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Parasite Drive; the NBR Rich List

Written By: - Date published: 10:50 am, July 31st, 2015 - 98 comments
Categories: capital gains, class war, Economy, health and safety, unemployment, wages - Tags: , , ,

The National Business Review has released its annual list of the richest New Zealanders. These are the people National and their franchises govern for; the one percent who will continue to benefit from growing inequality, who are in the queue to make more millions from the surrendering of our sovereignty under the TPP and who regard health and safety as a risk to their ongoing ability to exploit the disposable lives of the majority of Kiwis.

The flea market economy has let us down. Researcher Max Rashbrooke says

“Household debt is much much higher than it was 10 or 20 years ago and, than conversely, you’ve got this really significant increase in wealth at the top so it does look like we’re in a bit more of a trickle up than a trickle down situation.”

Trickle up. Yep.

The NBR reckons the economy is working well for the wealthy. How’s it working for you?

THE TOP TEN

1) Graeme Hart – $9 billion
2) Richard Chandler – $4 billion
3) Todd family – $3.16 billion
4) Erceg family – $1.6 billion
5) Michael Friedlander – $1.4 billion
6) Christopher Chandler – $1.3 billion
7) Goodman family – $1.2 billion
8) Stephen Jennings – $980 million
9) Douglas Myers – $930 million
10) Michael Fay – $870 million
=10) David Richwhite – $870 million

 

 

 

98 comments on “Parasite Drive; the NBR Rich List ”

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  1. Anno1701 1
    31 July 2015 at 10:55 am

    “We must devastate the avenues where the wealthy live”

    …Lucy parsons

    • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 1.1
      31 July 2015 at 11:48 am

      More detail, please.

      • Anno1701 1.1.1
        31 July 2015 at 12:32 pm

        ” Let every dirty, lousy tramp arm himself with a revolver or a knife, and lay in wait on the steps of the palaces of the rich and stab or shoot the owners as they come out. Let us kill them without mercy, and let it be a war of extermination.”

        …. Lucy Parsons, Chicago Tribune

        • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 1.1.1.1
          31 July 2015 at 1:11 pm

          Charming.

          • Anno1701 1.1.1.1.1
            31 July 2015 at 1:14 pm

            there’s plenty more if you like those ?

            • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 1.1.1.1.1.1
              31 July 2015 at 1:21 pm

              Press on if you like, but I need to tell you that I’m kind of against murdering people.

              • Anno1701 …
                31 July 2015 at 1:26 pm

                there just quotes buddy , dont get carried away !

                • Michael …
                  31 July 2015 at 1:43 pm

                  They’re not people: they’re rich.

                  • Anno1701 …
                    31 July 2015 at 1:49 pm

                    could it be construed as self defense ?

                    • Draco T Bastard …
                      31 July 2015 at 6:04 pm

                      Considering that poverty does induce early death and poverty is a direct result of the rich then I don’t see why not.

                • northshoredoc …
                  31 July 2015 at 4:08 pm

                  Why do you feel the need to post quotes that advocate violence and murder ?

                  • Anno1701 …
                    31 July 2015 at 4:19 pm

                    its what i believe its going to take inevitably to protect the world from predation by the greedy/psychopathic elites who are performing some EXTREME acts of violence on us

                    even the very environment we live in & the air and water we need to survive is being trashed for the sake of profit/rapacious greed

                    you dont consider that violence ?

                    • northshoredoc …
                      31 July 2015 at 5:18 pm

                      Well in my opinion you’re either a nutty key board warrior who is having a laugh, or if you actually believe that in need of some help.

                      Violence and anarchy begets little else apart from violence and anarchy.

                    • Blue Horseshoe …
                      31 July 2015 at 6:35 pm

                      Sadly , that is the most likely outcome humanity is heading towards.

                      The police will be armed with tasers…

                      1. Because they anticipate the country is going to become a more dangerous and violent place

                      2. Because they anticipate the country is going to become a more peaceful and less violent place

                      Horse, cart, chicken egg

                      Standing back and hoping those on the levers of power are going to pull back and alter the course, is the stuff of fantasy..

                      Peaceful options were removed a long time back, and people went to war because they thought it would bring peace.

                      A million people peacefully marched in London against a future Iraq war more than 10 years ago.

                      What was the outcome of that expression of peace ?

                  • greywarshark …
                    31 July 2015 at 4:22 pm

                    Why can you not accept the expression of reality here of violence that happens every day around the world and is used eagerly as a dramatic point of reference in our major news outlets? Aggression registers blatantly, but the passive aggression that is rife slips by, from the trolls here for instance.

  4. Ad 4
    31 July 2015 at 11:21 am

    +1000 TRP good on you.

  5. Kiev 5
    31 July 2015 at 11:29 am

    Great to see that #1 is a former Tow Truck driver & Panel Beater. Go’s to show you what working hard for yourself can achieve. Well done Graeme.

    • te reo putake 5.1
      31 July 2015 at 11:35 am

      Nope. It shows what other people working hard can achieve for yourself. I have no doubt that at some point most of the richlisters have done some manual labour, uni term breaks at the freezing works being the classic kiwi example, but it’s what they do as capitalists that makes them parasites.

      • Old Mickey 5.1.1
        31 July 2015 at 11:47 am

        ” it’s what they do as capitalists that makes them parasites.” Do you mean things like build companies that hire people and contribute to the tax take for the govt to redistribute ? Or, do you mean things like taking risks with capital to try and grow enterprises ? Or things like the philanthropy that their wealth allows them to undertake ? Grapes….sour…..much ?

        • te reo putake 5.1.1.1
          31 July 2015 at 11:53 am

          They don’t build their companies, OM, their employees build their companies. There is a clear point in the development of any growing business where the owner’s own contribution is overtaken by that of the employees.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surplus_value

          • Alan W 5.1.1.1.1
            31 July 2015 at 12:07 pm

            So riddle me this TRP, where would the thousands of people that rich lister companies employ be if these ‘rich pricks’ hadn’t built their empires?

            • te reo putake 5.1.1.1.1.1
              31 July 2015 at 12:15 pm

              Still working, Alan. If all the owners disappeared, nothing would change in the day to day operation of the businesses. For example, no CHH worker knows where the owner’s yacht is parked at present, but the work continues regardless.

            • maui 5.1.1.1.1.2
              31 July 2015 at 12:29 pm

              They would be more financially secure and have some ownership/shareholding of the business they work in. Take the Warehouse for example, if that didn’t exist many more kiwis would be employed in local businesses with higher incomes.

              • Alan W …
                31 July 2015 at 2:11 pm

                Really? tell me how you have reached that conclusion.

                • maui …
                  31 July 2015 at 3:03 pm

                  It’s pretty obvious isn’t it, my local town centre was thriving before the Warehouse came in, more local businesses stocking more locally made produce, providing more employment than a superstore does, it’s been downhill since. Profits are distributed through small business owners rather than being filtered up to the top of a corporate.

                  • The lost sheep …
                    31 July 2015 at 3:50 pm

                    The Warehouse succeeded because NZ consumers chose to purchase goods at the lower prices it offered, rather than deliberately pay more to keep local businesses running.

                    Do you think those consumers would be happy If you removed the Warehouse / Briscoes / Countdown low cost outlets, and forced them to pay more for goods from local producers and retailers?

                    • greywarshark …
                      31 July 2015 at 4:27 pm

                      sheep
                      House sellers win when they sell at high prices to overseas investors, but the market that works for one doesn’t work for all. There are cul de sacs down which money is enticed, hit on the head and kidnapped to gang headquarters. Everyone else can smile, sheeps will be dumbfounded.

                    • Descendant Of Sssmith …
                      31 July 2015 at 4:40 pm

                      The choice was oft forced upon them through lower wages. When your wages dropped the “choice” to buy better quality or New Zealand made was taken away from you.

                      You can easily see this by the lack of rich-listers shopping at the warehouse.

                      They are the ones who have the “choice” to shop elsewhere.

                      Much of that choice made possible by the low wages and high rents that exist today.

                      As someone who has a decent income, although not rich by any quantitative measure, I know how fortunate I am to be able to choose where I shop.

                      So yeah I make choices to shop at the dairy around the corner, although it costs me more, cause that dairy is sustaining a family, that when the recession hit I made another choice to do some renovations earlier than intended to keep some local electricians and builders with some work, that I can choose to give stuff I no longer need away rather than sell them on Trade Me, etc.

                      It’s privilege to make those choices not a freedom and each day in this country less and less people get to enjoy the privilege of choice – certainly in the way you intend it to mean.

                    • The lost sheep …
                      31 July 2015 at 4:48 pm

                      Nice prose, but it didn’t answer my question.

                      Low priced goods made possible because of cheap third world raw materials and labour, and the purchasing power and efficiency of large corporations, are seen as a benefit by the majority of NZ consumers, and so they choose to put their money down those avenues.

                      Removing their choice to purchase those goods would be seen as an active decrease in quality of life by most of them.
                      How do you think they would react to such a proposal?

                    • The lost sheep …
                      31 July 2015 at 4:56 pm

                      Sssmith.

                      Less than wealthy People used to buy goods from local businesses before the warehouse came along.
                      When it did come along they chose to purchase there instead of where they used to buy. They understood very clearly that the goods were made in China and other places where wages were very low and that’s why the goods were cheap.

                      They knew perfectly well that taking their business away from the corner shop was going to kill the local business that was owned by the people that lived in their street.

                      But they saw it as a benefit to themselves to do so, and so they did.

                      It’s an uncomfortable paradox for those of you who believe in the innate solidarity of the proletariat isn’t it?

                    • Descendant Of Sssmith …
                      31 July 2015 at 5:18 pm

                      Removing their choice to purchase those goods would be seen as an active decrease in quality of life by most of them.

                      How do you think they would react to such a proposal?

                      Yet their choice to buy better quality goods has been undermined completely by lower wages, increased rent, fewer jobs, lower benefit rates, less security of housing, higher power prices and so on.

                      How do you think they react to an ever greater proportion of their income going in rent with the growth in rent outstripping any income increases they receive – particularly the most vulnerable.

                      Yeah I know it’s their choice to have predatory landlords put their rents up isn’t it.

                      There was some work done a few years ago on why poor people got their milk and bread from petrol stations where the price was higher.

                      When you’ve only got $20-00 left to spend on food after you’ve paid the bills it was just too depressing for most to travel to the supermarket and see people with trolleys full of groceries.

                      I get that as a perfectly understandable way of coping with their lack of money – you’d say they are making bad choices.

                      That is part of the fundamental economic theory bull-shit about choice that the right spout. The notion that such choice operates in a vacuum aside of actual real human behaviour.

                    • maui …
                      31 July 2015 at 7:58 pm

                      The Warehouse may be successful and a lot of people may prefer shopping there. But it doesn’t change the fact that these superstores destroy local employment and lessen incomes, and I would argue that few consumers would be concious of that. Look at America, half their population is on some kind of state welfare and manufacturing has mostly been redistributed to China. Now it’s China with the manufacturing base, ample jobs and consumer income and spending to drive their economy.

                    • The lost sheep …
                      31 July 2015 at 8:23 pm

                      Regardless of whether your allegations of less purchasing power are true or not Ssss, exactly the same reality applies.
                      Very few NZ’ers are going to pay more for goods than they need to in order to benefit the ‘greater good’.
                      Such Altruism is no more common among ‘workers’ than it is among the ‘wealthy’.

                      So if you or anyone else think that forcing NZ’ers to buy locally at higher prices is going to be such a great idea, why don’t you ask Labour or the Greens to promote that policy?

                      Hint. They will not.

                    • Descendant Of Sssmith …
                      31 July 2015 at 9:20 pm

                      You’re being deliberately disingenuous now.

                      You’re well aware that for the poor in our society they have less and less money to spend and less job security and less housing security and a greater proportion of their incomes go towards lining the pockets of landlords.

                      Those aren’t allegations they are facts.

                      The choice you refer to is an illusion and a right wing method of working class condemnation. They cannot choose to shop at Kirkcaldie & Stains‎ because they have insufficient income to do so.

                      I can absolutely guarantee that if you lifted the poor’s incomes on a consistent basis they would shop in different places and for better quality.

                      People who work in a decent paying job buy better quality food and clothes and better cars. Their spending habits change.

                      Why do you think clothing trucks and security scare firms and vacuum cleaner salesmen target poor areas and not well off areas?

              • greywarshark …
                31 July 2015 at 4:24 pm

                The Warehouse does contribute by being part of the Sustainable business network.

          • dukeofurl 5.1.1.1.2
            31 July 2015 at 1:06 pm

            Harts big break when he “stole” what was Government Print. The conditions were so favourable that he paid the government out of money made AFTER he took over the business.
            Its the russian oligarch model

      • Kiev 5.1.2
        31 July 2015 at 1:07 pm

        If you ever get a chance to check out Graemes ink, you should. It tells a very interesting story, which he keeps well covered these days.

        I had the opportunity to work with him & his wife in the early 90’s on one of his projects, they are a bloody nice couple, very down to earth and very much not deserving the parasite title you seem to want to bestow upon them.

    • maui 5.2
      31 July 2015 at 11:44 am

      Somehow those other 2-3 million hard-working kiwis just didn’t quite make the cut to become millionaires/billionaires eh.

      • Puckish Rogue 5.2.1
        31 July 2015 at 11:46 am

        Some people have the drive to become rich and some people don’t

        • maui 5.2.1.1
          31 July 2015 at 12:43 pm

          Some people work two jobs, well over 40+ hour weeks just to bring up a family and are probably doing more hours than the rich.

        • Colonial Rawshark 5.2.1.2
          31 July 2015 at 2:25 pm

          Yep need an inheritance tax so that lazy people don’t receive riches without working

          • Anno1701 5.2.1.2.1
            31 July 2015 at 2:49 pm

            & a mansion tax IMO maybe 2-3% of the value on homes above a certain size/value per annum

            & possibly a luxury tax on ferraris , yachts (above a certain size) ETC

            • northshoredoc 5.2.1.2.1.1
              31 July 2015 at 4:04 pm

              Isn’t that what GST and FBT are for to some extent ?

              • Anno1701 …
                31 July 2015 at 4:16 pm

                possibly increase the GST on “luxury” items

                and drop it on un-prepared/processed fresh foods (fruit ,veg,meats etc)

                • Colonial Rawshark …
                  31 July 2015 at 5:37 pm

                  Yes the Andersons Bay Peninsula Branch of the Labour Party suggested something similar.

                  IMO removing all GST except for a 30% GST applying to each dollar of an item over $250, would be appropriate.

          • Descendant Of Sssmith 5.2.1.2.2
            31 July 2015 at 5:23 pm

            If everyone can be self-made than the inheritance tax should be 100%. No need for inheritance at all.

        • freedom 5.2.1.3
          31 July 2015 at 3:16 pm

          NEWS FLASH FOR PUCKISH ROGUE

          SOME PEOPLE DO NOT WANT TO BE RICH

          Many just want a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work with time to enjoy their community, their family and their friends

        • greywarshark 5.2.1.4
          31 July 2015 at 4:29 pm

          Hows it with PR? You seem to have lots of time to put your oar in here all the time, usually negatively.

        • Draco T Bastard 5.2.1.5
          31 July 2015 at 6:12 pm

          No, some people have the psychopathy to screw over as many people as they can to enrich themselves whereas most people don’t.

    • TeWhareWhero 5.3
      31 July 2015 at 2:11 pm

      If you could stop tugging your forelock for a moment Kiev and read a bit further in Hart’s Wikipedia entry you’d see that he hardly came from humble beginnings. His father was a radiographer; Hart Jnr went to Mt Roskill Grammar School and, although he allegedly dropped out at 16 and worked as a tow truck driver / panel beater, he managed to go on to do an MBA at Otago University where he apparently outlined his business strategy of growing a company by means of ‘leveraged buyouts’.

      Like many in the course of the monetarist revolution, Hart got his first big break by buying state assets at less than capital value. In other words he wasn’t so much given a leg up as a load of politicians and bureaucrats lay themselves down in a heap for him to clamber up on.

    • les 5.4
      31 July 2015 at 4:23 pm

      yes and dont forget to thank Prebble and co the long suffering NZ taxpayer fot gifting him the Govt Printing Office !

  6. Puckish Rogue 6
    31 July 2015 at 11:34 am

    I’m surprised it took this long for the jealousy to rear its ugly head

    [There’s no jealousy involved. There is no reference in the post to wanting to have the lifestyle of the rich. Rather, the post talks about growing inequality. Take a week off for trolling. TRP]

    • mac1 6.1
      31 July 2015 at 11:50 am

      And I’m surprised that it took you 40 minutes to raise the ‘envy/jealousy’ catch cry, PR.

      Who’d want to be rich when all the day long all you can do is ‘biddy biddy bum?”

      “If I were a rich man,
      Ya ba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dum.
      All day long I’d biddy biddy bum.
      If I were a wealthy man.” Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof.”

      • greywarshark 6.1.1
        31 July 2015 at 4:31 pm

        I like the bit where he would have a mansion with one long staircase going up, and one even longer going down.

        • mac1 6.1.1.1
          31 July 2015 at 8:49 pm

          Yes, greywarshark.

          Tevye realised that both he and the rich man had one great lack in their lives. The difference is that Tevye realised it, but the rich man did not.

          “If I were rich, I’d have the time that I lack
          To sit in the synagogue and pray.
          And maybe have a seat by the Eastern wall.
          And I’d discuss the holy books with the learned men, several hours every day.
          That would be the sweetest thing of all.”

          Tevye understood that poverty for a Jewish father meant he could not pay full attention to his religion, something that the rich man in his spiritual poverty never understood.

          L’chaim!

  7. Bill 7
    31 July 2015 at 11:59 am

    A bit of relevance on the ‘envy’ front from a few weeks ago… http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/07/humanity-chancellor-emergency-budget-george-osborne-austerity

    There’s a lot of projection among our elites. Perhaps they have to imagine the people they prey on as having their own worst qualities, so currently we hear a lot about scroungers and parasites and frauds, as a class of yacht-owning, show jumping, off-piste-skiing, incestuous monsters projects the shame it feels at its own greed on to a population whose idea of decadence is probably bath bombs.

    Our ruling class are largely unaware of the struggles of unknowable muggle lives, but our desiccated culture has probably left us alienated enough to be able to empathise with theirs a little. I want you to try something. Imagine that you become a member of our elite. You have every success you’ve ever wanted but have to spend your time surrounded by the worst people on earth. It’s like being a Chelsea fan. You start to take cocaine, partly because you now socialise exclusively with people it wouldn’t be safe to fall asleep around. You buy a yacht.

    • Colonial Rawshark 7.1
      31 July 2015 at 5:39 pm

      Yep. The whole “Keeping up with the Joneses” peer pressure is a very upper middle class one.

  8. Skinny 8
    31 July 2015 at 12:06 pm

    Nothing is more true than this proverb;
    Money begets money.
    The more money you make, the easier it becomes to make still more.

    Meanwhile as the parasites at the top accumulate even great wealth, down the bottom the working poor on subsistence wages are deliberately kept that way. After all sharing is caring and the 1% don’t, preferring to keep the loot in their exclusive club.

    • whateva next? 8.1
      31 July 2015 at 3:15 pm

      can’t buy a soul though, and that’s what will plague them later in life, no matter how much wealth they have accumulated.

  9. Kevin 9
    31 July 2015 at 12:26 pm

    I wouldn’t be too upset. Wealth seldom lasts more than three generations.

  10. b waghorn 10
    31 July 2015 at 12:33 pm

    Things you’ll never hear a richlister say ;

    How much more can I pay my workers

    How do I restructure to increase employee numbers.

  11. freedom 11
    31 July 2015 at 1:33 pm

    2008 John Key’s estimated wealth on the NBR rich list was $50 million
    2009 -$55 million
    2010 – $55 million
    2011 – $55 million
    2012 – $50 million
    2013 – $55 million
    2014 – $55 million
    2015 John Key’s estimated wealth on the NBR rich list was $55 million

    Yeah that list looks legit, as Key himself said ” I think they interview their own typewriter when they put that list together.”

    • stigie 11.1
      31 July 2015 at 2:47 pm

      No wonder Keys wealth is not growing….he keeps giving his salary away to charity ?

      • freedom 11.1.1
        31 July 2015 at 3:08 pm

        Read a comment on a MSM site the other day where the person stated John Key gives ALL his salary to charity 🙂
        (naturally, the moderator let it through without adding any editorial comment )

    • les 11.2
      31 July 2015 at 4:27 pm

      if the 50 mil has not doubled by the time he leaves office…I will go…..he or is that hee.

      • freedom 11.2.1
        31 July 2015 at 4:41 pm

        I reckon there will be a “1” involved, but just not sure if it will be afore or after the staid “55”

  12. Clean_power 12
    31 July 2015 at 2:45 pm

    If one could dam the envy shown by some of the previous comments, the Hoover Dam would look insignificant.

    [I’ve already banned someone for trolling on the ‘envy’ line. Unless you can swiftly point to previous comments that indicate envy, you’re joining them. TRP]

  13. swordfish 13
    31 July 2015 at 3:21 pm

    Ahhhhh, the dear old Todd family.

    Those of us who went to state schools in the Porirua area during either the 60s, 70s or 80s were supposed to be educated just enough to work as obedient drones in the huge local Todd Motors factory. Some of us just managed to escape the fate by our fingertips.

    I can guess how they managed to keep their fortune. About 15 years ago, a friend of mine spent a number of nights baby-sitting the IHC child of one of the key members of the Todd family. What did she receive from this Mega-Wealthy family for her labours ? …….a cabbage – a scrawny old cabbage that had clearly gone well past its Use-By date.

    You gotta laugh.

    • les 13.1
      31 July 2015 at 4:30 pm

      dont give a man ,money,he will just spend it,give him a cabbage and teach him to make …soup.

    • thechangeling 13.2
      31 July 2015 at 4:38 pm

      Here I was thinking the car industry was good for New Zealand workers and their families because at least to some degree we were producing what we consumed and the wages, taxes and profits circulated around our economy creating flow on spending, thus causing more locally domiciled supply and demand paradigms.
      Contrast that with now, where everything we purchase comes from offshore and offshore is where the profits. wages and taxes generated from production go too.

  14. PhilP 14
    31 July 2015 at 3:24 pm

    TRP, Your headline “Parasite Drive” and referring to the PM’s residential address sounds pretty envious to me!

    • te reo putake 14.1
      31 July 2015 at 3:48 pm

      I’m going to be charitable, because you appear to be new around here.

      1) Key’s main NZ holiday home is in Parnell, not Orakei.
      2) As far as I can tell, nobody mentioned Hawaii John till you did.
      3) Paritai Drive has been known as Parasite Drive for a very long time, certainly well before Key became PM and All Black captain.

    • DoublePlusGood 14.2
      31 July 2015 at 3:51 pm

      Envy requires that you want what someone else has. That is clearly not the case here, where we actually just want things to be fairly distributed in society, rather than concentrated in a few individuals. By definition that means that we must not be seeking to have the same concentrated wealth.

    • thechangeling 14.3
      31 July 2015 at 3:56 pm

      I thought he meant parasitic in terms of business owners not paying a living wage to people thus being able to live a lavish lifestyle at their own workers expense. That’s how the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ occurs across society. You haven’t figured that out yet?

  15. Charles 15
    31 July 2015 at 3:59 pm

    I ran a half marathon where the route went through Paratai Drive area. Good route to make sure your pace doesn’t slack off toward the end. Because that place… it’s strange, man. Clean. Tidy. Quiet. Reeeal creepy. Nothing visually wrong, but bad vibe. You wouldn’t want to walk it. On the other hand, I’ve wandered around the greater Porirua area where, theoretically, someone like me is at greater personal risk, but I felt entirely “safe”.

    • Colonial Rawshark 15.1
      31 July 2015 at 5:41 pm

      It’s an inhuman atmosphere, almost anti-social or dare I say it, sociopathic.

  16. Chrys Berryman 16
    31 July 2015 at 4:34 pm

    apparently a number of the rich list have increased their wealth by having lots of shares in retirement home providers…..Rymans, Oceania,etc……..the workers in those places are amongst the most poorly paid in the country….they are the working poor …these rich listers life styles are based on exploitation…….I do not envy them,I do not want to be them and I hate their philanthropy,poverty doesn’t need charity,it needs justice….bugger them

  17. cancerman 17
    31 July 2015 at 4:46 pm

    It’s working for me great. Only the dumb or unlucky end up on the rich list. You definately want to stay off that list or else you can’t get anything past the IRD.

  18. Draco T Bastard 18
    31 July 2015 at 6:15 pm

    Trickle up. Yep.

    More like a flood.

  20. millsy 20
    1 August 2015 at 7:54 pm

    Well, you wont see me bowing down to them, that is for sure.

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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • State Highway 3 project to deliver safer journeys, better travel connections for Taranaki
    Construction has begun on major works that will deliver significant safety improvements on State Highway 3 from Waitara to Bell Block, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan announced today. “This is an important route for communities, freight and visitors to Taranaki but too many people have lost their lives or ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago

  • Ginny Andersen appointed as Minister of Police
    Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has today appointed Ginny Andersen as Minister of Police. “Ginny Andersen has a strong and relevant background in this important portfolio,” Chris Hipkins said. “Ginny Andersen worked for the Police as a non-sworn staff member for around 10 years and has more recently been chair of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government confirms vital roading reconnections
    Six further bailey bridge sites confirmed Four additional bridge sites under consideration 91 per cent of damaged state highways reopened Recovery Dashboards for impacted regions released The Government has responded quickly to restore lifeline routes after Cyclone Gabrielle and can today confirm that an additional six bailey bridges will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Foreign Minister Mahuta to meet with China’s new Foreign Minister
    Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for China tomorrow, where she will meet with her counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in Beijing. This will be the first visit by a New Zealand Minister to China since 2019, and follows the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions between New Zealand and China. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Education Ministers from across the Pacific gather in Aotearoa
    Education Ministers from across the Pacific will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau this week to share their collective knowledge and strategic vision, for the benefit of ākonga across the region. New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti will host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) for three days from today, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • State Highway 5 reopens between Napier and Taupō following Cyclone Gabrielle
    A vital transport link for communities and local businesses has been restored following Cyclone Gabrielle with the reopening of State Highway 5 (SH5) between Napier and Taupō, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan says. SH5 reopened to all traffic between 7am and 7pm from today, with closure points at SH2 (Kaimata ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Special Lotto draw raises $11.7 million for Cyclone Gabrielle recovery
    Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds has thanked generous New Zealanders who took part in the special Lotto draw for communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Held on Saturday night, the draw raised $11.7 million with half of all ticket sales going towards recovery efforts. “In a time of need, New Zealanders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Government delivers a $3 million funding boost for Building Financial Capability services
    The Government has announced funding of $3 million for providers to help people, and whānau access community-based Building Financial Capability services. “Demand for Financial Capability Services is growing as people face cost of living pressures. Those pressures are increasing further in areas affected by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Minister for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao – new Chair and member
    Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, has announced appointments to the Board of Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao. Tracey Bridges is joining the Board as the new Chair and Dr Therese Arseneau will be a new member. Current members Dr Linda Sissons CNZM and Daniel Wilson have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Scholarships honouring Ngarimu VC and the 28th (Māori) Battalion announced
    Fifteen ākonga Māori from across Aotearoa have been awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards for 2023, Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu Board Chair, Kelvin Davis announced today.  The recipients include doctoral, masters’ and undergraduate students. Three vocational training students and five wharekura students, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Appointment of Judge of the Court of Appeal and Judge of the High Court
    High Court Judge Jillian Maree Mallon has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and District Court Judge Andrew John Becroft QSO has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Mallon graduated from Otago University in 1988 with an LLB (Hons), and with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • NZ still well placed to meet global challenges
    The economy has continued to show its resilience despite today’s GDP figures showing a modest decline in the December quarter, leaving the Government well positioned to help New Zealanders face cost of living pressures in a challenging global environment. “The economy had grown strongly in the two quarters before this ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Western Ring Route Complete
    Aucklanders now have more ways to get around as Transport Minister Michael Wood opened the direct State Highway 1 (SH1) to State Highway 18 (SH18) underpass today, marking the completion of the 48-kilometre Western Ring Route (WRR). “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Briefings to Incoming Ministers
    This section contains briefings received by incoming ministers following changes to Cabinet in January. Some information may have been withheld in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982. Where information has been withheld that is indicated within the document. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Teaming up for a stronger, more resilient Fiji
    Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta reaffirmed her commitment to working together with the new Government of Fiji on issues of shared importance, including on the prioritisation of climate change and sustainability, at a meeting today, in Nadi. Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand’s close relationship is underpinned by the Duavata ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Investment in blue highway a lifeline for regional economies and cyclone recovery
    The Government is delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced today. The Rangitata vessel has been chartered for an emergency coastal shipping route between Gisborne and Napier, with potential for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Next steps developing clean energy for NZ
    The Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach as part of the Government’s long term-plan to build a resilient, affordable, secure and decarbonised energy system in New Zealand, Energy and Resources ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Statement from the Prime Minister on Stuart Nash
    This morning I was made aware of a media interview in which Minister Stuart Nash criticised a decision of the Court and said he had contacted the Police Commissioner to suggest the Police appeal the decision. The phone call took place in 2021 when he was not the Police Minister. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • CPTPP Trade Ministers coming to Auckland
    The Government’s sharp focus on trade continues with Aotearoa New Zealand set to host Trade Ministers and delegations from 10 Asia Pacific economies at a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission members in July, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor announced today. “New Zealand ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Govt approves $25 million extension for cyclone-affected businesses
    $25 million boost to support more businesses with clean-up in cyclone affected regions, taking total business support to more than $50 million Demand for grants has been strong, with estimates showing applications will exceed the initial $25 million business support package Grants of up to a maximum of $40,000 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • More than 160,000 new Kiwis to call NZ home
    80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visas applications have been processed – three months ahead of schedule Residence granted to 160,000 people 84,000 of 85,000 applications have been approved Over 160,000 people have become New Zealand residents now that 80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visa (2021RV) applications have been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Scholarships propel Kiwi students to NASA
    The Government continues to invest in New Zealand’s burgeoning space industry, today announcing five scholarships for Kiwi Students to undertake internships at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. Economic Development Minister Stuart Nash congratulated Michaela Dobson (University of Auckland), Leah Albrow (University of Canterbury) and Jack Naish, Celine Jane ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • New Zealand to attend regional security meeting in Australia
    The Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques travels to Melbourne, Australia today to represent New Zealand at the fourth Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Security. “The Government is committed to reducing the threat of terrorism ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Health and safety action plan for ports
    The health and safety practices at our nation’s ports will be improved as part of a new industry-wide action plan, Workplace Relations and Safety, and Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced. “Following the tragic death of two port workers in Auckland and Lyttelton last year, I asked the Port Health ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Bikes and scooters to be exempt from FBT
    Bikes, electric bikes and scooters will be added to the types of transport exempted from fringe benefit tax under changes proposed today. Revenue Minister David Parker said the change would allow bicycles, electric bicycles, scooters, electric scooters, and micro-mobility share services to be exempt from fringe benefit tax where they ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Foreign Affairs Minister to reaffirm our close relationship with Fiji
    Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will hold bilateral meetings with Fiji this week. The visit will be her first to the country since the election of the new coalition Government led by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sitiveni Rabuka. The visit will be an opportunity to meet kanohi ki ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New legislation to streamline Cyclone recovery
    The Government is introducing the Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Bill to ensure the recovery and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle is streamlined and efficient with unnecessary red tape removed. The legislation is similar to legislation passed following the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes that modifies existing legislation in order to remove constraints ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Cost of living package: More bread and butter support for Kiwi families
    Approximately 1.4 million people will benefit from increases to rates and thresholds for social assistance to help with the cost of living Superannuation to increase by over $100 a pay for a couple Main benefits to increase by the rate of inflation, meaning a family on a benefit with children ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Freeing up more government bandwidth and money to focus on the cost of living
    $1 billion in savings which will be reallocated to support New Zealanders with the cost of living A range of transport programmes deferred so Waka Kotahi can focus on post Cyclone road recovery Speed limit reduction programme significantly narrowed to focus on the most dangerous one per cent of state ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • State of National Emergency to end for Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay
    The remaining state of national emergency over the Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay regions will end on Tuesday 14 March, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. Minister McAnulty gave notice of a national transition period over these regions, which will come into effect immediately following the end of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Government delivers on Dawn Raids commitment
    The Government is today delivering on one of its commitments as part of the New Zealand Government’s Dawn Raids apology, welcoming a cohort of emerging Pacific leaders to Aotearoa New Zealand participating in the He Manawa Tītī Scholarship Programme. This cohort will participate in a bespoke leadership training programme that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New plan to increase productivity and high wage jobs across advanced manufacturing sector
    Industry Transformation Plan to transform advanced manufacturing through increased productivity and higher-skilled, higher-wage jobs into a globally-competitive low-emissions sector. Co-created and co-owned by business, unions and workers, government, Māori, Pacific peoples and wider stakeholders. A plan to accelerate the growth and transformation of New Zealand’s advanced manufacturing sector was launched ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Aotearoa New Zealand supports Pacific countries to combat animal disease 
    New Zealand will provide support for Pacific countries to prevent the spread of harmful animal diseases, Associate Minister of Agriculture Meka Whaitiri said. The Associate Minister is attending a meeting of Pacific Ministers during the Pacific Week of Agriculture and Forestry in Nadi, Fiji. “Highly contagious diseases such as African ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Government delivers better public transport for Christchurch
    The Public Transport Futures project will deliver approximately: 100 more buses providing a greater number of seats to a greater number of locations at a higher frequency Over 470 more bus shelters to support a more enjoyable travel experience Almost 200 real time display units providing accurate information on bus ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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