I know TRP thinks the Guardian is the font of all knowledge from the UK, but the anti-Brexit partisanship of the liberal urban elites is reaching a fever pitch of hysteria.
Chief amongst these neolib Blairite apologists is Polly Toynbee, who wrote a most amazing column today that recklessly calls for an elite coup against the Brexit referendum result.
Let’s make no mistake – she is calling for a coup. She wants the Westminster political class – mostly members of the Oxbridge elite like her – to walk away from the manifesto promises they were elected on the ensure that the UK does not leave the E.U.
Toynbee is an old woman (72) and a noted turncoat from the days of the SDP split (which guaranteed Thatcher’s majority for a decade) but even for a spiteful old woman this call for a palace coup and elite seizure of power is extraordinary.
Whatever you think of the economic and social consequences of Brexit, it will amount to the most crushing defeat of the hegemony of the Oxbridge leadership class in a century – a breaking that the UK badly needs, since that class’s leadership has been calamitous for the fortunes of that country.
In a sense, Toynbee is right – Brexit will define the British political struggle for a generation or more – and her class will be sidelined from that struggle, and she loathes that idea more than anything else.
It’s not Polly Toynbee’s fault that Corbyn has had no leadership to offer for the last couple of years because he’s on the same side as May on this issue. That lack of leadership is reflected in the polls – Labour should have been giving the Tories a hiding the last couple of years, but are about equal with them in the polls, which reflects its performance being as woeful as the Tories’.
Whatever you think of the economic and social consequences of Brexit, it will amount to the most crushing defeat of the hegemony of the Oxbridge leadership class in a century…
I can never follow this concept that a country being plunged into economic disaster and misery is a good thing because misery will make people rise up against their political masters. Go out and try to sell that one to voters, if you dare.
“Corbyn has had no leadership to offer for the last couple of years”
I hear this a bit – Corbyn lacks leadership.What does leadership look like under these circumstances? Is ‘leadership’ just shorthand for calling for a 2nd referendum in the hope of stopping Brexit?
In a way I hope he would do this – rather than insist he can negotiate a better deal than May, which seems rather unlikely given Europe’s determination to make it difficult. I think it would probably increase his appeal to the electorate. There is a lot to dislike about the EU – especially the insistence on austerity at its deprived margins. But maybe Corbyn should back-burner those concerns for now because it is essential to kill the Tories.
Let me re-phrase that. The EU has made it difficult for May to cherry-pick the bits the Tories want – such as no freedom of movement for people but with unrestricted access to markets for goods and services.
Corbyn’s teams sole mission is to make sure Brexit is owned 100% by the Tories, keep the spotlight on them and simultaneously try and keep their own equally split party out of the headlines – especially important for a Corbyn led Labour because the left-policing liberal elites like Toynbee and the Labour “centrists” (who basically want a continuation of Thatcherism with diversity quotas) hate Corbyn even more than they do Brexit. Just look at how the self-styled “independent group” has switched the media circus back to Labour, and given the Oxbridge class another chance to write another round of wildly imtemperate attack pieces and to smear Corbyn. It isn’t like he isn’t constantly smeared by the Murdoch papers as well.. oh wait…
The thing to remember about the polls is Labour was miles behind in 2017 until the rules around fair reporting kicked in and then they almost won, so given the hysterical tone of the establishment media opposition to Corbyn plus the redtops I reckon level pegging is a bit of a miracle.
Secondly, if you haven’t noticed the UK is currently in an existential crisis, a crisis a century in the making and a crisis entirely the making of an utterly decadent class structure that hasn’t changed since the 1870s. Brexit won’t plunge the UK into “…into economic disaster and misery…” – the underlying economic crisis that put in train Brexit has been brewing for forty years and has been exacerbated by the squandering of North Sea oil wealth and a failure (at the behest of finance) to deal with the consequences of an over-inflated currency on the competitiveness of British industry.
Britain is facing a very bleak future with or without Brexit unless something fundamental changes. Even without Brexit it is an over-populated island with exhausted natural resources, facing an existential identity crisis, and an economy entirely reliant on a narrow, London based, bloated and corrupt financial sector and ruled over by a decadent elite comprising a recklessly irresponsible ruling elite propped up by a smug, out of touch and complacent (neo) liberal middle class.
Such old school socialist thinking. The UK is much more than a London based financial sector. There are in fact huge amounts of innovative and creative businesses that have sprung up over the past 30 to 40 years.
Evidently respect for age and experience is not a feature of this world you live in,
Quite a few people here indulge in this ageist bashing as if they never plan on being old themselves. And even then as an identity group it’s an especially daft one at best.
Well said Anne – I too belong in that age group and found that description quite hurtful. At 73 I don’t think of myself as old and ready to be written off on that basis
I now tend to think of people as being of undefined gender, race, culture and an age as this means no offence can be taken. There are many ways this can be translated into speech, such as, “so you are a Grey Power member of mixed age?” or “ah.. the man of mixed race?” or “Oh sorry, I’m meaning the entity of mixed age, random culture and unidentified gender.”
Unfortunately you, like I, are in the same age bracket as Michael Cullen.
Now there is a spiteful and bitter old man. He still hasn’t got over the fact that New Zealand dumped him and his ilk because there was a far better option available.
He is still taking digs at John Key, in spite of all the kind things the Key Government did for him.
Cullen is the best finance minister NZ has had since the Savage administration, admittedly a mighty low bar.
The Key government on the other hand was morally and intellectually bankrupt – the hordes of foreigners they brought in were the only way their backward, irresponsible and frequently corrupt policies could be faked up as GDP growth.
The biggest failing of the coalition to date is not throwing the crooks in jail. SCF, Christchurch, a number of irrigation schemes and financial improprieties in respect of the soft loans to Mediaworks would have had those responsible locked up in most countries with any pretense to a rule of law.
i hear the chinese government tents to kill high ranking officers that are caught double dipping, or defrauding the government, or for any other corruption if it finds it needy.
wonder if someone like the double dipper would have been left to ‘reorganise’ their affairs after being caught defrauding the government for personal gain?
The pattern I saw when I was in China suggests that someone like Bill would have been imprisoned for a couple of years, and taught a trade like hairdressing or floristry, and told – “don’t let us catch you screwing up again”.
The Korean prosecution service enjoys the power to imprison former politicians while it completes its investigations, which was found necessary to prevent them running around ‘tidying up’ after investigations begin. They also routinely select politicians to audit on the basis of anomalous growth of net wealth. It is safe to say that under Korean justice, a thoroughly corrupt operator like Key would be spending the next two decades minimum, in durance vile.
Of course most of the Key administration’s crimes have not been properly investigated. But SCF stands out, the misappropriation of the assets of one of the wealthiest and most astute self-made businesspeople in the South Island, without a whiff of legal process. Hubbard’s only error was in reposing any trust in the likes of Key and English, who stripped him of his wealth and did him to death as cynically as Stalin did to the kulaks.
You follow politics to some degree Gosman – you know damned well which of the Gnats are as crooked as dogs’ hind legs. Key’s insider trading in railway shares alone would’ve sufficed to have him in prison in the US.
I doubt it – but I believe that there is a very unhealthy convention, of not going after the crooks in previous governments, which is part of the reason we have such high levels of entrenched systemic corruption.
The China Investment Bank is another example – created to provide sinecures for the likes of Jenny Shipley, it will never return value on a par with its start up costs to NZ unless it is run by qualified and experienced financial managers instead of politicised primary teachers.
“admittedly a mighty low bar”.
Indeed yes. I’m sure you will excuse my laughter at the thought that Walter Nash is your examplar of a great Finance Minister?
On the other hand he was certainly better than Michael.
But then anyone would have been better that Michael.
Let us just say that Walter was better than 3 or 4 of those since 1935.
Certainly he was better than Muldoon, Peters and Cullen. Perhaps there is another one.
No, let us not say “anyone would’ve been better than Michael”.
There’s no room for lies that fatuous.
And before you have go at Nash, you’d do well to recall that he managed a housing scheme that dwarfs anything a New Zealand government has run since, without creating problems on the finance end.
Cullen was and remains infinitely better than the much lauded but frankly fucking hopeless Bill English for example. If you read MSM descriptions of English you’d’ve thought he was the fucking messiah – but outside our goldfish bowl no-one ever heard of him and no-one wanted a bar of him, which is why he had to shoot through to Oz to get a job with Nathans after he finally destroyed his political career.
English never met a single Treasury target and they had nothing but praise for him; Cullen invariably outperformed their predictions – and they hated him for it – he repeatedly proved their incompetence. The only pity is that he didn’t sack most of them, it’s the most overstaffed and least productive outfit in the civil service – and that includes the farcically inept Immigration service.
What a bunch of old farts. Whining and demanding Extreme Respect just because you are old. Old people who care about the world and other people can’t afford to be PC. And can’t demand to be regarded as saint-like and above approach. I hate smarmy saints; give them a few transgressions so that real aware humans can integrate with them and understand each other and the complex world that it always has been.
Sanctuary often goes OTT. It’s not fair Sanctuary to call Toynbee spiteful and old; either would convey an aspect to be considered. It seems when you get old the essence of meanness and selfishness in you concentrates, or you wake up from Rip Van Winkle state, start, and gather yourself for a foray into things. By the way I turned 77 this month. So i know something about the world and being old. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biUvH1XcVmg
With that group of ‘old farts’ no-one should afford some respect to them as they are always running down all those who they don’t see eye to eye with, and they don’t show respect for others either.
Many of us are old farts only in patches. My thought is that we had all last century with things getting better for us and ignored warnings that should have prompted us to do some thinking about our own and society’s directions.
In this century we can’t sit back in our comfy chairs and and behave like little lords and ladies, and let the world go by. We’ve had a hand in making this present debacle, and anyone ‘old’ who isn’t concerned about doing some hard yakka from time to time and putting up with some language that’s off-side, aren’t responding to the call to duty. Goodwill to the young and the planet that birthed us demands it.
I agree we are all guilty of not paying attention to the warnings of scientists and people out in the field. Being precious about getting old is just a distraction. We have not been good guardians. That is a hard sad truth. We need to work at what we personally can do to turn things around. Cheers Greywarshark.
Thanks to the commenters who pointed out that there was no need for the gender based sentence. I’d like to think we’re all capable of formulating our criticisms in a way that is respectful, thoughtful and nuanced. A big ask, sometimes, I know, but we should aim higher than other, lesser blogs, I reckon.
And, Sanctuary, the Grauniad is No3 on my list of go to media outlets, behind the Morning Star and Private Eye. However, the Guardian is far easier to link to than the other two, so it’s the one I use most often as a resource for posting here.
I agree with the fact that the Grauniad is easier to download. Similarly, my first blog visit each morning is now PG’s – because he is an early riser as are some of his commenters. So, by the time I am surfacing , PG has usually already posted about the news stories of the day and it saves me searching! I then go and read his links rather than his abridged versions and the comments.
Since a certain departure, TS tends to get off to slower (more civilised?) starts these days like myself. LOL.
“Departure“? Sounds like landlord spin. Wouldn’t ‘permanent eviction‘ be more accurate?
I understand that permanent ban was welcomed by some who still seem to find it a source of amusement (LOL) – not so keen on post-facto ridicule myself.
While not a cheerleader for Ed’s ‘style’, some of the links they posted were useful to me. I personally found their presence on The Standard less irritating than (say) James, or Bewildered, or Shadrach, or BM, or Alwyn, or Naki man, or infused, or Tuppence Shrewsbury, whose ‘contributions’ to yesterday’s ‘Tax Working Group Proposals’ post ‘helped’ to dampen down ‘echos’.
“It’s simply too much. North Americans consume 638 per cent more meat than the planet can handle, with livestock responsible for about 8 per cent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions owing to burping cows, manure management, and other factors. The world as a whole is at nearly triple its meat carrying capacity according the EAT-Lancet report that outlines the planetary health plate diet.”
Well, she’s just giving us a quick flick with her long tail. I fear it won’t be enough for some places, but others might get a bit of a bollocking if a deep low forms to the east of us. 🙂
if the ‘farmers’ aka those that specialise in resource extraction forget the drought by tomorrow they will be reminded next week that todays piddle was not enough.
I think Labour will propose to bring in a watered down version of the recommendation, most likely the rate payable will be 15% to 20% maximum or inflation indexed. Just a political reality as they will need NZF on board with this one.
Grey is referring to the middle classes who aspire to be like the ‘rich pricks’, so they support tax policies that only advantage the ‘rich pricks’, even when it doesn’t benefit them directly.
This is akin to non-wealthy people buying expensive lotto tickets even though the chances of winning anything is less than miniscule, and even if they do happen to win they realise that doesn’t bring them happiness either.
‘Middle class’ numbers have been shrinking after 2008 if you haven’t noticed?
Now the lower class is much larger now and the remainder “middle class” are now rich as part of the 10% and we are all part of the remainder 90% who are poorer then we were 10 yrs ago.
Labour needs to make the argument about the reduction in income tax for the lower and middle class that can come about as a result of this. How they’ll now be able to afford indexing tax bands for inflation. Make it a tax cut argument rather than a higher tax nightmare
Anything but confronting the skiing and would-be-skiing middle class will put the kiss on the death of Labour. But they can off-lay this onto NZ First this time.
Confrontation of the parasite, subservient class born of freemarket/ rule of the jungle 84 will be hard to avoid to restore a fair society.
Duncan Garner has come out all guns blazing in full support . I know wtf.
This is a slam dunk James old boy .
hooton has know credibility in this country.
Yeah hollow man hooton knows lol what a tosspot James try hard. Hooton is a nothing that nobodies listen to – he’s an egg. A hollow plastic pretend chocolate egg.
how many properties and business investment does Hooton have to be frothing at the mouth at a recommendation that has yet to pass to law?
Still talking up that boy with the sausage sizzler? the one with multiple ownership of properties and the likes?
Does it occur to you that many people in this country don’t own multiple investments and thus are fairly nonplussed that the rich and the very rich have to pay tax on income derived from investment and the likes just like a kid has to pay taxes on his / her paper run?
oh, you own a large property you said, you might be eligible? Bummer dude.
As for Jacinda Ardern being a one term Prime Minister for wanting to levy taxes aimed squarely at her income and investment class, your No Mates Party needs a quick overhaul, cause the current lot is useless, vile, unattractive, unlikable, sexist, dumb and uninspired and has an approval of some 6 % as ‘preferred PM’.
I would say that you just get used to the idea that when you sell your property (and if you only own a ‘family home’ you might even find you are exempt) that you might have to pay a Capital Gain Tax on the profits and find something else to whine about.
oh i get it, you are a temporarily embarrassed millionaire in the making and this tax would not apply to you at all today but maybe in a gazillion years when you are all grown up and rich, and then you would of course not want to pay that tax. I get it. Its future proofing with you. 🙂
Hooton nails it. The capital gains tax is dead on arrival.
People who think “the kiwi way of life” involves owning multiple investment properties will certainly do their damnedest to ensure it is, but they won’t necessarily succeed.
The great majority of voters don’t have investments to pay tax on. The government can pitch this to that great majority on the basis that the wealthy who’ve been avoiding taxes will have to pay some, while the people who work for a living will get an income tax cut. The only thing that will make that an uphill struggle is lying propaganda from Simon and co, and the fact that Winston First is beholden to its donors.
It will have an effect. A damper on the idea that NZ is wiiiiiide open to every money-making schemer, and hopefully we will soon lose our supremacy as being the easiest country in the world to start a business. We have enough of the shams and scams and buying a house as a way of turning promises into real estate. Money is just promises in token or written form, it may not even be good for starting fires.
Hooten is such a fount of knowledge!! sarc..
Hysterical screamer would be closer to the truth. He really screams when losing it. Kathryn Ryan has been known to tell him to tone it down when he lost the plot.
The govt will come out with something minor – maybe just extend the brightline test on property sales to 10 or 20 years and leave the sale of businesses alone for now. It will look all balanced and reasonable.
The key is to move the public discourse in the right direction. Overcoming the initial inertia is the big challenge, but once it’s moving then it’s easier to eventually get somewhere near where you need to be. Overton windows are like gummed-up ranchsliders – it takes sh*tloads of CRC and pushing at the start.
So you’ll keep James, you’ll keep.
The ridiculous comments from Simon Bridges, which has seen him lampooned about what actually constitutes “the Kiwi way of life”, will have the Gnats fuming. Instead of talking about a CGT, his hamfistedness has got people talking about how out of touch he is.
He is a complete embarrassment to them – long may it last.
Talking about the Kiwi way of life, Amy Adams was interviewed by Guyon Espiner on Morning Report and became quite put out when he raised the fact that she was listed in the 2018 Register of Pecuniary Interests for all MPs as owning eight properties. She responded that is was now only six properties …
Re the annual Parliamentary Register of Pecuniary Interests, I have provided some information on this and links to the current 2018 and previous Registers at comment 9 under the “In defense of taxing the family home” post.
I won’t attempt to link to that comment as such links don’t work currently. (Latter is not a complaint.)
Thank you VV for this and the list of pecuniary interests.
Excellent to hear that Guyon E has already used this line of questioning to address Gnat MPs who are attempting to critique the tax proposal without disclosing that they have related personal interests.
Good goveranace practice is to declare all pecuniary interest before entering into discussion from the position of the privilege of your position – in this case as a representative of the people.
Breaking News…
Simon Bridges lays compliant to Police, in his statement he describes being ‘assaulted’ by a ‘Big hairy chested man’. Witnesses said the perpetrator laughingly pulled on Bridges hair, the alleged assault took place at a local Golf Club BBQ fundraiser.
More details to follow…
Genesis 27:11
Verse Concepts
Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man.
It was important to differentiate because there was a bit of skullduggery going on: In Genesis, Esau returned to his twin brother Jacob, famished from the fields. … In Genesis 27:1–40, Jacob uses deception, motivated by his mother Rebecca, to lay claim to his blind father Isaac’s blessing that was inherently due to the firstborn, Esau.
So JK could claim about being pretty smooth and playing with hair, that – they did it first!
China isn’t being mean to us (at the moment) – that’s just National propaganda.
The thing to remember about China is that everyone’s job is on the line, all the time. That means all underlings have to uphold the absolute letter of the law – any minor screw-up they let through will probably cost them their job. So NZers can’t do the “she’ll be right” thing and get away with it.
When China wants to screw with us, the stop buying our milk (in their usual quantities).
“Geopolitics is now a game best played with financial and commercial weapons. The new geoeconomic game may be more efficient and subtle than past geopolitical competitions, but it is no less ruthless and destructive.”
“Virgin Group founder Richard Branson announced last week he is organising a fundraising concert in Colombia on Friday featuring stars such as former Genesis singer Peter Gabriel to raise “US$100 million” for “those millions that need it the most.”
But Roger Waters said Branson had been fooled by a US “shtick.”
“I have friends in Caracas right now, there is so far no civil war, no mayhem, no murder, no apparent dictatorship, no mass imprisonment of opposition, no suppression of the press,” said Waters in a post liked 12,000 times.
“None of that is going on even though that is the narrative that is being sold to the rest of us.”
after losing the last election the corrupt national Govt left the NZ economy in a weak and vulnerable condition …
“Our national debt has topped half a trillion dollars and is still rising,”
” The latest Reserve Bank figures (for the year to April 30) show household debt has topped $250b, driven by rising property prices and an increase in consumer borrowing.
That’s an increase of more than 60 per cent in 10 years.”
And although John Key personally made a million dollars per year out of the housing bubble / crisis … the cost has been workers unable to buy homes and live in a city like Auckland.
Many farmers got burned by the Nats bubble economics ….
“Rural debt appears to have topped $60 billion ”
“Banks tell dairy farmers: it’s time to pay it back ” ….
So piss weak is our economy after 9 years of national mismanagement …. that a 3% rise in interest rates would stall the economy …. and a 5% rise would crash it.
If the banks called in their farm overdrafts …. they could crash the rural economy, shortly followed by the entire economy
If the ‘foot and mouth” disease entered NZ our economy would crash … thanks to nationals cowenomics, which besides poisoning our fresh water with cow piss, shit and farm chemicals … has left our economy so weak a animal disease could bring it down.
And If either the Chinese or the Aussies told us to get fucked ………. they could crash our economy.
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NZ just about wets itself every-time we have a credit rating review … such is the weakness of our economy.
Now imagine what would happen if the usa declared NZ a “national security threat” , such as Obama did to Venezuela in 2015
“The United States declared Venezuela a national security threat” …..”U.S. President Barack Obama signed and issued the executive order,”..”Declaring any country a threat to national security is the first step in starting a U.S. sanctions program. The same process has been followed with countries such as Iran and Syria, U.S. officials said. ” ….. and to which I’d add Vietnam Libya, Yugoslavia, Cuba, China and all the other countries the usa has attacked in modern history.
Being declared a “national security threat” by the usa would probably result in a D- credit rating and 25%+ interest rates for NZ borrowers ….
What would 20% or higher interest rates on mortgages and farm debt do to the Nz economy ???
Think about that the next time Gooseman or Warmonger Mapp blame socialism for all of Venezuela ills…..
Or ask them …. What would happen to our eonomy …..if the usa was always supporting coups in our country ….and declared NZ a hostile state ?…..
Ummm…. why was Venezuela dependent on the US to the extent that if the US President classifies them a security threat the whole economy implodes? That is not exactly a glowing endorsement of 20 years of Bolivarian Socialism is it? They couldn’t ensure the Venezuelan economy would be able to ride out a mere threat from the US. How pathetic and powerless the Chavista regime is not being able to manage that.
The point being you don’t really understand the economic prblems of Venezuela. You just parrot the regimes excuses. Tell me how the US causes hyper-inflation in Venezuela just by declaring it a security threat?
Gooseman ….I’m not going to answer your crap….. until you answer me and explain why NZ s economy would be trashed if we got the Venezuela treatment from the usa.
Ie our economy would shit itself and die if the usa was always supporting coups in our country ….and declared NZ a hostile state …..
Despite your refusal to answer …honest people know New Zealand would be a bsket case if the USA gave us anything like the same treatment…..
Here’s a second question for you to fail at …..
Can you produce any capatilist or market economy / country that delivered an equal or greater improvement for its people, in the same or shorter period of time …. than Libya achieved by using socialisim. ???????? can ya gosboy ?
Libya, in 1951 was officially the poorest country in the world, …….when its corrupt king and British Petroleum were ousted it was still one of the poorest nations in Africa and the world ….
in a little over a generation , using socialisim and Prior to the US-led bombing campaign in 2011, Libya had the highest Human Development Index, the lowest infant mortality and the highest life expectancy in all of Africa.
infant mortality rates have decreased from 105 per 1000 live births in 1970, to 18 in 2005. Mortality rates amongst children under five have seen a similar shift, with 24 per 1000 live births in 2005.
A high rate of trachoma formerly left 10 percent or more of the population blinded or with critically impaired vision, but by the late 1970s the disease appeared to have been brought under control.
Public works ( socialisim ) had solved the previous problem of a country beset with cholera and unsafe water problems ….. They built the largest underground network of pipes and aqueducts in the world. It consists of more than 1300 wells, most more than 500 m deep, and supplies 6,500,000 m of freshwater per day to the cities of Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirt and elsewhere….. before being destroyed by usa / nato democracy bombs only 3 percent of Libyian were without access to safe water …. … which is probaly better than NZ after Nationals trashing of our water
Before socialisim only 25% of Libyans were literate. Prior to the usa and Nato destroying the country the figure was up to 87% .In a relative short period of time, Libya achieved universal access for primary education, with 98% gross enrollment for secondary, and 46% for tertiary education.The pupil teacher ratio in Libyas primary schools was of the order of 17 (1983 UNESCO data), 74% of school children graduating from primary school were enrolled in secondary school (1983 UNESCO data)
in 1969, few women went to university. Today, more than half of Libyas university students are women. One of the first laws passed in 1970 was an equal pay for equal work law.
Public Health Care in Libya prior to NATO s Humanitarian Interventionwas the best in Africa. Health care is [was] available to all citizens free of charge by the public sector.
The facts and statistics showed a country which went from one of the poorest nations in its continent into the richest nation….it also gained the highest Human Development Index, the lowest infant mortality and the highest life expectancy.
As Gooseman will come up empty again …..We’ll give him a third question
Does he agree with Nelson Mandela about the usa ….. “Mandela …..” If you look at those mattersm, you will come to the conclusion that the attitude of the United States of America is a threat to world peace. If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities upon the world, it is the USA. They don’t care for human beings .” ,……” No country can claim to be the policeman of the world and no state can dictate to another what it should do ”
“it is no secret that Venezuela, unlike Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, Egypt or Saudi Arabia, is targeted for regime change by the US precisely because of Venezuela’s leadership in resisting US hegemony and the imposition of the neoliberal model in Latin America. And of course, Venezuela holds the largest oil reserves in the world, attracting more unwanted attention from Washington.”
….”American sanctions are contributing to the issues facing Venezuela is all the more egregious considering that the sanctions violate international law, contravening both UN Resolution 2625, which forbids “the use of economic, political or any other type of measures to coerce another state” and the charter of the Organization of American States, which bars the “use of coercive measures of an economic or political character.” As usual (e.g., FAIR.org, 9/19/13, 12/8/17), US media do not deem American violations of international law newsworthy.”
Basically the usa is like a mafia gangster nation ….. their negotiations are ‘ do what we say and wan’t…. or we will kill you and make your children suffer ‘.
Yes PB. Occasionally the door opens enough to see that the whole thing is founded on conflicting economic interests. That my ‘getting ahead’ may be dependent on you staying put, or going backwards. Then the door gets slammed and we witter on about being ‘Kiwis’, as if we were all the same.
When you look at the substance of those bills it’s even worse. The 7 bills of Bernie were mostly real important stuff like naming post offices etc. None of this frivolous shit like setting up the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau like Warren did.
During his 25 years in Congress, Sanders introduced 324 bills, three of which became law. This includes a bill in a Republican Congress naming a post office in Vermont and two more while Democrats had control (one naming another Vermont post office and another increasing veterans’ disability compensation). Clinton, for the record, also passed three bills in eight years.
But the sparse number of bills isn’t surprising. Volden and Vanderbilt University’s Alan Wiseman assess the legislative effectiveness of House members by comparing their records to a benchmark. According to this analysis, Sanders has either met or exceeded expectations during his tenure in the House
We wrote an article today about this loss of our water by global bottling companies now invading our country and now taking much of our best water sources now and damaging our health and properties as they truck freight the product through our poorer areas to our export ports now. These foreign bottling companies are now seen as ‘environmental thugs’ wrecking our communities lives and health.
‘A new water tax is needed for foreign water bottling companies currently paying no water tax while they are causing harm to our public health and environment.‘
Press release – Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre Incorporated. 22nd February 2019.
The environmental impacts of business activities of water bottling in NZ are currently not being considered by “The Tax Working Party” group, as to the environmental impacts these foreign overseas companies are causing to our residential communities health and wellbeing now; – consider the cost and harm they are causing us now by only using truck freight transport;
We are supporting placing a new water tax on those foreign overseas companies taking our best water around our country today as they are choosing to exclusively use only road truck freight which has a large carbon footprint and impact on residential health from noise, vibration and air pollution.
Facts;
• The transporting of that water by trucks to production plants and for export is harming our roads as more trucks are gridlocking the roads causing accidents and road damage.
• But the elephant in the room is the harm the extra truck transport going through our cities and causing noise, vibration and air pollution is now adversely affecting the health and wellbeing of many residential areas around the country and councils claim now have no funds to mitigate the adverse effects of these trucks carrying water for export through their residential zones to export.
• The “Tax Working Party” should be a proposing an ‘environmental harm’ cost as part of a tax on the “user pays” principal, to pay for mitigation on those transport effects to our citizens.
Since these water export companies are now choosing to use only the roads to move millions of litres of water and causing damage both to our residential environment, and impacting large costs to us paying for road repairs on the roads they are using we must place a tax on the cost of transport of that ‘so called free water’ then it is only fair these foreign companies are required to pay tax to mitigate for their damages they are causing in their business.
We think this is a fairer system to give local councils and NZTA the funding to repair the roads and repair the water infrastructure also.
All NZ citizens should be not paying tax for a for a ‘natural recourse’ if they are not using it for financial gain, so only commercial water users should pay a tax and NZ business should only pay a limited tax far less then foreign companies as they are not citizens.
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel would never have a government without political horse-trading. Governments form when parties win enough seats in the Knesset and cobble together enough partners to form a ruling, majority coalition.
But one trade is raising eyebrows and even alarm, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being seen as brokering a marriage of convenience between an extremist right-wing party, Otzma Yehudit, and a more moderate right-wing party, Jewish Home.
Otzma Yehudit, which means “Jewish power,” is the spiritual godchild of Rabbi Meir Kahane’s Kach party, which was banned from the Knesset under a Basic Law outlawing incitement to violence and later exiled entirely in Israel. Kahane was the American immigrant founder of the militant Jewish Defense League, who before his assassination in 1990 promoted the immediate annexation of disputed territories and the expulsion of Arabs from the West Bank.
To lighten the mood
IMO a little gem I was previously unaware of, and thought it is worth sharing …
Just wondering if any out there were aware of this song ?? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gKmmaZrJpc
Do like the influence of Brian Jones, even when he is playing the recorder (IMO Greatest song with a recorder) in Ruby Tuesday.
Note to ones self-Take time to look up early works of gifted musician, especially those with R&B DNA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5We4f9bTNvI
Half of freedom is damage to yourself and others — witness my 70s childhood. Our surrounds suffered so we could learn and laugh. Wouldn’t be without that dangerous freedom the religious swop for safety.
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
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Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
The pungent smell of gasoline in your car can be an alarming and potentially dangerous problem. Not only is the odor unpleasant, but it can also indicate a serious issue with your vehicle’s fuel system. In this article, we will explore the various reasons why your car may smell like ...
Tree sap can be a sticky, unsightly mess on your car’s exterior. It can be difficult to remove, but with the right techniques and products, you can restore your car to its former glory. Understanding Tree Sap Tree sap is a thick, viscous liquid produced by trees to seal wounds ...
The amount of paint needed to paint a car depends on a number of factors, including the size of the car, the number of coats you plan to apply, and the type of paint you are using. In general, you will need between 1 and 2 gallons of paint for ...
Jump-starting a car is a common task that can be performed even in adverse weather conditions like rain. However, safety precautions and proper techniques are crucial to avoid potential hazards. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed instructions on how to safely jump a car in the rain, ensuring both your ...
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
Chris Trotter writes – MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. The data is from February this ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications:Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
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Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
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The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
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In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
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I know TRP thinks the Guardian is the font of all knowledge from the UK, but the anti-Brexit partisanship of the liberal urban elites is reaching a fever pitch of hysteria.
Chief amongst these neolib Blairite apologists is Polly Toynbee, who wrote a most amazing column today that recklessly calls for an elite coup against the Brexit referendum result.
Let’s make no mistake – she is calling for a coup. She wants the Westminster political class – mostly members of the Oxbridge elite like her – to walk away from the manifesto promises they were elected on the ensure that the UK does not leave the E.U.
Toynbee is an old woman (72) and a noted turncoat from the days of the SDP split (which guaranteed Thatcher’s majority for a decade) but even for a spiteful old woman this call for a palace coup and elite seizure of power is extraordinary.
Whatever you think of the economic and social consequences of Brexit, it will amount to the most crushing defeat of the hegemony of the Oxbridge leadership class in a century – a breaking that the UK badly needs, since that class’s leadership has been calamitous for the fortunes of that country.
In a sense, Toynbee is right – Brexit will define the British political struggle for a generation or more – and her class will be sidelined from that struggle, and she loathes that idea more than anything else.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/21/brexit-two-party-system-mps-independent-group
T’ponies aren’t going back down t’mines no matter how long you hold your breath sanky.
It’s not Polly Toynbee’s fault that Corbyn has had no leadership to offer for the last couple of years because he’s on the same side as May on this issue. That lack of leadership is reflected in the polls – Labour should have been giving the Tories a hiding the last couple of years, but are about equal with them in the polls, which reflects its performance being as woeful as the Tories’.
Whatever you think of the economic and social consequences of Brexit, it will amount to the most crushing defeat of the hegemony of the Oxbridge leadership class in a century…
I can never follow this concept that a country being plunged into economic disaster and misery is a good thing because misery will make people rise up against their political masters. Go out and try to sell that one to voters, if you dare.
“Corbyn has had no leadership to offer for the last couple of years”
I hear this a bit – Corbyn lacks leadership.What does leadership look like under these circumstances? Is ‘leadership’ just shorthand for calling for a 2nd referendum in the hope of stopping Brexit?
In a way I hope he would do this – rather than insist he can negotiate a better deal than May, which seems rather unlikely given Europe’s determination to make it difficult. I think it would probably increase his appeal to the electorate. There is a lot to dislike about the EU – especially the insistence on austerity at its deprived margins. But maybe Corbyn should back-burner those concerns for now because it is essential to kill the Tories.
too late for a referendum to be organised.
The options are to crash out, take whatever the EU offered on the hope it’s still on the table, or cancel Brexit.
You missed the delay for a bit longer. That is probably the most likely one at this stage.
Fair call.
But like taking the offer, delay is contingent on EU agreement, which might put constraints on that option.
So still a pool of shit no matter what the UK pollies choose.
Yes, it’s great fun watching all sides turn themselves in to pretzels trying to square the Brexit circle.
How has the EU made it difficult for the UK?
Let me re-phrase that. The EU has made it difficult for May to cherry-pick the bits the Tories want – such as no freedom of movement for people but with unrestricted access to markets for goods and services.
Corbyn’s teams sole mission is to make sure Brexit is owned 100% by the Tories, keep the spotlight on them and simultaneously try and keep their own equally split party out of the headlines – especially important for a Corbyn led Labour because the left-policing liberal elites like Toynbee and the Labour “centrists” (who basically want a continuation of Thatcherism with diversity quotas) hate Corbyn even more than they do Brexit. Just look at how the self-styled “independent group” has switched the media circus back to Labour, and given the Oxbridge class another chance to write another round of wildly imtemperate attack pieces and to smear Corbyn. It isn’t like he isn’t constantly smeared by the Murdoch papers as well.. oh wait…
The thing to remember about the polls is Labour was miles behind in 2017 until the rules around fair reporting kicked in and then they almost won, so given the hysterical tone of the establishment media opposition to Corbyn plus the redtops I reckon level pegging is a bit of a miracle.
Secondly, if you haven’t noticed the UK is currently in an existential crisis, a crisis a century in the making and a crisis entirely the making of an utterly decadent class structure that hasn’t changed since the 1870s. Brexit won’t plunge the UK into “…into economic disaster and misery…” – the underlying economic crisis that put in train Brexit has been brewing for forty years and has been exacerbated by the squandering of North Sea oil wealth and a failure (at the behest of finance) to deal with the consequences of an over-inflated currency on the competitiveness of British industry.
Britain is facing a very bleak future with or without Brexit unless something fundamental changes. Even without Brexit it is an over-populated island with exhausted natural resources, facing an existential identity crisis, and an economy entirely reliant on a narrow, London based, bloated and corrupt financial sector and ruled over by a decadent elite comprising a recklessly irresponsible ruling elite propped up by a smug, out of touch and complacent (neo) liberal middle class.
Such old school socialist thinking. The UK is much more than a London based financial sector. There are in fact huge amounts of innovative and creative businesses that have sprung up over the past 30 to 40 years.
Having been brought up on Carlyle’s difficult-to-survive sentences I really must drape my head in salute to your last over-stuffed magnificence.
Lovely writing Sanc….and I 90% agree
It strikes me as pandora’s box stuff via myopic unaccountability.
A mistake of ideological shadows for the prudence of yesteryears.
but even for a spiteful old woman
Evidently respect for age and experience is not a feature of this world you live in,
Quite a few people here indulge in this ageist bashing as if they never plan on being old themselves. And even then as an identity group it’s an especially daft one at best.
Sanctuary, I’m in my 70s and I’m far from old in thought or deed. Nor am I spiteful and never have been.
Please be more careful with your phrasing eh?
Well said Anne – I too belong in that age group and found that description quite hurtful. At 73 I don’t think of myself as old and ready to be written off on that basis
In my late 70s methinks that this Middle age is OK. That kid Simon is spiteful though and he is only 40ish.
Yes, let’s all police the identity politics. Much easier than dealing with fact or the Brexit crisis.
It’s got nothing to do with identity politics dick, it’s basic manners.
I now tend to think of people as being of undefined gender, race, culture and an age as this means no offence can be taken. There are many ways this can be translated into speech, such as, “so you are a Grey Power member of mixed age?” or “ah.. the man of mixed race?” or “Oh sorry, I’m meaning the entity of mixed age, random culture and unidentified gender.”
Unfortunately you, like I, are in the same age bracket as Michael Cullen.
Now there is a spiteful and bitter old man. He still hasn’t got over the fact that New Zealand dumped him and his ilk because there was a far better option available.
He is still taking digs at John Key, in spite of all the kind things the Key Government did for him.
What nonsense you talk.
Cullen is the best finance minister NZ has had since the Savage administration, admittedly a mighty low bar.
The Key government on the other hand was morally and intellectually bankrupt – the hordes of foreigners they brought in were the only way their backward, irresponsible and frequently corrupt policies could be faked up as GDP growth.
The biggest failing of the coalition to date is not throwing the crooks in jail. SCF, Christchurch, a number of irrigation schemes and financial improprieties in respect of the soft loans to Mediaworks would have had those responsible locked up in most countries with any pretense to a rule of law.
Really??? Can you give me the names of these countries where the members of the last government would have been locked up by now?
i hear the chinese government tents to kill high ranking officers that are caught double dipping, or defrauding the government, or for any other corruption if it finds it needy.
wonder if someone like the double dipper would have been left to ‘reorganise’ their affairs after being caught defrauding the government for personal gain?
The Chinese government doesn’t change ruling parties very much in case you missed it. 😉🤣
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_China
yes dear.
The pattern I saw when I was in China suggests that someone like Bill would have been imprisoned for a couple of years, and taught a trade like hairdressing or floristry, and told – “don’t let us catch you screwing up again”.
The Korean prosecution service enjoys the power to imprison former politicians while it completes its investigations, which was found necessary to prevent them running around ‘tidying up’ after investigations begin. They also routinely select politicians to audit on the basis of anomalous growth of net wealth. It is safe to say that under Korean justice, a thoroughly corrupt operator like Key would be spending the next two decades minimum, in durance vile.
Of course most of the Key administration’s crimes have not been properly investigated. But SCF stands out, the misappropriation of the assets of one of the wealthiest and most astute self-made businesspeople in the South Island, without a whiff of legal process. Hubbard’s only error was in reposing any trust in the likes of Key and English, who stripped him of his wealth and did him to death as cynically as Stalin did to the kulaks.
You follow politics to some degree Gosman – you know damned well which of the Gnats are as crooked as dogs’ hind legs. Key’s insider trading in railway shares alone would’ve sufficed to have him in prison in the US.
Why isn’t the current government pursuing him then? Are they just as corrupt?
I doubt it – but I believe that there is a very unhealthy convention, of not going after the crooks in previous governments, which is part of the reason we have such high levels of entrenched systemic corruption.
The China Investment Bank is another example – created to provide sinecures for the likes of Jenny Shipley, it will never return value on a par with its start up costs to NZ unless it is run by qualified and experienced financial managers instead of politicised primary teachers.
“admittedly a mighty low bar”.
Indeed yes. I’m sure you will excuse my laughter at the thought that Walter Nash is your examplar of a great Finance Minister?
On the other hand he was certainly better than Michael.
But then anyone would have been better that Michael.
Let us just say that Walter was better than 3 or 4 of those since 1935.
Certainly he was better than Muldoon, Peters and Cullen. Perhaps there is another one.
No, let us not say “anyone would’ve been better than Michael”.
There’s no room for lies that fatuous.
And before you have go at Nash, you’d do well to recall that he managed a housing scheme that dwarfs anything a New Zealand government has run since, without creating problems on the finance end.
Cullen was and remains infinitely better than the much lauded but frankly fucking hopeless Bill English for example. If you read MSM descriptions of English you’d’ve thought he was the fucking messiah – but outside our goldfish bowl no-one ever heard of him and no-one wanted a bar of him, which is why he had to shoot through to Oz to get a job with Nathans after he finally destroyed his political career.
English never met a single Treasury target and they had nothing but praise for him; Cullen invariably outperformed their predictions – and they hated him for it – he repeatedly proved their incompetence. The only pity is that he didn’t sack most of them, it’s the most overstaffed and least productive outfit in the civil service – and that includes the farcically inept Immigration service.
‘Spiteful and bitter’ ? Satisfied to the point of ‘self’.
What a bunch of old farts. Whining and demanding Extreme Respect just because you are old. Old people who care about the world and other people can’t afford to be PC. And can’t demand to be regarded as saint-like and above approach. I hate smarmy saints; give them a few transgressions so that real aware humans can integrate with them and understand each other and the complex world that it always has been.
Sanctuary often goes OTT. It’s not fair Sanctuary to call Toynbee spiteful and old; either would convey an aspect to be considered. It seems when you get old the essence of meanness and selfishness in you concentrates, or you wake up from Rip Van Winkle state, start, and gather yourself for a foray into things. By the way I turned 77 this month. So i know something about the world and being old.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biUvH1XcVmg
greywarshark,
With that group of ‘old farts’ no-one should afford some respect to them as they are always running down all those who they don’t see eye to eye with, and they don’t show respect for others either.
Many of us are old farts only in patches. My thought is that we had all last century with things getting better for us and ignored warnings that should have prompted us to do some thinking about our own and society’s directions.
In this century we can’t sit back in our comfy chairs and and behave like little lords and ladies, and let the world go by. We’ve had a hand in making this present debacle, and anyone ‘old’ who isn’t concerned about doing some hard yakka from time to time and putting up with some language that’s off-side, aren’t responding to the call to duty. Goodwill to the young and the planet that birthed us demands it.
1000%
Thanks patricia. I appreciate your opinion, so when you don’t agree or want to add something to things I say, please pass the thought on.
I agree we are all guilty of not paying attention to the warnings of scientists and people out in the field. Being precious about getting old is just a distraction. We have not been good guardians. That is a hard sad truth. We need to work at what we personally can do to turn things around. Cheers Greywarshark.
Jeez, try being pale, male, stale. Then you become fair game for discrimination, with no argument allowed.
Yebbit you’re not Polly Toynbee are you. Or ARE you?
Thanks to the commenters who pointed out that there was no need for the gender based sentence. I’d like to think we’re all capable of formulating our criticisms in a way that is respectful, thoughtful and nuanced. A big ask, sometimes, I know, but we should aim higher than other, lesser blogs, I reckon.
And, Sanctuary, the Grauniad is No3 on my list of go to media outlets, behind the Morning Star and Private Eye. However, the Guardian is far easier to link to than the other two, so it’s the one I use most often as a resource for posting here.
I agree with the fact that the Grauniad is easier to download. Similarly, my first blog visit each morning is now PG’s – because he is an early riser as are some of his commenters. So, by the time I am surfacing , PG has usually already posted about the news stories of the day and it saves me searching! I then go and read his links rather than his abridged versions and the comments.
Since a certain departure, TS tends to get off to slower (more civilised?) starts these days like myself. LOL.
“Departure“? Sounds like landlord spin. Wouldn’t ‘permanent eviction‘ be more accurate?
I understand that permanent ban was welcomed by some who still seem to find it a source of amusement (LOL) – not so keen on post-facto ridicule myself.
While not a cheerleader for Ed’s ‘style’, some of the links they posted were useful to me. I personally found their presence on The Standard less irritating than (say) James, or Bewildered, or Shadrach, or BM, or Alwyn, or Naki man, or infused, or Tuppence Shrewsbury, whose ‘contributions’ to yesterday’s ‘Tax Working Group Proposals’ post ‘helped’ to dampen down ‘echos’.
I like Bobby McFerrin. He sings ‘So your rent is late, The landlord says he’ll have to lift the gate. Don’t Worry Be Happy.’
“Don’t Worry, Be Happy” is good advice, so thanks for that Grey.
As the hourglass runs out I’m tending to ‘worry’ even less about myself and more about others – an ‘advantage’ of age and ‘life perspective’.
Quack quack: https://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourlifeperspectivequiz/
Yes, TS saves my sanity knowing that there are other people thinking about others, reporting on what is being done to help, and doing what they can.
Never read her Pa, Arnold. What would he think?
Rain today. Farmers will forget they had a drought by tomorrow.
All entirely avoidable. Even flood proofing is possible.
Embrace change and save the farm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kM8G0zDoBo
Oma comin’ yo.
Well, she’s just giving us a quick flick with her long tail. I fear it won’t be enough for some places, but others might get a bit of a bollocking if a deep low forms to the east of us. 🙂
if the ‘farmers’ aka those that specialise in resource extraction forget the drought by tomorrow they will be reminded next week that todays piddle was not enough.
Thanks WTB, What we used to call mixed farming using natural rotations. Cheers.
WtB Very timely thinking thanks for link. See email.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12206085
Hooton nails it. The capital gains tax is dead on arrival.
As I’ve said many times before – I can’t wait for labour to campaign on it.
Jacinda will go down in history as a 1 term PM (and not a good one at that)
I think Labour will propose to bring in a watered down version of the recommendation, most likely the rate payable will be 15% to 20% maximum or inflation indexed. Just a political reality as they will need NZF on board with this one.
Still won’t appeal to the middle class.
Anything, other than a total rejection by Labour, will consign them to history.
Nothing appeals to the middle class who don’t think about the reality of the economy or politics and have $signs in their irises.
So the middle class are the “rich pricks” now, by your reckoning.
Grey is referring to the middle classes who aspire to be like the ‘rich pricks’, so they support tax policies that only advantage the ‘rich pricks’, even when it doesn’t benefit them directly.
This is akin to non-wealthy people buying expensive lotto tickets even though the chances of winning anything is less than miniscule, and even if they do happen to win they realise that doesn’t bring them happiness either.
Is that you reckon I said by your reckoning?
Roflcopter
‘Middle class’ numbers have been shrinking after 2008 if you haven’t noticed?
Now the lower class is much larger now and the remainder “middle class” are now rich as part of the 10% and we are all part of the remainder 90% who are poorer then we were 10 yrs ago.
Labour needs to make the argument about the reduction in income tax for the lower and middle class that can come about as a result of this. How they’ll now be able to afford indexing tax bands for inflation. Make it a tax cut argument rather than a higher tax nightmare
Anything but confronting the skiing and would-be-skiing middle class will put the kiss on the death of Labour. But they can off-lay this onto NZ First this time.
Confrontation of the parasite, subservient class born of freemarket/ rule of the jungle 84 will be hard to avoid to restore a fair society.
Duncan Garner has come out all guns blazing in full support . I know wtf.
This is a slam dunk James old boy .
hooton has know credibility in this country.
Rather than slobbering over Hooten’s partisan nonsense you could read Liam Dann and get an idea of what the government is most likely going to do?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12205998
Yeah hollow man hooton knows lol what a tosspot James try hard. Hooton is a nothing that nobodies listen to – he’s an egg. A hollow plastic pretend chocolate egg.
Hootie Blowhard dreads the tax he’d pay when he offloads Excretium. Not sure he needs to worry too much.
Lol – is that the name of his boat!
And not a Kinder one at all.
nice 🙂
They just need to reassure Slick that he won’t have to pay tax on selling the house he lives in, just the other ones.
how many properties and business investment does Hooton have to be frothing at the mouth at a recommendation that has yet to pass to law?
Still talking up that boy with the sausage sizzler? the one with multiple ownership of properties and the likes?
Does it occur to you that many people in this country don’t own multiple investments and thus are fairly nonplussed that the rich and the very rich have to pay tax on income derived from investment and the likes just like a kid has to pay taxes on his / her paper run?
oh, you own a large property you said, you might be eligible? Bummer dude.
As for Jacinda Ardern being a one term Prime Minister for wanting to levy taxes aimed squarely at her income and investment class, your No Mates Party needs a quick overhaul, cause the current lot is useless, vile, unattractive, unlikable, sexist, dumb and uninspired and has an approval of some 6 % as ‘preferred PM’.
I would say that you just get used to the idea that when you sell your property (and if you only own a ‘family home’ you might even find you are exempt) that you might have to pay a Capital Gain Tax on the profits and find something else to whine about.
oh i get it, you are a temporarily embarrassed millionaire in the making and this tax would not apply to you at all today but maybe in a gazillion years when you are all grown up and rich, and then you would of course not want to pay that tax. I get it. Its future proofing with you. 🙂
Hooton nails it. The capital gains tax is dead on arrival.
People who think “the kiwi way of life” involves owning multiple investment properties will certainly do their damnedest to ensure it is, but they won’t necessarily succeed.
The great majority of voters don’t have investments to pay tax on. The government can pitch this to that great majority on the basis that the wealthy who’ve been avoiding taxes will have to pay some, while the people who work for a living will get an income tax cut. The only thing that will make that an uphill struggle is lying propaganda from Simon and co, and the fact that Winston First is beholden to its donors.
For Hooton to be this excited suggests an aura of fear for himself and for his client base. Like Simon Over The Top?
It will have an effect. A damper on the idea that NZ is wiiiiiide open to every money-making schemer, and hopefully we will soon lose our supremacy as being the easiest country in the world to start a business. We have enough of the shams and scams and buying a house as a way of turning promises into real estate. Money is just promises in token or written form, it may not even be good for starting fires.
Where was Hooten when National extended CGT, with the bright line test.
Is it only a problem when Labour does it?
James, Jacinda will go down in history as a 1term PM and not a good one at that……
Ha ha ha ha ha. That is the level of response your comment deserves.
Hooten is such a fount of knowledge!! sarc..
Hysterical screamer would be closer to the truth. He really screams when losing it. Kathryn Ryan has been known to tell him to tone it down when he lost the plot.
The govt will come out with something minor – maybe just extend the brightline test on property sales to 10 or 20 years and leave the sale of businesses alone for now. It will look all balanced and reasonable.
The key is to move the public discourse in the right direction. Overcoming the initial inertia is the big challenge, but once it’s moving then it’s easier to eventually get somewhere near where you need to be. Overton windows are like gummed-up ranchsliders – it takes sh*tloads of CRC and pushing at the start.
So you’ll keep James, you’ll keep.
The ridiculous comments from Simon Bridges, which has seen him lampooned about what actually constitutes “the Kiwi way of life”, will have the Gnats fuming. Instead of talking about a CGT, his hamfistedness has got people talking about how out of touch he is.
He is a complete embarrassment to them – long may it last.
Talking about the Kiwi way of life, Amy Adams was interviewed by Guyon Espiner on Morning Report and became quite put out when he raised the fact that she was listed in the 2018 Register of Pecuniary Interests for all MPs as owning eight properties. She responded that is was now only six properties …
Audio here https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018683615/tax-proposals-an-attack-on-the-kiwi-way-of-life-national
Re the annual Parliamentary Register of Pecuniary Interests, I have provided some information on this and links to the current 2018 and previous Registers at comment 9 under the “In defense of taxing the family home” post.
I won’t attempt to link to that comment as such links don’t work currently. (Latter is not a complaint.)
Thank you VV for this and the list of pecuniary interests.
Excellent to hear that Guyon E has already used this line of questioning to address Gnat MPs who are attempting to critique the tax proposal without disclosing that they have related personal interests.
Good goveranace practice is to declare all pecuniary interest before entering into discussion from the position of the privilege of your position – in this case as a representative of the people.
Breaking News…
Simon Bridges lays compliant to Police, in his statement he describes being ‘assaulted’ by a ‘Big hairy chested man’. Witnesses said the perpetrator laughingly pulled on Bridges hair, the alleged assault took place at a local Golf Club BBQ fundraiser.
More details to follow…
Oh, in the footsteps of… “trumpets sound”… JK?
But Adrian, Key wasn’t very hairy.
Yeah nah, he just had a hair fetish.
This hairy man thing – it’s as deep as the Bible.
Genesis 27:11
Verse Concepts
Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man.
It was important to differentiate because there was a bit of skullduggery going on:
In Genesis, Esau returned to his twin brother Jacob, famished from the fields. … In Genesis 27:1–40, Jacob uses deception, motivated by his mother Rebecca, to lay claim to his blind father Isaac’s blessing that was inherently due to the firstborn, Esau.
So JK could claim about being pretty smooth and playing with hair, that – they did it first!
I think you may mean not very visibly hairy…
Thread.
https://twitter.com/HoarseWisperer/status/1098646532075728896
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1098646532075728896.html
Bloody hell. Never use one word when 2000 will do, eh.
In case anyone thought China was just being mean to us…
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-21/china-bans-coal-import-and-send-dollar-tumbling/10835136
China isn’t being mean to us (at the moment) – that’s just National propaganda.
The thing to remember about China is that everyone’s job is on the line, all the time. That means all underlings have to uphold the absolute letter of the law – any minor screw-up they let through will probably cost them their job. So NZers can’t do the “she’ll be right” thing and get away with it.
When China wants to screw with us, the stop buying our milk (in their usual quantities).
Lol. Is this a threat?
– Judith Collins
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/02/judith-collins-says-capital-gains-tax-will-make-simon-bridges-the-prime-minister.html
Of course “they” being Simon supporters wouldn’t vote for Jacinda anyway.
The higher you push them the further they have to fall eh judith.
“Geopolitics is now a game best played with financial and commercial weapons. The new geoeconomic game may be more efficient and subtle than past geopolitical competitions, but it is no less ruthless and destructive.”
– Juan C. Zarate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1He8uB7d2wE&feature=share
“Virgin Group founder Richard Branson announced last week he is organising a fundraising concert in Colombia on Friday featuring stars such as former Genesis singer Peter Gabriel to raise “US$100 million” for “those millions that need it the most.”
But Roger Waters said Branson had been fooled by a US “shtick.”
“I have friends in Caracas right now, there is so far no civil war, no mayhem, no murder, no apparent dictatorship, no mass imprisonment of opposition, no suppression of the press,” said Waters in a post liked 12,000 times.
“None of that is going on even though that is the narrative that is being sold to the rest of us.”
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2019/02/20/pink-floyd-singer-hits-out-at-bransons-venezuela-aid-concert/?fbclid=IwAR2ui5nyZAkR_o0Uk2gJYJKBE-UXRftp1jwAnCxxiQGtEAFydBpHVAwYP7g
National and Venezuela ….
after losing the last election the corrupt national Govt left the NZ economy in a weak and vulnerable condition …
“Our national debt has topped half a trillion dollars and is still rising,”
” The latest Reserve Bank figures (for the year to April 30) show household debt has topped $250b, driven by rising property prices and an increase in consumer borrowing.
That’s an increase of more than 60 per cent in 10 years.”
And although John Key personally made a million dollars per year out of the housing bubble / crisis … the cost has been workers unable to buy homes and live in a city like Auckland.
Many farmers got burned by the Nats bubble economics ….
“Rural debt appears to have topped $60 billion ”
“Banks tell dairy farmers: it’s time to pay it back ” ….
So piss weak is our economy after 9 years of national mismanagement …. that a 3% rise in interest rates would stall the economy …. and a 5% rise would crash it.
If the banks called in their farm overdrafts …. they could crash the rural economy, shortly followed by the entire economy
If the ‘foot and mouth” disease entered NZ our economy would crash … thanks to nationals cowenomics, which besides poisoning our fresh water with cow piss, shit and farm chemicals … has left our economy so weak a animal disease could bring it down.
And If either the Chinese or the Aussies told us to get fucked ………. they could crash our economy.
%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%%%
NZ just about wets itself every-time we have a credit rating review … such is the weakness of our economy.
Now imagine what would happen if the usa declared NZ a “national security threat” , such as Obama did to Venezuela in 2015
“The United States declared Venezuela a national security threat” …..”U.S. President Barack Obama signed and issued the executive order,”..”Declaring any country a threat to national security is the first step in starting a U.S. sanctions program. The same process has been followed with countries such as Iran and Syria, U.S. officials said. ” ….. and to which I’d add Vietnam Libya, Yugoslavia, Cuba, China and all the other countries the usa has attacked in modern history.
Being declared a “national security threat” by the usa would probably result in a D- credit rating and 25%+ interest rates for NZ borrowers ….
What would 20% or higher interest rates on mortgages and farm debt do to the Nz economy ???
Think about that the next time Gooseman or Warmonger Mapp blame socialism for all of Venezuela ills…..
Or ask them …. What would happen to our eonomy …..if the usa was always supporting coups in our country ….and declared NZ a hostile state ?…..
Links which I have quoted from
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/89539071/rural-debt-appears-to-have-topped-60-billion
Nation of Debt: Half a trillion dollars and still rising https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11873204
Venezuela’s Public Debt: Total data was reported at 148.707 USD bn in Dec 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 171.999 USD bn for Dec 2015. ….. https://www.ceicdata.com/en/venezuela/public-debt/public-debt-total
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11986023
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-venezuela-idUSKBN0M51NS20150310
Ummm…. why was Venezuela dependent on the US to the extent that if the US President classifies them a security threat the whole economy implodes? That is not exactly a glowing endorsement of 20 years of Bolivarian Socialism is it? They couldn’t ensure the Venezuelan economy would be able to ride out a mere threat from the US. How pathetic and powerless the Chavista regime is not being able to manage that.
The point being you don’t really understand the economic prblems of Venezuela. You just parrot the regimes excuses. Tell me how the US causes hyper-inflation in Venezuela just by declaring it a security threat?
Gosman = parrot king.
Gooseman ….I’m not going to answer your crap….. until you answer me and explain why NZ s economy would be trashed if we got the Venezuela treatment from the usa.
Ie our economy would shit itself and die if the usa was always supporting coups in our country ….and declared NZ a hostile state …..
Despite your refusal to answer …honest people know New Zealand would be a bsket case if the USA gave us anything like the same treatment…..
Here’s a second question for you to fail at …..
Can you produce any capatilist or market economy / country that delivered an equal or greater improvement for its people, in the same or shorter period of time …. than Libya achieved by using socialisim. ???????? can ya gosboy ?
Libya, in 1951 was officially the poorest country in the world, …….when its corrupt king and British Petroleum were ousted it was still one of the poorest nations in Africa and the world ….
in a little over a generation , using socialisim and Prior to the US-led bombing campaign in 2011, Libya had the highest Human Development Index, the lowest infant mortality and the highest life expectancy in all of Africa.
infant mortality rates have decreased from 105 per 1000 live births in 1970, to 18 in 2005. Mortality rates amongst children under five have seen a similar shift, with 24 per 1000 live births in 2005.
A high rate of trachoma formerly left 10 percent or more of the population blinded or with critically impaired vision, but by the late 1970s the disease appeared to have been brought under control.
Public works ( socialisim ) had solved the previous problem of a country beset with cholera and unsafe water problems ….. They built the largest underground network of pipes and aqueducts in the world. It consists of more than 1300 wells, most more than 500 m deep, and supplies 6,500,000 m of freshwater per day to the cities of Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirt and elsewhere….. before being destroyed by usa / nato democracy bombs only 3 percent of Libyian were without access to safe water …. … which is probaly better than NZ after Nationals trashing of our water
Before socialisim only 25% of Libyans were literate. Prior to the usa and Nato destroying the country the figure was up to 87% .In a relative short period of time, Libya achieved universal access for primary education, with 98% gross enrollment for secondary, and 46% for tertiary education.The pupil teacher ratio in Libyas primary schools was of the order of 17 (1983 UNESCO data), 74% of school children graduating from primary school were enrolled in secondary school (1983 UNESCO data)
in 1969, few women went to university. Today, more than half of Libyas university students are women. One of the first laws passed in 1970 was an equal pay for equal work law.
Public Health Care in Libya prior to NATO s Humanitarian Interventionwas the best in Africa. Health care is [was] available to all citizens free of charge by the public sector.
The facts and statistics showed a country which went from one of the poorest nations in its continent into the richest nation….it also gained the highest Human Development Index, the lowest infant mortality and the highest life expectancy.
As Gooseman will come up empty again …..We’ll give him a third question
Does he agree with Nelson Mandela about the usa ….. “Mandela …..” If you look at those mattersm, you will come to the conclusion that the attitude of the United States of America is a threat to world peace. If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities upon the world, it is the USA. They don’t care for human beings .” ,……” No country can claim to be the policeman of the world and no state can dictate to another what it should do ”
Mandela versus gosman ….
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/21/us-media-erase-years-chavismos-gains
Thanks for the excellent link KJT … I suspect gosman like Mapp is a racist and lifting poor brown people out of poverty means nothing to him …
Your link lead to a good one about the us sanctions … https://fair.org/home/exonerating-the-empire-in-venezuela/
“it is no secret that Venezuela, unlike Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, Egypt or Saudi Arabia, is targeted for regime change by the US precisely because of Venezuela’s leadership in resisting US hegemony and the imposition of the neoliberal model in Latin America. And of course, Venezuela holds the largest oil reserves in the world, attracting more unwanted attention from Washington.”
….”American sanctions are contributing to the issues facing Venezuela is all the more egregious considering that the sanctions violate international law, contravening both UN Resolution 2625, which forbids “the use of economic, political or any other type of measures to coerce another state” and the charter of the Organization of American States, which bars the “use of coercive measures of an economic or political character.” As usual (e.g., FAIR.org, 9/19/13, 12/8/17), US media do not deem American violations of international law newsworthy.”
Basically the usa is like a mafia gangster nation ….. their negotiations are ‘ do what we say and wan’t…. or we will kill you and make your children suffer ‘.
If we ever wondered who would support fairer taxes.. now we know!!!
Those who have assets are “against” CGT.
Those who would like better income to afford to buy an asset are “for” CGT
This is a wonderful discussion about what is fair. Bring it on.
Some straw arguments looking pretty hollow, Simon and Amy.
Yes PB. Occasionally the door opens enough to see that the whole thing is founded on conflicting economic interests. That my ‘getting ahead’ may be dependent on you staying put, or going backwards. Then the door gets slammed and we witter on about being ‘Kiwis’, as if we were all the same.
Not an awful lot to show for his 27 years.
https://twitter.com/TheSWPrincess/status/1098585937087483905
When you look at the substance of those bills it’s even worse. The 7 bills of Bernie were mostly real important stuff like naming post offices etc. None of this frivolous shit like setting up the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau like Warren did.
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/mar/24/bernie-s/bernie-sanders-was-roll-call-amendment-king-1995-2/
People tend to forget that over the past 30 years ago, the wealthiest of this country have had their taxes slashed by 50-60%.
Public services have suffered.
We wrote an article today about this loss of our water by global bottling companies now invading our country and now taking much of our best water sources now and damaging our health and properties as they truck freight the product through our poorer areas to our export ports now. These foreign bottling companies are now seen as ‘environmental thugs’ wrecking our communities lives and health.
‘A new water tax is needed for foreign water bottling companies currently paying no water tax while they are causing harm to our public health and environment.‘
Press release – Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre Incorporated. 22nd February 2019.
The environmental impacts of business activities of water bottling in NZ are currently not being considered by “The Tax Working Party” group, as to the environmental impacts these foreign overseas companies are causing to our residential communities health and wellbeing now; – consider the cost and harm they are causing us now by only using truck freight transport;
We are supporting placing a new water tax on those foreign overseas companies taking our best water around our country today as they are choosing to exclusively use only road truck freight which has a large carbon footprint and impact on residential health from noise, vibration and air pollution.
Facts;
• The transporting of that water by trucks to production plants and for export is harming our roads as more trucks are gridlocking the roads causing accidents and road damage.
• But the elephant in the room is the harm the extra truck transport going through our cities and causing noise, vibration and air pollution is now adversely affecting the health and wellbeing of many residential areas around the country and councils claim now have no funds to mitigate the adverse effects of these trucks carrying water for export through their residential zones to export.
• The “Tax Working Party” should be a proposing an ‘environmental harm’ cost as part of a tax on the “user pays” principal, to pay for mitigation on those transport effects to our citizens.
Since these water export companies are now choosing to use only the roads to move millions of litres of water and causing damage both to our residential environment, and impacting large costs to us paying for road repairs on the roads they are using we must place a tax on the cost of transport of that ‘so called free water’ then it is only fair these foreign companies are required to pay tax to mitigate for their damages they are causing in their business.
We think this is a fairer system to give local councils and NZTA the funding to repair the roads and repair the water infrastructure also.
All NZ citizens should be not paying tax for a for a ‘natural recourse’ if they are not using it for financial gain, so only commercial water users should pay a tax and NZ business should only pay a limited tax far less then foreign companies as they are not citizens.
Very good from Craig Foster
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/dear-scott-and-bill-we-ve-strayed-from-our-values-a-socceroo-s-plea-20190221-p50zbm.html
Kahanist Baruch Goldstein murdered 29 Palestinians and wounded 125 while they prayed in a Hebron mosque.
But Hamas.
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel would never have a government without political horse-trading. Governments form when parties win enough seats in the Knesset and cobble together enough partners to form a ruling, majority coalition.
But one trade is raising eyebrows and even alarm, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being seen as brokering a marriage of convenience between an extremist right-wing party, Otzma Yehudit, and a more moderate right-wing party, Jewish Home.
Otzma Yehudit, which means “Jewish power,” is the spiritual godchild of Rabbi Meir Kahane’s Kach party, which was banned from the Knesset under a Basic Law outlawing incitement to violence and later exiled entirely in Israel. Kahane was the American immigrant founder of the militant Jewish Defense League, who before his assassination in 1990 promoted the immediate annexation of disputed territories and the expulsion of Arabs from the West Bank.
https://www.jta.org/2019/02/20/israel/netanyahu-brokered-a-deal-with-the-political-heirs-of-meir-kahane-heres-why-and-why-it-matters?
edit:
https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/jewish-defense-league
To lighten the mood
IMO a little gem I was previously unaware of, and thought it is worth sharing …
Just wondering if any out there were aware of this song ??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gKmmaZrJpc
Off the Hook 1964
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMeNC1IPUnQ&feature=youtu.be
More from the same show
1967
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIn11dtBKc4
Do like the influence of Brian Jones, even when he is playing the recorder (IMO Greatest song with a recorder) in Ruby Tuesday.
Note to ones self-Take time to look up early works of gifted musician, especially those with R&B DNA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5We4f9bTNvI
Not to forget the other Mr Jones.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/david-bowies-10-greatest-davy-jones-era-tracks-31887/silly-boy-blue-37000/
rain,
glorious
beautiful
rain.
feeling very grateful tonight to be honest. finally some water.
Where, where?
Must watch!
Even the dogs love AOC 😂
https://twitter.com/revrrlewis/status/1098700066150334465?s=21
this is actually not funny.
the dog was not controlled, no one was getting the dog of her, and she is very very lucky that this was a nice dog.
Except she knows Charlie the dog and his owner.
still. A lot of good dogs get put down because they are not under control by their owners. Usually its because they injure a human.
its cute, and its not cute at the same time.
Half of freedom is damage to yourself and others — witness my 70s childhood. Our surrounds suffered so we could learn and laugh. Wouldn’t be without that dangerous freedom the religious swop for safety.
and its still the dog that would be put down if you would have been playing with an uncontrolled dog and got bitten.
i don’t care about damage to her, i care about the dog.
Except we believed in and believe in the fair go. As does AOC I think despite the undeclared war in US society. Dogs bite and we understand often.
It’s true I haven’t read much about Africa lately. I had a look to see if it was still there.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-22/the-worst-humanitarian-crises-youve-never-heard-of/10825046
In countries like Niger, crises like hunger and poverty are being largely under-reported in the global media, according to a new report from CARE.…