The short of it is that the Chinese government locked citizens into keeping their money in China. Hence Chinese citizens have tried to find ways to make money within China, leading to speculative bubbles. The most prominent of these has been housing. Many Chinese citizens have been investing in multiple properties, resulting in a huge speculative bubble.
According to the Chinese stats guy he sites, there is now more empty housing than there is Chinese to fill it. Along with rapidly declining Chinese demographics, this is a recipe for economic disaster on a scale we likely have not seen before.
According to Zeihan, the sub-prime crisis was caused by a 3% oversupply of housing, so the scale of future disaster in China will be many multiples higher than that.
This may lead to the overthrow of the Chinese government, because citizens will naturally be fairly ticked off with their government when that happens.
China can print its way out of this crisis just as it has happened before. Being a command and Control economy they can do things free economies can't do like print price freeze shift the economy to where the most money can be made from foreign exchange ie. Cheap car's cheap electric cars.Bigger Navy, Airforce and army.Build more modern infrastructure etc etc in the last gfc China bounced back better than any economist predicted the US had to borrow hundreds of Billions of US $ from China to sure up the US economy.
I remember when I visited the city of Changchun about seven years ago I saw two huge apartment building projects that were unfinished, and was told that they had been that way for 2-3 years.
The thing is though, that it isn't only Zeihan pointing to the massive oversupply in the Chinese property market. There are fundamental issues going on that are going to be difficult to avoid, for China, and for the world.
Kicking the can down the road doesn't work anymore when the road runs out.
And to be fair to Zeihan, one thing he did get right was predicting the war in Ukraine pretty much to the year back in 2014. e.g:
IMO From what I have read the China property market is overdue for a hell of a correction and there will be an enormous amount of financial loss and pain involved – but to predict governmental overthrow and the end of the Chinese state is truly jumping the shark.
Sure. But to be fair to Zeihan, he has given a prediction with a time limit. So, at least we will soon know if he his wrong or right. It is easy to make a prediction for some unspecified time in the future, because lots of things can happen given enough time.
I think the likely scenario, if it were to happen, would be China breaking up into provences rather than holding together as a coherent whole.
China isn't going to break up, isn't going to fall into a hole from lack of babies, and simply isn't facing any crisis as big as say Congress being stormed or the UK leaving the EU.
China sure ain't a threat to NZ from impending failure.
Ever notice how Zeihan always concludes that the only successful country in the world is the US?
As I mentioned, to his credit he has given a time-specific prediction about China. So, we should know fairly soon whether that will work out. If China is going to break up, then we should see the signs of that well before then.
I agree, I thought 10 years was a stretch as well. But, we will see I guess.
China sure ain't a threat to NZ from impending failure.
I agree, it likely isn't as much of a threat as say, to Australia. That is because people need to eat whatever happens. So, our produce should be in demand. Whereas, I think Australia it is much more of an issue for Australia. Because, if China stops building stuff, then they won't need all the stuff Australia sends them.
If they are too expensive, and the price doesn't adjust, then they will just sit there.
If you were a banker in a normally functioning economy, would you lend on assets that had no hope in selling if you needed to call up your loan? Hence one of the major problems. People will be reaching their retirements, hoping to sell up their property assets to generate cash to live on. But, if they find they can't sell, or can only sell for a fraction of what they paid, they will not be happy campers.
In an economy such as China, where the demographics are terminal, then this scenario will play out more and more frequently.
I heard that in China most are renting on 70 year leases. I don't know whether the oversupplied houses were intended for lease or for purchase. However, banks are state owned in China, so writing off any loans won't be as much a problem as it would be in Western countries.
Or like Trump overinf8 the value of the property and borrow more printed money from the CCP bank.Nothing is a problem in a command and control economy!
I read on stuff that Luxon used the word "actually" 76 times in last night's leaders' second TV debate, which I did not watch.
When used so often in those contexts, "actually" is another way of trying to give yourself authority – a way of saying "I know what I'm talking about – you don't!"
John Key used that word a lot too, so perhaps it is a National Party thing and their way of projecting their smug superiority over others.
"Actually" is a classic example of the right-wing male's constant and totally unfounded claim to a superior understanding of reality.
The 'reality' concerning which they claim such superior knowledge, is not reality at all. It's simply the shimmering of their own ideology reflected back at them. Close relatives of “actually” are “the reality is” and “what I’m saying is”. Once you get sensitised to the word “actually”, you can spot a blustering, fat-headed bully with ease.
Reference to collective reality is indeed more asserted than realistic but real cool to see someone actually measuring the citations eh? You know, as if social science research was useful practice?
Yeah I know, postmodernism disposed of any credibility in the reality concept, but what if psychologists weren't as inept as they seem & there is really a reality drive operating within the psyche? Why else would folks say "Get real!"?
Actually I only ever write actually so as to channel the inner rightist, inherited from my dad & his dad, which has always amused me. You know, as if rightists could ever get real about anything?
Anyway this youngster reckons Hipkins got a win and we ought to discern how young voters see things – you know, as if social scientists were competent enough to prove relevance by measuring youngster generational views on politics & report the various bodies of opinion within in the media?
If you've watched both debates, you might have noticed there's one word Luxon uses over and over again. In the TVNZ debate last week, he said "actually" 69 times. In last night's slightly shorter format, he said it 76 times.
He probably has an actuater stuck up his ass everytime his mansplaining mouth opens actually I am lying but the lying bit is conveniently avoided.Luxon is a bully and never answers a question directly but just like a wind up toy he reheats and repeats the distraction or lie.
Good question, I wonder if any are still around. A reunion of antiquated comedians could be capable of exposing the surrealism abounding in western civilisation…
OMG that would be a bit of a shock here. Interesting concept and look forward to tracking its progress as a policy.
Imagine if the NZ state took over the entire rental market with an instrument similar to AIRBnB and then price controlled rent increases for the whole market.
It would look remarkably similar to the Greens policy.
Queenstown has tried this and failed. If Edinburgh struggles to reign in Airbnb how are we, a small town, going to deal with them. The cost would destroy the town more and faster than the short term rentals.
[please correct the error in your e-mail in your next comment, thanks – Incognito]
Convo on twitter about National's 1990 election campaign and how they lied, promising to make changes to Labour's neoliberalisation of NZ and then carrying on with it. Anyone got a reference for the campaign material they used pre-election?
Here's Jim Bolger in 1990, after his landslide win. I wish I had a copy of National's election manifesto to upload. The policies in it are far to the left of those offered even by the Greens today. National ran against but ended up continuing Rogernomics. Extreme became normal.
I remember reading about an opposition National MP during the Rogernome government, and I wish I could remember his name and find his comments, saying that National didn't put up much opposition during the second three years because Labour were doing pretty much what National wanted to do anyway.
Big business funded Labour $2 for $1 for National once Labour moved back to moderate policy that funding disappeared Roger Douglas bankrupt pig farmer got a job advertising high interest bank cards.
Labour took all the backlash it was highjacked by the National Party via Bob Jones .Labour has never recovered until it offers National Party type policy with a few more crumbs off the table for the peasants.Nothing like the
Norman Kirk and previous Labour Party govts who built enough.houses gave us much cheaper health care , power ,phone education .The Greens are closer to the original Labour movement now.
From memory, it didn't at the time. The Bastards used the so-called BNZ Bank collapse for it's massive jump to the right & it was all downhill after that.
"During the course of 1990 it became apparent that the National Party's stance on industrial relations was closely related to the arguments advanced by the New Zealand Business Roundtable and the Employers Federation regarding labour market reform.I? It is significant that the National Party chose to announce its labour relations policy at an Employers Federation conference in Auckland on the 8th May. Jim Bolger pledged the reintroduction of voluntary unionism and to make bargaining more flexible by breaking the stranglehold that entrenched union executives currently have on the negotiating process in too many sectors of industry".
Not sure what the thinking might be, but it felt to me like he had been withholding his ammunition and debating skills for the last two plus weeks. He did make noises to that effect in a brief post-debate interview before he left the studio.
All IMO – Amongst the horror and evil of war one periodically finds the inspirational, the amusing and the mind-boggling
This bloke I find to be an inspiration – a Ukranian veteran from Soviet Afghanistan War – he seems to be older than Methusalah (as in about my age) – answering the call to serve his country and possibly even driving the same model IFV he used to. He also appears to have well mastered the art of 'zero f***s given'.
Winston will be a huge Thorn in Nationals side as there biggest policy tax cuts for the well off won't go ahead on current poling.Winston will dine out on this till the election.
Judging by the subtle change in attitudes on both sides, I wouldn't be totally surprised if it was subsequently discovered Winston already had made a secret deal with Luxon.
Have to admit that Winston has a habit of doing the unexpected. In 1996, the first MMP election, he had been roundly abusing National all through the campaign and been relatively cordial to Labour, and then against most expectations he went with National. Helen Clark accused National of "going belly up".
Cut to 2017 and when the majority of pundits thought he would go with National he cuts a deal with Labour, to the shock and disbelief of National who since the election had been crowing like Peter Pan saying how clever they were.
And now he may well be in the same situation again, but this time we have the added element of ACT on the right who are sure to want a share of the spoils.
Have to admit that Winston has a habit of doing the unexpected.
I disagree and don’t buy into the Winston myth and associated personality cult unlike MSM and quite possibly >5% of voters.
I didn’t buy into the John Key myth either nor was I blown away by Jacinda Ardern’s public image.
For me, a strong policy platform based on reliable assumptions is more influential than party figureheads; people come and go, but core principles, values, and associated policy platforms endure.
Foreign Buyers Tax: A Mismatch Between Expectations and Reality The Importance of Transparent Policymaking
While the shortfall in the proposed tax revenue may not significantly impact the government deficits, it serves as a testament to the politicians’ approach to policy making and their transparency in responding to criticism. Even though the National party, being an opposition party, may not have the same resources as the Government to form its policy, critics argue that it should invest in thorough analysis using the donations it receives.
Hmm – donations the Nats receive. Might relaxing the ban on foreigners buying Kiwi homes be a way of rewarding some big donors?
Some big investment property owners (one name in particular springs to mind) will be salivating at the prospect of a ‘correction’ in the property market, whereas some pundits reckon a correction is still in progress.
National MPs seem to have stopped using the ludicrous term "the squeezed middle", with reference to their tax cuts policy, as it excludes people in the most need. Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis now claim that "low and middle income earners" will benefit from their tax plan. This is a typical National strategy of lying by omission.
Economists analysing National's non-resident buyers' 15% tax from houses over two million dollars have found this tax would likely raise only $210 million a year, rather than $740 million a year as National claims. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/election-2023/497974/economists-analysis-rubbishes-national-s-foreign-buyers-tax-numbers This amount would be the largest source of revenue to fund their tax cuts. National have repeatedly refused to release their modelling of their tax plan. If it is feasible and the calculations support National's tax cut amounts, why not release the plan?
National advises that a worker on the median income would receive $50.00 per fortnight. NZ's median income is about $61,000.00. Therefore, half of NZ workers earn below this amount and would receive less than $25.00 per week in tax cuts. National's tax plan would in fact make many families worse off through cuts to early childhood education funding, public transport subsidies and public services, and by reinstating pharmacy prescription charges. Also, allowing non-residents to buy NZ homes will push up house prices and rental costs. National's tax plan would disproportionately benefit high earners, as they would receive the highest tax cuts.
National are relying on evasive, dishonest slogans to try to maintain their position in the polls, without providing details of what public services they will cut to fund their tax plan. The media should repeatedly hold National to account, to be open and honest, so voters are fully aware of their options.
Yup the IETC adjustment provides $10 a week (to the bottom half), and the tax bracket adjustments around the median and above (to $120,000) takes the total to $25 (an extra $15).
That is all for the 3 years.
Note a $1 an hour wage increase pa – MW is $40 a week before tax. And a similar impact would occur from the FPA industry awards. Each and every year.
Labour provides more help to afford rent increases and the cost of mortgages.
Greens with their 3% rent pa cap add an important extra one would hope became coalition policy.
Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis now claim that "low and middle income earners" will benefit from their tax plan.
The gall of such a statement is gob-smacking. Middle income earners stand to gain some $20 to $25 per week but the lowest income workers will be lucky if they get much more than $5 per week and they are the ones so desperately in need of help.
I honestly don't know how anyone with a grain of decency could make such a claim based on National's tax-cut scheme. It is preposterous.
The thing that gets me the most is: those on very high incomes potentially could benefit by up to $250 per week. BUT… if you dare mention it you are accused of envy politics – as if it is a nasty disease. Most people don't want to be rich. They just want to own a roof over their head and be able to eat well, pay their bills and once a year have a holiday somewhere.
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As I said before on housing NOW middle New Zealand families can have a pet or a grandparent for their children, but not both.
National plans to make it much, much worse for people renting. It plans to make it worse for the unemployed. It plans, through offering tax relief at a higher bracket, to make the poorest worse off.
Winston Peters is now positioning himself to the left of the Labour Party in economic policy, and somehow given his candidates, with more credibility as he seems to have a much greater likely influence on the next government. Jesus wept.
The media like to make out there’s not much difference. For the poorest it will be a catastrophe.
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Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
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 The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
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Getting away from politics for a moment, here is a fascinating 10 minute video from Peter Zeihan on why the Chinese economy is in serious trouble.
The short of it is that the Chinese government locked citizens into keeping their money in China. Hence Chinese citizens have tried to find ways to make money within China, leading to speculative bubbles. The most prominent of these has been housing. Many Chinese citizens have been investing in multiple properties, resulting in a huge speculative bubble.
According to the Chinese stats guy he sites, there is now more empty housing than there is Chinese to fill it. Along with rapidly declining Chinese demographics, this is a recipe for economic disaster on a scale we likely have not seen before.
According to Zeihan, the sub-prime crisis was caused by a 3% oversupply of housing, so the scale of future disaster in China will be many multiples higher than that.
This may lead to the overthrow of the Chinese government, because citizens will naturally be fairly ticked off with their government when that happens.
He also thinks that the end of China as a functioning nation will be this decade, according to several other of his vids.
I guess a massive financial collapse caused by the housing bubble could be the trigger for that.
China can print its way out of this crisis just as it has happened before. Being a command and Control economy they can do things free economies can't do like print price freeze shift the economy to where the most money can be made from foreign exchange ie. Cheap car's cheap electric cars.Bigger Navy, Airforce and army.Build more modern infrastructure etc etc in the last gfc China bounced back better than any economist predicted the US had to borrow hundreds of Billions of US $ from China to sure up the US economy.
China can 'print' its way out of this crisis as surely as I could borrow my way out of credit card debt.
Here is an article that confirms the point Zeihan makes.
Ah, the perverse incentives of dystopian authoritarianism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meJItedDm2Y
I remember when I visited the city of Changchun about seven years ago I saw two huge apartment building projects that were unfinished, and was told that they had been that way for 2-3 years.
And I suppose there were many more I didn't see.
Zeihan is the catastrophist version of Jared Diamond's "Guns Germs and Steel".
Very few of his forecasts have come to pass, and the ones that do he rolls out like a flying carpet for his ego.
The worst and stupidest is that China will cease to exist inside a decade.
China is doing pretty much the same trajectory of post-War development that Korea, Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam did.
Zeiham is what you get when a geopgrapher does woo-hoo with a few facts and avoids the entire discipline of development economics.
The thing is though, that it isn't only Zeihan pointing to the massive oversupply in the Chinese property market. There are fundamental issues going on that are going to be difficult to avoid, for China, and for the world.
Kicking the can down the road doesn't work anymore when the road runs out.
And to be fair to Zeihan, one thing he did get right was predicting the war in Ukraine pretty much to the year back in 2014. e.g:
https://georgiatoday.ge/geopolitical-analyst-peter-zeihan-on-russias-war-to-the-end/
IMO From what I have read the China property market is overdue for a hell of a correction and there will be an enormous amount of financial loss and pain involved – but to predict governmental overthrow and the end of the Chinese state is truly jumping the shark.
Sure. But to be fair to Zeihan, he has given a prediction with a time limit. So, at least we will soon know if he his wrong or right. It is easy to make a prediction for some unspecified time in the future, because lots of things can happen given enough time.
I think the likely scenario, if it were to happen, would be China breaking up into provences rather than holding together as a coherent whole.
He's only famous because of that one prediction.
Plenty of his others haven't worked out.
China isn't going to break up, isn't going to fall into a hole from lack of babies, and simply isn't facing any crisis as big as say Congress being stormed or the UK leaving the EU.
China sure ain't a threat to NZ from impending failure.
Ever notice how Zeihan always concludes that the only successful country in the world is the US?
As I mentioned, to his credit he has given a time-specific prediction about China. So, we should know fairly soon whether that will work out. If China is going to break up, then we should see the signs of that well before then.
I agree, I thought 10 years was a stretch as well. But, we will see I guess.
I agree, it likely isn't as much of a threat as say, to Australia. That is because people need to eat whatever happens. So, our produce should be in demand. Whereas, I think Australia it is much more of an issue for Australia. Because, if China stops building stuff, then they won't need all the stuff Australia sends them.
I don't think it's the fact of an oversupply of houses that is the problem, rather that the the houses are too expensive for most Chinese.
If they are too expensive, and the price doesn't adjust, then they will just sit there.
If you were a banker in a normally functioning economy, would you lend on assets that had no hope in selling if you needed to call up your loan? Hence one of the major problems. People will be reaching their retirements, hoping to sell up their property assets to generate cash to live on. But, if they find they can't sell, or can only sell for a fraction of what they paid, they will not be happy campers.
In an economy such as China, where the demographics are terminal, then this scenario will play out more and more frequently.
I heard that in China most are renting on 70 year leases. I don't know whether the oversupplied houses were intended for lease or for purchase. However, banks are state owned in China, so writing off any loans won't be as much a problem as it would be in Western countries.
Or like Trump overinf8 the value of the property and borrow more printed money from the CCP bank.Nothing is a problem in a command and control economy!
I read on stuff that Luxon used the word "actually" 76 times in last night's leaders' second TV debate, which I did not watch.
When used so often in those contexts, "actually" is another way of trying to give yourself authority – a way of saying "I know what I'm talking about – you don't!"
John Key used that word a lot too, so perhaps it is a National Party thing and their way of projecting their smug superiority over others.
"Actually" is a classic example of the right-wing male's constant and totally unfounded claim to a superior understanding of reality.
The 'reality' concerning which they claim such superior knowledge, is not reality at all. It's simply the shimmering of their own ideology reflected back at them. Close relatives of “actually” are “the reality is” and “what I’m saying is”. Once you get sensitised to the word “actually”, you can spot a blustering, fat-headed bully with ease.
Reference to collective reality is indeed more asserted than realistic but real cool to see someone actually measuring the citations eh? You know, as if social science research was useful practice?
Yeah I know, postmodernism disposed of any credibility in the reality concept, but what if psychologists weren't as inept as they seem & there is really a reality drive operating within the psyche? Why else would folks say "Get real!"?
Actually I only ever write actually so as to channel the inner rightist, inherited from my dad & his dad, which has always amused me. You know, as if rightists could ever get real about anything?
Anyway this youngster reckons Hipkins got a win and we ought to discern how young voters see things – you know, as if social scientists were competent enough to prove relevance by measuring youngster generational views on politics & report the various bodies of opinion within in the media?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/300978660/leaders-debate-paddy-gower-and-the-chrises-on-the-most-powerful-drug-of-all–politics
Actually he is full of it.
Hi, here is a RNZ article about..
IMO Chris Hipkins was all over Luxon…several times had him up against the ropes. Luxon looked..lost. Actually : )
In Luxon's case, it's not so much a tactic, more that he has a total vocabulary of about 12 words. He is physically painful to listen to (actually).
He probably has an actuater stuck up his ass everytime his mansplaining mouth opens actually I am lying but the lying bit is conveniently avoided.Luxon is a bully and never answers a question directly but just like a wind up toy he reheats and repeats the distraction or lie.
Is it only me, but the many "Points of Order" and Richard Harman posts in TS feed all seem to be supporting the Right.
Where's the McGillicuddy Serious Party when you need them?
Good question, I wonder if any are still around. A reunion of antiquated comedians could be capable of exposing the surrealism abounding in western civilisation…
This might help the situation with rentals in Queenstown.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/27/new-york-airbnb-renters-cities-law-ban-properties?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
OMG that would be a bit of a shock here. Interesting concept and look forward to tracking its progress as a policy.
Imagine if the NZ state took over the entire rental market with an instrument similar to AIRBnB and then price controlled rent increases for the whole market.
It would look remarkably similar to the Greens policy.
Queenstown has tried this and failed. If Edinburgh struggles to reign in Airbnb how are we, a small town, going to deal with them. The cost would destroy the town more and faster than the short term rentals.
[please correct the error in your e-mail in your next comment, thanks – Incognito]
Mod note
Convo on twitter about National's 1990 election campaign and how they lied, promising to make changes to Labour's neoliberalisation of NZ and then carrying on with it. Anyone got a reference for the campaign material they used pre-election?
https://twitter.com/SikotiHamiltonR/status/1706883456725311599
I remember reading about an opposition National MP during the Rogernome government, and I wish I could remember his name and find his comments, saying that National didn't put up much opposition during the second three years because Labour were doing pretty much what National wanted to do anyway.
Big business funded Labour $2 for $1 for National once Labour moved back to moderate policy that funding disappeared Roger Douglas bankrupt pig farmer got a job advertising high interest bank cards.
Appropriate job – given that the Rogernome government gave us home loan interest rates and inflation at 16% plus.
I remember buying my first home in 1985, my first mortage interest rate was 16% (later going up for a while to 18%) and inflation was around 16%.
And these people were founders of the ACT Party.
Worried about what might happen to interest rates if they get back into power again?
You should be.
Labour took all the backlash it was highjacked by the National Party via Bob Jones .Labour has never recovered until it offers National Party type policy with a few more crumbs off the table for the peasants.Nothing like the
Norman Kirk and previous Labour Party govts who built enough.houses gave us much cheaper health care , power ,phone education .The Greens are closer to the original Labour movement now.
Am pretty sure that 'manifesto' included the ECA….hardly a 'left' policy
From memory, it didn't at the time. The Bastards used the so-called BNZ Bank collapse for it's massive jump to the right & it was all downhill after that.
https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10523/9116/HealSarah1994MA.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y
page 89
"During the course of 1990 it became apparent that the National Party's stance on industrial relations was closely related to the arguments advanced by the New Zealand Business Roundtable and the Employers Federation regarding labour market reform.I? It is significant that the National Party chose to announce its labour relations policy at an Employers Federation conference in Auckland on the 8th May. Jim Bolger pledged the reintroduction of voluntary unionism and to make bargaining more flexible by breaking the stranglehold that entrenched union executives currently have on the negotiating process in too many sectors of industry".
Great to see Hipkins showing some attack last night.
Not sure what the thinking might be, but it felt to me like he had been withholding his ammunition and debating skills for the last two plus weeks. He did make noises to that effect in a brief post-debate interview before he left the studio.
A gathering in the middle of Wellington and the weather’s let me down badly.
All IMO – Amongst the horror and evil of war one periodically finds the inspirational, the amusing and the mind-boggling
This bloke I find to be an inspiration – a Ukranian veteran from Soviet Afghanistan War – he seems to be older than Methusalah (as in about my age) – answering the call to serve his country and possibly even driving the same model IFV he used to. He also appears to have well mastered the art of 'zero f***s given'.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/16r9mf8/ukrainian_veteran_from_the_soviet_afghanistan_war/
This is humor a much younger Ukranian 'asset' who is also rocking a big 'zero f***s given vibe'
https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/16q9861/photo_of_the_day_a_cat_named_patron_serving_in/
This clip – well it's the mind-boggling as in wtf ? How the hell? But it's just a bloke getting some firewood while wearing slip-ons
https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/16qwdbt/ok_this_guy_is_a_unit/
And last well I find this heart warming
https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/16q139y/we_will_rock_you/
Slava Ukraine!
Winston will be a huge Thorn in Nationals side as there biggest policy tax cuts for the well off won't go ahead on current poling.Winston will dine out on this till the election.
Winston also has the ability to make a deal with whomever he wants so easily
MSM "But you said no deal with the Labour Party"
Winston "Yes I did, but unfortunately it seems that the National Party can't count so I have revised my position"
No I don't expect this but I do expect entertainment if Winston is the KingMaker
Judging by the subtle change in attitudes on both sides, I wouldn't be totally surprised if it was subsequently discovered Winston already had made a secret deal with Luxon.
Have they been spotted drinking a cup of tea together?
This election campaign is a show of charades – it’s good for MSM and polling companies but hardly serves the people/voters.
Have to admit that Winston has a habit of doing the unexpected. In 1996, the first MMP election, he had been roundly abusing National all through the campaign and been relatively cordial to Labour, and then against most expectations he went with National. Helen Clark accused National of "going belly up".
Cut to 2017 and when the majority of pundits thought he would go with National he cuts a deal with Labour, to the shock and disbelief of National who since the election had been crowing like Peter Pan saying how clever they were.
And now he may well be in the same situation again, but this time we have the added element of ACT on the right who are sure to want a share of the spoils.
I disagree and don’t buy into the Winston myth and associated personality cult unlike MSM and quite possibly >5% of voters.
I didn’t buy into the John Key myth either nor was I blown away by Jacinda Ardern’s public image.
For me, a strong policy platform based on reliable assumptions is more influential than party figureheads; people come and go, but core principles, values, and associated policy platforms endure.
Best of luck with that.
With what?
Whatever “that” is, it has nothing to do with luck.
Big donors are people/voters too – charlatans on parade – apols for repetition.
Why should Kiwis take Willis and Luxon at their word, when they've clearly been caught out trying to scam the voters?
Hmm – donations the Nats receive. Might relaxing the ban on foreigners buying Kiwi homes be a way of rewarding some big donors?
Some big investment property owners (one name in particular springs to mind) will be salivating at the prospect of a ‘correction’ in the property market, whereas some pundits reckon a correction is still in progress.
Imho, NAct are aiming to correct the correction.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/real-estate/131976700/property-market-correction-not-over-yet
Wake up all you voters before it's too late. You are being scammed by the Nats and their mates in the right wing Media
National MPs seem to have stopped using the ludicrous term "the squeezed middle", with reference to their tax cuts policy, as it excludes people in the most need. Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis now claim that "low and middle income earners" will benefit from their tax plan. This is a typical National strategy of lying by omission.
Economists analysing National's non-resident buyers' 15% tax from houses over two million dollars have found this tax would likely raise only $210 million a year, rather than $740 million a year as National claims. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/election-2023/497974/economists-analysis-rubbishes-national-s-foreign-buyers-tax-numbers This amount would be the largest source of revenue to fund their tax cuts. National have repeatedly refused to release their modelling of their tax plan. If it is feasible and the calculations support National's tax cut amounts, why not release the plan?
According to National's figures, low income earners would receive $10 per week in tax cuts. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300960677/election-2023-national-party-releases-full-146b-tax-plan
National advises that a worker on the median income would receive $50.00 per fortnight. NZ's median income is about $61,000.00. Therefore, half of NZ workers earn below this amount and would receive less than $25.00 per week in tax cuts. National's tax plan would in fact make many families worse off through cuts to early childhood education funding, public transport subsidies and public services, and by reinstating pharmacy prescription charges. Also, allowing non-residents to buy NZ homes will push up house prices and rental costs. National's tax plan would disproportionately benefit high earners, as they would receive the highest tax cuts.
National are relying on evasive, dishonest slogans to try to maintain their position in the polls, without providing details of what public services they will cut to fund their tax plan. The media should repeatedly hold National to account, to be open and honest, so voters are fully aware of their options.
Yup the IETC adjustment provides $10 a week (to the bottom half), and the tax bracket adjustments around the median and above (to $120,000) takes the total to $25 (an extra $15).
That is all for the 3 years.
Note a $1 an hour wage increase pa – MW is $40 a week before tax. And a similar impact would occur from the FPA industry awards. Each and every year.
Labour provides more help to afford rent increases and the cost of mortgages.
Greens with their 3% rent pa cap add an important extra one would hope became coalition policy.
The gall of such a statement is gob-smacking. Middle income earners stand to gain some $20 to $25 per week but the lowest income workers will be lucky if they get much more than $5 per week and they are the ones so desperately in need of help.
I honestly don't know how anyone with a grain of decency could make such a claim based on National's tax-cut scheme. It is preposterous.
Lowest earners WILL benefit, just not very much. A half block of cheese when its on special.
The kind of word mincing that National has specialised in from its creation.
The thing that gets me the most is: those on very high incomes potentially could benefit by up to $250 per week. BUT… if you dare mention it you are accused of envy politics – as if it is a nasty disease. Most people don't want to be rich. They just want to own a roof over their head and be able to eat well, pay their bills and once a year have a holiday somewhere.
Thanks for that clear analysis of Nat's Siren song – it's not too late to avoid the rocks.
https://vote.nz/enrolling/enrol-or-update/enrol-or-update-online/
Always get into these threads late at night unfortunately:
but where is the anger at some of these morally repugnant policies, backed by lying former merchants of death and worse.
Why is it left to Hayden Donnell to be saying this in the Spinoff:
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/27-09-2023/is-nationals-biggest-issue-beneficiaries
As I said before on housing NOW middle New Zealand families can have a pet or a grandparent for their children, but not both.
National plans to make it much, much worse for people renting. It plans to make it worse for the unemployed. It plans, through offering tax relief at a higher bracket, to make the poorest worse off.
Winston Peters is now positioning himself to the left of the Labour Party in economic policy, and somehow given his candidates, with more credibility as he seems to have a much greater likely influence on the next government. Jesus wept.
The media like to make out there’s not much difference. For the poorest it will be a catastrophe.
Coalition of Carnage should be the catch-cry from Labour, the Greens and Te Pati Maori because that is exactly what will happen.