Open mike 24/05/2023

39 comments on “Open mike 24/05/2023 ”

• Comments are now closed

1. Sanctuary 1

   24 May 2023 at 7:56 am

   Formation of the 3rd NZ Expeditionary Force has been paused while the government examines the terms of Miami Zoo's surrender.
   • ianmac 1.1

     24 May 2023 at 8:42 am

     One brave Kiwi plays an extraordinary role!
   • weka 1.2

     24 May 2023 at 8:52 am

     Chaos in the American ally forces as they look for a green and brown fruit.
     • aj 1.2.1

       24 May 2023 at 1:33 pm

       Send them a Kea, punishment.
       • weka 1.2.1.1

         24 May 2023 at 1:57 pm

         or a weka 😈
         • Tony Veitch 1.2.1.1.1

           24 May 2023 at 10:00 pm

           Definitely a weka!

           https://www.facebook.com/PFNewZealand/videos/west-coast-weka/457626491565222/
           • weka 1.2.1.1.1.1

             24 May 2023 at 11:13 pm

             😂
2. Cricklewood 2

   24 May 2023 at 8:46 am

   Looks like we need to place some hard limits on the use of plastics, basically we need to get it out of short lifecycle products immediately and only use where its absolutely essential. The recycling process is basically just making the problem to small for us to see…

   "The estimate of 75bn particles a cubic metre is for a plant with a filter installed. A majority of the particles were smaller than 10 microns, about the diameter of a human red blood cell, with more than 80% smaller than five microns, Brown said.

   https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/23/recycling-can-release-huge-quantities-of-microplastics-study-finds
   • Ngungukai 2.1

     24 May 2023 at 8:59 am

     We need a levy on every plastic bottle produced or imported into New Zealand to help pay for the clean up, and pollution caused by plastic bottles, Coca Cola are causing and profiting from the problem ???
     • Cricklewood 2.1.1

       24 May 2023 at 9:01 am

       At this point we just need to get rid of the bottles, cleaning up microplastics is basically impossible due to their size.
       • Shanreagh 2.1.1.1

         24 May 2023 at 12:54 pm

         Agree with this. When you go on a beach clean-up and find these tiny blobs of plastic everywhere you become aware that the cause needs to be 'quiet words said out loud'. Though also seeing the number of McDonals wrappers along the roadsides adjacent to the same beaches I dread to think what would happen if glass bottles were tossed. Would a monetary return on glass be enough to encourage 'hoons' (again saying the quiet out loud) to refrain from throwing glass out?
         • Belladonna 2.1.1.1.1

           24 May 2023 at 4:19 pm

           While glass is a greater immediate hazard (cuts) – it's much better, long term, for the environment. It just breaks down eventually into the silicon from which it was formed.
           • joe90 2.1.1.1.1.1

             24 May 2023 at 7:04 pm

             Recycled glass and beach nourishment.

             https://coastalcare.org/2023/03/recycling-glass-back-to-sand-for-beach-nourishment/

             https://glasshalffull.co/what-we-do
     • PsyclingLeft.Always 2.1.2

       24 May 2023 at 6:16 pm

       Coca-Cola, with more than 500 brands, sells more than 100 billion plastic bottles every year. This equates to 200,000 bottles a minute. Of these, an unrecoverable large part ends up in the environment, and definitely in places where waste is not collected and processed. For the fourth consecutive year, the conglomerate has been declared the world’s biggest polluter, bigger than numbers two (PepsiCo) and three (Unilever) put together.

       https://www.plasticsoupfoundation.org/en/2022/02/is-coca-colas-latest-promise-really-a-step-forward/

       200,000 bottles…a minute. And their BS of future by 2030 !?..Be a fkn lot of plastic soup in our Oceans by then. Fark. Shame on them…except, of course, they have none. FYI I have followed this and others for years. And been very active/activated.

       They (and a lot of others ) are just….lying, weasel scumbags.

       NZ could be like Norway ? (Scandinavia in general has some fantastic ideas : )

       https://www.sciencealert.com/norway-s-recycling-scheme-is-so-effective-92-percent-of-plastic-bottles-can-be-reused

       IMO : And…of course, Glass (recycled properly) is better
       • SPC 2.1.2.1

         24 May 2023 at 6:35 pm

         Sure we can recycle better, as Norway does. But have they sorted the micro-particle problem?
         • PsyclingLeft.Always 2.1.2.1.1

           24 May 2023 at 9:10 pm

           They are doing their best to sort the plastic problem. I looked. Maybe you could search for yourself?
       • Hunter Thompson II 2.1.2.2

         25 May 2023 at 10:32 am

         Given the colossal amount of plastic shit dominating our lives, it is hard to remain optimistic that our grandchildren will get a clean environment.

         One man trying to do something about it is Boyan Slat, whose organisation is tackling the Great Pacific Garbage Patch: https://theoceancleanup.com/boyan-slat/
         • PsyclingLeft.Always 2.1.2.2.1

           26 May 2023 at 10:59 am

           Hi, As I said, I..have been following and active about this for years..

           The sad state of it

           2017

           The mass is as heavy as 25,000 Empire State Buildings, or a billion elephants, and has been created in the last 65 years or so. In fact half of it was made just in the past 13 years.

           https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/335459/earth-is-becoming-planet-plastic

           2019

           https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/391904/people-ingesting-plastics-call-for-urgent-action

           I watched this…Fark !

           https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/war-on-plastic-with-hugh-and-anita

           And…NZ's shame… : (

           https://www.newsroom.co.nz/@ideasroom/2019/07/09/673411/when-did-nz-fall-so-behind-on-plastic

           https://www.greenpeace.org/aotearoa/press-release/new-zealand-exporting-plastic-waste-to-developing-nations-at-an-alarming-rate/
3. weka 3

   24 May 2023 at 8:54 am

   The Kiwis won.

   On behalf of everyone at Zoo Miami, please accept our most sincere apology for the stress initiated by a video depicting the handling/housing of “Paora,” the Kiwi. Effective immediately, the Kiwi Encounter will no longer be offered.

   https://twitter.com/zoomiami/status/1661102140067028993

   Press statement https://www.zoomiami.org/media-news/posts/kiwi-bird-statement
   • weka 3.1

     24 May 2023 at 8:56 am

     tweet is a bit silly. Never mind the stress of the video, it's the ongoing stress on the kiwi that was the issue.
   • Sanctuary 3.2

     24 May 2023 at 2:20 pm

     I hear the director of Miami Zoo has offered to work out his days trapping stoats in Fiordland as pennance.
     • weka 3.2.1

       24 May 2023 at 3:18 pm

       kiwi punishments
4. PsyclingLeft.Always 4

   24 May 2023 at 9:13 am

   National's tax plan has $1.5 billion fiscal hole – Council of Trade Unions

   CTU economist Craig Renney said new wage growth forecasts from last week's Budget show the cost will actually blow out to $8.2b.

   He said National needed to publish its calculations to show how it intended to make up that more than $1.5b difference.

   https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/490523/national-s-tax-plan-has-1-point-5-billion-fiscal-hole-council-of-trade-unions

   nats Luxon and Willis…But its all Labours fault !

   Oh really. wtaf ?!
   • Ngungukai 4.1

     24 May 2023 at 9:45 am

     National need to start planning for the 2026 Election I think they have f*cked this one already.
     • PsyclingLeft.Always 4.1.1

       24 May 2023 at 9:49 am

       Aye Im cautiously optimistic : ). Just they keep heading that direction. We keep heading for Election win. I really would hate to see NZ under..(literally !) Nact rule…
   • Johnr 4.2

     24 May 2023 at 11:05 am

     Good God, have they brought Steven Joyce back into the fold
5. ianmac 5

   24 May 2023 at 1:43 pm

   About time but only the State trial

   "Donald Trump will face a criminal trial in New York on March 25, 2024, a judge said on Tuesday."

   https://www.odt.co.nz/news/world/trump-criminal-trial-start-next-march
   • Peter 5.1

     24 May 2023 at 2:11 pm

     It seems all Republican primaries occur between March and June 11, 2024 so Trump will be hoping for masses of free publicity from the trial.

     There is the high likelihood of other court proceedings too. Indications are that something is afoot in Georgia. With the number of cases he is likely to be involved in it could be said there's a veritable smorgasbord of legal dramas ahead.

     https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/ga-prosecutor-indicates-charges-trump-probe-come-august-rcna85256
     • ianmac 5.1.1

       24 May 2023 at 2:44 pm

       Possibly the Federal criminal charges will happen sooner than March.

       Since it is the ex- President they must be very sure that the case is winnable. Imagine a not-guilty reaction from MAGA.
6. arkie 6

   24 May 2023 at 2:39 pm

   The OCR is now 5.5%.

   https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/490555/reserve-bank-raises-ocr-to-5-point-5-percent

   Chlöe Swarbrick once again makes a most salient point:

   #BREAKING: Reserve Bank of NZ have just raised the Official Cash Rate once again, in turn raising mortgage rates, trying to 'manufacture a recession' (as the Governor admitted to my questioning late last year) to reduce demand and cool inflation.

   We know that inflation hits lower-income New Zealanders who spend the majority of their income covering the essentials like food and rent the hardest. We know that recessions also hit those same low-income people hardest, because they have smaller savings and tend to be in more precarious employment.

   This isn't happening in a vacuum. Instead of relying on the Reserve Bank to use blunt economic tools to reduce demand, the Government can achieve far fairer outcomes by taxing wealth.

   Let’s be very clear: this is a political choice. It comes hot off the back of Government commissioned research that also paints a crystal clear image of immense wealth and tax inequity in this country.

   There’s a reason 52% of New Zealanders supported a wealth tax in Newshub polling last week. You know the system is not fair and the Greens are here to continue taking that fight to the halls of power.

   https://www.facebook.com/chloeNZgreens/
   • SPC 6.1

     24 May 2023 at 3:43 pm

     The last word from the RBG.

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoOSGCoAXJk\

     Despite CS’s take, for most the RBG’s 0.25% increase and staying with his previous forecast peak OCR 5.5% was a dovish surprise.

     Many expected an increase to 0.5 increase to 5.75% and a signal of future moves to a peak of 6.5%.

     https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/ocr-rates-to-rise-markets-braced-for-todays-big-call/5RM7NGP72JCVPPKUN6T5AW6WRM/

     For mine his mistakes were in not reigning things back a bit in 2021 and then not going with a 0.5% hit in late 2021 when it was clear things had got out of hand.

     But I think he got this one right.
     • SPC 6.1.1

       24 May 2023 at 4:05 pm

       CS is correct to note the RBG has few means of realising the objectives required and the OCR is a blunt tool. He has the deposit ratios – something Bollard would have wanted back in 2007. A mortgage surcharge should be added (something Bollard asked for), but it's not that useful for managing imported inflation.

       If it was my choice I would reduce inflation on the poor with a rent freeze (I would have placed one on last year for two years to the end of 2024). The subsidy on prescriptions will help some though.

       I would see the wealth tax as a means that was tax neutral and stimulus neutral way to provide targeted support to those in need (including leasing houses to supply at income related rents).
   • In Vino 6.2

     24 May 2023 at 7:35 pm

     I agree. But it is distressing that many others who must surely agree have not bothered to respond after 6 hours.

     Maybe Kiwis fully deserve what we get.
7. SPC 7

   24 May 2023 at 4:33 pm

   What is the difference between $1.5B over 4 years when it is spending and when it is tax cuts?

   The former is an inflationary blowout and the latter is, not much, says Christopher Luxon.

   Indexing tax thresholds to inflation is a major National Party policy, but it benefits those on higher incomes more than the lowest earners.

   "We proposed the [tax threshold changes] idea 18 months ago," he told host Ryan Bridge. "We've got heaps of money in New Zealand to be able to fund… that."

   Luxon said the plan was to cut "wasteful" spending to be able to fund the tax threshold changes.

   "National said its tax bracket adjustments would cost $1.66 billion annually when announced as policy in March 2022. This represents $6.64 billion over four years.

   "The revised cost is now $8.2 billion – a $1.5 billion blowout.

   "On top of this, National has also committed to another $890 million annually in tax breaks for landlords.

   The total is now $3B pa.

   Talk about a blowout from $10.3B to $11.8B over 4 years hides the more important detail.

   https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/05/christopher-luxon-responds-as-council-of-trade-unions-says-national-s-tax-plan-has-blown-out-by-1-5-billion.html
   • SPC 7.1

     24 May 2023 at 4:55 pm

     And in another demonstration of their ineptness National and ACT claim higher mortgage rate costs will occur because of the increase in OCR to 5.5%.

     https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/05/official-cash-rate-national-calls-hike-kick-in-the-guts-greens-call-for-wealth-tax-instead-of-more-reserve-bank-action.html

     What are they fact free Fox News?

     When in fact the increase to 5.5% had already been factored in by the markets/bank policy. And most banks signalled their mortgages they would be reducing (because the RBG and board said they did not expect to increase the OCR again).

     https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/ocr-rates-to-rise-markets-braced-for-todays-big-call/5RM7NGP72JCVPPKUN6T5AW6WRM/
     • Belladonna 7.1.1

       24 May 2023 at 7:51 pm

       However it appears that at least some banks are indeed hiking mortgage rates after the OCR rise

       https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/05/24/major-bank-hikes-some-mortgage-rates-shortly-after-ocr-increase/

       [ASBs] housing variable rate will shift upwards from 8.39% to 8.64%, and its ORBIT rate will rise from 8.49% to 8.74%.
       • SPC 7.1.1.1

         24 May 2023 at 8:42 pm

         Variables, as stated

         That should all add up to downward pressure on fixed rates – good news for mortgage holders.
         • Belladonna 7.1.1.1.1

           24 May 2023 at 9:06 pm

           Note that careful word "should".
           The evidence is that, right now, mortgage rates are continuing to rise.

           While we all hope that they've topped out (or are about to do so) – we don't actually have any evidence that retail mortgage rates are dropping.
8. Drowsy M. Kram 8

   24 May 2023 at 5:00 pm

   A small selection of recent opinion pieces on tax-related matters in Australasia.

   What is the purpose of the Tax Principles Reporting Bill?
   Tax Alert – June 2023 [Deloitte Partner (Tax) Robyn Walker]

   Tax has remained constantly in the news since the Inland Revenue released its High Wealth Report in April, and it seems certain to stay high in the consciousnesses of New Zealanders through until the 2023 Election, and beyond.

   With many political parties already releasing election tax policies proposing new or increased taxes (particularly for those with wealth) in the name of fairness, the spotlight is clearly on the subjectiveness of “fairness” when it comes to taxes.

   'Fairness' is clearly a problematic concept where taxation is concerned. Walker recently offered an analysis of the IRD's "Wealth report – a fruit salad of information".

   And Dr Kampmark (RMIT Uni) doesn't think highly of PricewaterhouseCoopers, nor the Australian Taxation Office's treatment of whistleblower Richard Boyle.

   Rogues Consultants: PwC, Tax Evasion And Getting Clients [23 May 2023]
   Things are not looking up at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a global professional services firm piratically free in sharing confidential tax information gathered from government clients. Then again, the firm’s expertise is not so much to look up to a principled heaven as down to a tax-proof Hades, buried in the scrambling minutiae of accounting and deception.
   …
   In Australia, it has also been particularly galling to see the prospect that sharing such confidential information – notably in terms of tax policies – will see no PwC employee or member of management spend time mournfully gazing from a prison cell. That prospect is what faces Richard Boyle, the Australian Taxation Office’s whistleblower who exposed the predatory conduct of its [the ATO's] debt collecting practices with tigerish courage.

   "It's our job to be fair", and yet 'fairness' seems to be an increasingly rare and precious 'commodity' – does 'fairness' actually mean anything anymore, in a country that used to pride itself on giving (almost) everyone a fair go?

   Jailed for not passing on employees' tax deductions – IRD [23 May 2023]
   Prosecutors told the jury that carrying on a business without paying taxes is unfair to employees, unfair to other businesses and unfair to other taxpayers.

   Gower had been the director of 20 companies since 1989 and admitted he was aware of his obligations as an employer. He has repaid $300,000 in reparation.

• Comments are now closed

• Log in
• Donate
• Contribute post

• Articles RSS