Open mike 29/03/2021

29 comments on “Open mike 29/03/2021 ”

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1. Jester 1

   29 March 2021 at 6:51 am

   I see Tourism Australia are advertising Western Australia as a holiday destination on the NZ Herald, so hopefully that means the travel bubble is not far away.
   • Incognito 1.1

     29 March 2021 at 7:13 am

     Wishing it makes it come true 😉
   • Jenny how to get there 1.2

     29 March 2021 at 4:08 pm

     Personally speaking, I am apprehensive as much as I am hopefully looking foreward to this.

     Up till now the New Zealand governement has followed a strategy of elimination of the covid-19 contagion, a strategy which has proved to be a runaway success, whereas the Australian government which has followed a strategy of suppression, not elimination, is currently seeing a rise of cases centred around Brisbane.

     https://themarketherald.com.au/breaking-brisbane-enters-snap-lockdown-as-covid-19-cases-rise-2021-03-29/

     To have common open borders between Australia and New Zealand means they would have to to adopt a policy of elimination, or we would have to adopt a policy of suppression.

     Scott Morrison has said that he will never agree to adopting a policy of elimination. Which means that defacto we will have to share Australia's suppression strategy and abandon elimination.

     <blockquote>Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia won’t be pursuing a “risky” elimination strategy to defeat COVID-19.

     Speaking at a press conference today, Mr Morrison warned such a move would result in the country suffering a massive economic downfall.

     He said countries that have gone for the elimination strategy have seen much greater economic impacts than Australia.</blockquote>

     https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/australia/coronavirus-australia-pm-wont-pursue-elimination-strategy/news-story/f12adaa7548cf27515b9be310622ba16

     <blockquote>"You don’t just shut the country down because that is not sustainable" #ScottyFromMarketing told Triple M on Wednesday [1].

     Actually yes it is. It is very sustainable. Because you don't have to do it on a permanent basis.

     As early as March, New Zealand adopted a path of "go hard, go early" [2]. Their strategy was not a "sustainable" level of coronavirus in the community to keep the wheels turning, but its elimination, and starting with a higher level of infection per capita than Australia. But by adopting a policy of elimination, they have been able to restart early as well. Yes, there have been cases since then from people coming into Australia – and yes they have every single known case in isolation.

     It also seems that #ScottyFromMarketing is confused about the elimination strategy and international trade.

     "Unless we’re going to not allow any freight or any medical supplies into Australia, or not allow any exports or anything like this, there is always going to be a connection between Australia and the rest of the world".

     Seriously? An elimination strategy allows for imports and exports. It is possible to put goods in quarantine, you know? The transmission rates from imported and exported goods are, shall we say, "not very high".

     http://isocracy.org/content/elimination-not-suppression
2. KSaysHi 2

   29 March 2021 at 7:56 am

   OTT intro is a guy protesting the refusal of a brand name to use slave labour. Rest of the video breaks down the new low for humanity where brands that won't go along with exploitation are targeted.
3. Tiger Mountain 3

   29 March 2021 at 8:30 am

   When the Govt. announced its mild anti speculation moves last week, I thought within hours–where are the renters, homeless and those locked out of home ownership in this? They were not being represented, it was landlords and developers as–noble “victims” housing the nation–that hogged the media.

   The reasons are rather obvious why the better off dominate media coverage, but at least it has been recognised and hopefully the rest of us will get some cover.
   https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018789167/investor-economist-alliance-dominates-media-s-housing-response

   The cover I would most like, is some occupations of residential and commercial property!
   • Incognito 3.1

     29 March 2021 at 8:36 am

     I’ve not seen articles representing homeless as such but there certainly have been a number of pieces featuring tenants/renters and aspiring FHBs. ACT and National are now championing the renters’ plight and Chlöe is their spokesperson 😉
   • KSaysHi 3.2

     29 March 2021 at 8:50 am

     Good on RNZ for this article.

     Take a squiz at the first post in this thread, in particular the last paragraph. Now the dust has settled the new changes might be just the thing we needed to drop prices, get more people out of investment property.

     https://www.trademe.co.nz/Community/MessageBoard/Messages.aspx?id=1844067&topic=21
     • Incognito 3.2.1

       29 March 2021 at 8:55 am

       Log in required!?
       • KSaysHi 3.2.1.1

         29 March 2021 at 11:50 am

         Sorry. Quoted from tinyurl.com/hxvkp669

         Other thoughts (outside of the trust issues)…not only can you not claim interest expenses, you are then also paying tax on rent as if it was all principal (and therefore 'profit'). So if you buy a rental where the rent covers the mtge, come tax time, that rent is also seen as income and you will have a nice big tax bill. I suspect some newbys are not allowing for the, on the face of it obvious fact, that not deducting also means paying tax on it…and potentially moving into a higher tax bracket because of it.
   • Ad 3.3

     29 March 2021 at 11:06 am

     Agree on renter media representation.

     The Aussie banks have a lock on public discourse.

     At some point this government is going to have to find some friends, before its mandate runs dry.
   • AB 3.4

     29 March 2021 at 11:30 am

     Yep – you might say that renters' voices are being cancelled. Except to be cancelled you need to have been heard in the first place. If you've never been heard, then it's something far worse than mere cancelling. Money gets to talk, poverty stays silent.
     • Anker 3.4.1

       29 March 2021 at 1:33 pm

       I don't know AB. This govt has brought in a lot of legislation that has helped renters, e.g. warm dry home bill, rent freeze over lockdown. I wouldn't be surprized if they did that if they perceive rents going up.

       And as KsaysHi has pointed out, the more landlords charged the more they will be taxed.

       I don't think renters voices have been cancelled at all. A lot of stories about their plight and also stories of obcence landlords.
       • AB 3.4.1.1

         29 March 2021 at 3:56 pm

         Yeah – I'm probably exaggerating a bit. This time round seems slightly better in terms of balance.
4. Jenny how to get there 4

   29 March 2021 at 12:49 pm

   School strikes are back!

   Let’s join them on April 9, and demand climate action.

   https://www.schoolstrike4climate.nz/
5. Adrian 5

   29 March 2021 at 1:03 pm

   According to Stuff this morning in the panicky story about a missent email, weekly rents under Labour have gone up about an average of $24 a year since 2017, in the years 2008 to 2017 they went up $12 a year, looks bad but the yearly amounts are, for Labour 3.8% and 4.16% for under National using the starting rents of $290 in 2008 and $400 in 2017.

   Now my maths are probably pathetically bad but that looks like the the same as rates and general inflation figures. We do get horror stories of big rent rises but they may only represent a few percent of the rents being negoiciated at any one time. It is the same as house prices going up or down, with only 5% of houses turning over every year, a very small percentage of the market is distorting the real picture. A family in a home may have no intention of shifting for decades and therefore price need not be of any concern to them. Surprisingly the new home buyer loan limit for Auckland is the median for the bottom quartile of price, the squealing is coming from the small number of the self entitled who assume their first home should be as flash as a rat with a gold tooth and exactly where they want to live. It has never been like this in the entire span of human abode buying history, unless of course your parents already own half the town and can afford to indulge their precious ones.
   • arkie 5.1

     29 March 2021 at 1:34 pm

     Rent increases have exceeded inflation and wage increases don’t reach that level.

     Rents rose at the fastest pace in more than a decade in 2019, official figures show, amid strong demand and new rules for accommodation.

     Statistics New Zealand said the rental component of the consumer price index (CPI) jumped 0.8 per cent in the final three months of 2019 and 3.1 per cent for the year.

     This was the largest annual jump since 2008.

     Statistics NZ said the rise was likely caused by strong demand as well as new rental standards for landlords.

     “The rise in rent prices is likely to reflect the high demand for rental properties in parts of the country,” Statistics NZ pricing manager Paul Pascoe said.

     “Another factor was the Healthy Homes Standards introduced in July 2019. Some landlords have upgraded their properties in order to meet the new standards and may have passed on the costs to the tenants.”

     https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/rents-rising-at-fastest-pace-since-2008-pushing-inflation-close-to-2-per-cent/5DCHLKIUGNAZF2ULGZE5HULYNI/

     a visual example from the Spinoff’s excellent explainer:

     

     https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/the-side-eye/25-03-2021/the-side-eyes-two-new-zealands-the-k-shape/
     • greywarshark 5.1.1

       29 March 2021 at 2:01 pm

       Thanks for loading that up arkie you are a star.
6. joe90 6

   29 March 2021 at 1:57 pm

   Bellingcat on the ship in a ditch FU.

   https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2021/03/26/suez-canal-satellite-clues-on-a-stricken-cargo-ship/
   • Stuart Munro 6.1

     29 March 2021 at 3:13 pm

     As a former mariner I'm surprised it's caused so much trouble – usually the problem with getting grounded vessels off is securing access to them without endangering the rescue vessel. Here there seems to be good access on both sides of the canal, and that should allow hoses or suction jets to liquify and remove the sediment that holds the vessel relatively easily. The canal will likely need a bit of dredging after, but that's hardly insuperable these days.
     • Andre 6.1.1

       29 March 2021 at 3:21 pm

       • spooky music *

       Who doesn't want that ship freed?
       • Stuart Munro 6.1.1.1

         29 March 2021 at 4:00 pm

         Shsh! Do you want the hot hail?
7. greywarshark 7

   29 March 2021 at 2:15 pm

   Being cut off at the knees again. We get tall poppy syndrome they say, from NZs but actually it is the way the leaders play our game in NZ.

   https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/439390/evidence-of-hot-chip-glut-dumping-in-nz-industry-group-says

   The potato growers are being undercut, diced and sliced! Can we have our own economy and produce back again please government and big business. Ooh you do look strange granny business, your eyes are so bright and stareing and your teeth so long, and you are drooling out of the side of your mouth!

   How can we keep NZ on an even keel. We have foreigners buying most of our successful companies and then who knows what they choose to do with them. We have financiers and rentiers here in NZ like Graeme Hunt and his Rank Group below. They can uplift their profit at any time and repatriate it. They can use it to leverage their way into more of our property.

   Now Carter Holt Harvey is selling off wood that was grown to serve NZs. They choose to do this because they are not a NZ-facing company any more; they are on the export bandwagon. Oh that's okay, never mind about us. Did you know:

   Rank Group Ltd is Hart's private investment company. It is the 100% owner of Reynolds Consumer Products, Burns Philp and Carter Holt Harvey.

   Born: 1955 (age 65–66); New Zealand Nationality: New Zealander

   Net worth: US$12.8 billion (November 2020) Graeme Hart – Wikipedia
   • Gabby 7.1

     29 March 2021 at 5:16 pm

     Well if they're breaking contracts they'll get sued.
8. KSaysHi 8

   29 March 2021 at 4:11 pm

   More rental hysteria from the investor classes. Apparently they forgot basic market rules, the most important one being the rent can only increase to the point where someone agrees to pay the amount demanded.

   As for rent caps, why the hell not? It looks like David Faulkner of RealiQ has it all planned out for the govt when it is ready

   “Rent controls could be implemented on a regional basis. They could look at rental stats based on MBIE [Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment] data and cap rents to that effect, only allowing rent increases in line with inflation.

   “If an owner makes substantial improvements to the property, they might then be able to apply to the Tenancy Tribunal to set the rent if there are disputes.”
9. greywarshark 9

   29 March 2021 at 5:12 pm

   Can't believe the result of a feeling. I think the idea for Maori and Pacifica is to stop looking at other people staring at them, probably thinking gosh they look sour, and smile at them. If they are going to have a stereotype then it will be 'What pleasant people.' At present they are sounding anything but. Save bad feelings for when something bad actually happens and practise returns on jibes that deny them power.

   https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018789169/clamour-to-cancel-tvnz-s-top-popular-cop-show

   On Newstalk ZB’s Early Edition show before dawn, councillor Collins told Kate Hawkesby he didn’t actually watch Police Ten-7 but he was sure it stereotyped Māori and Pasifika people.

   By midday the story lead RNZ’s Midday News and soon after Efeso Collins told the urban Māori radio station Radio Waatea’s Paakiwaha show Police Ten 7 was “chewing gum TV”.

   “It has no taste, and no flavour. It is now time for TVNZ to spit it out,” he said.

   After that, broadcaster, academic and critic Ella Henry told host Dale Husband the show was “hate speech” which should be scrapped immediately.
10. Pat 10

    29 March 2021 at 5:15 pm

    The narrative is changing…?

    "He says the Government's policy announcements are likely to "reshape" the residential property market over the coming years.

    "We have frequently highlighted that financial considerations (such as rental yields, mortgage rates and tax) have played a larger role in determining what prospective purchasers are willing to pay for housing than physical factors such as housing supply," he says.

    Up until now, the tax treatment of mortgage interest costs has given leveraged property investors "somewhat of an edge" over owner-occupiers."

    https://www.interest.co.nz/property/109732/westpac-economists-say-govts-housing-taxation-changes-will-dramatically-tilt

    Now we know the bank economists flip flop all over the place re the property market however I think it is pertinent that there appears a distinct lack of concern in this commentary.
11. greywarshark 11

    29 March 2021 at 5:32 pm

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018789295/ex-bank-of-england-governor-mark-carney-building-a-human-values-based-economy

    Mark Carney is the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Finance Adviser for COP26.

    He was Governor of the Bank of England until last year, and prior to that was Governor of the Bank of Canada.

    His new book, Value(s): Building A Better World For All challenges free market fundamentalism and blames it for damaging the values upon which a good society is based.

    But can someone with his background be trusted.
12. Patricia Bremner 12

    29 March 2021 at 8:58 pm

    Everyone should see and hear Bill Bailey, especially his rendition of "Happy Birthday".
13. Eco Maori 13

    30 March 2021 at 2:31 pm

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