If your mobile is with Vodafone, you’ll get a further discount on the bundle. Haven’t dealt with Slingshot, but I believe they are pretty popular, so I guess they must be providing a decent service.
Lesser of 2 evils would be slingshot Vodafone are simply the worst and still declining.
Ultimately with mobile though it’s either on Spark or Voda regardless of who bills you as 2 degree only have CBD coverage with Spark having the better network which doesn’t say much for our brighter future.
I’m with Slingshot and they are good (pity about the Global roaming back down) Burt if you want to move mobile as well you can get a new phone on a 2 year contract. I get Unlimited Internet, 2 Cell Phones, and a Landline, with line insurance for a little under $40 a week. (Oh and their call centre is in NZ as well. Dunno about Vodafone But I hear they are getting worse.
Just switched from Vodafone to Spark for landline, fibre internet, and free landline national. $30 per month cheaper @ $69pm. Call service for Vodafone appalling. Long, long, long waits @1 hour plus.
That will get worse, Voda appear to be holding out for a grand sale, rumoured to be in the pipeline and further consolidating and already concentrated market.
Stanners has presided over nearly a decade of under investment in the network and back end systems while dividends derived off NZ consumers flowed offshore.
Spark now look pristine and effective up against them….that’s how bad it is.
hmmm
isn’t vodafone the company that had a market share of very close percentage to the proportion of NSA penetration into NZ traffic that the Snowden files revealed?
@just saying – I have used both and neither worth recommending. Not consumer friendly at all. Among other things, Slingshot signed me up to their toll account, without my knowledge or consent and had the audacity to try to charge me for it! So it soon got the heave ho. Got no responses at all to issues with Vodafone, so that also got the push!
Been with 2 Degrees for four years and no issues or complaints at all – well so far that is! Service seems to be customer friendly, not that I’ve had to use it much, because it has been all plain sailing to date. Web page easy to navigate too.
FYI – apologies for the length – but this is REALLY important!
20 July 2015
MEDIA Alert! TPPA – Walk Away!
Protest outside Auckland Uni – Monday 20 July 2015 1-5pm
WHEN: Monday 20 July
TIME: 1 -5 PM
WHERE: Symonds St / Grafton Rd intersection – directly outside Auckland Uni.
WHY? Because Auckland students are back and there are THOUSANDS of them!
The FOCUS – NZ PM John Key is a shareholder in the Bank of America!
(These Bank of America shares are NOT in a ‘blind trust’!)
“Register of Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests of Members of Parliament:
Summary of annual returns as at 31 January 2015
(Page 29)
Rt Hon John Key (National, Helensville)
2 Other companies and business entities
Little Nell – property investment (Aspen, Colorado)
Bank of America – banking ..”
A LOT of people don’t know this, and it is, in my view, as an anti-corruption ‘Public Watchdog’ an arguably significant corrupt ‘conflict of interest’.
Especially when the TPPA is closely tied together with TISA (Trade In Services Agreement), of which New Zealand is a member State, which has a particularly ‘scary’, secret agenda – “… because it aims to extend the model of liberalised and deregulated financial markets that brought us the global financial crisis…”
“The story of the past week in terms of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement was not Prime Minister John Key’s visit to the White House.
The more startling news is that our Government, with almost 50 other countries, is negotiating another secret deal in the shadows of the World Trade Organisation.
They are calling to negotiate a Trade in Services Agreement (Tisa).
It is part of a troika: along with the TPP and the deal the US is negotiating with the European Union, it aims to create a new set of global rules that are designed exclusively to serve commercial interests.
This is no exaggeration. Last week US corporates held a launch for what they call Team Tisa. The co-chairs are Citigroup, Liberty Mutual, IBM, MetLife, UPS and Walmart.
Leading members of Congress and the US Trade Representative were invited to speak.
If we thought the TPP was secretive – background documents remain secret for four years after any deal is done – Tisa proponents want to keep their documents secret for five years.
They aim to create an unrestricted global market for services, just as TPP is aimed at the Asia-Pacific. That means locking open the door to foreign corporations that dominate the world’s media, IT, finance, tourism, transport, healthcare, education sectors and more.
They also want to make light-handed regulation the global norm. A standstill rule aims to freeze the existing level of regulation as the new bottom line.
What Wikileaks posted was the draft chapter on financial services. We can assume it will be very similar to the TPP’s financial services chapter.
This is especially scary, because it aims to extend the model of liberalised and deregulated financial markets that brought us the global financial crisis…”
“….He was born in Auckland, New Zealand but moved to Christchurch, New Zealand when he was a child. He was educated at Burnside High School in Christchurch and then gained a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Canterbury.
Mr Key launched his investment banking career in New Zealand in the mid-1980s.
After 10 years in the New Zealand market he headed offshore, working in Singapore, London, and Sydney for US investment banking firm Merrill Lynch.
During that time he was in charge of a number of business units, including global foreign exchange and European bond and derivative trading.
In 1999, he was invited to join the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and on two occasions undertook management studies at Harvard University in Boston.
In 2001, he headed back to New Zealand to fulfil a long held ambition to stand for Parliament for the National Party. He first won the Helensville seat in 2002. Mr Key quickly rose through the ranks and was elected leader of the National Party on 27 November 2006. …”
NZX’s Dairy Derivatives business continued its rapid growth trajectory in 2014 with the number of lots traded up 175% to 101,010.
In recognition of the continued efforts to grow market participation and confidence, in September 2014 NZX’s Dairy Futures Market won Best New Agricultural Contract at the Futures & Options World (FOW) Awards for Asia.
NZX CEO Tim Bennett commented: “Once they are established and liquid, derivatives markets are a very high revenue, low marginal cost businesses, generating significant upside over sustained periods.
While development takes time, the long-term payback far exceeds the initial investment.
We still have a long way to go.
Mature derivatives contracts notionally trade a multiple of the related underlying commodity and NZX dairy derivatives only constitute notional trade of around 4% of the related physical market, highlighting the future potential.”
Building on its success in milk powders, NZX launched a butter futures contract in December 2014, a global risk management tool that trades off the underlying price for unsalted butter on the GlobalDairyTrade auction platform. ..”
Is John Key working for the New Zealand people, New Zealand business – or foreign bankers?
_________________________________________________________
Time is short.
TPPA: Chief Negotiators meet 24 -27 July
TPPA: Ministers 28 – 31 July
Parliament sits Tues 21 July.
National are dropping in the polls…..
In my view – it was FOCUSED and timely protest vs John Key in the 2 days before the Northland by-election that helped National lose that seat.
______________________________________________________________
This is a video clip of the recent protest to that was held outside the office of Minister of Trade Time Groser on Thursday 16 July 2015.
You really have little idea about what derivatives actually are. Please tell me how a Futures contract for a Dairy product is somehow more dangerous than trading in the raw commodity itself?
It’s an abstraction that increases trading volume and activity, which leads to greater chaotic volatility without a corresponding increase in the benefits of actually producing those goods.
A bit like how global warming produces more extreme weather events (hurricanes, snowstorms, droughts), rather than just making Southland a nice subtropical climate. More activity in a chaotic system increases the chaos.
Public sentiment relies on the public not knowing any of the facts or looking for simple answers pointing the finger ‘out there’. A $300K house in Auckland from 2000 is not $1.1M now *mainly* because of foreign Chinese money. (Although it may be, in small part)
I don’t think CV is that far off, Lanth. The average Ak price was just over $300k in 2000 and sits well above $800k today and heading toward $900k within a couple of months. Even if it’s not $1.1 million today, it’s looking like it will be at some point this year or early next year. Plus, I understand there are now more than 30 Ak suburbs that average over a million so it’s entirely possible that some individual houses that were sold for $300k fifteen years ago are worth more than a million now. Location, location, location!
Agree we bought our house in Glenfield for $360K in 2005 and two years ago we had a valuation of just under $600K. It will have gone up a bit since then.
Of course that value is worth nothing unless you want to move out of Auckland. I would much rather see my house value drop back to closer to what we bought at and have a larger more diverse group of people buying houses then sit on massive capital gain that is in real terms worth very little. No I am not interested in using equity to become a landlord.
My point is that CV just arbitrarily picked numbers out of the air and intimated as if it would be a majority, or at least very sizable portion of all houses that fit that particular profile.
I suspect it’d be less than 5% of Auckland houses that went from $300k to $1.1M (or thereabouts).
One thing to realise with averages is that they have a very long tail on the upside; an average of $800k for a house will be pulled up strongly by houses in the $2M+ price bracket; and same goes for the ~$300k average back at the start of the millennium.
If CV had said $300k -> $700-800k I wouldn’t have said anything.
Barfoot said in March that 1/4 of its sales were for over $1M. I would say that a fair number of those would have been what were $300,000 houses in what used to be considered very middle of the road suburbs, 15 years ago.
But happy to accept that my numbers relay a common case 5% to 10% of sales, but not the majority of cases.
in 1999 to build a single level 195m2 house was about $750m2 (with building rebates from suppliers being kept by the building coy and not traded), on a 720m2 section cost $120k with a fall of 1.3m from front to back, total cost approx $275k including driveway, patio, fencing and grassed.
Building now in Auckland would be INXS of $2k/m2 add on water connection fee of $15k (in 1999 this was $750). and to buy such a section would cost in excessive of $600k(if you could locate one). Total cost well exceeding $1m. On such a section the building would be 2 level,3 car garaging, 4-5 bedrooms multi en-suit and exceeding 260m2. With a min asking price $1.6m.
Lanthaide in my local area developed over the 1990’s to early 2000’s all family homes would qualify as cost $300k-$400k to buy and now worth over $1m.
That’s not wholly accurate either CV. We do know that most of the inflation between at least 2000 and 2009 occurred mainly because of excess bank credit in the local market.
But while undersupply and inward migration back from Aus have been creating some pressure on the market in the past few years – we are in the middle of the most insane bubble of all time. And the RB to it’s horror has realised that all the simple levers at it’s command like interest rates, LVR ratios and bank reserves were not working.
Why? Because a large portion of the cashed up buyers in the Auckland market are immune to them.
IMO people have recently realised that it is an insane bubble because we have finally after 15 years or so got to the “vertical wall” stage of the exponential curve. That is, most people tolerated houses doubling in price from $250K to $500K (people could still pretend that was affordable)…but the next doubling from $800K to $1.6M takes away all such pretense.
As for the RB…yep, they have been left to try and cope with what has been going on as the neolib politicians of all colours have gone completely hands off laissez faire.
I can’t see key being worried as the high ground has been ceded now and as you say a large chunk of the public still trust him – somehow after all the bullshit he has spun over the years.
VTO my point exactly. How can you contradict an assertion without contrary data? To say we will be collecting data is to pre-judge the conclusion and Mr Tyford is just “inferring” the rates of purchasing.
Yeah I heard Key in a pasty interview with Paul Henry this morning trying to fudge their new data collection changes will give the required details. He was quick to point out that “most overseas buyer will be Kiwi’s living abroad and it will be hard to capture.
Actually John if you made changes that give a detailed analysis of when, who are buying and where they are from shouldn’t be hard. So stop the smoke and mirrors and get on with it.
They are terrified of the reality true date would show…
You only need a small swing in the number of buyers in a market to make a big difference. A change in the order of 5% is more than enough to swing things between rising and falling markjets
Maybe the PM needs to check in with the Minister, or vice versa
A spokesperson for Land Information Minister Louise Upston said last week no decisions had been taken about whether or when to release it and the information might not show what people wanted to know.
“It’s worth bearing in mind that the information gathered for this new law change is going to be tax information. It will be the tax residence [of the buyer] as opposed to the country of residence of the buyer,” the spokesperson said.
“It’s not a foreign buyers register at all. It will give us information but we don’t know if it will be made public.”
Well it sure does smell like that. When you have NZF saying they had the data and decided there was no solid data there to release it, then it does seem desperate.
The difference here is that Labour used some smart analytics (with 95% confidence) to tease out the 40% Chinese figure vs 9% from the census, using the information they were given.
Doesn’t sound like NZFirst had the skills or idea to perform this analysis, and the data without this analysis is rather useless.
Ok, just watched the video and the PM does feature in it sporadically, almost as if it’s on purpose? That shows to me he endorses the video and I wonder if his son is being paid to make something like this…
The motive seems pretty clear, play on our materialistic desires and show you can get the girl, get to go to Hawaii and have the lifestyle. All on one condition, you’ve got to do what the PM and son does and vote National.
Wow just wow, the Herald were complicit in this dirty politics attack yet just a couple of days later they’re distancing themselves and cr**ping on Labour at the same time, the Herald really is quite a pice of work
Grant Robertson is bidding his time before the next run for leader. The pundits, political commentators and press gallery are aflutter. It seems to be only a strong rumour at this time.
Bullshit. Little is doing fine, there are no signs whatsoever of dissent in caucus and the party is generally happy with his leadership (and the marked improvement in the polls). If you want to troll, do it somewhere else.
As many have said already the popularity of the opposition leader doesn’t really matter at this stage, it’s the party percentage that does. Personally I would love to have seen Cunliffe still there, with the economy under a bit of stress like it is now I think he would do great job of putting hits on National. His passion and smarts are great attributes infront of the camera.
The Cunliffe was found wanting so we’ll see if Little Andy can do any better (though to be fair hes not the only one thats been soundly thrashed by John Key)
What Claire’s copy and paste recap shows is she is a lite weight political reporter. The heading makes her look incompetent and rather cynical “Labour’s Gamble Doesn’t Pay Off In Polls.”
Obviously not everyone would have been surveyed after the release, if anything probably prior, add plenty of people wouldn’t have been aware of the release, let alone formed an opinion as Andrew Little points out.
Go sit in the media’s ‘clown seat’ till the next poll comes out Claire. Or better still take a permanent holiday.
Whats of more interest to me is not Labours dog whistling but that the Herald worked in conjunction with Labour to attempt to embarrass the govt (and fair enough thats Labours job) yet within the space of a few days the Herald are trying to sink Labour on this
That’s supposedly the media’s role isn’t it or traditionally was, to keep the Government honest. Maybe the herald decided they would do some actual journalism by using a source from inside the industry about a regional problem that was given to them by the Opposition. Now they’re just defaulting back to attack the opposition party that doesn’t align with the interests of their advertisers.
Well what gets me is the speed in which they’re willing to go into bat with Labour then turn around and dump on them, like it was only a couple of days
LOL . Nice concern trolling. Or maybe you’re just a conspiracy theorist.
Remember that time John Armstrong called for Cunliffe to resign over the 11-year-old letter, and O’Sullivan the very next day said that was over-excited nonsense?
The Trevett article is mild anyway, and seems a pretty standard kind of line for her to take.
You’d have a better chance of getting a single editorial line out of Fairfax, by default because it’s so formulaic. Prefer the Herald any day to the Stakhanovite content creator mill.
It’s laughable that the property editor at the NZH takes up her political sub editors role by scribing an article today with a headline of “No Stamp Duty, Or Capital Gains Tax.” This being pitched to Hong Kong & Mainland Chinese investors. Also as you would expect, actively promoting Auckland property therd is one of the National Party’s property magnate donators, Mr Barfoot of B & T reale state.
I guess when you donate 20 K to a political party in Government you can reasonably expect a return on that investment.
Quote: Families could have two “decent salaries” but still struggle due to living costs and child care costs.
“People have to have two jobs to survive,” she said.
“The only way you can do that is to have extended whanau helping you out because you can’t afford child care.”
The high cost of living needed to be reduced and it was up to the Government to make changes, she said.
“We need to get our housing, power and food costs down.
“Everyone deserves to have a roof over their head, a job to go to, food on the table and enough money to take the family out once a month. That’s all people want.”
According to the report, older couples, one or both being at least 50 years old, did well overall, rating highly on most indicators of wellbeing with 88 per cent satisfied with their standard of living.
Though solo parents with children under 18 represented only 4.5 per cent of the familial population in Canterbury, nationally they are the most under pressure.
This family type scored the lowest in adequate income, affordable housing, mental health and satisfaction at pay and work hours.
About 75 per cent reported affordable housing problems.
as long as they tighten their budget (maybe not feeding the cows? or the kids? or something) and they should make it. And if not, oh well that is just the market correcting itself
Quote: “Falling dairy prices mean it will be a tight year for many farmers and they will need to budget carefully,” he said.
Mr Guy said prices fluctuate every year and the fall in the exchange rate – the kiwi is now down to a six-year low of around US65 cents – was giving exporters confidence.
“Farmers are in it for the long term, not just one year,” he said.
“Other sectors like beef and horticulture are having record years which will help soften the impact in rural areas.”
He says the longer term outlook for dairy is strong.
Can someone please explain why Fonterra is not supplying dairy product to the Russian market ?
There is demand – and NZ is not on the exclusion list. At $4.20 all bets are “on” – so why not ?
Probably have something to do with all the other restrictions that have been put in place on Russia and I doubt if NZ would do anything to upset the USA.
I see the largest NZ dairy operation is comprised of 58 South Island farms, covering 18,000ha of land and 43,400 milking cows.
The single Zhongding Dairy Farming and Russia’s Severny Bur enterprise is twice this size – and will supply 30% of the Russian cheese demand – exceeding the previous EU contribution of 25%.
$ kg/mf is depressed – oversupply cos the Russian market is excluded from those others who offended Russia.
Well, Murray from Waitui shouldn’t have to sell Gina’s heir-jewels cos Vicky Nuland had a cake moment.
In the year ending May 2015, 2.977 million international visitors arrived in this country, an increase of 7 per cent on the previous year with forecasts for this number to grow to 3.8 million by 2021.
China and India will be the two drivers of this international growth. According to Tourism New Zealand, 309,792 visitors arrived from China in the year to May 2015, an increase of 29.3 per cent on the year previous, while India’s figures grew 28.9 per cent to 42,880.
The future looks bright with two extra airlines (Air China and China Eastern) establishing year-round services, and while India does not have a direct service at present, it is only a matter of time. The World Tourism Organisation predicts that India will account for 50 million outbound tourists by 2020. There are currently only 28 million passport holders in India.
quote:
New Zealand’s lack of overseas investment regulation is being promoted in Shanghai and Hong Kong to help sell apartments rising on the site of the country’s best-known record store.
“NO stamp duties and property purchase tax, NO capital gains tax on residential property if sold after two years of holding,” Colliers International says advertising Queens Square, a 226-unit block promoted as on “the Nanjing Road of Auckland” and to rise on Real Groovy’s Queen St site near Karangahape Rd.
This country’s liberal regime, unusual internationally, is being promoted in that ad for the block by New Zealand developer Robert Holden’s Conrad Properties.
The new L-shaped block, to have 24 carparks and ground-level shops, is to rise at 438 Queen St and was designed by architect Colin Leuschke who says in a promotional video it will be on Auckland’s golden mile.
quote:
Events to promote the sale of units in the block were held this month at Shanghai’s New World Tower and at 300 Huaihai Rd in Hong Kong. The ad says the block could be completed by January 2018.
Barfoot & Thompson is also marketing units as being in the Auckland Grammar zone, priced from $386,000.
Agent Alastair Brown said top-priced larger units with carparks were going for $1.2 million. The block would have 226 units, 14 carparks and construction was yet to start.
quote:
A spokesperson for Land Information Minister Louise Upston said last week no decisions had been taken about whether or when to release it and the information might not show what people wanted to know.
“It’s worth bearing in mind that the information gathered for this new law change is going to be tax information. It will be the tax residence [of the buyer] as opposed to the country of residence of the buyer,” the spokesperson said.
“It’s not a foreign buyers register at all. It will give us information but we don’t know if it will be made public.”
Guess we can look forwards to Bill English saying in 2018 that in retrospect, they shouldn’t have cut taxes, and if they hadn’t, they may not have had a record 9 deficits in a row.
Yeah, like when Bill English admitted in 2008 that actually Labour managed the crown accounts very well and they had saved for the rainy day that was the GFC. He left unspoken what a disaster it would have been if Brash had won 2005 and implemented the tax cuts he was campaigning on.
Pity he went and blew all Labour’s careful work on tax cuts, eh?
Yeah, Working For Families didn’t “[help anyone] in need”.
Kiwisaver didn’t “[help anyone] in need” either. Nor did interest free student loans, or free doctor’s visits for under 5 year olds. Raising the minimum wage mustn’t have helped anyone either, unless you consider business owners “in need” of help?
lol
So it helped people in need, just not enough of them. You’re sliding again.
Of course some people on here – even many or most – would suggest that raising the benefit would have helped more people (at least more people in greater need) than WFF did. But then many people here would be saying that from honest convictions that the government should help people, rather than your transparent desire to just stir shit here when you couldn’t care less about people in any level of need (except your own self interest).
The difference is though that i want each and every single person in NZ to as well as I have (or rather about to) or better whereas most on here want those that have done well to be brought down to an “acceptable” level
I don’t think you do. Your behaviour here strongly indicates that you don’t give a damn about anyone other than yourself, and that politics for you is merely a “game” in which strong leaders get your fearspect and genuine concern for others is a weakness to be exploited.
Your professed concern for the welfare of “each and every single person in NZ” is at odds with the rest of your commenting history.
Except that it isn’t actually going to help anyone in need. The $25/week is a nice headline figure but it’s not what anyone’s going to get and there’s several claw backs that are actually going to make people worse off.
In terms of overall benefit to individuals in the bottom half of society, Labour’s package of policies, a few of which I outlined above, are greater than anything National’s done.
So useless Michael Cullen has come out and agreed that there is a problem and that the Labour government he was part of should have done something …..
f@&k Michael Cullen…
I personally wrote to him early on in his time in office and put this exact issue to him. We exchanged a couple of communications on it.
Bottom line: Cullen refused to acknowledge the problem, despite evidence I put to him that locals were being outbid by foreign speculators (American ones these were mostly).
Cullen did exactly what Key English and Smith are doing now – being deceptive and avoiding the question.
Cullen’s little credibility on this just got sacked imo
bloody deceptive politicians – goes on even when they are retired it seems. Cullen is a Wanker on this
Why is a prepay plan going to require a monthly fee? Are telcos taxing the poor by removing low cost no monthly fee mobiles, and if they are why can they call a monthly plan prepay. Thats wrong.
On the importance of getting in first with the framing…and burying the facts, driving the political issues and ‘morality’ and skewing political advantage against your adversaries:
“Investigations into the downing of flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine are still inconclusive or incomplete a year on from the tragedy. However, this has not stopped the West and their media from apportioning blames, without facts and figures to back up their claims. The search for justice for the families of those killed on MH17 continues.
CrossTalking with Ray McGovern, Alexander Mercouris, and Patrick Henningsen.”
That is what it feels like to be a solo parent. One size fits all.
I have an acquaintance who was surprised that my car had a rego and warrant because I’m a solo mum on the benefit. Another person assumes I sit around at home all day watching movies. Another assumes that the kids go to their father’s every second weekend so I can go out and party.
People are confused that I don’t spend my benefit money on drugs and the pokies. People refuse to believe that I study full time to get a degree so I can make a better future for me and my children.
Solo mothers on benefits are stigmatised, labelled, looked down upon. But not one size fits all, and Work and Income need to recognise this.
Of course, it’s not that WINZ that needs to recognise that but our psychopathic government that’s out to punish people for being poor.
I’d like it a lot more if that solo mum, or anyone else didn’t have to justify their existence to fellate the egos of greedy sociopathic m’fuckers: Even if she didn’t have a car with Wof or rego, even if she wasn’t talented enough to study at a high level to become a lawyer or accountant, even if she eased her troubles by smoking or partying on alternate weekends, even if she was trying her best and failing at most things, she’s still a woman and a mother and a human being. So if the system allows no other choice but to buy in to the ass-pirant dream or be scapegoated and demonised by fat brainless cowards, then fuck the system and all who support it. It’s not like she impregnated herself.
And having a child is not an unnatural function for a woman. It should not have to be vouched for by a bloke. Give her the tools to raise the child well, then assistance to get training so she can have an individual skill in society when the child is old enough, and she can have the part-time hours needed. It is not hard to understand except for the religious-value-laden and the individualists who want to suck from society but not fuel it.
A comment on Ireland’s situation circa 1924 from Countess Markievicz.
All the small businesses here are heading for ruin, and the farmers are in a bad way. The list of bankrupts is something appalling. The list of highly paid officials for whom jobs are made by those at present in power, is daily increasing. To meet these expenses the old age pensioners have been docked 1/- per week of their pensions, as well as their bag of coal per fortnight. Taxes are awful, and food prices are daily rising and rents are wicked.
Thanks for the flattery, but I was very critical of Labour intentions and I thought I was bloody clear about it.
I said that Phil Twyford was knowingly “straight-up scapegoating” Chinese New Zealanders and offshore Chinese alike and “fueling racial division in this country”. I said it was “cynical, reckless dogwhistling”.
What part of this was ambiguous for you??? Did you think I meant “cynical, reckless, but ultimately well-intentioned dogwhistling”?
Even after a week where Labour has been trying to take the “reverse racism” highground, trying to pretend that we didn’t blame Labour is a new delusional high, Rob.
It’s also at least the fifth major news organisation to post Max Key’s hawaiian holiday video on their website. Even Richie McCaw or Dan Carter would struggle to do that. There is no such thing as bad publicity I would think is the strategy.
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Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
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“Go back to bed America.”
Bill Hicks quote is more relevant than ever when you what the media focus on.
Just replace the words America for NZ.
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11483578
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oLp2dTHaEbs
If you have the time – worth watching. Kurdish Women soldiers in training. Lots of little bits of information slip through – some great reporting.
P.S you can’t support them – because that would make you a terrorist.
Which is less bad for phone and broadband – Vodaphone or Slingshot?
Or something else.
I’ve got to make the changeover today.
thanks
If your mobile is with Vodafone, you’ll get a further discount on the bundle. Haven’t dealt with Slingshot, but I believe they are pretty popular, so I guess they must be providing a decent service.
Lesser of 2 evils would be slingshot Vodafone are simply the worst and still declining.
Ultimately with mobile though it’s either on Spark or Voda regardless of who bills you as 2 degree only have CBD coverage with Spark having the better network which doesn’t say much for our brighter future.
I’m with Slingshot and they are good (pity about the Global roaming back down) Burt if you want to move mobile as well you can get a new phone on a 2 year contract. I get Unlimited Internet, 2 Cell Phones, and a Landline, with line insurance for a little under $40 a week. (Oh and their call centre is in NZ as well. Dunno about Vodafone But I hear they are getting worse.
Just switched from Vodafone to Spark for landline, fibre internet, and free landline national. $30 per month cheaper @ $69pm. Call service for Vodafone appalling. Long, long, long waits @1 hour plus.
That will get worse, Voda appear to be holding out for a grand sale, rumoured to be in the pipeline and further consolidating and already concentrated market.
Stanners has presided over nearly a decade of under investment in the network and back end systems while dividends derived off NZ consumers flowed offshore.
Spark now look pristine and effective up against them….that’s how bad it is.
yeah, voda is in bad shape. the merge from tcl was bad. They still have 5 different backend systems shit needs to be checked in.
No new hardware/projects have been done since the merger.
My cut off from Vodafone was 4 June. Their paper system does not match their technical system. Thus Vodafone thinks I am still their customer.
From VF’s POV an acceptable price for snaring the old NZR fibre network (that TC owned) as well as some other prime bits of telecomms infrastructure.
Vodafone by miles. Slightshot is ass.
hmmm
isn’t vodafone the company that had a market share of very close percentage to the proportion of NSA penetration into NZ traffic that the Snowden files revealed?
lol just another thing to consider…
@just saying – I have used both and neither worth recommending. Not consumer friendly at all. Among other things, Slingshot signed me up to their toll account, without my knowledge or consent and had the audacity to try to charge me for it! So it soon got the heave ho. Got no responses at all to issues with Vodafone, so that also got the push!
Been with 2 Degrees for four years and no issues or complaints at all – well so far that is! Service seems to be customer friendly, not that I’ve had to use it much, because it has been all plain sailing to date. Web page easy to navigate too.
Well if you don’t give a shit about customer service (I mean how many times do you really need to call them?) performance wise, voda is far better.
FYI – apologies for the length – but this is REALLY important!
20 July 2015
MEDIA Alert! TPPA – Walk Away!
Protest outside Auckland Uni – Monday 20 July 2015 1-5pm
WHEN: Monday 20 July
TIME: 1 -5 PM
WHERE: Symonds St / Grafton Rd intersection – directly outside Auckland Uni.
WHY? Because Auckland students are back and there are THOUSANDS of them!
The FOCUS – NZ PM John Key is a shareholder in the Bank of America!
(These Bank of America shares are NOT in a ‘blind trust’!)
Whose ‘national interest’ is PM John Key serving?
Is John Key working for US or the U$??
READ IT FOR YOURSELF:
http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/mpp/mps/fin-interests/00CLOOCMPPFinInterests20151/register-of-pecuniary-and-other-specified-interests-of
“Register of Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests of Members of Parliament:
Summary of annual returns as at 31 January 2015
(Page 29)
Rt Hon John Key (National, Helensville)
2 Other companies and business entities
Little Nell – property investment (Aspen, Colorado)
Bank of America – banking ..”
A LOT of people don’t know this, and it is, in my view, as an anti-corruption ‘Public Watchdog’ an arguably significant corrupt ‘conflict of interest’.
Especially when the TPPA is closely tied together with TISA (Trade In Services Agreement), of which New Zealand is a member State, which has a particularly ‘scary’, secret agenda – “… because it aims to extend the model of liberalised and deregulated financial markets that brought us the global financial crisis…”
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11280883
(NZ Herald 25 June 2014)
“The story of the past week in terms of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement was not Prime Minister John Key’s visit to the White House.
The more startling news is that our Government, with almost 50 other countries, is negotiating another secret deal in the shadows of the World Trade Organisation.
They are calling to negotiate a Trade in Services Agreement (Tisa).
It is part of a troika: along with the TPP and the deal the US is negotiating with the European Union, it aims to create a new set of global rules that are designed exclusively to serve commercial interests.
This is no exaggeration. Last week US corporates held a launch for what they call Team Tisa. The co-chairs are Citigroup, Liberty Mutual, IBM, MetLife, UPS and Walmart.
Leading members of Congress and the US Trade Representative were invited to speak.
If we thought the TPP was secretive – background documents remain secret for four years after any deal is done – Tisa proponents want to keep their documents secret for five years.
They aim to create an unrestricted global market for services, just as TPP is aimed at the Asia-Pacific. That means locking open the door to foreign corporations that dominate the world’s media, IT, finance, tourism, transport, healthcare, education sectors and more.
They also want to make light-handed regulation the global norm. A standstill rule aims to freeze the existing level of regulation as the new bottom line.
What Wikileaks posted was the draft chapter on financial services. We can assume it will be very similar to the TPP’s financial services chapter.
This is especially scary, because it aims to extend the model of liberalised and deregulated financial markets that brought us the global financial crisis…”
Remember Prime Minister John Key’s background?
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/minister/biography/john-key
“….He was born in Auckland, New Zealand but moved to Christchurch, New Zealand when he was a child. He was educated at Burnside High School in Christchurch and then gained a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Canterbury.
Mr Key launched his investment banking career in New Zealand in the mid-1980s.
After 10 years in the New Zealand market he headed offshore, working in Singapore, London, and Sydney for US investment banking firm Merrill Lynch.
During that time he was in charge of a number of business units, including global foreign exchange and European bond and derivative trading.
In 1999, he was invited to join the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and on two occasions undertook management studies at Harvard University in Boston.
In 2001, he headed back to New Zealand to fulfil a long held ambition to stand for Parliament for the National Party. He first won the Helensville seat in 2002. Mr Key quickly rose through the ranks and was elected leader of the National Party on 27 November 2006. …”
______________________________________________________
How ‘dodgy’ are derivatives?
Seems dairy derivatives are doing well – pity about the real thing?
https://www.nzx.com/markets/NZSX/securities/NZX/analysis
“Soft commodities
NZX’s Dairy Derivatives business continued its rapid growth trajectory in 2014 with the number of lots traded up 175% to 101,010.
In recognition of the continued efforts to grow market participation and confidence, in September 2014 NZX’s Dairy Futures Market won Best New Agricultural Contract at the Futures & Options World (FOW) Awards for Asia.
NZX CEO Tim Bennett commented: “Once they are established and liquid, derivatives markets are a very high revenue, low marginal cost businesses, generating significant upside over sustained periods.
While development takes time, the long-term payback far exceeds the initial investment.
We still have a long way to go.
Mature derivatives contracts notionally trade a multiple of the related underlying commodity and NZX dairy derivatives only constitute notional trade of around 4% of the related physical market, highlighting the future potential.”
Building on its success in milk powders, NZX launched a butter futures contract in December 2014, a global risk management tool that trades off the underlying price for unsalted butter on the GlobalDairyTrade auction platform. ..”
_____________________________________________________________
Is John Key working for the New Zealand people, New Zealand business – or foreign bankers?
_________________________________________________________
Time is short.
TPPA: Chief Negotiators meet 24 -27 July
TPPA: Ministers 28 – 31 July
Parliament sits Tues 21 July.
National are dropping in the polls…..
In my view – it was FOCUSED and timely protest vs John Key in the 2 days before the Northland by-election that helped National lose that seat.
______________________________________________________________
This is a video clip of the recent protest to that was held outside the office of Minister of Trade Time Groser on Thursday 16 July 2015.
(You Tube clip – 5 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5ZNW_ahOME&feature=youtu.be
Penny Bright
You really have little idea about what derivatives actually are. Please tell me how a Futures contract for a Dairy product is somehow more dangerous than trading in the raw commodity itself?
It’s an abstraction that increases trading volume and activity, which leads to greater chaotic volatility without a corresponding increase in the benefits of actually producing those goods.
A bit like how global warming produces more extreme weather events (hurricanes, snowstorms, droughts), rather than just making Southland a nice subtropical climate. More activity in a chaotic system increases the chaos.
+1.
Imagine if all the energy of those money-traders actually got put into something useful…
The world may have actually advanced somewhere the last few decades…… instead of going around in circles sniffing its own arsehole
So Key and his cronies like to talk about “no one owns water.” Well I do feel for the local Hapu who get tapped by an Auckland firm;
http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/hapu-angry-over-sale-poroti-spring-water-china
The focus group results are in. Labour isn’t “racist”, they’re “desperate”: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/70361175/auckland-housing-data-using-surnames-a-desperate-measure–john-key
How does Key know the data is wrong when Key’s government doesn’t collect data?
The lying slithering deceptive switch-eye snake that is john key ……..
He’s constructing the narrative for the large chunk of the public that still inexplicably trust him.
I think this little line will cost him some trust and capital though; public sentiment is that Labour is right.
Public sentiment relies on the public not knowing any of the facts or looking for simple answers pointing the finger ‘out there’. A $300K house in Auckland from 2000 is not $1.1M now *mainly* because of foreign Chinese money. (Although it may be, in small part)
Got any evidence of any houses that in 2000 were worth $300k now being worth $1.1M?
I suspect it’s more like houses in 2000 that were worth $700k are now worth $1.1M, and houses that were $300k in 2000 are now worth $600k.
there are charts of stratfied CPI adjusted housing prices out there.
So you don’t have evidence of a house that cost $300k in 2000 now costing $1.1M in 2015.
I don’t think CV is that far off, Lanth. The average Ak price was just over $300k in 2000 and sits well above $800k today and heading toward $900k within a couple of months. Even if it’s not $1.1 million today, it’s looking like it will be at some point this year or early next year. Plus, I understand there are now more than 30 Ak suburbs that average over a million so it’s entirely possible that some individual houses that were sold for $300k fifteen years ago are worth more than a million now. Location, location, location!
Agree we bought our house in Glenfield for $360K in 2005 and two years ago we had a valuation of just under $600K. It will have gone up a bit since then.
Of course that value is worth nothing unless you want to move out of Auckland. I would much rather see my house value drop back to closer to what we bought at and have a larger more diverse group of people buying houses then sit on massive capital gain that is in real terms worth very little. No I am not interested in using equity to become a landlord.
My point is that CV just arbitrarily picked numbers out of the air and intimated as if it would be a majority, or at least very sizable portion of all houses that fit that particular profile.
I suspect it’d be less than 5% of Auckland houses that went from $300k to $1.1M (or thereabouts).
One thing to realise with averages is that they have a very long tail on the upside; an average of $800k for a house will be pulled up strongly by houses in the $2M+ price bracket; and same goes for the ~$300k average back at the start of the millennium.
If CV had said $300k -> $700-800k I wouldn’t have said anything.
Yep, fair points.
Barfoot said in March that 1/4 of its sales were for over $1M. I would say that a fair number of those would have been what were $300,000 houses in what used to be considered very middle of the road suburbs, 15 years ago.
But happy to accept that my numbers relay a common case 5% to 10% of sales, but not the majority of cases.
in 1999 to build a single level 195m2 house was about $750m2 (with building rebates from suppliers being kept by the building coy and not traded), on a 720m2 section cost $120k with a fall of 1.3m from front to back, total cost approx $275k including driveway, patio, fencing and grassed.
Building now in Auckland would be INXS of $2k/m2 add on water connection fee of $15k (in 1999 this was $750). and to buy such a section would cost in excessive of $600k(if you could locate one). Total cost well exceeding $1m. On such a section the building would be 2 level,3 car garaging, 4-5 bedrooms multi en-suit and exceeding 260m2. With a min asking price $1.6m.
Lanthaide in my local area developed over the 1990’s to early 2000’s all family homes would qualify as cost $300k-$400k to buy and now worth over $1m.
That’s not wholly accurate either CV. We do know that most of the inflation between at least 2000 and 2009 occurred mainly because of excess bank credit in the local market.
But while undersupply and inward migration back from Aus have been creating some pressure on the market in the past few years – we are in the middle of the most insane bubble of all time. And the RB to it’s horror has realised that all the simple levers at it’s command like interest rates, LVR ratios and bank reserves were not working.
Why? Because a large portion of the cashed up buyers in the Auckland market are immune to them.
IMO people have recently realised that it is an insane bubble because we have finally after 15 years or so got to the “vertical wall” stage of the exponential curve. That is, most people tolerated houses doubling in price from $250K to $500K (people could still pretend that was affordable)…but the next doubling from $800K to $1.6M takes away all such pretense.
As for the RB…yep, they have been left to try and cope with what has been going on as the neolib politicians of all colours have gone completely hands off laissez faire.
I can’t see key being worried as the high ground has been ceded now and as you say a large chunk of the public still trust him – somehow after all the bullshit he has spun over the years.
VTO my point exactly. How can you contradict an assertion without contrary data? To say we will be collecting data is to pre-judge the conclusion and Mr Tyford is just “inferring” the rates of purchasing.
Yeah I heard Key in a pasty interview with Paul Henry this morning trying to fudge their new data collection changes will give the required details. He was quick to point out that “most overseas buyer will be Kiwi’s living abroad and it will be hard to capture.
Actually John if you made changes that give a detailed analysis of when, who are buying and where they are from shouldn’t be hard. So stop the smoke and mirrors and get on with it.
They are terrified of the reality true date would show…
You only need a small swing in the number of buyers in a market to make a big difference. A change in the order of 5% is more than enough to swing things between rising and falling markjets
Maybe the PM needs to check in with the Minister, or vice versa
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11483627
Well it sure does smell like that. When you have NZF saying they had the data and decided there was no solid data there to release it, then it does seem desperate.
Can you link to that statement please, I hadn’t heard that.
Was on NBR, interview with Winston. Think it’s pay walled, but you can see it on mobile for free.
Thanks to PR below.
The difference here is that Labour used some smart analytics (with 95% confidence) to tease out the 40% Chinese figure vs 9% from the census, using the information they were given.
Doesn’t sound like NZFirst had the skills or idea to perform this analysis, and the data without this analysis is rather useless.
Here you go
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/nz-first-chose-not-to-leak-housing-data-2015071815#axzz3gOZiw6K6
Prime Minister’s son caught in sex tryst on Hawaiian beach. Prison likely.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/70360596/pms-son-max-key-publishes-video-of-hawaiian-holiday-with-girlfriend
I must say, the Key family is brave in the way it steps out into the public spotlight on the back of their old man’s fame……….
I bet Max told his girlfriend “hey babe remember no wearing a ponytail around the old man…you know he has that umm problem.”
” Yeah like sure thing Maxi I know it’s not your fault ya dads a bit creepy.”
Ok, just watched the video and the PM does feature in it sporadically, almost as if it’s on purpose? That shows to me he endorses the video and I wonder if his son is being paid to make something like this…
The motive seems pretty clear, play on our materialistic desires and show you can get the girl, get to go to Hawaii and have the lifestyle. All on one condition, you’ve got to do what the PM and son does and vote National.
Fuck’s sake this trashy, non-story is now not only on stuff, but nzherald, tvnz and tv3 websites too. Could you want better coverage??
That young lady looks as though she would benefit from a pie or two.
You’re probably just use to seeing everyone overweight.
She could do with a deadlift or two.
Seems max has better PR than Little.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11483559
Wow just wow, the Herald were complicit in this dirty politics attack yet just a couple of days later they’re distancing themselves and cr**ping on Labour at the same time, the Herald really is quite a pice of work
Grant Robertson is bidding his time before the next run for leader. The pundits, political commentators and press gallery are aflutter. It seems to be only a strong rumour at this time.
Bullshit. Little is doing fine, there are no signs whatsoever of dissent in caucus and the party is generally happy with his leadership (and the marked improvement in the polls). If you want to troll, do it somewhere else.
Yep, makes total sense.. Your party has just surged 6% in the latest poll so time for a new leader.
and your leader is less popular than The Cunliffe
As many have said already the popularity of the opposition leader doesn’t really matter at this stage, it’s the party percentage that does. Personally I would love to have seen Cunliffe still there, with the economy under a bit of stress like it is now I think he would do great job of putting hits on National. His passion and smarts are great attributes infront of the camera.
Agree 100%
The Cunliffe was found wanting so we’ll see if Little Andy can do any better (though to be fair hes not the only one thats been soundly thrashed by John Key)
Agree 110 percent about David Cunliffe!
What Claire’s copy and paste recap shows is she is a lite weight political reporter. The heading makes her look incompetent and rather cynical “Labour’s Gamble Doesn’t Pay Off In Polls.”
Obviously not everyone would have been surveyed after the release, if anything probably prior, add plenty of people wouldn’t have been aware of the release, let alone formed an opinion as Andrew Little points out.
Go sit in the media’s ‘clown seat’ till the next poll comes out Claire. Or better still take a permanent holiday.
Right on the button Skinny, I have sent her an email about the headline being out of order and misleading.
Whats of more interest to me is not Labours dog whistling but that the Herald worked in conjunction with Labour to attempt to embarrass the govt (and fair enough thats Labours job) yet within the space of a few days the Herald are trying to sink Labour on this
Its a real bob each way kind of thing
That’s supposedly the media’s role isn’t it or traditionally was, to keep the Government honest. Maybe the herald decided they would do some actual journalism by using a source from inside the industry about a regional problem that was given to them by the Opposition. Now they’re just defaulting back to attack the opposition party that doesn’t align with the interests of their advertisers.
Well what gets me is the speed in which they’re willing to go into bat with Labour then turn around and dump on them, like it was only a couple of days
LOL . Nice concern trolling. Or maybe you’re just a conspiracy theorist.
Remember that time John Armstrong called for Cunliffe to resign over the 11-year-old letter, and O’Sullivan the very next day said that was over-excited nonsense?
The Trevett article is mild anyway, and seems a pretty standard kind of line for her to take.
You’d have a better chance of getting a single editorial line out of Fairfax, by default because it’s so formulaic. Prefer the Herald any day to the Stakhanovite content creator mill.
It’s laughable that the property editor at the NZH takes up her political sub editors role by scribing an article today with a headline of “No Stamp Duty, Or Capital Gains Tax.” This being pitched to Hong Kong & Mainland Chinese investors. Also as you would expect, actively promoting Auckland property therd is one of the National Party’s property magnate donators, Mr Barfoot of B & T reale state.
I guess when you donate 20 K to a political party in Government you can reasonably expect a return on that investment.
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11483627
nothing to see here, life is good,
better living for all
rock star economy n such
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/70301032/Middle-class-poor-struggling-with-financial-stresses-report
Quote: Families could have two “decent salaries” but still struggle due to living costs and child care costs.
“People have to have two jobs to survive,” she said.
“The only way you can do that is to have extended whanau helping you out because you can’t afford child care.”
The high cost of living needed to be reduced and it was up to the Government to make changes, she said.
“We need to get our housing, power and food costs down.
“Everyone deserves to have a roof over their head, a job to go to, food on the table and enough money to take the family out once a month. That’s all people want.”
According to the report, older couples, one or both being at least 50 years old, did well overall, rating highly on most indicators of wellbeing with 88 per cent satisfied with their standard of living.
Though solo parents with children under 18 represented only 4.5 per cent of the familial population in Canterbury, nationally they are the most under pressure.
This family type scored the lowest in adequate income, affordable housing, mental health and satisfaction at pay and work hours.
About 75 per cent reported affordable housing problems.
and nothing can be done about this either
https://nz.news.yahoo.com/top-stories/a/28853880/banks-call-in-farmer-debt-as-prices-plunge/
as long as they tighten their budget (maybe not feeding the cows? or the kids? or something) and they should make it. And if not, oh well that is just the market correcting itself
Quote: “Falling dairy prices mean it will be a tight year for many farmers and they will need to budget carefully,” he said.
Mr Guy said prices fluctuate every year and the fall in the exchange rate – the kiwi is now down to a six-year low of around US65 cents – was giving exporters confidence.
“Farmers are in it for the long term, not just one year,” he said.
“Other sectors like beef and horticulture are having record years which will help soften the impact in rural areas.”
He says the longer term outlook for dairy is strong.
The longer term outlook for dairy export is, essentially, non-existent. Every country in the world can produce their own dairy and will do so.
This is actually true of all products which means that, as the world develops, trade will decrease.
http://agrihq.co.nz/article/eastern-powers-set-up-massive-dairy?p=22
We forget how tiny we are sometimes,
And if that works they’ll do it again. Chances are, it’ll work.
Can someone please explain why Fonterra is not supplying dairy product to the Russian market ?
There is demand – and NZ is not on the exclusion list. At $4.20 all bets are “on” – so why not ?
Probably have something to do with all the other restrictions that have been put in place on Russia and I doubt if NZ would do anything to upset the USA.
I see the largest NZ dairy operation is comprised of 58 South Island farms, covering 18,000ha of land and 43,400 milking cows.
The single Zhongding Dairy Farming and Russia’s Severny Bur enterprise is twice this size – and will supply 30% of the Russian cheese demand – exceeding the previous EU contribution of 25%.
$ kg/mf is depressed – oversupply cos the Russian market is excluded from those others who offended Russia.
Well, Murray from Waitui shouldn’t have to sell Gina’s heir-jewels cos Vicky Nuland had a cake moment.
and if we view the world through the eyes of his customers, than we too will understand that all is well in the world.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11482710
quote:
In the year ending May 2015, 2.977 million international visitors arrived in this country, an increase of 7 per cent on the previous year with forecasts for this number to grow to 3.8 million by 2021.
China and India will be the two drivers of this international growth. According to Tourism New Zealand, 309,792 visitors arrived from China in the year to May 2015, an increase of 29.3 per cent on the year previous, while India’s figures grew 28.9 per cent to 42,880.
The future looks bright with two extra airlines (Air China and China Eastern) establishing year-round services, and while India does not have a direct service at present, it is only a matter of time. The World Tourism Organisation predicts that India will account for 50 million outbound tourists by 2020. There are currently only 28 million passport holders in India.
even more Chinese visiting – perhaps some might be interested in buying a holiday home or two here?
They can make me an offer, its all good
and then this……
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11483627
quote:
New Zealand’s lack of overseas investment regulation is being promoted in Shanghai and Hong Kong to help sell apartments rising on the site of the country’s best-known record store.
“NO stamp duties and property purchase tax, NO capital gains tax on residential property if sold after two years of holding,” Colliers International says advertising Queens Square, a 226-unit block promoted as on “the Nanjing Road of Auckland” and to rise on Real Groovy’s Queen St site near Karangahape Rd.
This country’s liberal regime, unusual internationally, is being promoted in that ad for the block by New Zealand developer Robert Holden’s Conrad Properties.
The new L-shaped block, to have 24 carparks and ground-level shops, is to rise at 438 Queen St and was designed by architect Colin Leuschke who says in a promotional video it will be on Auckland’s golden mile.
quote:
Events to promote the sale of units in the block were held this month at Shanghai’s New World Tower and at 300 Huaihai Rd in Hong Kong. The ad says the block could be completed by January 2018.
Barfoot & Thompson is also marketing units as being in the Auckland Grammar zone, priced from $386,000.
Agent Alastair Brown said top-priced larger units with carparks were going for $1.2 million. The block would have 226 units, 14 carparks and construction was yet to start.
quote:
A spokesperson for Land Information Minister Louise Upston said last week no decisions had been taken about whether or when to release it and the information might not show what people wanted to know.
“It’s worth bearing in mind that the information gathered for this new law change is going to be tax information. It will be the tax residence [of the buyer] as opposed to the country of residence of the buyer,” the spokesperson said.
“It’s not a foreign buyers register at all. It will give us information but we don’t know if it will be made public.”
https://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/cullen-labour-govt-didnt-do-enough-2015071913
Why do politicians wait until they’re out of parliament before they start being sensible
Guess we can look forwards to Bill English saying in 2018 that in retrospect, they shouldn’t have cut taxes, and if they hadn’t, they may not have had a record 9 deficits in a row.
Stranger things have happened
Yeah, like when Bill English admitted in 2008 that actually Labour managed the crown accounts very well and they had saved for the rainy day that was the GFC. He left unspoken what a disaster it would have been if Brash had won 2005 and implemented the tax cuts he was campaigning on.
Pity he went and blew all Labour’s careful work on tax cuts, eh?
Shame Labour didn’t do anything about helping people in need when they had the opportunity instead leaving it to National to do
National aren’t helping people in need – they’re gifting NZ to the rich.
Yeah, Working For Families didn’t “[help anyone] in need”.
Kiwisaver didn’t “[help anyone] in need” either. Nor did interest free student loans, or free doctor’s visits for under 5 year olds. Raising the minimum wage mustn’t have helped anyone either, unless you consider business owners “in need” of help?
Better luck next time, PR?
I’m sure some on here would suggest that raising the benefit would have helped a lot more people in need than helping out the middle class
lol
So it helped people in need, just not enough of them. You’re sliding again.
Of course some people on here – even many or most – would suggest that raising the benefit would have helped more people (at least more people in greater need) than WFF did. But then many people here would be saying that from honest convictions that the government should help people, rather than your transparent desire to just stir shit here when you couldn’t care less about people in any level of need (except your own self interest).
The difference is though that i want each and every single person in NZ to as well as I have (or rather about to) or better whereas most on here want those that have done well to be brought down to an “acceptable” level
I don’t think you do. Your behaviour here strongly indicates that you don’t give a damn about anyone other than yourself, and that politics for you is merely a “game” in which strong leaders get your fearspect and genuine concern for others is a weakness to be exploited.
Your professed concern for the welfare of “each and every single person in NZ” is at odds with the rest of your commenting history.
Except that it isn’t actually going to help anyone in need. The $25/week is a nice headline figure but it’s not what anyone’s going to get and there’s several claw backs that are actually going to make people worse off.
Still better then what any other government has done
“any” other government?
Lab1 and Lab3 come to mind…
In terms of overall benefit to individuals in the bottom half of society, Labour’s package of policies, a few of which I outlined above, are greater than anything National’s done.
Really?
You’re deluding yourself.
At least Sir Michael Cullen is honest.
@ 13
Too many blinkered supporters like you, foppish one.
So useless Michael Cullen has come out and agreed that there is a problem and that the Labour government he was part of should have done something …..
f@&k Michael Cullen…
I personally wrote to him early on in his time in office and put this exact issue to him. We exchanged a couple of communications on it.
Bottom line: Cullen refused to acknowledge the problem, despite evidence I put to him that locals were being outbid by foreign speculators (American ones these were mostly).
Cullen did exactly what Key English and Smith are doing now – being deceptive and avoiding the question.
Cullen’s little credibility on this just got sacked imo
bloody deceptive politicians – goes on even when they are retired it seems. Cullen is a Wanker on this
Why is a prepay plan going to require a monthly fee? Are telcos taxing the poor by removing low cost no monthly fee mobiles, and if they are why can they call a monthly plan prepay. Thats wrong.
On the importance of getting in first with the framing…and burying the facts, driving the political issues and ‘morality’ and skewing political advantage against your adversaries:
‘Remembering MH17′
http://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/310075-mh17-investigation-facts-figures/
“Investigations into the downing of flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine are still inconclusive or incomplete a year on from the tragedy. However, this has not stopped the West and their media from apportioning blames, without facts and figures to back up their claims. The search for justice for the families of those killed on MH17 continues.
CrossTalking with Ray McGovern, Alexander Mercouris, and Patrick Henningsen.”
Curbs favoured on marketing unhealthy food to children
But we can pretty much guarantee that National will do absolutely nothing about this. Listening to the populace isn’t what National does.
IMO, due to how manipulative advertising is it should be banned outright.
This is a must read:
Of course, it’s not that WINZ that needs to recognise that but our psychopathic government that’s out to punish people for being poor.
I’d like it a lot more if that solo mum, or anyone else didn’t have to justify their existence to fellate the egos of greedy sociopathic m’fuckers: Even if she didn’t have a car with Wof or rego, even if she wasn’t talented enough to study at a high level to become a lawyer or accountant, even if she eased her troubles by smoking or partying on alternate weekends, even if she was trying her best and failing at most things, she’s still a woman and a mother and a human being. So if the system allows no other choice but to buy in to the ass-pirant dream or be scapegoated and demonised by fat brainless cowards, then fuck the system and all who support it. It’s not like she impregnated herself.
And having a child is not an unnatural function for a woman. It should not have to be vouched for by a bloke. Give her the tools to raise the child well, then assistance to get training so she can have an individual skill in society when the child is old enough, and she can have the part-time hours needed. It is not hard to understand except for the religious-value-laden and the individualists who want to suck from society but not fuel it.
A comment on Ireland’s situation circa 1924 from Countess Markievicz.
All the small businesses here are heading for ruin, and the farmers are in a bad way. The list of bankrupts is something appalling. The list of highly paid officials for whom jobs are made by those at present in power, is daily increasing. To meet these expenses the old age pensioners have been docked 1/- per week of their pensions, as well as their bag of coal per fortnight. Taxes are awful, and food prices are daily rising and rents are wicked.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
indeed
Jeepers no holds barred in this
http://publicaddress.net/onpoint/dont-put-words-in-our-mouths-rob/
This debate is robust and necessary – onya Keith
Excellent piece. Excellent comments in there too. Thanks for the link.
BOOOOOM
(and my opinion of Rob Salmond falls another notch).
you haters you – lol
Yep it is hard to go past Keith and his analysis – in fact I don’t think I will go past it, I agree with it from whoa to go.
Amateur old journalist Soper getting a hiding for his piece on Key’son
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/opinion/the-soap-box-maxs-lifestyle-a-liability-for-key/
He’s usually a Key sycophant so quite a step for him, speaking his truth for a change, nice one Soper!
It’s also at least the fifth major news organisation to post Max Key’s hawaiian holiday video on their website. Even Richie McCaw or Dan Carter would struggle to do that. There is no such thing as bad publicity I would think is the strategy.