Paul Goldsmith should stop digging

Written By: - Date published: 3:05 pm, October 3rd, 2020 - 80 comments
Categories: grant robertson, making shit up, national, paul goldsmith, same old national, spin, uncategorized, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags:

Clearly Paul Goldsmith and National have been hurt by the rank amateurishness of its alternative budget.

To recap it was released in a hurry two days after PREFU was released.  And boy did it show signs of being hurried.

It quickly transpired there was a $4 billion dollar hole because Goldsmith had used the incorrect figure for “savings” to be made by stopping contributions to the Cullen fund.

Then another hole appeared, this a more modest $88 million hole.  Although more modest in relative terms this was still sufficient to pay the annual wages of over a thousand teachers.  This mistake arose because it used the wrong figure for the capital allowance.

It got worse.  It then emerged that National had double counted a $3.9 billion contribution from the National Land Transport Fund.  Its solution was to just say that the NLTF would have to pay this sum twice.  What fiscal geniuses National has.  Imagine being able to get funding this way by drawing twice on a fund in the future even though you have no idea if it will be able to afford this.

And then another $2 billion hole appeared because National, fiscal geniuses that they are, thought they could cut contributions from the Cullen Fund but still collect the tax earned by these further investments that were not made.  Wow.  Tax income out of nothing.  And they talk to the left about magical money trees.

Yesterday Paul Goldsmith thought that he was on a winner and that he could get his own back.  He firmly believed that he had discovered two holes in Labour’s fiscal policy.

He noted that Labour had not included the cost of Auckland light rail or the proposed Otago hydro storage into its costings therefore there were holes in Labour’s budget just as bad as those in National’s.  The only problem is that he appears to have again totally misunderstood how Government finances work and shown yet again why he should not be trusted with the Government cheque book.

His basic problem is that funding for light rail has not been decided on.  There is no need to apply funds to the project until there is some certainty that it will be funded in a certain way.  At this stage there is still the possibility that the Super fund will finance and build the project as a PPP.  It may not happen this way but until there is some certainty there is no need to put it in the budget.

And besides there is $1.8 billion in the Auckland Transport Alignment Project “that will be used to leverage funding and financing and progress the city-airport and northwest corridors over the next decade.”

National’s claim is a joke.  Especially if you recall that its version of ATAP had a $5.9 billion fiscal hole in it.

Similar comments apply to the Otago hydro storage project.  There is funding in the budget for the business case.  After this has been presented a firm decision can be made about whether to proceed with it and at what cost.

And Labour’s fiscal statement clearly points out that there is unallocated capital budget, $7.8 billion worth in the next term, that will be available for different projects once decisions have been made.  To quote from Labour’s fiscal plan:

At PREFU, there was $4.8bn of funding remaining in the multi-year capital allowance. A further $3bn of new capital investment is set aside for the 2024/25 financial year within PREFU. Labour will ensure that this $7.8bn of new capital investment in the next term is spent wisely on projects that tackle our long-term challenges. We will also make sure that the investments that we have made to date are delivered.

This is not a hole in Labour’s figures.  It is a further hole in Goldsmith’s credibility.  The take is that bad David Farrar has not posted about it.

He really does need to stop digging.

80 comments on “Paul Goldsmith should stop digging ”

  1. Draco T Bastard 1

    The only problem is that he appears to have again totally misunderstood how Government finances work

    The real problem is that the majority of people don't know how government finances work. If they did then they'd know that Household Budget that most politicians used was complete bollocks.

    https://twitter.com/DracoTBastard/status/1311223428553211905

    The government creates money and spends it into the economy which then filters through and empowers the rest of the economy. It doesn't need taxes to fund anything.

    • Climaction 1.1

      This broken record again?

      many people smarter than you draco don’t subscribe and will not participate in such a stupid scam on economically illiterate people.

      there is no point asking you to shut up man, but please, shut up man

      • Austringer 1.1.1

        Heard a conversation between two economist!s arguing about Capitalism, its value and profit exploitation, one had the argue, print money, the other do you understand history, do you understand in the 1920!s Germany they printed so much money that a wheel barrow of Marks was needed to purchase a loaf of bread and if transacting money it was to the value of One point four million Marks to buy one American dollar, and the monster that arose from that capitalist exploit was Hitler. Capitalist inclined do not mention that in their history of profit and exploit. However, printing money,well for those on minimum wage and social care, will never afford the Kiwi dream of home ownership,a house in Auckland, average assuming two bedroom is $20,000, short of a Million. So should we print money or should we seriously look at alternative means of existence.

        [Fixed typo in user name]

        • KJT 1.1.1.1

          The printing money was the effect. Not the cause.

          German inflation happened after they ran short of gold to pay war reparations. The hyperinflation followed.

          Zimbabwe ran out of food and other supplies. Same.

          Their hyperinflation was caused by shortages. The excess money printing was the response.

          NZ printed money during the first Labour Government to build State houses. The result was not hyperinflation. It was more State houses.

          The "Fed" has been money printing like crazy. Inflation in the real economy has been stubbornly absent. As the available labour and resources is under utilised.

          Mean while we accept banks, "printing money" all the time. Paying interest to them for the privilege. Unfortunately they will mostly only "print" to add to the price of existing assets. Try getting a bank loan without land as security for a small business.

          • Austringer 1.1.1.1.1

            So today, what outside capitalist greed profit. Import wealth its afford and profit exploit.

            [Fixed typo in user name]

          • Austringer 1.1.1.1.2

            yES MY care never excuse monsters, yet Capitalism, what a exploit of our being today.

            [Fixed typo in user name]

          • AUSTRINGER 1.1.1.1.3

            yES MY care never excuse monsters, yet Capitalism, what a exploit of our being today as then.

          • Tricledrown 1.1.1.1.4

            The maximum banks are allowed to print in NZ is 33%.

            But they can borrow other countries printed money or reserve bank QE money .

            This money isn't going to where its needed and is ending up in speculative investments.

            [Fixed typo in user name]

        • Incognito 1.1.1.2

          [Fixed typo in user name]

      • Draco T Bastard 1.1.2

        Ah, so you don't like following the evidence?

        Yes, private banks creating money every single time they issue a loan is part of the proof that governments can issue currency as they choose as its the governments that give the private banks the privilege of creating that money.

        Also, fact is not supported by popularity – no matter how many people would like it to be so. All those people saying that I'm wrong are miseducated and aren't looking at the facts.

        I suggest educating yourself a little:

        Almost all of us are convinced that the federal government sees (and must manage) money, budgets, and finances in the same way that we do. It doesn’t. Not by a long shot. In fact, it’s downright Opposite World.

        Why is this the case? Because we don’t create money – the federal government does. We use its money. This is the case for you and me, our families and businesses, and even the towns, cities, and states we live in – we are all currency users. The federal government (of countries with sovereign fiat currencies, such as the United States, the UK, Canada, Australia, and Japan) however, is the one and only creator of currency – it is the monopoly currency issuer.

        • Climaction 1.1.2.1

          I have an economics degree. I studied MMT. So I studied how money is created in an economy and the value it holds.

          so I know how ghastly the effect of just printing money because you happen to be the temporary owner of the printing machine makes no sense. The value of the currency plummets, which doesn’t reduce debt or make it easier to pay. It forces people onto alternative currencies as the government issued one has zero value.

          As the value of 1 unit plummets, the price of the everything goes up.

          so before sending me articles by a Jeff Epstein, maybe go and educate yourself.

          start by asking yourself why no modern, democratic government pursues this method to pay its sovereign debt back

          • Tricledrown 1.1.2.1.1

            Climaction so what's wrong with lowering currency value in a recession helping exporters and reducing imports.

            Looking at NZ dollar it has stayed very stable with $60 billion of QE.

            You obviously didn't read very widely when doing your degree.

          • Draco T Bastard 1.1.2.1.2

            These days, having an economics degree is pretty much proof that you're wrong.

            Currency doesn't have value. Its merely a tool that allows trade.

            start by asking yourself why no modern, democratic government pursues this method to pay its sovereign debt back

            That's just it though – they do use that system. That's what a fiat currency is. So, why does the government have debt?

            Answer:

            And the Enquiry was flooded with special pleading like had not been aired in public before.

            The Treasury’s (2002) own – Review Of The Commonwealth Government Securities Market, Discussion Paper claimed that purported CGS benefits include:

            … assisting the pricing and referencing of financial products; facilitating management of financial risk; providing a long-term investment vehicle; assisting the implementation of monetary policy; providing a safe haven in times of financial instability; attracting foreign capital inflow; and promoting Australia as a global financial centre.

            We heard some of that during the GFC – that the liquid and risk-free government bond market allowed many speculators to find a safe haven.

            In other language – that the public bonds play a welfare role to the rich speculators.

            My bold.

            so before sending me articles by a Jeff Epstein

            And attacking the messenger is typical of people who are scared that their beliefs are wrong, who simply do not want to believe the facts as presented to them.

            • Climaction 1.1.2.1.2.1

              starting an article with someone who has more knowledge about the issue than your self with

              "Having an economics degree is pretty much proof that your wrong.."

              and then ending it with "Attacking the messenger is typical of people who are scared that their beliefs are wrong, who simply no want to believe the facts as presented to them"

              Suggests strong dissonance between reality and your false projections Draco.

              I know you won't accept that any one who holds a differing viewpoint than yourself about capitalism could be right, yet probably cant be trusted by you. But after 11 odd years of banging on on the standard about printing money to solve sovereign debt woes. during this time venezuela has gone from one of the richest countries in south america to almost the poorest, through the printing of money to pay the countries bills.

              Only the idiotic and insane think that the rest of the world is mad for thinking their views are the crazy ones.

              If printing money solved everything, no country would be in debt to any other entity. That's the one part of the equation that can never be explained away by the idiots who support monetary expansion as a solution to debt. your in good idiot company with KJT. Do you two pool money to pay for your tinfoil hats

              • Draco T Bastard

                Nobody said that printing solved everything. Have pointed out that the private banks printing money and then charging interest on it is certainly part of the problems we have today. After all, can't pay the interest on the loan of the amount of money in circulation doesn't increase by the amount of the loan first.

                You economists have been wrong for centuries and you just keep getting worse.

                Its why you couldn't project the coming of the GFC despite all the evidence that was available.

                Why, when someone other than an economist finally got around to looking, it was revealed that all of the economics textbooks were wrong about how money was created.

                As I say, you don't want your beliefs to be wrong and so you deny the evidence that's right before your eyes.

          • KJT 1.1.2.1.3

            The USA is doing it as we speak.

            And inflation is stubbornly refusing to occur.

      • KJT 1.1.3

        "Economically illiterate people". Such as the Governor of the Bank of England.

        How banks print/create money.

        "And Martin Wolf, who was a member of the Independent Commission on Banking, put it bluntly, saying in the Financial Times that: “the essence of the contemporary monetary system is the creation of money, out of nothing, by private banks’ often foolish lending” (Article). "

        The delusion that Governments are like households, is unfortunately an extremely persistent, and to the profit taking banks and their right wing political enablers, fortuitous, meme.

        • Climaction 1.1.3.1

          You've quoted a monetary policy conspiracy site. Martin wolf is a journalist, learned as such, but you yourself say no one should trust any mainstream media publication as they hold too much power. FT is fucking mainstream.

          What the governor of the bank of england said is

          “When banks extend loans to their customers, they create money by crediting their customers’ accounts.”

          Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England 2003-2013 (Speech)

          this is fractional reserve banking. the basis of the joke borrow at 1, lend at 3, be on the golf course by 4.

          How else are new home buyers going to get on the housing ladder if banks are not allowed to lend a fraction of the deposits they take in. and then how do banks pay interest on savings deposits to savers.

          better to stay out of the argument if you don't understand the theory

          • KJT 1.1.3.1.1

            You lost your credibility as soon as you mentioned Venezuala.

            Their problems have nothing to do with "printing money".

            Of course the reality is it is entirely due to the USA, as the US, has itself claimed, "squeezing their economy until it screams".

            As economists grounded on reality like Ha Joon Chang show, much of modern academic economics has lost it's way.

    • Pat 1.2

      "A country that issues its own currency never needs to borrow money – ever."

      So long as it dosnt desire something it does not produce itself and the other party is willing to accept its currency as payment….a significant qualification.

      • Draco T Bastard 1.2.1

        Your sentence fails to make sense as it seems to contradict itself.

        If a country wants something that it doesn't produce itself it has two options:

        • Develop the capability to produce it itself or
        • Buy it from another country that does produce it

        In both of these cases it can only pay for it with its own resources. Barter, though, is inefficient (the economists did that bit right) and so the country prints some money and uses that to pay for either option. That money gives the receiver the option to buy anything that is available from that nation's economy (I'm assuming that the economy is already viable here and not that it needs to be created as well).

        Taxes aren't there to raise money for the government to spend but for numerous other reasons including:

        • Controlling inflation
        • Controlling pricing
        • Guiding behaviour
        • And many more
        • Pat 1.2.1.1

          keep telling yourself that

          • Draco T Bastard 1.2.1.1.1

            Ah, you've run out of argument. Not a surprise considering all the evidence available proves your beliefs about money wrong.

            http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=45106

            • froggleblocks 1.2.1.1.1.1

              No, we haven't run out of arguments, we've given up shouting them at a brick wall (you).

              • Draco T Bastard

                I'm not the brick wall. The people, like you, who refuse to accept the facts are:

                Ultimately, Bretton Woods collapsed in 1971.

                It was under pressure in the 1960s with a series of “competitive devaluations” by the UK and other countries who were facing chronically high unemployment due to persistent trading problems.

                Ultimately, the system collapsed because Nixon’s prosecution of the Vietnam war forced him to suspend USD convertibility to allow him to net spend more.

                He announced that the US was abandoning the convertibility system on August 15, 1971, which paved the way for the introduction of fiat currencies.

                This was the final break in the links between a commodity that had intrinsic value and the nominal currencies.

                Fiat currency systems

                The move to fiat currencies fundamentally altered the way the monetary system operated.

                This system had two defining characteristics:

                (a) non-convertibility; and

                (b) flexible exchange rates.

                You need to recognise this major shift in history before you can understand why the economic policy ideas that prevailed in the previous monetary systems (based on convertibility) are no longer applicable.

                We have a fiat currency because the Gold Standard didn't work and a fiat currency is, pretty much by default, the government printing money (even if they have given that ability over to the private banks).

                In other words, the system that I describe is already in place. That's what the evidence shows us.

                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1SMjeuyF-Y

        • Draco T Bastard 1.2.1.2

          Addendum:

          Governments pass laws which could include that the goods and services produced by a nation must be paid for by its own currency.

          As I've said before, a market system needs to be heavily regulated and that most definitely includes the money.

          • Pat 1.2.1.2.1

            you can make all the national laws you like…you cant enforce them outside the borders and you cant dictate terms to traders….especially when you are a small player with bugger all to offer in return

            • KJT 1.2.1.2.1.1

              In fact, much of the demand for NZ currency is so foreigners can buy NZ assets. And/or lend it to us, and land buyers from offshore, at our normally stupidly out of sync interest rates.

              • Pat

                Indeed…and how much more can /do we wish to sell…from memory around half our assets are owned offshore currently….its not really a sustainable method of ensuring demand.

                • Draco T Bastard

                  We need to ban foreign ownership. That was always a bad idea.

                  But that would still leave our products as something to sell and thus ensure demand.

            • Draco T Bastard 1.2.1.2.1.2

              Don't need to enforce them outside the borders. Why would you?

              And we have quite a lot to offer. Or are you saying that the farmers are all wrong?

              • Pat

                we sell nothing critical to any of our markets…whereas much of what we import IS critical, trying running a health system without pharmaceuticals, and airline without aircraft and spares, a construction industry without machinery.

                Japan can live without our apples, germany wouldnt miss our venison, china is building its dairy herd (and lived without dairy for centuries), the UK will happily drink french wine and we cant give our wool away.

                • froggleblocks

                  Draco believes that NZ has the technical capacity, capital, labour and expertise to be fully self-sufficient, to the point that he thinks we can build our own microprocessors and other computer components, and all of the pharmaceuticals we need, etc. Just ignore that we don’t even have the raw resources required to do all the things he’s talking about.

                  It's pointless debating with him on these topics because he's so far away from reality that there's no common ground on which to have a sane discussion. Either you agree with his extreme (and unfounded) views or you're completely wrong, as far as he's concerned.

                  • Pat

                    Perhaps so, but a version of what he advocates has been gaining considerable interest of late and unfortunately the international trade implications are conveniently ignored or glossed over….its important that those implications are addressed.

                  • Draco T Bastard

                    You're an ignoramus.

                    We do have that technical capability and the necessary resources. I've linked to them several times already so I won't bother so again.

                    As I said, you don't want to believe the simple facts and so is the person who wont debate as you're too caught in your own beliefs.

                • Draco T Bastard

                  trying running a health system without pharmaceuticals

                  We do make pharmaceuticals here.

                  and airline without aircraft and spares

                  And those too.

                  a construction industry without machinery.

                  We make that too. Well, technically, buses but I'm sure we could make the machinery needed for construction.

                  Japan can live without our apples, germany wouldnt miss our venison, china is building its dairy herd (and lived without dairy for centuries), the UK will happily drink french wine and we cant give our wool away.

                  Yep. I agree with all that.

                  But, then, I've been saying for years that we need to get off this trade dependence that we've allowed ourselves to become because it made a few folk rich.

              • McFlock

                Actually, history suggests that local currency laws are only "enforcable" as long as people want to use the local currency, rather USD, Euro or RMB.

                The black economy thrives when governments think they can legislate their way out of having a means of exchange that's viewed as worthless.

                • Draco T Bastard

                  True but why don't people view our currency as worthless considering that its no different than what I'm suggesting?

                  • McFlock

                    Because the confidence in the money supply is maintained by the fact that the deficit printing is not unlimited, the ordinary inflationary effect is offset by the fact that the local and global economy has slowed due the current unpleasantness, and the fact that any decent minister of finances tries to run surpluses when conditions allow, despite your argument that taxes don't raise money for government expenses.

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      Where have I suggested that the government printing of money be unlimited?

                      The government's ability to spend money into the economy is limited by the economy's very real limits.

                      And then we have to look at the hyper-inflation in house prices fuelled by the private banks printing so much bloody money.

                      Taxes don't raise money for government expenses. That's not just my argument but what the research shows us – as my links above show. If anybody wanted to learn then they'd read/watch them but most seem too caught up in the false beliefs that they've been taught. Watch the Angry Birds video I posted earlier for about a minute from 7:37

                      From what I can make out, our economy is being purposefully destroyed so as to enrich the already rich.

                    • mikesh

                      And then we have to look at the hyper-inflation in house prices fuelled by the private banks printing so much bloody money.

                      The supply of money follows spending. If people wish to spend up large on housing, the banks will provide the money which will allow them to do so. The trouble is that money borrowed on the basis that it is to be repaid long term creates a large dollop of money in the present, unless the banks lend from a pre-existing source of money.

                    • McFlock

                      Dude, unless your angry birds video refutes a lesson the Stuarts learned in the 1600s, I'm not hugely interested in wasting my time.

                      For our currency to be "worthless" (or near enough) it's supply has to so far exceed people's demand for it that nobody wants it (or near enough), so the supply would be unlimited (or near enough).

                      That's the basic market value of anything that is "worthless". When silver was the means of exchange and Spain was looting Latin America to fund their navy, guess what happened to the value of silver and the price of ships. The means of exchange lost value and the king couldn't buy as many ships as he thought.

                      And as for the old rant about fractional reserve banking, it doesn't matter because the inflationary effects of that situation are taken into account when the Reserve Bank creates the seed money for the banks to borrow. So if it's like "ohmagerd the banks create 9 times more cash than they have", the RB can just go "ohmagerd, I'm only going to lend out 10% of what I would have done, problem solved!".

      • Tricledrown 1.2.2

        Pat once again someone percieves wrongly the effects of printed money everything that is produced for export has an price on the local or international market.

        So why are banks allowed to print 33% plus borrow printed money at negligible interest rates or even negative interest rates.

        In periods of low inflation it makes sense to print money so long as it goes into the productive economy.

        That's why Germany 1920's Zimbabwe more recently had hyper inflation their productive economies were destroyed ,so not enough production to meet the demand created by the printing of money.

        • Pat 1.2.2.1

          sadly the printed monies are not entering the 'productive economy' anywhere and the myth there is no inflation is exactly that, a myth. We can (temporarily) maintain our currency simply because the major trading economies are doing the same….sooner or later something is going to give and we are not in a position to go autarkic…we are not the US, EU or China, indeed we are closer to Zimbabwe than we care to admit.

          • KJT 1.2.2.1.1

            Whether money printing causes inflation or growth in economic activity, depends on what it is used for and the resources available to buy.

            Bank "money printing" is causing housing inflation. Chasing "safe" mortgage investment and our interest rates that have been kept artificially high, for decades.

            Puzzling, if you didn't know they are profiting from it, is the total disregard for bank "money printing" compared to the disingenuous protests if Government do it.

            Conversely. Government money printing can have the opposite effect. Government money printing for State houses in the 40's kept housing supply up and had a dampening effect on prices.

            Bank money printing is increasing the money supply without increasing the resource. Land. Government money printing was increasing a resource, housing along with increasing the money supply.

            Inflation and money printing in Germany and Zimbabwe was an effect, not a cause. The cause was shortages, just as it is in Venezuela due to US embargoes.

            We are nowhere near, Zimbabwe.

  2. Andre 2

    He really does need to stop digging.

    Why?

    Best thing to do is just let him carry on.

  3. Barfly 3

    It reflects ill upon us to harass the addicted ? /snigger – Jeepers I made hard work of that

  4. Peter 4

    Goldsmith is out of his depth. He determinedly and successfully seeks to show that. He will be either Finance Minister or opposition spokesperson on finance after the election.

    He is eminently far better suited to other work, like erecting or taking down election hoardings.

    • Incognito 4.1

      I recommend Dr Shane Reti for either position. I think Judith is cruel to let Paora suffer so much.

      • froggleblocks 4.1.1

        'Dr Shane' is already going to be health minister, and Collins has made clear several times he’s not going to be ‘a part time one’ like Hipkins.

        • Incognito 4.1.1.1

          Just merge Finance and Health into one Super Ministry like Steven Joyce did. It would be good for Health to have direct tabs on the money flows. I’m just trying to help Paora and Judith to generate a little momento because I’m starting to lose interest in this Election and I want my money’s worth.

    • Sacha 4.2

      Those vanity biographies won't write themselves. Brownlee might want to commission one.

    • KJT 4.3

      I doubt if holding a hammer is in his skill set.

  5. ken 5

    Or should he keep digging until the hole is big enough for his whole rotten party to fit into?….. and then we could fill it in and build a toilet on the site.

    • Wensleydale 5.1

      That's a spectacular idea, Ken. I wholeheartedly support it. Needs a plaque on the front: "The National Party. They were shit. They still are."

  6. Stuart Munro 6

    You're just trying to spoil Grant's fun. He's enjoying this.

  7. Dennis Frank 7

    With the Herald & Stuff totally devoid of anything on Goldie currently, looks like the establishment has deemed him irrelevant.

    If independent economists were appearing in the media after having evaluated his claim, he could have got a semblance of credibility. I couldn't find any. Perhaps he ought to try a song & dance routine instead? Abba's Money Money Money?

  8. froggleblocks 8

    You know what else Labour didn't include in their budget? Revenue from cannabis tax. Because like the other "holes" Goldsmith found, there's no certainty around cannabis tax at present.

  9. Jackel 9

    These are pretty basic mistakes Goldsmith is making such as not double checking if he's double counting and not checking if something is just pencilled in or is an actual spend etc. The tories are talking Goldsmith up as the next Roger Douglas, somehow I doubt it. National are just more Conservative kiwis, they're no better with money than anyone else.

  10. AUSTRINGER 10

    COMPULSORY UNIONISM, NEEDED TO BE QUESTIONED.

    [Please turn your Caps lock off, thanks – Incognito]

    • Incognito 10.1

      See my Moderation note @ 10:26 PM.

      • Adrian 10.1.1

        Whats going on with this "Austringer ", it reads like computer generated bullshit coded by someone with English as a 27th language. Is the page being played?. I suspected something similar in a Stuff article yesterday when the comments were over 90% anti-Lábour and "Jacinta ", and the majority with terrible syntax and spelling.

  11. Ffloyd 11

    The only thing National has Shovel Ready is Paul Goldsmith.

  12. georgecom 12

    seeing how Goldsmith has been struggling a bit, Seymour decided to grab a shovel and help his old mate out. Turn an $8 billion dollar fiscal hole into a $16 billion fiscal hole. Reverse rumpelstiltskins, spinning gold into straw, as well as spinning the story of cutting taxes, massively hiking spending but somehow also quickly reducing government debt as well.

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  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    7 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    8 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    9 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    12 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    12 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    12 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    12 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    14 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    15 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    17 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    2 days ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
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