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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It’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka. Jump on this link for our chat about the week’s news with special guests Auckland Central MP Chloe Swarbrick and Auckland City Councillor Julie Fairey, including:Auckland’s catastrophic floods, which ...
In March last year, in a panic over rising petrol prices caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the government made a poor decision, "temporarily" cutting fuel excise tax by 25 cents a litre. Of course, it turned out not to be temporary at all, having been extended in May, July, ...
This month’s open thread for climate related topics. Please be constructive, polite, and succinct. The post Unforced variations: Feb 2023 first appeared on RealClimate. ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two fresh press releases had been posted when we checked the Beehive website at noon, both of them posted yesterday. In one statement, in the runup to Waitangi Day, Maori Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis drew attention to happenings on a Northland battle site in 1845. ...
It’s that time of the week again when I’m on the site for an hour for a chat in an Ask Me Anything with paying subscribers to The Kaka. Jump in for a chat on anything, including:Auckland’s catastrophic floods, which are set to cost insurers and the Government well over ...
Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers (left) has published a 6,000 word manifesto called ‘Capitalism after the Crises’ arguing for ‘values-based capitalism’. Yet here in NZ we hear the same stale old rhetoric unchanged from the 1990s and early 2000s. Photo: Getty ImagesTLDR: The rest of the world is talking about inflation ...
A couple of weeks ago, after NCEA results came out, my son’s enrolment at Auckland Uni for this year was confirmed - he is doing a BSc majoring in Statistics. Well that is the plan now, who knows what will take his interest once he starts.I spent a bit of ...
Kia ora. What a week! We hope you’ve all come through last weekend’s extreme weather event relatively dry and safe. Header image: stormwater ponds at Hobsonville Point. Image via Twitter. The week in Greater Auckland There’s been a storm of information and debate since the worst of the flooding ...
Hi,At 4.43pm yesterday it arrived — a cease and desist letter from the guy I mentioned in my last newsletter. I’d written an article about “WEWE”, a global multi-level marketing scam making in-roads into New Zealand. MLMs are terrible for many of the same reasons megachurches are terrible, and I ...
Time To Call A Halt: Chris Hipkins knows that iwi leaders possess the means to make life very difficult for his government. Notwithstanding their objections, however, the Prime Minister’s direction of travel – already clearly signalled by his very public demotion of Nanaia Mahuta – must be confirmed by an emphatic ...
Open access notables Via PNAS, Ceylan, Anderson & Wood present a paper squarely in the center of the Skeptical Science wheelhouse: Sharing of misinformation is habitual, not just lazy or biased. The signficance statement is obvious catnip: Misinformation is a worldwide concern carrying socioeconomic and political consequences. What drives ...
Mark White from the Left free speech organisation Plebity looks at the disturbing trend of ‘book burning’ on US campuses In the abstract, people mostly agree that book banning is a bad thing. The Nazis did us the favor of being very clear about it and literally burning books, but ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has undergone a stern baptisim of fire in his first week in his new job, but it doesn’t get any easier. Next week, he has a vital meeting in Canberra with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, where he has to establish ...
As PM Chris Hipkins says, it’s a “no brainer” to extend the fuel tax cut, half price public subsidy and the cut to the road user levy until mid-year. A no braoner if the prime purpose is to ease the burden on people struggling to cope with the cost of ...
Buzz from the Beehive Cost-of-living pressures loomed large in Beehive announcements over the past 24 hours. The PM was obviously keen to announce further measures to keep those costs in check and demonstrate he means business when he talks of focusing his government on bread-and-butter issues. His statement was headed ...
Poor Mike Hosking. He has revealed himself in his most recent diatribe to be one of those public figures who is defined, not by who he is, but by who he isn’t, or at least not by what he is for, but by what he is against. Jacinda’s departure has ...
New Zealand is the second least corrupt country on earth according to the latest Corruption Perception Index published yesterday by Transparency International. But how much does this reflect reality? The problem with being continually feted for world-leading political integrity – which the Beehive and government departments love to boast about ...
TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
Transport Minister and now also Minister for Auckland, Michael Wood has confirmed that the light rail project is part of the government’s policy refocus. Wood said the light rail project was under review as part of a ministerial refocus on key Government projects. “We are undertaking a stocktake about how ...
Sometime before the new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced that this year would be about “bread and butter issues”, National’s finance spokesperson Nicola Willis decided to move from Wellington Central and stand for Ohariu, which spreads across north Wellington from the central city to Johnsonville and Tawa. It’s an ...
They say a week is a long time in politics. For Mayor Wayne Brown, turns out 24 hours was long enough for many of us to see, quite obviously, “something isn’t right here…”. That in fact, a lot was going wrong. Very wrong indeed.Mainly because it turns ...
One of the most effective, and successful, graphics developed by Skeptical Science is the escalator. The escalator shows how global surface temperature anomalies vary with time, and illustrates how "contrarians" tend to cherry-pick short time intervals so as to argue that there has been no recent warming, while "realists" recognise ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Tomorrow we have a funeral, and thank you all of you for your very kind words and thoughts — flowers, even.Our friend Michèle messaged: we never get to feel one thing at a time, us grownups, and oh boy is that ever the truth. Tomorrow we have the funeral, and ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
A new Prime Minister, a revitalised Cabinet, and possibly revised priorities – but is the political and, importantly, economic landscape much different? Certainly some within the news media were excited by the changes which Chris Hipkins announced yesterday or – before the announcement – by the prospect of changes in ...
Currently the government's strategy for reducing transport emissions hinges on boosting vehicle fuel-efficiency, via the clean car standard and clean car discount, and some improvements to public transport. The former has been hugely successful, and has clearly set us on the right path, but its also not enough, and will ...
Buzz from the Beehive Before he announced his Cabinet yesterday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced he would be flying to Australia next week to meet that country’s Prime Minister. And before Kieran McAnulty had time to say “Three Waters” after his promotion to the Local Government portfolio, he was dishing ...
The quarterly labour market statistics were released this morning, showing that unemployment has risen slightly to 3.4%. There are now 99,000 people unemployed - 24,000 fewer than when Labour took office. So, I guess the Reserve Bank's plan to throw people out of work to stop wage rises "inflation", and ...
Another night of heavy rain, flooding, damage to homes, and people worried about where the hell all this water is going to go as we enter day twenty two of rain this year.Honestly if the government can’t sell Three Waters on the back of what has happened with storm water ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular reforms in water and DHB centralisation ...
Hi,It’s weird to me that in 2023 we still have people falling for multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs for short). There are Netflix documentaries about them, countless articles, and last year we did an Armchaired and Dangerous episode on them.Then you check a ticketing website like EventBrite and see this shit ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Shortly, the absolute state of Wayne Brown. But before that, something I wrote four years ago for the council’s own media machine. It was a day-in-the-life profile of their many and varied and quite possibly unnoticed vital services. We went all over Auckland in 48 hours for the story, the ...
Completed reads for January Lilith, by George MacDonald The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Christabel (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, by Anonymous The Lay of Kraka (poem), by Anonymous 1066 and All That, by W.C. Sellar and R.J. ...
Pity the poor Brits. They just can’t catch a break. After years of reporting of lying Boris Johnson, a change to a less colourful PM in Rishi Sunak has resulted in a smooth media pivot to an end-of-empire narrative. The New York Times, no less, amplifies suggestions that Blighty ...
On that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth.Genesis 6:11-12THE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS that dumped a record-breaking amount of rain on Auckland this anniversary weekend will reoccur with ever-increasing frequency. The planet’s atmosphere is ...
Buzz from the Beehive There has been plenty to keep the relevant Ministers busy in flood-stricken Auckland over the past day or two. But New Zealand, last time we looked, extends north of Auckland into Northland and south of the Bombay Hills all the way to the bottom of the ...
Kia ora e te whānau. Today, we mark the anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi - and our commitment to working in partnership with Māori to deliver better outcomes and tackle the big issues, together. ...
We’ve just announced a massive infrastructure investment to kick-start new housing developments across New Zealand. Through our Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, we’re making sure that critical infrastructure - like pipes, roads and wastewater connections - is in place, so thousands more homes can be built. ...
The Green Party is joining more than 20 community organisations to call for an immediate rent freeze in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, after reports of landlords intending to hike rents after flooding. ...
When Chris Hipkins took on the job of Prime Minister, he said bread and butter issues like the cost of living would be the Government’s top priority – and this week, we’ve set out extra support for families and businesses. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to provide direct support to low-income households and to stop subsidising fossil fuels during a climate crisis. ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today held their first bilateral meeting in Canberra. It was Chris Hipkins’ first overseas visit since he took office, reflecting the close relationship between New Zealand and Australia. “New Zealand has no closer partner than Australia. I was pleased to ...
New Zealand will immediately provide humanitarian support to those affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation caused by these earthquakes. Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones affected,” ...
An historic Northland pā site with links to Ngāpuhi chief Hongi Hika is to be handed back to iwi, after collaboration by government, private landowners and local hapū. “It is fitting that the ceremony for the return of the Pākinga Pā site is during Waitangi weekend,” said Regional Development Minister ...
The Government is investing in a suite of initiatives to unlock Māori and Pacific resources, talent and knowledge across the science and research sector, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Two new funds – He tipu ka hua and He aka ka toro – set to ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for India tomorrow as she continues to reconnect Aotearoa New Zealand to the world. The visit will begin in New Delhi where the Foreign Minister will meet with the Vice President Hon Jagdeep Dhankar and her Indian Government counterparts, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and ...
Over $10 million infrastructure funding to unlock housing in Whangārei The purchase of a 3.279 hectare site in Kerikeri to enable 56 new homes Northland becomes eligible for $100 million scheme for affordable rentals Multiple Northland communities will benefit from multiple Government housing investments, delivering thousands of new homes for ...
The Government is supporting one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most significant historic sites, the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, as it continues to recover from the impacts of COVID-19. “The Waitangi Treaty Grounds are a taonga that we should protect and look after. This additional support will mean people can continue to ...
A memorial event at a key battle site in the New Zealand land wars is an important event to mark the progress in relations between Māori and the Crown as we head towards Waitangi Day, Minister for Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis said. The Battle of Ohaeawai in June 1845 saw ...
More Police officers are being deployed to the frontline with the graduation of 54 new constables from the Royal New Zealand Police College today. The graduation ceremony for Recruit Wing 362 at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua was the first official event for Stuart Nash since his reappointment as Police ...
The Government is unlocking an additional $700,000 in support for regions that have been badly hit by the recent flooding and storm damage in the upper North Island. “We’re supporting the response and recovery of Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel, Northland, and Bay of Plenty regions, through activating Enhanced Taskforce Green to ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has welcomed the announcement that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, will visit New Zealand this month. “Princess Anne is travelling to Aotearoa at the request of the NZ Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals, of which she is Colonel in Chief, to ...
A new Government and industry strategy launched today has its sights on growing the value of New Zealand’s horticultural production to $12 billion by 2035, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said. “Our food and fibre exports are vital to New Zealand’s economic security. We’re focussed on long-term strategies that build on ...
25 cents per litre petrol excise duty cut extended to 30 June 2023 – reducing an average 60 litre tank of petrol by $17.25 Road User Charge discount will be re-introduced and continue through until 30 June Half price public transport fares extended to the end of June 2023 saving ...
The strong economy has attracted more people into the workforce, with a record number of New Zealanders in paid work and wages rising to help with cost of living pressures. “The Government’s economic plan is delivering on more better-paid jobs, growing wages and creating more opportunities for more New Zealanders,” ...
The Government is providing a further $1 million to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Cabinet today agreed that, given the severity of the event, a further $1 million contribution be made. Cabinet wishes to be proactive ...
The new Cabinet will be focused on core bread and butter issues like the cost of living, education, health, housing and keeping communities and businesses safe, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced. “We need a greater focus on what’s in front of New Zealanders right now. The new Cabinet line ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will travel to Canberra next week for an in person meeting with Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. “The trans-Tasman relationship is New Zealand’s closest and most important, and it was crucial to me that my first overseas trip as Prime Minister was to Australia,” Chris Hipkins ...
The Government is providing establishment funding of $100,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “We moved quickly to make available this funding to support Aucklanders while the full extent of the damage is being assessed,” Kieran McAnulty ...
As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland. “I’d urge people to follow the advice of authorities and check Auckland Emergency Management for the latest information. As always, the Government ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes “Word from The Hill”, where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation’s politics team. In this podcast Michelle and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe.Lukas Coch/AAP Australia’s cash rate has hit 3.35%, after the Reserve Bank raised interest rates for the ninth time in a row – and signalled ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Della Bosca, PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney Shutterstock While the days of overt climate denial are mostly over, there’s a distinct form of denial emerging in its stead. You may have experienced ...
A potential cyclone that could bring more severe wet weather to the upper North Island is now forecast to form a day earlier, Stuff reports. Due to ideal cyclone-formation conditions over the Coral Sea, a low south of the Solomon Islands has a high chance of turning into a cyclone ...
Author I.S. Belle reveals the top five influences on her debut LGBT horror/paranormal YA novel, Zombabe.Zombabe is a LGBT found family horror/paranormal YA about a group of friends putting down an ancient evil inextricably linked to their sleepy town of Bulldeen, Maine. Does all of that bring anything to ...
New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese are holding a joint press conference in Canberra. Watch live here. ...
The New Zealand government is providing $1.5 million in humanitarian support to those affected by destructive earthquakes in Turkey and Syria last night, foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta has announced. The contribution of $1m to Turkey and $500,000 to Syria will be made via the International Federation of Red Cross and ...
In a state-of-the-nation-style lunchtime speech in Auckland today, the leader of the Act Party has taken aim at both major party leaders. “Throughout this speech,” David Seymour told supporters at the Maritime Museum, “I will do my best to differentiate between the Chrisses, but it may not be easy.” Seymour ...
In Canberra Chris Hipkins has met with Australia’s Anthony Albanese in Canberra, exchanging a few brief words to gathered reporters before heading inside for a closed doors meeting. Hipkins was driven into the courtyard of Parliament House, where he was greeted by Albanese in person. “Welcome prime minister,” said Albanese. A beaming ...
The acclaimed fashion designer has been crowned the ‘undisputed king of the frock’ – but with identical dresses widely available on fast fashion outlets, questions are being asked about his design practices.This story was first published on Stuff. He has been described as the “knight of New Zealand fashion”, his ...
In Canberra New Zealand’s media pack has arrived at Australia’s parliament ahead of this afternoon’s visit from prime minister Chris Hipkins. The PM will be met by his counterpart Anthony Albanese in the courtyard of parliament house, before heading inside for a closed doors meeting. Following the 45 minute meeting, ...
Two new funding initiatives, totalling $22 million, have been approved by Cabinet today to help ensure the cultural sector has the “certainty and support to thrive”, announced Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. $10 million of Covid-19 recovery funding will support established arts, cultural and diversity festivals, while $12 ...
New Zealand Politics Daily is a collation of the most prominent issues being discussed in New Zealand. It is edited by Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project. Items of interest and importance todayWAITANGI, CO-GOVERNANCE, THREE WATERS Thomas Cranmer: Waitangi Day and the quiet revolution Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Waitangi in 2023: Plenty ...
ACT leader David Seymour has delivered a speech painting National and Labour as two sides of the same coin, and calling co-governance a "culture war". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Quigley, Associate Professor of Earthquake Science, The University of Melbourne Mustafa Karali / AP A pair of huge earthquakes have struck in Turkey, leaving more than 3,000 people dead and unknown numbers injured or displaced. The first quake, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kalinda Griffiths, Scientia lecturer, UNSW Sydney Getty/Marianne Purdie Cancer figures provide stark evidence of the gap between the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people in Australia. The difference is confronting – and it’s increasing over ...
NZ Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have used a joint media conference to affirm the nations' relationship is that of "family". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Alcohol bans are being reimposed on Northern Territory Indigenous communities, as the federal and territory governments grapple with intractable problems in Alice Springs and elsewhere in the NT. The situation in Alice Springs and the ...
I was told to avoid gluten. I was told it was all in my head. When 10% of women experience endometriosis, why does it take so long for its classic symptoms to be recognised? It was 2011 when I had my first period. It felt like a very exciting moment ...
In Canberra Chris Hipkins has touched down in Australia’s capital – his first overseas visit since becoming prime minister just three weeks ago. After disembarking from the Airforce Boeing, Hipkins was greeted by his former caucus colleague and current high commissioner to Australia, Dame Annette King. The pair hugged on ...
The rise of TikTok-inspired ‘algospeak’ is making online communication even more of a nightmare, writes SYSCA‘s Lucy Blakiston.This is an excerpt from the Shit You Should Care About daily newsletter – sign up here.Content warning: sexual assault The other day I was chatting with a friend about algospeak – ...
School, finally, is back this week in the nation’s largest city to howls of relief from many parents and (one hopes) some students also. Yet the resumption of normal service shouldn’t obscure a curious inconsistency. The past few weeks have shown ...
MediaRoom column: On the eve of a Cabinet decision on the fate of the proposed public broadcasting merger, questions emerge over the engagement by the TVNZ chief executive of two former National government aides to change the narrative and push TVNZ's view on the Government's plan Within weeks of taking over ...
Olivia Sisson performs a good old-fashioned cost comparison – and it might change the way you buy your veges.The price of food in New Zealand is shocking. So, how to cope? The recommendations are starting to feel like the avo-toast-flat-white trope. Cut those items out and there it is, ...
An early morning fire at an egg-laying farm in Orini, Waikato yesterday has claimed the lives of at least 50,000 hens. The farm is operated by New Zealand’s largest egg producer Zeagold, the country’s biggest egg producer, whose eggs are sold under ...
The Natural and Built Environment Bill and Spatial Planning Bill will make resource management issues worse and should be withdrawn, Federated Farmers has told the Environment Select Committee. "Farmers agree the costly, slow and unpredictable processes ...
New police minister Stuart Nash has met with new health minister Ayesha Verrall to talk about the issue with the aim of preventing ram raids. Nash wants to speed up the scheduled reduction of dairies that can sell cigarettes. Nash made the comments at a police graduation ceremony in Porirua last ...
It’s Tuesday, February 7 and welcome to a special edition of The Spinoff’s live updates. Stewart Sowman-Lund will be on the ground in Canberra today as PM Chris Hipkins meets with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. What you need to know Chris Hipkins will meet Australian PM ...
Politicking by politicians was less overt but whether there was less politics probably depends on your definition of the word and what lay beneath the optics, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Why is it becoming harder to achieve debt-free status? Money Sweetspot is a new company that uses compassion and incentives to help people pay off their debts. Co-founder Sasha Lockley talks to Simon about using gamification to increase financial literacy, breaking the cycle of poverty, and how she intends to ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins is heading to Australia today for his first face-to-face meeting with an international leader. He’ll be meeting with Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese during his single-day visit to Canberra. The Spinoff live updates will be on the ground in Australia as the meeting takes place and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By C Raina MacIntyre, Professor of Global Biosecurity, NHMRC Principal Research Fellow, Head, Biosecurity Program, Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney Pexels/Uriel Mont The question of whether and to what extent face masks work to prevent respiratory infections such as COVID and influenza ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Mackinnon, Professor and Director, Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices, Queensland University of Technology Superconducting cables transmit electicity without lossesShutterstock For most of us, transmitting power is an invisible part of modern life. You flick the switch and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Munro, Professor, Faculty of Education and Arts, Australian Catholic University Shutterstock Many students are returning to school this year face a renewed focus on grammar. Just before Christmas, the NSW curriculum was overhauled to include the “explicit teaching of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debra Dudek, Associate professor, School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University Universal Life is full of surprises – some pleasant and some painful – but there can be no surprises without expectations. We expect the sun to come up ...
News stories have honed in on the fact Wayne Brown and his staff were left off a ‘vital’ email distribution list on the night of the Auckland floods. But internal emails from the mayor’s chief of staff show he was getting regular briefings from officials.Internal council emails obtained by ...
In a reality shaped by climate crisis, how do you think and feel about the changed present – and the changing future – without spiralling into despair?In the midst of a flood there’s not much time to think about the future. But when the water recedes, the reality of ...
06 Feb The news today of the death of 75,000 chickens at an egg farm in Waikato is yet another outrageous and avoidable tragedy. “The fact that so many hens died in this fire in the Waikato is a testament to the systemic neglect and disregard ...
Lawmakers are being urged to bridge the legal and scientific divide over braided rivers. David Williams reports What is a river? More particularly, what is a braided river? An expert group known as The Land The Law Forgot is urging politicians considering the Natural and Built Environment Bill – one ...
Confidence from US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell kept markets buoyant. But mortgage payments and job losses could dampen consumer spending in NZ ...
Someone left the Swift out in the rain - insurance agents are overloaded with calls about flood-damaged vehicles It’s been a big week for testing the submarining abilities of the family station wagon. Thousands of cars around the upper North Island have been written off following the devastating floods of ...
The first of the air force's new Poseidon aircraft has landed in New Zealand. But is this the sort of workhorse the military needs? Our old heroes of the Air Force, the P-3 Orions, have retired after 56 years of service - and the first of the flash new Poseidon ...
Chris Hipkins’ first overseas trip as Prime Minister comes on relatively friendly territory. But while there have been marked improvements in the trans-Tasman relationship since a change in Canberra, there is still plenty to discuss, as Sam Sachdeva writes In many ways, it is fitting Chris Hipkins should make Australia the ...
Fiordland National Park is the crowning jewel of our national parks and arguably our greatest tourist magnet. But conservationists warn that marine life has been put at risk because the park’s waters are unprotected. Heidi Bendikson’s investigation shows they are right. Tourists on the 'M.V Sinbad' clamber to the bow to ...
As Auckland copes with unprecedented flooding, Mairi Jay points to lessons from extreme weather events in British Columbia that could be vitally important for policy-makers and administrators here “Expect extreme weather events” the climate scientists tell us. But sometimes the extreme is beyond our imagining. On Thursday January 26, New Zealand’s Met Service predicted ...
UK and US deals for NZ novels Three of the best New Zealand novels of recent years are about to be published in the UK and the US. All three books – She's a Killer by Kirsten McDougall, Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly, and The New Animals ...
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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).
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.