If things are as bad for the residential landlord class as claims Andrew King, chief executive of the New Zealand Property Investors Federation – in Auckland $250 plus down EVERY week of the year – one wonders that anyone risks their financial future by becoming one.
I mean these are meant to be canny lads and lasses right into the Brighter Future a la their idol Mr Gauche. Altruism usually takes the back burner when doom is in the offing so there’s obviously an upside which King is fully aware of but dishonestly withholds.
the property is not bought as a rental. It is bought as a speculation object, and in the mean time is rented. It does actually not matter if it covers the mortgage or not.
And why should rent cover mortgage, considering that the ‘rental’ will bring in money of many many decades.
One of the houses that sold in my street was rented to one lady and her kids for over 20 years. She never managed to save enough to buy a house (min wage, no extra income, etc) she did make enough to spend over 300.000 $ in rent during the time she lived there. In that time nothing was done to the interior, which is the reason the house in the end sold for 200.000 $ less than the next house which was build at the same time and got renovated before sales. $ 690.000 unrenovated – build in the 1980 vs 890.000 renovated – build at the same time.
So if you consider that maybe the houses/land in westie land would have been about 100.000 initially, one could say that the property owner (well the son who inherited it) made a good profit on it. Did the rent initially cover the mortgage, probably not. Did the rent cover the mortgage and then some in the end. Yes it did
So Andrew King, chief executive of the New Zealand Property Investors Federation IS dishonest. And possessed by a nasty sense of entitlement. Thought as much.
King wouldn’t also be an ACToid, or would he ? This is why I ask – from the article – King, (complainingly) – “Insulation in rental properties is to be compulsory……” – wait for it – “……. whether the tenant wants it or not.”
It is not that he is dishonest, he is just very flexible with the truth.
If I buy a rental today as an investment, and want to hold on to it throughout my retirment an maybe leave it in the family then clearly it is a ‘rental’. If i buy a rental today with the intention to rent it until the market has provided enough incentive to sell it, then it is an object of speculation, which is what we are currently seeing.
the rental object will be in my family for 30 – 50 – 150 years maybe (consider that in europe many of the old houses are still in the hands of the same families, have been modified to accommodate more people, renovated, upgraded etc). Now initially the rent will not cover monthly or weekly mortgage payment, but at some stage the mortgage is paid and the rent becomes income and gain.
Consider also that lets say a mortgage of $ 600 per week might be the honest price for a property. But would $ 750 be an honest rental price for the same property? (and yes i added $ 150 to cover costs of admin, rates, n leaky roof)? Depends, what stage is the house in? How old is the carpet, fixings n trimmings?
So you see the mortgage of 600 is fine, after all one gets a property n stuff – an investment that even might be worth double or triple in the future, but the maximum rent for the same property due to its state might only be worth $ 360, and voila the rent does not cover the mortgage.
So at best the good man is paid to be a misleading shill and won’t somebody please think of the poor and misunderstood property owners and their staff in the the property industry.
IMO the big lie is the sly insinuation they paid latest price for their properties, they always talk about the costs of a house bought at the current price. In truth they largely charge today’s rents for yesterday’s houses, their own costs are much less than they infer.
He’s sure got some chutzpah. Whining about his business not being allowed to claim depreciation while he pays no tax on his property’s massive appreciation. Life is so unfair isn’t it, poor guy.
His whine about depreciation is easily fixed … Allow depreciation BUT then tax all capital gains, and the depreciation that was claimed on sale will be recovered so it is only a timing matter. Sure the property owner gets some small tax relief but pays this back, and the govt books benefit from all capital gains achieved.
I wish Andrew King was correct in saying “Andrew King: Rental prices in NZ are actually quite reasonable” If they were and kiwis were paid a reasonable wage then there would be no necessity for an Accommodation Supplement. As in 2011 we were paying out $1.2b, take this away then the rental market has $1.2b less to spend on accommodation and rentals should fall. Unfortunately the world does not operate under “market driven basis”, 🙁 http://www.interest.co.nz/property/60426/govt-reviewing-accommodation-supplement-rent-subsidy-housing-minister-heatley-says
“In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss what the price of sardines teaches us about disintermediation. They also discuss the strange email from Sidney Blumenthal to Hillary Clinton about the real reason for France’s invasion of Libya. In the second half, Max continues his interview with Reggie Middleton about Pathogenic Finance: The autonomous, anti-fragile, trustless paradigm shift transforming banking, brokerage, securities and insurance.
That segment on Pathogenic Finance with Reggie Middleton is brilliant . That’s a game changer that would do to the financial sector what peer-to-peer file sharing did to the music and film industries. I can see the full force of Wall Street pushing back on that idea.
With the proposed signing of the TPP looming, there seems to be more people interested in e accessing information about it. I recommend the following link https://tpplegal.wordpress.com
As well as expert analysis on 3 papers, there are excellent articles in the commentary section.
This is another on Māori and TPP – you may already have put it up
Expert paper on TPPA & Treaty of Waitangi: government fails to meet obligations to Maori
The third in a series of expert peer reviewed papers on the implications of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement for Aotearoa New Zealand was posted on the tpplegal website today.
The paper was co-authored by Carwyn Jones, a senior lecturer in law from Victoria University, and Andrew Erueti, Associate Professor Claire Charters and Professor Jane Kelsey from the University of Auckland law faculty. The peer reviewer was lawyer Moana Jackson from Ngati Porou and Ngati Kahungunu.
‘Maori have long-standing concerns about law and policy relating to issues such as traditional knowledge, biodiversity and environmental management’, says Carwyn Jones, who wrote that section of the paper. ‘The TPPA will hamper the ability of future governments to develop Treaty of Waitangi-consistent law and policy in these areas.’
‘It is extremely disappointing that the Government would enter into such an agreement without securing effective protection for Maori, which the “Treaty of Waitangi Exception” fails to do.’
‘All New Zealanders ought to be concerned that the TPPA is moving us further and further away from effective recognition of rights guaranteed under the Treaty of Waitangi, putting another obstacle in the way of reconciliation and the resolution of grievances.’
Do you know if anything happened in Japan regarding the last story?
I notice that it is dated 4 September 2015 and that all the comments are from about four months ago.
That is a very interesting write up, thanks. It’s a good example of why non-rapist men need to step up and end rape culture. Women are doing what they can, and some men, but if the only way that that situation with the publicist could be dealt with was via twitter there is something very wrong (not that that’s news). I’m very glad that those women used twitter in this way, and I’m disgusted that they had to and that the people in the culture they live and work within are all pretty much ignoring and/or supporting rape culture.
…authentic human identity is only available to those who insist on being something more than the means to someone else’s end. Who we are now, and what we may yet become: both conditions drive us forward….
Very profound and true. I often wonder why people become super competitive – that is, to the extent that they just HAVE to be better/outdo the next man/woman. we’re constantly told that should be what drives us.
I used to wonder about that amongst musicians (guitarists for example who strove and claim to be better than say Clapton, rather than simply trying to improve themselves; or dealing room wideboys competing to outdo their colleagues). That seems to be simply an exercise in stroking ones own ego.
We’re constantly told the competitive spirit and ambition = good. I’ve seen some pretty devastated people with those attributes when a bit of shit hits the fan – as in they totally can’t cope and spend their days beating themselves up.
I guess we might be in for quite a few people jumping out of Wall Street windows in the not too distant
Competition in the right place can be a good spur. I wouldn’t mind at all if NZ pollies aimed to keep us up with the other countries with innovative, future thinking measures say about the environment, or to bring recidivism from crims down etc.
Not aim for the top, just achievable ashperashuns. But no. Lazy Maysie and Co. are off on holiday.
yep, however I’m not sure they need to ‘compete’ necessarily, but just like the 4th Estate ….. they just need to do their fucking jobs and act with a bit of principle and a few ethics.
Narrowing, managing, controlling: isn’t that the story of the last thirty years?
Listen both National and Labour while they tell us that we can’t do what’s needed to make our society better. It’s all about keeping us in a very narrow mindset of profit for the rich.
We have, over the last thirty years, allowed ourselves to be straight-jacketed into being what the oligarchs want us to be.
“Labour thought that because the Conservatives did not win 2010, when they had Gordon Brown as their leader and the economy was in the toilet, the Tories would be unable to win [in 2015] and all they had to do was sit on the horse and hang on,” says Crosby. “They never said sorry for their mishaps, they never really did an honest review of their policies, they never had a story about the future for the British people. They just did not do the work. They were intellectually lazy and thought themselves intellectually superior.”
lol
Tory whose campaign strategy revolves around “brevity, relentlessness, focus on and leverage of public preconceptions” suggests that Labour should have done more policy debating and public confessionals. Cheers for the advice, Lynton…
Assuming O’Sullivan’s correct about the SkyCity venue ……. would say it all really. And tacky tacky tacky ! Let’s pray the sounds won’t be down to New Camelot Max.
I was told by a friend that the signing in AKL is only for the press. The official signing with dignitaries n such could be at a more formal site. Signing of the TPPa at Waitangi anyone? lol….interesting times.
A report by the Sustainability Council shows that under the TPPA, the Investors will be able to sue governments especially in matters relating to the environment.
I think it was Paxman I heard say, “An informed society is a healthy society”. Weldon’s vision for NZ society seems to be going in the opposite direction, unsurprisingly.
Oh but better and bigger Muttonbird. Now TV3 Newshub at 6pm.
“The service will provide the latest news and in-depth analysis, with a dedicated, state-of-the-art app and website and TV and radio news bulletins across MediaWorks’ channels – as well as fuelling news content across other programmes such asPaul Henry.”
So a reverse of Checkpoint on RNZ – or something?
TV3 News flash to our great Newshub media team –
Let’s all join hands and play American Whispers along the chain (not Chinese now they are our friends) which will ensure stories go across all Mediawork channels. Sometimes we’ll start the story at one end and it will finish up with Paul Henry, and sometimes the other way round.
We will add to our reports spice, verve, topicality, tons of amusing opinion, and plenty of room for surmise and prophetic announcements. All participants will bear their own slander legal fees, and compulsory insurance should be entered into pronto
So before anything too controversial or about serial litigants, check with the legal team.
/sarc edited
dontcha just lerv the lingo – there goes the Mark of a total bullshit artist. A Key player in the new media vironmint (going forwid)
Ekshully, there’s been a series on the National Geographic Channel (such as that travesty to the name is – it’s founders are busy rolling in their graves) looking at the 80’s, then the 90’s,and now the 00’s.
It’d be interesting to look back on this decade from the future – it won’t be pretty.
Mark and Joolie (all kitted out with stetson). It’ll look something like the Class of 87.
stick a match to it CV – better to do it now than later. It’s all paper anyway…..and total crapola. There are better uses for paper – like things more meaningful to societies.
why put people through constructs (such as ‘austerity’) when in the end the inevitable will happen?
I ‘spose its because it makes money (as opposed to ‘currency’).
Roll on the crash I say – the sooner the better!
China doesn’t like too much nitrite in it’s water…can’t think why.
“”To class water as ‘spring or artesian’ for the New Zealand market the maximum level of the naturally occurring nitrite is 0.2mg/L while the Chinese maximum level is 0.005mg/L. Unfortunately the levels of nitrite were higher than the Chinese standard hence the product was returned,” she said.
Roderick Brodie, University of Auckland marketing professor, said the Chinese requirements were stringent.
But he said the concern was that a rejection on the basis of nitrite could be read as being linked to excessive use of fertiliser.
“The Hawke’s Bay bottling company needs to come out with a very strong press release to counter this, so that we don’t have anyone saying we’re not a clean and green country.”
He said Fertiliser might not have anything to do with it, but that was the risk that was run.”
Picky beggars those Chinese…what’s a bit of nitrite between friends?
So this is what effing Bennett has spent her holiday cooking up. Regional centres have enough on their plates without having to deal with her relocated Aucklanders.
In the wake of the March 15 mass-murder, the government moved swiftly to ban semi-automatic firearms, weapons for which there is really no case for being allowed to own in New Zealand. and now, it has announced phase two of ...
Local body politicians are concerned that the hostile online environment might deter people from running, and want British-style laws to prevent "online attacks". So what sorts of attacks are they concerned about? Death threats (illegal under the Crimes Act)? Sustained ...
When allegations emerged that civilians had been killed during an SAS raid in Afghanistan, NZDF was absolutely unequivocal in its denials, both the Ministers and the public. Since then, we've learned that they were well aware that there were reports ...
Over the past few months, we've seen a number of local authorities respond to public pressure over climate change by declaring a climate emergency. So what should they do next? Writing in The Spinoff, Sarah Thomson has some suggestions. Most ...
I have been unimpressed with Western corporate media coverage of the tensions involving Iran in the Straits of Hormuz. They repeat the line that Iran is the source of current tensions, that it is a major sponsor of terrorism, that ...
Victory, But Not Ours: Trump uses his deplorable words in exactly the same way as C.S. Lewis' wicked queen, Jadis, used her single 'Deplorable Word'. To win – no matter what the cost. He knows the power of words. He ...
Seeking Refuge: Were Jesus, Mary and Joseph fleeing persecution in Palestine or Judea? Were they Palestinians or Jews? Green MP, Golriz Ghahraman, in describing the Holy Family as Palestinian refugees, touched off a firestorm of controversy, demonstrating the sinister ease ...
Much like Tuvalu, the manmade climate change Cult love to tell people the Maldives is almost totally underwater. In fact the dishonest Maldives Govt d on the same bandwagon, believing they would receive billions of dollars aid from other Countries ...
According to every manmade climate change cultist on Earth, the pacific islands of Tuvalu are being flooded by rising sea levels. In fact, incredibly even a google search will bring up an immediate claim the islands are almost underwater! The ...
Firstly, it’s important you know that I am not paid by fossil fuel companies, nor do I have any association with them at all, and in fact I’m not a fan of any industry that doesn’t do it’s best to ...
As the entry on Wikipedia shows (and no, one doesn’t necessarily have to regard Wikipedia as the be-all and end-all of truth, because it isn’t on a great many things, to agree with the following): “…a fallacious argument that concludes ...
by Daphna Whitmore The story of how the world awoke to a big injustice is starting to be told. The Pacific Games held this month in Samoa is another chapter. On the podium was Laurel Hubbard, the giant transgender weightlifter, ...
Our conversations and push against specific supremacist and ultra-Nationalist groups, and the pseudo-intellectual underpinnings of them, need to mature at all levels. But in doing so, it’s going to have to include a more thorough and brutally honest self-examination ...
Why do so many people mistrust the police? Because they pull shit like this:The police are flouting the rules on breath testing, carrying out tests in people's homes to catch them out sometimes up to two hours after they were ...
I have been reading and listening to the aftermath of Trump’s comments about the four female first term Democratic representatives, all of whom are “people of color.” I found the US coverage interesting both as evidence of partisanship and the ...
The Herald reports that the housing shortage / bubble has hit a new level:New Zealand is short of 130,000 homes, the tally having risen lately by 30,000, two economists say. Jarrod Kerr and Jeremy Couchman, Kiwibank economists said: "This time ...
Milk producer Fonterra is one of New Zealand's biggest coal-users, using it to power all its South Island (and a few of its North Island) dairy factories. They'd previously "committed" to not building any new coal boilers after 2030. Now, ...
The proposed Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill treats biogenic methane emissions differently from all other carbon emissions. The latter are to be measured net so that emissions from fossil fuels can be offset by carbon stored in trees. ...
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh This article aims to answer a simple question, whether the conflict is only a rural one or whether it is also urban. The verb ‘to be’ is conjugated in the present tense as ,despite what some ...
Yesterday the government released its discussion document on action on agricultural emissions. As sadly usual, it proposed enormous subsidies for farm emissions, including for nitrogen-based fertiliser. This is a huge mistake. In addition to being one of the chief drivers ...
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Justice conducted a public consultation exercise on whether to hold a review of the Official Information Act (this replaced their previous plans to hold a secret consultation with handpicked people). 285 people submitted on ...
Always Playing Catch-Up: Throughout the 1970s, the purchasing power of the ordinary worker’s pay packet – the only meaningful measure of his or her wealth – was being eaten away every passing year by seemingly inexorable rises in the cost-of-living. ...
The Interim Climate Change Committee's report on Action on agricultural emissions: Evidence, analysis and recommendations was finally released today, and as you might guess from the title, it is recommending that we actually act, rather than let farmers keep ...
On Sunday July 7, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter announced their intention to review the Ministry of Health’s Funded Family Care policy and repeal Part 4Aof the 2000 NZ Public Health and Disability Act. These are festering injustices ...
Agriculture is our biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions, responsible for 48% of the total. It follows that meeting any credible emissions reduction target requires cutting agricultural emissions, most likely by having fewer cows. But National thinks people shouldn't be ...
How scummy is the UK Home Office? This scummy:The Home Office lied to EU member states to remove victims of human trafficking and modern slavery in breach of European law, according to whistleblowers. Legal experts have said the practice is ...
Belle is a lovely fifteen year-old border collie who belongs to our friends and neighbours at Bryan’s Beach, Michael and Judy Corboy. Belle, in her old age, can hardly see or hear, but – as a constant participant at social ...
“We wuz robbed!” is the classic cry of the disappointed losers of a closely contested sporting contest – it is very much to the credit of the Black Caps that we heard no such sentiment from them following the stunning ...
The Youth Parliament is being held this week, and some of the youth MPs are campaigning for a lower voting age:Molly Doyle, 17, is one Youth MP who wants this to change. She is part of a non-partisan campaign run ...
Up till now, Australia has made its living by digging up coal and exporting it to other countries, destroying the global climate in the process. But now they have a new option: exporting solar power:The desert outside Tennant Creek, deep ...
Later this month, thousands of people are expected to march to parliament as part of the #HandsOffOurTamaraki movement. At its heart, the movement is about preserving whānau and demanding that the state stop removing children from their whānau, hapū and iwi. ...
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh The recent statements made by the former FARC commander, Carlos Lozada (legal name Julian Gallo), where, from his seat in Congress, he praised the Colombian Army demonstrate how low the farianos have sunk. Lozada began by ...
A Woman’s Place is on the Podium was a public meeting in London on 10 July to discuss women’s sports and the impact of transwomen competing against women. The venue was sold out with a packed hall of 750 people. ...
Last month I talked about the no-fly movement: people who refuse to fly or limit it to absolute necessity to avoid destroying the climate. Now, that movement has a somewhat surprising new member: Dutch airline KLM:Dutch airline KLM has launched ...
In the 1960's, humanity faced a terrible threat: global thermonuclear war. Nuclear weapons were uniquely destructive and dangerous, and if more countries got them, the logic of MAD and the pre-emptive strike would put us on a hair-trigger to destruction. ...
An occasional series where I will ponder allegations of anti-Semitism directed at the British Labour Party and its members.In this case, we are thinking about an allegedly anti-Semitic image shared by a Labour Party member. Its origins appear to be ...
Matariki has been and gone, but this year we saw a couple of op-eds arguing that it should be a public holiday, replacing the foreign monarch's fake birthday. And now, New Zealand Republic - a group which campaigns for an ...
The discussion on the quality of economic advice, which we reported last week, has spilled over into a discussion about whether so many senior appointments should be of non-New Zealanders. Recall I discussed the failure to develop career paths within ...
When Nicky Hager revealed US footage of the Operation Burnham raid, obtained under the US Freedom of Information Act, one of the obvious questions was whether Ministers had seen it - and in particular, whether they'd been told that it ...
Northern Ireland is the Alabama of the UK: a backwards region where women and gay people are denied fundamental rights. But Westminster has just decided to fix that:MPs have voted resoundingly to extend same-sex marriage and access to abortion to ...
There's a problem with "synthetic cannabis", and not just the one you think. It's the name.We're in the midst of a wave of news stories that link synthetic drugs to serious harm, through deadly road accidents and accidental overdoses (which ...
Ranjit Kauri, The Dancing Maharani and Other Stories, Swansea, Head and Heart, 2019, £6.99; reviewed by Don Franks Working people are not the same country to country. Our struggles for a better life take place in surroundings of very different ...
Let's Do Them! All Jacinda Ardern has to do to clinch the 2020 General Election is frighten the bejesus out of the electorate by describing in the most graphic terms imaginable what will happen to all the positive beginnings her ...
It may be that we have all misinterpreted the somewhat surprising “bromance” between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. It has been all too easy to assume that it is Kim who is cosying up to Trump rather than the ...
by Michael Roberts So the full circle is completed. The corrupt pro-business conservative New Democracy party in Greece that was ousted by the anti-capitalist Syriza party in 2015 has been returned to office in yesterday’s general election, with an outright ...
When the Australian government passed a series of new spy laws over the last few years, they pinky-promised that they wouldn't use them to spy on journalists and subvert freedom of the press. They lied:The anti-encryption laws passed by the ...
From 1975 to 1989, the spy agencies of South America's right-wing military dictatorships cooperated in Operation Condor, a joint campaign of extermination against the continent's left. Roughly 400,000 people were imprisoned, 30,000 disappeared, and 60,000 murdered - kidnapped, tortured, executed, ...
When she was standing for office, Jacinda Ardern promised she would take abortion out of the Crimes Act. And to be fair, there was some early action on that, with an immediate referral of the issue to the Law Commission ...
When the government introduced the Zero Carbon Bill, people rightly asked what they planned to do to reduce transport emissions, which basicly had no policy at all other than the ETS. Today, they responded, announcing a "feebate" system which would ...
At almost every level, the problem with medicinal cannabis is a lack of good information. In the US, FDA regulations make it hard to research. Most doctors aren't familiar with what research there is and most patients don't know either. ...
Redline is critical of Corbyn for his political weaknesses, but he’s no anti-Semite. There is no substance to the McCarthyist witch-hunt being run by the right wing, and the pro-Israel lobby inside and outside the Labour Party in the UK. ...
The government's billion trees program is the sort of policy which could make a real difference to our emissions and the fight against climate change. But climate scientist Jim Salinger isn't convinced:The Forestry Minister Shane Jones' one billion trees won't ...
Last month the government was celebrating another surplus. Meanwhile, children are starving:One in five children are living in households where putting food on the table is a struggle, according to a new report from the Ministry of Health. It found ...
Show Me The Money! The alternative to state funding of infrastructure is, of course, to fund it by taking on massive amounts of private debt. On this issue, at least, Auckland mayoral challenger, Tamihere, has some solid points to make. ...
If we are to avoid making the earth uninhabitable, we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to practically nothing over the next decade. But that will still leave us with the problem of the carbon we have already emitted, which ...
Former Waikato DHB CEO Nigel Murray allegedly misused public funds, spending more than $120,000 of public money on unjustified travel. He was forced to resign and the Serious Fraud Office began an investigation. But despite the SFO finding that the ...
Jeremy Corbyn, we are told, is being advised – not least by his deputy (as well as by some of his would-be successors) – that he must come “off the fence” on the Brexit issue if he wants to bolster ...
The End of Life bill has been read a second time and is now heading for the House for further debate. Personally, I support the proposal. I don't ever epect to take advantage of the Bill's provisions myself, but as ...
Before the substantive issue which this column is about – whether there has been a deterioration in the economic advice given to the government – a paragraph about the budget leaks.read more ...
Below is a translation of the editorial in the June 24 round of weekly workplace bulletins issued all over France by the revolutionary workers’ organisation Lutte Ouvriere. Last Saturday, 8,000 people took to the streets of Belfort (eastern France) to ...
Why hasn't Parliament followed the lead set by our local authorities and declared a climate emergency? The answer is the National Party:The Prime Minister’s admission that she is open to the idea of declaring a climate change emergency is nothing ...
Back in May the government released its Zero Carbon Bill. While much of the bill was welcome, there was one big exception: it contained a secrecy clause, requiring the Climate Change Commission to maintain secrecy over practically everything it does. ...
by Phil Duncan This past week has marked the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Stonewall Inn riots in Christopher Street, New York, the event generally regarded as kicking off the gay liberation movement. Quite a few articles have ...
Southland - land of coal-burning dairy farmers - has become the first region in the country to explicitly vote against declaring a climate emergency. Their reason? They didn't want to "devalue" the word "emergency". Its an argument addressed powerfully in ...
New Zealand has a problem with police chases: officers going after fleeing drivers like rabid dogs, without any consideration for proportionality or public safety, often with fatal results. And according to an in-depth article in the Guardian today, the UK ...
The first full week of the firearms buy-back and amnesty has produced a strong turnout as events roll out nationwide for the first time. “Momentum is slowly starting to build as community collection events are held across the entire country, ...
A new digital platform aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash ...
Million-dollar start to gun collection eventsPolice Minister Stuart Nash says a solid start has been made to the gun buyback and amnesty after the first weekend of community collection events. “Gun owners will walk away with more than ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash has praised Police and gun owners after the first firearms collection event saw a busy turnout at Riccarton Racecourse in Christchurch. “Police officers and staff have put a tremendous effort into planning and logistics for the ...
Seventy-eight new Police constables are heading out to the regions following today’s graduation of a new recruit wing from the Royal New Zealand Police College. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the record high number of new Police officers being recruited, ...
Media statement on behalf of Sir Edward Taihākurei Durie and Donna Marie Tai Tokerau Hall: Māori Television has admitted publishing false allegations about former High Court justice, Sir Edward Taihākurei Durie, and his wife, Donna Hall, and it has ...
Announcement today by the Prime Minister of further gun law reform is being shrouded by fear, so that scrutiny of the law is seen as an affront to the victims of the horror attack in March. The Prime Minister acknowledged ...
Misgivings about the practicality and cost of a firearms register is likely to dominate feedback from rural areas on the second round of proposed Arms Act amendments, Federated Farmers says. ...
School Strike 4 Climate NZ organisers Sophie Handford and Raven Maeder delivered a clear message to over 600 local government mayors, chairs, chief executives and councillors at the recent LGNZ conference : make climate change a priority. ...
The Police Association, Te Aka Hāpai backs the government’s emphasis on public safety as the driver of its second tranche of amendments to New Zealand’s firearms law, announced today. ...
The growing housing shortage crisis about more than supply and demand- it is about inequity. Recently released analysis by Kiwibank shows that last year’s “severe” shortage of housing has worsened, with the shortfall growing from 100,000 to 130,0000 ...
One of the country’s largest district health boards has a severe shortage of hospital specialists, says the senior doctors’ union, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is joining opposition to possible regulations on the strength of nicotine vaping liquid. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “The Government would certainly benefit from regulations on the strength ...
The Meat Industry Association (MIA) is calling for significant changes to the Zero Carbon Bill with a new analysis using the Government’s preferred modelling indicating that the proposed methane targets are excessive if all other gases go to net zero. ...
Victoria University Feminist Organisation and ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa, in conjunction with the VUW Feminist Law Students, Organise Aotearoa, Fem Force, and with the support of VUW Student Association announced they are sponsoring a march ...
With the Government's firearm buyback scheme starting to draw over 30,000 police man hours away from fighting crime, the safety of law abiding citizens is being compromised. ...
Social Credit Party leader Chris Leitch is calling on the sale of Westland Milk to Chinese company Yili to be put on hold pending an approach to the Government by Westland Milk for funding assistance. ...
Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa seems intent on ensuring the Government’s vaping legislation will heavily target flavours and nicotine levels – a move that would be completely counterproductive to helping Kiwis quit smoking and achieving ...
A new website has launched in response to recent RNZ reporting about Police in Dunedin unlawfully entering people’s homes and breath-testing them. “I was disgusted when I saw what they cops were doing in Dunedin. Their behaviour undermines all of ...
The Head of the New Zealand Maori Council has called for the Government to hold an immediate investigation into the global cosmetics company Sephora after they were caught dumping waste hundreds and thousands of waste paper products embedded with ...
Hundreds of whanau and Maori leaders gathered at a hui in Mangere last weekend where they voted unanimously for an inquiry into Oranga Tamariki. The historic meeting called for a child welfare framework to be developed by Maori, for Maori. ...
Simon Shepherd: The government says its agreement with farmers, that they should pay for agricultural emissions, is historic. But there's no agreement on how. One proposal says farmers should pay a 5 per cent emissions tax. Another suggests farmers ...
The O’Brien Institute for Public Health at Calgary University has just released their report on fluoridation. This institute has, up to now, been staunchly in favour of fluoridation. However, yesterday, with regards to fluoride’s effect on the brain, ...
July 19 (BusinessDesk) - The government is looking to tighten control and impose harsher penalties after the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak revealed cracks in the country's stock management system. ...
Kia Anga Mua Ngā Hapū o Ngāpuhi (KAM) has reached a pivotal milestone following a hui yesterday at Waitangi with the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little. ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that the Government spent $133,530 on producing its ‘Wellbeing Budget’ document, a cost blowout largely driven by spending on graphic design and photography. The $133,530 price tag compares to $86,268 ...
Kahungunu Māori Language Awards. Nominations closed on 5 July 2019, and were judged by the Senior Management Team of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated. The judges wish to acknowledge the very high calibre of all nominations received making it a very ...
High Court of Australia Judge, Justice Stephen Gageler, will address recent criticism of court judgment delays in Australia, at the University of Canterbury (UC) on 23 July at 6.15pm. ...
This summary is provided to assist in the understanding of the Inquiry’s proceedings but does not constitute the official record. The full Minute is available at the link below. ...
The Tertiary Education Commission is laying charges under section 292A of the Education Act 1989 against three individuals for making a false representation for the purpose of receiving, or continuing to receive, free tertiary education from a tertiary education ...
New Zealand food businesses today welcomed a trio of new food safety tools, designed to make it faster, easier and more affordable to follow the rules and keep consumers safe. ...
AUT research shows that Māori children are almost four times more likely than those of European descent to be placed out of home by child protection services ...
The Government announced today that grants of up to $2,500 for energy efficient heaters are now available as part of the Government’s Warmer Kiwi Homes programme. ...
Fonterra’s use of coal has been the target of numerous grassroots campaigns in recent years. Last year 350 Aotearoa affiliated groups, Fossil Free Aoraki and 350 Nelson launched a petition dismissing the dairy giant’s initial target of no new ...
Information sessions on proposals for The Medicinal Cannabis Scheme take place in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch over the next fortnight. The sessions are open to anyone with an interest in learning more about the proposed scheme. ...
“Our children are our most vulnerable, most innocent victims and we do not want to see any more children harmed by these ‘known sex offenders’. The safety of our community must be the paramount consideration.” ...
“The announcement that Fonterra will immediately stop installing any new coal boilers or increasing capacity to burn coal is the signal that the biomass fuel supply industry welcomes” said Brian Cox, Executive Officer of the Bioenergy Association. ...
18 July 2019-- Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CANA) today welcomed Fonterra’s commitment to build no new coal plants, a “no brainer” for the climate crisis the world faces. The group has been urging this transition for six years now and ...
The increase in demand for cage-free eggs is set to continue according to animal rights organisation SAFE, who says the egg industry should expect this and prepare. ...
Wellington, New Zealand – 350 Pacific made a formal submission to the New Zealand Government’s Environment Parliamentary Select Committee on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, led by the Pacific Climate Warriors (PCWs) based in ...
There used to be a school of thought on the centre right side of politics that the best way to neuter the Greens as a political force would be to let them have a spell in government. Then, according to ...
Today (18 July) is Nelson Mandela International Day when the United Nations highlights the importance of humane conditions of imprisonment. In New Zealand our prisons are overcrowded and understaffed. At 214 prisoners per 100,000 people, we have the fifth ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa will take legal action over the lengthy delay in implementing pay increases for teachers. Novopay announced yesterday that teachers would have to wait until 11 September to see pay increases that they won when they settled ...
EDS has filed its submission on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill. The Bill sets targets for greenhouse gas reductions, provides for the government to set a series of carbon budgets, and sets up a new, independent, Climate ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has identified an absurd case of mission creep at Wellington City Council: the decision to spend $21,750 on two Consumer NZ investigations into different brands of bike lights. ...
The Motor Trade Association is welcoming the release of the Government’s new draft road safety strategy. MTA Chief Executive Craig Pomare says the association is pleased to see vehicle safety has been made a priority in the Road to Zero ...
The Department of Conservation continue to repeat the same old story about attacks on staff and how it is affecting their role in protecting our precious wildlife. NZ herald https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12249704 ...
The government's silence on the fact that the country's second-largest milk processor is on the brink of becoming 25% Chinese Government owned has been deafening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Martin Parkinson, secretary of the Prime Minister’s department, has cleared Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop of breaching the government’s code of ministerial standards with their ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentForeign affairs – Australia Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Ardern in ...
Sam Brooks reviews the second season of Big Little Lies, which generated as much social media conversation as its first season did critical acclaim, for better and worse.Light spoilers for the second season of Big Little Lies.Big Little Lies felt like the ...
ANALYSIS:By David Robie Indonesia recently hosted a bold public relations window-dressing expo in Auckland presenting itself as a “Pacific” nation while attempting to provide an unconvincing impression of normality in the two Melanesian provinces known collectively as West ...
Taxing vacant land would be too complex to implement and achieve little - it would be better for the Government to push local councils to implement rates based on land value rather than capital value. ...
The Māori Affairs Select Committee has recommended that anyone wanting to use the word 'Parihaka' for commercial purposes must get permission from the Parihaka Papakainga Trust. ...
European politics is a strange business. Where voters can choose candidates, who disappear after the elections. Where right-wing governments nominate left-sounding candidates. ...
Ruby Porter’s debut novel, Attraction, is a lucid, layered story of three young women on a road trip across the North Island. It’s one of the best books we’ve read this year. Here, Ruby writes about her grandmother – who ...
ByRNZ Pacific West Papuan fighters have killed an Indonesian soldier in a renewed threat to Jakarta’s road project there. State news agency Antara reported the hit-and-run attack on Saturday took place in Nduga regency, where pro-independence forces are ...
In 2003 the Silver Ferns won the Netball World Cup, breaking the Australian Diamonds’ 16-year winning streak. In 2019, they’ve just done the same thing. Leana de Bruin was a rookie in that 2003 team, and talked to The Spinoff ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Associate Professor, Criminology and Justice Studies, RMIT University A Perth man who pleaded guilty to distributing an intimate image of his ex-girlfriend without her consent has been sentenced to a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Piero Moraro, Lecturer in Criminal Justice, Charles Sturt University The Morrison government has introduced new legislation responding to recent protests by animal rights activists in Australia. The bill –named The Criminal Code ...
One of the many unspoken rules of British life is that when one is drinking at the pub with others, one buys rounds. For the naive New Zealander, it’s stressful AF, says Elle Hunt.At the pub one Friday night in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David King, Senior Lecturer, The University of Queensland Dry, moist, productive, hacking, chesty, whooping, barking, throaty. These are just some of the terms people use to describe their cough. While we’re deep ...
What if you could grow a house from seed or 3D print a new subdivision in a week? The housing sector is ripe for disruption – could technology be the magic bullet we need?Jo Aitken sounds like she’s pitching an ...
The architect of the incredible turnaround the Silver Ferns have enjoyed is now off-contract. So now that the World Cup has been won, how can Netball NZ keep Noeline Taurua on the books? Radio NZ’s Ravinder Hunia recounts the journey ...
By RNZ Pacific Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape wants Australia to close the detention centre it has been running on PNG’s Manus island for six years. According to Australian media, Marape has asked Canberra to give him ...
More must be done to tackle critical skill shortages in project management and leadership, the head of the Registered Master Builders Association says. ...
Fifteen tracks, 22 guests, one album. The Spinoff Music listens to Ed Sheeran’s No. 6 Collaborations Project and considers why each track really shouldn’t work – and the sometimes surprising reasons why they do.1. Beautiful People – KhalidKhalid and Ed ...
Emily Writes on her journey from reasonable trepidation to sweet love for the video game Minecraft.It was barely a week after I said to my sister “I don’t let the boys play any games” that my children’s Minecraft obsession began. ...
New Zealanders with life-shortening congenital conditions will have early access to their KiwiSavers after a man with Down Syndrome convinced the government to change the rules. ...
Sephora store employees may have swept some confetti down Auckland city’s drains on Saturday, and people got angry… at an entire generation. On Saturday, French cosmetics giant Sephora opened its first New Zealand store on Auckland’s Queen Street. Excited makeup enthusiasts ...
More than 20,000 Aucklanders don’t have access to regular showers or the ability to wash their clothing. Alice Webb-Liddall tags along on a shift with Orange Sky, who are giving homeless people back these basic needs.On an overcast Friday morning ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Senior Fellow, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University If the first week of the 46th Parliament was heavily ceremonial – dominated by the new governor-general, a raft of first-time MPs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Walker, Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University In a world run ragged by multiple crises and an unravelling of American global leadership, military confrontation in the Gulf poses risks ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Craig Dalton, Conjoint Senior Lecturer School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle Over recent months, the news has been saturated with headlines claiming we’re experiencing a “killer flu season”. Researchers ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Richard Braczkowski, PhD Candidate – Wildlife Cameraman, The University of Queensland Last week saw the release of the rebooted The Lion King, an attempt to capitalise on the billion-dollar success of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Fenner, Associate Professor at UNSW Art & Design, UNSW Over the past few weeks, artists from around Australia have been creating small artworks depicting the endangered black-throated finch and sending them ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Craig Campbell, Associate Professor, University of Sydney New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian made a “captain’s call” in recent months that raised the ire of many parents, teachers and education groups. She ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Beer, Dean, Research and Innovation, University of South Australia Australia’s biggest city is abuzz with news of yet another housing development declared unsafe for human habitation. This time it is apartments ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Many claim leadership positions around farming emissions, concerns rise about deported gang members in small towns, and superyacht predictions panned.Now apologies if you feel like this is repetition – we did ...
Against all odds, the Silver Ferns have won netball's World Cup for the first time in 16 years. And fittingly, one of the legends of the game sealed their incredible victory. ...
What are you getting out of your daily commute? University of Auckland Associate Professor Kim Dirks considers the health implications for getting from A to B. ...
If Beijing’s actions have any bearing on what will happen when the agreement of ‘one country, two systems’ expires, the Hong Kong people are unlikely to succumb quietly. ...
Six things councils can do right now to make the ’emergency’ worth more than the paper it’s written on.Councils are declaring climate emergencies across the country, but with only a decade to cut carbon emissions in half, it’s time for ...
Newsroom literary editor Steve Braunias passes his verdict on the annual list of the 100 favourite books of New Zealanders who filled out a Whitcoulls form. ...
Orchestral music performance is an art form, but how do you engage with something you’ve never experienced before? Samiyah Alghamdi and Anna Knox attend NYO Celebrates in Wellington and unpack what they hear.The National Youth Orchestra and the National Youth ...
Open mike 21/01/2016 
Open mike is your post.
In the wake of the March 15 mass-murder, the government moved swiftly to ban semi-automatic firearms, weapons for which there is really no case for being allowed to own in New Zealand. and now, it has announced phase two of ...10 hours ago
I have been unimpressed with Western corporate media coverage of the tensions involving Iran in the Straits of Hormuz. They repeat the line that Iran is the source of current tensions, that it is a major sponsor of terrorism, that ...2 days ago
2 days ago
2 days ago
Much like Tuvalu, the manmade climate change Cult love to tell people the Maldives is almost totally underwater. In fact the dishonest Maldives Govt d on the same bandwagon, believing they would receive billions of dollars aid from other Countries ...2 days ago
As the entry on Wikipedia shows (and no, one doesn’t necessarily have to regard Wikipedia as the be-all and end-all of truth, because it isn’t on a great many things, to agree with the following): “…a fallacious argument that concludes ...2 days ago
by Daphna Whitmore The story of how the world awoke to a big injustice is starting to be told. The Pacific Games held this month in Samoa is another chapter. On the podium was Laurel Hubbard, the giant transgender weightlifter, ...3 days ago
Our conversations and push against specific supremacist and ultra-Nationalist groups, and the pseudo-intellectual underpinnings of them, need to mature at all levels. But in doing so, it’s going to have to include a more thorough and brutally honest self-examination ...3 days ago
Something I missed: not only did Youth MPs declare a climate emergency; they also launched a campaign to lower the voting age to 16:Youth Parliament week in Parliament has seen the establishment of Make it 16, a campaign to ...4 days ago
The proposed Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill treats biogenic methane emissions differently from all other carbon emissions. The latter are to be measured net so that emissions from fossil fuels can be offset by carbon stored in trees. ...5 days ago
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh This article aims to answer a simple question, whether the conflict is only a rural one or whether it is also urban. The verb ‘to be’ is conjugated in the present tense as ,despite what some ...5 days ago
6 days ago
On Sunday July 7, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter announced their intention to review the Ministry of Health’s Funded Family Care policy and repeal Part 4Aof the 2000 NZ Public Health and Disability Act. These are festering injustices ...7 days ago
Belle is a lovely fifteen year-old border collie who belongs to our friends and neighbours at Bryan’s Beach, Michael and Judy Corboy. Belle, in her old age, can hardly see or hear, but – as a constant participant at social ...7 days ago
An occasional series where I will ponder allegations of anti-Semitism directed at the British Labour Party and its members.In this case, we are thinking about an allegedly anti-Semitic image shared by a Labour Party member. Its origins appear to be ...2 weeks ago
2 weeks ago
2 weeks ago
The first full week of the firearms buy-back and amnesty has produced a strong turnout as events roll out nationwide for the first time. “Momentum is slowly starting to build as community collection events are held across the entire country, ...18 hours ago
Media statement on behalf of Sir Edward Taihākurei Durie and Donna Marie Tai Tokerau Hall: Māori Television has admitted publishing false allegations about former High Court justice, Sir Edward Taihākurei Durie, and his wife, Donna Hall, and it has ...7 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Martin Parkinson, secretary of the Prime Minister’s department, has cleared Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop of breaching the government’s code of ministerial standards with their ...1 hour ago
Sam Brooks reviews the second season of Big Little Lies, which generated as much social media conversation as its first season did critical acclaim, for better and worse.Light spoilers for the second season of Big Little Lies.Big Little Lies felt like the ...6 hours ago
Cross-party consensus on gun law reform was a one-time wonder. ...7 hours ago
ANALYSIS: By David Robie Indonesia recently hosted a bold public relations window-dressing expo in Auckland presenting itself as a “Pacific” nation while attempting to provide an unconvincing impression of normality in the two Melanesian provinces known collectively as West ...7 hours ago
Taxing vacant land would be too complex to implement and achieve little - it would be better for the Government to push local councils to implement rates based on land value rather than capital value. ...7 hours ago
The Māori Affairs Select Committee has recommended that anyone wanting to use the word 'Parihaka' for commercial purposes must get permission from the Parihaka Papakainga Trust. ...8 hours ago
European politics is a strange business. Where voters can choose candidates, who disappear after the elections. Where right-wing governments nominate left-sounding candidates. ...9 hours ago
A decade on from his darkest hour, can the NZ First leader again defy the odds and keep his political career alive? ...9 hours ago
Ruby Porter’s debut novel, Attraction, is a lucid, layered story of three young women on a road trip across the North Island. It’s one of the best books we’ve read this year. Here, Ruby writes about her grandmother – who ...9 hours ago
By RNZ Pacific West Papuan fighters have killed an Indonesian soldier in a renewed threat to Jakarta’s road project there. State news agency Antara reported the hit-and-run attack on Saturday took place in Nduga regency, where pro-independence forces are ...10 hours ago
In 2003 the Silver Ferns won the Netball World Cup, breaking the Australian Diamonds’ 16-year winning streak. In 2019, they’ve just done the same thing. Leana de Bruin was a rookie in that 2003 team, and talked to The Spinoff ...10 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Associate Professor, Criminology and Justice Studies, RMIT University A Perth man who pleaded guilty to distributing an intimate image of his ex-girlfriend without her consent has been sentenced to a ...10 hours ago
The second tranche of proposed far-reaching changes includes a gun register, tighter licensing rules, and five-year licences. ...11 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Piero Moraro, Lecturer in Criminal Justice, Charles Sturt University The Morrison government has introduced new legislation responding to recent protests by animal rights activists in Australia. The bill –named The Criminal Code ...11 hours ago
One of the many unspoken rules of British life is that when one is drinking at the pub with others, one buys rounds. For the naive New Zealander, it’s stressful AF, says Elle Hunt.At the pub one Friday night in ...12 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David King, Senior Lecturer, The University of Queensland Dry, moist, productive, hacking, chesty, whooping, barking, throaty. These are just some of the terms people use to describe their cough. While we’re deep ...12 hours ago
The government is planning an overhaul of biosecurity funding, but a lack of detail is making farming sectors nervous. ...12 hours ago
What if you could grow a house from seed or 3D print a new subdivision in a week? The housing sector is ripe for disruption – could technology be the magic bullet we need?Jo Aitken sounds like she’s pitching an ...13 hours ago
The architect of the incredible turnaround the Silver Ferns have enjoyed is now off-contract. So now that the World Cup has been won, how can Netball NZ keep Noeline Taurua on the books? Radio NZ’s Ravinder Hunia recounts the journey ...13 hours ago
By RNZ Pacific Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape wants Australia to close the detention centre it has been running on PNG’s Manus island for six years. According to Australian media, Marape has asked Canberra to give him ...14 hours ago
More must be done to tackle critical skill shortages in project management and leadership, the head of the Registered Master Builders Association says. ...14 hours ago
Emily Writes on her journey from reasonable trepidation to sweet love for the video game Minecraft.It was barely a week after I said to my sister “I don’t let the boys play any games” that my children’s Minecraft obsession began. ...16 hours ago
Sephora store employees may have swept some confetti down Auckland city’s drains on Saturday, and people got angry… at an entire generation. On Saturday, French cosmetics giant Sephora opened its first New Zealand store on Auckland’s Queen Street. Excited makeup enthusiasts ...17 hours ago
More than 20,000 Aucklanders don’t have access to regular showers or the ability to wash their clothing. Alice Webb-Liddall tags along on a shift with Orange Sky, who are giving homeless people back these basic needs.On an overcast Friday morning ...18 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ashlee Curtis, Research Fellow, School of Psychology, Deakin University The Victorian government introduced 24-hour public transport on Friday and Saturday nights in Melbourne from January 1 2016. Services mostly run every hour ...18 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Senior Fellow, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University If the first week of the 46th Parliament was heavily ceremonial – dominated by the new governor-general, a raft of first-time MPs ...19 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Richard Braczkowski, PhD Candidate – Wildlife Cameraman, The University of Queensland Last week saw the release of the rebooted The Lion King, an attempt to capitalise on the billion-dollar success of ...19 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Fenner, Associate Professor at UNSW Art & Design, UNSW Over the past few weeks, artists from around Australia have been creating small artworks depicting the endangered black-throated finch and sending them ...19 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Craig Campbell, Associate Professor, University of Sydney New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian made a “captain’s call” in recent months that raised the ire of many parents, teachers and education groups. She ...19 hours ago
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Many claim leadership positions around farming emissions, concerns rise about deported gang members in small towns, and superyacht predictions panned.Now apologies if you feel like this is repetition – we did ...20 hours ago
Against all odds, the Silver Ferns have won netball's World Cup for the first time in 16 years. And fittingly, one of the legends of the game sealed their incredible victory. ...21 hours ago
Forestry NZ challenges several claims made in Dame Anne Salmond's commentary in Newsroom last week, ‘Billion Trees policy being rorted’. ...21 hours ago
What are you getting out of your daily commute? University of Auckland Associate Professor Kim Dirks considers the health implications for getting from A to B. ...21 hours ago
Democrats face a real conundrum in the candidate they pick to run against Donald Trump. Peter McKenzie explains why. ...21 hours ago
If Beijing’s actions have any bearing on what will happen when the agreement of ‘one country, two systems’ expires, the Hong Kong people are unlikely to succumb quietly. ...21 hours ago
Jerome Kaino deserves to sit alongside the greats who retired from test rugby at the 2015 World Cup. ...21 hours ago
Six things councils can do right now to make the ’emergency’ worth more than the paper it’s written on.Councils are declaring climate emergencies across the country, but with only a decade to cut carbon emissions in half, it’s time for ...22 hours ago
The construction industry has a multi-pronged attack plan to fill desperately needed gaps ...22 hours ago
Newsroom literary editor Steve Braunias passes his verdict on the annual list of the 100 favourite books of New Zealanders who filled out a Whitcoulls form. ...22 hours ago
Businesses of fewer than 20 employees make up 97 percent of NZ's enterprises. But on the flip side, 10 percent go into liquidation. ...22 hours ago
Orchestral music performance is an art form, but how do you engage with something you’ve never experienced before? Samiyah Alghamdi and Anna Knox attend NYO Celebrates in Wellington and unpack what they hear.The National Youth Orchestra and the National Youth ...1 day ago
If things are as bad for the residential landlord class as claims Andrew King, chief executive of the New Zealand Property Investors Federation – in Auckland $250 plus down EVERY week of the year – one wonders that anyone risks their financial future by becoming one.
I mean these are meant to be canny lads and lasses right into the Brighter Future a la their idol Mr Gauche. Altruism usually takes the back burner when doom is in the offing so there’s obviously an upside which King is fully aware of but dishonestly withholds.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11575770
Will someone who knows ‘stuff’ comment here please. Maybe many already have given King’s bleat is dated 18/1/16.
+1. Greed & dishonesty.
the property is not bought as a rental. It is bought as a speculation object, and in the mean time is rented. It does actually not matter if it covers the mortgage or not.
And why should rent cover mortgage, considering that the ‘rental’ will bring in money of many many decades.
One of the houses that sold in my street was rented to one lady and her kids for over 20 years. She never managed to save enough to buy a house (min wage, no extra income, etc) she did make enough to spend over 300.000 $ in rent during the time she lived there. In that time nothing was done to the interior, which is the reason the house in the end sold for 200.000 $ less than the next house which was build at the same time and got renovated before sales. $ 690.000 unrenovated – build in the 1980 vs 890.000 renovated – build at the same time.
So if you consider that maybe the houses/land in westie land would have been about 100.000 initially, one could say that the property owner (well the son who inherited it) made a good profit on it. Did the rent initially cover the mortgage, probably not. Did the rent cover the mortgage and then some in the end. Yes it did
So Andrew King, chief executive of the New Zealand Property Investors Federation IS dishonest. And possessed by a nasty sense of entitlement. Thought as much.
King wouldn’t also be an ACToid, or would he ? This is why I ask – from the article – King, (complainingly) – “Insulation in rental properties is to be compulsory……” – wait for it – “……. whether the tenant wants it or not.”
Ah……that fine old piece of ACToid delusion……”choice”. It’s way preferable to avoidance of ill health, any fool can see that. Besides…..all their tenants tell them so. http://www.ehinz.ac.nz/indicators/indoor-environment/health-conditions-related-to-cold-and-damp-houses/
It is not that he is dishonest, he is just very flexible with the truth.
If I buy a rental today as an investment, and want to hold on to it throughout my retirment an maybe leave it in the family then clearly it is a ‘rental’. If i buy a rental today with the intention to rent it until the market has provided enough incentive to sell it, then it is an object of speculation, which is what we are currently seeing.
the rental object will be in my family for 30 – 50 – 150 years maybe (consider that in europe many of the old houses are still in the hands of the same families, have been modified to accommodate more people, renovated, upgraded etc). Now initially the rent will not cover monthly or weekly mortgage payment, but at some stage the mortgage is paid and the rent becomes income and gain.
Consider also that lets say a mortgage of $ 600 per week might be the honest price for a property. But would $ 750 be an honest rental price for the same property? (and yes i added $ 150 to cover costs of admin, rates, n leaky roof)? Depends, what stage is the house in? How old is the carpet, fixings n trimmings?
So you see the mortgage of 600 is fine, after all one gets a property n stuff – an investment that even might be worth double or triple in the future, but the maximum rent for the same property due to its state might only be worth $ 360, and voila the rent does not cover the mortgage.
So at best the good man is paid to be a misleading shill and won’t somebody please think of the poor and misunderstood property owners and their staff in the the property industry.
Shoot, what’s the world coming to when you can’t even trust a real estate agent’s spin doctor? 👿
It’s not hard to pull apart his argument.
IMO the big lie is the sly insinuation they paid latest price for their properties, they always talk about the costs of a house bought at the current price. In truth they largely charge today’s rents for yesterday’s houses, their own costs are much less than they infer.
He’s sure got some chutzpah. Whining about his business not being allowed to claim depreciation while he pays no tax on his property’s massive appreciation. Life is so unfair isn’t it, poor guy.
His whine about depreciation is easily fixed … Allow depreciation BUT then tax all capital gains, and the depreciation that was claimed on sale will be recovered so it is only a timing matter. Sure the property owner gets some small tax relief but pays this back, and the govt books benefit from all capital gains achieved.
I wish Andrew King was correct in saying “Andrew King: Rental prices in NZ are actually quite reasonable” If they were and kiwis were paid a reasonable wage then there would be no necessity for an Accommodation Supplement. As in 2011 we were paying out $1.2b, take this away then the rental market has $1.2b less to spend on accommodation and rentals should fall. Unfortunately the world does not operate under “market driven basis”, 🙁
http://www.interest.co.nz/property/60426/govt-reviewing-accommodation-supplement-rent-subsidy-housing-minister-heatley-says
This is interesting on Hillary Clinton’s adviser Sidney Blumenthal and France’s real reasons for supporting the invasion of Libya.
https://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/329404-episode-max-keiser-864/
“In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss what the price of sardines teaches us about disintermediation. They also discuss the strange email from Sidney Blumenthal to Hillary Clinton about the real reason for France’s invasion of Libya. In the second half, Max continues his interview with Reggie Middleton about Pathogenic Finance: The autonomous, anti-fragile, trustless paradigm shift transforming banking, brokerage, securities and insurance.
That segment on Pathogenic Finance with Reggie Middleton is brilliant . That’s a game changer that would do to the financial sector what peer-to-peer file sharing did to the music and film industries. I can see the full force of Wall Street pushing back on that idea.
With the proposed signing of the TPP looming, there seems to be more people interested in e accessing information about it. I recommend the following link
https://tpplegal.wordpress.com
As well as expert analysis on 3 papers, there are excellent articles in the commentary section.
Thanks for those links and the Tiriti one in the other thread.
Kia ora TMM
This is another on Māori and TPP – you may already have put it up
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1601/S00106/expert-paper-on-tppa-treaty-of-waitangi.htm
+1 TMM
Good article
The TPP Hands Control Over Trade To The World’s Wealthiest
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/sujata-dey/the-transplutocratic-agre_b_9009970.html
Japanese group sues to stop TPP talks
http://www.capitalpress.com/Nation_World/Nation/20150904/japanese-group-sues-to-stop-tpp-talks
Do you know if anything happened in Japan regarding the last story?
I notice that it is dated 4 September 2015 and that all the comments are from about four months ago.
Might be of interest to some people here, a sexual harassment shitstorm unravelling in the american indie music world, http://jezebel.com/how-women-on-twitter-brought-down-a-music-publicist-acc-1753964374
That is a very interesting write up, thanks. It’s a good example of why non-rapist men need to step up and end rape culture. Women are doing what they can, and some men, but if the only way that that situation with the publicist could be dealt with was via twitter there is something very wrong (not that that’s news). I’m very glad that those women used twitter in this way, and I’m disgusted that they had to and that the people in the culture they live and work within are all pretty much ignoring and/or supporting rape culture.
And in standing up be prepared for paying the same price that women do who speak up – or who turn down such advances.
Threats of dismissal, overlooked for promotion, spoken about behind your back, and so on and so on.
Having been through this quite a few times it’s an interesting experience to be sure.
Wouldn’t never not do it though.
Living with yourself is in my view much much better than living with the abusers.
+1
I liked this from Chris Trotters Bowalley Road article.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2016/01/not-by-bread-and-butter-alone-making.html
Very profound and true. I often wonder why people become super competitive – that is, to the extent that they just HAVE to be better/outdo the next man/woman. we’re constantly told that should be what drives us.
I used to wonder about that amongst musicians (guitarists for example who strove and claim to be better than say Clapton, rather than simply trying to improve themselves; or dealing room wideboys competing to outdo their colleagues). That seems to be simply an exercise in stroking ones own ego.
We’re constantly told the competitive spirit and ambition = good. I’ve seen some pretty devastated people with those attributes when a bit of shit hits the fan – as in they totally can’t cope and spend their days beating themselves up.
I guess we might be in for quite a few people jumping out of Wall Street windows in the not too distant
Competition in the right place can be a good spur. I wouldn’t mind at all if NZ pollies aimed to keep us up with the other countries with innovative, future thinking measures say about the environment, or to bring recidivism from crims down etc.
Not aim for the top, just achievable ashperashuns. But no. Lazy Maysie and Co. are off on holiday.
Love it! 100%.
yep, however I’m not sure they need to ‘compete’ necessarily, but just like the 4th Estate ….. they just need to do their fucking jobs and act with a bit of principle and a few ethics.
“…we might be in for quite a few people jumping out of Wall Street windows…”
They’ve been doing that for a while now…
http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/01/bankers-suicide-conspiracy/
Listen both National and Labour while they tell us that we can’t do what’s needed to make our society better. It’s all about keeping us in a very narrow mindset of profit for the rich.
We have, over the last thirty years, allowed ourselves to be straight-jacketed into being what the oligarchs want us to be.
For the political tragics:
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/20/lynton-crosby-and-dead-cat-won-election-conservatives-labour-intellectually-lazy
lol
Tory whose campaign strategy revolves around “brevity, relentlessness, focus on and leverage of public preconceptions” suggests that Labour should have done more policy debating and public confessionals. Cheers for the advice, Lynton…
something we are likely to hear more about this year…particularly now JC has a platform back…a brief overview of the real recovery
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/125997072/Article%20North%20%20South%20Nov%202015.pdf
Bernie at the 4th Democratic debate.
Assuming O’Sullivan’s correct about the SkyCity venue ……. would say it all really. And tacky tacky tacky ! Let’s pray the sounds won’t be down to New Camelot Max.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11577333
we live in intersting times.
I was told by a friend that the signing in AKL is only for the press. The official signing with dignitaries n such could be at a more formal site. Signing of the TPPa at Waitangi anyone? lol….interesting times.
A report by the Sustainability Council shows that under the TPPA, the Investors will be able to sue governments especially in matters relating to the environment.
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/confirmed-investors-can-sue-govt-under-tppa/
#FlushTheTPPA
Weldon has canned 3 News. Oh dear.
Explain please.
TV3 news has been canned.
It’s now a current affairs thing called newshub. Last throw of the dice by media works before removing news and analysis althogether.
I think it was Paxman I heard say, “An informed society is a healthy society”. Weldon’s vision for NZ society seems to be going in the opposite direction, unsurprisingly.
Mark Weldon ex nz stock exchange resigned mid 2012 and a year or so later went to channel 3 and has been showing how it can make more money in any way it can.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/67676498/Mark-Weldon-MediaWorks-man-of-the-moment
He left the NZ Stock Exchange :
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/5741679/Mark-Weldon-to-leave-NZX
His career parallels that of John Key, though Weldon has specialised in law and business mergers and acquisitions.
He took up various other things, and then went to TV3
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/diligent-nabs-weldon-board-role-wb-118726
Oh but better and bigger Muttonbird. Now TV3 Newshub at 6pm.
“The service will provide the latest news and in-depth analysis, with a dedicated, state-of-the-art app and website and TV and radio news bulletins across MediaWorks’ channels – as well as fuelling news content across other programmes such asPaul Henry.”
So a reverse of Checkpoint on RNZ – or something?
TV3 News flash to our great Newshub media team –
Let’s all join hands and play American Whispers along the chain (not Chinese now they are our friends) which will ensure stories go across all Mediawork channels. Sometimes we’ll start the story at one end and it will finish up with Paul Henry, and sometimes the other way round.
We will add to our reports spice, verve, topicality, tons of amusing opinion, and plenty of room for surmise and prophetic announcements. All participants will bear their own slander legal fees, and compulsory insurance should be entered into pronto
So before anything too controversial or about serial litigants, check with the legal team.
/sarc edited
dontcha just lerv the lingo – there goes the Mark of a total bullshit artist. A Key player in the new media vironmint (going forwid)
Ekshully, there’s been a series on the National Geographic Channel (such as that travesty to the name is – it’s founders are busy rolling in their graves) looking at the 80’s, then the 90’s,and now the 00’s.
It’d be interesting to look back on this decade from the future – it won’t be pretty.
Mark and Joolie (all kitted out with stetson). It’ll look something like the Class of 87.
Euthanasia.
Interesting discussion on Pundit. Especially the refuting by Andrew Geddis, of misleading stats used by the writer Matthew Jansen.
http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/assisted-suicide-is-not-a-progressive-issue
And a sad article by Hugh Thorpe and his dilemma over his wife Rhona’s dementia in relation to the case for euthanasia.
http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/euthanasia-my-personal-opinion
The Roger ‘Peoples Choice’ Award
Have a look – all of the world’s money markets in one visualisation, it’s staggering:
http://money.visualcapitalist.com/all-of-the-worlds-money-and-markets-in-one-visualization/
To help us comprehend the massive numbers (billions, trillions, quadrillions), this 5-minute video ‘How much is a trillion dollars’ is useful:
http://www.peakprosperity.com/video/85844/playlist/92161/crash-course-chapter-12-how-much-trillion
stick a match to it CV – better to do it now than later. It’s all paper anyway…..and total crapola. There are better uses for paper – like things more meaningful to societies.
why put people through constructs (such as ‘austerity’) when in the end the inevitable will happen?
I ‘spose its because it makes money (as opposed to ‘currency’).
Roll on the crash I say – the sooner the better!
Dizzy times ahead for bottled ‘100% Pure NZ’ water.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/76117504/hawkes-bay-companys-first-shipment-of-drinking-water-rejected-by-china
China doesn’t like too much nitrite in it’s water…can’t think why.
“”To class water as ‘spring or artesian’ for the New Zealand market the maximum level of the naturally occurring nitrite is 0.2mg/L while the Chinese maximum level is 0.005mg/L. Unfortunately the levels of nitrite were higher than the Chinese standard hence the product was returned,” she said.
Roderick Brodie, University of Auckland marketing professor, said the Chinese requirements were stringent.
But he said the concern was that a rejection on the basis of nitrite could be read as being linked to excessive use of fertiliser.
“The Hawke’s Bay bottling company needs to come out with a very strong press release to counter this, so that we don’t have anyone saying we’re not a clean and green country.”
He said Fertiliser might not have anything to do with it, but that was the risk that was run.”
Picky beggars those Chinese…what’s a bit of nitrite between friends?
Who owns New Zealand’s water?
http://www.3news.co.nz/tvshows/campbelllive/who-owns-new-zealands-water-2015041518#axzz3xrFYeoaP
“Less than one per cent of the wealth created since 2000 has gone to the poorest 50 per cent of the world’s population, new research has revealed.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/rich-have-only-got-richer-since-2000-davos-a6823281.html
“‘Dumping ground’ fears over paying state house applicants to leave Auckland”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/76099297/dumping-ground-fears-over-paying-state-house-applicants-to-leave-auckland
So this is what effing Bennett has spent her holiday cooking up. Regional centres have enough on their plates without having to deal with her relocated Aucklanders.
Pricks are still at it.
.
Brianna Wu
@Spacekatgal
The morning, my college reached out to me. Gamergate has been impersonating me attempting to get copies of my college transcripts to release
Brianna Wu @Spacekatgal Jan 19
It’s been a harassment shit show like this for several weeks. As @JessicaValenti said, Gamergate didn’t end, we just forgot about it.
https://twitter.com/Spacekatgal/status/689552337417965569