In my fathers wallet there was always a photo of my twin brother and i . Dad always said it was behind a photo of Tito because he did not want the sun to fade it.
73 of an intake of 1200 cadets at West Point cheat in a calculus online exam. That's 6%.
Wikipedia says "Candidates for admission must apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a member of Congress. Other nomination sources include the president and vice president"!
I wonder how many of these cheats debasing university qualifications and heading for high office in the US military were nominated by Republicans, and how many by Democrats?
A wider question is do we wonder how power elites maintain their power when prospective top military officers have to be nominated by members of the power elite?
Hardly surprising, considering the likes of Donald Trump is an ex cadet/student of West Point! He who got out of doing a tour of duty in Vietnam, due to his "flat feet." Then went on to criticise John McCain for being taken a prisoner of war during the same conflict!
Generalissimo Bonespurs got sent to New York Military Academy in lieu of regular high school. Because he was too obnoxious for regular schooling to deal with.
While NYMA is just up the river from West Point, there is zero connection, and very few NYMA alumni went on to military careers. Basically, in the US, "military academies" are private boarding schools that the privileged and wealthy sent their snotty offspring to try to straighten them out.
OMC's name was meant to be ironic. Everyone knew Ōtara had no millionaires, let alone enough for a club.
November's $1.01 million sale of 1 Tate Place has predictably been labelled "how bizarre". Yet the price paid for the 95 square metre, one-bathroom, three-bedroom, weatherboard house on less than a fifth of an acre was not the first in Ōtara above $1m and most certainly will not be the last.
Nevertheless, Ōtara may remain millionaire-free, with only around a third of houses in the Panmure-Ōtāhuhu electorate, of which it is part, being owner-occupied. The electorate's median household income is in the $50,000 to $70,000 range.
OMC's name was meant to be ironic. Everyone knew Ōtara had no millionaires, let alone enough for a club.
November's $1.01 million sale of 1 Tate Place has predictably been labelled "how bizarre". Yet the price paid for the 95 square metre, one-bathroom, three-bedroom, weatherboard house on less than a fifth of an acre was not the first in Ōtara above $1m and most certainly will not be the last.
Nevertheless, Ōtara may remain millionaire-free, with only around a third of houses in the Panmure-Ōtāhuhu electorate, of which it is part, being owner-occupied. The electorate's median household income is in the $50,000 to $70,000 range.
Closer to the action, Councillor Efeso Collins, who was born and raised in Ōtara, says 80 per cent of Pacific people, the majority in his Manukau ward, do not own their homes – and there is now no chance they ever will.
Jacinda Ardern expresses concern, but says she wants house prices to keep going up.
Insofar as further meaning can be discerned from her remarks, it seems the Prime Minister hopes future wage inflation will be above house-price inflation.
Yet this is not the picture painted by Treasury in last week's Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), signed off by Finance Minister Grant Robertson as reflecting all government decisions and other circumstances of which he is aware.
According to Robertson's HYEFU, house prices will increase by another 32 per cent over the next five years while wages will go up by only 14 per cent, and consumer prices by 8 per cent.
The good news for an Ōtara family with an annual household income of $60,000 wanting to buy a $600,000 house is that they can expect to be earning $156 a week more in five years' time.
They'll also be able to save a bit more, since their weekly supermarket shop will only go up from, say, $200 to $216 – although their bank won't help much, since interest rates on savings accounts will remain dismally low for the full five years.
The really bad news is that the $600,000 house they have their eye on will go up by another $195,000. The Reserve Bank restoring loan-to-value restrictions will make it even harder for them to buy it, but not those who already own a home who they will need to compete with.
By dint of his own signature, Robertson says he knows of no government decisions or other circumstances that make these forecasts unsafe.
The realpolitik of the median voter model means that no one in Wellington actually cares or even thinks about a $60,000-a-year family in Ōtara dreaming of one day owning a home – and they never have.
But Beehive strategists do worry about middle-class couples wanting to save for their first home over the next parliamentary term. Double or triple the numbers above, and you've worked out the equally impossible maths facing them.
Ardern and Roberston appear either oblivious to the effects of their own Treasury's forecasts or utterly complacent about them.
Having wailed about a housing crisis for more than a decade – when house prices were half what they are now – they have not replied to the latest numbers with an emergency pre-Christmas programme the way previous governments with big mandates have responded to the economic, fiscal or social calamity of the day.
Instead, Robertson says the Government is now in a position to – and I quote him – "start addressing some of those long-term issues like housing [and] child poverty". A "housing package" is promised next year, although it will apparently focus more on making renting easier than on home ownership.
The time for excuses on the housing crisis has surely run out. Ardern has been re-elected with one of the most overwhelming mandates in the history of New Zealand or any proportional representation system. She no longer has the excuse of being new to the job or constrained by a coalition partner. She faces no credible opposition.
Nor is the housing crisis an issue where the best policy response has not been well-canvassed. Ardern and Robertson could do worse than even just re-reading Phil Goff's Mayoral Taskforce Housing Report released more than three years ago, with Labour's support.
It outlined a clear strategy covering everything from finance through to the building code, and was the consensus view of investors, lenders, developers, designers, builders, politicians, government officials and council officers.
As well as much-needed intensification throughout Auckland, Labour might also look at its own manifesto from 2017, which promised commuter rail linking the golden triangle of Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga and new suburbs between them.
After the failure of the pepper-potting Kiwibuild, Labour could announce that new suburbs to the south and west of Auckland will be built as a single undertaking, including all necessary infrastructure and connectivity to the public transport network. Every construction company in the world would seek that contract.
In line with Labour ideology and the huge blow-out of eligible families on state-house waiting lists, these could start out as entirely state-house suburbs but with residents able to progressively purchase their home under a rent-to-buy scheme.
The surprisingly statist shared-equity scheme proposed by Roger Douglas some weeks ago should also be part of Robertson's promised package.
I have become as tired of writing about the housing crisis as you are of reading about it. Even the lunchtime jokes among homeowners about their properties working harder than they do are now falling flat.
There is a genuine threat to social cohesion in New Zealand unless the Prime Minister takes big, bold action on which she need not so much expend her political capital as invest it for further big political gains.
It is disappointing the first two months since her historic mandate have not been used more productively, but perhaps understandable given the senior leadership's general exhaustion after Covid-19.
But there can be no excuses when the housing package is released in the New Year. There have been enough platitudes. And there are no longer any constraints on Ardern from doing whatever she believes is necessary for the people she claims she entered politics to help.
Terrible experience for me…I agree almost entirely with Hooton…except for the Thatcherist rent to buy for state houses; I prefer Douglas’s shared equity…OMG now I’m agreeing with him.
There is a rich vein of votes to be mined here by the Greens. Jacinda appears tone deaf on this central issue.
Hooton is clever at dropping lies into opinion pieces that are designed to create a falsely negative perception of people he either doesn't like or opposes on political/ideological grounds.
An obvious example from the piece above:
Jacinda Ardern expresses concern, but says she wants house prices to keep going up.
Oh bullshit. she said nothing of the sort. What she did say was something to the effect that house prices will continue to go up in the short term.
That is an unfortunate fact. They will continue to rise, and there's nothing she or anyone else can do about it – in the short term.
Never forget that Hooton is an apologist for right-wing ideology – the very ideology that created the problem in the first place. His righteous indignation about an over- heated house market seems only to have surfaced since the Labour led government came to power despite the problem arising years sooner. Funny that.
The easiest thing to do to address house pricing and the availability is to remove the ability for Landlords to claim interest and maintenance deductions on rental properties and shift that over to Owner Occupiers only.
Many landlords deliberately gear up rental properties to the maximum mortgage amount, on interest only, and make a killing getting refunds from IRD each year. Their own Owner Occupiers homes are often mortgage free. That interest refund helps pay for the new car, or goes towards another property.
Removing the interest deductibility on rental properties will have a staggering effect, and likely one that will be far more beneficial than any other tinkering that could be proposed.
There is nothing wrong with landlords spending money on maintenance and renovation/improvement to meet regulatory standards for rental property. And such is a legitimate expense against taxable income.
As for interest deductability well … maybe interest claimed as an expense should become a tax liability if they sell the property for an untaxed CG (up to the taxable value of that CG at least). Thus still no CGT if the investor owns the property without a mortgage and does not sell within the brightline period.
Why? Let's use the theory that "only rental houses are habitable houses"
Owner Occupiers should not live at a lesser standard than renters. They should all be equal. How then, is it morally right to allow landlords to claim maintenance costs on bringing a rental property up to scratch, but not allow Owner Occupiers to do the same thing?
It's farcical, especially considering that the OO is highly likely to use their property as equity to buy another, and then use the original house as a rental. So therefore any argument revolving around expected future gains immediately drops away as now both classes of people are in the same boat. If OO were the only ones able to claim back maintenance costs, you can bet your sweet bippy that a lot more houses would be bought up to a more habitable standard a lot faster as people don't want to live in damp ridden boxes so will do upgrades so they are comfortable where they live.
Forcing landlords to do it is like extracting hens teeth. People have a vested interest in themselves first and foremost. Removing the landlord rort and giving it to OO will immediately address the housing crisis and lead to a faster reduction in house price growth.
As for the last sentence, very few landlords in NZ now are mortgage free on their rental property. Why should they be? It’s far better to have a mortgage to the maximum against the rental.
Businesses get all kinds of tax advantages over end users. For example a GST registered business doesn't pay GST on goods it uses.
I don't really see a good case that interest payments on houses should be treated differently to interest costs on any other business. There is also a question on where the line is drawn on commercial property ownership.
I think the right way to tackle this is to ring fence the property business from other income sources so that unrelated income can't be rebated against a loss. But to some extent these losses have been allowing a slower rate of rental price increases (with the owners satisfied with the unrealised capital gains).
In the case of a property owner they are still not writing off the interest on their own place of living so I don't think its so clear that they receive an unfair advantage.
There used to be a mortgage rebate claim in the annual tax return – but this was removed when the top rate of income tax was reduced down from 66 to 33 cents. The presumption being homeowners (with mortgages to pay) were those in the higher income tax bracket etc.
Ring fencing moves have already begun, at these property values rent returns are now quite low and so any net loss cannot be charged against other (say working) income.
Well, yes. I was raising the pertinent question about all these things we know will bring property prices down (if implemented). How do we know, will they actually, and given they have been why didn't it work (e.g brightline test/CGT).
It all points towards the successful policy measure being the one which drives lots of first home buyers out. I think that will be very unpopular.
Why? As to maintenance, is because of the charge of tax against rental income. There is no profit/income to tax, but after cost profit/income.
Most low quality housing is rental not OO. And if the government allowed homeowners to charge necessary maintenance to government, it would be another middle class handout. Near all working homeowners are quite capable of borrowing while mortgage rates are cheap (and values are rising) to maintain their property. If it was allowed for low income homeowners (say the retired) it should be chargeable against the estate/or on sale.
Removing the ability to claim for maintenance costs is more likely to lead to lower quality rentals and more landlord tenant problems.
And it would do nothing to lower property values (a supply and demand thing) – but it would encourage speculators to simply leave their properties untenanted as they waited for CG.
As to my last sentence – the existence of such mortgage free owner investors is the reason why any tax claim against interest paid by other landlords could not be described as a CGT.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she would like to see small increases in houses prices, acknowledging most people “expect” the value of their most valuable asset to keep rising.
Asked by interest.co.nz whether “sustained moderation” of house prices was still the government’s goal, Ardern said: “Yes. We don’t want to see the significant increases; these huge jumps in house price growth.
I tend to agree with the PM, rightly or wrongly people don't want to see a 30% reduction in house prices, especially those that have just purchased even if they are staying put for a while. She like all politicians that have successfully achieved goals 1 and 2 of the job has an eye on number 3 which is to be re-elected again and promising to cut the value of houses 30% is not a way to do this.
Depends on the situation. An immediate 30% fall in values would put some recent buyers under water and many into the low equity category paying higher interest rates. Sometimes banks ask for rapid debt repayment in those situations too.
And if more broadly that price change spills over into a recession then the negative consequences will not fall fairly or on home owners.
We should also be aware wages don't typically fall during a recession and in nominal terms property prices tend not to either so to get that outcome something pretty rough might need to happen to the economy.
I think Hootons spin is pretty close to the truth of what was said… closer than your spin anyway
"Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she would like to see small increases in houses prices, acknowledging most people “expect” the value of their most valuable asset to keep rising."
"Asked by interest.co.nz (see video below) whether “sustained moderation” of house prices was still the government’s goal, Ardern said: “Yes. We don’t want to see the significant increases; these huge jumps in house price growth."
Hooton was lying when he said Ardern wants house prices to keep going up and he knows it. At best he could be said to be misinterpreting – deliberately in my view – what she said.
She was talking in general terms in so far as she appreciated nobody wants to see their house decrease in value so a small increase over time is acceptable. What has been happening since well before Labour came to power is: house prices have been going up in leaps and bounds to the point its now out of control and that is totally unacceptable.
Nobody needs Hooton's spin on the situation. We already know what is fueling the rise in house prices. See my 4.1.1
Yes, his spin vs your spin in your eqrlier comment this one is closer the truth…
Reality is it's looking like this govt is going to over see the biggest increase in house prices in both dollar value and as a percentage in our history.
Its very fair to say that after railing against Nationals inaction in opposition, having Kiwibuild fail utterly, and now inflating the market with cheap money seemingly having no real plan outside of expressing concern this govt is unwillingly to take meaningful steps.
This crisis and Labours inaction is going to have a similar long term effect to Rogernomics…
Fuck Labour is better at looking after the well healed than the nats are…
It would be appropriately precautionary to assume that Hooten is arguing in bad faith -hoping to create an environment where the Government is spooked into doing something electorally damaging to itself. And thereby giving National a pathway back.
Strategically, it is essential that any discontent with Labour's approach to housing grows the political bloc to it's left – not give National a totally undeserved break when they are down.
It would be appropriately precautionary to assume that Hooten is arguing in bad faith – hoping to create an environment where the Government is spooked into doing something electorally damaging to itself.
Probably the only Thatcherite policy that withstands scrutiny is rent-to-buy schemes for state houses – but only if the state keeps on building them. The Singaporean state housing scheme prioritizes getting people into their own homes. Among other models they looked at before embarking on that was NZ's state housing scheme – before a greedy little wanker called Roger Douglas parasitized it of course.
In Thatcher's Britain the state houses sold were "cherry-picked" for the best ones leaving the crap ones still in the hands of the state for poor people. They were sold at massive discounts which meant the state lost a capital asset it could have rented out to needy people in the future and they were not replaced meaning the stock of state houses went down….was privatised. No wonder Hooton likes this.
My guess is the same thing would happen here.
The shared equity option looks far better in this context.
Yeah, I know what they did. But it is far more economical (and realistic) for the government to take up the slack in the non-MacMansion end of the market, than it is for them to throw money at 'investors' hoping they will solve it.
The UK Tories are the epitome of uselessness, and our Gnats give them a run for their money. But Singapore has successfully run a scheme where the state builds and sells apartments to occupiers for some decades.
If we have a surfeit of corrupt assholes wrecking our attempts at governance, well, we'd better have a bit of a clear out. Nothing good is possible till we do.
Agree…I would love to see a big state house construction programme and the Bright Line Test extended to 10 years-that is probably the only housing tax change Labour can make under its manifesto.
Yeah him and the highly irritating Seymour, the pair of them make me ill.
RNZ seem to have a fixation with Seymour making comments in as many "news" bulletins as possible, needless to say I turn the damn thing off every time I hear the little pricks voice!
Bishop said the Government needed to respond to the new strain by introducing pre-departure tests for arrivals from the UK. Bishop said the situation in the UK was another example of why the government should introduce a 'traffic-light system' to grade the risk of incoming travellers.
Bishop is taking the position of Baker. What he overlooks is that airlines are now limiting services out of the UK – so there is a de facto traffic light system developing – where those from Oz will take up bookings allocated to those who can no longer get flights. And pre flight tests are simply a bad idea – people leaving lockdown safety to get a test are placed at risk of catching the virus – they will test negative but be infected by the time they get to the plane with their now obsolete result. It would make things worse. Sometimes people do not think.
For mine the best move we can make with a new more infectious strain about is to keep people in their hotel rooms for the first week (so recent arrivals are kept apart from those in the second week about to leave the hotel).
The mention of Baker is interesting, he is practicly the only commentator on the media. What exactly was his role in the huge Covid committee, I was under the impression he was sidelined quite early on. Was he the one who wanted to completely seal the borders even to returning NZers which I think goes against international law. I lost all respect for him when I read his Guardian article mid year pretty much claiming all the credit for the lockdown and espousing just how brilliant he thought he was, it was the sort of thing Trump could have written it about himself.
I don't think this new variant will be found to be that much faster spread, I think the problem is that when FC Johnson lifted the London Lockdown too early the pent up infections just exploded. Who has a " lockdown "when the top tier only closes cinemas and pubs, restaurants, gyms, and pretty much everything else was wide open. It was a story that FC Johnson concocted to cover even more of his stupidity.
Note.. if you want to know about the FC identifier, look up what the UK No1 Christmas song is looking like being this year. It is a brilliant punk rock anthem.
Baker is doing his job, and he's damned good at it. He was the one who said that we could eliminate this thing, when everyone else was just trying to lessen the impact. And public communication is part of his role.
But his job is to focus solely on the health of the population. If there's anything with a tiny chance of improving things, he throws it up the flagpole. Other people have the job of looking at things from a financial, practical, or social impact perspective.
We tried pre-testing. It didn't work well enough to make arrival isolation less important. But he's right to keep throwing options up.
He may be very, very good at his job but there are ways to be a little less of the smug manner about it, and smug is probably the wrong word. There are also around 40 or so others who are or were advising like Dr Ian Town, Dr Ayesha Verrall Stephen?Hendry , and many others I can't recall. One does get the impression from Dr Baker that he is the only one who is the authority.
Most scientific advisors have multiple hats. In Baker's case, he's a senior academic (which requires being "critic and conscience" of society), and is probably on speed dial for any journo needing a quote from an expert in public health.
DHB professionals, for example, don't have the same public communication job as academics, and might even be constrained by policies about speaking out. Science communicators might not have the specialisation. So folk like Baker have their moment in the sun.
As to smug… well, that's a more subjective judgement.
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Wolff, who describes Trump as truly a ‘one of a kind’, at a book launch in Spain. Photo: GettyImagesIt may be a bumpy ride for the world but the era of Donald J. Trump will die with him if we can wait him out says the author of four best-sellers ...
Australia needs to radically reorganise its reserves system to create a latent military force that is much larger, better trained and equipped and deployable within days—not decades. Our current reserve system is not fit for ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, Washington Post/$, Wired/$, ...
I have argued before that one ought to be careful in retrospectively allocating texts into genres. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) only looks like science-fiction because a science-fiction genre subsequently developed. Without H.G. Wells, would Frankenstein be considered science-fiction? No, it probably wouldn’t. Viewed in the context of its time, Frankenstein ...
Elbridge Colby’s senate confirmation hearing in early March holds more important implications for US partners than most observers in Canberra, Wellington or Suva realise. As President Donald Trump’s nominee for under secretary of defence for ...
China’s defence budget is rising heftily yet again. The 2025 rise will be 7.2 percent, the same as in 2024, the government said on 5 March. But the allocation, officially US$245 billion, is just the ...
Concern is growing about wide-ranging local repercussions of the new Setting of Speed Limits rule, rewritten in 2024 by former transport minister Simeon Brown. In particular, there’s growing fears about what this means for children in particular. A key paradox of the new rule is that NZTA-controlled roads have the ...
Speilmeister:Christopher Luxon’s prime-ministerial pitches notwithstanding, are institutions with billions of dollars at their disposal really going to invest them in a country so obviously in a deep funk?HAVING WOOED THE WORLD’s investors, what, if anything, has New Zealand won? Did Christopher Luxon’s guests board their private jets fizzing with enthusiasm for ...
Christchurch City Council is one of 18 councils and three council-controlled organisations (CCOs) downgraded by ratings agency S&P. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories shortest:Standard & Poor’s has cut the credit ratings of 18 councils, blaming the new Government’s abrupt reversal of 3 Waters, cuts to capital ...
Figures released by Statistics New Zealand today showed that the economy grew by 0.7% ending the very deep recession seen over the past year, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “Even though GDP grew in the three months to December, our economy is still 1.1% smaller than it ...
What is going on with the price of butter?, RNZ, 19 march 2025: If you have bought butter recently you might have noticed something - it is a lot more expensive. Stats NZ said last week that the price of butter was up 60 percent in February compared to ...
I agree with Will Leben, who wrote in The Strategist about his mistakes, that an important element of being a commentator is being accountable and taking responsibility for things you got wrong. In that spirit, ...
You’d beDrunk by noon, no one would knowJust like the pandemicWithout the sourdoughIf I were there, I’d find a wayTo get treated for hysteriaEvery dayLyrics Riki Lindhome.A varied selection today in Nick’s Kōrero:Thou shalt have no other gods - with Christopher Luxon.Doctors should be seen and not heard - with ...
Two recent foreign challenges suggest that Australia needs urgently to increase its level of defence self-reliance and to ensure that the increased funding that this would require is available. First, the circumnavigation of our continent ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, The Atlantic-$, The ...
According to RNZ’s embedded reporter, the importance of Winston Peters’ talks in Washington this week “cannot be overstated.” Right. “Exceptionally important.” said the maestro himself. This epic importance doesn’t seem to have culminated in anything more than us expressing our “concern” to the Americans about a series of issues that ...
Up until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of "Climate Fresk" and at a guess, this will also be the case for many of you. I stumbled upon it in the self-service training catalog for employees at the company I work at in Germany where it was announced ...
Japan and Australia talk of ‘collective deterrence,’ but they don’t seem to have specific objectives. The relationship needs a clearer direction. The two countries should identify how they complement each other. Each country has two ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the OPC’s decision to issue a code of practice for biometric processing. Our view is that the draft code currently being consulted on is stronger and will be more effective than the exposure code released in early 2024. We are pleased that some of the revisions ...
Australia’s export-oriented industries, particularly agriculture, need to diversify their markets, with a focus on Southeast Asia. This could strengthen economic security and resilience while deepening regional relationships. The Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on ...
Minister Shane Jones is introducing fastrack ‘reforms’ to the our fishing industry that will ensure the big players squeeze out the small fishers and entrench an already bankrupt quota system.Our fisheries are under severe stress: the recent decision by theHigh Court ruling that the ...
In what has become regular news, the quarterly ETS auction has failed, with nobody even bothering to bid. The immediate reason is that the carbon price has fallen to around $60, below the auction minimum of $68. And the cause of that is a government which has basically given up ...
US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats have dominated headlines in India in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Trump announced that his reciprocal tariffs—matching other countries’ tariffs on American goods—will go into effect on 2 April, ...
Hi,Back in June of 2021, James Gardner-Hopkins — a former partner at law firm Russell McVeagh — was found guilty of misconduct over sexually inappropriate behaviour with interns.The events all related to law students working as summer interns at Russell McVeagh:As well as intimate touching with a student at his ...
Climate sceptic MP Mark Cameron has slammed National for being ‘out of touch’ by sticking to our climate commitments. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories shortest:ACT’s renowned climate sceptic MP Mark Cameron has accused National of being 'out of touch' with farmers by sticking with New Zealand’s Paris accord pledges ...
Now I've heard there was a secret chordThat David played, and it pleased the LordBut you don't really care for music, do you?It goes like this, the fourth, the fifthThe minor falls, the major liftsThe baffled king composing HallelujahSongwriter: Leonard CohenI always thought the lyrics of that great song by ...
People are getting carried away with the virtues of small warship crews. We need to remember the great vice of having few people to run a ship: they’ll quickly tire. Yes, the navy is struggling ...
Mōrena. Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, The Atlantic-$, ...
US President Donald Trump’s hostile regime has finally forced Europe to wake up. With US officials calling into question the transatlantic alliance, Germany’s incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, recently persuaded lawmakers to revise the country’s debt ...
We need to establish clearer political boundaries around national security to avoid politicising ongoing security issues and to better manage secondary effects. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) revealed on 10 March that the Dural caravan ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have reiterated their call for Government to protect workers by banning engineered stone in a submission on MBIE’s silica dust consultation. “If Brooke van Velden is genuine when she calls for an evidence-based approach to this issue, then she must support a full ban on ...
The Labour Inspectorate could soon be knocking on the door of hundreds of businesses nation-wide, as it launches a major crackdown on those not abiding by the law. NorthTec staff are on edge as Northland’s leading polytechnic proposes to stop 11 programmes across primary industries, forestry, and construction. Union coverage ...
The Greens are calling on the Government to follow through on their vague promises of environmental protection in their Resource Management Act (RMA) reform. ...
Hundreds more Palestinians have died in recent days as Israel’s assault on Gaza continues and humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, is blocked. ...
National is looking to cut hundreds of jobs at New Zealand’s Defence Force, while at the same time it talks up plans to increase focus and spending in Defence. ...
It’s been revealed that the Government is secretly trying to bring back a ‘one-size fits all’ standardised test – a decision that has shocked school principals. ...
The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison. ...
The Green Party is calling on Government MPs to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence and illegal actions in Palestine, following another day of appalling violence against civilians in Gaza. ...
The Green Party stands in support of volunteer firefighters petitioning the Government to step up and change legislation to provide volunteers the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts. ...
At 2.30am local time, Israel launched a treacherous attack on Gaza killing more than 300 defenceless civilians while they slept. Many of them were children. This followed a more than 2 week-long blockade by Israel on the entry of all goods and aid into Gaza. Israel deliberately targeted densely populated ...
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...
Labour does not support the private ownership of core infrastructure like schools, hospitals and prisons, which will only see worse outcomes for Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is disappointed the Government voted down Hūhana Lyndon’s member’s Bill, which would have prevented further alienation of Māori land through the Public Works Act. ...
The Labour Party will support Chloe Swarbrick’s member’s bill which would allow sanctions against Israel for its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. ...
The Government’s new procurement rules are a blatant attack on workers and the environment, showing once again that National’s priorities are completely out of touch with everyday Kiwis. ...
With Labour and Te Pāti Māori’s official support, Opposition parties are officially aligned to progress Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in Palestine. ...
Te Pāti Māori extends our deepest aroha to the 500 plus Whānau Ora workers who have been advised today that the govt will be dismantling their contracts. For twenty years , Whānau Ora has been helping families, delivering life-changing support through a kaupapa Māori approach. It has built trust where ...
Labour welcomes Simeon Brown’s move to reinstate a board at Health New Zealand, bringing the destructive and secretive tenure of commissioner Lester Levy to an end. ...
This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill that will ensure employment decisions in the public service are based on merit and not on forced woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ targets. “This Bill would put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. ...
Police have referred 20 offenders to Destiny Church-affiliated programmes Man Up and Legacy as ‘wellness providers’ in the last year, raising concerns that those seeking help are being recruited into a harmful organisation. ...
Te Pāti Māori welcomes the resignation of Richard Prebble from the Waitangi Tribunal. His appointment in October 2024 was a disgrace- another example of this government undermining Te Tiriti o Waitangi by appointing a former ACT leader who has spent his career attacking Māori rights. “Regardless of the reason for ...
The Government’s new planning legislation to replace the Resource Management Act will make it easier to get things done while protecting the environment, say Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court. “The RMA is broken and everyone knows it. It makes it too hard to build ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay has today launched a public consultation on New Zealand and India’s negotiations of a formal comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. “Negotiations are getting underway, and the Public’s views will better inform us in the early parts of this important negotiation,” Mr McClay says. We are ...
More than 900 thousand superannuitants and almost five thousand veterans are among the New Zealanders set to receive a significant financial boost from next week, an uplift Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says will help support them through cost-of-living challenges. “I am pleased to confirm that from 1 ...
Progressing a holistic strategy to unlock the potential of New Zealand’s geothermal resources, possibly in applications beyond energy generation, is at the centre of discussions with mana whenua at a hui in Rotorua today, Resources and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is in the early stages ...
New annual data has exposed the staggering cost of delays previously hidden in the building consent system, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I directed Building Consent Authorities to begin providing quarterly data last year to improve transparency, following repeated complaints from tradespeople waiting far longer than the statutory ...
Increases in water charges for Auckland consumers this year will be halved under the Watercare Charter which has now been passed into law, Local Government Minister Simon Watts and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown say. The charter is part of the financial arrangement for Watercare developed last year by Auckland Council ...
There is wide public support for the Government’s work to strengthen New Zealand’s biosecurity protections, says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard. “The Ministry for Primary Industries recently completed public consultation on proposed amendments to the Biosecurity Act and the submissions show that people understand the importance of having a strong biosecurity ...
A new independent review function will enable individuals and organisations to seek an expert independent review of specified civil aviation regulatory decisions made by, or on behalf of, the Director of Civil Aviation, Acting Transport Minister James Meager has announced today. “Today we are making it easier and more affordable ...
The Government will invest in an enhanced overnight urgent care service for the Napier community as part of our focus on ensuring access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown has today confirmed. “I am delighted that a solution has been found to ensure Napier residents will continue to ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey attended a sod turning today to officially mark the start of construction on a new mental health facility at Hillmorton Campus. “This represents a significant step in modernising mental health services in Canterbury,” Mr Brown says. “Improving health infrastructure is ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has welcomed confirmation the economy has turned the corner. Stats NZ reported today that gross domestic product grew 0.7 per cent in the three months to December following falls in the June and September quarters. “We know many families and businesses are still suffering the after-effects ...
The sealing of a 12-kilometre stretch of State Highway 43 (SH43) through the Tangarakau Gorge – one of the last remaining sections of unsealed state highway in the country – has been completed this week as part of a wider programme of work aimed at improving the safety and resilience ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters says relations between New Zealand and the United States are on a strong footing, as he concludes a week-long visit to New York and Washington DC today. “We came to the United States to ask the new Administration what it wants from ...
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee has welcomed changes to international anti-money laundering standards which closely align with the Government’s reforms. “The Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) last month adopted revised standards for tackling money laundering and the financing of terrorism to allow for simplified regulatory measures for businesses, organisations and sectors ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour says he welcomes Medsafe’s decision to approve an electronic controlled drug register for use in New Zealand pharmacies, allowing pharmacies to replace their physical paper-based register. “The register, developed by Kiwi brand Toniq Limited, is the first of its kind to be approved in New ...
The Coalition Government’s drive for regional economic growth through the $1.2 billion Regional Infrastructure Fund is on track with more than $550 million in funding so far committed to key infrastructure projects, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. “To date, the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) has received more than 250 ...
[Comments following the bilateral meeting with United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio; United States State Department, Washington D.C.] * We’re very pleased with our meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio this afternoon. * We came here to listen to the new Administration and to be clear about what ...
The intersection of State Highway 2 (SH2) and Wainui Road in the Eastern Bay of Plenty will be made safer and more efficient for vehicles and freight with the construction of a new and long-awaited roundabout, says Transport Minister Chris Bishop. “The current intersection of SH2 and Wainui Road is ...
The Ocean Race will return to the City of Sails in 2027 following the Government’s decision to invest up to $4 million from the Major Events Fund into the international event, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown says. “New Zealand is a proud sailing nation, and Auckland is well-known internationally as the ...
Improving access to mental health and addiction support took a significant step forward today with Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announcing that the University of Canterbury have been the first to be selected to develop the Government’s new associate psychologist training programme. “I am thrilled that the University of Canterbury ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened the new East Building expansion at Manukau Health Park. “This is a significant milestone and the first stage of the Grow Manukau programme, which will double the footprint of the Manukau Health Park to around 30,000m2 once complete,” Mr Brown says. “Home ...
The Government will boost anti-crime measures across central Auckland with $1.3 million of funding as a result of the Proceeds of Crime Fund, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “In recent years there has been increased antisocial and criminal behaviour in our CBD. The Government ...
The Government is moving to strengthen rules for feeding food waste to pigs to protect New Zealand from exotic animal diseases like foot and mouth disease (FMD), says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard. ‘Feeding untreated meat waste, often known as "swill", to pigs could introduce serious animal diseases like FMD and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held productive talks in New Delhi today. Fresh off announcing that New Zealand and India would commence negotiations towards a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, the two Prime Ministers released a joint statement detailing plans for further cooperation between the two countries across ...
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the forestry sector. “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our ...
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the horticulture sector. “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of two new Family Court Judges. The new Judges will take up their roles in April and May and fill Family Court vacancies at the Auckland and Manukau courts. Annette Gray Ms Gray completed her law degree at Victoria University before joining Phillips ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened Wellington Regional Hospital’s first High Dependency Unit (HDU). “This unit will boost critical care services in the lower North Island, providing extra capacity and relieving pressure on the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and emergency department. “Wellington Regional Hospital has previously relied ...
Namaskar, Sat Sri Akal, kia ora and good afternoon everyone. What an honour it is to stand on this stage - to inaugurate this august Dialogue - with none other than the Honourable Narendra Modi. My good friend, thank you for so generously welcoming me to India and for our ...
Check against delivery.Kia ora koutou katoa It’s a real pleasure to join you at the inaugural New Zealand infrastructure investment summit. I’d like to welcome our overseas guests, as well as our local partners, organisations, and others.I’d also like to acknowledge: The Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and other Ministers from the Coalition ...
An 11-year-old was taken to a mental health facility after being mistaken for a 20-year-old. The PM wants to know why it took two weeks to tell the minister. ...
Liv Sisson reviews a milestone gig for an ascendant New Zealand act. On Saturday night, Fazerdaze headlined Auckland’s Powerstation for the very first time. “This is my favourite venue in the whole world,” Amelia Murray (aka Fazerdaze) told the crowd. Playing it clearly meant a lot to her. During the ...
An 11-year-old was taken to a mental health facility after being mistaken for a 20-year-old. The PM wants to know why it took two weeks to tell the minister. ...
From its humble beginnings to becoming the world’s largest Polynesian cultural festival, ASB Polyfest has shaped generations of young people, strengthened cultural connections, and fostered community resilience. I remember being a fresh-faced 13-year-old as the smell of dry cow dung – used to dye the fibres on our piupiu – ...
In early March an 11-page letter sent shockwaves through media giant NZME. Duncan Greive analyses its withering critique of the business, and the plan to redirect its news direction after ripping out the board. New Zealand’s sharemarket is typically a fairly sleepy place. Stocks rise and fall, sometimes abruptly – ...
We’re pleased to see the government working from the basis that the clear allocation of property rights is a fundamental tenet of a well-functioning economy. This is critical to unlocking the investment we need to thrive and grow. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Brodribb, Professor of Plant Physiology, University of Tasmania Stomata – the breathing ‘mouths’ of leaves – under the microscope.Barbol / Shutterstock Plant behaviour may seem rather boring compared with the frenetic excesses of animals. Yet the lives of our vegetable friends, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lucy Montgomery, Dean of Research, Humanities, Curtin University Mykhailo Kopyt/Shutterstock In December 2024, the editorial board of the Journal of Human Evolution resigned en masse following disagreements with the journal’s publisher, Elsevier. The board’s grievances included claims of inadequate copyediting, misuse ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow in Music Industries and Cultural Economy, RMIT University iam_os/Unsplash The Australian Music Venue Foundation launched this month to advocate for and potentially administer an arena ticket levy to support grassroots live music venues. Funds would ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a public servant living in a small town explains her approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female. Age: 46. Ethnicity: European. Role: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carolyn Nickson, Associate Professor, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne; Adjunct Associate Professor, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney Pablo Heimplatz/Unsplash Australia’s BreastScreen program offers women regular mammograms (breast X-rays) based on their age. And ...
Frustrated senior doctors say millions of dollars of taxpayer money going to private hospitals to do elective operations could help many more patients, if it was invested in the ailing public system. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Valerie A. Cooper, Lecturer in Media and Communication, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Getty Images Of all the contradictions and ironies of Donald Trump’s second presidency so far, perhaps the most surprising has been his shutting down the ...
Two new laws will replace the Resource Management Act, with Chris Bishop promising a ‘radical transition’ and fewer barriers to development, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.RMA on the scrapheap – again “Mad”, “bizarre”, “foolish”: just ...
A new Chinese tool capable of cutting the most fortified undersea data cable has stoked fears for fibre-optic cables that are the lifeblood of the internet. ...
The village of Partyzanske, like so many others, has been devastated by war. Tasha Black meets the women determined to rebuild it.All photography by Tasha Black.A middle-aged woman is waving in the distance, standing at the end of a dirt road. A steel grey dreariness hangs in the ...
Five years ago today, New Zealanders woke up in lockdown – or, officially, alert level four – for the very first time. To mark the occasion, we’ve dredged up a selection of weird and wonderful recollections from that unprecedented era. The MSD ‘assistance’I was in lockdown at my parents’ ...
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If its declarations are made, Ngāi Tahu’s High Court case could ripple throughout the country, Federated Farmers vice president Colin Hurst says.The farming lobby group is an intervener in the case, taken by the iwi against the Attorney-General to get recognition by the Crown of its rangatiratanga (chiefly authority) over ...
Special report: New Zealand is less prepared for a pandemic than it was five years ago, even as new threats are emerging overseas The post The next pandemic is coming. NZ isn’t ready appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Comment: When every building is a bespoke thing that cannot be replicated elsewhere, it’s harder to reap the gains The post Behind the curve on construction appeared first on Newsroom. ...
A music event promoter says the mess caused by the cancellation of Juicy Fest and Timeless Summer proves current regulations miss the mark when it comes to protecting punters.An initial liquidator’s report estimates the three companies behind the events owe creditors more than $2.4 million. Ticketholders who’ve tried to get ...
The first time I saw Joan Butcher she was creeping around the edge of the queue of students waiting to get into the main Cook bar, asking for spare change or cigarettes, reeking of alcohol, sweat, smoke and urine, her hands tobacco-stained, her skin visibly dirty even from a distance.It ...
The final few orange cones and pieces of broken asphalt on suburban Meola Road are the entrenchments for besieged Auckland transport officials’ last stand – that’s the way Wayne Brown sees it. The long-running Point Chevalier to Westmere road improvements project should be of interest only to the residents of ...
By Christine Rovoi of PMN News A human rights group in Aotearoa New Zealand has welcomed support from several Pacific island nations for West Papua, which has been under Indonesian military occupation since the 1960s. West Papua is a region (with five provinces) in the far east of Indonesia, centred ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Wilson, Professor of Social Impact, University of Technology Sydney Queensland and the federal government have reached an agreement on school funding. This means all Australian states and territories are now signed up to new arrangements, which officially began at the start ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Cooper-Douglas, Deputy Politics + Society Editor The federal budget will be handed down by Treasurer Jim Chalmers at 7:30PM AEDT on Tuesday March 25. While the official budget papers are under lock and key until then, the government has been making ...
“Finally our story can be heard, and the Crown now acknowledges the injustices that were inflicted on Ngāti Hāua,” says Chair of Ngāti Hāua Iwi Trust, Graham ‘Tinker’ Bell. “Those injustices include being pushed out of Heretaunga (Hutt ...
The challenge now is to get the best possible outcome from the split Act model. We will be working closely with the Government over the course of this year to that end. We simply must have a more nuanced outcome from this process than from the Fast-track ...
In my fathers wallet there was always a photo of my twin brother and i . Dad always said it was behind a photo of Tito because he did not want the sun to fade it.
Miss you DAD!!
Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year
Hey Sanctuary put your pants on and do a post on the media lowlights this year.
73 of an intake of 1200 cadets at West Point cheat in a calculus online exam. That's 6%.
Wikipedia says "Candidates for admission must apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a member of Congress. Other nomination sources include the president and vice president"!
"The academic program grants a bachelor of science degree. Cadets are required to adhere to the Cadet Honor Code, which states that "a cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Military_Academy
The worst scandal in 45 years!
I wonder how many of these cheats debasing university qualifications and heading for high office in the US military were nominated by Republicans, and how many by Democrats?
A wider question is do we wonder how power elites maintain their power when prospective top military officers have to be nominated by members of the power elite?
Does Prump have time to pardon them?
@ mac1 (3) …
Hardly surprising, considering the likes of Donald Trump is an ex cadet/student of West Point! He who got out of doing a tour of duty in Vietnam, due to his "flat feet." Then went on to criticise John McCain for being taken a prisoner of war during the same conflict!
The oompah loompah attended west point? Never heard that one before.
Humourous side note: tried to search for even an incomplete attendance using "trump education west point", got this:
lol
Generalissimo Bonespurs got sent to New York Military Academy in lieu of regular high school. Because he was too obnoxious for regular schooling to deal with.
While NYMA is just up the river from West Point, there is zero connection, and very few NYMA alumni went on to military careers. Basically, in the US, "military academies" are private boarding schools that the privileged and wealthy sent their snotty offspring to try to straighten them out.
Hooton in the Herald today:
OMC's name was meant to be ironic. Everyone knew Ōtara had no millionaires, let alone enough for a club.
November's $1.01 million sale of 1 Tate Place has predictably been labelled "how bizarre". Yet the price paid for the 95 square metre, one-bathroom, three-bedroom, weatherboard house on less than a fifth of an acre was not the first in Ōtara above $1m and most certainly will not be the last.
Nevertheless, Ōtara may remain millionaire-free, with only around a third of houses in the Panmure-Ōtāhuhu electorate, of which it is part, being owner-occupied. The electorate's median household income is in the $50,000 to $70,000 range.
OMC's name was meant to be ironic. Everyone knew Ōtara had no millionaires, let alone enough for a club.
November's $1.01 million sale of 1 Tate Place has predictably been labelled "how bizarre". Yet the price paid for the 95 square metre, one-bathroom, three-bedroom, weatherboard house on less than a fifth of an acre was not the first in Ōtara above $1m and most certainly will not be the last.
Nevertheless, Ōtara may remain millionaire-free, with only around a third of houses in the Panmure-Ōtāhuhu electorate, of which it is part, being owner-occupied. The electorate's median household income is in the $50,000 to $70,000 range.
Closer to the action, Councillor Efeso Collins, who was born and raised in Ōtara, says 80 per cent of Pacific people, the majority in his Manukau ward, do not own their homes – and there is now no chance they ever will.
Jacinda Ardern expresses concern, but says she wants house prices to keep going up.
Insofar as further meaning can be discerned from her remarks, it seems the Prime Minister hopes future wage inflation will be above house-price inflation.
Yet this is not the picture painted by Treasury in last week's Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), signed off by Finance Minister Grant Robertson as reflecting all government decisions and other circumstances of which he is aware.
According to Robertson's HYEFU, house prices will increase by another 32 per cent over the next five years while wages will go up by only 14 per cent, and consumer prices by 8 per cent.
The good news for an Ōtara family with an annual household income of $60,000 wanting to buy a $600,000 house is that they can expect to be earning $156 a week more in five years' time.
They'll also be able to save a bit more, since their weekly supermarket shop will only go up from, say, $200 to $216 – although their bank won't help much, since interest rates on savings accounts will remain dismally low for the full five years.
The really bad news is that the $600,000 house they have their eye on will go up by another $195,000. The Reserve Bank restoring loan-to-value restrictions will make it even harder for them to buy it, but not those who already own a home who they will need to compete with.
By dint of his own signature, Robertson says he knows of no government decisions or other circumstances that make these forecasts unsafe.
The realpolitik of the median voter model means that no one in Wellington actually cares or even thinks about a $60,000-a-year family in Ōtara dreaming of one day owning a home – and they never have.
But Beehive strategists do worry about middle-class couples wanting to save for their first home over the next parliamentary term. Double or triple the numbers above, and you've worked out the equally impossible maths facing them.
Ardern and Roberston appear either oblivious to the effects of their own Treasury's forecasts or utterly complacent about them.
Having wailed about a housing crisis for more than a decade – when house prices were half what they are now – they have not replied to the latest numbers with an emergency pre-Christmas programme the way previous governments with big mandates have responded to the economic, fiscal or social calamity of the day.
Instead, Robertson says the Government is now in a position to – and I quote him – "start addressing some of those long-term issues like housing [and] child poverty". A "housing package" is promised next year, although it will apparently focus more on making renting easier than on home ownership.
The time for excuses on the housing crisis has surely run out. Ardern has been re-elected with one of the most overwhelming mandates in the history of New Zealand or any proportional representation system. She no longer has the excuse of being new to the job or constrained by a coalition partner. She faces no credible opposition.
Nor is the housing crisis an issue where the best policy response has not been well-canvassed. Ardern and Robertson could do worse than even just re-reading Phil Goff's Mayoral Taskforce Housing Report released more than three years ago, with Labour's support.
It outlined a clear strategy covering everything from finance through to the building code, and was the consensus view of investors, lenders, developers, designers, builders, politicians, government officials and council officers.
As well as much-needed intensification throughout Auckland, Labour might also look at its own manifesto from 2017, which promised commuter rail linking the golden triangle of Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga and new suburbs between them.
After the failure of the pepper-potting Kiwibuild, Labour could announce that new suburbs to the south and west of Auckland will be built as a single undertaking, including all necessary infrastructure and connectivity to the public transport network. Every construction company in the world would seek that contract.
In line with Labour ideology and the huge blow-out of eligible families on state-house waiting lists, these could start out as entirely state-house suburbs but with residents able to progressively purchase their home under a rent-to-buy scheme.
The surprisingly statist shared-equity scheme proposed by Roger Douglas some weeks ago should also be part of Robertson's promised package.
I have become as tired of writing about the housing crisis as you are of reading about it. Even the lunchtime jokes among homeowners about their properties working harder than they do are now falling flat.
There is a genuine threat to social cohesion in New Zealand unless the Prime Minister takes big, bold action on which she need not so much expend her political capital as invest it for further big political gains.
It is disappointing the first two months since her historic mandate have not been used more productively, but perhaps understandable given the senior leadership's general exhaustion after Covid-19.
But there can be no excuses when the housing package is released in the New Year. There have been enough platitudes. And there are no longer any constraints on Ardern from doing whatever she believes is necessary for the people she claims she entered politics to help.
Terrible experience for me…I agree almost entirely with Hooton…except for the Thatcherist rent to buy for state houses; I prefer Douglas’s shared equity…OMG now I’m agreeing with him.
There is a rich vein of votes to be mined here by the Greens. Jacinda appears tone deaf on this central issue.
Hooton is clever at dropping lies into opinion pieces that are designed to create a falsely negative perception of people he either doesn't like or opposes on political/ideological grounds.
An obvious example from the piece above:
Oh bullshit. she said nothing of the sort. What she did say was something to the effect that house prices will continue to go up in the short term.
That is an unfortunate fact. They will continue to rise, and there's nothing she or anyone else can do about it – in the short term.
Never forget that Hooton is an apologist for right-wing ideology – the very ideology that created the problem in the first place. His righteous indignation about an over- heated house market seems only to have surfaced since the Labour led government came to power despite the problem arising years sooner. Funny that.
The easiest thing to do to address house pricing and the availability is to remove the ability for Landlords to claim interest and maintenance deductions on rental properties and shift that over to Owner Occupiers only.
Many landlords deliberately gear up rental properties to the maximum mortgage amount, on interest only, and make a killing getting refunds from IRD each year. Their own Owner Occupiers homes are often mortgage free. That interest refund helps pay for the new car, or goes towards another property.
Removing the interest deductibility on rental properties will have a staggering effect, and likely one that will be far more beneficial than any other tinkering that could be proposed.
There is nothing wrong with landlords spending money on maintenance and renovation/improvement to meet regulatory standards for rental property. And such is a legitimate expense against taxable income.
As for interest deductability well … maybe interest claimed as an expense should become a tax liability if they sell the property for an untaxed CG (up to the taxable value of that CG at least). Thus still no CGT if the investor owns the property without a mortgage and does not sell within the brightline period.
Why? Let's use the theory that "only rental houses are habitable houses"
Owner Occupiers should not live at a lesser standard than renters. They should all be equal. How then, is it morally right to allow landlords to claim maintenance costs on bringing a rental property up to scratch, but not allow Owner Occupiers to do the same thing?
It's farcical, especially considering that the OO is highly likely to use their property as equity to buy another, and then use the original house as a rental. So therefore any argument revolving around expected future gains immediately drops away as now both classes of people are in the same boat. If OO were the only ones able to claim back maintenance costs, you can bet your sweet bippy that a lot more houses would be bought up to a more habitable standard a lot faster as people don't want to live in damp ridden boxes so will do upgrades so they are comfortable where they live.
Forcing landlords to do it is like extracting hens teeth. People have a vested interest in themselves first and foremost. Removing the landlord rort and giving it to OO will immediately address the housing crisis and lead to a faster reduction in house price growth.
As for the last sentence, very few landlords in NZ now are mortgage free on their rental property. Why should they be? It’s far better to have a mortgage to the maximum against the rental.
Businesses get all kinds of tax advantages over end users. For example a GST registered business doesn't pay GST on goods it uses.
I don't really see a good case that interest payments on houses should be treated differently to interest costs on any other business. There is also a question on where the line is drawn on commercial property ownership.
I think the right way to tackle this is to ring fence the property business from other income sources so that unrelated income can't be rebated against a loss. But to some extent these losses have been allowing a slower rate of rental price increases (with the owners satisfied with the unrealised capital gains).
In the case of a property owner they are still not writing off the interest on their own place of living so I don't think its so clear that they receive an unfair advantage.
There used to be a mortgage rebate claim in the annual tax return – but this was removed when the top rate of income tax was reduced down from 66 to 33 cents. The presumption being homeowners (with mortgages to pay) were those in the higher income tax bracket etc.
Ring fencing moves have already begun, at these property values rent returns are now quite low and so any net loss cannot be charged against other (say working) income.
https://www.chapmans.co.nz/media/1043/new-loss-ring-fencing-rules.pdf
Well, yes. I was raising the pertinent question about all these things we know will bring property prices down (if implemented). How do we know, will they actually, and given they have been why didn't it work (e.g brightline test/CGT).
It all points towards the successful policy measure being the one which drives lots of first home buyers out. I think that will be very unpopular.
Why? As to maintenance, is because of the charge of tax against rental income. There is no profit/income to tax, but after cost profit/income.
Most low quality housing is rental not OO. And if the government allowed homeowners to charge necessary maintenance to government, it would be another middle class handout. Near all working homeowners are quite capable of borrowing while mortgage rates are cheap (and values are rising) to maintain their property. If it was allowed for low income homeowners (say the retired) it should be chargeable against the estate/or on sale.
Removing the ability to claim for maintenance costs is more likely to lead to lower quality rentals and more landlord tenant problems.
And it would do nothing to lower property values (a supply and demand thing) – but it would encourage speculators to simply leave their properties untenanted as they waited for CG.
As to my last sentence – the existence of such mortgage free owner investors is the reason why any tax claim against interest paid by other landlords could not be described as a CGT.
Hooten's right on this one Anne- see comments taken from an article and video with interest.co.nz
I tend to agree with the PM, rightly or wrongly people don't want to see a 30% reduction in house prices, especially those that have just purchased even if they are staying put for a while. She like all politicians that have successfully achieved goals 1 and 2 of the job has an eye on number 3 which is to be re-elected again and promising to cut the value of houses 30% is not a way to do this.
"..rightly or wrongly people don't want to see a 30% reduction in house prices.."
Even though houses are 30% over-valued?
Depends on the situation. An immediate 30% fall in values would put some recent buyers under water and many into the low equity category paying higher interest rates. Sometimes banks ask for rapid debt repayment in those situations too.
And if more broadly that price change spills over into a recession then the negative consequences will not fall fairly or on home owners.
We should also be aware wages don't typically fall during a recession and in nominal terms property prices tend not to either so to get that outcome something pretty rough might need to happen to the economy.
I think Hootons spin is pretty close to the truth of what was said… closer than your spin anyway
"Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she would like to see small increases in houses prices, acknowledging most people “expect” the value of their most valuable asset to keep rising."
"Asked by interest.co.nz (see video below) whether “sustained moderation” of house prices was still the government’s goal, Ardern said: “Yes. We don’t want to see the significant increases; these huge jumps in house price growth."
From https://www.interest.co.nz/property/108301/pm-jacinda-ardern-says-sustained-moderation-remains-governments-goal-when-it-comes
Hooton was lying when he said Ardern wants house prices to keep going up and he knows it. At best he could be said to be misinterpreting – deliberately in my view – what she said.
She was talking in general terms in so far as she appreciated nobody wants to see their house decrease in value so a small increase over time is acceptable. What has been happening since well before Labour came to power is: house prices have been going up in leaps and bounds to the point its now out of control and that is totally unacceptable.
Nobody needs Hooton's spin on the situation. We already know what is fueling the rise in house prices. See my 4.1.1
Yes, his spin vs your spin in your eqrlier comment this one is closer the truth…
Reality is it's looking like this govt is going to over see the biggest increase in house prices in both dollar value and as a percentage in our history.
Its very fair to say that after railing against Nationals inaction in opposition, having Kiwibuild fail utterly, and now inflating the market with cheap money seemingly having no real plan outside of expressing concern this govt is unwillingly to take meaningful steps.
This crisis and Labours inaction is going to have a similar long term effect to Rogernomics…
Fuck Labour is better at looking after the well healed than the nats are…
It would be appropriately precautionary to assume that Hooten is arguing in bad faith -hoping to create an environment where the Government is spooked into doing something electorally damaging to itself. And thereby giving National a pathway back.
Strategically, it is essential that any discontent with Labour's approach to housing grows the political bloc to it's left – not give National a totally undeserved break when they are down.
That is exactly what he is doing.
hard to argue with anything hooton sez there..
(I am pretty sure that is the first time I have ever said those words..)
I like the idea of fully serviced state house suburbs..('green' houses in them..)
and I see no problem with a rent-to-buy option in there…
why is that a problem for some here..?
it is perhaps the only chance many have to attain a home..after all..
and I don't see it as a privatisation stalking-horse…
just build more houses..!
and just out of interests' sake…what do those opposing this plan see as the solution..?
y'know..!..a good idea is a good idea..
..I couldn't give a hoot where it comes from…
(see what I did there…?..)
[Fixed typo in user name]
sometimes adherence to a political party spills over into cult behaviour..
I've noticed ..
the guru is always correct..
dissension will not be tolerated…
blind faith is the norm..
we are never wrong..
and the 'other' ..i.e. not them..are always wrong…
there are plenty of them in pretty much every party..
the 'true believers'..of whatever political faith..
can be quite tiresome..
I see it all as being much more fluid/nuanced..
..and there are many moves that could be made on the housing market..
but just making it a bit uncomfortable for the rentier class..isn't enough..
as hooton advocates..
..a massive building program must be part of it..
and new green state house suburbs sounds pretty pretty good to me…
Probably the only Thatcherite policy that withstands scrutiny is rent-to-buy schemes for state houses – but only if the state keeps on building them. The Singaporean state housing scheme prioritizes getting people into their own homes. Among other models they looked at before embarking on that was NZ's state housing scheme – before a greedy little wanker called Roger Douglas parasitized it of course.
I don't agree Stuart.
In Thatcher's Britain the state houses sold were "cherry-picked" for the best ones leaving the crap ones still in the hands of the state for poor people. They were sold at massive discounts which meant the state lost a capital asset it could have rented out to needy people in the future and they were not replaced meaning the stock of state houses went down….was privatised. No wonder Hooton likes this.
My guess is the same thing would happen here.
The shared equity option looks far better in this context.
Yeah, I know what they did. But it is far more economical (and realistic) for the government to take up the slack in the non-MacMansion end of the market, than it is for them to throw money at 'investors' hoping they will solve it.
The UK Tories are the epitome of uselessness, and our Gnats give them a run for their money. But Singapore has successfully run a scheme where the state builds and sells apartments to occupiers for some decades.
If we have a surfeit of corrupt assholes wrecking our attempts at governance, well, we'd better have a bit of a clear out. Nothing good is possible till we do.
Agree…I would love to see a big state house construction programme and the Bright Line Test extended to 10 years-that is probably the only housing tax change Labour can make under its manifesto.
It seems Chris Bishop has set himself a target of being in the media as much as possible.
Quantity will not equal quality. Maybe he doesn't realise that while being there will boost his profile of course 10 X 0 still = 0
Yeah him and the highly irritating Seymour, the pair of them make me ill.
RNZ seem to have a fixation with Seymour making comments in as many "news" bulletins as possible, needless to say I turn the damn thing off every time I hear the little pricks voice!
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/12/covid-19-national-calls-on-govt-to-address-concerns-over-new-covid-strain-in-the-uk.html
Bishop is taking the position of Baker. What he overlooks is that airlines are now limiting services out of the UK – so there is a de facto traffic light system developing – where those from Oz will take up bookings allocated to those who can no longer get flights. And pre flight tests are simply a bad idea – people leaving lockdown safety to get a test are placed at risk of catching the virus – they will test negative but be infected by the time they get to the plane with their now obsolete result. It would make things worse. Sometimes people do not think.
For mine the best move we can make with a new more infectious strain about is to keep people in their hotel rooms for the first week (so recent arrivals are kept apart from those in the second week about to leave the hotel).
The mention of Baker is interesting, he is practicly the only commentator on the media. What exactly was his role in the huge Covid committee, I was under the impression he was sidelined quite early on. Was he the one who wanted to completely seal the borders even to returning NZers which I think goes against international law. I lost all respect for him when I read his Guardian article mid year pretty much claiming all the credit for the lockdown and espousing just how brilliant he thought he was, it was the sort of thing Trump could have written it about himself.
I don't think this new variant will be found to be that much faster spread, I think the problem is that when FC Johnson lifted the London Lockdown too early the pent up infections just exploded. Who has a " lockdown "when the top tier only closes cinemas and pubs, restaurants, gyms, and pretty much everything else was wide open. It was a story that FC Johnson concocted to cover even more of his stupidity.
Note.. if you want to know about the FC identifier, look up what the UK No1 Christmas song is looking like being this year. It is a brilliant punk rock anthem.
Baker is doing his job, and he's damned good at it. He was the one who said that we could eliminate this thing, when everyone else was just trying to lessen the impact. And public communication is part of his role.
But his job is to focus solely on the health of the population. If there's anything with a tiny chance of improving things, he throws it up the flagpole. Other people have the job of looking at things from a financial, practical, or social impact perspective.
We tried pre-testing. It didn't work well enough to make arrival isolation less important. But he's right to keep throwing options up.
He may be very, very good at his job but there are ways to be a little less of the smug manner about it, and smug is probably the wrong word. There are also around 40 or so others who are or were advising like Dr Ian Town, Dr Ayesha Verrall Stephen?Hendry , and many others I can't recall. One does get the impression from Dr Baker that he is the only one who is the authority.
Most scientific advisors have multiple hats. In Baker's case, he's a senior academic (which requires being "critic and conscience" of society), and is probably on speed dial for any journo needing a quote from an expert in public health.
DHB professionals, for example, don't have the same public communication job as academics, and might even be constrained by policies about speaking out. Science communicators might not have the specialisation. So folk like Baker have their moment in the sun.
As to smug… well, that's a more subjective judgement.
His dad often writes in the Dom. Tragic when your only fan club is your parents.
Thoughts go out to those serving the community over this festive season be you distributing food from a food bank serving meals to those in need
hopefully these services will be in less demand, we can only hope
@ Andre ..
My mistake. Cheers for clarifying that point re the Brumpf's (military) schooling.