There’s a big difference between investment properties and essential rural workers getting a house for there retirement, I no I need it to happen or it’s looking like a bus for me at 65,
Kiwisaver is designed to be a retirement 'nest egg' in itself, not to help property investment – other than homes to live in yourself (which already undermines the scheme's purpose). Our economy is already over-exposed to that one asset class. Plenty of us will never own our own home, no matter where we rent.
It's not properly investment if you intend it to be your home at retirement, farming is a live in job in many cases, due to lack of options to do otherwise, not to mention that it's an on call 24/7 job once your up at management level ,
I belive the guy in the article covers that, if the applicant has a tenancy agreement with his/her/whatever your calling yourselfs, employer then they are eligible, we pay rent for our houses, .
GST is regressive. Just like supermarkets and gas stations it is not the Kiwi saver managers who will pay this. It will come directly off contributions made just like current fees. The cost compounds as the lost investment can't earn and people will see real impacts on their Kiwi saver funds at retirement. Especially those on low incomes who this will be a larger portion of their contributions.
This is a truly terrible idea and it is crazy that so many people are willing to jump in and defend it simply because Labour are doing it.
$20,000 sounds like a lot – but that would mean that the management fees were $133,000 before that (no talk about that) and the biggie of course is how much would the expected payout be? Obviously it would be greater than a million but without the numbers it's just all hype and bullshit.
It's a free gift to Luxon and he's taking it, gleefully. Very poor political management by Labour. The change can be defended long-term but introducing it in this way … did anyone seriously think that wasn't going to be a headline?
Ardern and Robertson need to take charge here, not Parker.
For those not clued to talkback or other radio or TV please link.
It's a free gift to Luxon and he's taking it, gleefully. Very poor political management by Labour. The change can be defended long-term but introducing it in this way … did anyone seriously think that wasn't going to be a headline?
Every Wednesday the leader of the opposition does the media rounds (a long-standing convention, it predates Luxon). He must have been overjoyed to discover Parker had given him an early Christmas, so he could spend less time talking about National's problems.
I don't see much point defending this stuff-up, because it will be walked back soon.
Pretty much everyone is talking about it at work and out on the jobsite today, anger is palpable and driven by not quite understanding what the change is. But think there will be very little chance of shifting the govt is going to take some of my savings narrative at this point.
Is there any party coordination or consultation on policy releases?
Jacinda appears to have a lot of loose canons in her cabinet and it is not a good look. It is getting hard to defend failed on-the-hoof policies from her administration with this one being the latest, and the second failure of Parker's policy releases in a few weeks.
[David Parker] "There's a lot of misinformation in the media today suggesting that we're charging GST on KiwiSaver contributions. We're not.
"We are proposing to close the loophole whereby some KiwiSaver service providers claim back a lot of the GST they incur from subcontractors where others don't."
That's a bit different to a wealth tax, and all the screeching headlines. (From RNZ)
This implies that it's the providers who will be passing on costs of the tax they have to pay to the savers, not the Govt taking it. Switch to funds who don't do this. ¯_ _(ツ)_/¯
A dairying development planned for the edge of a national park could damage one of the last strongholds of "100% Pure New Zealand", neighbours who oppose the project say.
"It would be just the start of intensified, commercial non-sustainable farming in the Te Anau Basin.
"It’s just the wrong place. This is one of the last strongholds of a clean environment here in New Zealand."
Southland Forest & Bird branch member Jenny Campbell, writing on behalf of Coal Action Murihiku, said a heavy rainfall after an effluent discharge to land could be "an environmental disaster for the Waiau River", which was a huge recreational asset for the Te Anau and Manapouri community.
The project already received consent from Environment Southland, in May last year, to discharge agricultural effluent to land from 1600 cows; to use land to build and use an effluent storage pond; and to use land for the wintering barns.
However, Mr Sliva said he and other Te Anau residents only heard about it after it was approved.
The initial application went through the regional council process as a non-notified consent and he and others only heard of the project about six months ago.
The present application with the district council was the first opportunity they had to take part in the process and the first priority was to "stop the barns", he said.
Hi. Sadly, yea that seems to be the way of it. And a way to “hide” their dirty intentions. As in the opponents only heard 6 months prior…Similar to the situation when some creep….ah, "Developer", cuts down Native Trees..or roots up a NZ Biodiverse area of land…and applies for "Retrospective Consent"…and quite often gets it. Still is shit.
Yesterday I watched a clip of Pakistani folk stuck on a small island in the center of a raging torrent. They were wading into the torrent to collect firewood from the water.
Perched on that island a fire was burning and water being boiled. No food, no apparent way out, still they fight to survive.
Contrast their fragile grip on life with that feckless fatuous fuck Luxon trying to drum up fear of bank fees.
Bwaghorn thinks we should be afraid. Zero clues though of what we should actually be afraid of.
That is some damn fine alliteration ! And yep Luxon..blowing the special dog whistle for all he's worth. And of course Ex ceo Luxon be well Insulated from Lifes Problems anyway.
How in all that is sane can you use the tragedy in Pakistan to defend the government hitting peoples Kiwi savers.
That is some really despicable shit. Whats next? Nats shouldn't mention Sharma because there are child slaves in the Congo. How about the Greens not talk about affordable housing because Yemen is being bombed.
How about you actually defend the Tax policy that will see poor kiwis even more poor when they get to retirement. How about you address the regressive nature of GST and why a Labour governent rather than trying to find ways to not hit those at the bottom with it (GST free groceries) instead find a way to hit them harder.
No one claimed the sky is falling. They claimed that a new tax policy was bad, and within 24 hours the government agreed with them and withdrew it.
You have accused people using hyperbole without providing any evidence of that, and then went on to use an extreme example of it to try and discount their concerns. Again concerns that the government have now accepted.
DB's point was that National are wasting everyone's time with this petty shit instead of addressing climate change, which is currently killing people in poor countries and will eventually kill us too if we don't sort our priorities out.
Which he could have made without comparing it to the floods in Pakistan. A completely unrelated topic that he specifically used to minimise the impact of this.
It is a classic tactic to talk about the smallest number possible when arguing in favour of something like this. However the week to week cost is not the issue here. Someones Kiwi saver contributions don't go up. They won't even notice the change in their pay packet. Where it will hurt is that increase comes out of their contributions. That is money that doesn't get invested in their name and so doesn't earn and grow for their retirement. It is already being speculated that this could cost an average kiwi saver $20,000 in their retirement.
I don't know what DBs financial situation is like but when we have already recently had stories highlighting that people are looking at a $400 a week short fall in their retirement (numbers for people currently in their 40s), then I doubt their is much argument that they can afford to be $20,00 poorer. If there is an argument for that, then the Government needs to make it fast or they deserve every hit the opposition gives them until they do.
Sorry I didn't get issued with a crystal ball to provide you with "cold hard facts". I mean, I don't have any reason to not believe Tax specialist Allan Bullot's assessment, but I am sure you can provide some cold hard facts as to why he was wrong. Although I did read that the IRD's own assessment also came up with just over the $20,000 figure so if that is the case then it is the information the government would have been working off as well.
I suppose if the retirement commision's assessment of retirement savings short falls isn't cold and hard enough for you then I'm not sure what you are after here.
So far I see people providing numbers as to what this will cost as a reason why it is bad. I am sure you can do the same to tell us why it is good. I hope it is a bit better than "it will only cost $4.50 a week" as that has already been addressed.
You poor wee dear you sound like you need a bit of a lie down after all day's activities of (checks notes) getting angry at me for pointing out the fatuous and pointless nature of our opposition.
But you assure one and all it is indeed a wicked affair, borne of evil intent, and your retirement will be trashed, and people are angry, and at work they said angry stuff though they also didn't know what they were talking about and…
oh wait, it got rolled back.
And here's me thinking you were all being forced to the will of some communist doctrine by a corrupt unfeeling regime.
The current Government are in just the same situation as Rob Muldoon in 1984. They have absolutely no idea how to get out of the mess they have created in my opinion.
Some lousy small world ruler you’d be when you only command one time zone and only on the Southern hemisphere at that and possibly only in NZ because you’d peak too early by about 3 weeks.
Anyone who voted Labour in 2020 has a modicum but not a lot of sympathy from me. Who gave Labour the majority government to do what they want? Labour voters did. This isn't a fault, it's the system as intended.
Labour losing thousands of votes to GP and TPM next year is a good thing, because then power will be shared more broadly, more democracy will ensue. Trick will be not losing so many that they can't form government at all.
The Greens done a deal with Schroder to reduce Nuclear baseline generation in exchange for intermittent renewables and Russian gas ,they spent half a trillion dollars on so called renewables (of which most are not co2 free such as wood),now with intergrated electricity system in Europe the price cascade extends.
With the German trade balance now gone,it becomes a debtor market as it borrows for imports,and subsidies for social housing etc.
The UK got themselves in trouble by contracting out energy supply to Europe,(little Russian Gas,but Norway is interconnected for gas and electricity,and France for electricity.They also removed storage for gas ,for a just in time model.
In Germany the Greens are part of the government. As is the German answer to Act the FDP, together with the SPD – Labour in NZ. They call it the Traffic light coalition, Red, Yellow, Green.
that's such an obviousness it's not worth saying. Instead of deflecting, maybe look at the choices here. Labour members can try and do something internally. Voters can be more strategic in who they vote for.
Or, the Greens could realise that they have supported labour without fault every single step at the time and got nowhere.
Btw, the Greens in Germany have been more then once in parliament, and have had considerable success in getting legislation enacted. One of them is hte shut down of the nuclear reactors in Germany.
''They give us the choice between plague or cholera — either global warming or nuclear waste,'' said Michaele Hustedt, a spokeswoman for the Green Party in Germany.
The Greens demanded and won a promise that nuclear plants would be phased out in Germany when they joined the Social Democrats to form a ruling majority in 1998.
and considering that they are still arguing for the phase out in the times of an energy crisis (lol) one could argue that maybe the Greens of Germany do actually have some responsablity considering that they are in government, and actually get stuff done.
Not in NZ. Again , it depends what you see as a success.
Currently you could say that James Shaw is a success for the Labour Party, however, he might not be for the Green Party. What he has achieved for people on the ground remains to be seen.
this is ridiculous. He's introduced a range of climate policies that we didn't have before and that are starting to address the biggest crisis of all time.
it depends what you see as a success.
Indeed, but some people aren't happy, or can't see the wood for the trees. They pull Labour left/green all the time.
I can't list a success as for me they did not have one, unless you consider the Self ID bill 🙂 a success then yes, they did have one, at the expense of non males.
Thanks Arkie for the correction. I guess watching he submissions just traumatised me to the point were i put KereKeres face to this implementation of the Self ID bill. I did not see Jan Tinetti in the submissions, but remember Deborah Russel (she with the back pain and the 'fuck off tweet').
As i said, this was a success for the Greens as this is one of the very few policies were they actually got what they wanted, as did Labour, hence why both parties will not get my vote. You see, i am an identity voter, always have been always will. And that for most part of my life was the reason of either voting L, G or another left leaning party depending the electorate.
Having never voted right in my life, so will not consider that an option. I am sure i will find a nice obscure little third party to cast a vote for.
Hate? Nah, i just can't be bothered with our current three large parties, whom personally i think are no longer fit for purpose considering the storm that is coming.
the Greens could realise that they have supported labour without fault every single step at the time and got nowhere.
The first statement is not true (2002 for example) and the second is obviously subjective, but "nowhere" doesn't stand up.
But more to the point, how can the Greens change National? Can they really say "yes, we're open to some kind of co-operation so we'll just leave climate change to one side and try and work together on plastic bags"? That's what it comes down to. The Greens can't make the Nats be not Nats.
The Greens, or any other third Party should insist on their policies to be enacted should they enter a coalition agreement with other parties. They would then have been elected in large enough numbers to do so, if it comes to that point. Keep in mind that the voters that elected these Green candidates have not elected them to 'change' Labour or National or anyone else for that matter, they have elected the Green Party candidates to word for the Green Party.
I think this 'must change National' 'change Labour' is a bit of a silly idea, one in general that can never be completed. Change must come from within, and currently neither National or Labour are willing to commit to the change needed.
As for the Greens in NZ or Germany for that matter, they are not at all my cup o'tea and i will not cast a vote for them.
yes, because literally the Greens are – in the eyes of L – a wholly owned subsidiary of Labour. 🙂 – this might be a bit extreme wording on my part, but any party that rules out working with other parties is binding themselves to a 'single' Partner, no matter if that has any benefits or not. And that is what the Green in NZ have done.
Hence why the Labour Party has actually no reason whatsoever to even pretend to want to work with the Greens on anything at all, or only on these little things that actually make labour look good.
I doubt that the Greens in NZ would ever get through an agreement to phase out nuclear (hypothetical of course ) energy in order to prop up a Labour government. The best the Greens can get is what they got currently with Shaw on the environmental side, and what they got via KereKere in the Genderwoowoo department.
I would also like to point out – again this is my own humble opinion – that the leader of the Labour Party kneecapped Chlow Swarbruck with the Cannabis referendum. I would like for you to give a thought just for a second to the leader of the country that could not see the political side of locking people up for growing and smoking a plant in 2022, for the huge costs of that law enforcement, the racist practices of locking non whites up at greater number then non whites – who use the good herb at the same if not larger numbers – the missing out on a new industry, GST revenue, and other business tax etc etc etc. You would think that the Leader of the Country who needs this little third Party every other three years to form a coalition would give a care and maybe support some of their better ideas, but then the leader of the country could not find a care nor a bother. And that is something the Green Party needs to reflect on. If the Green Party still has the capacity to actually critically reflect on anything , rather then just reflexively affirm everything cause 'green'.
The Green Party in Germany begs to differ, considering that Germany phased out nuclear power to the point where they now have an energy crisis as Russia is currently holding all the cards whilst the rest of Europe is in the process of folding theirs.
I try not too, but felt compelled in this instance. The Greens are again in coalition with the SPD who is the Social Party of Germany, and the FDP the Free German Party. Red, Green, Yellow.
The Green Party of Germany however is a different beast to the NZ Green Party. Both in age, and in history. In NZ the Green Party has yet to split on 'fundy' vs ' realo' lines. Fundamentalists/environmental Green vs Environmental/Economical/Identity Green. We might have seen a wee crack on that line with the Shaw brouhaha but so far they are still fairly cohesive.
"Who gave Labour the majority government to do what they want? Labour voters did."
If you are referring to people who normally vote Labour the answer is: they were not responsible for the excess vote. National lite voters rewarded the government for the handling of the pandemic and the ChCh massacre.
It was an unexpected result and the outcome included Gaurav Sharma who would never have succeeded in normal circumstances. Lesson… be careful who you choose even if you don't think they're going to win.
I clearly said people who voted Labour in 2020. But sure, regular Labour voters, or regular left wing voters, could easily have voted Green and didn't. Labour having a majority and being free to do what it wants despite MMP is on those voters as much as anyone else. Strategic voting is not rocket science.
It's the same with climate action. My conclusion now is that most liberal NZers don't want meaningful action on climate, because they mostly vote for a government that won't give them that. The upcoming local body elections will be a litmus test.
I was responding to your comment as linked to @8.,1.3, I wasn't sure what you meant which is why I queried it. And don't accuse me of dishonesty weka.
What I said was true. Many people who do not normally vote for Labour did so in 2020. The lesson to be learned by Labour is: be careful who you choose to be candidates even if you don't expect them to win.
Like me, Barfly – normally a Labour voter – was responding to weka's criticism. There were quite a lot of us and by doing so, we made sure the Greens stayed in parliament. So instead of knocking us, say thank-you otherwise we won't bother again.
If you voted Green in 2020 then weka's criticism isn't about you then is it? The hint is in the first line of 8.1.3.1.
You require some random commenter on the internet to thank you for voting sensibly? I haven't 'knocked' anyone here, I have merely pointed out that the Labour party has shown us what their priorities are, that you take that as an insult is on you.
All of us, including those who normally vote Labour, now have a clear demonstration of what the Labour party prioritises when they have no impediments to passing legislation. It’s not about ‘excess vote’ it’s about what the ‘rewarded’ Labour party thinks is worth using their political power to do. If voters want the priorities to be different then they have to vote for a different party, Labour has shown what’s most important to them.
I agree, a Health Minister repeatedly getting offside with the workforce while trying to reform (rebrand) the system.
An Energy Minister allowing Marsden Point to close and be decommissioned to appease a fossil fuel company,
Then there are the 'deserving unemployed' who are due twice the dole as the hoi polloi jobless. Presided over by a PM who freely and happily acknowledges there was a divide created by the reaction to The Virus, while allowing housing unaffordability to continue because ‘thats what homeowners expect’.
What's not to like?
Sounds like you have leapt on a band-wagon with a mish mash of words without identifying what they have done wot they sholdna done… and wot they ain't done what they shoulda done. 🙄
What do you even mean by that? Why do non-labour supporters constantly have to give them credit for some of their bare-minimum actions? I expect better of a supposed left-wing party and I'm happy to criticise any action i see as insufficient. It's not enough to keep voting for them in the hope that they'll behave differently, this is what they are.
This week they are taxing Kiwisaver. No one asked us.
Link please.
It is naive to think that any govt is limited only to the items in their manifesto. Governments have to govern according to the circumstances in the world & NZ, for the benefit of all their citizens ie not only those who voted for them, while pushing as much of the policies through that they had flagged in their manifesto and that provided the point of difference between them and other parties.
If they had this gift of farsightedness that you want them to have, wouldn't that mean they have to put everything they do in a manifesto? If having known about things enough to put them in a manifesto wouldn't they also have taken action to avoid them happening?
Enough with the hyperbole. Look at how this happened. Do you think Ardern sat down and chuckled "let's see what else we can pull"?
Cock-up beats conspiracy most of the time. This was a major cock-up, no doubt about that. But once you start muttering "Secret Agenda" then … plot, lost.
It's a cock up. Parker is a very smart guy who has very poor skills when releasing policies.
He should have been all over the media explaining that this simply adds GST to Kiwisaver fees which are charged as part of a service and where all other financial fees have GST on them because they are a service.
Now it has to be rolled back ASAP.
Luxon was all over it on Morning Report….another new tax …another new tax…we will reverse it and reduce other taxes blah blah blah….not likeable but effective.
Having said that Griffin’s RadioNZ did Labour no favours on Checkpoint last night yet again. The editor should look up the word balance.
You have very poor skills quoting and I doubt you’re very smart. I once knew a very smart guy, but his dancing skills were a health hazard to his dance partner (reminds me of David Seymour on DWTS).
Hosts of far-right conspiracy theory website Counterspin Media are appearing in court today accused of distributing an objectionable publication.
Kelvyn Alp and Hannah Spierer were arrested by police in Christchurch last week.
Alp, who managed to enter the court building without wearing a mask, was clapped and cheered as he entered court.
Dozens of supporters gathered outside the Christchurch Justice Precinct this morning, including white supremacist Philip Arps, former national director of the New Zealand National Front Kyle Chapman and city mayoral candidate Carl Bromley.
I knew of Alp, Arps and fellow white supremacist Kyle Chapman….. but this Carl Bromley nut was new ? And a Mayoral candidate to boot. Far Right scumbags all together. But revealed .
"Whichever way you look at it; either they're sneaky, either they're incompetent or they're shivering, looking for a spine to run up and don't have the courage to fight for something they believe in – none of it's good."
"Parker on Wednesday admitted the move was embarrassing but denied the Government tried to sneak the legislation through without the public knowing."
In that case, perhaps the National watchdog can redirect the laser pointer on the large KS cost: the management fees.
An assumption is that the dollar value of the manager’s basic fees will grow by 5% for 2022 and 10% per annum thereafter. This assumption is supported by the manager’s basic fees growing by an annualised average of 20% for the three years between 31 December 2018 and 31 December 2021. A more conservative 10% assumption is used as the last three years have had historically high investment returns and a lower 5% growth rate for 2022, to reflect that managed funds have generally experienced strongly negative investment returns for the first four months of 2022.
This would be very good. A number of default providers were stripped of their status recently due to excessive fees. One very good thing that has come out of this is that people might be more aware of how much Kiwisaver providers are charging them.
I would be keen to see some legislation around ethical investment for Kiwisaver schemes. At the moment people and providers have to choose to wear a financial cost to invest ethically. Whilst many do, I can't blame those who don't. If all Kiwisaver funds were forced to divest from fossil fuels or companies that have human rights concerns with some of their subsidiaries then it would be a level playing field and do some good.
The media,the opposition,the big banks,the large fund managers,the small fund managers,the IRD and FMA for saying that their models showed it would reduce investments (funds under management) the small people for having the temerity to say the additional costs would subtract their investments (correctly) which have already depreciated.
The depreciation is a polite way of saying the decrease in the asset value.Here with Kiwisaver as the froth came off so called investement stocks etc there was a loss in value of 7.5 billion in the 6 months ending June.
They are very related as the need for a substantive increase in Revenue is needed in 2025,2026, to pay for increased interest on debt that needs to be refinanced.
The printer ran out of paper this morning. This is the second time this week. I immediately called Parliamentary Services to demand an independent investigation, only to be told that I should just put some paper in the machine. The woman I spoke to (I will refer to her as “staffer GH”) got very aggressive with me, so I emailed a complaint to her superior. I outlined in my complaint seventy-three instances of incompetence and bullying in GH’s interaction with me. To date I have heard nothing, even though I sent my email over five minutes ago.”
Fantastic idea yesterday, defended hard this morning, gone this afternoon. Right up there on the u turn scale.
Can we expect the same when the government and the electorate have "conversations" about other proposed legislation later this year? The precedent is set now.
Who were the government spokespeople who said "fantastic idea yesterday, defended hard this morning"? Anybody? Not Ardern, Robertson, anyone else?
A few partisans on blogs did, sure. Nothing new there, a list of Luxon's belated "clarifications" would eat up the internet.
Lefties are far more willing to criticise the "team" than Nats, who effortlessly slide from telling us Simon's a winner to Todd's a winner to Judith's a winner to … Nicola next?
So your answer to my question is "nobody". Again, tell us who was in the media defending this (your claim).
Have you actually followed the detail of the story at all? No.
It wasn't some announcement at the podium, some new flagship policy from Ardern. It was a footnote in a document, which Parker failed to see the implications of. The opposition did, and so they scored a win.
Beg to differ…it was a poorly foreshadowed policy (typical, they seem to have a low opinion of their adversaries) but the actual policy should have been a non event, if they had done the required 'public consultation'…aka explanation.
For a cohort of 'professional politicians' they really are inept….unfortunately we will likely inherit a Nat led gov as a result.
Or perhaps its all of no consequence as the looming recession means they are history anyway.
TBH, I don't really think that he really understands public opinion – let along political framing (he admitted he got blindsided by the opposition to it). He mostly comes across like a policy wonk, who doesn't understand that most of the world doesn't think in numbers.
I agree that there was swift political action today by those in Labour who do pay attention to public opinion. Shutting down the issue (which was, after all a minor piece of technical legislation – of no great importance in the government's plans) – swiftly – was the best action in the circumstances. Letting it trickle on, would have been an even greater gift to the opposition.
However, a chunk of reputational damage has already been done.
It's one of those 'death by a thousand cuts' things – each individual issue isn't significant, but each eats away at the government's support. Labour really can't afford to continue to have political u-turns because their ministers aren't managing the message.
Being right is never cold comfort. The election is not lost: it has not been held yet – are you clairvoyant? More to the point, have any of your predictions proved accurate? (Link please 🙂
Just as clairvoyant as you are.
Given that we have national elections every 3 years, it requires little precognitive ability to predict that someone will lose.
'Crisis' gets used fairly frequently by opposition parties of whatever flavour.
'Shambles' was the go-to destructive NAct critique deployed during the on-going pandemic; I will be forever thankful they weren't in a position to deploy Plan B ASAP.
Makes you wonder how Ardern can dump on NZs biggest-ever MMP majority and flush it down the crapper in under 12 months, with NZ back where we were in Feb 2020.
Yes yes Ad, everyone knows you (and others) think Ardern is shit (and now "impressively shit"), and are happy to use Hooton’s shrewd political judgement in support of your cause, whereas I think this particular evaluation of yours is dim-witted and insulting.
If you want our 6th Labour Govt to go 3 terms, then imho your continuing anti-Ardern crusade is an exemplar of "cutting off one's nose to spite one's face."
If NAct sweep to power in 2023, then their party-sponsored keptocracy will be back with a vengeance, and the hollow men and women will gut and gorge, leaving huge quantities of unmet need in their wake – it's in their DNA.
As an analogy, if you want to strengthen the immune system and evoke a strong response when needed, then you need to keep throwing shit at it all the time.
If I'm grokking your analogy, then are Ad's distasteful anti-Ardern jibes training Labour's immune system, or evidence of lupus? And can one more turd be a useful addition to the daily mountain of shit thrown Ardern's way?
Made a private commitment that I would Party vote National if one of their leaders publicly repudiated the political obscenity that was (and is) Dirty Politics – I doubt that the Green Party will be loosing my vote anytime soon.
Politics is cutthroat, not kind, but give a little logic and fairness its due too.
Yeah right. Sadly Labour has a history of infighting…and biting their own. And Ad has been criticising Jacinda here for quite a while. I, like many others, wonder at his motives? IMO throwing shit at her..is not productive..in any way.
Drowsy M. Kram. thanks for the reply and the PlanB reference. I note that PlanB has had no further input from its "expert and passionate (sigh)" people since December 2021.
Maybe they had a Damascus experience when some facts like yours gave them "a sign".
Bit like National. How many times did we hear "the government needs to…"? They had several plans, all in opposition to the government. "Too soon….too late….. never……"
Thanks Mac1. Yes, Plan B has gone off the boil now that the borders are open and 'freedum' has returned to our "mysterious socialist hermit kingdom."
Hope Kiwis don't forget the pandemic lessons learned (so far) too quickly.
Lots of (too many!) links:
8 Lessons We Can Learn From the COVID-19 Pandemic
[14 May 2021]
“Humanity's memory is short, and what is not ever-present fades quickly,” says Manisha Juthani, MD, a Yale Medicine infectious diseases specialist. The bubonic plague, for example, ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages—resurfacing again and again—but once it was under control, people started to forget about it, she says. “So, I would say one major lesson from a public health or infectious disease perspective is that it’s important to remember and recognize our history. This is a period we must remember.”
9 Things Everyone Should Know About the Coronavirus Outbreak
Experts are paying close attention to the latest Omicron strains.
[11 August 2022]
1. COVID-19: By the numbers
2. The virus can spread in multiple ways.
3. The virus continues to change.
4. Long COVID is still not well understood.
5. Vaccines are key to preventing severe illness and hospitalization.
6. There are steps you can take to prevent infection.
7. Experts continue to work on COVID-19 treatments.
8. If you feel ill, here's what you should do.
9. Be aware of the information and resources that are available to you.
Lessons learned
Epidemiologists share lessons they’ve learned from the coronavirus pandemic. [17 August 2022]
“Trust in science. Please, I beg you, trust in science, and do not under any circumstances discount what people who have spent their entire lives learning how to fight these diseases have to say. This is not political, diseases never will be, so please have a grain of common sense and decency; protect yourself, and by extension those around you.” — William Roberts, Powder Springs, Ga.
“People you love are going to suffer mental illness under these awful circumstances. They will let you down in spectacular ways, but you have to forgive them or you lose twice.” — Lenna Pierce, Brooklyn, N.Y.
“I wouldn’t have tried as hard to convince friends and family to comply with public health measures. They were never going to listen to anything I had to say; all I accomplished was losing relationships.” — Jess, Pittsburgh, Pa.
“Listen to public health officials. Elevate them and do not make a pandemic a political issue. A pandemic is an apolitical animal. Be humble and submit to public health measures. Do not be a vector. Isolate and enjoy your solitude.” — Usha Srinivasan, Bel Air, Md.
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
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A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
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https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/129698867/kiwisaver-rules-prevent-young-farmers-from-buying-their-own-home
Sooner rather than later would be good minister Clark
Kiwisaver rules stop people from using the funds as investment that fuels the housing crisis.
fify.
Yeah so fuck rural workers ,
There’s a big difference between investment properties and essential rural workers getting a house for there retirement, I no I need it to happen or it’s looking like a bus for me at 65,
Kiwisaver is designed to be a retirement 'nest egg' in itself, not to help property investment – other than homes to live in yourself (which already undermines the scheme's purpose). Our economy is already over-exposed to that one asset class. Plenty of us will never own our own home, no matter where we rent.
It's not properly investment if you intend it to be your home at retirement, farming is a live in job in many cases, due to lack of options to do otherwise, not to mention that it's an on call 24/7 job once your up at management level ,
How would you word an exemption?
I belive the guy in the article covers that, if the applicant has a tenancy agreement with his/her/whatever your calling yourselfs, employer then they are eligible, we pay rent for our houses, .
Luxons got a stop the retirement tax site up in running, labour is fucked, it's wall to wall wealth tax on the am show.
Say that in English, and then maybe we will know what you're talking about.
I second that. Retirement tax, wealth tax? What the …….?
"Fear of bank fees" is the sound bite to counter this horse shit.
GST is regressive. Just like supermarkets and gas stations it is not the Kiwi saver managers who will pay this. It will come directly off contributions made just like current fees. The cost compounds as the lost investment can't earn and people will see real impacts on their Kiwi saver funds at retirement. Especially those on low incomes who this will be a larger portion of their contributions.
This is a truly terrible idea and it is crazy that so many people are willing to jump in and defend it simply because Labour are doing it.
It's going to cost the average kiwisaver account $20 ,000 over its term apparently.
Evidence please. Facts and figures.
$20,000 sounds like a lot – but that would mean that the management fees were $133,000 before that (no talk about that) and the biggie of course is how much would the expected payout be? Obviously it would be greater than a million but without the numbers it's just all hype and bullshit.
It's a free gift to Luxon and he's taking it, gleefully. Very poor political management by Labour. The change can be defended long-term but introducing it in this way … did anyone seriously think that wasn't going to be a headline?
Ardern and Robertson need to take charge here, not Parker.
Being sneaky about it was never going to work. Bad advice/decisions.
For those not clued to talkback or other radio or TV please link.
Link: all media this morning.
Every Wednesday the leader of the opposition does the media rounds (a long-standing convention, it predates Luxon). He must have been overjoyed to discover Parker had given him an early Christmas, so he could spend less time talking about National's problems.
I don't see much point defending this stuff-up, because it will be walked back soon.
Pretty much everyone is talking about it at work and out on the jobsite today, anger is palpable and driven by not quite understanding what the change is. But think there will be very little chance of shifting the govt is going to take some of my savings narrative at this point.
I don't see much point defending this stuff-up, because it will be walked back soon.
And now this has already happened, Parker confirms.
It was very predictable.
National opposes a small tax on banks, should be the headline. It is not on your Kiwisaver. Luxon is financially illiterate. Or lying.
Labour giving in to the framing is an own goal.
Which happens way to often.
Because they didn't frame it. If a government makes an announcement, they have first mover advantage.
Parker didn't use it, so the opposition did it for him. Basic error.
Apparently Parker has now scrapped the Tax.
Is there any party coordination or consultation on policy releases?
Jacinda appears to have a lot of loose canons in her cabinet and it is not a good look. It is getting hard to defend failed on-the-hoof policies from her administration with this one being the latest, and the second failure of Parker's policy releases in a few weeks.
Getting a little depressed by this.
edit. (Loose cannons.)
There’s an awful lot proposed in the Tax Bill, way too much to cover in one or two announcements.
That's a bit different to a wealth tax, and all the screeching headlines. (From RNZ)
This implies that it's the providers who will be passing on costs of the tax they have to pay to the savers, not the Govt taking it. Switch to funds who don't do this. ¯_ _(ツ)_/¯
“a non-notified consent” ? WTF !? Seems like this should have been…at the very least ! Good that people are Activating about it. Fight back !
rural land has long had a lot of leeway in what can be done on it. That's why we're in the mess we are in.
When applications are heard as non-notified, consent being granted is usually a foregone conclusion from my experience.
Hi. Sadly, yea that seems to be the way of it. And a way to “hide” their dirty intentions. As in the opponents only heard 6 months prior…Similar to the situation when some creep….ah, "Developer", cuts down Native Trees..or roots up a NZ Biodiverse area of land…and applies for "Retrospective Consent"…and quite often gets it. Still is shit.
Collaborating is bad for you.
https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1564261285243432960
https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1564534663430807553
Yesterday I watched a clip of Pakistani folk stuck on a small island in the center of a raging torrent. They were wading into the torrent to collect firewood from the water.
Perched on that island a fire was burning and water being boiled. No food, no apparent way out, still they fight to survive.
Contrast their fragile grip on life with that feckless fatuous fuck Luxon trying to drum up fear of bank fees.
Bwaghorn thinks we should be afraid. Zero clues though of what we should actually be afraid of.
These clowns will be the death of us.
That is some damn fine alliteration ! And yep Luxon..blowing the special dog whistle for all he's worth. And of course Ex ceo Luxon be well Insulated from Lifes Problems anyway.
Sadly the scumbag will get attention from this….
How in all that is sane can you use the tragedy in Pakistan to defend the government hitting peoples Kiwi savers.
That is some really despicable shit. Whats next? Nats shouldn't mention Sharma because there are child slaves in the Congo. How about the Greens not talk about affordable housing because Yemen is being bombed.
How about you actually defend the Tax policy that will see poor kiwis even more poor when they get to retirement. How about you address the regressive nature of GST and why a Labour governent rather than trying to find ways to not hit those at the bottom with it (GST free groceries) instead find a way to hit them harder.
How about you understand what you are talking about before you talk about it.
"Despicable shit"
No, the reality of the world vs your hyperbolic bullshit.
You're the one talking about the Floods and the struggle of the people in Pakistan yet call me hyperbolic. Perhaps a bit of self reflection mate.
One is an actual catastrophe, one is a blithering idiot trying to appear relevant.
But go ahead: other than torrential rains, tell me exactly how the sky is falling?
No one claimed the sky is falling. They claimed that a new tax policy was bad, and within 24 hours the government agreed with them and withdrew it.
You have accused people using hyperbole without providing any evidence of that, and then went on to use an extreme example of it to try and discount their concerns. Again concerns that the government have now accepted.
https://twitter.com/pilcher_pat/status/1564727538655830016
DB's point was that National are wasting everyone's time with this petty shit instead of addressing climate change, which is currently killing people in poor countries and will eventually kill us too if we don't sort our priorities out.
Which he could have made without comparing it to the floods in Pakistan. A completely unrelated topic that he specifically used to minimise the impact of this.
It is a classic tactic to talk about the smallest number possible when arguing in favour of something like this. However the week to week cost is not the issue here. Someones Kiwi saver contributions don't go up. They won't even notice the change in their pay packet. Where it will hurt is that increase comes out of their contributions. That is money that doesn't get invested in their name and so doesn't earn and grow for their retirement. It is already being speculated that this could cost an average kiwi saver $20,000 in their retirement.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/08/government-s-planned-gst-charge-on-kiwisaver-a-brand-new-tax-specialist-says.html
I don't know what DBs financial situation is like but when we have already recently had stories highlighting that people are looking at a $400 a week short fall in their retirement (numbers for people currently in their 40s), then I doubt their is much argument that they can afford to be $20,00 poorer. If there is an argument for that, then the Government needs to make it fast or they deserve every hit the opposition gives them until they do.
https://theconversation.com/a-400-a-week-shortfall-people-in-their-40s-face-a-bleak-retirement-on-kiwisavers-current-trajectory-185576#:~:text=The%20gap%20between%20retirement%20and,is%20relatively%20uninformative%20by%20itself.
"It is already being speculated that this could …"
" …we have already recently had stories …"
Good to read those cold, hard facts.
Succinct, and all that.
Sorry I didn't get issued with a crystal ball to provide you with "cold hard facts". I mean, I don't have any reason to not believe Tax specialist Allan Bullot's assessment, but I am sure you can provide some cold hard facts as to why he was wrong. Although I did read that the IRD's own assessment also came up with just over the $20,000 figure so if that is the case then it is the information the government would have been working off as well.
I suppose if the retirement commision's assessment of retirement savings short falls isn't cold and hard enough for you then I'm not sure what you are after here.
So far I see people providing numbers as to what this will cost as a reason why it is bad. I am sure you can do the same to tell us why it is good. I hope it is a bit better than "it will only cost $4.50 a week" as that has already been addressed.
You poor wee dear you sound like you need a bit of a lie down after all day's activities of (checks notes) getting angry at me for pointing out the fatuous and pointless nature of our opposition.
But you assure one and all it is indeed a wicked affair, borne of evil intent, and your retirement will be trashed, and people are angry, and at work they said angry stuff though they also didn't know what they were talking about and…
oh wait, it got rolled back.
And here's me thinking you were all being forced to the will of some communist doctrine by a corrupt unfeeling regime.
Crashcart will be in celebration-mode now, because… nothing happened – the dream of good conservatives everywhere!
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/tax-bill-removes-fbt-public-transport
At last
https://twitter.com/StuartBDonovan/status/1564448657508040704
Yup, about time.
Luxon and his lamentable crew will play
Tax and spend,
Taking your money,
Law and order,
Wasteful benefit spending,
Lack of productivity,
Poor Auckland,
Have not done anything,
Keep water local.
As having Policy that can be pulled to bits is too hard. National is avoiding creating any accountable targets, it is all slogans.
Creating memes.
We need our list.
Stop greed
Clean water
Living wage
Fair safe work
As they are remembered and repeated.
Pretty hard to see Labour turning it around after this month.
Lost the crime narrative, despite ample facts.
Lost the tax narrative, by doing so little.
Lost welfare narrative with botched CPI rollout.
Lost the health narrative, amazingly, with crisis-filled health system.
The massive subsidies its providing have been a terrible substitute for economic reform.
Lost the 'be loyal' sentiment by screwing with Kiwibank and Kiwisaver.
Labour look Lost because they are.
Yes, it almost seems like Labour do not want a third term. Is the mess that big?
Unfortunately yes. The mess really is that bad.
The current Government are in just the same situation as Rob Muldoon in 1984. They have absolutely no idea how to get out of the mess they have created in my opinion.
With friends like you Ad……
If I ruled the world every day would be the first day of spring.
II therefore command spring to start in 14 hours.
Some lousy small world ruler you’d be when you only command one time zone and only on the Southern hemisphere at that and possibly only in NZ because you’d peak too early by about 3 weeks.
How many here are Kiwibank customers like me?
Three weeks ago they sold out our Kiwisaver to Fisher Funds for $310m. No one asked us.
Two weeks ago the government bought half it back for $2,1 billion. No one asked us.
This week they are taxing Kiwisaver. No one asked us.
None of these moves were on their manifesto.
None were in the budget.
Kiwibank has only 6% of the mortgage market but a long and loyal customer base.
Customers are voters.
Ardern may want to argue about chocolate wrappers but she is going to lose thousands of votes along with thousands of customers.
Labour looks like it could not run a bath.
Anyone who voted Labour in 2020 has a modicum but not a lot of sympathy from me. Who gave Labour the majority government to do what they want? Labour voters did. This isn't a fault, it's the system as intended.
Labour losing thousands of votes to GP and TPM next year is a good thing, because then power will be shared more broadly, more democracy will ensue. Trick will be not losing so many that they can't form government at all.
Greens are being matched with the significant damage they have done to the German economy,and Europe in General,
https://twitter.com/Schuldensuehner/status/1564642002008002560?cxt=HHwWgMC-pY3n3LYrAAAA
you're blaming the Greens in Germany for inflation in Germany and the rest of Europe?
The Greens done a deal with Schroder to reduce Nuclear baseline generation in exchange for intermittent renewables and Russian gas ,they spent half a trillion dollars on so called renewables (of which most are not co2 free such as wood),now with intergrated electricity system in Europe the price cascade extends.
With the German trade balance now gone,it becomes a debtor market as it borrows for imports,and subsidies for social housing etc.
The UK got themselves in trouble by contracting out energy supply to Europe,(little Russian Gas,but Norway is interconnected for gas and electricity,and France for electricity.They also removed storage for gas ,for a just in time model.
When you're out of government there's no power to redistribute.
Best of luck dividing zero.
In Germany the Greens are part of the government. As is the German answer to Act the FDP, together with the SPD – Labour in NZ. They call it the Traffic light coalition, Red, Yellow, Green.
that's such an obviousness it's not worth saying. Instead of deflecting, maybe look at the choices here. Labour members can try and do something internally. Voters can be more strategic in who they vote for.
Or, the Greens could realise that they have supported labour without fault every single step at the time and got nowhere.
Btw, the Greens in Germany have been more then once in parliament, and have had considerable success in getting legislation enacted. One of them is hte shut down of the nuclear reactors in Germany.
From 2003
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/nov/15/germany.nuclearpower
from 2003
https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/18/business/after-heat-wave-europe-gives-nuclear-power-a-second-look.html
and considering that they are still arguing for the phase out in the times of an energy crisis (lol) one could argue that maybe the Greens of Germany do actually have some responsablity considering that they are in government, and actually get stuff done.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/germany-s-greens-oppose-nuclear-power-despite-looming-crisis/2650837
Maybe it would be best not to compare the German Green Party to the NZ Green Party.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_90/The_Greens
That's bizarrely ahistorical.
Not in NZ. Again , it depends what you see as a success.
Currently you could say that James Shaw is a success for the Labour Party, however, he might not be for the Green Party. What he has achieved for people on the ground remains to be seen.
this is ridiculous. He's introduced a range of climate policies that we didn't have before and that are starting to address the biggest crisis of all time.
Indeed, but some people aren't happy, or can't see the wood for the trees. They pull Labour left/green all the time.
can you really not see the Green Party policy being enacted over the years?
I see what has been enacted. I see to fail how it serves the public, and I say this as someone who until 2014 has given votes to the Green.
this is vague hand waving. Be specific or it's useless dialogue.
I can't list a success as for me they did not have one, unless you consider the Self ID bill 🙂 a success then yes, they did have one, at the expense of non males.
Put forward by Jan Tinetti who isn't from the Greens, passed in 2021 when Labour have an absolute majority…
Your hostility to the Greens is irrational.
Thanks Arkie for the correction. I guess watching he submissions just traumatised me to the point were i put KereKeres face to this implementation of the Self ID bill. I did not see Jan Tinetti in the submissions, but remember Deborah Russel (she with the back pain and the 'fuck off tweet').
As i said, this was a success for the Greens as this is one of the very few policies were they actually got what they wanted, as did Labour, hence why both parties will not get my vote. You see, i am an identity voter, always have been always will. And that for most part of my life was the reason of either voting L, G or another left leaning party depending the electorate.
Having never voted right in my life, so will not consider that an option. I am sure i will find a nice obscure little third party to cast a vote for.
Hate? Nah, i just can't be bothered with our current three large parties, whom personally i think are no longer fit for purpose considering the storm that is coming.
https://www.greens.org.nz/green_party_celebrates_self_id_legislation
the Greens could realise that they have supported labour without fault every single step at the time and got nowhere.
The first statement is not true (2002 for example) and the second is obviously subjective, but "nowhere" doesn't stand up.
But more to the point, how can the Greens change National? Can they really say "yes, we're open to some kind of co-operation so we'll just leave climate change to one side and try and work together on plastic bags"? That's what it comes down to. The Greens can't make the Nats be not Nats.
The Greens, or any other third Party should insist on their policies to be enacted should they enter a coalition agreement with other parties. They would then have been elected in large enough numbers to do so, if it comes to that point. Keep in mind that the voters that elected these Green candidates have not elected them to 'change' Labour or National or anyone else for that matter, they have elected the Green Party candidates to word for the Green Party.
I think this 'must change National' 'change Labour' is a bit of a silly idea, one in general that can never be completed. Change must come from within, and currently neither National or Labour are willing to commit to the change needed.
As for the Greens in NZ or Germany for that matter, they are not at all my cup o'tea and i will not cast a vote for them.
What are you on about?
The Greens aren't in coalition with Labour. Labour have a majority.
In 2017, Labour had a coalition agreement with NZF, and a C/S agreement with the Greens.
yes, because literally the Greens are – in the eyes of L – a wholly owned subsidiary of Labour. 🙂 – this might be a bit extreme wording on my part, but any party that rules out working with other parties is binding themselves to a 'single' Partner, no matter if that has any benefits or not. And that is what the Green in NZ have done.
Hence why the Labour Party has actually no reason whatsoever to even pretend to want to work with the Greens on anything at all, or only on these little things that actually make labour look good.
I doubt that the Greens in NZ would ever get through an agreement to phase out nuclear (hypothetical of course ) energy in order to prop up a Labour government. The best the Greens can get is what they got currently with Shaw on the environmental side, and what they got via KereKere in the Genderwoowoo department.
I would also like to point out – again this is my own humble opinion – that the leader of the Labour Party kneecapped Chlow Swarbruck with the Cannabis referendum. I would like for you to give a thought just for a second to the leader of the country that could not see the political side of locking people up for growing and smoking a plant in 2022, for the huge costs of that law enforcement, the racist practices of locking non whites up at greater number then non whites – who use the good herb at the same if not larger numbers – the missing out on a new industry, GST revenue, and other business tax etc etc etc. You would think that the Leader of the Country who needs this little third Party every other three years to form a coalition would give a care and maybe support some of their better ideas, but then the leader of the country could not find a care nor a bother. And that is something the Green Party needs to reflect on. If the Green Party still has the capacity to actually critically reflect on anything , rather then just reflexively affirm everything cause 'green'.
Politics does not work the way you seem to believe it does.
The Green Party in Germany begs to differ, considering that Germany phased out nuclear power to the point where they now have an energy crisis as Russia is currently holding all the cards whilst the rest of Europe is in the process of folding theirs.
Leverage is the thing. Otherwise 'insisting' makes no difference.
Without comparing the other political parties around them.
I try not too, but felt compelled in this instance. The Greens are again in coalition with the SPD who is the Social Party of Germany, and the FDP the Free German Party. Red, Green, Yellow.
The Green Party of Germany however is a different beast to the NZ Green Party. Both in age, and in history. In NZ the Green Party has yet to split on 'fundy' vs ' realo' lines. Fundamentalists/environmental Green vs Environmental/Economical/Identity Green. We might have seen a wee crack on that line with the Shaw brouhaha but so far they are still fairly cohesive.
All comparisons are wrong, but some are useful 😉
"Who gave Labour the majority government to do what they want? Labour voters did."
If you are referring to people who normally vote Labour the answer is: they were not responsible for the excess vote. National lite voters rewarded the government for the handling of the pandemic and the ChCh massacre.
It was an unexpected result and the outcome included Gaurav Sharma who would never have succeeded in normal circumstances. Lesson… be careful who you choose even if you don't think they're going to win.
I clearly said people who voted Labour in 2020. But sure, regular Labour voters, or regular left wing voters, could easily have voted Green and didn't. Labour having a majority and being free to do what it wants despite MMP is on those voters as much as anyone else. Strategic voting is not rocket science.
It's the same with climate action. My conclusion now is that most liberal NZers don't want meaningful action on climate, because they mostly vote for a government that won't give them that. The upcoming local body elections will be a litmus test.
Just be honest about it.
I was responding to your comment as linked to @8.,1.3, I wasn't sure what you meant which is why I queried it. And don't accuse me of dishonesty weka.
What I said was true. Many people who do not normally vote for Labour did so in 2020. The lesson to be learned by Labour is: be careful who you choose to be candidates even if you don't expect them to win.
Btw, I voted for the Greens in 2020.
Oi!
regular Labour voters, or regular left wing voters, could easily have voted Green and didn't
I did
Then that comment isn't about you is it?
Like me, Barfly – normally a Labour voter – was responding to weka's criticism. There were quite a lot of us and by doing so, we made sure the Greens stayed in parliament. So instead of knocking us, say thank-you otherwise we won't bother again.
If you voted Green in 2020 then weka's criticism isn't about you then is it? The hint is in the first line of 8.1.3.1.
You require some random commenter on the internet to thank you for voting sensibly? I haven't 'knocked' anyone here, I have merely pointed out that the Labour party has shown us what their priorities are, that you take that as an insult is on you.
Well done, Barfly!
You done right!
🙂
Wot about me. 🙁
You're a champion, Anne! All credit to you. Thank you very much!
All of us, including those who normally vote Labour, now have a clear demonstration of what the Labour party prioritises when they have no impediments to passing legislation. It’s not about ‘excess vote’ it’s about what the ‘rewarded’ Labour party thinks is worth using their political power to do. If voters want the priorities to be different then they have to vote for a different party, Labour has shown what’s most important to them.
I agree, a Health Minister repeatedly getting offside with the workforce while trying to reform (rebrand) the system.
An Energy Minister allowing Marsden Point to close and be decommissioned to appease a fossil fuel company,
Then there are the 'deserving unemployed' who are due twice the dole as the hoi polloi jobless. Presided over by a PM who freely and happily acknowledges there was a divide created by the reaction to The Virus, while allowing housing unaffordability to continue because ‘thats what homeowners expect’.
What's not to like?
Uggh? The other way round imo.
"
Uggh? The other way round imo."
Do you mind expanding a little on that Anne?
My reckons have it health staff have gone above and beyond the last 8 or so years and in particular the last 33 months, especially front line staff.
Sounds like you have leapt on a band-wagon with a mish mash of words without identifying what they have done wot they sholdna done… and wot they ain't done what they shoulda done. 🙄
What do you even mean by that? Why do non-labour supporters constantly have to give them credit for some of their bare-minimum actions? I expect better of a supposed left-wing party and I'm happy to criticise any action i see as insufficient. It's not enough to keep voting for them in the hope that they'll behave differently, this is what they are.
Ad @ 8 correction "they are taxing Kiwisaver" Should be
"They are taxing Kiwisaver fees."
Yeah nah.
This government does policy like Wellington weather.
I know that Wellington has been having a pretty bad run of weather lately but it hasn't been that bad.
If the weather had been as bad as the Governments actions the whole city would have been flattened and then washed out to sea.
We bank with Kiwibank and we both have Kiwisaver accounts with them.
I have just checked and we are already charged GST on part of our Kiwisaver fees. A piddly amount really.
This whole 'taxing my investment!!!!' is just fixing loopholes where some financial institutions charge GST and some don't.
Are youse allergic to paragraphs?
Link please.
It is naive to think that any govt is limited only to the items in their manifesto. Governments have to govern according to the circumstances in the world & NZ, for the benefit of all their citizens ie not only those who voted for them, while pushing as much of the policies through that they had flagged in their manifesto and that provided the point of difference between them and other parties.
If they had this gift of farsightedness that you want them to have, wouldn't that mean they have to put everything they do in a manifesto? If having known about things enough to put them in a manifesto wouldn't they also have taken action to avoid them happening?
Unmandated tax causes war and causes governments to fall.
This is from the same government leader that said she would never, ever tax wealth.
You were warned.
Enough with the hyperbole. Look at how this happened. Do you think Ardern sat down and chuckled "let's see what else we can pull"?
Cock-up beats conspiracy most of the time. This was a major cock-up, no doubt about that. But once you start muttering "Secret Agenda" then … plot, lost.
Both kill governments.
There has been an apology for nothing.
Ardern needs a re-set.
It's a cock up. Parker is a very smart guy who has very poor skills when releasing policies.
He should have been all over the media explaining that this simply adds GST to Kiwisaver fees which are charged as part of a service and where all other financial fees have GST on them because they are a service.
Now it has to be rolled back ASAP.
Luxon was all over it on Morning Report….another new tax …another new tax…we will reverse it and reduce other taxes blah blah blah….not likeable but effective.
Having said that Griffin’s RadioNZ did Labour no favours on Checkpoint last night yet again. The editor should look up the word balance.
That's a bit of a contradiction….."Parker is a very smart guy who has very poor skills"
He's one or the other and IMO he has very poor skills and this is a good example of that.
No, there are many people who fit that description. Plenty of academics, for example!
Don Brash is a very smart guy with a PhD, and was a hopeless politician.
You have very poor skills quoting and I doubt you’re very smart. I once knew a very smart guy, but his dancing skills were a health hazard to his dance partner (reminds me of David Seymour on DWTS).
Ministers have comms advisors. What on earth were they thinking?
it's all over the news.
I knew of Alp, Arps and fellow white supremacist Kyle Chapman….. but this Carl Bromley nut was new ? And a Mayoral candidate to boot. Far Right scumbags all together. But revealed .
Did not survive long https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/473822/government-drops-plans-to-charge-gst-on-kiwisaver-fees
A Government that listens 🙂
A government that listens………so is 3 Waters next?
A Government that listens … and uses its commonsense.
As opposed to . . . I seem to remember a referendum on asset sales!!
"Whichever way you look at it; either they're sneaky, either they're incompetent or they're shivering, looking for a spine to run up and don't have the courage to fight for something they believe in – none of it's good."
"Parker on Wednesday admitted the move was embarrassing but denied the Government tried to sneak the legislation through without the public knowing."
'Sneaky', 'incompetent': Political commentators hit out at Govt over KiwiSaver U-turn (msn.com)
Ad will be happy.
Ad is never happy.
glass half empty.
In that case, perhaps the National watchdog can redirect the laser pointer on the large KS cost: the management fees.
https://taxpolicy.ird.govt.nz/-/media/project/ir/tp/publications/2022/2022-ria-perm-bill/2022-ria-3-gst-managed-funds.pdf?modified=20220828034214
This would be very good. A number of default providers were stripped of their status recently due to excessive fees. One very good thing that has come out of this is that people might be more aware of how much Kiwisaver providers are charging them.
I would be keen to see some legislation around ethical investment for Kiwisaver schemes. At the moment people and providers have to choose to wear a financial cost to invest ethically. Whilst many do, I can't blame those who don't. If all Kiwisaver funds were forced to divest from fossil fuels or companies that have human rights concerns with some of their subsidiaries then it would be a level playing field and do some good.
Ask why Robertson moved the default KS from conservative to balanced funds in time for a meme clearout,
Everyone now knows Parker!! He has walked the tax on Kiwisaver fees back!! @#*&#
Half baked Idjut!!!!!
Good call though.
Now we can all go back to talking about how Luxon proposes to reduce taxes for rich people, especially landlords.
I wonder who gets the blame for this fuck up?
Ardern being questioned on it in Parliament now and not doing too well! Getting very screechy.
Considering he was dealt four aces this morning, Luxon is hardly playing a strong hand.
And "screechy"? You must have loved John Key's rants then. "You support rapists", "Get some guts" – now that's screechy.
Update: and Nicola Willis and Chris Bishop can’t even sort out their questions. Incompetent. Can’t blame Mallard any more!
"I wonder who gets the blame for this fuck up?"
Luxon and his corrosive crew, that's who 🙂
Nothing to do with Luxon. He just exploited the "F…up".
Parker blames everyone except Parker.
The media,the opposition,the big banks,the large fund managers,the small fund managers,the IRD and FMA for saying that their models showed it would reduce investments (funds under management) the small people for having the temerity to say the additional costs would subtract their investments (correctly) which have already depreciated.
https://www.interest.co.nz/personal-finance/117429/revenue-minister-says-hes-embarrassed-furore-over-kiwisaver-tax-grab-forced
Any depreciation would be negligible…and that assumes that there is a 'growth' future…which is by no means guaranteed.
They didnt do the work…GST on fees is a) consistent and b) marginal at worst.
Hopeless.
The depreciation brings the asset growth back and some depreciation not fully priced in due to NZ$ decrease against US$ by 15%.
Correct a persistent price increase is persistent.
Any depreciation depends upon 'competition'….should that occur.
The depreciation is a polite way of saying the decrease in the asset value.Here with Kiwisaver as the froth came off so called investement stocks etc there was a loss in value of 7.5 billion in the 6 months ending June.
https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/series/non-banks-and-other-financial-institutions/kiwisaver-assets-by-sector
Which is totally unrelated to fees or tax
Of course not,but it makes people very sensitive to a Minister who wants to increase your loss,with a tax decreasing more value if any that may arise.
Or when Robertson try’s to sell the narrative that the new income protection insurance is not a tax,when it is.
The two are completely unrelated …other than the word 'tax'.
As said they didnt do the work,and left themselves open to the misrepresentation that it was a hit on peoples savings….they were negligent.
However, in the great scheme of things it likely matters not…hence their haste in back peddling.
They are very related as the need for a substantive increase in Revenue is needed in 2025,2026, to pay for increased interest on debt that needs to be refinanced.
Ultimately ….but the options are far greater than those two (unrelated) fields.
As said they appear to not understand tax…somewhat surprising given they are politicians…or perhaps not.
The desirability of the NZD is more related to what we have that the world wants/needs ….that is a very limited (and uncertain) list.
https://imperatorfish.com/2022/08/31/a-day-in-the-life-of-dr-gaurav-sharma/
The printer ran out of paper this morning. This is the second time this week. I immediately called Parliamentary Services to demand an independent investigation, only to be told that I should just put some paper in the machine. The woman I spoke to (I will refer to her as “staffer GH”) got very aggressive with me, so I emailed a complaint to her superior. I outlined in my complaint seventy-three instances of incompetence and bullying in GH’s interaction with me. To date I have heard nothing, even though I sent my email over five minutes ago.”
Brilliant!
Fantastic idea yesterday, defended hard this morning, gone this afternoon. Right up there on the u turn scale.
Can we expect the same when the government and the electorate have "conversations" about other proposed legislation later this year? The precedent is set now.
Who were the government spokespeople who said "fantastic idea yesterday, defended hard this morning"? Anybody? Not Ardern, Robertson, anyone else?
A few partisans on blogs did, sure. Nothing new there, a list of Luxon's belated "clarifications" would eat up the internet.
Lefties are far more willing to criticise the "team" than Nats, who effortlessly slide from telling us Simon's a winner to Todd's a winner to Judith's a winner to … Nicola next?
Labour introduced it, Labour defended, Labour washed it down the drain.
Actions speak louder than words
So your answer to my question is "nobody". Again, tell us who was in the media defending this (your claim).
Have you actually followed the detail of the story at all? No.
It wasn't some announcement at the podium, some new flagship policy from Ardern. It was a footnote in a document, which Parker failed to see the implications of. The opposition did, and so they scored a win.
They were found out,
and got what they deserved for it.
Beg to differ…it was a poorly foreshadowed policy (typical, they seem to have a low opinion of their adversaries) but the actual policy should have been a non event, if they had done the required 'public consultation'…aka explanation.
For a cohort of 'professional politicians' they really are inept….unfortunately we will likely inherit a Nat led gov as a result.
Or perhaps its all of no consequence as the looming recession means they are history anyway.
They weren't "found out" – they were straight-forward – the opposition sensed a twist and applied it.
No honour on them – Parker is straight – the eroders are not.
They wernt 'straight forward'…they didnt do the ground work.
They are confused about tax…not surprising given they are neo-liberals.
Parker was defending it right up 'til it was reversed.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/473822/government-drops-plans-to-charge-gst-on-kiwisaver-fees
TBH, I don't really think that he really understands public opinion – let along political framing (he admitted he got blindsided by the opposition to it). He mostly comes across like a policy wonk, who doesn't understand that most of the world doesn't think in numbers.
I agree that there was swift political action today by those in Labour who do pay attention to public opinion. Shutting down the issue (which was, after all a minor piece of technical legislation – of no great importance in the government's plans) – swiftly – was the best action in the circumstances. Letting it trickle on, would have been an even greater gift to the opposition.
However, a chunk of reputational damage has already been done.
It's one of those 'death by a thousand cuts' things – each individual issue isn't significant, but each eats away at the government's support. Labour really can't afford to continue to have political u-turns because their ministers aren't managing the message.
Because Parker is correct.
Being 'right' is cold comfort when you lose an election.
Being right is never cold comfort. The election is not lost: it has not been held yet – are you clairvoyant? More to the point, have any of your predictions proved accurate? (Link please 🙂
Just as clairvoyant as you are.
Given that we have national elections every 3 years, it requires little precognitive ability to predict that someone will lose.
I haven't made a prediction. I'm keeping to the known facts (as I see them).
Your claim that "someone will lose" is an earth-shattering observation; have you considered political commentary as a profession?
Do keep up, Robert.
I haven't made a prediction. That would require me stating which party would lose.
You seem to be assuming that it will be Labour.
You seem to be implying that it will be Labour 🙂
Not one of Parkers better interviews.
Government abandons controversial KiwiSaver service fees GST 'tax grab' | Stuff.co.nz
Brilliant play – voters being fed: "Labour doesn't listen!!!!"
Labour – let’s float this – voters/Opposition flares up!!
Labour – we listened, we responded in the way you demanded.
Labour up – Opposition, down.
🙂
Spin as you may, you really cannot portray a piece of legislation being introduced into the house as a concept being 'floated'.
Parker told the truth. I know it's difficult for you to accept … 🙂
The corollary is that Ardern and Robertson were therefore wrong to reverse his policy.
No, it is not. Parker told the truth then conceded that the truth wasn't palatable and had to be set aside.
The most useless parliament in many decades, nothing more concerning for NZ than a rubbish government and opposition at the same time.
Aye
Ad, just wait till you get Luxon, then you will happily moan about that!!
Fire Ardern and hire Roberston.
And fire Parker FFS.
Broken record…
More a pyretic reaction …
higherstandard Keep telling yourself you are right. You might be right twice a day!!
You omitted 'crisis', 'tsunami' and 'shambles' in your reckon.
Also a fact or two. 😉
'Crisis' gets used fairly frequently by opposition parties of whatever flavour.
'Shambles' was the go-to destructive NAct critique deployed during the on-going pandemic; I will be forever thankful they weren't in a position to deploy Plan B ASAP.
COVID deaths per million popn
USA…..3217
Brazil…3169
UK……..2735
NZ……….548
Makes you wonder how Ardern can dump on NZs biggest-ever MMP majority and flush it down the crapper in under 12 months, with NZ back where we were in Feb 2020.
Ardern is impressively shit.
Does she call all the shots, Ad?
Surely your Golden Boy, Robertson, has some influence??
After all, he's no.2
🙂
Yes yes Ad, everyone knows you (and others) think Ardern is shit (and now "impressively shit"), and are happy to use Hooton’s shrewd political judgement in support of your cause, whereas I think this particular evaluation of yours is dim-witted and insulting.
If you want our 6th Labour Govt to go 3 terms, then imho your continuing anti-Ardern crusade is an exemplar of "cutting off one's nose to spite one's face."
If NAct sweep to power in 2023, then their party-sponsored keptocracy will be back with a vengeance, and the hollow men and women will gut and gorge, leaving huge quantities of unmet need in their wake – it's in their DNA.
As an analogy, if you want to strengthen the immune system and evoke a strong response when needed, then you need to keep throwing shit at it all the time.
If I'm grokking your analogy, then are Ad's distasteful anti-Ardern jibes training Labour's immune system, or evidence of lupus? And can one more turd be a useful addition to the daily mountain of shit thrown Ardern's way?
Made a private commitment that I would Party vote National if one of their leaders publicly repudiated the political obscenity that was (and is) Dirty Politics – I doubt that the Green Party will be loosing my vote anytime soon.
Politics is cutthroat, not kind, but give a little logic and fairness its due too.
Yeah right. Sadly Labour has a history of infighting…and biting their own. And Ad has been criticising Jacinda here for quite a while. I, like many others, wonder at his motives? IMO throwing shit at her..is not productive..in any way.
Drowsy M. Kram. thanks for the reply and the PlanB reference. I note that PlanB has had no further input from its "expert and passionate (sigh)" people since December 2021.
Maybe they had a Damascus experience when some facts like yours gave them "a sign".
Bit like National. How many times did we hear "the government needs to…"? They had several plans, all in opposition to the government. "Too soon….too late….. never……"
Thanks Mac1. Yes, Plan B has gone off the boil now that the borders are open and 'freedum' has returned to our "mysterious socialist hermit kingdom."
Hope Kiwis don't forget the pandemic lessons learned (so far) too quickly.
Lots of (too many!) links:
Your standards are way too high.
Maybe, but I'd take any of the previous governments of the last 20 years over the current lot in a heartbeat.
It might of course be something to do with my age, one's tolerance for idiot politicians declines the older you get I suspect.
Just heard Heather Depressing' Allen rant about the Govt….they do not even bother to even try and appear impartial on ZB these days.
Why were you listening… ?
Just caught her briefly in the car.Not a fan…believe me.
Consign her to the "don't listen" bin.
She's the perfect aural bin-liner.