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 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Draco T Bastard 1
    3 October 2020 at 4:26 pm

    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
      3 October 2020 at 5:27 pm

      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
        3 October 2020 at 6:35 pm

        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
          3 October 2020 at 8:33 pm

          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
            3 October 2020 at 9:36 pm

            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
            3 October 2020 at 9:41 pm

            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
            3 October 2020 at 9:49 pm

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

          • Tricledrown 1.1.1.1.4
            4 October 2020 at 12:36 pm

            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
          3 October 2020 at 10:18 pm

          [Fixed typo in user name]

      • Draco T Bastard 1.1.2
        3 October 2020 at 7:23 pm

        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
          4 October 2020 at 12:03 pm

          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
            4 October 2020 at 12:40 pm

            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
            4 October 2020 at 12:53 pm

            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
              4 October 2020 at 5:15 pm

              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 …
                4 October 2020 at 10:51 pm

                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
            5 October 2020 at 9:31 am

            The USA is doing it as we speak.

            And inflation is stubbornly refusing to occur.

      • KJT 1.1.3
        4 October 2020 at 9:13 am

        "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
          4 October 2020 at 5:19 pm

          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
            4 October 2020 at 8:48 pm

            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
      3 October 2020 at 6:44 pm

      "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
        3 October 2020 at 7:36 pm

        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
          3 October 2020 at 7:39 pm

          keep telling yourself that

          • Draco T Bastard 1.2.1.1.1
            3 October 2020 at 7:51 pm

            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
              3 October 2020 at 8:18 pm

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

              • Draco T Bastard …
                3 October 2020 at 10:07 pm

                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
          3 October 2020 at 7:50 pm

          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
            3 October 2020 at 7:52 pm

            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
              3 October 2020 at 8:35 pm

              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 …
                3 October 2020 at 9:24 pm

                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 …
                  3 October 2020 at 10:16 pm

                  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
              3 October 2020 at 9:58 pm

              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 …
                3 October 2020 at 10:16 pm

                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 …
                  3 October 2020 at 10:44 pm

                  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 …
                    3 October 2020 at 10:54 pm

                    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 …
                    4 October 2020 at 12:22 am

                    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 …
                  4 October 2020 at 12:19 am

                  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 …
                4 October 2020 at 12:18 am

                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 …
                  4 October 2020 at 12:23 am

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

                  • McFlock …
                    4 October 2020 at 12:38 am

                    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 …
                      4 October 2020 at 12:57 am

                      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 …
                      4 October 2020 at 1:12 pm

                      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 …
                      4 October 2020 at 2:47 pm

                      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
        4 October 2020 at 12:53 pm

        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
          4 October 2020 at 1:24 pm

          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
            5 October 2020 at 6:39 am

            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
    3 October 2020 at 4:30 pm

    He really does need to stop digging.

    Why?

    Best thing to do is just let him carry on.

  3. Barfly 3
    3 October 2020 at 6:07 pm

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

  4. Peter 4
    3 October 2020 at 6:34 pm

    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
      3 October 2020 at 7:43 pm

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

      • froggleblocks 4.1.1
        3 October 2020 at 8:19 pm

        '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
          3 October 2020 at 8:36 pm

          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
      3 October 2020 at 8:21 pm

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

    • KJT 4.3
      3 October 2020 at 8:21 pm

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

  5. ken 5
    3 October 2020 at 6:59 pm

    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
      3 October 2020 at 8:12 pm

      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
    3 October 2020 at 7:13 pm

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

  7. Dennis Frank 7
    3 October 2020 at 7:29 pm

    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
    3 October 2020 at 8:17 pm

    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
    3 October 2020 at 10:10 pm

    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
    3 October 2020 at 10:26 pm

    COMPULSORY UNIONISM, NEEDED TO BE QUESTIONED.

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

    • Incognito 10.1
      3 October 2020 at 10:37 pm

      See my Moderation note @ 10:26 PM.

      • Adrian 10.1.1
        4 October 2020 at 10:53 am

        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
    4 October 2020 at 2:16 pm

    The only thing National has Shovel Ready is Paul Goldsmith.

  12. georgecom 12
    5 October 2020 at 11:25 pm

    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.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Melissa Lee and the media: ending the quest
    Chris Trotter writes –  MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    51 mins ago

  • The Hoon around the week to April 19
    TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 hour ago

  • The ‘Humpty Dumpty’ end result of dismantling our environmental protections
    Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 hours ago

  • Nicola's Salad Days.
    I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 hours ago

  • Study sees climate change baking in 19% lower global income by 2050
    TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 hours ago

  • Weekly Roundup 19-April-2024
    It’s Friday again. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week on Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered at the government looking into a long tunnel for Wellington. On Wednesday we ran a post from Oscar Simms on some lessons from Texas. AT’s ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 hours ago

  • Jack Vowles: Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
    New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’.  The data is from February this ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 hours ago

  • Clearing up confusion (or trying to)
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    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    7 hours ago

  • How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log iPhone Without Computer
    How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log on iPhone Without a Computer: A Step–by–Step Guide Losing your iPhone call history can be frustrating, especially when you need to find a specific number or recall an important conversation. But before you panic, know that there are ways to retrieve deleted call logs on your iPhone, even without a computer. This guide will explore various methods, ranging from simple checks to utilizing iCloud backups and third–party applications. So, let‘s dive in and recover those lost calls! 1. Check Recently Deleted Folder: Apple understands that accidental deletions happen. That‘s why they introduced the “Recently Deleted“ folder for various apps, including the Phone app. This folder acts as a safety net, storing deleted call logs for up to 30 days before permanently erasing them. Here‘s how to check it: Open the Phone app on your iPhone. Tap on the “Recents“ tab at the bottom. Scroll to the top and tap on “Edit“. Select “Show Recently Deleted“. Browse the list to find the call logs you want to recover. Tap on the desired call log and choose “Recover“ to restore it to your call history. 2. Restore from iCloud Backup: If you regularly back up your iPhone to iCloud, you might be able to retrieve your deleted call log from a previous backup. However, keep in mind that this process will restore your entire phone to the state it was in at the time of the backup, potentially erasing any data added since then. Here‘s how to restore from an iCloud backup: Go to Settings > General > Reset. Choose “Erase All Content and Settings“. Follow the on–screen instructions. Your iPhone will restart and show the initial setup screen. Choose “Restore from iCloud Backup“ during the setup process. Select the relevant backup that contains your deleted call log. Wait for the restoration process to complete. 3. Explore Third–Party Apps (with Caution): ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    8 hours ago

  • How to Factory Reset iPhone without Computer: A Comprehensive Guide to Restoring your Device
    Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    15 hours ago

  • How to Call Someone on a Computer: A Guide to Voice and Video Communication in the Digital Age
    Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    16 hours ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #16 2024
    Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications: Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
    Skeptical Science
    16 hours ago

  • Where on a Computer is the Operating System Generally Stored? Delving into the Digital Home of your ...
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    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    16 hours ago

  • How Many Watts Does a Laptop Use? Understanding Power Consumption and Efficiency
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    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    16 hours ago

  • How to Screen Record on a Dell Laptop A Guide to Capturing Your Screen with Ease
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    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    17 hours ago

  • How Much Does it Cost to Fix a Laptop Screen? Navigating Repair Options and Costs
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    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    17 hours ago

  • How Long Do Gaming Laptops Last? Demystifying Lifespan and Maximizing Longevity
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    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    17 hours ago

  • Climate Change: Turning the tide
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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    18 hours ago

  • How to Unlock Your Computer A Comprehensive Guide to Regaining Access
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    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    19 hours ago

  • Faxing from Your Computer A Modern Guide to Sending Documents Digitally
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    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    19 hours ago

  • Protecting Your Home Computer A Guide to Cyber Awareness
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    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    19 hours ago

  • Server-Based Computing Powering the Modern Digital Landscape
    In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    19 hours ago

  • Vroom vroom go the big red trucks
    The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    19 hours ago

  • Jones finds $410,000 to help the government muscle in on a spat project
    Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    20 hours ago

  • Again, hate crimes are not necessarily terrorism.
    Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    23 hours ago

  • Despair – construction consenting edition
    Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    23 hours ago

  • Coalition promises – will the Govt keep the commitment to keep Kiwis equal before the law?
    Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    23 hours ago

  • An impermanent public service is a guarantee of very little else but failure
    Chris Trotter writes –  The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • What happens after the war – Mariupol
    Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    1 day ago

  • Babies and benefits – no good news
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • Should the RBNZ be looking through climate inflation?
    Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours, as of 9:16 am on Thursday, April 18 are:Housing: Tauranga residents living in boats, vans RNZ Checkpoint Louise TernouthHousing: Waikato councillor says wastewater plant issues could hold up Sleepyhead building a massive company town Waikato Times Stephen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the public sector carnage, and misogyny as terrorism
    It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    1 day ago

  • Meeting the Master Baiters
    Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 day ago

  • How extreme was the Earth's temperature in 2023
    This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blog In 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 day ago

  • Backbone, revisited
    The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Ministers are not above the law
    Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • What’s the outfit you can hear going down the gurgler? Probably it’s David Parker’s Oceans Sec...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point  of Order first heard of the Oceans Secretariat in June 2021, when David Parker (remember him?) announced a multi-agency approach to protecting New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and fisheries. Parker (holding the Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries portfolios) broke the news at the annual Forest & ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Bryce Edwards writes  – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Matt Doocey doubles down on trans “healthcare”
    Citizen Science writes –  Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • A TikTok Prime Minister.
    One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Texas Lessons
    This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    2 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links at 6:06 am
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours as of 6:06 am on Wednesday, April 17 are:Must read: Secrecy shrouds which projects might be fast-tracked RNZ Farah HancockScoop: Revealed: Luxon has seven staffers working on social media content - partly paid for by taxpayer Newshub ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Fighting poverty on the holiday highway
    Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • Bernard's six-stack of substacks at 6:26 pm
    Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • At a glance – Is the science settled?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Apposite Quotations.
    How Long Is Long Enough? Gaza under Israeli bombardment, July 2014. This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
    Bowalley Road
    3 days ago

  • What’s a life worth now?
    You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Howling at the Moon
    Karl du Fresne writes –  There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Newshub is Dead.
    I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...
    Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?
    David Farrar  writes –  The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for election
    PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change: Criminal ecocide
    We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?
    Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Long Tunnel or Long Con?
    Yesterday it was revealed that Transport Minister had asked Waka Kotahi to look at the options for a long tunnel through Wellington. State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Smoke And Mirrors.
    You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • What is Mexico doing about climate change?
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • State of humanity, 2024
    2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Govt’s Wellington tunnel vision aims to ease the way to the airport (but zealous promoters of cycl...
    Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • The case for cultural connectedness
    A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Useful context on public sector job cuts
    David Farrar writes –    The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated.   While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On When Racism Comes Disguised As Anti-racism
    Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • Govt ignored economic analysis of smokefree reversal
    Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • True Blue.
    True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Who is running New Zealand’s foreign policy?
    While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #15
    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 7, 2024 thru Sat, April 13, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week is about adults in the room setting terms and conditions of ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Feline Friends and Fragile Fauna The Complexities of Cats in New Zealand’s Conservation Efforts

    Cats, with their independent spirit and beguiling purrs, have captured the hearts of humans for millennia. In New Zealand, felines are no exception, boasting the highest national cat ownership rate globally [definition cat nz cat foundation]. An estimated 1.134 million pet cats grace Kiwi households, compared to 683,000 dogs ...

    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    5 days ago

  • Or is that just they want us to think?
    Nice guy, that Peter Williams. Amiable, a calm air of no-nonsense capability, a winning smile. Everything you look for in a TV presenter and newsreader.I used to see him sometimes when I went to TVNZ to be a talking head or a panellist and we would yarn. Nice guy, that ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Fact Brief – Did global warming stop in 1998?
    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Did global warming stop in ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Arguing over a moot point.
    I have been following recent debates in the corporate and social media about whether it is a good idea for NZ to join what is known as “AUKUS Pillar Two.” AUKUS is the Australian-UK-US nuclear submarine building agreement in which … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    6 days ago

  • No Longer Trusted: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    Turning Point: “What has turned me away from the mainstream news media is the very strong message that its been sending out for the last few years.” “And what message might that be?” “That the people who own it, the people who run it, and the people who provide its content, really don’t ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • Mortgage rates at 10% anyone?
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  • Sad tales from the left
    Michael Bassett writes –  Have you noticed the odd way in which the media are handling the government’s crackdown on surplus employees in the Public Service? Very few reporters mention the crazy way in which State Service numbers rocketed ahead by more than 16,000 during Labour’s six years, ...
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  • Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
    Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
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  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
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  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
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  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
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  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners.  “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
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  • Government backing mussel spat project
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  • Government focused on getting people into work
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  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
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  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
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  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
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  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
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  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
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  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
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  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
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  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
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  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
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  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
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  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
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  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
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  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
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  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
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  • Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
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  • Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
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  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
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  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
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  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
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  • Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.   “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti.  “I have asked her to ...
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  • Roads of National Significance planning underway
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  • Navigating an unstable global environment
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  • NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
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  • Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
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  • NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
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  • Joint US and NZ declaration
    April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
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  • NZ and US to undertake further practical Pacific cooperation
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  • Government redress for Te Korowai o Wainuiārua
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  • Focus on outstanding minerals permit applications
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  • Applications open for NZ-Ireland Research Call
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  • Tenancy rules changes to improve rental market
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  • Boosting NZ’s trade and agricultural relationship with China
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  • Freshwater farm plan systems to be improved
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