Is the Minister of Police on leave? Do we even have a Minister of Police? Who might that be? Can somebody please tell Simon Bridges and the National Party for that matter on whom to aim his callous attacks? Is he trying to seed discord between the Minister and the Commissioner?
Leaked documents exposes UK government propaganda campaign against Russia.
"After The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal reported on newly leaked documents exposing a massive UK government propaganda campaign against Russia, Twitter added an unprecedented warning label that the material "may have been obtained through hacking." Although Twitter may have intended to restrict the article, the warning had the opposite effect: it quickly went viral."
"And of course butter wouldn't melt in that nice Mr Putin's mouth."…are you just an actual idiot or are you just trolling? Let us just settle this once and for all…you go find one time when I have said anything that is in support of Putin or his government, if you can then I shut up about all this anti Russian/Putin propaganda…if you can't, then you stop pushing western anti Russian/Putin propaganda on this site…or if you are not willing to put your money where your mouth is, knowing full well that you are going to lose that challenge (just as your fellow Russiagate friends have already lost similar challenges ) then how about countering the actual substance of the leaked documents….if not any of the above, then how about you just don't comment to me in future.
I am in fact very concerned by your incessant spreading of material in support of this murderous and invasive regime. As you put it:
are you just an actual idiot?
Never mind the western propaganda – there is nothing to admire or support in Putin's Russia.
So what's your deal? Why circulate Putin's side of every story? Isn't a genocide and the poisonings and assassinations of multiple political opponents and journalists enough to make you reflect even briefly on your invariable choice to repeat his disinformation campaigns?
Aside from your pathetic groveling to Russia you certainly give the impression of being progressive.
How do you reconcile this behaviour? Are you simply a romantic, endlessly open to these risible conspiracy theories? Like the Covidiots?
"there is nothing to admire or support in Putin's Russia."
That is a little bit harsh Stuart. I think there are some things. Alexei Navalny for example. He may not be perfect but, by returning to Russia as he has done, he is certainly displaying incredible courage and deserves our admiration for that.
"So what's your deal? Why circulate Putin's side of every story? Isn't a genocide and the poisonings and assassinations of multiple political opponents and journalists enough to make you reflect even briefly on your invariable choice to repeat his disinformation campaigns?"
This seems a very ethnocentric sort of comment. But, without wishing to condone the assassinations, etc, I should point out that Russia is a very different country from Britain, and one that has not enjoyed the many centuries of democratic development that the latter has enjoyed.
There are, you know, some truths to be derived from culture.
One of them is that organized crime has culturally bound tropes – Japanese criminals during their world cup were disproportionately involved in minor frauds like ticket scalping, and German and English offenders were overrepresented in brawling. Cocaine is a staple of Central American crime gangs, petrol thefts or swindles are characteristic of Russian crime gangs, and kidnapping of the original Sicilian mafia.
Murders of journalists and opposition party members are almost routine in Russia; thus far NZ political culture has not added them to its repertoire.
Metaphorically speaking, ethnocentricity is a form of blindness.
Yes of course – we must immediately embrace the culture of murderous authoritarians instead of defending the principles to which our society aspires. Does your moral relativism extend to Xi and the Uyghurs, or is China a bridge too far for you?
Should we punish innocent Russian citizens by declaring war on Russia, imposing trade sanctions, or whatever, simply because we disapprove of its government's alleged crimes. Or are the people to be considered simply as collateral damage.
The "Russians", whom you seem to be obsessed with badmouthing, haven't committed any crimes.
Do you know, I haven't decided what should be done about Russia. But what we should not do, is pretend that a routinely dishonest and murderous regime is not dishonest and murderous.
He represents a fatal danger to the progressive enterprise.
He has no progressive merits, but readily suborns shallow, weak-minded people to his cause, who then proceed to choke Left discourse with apologies for his most recent atrocities.
For my part ..the problem with the Anti Putin rhetoric is that it dominates western media for absolutely no practicable purpose,…leaving the stories, the issues and the political intrigue we should be occupied with entirely sidelined.
Just one aspect of this is the narrative around Russias supposed involvement/meddling in foreign elections. Sure, I have no doubt they do some of that, as do Western nations intervein in Russian politics…but just imagine if we had had daily updates from RNZ on the corruption and manipulations of the American political process by Americans(and not just Trump Bad) rather than the existential threat of Putin.
Same with our coverage of UK politics…our news sources on a daily basis told us we are interested in skripal poisoning and Russian interference ..though apparently not the actual workings of the UK election. (..beyond some coverage Corbyn being an appalling prospect)
And in all of these examples…our apparent interest seems to conveniently wain just around the time officials have to conced there is a total absence of viable, significant legal evidence to suport their terribly exciting narrative.
Meantime us Western nations are left with our two major influencers (ie UK and America) in absolute self inflicted disarray, ill equipped to deal with the actual threats to peacful life on the planet
I put it to you that our Democratic process would be far better served critiquing our Wester partners than obssesing about the existentialist threat of a sidelined nation such as Russia.
This clip has been posted many times before..but I shall do it again ..remember this is something we would have laughed at a few years ago ..and I know this was about "policy"…yet here we are ..in effect…still worrying about this supposed terrible threat to our way of Life!!
It says much for the relevance of your argument that you have to go back to 1975 for your example of anti-Russian propaganda. Perhaps it is not as significant a trend as you assert.
The fact is that Russia indulges in activities that are newsworthy. So does Kim Jong Eun. When that leader executes someone with an antiaircraft weapon, or Putin has someone assassinated, or funds trolls to support extremists in other countries, it tends to get reported. Moreover, Russian intelligence, being used to operating in countries with limited forensic resources and significant endemic corruption is readily detected when it carries out operations elsewhere.
Oh of course – of course Russia seeks to impugn the most prestigious and professional news organization on the planet – its very existence threatens every dishonest narrative they publish.
The only reliable source must be those RT folk eh – no-one ever caught them lying through their teeth, or requiring a dishonest political line. Liz Wahl – Wikipedia
Well yes, but you have already refused to look at any of the article, video or even their summaries and related materials, so I can't really help you with that.
you have already refused to look at any of the article, video or even their summaries and related materials
I have refused to trawl through an hour of RT bullshit – and you and your fellow dupes have declined to provide anything else – no doubt due to the paucity and flimsiness of your case.
Um…thats entirely my point…we haven't moved on since 1975…
but anyway…google 'DEMOCRATS MUELLER PROTESTS" (heaps, right?) now google this mix or variation thereof … 'DEMOCRATS TAX CUTS FOR RICH & CORPORATIONS COVID-19 RELIEF BILL PROTEST" (clue…never happened, though you might get some old shots of Bernie and Warren from way back))…
Thats your example ..people on the streets with their leaders basicaly against Putin…not against political corruption by their own leaders..
Though this could lead to a conversation about the American (and world wide)protests that do happen, but don't get covered for obvious reasons…but I'll save that for another day ..with Biden and co. in charge I'm sure that will be a major topic….
Your results my be completely different to Stuart's.
BTW the Covid Stimulus relief package is still making its way through congress, and recent polling shows that the majority of Americans support what's in it – so why would there be protesting?
For your info: here is an explainer of what Democrats propose. You need to understand however that this will not be an easy package to pass through the Senate given that Republicans will not vote for it. Just one Democrat Senator could sink this Bill. Looking at you Joe Manchin.
The film clip Adrian supplied is over an hour long, but it is the work of one Blumenthal, a paid regular contributor to RT, the propaganda arm of the Russian state. He's not worth anyone's time.
If you would care to present a brief summary of his allegations, I will happily check them out.
Of course he will not address the actual evidence of BBC,Reuters,Bellingcat being an active part of a coordinated British government covert operation to undermine Russia's sovereignty…so in other words, our Russiagate friends are outraged when Russia is accused if interfering in US/UK domestic affairs (though that has yet to be proven that this even happened on the scale Russia is accused of), yet when there is actual proof of the UK doing exactly that to Russia, suddenly it is fine..the hypocrisy of you lot is jaw dropping.
As I have said many times, after watching and observing you guys for a while, it becomes very easy to see just how easy it was to recruit the proverbial 'camp guards'
If an RT shill said they weren't gulags they were butlins-style holiday camps filled with fun activities, you'd be singing the praises of Putin's outdoor recreation program.
And posting hour long videos of a dude in a room telling the camera how awesome the camps are.
A pile of mid fifties war comics just arrived in the shop, was flicking through them at lunch..man these thing are hard core cold war propaganda…would suit you and your fellow dumb headed cold war warriors perfectly,.
And here I was thinking that human kind was evolving upwards ever so slowly, you just blew that theory out the door, well done.
I can just see you and your up standing pals doing your civic duty and reporting fellow citizens to the authorities..yeah right up your ally, as I said you are born camp guard.
Turns out you and Ayn Rand have more in common than you probably thought…it comes as no surprise to me though.
I mean, you could actually use something other than an hour-long rant as supporting evidence for an explicit claim that you, yourself, make with your own words.
Heck, one day you might manage to make a comment that is:
more coherent than a meth-head on magic mushrooms; and
not accompanied by a random video.
To be fair, a lot of your comments don't have videos.
Well I would rather be on mushrooms every now and then, than be some sort of crazy old cold war warrior who obviously has never been bothered with an original thought in their entire life time.
I have never made any claims regarding Putin, so I don't see why I should provide "evidence". I accept that Putin is pretty ruthless when it comes to retaining power, but I also see this as rather beside the point.
I'm always surprised that no one brings up the undisputed fact of the United States "intervention" in the 1996 Russian elections…and the American lead IMF loan of US$10.2 billion that Boris and his mates squandered ..quite blatantly…and this is just one aspect of that involvement that is so undeniable it is allowed to exist on Wikipedia …. the idea that anything the UK or America does now is "okay", as if its the first retaliatory blow against an interfering regime in some new battle..is quite ridiculous.
(and yes, that was American lead interference …but as everyone knows ..the UK is the money laundering hub for Russian elites and needs to be careful how it deals with and investigates Russian interference and, equaly manages its own covert operations.)
I understand your reluctance Adrian, to get into the factual (or otherwise) basis of your claim. It must be so deflating watching RT's tawdry lies shrivel in the sunlight.
Last night I suppose Simon Bridges got about his business doing what he usually does.
Cops all over the country were too. Like in Papatoetoe, many of them over quite some hours. Will he find something to complain about with their 'nuanced' policing?
Auckland has risen from number 6 in this Housing survey in 2020 up to number 4 in 2021 report. Go team! Why, with the great strides being made by the current Government we will get up to Number 1 before this term is up. I'm sure that Megan Woods is in raptures.
Well John Key wanted to make NZ an Island for the very rich and i guess he has achieved that.
Oh, we are not to mention that the unaffordability of housing in NZ has been borne and has been fostered by the various National and Labour governments? My bad.
Why on earth shouldn't you mention it? As far as I know Andrew Little hasn't put his hate speech laws through yet so you can't be prosecuted for saying something that causes unhappiness in one of our Lords and Masters.
I just fixed your comment honey, if you want to put blame about the fact that Kiwis can't afford houses – be it to sell or to rent then you must put the blame on both parties.
The National party for selling statehouses, their refusal to build state houses and such and the timidity of Labour to put a CGT, and other reforms.
So yeah, you should have mentioned both parties. Bye now.
Of course previous Governments headed by both major parties have stuffed up. However for the last three and a half years we have had a Labour led Government. The article I linked to covered the way things have got even worse this year than they were last year.
National have not been in Government recently so you can't really expect them to do much about the situation. And John Key resigned as Prime Minister on 6 December 2016. Are you really suggesting he is responsible for things that are happening four and a quarter years later?
"are you really suggesting he is responsible for things that are happening four and a quarter years later"? yes, those many thousands of new New Zealanders he let in to try and prop up his version of responsible economic management will continue to put severe pressure on all of our infrastructure(not just housing) for many years to come. just as the deregulation in the building industry in the nineties has led to 25 yrs of problems with leaky homes. just as max bradfords disasterous phuckups while trying to reform the electricity industry 25 yrs ago ,still are causing long term damage. perhaps you need to do less trolling and more reading and learning.
The weekend’s revelation that some in National are reportedly attempting to torpedo their own potential candidate in Auckland Central by claiming she’s a former stripper, is by now about par for the course for the party. It’s hardly a ‘new low’ – really more of a ‘new middle’.
And pretty emblematic all-up of where the National Party is at at this point in the campaign. Quite a number of them are so focused on scrabbling for their own individual simulacrum of success that they’re doing ridiculous things which don’t help the party – and therefore, in the real sense, undermine their own potential future prospects.
Rumours, muckraking, and invented attacks on rivals – internal to your own party or otherwise – are part and parcel of party politics, unfortunately. Although it’s rare that they ever serve anything other than the most petty and personal of motivations.
Not yet baby, not yet. That is why I suggested that she say whatever she wants to.
However not having any say now doesn't affect the fact that he would like to have control in the future, when he can decide that anything he doesn't like being said is hate speech and can be punished. After all, when your skin is as thin as his seems to be he can be hurt by anything that isn't totally admiring of anything he does.
However not having any say now doesn't affect the fact that he [Little] would like to have control in the future, when he can decide that anything he doesn't like being said is hate speech and can be punished.
Oh look, another 'alwyn fact' – keep up the good work, while you still can
Partially yes, but frankly it was bad before covid.
And how bout Rotorua? Where houses now also cost over a million? And Taupo, which can't attract enough trades people for lack of housing? And Tauranga? Where expensive houses are literally build on sand?
Our housing crisis is bad not because of people coming home, our housing crisis is bad because Government is missing in action at best, at worst they are refusing to implement meaningful policy and legislation that would allow for a cooling of the housing market.
But so long as banks are ok to offer mortgages at 2.99% and less for a loan over 500.000 grand speculators who have cash flush or equitiy will buy and buy and buy.
Btw, there is borded up empty houses where i live. The landlord can't be bothered to rent, he will sell for Captial Gain…….untaxed in a few month.
Regarding the borded up houses – It may cost him a considerable amount of money to rent them as he would probably need to upgrade the insulation, install heat pumps / air con units and various other requirements to meet the new rental standards. This is an unintended consequence of the new rental laws. He may or may not have the funds to do that, so better to leave empty.
that is the saddest excuse i have ever heard. The house was rented before it was borded up.
So what you are saying is he extracted as much revenue as he could without having to bring the house up to any standards, and now he waits a few more month before unloading it on a buyer.
Slumlandlord, and i have no pity with him. Never mind there is a borded up house in the road and we have homeless up and down the country.
Btw, i bought a rental property to live in, it cost me 3 grand to put roof insulation in, two hundred bucks for a fan/light/heat in bathroom, and 4 grand for a small heat pump.
If a landlord does not have the money to spend 5 – 8 grand to get the house to the min standard required to rent it out, while being able to extract at the median 460.00 per week nigh on 2 grand per month, or around 22.000 grand per year, then the dude needs to get out of business.
Like I said, it's an unintended consequence. A lot of landlords have mortgage payments higher than the rent they receive. They may be "equity rich" but are cash poor. And it would not surprise me that some do not have a spare $7k sitting around to bring the property up to the renting standard. Ironically, it would be fine for them to live in themselves without heat pump etc. or spending on it. But I agree that maybe its time for this particular landlord to get out of the renting market and sell the property (which as you said may be the intention).
if they are equity rich, and have a rental that is currently rented, then any bank will happily loan them the 5 – 8 grand needed. Besides they knew now for about 4 years that this date was coming.
This is still the dumbest excuse. Sorry, i am letting my property fall even further into disrepair by not doing anything cause i am broke as fuck, but in a few month when the value has gone up another few thousand dollars (according to the paper that i received from the council in my area house prices have doubled in the last three years) i will sell, cause money for nothing and stuff for free. Right?
Seriously, that should not even count as an excuse. No the house stays empty because a. he don't want to upgrade, and b. he wants to sell. For a handful of more dollars.
absolute bollocks. poor landlord cant raise $7 grand on a property worth anywhere from 300,000 upwards, to be able to earn 15 grand upwards. sounds like a tui ad.
A lot of landlords have mortgage payments higher than the rent they receive.
It is not the tenant's job to pay his landlord's mortgage. It's not the tenant who will own the house after the final mortgage payment is made. The landlord is already benefiting from the rort that interest deductibility represents. If he can't make ends meet from his business he should cut his losses a sell up; and perhaps in the process, liberate another house for some first home buyer.
I think you are missing the point. By offering accommodation a landlord is providing a service. and he should charge whatever that accommodation is worth. But whether or not that charge is sufficient to cover mortgage payments as well has his normal outgoings is irrelevant.
Perhaps you might to do another little calculation. How much did the property cost? Does a property of that price where you live cost $460 to rent? If not recalculate the theoretical rental.
How many weeks/year can you actually rent the property? It is unlikely to be 52.
What does an agent charge to look after the rental? Deduct that from the $22,000
What are the rates on the property? Deduct that from the $22,000.
What is the Insurance on the property? Deduct that from the $22,000.
What is the Interest you would have to pay for a mortgage on a sum equal to the entire cost of the property? Deduct that from the $22,000
What is the annual maintenance you will have to do? Deduct that from the $22,000.
He should not be deducting interest. Interest is part of the cost of owning the property, not a part of the rental process. It is the renting out of the property that earns taxable income. Interest does not contribute to that.
Interest is the payment you have to make in order to own the property and without that you would have nothing to rent out. I wasn't counting any part of the capital amount of an assumed mortgage as that is going to provide you with something of value even if you don't get any rental income.
The Tax Department certainly allows you to deduct them from your rental income.
The following expenses can be deducted from your rental income.
Rates and insurance
Interest paid on money borrowed to finance your property
Agents fees and commission relating to the rental of the property
Repairs and maintenance (except if they substantially improve the property)
If a business borrows $500k from a bank, goes out and buys $500k of earth moving equipment and rents out those earth moving machines out, the interest on the loan to buy the equipment is deductible. Is that really any different to borrowing $500k to buy a property, and renting it out?
Of course not. There would be no problems with the same business borrowing/buying/leasing a second set of earth moving equipment and a third……
The narrative has been framed though that a business whose business is the acquisition, borrowing and leasing (renting) of residential property is worthy of opprobrium.
There is something wrong with the mindset that says it is a feasible/laudable idea for a first home owner to go head to head with home owners who are moving up the ladder and perhaps moving closer to town, and businesses who buy to rent in the desirable inner city suburbs of any city. Never has been.
Of course in the Wellington scene as an example it would be great for a first home owner to aspire to live in Wadestowns, Oriental Bays and other 'leafy' suburbs. It is not realistic though.
There are suburbs further out where a more realistic selection can seen. And these may be areas where a first home aspiree may not go head to head with existing home owners moving up closer to town or renting businesses.
Thankfully there are purpose built apartment dwellings being built close to the city that can fulfill a need for first home owners. These may not have an ensuite for every bedroom or a separate media room but they are warm, comfortable places to get a foot on the ladder.
'renovations' – for the most part deductible – thus cost nil
and all of this is generally described as cost of doing buisiness.
Now what is charged to the tenant?
460 – in my sample, now that is the median rent in rotorua so really i am lowballing it. The boarded up property is a three bedder on a full section so would easy rent 500+. Never mind.
All the above mentioned costs are included in the rent. So let me spell this in plain english, the landlord does not pay any of the above mentioned costs, the tenant do.
And in the end of the year tax accounts all of the above listed costs will be deducted as an expense on any tax burden he/she may have.
As said before, if they can't make money out of rentals in NZ – the only most unregulated business in NZ – they should not be in the business.
I am currently saving per medium rent in Rotorua 260 NZD every week by not paying rent but a mortgage. Or if i rent this property for the median rent, I make about 110 profit before tax every week. And i get to keep the property and sell it for double the price i paid 3 years ago. Tax free.
Go cry a river about the hard done by landlord elsewhere.
You do not really have a head for business Sabine. Yes the mortgage interest is deductible to the landlord as is the other costs etc. But the tax rate is probably around 33%. The cost to the landlord is not Nil.
Best you speak to an accountant or financial advisor.
if you can write of expenses and losses on investment against your taxable income than this will reduce your taxes.
Hence why in NZ we have very rich people only paying tax on 70.000 NZD (which has been given many a write of in the Herald/Stuff, or why dear Gareth Morgan is on record saying he pays no tax at all).
Ask your accountant if you find this to hard to understand.
But you don't get to claim that the costs of doing business is paid for by the landlord/investor when they are a. paid for by the tenant, and then are used to reduce the taxes a landlord may has to pay on the INCOME he made with his business before taxes. Its called double dipping.
So yeah, you are still making shit up as you go along.
Oh really? probably? So you don't even now, but just go for the higher end of taxes?
You do realise that in order to pay that 33% tax rate you have to have a certain income? Below that the tax rate is 22% and 17.5%%.
Just d on't be an accountant Jester. And if you don't have one get one, lest you pay 33% tax on your earnings even if you don't make enough.
Oh and if you have a property that is borded up and empty because you are tired of playing landlord you can even write of that 'loss of income' against your tax balance. 🙂 But you are not an accountant, aren't you?
You have made me very curious. You say that the tax rates are "to pay that 33% tax rate you have to have a certain income? Below that the tax rate is 22% and 17.5%%."
Can you please tell me the bracket where a 22% rate applies?
What happened to the 10.5% and 30% levels?
Are you really sure about the numbers you are quoting?
Alwyn, I'm not sure about the tax rate of 22% that Sabine is talking about but currently:
Income up to $14k is taxed at 10.5%; then between $14k and $48k its 17.5%; between $48k and $70k its 30% then after $70k its at 33%, which is currently the top rate. But from 1st of April there will be a new 39% rate for income over $180k.
Yes. Those are the rates I, and I hope everyone who puts in a return, uses.
I was merely curious as to how Sabine, who lectures us on what she considers our errors, could dare to do so when she is so spectacularly wrong with her claims.
If your property is boarded up because you are tired of "playing landlord", then none of your expenses are deductible. And the loss of of income is certainly not deductible.
the Income Tax Act is pretty clear: An expense is deductible if it is incurred for the purpose of gaining taxable income. So, no rents, no deductions.
Yes Mikesh you are correct that if a property is boarded up, it is unavailable to rent and expenses would not be deductible. I think Sabine's accountant was having a bad day.
There are ownership structures available to asset owning businesses where the tax rate is a straight 33%, they don't have the structured PAYE rates available to them.
So if they are a Trust and have income of $10,000 and have claimable deductions of $2000 they pay tax on $8000 at 33%. If they are a business and earn $10,000, have claimable deductions of 2000 they pay tax on $8000 at 28%.
I am not sure that you are quite correct re boarded up houses. You are able to claim deductions going forward if your property is available for renting. If it is boarded up it is arguable that it is 'available for renting'. The provision enables a person to claim expenses, say for maintenance if the aim is to continue renting.
According to some commenters here it is the landlord's unalienable right to do with his property what he wishes, and we should do nothing lest we scare them off their valuable social service.
Even if their valuable social service is either an empty dwelling or one that makes its occupants sick.
Anyone who bitches about rental housing standards is in favour of festering slums. Inadequate housing kills – at least empty homes make the issue obvious.
With wisdom like yours no wonder the problem has got worse🤷♀️
nothing to do with low interest rates flooding of money by the reserve bank, no counter measures for the obvious consequence of this flood of money, labour not wanting to do anything but ask for a review on the tax system etc . But go ahead and think that with labour you 🙈🙊🙉
Of course I was referring to the spike in the last 12 month which was referred to. You may wish to ignore the effects of the flood of returnees, many with lots of cash, but any decent analysis would recognise the difference between this year and last.
This link shows that our net migration spike commenced from Aug 19 peaking Mar 20 pre Covid times.So what was the plan to accomodate these new arrivals to an already stressed situation ? As of Dec 20 returned back to 2014 levels, and I would not be surprised if the 12 month trend dramatically falls in the coming months. I picked u from you r comment that it is "only" immigration that has impacted on property prices – Which many would think as very limited in cause.
"Annual net migration ramped up before border closures and travel restrictions in March 2020 and has been falling away since then,” Mr Islam said.
Your comment only covered this aspect without any mention or reference to any other factors, or even giving the impression that you believe that there are other factors. And that was before your comment was censored
The 94k peak is a 12 month rolling average so it covers May 19 to April 20. Most of which the period was Pre Covid. + Where was the governments policies to cater for this influx so as not to have the dire situation we are now in?
"many offshore buyers having friends and family buy by proxy with the intention of returning home when they are able." And why would NZ citizens/residents use proxy buyers ?
Nah, you're either being ignorant or disingenuous in trying to pretend the 94K peak was nothing to do with Covid.
Of course it was to do with Covid as overseas panic was in full swing in the three months immediately preceding our border closure, particularly in China. The stats you link to clearly show that, and importantly that more than usual were returning citizens and residents.
And if you are going to use full quotation marks, please make sure the person has actually said that verbatim. It is just plain good forumming.
You seem to be developing the habit of having one name in your pseudonym and then finishing your comment with another. I assume they are your family name and your first name.
In order that I can correctly address you can you tell me which is which? Are you known as "Muttonbird Moron" or are you more correctly referred to as "Moron Muttonbird"?
we have a Progressive government that …. waits and the issues progressively deteriorate . Perhaps that is why our pm describes her govt as progressive🤔
It looks as though Max's friend Jake Millar has run off with some of John Key's money. Oh dear, how sad, the old con-man has been taken in by a young upstart 'entrepreneur'.
An Aucklander who spent six minutes at a store where a Covid-19 case was working had to wait nearly eight hours on the phone to get advice from Healthline.
Even if this item isn't correct in every detail it illustrates cracks in the Covid management policy widening. Are front-line workers being properly paid and rested? Are investigators really on top of their job keeping up with the urgency needed, that was shown earlier on? NZ can't afford to be complacent. Recently one student was phoned a number of times without success, and a visit to the house wasn't made. In the meantime the virus was being spread.
The standards of effectiveness must be maintained in checking Covid, also the funding must be adequate. The effects on business, and people's ability to make a living, have a life and carry out responsibilities even, must be faciltated by a responsible and not cheese-paring government or private agencies.
At present I am waiting for a reply from the blood test laboratory to whom i made a call yesterday afternoon, which required that a message be left. I am asked to go on-line to make a booking, but I want to ask questions, and I don't want to have my computer as the centre of my life, and so be forced to commit money to have one or an expensive cellphone, tablet etc. Low cost wages and high-cost demands from government doesn't augur well for the future.
Is this an example of withdrawal of responsibility to the citizen and interaction with us, which crops up more regularly unfortunately, with a default position of using a computer for contacts and providing information. Or 'put it on facebook' and that's complied with our requirements for public notification or such.
Devices are coming between interaction from government and business and the people. Don't allow this to continue! Complain bitterly and don't swallow inevitability without a murmur as government withdraws from its traditional role in a democracy. Don't allow convenience to rule the day. First govt will drop this, then that, then it will be up to you, then it will be more efficient if you are always on tap, then there will be a nano-sized device inserted in your earlobe (in different art shapes picturing famous stars etc.)
Heh my first job was as a sales clerk taking incoming calls ….the standard was to answer the phone in three rings or less……..these days well not so much
Well said GW. The overwhelming attitude that everyone has a computer, broadband and an online bank account or a phone where they can eat up paid minutes on hold and that is sufficient is the default position and using covid to introduce further restrictions is manipulative. Private companies are bad enough but the government needs to pull it's head in.
I am renewing my passport at level 1. In the past I could drop the form in at the wellington office, pay by eftpos and then drop back to collect it.
Now an appointment is required where I sat on hold for about 10 minutes (which is a lot of dough if some one is using pay as you use) and then a time is allocated supposedly because of covid. I was also asked to come by myself – which would be an issue for some people. Heavens knows if I will be able to collect it – which feels a great deal more secure than trusting it to couriers who leave the wrong parcels at my house and don't get signatures even when required. Payment options are also limited.
There is a real accessibility issue for the filing and payment of a lot of government services which needs to be dealt with. They are also tying themselves to technology like email addresses which will become less common.
Yes I get the feeling that email is passe' now. Heaven help us – the technocrats want to replace every useful personal and reliable service.
I think 'they' don't care if things go wrong provided they have had a first flush of profit. They might have to pay some of that back when some egregious error is found. But what-the-hell it will all be profitably replaced in six months, at extra cost to the citizen (ahem consumer) so keep the pressure on to innovate, innovate, innovate. (A hat-tip to the cry of the vacuum cleaners – Exterminate, exterminate, exterminate.)
As a side issue I saw on Stuff news yesterday an article giving an explanation of the Covid-19 exposure categories people fit into, the testing and the isolation required. I was left feeling a bit confused.
The Covid advice line is not meeting the needs of the people in a timely manner when it is essential to do so.
The Covid bloody phone call program prioritised calls wrongly and kept people waiting for hours. One woman's phone showed a call time of seven hours, 44 minutes. How can people organise their lives and their family's health status and comings and goings. The government has made life so unstable for ordinary people, has not mentioned recompense to those pushed around like pawns, and yet appears to consider this is a clever modern system that can't be bettered.
They were dealing with huge call volumes – the Health Ministry says after the announcement of a new community case linked to Papatoetoe High School call volumes spiked – most of that day they had had average wait times of under a minute but that jumped to 36 minutes…
The ministry said Healthline had since increased the number of staff they have rostered on by 8 times – and call wait times are now mainly under 20 minutes. (That is a long time still! Is this the best that govt can do with the pandemic continuing so long?)
Another problem caused 92 people between lunchtime Tuesday and midnight Thursday to be cut off after waiting on the phone for two hours. This affected people who were on hold or even mid conversation.
…The ministry said this problem was "being addressed".
However they didn't say they would reimburse the people who had their phone payments diminished while they were waiting. This is what a good, responsible government service, or contractor, would do in this age of deliberate low wages and erratic work hours.
There should be an Expediter group who work shifts, looking to where the known hot spots are, assesses needs, and has staff able to work extra hours at short notice (with extra pay of course) to be called in, perhaps using police helicopters if available to pick up stafff.
Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi is telling those who have relied on migrant workers in the past to "think differently about how to do that in the future".
The government had "made it a priority to put resources into upskilling New Zealanders," he says, "and we'd prefer that if we're going to do that, obviously, the jobs that we've relied on with migrant labour in the past would be able to be filled by New Zealanders".
I was wondering if someone else had picked up on this. This is a HUGE change, and it will be fought tooth and nail by affected sectors that have grown addicted to ready access to a stream of easily exploitable, low wage foreign workers. Look out for accusations of racism, bitter mocking from the usual media suspects of Ardern's appeal to inclusivity, scare stories about unpicked crops, fallow fields and the unaffordable cost of restaurant meals with a crippling inability to hire chefs.
More to the point, it shows the government is walking away from the ideology of the globalised, laissez-faire labour market in favour of greater controls on the inflow of foreigners. I see the impact of Labour's Maori caucus in this, it seems they are replacing NZ First as the voice of the working poor on the struggle street of the low wage, unskilled economy – because make no mistake this will push up wages for low skilled locals.
In the absence of any political or societal will to use NZ's wealth to invest in critical infrastructure and then housing, there is no other option than to stem the flow of people.
And, as you point out, a major offensive on cheap imported labour will have the benefit of encouraging employers to upskill local workers rather than ignoring them.
I knew we had a fair bit of cheap labour in NZ, but I'll be the first to admit my middle class ass had no idea exactly how much we were relying on cheap Brazilians to run of tourist centre bars and cafes, how much we relied on cheap, deeply exploited Indians on dubious "study" visas to work in menial tasks, how much we needed cheap labour from the Pacific and Asia to provide labour for our rest homes and pick our crops and clean our toilets and all that sort of thing. We had created and enabled a studiously ignored third world economy where the worst exploiters were from the same ethnic groups and set it to run parallel to, and largely for the benefit of, our comfy Pakeha first world one. It has to stop.
"… for the benefit of our comfy Pakeha first world…"
Might pay to take the racist blinkers off. Maori for decades resisted foreign owned charter fisheries vessels that they employed being subject to NZ laws and conditions of employment. These vessels were repeatedly described as 'slave ships' and a form of colonisation. Not for the benefit of Pakeha, but for the benefit of the coffers of Maori .
And the appalling exploitation you rightly refer to is for the benefit not just of Pakeha, but also of our Chinese, Indian and other immigrants, alongside of course Maori. Wander down to the local Warehouse. Plenty of non-Pakeha sure happy to buy cheap stuff made in Asian sweatshops. Or do you consider it OK to exploit others if the beneficiaries of that exploitation are not white?
Peter CH You are making a sweeping generalisation. Sealord was set up as a business that had to compete with other businesses. A large share in it, maybe half, was sold to I think a Japanese firm that had experience – so half Maori business interests and half foreign. There was a threat from I think Sandfords, a chap Gilchrist from memory, to sue the Nelson Polytechnic when they set up a dedicated course for training Maori seamen. Nelson Poly stepped back from Court costs under this threat.
So there were barriers to overcome by Maori as to what way things would be done. Give them some slack will you. So many pakeha know just how things should be done, it is a surprise that so much of NZ business is owned or been sold to overseas corporations. Where are all you smart people standing tall and successful and determined on NZ ownership, as NZ 'captains of business'??
The foreign involvement predated the Maori interest. There's an explanation here: essentially a large chunk of NZ fisheries had been illegally offshored when Carter Holt Harvey went above a certain percentage of foreign ownership. Instead of confiscating CHH's quota, government cobbled together a deal whereby a Maori entity obtained a company and a large parcel of quota.
Inexperience cost Sealord dearly early on, and neither foreign charters nor locally based catcher contractors did them any favours. A habit of overcapitalisation remains, but the worst of their excesses have mostly ground to a halt. During this time they lost ground, going from NZ's largest fishing company to about number three. Meanwhile the contemporaneous rise of Southern Clams showed that growth and profitability were quite possible in the then market conditions – and without slave crews.
I wouldn't have known either, until I began to see foreign students who have finished a diploma or degree in NZ's tertiary sector (both established academic institutions and the new generation of private providers). I do what little I can to help them escape two equally invidious paths – go into the swamp of low-wage exploitation, or lose their visas and go home. From what I've seen, it all looks a bit like a sophisticated, vertically integrated scam.
They used to call these jobs "kiwi experience' and any migrant into NZ had to content with these jobs. Heck i knew people that worked for free to gain that mythical kiwi experience even if they very educated.
I would assume that the aged care sector would fall apart if it had to employ only locals.
Yes I see this as generally a good call but agree it will be fought hard. Too many employers love it for the power it gives them. I did wonder if the government would ever say this although there seemed to be some foot dragging around visa's.
Will they also look at the 18-30 working holiday visas with about 45 countries with the USA and Canada being eligible for 2 years rather than one and those two countries plus the UK having an uncapped limit plus possibly others
. Also the au pairs where they can be worked for up to 40 hours for a pittance (plus I assume no tax on the free board and lodging).
It floods the market as our young people are trying for their first jobs and undermines their ability to get that early training. And it's not like we have the same numbers of young people taking advantage of reciprocal arrangements.
And I assume future working tied to student visas will be post grad or undergrad exchanges for state universities.
I would like to see some continuation of access from the islands though but on far better terms and conditions so there is no exploitation. It seems to be a good way of putting some money into small fragile economies from the bottom up rather than top down type overseas aid.
Hope they slug the investor visa too. i don’t see too many factories from these and I think there was a survey that showed most just stuck the money into something secure then took it back at then end of the period.
Plus I would want the income limits lifted to really high ones. Why should the good paying jobs we have be inspire foreign competition.
The first thing which strikes me about this policy is the age of the workers who do seasonal work. Due to tourism and the hospitality industry not being what it used to be, there possibly is an expectation that a person who worked in hospitality now looks for seasonal work or upskills.
On 28 April 1964 (date of the postmark), Bob Dylan wrote a prose-poem letter to Lawrence Ferlinghetti after calling on him a couple of months earlier (20 February 1964) and finding him not home.
deare larry.
have no sports car.
weather., good.
traffic moving slowly thru tunnel.
breeze is from the west an I ahah am goin
t france tomorrow. have t look thru all my pants pockets an collect things t send t you.
as of now I am in the midst of destroyin all I’ve
done (I’ve even crashed my old typewriter t pieces an have burned my
pens into little tiny plastic statues)
I know I will send you something one of these days.
all I have t do is finish something t send you.
in any case, if I am poisened or framed or kilt orratted on
I will will will you some edgar lee masters?
type (bob dylan written) poems of grand embarassment.
thelonius monk grand style grand (me upright)
the world’s fair begun down there.
I’m gone.
Sailin on (across the sone) son,
sawn. dawn. anyway I’m gone.
I’m up here.
my adress is me-bearsville. just got back from trip t boston area.
sung songs at providence.
amhearst.
arrived in amhearst with 15 friends from cambridge.
left providence with 15 friends from providence.
ditched them on highway tho. (yes I pledge alliegence t the luckyness of havin
some so many friends.)
an here’s t the republic.
up the irish.
ah yes my flag has turned into one color.
who fast?
me fast?
choking?
ha you must be joking. I’m not turnin. burnin. maybe smokin.
not running cunning.
not me.
I aint none of them things.
not me.
yes most deffinately would like t borrow cabin at big sur. cant say when.
sometime.
wham.
it just hit me.
I do got things of songs an stories for you.
my hangup is tho that I know there will be more.
I want t send the more more then I want t send the got.
yes I guess that’s it.
that’s it in a nutshell pruneskin.
that’s the whole story.
nothin but the truth.
nothin but the nothin.
would’ve liked t spent more time in san francisco.
would like t spend more time in many places.
sometime I will.
someday I will.
tomorrow. yeah tomorrow.
I a, in a strange light alright.
I remember a few years ago.
tramping. bummin.
ridin the rods all wrong.
hitchhiking (pretending stock markets crashin all over me) thru the ever ready
usa. guitar on my back.
my thoughful tool.
yes an the only thing I wished was that someday I’d be able t come back
t these fucked up shootin gallery pay me for my playin coffee houses.
coffee bars.
oh how I used t hope that someday if nothin else. I’d have enuff friends or
know the right people t survive with my head at least as groovy as
theirs … man.
I never got a chance.
I got a motorcycle tho.
but unlike the last ones I had on south dakota an minnesota roads,
this one’s for the fields.
so you see, after all, I’m not really going all that fast.
you cant go too fast in the fields you know.
the only thing that’s wrong is that there’s no fuckin motels.
absolutely no advertising. I’m the first one hit by the forest fires an god knows that a fallout
shelter’d be insane.
terrible buzzard flies an my front steps all loaded with killed dear
hit by cars … yet I still wave t airplanes
an shit like that (what whit like that?) so I’m not all bad.
all good.
would?
yes I’ve chopped much wood.
I’ll write you later an send clippings from my head.
as for now there’s a horn honkin.
must be for me.
hhhmmmmmmmmm.
or however you spell that.
will be in france for awhile.
someplace where they dont read life magazine.
of course I’ll be back tho.
an will be out in sanfrancisco again.
I have nothin t do.
an no place t go.
faretheewell.
faretheegoodbye.
say hi for me.
say hi t anybody
see you then
comemoratin figitatin
agitatin satined
positivelyated
homogenized. egg creamed. pie in the faced
egg in the eyed
untied. complyed. plywooded. do-gooded. hooded.
lamp shaded understated hated backdated
muscatelled. muscatold musca went wrong someplace
displaced. cock traced
embraced umbraced ohbraced
church laced
straight faced
an all that
yes
I see the yankee war machine back in action in Syria where they are neither wanted or invited, same as Iraq, yankee go home, but no, they stay like the invaders they are. They along with the other warmonger State, the UK, spread hatred and lies against their Russian and Chineese Capitalist rivals as a smokescreen for their own putrid deeds, I see that seems to work for many on this rightwing site.
And what do you think of the memorial? Looks as if it has been designed by an accountant fully into materialism. It is all hard edged even with a curve. A good design for a shared pathway for skateboarding and mountain bike racing. The insolence of the young males won't be limited by thoughts of family grief and the tragedy of it all. Utilitarianism rules OK.
Mr Hickey is speaking out both sides of his mouth.
On one side he's saying that governments don't want to force housing prices down because they will loose votes.
On the other side he's saying that governments should pour heaps of money into urban infrastructure. The unsaid part of this is that infrastructure spend will push up urban housing prices.
im not sure Mr Hickey is 'speaking out of both sides', I suspect he believes his analysis but imo he has miscalculated the underlying reasoning…it isnt a political fear per se but rather an economic one and therefore his prescription fails to account for the outcome.
Pouring money into infrastructure will not automatically increase housing costs if the money available to support housing is reduced, indeed what is supporting the housing inflation currently is the amount of credit (and explicit underwrite by govs) banks have to invest…..it is the ratio of money available to stock and that ratio is not necessarily changed by increasing or decreasing stock.
The problem any government faces is the stability of the financial system as it requires ever increasing credit…..the business cycle was never tamed, rather it was replaced
You're (and Mr Hickey) are repeating the distortions of the property sector in saying that government infrastructure spend doesn't increase 'housing costs'. This is correct from the developer's pov, they don't have to pay for the infrastructure and can offer a housing unit at a reduced price / make more profit, generally the latter.
But from the pov of the surrounding properties capital values go up, often dramatically, because the owners don't have to pay for their portion of the infrastructure in their rates. So overall housing prices get dragged up.
Totally agree about the problems of taming a financial system that's totally dependent on the value of housing. But the real issue isn't the loss of value to individuals if there's a fall in the market, it's the economic chaos that will result if there's a property 'correction'. A dramatic fall in house values (say 20%) won't make them more affordable because the would be a corresponding reduction in liquidity and employment. People will find it even harder get a loan when they haven't got confidence in their income. And that is what destroys governments.
It does more than destroy governments ….the self reinforcing downward spirals it can create cause depressions…..that is the economic fear I reference.
Keynes showed us how to deal with depressions but we risk being permanently removed from the ‘club of advanced nations’ if we move ahead of the major players.
As to infrastructure spends creating property inflation I beg to differ….it depends upon the funding mechanism….history shows that central government can provide the infrastructure without creating the (specific) property inflation we are experiencing….there is no problem with property inflation that matches broader (esp wage) inflation.
After the OM topics have been done to death, it is an opportunity for very recent developments to be introduced and it also opens up the conversation for other commenters to take part who may not have the inclination or the time during the day.
I know that DR patronage is a bit up and down but it presents an opportunity for wider coverage of the day's events and is often quite jocular which makes for a nice change.
It's the old story, though – it'll be ignored until it becomes a palpable problem, at which point billions will be thrown at the problem. I don't think it will get to Children of Men levels. Maybe Handmaid's Tale, but we also see other elements of that happening…
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles and that ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 19 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has hosted members of the Green Party Caucus at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawahia. The audience follows the King’s Hui-aa-Motu on 20 January, where more than 10,000 people gathered to discuss national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Rachael Potter, Research Associate and Lecturer in Work and Organisational Psychology, University of South Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Pregnant women and workers with children are often unfairly treated by their bosses and colleagues, despite laws to protect against workplace discrimination ...
Reacting to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s refusal to rule out introducing new taxes at the budget, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said: “Today’s refusal to rule out new taxes suggests the Government is nothing more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne Aila Images/Shutterstock Aged-care workers will receive a significant pay increase after the Fair Work Commission ruled they ...
He’s bringing ‘Sophie’ back, yeah. Goodshirt’s ‘Sophie’ music video is one of the most instantly recognisable New Zealand music videos of all time. Featuring a woman listening to the song on headphones while her entire house is burgled behind her, the video won the New Zealand music award for Best ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Blaxland, Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University A year ago, the AUKUS agreement was formally announced between Australian and UK Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese and Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden. The agreement mapped out the “optimal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andreas Helwig, Associate Professor, Electro-Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern Queensland SmartS/Shutterstock Steam locomotives clattering along railway tracks. Paddle steamers churning down the Murray. Dreadnought battleships powered by steam engines. Many of us think the age of steam has ended. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carrie Leonetti, Associate Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Victims who experience family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand are treated differently, depending on which part of the justice system they turn to for help. But a new member’s bill ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Tesch, Visiting Fellow at the ANU Centre for European Studies, Australian National University In perhaps the least surprising news of the year, Vladimir Putin has triumphed at the Russian ballot box and been enthroned for the fifth time as president. He ...
The Papua New Guinea Supreme Court has stopped a byelection for the Madang Open seat being held until an appeal filed by former MP Bryan Kramer is concluded. Kramer had appealed to the Supreme Court over a National Court decision not to review his application of the Leadership Tribunal decision ...
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Despite a “historic” ceasefire agreement in Papua New Guinea between Enga authorities and tribal leaders after months of bitter warfare, a young woman has been found brutally killed near Kaekin village, Wapenamanda. Despite the peace agreement and signing concluded in Port Moresby last Thursday ...
The second season of Ryan Murphy’s Feud is a sadder and slower entry into his canon of true story-telling, leaning heavily on a verdict about the cost of a single work of art. Hollywood heavyweight Ryan Murphy has had a bit of “ick” about him in the last few years. ...
Are you deeply passionate about sharing Māori stories? We’re on the hunt for an experienced writer/editor to lead coverage in our Ātea section.Ātea is a deeply valued section of The Spinoff site, offering Māori perspectives and insights across politics, current affairs and culture. We are thrilled to be looking ...
By Aisha Azeemah in Suva With the lights on one of his sneakers blinking as he ran through the gallery, a little boy looked up at several works of art. One of them was a sculpture of his grandfather: the man who changed how we see the Pacific — Epeli ...
WHAT: Uber drivers are holding a rally outside the Court of Appeal in Wellington tomorrow, as the company begins its appeal against 2022’s Employment Court verdict (in a case taken jointly by FIRST Union and E tū) that four drivers were permanent ...
RNZ Pacific The Fiji Meteorological Service has a heavy rain warning still in place for the whole of the country after a weekend of flooding, although some floodwaters have receded. Flood and flash flood warnings and alerts are also in place, including a warning for all flash flood-prone areas, small ...
Responding to Grant Robertson’s recent admission on a Q+A with Jack Tame that his only regret from his time in office was that he didn’t take on more debt, Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson, Alex Murphy, said: “Grant Robertson has now admitted that he ...
Comment: Re-elected Russian President Vladimir President has declared victory ahead of a fifth term in power, after an election that offered no credible alternative candidates. Following the death of his main opponent Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison last month, thousands of Russians followed Navalny’s plea to cast a symbolic ...
Every week that passes seems to tighten the fiscal noose for Christopher Luxon and co – a noose, moreover, of their own making.“Don’t tell me what you value: show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.” This phrase, a favourite of US president Joe Biden’s, resonates ...
Analysis by Geoffrey Miller – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Geoffrey Miller. Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are ...
Auckland may be the largest city in Aotearoa, but it’s the small community-led organisations within it that make the city thrive. The Spinoff spoke to two council-funded organisations who are doing their bit.“Torrent.” That’s the word one 40-year resident of Dundale Avenue used to describe what became of the ...
Commenting on the introduction of the living wage for all employees and contractors at Kāpiti Coast District Council, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said: “The problem with blanket living-wage policies is that they ...
With the upcoming SailGP event in Ōtautahi/Christchurch looming, there is mounting apprehension regarding the safety of Hector's dolphins, an endangered species unique to New Zealand waters. The event, scheduled to take place in an area frequented by ...
This is big news! Mr Potato Head is going gender neutral!
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/a-mister-no-more-mr-potato-head-goes-gender-neutral/G76OXQM5422ZUNZGDAOQOXN7FE/
Just remembering the part in Toy Story where the toys are joking that Tommy has unboxed a Mrs Potato Head.
I don't see what problem this is supposed to solve.
Is a ban effective when the poster who gets handed the ban only finds out about it after the ban is over?
"I don't see what problem this is supposed to solve." Do you mean problem that Mr Potato head is no longer a Mr?
It appears that Bridges wants to debate gangs with Coster and not with the minister of police.
Is this going to be the tactic that National now use going after the top public servants?
Well the civil servants aren't allowed to fight back – probably the only fight National might manage to "win" – though even that is in doubt.
Is the Minister of Police on leave? Do we even have a Minister of Police? Who might that be? Can somebody please tell Simon Bridges and the National Party for that matter on whom to aim his callous attacks? Is he trying to seed discord between the Minister and the Commissioner?
Is the Minister of Police on leave?
I would put this question to Bridges.
Spot on.
Leaked documents exposes UK government propaganda campaign against Russia.
"After The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal reported on newly leaked documents exposing a massive UK government propaganda campaign against Russia, Twitter added an unprecedented warning label that the material "may have been obtained through hacking." Although Twitter may have intended to restrict the article, the warning had the opposite effect: it quickly went viral."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtQthwrWhqI
And of course butter wouldn't melt in that nice Mr Putin's mouth.
"And of course butter wouldn't melt in that nice Mr Putin's mouth."…are you just an actual idiot or are you just trolling? Let us just settle this once and for all…you go find one time when I have said anything that is in support of Putin or his government, if you can then I shut up about all this anti Russian/Putin propaganda…if you can't, then you stop pushing western anti Russian/Putin propaganda on this site…or if you are not willing to put your money where your mouth is, knowing full well that you are going to lose that challenge (just as your fellow Russiagate friends have already lost similar challenges ) then how about countering the actual substance of the leaked documents….if not any of the above, then how about you just don't comment to me in future.
I am in fact very concerned by your incessant spreading of material in support of this murderous and invasive regime. As you put it:
are you just an actual idiot?
Never mind the western propaganda – there is nothing to admire or support in Putin's Russia.
So what's your deal? Why circulate Putin's side of every story? Isn't a genocide and the poisonings and assassinations of multiple political opponents and journalists enough to make you reflect even briefly on your invariable choice to repeat his disinformation campaigns?
Aside from your pathetic groveling to Russia you certainly give the impression of being progressive.
How do you reconcile this behaviour? Are you simply a romantic, endlessly open to these risible conspiracy theories? Like the Covidiots?
"there is nothing to admire or support in Putin's Russia."
That is a little bit harsh Stuart. I think there are some things. Alexei Navalny for example. He may not be perfect but, by returning to Russia as he has done, he is certainly displaying incredible courage and deserves our admiration for that.
Admiration of Navalny must be tempered by the history that has made Amnesty drop his cause like a hot potato.
Hillarious, did you know the same group of journalists are behind both this story and the one your claiming is Russian disinformation.
You know what's really hilarious? Self-styled progressives with a crush on a murderous authoritarian kleptocrat.
Please do link to my statements supporting Putin. LPrent will definitely want to look into however people are impersonating logins.
"So what's your deal? Why circulate Putin's side of every story? Isn't a genocide and the poisonings and assassinations of multiple political opponents and journalists enough to make you reflect even briefly on your invariable choice to repeat his disinformation campaigns?"
This seems a very ethnocentric sort of comment. But, without wishing to condone the assassinations, etc, I should point out that Russia is a very different country from Britain, and one that has not enjoyed the many centuries of democratic development that the latter has enjoyed.
a very ethnocentric sort of comment
There are, you know, some truths to be derived from culture.
One of them is that organized crime has culturally bound tropes – Japanese criminals during their world cup were disproportionately involved in minor frauds like ticket scalping, and German and English offenders were overrepresented in brawling. Cocaine is a staple of Central American crime gangs, petrol thefts or swindles are characteristic of Russian crime gangs, and kidnapping of the original Sicilian mafia.
Murders of journalists and opposition party members are almost routine in Russia; thus far NZ political culture has not added them to its repertoire.
" genocide and the poisonings and assassinations of multiple political opponents and journalists "
You need to provide some evidence of this or one may think you are " simply a romantic, endlessly open to these risible conspiracy theories"
I have provided you with such evidence before, but you have chosen to ignore it. But, lest your double standards sway casual observers:
Murdered Russian journalists.
Murdered Russian opposition figures.
The Herald list is by no means exhaustive.
Is it not obvious to you how biased you are?
Obviously not
I'm suppose to except your articles from granny Herald and wikipedia while you refuse to read RT articles.
You do know what the 'wiki' in wikipedia means don't you?
I just cant be bothered with you.
You do know what the 'wiki' in wikipedia means don't you?
Yes. But when we're discussing state sanctioned murder, I expected that you would have enough grace not to try to split hairs. Evidently not.
Metaphorically speaking, ethnocentricity is a form of blindness.
Incidentally, I see the British have now passed a law authorising their agents to commit crimes without having to face prosecution.
Metaphorically speaking, ethnocentricity is a form of blindness.
Yes of course – we must immediately embrace the culture of murderous authoritarians instead of defending the principles to which our society aspires. Does your moral relativism extend to Xi and the Uyghurs, or is China a bridge too far for you?
Should we punish innocent Russian citizens by declaring war on Russia, imposing trade sanctions, or whatever, simply because we disapprove of its government's alleged crimes. Or are the people to be considered simply as collateral damage.
The "Russians", whom you seem to be obsessed with badmouthing, haven't committed any crimes.
Should we punish innocent Russian citizens…
Do you know, I haven't decided what should be done about Russia. But what we should not do, is pretend that a routinely dishonest and murderous regime is not dishonest and murderous.
" there is nothing to admire or support in Putin's Russia."
I think you may be a little obsessed with Putin.
Why is that?
He represents a fatal danger to the progressive enterprise.
He has no progressive merits, but readily suborns shallow, weak-minded people to his cause, who then proceed to choke Left discourse with apologies for his most recent atrocities.
Its not Romantasism..its a desire for truth…
For my part ..the problem with the Anti Putin rhetoric is that it dominates western media for absolutely no practicable purpose,…leaving the stories, the issues and the political intrigue we should be occupied with entirely sidelined.
Just one aspect of this is the narrative around Russias supposed involvement/meddling in foreign elections. Sure, I have no doubt they do some of that, as do Western nations intervein in Russian politics…but just imagine if we had had daily updates from RNZ on the corruption and manipulations of the American political process by Americans(and not just Trump Bad) rather than the existential threat of Putin.
Same with our coverage of UK politics…our news sources on a daily basis told us we are interested in skripal poisoning and Russian interference ..though apparently not the actual workings of the UK election. (..beyond some coverage Corbyn being an appalling prospect)
And in all of these examples…our apparent interest seems to conveniently wain just around the time officials have to conced there is a total absence of viable, significant legal evidence to suport their terribly exciting narrative.
Meantime us Western nations are left with our two major influencers (ie UK and America) in absolute self inflicted disarray, ill equipped to deal with the actual threats to peacful life on the planet
I put it to you that our Democratic process would be far better served critiquing our Wester partners than obssesing about the existentialist threat of a sidelined nation such as Russia.
This clip has been posted many times before..but I shall do it again ..remember this is something we would have laughed at a few years ago ..and I know this was about "policy"…yet here we are ..in effect…still worrying about this supposed terrible threat to our way of Life!!
https://teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/35759/dancing-cossacks-1975
It says much for the relevance of your argument that you have to go back to 1975 for your example of anti-Russian propaganda. Perhaps it is not as significant a trend as you assert.
The fact is that Russia indulges in activities that are newsworthy. So does Kim Jong Eun. When that leader executes someone with an antiaircraft weapon, or Putin has someone assassinated, or funds trolls to support extremists in other countries, it tends to get reported. Moreover, Russian intelligence, being used to operating in countries with limited forensic resources and significant endemic corruption is readily detected when it carries out operations elsewhere.
Umm, Stuart the youtube link is discussing the very latest examples of UK governments anti-Russia propaganda.
We must be wary of such dubious sources. Putin's Russia has a lot of astroturfing form: Duped by Russia, freelancers ensnared in disinformation campaign by promise of easy money | Reuters
Reuters is one of the organisations implicated as involved by the leaks.
Oh of course – of course Russia seeks to impugn the most prestigious and professional news organization on the planet – its very existence threatens every dishonest narrative they publish.
The only reliable source must be those RT folk eh – no-one ever caught them lying through their teeth, or requiring a dishonest political line. Liz Wahl – Wikipedia
So your saying the leaked documents have been fabricated then?
@ Nic – I have no idea what documents you are referring to.
And I'm not about to wade through an hour of RT tripe to find out.
Yes, well clearly your self inflicted ignorance is getting in the way of your ability to justify the position your defending.
Yes, it's a great handicap – but not on a par with the mindless regurgitation that characterizes Putin dupes.
Do you have an actual case to make?
If so, present your evidence.
Your inability to deal with the claim about Reuters doesn't invalidate those claims.
Your refusal to produce evidence suggests that you have no confidence in its validity – or that you are persuadable sans evidence.
Well yes, but you have already refused to look at any of the article, video or even their summaries and related materials, so I can't really help you with that.
you have already refused to look at any of the article, video or even their summaries and related materials
I have refused to trawl through an hour of RT bullshit – and you and your fellow dupes have declined to provide anything else – no doubt due to the paucity and flimsiness of your case.
Um…thats entirely my point…we haven't moved on since 1975…
but anyway…google 'DEMOCRATS MUELLER PROTESTS" (heaps, right?) now google this mix or variation thereof … 'DEMOCRATS TAX CUTS FOR RICH & CORPORATIONS COVID-19 RELIEF BILL PROTEST" (clue…never happened, though you might get some old shots of Bernie and Warren from way back))…
Thats your example ..people on the streets with their leaders basicaly against Putin…not against political corruption by their own leaders..
Though this could lead to a conversation about the American (and world wide)protests that do happen, but don't get covered for obvious reasons…but I'll save that for another day ..with Biden and co. in charge I'm sure that will be a major topic….
Siobhan, you do realise that the results given by a Google search differ for individuals, dependent upon their recent internet and search history?
Your results my be completely different to Stuart's.
BTW the Covid Stimulus relief package is still making its way through congress, and recent polling shows that the majority of Americans support what's in it – so why would there be protesting?
For your info: here is an explainer of what Democrats propose. You need to understand however that this will not be an easy package to pass through the Senate given that Republicans will not vote for it. Just one Democrat Senator could sink this Bill. Looking at you Joe Manchin.
This is a common tactic of yours Stuart isn't it.
You wont/can't debate the issue of UK government propaganda campaign against Russia so you make childish statement to deflect from the issue.
Read the article and present a concise argument against it, if you can.
The film clip Adrian supplied is over an hour long, but it is the work of one Blumenthal, a paid regular contributor to RT, the propaganda arm of the Russian state. He's not worth anyone's time.
If you would care to present a brief summary of his allegations, I will happily check them out.
Of course he will not address the actual evidence of BBC,Reuters,Bellingcat being an active part of a coordinated British government covert operation to undermine Russia's sovereignty…so in other words, our Russiagate friends are outraged when Russia is accused if interfering in US/UK domestic affairs (though that has yet to be proven that this even happened on the scale Russia is accused of), yet when there is actual proof of the UK doing exactly that to Russia, suddenly it is fine..the hypocrisy of you lot is jaw dropping.
As I have said many times, after watching and observing you guys for a while, it becomes very easy to see just how easy it was to recruit the proverbial 'camp guards'
If an RT shill said they weren't gulags they were butlins-style holiday camps filled with fun activities, you'd be singing the praises of Putin's outdoor recreation program.
And posting hour long videos of a dude in a room telling the camera how awesome the camps are.
Aaahh..McFlock head camp guard..and who of course and as per usual doesn't address the actual issue…
The actual issue is between you and your medical professionals, in my opinion.
A pile of mid fifties war comics just arrived in the shop, was flicking through them at lunch..man these thing are hard core cold war propaganda…would suit you and your fellow dumb headed cold war warriors perfectly,.
And here I was thinking that human kind was evolving upwards ever so slowly, you just blew that theory out the door, well done.
I can just see you and your up standing pals doing your civic duty and reporting fellow citizens to the authorities..yeah right up your ally, as I said you are born camp guard.
Turns out you and Ayn Rand have more in common than you probably thought…it comes as no surprise to me though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJzV6-wJ3SQ
I mean, you could actually use something other than an hour-long rant as supporting evidence for an explicit claim that you, yourself, make with your own words.
Heck, one day you might manage to make a comment that is:
To be fair, a lot of your comments don't have videos.
Well I would rather be on mushrooms every now and then, than be some sort of crazy old cold war warrior who obviously has never been bothered with an original thought in their entire life time.
Long on pejoratives – short on evidence.
When was the last time you had a thought that hadn't been facilitated by RT?
Nobody on RT would be so dumb as to imply that 'The Standard' is a butlins style holiday camp.
I worked at a Pontins in Brixham for a few years.
Gulag/Holiday park – Same difference lol
Summarize your claim – I'm not giving RT 10 minutes of my life, much less an hour.
The confession of a closed mind. All credit to you for your willingness to admit it.
You've yet to present any evidence of anything whatsoever – whatever suits your laughable "Putin is Jesus" thesis I suppose.
But this is supposed to be a forum for serious political discussion. You claim you have evidence of something? Present it.
Don't expect me to spend hours trawling the intellectual sewer that is RT.
I have never made any claims regarding Putin, so I don't see why I should provide "evidence". I accept that Putin is pretty ruthless when it comes to retaining power, but I also see this as rather beside the point.
I don't see why I should provide "evidence".
Quite – rational discussion is for the sheeple eh.
Standing alone is fine, unless one is some crazy obsessive.
I'm always surprised that no one brings up the undisputed fact of the United States "intervention" in the 1996 Russian elections…and the American lead IMF loan of US$10.2 billion that Boris and his mates squandered ..quite blatantly…and this is just one aspect of that involvement that is so undeniable it is allowed to exist on Wikipedia …. the idea that anything the UK or America does now is "okay", as if its the first retaliatory blow against an interfering regime in some new battle..is quite ridiculous.
(and yes, that was American lead interference …but as everyone knows ..the UK is the money laundering hub for Russian elites and needs to be careful how it deals with and investigates Russian interference and, equaly manages its own covert operations.)
I understand your reluctance Adrian, to get into the factual (or otherwise) basis of your claim. It must be so deflating watching RT's tawdry lies shrivel in the sunlight.
Good one Putin get some of his own back.
@Tricledrown..see my comment to Stuart Munro above..that goes for you too…put up or shut up.
Last night I suppose Simon Bridges got about his business doing what he usually does.
Cops all over the country were too. Like in Papatoetoe, many of them over quite some hours. Will he find something to complain about with their 'nuanced' policing?
The Minister of Housing will be very happy.
Auckland has risen from number 6 in this Housing survey in 2020 up to number 4 in 2021 report. Go team! Why, with the great strides being made by the current Government we will get up to Number 1 before this term is up. I'm sure that Megan Woods is in raptures.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/housing-affordability/124367729/auckland-fourth-least-affordable-city-for-housing-among-world-cities–2021-demographia-report
Well John Key wanted to make NZ an Island for the very rich and i guess he has achieved that.
Oh, we are not to mention that the unaffordability of housing in NZ has been borne and has been fostered by the various National and Labour governments? My bad.
The rich love exclusivity; it makes them feel … rich.
"we are not to mention".
Why on earth shouldn't you mention it? As far as I know Andrew Little hasn't put his hate speech laws through yet so you can't be prosecuted for saying something that causes unhappiness in one of our Lords and Masters.
So go to it, while you can.
I just fixed your comment honey, if you want to put blame about the fact that Kiwis can't afford houses – be it to sell or to rent then you must put the blame on both parties.
The National party for selling statehouses, their refusal to build state houses and such and the timidity of Labour to put a CGT, and other reforms.
So yeah, you should have mentioned both parties. Bye now.
Of course previous Governments headed by both major parties have stuffed up. However for the last three and a half years we have had a Labour led Government. The article I linked to covered the way things have got even worse this year than they were last year.
National have not been in Government recently so you can't really expect them to do much about the situation. And John Key resigned as Prime Minister on 6 December 2016. Are you really suggesting he is responsible for things that are happening four and a quarter years later?
"are you really suggesting he is responsible for things that are happening four and a quarter years later"? yes, those many thousands of new New Zealanders he let in to try and prop up his version of responsible economic management will continue to put severe pressure on all of our infrastructure(not just housing) for many years to come. just as the deregulation in the building industry in the nineties has led to 25 yrs of problems with leaky homes. just as max bradfords disasterous phuckups while trying to reform the electricity industry 25 yrs ago ,still are causing long term damage. perhaps you need to do less trolling and more reading and learning.
Yes , no doubt about that one, at the time and now four and a half years later.
Lol…many people on this site will be blaming John Key (alias the devil) still in 10 years time!
That's 'Sir John Key' to you, Jimmy.
Whatever happened to "Nothing to hide, nothing to fear"?
Senior National Party figure accused of using secret alter ego 'Merv' to derail Auckland Central candidate
is there a time limit on phuckups and their effects? or do you want to push the reset button?
Yeah, take a leaf out of Alwyn’s book and let rip. FYI, Andrew Little has got no say over TS.
"Andrew Little has got no say over TS.".
Not yet baby, not yet. That is why I suggested that she say whatever she wants to.
However not having any say now doesn't affect the fact that he would like to have control in the future, when he can decide that anything he doesn't like being said is hate speech and can be punished. After all, when your skin is as thin as his seems to be he can be hurt by anything that isn't totally admiring of anything he does.
https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-opinion/strengthening-hate-speech-laws-or-attacking-free-speech
Oh look, another 'alwyn fact' – keep up the good work, while you still can
Edit: Maybe Newman’s opinion pieces are on Little’s ‘little list‘. They never would be missed.
https://www.nzcpr.com/author/mn/
It's because of Covid returnees, [RL: Abuse deleted]
Partially yes, but frankly it was bad before covid.
And how bout Rotorua? Where houses now also cost over a million? And Taupo, which can't attract enough trades people for lack of housing? And Tauranga? Where expensive houses are literally build on sand?
Our housing crisis is bad not because of people coming home, our housing crisis is bad because Government is missing in action at best, at worst they are refusing to implement meaningful policy and legislation that would allow for a cooling of the housing market.
But so long as banks are ok to offer mortgages at 2.99% and less for a loan over 500.000 grand speculators who have cash flush or equitiy will buy and buy and buy.
Btw, there is borded up empty houses where i live. The landlord can't be bothered to rent, he will sell for Captial Gain…….untaxed in a few month.
Regarding the borded up houses – It may cost him a considerable amount of money to rent them as he would probably need to upgrade the insulation, install heat pumps / air con units and various other requirements to meet the new rental standards. This is an unintended consequence of the new rental laws. He may or may not have the funds to do that, so better to leave empty.
that is the saddest excuse i have ever heard. The house was rented before it was borded up.
So what you are saying is he extracted as much revenue as he could without having to bring the house up to any standards, and now he waits a few more month before unloading it on a buyer.
Slumlandlord, and i have no pity with him. Never mind there is a borded up house in the road and we have homeless up and down the country.
Btw, i bought a rental property to live in, it cost me 3 grand to put roof insulation in, two hundred bucks for a fan/light/heat in bathroom, and 4 grand for a small heat pump.
If a landlord does not have the money to spend 5 – 8 grand to get the house to the min standard required to rent it out, while being able to extract at the median 460.00 per week nigh on 2 grand per month, or around 22.000 grand per year, then the dude needs to get out of business.
Like I said, it's an unintended consequence. A lot of landlords have mortgage payments higher than the rent they receive. They may be "equity rich" but are cash poor. And it would not surprise me that some do not have a spare $7k sitting around to bring the property up to the renting standard. Ironically, it would be fine for them to live in themselves without heat pump etc. or spending on it. But I agree that maybe its time for this particular landlord to get out of the renting market and sell the property (which as you said may be the intention).
if they are equity rich, and have a rental that is currently rented, then any bank will happily loan them the 5 – 8 grand needed. Besides they knew now for about 4 years that this date was coming.
This is still the dumbest excuse. Sorry, i am letting my property fall even further into disrepair by not doing anything cause i am broke as fuck, but in a few month when the value has gone up another few thousand dollars (according to the paper that i received from the council in my area house prices have doubled in the last three years) i will sell, cause money for nothing and stuff for free. Right?
Seriously, that should not even count as an excuse. No the house stays empty because a. he don't want to upgrade, and b. he wants to sell. For a handful of more dollars.
absolute bollocks. poor landlord cant raise $7 grand on a property worth anywhere from 300,000 upwards, to be able to earn 15 grand upwards. sounds like a tui ad.
I know, right – I have relatives building an extension enabled by their inflating property valuation.
A lot of landlords have mortgage payments higher than the rent they receive.
It is not the tenant's job to pay his landlord's mortgage. It's not the tenant who will own the house after the final mortgage payment is made. The landlord is already benefiting from the rort that interest deductibility represents. If he can't make ends meet from his business he should cut his losses a sell up; and perhaps in the process, liberate another house for some first home buyer.
Could the landlord downsize?
Probably would charge the same rent so the tenant always pays the mortgage.
I think you are missing the point. By offering accommodation a landlord is providing a service. and he should charge whatever that accommodation is worth. But whether or not that charge is sufficient to cover mortgage payments as well has his normal outgoings is irrelevant.
Perhaps you might to do another little calculation. How much did the property cost? Does a property of that price where you live cost $460 to rent? If not recalculate the theoretical rental.
How many weeks/year can you actually rent the property? It is unlikely to be 52.
What does an agent charge to look after the rental? Deduct that from the $22,000
What are the rates on the property? Deduct that from the $22,000.
What is the Insurance on the property? Deduct that from the $22,000.
What is the Interest you would have to pay for a mortgage on a sum equal to the entire cost of the property? Deduct that from the $22,000
What is the annual maintenance you will have to do? Deduct that from the $22,000.
Still making a real profit?
It's a wonder anyone even bothers – maybe land lords are in it for charity?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/426054/landlords-expected-to-act-quickly-after-rent-freeze-ends
He should not be deducting interest. Interest is part of the cost of owning the property, not a part of the rental process. It is the renting out of the property that earns taxable income. Interest does not contribute to that.
Interest is the payment you have to make in order to own the property and without that you would have nothing to rent out. I wasn't counting any part of the capital amount of an assumed mortgage as that is going to provide you with something of value even if you don't get any rental income.
The Tax Department certainly allows you to deduct them from your rental income.
The following expenses can be deducted from your rental income.
https://www.propertytaxreturns.co.nz/property-tax-returns-faqs/
There are others but I was just giving an illustration.
Interest is the payment you have to make in order to own the property and without that you would have nothing to rent out.
In that case the problem would not arise.
The Tax Department certainly allows you to deduct them from your rental interest.
I do know what the Income Tax Act provides, but I believe that interest deductibility is an anomaly which should be removed from that act.
I see that someone seems to agree with me regarding interest deductibility:
There could be a change soon so that “rental property investors can’t claim interest on the mortgage as a taxable expense”, Hickey said.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/government-doesnt-want-push-house-prices-down-fearing-loss-votes-bernard-hickey
It would be an interesting world if rents were based on the size of the landlord's mortgage.
If a business borrows $500k from a bank, goes out and buys $500k of earth moving equipment and rents out those earth moving machines out, the interest on the loan to buy the equipment is deductible. Is that really any different to borrowing $500k to buy a property, and renting it out?
Of course not. There would be no problems with the same business borrowing/buying/leasing a second set of earth moving equipment and a third……
The narrative has been framed though that a business whose business is the acquisition, borrowing and leasing (renting) of residential property is worthy of opprobrium.
There is something wrong with the mindset that says it is a feasible/laudable idea for a first home owner to go head to head with home owners who are moving up the ladder and perhaps moving closer to town, and businesses who buy to rent in the desirable inner city suburbs of any city. Never has been.
Of course in the Wellington scene as an example it would be great for a first home owner to aspire to live in Wadestowns, Oriental Bays and other 'leafy' suburbs. It is not realistic though.
There are suburbs further out where a more realistic selection can seen. And these may be areas where a first home aspiree may not go head to head with existing home owners moving up closer to town or renting businesses.
Thankfully there are purpose built apartment dwellings being built close to the city that can fulfill a need for first home owners. These may not have an ensuite for every bedroom or a separate media room but they are warm, comfortable places to get a foot on the ladder.
as you have listed yourself below
interest – deductable – thus cost nil
rates – deductible – thus cost nil
insurance – deductible =- thus cost nil
property manager – deductible – thus cost nil
'renovations' – for the most part deductible – thus cost nil
and all of this is generally described as cost of doing buisiness.
Now what is charged to the tenant?
460 – in my sample, now that is the median rent in rotorua so really i am lowballing it. The boarded up property is a three bedder on a full section so would easy rent 500+. Never mind.
All the above mentioned costs are included in the rent. So let me spell this in plain english, the landlord does not pay any of the above mentioned costs, the tenant do.
And in the end of the year tax accounts all of the above listed costs will be deducted as an expense on any tax burden he/she may have.
As said before, if they can't make money out of rentals in NZ – the only most unregulated business in NZ – they should not be in the business.
I am currently saving per medium rent in Rotorua 260 NZD every week by not paying rent but a mortgage. Or if i rent this property for the median rent, I make about 110 profit before tax every week. And i get to keep the property and sell it for double the price i paid 3 years ago. Tax free.
Go cry a river about the hard done by landlord elsewhere.
You do not really have a head for business Sabine. Yes the mortgage interest is deductible to the landlord as is the other costs etc. But the tax rate is probably around 33%. The cost to the landlord is not Nil.
Best you speak to an accountant or financial advisor.
I'm glad I read on after Sabine's comment before I replied. You have saved me the trouble.
It is quite amazing how many people seem to think that deductions come of your tax, rather than off your taxable income.
I wish it was true.
taxable income decides the tax that you will pay.
if you can write of expenses and losses on investment against your taxable income than this will reduce your taxes.
Hence why in NZ we have very rich people only paying tax on 70.000 NZD (which has been given many a write of in the Herald/Stuff, or why dear Gareth Morgan is on record saying he pays no tax at all).
Ask your accountant if you find this to hard to understand.
But you don't get to claim that the costs of doing business is paid for by the landlord/investor when they are a. paid for by the tenant, and then are used to reduce the taxes a landlord may has to pay on the INCOME he made with his business before taxes. Its called double dipping.
So yeah, you are still making shit up as you go along.
Oh really? probably? So you don't even now, but just go for the higher end of taxes?
You do realise that in order to pay that 33% tax rate you have to have a certain income? Below that the tax rate is 22% and 17.5%%.
Just d on't be an accountant Jester. And if you don't have one get one, lest you pay 33% tax on your earnings even if you don't make enough.
Oh and if you have a property that is borded up and empty because you are tired of playing landlord you can even write of that 'loss of income' against your tax balance. 🙂 But you are not an accountant, aren't you?
Yes I am well aware of the lower than 33% tax rates for income under $70k which is why I used the word "probably".
I really have touched a nerve!
You have made me very curious. You say that the tax rates are "to pay that 33% tax rate you have to have a certain income? Below that the tax rate is 22% and 17.5%%."
Can you please tell me the bracket where a 22% rate applies?
What happened to the 10.5% and 30% levels?
Are you really sure about the numbers you are quoting?
Alwyn, I'm not sure about the tax rate of 22% that Sabine is talking about but currently:
Income up to $14k is taxed at 10.5%; then between $14k and $48k its 17.5%; between $48k and $70k its 30% then after $70k its at 33%, which is currently the top rate. But from 1st of April there will be a new 39% rate for income over $180k.
Yes. Those are the rates I, and I hope everyone who puts in a return, uses.
I was merely curious as to how Sabine, who lectures us on what she considers our errors, could dare to do so when she is so spectacularly wrong with her claims.
I certainly hope she isn’t a tax accountant.
If your property is boarded up because you are tired of "playing landlord", then none of your expenses are deductible. And the loss of of income is certainly not deductible.
the Income Tax Act is pretty clear: An expense is deductible if it is incurred for the purpose of gaining taxable income. So, no rents, no deductions.
Yes Mikesh you are correct that if a property is boarded up, it is unavailable to rent and expenses would not be deductible. I think Sabine's accountant was having a bad day.
There are ownership structures available to asset owning businesses where the tax rate is a straight 33%, they don't have the structured PAYE rates available to them.
So if they are a Trust and have income of $10,000 and have claimable deductions of $2000 they pay tax on $8000 at 33%. If they are a business and earn $10,000, have claimable deductions of 2000 they pay tax on $8000 at 28%.
I am not sure that you are quite correct re boarded up houses. You are able to claim deductions going forward if your property is available for renting. If it is boarded up it is arguable that it is 'available for renting'. The provision enables a person to claim expenses, say for maintenance if the aim is to continue renting.
https://www.ird.govt.nz/property/renting-out-residential-property/residential-rental-income-and-paying-tax-on-it/rental-expense-deductions
@ shanreag
Thanks for that information.
The cost to the landlord is what it is. The cost to the business is nil.
AND isn't the property income ring fenced, so losses only apply to the income from the property.
Considerable notice is given to landlords to fit required chattels and loans are available.
There would be a reason for a landlord not being able to take out a loan or not wanting to.
According to some commenters here it is the landlord's unalienable right to do with his property what he wishes, and we should do nothing lest we scare them off their valuable social service.
Even if their valuable social service is either an empty dwelling or one that makes its occupants sick.
Anyone who bitches about rental housing standards is in favour of festering slums. Inadequate housing kills – at least empty homes make the issue obvious.
With wisdom like yours no wonder the problem has got worse🤷♀️
nothing to do with low interest rates flooding of money by the reserve bank, no counter measures for the obvious consequence of this flood of money, labour not wanting to do anything but ask for a review on the tax system etc . But go ahead and think that with labour you 🙈🙊🙉
Of course I was referring to the spike in the last 12 month which was referred to. You may wish to ignore the effects of the flood of returnees, many with lots of cash, but any decent analysis would recognise the difference between this year and last.
This link shows that our net migration spike commenced from Aug 19 peaking Mar 20 pre Covid times.So what was the plan to accomodate these new arrivals to an already stressed situation ? As of Dec 20 returned back to 2014 levels, and I would not be surprised if the 12 month trend dramatically falls in the coming months. I picked u from you r comment that it is "only" immigration that has impacted on property prices – Which many would think as very limited in cause.
"Annual net migration ramped up before border closures and travel restrictions in March 2020 and has been falling away since then,” Mr Islam said.
https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/annual-net-migration-down-in-2020
Having put it in full speech marks, you'd better show where I said "only". Do you not think the peak in April 2020 at 94,846 net is not significant?
That is without considering the many offshore buyers having friends and family buy by proxy with the intention of returning home when they are able.
Your comment only covered this aspect without any mention or reference to any other factors, or even giving the impression that you believe that there are other factors. And that was before your comment was censored
The 94k peak is a 12 month rolling average so it covers May 19 to April 20. Most of which the period was Pre Covid. + Where was the governments policies to cater for this influx so as not to have the dire situation we are now in?
"many offshore buyers having friends and family buy by proxy with the intention of returning home when they are able." And why would NZ citizens/residents use proxy buyers ?
Nah, you're either being ignorant or disingenuous in trying to pretend the 94K peak was nothing to do with Covid.
Of course it was to do with Covid as overseas panic was in full swing in the three months immediately preceding our border closure, particularly in China. The stats you link to clearly show that, and importantly that more than usual were returning citizens and residents.
And if you are going to use full quotation marks, please make sure the person has actually said that verbatim. It is just plain good forumming.
You seem to be developing the habit of having one name in your pseudonym and then finishing your comment with another. I assume they are your family name and your first name.
In order that I can correctly address you can you tell me which is which? Are you known as "Muttonbird Moron" or are you more correctly referred to as "Moron Muttonbird"?
Meh.
So we have 2 burning issues before COVID
housing and tax/supporting those in need.
we have a Progressive government that …. waits and the issues progressively deteriorate . Perhaps that is why our pm describes her govt as progressive🤔
It looks as though Max's friend Jake Millar has run off with some of John Key's money. Oh dear, how sad, the old con-man has been taken in by a young upstart 'entrepreneur'.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018785159/kmart-shopper-waits-nearly-eight-hours-on-phone-for-covid-19-advice
An Aucklander who spent six minutes at a store where a Covid-19 case was working had to wait nearly eight hours on the phone to get advice from Healthline.
Even if this item isn't correct in every detail it illustrates cracks in the Covid management policy widening. Are front-line workers being properly paid and rested? Are investigators really on top of their job keeping up with the urgency needed, that was shown earlier on? NZ can't afford to be complacent. Recently one student was phoned a number of times without success, and a visit to the house wasn't made. In the meantime the virus was being spread.
The standards of effectiveness must be maintained in checking Covid, also the funding must be adequate. The effects on business, and people's ability to make a living, have a life and carry out responsibilities even, must be faciltated by a responsible and not cheese-paring government or private agencies.
At present I am waiting for a reply from the blood test laboratory to whom i made a call yesterday afternoon, which required that a message be left. I am asked to go on-line to make a booking, but I want to ask questions, and I don't want to have my computer as the centre of my life, and so be forced to commit money to have one or an expensive cellphone, tablet etc. Low cost wages and high-cost demands from government doesn't augur well for the future.
Is this an example of withdrawal of responsibility to the citizen and interaction with us, which crops up more regularly unfortunately, with a default position of using a computer for contacts and providing information. Or 'put it on facebook' and that's complied with our requirements for public notification or such.
Devices are coming between interaction from government and business and the people. Don't allow this to continue! Complain bitterly and don't swallow inevitability without a murmur as government withdraws from its traditional role in a democracy. Don't allow convenience to rule the day. First govt will drop this, then that, then it will be up to you, then it will be more efficient if you are always on tap, then there will be a nano-sized device inserted in your earlobe (in different art shapes picturing famous stars etc.)
Well the government could hire call takers, but i guess that is not in the budget.
Automation coming to us no matter how many of us could do the job better and faster.
Heh my first job was as a sales clerk taking incoming calls ….the standard was to answer the phone in three rings or less……..these days well not so much
They need bodies to answer these incoming calls. If you don't have them, it matters not what the policy says. Same goes for Winz btw.
Probably need to ring three times in one day today.
People at the other end need to be trained as well.
Well said GW. The overwhelming attitude that everyone has a computer, broadband and an online bank account or a phone where they can eat up paid minutes on hold and that is sufficient is the default position and using covid to introduce further restrictions is manipulative. Private companies are bad enough but the government needs to pull it's head in.
I am renewing my passport at level 1. In the past I could drop the form in at the wellington office, pay by eftpos and then drop back to collect it.
Now an appointment is required where I sat on hold for about 10 minutes (which is a lot of dough if some one is using pay as you use) and then a time is allocated supposedly because of covid. I was also asked to come by myself – which would be an issue for some people. Heavens knows if I will be able to collect it – which feels a great deal more secure than trusting it to couriers who leave the wrong parcels at my house and don't get signatures even when required. Payment options are also limited.
There is a real accessibility issue for the filing and payment of a lot of government services which needs to be dealt with. They are also tying themselves to technology like email addresses which will become less common.
Yes I get the feeling that email is passe' now. Heaven help us – the technocrats want to replace every useful personal and reliable service.
I think 'they' don't care if things go wrong provided they have had a first flush of profit. They might have to pay some of that back when some egregious error is found. But what-the-hell it will all be profitably replaced in six months, at extra cost to the citizen (ahem consumer) so keep the pressure on to innovate, innovate, innovate. (A hat-tip to the cry of the vacuum cleaners – Exterminate, exterminate, exterminate.)
As a side issue I saw on Stuff news yesterday an article giving an explanation of the Covid-19 exposure categories people fit into, the testing and the isolation required. I was left feeling a bit confused.
The Covid advice line is not meeting the needs of the people in a timely manner when it is essential to do so.
The Covid bloody phone call program prioritised calls wrongly and kept people waiting for hours. One woman's phone showed a call time of seven hours, 44 minutes. How can people organise their lives and their family's health status and comings and goings. The government has made life so unstable for ordinary people, has not mentioned recompense to those pushed around like pawns, and yet appears to consider this is a clever modern system that can't be bettered.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018785350/tech-problems-understaffing-behind-long-healthline-wait-times
They were dealing with huge call volumes – the Health Ministry says after the announcement of a new community case linked to Papatoetoe High School call volumes spiked – most of that day they had had average wait times of under a minute but that jumped to 36 minutes…
The ministry said Healthline had since increased the number of staff they have rostered on by 8 times – and call wait times are now mainly under 20 minutes. (That is a long time still! Is this the best that govt can do with the pandemic continuing so long?)
Another problem caused 92 people between lunchtime Tuesday and midnight Thursday to be cut off after waiting on the phone for two hours. This affected people who were on hold or even mid conversation.
…The ministry said this problem was "being addressed".
However they didn't say they would reimburse the people who had their phone payments diminished while they were waiting. This is what a good, responsible government service, or contractor, would do in this age of deliberate low wages and erratic work hours.
There should be an Expediter group who work shifts, looking to where the known hot spots are, assesses needs, and has staff able to work extra hours at short notice (with extra pay of course) to be called in, perhaps using police helicopters if available to pick up stafff.
A tier to immediately respond is a good idea.
Questions I would ask is do you know which category you fit into, the testing you require and the isolating period?
As for the contact tracing and tracking a 6c note book could have been supplied and used as a reference, adding people who you were out with.
Going to Level 1 from Level 2 was done too quickly.
Containing Covid-19 is about doing the basics well whenever a community case appears and not leaving anything to chance.
Some welcome policy from Kris Faafoi.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/437205/migration-will-not-return-to-pre-covid-levels-when-nz-border-reopens-immigration-minister-warns
Should allow New Zealand’s housing and infrastructure issues to be managed better.
I was wondering if someone else had picked up on this. This is a HUGE change, and it will be fought tooth and nail by affected sectors that have grown addicted to ready access to a stream of easily exploitable, low wage foreign workers. Look out for accusations of racism, bitter mocking from the usual media suspects of Ardern's appeal to inclusivity, scare stories about unpicked crops, fallow fields and the unaffordable cost of restaurant meals with a crippling inability to hire chefs.
More to the point, it shows the government is walking away from the ideology of the globalised, laissez-faire labour market in favour of greater controls on the inflow of foreigners. I see the impact of Labour's Maori caucus in this, it seems they are replacing NZ First as the voice of the working poor on the struggle street of the low wage, unskilled economy – because make no mistake this will push up wages for low skilled locals.
In the absence of any political or societal will to use NZ's wealth to invest in critical infrastructure and then housing, there is no other option than to stem the flow of people.
And, as you point out, a major offensive on cheap imported labour will have the benefit of encouraging employers to upskill local workers rather than ignoring them.
I knew we had a fair bit of cheap labour in NZ, but I'll be the first to admit my middle class ass had no idea exactly how much we were relying on cheap Brazilians to run of tourist centre bars and cafes, how much we relied on cheap, deeply exploited Indians on dubious "study" visas to work in menial tasks, how much we needed cheap labour from the Pacific and Asia to provide labour for our rest homes and pick our crops and clean our toilets and all that sort of thing. We had created and enabled a studiously ignored third world economy where the worst exploiters were from the same ethnic groups and set it to run parallel to, and largely for the benefit of, our comfy Pakeha first world one. It has to stop.
"… for the benefit of our comfy Pakeha first world…"
Might pay to take the racist blinkers off. Maori for decades resisted foreign owned charter fisheries vessels that they employed being subject to NZ laws and conditions of employment. These vessels were repeatedly described as 'slave ships' and a form of colonisation. Not for the benefit of Pakeha, but for the benefit of the coffers of Maori .
And the appalling exploitation you rightly refer to is for the benefit not just of Pakeha, but also of our Chinese, Indian and other immigrants, alongside of course Maori. Wander down to the local Warehouse. Plenty of non-Pakeha sure happy to buy cheap stuff made in Asian sweatshops. Or do you consider it OK to exploit others if the beneficiaries of that exploitation are not white?
Peter CH You are making a sweeping generalisation. Sealord was set up as a business that had to compete with other businesses. A large share in it, maybe half, was sold to I think a Japanese firm that had experience – so half Maori business interests and half foreign. There was a threat from I think Sandfords, a chap Gilchrist from memory, to sue the Nelson Polytechnic when they set up a dedicated course for training Maori seamen. Nelson Poly stepped back from Court costs under this threat.
So there were barriers to overcome by Maori as to what way things would be done. Give them some slack will you. So many pakeha know just how things should be done, it is a surprise that so much of NZ business is owned or been sold to overseas corporations. Where are all you smart people standing tall and successful and determined on NZ ownership, as NZ 'captains of business'??
The foreign involvement predated the Maori interest. There's an explanation here: essentially a large chunk of NZ fisheries had been illegally offshored when Carter Holt Harvey went above a certain percentage of foreign ownership. Instead of confiscating CHH's quota, government cobbled together a deal whereby a Maori entity obtained a company and a large parcel of quota.
Inexperience cost Sealord dearly early on, and neither foreign charters nor locally based catcher contractors did them any favours. A habit of overcapitalisation remains, but the worst of their excesses have mostly ground to a halt. During this time they lost ground, going from NZ's largest fishing company to about number three. Meanwhile the contemporaneous rise of Southern Clams showed that growth and profitability were quite possible in the then market conditions – and without slave crews.
I wouldn't have known either, until I began to see foreign students who have finished a diploma or degree in NZ's tertiary sector (both established academic institutions and the new generation of private providers). I do what little I can to help them escape two equally invidious paths – go into the swamp of low-wage exploitation, or lose their visas and go home. From what I've seen, it all looks a bit like a sophisticated, vertically integrated scam.
They used to call these jobs "kiwi experience' and any migrant into NZ had to content with these jobs. Heck i knew people that worked for free to gain that mythical kiwi experience even if they very educated.
I would assume that the aged care sector would fall apart if it had to employ only locals.
Yes I see this as generally a good call but agree it will be fought hard. Too many employers love it for the power it gives them. I did wonder if the government would ever say this although there seemed to be some foot dragging around visa's.
Will they also look at the 18-30 working holiday visas with about 45 countries with the USA and Canada being eligible for 2 years rather than one and those two countries plus the UK having an uncapped limit plus possibly others
. Also the au pairs where they can be worked for up to 40 hours for a pittance (plus I assume no tax on the free board and lodging).
It floods the market as our young people are trying for their first jobs and undermines their ability to get that early training. And it's not like we have the same numbers of young people taking advantage of reciprocal arrangements.
And I assume future working tied to student visas will be post grad or undergrad exchanges for state universities.
I would like to see some continuation of access from the islands though but on far better terms and conditions so there is no exploitation. It seems to be a good way of putting some money into small fragile economies from the bottom up rather than top down type overseas aid.
Hope they slug the investor visa too. i don’t see too many factories from these and I think there was a survey that showed most just stuck the money into something secure then took it back at then end of the period.
Plus I would want the income limits lifted to really high ones. Why should the good paying jobs we have be inspire foreign competition.
The first thing which strikes me about this policy is the age of the workers who do seasonal work. Due to tourism and the hospitality industry not being what it used to be, there possibly is an expectation that a person who worked in hospitality now looks for seasonal work or upskills.
I've just found Lawrence Ferlinghetti RIP – poet, ex-Navy, bookseller and Artist. Here he is reading one of his poems I think.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti: The world is a beautiful place
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l11MUjuK43M
Obituary – https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lawrence-ferlinghetti-obituary-0vlsllwkl
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/feb/23/lawrence-ferlinghetti-obituary
I guess Bob's the last of the beatniks.
Letter to Larry
On 28 April 1964 (date of the postmark), Bob Dylan wrote a prose-poem letter to Lawrence Ferlinghetti after calling on him a couple of months earlier (20 February 1964) and finding him not home.
deare larry.
have no sports car.
weather., good.
traffic moving slowly thru tunnel.
breeze is from the west an I ahah am goin
t france tomorrow. have t look thru all my pants pockets
an collect things t send t you.
as of now I am in the midst of destroyin all I’ve
done (I’ve even crashed my old typewriter t pieces an have burned my
pens into little tiny plastic statues)
I know I will send you something one of these days.
all I have t do is finish something t send you.
in any case, if I am poisened or framed or kilt orratted on
I will will will you some edgar lee masters?
type (bob dylan written) poems of grand embarassment.
thelonius monk grand style grand (me upright)
the world’s fair begun down there.
I’m gone.
Sailin on (across the sone) son,
sawn. dawn. anyway I’m gone.
I’m up here.
my adress is me-bearsville. just got back from trip t boston area.
sung songs at providence.
amhearst.
arrived in amhearst with 15 friends from cambridge.
left providence with 15 friends from providence.
ditched them on highway tho. (yes I pledge alliegence t the luckyness of havin
some so many friends.)
an here’s t the republic.
up the irish.
ah yes my flag has turned into one color.
who fast?
me fast?
choking?
ha you must be joking. I’m not turnin. burnin. maybe smokin.
not running cunning.
not me.
I aint none of them things.
not me.
yes most deffinately would like t borrow cabin at big sur.
cant say when.
sometime.
wham.
it just hit me.
I do got things of songs an stories for you.
my hangup is tho that I know there will be more.
I want t send the more more then I want t send the got.
yes I guess that’s it.
that’s it in a nutshell pruneskin.
that’s the whole story.
nothin but the truth.
nothin but the nothin.
would’ve liked t spent more time in san francisco.
would like t spend more time in many places.
sometime I will.
someday I will.
tomorrow. yeah tomorrow.
I a, in a strange light alright.
I remember a few years ago.
tramping. bummin.
ridin the rods all wrong.
hitchhiking (pretending stock markets crashin all over me) thru the ever ready
usa. guitar on my back.
my thoughful tool.
yes an the only thing I wished was that someday I’d be able t come back
t these fucked up shootin gallery pay me for my playin coffee houses.
coffee bars.
oh how I used t hope that someday if nothin else. I’d have enuff friends or
know the right people t survive with my head at least as groovy as
theirs … man.
I never got a chance.
I got a motorcycle tho.
but unlike the last ones I had on south dakota an minnesota roads,
this one’s for the fields.
so you see, after all, I’m not really going all that fast.
you cant go too fast in the fields you know.
the only thing that’s wrong is that there’s no fuckin motels.
absolutely no advertising.
I’m the first one hit by the forest fires an god knows that a fallout
shelter’d be insane.
terrible buzzard flies an my front steps all loaded with killed dear
hit by cars … yet I still wave t airplanes
an shit like that (what whit like that?) so I’m not all bad.
all good.
would?
yes I’ve chopped much wood.
I’ll write you later an send clippings from my head.
as for now there’s a horn honkin.
must be for me.
hhhmmmmmmmmm.
or however you spell that.
will be in france for awhile.
someplace where they dont read life magazine.
of course I’ll be back tho.
an will be out in sanfrancisco again.
I have nothin t do.
an no place t go.
faretheewell.
faretheegoodbye.
say hi for me.
say hi t anybody
see you then
comemoratin figitatin
agitatin satined
positivelyated
homogenized. egg creamed. pie in the faced
egg in the eyed
untied. complyed. plywooded. do-gooded. hooded.
lamp shaded understated hated backdated
muscatelled. muscatold musca went wrong someplace
displaced. cock traced
embraced umbraced ohbraced
church laced
straight faced
an all that
yes
see you then
gently
https://www.needsomefun.net/bob-dylan-and-lawrence-ferlinghetti/
101!
Almost disgraceful for a beat poet to live so long
But he was still writing up to 99 years old
Amazing
America is BACK! Biden bombs his first country!
Well, that didn't take too long, now did it?
According to Al Jazerra, the US has dropped bombs on a military base in Syria.
I see the yankee war machine back in action in Syria where they are neither wanted or invited, same as Iraq, yankee go home, but no, they stay like the invaders they are. They along with the other warmonger State, the UK, spread hatred and lies against their Russian and Chineese Capitalist rivals as a smokescreen for their own putrid deeds, I see that seems to work for many on this rightwing site.
Bugger, just got a job, starting next Wednesday.
There goes the way too early semi retirement plan in self imposed exile.
… condolences? 🙂
Only in the dead 'easy life' parts of laziness inspired daydreams. lol
Actually looking forward to it, and not just the money boost from the basic dole pittance.
Outdoor work, West coast fresh air, with coastal and/or mountain views. Could be worse ways of making a living. 🙂
🙂
Meanwhile, despite the angst and gnashing of teeth over Russia and China… in the Middle East things are on the boil again…
https://thegrayzone.com/2017/04/12/isis-us-syria-sharyat-air-base/woops, sorry, wrong one….
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/02/26/biden-orders-us-airstrike-against-iran-backed-militia-target-in-eastern-syria/
At least they're moving back from assassinating Iranian generals.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/437247/parnell-locals-threaten-to-glamp-in-protest-at-erebus-memorial
Glamp?
And what do you think of the memorial? Looks as if it has been designed by an accountant fully into materialism. It is all hard edged even with a curve. A good design for a shared pathway for skateboarding and mountain bike racing. The insolence of the young males won't be limited by thoughts of family grief and the tragedy of it all. Utilitarianism rules OK.
Here we go. More misery exported to New Zealand from our 'closest friend'.
Scomo sends 'em, we shoot 'em.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/papatoetoe-police-shooting-dead-man-identified-as-tangaru-noere-turia/SYIZAHIH5COPYEXSPGUXEU2KHM/
Goodness gracious!! Danny Watson shunts Sean Plunket!
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2021/02/danny-watson-to-replace-sean-plunket-on-magic-talk-alongside-leah-panapa.html
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/government-doesnt-want-push-house-prices-down-fearing-loss-votes-bernard-hickey
Hickey holds out little hope
Mr Hickey is speaking out both sides of his mouth.
On one side he's saying that governments don't want to force housing prices down because they will loose votes.
On the other side he's saying that governments should pour heaps of money into urban infrastructure. The unsaid part of this is that infrastructure spend will push up urban housing prices.
im not sure Mr Hickey is 'speaking out of both sides', I suspect he believes his analysis but imo he has miscalculated the underlying reasoning…it isnt a political fear per se but rather an economic one and therefore his prescription fails to account for the outcome.
Pouring money into infrastructure will not automatically increase housing costs if the money available to support housing is reduced, indeed what is supporting the housing inflation currently is the amount of credit (and explicit underwrite by govs) banks have to invest…..it is the ratio of money available to stock and that ratio is not necessarily changed by increasing or decreasing stock.
The problem any government faces is the stability of the financial system as it requires ever increasing credit…..the business cycle was never tamed, rather it was replaced
You're (and Mr Hickey) are repeating the distortions of the property sector in saying that government infrastructure spend doesn't increase 'housing costs'. This is correct from the developer's pov, they don't have to pay for the infrastructure and can offer a housing unit at a reduced price / make more profit, generally the latter.
But from the pov of the surrounding properties capital values go up, often dramatically, because the owners don't have to pay for their portion of the infrastructure in their rates. So overall housing prices get dragged up.
Totally agree about the problems of taming a financial system that's totally dependent on the value of housing. But the real issue isn't the loss of value to individuals if there's a fall in the market, it's the economic chaos that will result if there's a property 'correction'. A dramatic fall in house values (say 20%) won't make them more affordable because the would be a corresponding reduction in liquidity and employment. People will find it even harder get a loan when they haven't got confidence in their income. And that is what destroys governments.
It does more than destroy governments ….the self reinforcing downward spirals it can create cause depressions…..that is the economic fear I reference.
Keynes showed us how to deal with depressions but we risk being permanently removed from the ‘club of advanced nations’ if we move ahead of the major players.
As to infrastructure spends creating property inflation I beg to differ….it depends upon the funding mechanism….history shows that central government can provide the infrastructure without creating the (specific) property inflation we are experiencing….there is no problem with property inflation that matches broader (esp wage) inflation.
I am sorry Daily Review has not resumed.
After the OM topics have been done to death, it is an opportunity for very recent developments to be introduced and it also opens up the conversation for other commenters to take part who may not have the inclination or the time during the day.
I know that DR patronage is a bit up and down but it presents an opportunity for wider coverage of the day's events and is often quite jocular which makes for a nice change.
Noted.
Blimey Charlie, here we go again:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/26/falling-sperm-counts-human-survival
– another story presenting a potential drop in the human population as an unmitigated disaster. When are people going to realise …. ?
A drop is fine, extinction is not.
It's the old story, though – it'll be ignored until it becomes a palpable problem, at which point billions will be thrown at the problem. I don't think it will get to Children of Men levels. Maybe Handmaid's Tale, but we also see other elements of that happening…