I think the problem with PG Tips is that everything is so bloody wishy-washy and qualified that tedium rises instantly to the surface leading to complete and utter frustration. It is like the ultimate fence-sitting, discussing discussions, and never actually achieving anything. Or even ffs, never actually saying anything. Nothing is ever said methinks.
There would seem to be no solution for these types, other than to banish them to local council ward board committee meetings about whether pansies or petunias should be planted in the roundabout.
Yep. He seems to be on a one man crusade to wreck the left’s chances in the next election. His behaviour improved for a while but I agree that he is back to his disruptive worst.
The problem is his control of the politicheck website. He has come out with a doozie this morning claiming that all land speculators do pay capital gains tax. The amount paid is exceedingly small and the number of transactions caught is also very small. But by applying a rather extreme interpretation and taking a few very short comments out of context he claims that Labour is not telling the truth.
This site works best when there is an unfettered sometimes robust exchange of ideas. But I have seen a number of discussion streams get wrecked.
Tax raised from Property Speculation and volume of cases nationally by tax year:
Year Ending 30 June 2011 386 Cases and $33,817,271
Year Ending 30 June 2012 232 Cases and $23,069,492
Year Ending 30 June 2013 (to 31 December 2012) 115 cases and $12,025,889
Cases closed at 30 June 2013 – 450 cases
If a 15% capital gains tax was applied instead those amounts would approximately halve.
Also from that article:
Property speculators targeted by IRD
Inland Revenue is cracking down on people who do not declare tax on properties they have made a profit on.
Under New Zealand Income Tax law, if you intend to make a profit on a property transaction, you are required to pay income tax.
“The urban myths that abound, if you own a property for six months, or 18 months or two years and you live in it as a family, then you are outside the net. Those are not true,” Tony Wilkinson, Buddle Findlay Tax Partner told ONE News.
Inland Revenue is drawing a hard line on property speculators, receiving a $6 million annual funding boost to audit property transactions.
IRD is doing something, and National appear to be boosting what they do.
Pete you should have done the research before making your claim doncha think? So a couple of hundred cases a year. And the figures are small when you compare them to the total tax take. Thanks for confirming my previous statement.
The CGT will apply across the board apart from the family home. Over time it will raise significant amounts of money.
And did you see how the number of cases is decreasing each year, interestingly at the same time that there have been cuts to IRD’s staff. National do not appear to be boosting what they do. It has put the process into reverse.
“National do not appear to be boosting what they do. It has put the process into reverse.”
In the link just above that you have just replied to:
Inland Revenue is drawing a hard line on property speculators, receiving a $6 million annual funding boost to audit property transactions.
The expectation is that this will recover about $45m.
It’s impossible to know how much potential tax revenue is going into a black hole, but it is certainly substantial. A clue can be found in this year’s budget, which provided an extra $6.65m to chase property investment tax compliance. The expectation is it will return about $45m a year.
Inland Revenue’s general reckoning is that the department will return in revenue five times the extra amount invested to investigate big-ticket areas such as property, the hidden economy and claimed losses.
the problem with property speculators and paying income tax in our country is that the vast bulk of rental property owners are simply dishonest lying bastards and bastardettes. They nearly all buy with a view to banking the gain in value and have little concern in the rent.
Most NZ property investors simply lie about their intent when purchasing property. Liars.
It is the single biggest rort in NZ and I think we need to introduce drug-testing on property owners and stop them from going to Australia, such is the cost to the taxpayer.
Avoidance or evasion on property transactions has been a problem for yonks, and there’s a big grey area on ‘intent’ but governments have gradually been addressing it.
Because proof of intent at the time of buying a property is central to whether tax should be paid, liability is not clear without some investigation and resources are always best directed to areas where the potential return is greatest.
Investigators are more likely to be on the trail of dealers or speculators turning over several properties a year than the little guy who, over a lifetime, buys a couple of do-ups on rising markets and makes a nice little tax-free earner.
However, don’t count on that so much in the future.
The department receives data on every property transaction in New Zealand and says that after a few years focusing on education and awareness, it is moving to “a targeted audit response” with “increased risk assessment and profiling of cases along with developing a range of tools including complex data-matching, analysis, research and evaluation”.
And it adds: “By improving our approach and techniques regarding compliance, we are able to better identify those who may be deliberately breaking the rules.”
Pete, it is only a problem of enforcement, not a problem of existence, as your quote indicates. My point stands.
Bottom line though – government raises revenue by taxing people who make money. Problem is that they only tax some of the money-making, i.e. wage and salary and income earners. There are several other ways of making money which are not taxed, such as making money by capital. Example: Some make money by pouring all their income into the capital value of their farm and minimise their income. Why should they be exempt and bludge off the wage and salary earner? Another rort.
If the government is to raise revenue by taxing money-making then all forms of money-making should be taxed. For consistency and credibility purposes ….
I don’t think anyone is ever going to read ScrittiPolitti.
But yep, Pete is on a mission to make this site unreadable. I have no idea why he is tolerated. He has no interest in or sympathy for the labour movement whatsoever.
When did thestandard become a free-for-all for right-wingers?
As for PG (Personal Grievance). I’ve been coming here on and off for two and half years and particularly enjoyed the time when PG was “on leave”. There was a time leading up to that “leave” where there was a loose consensus among commenters to simply adopt the 🙄 as a response to anything he said. Not only was it entertaining and humourous to see a huge line of 🙄 all down the page it also took all the power away from him and minimised the disruption.
I humbly would make the suggestion that the 🙄 exercise is revived.
Yep. As far as I can see, PG’s problem is a tendency to use slippery logic and very shallow analysis. It is why I rarely read or comment on his comments these days – waste of my time. More important things to focus on.
Ironic felix. You’re not trying to tell authors or moderators what to do are you? Sounds a bit like it. Contributing something positive is less stressful.
So Pete while you are here your latest politicheck post (http://www.politicheck.org.nz/factchecks/2014/4/29/property-speculators-are-taxed) is full of bunkum. Basically you are saying that because there is an obligation for speculators to pay capital gains tax they all pay capital gains tax. But if you had checked you would see that the number of transactions caught are exceedingly small and if someone buys a house to rent rather than immediately sell on then it is not payable.
So you have twisted the words out of shape and then come out with an adverse conclusion.
And looking at the site you are wrecking it. There is so much that could be analysed but you are mostly siding with the Government and bashing the opposition parties.
Go on. Concisely justify your latest claim. Use figures and stuff. Then compare this with Labour’s draft figures from last time.
” if someone buys a house to rent rather than immediately sell on then it is not payable.”
That’s not correct.
If you buy a property intending to:
– resell it, or
– you intend to sell it after making improvements to it
you’re likely to be a speculator or a dealer. Renting your property temporarily doesn’t change your tax treatment either – you’re still a speculator or a dealer.
How long do I need to hold the property to make it a capital gain?
There is no time limit. If you buy a property with the firm intention of resale, it doesn’t matter how long you hold it – the gain on resale will be taxable (and any loss may be tax-deductible).
Example
You buy a property with a firm plan to resell it for a profit. The property market falls and you decide to hold onto it instead. You rent it out for 15 years and then sell it when the prices are again rising rapidly. Any gain on that sale 15 years later is likely to be taxable.
Um, you can buy a house intending to rent it and intending to sell it for a capital gain. Read the IRD link.
Do you think speculators wouldn’t rent out a house if they intend to sell it? Unless it was a very quick flick that doesn’t make business sense much if not all what you gain in capital you would lose in cost of capital and non-earnings.
Lol. By all means adopt that statement weka. My hazy memory tells me that the 🙄 was previously adopted because it was non verbal and non aggressive. Also, very it’s funny, a massive army of 🙄 marching on for miles down the page. It says so much.
If you’re an investor you buy a property to use it to generate ongoing rental income and not with any firm intent of resale. The property is a capital asset and any later profit or loss from selling the property is capital and isn’t taxable (apart from clawing back any depreciation, which is now recoverable).
Pete have you actually read what you are typing? It makes no sense. My head hurts …
I am sorry everyone I have sparked this totally unproductive complete waste of time debate. It is as if the protagonists are arguing in different languages …
Yes, that refers to an investor, which IRD clearly differentiates from speculators and dealers.
A few posts up thread, MS posted, “if someone buys a house to rent rather than immediately sell on then it is not payable.”
You replied to that post, quoting those very words, stating, “That’s not correct.”
With me so far?
I quoted an extract from the IRD guidelines you quoted, showing that MS was correct and you were wrong – if someone buy a property to use it to generate ongoing rental income and not with any firm intent of resale the property is a capital asset and any later profit or loss from selling the property is capital and isn’t taxable.
You comprehend that the words I have marked in bold (which are taken near verbatim from the extract I quoted) confirm that if someone buys a house to rent rather than immediately sell on then capial gains taxis not payable?
Virtually the same words that MS used, and which you said were wrong and which you now say are right, but only for investors, even though that is clearly what MS means because what on Earth do you think “buys a house to rent rather than immediately sell on” means?
But “if someone buys a house to rent rather than immediately sell on then it is not payable” is not correct.
If someone buys a house to rent rather than immediately sell on then tax on capital gain may not be payable, or it may be payable, depending on other circumstances and intent.
As I showed, immediacy doesn’t matter, nor does an intent to rent.
You understand what “if someone buys a house to rent” means, yeah?
It means the reason for buying the house was to rent it out. So “the property is a capital asset and any later profit or loss from selling the property is capital and isn’t taxable.”
Where as a speculator buys with the intention to sell it. that’s their purpose in buying the house, and their anticipated source of profit. Even if they don’t immediately realise that intention, due to the market collapsing or what have you it is still treated differently for tax purposes: “If you buy a property with the firm intention of resale, it doesn’t matter how long you hold it – the gain on resale will be taxable”
” There is so much that could be analysed but you are mostly siding with the Government and bashing the opposition parties.”
To see the truth in that statement, scroll through the posts and look at the ratio of Politicheck articles that focus on the opposition parties and not the Government.
OppositionCheck would be a more accurate title.
But he is what he is and now, like many wiser heads, I will be doing my damnedest to step over every syllable he soils the site with. He has had so many chances to join in and help build the dialogue but he is a wrecker, and only wants to be the loudest voice at the table.
Still wonder how his Budget for Poor People was shaping up though.
But if you had checked you would see that the number of transactions caught are exceedingly small
You appear to be talking about tax avoidance and evasion, i.e. lack of tax income, rather than a lack of tax code. That’s a different issue altogether.
Good stuff from Labour on the exchange rate. Plenty of commentators saying it’s not a populist issue. Clearly they don’t get the knowledge all our commodity producers (esp farmers) have of exchange rates and their personal financial interests.
Looks like a great week for Labour, with a series of announcements and media hits.
Lets see, for those on low incomes Labour is proposing a rise in the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour, yay hurrah, but wait, there is more,
Labour is also proposing ”compulsory” retirement savings which i will speculate will be at least 2% of income, so scratch any benefit low income workers will gain from any pay rise to the new 15 dollar minimum wage,(and the flow on effect in wages above 15 bucks an hour if any),
i could go on, but why bother, it looks like business as usual from where i sit…
According to their website it’s 3% and increasing yearly to 9%. To get this across they’re going to have to raise the minimum wage to at least $17 per hour or go for a Universal Income.
Ouch thats really going to hurt people’s day to day living even 17ph is barely enough to scrape by in Auckland with two incomes at this level.
I can imagine that the employer contribution will be the effective pay rise for the next few years… unless they have some kind of abatement for a couple it will leave a large hole in take home pay.
The other thing I am extremely wary of is political interference in the coming years who is to say the eligibility age won’t be pushed out further etc. I worry that in 20 years or so when substantial amounts of kiwi saver come due they decide the large amount of money entering the economy will be inflationary and seek to restrict access.
I worry that in 20 years or so when substantial amounts of kiwi saver come due they decide the large amount of money entering the economy will be inflationary and seek to restrict access.
That wouldn’t surprise me 🙁
That said, I don’t think saving does anything for the economy except slow it down and boost returns to the financial sector which results, inevitably, in the economy collapsing again.
Id tend to agree with that better to spend it now and the govt collects an appropriate amount of tax to fund super. Personal savings should be personal with the ability to use them as you wish
I was reading an article yesterday suggesting that we need to ‘encourage’ people to trade their KiwiSaver for annuities at retirement, because, in essence, we can’t ‘trust’ them to spend the money ‘wisely’. It’s an incredibly patronizing attitude.
Pretty much nothing. In fact, it’sl to hurt them in the short term but over the medium to long term it should increase work here and highly paid work at that.
Of course, the real problem is that our exchange rate is set incorrectly (it’s based upon speculation rather than actual trade) and that our entire economic system is bunkum to boot.
The massive increases are going to happen one way or another as we’ve been living well beyond our means due to the misaligned exchange rate. National are, of course, promising that we can continue to live beyond our means forever.
+1 Agree, however it’s early in the day of politic’s, let alone the week.
The PR spin merchants within National will be plotting with bullshit snake oil ready to feed their gushing shill media fan-club. Just heard the Nationals Minister of War on Terrorism, Coleman just bait Goff into commenting on their huge military spend up announcement. By Coleman’s quip of the Government is just following through on the previous Governments commitment.
A little harsh on Cunliffe Phil, it’s thanks to members of the Labour party like my vet nurse flatmate that campaign for animals rights and put forward well considered remits to be thrashed out. I give DC credit for responding to F/B private messages regarding another issue of concern to her, my opinion (which was ok anyway) of him rose as a result of his long thoughtful responses. Before a some fool (not you) fires a cheapshot that it was probably someone else, the typo’s & odd spelling mistake told me it was him, had the same lol.
as i say skinny..i am optimistic the gaze (not only of cunnliffe) will now switch to this vivisection abomination..i do mean that..
(see..!..i am blocking my usual/deep cynicism that the circus will move on..and this ‘deep’/important issue..will become yesterdays’ shane jones..and the torturing/killing will just continue..unabated..)
..and i don’t really mind how it comes about/who gets credit..
..and i tip my hat to those like yr friend..those active inside (blind/unthinking) organisations like the labour party..
..who are fighting for these same reforms this situation is calling/screaming out for..
..(trying to end the usual practice of green party bbq’s..when there..i am afraid burnt me out on that route..)
What are the alternatives? Use products that don’t require animal testing. For instance there is a huge amount of information showing that marijuana is far safer than these synthetic substitutes…no testing required.
Animal rights. Mr Key slid by yesterday saying that the excuse for not acting sooner on legal highs was his concern that animals might be used for testing. Smart move. Appeal to the Animal rights people and lets him off the hook.
But wait. Mr Cunliffe agrees that he has a concern for animal rights. Check. Your next move John?
Too right phillip. I hear that Massey Uni in Palmy is one of our worst offenders for animal testing. Is that correct?
I also think that is the place where the HRT medicine is made from mare’s urine. The mares are kept permanently in stalls, they don;’t get out at all and are kept pregnant so the levels of oestrogen necessary for the production of the medicine remain high. A tragic life for an animal who is so sensitive and emotional. (I have a strong connection with equines)
Sorry, no link for that. I just recall an article on tv about it years ago and it stayed with me
I think I heard some chap on Tv saying that they could get quite good results from testing this Sh*t on poor crustaceans! Poor crabs, prawns and snails! Oh dear. Next they will think of testing it on some bacteria and broccoli.
Quite agree Phil, it is a disgusting practice that needs to stop. These sick scientists who manage to convince themselves that it is unfortunate but necessary to torture animals need to be made to account for their actions. Good to hear David speaking up against it and informing the public it is possible to do this research using computers. This will win him votes.
Sure is Bella, I read some posts on facebook by some rat club people who were giving DC the voters nod after watching his interview on the tv news covering the issue.
Got a laugh watching slippery Key who looked deceitful doing a flip flop, fronting the media with his bullshit ‘personally’ I’m uncomfortable with animal testing that’s the real reason for the hold up (funny he forgot to tell Dunne that porky, Pete didn’t utter a word about this to the press) umm not on rabbits, certainly not dogs, rodents yeah thats OK. A dog whistle to anymore nat rats thinking of jumping ship. Oh the pits, poor Johnny has to import dirty rats these days.
..who is/are the einstein/s that decided that david parker appearing on a political talkshow on sunday..
..was not a good enough platform for the announcement of new economic-policy..?
..who decided ‘no no!..we’ll put out a press-release on tuesday…!.’…was the better option..?
..and i guess it is a byre the bye..that after parker ‘teasing’ about his big tuesday announcement..(yep..!..we’re all wetting our pants in anticipation here..dave..)..that then there was nothing..
..the ensuing vaccuum leaving plenty of time/opportunity for parker to be pulled backwards thru a blackberry bush..
..over his/labours’ epic-fail/vote-killing policy to raise the age of the pension..
..who was/were the einsteins(s) who made that call..?
..you don’t need to answer that question..
..but you really need to do what needs to be done..eh..?
..you are getting some really shit tactic-advice..from whomever…
Perhaps the reason for not launching the policy on Sunday was so that the launching was controlled- an uninterrupted speed followed by question and answers. Political talk shows are very dependent on the line of questioning by the interviewer who can derail the launch. If you consider the quality and motives of most of the panellists who take part in the post interview discussion, then the wisdom of using a breakfast speech launch becomes much more attractive.
David Parker effectively states that if elected he will dip into your paypacket and leave you worse off. Is he one of the ABC majority in caucus? Democracy needs a strong and competent opposition.
Are you seriously claiming that ex-employees of a tobacco company are not supposed to be candidates? Should they be forced to wear a yellow star to let us know their sin.
The government is a fabulous manager of the economy. Just watch for the Budget.
On 20th September we have a stark choice.
Forward to a brighter and brighter future or back to the seventies with a government that steals private land and steals from your pay packet to finance pet ideas.
“back to the seventies with a government that steals private land and steals from your pay packet to finance pet ideas.”
like the Central Plains Water scheme, backed by your government, stealing private land and using my pay packet to finance pet irrigation ideas (which are so woeful in terms of financial return that they cannot raise the money to pay for it within their dear private sector, hence steal from taxpayers. Total failure of your political philosophies fisiani. fail fail fail)
Hey wingnut, listening to RNZ morning report, Slugger Bill Churlish saying NO to everything N-Spinner is front footing him on . Copped a bit of stick comparing the LP policy of raising to 9% super contribution, Bill got a hiding when comparing to the Ozzies 13%. Nice.
Key-Joyce and their spin merchants will be sitting slumped in their chairs cursing English’s poor showing.
Expect cheerleaders Hooton & Shrillands to turn up to try prop up PG who is already getting a pasting on here.
Exporters see their profits disappear as printed money comes crashing through the NZ dollar door.
Where have National been, we’re not talking about what may happen in the fruit loopy way National declares all Labour’s policies as awful, we’re talking how they failed in the housing market, failed exporters, failed children.
And National are worried, Labour are aim full square at craving off exporters from the National party.
Retailers are next when they realize Key’s aiming the economy at an almighty housing crash, with his high govt debt, do nothing and wait for thr GFC to have worked through and watch while milk, timber, are all sourced elsewhere.
You have to pretty dumb to think that hot money isn’t holding up our economy.
That hot money needs exchange goods, and so is buying up the cheapest bulkiest
items on the economic menu and hurting our added value sectors.
And t will all stop when the global banking system rights itself, then the banks
will come for our homes.
Most days I wake up feeling just fine, have a good breakfast, attend to my ablutions and then turn to The Standard for my daily share of intelligent comment (especially from karol) on matters political.
Why is it that time and time again I then find the whole morning ruined by comments, if they can be called that, from someone called Pete George? There is something so snide, so dog-whistling about this person’s contributions that I end up having my day shattered. There is no end to his self-assumed expertise on everything, his implied criticisms disguised as something unbiased and apparently reasonable.
Please, Pete George, for the sake of at least one person’s sanity – – – go away!
i see him as being the legal-high of political-dialogue..
..imitating the real thing..
..and getting it so so wrong…
..what particularly grates with him is the bullshit concern-tr*lling..the many ‘faces’..
..’faces’ dependant on the audience/issue being faced at that moment..
..if he came here and vigorously argued rightwing ‘ideas’..fair do’s..
..but it is the faux-concern/centreist poses he constantly strikes..
..and his never answering reasoned-challenges..
..in short..his outright/wholesale dissembling..
..(and this is kinda off the wall..i dunno a lot about astrological-profiles..but from what i do know/have observed in others..i reckon he is a virgo with taurus rising..
..or some such swamp-person mix…
..any other guesses..?..)
..and to end on a positive-note..
..like with the legal-highs..there will come a breaking-point..
..the queues of complainers will get too long/rowdy..
..we can but hope that comes soon..eh..?..
..’cos credit where credit is due..
..he is quite good at it..
..that dissembling..
..he is like an energy-sucking black hole on many threads..
..his paymasters should be rewarding him well..
..(and what’s with that edwards-the-younnger seriall=linking/being a fanboy of georges’ drivel..?
Yes, why does Bryce Edwards link “Your NZ” in his weekly round up. Not sure of the motivation or reasoning for that, but it does reduce his credibility.
I can never understand why the debate with Pete continues. He is as slippery as John Key. And the issues he seems to raise are never resolved. I tend to skip all the comments and replies after his name. Must be too old to bother.
Don’t let PG ruin your morning wyndham. There’s too much good thing going on, on this site. I share your frustration, however I when I see his name and a giant disrupted thread trailing in his wake. I just scroll- on- by until I get to something relevant . I have made a suggestion to readers and commenters at 1.2.3.1 at 9.52 am above.
Yes -i’ve noticed that Open Mike has become a PG hour and its booooorrrrrrrrrring. Boring, Boring.
Not at all what it was a few weeks ago. Is it time for the moderators to step up and put a ban on him for a while ? ?
That seems a little unfair JK, I note that the first comment was by felix today, fairly well inciting PG into making a comment. Yesterday’s (was it yesterday, can’t be arsed going to check) Open Mike was all about PG and he hadn’t even commented!
I don’t agree with all Pete George says or his tactics at times, however a lot of the noise recently has been to do how people are responding to him, rather than due to PG. Some of his comments do assist some pretty important debates.
It would be good if those responding to and inciting PG got a grip and thought a bit about how their own actions are affecting this ‘issue’…because it is starting to look more like a schoolyard dynamic that bring to mind a certain statement that Dick Emery was famous for more than anything else.
There are some pretty important events occurring in this country, if you wish to focus on them – focus on them.
I think you underestimate how distruptive many people find PG. For those that don’t mind him so much, your comment makes sense. For those of us that see him as an out and out tr8ll*, then the upscaling of antagonism to him recently also makes sense.
I don’t mind at all when people call bullshit on bullshit, it is good to do that.
Sometimes DFTT is in order.
Sometimes that doesn’t cut it but…
I think it is getting a bit rubbish to incite him to comment and then complain about Open Mike being dedicated to him, when he hasn’t even started the subject. JK @ 8.2 didn’t do this – but this is what has occurred twice now on Open Mike.
DFTT implies that he is in fact a tr8ll. Which means the normal rules of discourse don’t apply.
“I don’t mind at all when people call bullshit on bullshit, it is good to do that.”
Everything PG does and says is bullshit. Even on the occasions that his comments make sense, it’s still bullshit because it’s part of the whole centrist, I’m more of a reasonable person than anyone else persona that masks the fact that he is right wing and undermines the left at any opportunity he gets. That persona does damage. He is not someone I am willing to take a face value, comment by comment, because every commment he makes is part of a larger context of clusterfucked communication and bullshit.
All that amounts to is you don’t tolerate views you don’t like so make things up to try and discredit. This demonstrates your intolerance and nastiness towards alternatives and helps highlight the issues being raised. It doesn’t seem to be a very smart approach but may reflect frustration at a lack of success with your own agenda. If you had a good case to argue that’s what you’d do instead of lashing out at different views and approaches.
Anger doesn’t make a good argument. It’s curious to see such bitter anti-centrists.
1) No, it shows that weka understands you very well. Probably better than you do.
2) It’s not your “views”, it’s your behaviour, The only views you have ever put forward are the occasional bit of racism.
3) You have never, ever offered an “alternative” to anything.
4) You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who has observed your behaviour online over a couple of years who wouldn’t agree with weka. You’ll always be able to fool a few noobs though.
felix and weka, speaking for just about everyone. Very funny. Keep trying felix, that’s all you seem to do. I presume it amuses you but you seem to get more frustrated than anything. You know what they say about repeating the same mistakes.
Breaking news on TVNZ – The Government has announced it’s investing $100.9 million into strengthening the Defence Force.
So what’s that then? Using not having money as an excuse to fund social welfare projects or night classes and the like, and after running the military down to save costs, they find enough to stump up enough to buy some nod doubt American made nonsense or half a wing of one of the Australian fleet that doesn’t work properly.
Can’t wait for the spin show to start. My guess is Key hides the US request to curb the yellow peril in the pacific, in the style of drunken cabaret crooner.
China won’t like that.
We are being caught in a vice between two powers trying to control the Pacific.
Key’s subservient approach to both will cost us big time in the future.
And they will grip hard too. My best suggestion would be to declare NZ neutral, failing that, and the opposite of Key, choose the winning side at the UN and have productive trade negotiations minus the taste of corruption lingering on the lips of cabinet ministers.
The article says $535m over four years, so that’s a full wing of a wonky Joint Strike Fighter.
After reading what Coleman says, I’m amending my spin guess a little. I now pick Key hides the US request to curb the yellow peril in the pacific under a cloak of aid and relief to the islands in the style of drunken cabaret crooner.
At least Key didn’t buy as much as Abbott during his free round of golf time share presentation with the president. He got suckered for $24 billion.
There are some strong advantages to remaining allied to the west, albeit we need to bolster our reputation as fair and honest brokers in all international affairs.
what’s happened to our benign strategic environment? (one of Helen Clark’s most gob-smackingly silly utterances, and there weren’t too many of those..)
I’ve not googled it yet, so I don’t know. But milk, food and kiwi ingenuity to all who come in peace sounds better than the mess trying to butter both sides of the bread will make.
Been coming across a lot of Pikkety lately. For those who haven’t, his book ” Capital in the Twenty First Century” has a central argument/observation that any democracy we have is inevitably devolving into plutocracy.
Piketty’s argument is that, in an economy where the rate of return on capital outstrips the rate of growth, inherited wealth will always grow faster than earned wealth.
Piketty’s prescription includes (to quote from Bill’s link) ‘an 80% tax on incomes above $500,000 a year in the US, assuring his readers there would be neither a flight of top execs to Canada nor a slowdown in growth, since the outcome would simply be to suppress such incomes’.
Labour and the Greens should adopt this as policy.
It will not raise a lot in revenue in New Zealand, but that is not the point.
These excessive salaries are immoral and extortionate.
And even the CEOs themselves are starting to acknowledge the fact – The Warehouse boss Mark Powell recently described his $1.7 million salary as a ‘ridiculous amount’.
Piketty’s ideas are decent, but they are 25 years too late. We’ve actually moved far past the time the assumptions he uses will actually hold. Care of one of favourite websites Zerohedge:
By Charles Hugh-Smith:
The real problem with Piketty’s taxation/social welfare solution to wealth inequality is that it does nothing to change the source of systemic inequality, debt-based neofeudalism and neocolonialism. Simply raising more taxes to fund more social welfare programs leaves the unjust, rapacious, and ultimately destabilizing Status Quo entirely intact.
I have laid out another path in my books: refuse serfdom, abandon participation in neofeudalism and neocolonialism, and build parallel systems of cooperation and wealth-building that are not debt-dependent.
I doubt that the Warren Buffets and Jamie Dimons of the world will see their wealth confiscated via some new policy of the Internal Revenue Service — e.g. the proposed “tax on wealth.” Rather, its more likely that they’ll be strung up on lampposts or dragged over three miles of pavement behind their own limousines. After all, the second leading delusion in our culture these days, after the wish for a something-for-nothing magic energy rescue remedy, is the idea that we can politically organize our way out of the epochal predicament of civilization that we face. Piketty just feeds that secondary delusion.
In relation to today’s conversations, my view is that Reserve Bank goals and interest rate settings are akin to trying to cleverly keep steam pressure up on the Titanic’s engines while the compartments are filling up with water. At this point nothing apart from getting ready for fossil fuel energy depletion, climate change, GFC II and permanent global economic contraction matters one whit.
I don’t think that PG ruins the site. He’s a bit pompous – and his theme song could be ‘I can see clearly now the brain has gone’ – but I think he’s an excellent example of a right-whinger trying hard to prove that he occupies the political centre – and that’s always good for a laugh.
Why do those survey firms who phone and ask for a portion of your day to answer their questions never pay for the service? I make a point of responding “yes sure, I can participate but like you we charge for our time, so if you can give me a name and address for sending an invoice we can proceed”
the responses range from a laugh to a pause to a short no. it brings the call to a rapid end.
can I recommend that others take such an approach?
Interesting article in the Grauniad about the difficulties of dealing to the racist party UKIP. One conclusion is very relevent to the upcoming election here; that attacking UKIP for being racist implies that voters attracted to them are also racist. The lesson for NZ? Attacking Key can be counter productive because it can seen as an attack on swinging voters who like him, even if it’s not in their interests to vote for him.
Disappointing to see your negative comment on Monetary policy, Karol. As several Labour MPs noted recently, you have to generate income before you can redistribute it. I am making no aims as an economics expert but it looks like Parkers ideas are bold and very smart. Not more handouts or bleeding interest payments to foreign banks, instead he proposes to channel inflation control back into the local economy though kiwisaver. Note he has written in out clauses for low income earners Karol. Overseas banks will hate ths policy expect some vicious attacks by corporate interests. But the main thing is this will be great for higher wage employment and local industry. The guy is a genius and the miracle is that it didn’t get leaked. Key was left blundering around suggesting old hat mortgage controls. Well done Labour.
In the meantime that hoary old line that a gumboot could get elected in Clutha-Southland if it was a National gumboot should be revisited on the basis that a gumboot would have a more benign public safety record.
Plenty of campaign fodder here. Has a Green candidate been selected for Clutha-Southland yet?
I see another tobacco industry lobbyist, Chris Bishop, is contesting Hutt South for the Nats. Wonder if they will throw Carrick Graham a seat as well?
Lolz, i lived in Clutha-Southland for a couple of years, Greens are more than frowned on down there, i remember walking into the post-shop the morning after 9/11 and one old bloke had to be quieted by the postie as he started whining in a loud voice that i was ”one of them”…
All the old hippies are coming out the wordwork down there, so I think things have changed a bit in recent years. Robert Guyton’s just been elected to his second term on the regional council and he doesn’t seem to hide his green light under a bushel 😉
Chris Bishop has not been selected. The National Party has a lot of potential candidates and not one is a union hack and no one cares about their sexuality.
Of course National is full of union hacks – they’re just called business associations instead. National are quite fine with their own unions, they just don’t like the workers having theirs.
“This significant investment in our defence force, combined with the savings and reinvestment achieved through recent reforms, means the Government is addressing the long term funding gap which we inherited,” Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman said.
Because I’m pretty sure that Labour ramped up defence spending after National ran it down in the 1990s. It’s why we have the LAVs, the new aircraft and the new patrol boats. I’d heard that National had run it down from their first budget this term as well.
NACTs have just announced that they are obtaining more defence infrastructure “which Labour had ordered”. Like spending is something that Labour does, the profligate wasters, whereas the high-minded wisearses of NACT make considered investments when they spend the taxpayers money in a very tight-fisted manner. Such poseurs.
dv
Are you trying to make sense of it all? If you haven’t so far then don’t think too hard, it can seem like the tea party in Alice in Wonderland where they all shift around one place every so often. At least that seems to have been the case in the recent past. Now we might change the scenario, and myself I’d prefer to move away from Alice’s arena this time.
Allow me to answer for Pete: ‘National didn’t completely de-fund the defence force when they got in to power so it’s inaccurate to say they ran down the budget. And Labour didn’t completely fund every single thing the defence force wanted with a few spare million on top, so it may be accurate to say they left a funding gap.’
“Today’s pre-Budget announcement shows the Government has been forced to admit the damage it has done in Defence. Minister Jonathan Coleman’s cuts have put our Defence Force at risk and seriously undermined our armed services.
“Funding of about $134 million a year is less than half the amount the Government sought to cut from the Defence Force with its cost cutting target of $350 million a year.
Yeah, that’s what I thought – National, despite always going on about having a decent defence force, had been cutting the defence budget again.
National have been like rats in the pantry busy eating away at things behind the scenes.
Quietly cutting spending on everything desperately in order to make up for the fact that they haven’t got enough revenue to achieve the targets they promised re returning to surplus – due to their stupid tax cuts and asset sales.
It is a great pity people didn’t vote for a left-wing government last time around – who were making more conservative promises- that they most-likely would have achieved – and without doing the damage that National have done and are doing to our country.
Politicians – WTF
In the discussion on synthetic marijuana moves I heard John Key say he was uncomfortable about something. Was that reported in the MSM? I realised a simple fact about the PM.
He works on a simple binary principle – comfortable/uncomfortable!
And the good old USA is stirring up controversy and commenting from its superior high ground on both the Russian/Ukraine afffair that the USA has had some effect on warming up through its activities along with its NATO sidekicks, and now on the China-Philippines argument over sea area control around their coastlines. UbiquitoUSA.
Great comment from John Banks a few minutes ago on TV3 news, re: testing synthetic drugs on animals….”rats need to live in dignity too” While to some extent I agree with him I think he should know best.
New Zealand infant formula exporters are having to take “corrective actions” over issues ranging from a dirty computer keyboard to factory air quality and temperature control in order to comply with strict new Chinese import regulations, a top official says.
The Government announced last week that 12 of this country’s 13 baby milk manufacturers had to carry out changes at their production facilities before they could become registered for export under the rules that come into force on Thursday.
The 13 manufacturers include Fonterra, South Island dairy processors Westland Milk Products and Synlait, as well as Auckland-based exporters Sutton Group and New Image. A ministry spokesman declined to name the one manufacturer that had been immediately able to comply with the new regulations.
Who is the one manufacturer that met with the new regulations? Are there any ties to a certain company staring with “O” and linked to a compromised cabinet minister?
FYI – Just posted this on Kiwiblog in response to this article:
“Crime reduction targets on track
April 29th, 2014 at 10:00 am by David Farrar
Judith Collins announced:
Justice Minister Judith Collins says the latest Justice sector Better Public Services results for reducing crime and re-offending, are the best quarterly results since the targets were set.
The Better Public Services (BPS) targets set a goal of a 15 per cent reduction in total crime by June 2017, compared to baseline figures from June 2011.
“It’s fantastic news that our latest Justice sector BPS results show the total crime rate has reduced by 14 per cent between June 2011 and December 2013,” says Ms Collins.
“The latest results for this period also show the youth crime rate has dropped by 27 per cent, violent crime is down 10 per cent and overall re-offending is down by 11.7 per cent.
“New Zealand now has the lowest crime rate since 1978 but most importantly, the results mean New Zealanders are experiencing around 56,000 fewer crimes a year, leading to fewer victims of crime. ….”
MY COMMENT:
Where are the ‘white collar’ crime statistics?
Are there any?
How about ‘bribery and corruption’ statistics?
How come on the watch of Minister for CORRUPTION (oops!) Justice, Judith Collins , New Zealand has STILL not ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC)?
How come Minister for CORRUPTION (oops!) Justice, Judith Collins promised Transparency International last year, that her ‘Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill’ would be presented to Parliament in 2013, and it STILL has yet to surface in the NZ Parliamentary legislation ‘sausage machine’?
Ten years after signing UNCAC in 2003, New Zealand appears almost ready to ratify the United Nations Convention against Corruption. New Zealand’s failure for a decade to take action to ratify the UN Convention disappointing for a country that prides itself on its clean international image. TINZ has actively encouraged ratification for the last 10 years as noted in our letter to several ministers in August.
In a much welcomed development in a letter to Transparency International New Zealand dated 7 August 2013, the Hon Judith Collins, Minister of Justice, states that she has “announced a package of legislative reforms that will allow New Zealand to ratify UNCAC.”
The necessary amendments to make New Zealand’s domestic law compliant with the treaty obligations will be included in the Organized Crime and Anti-Corruption Bill. Once passed, the minister has confirmed that “officials will promptly take steps to deposit New Zealand’s instrument of ratification of UNCAC.”
Has Transparency International New Zealand had anything to say about the recent developments involving Minister for CORRUPTION (oops!) Justice, Judith Collins and her (in my considered opinion) CORRUPT conflict of interest, in TOADYING for her friends and husband’s private company – Oravida?
Has Transparency International New Zealand had anything to say about the recent developments involving Minister for BRIBERY (oops! ) Foreign Affairs – Murray McCully, with his, in my considered opinion offer of a job ( errr…. BRIBE) as ‘Pacific Economic Ambassador’ to shifty Shane JUDA$ Jones – treacherous, whopper waka swapper?
After looking at the Transparency International New Zealand website – I see nothing covering these developments.
I guess that if Transparency International New Zealand starts doing some REAL anti-corruption ‘whistleblowing’ – they might lose their Government funding from a variety of sources?
Actually if you work with police prosecutors on a daily basis as I do you’d know that the word from on police high is that now people gotta be given ‘warnings’ first off rather than charging and proceeding to court.
Don’t really want to say – ‘unless you’re young, black and scum’ – but that’s the guts of it.
The Milky Bar Krud is cooking the books. While keeping the confidence of Serco’s shareholders more or less
Edit: sorry, this was meant to be a response to DTB below.
xox
Did you know NZ has an arrangement for 1000 young Chinese to stay/work in NZ for one year? This has been going for a few years now. I spoke to one last weekend. Most illuminating. The offer is online in China and is snapped up in 5 minutes! I was lucky to talk about what is happening in China from a well spoken, albeit with an American accent, young guy about global and internet issues. A real highlight of my visit to Christchurch.
Hahahahaha ! What a Dork Dunney ? Gets nothing right. Except the salary and the super’ and the spot at the trough. And lay preacher at some bilious bastion of anal white privilege white wooden church somewhere out Karori way.
Nearly sixty years ago there was a fulla used to turn up at Ellerslie Primary School where I started my education. Called the ‘Funny Doctor’ – wore a bow tie, clown’s nose, drove a little round mudguards Austiny thing – magic tricks – bold checked pants – we loved him us easily pleased five year olds.
Reckon Petey’s the dodgy remittance man of that family.
Paul Henry. TV3. Tonight. Vicious Old Visceral Tory Queen ! On 3 Hundy. Couldn’t give a fuck about ChCh. Where he and his darling ShonKey Python don’t live. But Oh How They Care ! Piece of shit is that Old Queen.
… a New Zealand government using immigration to keep house prices low? Yeah right. Everyone knows that every government opens the immigration taps 12-18 months out from an election. Helen Clark did it. John Key is doing it right now. As long as immigration sits at around 30,000 p.a. then we have upward pressure on house values, and that keeps everyone voting for the incumbent government no matter what.
I just do not believe that a Labour government would not again open the immigration taps to enhance their chances of re-election in the future.
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. 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 ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
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:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
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 ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
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. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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, Friday 29 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
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 A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, 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 up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
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Pete laid down the law last night.
Authors take note, you don’t get to tell him what he can or can’t do here. He makes the rules for the site now.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-28042014/#comment-805885
I think the problem with PG Tips is that everything is so bloody wishy-washy and qualified that tedium rises instantly to the surface leading to complete and utter frustration. It is like the ultimate fence-sitting, discussing discussions, and never actually achieving anything. Or even ffs, never actually saying anything. Nothing is ever said methinks.
There would seem to be no solution for these types, other than to banish them to local council ward board committee meetings about whether pansies or petunias should be planted in the roundabout.
+1 Well said vto.
Yep. He seems to be on a one man crusade to wreck the left’s chances in the next election. His behaviour improved for a while but I agree that he is back to his disruptive worst.
The problem is his control of the politicheck website. He has come out with a doozie this morning claiming that all land speculators do pay capital gains tax. The amount paid is exceedingly small and the number of transactions caught is also very small. But by applying a rather extreme interpretation and taking a few very short comments out of context he claims that Labour is not telling the truth.
This site works best when there is an unfettered sometimes robust exchange of ideas. But I have seen a number of discussion streams get wrecked.
The politicheck reference is at http://www.politicheck.org.nz/factchecks/2014/4/29/property-speculators-are-taxed
It may be time to factcheck the politicheck website.
“claiming that all land speculators do pay capital gains tax”
I didn’t claim that.
“The amount paid is exceedingly small and the number of transactions caught is also very small.”
Facts would help your case.
I thought you were the fact checker Pete. Or do you ignore the facts that do not support your world view?
You made the claims. You should back them up.
If a 15% capital gains tax was applied instead those amounts would approximately halve.
Also from that article:
IRD is doing something, and National appear to be boosting what they do.
What % of your fact checks are made of National Party claims?
None.
Says it all.
Pete you should have done the research before making your claim doncha think? So a couple of hundred cases a year. And the figures are small when you compare them to the total tax take. Thanks for confirming my previous statement.
The CGT will apply across the board apart from the family home. Over time it will raise significant amounts of money.
And did you see how the number of cases is decreasing each year, interestingly at the same time that there have been cuts to IRD’s staff. National do not appear to be boosting what they do. It has put the process into reverse.
“National do not appear to be boosting what they do. It has put the process into reverse.”
In the link just above that you have just replied to:
The expectation is that this will recover about $45m.
That’s doing something, a boost. Not nothing, not “into reverse”.
the problem with property speculators and paying income tax in our country is that the vast bulk of rental property owners are simply dishonest lying bastards and bastardettes. They nearly all buy with a view to banking the gain in value and have little concern in the rent.
Most NZ property investors simply lie about their intent when purchasing property. Liars.
It is the single biggest rort in NZ and I think we need to introduce drug-testing on property owners and stop them from going to Australia, such is the cost to the taxpayer.
I think we need to introduce drug-testing on property owners and stop them from going to Australia, such is the cost to the taxpayer.
Lol.
Ta.
Avoidance or evasion on property transactions has been a problem for yonks, and there’s a big grey area on ‘intent’ but governments have gradually been addressing it.
Pete, it is only a problem of enforcement, not a problem of existence, as your quote indicates. My point stands.
Bottom line though – government raises revenue by taxing people who make money. Problem is that they only tax some of the money-making, i.e. wage and salary and income earners. There are several other ways of making money which are not taxed, such as making money by capital. Example: Some make money by pouring all their income into the capital value of their farm and minimise their income. Why should they be exempt and bludge off the wage and salary earner? Another rort.
If the government is to raise revenue by taxing money-making then all forms of money-making should be taxed. For consistency and credibility purposes ….
I don’t think anyone is ever going to read ScrittiPolitti.
But yep, Pete is on a mission to make this site unreadable. I have no idea why he is tolerated. He has no interest in or sympathy for the labour movement whatsoever.
When did thestandard become a free-for-all for right-wingers?
I like the Scritti Politti reference Felix.
As for PG (Personal Grievance). I’ve been coming here on and off for two and half years and particularly enjoyed the time when PG was “on leave”. There was a time leading up to that “leave” where there was a loose consensus among commenters to simply adopt the 🙄 as a response to anything he said. Not only was it entertaining and humourous to see a huge line of 🙄 all down the page it also took all the power away from him and minimised the disruption.
I humbly would make the suggestion that the 🙄 exercise is revived.
Whaddya’s reckon?
Is that < arrow, eyeroll (one word) arrow > ?
Haven’t had to use the eyeroll tag since the last time, so I’ve forgotten
Use a colon before and after roll
:roll followed immediately by another colon
Ta, Karol.
Testing;
🙄
: roll :
– without the spaces
🙄
With thanks to One Anonymous Bloke and Tracey for teaching me that trick recently 😀
🙄
Jest rolling. Oops, just jest testing.
Yes Rosie I reckon too.
Yep. As far as I can see, PG’s problem is a tendency to use slippery logic and very shallow analysis. It is why I rarely read or comment on his comments these days – waste of my time. More important things to focus on.
Ironic felix. You’re not trying to tell authors or moderators what to do are you? Sounds a bit like it. Contributing something positive is less stressful.
Where did I do that, Pete? Link or apology please.
1 “Authors take note”
🙄 Learn english, moran.
What is it I’m “telling” anyone to do?
🙄
So Pete while you are here your latest politicheck post (http://www.politicheck.org.nz/factchecks/2014/4/29/property-speculators-are-taxed) is full of bunkum. Basically you are saying that because there is an obligation for speculators to pay capital gains tax they all pay capital gains tax. But if you had checked you would see that the number of transactions caught are exceedingly small and if someone buys a house to rent rather than immediately sell on then it is not payable.
So you have twisted the words out of shape and then come out with an adverse conclusion.
And looking at the site you are wrecking it. There is so much that could be analysed but you are mostly siding with the Government and bashing the opposition parties.
Go on. Concisely justify your latest claim. Use figures and stuff. Then compare this with Labour’s draft figures from last time.
It’s true if you’re a legitimate property developer, spec builder etc you pay tax on any profit made.
How else do you claim your building expenses, if you’re not legit.?
” if someone buys a house to rent rather than immediately sell on then it is not payable.”
That’s not correct.
http://www.ird.govt.nz/property/property-common-mistakes/mistake-dealing-with-investment/
Um it is correct. If you buy the house intending to rent it then by definition you are not intending to resell it.
Um, you can buy a house intending to rent it and intending to sell it for a capital gain. Read the IRD link.
Do you think speculators wouldn’t rent out a house if they intend to sell it? Unless it was a very quick flick that doesn’t make business sense much if not all what you gain in capital you would lose in cost of capital and non-earnings.
what the fuck does that mean.
you are just spouting nonsense.
why dont you fuck off.
Lol @ hook. I reckon we should use that for Rosie’s suggestion rather than 🙄
Everytime PG says something, anything, respond with
Because it’s an appropriate response to pretty much everything he says.
+1
I may not have been here long but I agree.
PG talks absolute crap
Dont feed it . it might go back under its rock
Lol. By all means adopt that statement weka. My hazy memory tells me that the 🙄 was previously adopted because it was non verbal and non aggressive. Also, very it’s funny, a massive army of 🙄 marching on for miles down the page. It says so much.
I like the simplicity and ease of 🙄 too. Maybe we keep hook’s quote for special occasions.
lol
From your own link, pete:
Yes, that refers to an investor, which IRD clearly differentiates from speculators and dealers.
Pete have you actually read what you are typing? It makes no sense. My head hurts …
I am sorry everyone I have sparked this totally unproductive complete waste of time debate. It is as if the protagonists are arguing in different languages …
I am going back to performing paid work …
Property or tax?
🙄
A few posts up thread, MS posted, “if someone buys a house to rent rather than immediately sell on then it is not payable.”
You replied to that post, quoting those very words, stating, “That’s not correct.”
With me so far?
I quoted an extract from the IRD guidelines you quoted, showing that MS was correct and you were wrong – if someone buy a property to use it to generate ongoing rental income and not with any firm intent of resale the property is a capital asset and any later profit or loss from selling the property is capital and isn’t taxable.
You comprehend that the words I have marked in bold (which are taken near verbatim from the extract I quoted) confirm that if someone buys a house to rent rather than immediately sell on then capial gains taxis not payable?
Virtually the same words that MS used, and which you said were wrong and which you now say are right, but only for investors, even though that is clearly what MS means because what on Earth do you think “buys a house to rent rather than immediately sell on” means?
But “if someone buys a house to rent rather than immediately sell on then it is not payable” is not correct.
If someone buys a house to rent rather than immediately sell on then tax on capital gain may not be payable, or it may be payable, depending on other circumstances and intent.
As I showed, immediacy doesn’t matter, nor does an intent to rent.
You understand what “if someone buys a house to rent” means, yeah?
It means the reason for buying the house was to rent it out. So “the property is a capital asset and any later profit or loss from selling the property is capital and isn’t taxable.”
Where as a speculator buys with the intention to sell it. that’s their purpose in buying the house, and their anticipated source of profit. Even if they don’t immediately realise that intention, due to the market collapsing or what have you it is still treated differently for tax purposes: “If you buy a property with the firm intention of resale, it doesn’t matter how long you hold it – the gain on resale will be taxable”
” There is so much that could be analysed but you are mostly siding with the Government and bashing the opposition parties.”
To see the truth in that statement, scroll through the posts and look at the ratio of Politicheck articles that focus on the opposition parties and not the Government.
OppositionCheck would be a more accurate title.
But he is what he is and now, like many wiser heads, I will be doing my damnedest to step over every syllable he soils the site with. He has had so many chances to join in and help build the dialogue but he is a wrecker, and only wants to be the loudest voice at the table.
Still wonder how his Budget for Poor People was shaping up though.
bye bye Pete
You appear to be talking about tax avoidance and evasion, i.e. lack of tax income, rather than a lack of tax code. That’s a different issue altogether.
You can’t avoid non-existent taxes, after all.
Good stuff from Labour on the exchange rate. Plenty of commentators saying it’s not a populist issue. Clearly they don’t get the knowledge all our commodity producers (esp farmers) have of exchange rates and their personal financial interests.
Looks like a great week for Labour, with a series of announcements and media hits.
As far as I can see the policy benefits the middle class property buyers/owners and export businesses. What’s in it for those on low incomes?
“What’s in it for those on low incomes?
More expensive everything.
Lets see, for those on low incomes Labour is proposing a rise in the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour, yay hurrah, but wait, there is more,
Labour is also proposing ”compulsory” retirement savings which i will speculate will be at least 2% of income, so scratch any benefit low income workers will gain from any pay rise to the new 15 dollar minimum wage,(and the flow on effect in wages above 15 bucks an hour if any),
i could go on, but why bother, it looks like business as usual from where i sit…
According to their website it’s 3% and increasing yearly to 9%. To get this across they’re going to have to raise the minimum wage to at least $17 per hour or go for a Universal Income.
Ouch thats really going to hurt people’s day to day living even 17ph is barely enough to scrape by in Auckland with two incomes at this level.
I can imagine that the employer contribution will be the effective pay rise for the next few years… unless they have some kind of abatement for a couple it will leave a large hole in take home pay.
The other thing I am extremely wary of is political interference in the coming years who is to say the eligibility age won’t be pushed out further etc. I worry that in 20 years or so when substantial amounts of kiwi saver come due they decide the large amount of money entering the economy will be inflationary and seek to restrict access.
That wouldn’t surprise me 🙁
That said, I don’t think saving does anything for the economy except slow it down and boost returns to the financial sector which results, inevitably, in the economy collapsing again.
Id tend to agree with that better to spend it now and the govt collects an appropriate amount of tax to fund super. Personal savings should be personal with the ability to use them as you wish
I was reading an article yesterday suggesting that we need to ‘encourage’ people to trade their KiwiSaver for annuities at retirement, because, in essence, we can’t ‘trust’ them to spend the money ‘wisely’. It’s an incredibly patronizing attitude.
Pretty much nothing. In fact, it’sl to hurt them in the short term but over the medium to long term it should increase work here and highly paid work at that.
Of course, the real problem is that our exchange rate is set incorrectly (it’s based upon speculation rather than actual trade) and that our entire economic system is bunkum to boot.
Yeah, massive increases in living costs, nice one Labour.
The massive increases are going to happen one way or another as we’ve been living well beyond our means due to the misaligned exchange rate. National are, of course, promising that we can continue to live beyond our means forever.
+1 Agree, however it’s early in the day of politic’s, let alone the week.
The PR spin merchants within National will be plotting with bullshit snake oil ready to feed their gushing shill media fan-club. Just heard the Nationals Minister of War on Terrorism, Coleman just bait Goff into commenting on their huge military spend up announcement. By Coleman’s quip of the Government is just following through on the previous Governments commitment.
i am still reeling from the transformation of david cunnliffe into an animal rights activist..
..and am i silly to hope that the disgust expressed by cunnliffe on testing legal highs on rats/rabbits/dogs..
..that this will also apply/spread to the (approx) 370,000 such animals that are vivisected/tested to death..?
..(‘testing’ yr cosmetics/dishwashing liquids/makeup etc etc..)
..especially as as cunnliffe said..there is no need to test these on animals..when computer-models etc. can do the job..
..’cos..y’see that ‘no need’ also applies to most/all? of those over 370,000 animals that are tortured..and then killed..each and every year..
..computor-modelling etc would also do the job there..
..so why don’t they use computors then..?..i hear you ask..
..money..money..money..
..these vile excuses for human beings are part of a self-perpetuating industry..
..an unholy/bloody alliance between the torturers/breeders/’researchers’..
..a lot of money is made from being an animal-torturer..(they don’t want no computer-models messing with their gigs..
..it’s ‘a good little earner’..being a vivisecter..
..(the universities in nz alone vivisect 300,000 animals each and every year..’research/training’ being the reasons given for the/that need..)
..(what these stats/facts mean is that over 1,000 animals each and every day are killed after they have been used/tortured/vivisected..)
..so..as i say..i welcome the expected scrutiny/spotlight being shone on these torturing scumbags..
..by david cunnliffe/labour..
..in his/their reborn animal rights dudes roles…
A little harsh on Cunliffe Phil, it’s thanks to members of the Labour party like my vet nurse flatmate that campaign for animals rights and put forward well considered remits to be thrashed out. I give DC credit for responding to F/B private messages regarding another issue of concern to her, my opinion (which was ok anyway) of him rose as a result of his long thoughtful responses. Before a some fool (not you) fires a cheapshot that it was probably someone else, the typo’s & odd spelling mistake told me it was him, had the same lol.
as i say skinny..i am optimistic the gaze (not only of cunnliffe) will now switch to this vivisection abomination..i do mean that..
(see..!..i am blocking my usual/deep cynicism that the circus will move on..and this ‘deep’/important issue..will become yesterdays’ shane jones..and the torturing/killing will just continue..unabated..)
..and i don’t really mind how it comes about/who gets credit..
..and i tip my hat to those like yr friend..those active inside (blind/unthinking) organisations like the labour party..
..who are fighting for these same reforms this situation is calling/screaming out for..
..(trying to end the usual practice of green party bbq’s..when there..i am afraid burnt me out on that route..)
what are the alternatives …?
..testing on people.. ?
.. a new role for those on Paula’s benefit .. perhaps …?
What are the alternatives? Use products that don’t require animal testing. For instance there is a huge amount of information showing that marijuana is far safer than these synthetic substitutes…no testing required.
Animal rights. Mr Key slid by yesterday saying that the excuse for not acting sooner on legal highs was his concern that animals might be used for testing. Smart move. Appeal to the Animal rights people and lets him off the hook.
But wait. Mr Cunliffe agrees that he has a concern for animal rights. Check. Your next move John?
Too right phillip. I hear that Massey Uni in Palmy is one of our worst offenders for animal testing. Is that correct?
I also think that is the place where the HRT medicine is made from mare’s urine. The mares are kept permanently in stalls, they don;’t get out at all and are kept pregnant so the levels of oestrogen necessary for the production of the medicine remain high. A tragic life for an animal who is so sensitive and emotional. (I have a strong connection with equines)
Sorry, no link for that. I just recall an article on tv about it years ago and it stayed with me
I think I heard some chap on Tv saying that they could get quite good results from testing this Sh*t on poor crustaceans! Poor crabs, prawns and snails! Oh dear. Next they will think of testing it on some bacteria and broccoli.
Quite agree Phil, it is a disgusting practice that needs to stop. These sick scientists who manage to convince themselves that it is unfortunate but necessary to torture animals need to be made to account for their actions. Good to hear David speaking up against it and informing the public it is possible to do this research using computers. This will win him votes.
Sure is Bella, I read some posts on facebook by some rat club people who were giving DC the voters nod after watching his interview on the tv news covering the issue.
Got a laugh watching slippery Key who looked deceitful doing a flip flop, fronting the media with his bullshit ‘personally’ I’m uncomfortable with animal testing that’s the real reason for the hold up (funny he forgot to tell Dunne that porky, Pete didn’t utter a word about this to the press) umm not on rabbits, certainly not dogs, rodents yeah thats OK. A dog whistle to anymore nat rats thinking of jumping ship. Oh the pits, poor Johnny has to import dirty rats these days.
a question for the ‘strategists’ in labour..
..who is/are the einstein/s that decided that david parker appearing on a political talkshow on sunday..
..was not a good enough platform for the announcement of new economic-policy..?
..who decided ‘no no!..we’ll put out a press-release on tuesday…!.’…was the better option..?
..and i guess it is a byre the bye..that after parker ‘teasing’ about his big tuesday announcement..(yep..!..we’re all wetting our pants in anticipation here..dave..)..that then there was nothing..
..the ensuing vaccuum leaving plenty of time/opportunity for parker to be pulled backwards thru a blackberry bush..
..over his/labours’ epic-fail/vote-killing policy to raise the age of the pension..
..who was/were the einsteins(s) who made that call..?
..you don’t need to answer that question..
..but you really need to do what needs to be done..eh..?
..you are getting some really shit tactic-advice..from whomever…
“Nothing”, Phil?
Are you sufficiently versed in economics to make that judgement?
What were you expecting? It’s finance policy.
Parker raised interest in the proposal on Sunday. Today it’s getting headlines and has induced another of Key’s trademark lies:
“What will make a difference is Labour spending so much money, rates will rise faster.”
Fact: rates have risen “faster” since 2009.
Pretty sure the Oravida party is spending more too.
no..oab..
..he had nothing to talk about..hence the blackberry-bush episode..
..did you see it..?
..tell me how i have got that wrong..
Perhaps the reason for not launching the policy on Sunday was so that the launching was controlled- an uninterrupted speed followed by question and answers. Political talk shows are very dependent on the line of questioning by the interviewer who can derail the launch. If you consider the quality and motives of most of the panellists who take part in the post interview discussion, then the wisdom of using a breakfast speech launch becomes much more attractive.
David Parker effectively states that if elected he will dip into your paypacket and leave you worse off. Is he one of the ABC majority in caucus? Democracy needs a strong and competent opposition.
concern-tr*lling there..fisi..?
Fisiani, wouldn’t it be better if you concerned yourself with problems the Nats have, as you are one of their supporters?
Is it a concern that they are taking on tobacco lobbyists?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/polls/9984445/Ex-lobbyist-to-contest-Englishs-seat
Is the government a competent manager of the economy having blown out the debt to over $60 billion?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9380846/Public-debt-climbs-by-27m-a-day
Just a couple of more important things for you to be concerned about…
Are you seriously claiming that ex-employees of a tobacco company are not supposed to be candidates? Should they be forced to wear a yellow star to let us know their sin.
The government is a fabulous manager of the economy. Just watch for the Budget.
On 20th September we have a stark choice.
Forward to a brighter and brighter future or back to the seventies with a government that steals private land and steals from your pay packet to finance pet ideas.
$60 billion debt and growing.
Wonderful.
“back to the seventies with a government that steals private land and steals from your pay packet to finance pet ideas.”
like the Central Plains Water scheme, backed by your government, stealing private land and using my pay packet to finance pet irrigation ideas (which are so woeful in terms of financial return that they cannot raise the money to pay for it within their dear private sector, hence steal from taxpayers. Total failure of your political philosophies fisiani. fail fail fail)
The fact that you believe that shows just how disconnected from reality you are.
Has the 170,000 jobs from National’s budgeting turned up yet?
Thread officially Godwinned. Recommended course of action: nothin’ but 🙄
Hey wingnut, listening to RNZ morning report, Slugger Bill Churlish saying NO to everything N-Spinner is front footing him on . Copped a bit of stick comparing the LP policy of raising to 9% super contribution, Bill got a hiding when comparing to the Ozzies 13%. Nice.
Key-Joyce and their spin merchants will be sitting slumped in their chairs cursing English’s poor showing.
Expect cheerleaders Hooton & Shrillands to turn up to try prop up PG who is already getting a pasting on here.
English was as usual very predictable. Had to turn him off. Good to hear Cunliffe putting espiner in his place. GE got quite cross.
“.. Democracy needs a strong and competent opposition..”
let’s hope national are up to the task..eh..?..
Exporters see their profits disappear as printed money comes crashing through the NZ dollar door.
Where have National been, we’re not talking about what may happen in the fruit loopy way National declares all Labour’s policies as awful, we’re talking how they failed in the housing market, failed exporters, failed children.
And National are worried, Labour are aim full square at craving off exporters from the National party.
Retailers are next when they realize Key’s aiming the economy at an almighty housing crash, with his high govt debt, do nothing and wait for thr GFC to have worked through and watch while milk, timber, are all sourced elsewhere.
You have to pretty dumb to think that hot money isn’t holding up our economy.
That hot money needs exchange goods, and so is buying up the cheapest bulkiest
items on the economic menu and hurting our added value sectors.
And t will all stop when the global banking system rights itself, then the banks
will come for our homes.
Most days I wake up feeling just fine, have a good breakfast, attend to my ablutions and then turn to The Standard for my daily share of intelligent comment (especially from karol) on matters political.
Why is it that time and time again I then find the whole morning ruined by comments, if they can be called that, from someone called Pete George? There is something so snide, so dog-whistling about this person’s contributions that I end up having my day shattered. There is no end to his self-assumed expertise on everything, his implied criticisms disguised as something unbiased and apparently reasonable.
Please, Pete George, for the sake of at least one person’s sanity – – – go away!
+100
He ruins this site.
i see him as being the legal-high of political-dialogue..
..imitating the real thing..
..and getting it so so wrong…
..what particularly grates with him is the bullshit concern-tr*lling..the many ‘faces’..
..’faces’ dependant on the audience/issue being faced at that moment..
..if he came here and vigorously argued rightwing ‘ideas’..fair do’s..
..but it is the faux-concern/centreist poses he constantly strikes..
..and his never answering reasoned-challenges..
..in short..his outright/wholesale dissembling..
..(and this is kinda off the wall..i dunno a lot about astrological-profiles..but from what i do know/have observed in others..i reckon he is a virgo with taurus rising..
..or some such swamp-person mix…
..any other guesses..?..)
..and to end on a positive-note..
..like with the legal-highs..there will come a breaking-point..
..the queues of complainers will get too long/rowdy..
..we can but hope that comes soon..eh..?..
..’cos credit where credit is due..
..he is quite good at it..
..that dissembling..
..he is like an energy-sucking black hole on many threads..
..his paymasters should be rewarding him well..
..(and what’s with that edwards-the-younnger seriall=linking/being a fanboy of georges’ drivel..?
..and here is the scary bit..
..that edwards-the-younger moulds young/impressionable brains..
..at a university..(!)
..whoar..!..eh..?..
..does he have the unmentionable one as a guest-speaker..?
..does he scar their minds this way..?..
Yes, why does Bryce Edwards link “Your NZ” in his weekly round up. Not sure of the motivation or reasoning for that, but it does reduce his credibility.
+100
Have had the same reaction, but am trying now to use the glimpse of his avatar to practise empathy and compassion for those that are “without”.
Will keep you updated on how I go…
I can never understand why the debate with Pete continues. He is as slippery as John Key. And the issues he seems to raise are never resolved. I tend to skip all the comments and replies after his name. Must be too old to bother.
Don’t let PG ruin your morning wyndham. There’s too much good thing going on, on this site. I share your frustration, however I when I see his name and a giant disrupted thread trailing in his wake. I just scroll- on- by until I get to something relevant . I have made a suggestion to readers and commenters at 1.2.3.1 at 9.52 am above.
I would love to see the 🙄 response reignited.
Open mike is rapidly degenerating into the Pete George hour.
Totally. Is he related to m hooton?
To be honest, I think that may be an insult to Hooton.
Naa Hooten writes Hootens Horse shit on NBR.
Petey writes Horse shit where ever he goes. He’s like a Puppy dog He just can’t help pissing on the carpet.
Yes -i’ve noticed that Open Mike has become a PG hour and its booooorrrrrrrrrring. Boring, Boring.
Not at all what it was a few weeks ago. Is it time for the moderators to step up and put a ban on him for a while ? ?
Banning him for awhile doesn’t make any difference – you just feel the same pain when he comes back.
That seems a little unfair JK, I note that the first comment was by felix today, fairly well inciting PG into making a comment. Yesterday’s (was it yesterday, can’t be arsed going to check) Open Mike was all about PG and he hadn’t even commented!
I don’t agree with all Pete George says or his tactics at times, however a lot of the noise recently has been to do how people are responding to him, rather than due to PG. Some of his comments do assist some pretty important debates.
It would be good if those responding to and inciting PG got a grip and thought a bit about how their own actions are affecting this ‘issue’…because it is starting to look more like a schoolyard dynamic that bring to mind a certain statement that Dick Emery was famous for more than anything else.
There are some pretty important events occurring in this country, if you wish to focus on them – focus on them.
I think you underestimate how distruptive many people find PG. For those that don’t mind him so much, your comment makes sense. For those of us that see him as an out and out tr8ll*, then the upscaling of antagonism to him recently also makes sense.
I don’t mind at all when people call bullshit on bullshit, it is good to do that.
Sometimes DFTT is in order.
Sometimes that doesn’t cut it but…
I think it is getting a bit rubbish to incite him to comment and then complain about Open Mike being dedicated to him, when he hasn’t even started the subject. JK @ 8.2 didn’t do this – but this is what has occurred twice now on Open Mike.
DFTT implies that he is in fact a tr8ll. Which means the normal rules of discourse don’t apply.
“I don’t mind at all when people call bullshit on bullshit, it is good to do that.”
Everything PG does and says is bullshit. Even on the occasions that his comments make sense, it’s still bullshit because it’s part of the whole centrist, I’m more of a reasonable person than anyone else persona that masks the fact that he is right wing and undermines the left at any opportunity he gets. That persona does damage. He is not someone I am willing to take a face value, comment by comment, because every commment he makes is part of a larger context of clusterfucked communication and bullshit.
All that amounts to is you don’t tolerate views you don’t like so make things up to try and discredit. This demonstrates your intolerance and nastiness towards alternatives and helps highlight the issues being raised. It doesn’t seem to be a very smart approach but may reflect frustration at a lack of success with your own agenda. If you had a good case to argue that’s what you’d do instead of lashing out at different views and approaches.
Anger doesn’t make a good argument. It’s curious to see such bitter anti-centrists.
1) No, it shows that weka understands you very well. Probably better than you do.
2) It’s not your “views”, it’s your behaviour, The only views you have ever put forward are the occasional bit of racism.
3) You have never, ever offered an “alternative” to anything.
4) You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who has observed your behaviour online over a couple of years who wouldn’t agree with weka. You’ll always be able to fool a few noobs though.
felix and weka, speaking for just about everyone. Very funny. Keep trying felix, that’s all you seem to do. I presume it amuses you but you seem to get more frustrated than anything. You know what they say about repeating the same mistakes.
🙄
🙄
🙄
“All that amounts to is you don’t tolerate views you don’t like so make things up to try and discredit.”
Pretty strange coincidence then that of all the people on this site that I disagree with, the only person I call a tr*ll is you.
Breaking news on TVNZ – The Government has announced it’s investing $100.9 million into strengthening the Defence Force.
So what’s that then? Using not having money as an excuse to fund social welfare projects or night classes and the like, and after running the military down to save costs, they find enough to stump up enough to buy some nod doubt American made nonsense or half a wing of one of the Australian fleet that doesn’t work properly.
Can’t wait for the spin show to start. My guess is Key hides the US request to curb the yellow peril in the pacific, in the style of drunken cabaret crooner.
China won’t like that.
We are being caught in a vice between two powers trying to control the Pacific.
Key’s subservient approach to both will cost us big time in the future.
And they will grip hard too. My best suggestion would be to declare NZ neutral, failing that, and the opposite of Key, choose the winning side at the UN and have productive trade negotiations minus the taste of corruption lingering on the lips of cabinet ministers.
The article says $535m over four years, so that’s a full wing of a wonky Joint Strike Fighter.
After reading what Coleman says, I’m amending my spin guess a little. I now pick Key hides the US request to curb the yellow peril in the pacific under a cloak of aid and relief to the islands in the style of drunken cabaret crooner.
At least Key didn’t buy as much as Abbott during his free round of golf time share presentation with the president. He got suckered for $24 billion.
http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/government-invest-100-9-million-in-defence-force-5943266
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2014/s3990812.htm
NZ’s only real option at this point in time is to declare ourselves completely, totally and utterly neutral. Nothing less will do.
There are some strong advantages to remaining allied to the west, albeit we need to bolster our reputation as fair and honest brokers in all international affairs.
I can’t think of any. Did you read this? I have a tendency to agree with him about our Western allies.
THanks for the link, DTB
Probably buying Australia’s F/A18’s after they buy the new F35 JSF.
Doesn’t really matter what it is though as the end result will be more dependence upon the US for defence and a totally useless defence capability.
what’s happened to our benign strategic environment? (one of Helen Clark’s most gob-smackingly silly utterances, and there weren’t too many of those..)
I’ve not googled it yet, so I don’t know. But milk, food and kiwi ingenuity to all who come in peace sounds better than the mess trying to butter both sides of the bread will make.
The global economy is collapsing and, yeah, it was a rather stupid thing for Clark to say.
‘
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/9987907/US-braces-for-more-tornados
With more energy in the system, will Auckland see its third deadly tornado in three years?
Been coming across a lot of Pikkety lately. For those who haven’t, his book ” Capital in the Twenty First Century” has a central argument/observation that any democracy we have is inevitably devolving into plutocracy.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/28/thomas-piketty-capital-surprise-bestseller
pikettys’ book is the most important tome in a long time…
..put that together with the spirit level..
..and you have your rationales/a blueprint for a new/much better way of doing things..
..i consider myself an early-adopter of piketty..
..here is what i have found/collected…
..a (rough) primer/archive of his words/ideas..
http://whoar.co.nz/?s=piketty
Yep, really need to read that one but, then, I’ve been saying that the biggest problem we have is the rich for years.
Thanks for the tip.
Piketty’s prescription includes (to quote from Bill’s link) ‘an 80% tax on incomes above $500,000 a year in the US, assuring his readers there would be neither a flight of top execs to Canada nor a slowdown in growth, since the outcome would simply be to suppress such incomes’.
Labour and the Greens should adopt this as policy.
It will not raise a lot in revenue in New Zealand, but that is not the point.
These excessive salaries are immoral and extortionate.
And even the CEOs themselves are starting to acknowledge the fact – The Warehouse boss Mark Powell recently described his $1.7 million salary as a ‘ridiculous amount’.
In NZ, anything over about $500k should be taxed at 90% or more.
snap
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-26042014/#comment-804540
Piketty’s ideas are decent, but they are 25 years too late. We’ve actually moved far past the time the assumptions he uses will actually hold. Care of one of favourite websites Zerohedge:
By Charles Hugh-Smith:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-28/critique-pikettys-solution-widening-wealth-inequality
And by James Kunstler:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-28/second-biggest-delusion-us-culture
In relation to today’s conversations, my view is that Reserve Bank goals and interest rate settings are akin to trying to cleverly keep steam pressure up on the Titanic’s engines while the compartments are filling up with water. At this point nothing apart from getting ready for fossil fuel energy depletion, climate change, GFC II and permanent global economic contraction matters one whit.
I don’t think that PG ruins the site. He’s a bit pompous – and his theme song could be ‘I can see clearly now the brain has gone’ – but I think he’s an excellent example of a right-whinger trying hard to prove that he occupies the political centre – and that’s always good for a laugh.
Why do those survey firms who phone and ask for a portion of your day to answer their questions never pay for the service? I make a point of responding “yes sure, I can participate but like you we charge for our time, so if you can give me a name and address for sending an invoice we can proceed”
the responses range from a laugh to a pause to a short no. it brings the call to a rapid end.
can I recommend that others take such an approach?
Surprisingly good editorial in the Dom Post today on Dunne’s actions re the Psychoactive Substances bill. A good read:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/editorials/9986208/Editorial-Dunne-drops-synthetics-ball
Interesting article in the Grauniad about the difficulties of dealing to the racist party UKIP. One conclusion is very relevent to the upcoming election here; that attacking UKIP for being racist implies that voters attracted to them are also racist. The lesson for NZ? Attacking Key can be counter productive because it can seen as an attack on swinging voters who like him, even if it’s not in their interests to vote for him.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/apr/28/ukip-european-election-accused-of-racism
Disappointing to see your negative comment on Monetary policy, Karol. As several Labour MPs noted recently, you have to generate income before you can redistribute it. I am making no aims as an economics expert but it looks like Parkers ideas are bold and very smart. Not more handouts or bleeding interest payments to foreign banks, instead he proposes to channel inflation control back into the local economy though kiwisaver. Note he has written in out clauses for low income earners Karol. Overseas banks will hate ths policy expect some vicious attacks by corporate interests. But the main thing is this will be great for higher wage employment and local industry. The guy is a genius and the miracle is that it didn’t get leaked. Key was left blundering around suggesting old hat mortgage controls. Well done Labour.
Southland Times editorial on new Nat Clutha/Southland candidate Todd Barclay (tobacco industry lobbyist)
OPINION: The staff of legal high shops up and down the country might suddenly find themselves contemplating a change of career. Can we suggest they consider trying for a National Party candidacy somewhere?
It worked for Todd Barclay.
Hard on the news that all legal highs will be off the shelves in a couple of weeks, what with them being so harmful and everything, the Nats have chosen for one of their safest seats, Clutha-Southland, a man whose job it was to represent the interests of the tobacco industry.
The one that kills about 5000 of us each year.
Not that Barclay’s employer, Philip Morris, is denying any more that tobacco is a dangerous product. It now openly acknowledges as much.
The thing is, this oh-so-slowly dawning self-awareness hasn’t stopped the company defending, as best it can, its right to keep making money from the stuff anyway.
Because, after all, it’s legal.
Can we at least muster a sharp intake of breath, perhaps followed by a wheezy cough, at the audacity of this candidacy selection?
To be fair, Barclay has come and gone from Philip Morris in short order. He had his tobacco job for eight months and says he joined the company to learn about corporate politics. In fact, he says he doesn’t condone smoking. (Small point: if you don’t condone something you really shouldn’t make money in its service.)
There are things that an eager-to-learn young man should want to know about the tobacco industry even before he gets into it. And one of those, surely, would be the legitimacy of that whole “millions of dead people” kerfuffle. Was he really untroubled by that? Does he know something reassuring the rest of us don’t?
Before this, Barclay was a Beehive insider. A 24-year-old who grew up in the south, he has worked for Cabinet ministers Bill English, Gerry Brownlee and Hekia Parata. Make what you will that after those three Big Tobacco seemed an agreeable next step.
The extent to which his electorate will be willing to set aside this poisonous background remains to be seen. It’s up to Clutha-Southland voters to determine what significance, if any, to afford the fact that Barclay chose that career move, however temporarily. But it must be said that for a man barely in his mid-20s, he has a past to live down.
In the meantime that hoary old line that a gumboot could get elected in Clutha-Southland if it was a National gumboot should be revisited on the basis that a gumboot would have a more benign public safety record.
As for Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne’s announcement that, come to think of it, by golly it would be better if all legal highs were taken off the shelves and returned only once their safety was proven — that’s a case of better late than never. But not nearly as good as getting it right the first time.
The grace period that had allowed 41 legal highs to keep being sold before the new testing regime was in place was far too long and intense public unhappiness resulted.
Dunne’s insistence that had his hand not been forced by Opposition pressure the law change would still have gone ahead, but without warning and therefore without stockpiling, may be true. But the Opposition can hardly be blamed for preparing its own policy to do something the public wanted but the Government had not displayed any interest in doing.
And something, we might and, that it had previously portrayed as pretty much impossible. Turns out where there’s a will, there’s a way.
– © Fairfax NZ News
Plenty of campaign fodder here. Has a Green candidate been selected for Clutha-Southland yet?
I see another tobacco industry lobbyist, Chris Bishop, is contesting Hutt South for the Nats. Wonder if they will throw Carrick Graham a seat as well?
Lolz, i lived in Clutha-Southland for a couple of years, Greens are more than frowned on down there, i remember walking into the post-shop the morning after 9/11 and one old bloke had to be quieted by the postie as he started whining in a loud voice that i was ”one of them”…
All the old hippies are coming out the wordwork down there, so I think things have changed a bit in recent years. Robert Guyton’s just been elected to his second term on the regional council and he doesn’t seem to hide his green light under a bushel 😉
Chris Bishop has not been selected. The National Party has a lot of potential candidates and not one is a union hack and no one cares about their sexuality.
indeed.
But in Clutha-Southland, national selected a corporate tobacco salesman and Labour selected a specialist in public health.
Says it all, really.
Good point – it should be stressed.
“no one cares about their sexuality”
Well, apart from hoping that none of them will breed……..
chortle
Of course National is full of union hacks – they’re just called business associations instead. National are quite fine with their own unions, they just don’t like the workers having theirs.
Here’s something that needs fact checking:
Because I’m pretty sure that Labour ramped up defence spending after National ran it down in the 1990s. It’s why we have the LAVs, the new aircraft and the new patrol boats. I’d heard that National had run it down from their first budget this term as well.
NACTs have just announced that they are obtaining more defence infrastructure “which Labour had ordered”. Like spending is something that Labour does, the profligate wasters, whereas the high-minded wisearses of NACT make considered investments when they spend the taxpayers money in a very tight-fisted manner. Such poseurs.
“”“which Labour had ordered”.
So why did we bother to change to NACTs?
dv
Are you trying to make sense of it all? If you haven’t so far then don’t think too hard, it can seem like the tea party in Alice in Wonderland where they all shift around one place every so often. At least that seems to have been the case in the recent past. Now we might change the scenario, and myself I’d prefer to move away from Alice’s arena this time.
Allow me to answer for Pete: ‘National didn’t completely de-fund the defence force when they got in to power so it’s inaccurate to say they ran down the budget. And Labour didn’t completely fund every single thing the defence force wanted with a few spare million on top, so it may be accurate to say they left a funding gap.’
if only there were an impartial,/i> fact checking website for NZ political claims…
Labour’s response
Yeah, that’s what I thought – National, despite always going on about having a decent defence force, had been cutting the defence budget again.
+1 DTB
National have been like rats in the pantry busy eating away at things behind the scenes.
Quietly cutting spending on everything desperately in order to make up for the fact that they haven’t got enough revenue to achieve the targets they promised re returning to surplus – due to their stupid tax cuts and asset sales.
It is a great pity people didn’t vote for a left-wing government last time around – who were making more conservative promises- that they most-likely would have achieved – and without doing the damage that National have done and are doing to our country.
Politicians – WTF
In the discussion on synthetic marijuana moves I heard John Key say he was uncomfortable about something. Was that reported in the MSM? I realised a simple fact about the PM.
He works on a simple binary principle – comfortable/uncomfortable!
And the good old USA is stirring up controversy and commenting from its superior high ground on both the Russian/Ukraine afffair that the USA has had some effect on warming up through its activities along with its NATO sidekicks, and now on the China-Philippines argument over sea area control around their coastlines. UbiquitoUSA.
and John Kerry is saying Israel is at risk of becoming an apartheid state.
Past tense must mean something different in the northern hemisphere
Great comment from John Banks a few minutes ago on TV3 news, re: testing synthetic drugs on animals….”rats need to live in dignity too” While to some extent I agree with him I think he should know best.
I didn’t hear it but am somewhat cynical. He has been in a position for years when he could have done something about it but hasn’t.
banks is an example of the premise that nobody is all bad..
..he had tears in his eyes when speaking opposing this bill..
..and on the grounds of his objections to dogs/animals being tortured/overdosed to death..
..testing this crap..
..so i don’t doubt his sincerity on that/then..
..and auckland has a lot of dog parks..
..and that is down to banks when mayor..
..(but that’s pretty much all i’ve got..)
(oh..!..and i know he has given money to/supported animal rights groups..in a variety of ways..)
..but funny thing..i think he still eats them..(maybe not dogs..)
From the Herald today:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11245825
Who is the one manufacturer that met with the new regulations? Are there any ties to a certain company staring with “O” and linked to a compromised cabinet minister?
FYI – Just posted this on Kiwiblog in response to this article:
“Crime reduction targets on track
April 29th, 2014 at 10:00 am by David Farrar
Judith Collins announced:
Justice Minister Judith Collins says the latest Justice sector Better Public Services results for reducing crime and re-offending, are the best quarterly results since the targets were set.
The Better Public Services (BPS) targets set a goal of a 15 per cent reduction in total crime by June 2017, compared to baseline figures from June 2011.
“It’s fantastic news that our latest Justice sector BPS results show the total crime rate has reduced by 14 per cent between June 2011 and December 2013,” says Ms Collins.
“The latest results for this period also show the youth crime rate has dropped by 27 per cent, violent crime is down 10 per cent and overall re-offending is down by 11.7 per cent.
“New Zealand now has the lowest crime rate since 1978 but most importantly, the results mean New Zealanders are experiencing around 56,000 fewer crimes a year, leading to fewer victims of crime. ….”
MY COMMENT:
Where are the ‘white collar’ crime statistics?
Are there any?
How about ‘bribery and corruption’ statistics?
How come on the watch of Minister for CORRUPTION (oops!) Justice, Judith Collins , New Zealand has STILL not ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC)?
How come Minister for CORRUPTION (oops!) Justice, Judith Collins promised Transparency International last year, that her ‘Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill’ would be presented to Parliament in 2013, and it STILL has yet to surface in the NZ Parliamentary legislation ‘sausage machine’?
(I double-checked with her Parliamentary Office).
http://www.transparency.org.nz/UNCAC-Ratification
Most Recent Report on UNCAC Ratification:
New Zealand Almost Ready to Ratify UNCAC!
Ten years after signing UNCAC in 2003, New Zealand appears almost ready to ratify the United Nations Convention against Corruption. New Zealand’s failure for a decade to take action to ratify the UN Convention disappointing for a country that prides itself on its clean international image. TINZ has actively encouraged ratification for the last 10 years as noted in our letter to several ministers in August.
In a much welcomed development in a letter to Transparency International New Zealand dated 7 August 2013, the Hon Judith Collins, Minister of Justice, states that she has “announced a package of legislative reforms that will allow New Zealand to ratify UNCAC.”
The necessary amendments to make New Zealand’s domestic law compliant with the treaty obligations will be included in the Organized Crime and Anti-Corruption Bill. Once passed, the minister has confirmed that “officials will promptly take steps to deposit New Zealand’s instrument of ratification of UNCAC.”
http://www.transparency.org.nz/docs/2013/UNCAC-Letter-%20to-Hon-Ministers-McCully-Collins-Groser-30-May-2013.pdf
http://www.transparency.org.nz/docs/2013/Hon-Judith-Collins-Minister-of-Justice-Letter-to-TINZ.pdf
Has Transparency International New Zealand had anything to say about the recent developments involving Minister for CORRUPTION (oops!) Justice, Judith Collins and her (in my considered opinion) CORRUPT conflict of interest, in TOADYING for her friends and husband’s private company – Oravida?
Has Transparency International New Zealand had anything to say about the recent developments involving Minister for BRIBERY (oops! ) Foreign Affairs – Murray McCully, with his, in my considered opinion offer of a job ( errr…. BRIBE) as ‘Pacific Economic Ambassador’ to shifty Shane JUDA$ Jones – treacherous, whopper waka swapper?
After looking at the Transparency International New Zealand website – I see nothing covering these developments.
I guess that if Transparency International New Zealand starts doing some REAL anti-corruption ‘whistleblowing’ – they might lose their Government funding from a variety of sources?
Of which there seems to be a considerable amount?
http://www.transparency.org.nz/Partners-and-Sponsors
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’.
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
www,dodgyjohnhasgone.com
http://www.occupyaucklandvsaucklandcouncilappeal.org.nz
Actually if you work with police prosecutors on a daily basis as I do you’d know that the word from on police high is that now people gotta be given ‘warnings’ first off rather than charging and proceeding to court.
Don’t really want to say – ‘unless you’re young, black and scum’ – but that’s the guts of it.
The Milky Bar Krud is cooking the books. While keeping the confidence of Serco’s shareholders more or less
Edit: sorry, this was meant to be a response to DTB below.
xox
Did you know NZ has an arrangement for 1000 young Chinese to stay/work in NZ for one year? This has been going for a few years now. I spoke to one last weekend. Most illuminating. The offer is online in China and is snapped up in 5 minutes! I was lucky to talk about what is happening in China from a well spoken, albeit with an American accent, young guy about global and internet issues. A real highlight of my visit to Christchurch.
Ah, Serco, the little big company that just couldn’t.
Public purse private sector parasite
Outsourcing eh? A begging bowl held by private firms to collect the public’s money.
Aue ! This lady is pissed off…….wonder why ? That it might simply be ‘balance’ is a horrible thought.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/9989399/Legal-highs-about-face-a-mockery
Hahahahaha ! What a Dork Dunney ? Gets nothing right. Except the salary and the super’ and the spot at the trough. And lay preacher at some bilious bastion of anal white privilege white wooden church somewhere out Karori way.
Nearly sixty years ago there was a fulla used to turn up at Ellerslie Primary School where I started my education. Called the ‘Funny Doctor’ – wore a bow tie, clown’s nose, drove a little round mudguards Austiny thing – magic tricks – bold checked pants – we loved him us easily pleased five year olds.
Reckon Petey’s the dodgy remittance man of that family.
Paul Henry. TV3. Tonight. Vicious Old Visceral Tory Queen ! On 3 Hundy. Couldn’t give a fuck about ChCh. Where he and his darling ShonKey Python don’t live. But Oh How They Care ! Piece of shit is that Old Queen.
Dull Old Parker. Had VOQ backing off a bit there. Well done DOP. Sad for you VOQ. On two and a half hundy now darling.
This is a likely story http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9992233/Immigration-controls-to-dampen-house-prices
… a New Zealand government using immigration to keep house prices low? Yeah right. Everyone knows that every government opens the immigration taps 12-18 months out from an election. Helen Clark did it. John Key is doing it right now. As long as immigration sits at around 30,000 p.a. then we have upward pressure on house values, and that keeps everyone voting for the incumbent government no matter what.
I just do not believe that a Labour government would not again open the immigration taps to enhance their chances of re-election in the future.
It is the oldest trick in the book.