Most of us tend to shop regularly at the same supermarket. Promotions are the supermarkets’ attempts to break that behaviour.
…
There is data to show it works, [AUT marketing lecturer] Phillips says. In 2016, My Little Garden triggered a lot of what the experts call “switching behaviour”. New World had a 3.6 per cent sales increase (worth $14.4 million) during the promotional period. Pak ’n Save dropped 1.9 per cent and Countdown fell 0.6 per cent, Phillips says.
The experts say customers don’t instantly and automatically switch back at the end of a promotion but the chains are engaged in a constant “Cold War” to keep them. It is why, when one chain runs a promotion, the other will roll one out shortly afterwards.
Ad-so Australia takes a moral stand on human rights issues in China (while NZ keeps sucking up to China) and all you can see is a chance for cheap wine from Oz because China has retaliated.
Wait until China controls the international monetary system and endlessly imposes illegal sanctions like the US, instead of deciding who it will trade with and when.
Say you were to discover that a majority of prices in the economy are set via some form of cost + markup pricing, and not supply and demand. Would you still expect Penfolds to give you their wine at a discount?
That would, I hope, depend on a completely unregulated market free from any other constraint other than my perfect knowledge of the market, a Licensing Trust able to attend to me needs without thought for its internal mass buyers, the market's perfect knowledge of Penfold's, and and zero impact from any government or regulation, anywhere.
I reckon it is no different with the stories we weave and the necessary narratives to tell and develop these stories. The story must be complete, an integrated self-consistent set of facts and factoids. Some people will go to great lengths to make sure no pieces are missing and sometimes people will force a piece into the whole/hole even though it doesn’t fit neatly.
If forests could or should be considered and/or are indeed superorganisms, why would this stop at the DoC signpost at the boundary? Is it just the flora or does it also include the fauna? If yes, what does that mean to the boundary? What does rain and wind mean for the boundary, and streams and rivers? Is communication bi-directional, does it travel upstream and upwind? I think there’s a good story in there, about the terror in the forest and the Dark Woods.
After recently putting up the rent 14%, he then kicks out a mother and her son who has learning disabilities on the eve of a law change to protect tenants because "he deciding what to do".
He says it is business first, but then other landlords say theirs is an important public service, first.
Who to believe, or should we believe none of them?
A quick search on the govt tenancy website shows the range of rents for 3bed homes in Wainuiomata is $500 – 550pw.
Increasing the rent to $430 pw shows that McKenzie had let the rent fall well behind market. It never does anyone any favours in the long run – and I can well understand the dismay of the mother who not only has to try and find a new home in a very tight market, but faces a rental jump in the order of $100pw at the same time.
A 3 bed home in Wainui is probably worth north of $700k if he'd been getting a rent of $380pw – gross income about $19.7k pa – that's a yield of under 3%. His net in the pocket after fixed costs, mortgage and tax was almost certainly less than $5kpa.
At least it will have a nice fresh lick of paint and be tidied up. That’s all aspiring new tenants wish for nowadays and they won’t mind paying the price because beggars can’t be choosers.
Nikki And Cole Prier don’t come into it for landlords.
Given how far behind the market their rent had fallen – I'll bet you that their unfortunate personal position actually did 'come into it' for McKenzie.
We've got one older couple who've been with us for over a decade and they pay way below market – but we deliberately choose to carry them because they both contribute to their community magnificently.
But as I said above – in the long run it may not be doing either party any favours.
“I am now deciding whether to get out of being a landlord, or not,” he said.
“With the uncertainty of what’s coming up, I’ve had a guts full. I’ll renovate the house, then make a decision about whether to put it on the market.”
As I indicated the other night – my own average rent at the present is $384 pw – a very similar number to the story above, and the properties are newer and in a more desirable suburb. Any thoughts on whether I should sell up and 'evict' a whole bunch of people from their homes?
Because honestly that's what's going through my mind. Our equity would do a whole lot better for us in Australia at the moment.
That's pathetic. I'm giving you real life facts and figures from my experience as a real world landlord for almost 20 yrs. If you don't understand how the business works then anything you say is going to amount to little more than pious, futile prattle.
I'm not asking for anyone's pity – how I choose to run my business is precisely my responsibility and no-one else's. But I am prepared to educate you in some basic numbers and their consequences.
As I mentioned the other night – one of the reasons why we moved to Australia 8yrs ago was because our mortage was indeed putting us under considerable pressure.
Essentially over the past 20yrs we've actually had to put money into the business to keep it afloat, and our tenants in their homes. We're now in the position of having shitloads of equity, but crap cash flow, and because I'm close to retiring that isn't something I can sustain anymore.
What would you do? Sell and evict – or hold on and hope the business environment doesn't continue to become more hostile?
I get where you're coming from, but from the perspective of an investor they will often be looking to add value, usually a significant renovation, and vacant possession will be important to them.
Essentially over the past 20yrs we've actually had to put money into the business to keep it afloat, and our tenants in their homes. We're now in the position of having shitloads of equity, but crap cash flow, and because I'm close to retiring that isn't something I can sustain anymore.
The trouble with this is that I've heard this description from not only landlords but farmers as well, except farmers don't like to flaunt their equity in public.
The total values of assets that can be realised is the figure that most people will focus on. If you have $10M in equity but moan your a**e off about pitiful cashflow, then you generally won't get a lot of sympathy.
I've made it clear I'm not asking for sympathy. I chose to get into this business and have stuck at it for 20 years now. That's my responsibility and no-one else's. All I'm doing here is explaining how the business works in order that people can make informed sense of these stories they read.
Rule No. 1 in all businesses is that cash flow is king. No matter how much shareholder funds you have, how much capital, stock, ring-fenced tax loss, forward orders or anything else – if you cannot meet this month's cash burn the business is bankrupt. And what I've explained here – overshared if you will – is that most residential rental businesses, like many NZ businesses (certainly those with substantial debt), are running on pretty thin cash flow margins. Or are being propped up by the owner's PAYE income.
Just as an extra data point – fixed costs used to run at about 20% of rental income, and here in Australia we can see this is still the case. By contrast in NZ they've risen to somewhere between 35 – 40% in recent years. And in the past most people could reasonably run the business themselves, but increasingly the environment has forced owners to use professional managers – and there's another 10% of cashflow gobbled up.
So even small extra costs imposed by new govt rules, or bad tenants, or even just letting the rent fall too far behind market because you felt sorry for a tenant, can have a big impact on the bottom line cashflow.
The total values of assets that can be realised is the figure that most people will focus on.
Equity means nothing unless I either sell or borrow more against it – and neither is a non-trivial decision. It's this background that helps decode what was going on with the original Wainui story above.
Stepping back, this is as you've pointed out, a wider theme with the whole NZ economy, too much has over the past three decades has tilted toward capital gain for profit, rather than cash flow. It's a structural flaw across many sectors that has distorted our decision-making and tends toward market failure. (I recall writing on this here at TS over a decade ago.)
It's especially chronic in agriculture. About that time we had looked at diversifying into a small horticultural business – and I recall one offer that was priced at over $2m for a business that barely turned over $160k. Utterly nuts – literally.
Which is why I was a strong supporter and promoter here of TOP's Comprehensive Capital Tax proposal. Not so much because I thought the party was a ripper – but because in my view it was a intelligently designed tax that would actually achieve what it was intended to do.
I was going to reply to your comment the other night about landlords creaming it but decided not to – it is sitting there half-finished. I think it is much better this way.
Why you would want to evict your tenants from your rentals is unclear to me except to free up equity. If you need (to do) that, then you can justify it, at least to yourself. It is your decision.
Don’t ask for business advice here, unless you really want/need it and intend to follow it. Ask a professional instead.
Don’t share your business wheeling and dealing here unless you want to cop the flack for it. Over-sharing carries many risks online for little gain/benefit even though your intention might be to provide a different PoV to guide/inform discussion and lift to a ‘higher plane’ than the usual ‘landlord-bashing’, which I respect and understand, but it doesn’t get you far, does it?
I could do similar things on discussion topics here but I’m not prepared to die in the ditch for those unless it is about a core value of mine – details are less important and there are other ways to get your point across without divulging too much personal information or history; arguments should be able to stand on their own legs of merit and persuasion.
Don’t ask for business advice here, unless you really want/need it and intend to follow it. Ask a professional instead.
In effect I am the professional here and I've been sharing information on how the residential rental business actually works. I've been doing this solely in the hope that some people here might stop treating their landlord as some spawn of the devil – and start focusing on the real reasons why the housing market in NZ has gotten into the mess it has.
But maybe you're right – the effort was doomed to be futile from the outset.
… and personal stories that rehumanize each other to each other.
…
There is no We if we see each other through partisan caricatures and don’t engage directly. When we hear each others’ stories, we know that in real life, good versus evil is rarely the truth, …
The other important tension that exists in this landlord/tenant discussion is for one party it is a business. The tax benefits, passive income etc, the leverage available…
The other party it is home, a place for family, a garden, pets, to love, laugh weep. A turangawaewae.
Failing to acknowledge the other view is where the argy barty begins.
Like Kiwi attitudes to land. One view is my property, my rights etc. The other is stewardship, a responsibility to pass it forward in better knick, to treat and see it as if it were alive. A strong spiritual bond.
Well Red, you've made tonnes of equity over the years.
Rent + tax preferences + equity increases = a reasonable rate of return.
You sound like you're in a steady place.
This is a leftie site so few will have patience to give non-Socialist advice.
But you are still of sufficiently sound mind that you can throw the dice another way than real estate.
In New Zealand, Victoria, or Queensland we need more people prepared to cash up and invest in fresh local growing business that's better for the whole economy.
Reading the article, he actually comes across as a pretty decent landlord. If Red Logix's numbers correct, then he has been giving her a very good deal for a long time.
Unfortunately, this is a consequence of the new rental laws. If he was intending to sell or do a major upgrade, I thought under the new rules he could still give the 90 day notice?
So it seems a bit like he 'panicked' and gave notice now when in fact if he decides to sell in a years time he could still give notice.
More rent controls will probably make more landlords sell which may be ok as possibly first home buyers would buy. But could be less rentals available. This tenant has been paying $380 per week up until recently which sounds extremely cheap, so he has been subsidizing her for some time now, so he sounds like a very reasonable landlord. He possibly could have given her notice several years ago and rented it out for far more if he had been greedy.
So you think the landlord is disorganized because for example, he decided to charge her $380 per week instead of the going market rate for the last few years? Well you will be pleased to know that there are many landlords out there that are well organized, and will charge as much as they can, and also raise the rent as often as possible. Many other people would refer to them as greedy rather than organized!
I guess the elephant in the room is that no doubt the tax payer will subsidize the next rental through accomodation supplements.
I can't help but think that a big part of the issue we have is that public funds are paid to enable tennants to meet rents far above their normal income allows.
The policy came from a good place but the unintended consequence of the scheme sas that it has in effect acted as a wealth transfer and helps fuel the house price increases.
Imagine if there had been no supplements from govt, the money required to pay the huge rents required to pay the equally huge mortgages/provide a return just wouldnt be there, ergo banks would have been far more reluctant to lend and price increases would have closer matched incomes.
The govt getting out of social housing and essentially contracting it out to the private sector was a huge mistake and one that is not able to be undone in a hurry. Nonetheless the only solution I can see is that we get stuck in on a massive state backed building program aimed at sucking air out of house price increases. Pouring more money in to help first home buyers or renters for that matter will not help.
Given that he's also pissy about the healthy homes regulations anf the july deadline for that, and that timeframe means it's likely that most of the bonds issued in the last 6 months will be for healthy homes, it's possible he was keeping up with the market rates.
Complete gratitude and respect for the work the MIQ workers. They should all get some sort of significant award….give them a knighthood, a ceremony like the oscars. True hero’s and heroines
Stiffing 'em on a goodly portion of the interest and commissions, too.
BREAKING: Bolivia has cancelled and returned the full sum of the US $346.7 Million IMF loan taken out by the coup regime, in rejection of IMF impositions on internal economic policy.
As of February 2021, the loan had already racked up $24.3 Million in interest and commissions. pic.twitter.com/4sPkAJRtsg
"Finally, the Central Bank of Bolivia will carry out the corresponding administrative, civil and criminal actions against all servants and former public servants responsible for participation in the process of negotiation, subscription and operation of financing with the IMF."
Humans are hard-wired to classify, categorise and compare, or in other words, to taxonomize. We may be born tabula rasa but quickly are taught that the world is divided into types of things, subtypes of those and assorted other categories. The operative term is “taught” rather than “realise.” Taxonomies are ...
The Labour Government received plaudits this week for its historic announcement that it will ban the live export of animals by sea. It’s said to be a world first. The decision comes after years of pressure, which increased after last year’s tragedy when the ship Gulf Livestock 1 left New ...
As one does on a Friday evening, I yesterday made a point of heading along to the Dunedin Public Library’s event, Mystery in the Library. This was a panel of local crime-fiction writers, and a follow-up to a similar one in April 2019 (no prizes for guessing why ...
Now is about the time that the Government is getting its Budget Strategy togetherIn the week before the budget – the 2021 one is to be delivered on Thursday 20 May – there is a strange ritual in which all the commentariat and lobbyists (who are not necessarily distinct from ...
Climate Change Minister James Shaw has admitted that the government is not doing enough on climate change: Appearing on Breakfast alongside Greenpeace director and former Green Party leader Russel Norman, the current Greens co-leader was asked: “Are you as Government living up to promise of delivery implicit in those ...
We can all agree that a free press (and free media more generally) are important factors in a well-functioning democracy. But I am beginning to wonder if they provide us with an unalloyed benefit. I am an avid consumer of daily news – whether delivered by the press or by ...
Yes They Can - So Why Don't They? In matters relating to child poverty, homelessness, mental health, climate change and, of course, Covid-19, the answers are right in front of the Government's collective nose - often in the form of reports it has specifically commissioned. Why can’t Jacinda and her ...
Richard Edwards, Janet Hoek, Anaru Waa, George Thomson, Nick Wilson (author details*) We congratulate the NZ Government on its proposed Action Plan for the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 goal. Here we examine the evidence for three key ideas outlined in the plan: permitting tobacco products to be sold in only ...
Punished, But Not Prevented: Though bitterly contested by those firmly convinced that the Christchurch Mosque Shootings represent something more than the crime of a Lone Wolf terrorist, the Royal Commission’s finding that no state agency could have prevented Brenton Tarrant from carrying out his deadly intent – except by chance ...
The Government has announced it intends making sex self-identification possible this year, as a priority. That would mean anyone could change the sex documented on their birth certificate by a simple declaration that they “identify” as the opposite sex. Speak Up For Women have launched a campaign encouraging New Zealanders ...
The travel bubble with Australia has not brought room for others to come into the MIQ system from overseas. Instead, spaces are being decommissioned. Why? The system is leaky. The government cannot afford to let riskier people into those spaces, because the system can’t handle them. My column in Insights ...
A Second Term Labour-led Government in New Zealand,a new Biden-led Administration in the US, a continuance of the Johnson Government in the UK: different approaches to major issues, same global problems – and discontent rising. Some warranted, some unwarranted, but as each emerges from the Covid pandemic, what ...
I will update this post as new information comes to handWhat has happened? Recently the vaccine safety watch dogs in Europe noted reports of unusual types of blood clots in people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca (AZ) COVID-19 vaccine. This prompted investigations across many countries to ascertain what, why, and ...
Alex Ford, University of Portsmouth and Gary Hutchison, Edinburgh Napier UniversityWithin just a few generations, human sperm counts may decline to levels below those considered adequate for fertility. That’s the alarming claim made in epidemiologist Shanna Swan’s new book, “Countdown”, which assembles a raft of evidence to show that ...
Just like last year, this year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) will happen virtually instead of in person in Vienna. Contrary to last year, the organizers decided early on to hold their conference online and planned for it accordingly (quite a difference to last year's scramble where they switched ...
Time for a strange rant. A very strange rant. But bear with me, because this is serious business. A True Story, by Lucian of Samosata is not Science-Fiction. What on earth am I talking about? Well, it was one of those Wikipedia rabbit holes. I was reading ...
By Kate Evans for UndarkOne of New Zealand’s most spectacular fossil sites originated 23.2 million years ago. It was formed in a valley dotted with small volcanoes, when rising magma deep below the Earth’s surface came into contact with groundwater. Lava and water don’t mix — they explode. The ...
A Thorn In Their Side: As Chair of the Auckland Regional Council, Mike Lee made sure Auckland’s municipal resources remained in Aucklanders’ hands. Not surprisingly the neoliberal powers-that-be (in both their centre-left and centre-right incarnations) hated this last truly effective standard-bearer for democratic-socialist values and policies.MIKE LEE is the closest ...
It’s always something of a shock to come across a page run by a health-focused business that contains substantial misinformation. This one left me gobsmacked, given the sheer number of statements that are demonstrably untrue. And while a fair bit of the content is prefaced by the statement that it’s ...
Previously (9 February) I wrote about how business consultants Ernst & Young were used to do a hatchet job on the former senior management team at Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB). While this hatchet job was planned in 2019 its gestation was much longer. Its underlying causes involved differences in ...
Flying beneath the radar of guilt Fight or Flight: How Advertising for Air Travel Triggers Moral Disengagement(open access) by Stubenvoll & Neureiter not only takes an interesting approach to decomposing the effects of airline travel advertisements but also helps us to understand the general psychological landscape of our often conflicted ...
Yesterday I got told to “do some research” &, by extension, to think critically. The biologist in me cringed a little when I read it (and not because of the advice about doing research). Biology teachers I know suggested that perhaps everyone should take the NCEA standard that ...
Lis Ku, De Montfort University Since the onset of the pandemic, everyone from newspaper columnists to Twitter users has advanced the now idea that extroverts and introverts are handling the crisis differently. Many claim that introverts adapt to social distancing and isolation better than extroverts, with some even suggesting that ...
A friend of mine pointed me in the direction of this blog post by New Zealand’s “Plan B” group. While initially this group opposed the government’s use of lockdowns to manage covid19 outbreaks in this country, they seem to have since moved on to opposing the rollout of vaccines against ...
Twenty years after it invaded, the US is finally leaving Afghanistan. What's surprising is that it took them so long - its been clear for over a decade that their presence there was pointless and just pissing people off. But imperial pride leads to exactly this sort of stupidity. Their ...
The government has announced that it will ban the export of livestock by sea. Huzzah! A vile, cruel and unconscionable trade will be ended! But there's a catch: the ban won't kick in until 2023, giving farmers two ful years to continue to profit from extreme animal cruelty. But why ...
Today is unexpectedly a Member's Day - the Business Committee granted it early in the year, to make up for time list to government business. First up is a two-hour debate on the budget policy statement, with questions to Ministers, replacing the general debate. Then its the second reading of ...
. . Two stories which appeared almost side-by-side on RNZ’s website. Parent, Miranda Cross, was quoted as saying; “I think the expectations are that we can at least send our kids to school where they will receive an education.” An American parent would probably demand; “I think the expectations are ...
Time for reviewing something a bit different. Move over Tolkien adaptations, hello Japanese splatter movie. Specifically, a certain 2009 movie called Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl. I watched this one a few days ago with some acquaintances, never having seen it before, and not being familiar with the manga ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD An above-average Atlantic hurricane season is likely in 2021, the Colorado State University (CSU) hurricane forecasting team says in its latest seasonal forecast issued April 8. Led by Dr. Phil Klotzbach, with coauthors Dr. Michael Bell and Jhordanne Jones, the CSU ...
How seriously does the Māori Party take issues of corruption and the untoward influence of big money in politics? Not very, based on how it’s handling a political finance scandal in which three large donations were kept hidden from the public. The party is currently making excuses, and largely failing ...
The annual inventory report [PDF] of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing a significant increase in emissions: (Note that this is UNFCCC accounting, not the weird fudged figures the Climate Change Commission is using). Emissions increased by almost 2 million tons in 2019, from 80.6 MT ...
The melody from the classic movie Wizard of Oz echoes as Jacinta Ruru explains what inspired her to attend university, and her ambition to help create a more just society in Aotearoa. Jacinta, who affiliates to Raukawa and Ngāti Ranginui, specialises in the research areas of indigenous peoples and the law. ...
Stuff reports that National is refusing to back the Climate Change Commission's recommendations, which is apparently a Bad Thing: The National Party says it can’t support the Climate Change Commission’s draft plan to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions unless changes are made. If National maintains this position when ...
Driven, accountable, unafraid to test limits and connected to the communities she serves are traits that come to mind when thinking about Dr Anne-Marie Jackson. (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu o Whangaroa, Ngāti Wai) She specialises in Māori physical education and health research disciplines while incorporating tikanga Māori and Te ...
This is my first post for a while. I have been a bit overwhelmed by other work in the last several weeks, with teaching and other commitments, and the blog has sadly suffered. But I’m still here. This morning, while sitting in a car in the permanent traffic jam through ...
Predatory Morality: Is geopolitical consultant, Paul Buchanan, right? Does the rest of the world truly monitor New Zealand’s miniscule contribution to the international arms trade so closely? Are foreign chancelleries truly so insensitive to their own governments’ complicity in the world’s horrors that they expect all other sovereign states to ...
Anna Källén, Stockholm University and Daniel Strand, Uppsala University A middle-aged white man raises his sword to the skies and roars to the gods. The results of his genetic ancestry test have just arrived in his suburban mailbox. His eyes fill with tears as he learns that he is “0.012% ...
March 2021 The housing crisis right now in New Zealand is one of our biggest contributors to income and wealth inequality. “With the explosive increase in sales and prices, those with houses have their income and/or wealth rapidly increasing, and those who are not on the property ladder are falling ...
Samoans went to the polls on Friday, and delivered a stinging blow to Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi one-party state. Pre-election Malielegaoi's Human Rights Protection Party had controlled 44 of 49 seats in Parliament, while using restrictive standing orders to prevent there from even being a recognised opposition in ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Michael BakerIn this blog we briefly consider a new Report from a European think tank that aims to identify an optimal COVID-19 response strategy. It considers mortality data, GDP impacts, and mobility data and suggests that COVID-19 elimination appears to be superior ...
Something I missed on Friday: the Māori Party has been referred to police over failure to disclose donations over $30,000. Looking at the updated return of large donations, this is about $320,000 donated to them by three donors - John Tamihere, the National Urban Māori Authority, and Aotearoa Te Kahu ...
Stormy Seas: Will Jacinda Ardern's Labour Government stand behind the revolutionary proposals contained in He Puapua – the 20-year plan devised by a government appointed working group to realise the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Aotearoa/New Zealand?“GETTING AHEAD of the story” is one of the most ...
We have not been fans of the Climate Change Commission’s draft report. New Zealand has an Emissions Trading Scheme with a binding cap, and a declining path for net emissions in the covered sector. Measures taken within the covered sector cannot reduce net emissions. NZU not purchased by one sector get ...
For several decades under Labour and National-led governments New Zealand has claimed to have an independent (and sometimes autonomous) foreign policy. This foreign policy independence is said to be gained by having a “principled but pragmatic” approach to international relations: principled when possible, pragmatic when necessary. More recently NZ foreign ...
This video produced in Seattle looks at the gender identity curriculum used in schools in the US. A thin veneer of pseudoscience is being used to indoctrinate children with an ideology based on scientific and medical inaccuracies. ...
For once, I have written my submission on a bill with enough time to spare to both enocurage any of you who wants to make a submission to do so as well, and to give you time to spot the typos in mine.Louisa Wall's Harmful Digital Communications (Unauthorised Posting of Intimate ...
A friend found a concerning FB post (see below – this is a public post & so I have not redacted the name) & – as you do – immediately queried it with Southern Cross Life & Health Insurance as well as sending the screenshot to me¹. We both read ...
Judith Collins’ National Party leadership is under more scrutiny, with increased talk in the media of her being replaced by brand new MP Christopher Luxon. For many commentators it’s just a question of “when” rather than “if” Collins is replaced. While others ponder whether Luxon really has what it takes ...
‘Tis the season for unearthing the rarest gems in Tolkien adaptation – which, considering that the fandom has been dominated by Peter Jackson for nigh on two decades, is a positively heart-warming development. It is why I have devoted so much blog space to the obscure and weirdly wonderful ...
Whatever the damage, especially to the British economy, Brexit has done us a service by illustrating the complexity of trade.Brexit is the only example we have of two closely integrated sophisticated economies severing trading ties. The European Union and Britain still do not have tariffs or import quotas between them ...
The Palmerston North City Council has voted for Māori wards: Palmerston North Māori will be guaranteed one or two seats on the city council from 2022, and this time, there is nothing opponents can do about it. The council decided by an 11-5 vote at its monthly meeting this ...
Kids are striking for the climate today, demanding a decent, liveable future. Meanwhile, the National Party, the reliable servant of the farm lobby and other polluting businesses, is calling for action to be delayed: National has written to Climate Change Minister James Shaw calling for him to extend the ...
Today tens of thousands of schoolkids have walked out of school to strike for a future free from climate change. And tens of thousands of older New Zealanders have joined them. Their demands are clear: eliminate fossil fuels, implement 100% renewable energy with a just transition, and support our Pacific ...
The Gods That Failed.We studied the dialecticRead the whole of ‘Capital’So we could follow youSo we could follow youHow we shoutedHow we scrawledPainted slogans on city wallsOn prison wallsProof we had followed youBut, we still didn’t find what we’re looking forAnd we still haven’t found what we’re looking forWhen they ...
Conventional Wisdom? The Republican Right is convinced that to “go woke” is to “go broke”. It simply does not believe sufficient Americans feel strongly enough about social justice to make any kind of boycott remotely effective. Clearly, the Boards of Directors of more and more American corporations disagree. RECENT MOVES by ...
On November 25, 2020 Skeptical Science Inc. became a registered nonprofit organization and on March 17, 2021 our application to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for 501(c)(3) status was approved. In this blog post, we’ll explain why we went down this path and what will come next. Since its ...
Blowing Hot And Cold: Mike Hosking’s bosses should, perhaps, ask themselves what message Newstalk-ZB (and NZME) is sending to the people of New Zealand if Mike Hosking, their self-appointed “People’s Prosecutor”, is accorded bragging rights for “cancelling” the democratically-elected Prime Minister of New Zealand. Especially when said Prime Minister’s only ...
Ali Boyle, University of CambridgeIf you ask people to list the most intelligent animals, they’ll name a few usual suspects. Chimpanzees, dolphins and elephants are often mentioned, as are crows, dogs and occasionally pigs. Horses don’t usually get a look in. So it might come as a surprise that ...
Selwyn Manning and I dedicated this week’s video podcast to the potential emergence of rival blocs within the transitional process involved in the move from a unipolar to a multipolar international system currently underway. However one characterises the phenomenon–autocracies versus democracies, East versus West, colonial versus post-colonial–the global order is ...
With the rediscovery of the lost Soviet Lord of the Rings, the time has come for the important things in life. Specifically, compiling the Tom Bombadil scenes from the three known screen adaptations that feature him: This is a collection of scenes from:– Sagan om Ringen (1971: ...
Back in February the Climate Change Commission recommended a ban on new coal-fired boilers, and a phase out of existing ones by 2037. And today, the government has said they will implement that policy, and backed it up with funding to help transition some of our large pollution sources: ...
A ballot for three members bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Income Tax (Adjustment of Taxable Income Ranges) Amendment Bill (Simon Bridges) Regulatory Standards Bill (David Seymour) Human Rights (Disability Assist Dogs Non-Discrimination) Amendment Bill (Ricardo Menéndez March) The first two ...
Back in 2014, the police raided and searched journalist Nicky Hager's home over his book Dirty Politics, seizing his journalistic work in an effort to identify his sources to please their political masters in the National party. The raid - and much of the police's related investigative work - was ...
By Professor Tony Blakely, Dr Tim Wilson, Luke Thorburn and Professor Nathan Grills, University of MelbourneA new web tool, COVID-19 Pandemic Trade-offs, allows people to weigh the costs and benefits of different policy responses as Australia rolls out vaccines and considers opening borders.See here for an associated explanatory ...
The Greens welcome $6.6 million from the Government’s $455 million programme to increase access to mental health and addiction services for our Pasifika communities in Auckland and Wellington. ...
The Green Party is putting a Member’s Bill into the ballot today which will be a significant step towards overhauling the Social Security Act by embedding a tikanga Māori framework into the welfare system. ...
The Green Party have reaffirmed their strong commitment to the union movement in Aotearoa New Zealand by renewing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with E Tū. ...
Soon, more kids in Aotearoa will have access to the in-school mental health support that has boosted the resilience of tamariki and whānau in Canterbury. ...
The Green Party supports the open letter released today by a cross-sector coalition calling for the Government to treat all drug use as a health issue, to repeal and replace the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. ...
Small businesses are not only the heart of our economy – they’re also the heart of our communities. They provide important goods and services, as well as great employment opportunities. They know and love their locals. And after a tough year, they need our support! ...
Green Party spokesperson for Pacific Peoples Teanau Tuiono MP, supports the demand from Pasifika communities fighting for climate action as their homelands are more at risk in the Pacific region. ...
The Green Party supports the six demands for climate action put forward by School Strike for Climate NZ, who are striking across the country today. ...
The Ministry of Justice Māori victimisation report, released today, reinforces what we already know about the impact of systemic racism in Aotearoa and that urgent action is needed. ...
Ricardo Menéndez March’s Members Bill to ensure that disabled New Zealanders do not face discrimination for having a disability assist dog was today pulled from the biscuit tin to be debated in Parliament. ...
More than one million people will be better off from today, thanks to our Government’s changes to the minimum wage, main benefits and superannuation. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to do more for New Zealanders who continue to miss out, as main benefits are set to rise by less than $8 a week tomorrow, Thursday 1 April (at the start of the financial year). ...
Sunday 28th March 70 Rongomaiwahine descendants welcomed members of the Green Party’s Māori Caucus, Te Mātāwaka, Dr Elizabeth Kerekere and Teanau Tuiono, to discuss concerns about RocketLab’s operations on the Mahia Peninsula. ...
A ceremony has been held today in Gisborne where the unclaimed medals of 28 (Māori) Battalion C Company soldiers were presented to their families. After the Second World War, returning service personnel needed to apply for their medals and then they would be posted out to them. While most medals ...
New Zealand has today added its voice to the international condemnation of the malicious compromise and exploitation of the SolarWinds Orion platform. The Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau, Andrew Little, says that New Zealand's international partners have analysed the compromise of the SolarWinds Orion platform and attributed ...
An expert consenting panel has approved the Queenstown Arterials Project, which will significantly improve transport links and reduce congestion for locals and visitors in the tourism hotspot. Environment Minister David Parker welcomed the approval for the project that will construct, operate and maintain a new urban road around Queenstown’s town ...
Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash says a landmark deal has been agreed with Amazon for The Lord of the Rings TV series, currently being filmed in New Zealand. Mr Nash says the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) secures multi-year economic and tourism benefits to New Zealand, outside the screen ...
The Government welcomes the findings from a rapid review into the health system response to lead contamination in Waikouaiti’s drinking water supply. Sample results from the town’s drinking-water supply showed intermittent spikes in lead levels above the maximum acceptable value. The source of the contamination is still under investigation by ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood today marked the start of construction on the New Zealand Upgrade Programme’s Papakura to Drury South project on Auckland’s Southern Motorway, which will create hundreds of jobs and support Auckland’s economic recovery. The SH1 Papakura to Drury South project will give more transport choices by providing ...
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karanga maha o te wa, tēnā koutou, tēna koutou, tēna tātou katoa. Ki ngā mana whenua, ko Ngāi Tahu, ko Waitaha, ko Kāti Māmoe anō nei aku mihi ki a koutou. Nōku te hōnore kia haere mai ki te ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood today marked the completion of upgrades to State Highway 20B which will give Aucklanders quick electric bus trips to and from the airport. The State Highway 20B Early Improvements project has added new lanes in each direction between Pukaki Creek Bridge and SH20 for buses and ...
The Government is putting in place a review of the work being done on animal welfare and safety in the greyhound racing industry, Grant Robertson announced today. “While Greyhound Racing NZ has reported some progress in implementing the recommendations of the Hansen Report, recent incidents show the industry still has ...
The infringement fee for using a mobile phone while driving will increase from $80 to $150 from 30 April 2021 to encourage safer driving, Transport Minister Michael Wood announced today. Michael Wood said too many people are still picking up the phone while driving. “Police issued over 40,000 infringement notices ...
Pacific people in New Zealand will be better supported with new mental health and addiction services rolling out across the Auckland and Wellington regions, says Aupito William Sio. “One size does not fit all when it comes to supporting the mental wellbeing of our Pacific peoples. We need a by ...
New measures are being proposed to accelerate progress towards becoming a smokefree nation by 2025, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced. “Smoking or exposure to second-hand smoke kills around 12 people a day in New Zealand. Recent data tells us New Zealand’s smoking rates continue to decrease, but ...
More children will be able to access mental wellbeing support with the Government expansion of Mana Ake services to five new District Health Board areas, Health Minister Andrew Little says. The Health Minister made the announcement while visiting Homai School in Counties Manukau alongside Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate ...
The Government’s COVID-19 response has meant a record number of people moved off a Benefit and into employment in the March Quarter, with 32,880 moving into work in the first three months of 2021. “More people moved into work last quarter than any time since the Ministry of Social Development ...
A stocktake undertaken by France and New Zealand shows significant global progress under the Christchurch Call towards its goal to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. The findings of the report released today reinforce the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach, with countries, companies and civil society working together to ...
Racing Minister Grant Robertson has announced he is appointing Elizabeth Dawson (Liz) as the Chair of the interim TAB NZ Board. Liz Dawson is an existing Board Director of the interim TAB NZ Board and Chair of the TAB NZ Board Selection Panel and will continue in her role as ...
The Government has announced that the export of livestock by sea will cease following a transition period of up to two years, said Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “At the heart of our decision is upholding New Zealand’s reputation for high standards of animal welfare. We must stay ahead of the ...
WORKSHOP ON LETHAL AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS SYSTEMS Wednesday 14 April 2021 MINISTER FOR DISARMAMENT AND ARMS CONTROL OPENING REMARKS Good morning, I am so pleased to be able to join you for part of this workshop, which I’m confident will help us along the path to developing New Zealand’s national policy on ...
For the first time, all 18 prisons in New Zealand will be invited to participate in an inter-prison kapa haka competition, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. The 2021 Hōkai Rangi Whakataetae Kapa Haka will see groups prepare and perform kapa haka for experienced judges who visit each prison and ...
The Government has introduced the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill, designed to boost New Zealand's ability to respond to a wider range of terrorist activities. The Bill strengthens New Zealand’s counter-terrorism legislation and ensures that the right legislative tools are available to intervene early and prevent harm. “This is the Government’s first ...
Coal boiler replacements at a further ten schools, saving an estimated 7,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next ten years Fossil fuel boiler replacements at Southern Institute of Technology and Taranaki DHB, saving nearly 14,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next ten years Projects to achieve a total ...
Attorney-General David Parker today announced the appointment of Cassie Nicholson as Chief Parliamentary Counsel for a term of five years. The Chief Parliamentary Counsel is the principal advisor and Chief Executive of the Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO). She is responsible for ensuring PCO, which drafts most of New Zealand’s legislation, provides ...
Every part of Government will need to take urgent action to bring down emissions, the Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw said today in response to the recent rise in New Zealand’s greenhouse emissions. The latest annual inventory of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions shows that both gross and net ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark says Aotearoa New Zealand has become the first country in the world to introduce a law that requires the financial sector to disclose the impacts of climate change on their business and explain how they will manage climate-related risks and opportunities. The Financial ...
Exceptional employment practices in the primary industries have been celebrated at the Good Employer Awards, held this evening at Parliament. “Tonight’s awards provided the opportunity to celebrate and thank those employers in the food and fibres sector who have gone beyond business-as-usual in creating productive, safe, supportive, and healthy work ...
Applications are now invited from all councils for a slice of government funding aimed at improving tourism infrastructure, especially in areas under pressure given the size of their rating bases. Tourism Minister Stuart Nash has already signalled that five South Island regions will be given priority to reflect that jobs ...
Tēnā koutou e ngā maata waka Tenā koutou te hau kāinga ngā iwi o Te Whanganui ā TaraTēnā koutou i runga i te kaupapa o te Rā. No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tatou katoa. It is a pleasure to be here tonight. Thank you Graeme (Peters, ENA Chief ...
The Construction Skills Action Plan has delivered early on its overall target of supporting an additional 4,000 people into construction-related education and employment, says Minister for Building and Construction Poto Williams. Since the Plan was launched in 2018, more than 9,300 people have taken up education or employment opportunities in ...
An innovative new Youth Justice residence designed in partnership with Māori will provide prevention, healing, and rehabilitation services for both young people and their whānau, Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Whakatakapokai is located in South Auckland and will provide care and support for up to 15 rangatahi remanded or ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today expressed New Zealand’s sorrow at the death of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. “Our thoughts are with Her Majesty The Queen at this profoundly sad time. On behalf of the New Zealand people and the Government, I would like to express ...
We, the Home Affairs, Interior, Security and Immigration Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (the ‘Five Countries’) met via video conference on 7/8 April 2021, just over a year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Guided by our shared ...
Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni has today announced the opening of the first round of Ngā Puninga Toi ā-Ahurea me ngā Kaupapa Cultural Installations and Events. “Creating jobs and helping the arts sector rebuild and recover continues to be a key part of the Government’s COVID-19 response,” Carmel ...
Interim legislation that is already proving to keep people safer from drugs will be made permanent, Health Minister Andrew Little says. Research by Victoria University, on behalf of the Ministry of Health, shows that the Government’s decision in December to make it legal for drug-checking services to operate at festivals ...
Public consultation launched on ways to improve behaviour and reduce damage Tighter rules proposed for either camping vehicles or camping locations Increased penalties proposed, such as $1,000 fines or vehicle confiscation Rental companies may be required to collect fines from campers who hire vehicles Public feedback is sought on proposals ...
The Government is continuing to support Air New Zealand while aviation markets stabilise and the world moves towards more normal border operations. The Crown loan facility made available to Air New Zealand in March 2020 has been extended to a debt facility of up to $1.5 billion (an additional $600 ...
Christchurch’s Richmond suburb will soon have a new community hub, following the gifting of a red-zoned property by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) to the Richmond Community Gardens Trust. The Minister for Land Information, Damien O’Connor said that LINZ, on behalf of the Crown, will gift a Vogel Street house ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the reopening of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples’ (MPP) Languages Funding in 2021 will make sure there is a future for Pacific languages. “Language is the key to the wellbeing for Pacific people. It affirms our identity as Pasifika and ...
It is a pleasure to be here tonight. Thank you Cameron for the introduction and thank you for ERANZ for also hosting this event. Last week in fact, we had one of the largest gatherings in our sector, Downstream 2021. I have heard from my officials that the discussion on ...
Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods has today announced the 16 projects that will together get $3.9 million through the 2021 round of Te Pūnaha Hihiko: Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund, further strengthening the Government’s commitment to Māori knowledge in science and innovation. “We received 78 proposals - the highest ...
The Government is delivering on a key election commitment to tackle climate change, by banning new low and medium temperature coal-fired boilers and partnering with the private sector to help it transition away from fossil fuels. This is the first major announcement to follow the release of the Climate Commission’s ...
New Zealand’s favourite autumnal fruit meets a fancy-sounding but super-simple French dessert. The result? Delicious. There is only so much you can do with the fruit that drops (non-stop) from 17 feijoa trees. We’ve had ripe fruit peppering our lawn now for over two weeks. So far I’ve used them to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Hancock, School visitor, Australian National University Andrew Sharp Peacock, for so long “the coming man” of Australian politics, has died in the United States aged 82. Born in 1939, he was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne, acquired a law degree at ...
“ A Ministry of Health graph drawn by a graphic designer with no data to inform it is the perfect metaphor for this Government, all spin and no substance,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “Like most things with this government, they present ...
OWell, well, well. New Zealand its expressing its indignation about something the Russians may or may not have been doing. But this expression of the nation’s indignation comes not from Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta but from Andrew Little, our Minister of … No, not Health on this occasion. Nor ...
"He pulled down the straps of her tank top with his teeth and bit her neck..Afterwards, she pretended it didn’t happen": a short story by Auckland writer Leanne RadojkovichA teenager riding an e-scooter shot across the intersection towards Patsy, she stepped aside, the front wheel took the ...
Critic's Chair: Guy Somerset watches and listens to two wonderful series on YouTube and Spotify featuring great raconteurs and wits broadcast from their homes during the long UK lockdown This week, the UK started off along the second stage of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “cautious but irreversible” roadmap to the ...
What happens when the world’s rarest gull sets up camp in earthquake-damaged buildings in central Christchurch? Frank Film investigates. Christchurch’s population of endangered tarāpuka/black-billed gulls may have a new home. The Christchurch City Council is hoping to fashion a new site for the gulls in what was once part of ...
WATCH: In the heart-wrenching final episode of the Pure As video series, Silver Ferns shooter Maia Wilson reveals the on-court highs and off-court lows she's been through. Maia Wilson's young life has already been an emotional rollercoaster. While her netball career soars to new heights every time she takes the court, away ...
LISTEN: Is 2021 the year the Tactix finally get to lift netball's ANZ Premiership trophy? with the ANZ Premiership starting this weekend, how will the absence of Silver Fern captain Amerliaranne Ekenasio affect the two-time champions Central Pulse? What impact will Australian international Caitlin Bassett have for the Waikato Bay of ...
After a marathon year of droughts and water restrictions, Auckland finally has a goal to reduce its water consumption Water, water everywhere, and most certainly in the news. After a massive public information campaign last year, Aucklanders managed to knock 100 million litres a day off the city’s water consumption. ...
A new initiative is taking on food insecurity and food wastage by encouraging diners to take uneaten food home. And, as chefs taking part of the scheme explain, what you do with those leftovers needn’t be limited to a quick blat in the microwave. It’s hard to know just how much ...
With the council in disarray, former Wellington mayor Justin Lester sat down with The Spinoff to share his thoughts on what’s gone wrong, and what needs to happen from here. Justin Lester is running again. When we meet at the Civic Square cafe Nikau, the former Wellington mayor is breaking in a ...
After months of lockdown, pubs in England were allowed to reopen this week, with outdoor seating only. New Zealander George Fenwick headed out to see how Londoners were welcoming the return of a cornerstone of British social life.Trying to explain what life has been like in the UK for the ...
The government's priorities are being questioned after announcing it will be giving Amazon a more than $100 million boost to film the Lord of the Rings television series here. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Keane, Professor of Chinese Digital Media and Culture, Queensland University of Technology China’s state-run anti-monopoly bureau has tightened its regulations on big tech players, as shown by its recent move against the country’s largest e-commerce company, Alibaba Group. Alibaba was hit ...
Campaign & Petition Launch “Racial INJustice Matters” calling for an immediate independent inquiry into Institutional Racism and Racial Profiling by the Waikato Police. Where we live, work, play should be safe for everyone, no matter ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and Director of the Institute for Governance & Policy Analysis Dr Lain Dare discuss the week in politics. This week the pair discuss the evidence given by Christine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Carlson, Professor, Indigenous Studies, Macquarie University Recently, we have witnessed an uprising of thousands marching in the streets fuelled by outrage against the violence and sexual assault experienced by women. Indigenous women and gender diverse people also marched and shared this ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. India only at Magnitude 4 for reported cases. Chart by Keith Rankin. New Zealand has, for the rest of this month, banned all people who have been in India this month from entry into New Zealand. The decision is based not on the incidence of Covid19 ...
The screen industry – or some of its more well-heeled operators – today learned the government is keen to improve its wellbeing. This followed several blasts of Beehive trumpeting about initiatives to improve the wellbeing and wellness of we Kiwis. The announcements yesterday included the heartening news that the Government’s ...
The new Ministry for Ethnic Communities comes into being on 1 July. It’s important that the views and needs of Aotearoa New Zealand’s many and diverse ethnic communities help set the priorities for the new organisation from day one. We are running a series ...
The National Party need to take a good hard look at themselves, following their Economic Development spokesperson’s endorsement of Kiwi taxpayers stumping up for welfare for the American multi billion dollar corporation, Amazon. Responding to ...
New Zealand is not rejigging its Covid-19 immunisation programme despite predictions people will need a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine within 12 months. ...
Predator Free 2050 Limited has announced new investments in predator free projects around the country. Existing projects in Taranaki, Waiheke and Dunedin, a new project in Te Urewera, and a feasibility study on Aotea Great Barrier Island will benefit ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Mitchell, Professor of Nursing, University of Newcastle The Australian public’s infection control literacy continues to expand. We know what PPE is, what “flattening the curve” means, and we are growing increasingly familiar with the term “deep clean”. But what does a ...
The High Court in Auckland this week ordered overseas investors to pay penalties totalling $1.38 million and legal costs for breaching the Overseas Investment Act. The significant penalty follows a family purchasing five forestry blocks totalling ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1The Mirror Book by Charlotte Grimshaw (Vintage, $38)It’s the book everyone’s talking about – and writing about. ...
A little understanding – and a few simple, easy-to-follow rules – can make a huge difference to our lives, Autistic advocate Rory McCarthy writes.Autistic people have difficult lives: a lot of things that seem trivial or a sign of over-sensitivity to allistic (non-Autistic people) actually affect us quite significantly. There ...
Analysis - A startling revelation shows up cracks in the testing regime just as the vaccine rollout comes under scrutiny, and National faces another bout of leadership speculation, writes Peter Wilson. ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is urging ACC to ignore diktats from the Minister of Finance . “ACC should be left to independently manage the hard-earned funds it receives from levy-payers,” says Union spokesman Jordan Williams. “It’s ...
The New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) is not surprised by the government’s decision to ban live exports by sea and believes the two- year transition period is pragmatic for businesses in the sector. We are not surprised by the decision and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cristina Pozo-Gonzalo, Senior Research Fellow, Deakin University Rare-earth metals are critical to the high-tech society we live in as an essential component of mobile phones, computers and many other everyday devices. But increasing demand and limited global supply means we must urgently ...
Looking to buy a unit or apartment? You might need to think twice or even three times, if this Prime documentary is anything to go by, writes Jacqueline Paul.If you are hoping to buy a home built between the late 1980s and the mid-2000s, there is a significant risk that ...
Amid some in-House knitting drama this week, there was more speculation the knives are out for National Party leader Judith Collins. But doesn't National always have its knives out? James Elliott has the news of the week. It was an exciting week for those holding tickets in the “Seymour Sweepstake”, ...
A poem from Mohamed Hassan’s Ockham-shortlisted collection National Anthem.And before that we were starsCan you please look at this poem and tell me if it’s good?it’s for my fiancé she’s really far away I want to say how I feel but my English is limited, can you read it?she works ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Click here to subscribe to Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup and New Zealand Politics Daily. Today’s contentNational Party leadership Matthew Hooton (Herald): My message to National – and how to avoid ...
A new full-time role recording, editing and mixing content for The Spinoff podcast network, based in our Morningside office. We’re looking for an experienced sound engineer. The successful applicant will be responsible for recording, editing and mixing content for The Spinoff podcast network and managing the podcast studio. In addition to ...
Rainbow youth still facing stigma and stress but positive signs: new findings Youth19, the latest in a series of surveys focused on young people in Aotearoa, asked 7,721 secondary school-aged students about their experiences of school, home and community. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rajib Dasgupta, Chairperson, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University India is in the grip of a massive second wave of COVID-19 infections, surpassing even the United States and Brazil in terms of new daily infections. The current spike ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW Perhaps the most important lesson from the Christine Holgate controversy is that the confluence of sexism and politics leads to double standards for female executives. But Holgate’s demise – pushed from her position as Australia Post’s ...
The $162 million subsidy for one of the world’s richest companies proves Amazon has New Zealand taxpayers over a barrel, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “Treasury has previously warned that our ...
The Government has just announced a review of the greyhound racing industry, following reports from SAFE, Greyhound Protection League and Grey2K USA Worldwide of ongoing cruelty within the greyhound racing industry. In the announcement, Minister for Racing ...
Books editor Catherine Woulfe with a personal story about structured literacy, the step-by-step reading system that’s gaining traction across the country. My boy is called Ben and he turns seven in October. In the battle over how kids learn to read, he is a data point of one. But he ...
Wellington, 15 April 2021 - Cancer Society says Government's proposed smokefree plan includes bold and forward-thinking measures that are needed at this time to make smokefree 2025 a reality. S moking is the biggest cause of cancer and preventable ...
Climate justice organisation 350 Aotearoa is celebrating the direction from the government for the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) to accelerate its moves to divest from investments in fossil fuels. The direction to ACC to divest ...
Far from worshipping their former colonial masters, by proudly appropriating and indigenising a piece of British culture the Tannese are asserting their own mana, writes Scott Hamilton.In the aftermath of Prince Philip’s death, the western media has turned its gaze to Tanna, a mountainous island in the far south of ...
The Federation of Islamic Associations is accusing the Office of Ethnic Communities of being insensitive by scheduling community meetings during the holy month of Ramadan. ...
The government’s slight increase in fines for drivers illegally using cellphones is ‘pathetic’, says the car review website dogandlemon.com . Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson, who is an outspoken road safety campaigner, says many drivers will simply continue ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for April 16, bringing you the latest news throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 8.00am: Fine for using a cell phone while driving almost doubles You’ll seen be fined $150 if you’re caught using a cell phone while behind the wheel, transport ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Baron, Associate professor, Australian Catholic University In 1994, physicist Miguel Alcubierre proposed a radical technology that would allow faster than light travel: the warp drive, a hypothetical way to skirt around the universe’s ultimate speed limit by bending the fabric of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sandra Rojas, Speech pathologist and Lecturer in Voice Disorders, Department of Speech Pathology, Orthopedics & Audiology, La Trobe University Losing our voice, having a hoarse voice, or having any difficulties with our voice can be challenging, especially for those who need to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Don Driscoll, Professor in Terrestrial Ecology, Deakin University Feral horses are a catastrophic problem for the environment, particularly in the high country that crosses the New South Wales and Victoria border. To deal with this growing issue, the Victorian government has released ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca English, Lecturer in Education, Queensland University of Technology Home education, sometimes called homeschooling, is when children are educated outside a formal institution like a school. Parents of home-educated children are wholly responsible for facilitating their child’s learning. This is different to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW Perhaps the most important lesson from the Christine Holgate controversy is that the confluence of sexism and politics leads to double standards for female executives. But Holgate’s demise – pushed from her position as Australia Post’s ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: The complex politics of ending smoking, security company with MIQ contract disputes government claim, and parliament votes to extend emergency Covid powers.A range of proposals have been outlined by the government to effectively end smoking. Newshub reports it includes phasing the age ...
Business & Investing: Stand by for action in Contact and Meridian shares as Blackrock is forced to sell down holdings, Plus: A new bid for Tilt Renewables ...
Michelle Hooper, tournament director for the 2022 Rugby World Cup, talks to Ashley Stanley in part two of LockerRoom’s video series, The Big Four, where we meet the women leading the four global sporting events in New Zealand over the next two years - three World Cups and the IWG Women and ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve BrauniasNON-FICTION 1 The Mirror Book by Charlotte Grimshaw (Penguin Random House, $38) Number one in its first week in the shops – of course, because this is the book ...
The latest Silver Fern, Maddy Gordon has had to learn not to over-train, and is primed for the start of the ANZ Premiership this weekend. Her alarm goes off at 6am and Maddy Gordon is up and out of her bed, putting on her running shoes and dashing out the door. Moments later ...
Dr Alys Longley explains why art collaboration across borders in all our different cities and spaces is an essential service during a pandemic As an artist and academic, I love to make work with colleagues whose first language is not English, with artists whose creative language is infused by cultures and traditions ...
A suburban ratepayers revolt against the rates and debt hikes needed for affordable apartments and pedestrian-friendly CBDs could wreck the government’s carbon zero and housing affordability plans before they’re off the drawing boards.In the latest episode of When the Facts Change, Bernard Hickey talks to Wellington city councillor Tamatha Paul ...
If the hospitality industry wants public and government support for a pandemic recovery, it must clean up its employment act according to Unite Union. What was already a bad situation became much worse as zero hour contracts, illegal pay cuts, cancelled ...
This time next week, we will be a bubble of 30 million. That’s a big bubble. But is it the best? We rank other impressive bubbles through the ages.The trans-Tasman bubble is a big one, but we’re determined not to pop it. This could be the best bubble we’ve seen ...
When even the Energy Efficiency Authority's emissions are dominated by air travel, it doesn't bode well. So there's a push to bring back the night train. ...
What regional development could look like….I hope the PGF is backing these types of initiatives in spades
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/countrylife/audio/2018784336/miro-bringing-jobs-home
The man who gave the world the term "feminazi" is dead at 70.
How those supermarket 'collectable' campaigns work. https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/124260714/the-summer-of-smeg–why-new-worlds-knife-promotion-worked-so-well
Marketing 101, the two NZ supermarket chains are very good at it.
Quite a chunk of the Australian wine industry has simply collapsed due to Chinese trade retaliation for alleged price dumping.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/16/business/australia-china-wine-tariffs-dst-intl-hnk/index.html
And yet the price of Penfolds hasn't dropped here. I think it should.
You know it is not quite like the international oil market but

Maybe people should consider not using nature to make money from the unreliable global economy.
Love to see the carbon footprint of shipping wine across the planet too.
It's almost like people don't understand there's an massive crisis on the horizon.
Ad-so Australia takes a moral stand on human rights issues in China (while NZ keeps sucking up to China) and all you can see is a chance for cheap wine from Oz because China has retaliated.
Some moral compass you have there Ad.
The natural endpoint of chardonnay socialism was their discovery of the Barossa Valley reds.
This isn't hard – the world is waking up to the fact that Xi Xinping's regime is acting like an enemy not a trade partner.
Once this has sunk in – everyone will start to work out ways of decoupling existing trade and supply chains out of the CCP's reach – ASAP.
Aussie wine producers have been done a favour here with an advanced heads up.
Wait until China controls the international monetary system and endlessly imposes illegal sanctions like the US, instead of deciding who it will trade with and when.
More likely to go the other way though isn't it.
Say you were to discover that a majority of prices in the economy are set via some form of cost + markup pricing, and not supply and demand. Would you still expect Penfolds to give you their wine at a discount?
http://socialdemocracy21stcentury.blogspot.com/2014/05/mark-up-pricing-in-20-nations-and.html
That would, I hope, depend on a completely unregulated market free from any other constraint other than my perfect knowledge of the market, a Licensing Trust able to attend to me needs without thought for its internal mass buyers, the market's perfect knowledge of Penfold's, and and zero impact from any government or regulation, anywhere.
That would just be so sweet.
@ Sacha @ 3:
Yes, I read that one too.
I reckon it is no different with the stories we weave and the necessary narratives to tell and develop these stories. The story must be complete, an integrated self-consistent set of facts and factoids. Some people will go to great lengths to make sure no pieces are missing and sometimes people will force a piece into the whole/hole even though it doesn’t fit neatly.
Stories? This is a must-read (so, read it! 🙂
https://charleseisenstein.org/essays/to-reason-with-a-madman/
A tantalising title 😉
I just might read it.
If forests could or should be considered and/or are indeed superorganisms, why would this stop at the DoC signpost at the boundary? Is it just the flora or does it also include the fauna? If yes, what does that mean to the boundary? What does rain and wind mean for the boundary, and streams and rivers? Is communication bi-directional, does it travel upstream and upwind? I think there’s a good story in there, about the terror in the forest and the Dark Woods.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/124256600/the-mysterious-existence-of-a-leafless-kauri-stump-kept-alive-by-its-forest-neighbours
People worry about schools closed or not closed or not closed long enough due to Covid-19.
Maybe they should worry more about this instead:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/124183902/rising-tides-put-up-to-94-schools-at-risk-of-flooding-and-closures
Yes, I know, very mischievous of me to phrase it as a binary but when in Rome …
They were going to die anyway …
Another Covid-19 myth busted.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2021/02/coronavirus-the-average-covid-19-victim-had-16-years-of-life-left-in-them-study-finds.html
What a lovely bloke landlord Andrew McKenzie is.
After recently putting up the rent 14%, he then kicks out a mother and her son who has learning disabilities on the eve of a law change to protect tenants because "he deciding what to do".
He says it is business first, but then other landlords say theirs is an important public service, first.
Who to believe, or should we believe none of them?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/housing-affordability/124297655/rental-law-change-casualties-evicted-tenants-fear-homelessness
A quick search on the govt tenancy website shows the range of rents for 3bed homes in Wainuiomata is $500 – 550pw.
Increasing the rent to $430 pw shows that McKenzie had let the rent fall well behind market. It never does anyone any favours in the long run – and I can well understand the dismay of the mother who not only has to try and find a new home in a very tight market, but faces a rental jump in the order of $100pw at the same time.
A 3 bed home in Wainui is probably worth north of $700k if he'd been getting a rent of $380pw – gross income about $19.7k pa – that's a yield of under 3%. His net in the pocket after fixed costs, mortgage and tax was almost certainly less than $5kpa.
No wonder he wants to sell.
Apparently, he has not yet decided what to do with the property except to ‘renovate’ it AKA“a paint and a tidy up”.
Another ghost house.
By evicting when he did he avoided having to sell or move in. The new law requires him to do this.
Looks like he wants to sit on an empty house and enjoy capital gain. Nikki And Cole Prier don’t come into it for landlords.
At least it will have a nice fresh lick of paint and be tidied up. That’s all aspiring new tenants wish for nowadays and they won’t mind paying the price because beggars can’t be choosers.
Yup, the CG is already locked in.
Nikki And Cole Prier don’t come into it for landlords.
Given how far behind the market their rent had fallen – I'll bet you that their unfortunate personal position actually did 'come into it' for McKenzie.
We've got one older couple who've been with us for over a decade and they pay way below market – but we deliberately choose to carry them because they both contribute to their community magnificently.
But as I said above – in the long run it may not be doing either party any favours.
Make what you will of this:
As I indicated the other night – my own average rent at the present is $384 pw – a very similar number to the story above, and the properties are newer and in a more desirable suburb. Any thoughts on whether I should sell up and 'evict' a whole bunch of people from their homes?
Because honestly that's what's going through my mind. Our equity would do a whole lot better for us in Australia at the moment.
Will someone not think of the poor landlords!
That's pathetic. I'm giving you real life facts and figures from my experience as a real world landlord for almost 20 yrs. If you don't understand how the business works then anything you say is going to amount to little more than pious, futile prattle.
I'm not asking for anyone's pity – how I choose to run my business is precisely my responsibility and no-one else's. But I am prepared to educate you in some basic numbers and their consequences.
Stop with the ridiculous claim you are under so much pressure then.
And your real life facts and figures is simply virtue signalling.
Why do you think this is a 'ridiculous claim'?
As I mentioned the other night – one of the reasons why we moved to Australia 8yrs ago was because our mortage was indeed putting us under considerable pressure.
Essentially over the past 20yrs we've actually had to put money into the business to keep it afloat, and our tenants in their homes. We're now in the position of having shitloads of equity, but crap cash flow, and because I'm close to retiring that isn't something I can sustain anymore.
What would you do? Sell and evict – or hold on and hope the business environment doesn't continue to become more hostile?
Sell and evict – or hold on and hope
When the legal balance between landlords and tenants is about right, selling with a sitting tenant will be a plus, not a minus.
I get where you're coming from, but from the perspective of an investor they will often be looking to add value, usually a significant renovation, and vacant possession will be important to them.
And if the new owner wants to live in it ….
The trouble with this is that I've heard this description from not only landlords but farmers as well, except farmers don't like to flaunt their equity in public.
The total values of assets that can be realised is the figure that most people will focus on. If you have $10M in equity but moan your a**e off about pitiful cashflow, then you generally won't get a lot of sympathy.
I've made it clear I'm not asking for sympathy. I chose to get into this business and have stuck at it for 20 years now. That's my responsibility and no-one else's. All I'm doing here is explaining how the business works in order that people can make informed sense of these stories they read.
Rule No. 1 in all businesses is that cash flow is king. No matter how much shareholder funds you have, how much capital, stock, ring-fenced tax loss, forward orders or anything else – if you cannot meet this month's cash burn the business is bankrupt. And what I've explained here – overshared if you will – is that most residential rental businesses, like many NZ businesses (certainly those with substantial debt), are running on pretty thin cash flow margins. Or are being propped up by the owner's PAYE income.
Just as an extra data point – fixed costs used to run at about 20% of rental income, and here in Australia we can see this is still the case. By contrast in NZ they've risen to somewhere between 35 – 40% in recent years. And in the past most people could reasonably run the business themselves, but increasingly the environment has forced owners to use professional managers – and there's another 10% of cashflow gobbled up.
So even small extra costs imposed by new govt rules, or bad tenants, or even just letting the rent fall too far behind market because you felt sorry for a tenant, can have a big impact on the bottom line cashflow.
The total values of assets that can be realised is the figure that most people will focus on.
Equity means nothing unless I either sell or borrow more against it – and neither is a non-trivial decision. It's this background that helps decode what was going on with the original Wainui story above.
Stepping back, this is as you've pointed out, a wider theme with the whole NZ economy, too much has over the past three decades has tilted toward capital gain for profit, rather than cash flow. It's a structural flaw across many sectors that has distorted our decision-making and tends toward market failure. (I recall writing on this here at TS over a decade ago.)
It's especially chronic in agriculture. About that time we had looked at diversifying into a small horticultural business – and I recall one offer that was priced at over $2m for a business that barely turned over $160k. Utterly nuts – literally.
Which is why I was a strong supporter and promoter here of TOP's Comprehensive Capital Tax proposal. Not so much because I thought the party was a ripper – but because in my view it was a intelligently designed tax that would actually achieve what it was intended to do.
I was going to reply to your comment the other night about landlords creaming it but decided not to – it is sitting there half-finished. I think it is much better this way.
Why you would want to evict your tenants from your rentals is unclear to me except to free up equity. If you need (to do) that, then you can justify it, at least to yourself. It is your decision.
Don’t ask for business advice here, unless you really want/need it and intend to follow it. Ask a professional instead.
Don’t share your business wheeling and dealing here unless you want to cop the flack for it. Over-sharing carries many risks online for little gain/benefit even though your intention might be to provide a different PoV to guide/inform discussion and lift to a ‘higher plane’ than the usual ‘landlord-bashing’, which I respect and understand, but it doesn’t get you far, does it?
I could do similar things on discussion topics here but I’m not prepared to die in the ditch for those unless it is about a core value of mine – details are less important and there are other ways to get your point across without divulging too much personal information or history; arguments should be able to stand on their own legs of merit and persuasion.
These are my genuine well-meant thoughts for you.
Make of it what you will.
Bye
Fair enough.
Don’t ask for business advice here, unless you really want/need it and intend to follow it. Ask a professional instead.
In effect I am the professional here and I've been sharing information on how the residential rental business actually works. I've been doing this solely in the hope that some people here might stop treating their landlord as some spawn of the devil – and start focusing on the real reasons why the housing market in NZ has gotten into the mess it has.
But maybe you're right – the effort was doomed to be futile from the outset.
HT to Robert Guyton.
The other important tension that exists in this landlord/tenant discussion is for one party it is a business. The tax benefits, passive income etc, the leverage available…
The other party it is home, a place for family, a garden, pets, to love, laugh weep. A turangawaewae.
Failing to acknowledge the other view is where the argy barty begins.
Like Kiwi attitudes to land. One view is my property, my rights etc. The other is stewardship, a responsibility to pass it forward in better knick, to treat and see it as if it were alive. A strong spiritual bond.
Well Red, you've made tonnes of equity over the years.
Rent + tax preferences + equity increases = a reasonable rate of return.
You sound like you're in a steady place.
This is a leftie site so few will have patience to give non-Socialist advice.
But you are still of sufficiently sound mind that you can throw the dice another way than real estate.
In New Zealand, Victoria, or Queensland we need more people prepared to cash up and invest in fresh local growing business that's better for the whole economy.
You've done good. Do even better.
Reading the article, he actually comes across as a pretty decent landlord. If Red Logix's numbers correct, then he has been giving her a very good deal for a long time.
Unfortunately, this is a consequence of the new rental laws. If he was intending to sell or do a major upgrade, I thought under the new rules he could still give the 90 day notice?
So it seems a bit like he 'panicked' and gave notice now when in fact if he decides to sell in a years time he could still give notice.
More reason for rent controls then. More regulation around the cowboy residential industry would give surety and guidance to both tenant and landlord.
More rent controls will probably make more landlords sell which may be ok as possibly first home buyers would buy. But could be less rentals available. This tenant has been paying $380 per week up until recently which sounds extremely cheap, so he has been subsidizing her for some time now, so he sounds like a very reasonable landlord. He possibly could have given her notice several years ago and rented it out for far more if he had been greedy.
Just a hunch but I don't think he's reasonable at all, I think he's disorganised.
[RL: Deleted. Damaging speculation that puts the site at risk. Be more careful in future.]
So you think the landlord is disorganized because for example, he decided to charge her $380 per week instead of the going market rate for the last few years? Well you will be pleased to know that there are many landlords out there that are well organized, and will charge as much as they can, and also raise the rent as often as possible. Many other people would refer to them as greedy rather than organized!
Lol. RedLogix flexing his muscles from Brisbane.
I guess the elephant in the room is that no doubt the tax payer will subsidize the next rental through accomodation supplements.
I can't help but think that a big part of the issue we have is that public funds are paid to enable tennants to meet rents far above their normal income allows.
The policy came from a good place but the unintended consequence of the scheme sas that it has in effect acted as a wealth transfer and helps fuel the house price increases.
Imagine if there had been no supplements from govt, the money required to pay the huge rents required to pay the equally huge mortgages/provide a return just wouldnt be there, ergo banks would have been far more reluctant to lend and price increases would have closer matched incomes.
The govt getting out of social housing and essentially contracting it out to the private sector was a huge mistake and one that is not able to be undone in a hurry. Nonetheless the only solution I can see is that we get stuck in on a massive state backed building program aimed at sucking air out of house price increases. Pouring more money in to help first home buyers or renters for that matter will not help.
Given that he's also pissy about the healthy homes regulations anf the july deadline for that, and that timeframe means it's likely that most of the bonds issued in the last 6 months will be for healthy homes, it's possible he was keeping up with the market rates.
When myopic birdwatchers can’t tell the difference between a Kea and a Kiwi.
https://www.engadget.com/twitter-birdwatch-fact-checking-crowdsourcing-partisanship-citation-173611388.html
Still, it is an experiment in its early days so let’s watch & learn from it.
Some of the findings are not at all surprising if you have been around the block more than once 😉
here is a civil debate that is well worth taking the time to watch…
Taibbi & Eskow: The Marcuse Match
Nice to see MIQ workers getting first doses of Covid vaccine today – gratitude and respect are due for the work they do.
or just pay them some really really awesome bonuses – weekly.
Stiffing 'em on a goodly portion of the interest and commissions, too.
[…]
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1362176105332019201.html