbers will necessitate increasing publicity via MSM. Then we may see a favourable tipping point being reached.
Malcolm Turnbull has taken a cautious approach to the prime ministership, and he’s being punished for it.
Bill Shorten is taking a riskier line, announcing controversial policies, and it’s working for him.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull: When he seized the prime ministership seven months ago, Turnbull was bigger than his party.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull: When he seized the prime ministership seven months ago, Turnbull was bigger than his party. The net result is that the Turnbull government has entirely lost its advantage in the election-deciding two-party share of the vote, the first time in the Fairfax Ipsos poll.
I would put 80% of the difference between NZ and Aus down to one thing. Here in Aus there is still a functioning media; it’s rambunctious, noisy and has obvious biases. But at least you get both sides of the story. Well more than this; you actually get a story, in stark contrast to the piffling sound-bites and arse-licking talkbacks that pass for political media in NZ.
From my experience their tv is about as trashy as ours. I don’t seem to remember channels 7, 9 or 10 doing hard hitting stuff. Breakfast tv and current affairs afters the news were about our seven sharp quality. They do have ABC and SBS which are good channels and take on the important issues, but for most people I don’t think they want to watch that. Not sure how their print media compares but with Fairfax operating in both countries I imagine that is similar too.
Yep the commercial channels are predictable enough, but ABC and SBS are remarkably strong and they do get watched by enough people that it matters.
And with Fairfax does operate in both countries, there is a notable difference between their mastheads. The Age and the SMH are still worth a read, especially the weekend editions.
One thing about ABC is that it provides a venue for satire. Sure, I only watch Clarke & Dawe online, but it’d be great to have something similar broadcast here (the closest I can think of is the Corbett/ Ego two man circlejerk that used to occasionally occur on TV3, but haven’t watched for several months now to know if that still happens).
“I would put 80% of the difference between NZ and Aus down to one thing. Here in Aus there is still a functioning media; it’s rambunctious, noisy and has obvious biases. But at least you get both sides of the story. Well more than this; you actually get a story, in stark contrast to the piffling sound-bites and arse-licking talkbacks that pass for political media in NZ.”
Exactly, democracy is still alive and kicking in Aus, the punters are wise to BS, just look at Queensland and Vic changing their state Govts.
During the Abbott election though, there was considerable bias from the media, I put down to the fact that there was a female Prime minister, and misogynism was and still is very much alive here.
I’ve found channel 7 to be the most balanced of the commercial channels, sometimes more so than the ABC, which Turnbull has made some changes to.
is it my imagination or has the tide turned?…..The MSM appear to have decided they have nothing to lose and are actually starting to do their job……seems to be a lot of questions being asked about the governance of our country these past couple of weeks
Its funny you say that because I was about to post something along the lines about having reaching peak-Little, where Little is so disrespected that people stop making fun of him because it starts to feel like you’re picking on someone that can’t defend themselves
Like near the end of Shearers reign with the snapper incident or just after the election with the Cunliffe and you knew it was only a matter of time
Actually you may very well be right, because its merely my perception I was just be seeing what I want to see or rather what I want to see to confirm my bias
Eight years of government and the media may be tired of it so they well be turning on National
Yes its true John Key likes to tag in Bill English when the hard questions start rolling in
Though I think it may possibly be a lucky break for him as dealing with China is a pretty big deal so it would be considered unusual for him to be over there
I was thinking the opposite PR. I was thinking when Little was attacked all guns blazing in an effort to do a Cunliffe on him, he just quietly and honestly came back saying “I made a couple of mistakes in that poll period” and “we have to work harder to put our message across”. No signs of a leadership challenge at all.
Little has the caucus united, some of the further right elements Goff/Cosgrove have been eased out (though I quite like Goff) and a strong policy platform will be being prepared in the background.
Meanwhile sleazy Key refuses to show his tax return; backs the 12,000 secret non-disclosing offshore trusts in NZ because his Remuera golf buddies make a few million from them. The teflon is peeling-that Key 39% approval rating is the sign.
I have just heard an hour ago Andrew Little speak very well at the Grey Power AGM. He spoke coherently and forcefully and then answered questions in a forthright and unequivocal fashion.
He was heard in a very respectful and powerful silence, as his message and delivery demanded.
is it my imagination or has the tide turned?…..The MSM appear to have decided they have nothing to lose and are actually starting to do their job……seems to be a lot of questions being asked about the governance of our country these past couple of weeks
Looks like that to me too. A slow change perhaps, and I’ve been cautious about getting too optimistic, but something seems different. I suspect some of them are finally feeling like what’s the govt has been doing is too much even for their jaded perspective.
Yes, I know what you mean, and a lot of that criticism came from “Progressives” within the Labour Party.
The same people who have been dragging it away from core Labour issues for decades and who are in my humble opinion, most responsible for the party’s current lack of effectiveness.
This is an issue that could really put the skids under Key, quickly and permanently, and to my mind it is an extremely serious security issue.
And Labour would put this to one side because they’re frightened of a few false but loud allegations of racism.
The issue is being faced in Australia. Why not in NZ?
As I said, its not racism anyway. Who gives a damn about Chinese from Singapore or Taiwan? Its the PRC that is the real issue.
Look at the pics and see how many totally collapsed buildings. Now think back to ChCh and that while several buildings did fail totally, the vast majority did not. They may have been damaged beyond economic repair, but they didn’t kill their inhabitants.
For those of us inclined to forget, this is why strong, well funded government is important.
On a another note: All about the unit right now we have a flock of kurawongs, about 20 of them making the most beautiful dawn chorus. They’re about the size and colour of a crow, but far more elegant and melodious. Then just as I was looking up a flock of a dozen pure white spoonbills passed briefly overhead.
One way or another personally the past week or two have been pretty tough; but there plenty of good reasons not to give into the dark side. I only had to look out the door.
“One way or another personally the past week or two have been pretty tough; but there plenty of good reasons not to give into the dark side. I only had to look out the door.”
A group of residents from Great Barrier Island who live entirely off the grid, say yes it can, as long as you have enough photovoltaic panels on your roof positioned to take in maximum sunlight in all seasons.
“Last week National announced it was fast tracking the report from the Foreign Affairs Trade and Defence Committee on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) from the end of May to 4 May. While the select committee process itself is a farce as it can’t change the deal, there are more sinister motivations behind the new deadline…
So what is really behind the decision to fast track the select committee’s report? For those of us involved in the Waitangi Tribunal claim on the TPPA lodged last July, the answer is very simple. The urgent Tribunal process concluded with the final submissions on Wednesday. The Tribunal then thought it had six weeks to write a report – already a daunting task given the thousands of pages of documents and the complexity of the issues – already a daunting task given the thousands of pages of documents and the complexity of the issues.
Now they have fewer than three weeks. The Crown is arguing ‘comity’ – that the Waitangi Tribunal must respect the jurisdiction of the Parliament as law maker. In lay terms, the Tribunal can’t engage with claims that the government’s processes and the content of the TPPA have breached its Treaty of Waitangi obligations once legislation has been introduced to the House. To borrow a term commonly used to describe the effect of the TPPA on government decisions, National intends to ‘chill’ the Tribunal process: in the truncated time available the Tribunal will be unable or unwilling to write a detailed report that is critical of the government that may not stand up to scrutiny. The threat of judicial review is already hovering in the background of the proceedings.”…
For Airbnb, things are different. Because it manages its finances via units in Ireland and tax havens like Jersey in the Channel Islands, only a small part of its share of the revenue is ever likely to be taxed by Australia or the U.S. A review of Airbnb’s overseas regulatory filings shows it has a far more extensive web of subsidiaries than it has publicly acknowledged—more than 40 in all.
This is the challenge that Airbnb, like Uber and other companies in the so-called sharing economy, poses for the world’s treasuries. In the five years since these businesses began their spiraling growth, some cities and states around the globe have fought hard to make them play by the same rules as traditional hotels or taxis and collect various local taxes—often as not, they’ve lost. As the new breed of companies moves toward profitability, transforming larger chunks of the economy, policy experts say the battle is likely to shift to the national level, where billions of dollars a year in corporate taxes could be at risk. (A source close to Airbnb says the company will turn its first profit this year.) Governments have been slow to respond.
Obviously, the government needs to ensure that money is properly taxed before it moves offshore.
Of course, there’s a fairly good argument for simply not allowing money to move offshore.
Hi there folks I am looking for help…not for myself but for a family I know that are in a dreadful situation the NZ Herald articles explains it better than I can
thanx…the Mother of the autistic girl is very articulate ( I also heard her on RNZ)….this family should NOT be put in this situation of facing the burden of care and housing by themselves
…this government should be taking responsibility and footing the whole bill imo, especially as leaky buildings was due to lack of government oversight
“The gap between rich and poor is now so wide that the Government feels comfortable writing off the unemployed and washing their hands of any part in their increasing demise.” – and those supporting the comments of English too.
Except the first part didn’t happen, a recording was released that just mysteriously happened to remove the context from what Bill English was saying and for the second part well, I don’t think it’ll hurt National in the polls but we’ll see I guess
“No disrespect to hospitality workers – I’ve been a dishwasher, a kitchen hand, a barmaid and a waitress, but I’d rather down tools and join the homeless on the street than become the servant class in my own country.”
– Yeah that’s quite a lot of disrespect right there
Thinking about recession and business decline etc. I have gathered a few stats and news items on small business, our life blood in the economy.
Small business in general should receive more support concentrating on helping them build up and employing more workers and apprentices. People forming local businesses provide jobs and money that circulate amongst the locals, enabling all to have a better stab at the economic pie and improving their conditions locally and ultimately the whole country’s. Stuff gives a brief summary. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/small-business/10198006/SMEs-still-backbone-of-NZ-business One in three New Zealand workers is employed in a small business, and combined they contribute a third of New Zealand’s gross domestic product.
The finding comes from the country’s first Small Business Sector Report, provided by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
The report outlines the statistics on New Zealand’s 460,000 small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), and the more than 900,000 workers that the business with 20 staff or less employ.
ASB 18/6/2015 report on small business. https://blog.asb.co.nz/posts/2015/06/small-businesses-keep-the-new-zealand-economy-running.html Helping them to achieve their ambitions should be a focus for all of us interested in the success of the New Zealand economy. They make up 97% of all New Zealand enterprises (that’s 459,300 businesses) and make a substantial contribution to New Zealand’s employment and economy – employing 584,000 people and contributing about $60b to New Zealand’s GDP each year, that’s nearly 30% of the total GDP!
These 459,300 businesses include zero (no employees), micro (1-5 employees) and small (6-19 employees) enterprises.
Otago University report below lists various problems that small NZ businesses grapple with. Taxation needs to be lessened on these people wading into commerce on a small scale and they should be able to charge seminars, locums, local promotions etc to their taxation offsets, and given special refunds when they employ people, and especially while they are training them. Cut the 90 day business down to a brief 15 working days orientation for staff and employer assessment. Then if workers are kept on, the taxation offset is allowed for block training courses during the first year, and lesser offset for the period of employment. Help the businesses hire and cope with the new employee training and gaining experience! Less tax for small business, and more wisely targeted!
http://www.business.otago.ac.nz/mgmt/staff/What%27s-challenging-New-Zealand-Business-owners.pdf The main group of challenges appear to be of the financial variety. This challenge is often described by business owners in other surveys. The issues relating to finances were: Lack of capital- Access to capital-Cash flow and Profits-Debt-Bad debts
Another highly mentioned challenge is related to time….
Ref: WHAT’S CHALLENGING NEW ZEALAND BUSINESS OWNERS PAGE EIGHT
The other common issues raised were:
Lack of acceptance of their business from local/NZ customers particularly
Small size of the local market in New Zealand and the physical distance from markets
People not prepared to pay for quality service/products. Customers wanting ‘freebies”
Staff – hiring, not being able to afford to hire staff and/or retain good staff
New Zealand’s labour laws
Isolation/loneliness/lethargy
Lack of understanding from others about what it takes to be a business owner
Attracting customers/sales
The fluctuating Exchange rate
Intellectual Property
Balancing capacity with demand
Keeping up with technology
Competition
Compliance/bureaucracy – particularly around GST, Tax and resource consents
Access and knowledge of where to go for advice, on relevant courses, and networking
opportunities
Lack of marketing skills
I noticed this from Macro the other day in Job Losses Everywhere. Macro 1.1.1.1
16 April 2016 at 5:11 pm
Exactly.
Here we have lost 100 jobs from a saw mill closure just before xmas.
A large foundry firm has been cutting back and cutting back and now operates a skeleton staff.
Retailers and cafes open and shut down on a regular basis.
Our food bank has gone into overdrive (and thanks to the local supermarket and donors) who have helped keep things afloat…..
It sparked my delving into the latest on small business in NZ which I have put above.
It illustrates how we need to get our own local systems going. Perhaps shift away from areas where the local Council is regulation-bound, or they have ideas above their station, or stadium as in Dunedin. You might be starved of necessary funds by comfortable retirees who don’t want to pay their whack when systems have to be upgraded. The dead hand of central and local government is being felt all over. (That sounds funny, I’ll leave it and someone might get a much-needed giggle.) Take an interest in what useful stuff they are, or not, doing with your money.
They should be finding money for task force green projects, and small business-friendly ones. They should be careful not to dig up the road outside a suburban micro business centre and leave for months with boards to walk on and no parking so that no-one goes there and the business is just about bankrupted.
Government seems to think that businesses don’can stand a business drought or need a flow of spending to survive, but they keep getting their money, oh yes. But businesses are like plants that need care and water to survive.
edited
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Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
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Murray McCully says there’s no link between a New Zealand businessman Earl Hagaman’s $101K donation to the National Party and his company winning a contract to manage a resort in Niue. Tui anyone? The resort is heavily subsidised by the NZ Government.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/301746/no-link-between-donation-and-contract-mccully
Do you have any evidence there is?
Well i guess you have to read the link.
but I feel generous today, so I do a little copy and paste and let the Mr. McCully speak for himself and his government.
Quote from the above posted link:
“Mr McCully said there was no link between the two events, nor the $7.5 million in aid funding to expand the resort a year later.
In October 2014, New Zealand’s Scenic Hotel Group announced it had “secured” the Matavai Resort in Niue.
The Niue Tourism Property Trust, whose trustees are appointed by Mr McCully, carried out what the minister said was a fully commercial process to find a company to run the resort.
That contract was won by the Scenic Hotel Group.
The month before, Earl Hagaman, that company’s founder, donated $101,000 to the National Party, making him National’s biggest living financial donor in 2014. Only a man who had died and left his estate to National gave more.” Quote End.
Now you can make up your own mind. But you should really put more effort in your reading abilities. It would make you less hopeless.
Be interesting to know how much tax was/is paid by Hagaman?
Why James, do you want to try to implicate Labour into it too?
I mean what the Fuck – why is National giving 7.5m in aid to expand resorts, first question, second question is why McCully, national party and Scenic Hotel Group is not being investigated by the SFO?
Because Nuie doesnt have much to earn from other than tourism./
James. If you are going to defend McCulley it points more to his guilt since your job seems to be to defend the indefensible.
Didnt defend – I simply asked if there was any evidence to the “tui” that was made.
Looking at the replies – it seems that there isnt.
I would suggest that in the circumstances McCully would need to produce evidence to prove there was NO connection.
Because on the face of it, a large donation to a political party (and $100k is about 3 times the median income in this country) and the donor then benefiting from a special arrangement to the tune of $7.5m absolutely demands transparency.
If you cannot provide that transparency it is YOU who has the problem.
Well said.
Yep. All appearances are that this was pure corruption.
This case is easier to explain away than Murray’s saudi sheep fiasco. He can plausibly claim no involvement in either Nat donations nor the tendering process. Let’s not over-egg this one.
When it comes to the left, it’s nothing but egg.
When you spot a hen straining and puffing, suspicion is warranted. This one may have just been doing yoga.
And the blowback arrives: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/answer-question-mr-little-labour-leader-gets-repetitive-wont-straight-ardern-link
Guilty until you can prove your innocence?
Unless you’re National politician
in govt perception matters just as much as reality – pretty sure you both know this
I concede that yes perception is very important in politics (for purposes of getting elected that is)
But it’s ok if the present government gives the appearance of being totally corrupt?
Perception in regards to being re-elected not whether a government is corrupt or not…of course if a corrupt government gives the perception of not being corrupt and the people don’t believe the government is corrupt then is that bad thing?
the ministerial handbook has plenty to say on this subject – and that is utterly unrelated to getting elected
Actually there’s more than that – persons in positions of responsibility are expected to maintain clean hands – lawyers can be disbarred for not doing so. It’s not a lot to expect the same standards from government ministers, most of them are lawyers.
So it’s not just getting elected, it’s about conducting the affairs of the country in an honest and responsible manner.
“Ministers are expected to act lawfully and to behave in a way that upholds, and is seen to uphold, the highest ethical standards.” (Cabinet Manual)
The contemptible McCully is clearly corrupt and has broken this pledge repeatedly. Although enforcement lies first of all with the PM, the malefactor is in fact responsible to us, the citizenry, his masters.
So, if the public are baying for the blood of any of this worthless pack of crooks and scoundrels that Key dares to pretend to call a government, then they have a perfect and well-established right to do so.
Elections or scurrilously dishonest polls have nothing whatsoever to do with it.
Nah, they’re appointed to a select committee chair….
//
indiana, citizens have expectations of decent moral and legal behaviour from MP’s and Ministers for good reason – they are paid by us to run a democratic government.
When it appears that democracy is for sale, ie, a political party can be brought off for personal gain, citizens have a right to ask questions.
As RedLogix points out, the onus is on McCully to produce evidence there was no connection between the events of Hagaman making a massive donation to the National party a month prior to the company he foundered being given “aid” of $7.5 mil for their resort.
On another note, are you ok with your tax payer money funding an offshore private business?
“When it appears that democracy is for sale, ie, a political party can be brought off for personal gain, citizens have a right to ask questions.”
Is this why Mana didn’t get anywhere?
I think the issue is more that you do not agree with the answers to your “questions” so labels like corrupt get brought out.
Speaking of answers, you didn’t provide one.
Are you really ok with NZ tax payers funding a private business offshore to the tune of $7.5 mil?
Here’s another one. Are you ok with living in a tax haven of a country? What’s not morally corrupt about a PM that changes the law to make it easy for corporates to evade the tax that is due to benefit the citizens of the country?
Please note, it’s not the Mana Party running the country. They are not employed by us, there is no Mana MP in parliament.
“Are you really ok with NZ tax payers funding a private business offshore to the tune of $7.5 mil?”
If you are asking this question as you believe that the Govt is corrupt and that you are trying to call me out on accepting a corrupt govt, then I have no answer for you – your mind is made up, my opinion is irrelevant.
“Here’s another one. Are you ok with living in a tax haven of a country? What’s not morally corrupt about a PM that changes the law to make it easy for corporates to evade the tax that is due to benefit the citizens of the country?”
If you believe that NZ is a tax haven, which I am not sure why you would think that as NZ doesn’t even register in the top 20-30 countries acknowledged as a tax haven, then I’m ok with living in NZ’s perceived highly imaginative tax haven. I’m sure you have all the hard evidence to prove beyond all reasonable doubt how our government blindly permits corporates to pay no tax in NZ what so ever.
and in that case the issue wasnt all of NZ tax law – just one part of it as it related to offshore trusts
it was never a case of NZ being a tax haven – just one part of our law providing a means for off shore money to hide its origin and destination
your playing semantics to avoid, or your not up to speed on, the issue
No, it’s because the MSM flunkies asked no questions about Donghwa Liu – that’s the asshole who secretly bought an election – and baldly set out to neutralise Cunliffe by barefaced dishonesty. Even far-right shill John Armstrong was ashamed of his part in it. If NZ ever holds treason trials, Liu and his accomplices will be a major feature. Dotcom made his play openly, as anyone is entitled to do. Not through a festering stew of corruption like cabinet club.
except KDC and mana was out in the open and was an upfront funding of an election campaign broadcast far and wide by the people doing it
this issues is a donation and a favourable business circumstance with in a close time frame – which requires someone to go through paperwork to establish and publish for us to know about
ie: they arent the same thing – not even close
Caesar’s wife is the standard for cabinet.
James
Have you been living in a bubble, McCully has a reputation for this type of behavior spreading back to the “leaky Home Syndrome”, for which he was responsible, and then there is the corrupt Saudi affair, the man has no conscience or integrity, although those remarks probably apply to most Nat members, waky, waky, James, ignoring reality doesn’t solve the problem.
+1111
And, yes, National gives the appearance of totally corrupt.
When I heard this on the news, I thought I saw a flock of pink pigs flying by the window. Do these politicians think we all came down with the last shower of rain. How many more sound bites of news are we supposed to believe is the truth. Beggars belief.
Yes, this is absolutely stunning.
This has nothing to do with supporting the welfare of the people of Niue and everything to do with the corrupt favours handed out in cabinet club.
First off, pacific aid provided by the NZ government should be going to improve infrastructure that benefits the people of Niue. Instead $7.5 mil has gone to Scenic Group for their resort, a private business interest. That’s what we’re funding fellow tax payers!
Secondly, it’s too easy. Give a $101,000 donation and hey bingo, a month later, your company is the recipient of a $7.5 mil “aid donation”. How freaking corrupt is that?
Why do we keep letting this government get away with this kind of shit? (Jude got away with a slap over the wrist with a wet bus ticket for the Oravida scandal) Why do we not march like the Londoners?
PS: Edit. Niue is also a tax haven. What else has that Hagaman character been up to?
https://www.facebook.com/ohariulabour/
This totally reeks. A shining example of everything that is wrong with our current political system.
+1
This is a prime example of why we can no longer allow political parties to be funded by private donations.
Agree…including Unions.
Political parties have no intrinsic right to exist and do not deserve public funding.
Private funding needs to be capped and corporate funding (of which unions are part) strictly forbidden. Corporations have no right to political representation – only their constituent citizens, and then only if they are New Zealanders.
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
― R. Buckminster Fuller
This makes sense. And this:
What the history of both Keynesianism and neoliberalism show is that it’s not enough to oppose a broken system. A coherent alternative has to be proposed. For Labour, the Democrats and the wider left, the central task should be to develop an economic Apollo programme, a conscious attempt to design a new system, tailored to the demands of the 21st Century.
–George Monbiot
Michael Moore, in his new doco “Where to invade next” has used this principle to produce a positive glimpse into what could become a reality since it is actually a reality in certain countries. He cleverly contrasts the good ideas in action with the current situation resulting from neoliberalism. I have deliberately been vague because I don’t want to spoil the impact of this doco for you, but it is inspiring.
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” ― R. Buckminster Fuller
Agreed, but a viable model will not persuade voters through words, theory or persuasion. It has to be demonstrably effective as a way of life that honours individuality, draws on innate talent, works cooperatively rather than competitively, and embraces the restoration of the planet’s integrity as existential imperative.
The spread of co-ops globally and all manner of co-creative enterprise is gaining momentum as people discover the incentives of one-up-manship, competition and amassing wealth are more easily shed than imagined. Sheer force of numbers will necessitate increasing publicity via MSM. Then we may see a favourable tipping point being reached.
After all, most of us are sheeple. 😉
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/fairfax-ipsos-poll-malcolm-turnbull-a-cautious-pm-and-voters-are-punishing-him-for-it-20160417-go8hju.html#ixzz467GRN8U4
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I would put 80% of the difference between NZ and Aus down to one thing. Here in Aus there is still a functioning media; it’s rambunctious, noisy and has obvious biases. But at least you get both sides of the story. Well more than this; you actually get a story, in stark contrast to the piffling sound-bites and arse-licking talkbacks that pass for political media in NZ.
From my experience their tv is about as trashy as ours. I don’t seem to remember channels 7, 9 or 10 doing hard hitting stuff. Breakfast tv and current affairs afters the news were about our seven sharp quality. They do have ABC and SBS which are good channels and take on the important issues, but for most people I don’t think they want to watch that. Not sure how their print media compares but with Fairfax operating in both countries I imagine that is similar too.
Yep the commercial channels are predictable enough, but ABC and SBS are remarkably strong and they do get watched by enough people that it matters.
And with Fairfax does operate in both countries, there is a notable difference between their mastheads. The Age and the SMH are still worth a read, especially the weekend editions.
Exactly key words being ‘when it matters’ . Elections, major events, disasters, conflicts all see ABC/SBS ratings rise as people seek balance.
Crucial difference is they exist to be viewed whereas here no such balance exists
One thing about ABC is that it provides a venue for satire. Sure, I only watch Clarke & Dawe online, but it’d be great to have something similar broadcast here (the closest I can think of is the Corbett/ Ego two man circlejerk that used to occasionally occur on TV3, but haven’t watched for several months now to know if that still happens).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ys4LCeVppc
RedLogix
+1
“I would put 80% of the difference between NZ and Aus down to one thing. Here in Aus there is still a functioning media; it’s rambunctious, noisy and has obvious biases. But at least you get both sides of the story. Well more than this; you actually get a story, in stark contrast to the piffling sound-bites and arse-licking talkbacks that pass for political media in NZ.”
Exactly, democracy is still alive and kicking in Aus, the punters are wise to BS, just look at Queensland and Vic changing their state Govts.
During the Abbott election though, there was considerable bias from the media, I put down to the fact that there was a female Prime minister, and misogynism was and still is very much alive here.
I’ve found channel 7 to be the most balanced of the commercial channels, sometimes more so than the ABC, which Turnbull has made some changes to.
Yep, that Australian mainstream media sure be fair and balanced
Like this
and this
Two-Party-Preferred in Last 5 Polls = have either been 50/50 or 51/49 to the ALP.
Good article on the haste of TPPA from Prof Jane Kelsey.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/04/18/government-try-and-ram-through-tppa-without-nzers-noticing/#sthash.UEqRINa6.dpuf
Also very nice effort video on TPPA from action station. Great to see some thinking outside the box!
http://www.actionstation.org.nz/video_our_people_powered_submission_on_the_tppa?utm_campaign=tpp_reportsub&utm_medium=email&utm_source=actionstation
is it my imagination or has the tide turned?…..The MSM appear to have decided they have nothing to lose and are actually starting to do their job……seems to be a lot of questions being asked about the governance of our country these past couple of weeks
Its funny you say that because I was about to post something along the lines about having reaching peak-Little, where Little is so disrespected that people stop making fun of him because it starts to feel like you’re picking on someone that can’t defend themselves
Like near the end of Shearers reign with the snapper incident or just after the election with the Cunliffe and you knew it was only a matter of time
so you suggest it is my imagination?….no change then?
Actually you may very well be right, because its merely my perception I was just be seeing what I want to see or rather what I want to see to confirm my bias
Eight years of government and the media may be tired of it so they well be turning on National
lol….well my confirmation bias has been reinforced by the fact the PM is hiding overseas again….so the questions must be a little too hard
Yes its true John Key likes to tag in Bill English when the hard questions start rolling in
Though I think it may possibly be a lucky break for him as dealing with China is a pretty big deal so it would be considered unusual for him to be over there
Or its that bias sneaking in again…
must be….was announced in Feb….the teflon one’s luck is legend
PR what a pathetic bit of nonsense, typical trollisationingisms.
I was thinking the opposite PR. I was thinking when Little was attacked all guns blazing in an effort to do a Cunliffe on him, he just quietly and honestly came back saying “I made a couple of mistakes in that poll period” and “we have to work harder to put our message across”. No signs of a leadership challenge at all.
Little has the caucus united, some of the further right elements Goff/Cosgrove have been eased out (though I quite like Goff) and a strong policy platform will be being prepared in the background.
Meanwhile sleazy Key refuses to show his tax return; backs the 12,000 secret non-disclosing offshore trusts in NZ because his Remuera golf buddies make a few million from them. The teflon is peeling-that Key 39% approval rating is the sign.
You may be right and I might wrong (and vice versa) I think I’m probably right but the next couple of polls will probably give a better indication
Though if I were advising Little I’d suggest he jettison Robertson and McCarten as I wouldn’t trust them at all
yes dear
Up your game, you’re nearly two hours behind the comment. Not good enough. 🙂
I have just heard an hour ago Andrew Little speak very well at the Grey Power AGM. He spoke coherently and forcefully and then answered questions in a forthright and unequivocal fashion.
He was heard in a very respectful and powerful silence, as his message and delivery demanded.
is it my imagination or has the tide turned?…..The MSM appear to have decided they have nothing to lose and are actually starting to do their job……seems to be a lot of questions being asked about the governance of our country these past couple of weeks
Looks like that to me too. A slow change perhaps, and I’ve been cautious about getting too optimistic, but something seems different. I suspect some of them are finally feeling like what’s the govt has been doing is too much even for their jaded perspective.
Amazing how the left are so keen to get something on John Key but appear to have completely overlooked something real and important.
This is an issue that needs a whole lot more investigation and exposure. Where is it in the NZ media? Why is it being overlooked? The issue is this-
What role do PRC immigrants have in the National Party, and do they have connections to the Chinese Communist Party?
What role if any did they play in Key’s weird decision to attack our traditional flag?
Key and the Chinese Connection
Australian journalists are doing the work on this. NZ journos need to catch up.
Because the last time Labour said anything about the influence of China on NZ, everyone stood up a bleated ‘racism’?
Yes, I know what you mean, and a lot of that criticism came from “Progressives” within the Labour Party.
The same people who have been dragging it away from core Labour issues for decades and who are in my humble opinion, most responsible for the party’s current lack of effectiveness.
This is an issue that could really put the skids under Key, quickly and permanently, and to my mind it is an extremely serious security issue.
And Labour would put this to one side because they’re frightened of a few false but loud allegations of racism.
The issue is being faced in Australia. Why not in NZ?
As I said, its not racism anyway. Who gives a damn about Chinese from Singapore or Taiwan? Its the PRC that is the real issue.
I once said RB that if we both traversed around the entire political circle we’d bump into each other on the other side. 🙂
Ecuador gets a hammering:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/17/ecuador-earthquake-230-killed-magnitude-seven-point-eight
Look at the pics and see how many totally collapsed buildings. Now think back to ChCh and that while several buildings did fail totally, the vast majority did not. They may have been damaged beyond economic repair, but they didn’t kill their inhabitants.
For those of us inclined to forget, this is why strong, well funded government is important.
On a another note: All about the unit right now we have a flock of kurawongs, about 20 of them making the most beautiful dawn chorus. They’re about the size and colour of a crow, but far more elegant and melodious. Then just as I was looking up a flock of a dozen pure white spoonbills passed briefly overhead.
One way or another personally the past week or two have been pretty tough; but there plenty of good reasons not to give into the dark side. I only had to look out the door.
“One way or another personally the past week or two have been pretty tough; but there plenty of good reasons not to give into the dark side. I only had to look out the door.”
Sage advice..kia kaha.
Red Logic.
Like!!
Nice one Red, on both counts.
Hey National, Labopur, Greens, NZFirst, Maori Party, Act, UF heres something to look at:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/78950653/new-canada-law-would-allow-doctorassisted-suicide-for-seriously-ill
Can solar energy power a home all year round?
RNZ programme
We’re in the Money
Hillary Clinton showered with 1000 $1 bills as she drives to a $343,000 a pop dinner at George Clooney’s
I love how the secret service guy even has a wry smile on his face.
Hehehe yeah! I thought it was a brilliant form of protest.
Meanwhile Bernie got to meet the Pope and one banner read “Rome is Berning!” 🙂
‘Government try and ram through TPPA without NZers noticing’ by Professor Jane Kelsey
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/04/18/government-try-and-ram-through-tppa-without-nzers-noticing/
“Last week National announced it was fast tracking the report from the Foreign Affairs Trade and Defence Committee on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) from the end of May to 4 May. While the select committee process itself is a farce as it can’t change the deal, there are more sinister motivations behind the new deadline…
So what is really behind the decision to fast track the select committee’s report? For those of us involved in the Waitangi Tribunal claim on the TPPA lodged last July, the answer is very simple. The urgent Tribunal process concluded with the final submissions on Wednesday. The Tribunal then thought it had six weeks to write a report – already a daunting task given the thousands of pages of documents and the complexity of the issues – already a daunting task given the thousands of pages of documents and the complexity of the issues.
Now they have fewer than three weeks. The Crown is arguing ‘comity’ – that the Waitangi Tribunal must respect the jurisdiction of the Parliament as law maker. In lay terms, the Tribunal can’t engage with claims that the government’s processes and the content of the TPPA have breached its Treaty of Waitangi obligations once legislation has been introduced to the House. To borrow a term commonly used to describe the effect of the TPPA on government decisions, National intends to ‘chill’ the Tribunal process: in the truncated time available the Tribunal will be unable or unwilling to write a detailed report that is critical of the government that may not stand up to scrutiny. The threat of judicial review is already hovering in the background of the proceedings.”…
On the subject of tax avoidance:
Obviously, the government needs to ensure that money is properly taxed before it moves offshore.
Of course, there’s a fairly good argument for simply not allowing money to move offshore.
Hi there folks I am looking for help…not for myself but for a family I know that are in a dreadful situation the NZ Herald articles explains it better than I can
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11612277
Please read the article and if you are able to please “give a little”
thanx…the Mother of the autistic girl is very articulate ( I also heard her on RNZ)….this family should NOT be put in this situation of facing the burden of care and housing by themselves
…this government should be taking responsibility and footing the whole bill imo, especially as leaky buildings was due to lack of government oversight
…this Nact government is uncaring and immoral
Jane Bowron doesn’t mince her words when criticising this Government, great article:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/columnists/79012560/hopeless-comment-a-sign-of-a-tired-government
“The gap between rich and poor is now so wide that the Government feels comfortable writing off the unemployed and washing their hands of any part in their increasing demise.” – and those supporting the comments of English too.
+100…good for Jane Bowron
Except the first part didn’t happen, a recording was released that just mysteriously happened to remove the context from what Bill English was saying and for the second part well, I don’t think it’ll hurt National in the polls but we’ll see I guess
“No disrespect to hospitality workers – I’ve been a dishwasher, a kitchen hand, a barmaid and a waitress, but I’d rather down tools and join the homeless on the street than become the servant class in my own country.”
– Yeah that’s quite a lot of disrespect right there
Thinking about recession and business decline etc. I have gathered a few stats and news items on small business, our life blood in the economy.
Small business in general should receive more support concentrating on helping them build up and employing more workers and apprentices. People forming local businesses provide jobs and money that circulate amongst the locals, enabling all to have a better stab at the economic pie and improving their conditions locally and ultimately the whole country’s. Stuff gives a brief summary.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/small-business/10198006/SMEs-still-backbone-of-NZ-business
One in three New Zealand workers is employed in a small business, and combined they contribute a third of New Zealand’s gross domestic product.
The finding comes from the country’s first Small Business Sector Report, provided by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
The report outlines the statistics on New Zealand’s 460,000 small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), and the more than 900,000 workers that the business with 20 staff or less employ.
ASB 18/6/2015 report on small business.
https://blog.asb.co.nz/posts/2015/06/small-businesses-keep-the-new-zealand-economy-running.html
Helping them to achieve their ambitions should be a focus for all of us interested in the success of the New Zealand economy. They make up 97% of all New Zealand enterprises (that’s 459,300 businesses) and make a substantial contribution to New Zealand’s employment and economy – employing 584,000 people and contributing about $60b to New Zealand’s GDP each year, that’s nearly 30% of the total GDP!
These 459,300 businesses include zero (no employees), micro (1-5 employees) and small (6-19 employees) enterprises.
Otago University report below lists various problems that small NZ businesses grapple with. Taxation needs to be lessened on these people wading into commerce on a small scale and they should be able to charge seminars, locums, local promotions etc to their taxation offsets, and given special refunds when they employ people, and especially while they are training them. Cut the 90 day business down to a brief 15 working days orientation for staff and employer assessment. Then if workers are kept on, the taxation offset is allowed for block training courses during the first year, and lesser offset for the period of employment. Help the businesses hire and cope with the new employee training and gaining experience! Less tax for small business, and more wisely targeted!
http://www.business.otago.ac.nz/mgmt/staff/What%27s-challenging-New-Zealand-Business-owners.pdf
The main group of challenges appear to be of the financial variety. This challenge is often described by business owners in other surveys. The issues relating to finances were: Lack of capital- Access to capital-Cash flow and Profits-Debt-Bad debts
Another highly mentioned challenge is related to time….
Ref: WHAT’S CHALLENGING NEW ZEALAND BUSINESS OWNERS PAGE EIGHT
The other common issues raised were:
Lack of acceptance of their business from local/NZ customers particularly
Small size of the local market in New Zealand and the physical distance from markets
People not prepared to pay for quality service/products. Customers wanting ‘freebies”
Staff – hiring, not being able to afford to hire staff and/or retain good staff
New Zealand’s labour laws
Isolation/loneliness/lethargy
Lack of understanding from others about what it takes to be a business owner
Attracting customers/sales
The fluctuating Exchange rate
Intellectual Property
Balancing capacity with demand
Keeping up with technology
Competition
Compliance/bureaucracy – particularly around GST, Tax and resource consents
Access and knowledge of where to go for advice, on relevant courses, and networking
opportunities
Lack of marketing skills
I noticed this from Macro the other day in Job Losses Everywhere.
Macro 1.1.1.1
16 April 2016 at 5:11 pm
Exactly.
Here we have lost 100 jobs from a saw mill closure just before xmas.
A large foundry firm has been cutting back and cutting back and now operates a skeleton staff.
Retailers and cafes open and shut down on a regular basis.
Our food bank has gone into overdrive (and thanks to the local supermarket and donors) who have helped keep things afloat…..
It sparked my delving into the latest on small business in NZ which I have put above.
It illustrates how we need to get our own local systems going. Perhaps shift away from areas where the local Council is regulation-bound, or they have ideas above their station, or stadium as in Dunedin. You might be starved of necessary funds by comfortable retirees who don’t want to pay their whack when systems have to be upgraded. The dead hand of central and local government is being felt all over. (That sounds funny, I’ll leave it and someone might get a much-needed giggle.) Take an interest in what useful stuff they are, or not, doing with your money.
They should be finding money for task force green projects, and small business-friendly ones. They should be careful not to dig up the road outside a suburban micro business centre and leave for months with boards to walk on and no parking so that no-one goes there and the business is just about bankrupted.
Government seems to think that businesses don’can stand a business drought or need a flow of spending to survive, but they keep getting their money, oh yes. But businesses are like plants that need care and water to survive.
edited
I see a Herald headline about the PM’s son going to China. Big fucken deal.
Who paid?
A member of the diplomatic corps is involved in writing the speech of an American political candidate….there’s a word for shit like this…..
Netanyahu’s confidant Ron Dermer discussed diplomatic and security policy with Jared Kushner, who wrote Trump’s speech, ahead of the conference.
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.714796
I love lunch.
I love long boozy lunches.
Here is a great piece of writing by Henry Mance in the Financial Times.
LUNCH WITH NIGEL FARAGE
© James Ferguson
Nigel Farage has an adjective for the good things in life — “proper”. Proper blokes, proper jobs, proper markets. And when we meet at The Lamb, a pub in London’s Leadenhall Market, he clearly is in the mood for a proper lunch. “Have we got an order in?” the leader of the UK Independence party exclaims within two minutes of our arrival. “A man could die of thirst in here.”
This was Farage’s local pub when he was a trader on the London Metal Exchange. When he started in the 1980s, the City was a fantastic gentlemen’s club. “Now it’s like being a battery chicken,” he sighs.
Farage, in contrast, is a free-range bull. He once labelled the European Council president a “damp rag”, and said Britons should be “concerned if a group of Romanian people suddenly moved in next door”. Supporters call him the boss man; opponents call him a racist. He is, undoubtedly, Britain’s most effective Brussels-basher, the man without whom there would be no EU referendum in June.
Ukip is the biggest new party to emerge in Britain since Labour a century ago. It won 3.8m votes in last year’s general election, as many as the Scottish Nationalists and Liberal Democrats combined, and is likely to gain dozens of seats in local elections in May.
Yet as Farage jovially plunges into his pint of ale, there is a sense that he may be losing his touch. Academics argue that his rhetoric puts off the very moderates whose votes will decide the in/out referendum. Ukip has also slipped into civil war. Farage is not on speaking terms with its sole member of parliament, Douglas Carswell; critics say he is incapable of sharing the limelight. “The cult of personality is very strong,” says one Ukipper. “They’d be better off ditching him,” says a Tory MP.
He croaks with laughter. ‘I love Europe! France is wonderful. It should be.We subsidised it for 40 years’
An easy question to answer is, does Farage want a second pint? A harder one is, might he soon be as outdated as his overcoat?
We head outside, where Farage can smoke. The son of an alcoholic Kent stockbroker, he joined the City aged 18 from London’s prestigious Dulwich College, and then became convinced that Britain needed a more Eurosceptic party than the Conservatives. “I’d been predicting a commodity boom all through the 1990s. Politics took over and I bloody well missed it!” he jokes.
A passer-by intercedes: “I thought it was a doppelgänger but it’s actually you!” Farage is delighted. Voters yearn for a politician they’d like to have a beer with; finally here’s a politician who’d take up the offer. “Every pub’s a parliament!” he enthuses.
The Lamb serves food but Farage, 52, has other plans. We walk down Cornhill to Simpson’s Tavern — London’s oldest surviving chophouse, where he has been a customer for more than 30 years. “Sadly most of the waitresses have changed,” he says.
Most of the waitresses have not changed, it seems. “Haven’t seen you here for a while, Nigel,” says one, pouring him a pint before the door has shut behind me. I survey the clientele, and conclude that there’s unlikely to be a queue for the women’s toilets. “I love it here,” beams Farage.
We take our third pint to the courtyard. An hour gone, and the alcohol we’ve consumed is already half the recommended weekly limit. “I know. It’s just ludicrous,” says Farage, resting on an old beer barrel, his mood livelier than his grey suit suggests. He reaches for his third cigarette. “They’ll be telling us this is bad for us next. They want to live forever!”
I ask about his hobby: visiting first-world-war battlefields. Farage opens up. “Whenever I go there, I always think, what would I have done? If I was a 19-year-old, fresh out of college … would I have been a proper man or not?”
Our table is ready inside. We squeeze alongside each other on a wooden bench with our backs to the window. Farage orders the house speciality — stewed cheese — for both of us, and picks a bottle of wine. For me, this is now entering stag-party territory; for him, it’s little more than holy communion. “The thing we used to drink here was port,” he says. “We’d all go back to work, all crimson. That’s just what we did! No one cared. I don’t drink port at all now, ever.”
What happened in the afternoons? “Chaos. Extraordinary. I remember once there was a really big cock-up … I remember the boss saying, ‘So when did this happen?’ ‘Half-past four yesterday afternoon.’ ‘Oh well, there we are then.’ The boss accepted this!”
Farage is quick to depict politics as a sacrifice. “I’m a loopy optimist, aren’t I?” he says. “I like to think I’ve changed the centre of gravity on lots of national debates. But there is no life at all — nothing.” It would be even worse, he says, if he’d succeeded in his seventh attempt to enter parliament last year. “Can you imagine if I’d been elected to Westminster? I’d need to be there every day.”
He has four children, two with his second wife Kirsten, who is German. In the 2000s, he twice had to remortgage his house in Kent. “My financial position is slightly better than it was, but for about 10 years it was pretty rough,” he says. How is it better? “It just is. Slightly better. There we are,” he says, drawing a boundary.
The cheese arrives, and Farage smears his white toast with sauce. “Yeah mustard, yeah lovely, proper job!” he says, reaching for the Lea & Perrins. He is right — it’s wonderful. The wine, a fruity Bordeaux, is excellent too. I should visit the 1980s more often.
An old friend of Farage’s arrives at a neighbouring table and points at the paper napkin around Farage’s collar. “You must be meeting someone important if you’ve got that tucked in there!” Farage laughs, carefree. “Is it a proper lunch, Kevin?” he asks his friend. “No, we’ve got a meeting later,” comes the reply. “They were the days, Kevin,” says Farage, “they were the days.”
Accused of nostalgia, however, he turns serious. “The club was lovely, but the club wasn’t very efficient. It had to change. The sadness is — this is where I may be nostalgic — the people whose working lives are on computers, they’re not as fulfilling as working lives that are actually meeting people doing stuff.”
Farage orders the Edwardian pork chop, well done, with a sausage. “I can’t help it, I love pork chop.” It’s my turn. “Lamb chops? Pork chops?” Farage suggests. “Mixed grill?” offers the waitress. I order goat’s cheese in filo pastry.
There is a pause while Farage’s ears relay the news to his brain. “What? No. They shouldn’t serve rubbish like that here. Goat’s cheese? I mean … Goat’s cheese?” He turns to the waitress. “You can’t give him bloody goat’s cheese.” I look up at her for sympathy; she looks back with contempt. Farage continues: “You’re not a veggie, are you, or something like that? If you are, fine. But what on earth are you doing here then?”
And for a brief moment I know how the Romanians must feel.
I predict that Bernie Sanders will win in New York.
Look at the numbers attending his rallies – compared with Hillary Clinton.
Look at how his support has soared – even over the last month.
(Who had even heard of Bernie Sanders a year ago?)
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/clintons-delegate-lead-do_b_9711160.html
Clinton Delegate Lead Down to 194, Even as Dramatic Miscounting of Delegates by Media Continues
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
The problem is democratic voters had to be registered last October…. So it’s not likely he will win. But I hope he does.