I would like to submit that the governments minimalist move..on poverty..namely putting the rate at which claw back kicks in on any beneficiaries up to $150 could not be more of a steaming pile of incrementalist bullshit..
..in the sense of seeming to do something…but not really doing anything much at all..
'cos could anyone point to where these $150 p.w. jobs are..?
where beneficiaries trying to earn a bit more money can say to employers..'look..I can only work enough hours to earn $150 p.w…'cos winz claw back 85percent of any money earned above $150..'
the answer is that these jobs don't exist..
and these deeply cynical politicians know this..
they know that this change 'reform' will do absolutely nothing to ease the grinding poverty so many face…and that ardern promised to 'transform'
(that was back in 2016 wasn't it ..?…and we are now in year four' of this 'transforming' government..with so little to show for it..)
and given those no-job realities…this 'reform' could set the new benchmark for neoliberal-incrementalism..
..given it hits both of those two marks of incrementalism..the being able to claim to be 'doing something'..
as it is so often, to be seen doing something is more important that doing something with substance. So we look at the sinking ship that is poverty and we give the people drowning a tea spoon to scoop up the water in the boat.
"Up to 30,000 New Zealanders will be better off as a result of this policy and can keep more of what they earn. For some people this could be up to $70 more a week,” Sepuloni said"
Cost to the taxpayer 320million if they can find 8hrs of work at minimum wage.
Oh good Noel, you're a taxpayer (on your income?); as you will know most of us who do not have systems of off-loading GST as some businesses and wealthy do, are busily paying 15% on everything we do. Probably someone in Revenue is working out a bed tax, and a reversion to the old window tax. There is a cost of living you know, and when people cannot get this much money, or in kind, then they aren't living, more just existing and unhappy with it. Now all good citizens aren't happy knowing that situation. Do you count yourself as a good citizen?
no that is the labour party pandering to itself. Lookit, i am earning my keep, and if the poor wretched of Aotearoa can find a day of work they too get to keep what they earn. Equality!!!!!!!
(I'll concede it could just be cynical old moi…but I swear Ardern is sounding more and more like A Certain Predecessor every day. Soon it will be…"The reality is…" and the transformation will be complete.)
Why only limit your earnings to $150 dollars, if the work is there work the hours if they can be done around school hours etc,, sure some of it gets clawed back but only the amount that the government is paying over the $150 so it is a net gain over the limit. And God forbid it may even lead on to a full time job. You just can't please some people. And blaming Ardern is cynical, nasty and has all the hallmarks of the shit one sees from the right wing nut cases and lumps the naysayers in with those shitheads.
Remember this government has doubled the amount that can be earned without penalty.
And blaming Ardern is cynical, nasty and has all the hallmarks of the shit one sees from the right wing nut cases and lumps the naysayers in with those shitheads.
Well gee. Thanks for that. Anyone who criticizes the Prime Minister has their mental stability called into question. Nice to know.
In the meantime…did you actually listen to the interview with CPAG this morning? Did you actually listen to the interview with Ardern? Have you read the WEAG Report these pesky shithead naysayers keep banging on about?
Yes, well over three years in, the government generously and charitably doubled the amount of the money people on a starvation benefit can earn before Winz claws back its entitlement.
btw, i would like to point out that this amount is already taxed. PAYE. I.e. the government already gets a decent cut, long before the beneficiary with an 8 hour job gets any money.
In 2018, the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) was tasked by the government to review the social security system and recommend changes.
Its more than 200-page report was released in May last year.
…
The Child Poverty Action Group's stocktake of progress on WEAG's 42 key recommendations has found none of them have been fully implemented.
…
Among its recommendations, WEAG wanted benefit levels increased by up to 47 percent, the removal of some sanctions and obligations, better resourcing for frontline staff, changes to the relationship rules and greater urgency around boosting public housing.
The government has previously said work was under way to address 22 of WEAG's recommendations.
Well, yes, directly loading extra costs and penalties onto the business of landlording to try to make it less attractive than other businesses is indeed an approach likely to have some effect.
However, the problem of the unattractiveness of alternative investment strategies in New Zealand remains.
1 What about a non-monetary measure? Requiring landlords – the people who own the property, not just the property managers – to be licensed. To get the licence, they would have to pass a test showing they understand the rules and rights of tenants. The licence could be revoked if they break the rules, giving an effective sanction on bad landlords.
2 Ultimately, professionalise being a landlord and get the “hobby” landlords out of the market, which would, in turn, reduce their demand for houses. Treat rentals like any other business where the customer comes first, rather than a capital return-making scheme with annoying tenants to deal with.
What about allowing ordinary people wanting to invest in a house or two to do that, and then above that they would be in professional landlord territory. This was a past practice and a reasonable way of making an investment available in retirement. One house might be a bach, at (but not too close) to the beach (sea level rise etc), one might be a smaller place to which they could downsize on retirement. That could be a scenario and would be reasonable.
Landlords above that holding, would have to stop playing with people's lives using inflationary credit, which is destroying our economy. This while under neo-liberal rules, we are doing fine. Standards and Poors probably regard us highly, the w…kers.
And the problem of investment strategies being absent is a result of the free market and neolib strategies of under cutting nations’ enterprises by competition by price and quantity using their vertical and horizontal methods that flood the market. And also the fact that there is too much profit cream being dragged out of enterprise, piling up and spoiling, while the meagre substance that is left diminishes the viability of SMEs and micro business.
And those landlords could easily shift debt from being associated with the rental property (where it makes sense to have it now because the interest is tax-deductible) to the family residence (which would be financially beneficial under the proposed scheme).
edit
There is a thick glossy magazine that calls itself Property Investor or such. It can picture on its cover a triumphant example of an investor made good – 21 years old and owns a whole street in South Auckland or such. It isn't the one rental property owner that is the problem I suggest. The smug smiling faces of people who are big owners often built on leverage, are not those with one property. Maybe the LVR will limit the use of leverage.
As for magically fixing the plight of ordinary house hunters in NZ by a few changes to improve matters, you I think need to go to a Christmas pantomime to see that sort of happy change. Let us get started in a reasonable manner, so that we don’t frighten the horses. If things were changed drastically, the politicians would soon withdraw the medicine, leaving us sick at heart, and more despairing.
Make the changes noticeably, but incrementally, with commitment and determination. Let’s do a Covid on it and bring in changes that will make a difference and that we can live with, and ultimately cheer ourselves for being wise as we see the advantages.
Do you not think though that biggest problem is supply (or lack of)?
If the government went back to mass producing pre fabricated houses, over a decade or so the increase in supply would pretty much undercut the speculators.
Anything else is just tinkering around the edges. And as for KiwiBuild, a joke from day 1.
As an aside, at Rolleston Prison they have a brilliant business where houses are effectively rebuilt and then relocated. Provides great trade skill learning for inmates and extra income for their weekly buy ups.
A little creative thinking like that is needed (this was actually an initiative under Judith Collins).
We need to untangle supply of homes from supply of an investment asset.
Fixing the former requires massive investment in urgently building simpler homes where the 'market' has failed – for people to rent in supportive, well-designed and well-serviced communities (so we do not make more ghettos). Prefabs may be part of that in some places. Apartment and townhouse complexes, another.
Fixing the investment side requires firm law changes to make businesses, pension funds, etc more attractive to invest in than housing portfolios. If we do not turn off the tap of cheap money flowing in from the world's financiers, no amount of extra housing will be enough.
Collins did fall as housing minister not that National had a housing minister for most of the 9 years they were in power there was no housing crisis so to avoid awkward questions National didn't have anyone to front media ,housing problem solved.
Kiwibuild provided 600 more houses more than would have been built.
To build the number of houses required the only option to make it happen is prefabricated houses imported plus locally built.
Agreed – but baby steps. This is a nice measure to curb the currently rampant inflation. Reform of the NZSE and a professional, critical, business press to watch it will take longer to establish, and even longer to yield results. It beats the he said she said blame game between govt. and the reserve bank, and might actually do some good.
Brilliant nail-on-the-head piece from Newsroom this morning as a follow up to the sterling work done by Melanie Reid on Oranga Tamariki, CYFs…or whatever the fuck they call themselves these days.
As caregivers we are excluded from the process; made to feel intrusive and problematic if we question too much. And there will be trauma; as yet again they are removed from their hard-won loving and secure environment.
I want our voice heard. Our whānau voice and most importantly the voices of the children. I want them to be able to feel they have the right to say what they want and to have that listened to and embedded in the plan that will shape their destinies.
Because whatever happens their destinies will be changed and it is not them or the people who know them best that will do the shaping. OT controls that narrative.
We also signed up as "transition" foster parents and over 60 children became temporary members of our whanau.
All of those children needed to be taken to a place of safety…none were removed from functioning, safe homes…but it was what CYFS did once the children were safely in care that was the problem.
That, and the dismissive way we as parents were treated if we advocated for these children.
Our second to last child, a newborn, languished in legal limbo for months as social workers tried to force the birth mother to toe their line. She had done nothing wrong. At all. Every few days we contacted the Office to ask what the plan was…and where was the all important Care Plan?
For the last few weeks of the placement we phoned the local office every single working day to remind them they needed to get their shit together. Every single day
Eventually I made an official complaint to the Children's Commission and they put a rocket under CYFS. Baby and Mum were reunited in a supportive environment, which is what should have happened from day one.
Our 'Boss' at CYFS a few days later gave us a bollocking for 'failing to communicate.'
Excellent story. Thanks for the heads up Rosemary.
I'm not sure how many more of them I can read. So distressing.
“Our ‘Boss’ at CYFS a few days later gave us a bollocking for ‘failing to communicate.”
Yes. A familiar path followed by some Public Service agencies – charge the ‘victim’ with supposed failures thus diverting attention from their failures.
Why not think about what we should be doing in this country instead of putting over a fake paint job so all looks good? A 'sweep the dirt; under the rug approach. I think we are too full of unearned self-esteem.
Jacinda Ardern says public bears some responsibility for housing crisis after failed taxation attempts
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is putting some onus on the public for the housing crisis, saying the Government had tried taxation to ease the soaring market three times without public support.
…
Ardern admitted today there is more work to do and said the Government is working on potential solutions.
“There are a range of different issues at play that we need to be responding to across the board, so it’s not just about planning, it’s not just about incomes and deposit and it’s not just about lack of supply, but actually we do need to be doing things on all of those fronts,” she said.
“The idea that one thing is going to make a difference for everyone is just not the case and that’s why we are looking across the board and have been over the last three years.”
Looking, searching, finding nothing and blaming the electorate.
Just brilliant politics, transformational leadership. Kinder, gentler. Bah.
/
There is a section of the community who indulge in hand-wringing about house prices and the next generation – then have conniptions if any remedial measures (e.g. CGT) threaten to hit their back pocket. So she is right about that sort of hypocrisy making things electorally difficult. And it comes more from the sort of people who are 'soft', or potential 'soft', Labour voters – the ones who might (say) push Labour over 50%.
Whereas people who will never vote Labour (like the scowling Mark Richardson) don't suffer from this hypocrisy – they are unambiguous and unapologetic that they will do whatever is necessary to enrich themselves and if others can't keep up it's because they are 'losers'.
A new Horizon Research poll shows more people support than oppose the idea of a capital gains tax.
However, when the poll dug into more detail about the asset classes people owned, opposition was significantly higher.
The nationwide Horizon Research Poll – taken between February 28 and March 15 – found 44 per cent of New Zealand adults supported introducing a capital gains tax and 35 per cent opposed it.
I don't see that there was ever any public dislike for higher income taxes plus supporting measures to ensure earnings aren't moved through trusts and companies. Not the pathetic measure we got.
I don't see too much public pushback if sellers of properties owned for less than 5 years had to pay a withholding tax before the title change was registered. Lawyers and agents to help there. And the ability to gain an exemption certificate for the single home buyer who moves.
I don't see too much public pushback for population shrinking measures including not issuing work visas, killing all permanent resident visas where the holder has not been ordinarily resident here for the last two years and finding out what the 267000 visa holders still here are doing.
I don't see too much public pushback for limiting beneficial interest in domestic residences to 2-3 per person who is domiciled here and 0 for anyone domiciled overseas. Transition period for the first group and none for the second.
I think taxation methods should be decided on the basis of fairness and efficacy rather than on popular opinion as expressed in public opinion polls. Where taxation is concerned the numbers are likely to represent areas of self interest. Also, if a poll is to be held on these matters, everybody needs to be given a chance to express their opinion, not just a small cross section.
Since when did Roger Douglas the pig farmer need "public support" to bring in his harsh regime of economic reform. Rubbish that she needs the public on board. Ardern is known to have said she is risk averse. She has an overwhelming mandate to do whatever she wants and frankly methinks she is happy with the status quo leaving sick and disabled, hungry kids and other unfortunates struggling on. The entire WINZ setup needs bringing into the 21st century and its saddening that people are still struggling on a weekly basis.
When Labour were in opposition they screamed about the house prices increasing under Key (even though they also increased under Helen Clark). Now they are in power, the house prices are still increasing. I really don't think it makes much difference who is in government, while there is excess demand over supply they will keep increasing.
What is the Marlborough Lines company doing owning a winery ! Yealands isn't exactly a premium high end brand IMO just another template Marlborough winery.
Did the unit holders vote this or did the club run lines trusts just go ahead ?
Perhaps stuff can follow up on the peculiar and unhealthy extent of judges' discretion over name suppression orders in NZ which appears to be ongoing. The name is not revealed here.
I see on reading Saturday's Nelson Mail Nov.21 about the death of David Millane, murdered Grace's father, that 'Grace Millane's killer, who cannot be named, was sentenced for life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years in February 2020'.
A QUESTION OF JURISDICTION Suppression in New Zealand criminal proceedings is covered by the Criminal Procedure Act. Judges can issue suppression orders for a number of reasons. These include if they believe there's a risk that naming the defendant could endanger their right to a fair trial, it would cause the defendant "extreme hardship", cause undue hardship to the victim or could cast suspicions on another person.
People who break the order face a prison sentence of up to six months, while companies face a fine of up to $100,000.
Not pretty, peaks at 70% for a couple of days through New Year (would normally be over 100%) and through the normal Feb peak when most hotels would book to 120% and hope 20% don't turn up (mad panic when they do) we're looking at 20%
Strange thing is that the rest of town outside of tourism is going gang busters If you want a builder or other tradie, forget it, 2022 maybe. And morning and evening peak traffic in Frankton is the most insane I've ever seen.
But the pressure is coming on to get a Trans Tasman two way bubble going From chatter in the industry the stumbling block is putting 'clean' travellers from Australia, and New Zealanders going the other way, through 'dirty' airports that are taking people repatriating from outside Australasia. The proposal in the link is for two way travel between Canberra and Wellington. There are other pairings that don't have long haul repatriation as well.
It's been a bugbear of mine for ages, about how the CPI has been manipulated to lower CPI and interest rates by removing housing, and any item that costs to much so people can afford it.
apologies posted this where you may not have seen it.
Can you please read what happened in the 90's, and base your comments and thoughts on that, as with respect, everything else is really just incidentals.
Infoshare isn't being closed, though. So that page should still be retrievable next month.
CPI arcana isn't my field. I suspect you're arguing that because mortgage rates aren't included after 1999 they're not factored into OCR decisions, so therefore the RBNZ can't do anything.
But that's not about keeping CPI down, I suspect it's more because the skyrocketing property market wasn't going to stop because of OCR changes, and including them in OCR calculations would have resulted in a sort of housing stagflation, where every other sector of the economy had the air taken out of it and the housing market was still overheating. And governments for the last 30+years have been terrified of upsetting property speculators by intervening in the property market in any direct and immediate way.
I would have said that the number one reason would be an intractable reluctance by governments to shift the bright line out to ten years and levy long-term-unoccupied dwellings. And of course other people will have issues with free trade capital flows, but I tend towards direct market controls as a preference.
CPI is an aggregate measure, and the OCR is a blunt instrument. Trying to use those two to depress one sector while not hurting the others could well have worked the opposite way to that which was desired, leaving skyrocketing unemployment and still having an overheated property market.
Besides, economic predictions from aggregate measures are like divining the future based on belly lint – everybody has their own brand, each convinced they're correct.
What about writing to the Minister of Stats – David Clark. Proper address Hon. (Name) Min of Stats. Dear Minister….
Ask him to make sure they do not delete his title and position. Tell him that we do nott want to follow the disgrace of the Canadian leader Stephen Harper who in 2014 decided that pesky environmental and fishing stats were not needed.
Wayne Smith says the government's decision to create Shared Services Canada and centralize all information technology services across government has compromised Statistics Canada's ability to fulfil its mandate. "I have made the best effort I can to have this situation remediated, but to no effect," Smith said in a note to the National Statistical Council, which advises him. "I cannot lend my support to government initiatives that will purport to protect the independence of Statistics Canada when, in fact, that independence has never been more compromised,"
and
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4w578d/the-harper-government-has-trashed-and-burned-environmental-books-and-documents …In the first few days of 2014, scientists, journalists, and environmentalists were horrified to discover that the Harper government had begun a process to close seven of the 11 of Canada's world-renowned Department of Fisheries and Oceans libraries, citing a consolidation and digitizing effort as the reason. Reports immediately proliferated that the process was undertaken in careless haste…
Last Sunday, CBC's the Fifth Estate aired an investigation on how the Harper government has dealt with scientists over the past seven years. The doc illustrated a battle between an ideology driven administration and mostly apolitical scientists simply pursuing the facts gleaned from their research, and how it led many to be silenced and defunded. Scientists discussed being hamstrung and dissuaded from pursuing politically inconvenient facts, instances of research that didn't fit policy directives being curtailed or shut down completely; world-renowned researchers who were summarily dismissed and barred from accessing their work; and programs monitoring food inspection, water quality and climate change being reduced. The federal government has dismissed over 2,000 scientists since 2008. ..
…excoriated Harper for a prolonged campaign in muzzling scientists. "The government of Canada—led by Stephen Harper—has made it harder and harder for publicly financed scientists to communicate with the public and with other scientists," wrote Verlyn Klinkenborg. "Now the government is doing all it can to monitor and restrict the flow of scientific information, especially concerning research into climate change, fisheries and anything to do with the Alberta tar sands—source of the diluted bitumen that would flow through the controversial Keystone XL pipeline."
Yeah well I might write, probably not as there is no point without widespread public support. When stats nuts like McFlock don't know what is happening, and don't seem to understand the implications it fills one with a sense of dread.
Stephen Harper has been in NZ many times over the years since Key fled, in discussions with Bill English, and presumably Key and the National Party.
I know this because I met one of his policy advisors while hiking.
But personally I would prefer to deal with the NZ government on their own merits and not what is happening in Canada. I don't need to give them an excuse.
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Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
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. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
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The art of the deal 😆
Trump spends $3 million in Wisconsin recount, gives Joe Biden 132 more votes
I would like to submit that the governments minimalist move..on poverty..namely putting the rate at which claw back kicks in on any beneficiaries up to $150 could not be more of a steaming pile of incrementalist bullshit..
..in the sense of seeming to do something…but not really doing anything much at all..
'cos could anyone point to where these $150 p.w. jobs are..?
where beneficiaries trying to earn a bit more money can say to employers..'look..I can only work enough hours to earn $150 p.w…'cos winz claw back 85percent of any money earned above $150..'
the answer is that these jobs don't exist..
and these deeply cynical politicians know this..
they know that this change 'reform' will do absolutely nothing to ease the grinding poverty so many face…and that ardern promised to 'transform'
(that was back in 2016 wasn't it ..?…and we are now in year four' of this 'transforming' government..with so little to show for it..)
and given those no-job realities…this 'reform' could set the new benchmark for neoliberal-incrementalism..
..given it hits both of those two marks of incrementalism..the being able to claim to be 'doing something'..
..but in reality ..doing s.f.a..
as it is so often, to be seen doing something is more important that doing something with substance. So we look at the sinking ship that is poverty and we give the people drowning a tea spoon to scoop up the water in the boat.
Kinder. Gentler. of course.
Gummitt explanation
"Up to 30,000 New Zealanders will be better off as a result of this policy and can keep more of what they earn. For some people this could be up to $70 more a week,” Sepuloni said"
Cost to the taxpayer 320million if they can find 8hrs of work at minimum wage.
Oh good Noel, you're a taxpayer (on your income?); as you will know most of us who do not have systems of off-loading GST as some businesses and wealthy do, are busily paying 15% on everything we do. Probably someone in Revenue is working out a bed tax, and a reversion to the old window tax. There is a cost of living you know, and when people cannot get this much money, or in kind, then they aren't living, more just existing and unhappy with it. Now all good citizens aren't happy knowing that situation. Do you count yourself as a good citizen?
Yah going to debate this or strawman?
"Cost to the taxpayer 320million if they can find 8hrs of work at minimum wage."
Could you explain this? Are you saying that for every beneficiary that finds 8hrs of work the taxpayer has to pay 320million.
It doesn't make sense
If all eligible beneficiaries find an 8 hr job on minimum wage (150) .
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300105720/beneficiaries-to-keep-more-income-under-1b-labour-welfare-overhaul
so it's a what-if..?…and as far as the real world is concerned..essentialy meaningless..?
Gummitt it appears would disagree with you.
But then politics is about spin.
I agree it is like shifting a tax threshold so you can avoid changing the tax rate which the public might notice more.
Is this govt pandering to voters who hate the guilt that beneficiaries make them feel?
no that is the labour party pandering to itself. Lookit, i am earning my keep, and if the poor wretched of Aotearoa can find a day of work they too get to keep what they earn. Equality!!!!!!!
Covered this morning on Natrad….
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018774955/child-poverty-action-group-dismayed-by-government-inaction-on-overty
With an 'I think she doth protest too much…' from Our Leader.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018774952/prime-minister-disagrees-with-some-findings-in-child-poverty-report
I could go on…but SSDD.
(I'll concede it could just be cynical old moi…but I swear Ardern is sounding more and more like A Certain Predecessor every day. Soon it will be…"The reality is…" and the transformation will be complete.)
Why only limit your earnings to $150 dollars, if the work is there work the hours if they can be done around school hours etc,, sure some of it gets clawed back but only the amount that the government is paying over the $150 so it is a net gain over the limit. And God forbid it may even lead on to a full time job. You just can't please some people. And blaming Ardern is cynical, nasty and has all the hallmarks of the shit one sees from the right wing nut cases and lumps the naysayers in with those shitheads.
Remember this government has doubled the amount that can be earned without penalty.
And blaming Ardern is cynical, nasty and has all the hallmarks of the shit one sees from the right wing nut cases and lumps the naysayers in with those shitheads.
Well gee. Thanks for that. Anyone who criticizes the Prime Minister has their mental stability called into question. Nice to know.
In the meantime…did you actually listen to the interview with CPAG this morning? Did you actually listen to the interview with Ardern? Have you read the WEAG Report these pesky shithead naysayers keep banging on about?
Didn't think so.
Yes, well over three years in, the government generously and charitably doubled the amount of the money people on a starvation benefit can earn before Winz claws back its entitlement.
btw, i would like to point out that this amount is already taxed. PAYE. I.e. the government already gets a decent cut, long before the beneficiary with an 8 hour job gets any money.
You just can't please some people.
Can't even please themselves it seems.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/431739/work-to-reform-welfare-system-unjustifiably-slow-child-poverty-action-group
If only poverty relief could be rammed through without a mandate, with the same unseemly haste as the failed cult of neoliberalism.
The Spinoff has an easy practical measure to deter speculators from gaming our property market and tax system.
Well, yes, directly loading extra costs and penalties onto the business of landlording to try to make it less attractive than other businesses is indeed an approach likely to have some effect.
However, the problem of the unattractiveness of alternative investment strategies in New Zealand remains.
From Stuart's spinoff link – good ideas.
1 What about a non-monetary measure? Requiring landlords – the people who own the property, not just the property managers – to be licensed. To get the licence, they would have to pass a test showing they understand the rules and rights of tenants. The licence could be revoked if they break the rules, giving an effective sanction on bad landlords.
2 Ultimately, professionalise being a landlord and get the “hobby” landlords out of the market, which would, in turn, reduce their demand for houses. Treat rentals like any other business where the customer comes first, rather than a capital return-making scheme with annoying tenants to deal with.
What about allowing ordinary people wanting to invest in a house or two to do that, and then above that they would be in professional landlord territory. This was a past practice and a reasonable way of making an investment available in retirement. One house might be a bach, at (but not too close) to the beach (sea level rise etc), one might be a smaller place to which they could downsize on retirement. That could be a scenario and would be reasonable.
Landlords above that holding, would have to stop playing with people's lives using inflationary credit, which is destroying our economy. This while under neo-liberal rules, we are doing fine. Standards and Poors probably regard us highly, the w…kers.
And the problem of investment strategies being absent is a result of the free market and neolib strategies of under cutting nations’ enterprises by competition by price and quantity using their vertical and horizontal methods that flood the market. And also the fact that there is too much profit cream being dragged out of enterprise, piling up and spoiling, while the meagre substance that is left diminishes the viability of SMEs and micro business.
I thought most landlords in NZ only own one rental property?
And that is increasingly beyond ‘ordinary’ for many New Zealanders, as is owning even the home we live in.
And those landlords could easily shift debt from being associated with the rental property (where it makes sense to have it now because the interest is tax-deductible) to the family residence (which would be financially beneficial under the proposed scheme).
edit
There is a thick glossy magazine that calls itself Property Investor or such. It can picture on its cover a triumphant example of an investor made good – 21 years old and owns a whole street in South Auckland or such. It isn't the one rental property owner that is the problem I suggest. The smug smiling faces of people who are big owners often built on leverage, are not those with one property. Maybe the LVR will limit the use of leverage.
As for magically fixing the plight of ordinary house hunters in NZ by a few changes to improve matters, you I think need to go to a Christmas pantomime to see that sort of happy change. Let us get started in a reasonable manner, so that we don’t frighten the horses. If things were changed drastically, the politicians would soon withdraw the medicine, leaving us sick at heart, and more despairing.
Make the changes noticeably, but incrementally, with commitment and determination. Let’s do a Covid on it and bring in changes that will make a difference and that we can live with, and ultimately cheer ourselves for being wise as we see the advantages.
Make renting a better option.
Do you not think though that biggest problem is supply (or lack of)?
If the government went back to mass producing pre fabricated houses, over a decade or so the increase in supply would pretty much undercut the speculators.
Anything else is just tinkering around the edges. And as for KiwiBuild, a joke from day 1.
As an aside, at Rolleston Prison they have a brilliant business where houses are effectively rebuilt and then relocated. Provides great trade skill learning for inmates and extra income for their weekly buy ups.
A little creative thinking like that is needed (this was actually an initiative under Judith Collins).
We need to untangle supply of homes from supply of an investment asset.
Fixing the former requires massive investment in urgently building simpler homes where the 'market' has failed – for people to rent in supportive, well-designed and well-serviced communities (so we do not make more ghettos). Prefabs may be part of that in some places. Apartment and townhouse complexes, another.
Fixing the investment side requires firm law changes to make businesses, pension funds, etc more attractive to invest in than housing portfolios. If we do not turn off the tap of cheap money flowing in from the world's financiers, no amount of extra housing will be enough.
Collins did fall as housing minister not that National had a housing minister for most of the 9 years they were in power there was no housing crisis so to avoid awkward questions National didn't have anyone to front media ,housing problem solved.
Kiwibuild provided 600 more houses more than would have been built.
To build the number of houses required the only option to make it happen is prefabricated houses imported plus locally built.
Agreed – but baby steps. This is a nice measure to curb the currently rampant inflation. Reform of the NZSE and a professional, critical, business press to watch it will take longer to establish, and even longer to yield results. It beats the he said she said blame game between govt. and the reserve bank, and might actually do some good.
Brilliant nail-on-the-head piece from Newsroom this morning as a follow up to the sterling work done by Melanie Reid on Oranga Tamariki, CYFs…or whatever the fuck they call themselves these days.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/foster-parent-i-want-our-voices-heard
As caregivers we are excluded from the process; made to feel intrusive and problematic if we question too much. And there will be trauma; as yet again they are removed from their hard-won loving and secure environment.
I want our voice heard. Our whānau voice and most importantly the voices of the children. I want them to be able to feel they have the right to say what they want and to have that listened to and embedded in the plan that will shape their destinies.
Because whatever happens their destinies will be changed and it is not them or the people who know them best that will do the shaping. OT controls that narrative.
We also signed up as "transition" foster parents and over 60 children became temporary members of our whanau.
All of those children needed to be taken to a place of safety…none were removed from functioning, safe homes…but it was what CYFS did once the children were safely in care that was the problem.
That, and the dismissive way we as parents were treated if we advocated for these children.
Our second to last child, a newborn, languished in legal limbo for months as social workers tried to force the birth mother to toe their line. She had done nothing wrong. At all. Every few days we contacted the Office to ask what the plan was…and where was the all important Care Plan?
For the last few weeks of the placement we phoned the local office every single working day to remind them they needed to get their shit together. Every single day
Eventually I made an official complaint to the Children's Commission and they put a rocket under CYFS. Baby and Mum were reunited in a supportive environment, which is what should have happened from day one.
Our 'Boss' at CYFS a few days later gave us a bollocking for 'failing to communicate.'
Excellent story. Thanks for the heads up Rosemary.
I'm not sure how many more of them I can read. So distressing.
“Our ‘Boss’ at CYFS a few days later gave us a bollocking for ‘failing to communicate.”
Yes. A familiar path followed by some Public Service agencies – charge the ‘victim’ with supposed failures thus diverting attention from their failures.
Any link possible between this meeting and the assassination of Iran's top scientist?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/23/netanyahu-met-with-mbs-pompeo-in-saudi-arabia-israeli-sources
Just askin.
plus the moving of assets from Ramstein into the region, plus the moving of the Nimitz to the region etc etc etc.
of course its "iran making threats, not the US fucking about, but then its military.com 🙂
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/11/29/carrier-nimitz-returns-gulf-iran-makes-threats.html
Why not start a little war just because, or maybe shit the bed so bad that its hard for Biden to go back to 'what used to be'.
Totally. Pompeo set the scene visiting the occupied territories, something avoided by prior administrations. Provocative and unnecessary unless…….
Two versions, take yah pick.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8997575/Assassination-Irans-nuclear-scientist-involved-62-people-including-12-gunmen.html
https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-iranian-nuclear-scientist-was-killed-by-remote-controlled-gun-report/
Why not think about what we should be doing in this country instead of putting over a fake paint job so all looks good? A 'sweep the dirt; under the rug approach. I think we are too full of unearned self-esteem.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/chch-terror/431738/federation-of-islamic-associations-releases-submission-to-royal-commission-into-terror-attack
Looking, searching, finding nothing and blaming the electorate.
Just brilliant politics, transformational leadership. Kinder, gentler. Bah.
/
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/jacinda-ardern-says-public-bears-some-responsibility-housing-crisis-after-failed-taxation-attempts
There is a section of the community who indulge in hand-wringing about house prices and the next generation – then have conniptions if any remedial measures (e.g. CGT) threaten to hit their back pocket. So she is right about that sort of hypocrisy making things electorally difficult. And it comes more from the sort of people who are 'soft', or potential 'soft', Labour voters – the ones who might (say) push Labour over 50%.
Whereas people who will never vote Labour (like the scowling Mark Richardson) don't suffer from this hypocrisy – they are unambiguous and unapologetic that they will do whatever is necessary to enrich themselves and if others can't keep up it's because they are 'losers'.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/more-kiwis-support-capital-gains-tax-than-oppose-in-new-poll/7WGICVGTR6DISJXD5ZTCDG2G5U/
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/10/nz-election-2020-newshub-reid-research-poll-shows-nearly-half-of-kiwis-think-wealthy-should-be-taxed-more.html
The tail wags the dog. The centre holds. For shame.
I don't see that there was ever any public dislike for higher income taxes plus supporting measures to ensure earnings aren't moved through trusts and companies. Not the pathetic measure we got.
I don't see too much public pushback if sellers of properties owned for less than 5 years had to pay a withholding tax before the title change was registered. Lawyers and agents to help there. And the ability to gain an exemption certificate for the single home buyer who moves.
I don't see too much public pushback for population shrinking measures including not issuing work visas, killing all permanent resident visas where the holder has not been ordinarily resident here for the last two years and finding out what the 267000 visa holders still here are doing.
I don't see too much public pushback for limiting beneficial interest in domestic residences to 2-3 per person who is domiciled here and 0 for anyone domiciled overseas. Transition period for the first group and none for the second.
I think taxation methods should be decided on the basis of fairness and efficacy rather than on popular opinion as expressed in public opinion polls. Where taxation is concerned the numbers are likely to represent areas of self interest. Also, if a poll is to be held on these matters, everybody needs to be given a chance to express their opinion, not just a small cross section.
Since when did Roger Douglas the pig farmer need "public support" to bring in his harsh regime of economic reform. Rubbish that she needs the public on board. Ardern is known to have said she is risk averse. She has an overwhelming mandate to do whatever she wants and frankly methinks she is happy with the status quo leaving sick and disabled, hungry kids and other unfortunates struggling on. The entire WINZ setup needs bringing into the 21st century and its saddening that people are still struggling on a weekly basis.
Absolutely. Highly conservative politics from the PM and Labour.
When Labour were in opposition they screamed about the house prices increasing under Key (even though they also increased under Helen Clark). Now they are in power, the house prices are still increasing. I really don't think it makes much difference who is in government, while there is excess demand over supply they will keep increasing.
What is the Marlborough Lines company doing owning a winery ! Yealands isn't exactly a premium high end brand IMO just another template Marlborough winery.
Did the unit holders vote this or did the club run lines trusts just go ahead ?
Appears not everyone is happy with the board.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/111990926/sugar-in-the-lines-pressure-mounting-on-marlborough-lines-over-yealands-deal
Perhaps stuff can follow up on the peculiar and unhealthy extent of judges' discretion over name suppression orders in NZ which appears to be ongoing. The name is not revealed here.
I see on reading Saturday's Nelson Mail Nov.21 about the death of David Millane, murdered Grace's father, that 'Grace Millane's killer, who cannot be named, was sentenced for life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years in February 2020'.
Information about why NZ Courts can withhold details that would be expected to be public knowledge here: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/117058919/name-suppression-how-the-uniquely-kiwi-hush-hush-policy-became-law-and-morphed-over-a-century?rm=m
And more – as the name was revealed overseas:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/118809571/why-grace-millanes-murderer-still-wont-be-named-after-he-is-sentenced
A QUESTION OF JURISDICTION Suppression in New Zealand criminal proceedings is covered by the Criminal Procedure Act. Judges can issue suppression orders for a number of reasons. These include if they believe there's a risk that naming the defendant could endanger their right to a fair trial, it would cause the defendant "extreme hardship", cause undue hardship to the victim or could cast suspicions on another person.
People who break the order face a prison sentence of up to six months, while companies face a fine of up to $100,000.
Andrew Geddis explains background here: Feb.26/20 https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2020/feb/26/why-are-new-zealanders-still-not-allowed-to-know-the-identity-of-grace-millanes-killer
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/grace-millane-murder-killers-cv-littered-with-more-lies-fantasies/JHE45WQJ6IJ2KRR4NMU4GOELZA/
Nov.24/2019 Grace Millane's murderer told her he was the manager of an oil company – but in reality he had lost his job the day they met and he was in the process of applying for a customer service position.
Not permanent. Up to the Court when it is lifted. If he has made an appeal then probably next year.
It's enough to make a businessman cry!
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/queenstown/party-over-queenstown-not-ok
Destination Queenstown's 30 / 90 day occupancy outlook
Not pretty, peaks at 70% for a couple of days through New Year (would normally be over 100%) and through the normal Feb peak when most hotels would book to 120% and hope 20% don't turn up (mad panic when they do) we're looking at 20%
Strange thing is that the rest of town outside of tourism is going gang busters If you want a builder or other tradie, forget it, 2022 maybe. And morning and evening peak traffic in Frankton is the most insane I've ever seen.
But the pressure is coming on to get a Trans Tasman two way bubble going From chatter in the industry the stumbling block is putting 'clean' travellers from Australia, and New Zealanders going the other way, through 'dirty' airports that are taking people repatriating from outside Australasia. The proposal in the link is for two way travel between Canberra and Wellington. There are other pairings that don't have long haul repatriation as well.
Not sure if anyone is interested as I haven't seen it mentioned.
But Stats archives are about to disappear from easy reach.
https://www.stats.govt.nz/closing-the-old-stats-nz-website/#:~:text=The%20old%20Stats%20NZ%20website%2C%20archive.stats.govt.,frequently%20is%20still%20easily%20available.
It's been a bugbear of mine for ages, about how the CPI has been manipulated to lower CPI and interest rates by removing housing, and any item that costs to much so people can afford it.
This terrifies me, yet no one else seems to care.
PS, this is a warning to you all.
Didn't know there was such a thing, asnd I thought I was a bit of a nz stats nerd.
Probably why they're ditching it – low use and not worth upgrading infrastructure. What's the actual issue?
How governments have manipulated CPI to exclude housing, so the so called independent RBNZ has no control over house prices.
As a nerd I would have thought you would like to go back and see how things change, immigration, CPI basket weighting etc.
Obviously not much of a nerd if you don't understand the implications for those doing research.
But Statsnz reckon the CPI basket still includes housing, and they've even increased its weighting in 2020.
Are you taking the piss.
Bolger and Shipley removed land costs, existing occupied builds and interest rates from the CPI.
That is what they are trying to hide.
Well, maybe there's a copy on the internet archive if you're that upset about it.
.
I've downloaded all the pages McFlock.
As security. I'm not upset about it, what I can't get my head around is why no one else is upset that history is being deleted.
Especially a stats nut like you 🙂
http://infoshare.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/economic_indicators/cpi_inflation/home-ownership-in-the-cpi.aspx#gsc.tab=0
apologies posted this where you may not have seen it.
Can you please read what happened in the 90's, and base your comments and thoughts on that, as with respect, everything else is really just incidentals.
Infoshare isn't being closed, though. So that page should still be retrievable next month.
CPI arcana isn't my field. I suspect you're arguing that because mortgage rates aren't included after 1999 they're not factored into OCR decisions, so therefore the RBNZ can't do anything.
But that's not about keeping CPI down, I suspect it's more because the skyrocketing property market wasn't going to stop because of OCR changes, and including them in OCR calculations would have resulted in a sort of housing stagflation, where every other sector of the economy had the air taken out of it and the housing market was still overheating. And governments for the last 30+years have been terrified of upsetting property speculators by intervening in the property market in any direct and immediate way.
Land prices, the cost of existing builds and interest rats were removed McFlock.
So the weighting of housing in the CPI dropped from 33% to 13%.
Which means house prices can skyrocket and CPI barely moves, so interest rates don't have to increase to bring house prices down.
I have a serious question. Can you really not see that, because it is the number 1 reason we have house prices where they are now.
Not really.
I would have said that the number one reason would be an intractable reluctance by governments to shift the bright line out to ten years and levy long-term-unoccupied dwellings. And of course other people will have issues with free trade capital flows, but I tend towards direct market controls as a preference.
CPI is an aggregate measure, and the OCR is a blunt instrument. Trying to use those two to depress one sector while not hurting the others could well have worked the opposite way to that which was desired, leaving skyrocketing unemployment and still having an overheated property market.
Besides, economic predictions from aggregate measures are like divining the future based on belly lint – everybody has their own brand, each convinced they're correct.
LOL, now I get it, you're Scottish.
So am I you dumb bastard.
No, but my city likes to think it is lol
This page will disappear forever, because now it is becoming MSM news
http://infoshare.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/economic_indicators/cpi_inflation/home-ownership-in-the-cpi.aspx#gsc.tab=0
Check the 90's if you need guidance, and think about the implications.
And why Seymour is "laughingly" asking for those land costs, existing occupied buildings, and mortgage rates being brought back into the CPI.
What about writing to the Minister of Stats – David Clark. Proper address Hon. (Name) Min of Stats. Dear Minister….
Ask him to make sure they do not delete his title and position. Tell him that we do nott want to follow the disgrace of the Canadian leader Stephen Harper who in 2014 decided that pesky environmental and fishing stats were not needed.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/statscan-wayne-smith-resigns-1.3765765
Canada's chief statistician has resigned in protest over what he says is the federal governments' failure to protect Statistics Canada's independence.
Wayne Smith says the government's decision to create Shared Services Canada and centralize all information technology services across government has compromised Statistics Canada's ability to fulfil its mandate.
"I have made the best effort I can to have this situation remediated, but to no effect," Smith said in a note to the National Statistical Council, which advises him. "I cannot lend my support to government initiatives that will purport to protect the independence of Statistics Canada when, in fact, that independence has never been more compromised,"
and
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4w578d/the-harper-government-has-trashed-and-burned-environmental-books-and-documents
…In the first few days of 2014, scientists, journalists, and environmentalists were horrified to discover that the Harper government had begun a process to close seven of the 11 of Canada's world-renowned Department of Fisheries and Oceans libraries, citing a consolidation and digitizing effort as the reason. Reports immediately proliferated that the process was undertaken in careless haste…
Last Sunday, CBC's the Fifth Estate aired an investigation on how the Harper government has dealt with scientists over the past seven years. The doc illustrated a battle between an ideology driven administration and mostly apolitical scientists simply pursuing the facts gleaned from their research, and how it led many to be silenced and defunded. Scientists discussed being hamstrung and dissuaded from pursuing politically inconvenient facts, instances of research that didn't fit policy directives being curtailed or shut down completely; world-renowned researchers who were summarily dismissed and barred from accessing their work; and programs monitoring food inspection, water quality and climate change being reduced. The federal government has dismissed over 2,000 scientists since 2008. ..
…excoriated Harper for a prolonged campaign in muzzling scientists. "The government of Canada—led by Stephen Harper—has made it harder and harder for publicly financed scientists to communicate with the public and with other scientists," wrote Verlyn Klinkenborg. "Now the government is doing all it can to monitor and restrict the flow of scientific information, especially concerning research into climate change, fisheries and anything to do with the Alberta tar sands—source of the diluted bitumen that would flow through the controversial Keystone XL pipeline."
Yeah well I might write, probably not as there is no point without widespread public support. When stats nuts like McFlock don't know what is happening, and don't seem to understand the implications it fills one with a sense of dread.
Stephen Harper has been in NZ many times over the years since Key fled, in discussions with Bill English, and presumably Key and the National Party.
I know this because I met one of his policy advisors while hiking.
But personally I would prefer to deal with the NZ government on their own merits and not what is happening in Canada. I don't need to give them an excuse.