Tax cut cynicism

Written By: - Date published: 6:20 pm, August 25th, 2014 - 52 comments
Categories: bill english, election 2014, john key, same old national, tax - Tags: ,

The kind of waffle John Key is trying to spin around the topic of tax cuts is breathtaking. There might be room for tax cuts, but he can’t promise anything, but maybe they’ll see, and Bill English saying there won’t be tax cuts was both true and untrue at the same time, like a fiscal Schroedinger’s Cat.

National seem to be running on pure instinct at the moment, and unfortunately their instincts are messed up. For six years they’ve had a brilliant strategy:

  1. John Key is nice but non-committal
  2. Be relentlessly negative through proxies like Cameron Slater
  3. We can manage the economy, Labour can’t
    3a. Tax cuts!

Unfortunately 2 has been blown to pieces by Nicky Hager, 1 is crumbling fast under relentlessly gallery demands for yes/no answers, and 3 is being torn apart by conflicting tactics.

On the one hand, Bill English has decided that the smart move is to reject the idea of tax cuts. Play the “narrow surplus” card. Get Steven Joyce to constantly emphasise that Labour are trying to spend too much money and threaten our whole economic future in the process. Downplay any suggestion of a pre-election lolly scramble. Be the sensible economic managers.

On the other, there’s a crisis developing for National. Their support is still incredibly strong, but it’s slowly slipping away, and history tells us it’s all downhill from here. They have almost no credible coalition partners on their side, and their two middle-of-the-road options come with either a Winston Peters or Tame Iti sting in the tail. They seem genuinely worried that their supporters won’t bother to show up on election day. They’re on the brink of becoming our first biggest-party-in-Opposition under MMP.

And because they’ve been working on autopilot for years, the old instinct is kicking in: promise tax cuts. Even though it completely undermines everything the Minister of Finance has been saying, even though what National really don’t need at the moment is to look cynical or desperate.

The last thing they should be doing is adding fuel to the “National are tricky” bonfire – first “talking to me just means talking to my office”, and now “when he said a package he meant a specific package, not a package.”

52 comments on “Tax cut cynicism ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. mickysavage 1
    25 August 2014 at 6:45 pm

    For a while I have been mentally parsing everything that Key says because he always seems to push the truth of what he says to the limit. It seems now from talking around that a lot more people are doing the same. Key is really pushing the truth here, trying to suggest that Labour is reckless with funds when it is clearly trying to be really careful, yet his suggestion of tax cuts is as reckless financially as you can get.

    As you say interesting times Stephanie …

    • Bob 1.1
      25 August 2014 at 9:29 pm

      Bill English said there won’t be tax cuts, John Key says he can’t rule out adjusting tax thresholds.
      http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10421122/Nationals-tax-cut-mixed-message
      Adjusting tax thresholds is…well adjusting tax thresholds, no change to the tax rates i.e tax cuts.
      Come on Mickysavage, you know the difference between threshold changes and tax cuts!

      Even if they were looking at tax cuts, how is that reckless financially? http://www.businessinsider.com.au/sweden-anders-borg-2012-4

      • mickysavage 1.1.1
        25 August 2014 at 9:48 pm

        Well bob there is no difference to adjusting thresholds and tax cuts. They both involve giving some people more money that the State could otherwise use.

        It is financially reckless because we now have about $80 billion of debt whereas 6 years ago in net terms we had none.

        • Bob 1.1.1.1
          25 August 2014 at 9:55 pm

          “They both involve giving some people more money that the State could otherwise use”
          You really need a lesson in tax! When have you ever been ‘given’ tax? Firstly, tax is taken, not given. Secondly, increasing the thresholds at the rate of income inflation is neutral as you are simply taking the same amount of tax as you were previously, while leaving pay increases in peoples back pockets. Taking the same amount of tax is NOT a tax cut.

          “They both involve giving some people more money that the State could otherwise use.” Why doesn’t the state just take all of our money then?

          “It is financially reckless because we now have about $80 billion of debt whereas 6 years ago in net terms we had none.” Did you even read the link I gave you? Try this one instead then: http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/7779228/swedens-secret-recipe/

          • McFlock 1.1.1.1.1
            25 August 2014 at 11:00 pm

            We could get into a bigarse semantic argument, but really all you’re doing, bob, is taking slippery-johnny’s weasel words and finding the sole, narrow interpretation where they might actually be consistent with blinglish’s.

            I mean, it’s not like any adjustment they make if reelected will exactly match inflation. It’s a dynnamik invirinmint, after all.

          • tricledrown 1.1.1.1.2
            25 August 2014 at 11:34 pm

            Bob the drowning in your own argument why not take no tax at all no roads ,no police ,no hospitals,no schools to educate dumrses like yourself !
            38% of all money spent in the economy comes from taxes take that away our economy would collapse like what happened in Argentina 1996-97 when just about all taxes were cut!
            ACT were using Argentina as an example of how good low tax economies work half way through the 1997 NZ elections no mention of Argentina ever again by your ACT mates!
            Bob
            Now looking at the US economy state by state Bob high tax states have low debt better health care Lower unemployment all have economic growth!
            Bob States in the US that have low tax have higher debt higher unemployment poor healthcare
            economic stagnation!
            Bob California after years and years of Austerity finally put Jerry Brown(Linda Ronstadts ex)
            Brown increased Taxes and solved California’s Massive debt problem after years of tax cuts by dumbarse Tories rule!
            Bob Desperado!

            • Bob 1.1.1.1.2.1
              26 August 2014 at 9:57 am

              “Bob the drowning in your own argument why not take no tax at all no roads ,no police ,no hospitals,no schools to educate dumrses like yourself !”
              Tricledrown, I am not suggesting taking any less tax, nor are John Key or Bill English from what I have read (and linked too), Mickeysavage is the one suggesting “giving some people more money that the State could otherwise use”, so please explain how I am “drowning in my own argument”?

              “38% of all money spent in the economy comes from taxes take that away our economy would collapse like what happened in Argentina 1996-97 when just about all taxes were cut! ACT were using Argentina as an example of how good low tax economies work half way through the 1997 NZ elections no mention of Argentina ever again by your ACT mates!”
              Tricledrown, fuck off with your ACT mates bullshit, they are a bunch of washed-up ex-Labour hacks and idiots drowning in ideology rather than realism. Again, I haven’t said anything about cutting taxes other than to point out to Mickeysavage that tax cuts (which, again to get it through your thick brain are NOT on offer) are not necessarily financially reckless and asked him to point out how they were. Try not to step into a discussion that you can’t comprehend.

              “Now looking at the US economy state by state Bob high tax states have low debt better health care Lower unemployment all have economic growth!”
              Tricledrown, citation please, this is a potential answer to the question I asked Mickeysavage, but the fact you haven’t understood any of the rest of our conversation doesn’t lead me to believe any point you make without citation.

              “Bob California after years and years of Austerity finally put Jerry Brown(Linda Ronstadts ex) Brown increased Taxes and solved California’s Massive debt problem after years of tax cuts by dumbarse Tories rule!”
              Tricledrown, citation again please, I have at least given links to support what I say, all you have done is take an entire conversation out of context and gone on a rant with nothing to back yourself up. Pick your game up Trickledrown.

              • framu …
                26 August 2014 at 10:02 am

                ” I am not suggesting taking any less tax,”

                but doesnt shifting tax thresholds do this? (and vice versa)

                • Bob …
                  26 August 2014 at 10:35 am

                  Not if it is changed at the rate of wage inflation. Then it is just taking the same amount of tax and leaving people with more money from their wage increases.

                  • framu …
                    26 August 2014 at 12:28 pm

                    true enough – but the headline thats running, and the one the nats want you me and everyone else to hear is… drum roll… tax cuts

                    and when they clarify it a little bit further – the message is still tax cuts

                    and wage inflation isnt happening for everyone

                  • McFlock …
                    26 August 2014 at 12:56 pm

                    apart from the fact that actively reducing the amount of tax they will take is actually a tax cut.

                    The “adjusting for inflation” argument cuts both ways – if the government gathers a nominally-identical amount of tax from year to year, inflation means that the value of that tax is decreasing.

                    • Bob …
                      26 August 2014 at 3:05 pm

                      So by your logic National is increasing tax rates at the election if they don’t adjust for inflation because they are taking more tax and catching more people in the top tax bracket?

                    • McFlock …
                      26 August 2014 at 3:16 pm

                      lol
                      that’s your logic.

                      There is an argument for that, unless inequality is also increasing at such a rate that less people fall into the higher tax brackets even despite inflation-based increases in average incomes.

                      But really, if you have to rely on people shifting tax brackets to argue that the nominal tax take is increasing, then you’re not increasing taxes enough to cover our debt and infrastructure requirements. Cry me a fucking river.

                  • Draco T Bastard …
                    26 August 2014 at 3:32 pm

                    Not if it is changed at the rate of wage inflation.

                    We could key it to median wage which, over the last few years under National, has been going backwards. This would result in the rich having to pay more taxes (not that they do though).

              • tricledrown …
                26 August 2014 at 10:17 am

                Bob you need a snickers you purvey pure out of date propaganda!
                Google Californian economy then US dept of statistics!
                Huffington Post has Many Charts and lists of how each state performs!

              • tricledrown …
                26 August 2014 at 10:27 am

                Bob my smart phone can’t do links!
                I am always reading how different countries and states of the US economies are performing!
                It easy to find out!
                Right Wing propaganda is never backed by hard facts like you still haven’t apologized for repeating the pack of lies published in the spectator!
                The right wing never look very deeply into anything other than their own wallets!

              • tricledrown …
                26 August 2014 at 10:32 am

                Bob you did say why don’t we just pay all our money in taxes!
                so calm down when you try and push a ridiculous excuse to push your argument to bully others into submission don’t be surprised if someone points it out!

              • tricledrown …
                26 August 2014 at 10:37 am

                Bob look up wikipedia Swedish economy and compare it to the spectators propaganda(barcley bros propaganda)

          • tricledrown 1.1.1.1.3
            25 August 2014 at 11:52 pm

            Bob pure BS Sweden has huge foreign debt in excess of $1 trillion huge govt debt massive unemployment deliberately covered up govt work schemes!
            Tax Cuts haven’t delivered !
            the spectator article you refer to was published in 2012 so figures are from prior date’s!
            The Speculator is A Murdoch load of lies and 1/2 truths no accurate data!
            Pure Murdoch propaganda!
            Bob who is feeding you this pure BS.
            Desperado!

      • joe90 1.1.2
        25 August 2014 at 10:30 pm

        Sweden huh, where an unelected bureaucrat oversees interest rates at 0.78%, debt at 40% of GDP, deflation on the horizon, falling consumer confidence, growing rates of inequality with ballooning youth and migrant unemployment, a housing bubble and record levels of household debt.

        http://www.tradingeconomics.com/sweden/indicators

        edit: oh, and the links you’ve posted are two years out of date – could you rustle up some more recent claptrap

        • Colonial Viper 1.1.2.1
          25 August 2014 at 11:48 pm

          And where Swedish mounted police charged at anti-Nazi protestors, fucking them over under hoof. Charming.

        • Draco T Bastard 1.1.2.2
          26 August 2014 at 9:32 am

          edit: oh, and the links you’ve posted are two years out of date – could you rustle up some more recent claptrap

          It’s the same claptrap that the idiots were spouting in the 18th century. Updated links aren’t going to change that.

          The idiots are always looking to cut taxes and saying that it will boost the economy. In reality things are exactly opposite what they believe.

      • tricledrown 1.1.3
        26 August 2014 at 12:10 am

        Bob your propaganda lies are purveyed by Britains biggest tax dodgers the Barcley bros.
        Englands equivalent of the Koch bros you Koch head!

      • Tracey 1.1.4
        26 August 2014 at 8:18 am

        it’s financially reckless because if Labour was doing it, that is the post many would be writing here, WO, Kiwiblog and in the newspapers and on tv.

        Same as they would be screaming LOLLY SCRAMBLE at the proposed giveaway of $20,000 to first home buyers to buy their vote.

        Hope this clears it up for you Bob.

    • felix 1.2
      25 August 2014 at 11:53 pm

      micky, I’ve been parsing his statements too. This one’s a doozy:

      But the long term message is, y’know as surpluses grow, as the economy continues to grow under a National government, y’know, we’d like to deliver some form of tax.

      Amazing.

      And people will hear that and think he said something about tax cuts.

      • North 1.2.1
        26 August 2014 at 7:19 am

        Bobby…….it’s called “The Fraud of Nice”.

        Devised by TheGodKey for consumption by The Mice.

        Thanks for your concealing mock-intelligence.

  2. karol 2
    25 August 2014 at 7:14 pm

    Even Patrick Gower is calling Key/English “tricky”.

    The Dirty Politics scandal knocked Lochinver and foreign ownership off the agenda. But the latest poll shows it is a real vulnerability for National, especially when doubled down and merged with the housing crisis.
    It is populist and the Opposition is trying to cash in.
    Mr Key revealed a big play today, hinting there will be an announcement about tax cuts. It may seem confusing, as just last week under direct questioning Finance Minister Bill English ruled out a tax package and failed to mention any announcement.
    It’s all about language though and in politician speak, a tax “package” is technically different from an “announcement”. It’s still a promise; it just has fewer details.
    There is a word for this – it’s “tricky”.

  3. Man in a Barrel 3
    25 August 2014 at 7:40 pm

    …

    Looks like the wheels are coming off National’s Dream Run of an Economic Tail Wind, to mix three metaphores:

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/10421920/NZ-economy-could-hit-the-rocks-economists

    ” But the current rate of growth is unsustainable, a panel of some of New Zealand’s top economists told a briefing in Auckland today.

    And they said many New Zealanders are not aware how much our economy is relying on one-off boosts like the Christchurch rebuild, or how quickly it could slow down when they come to an end.”

    It’s good that this is getting into the MSM, but Labour et al need to be hammering the point that the Nats can take little credit for the good times, and will be woefully unprepared when it ends.

    • disturbed 3.1
      25 August 2014 at 8:01 pm

      +++++++++100%

    • Colonial Viper 3.2
      25 August 2014 at 8:28 pm

      Labour will also be woefully unprepared for when it ends, because Labour believes in the nonsense of “balancing the books” just as much as National does.

    • Tracey 3.3
      26 August 2014 at 8:22 am

      “And they said many New Zealanders are not aware how much our economy is relying on one-off boosts like the Christchurch rebuild, or how quickly it could slow down when they come to an end.”

      And why arent they aware? Because national deliberately lies about it to them and MSM dont question it. Even ACT questions it, BIG TIME

      Why isn’t Labour

      • Draco T Bastard 3.3.1
        26 August 2014 at 9:37 am

        And why arent they aware? Because national deliberately lies about it to them and MSM dont question it.

        QFT

      • Man in a Barrel 3.3.2
        26 August 2014 at 9:48 am

        ..

        Why isn’t Labour?

        Because as Colonial Viper pointed out Labour are singing from the same dog-eared economic songbook as the Nats. Oh, it has a pink cover instead of a blue one and the dedication on the fly-sheet is different, there’s a different word here and there and variations in emphasis but the hymns inside are all written by the same incurious economic charlatans who studied the same bankrupt economic theories in the same churnemout institutions.

        Where is the vision, Labour? Where is the courage? Where is the humanity?

        Oh, that’s right. We mustn’t scare the horses, must we!

  4. kenny 4
    25 August 2014 at 8:17 pm

    You have to hand it to Key – he is very good at this kind of thing. He has done it before whenever he feels things are slipping away.

    He only has to hint at tax cuts and he knows most of his supporters and those other greedy buggers will get in behind sharpish; tongues out in anticipation. He doesn’t have to deliver – just the ‘promise’ is enough.

  5. Reddelusion 5
    25 August 2014 at 8:48 pm

    And the left only have to hint about more free stuff and those bludgers will get in behind sharpish, tongue out in anticipation, he doesn’t have to deliver, just promise is enough. ( it works both ways, politicians have been doing it for years) at least he can deliver if he chooses , who knows what we will get with labour, green, NZF , IMP

    [Stephanie: Could you scream “troll” any harder? I would advise making some constructive comments lest your future contributions fall into a black hole.]

    • Draco T Bastard 5.1
      26 August 2014 at 9:40 am

      who knows what we will get with labour, green, NZF , IMP

      A viable economy rather than the stolen economy that we’re getting under National.

    • Man in a Barrel 5.2
      26 August 2014 at 9:58 am

      …

      With respect I don’t read Reddelusion’s comment as any more trollish and lacking in constructive criticism than kenny’s.

      And Reddelusion is right – no, that should be ‘correct’, well he/she is probably both – We know what we’ll get from Key because we’ve already had it. And it stinks. But we can only hope we’ll get from Cunliffe et al what they say they’ll deliver and I’ve been at the receiving end of politics for long enough not to hold my breath. Well, actually I’ve been at the receiving end of politics for long enough to know that holding your breath (and nose) when dealing with politicians of any colour is a good idea.

      Plato observed that the true measure of a man is what he does with power. We’ve got Key’s measure now, but Cunliffe has yet to be measured.

  6. tricledrown 6
    25 August 2014 at 10:52 pm

    Blues Buy You Milk prices due to fall over a cliff Guardian UK!
    Log prices have already crashed!
    This country is 44th on value added economy list between Turkey and Serbia!
    Stephen Joyce has mucked the R&D around over the last 6 years now he is lying like his leader the economy is heading for the rocks relying on a primary industry commodity boom bust cycle!
    Natural disasters insurance payouts short term short sighted Policy!
    Relicofderision!
    Conservative Conmen!
    Economic Neanderthals!
    National have continued to lock our Economy into a pre industrial revolution mode!

  7. tricledrown 7
    25 August 2014 at 10:52 pm

    Blues Buy You Milk prices due to fall over a cliff Guardian UK!
    Log prices have already crashed!
    This country is 44th on value added economy list between Turkey and Serbia!
    Stephen Joyce has mucked the R&D around over the last 6 years now he is lying like his leader the economy is heading for the rocks relying on a primary industry commodity boom bust cycle!
    Natural disasters insurance payouts short term short sighted Policy!
    Relicofderision!
    Conservative Conmen!
    Economic Neanderthals!
    National have continued to lock our Economy into a pre industrial revolution mode!

    • disturbed 7.1
      26 August 2014 at 8:23 am

      ++++++100%

    • Draco T Bastard 7.2
      26 August 2014 at 9:44 am

      National have continued to lock our Economy into a pre industrial revolution mode!

      National prefer not having to do anything because that costs money and so they go for an economy that provides nothing more than more cows. It’s also the simple type of economy that they can understand. Anything more complex is beyond them.

  8. disturbed 8
    26 August 2014 at 8:28 am

    Like this question; Iprent, Stephanie,

    Hey Mr Key, please answer this question below;

    How come first while in Wairoa on 24/8/12 after the storm washed out our rail you said “you didn’t want road to be the only option” after your Government said they couldn’t afford to reopen the rail, that was reported in Wairoa Star 28thAugust 2012,

    Question,
    Why now can you afford tax cuts – but not afford to fix our public railway service you destroyed by removing the maintenance funding that caused the washout?

    Maybe this was your plan to get another part of your cycleway built by stealing our railway and helping your foreign owned trucking companies.

    • Lanthanide 8.1
      26 August 2014 at 9:35 am

      Pretty obvious that the answer to that is “tax cuts would help grow the entire country, not just the Wairoa region”.

      • disturbed 8.1.1
        26 August 2014 at 11:28 pm

        Lanthanide ; you said,
        In response to our question why is Key offering bullshit promise of tax cuts but not fix our rail line?
        Pretty obvious that the answer to that is “tax cuts would help grow the entire country, not just the Wairoa region”.

        Lanthanide, missed the point by a country mile sorry.

        You don’t get the point!

        What I was asking was “why did Key say he didn’t want road to be the only option”

        We take this as – If that means he wants another option available to road?

        If so, – now that he says he has money that they didn’t have at the time he said he didn’t want road to be the only option why doesn’t he cough up now?

        So why doesn’t he now honour his promise to the people of Wairoa that he pledged to offer other than road only?

        Was this just like a tax cut, another BULLSHIT STORY?

        That was the inference made behind the question.

        Not what is the most effective way to use the surplus, if there was any.

        Which we know now there is not.

        We don’t want a debate how to spend the invisible surplus but to fix the rail they sabotaged.

        NZ is heading for bankruptcy. here’s why.

        Key we know you have increased our crown debt from 6 Billion to 60 Billion in six years!

        So now say you are running a surplus, Bullshit and we don’t believe you any more get it?

        We are full of cynicism, after being at the butt end of Key’s lies.

  9. fambo 9
    26 August 2014 at 9:08 am

    The Green Party is offering a way better tax cut for individuals and companies but it seems a lot of people only like tax cuts when they are paid for from money that would otherwise go on the health, education and conservation.

    https://www.greens.org.nz/policy/cleaner-environment/climate-protection-plan

  10. disturbed 10
    26 August 2014 at 9:49 am

    The descent of the NZ Dollar has begun, and watch fuel costs go up along with panic if it slips below 65 cents US.

    The media are speculating it’s the reserve Bank intervening, but I am cynical.

    Perhaps it’s another raid by Key/Krieger on our dollar beginning again?

    In 1987 Key as Merrill Lynch currency Manager partnered the NY mega rich NY currency raider mate Andy Krieger to sink the NZ dollar after pulling all his money out again as they did in 1987 after Labour took over, is this signalling a repeat as he said he would leave if loosing the election?

    http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2008/11/10/financial-markets/keys-house

    “John Key is living proof that not all heads of derivatives operations for large US investment banks end up in the dog house. Some get to run their own country.

    Key was elected prime minister of New Zealand last weekend after his National Party achieved a crushing victory over the incumbent Labour government of Helen Clark.

    The timing of his elevation, in the midst of a financial crisis, may be quite prophetic. After all, Key’s rise to prominence in foreign exchange circles came after he struck a rewarding relationship at Bankers Trust with Andy Krieger, a daring New York-based trader who launched a legendary raid against the NZ dollar in 1987.

    Krieger reportedly bet more than the country’s entire money supply against the currency, forcing it down sharply and taking massive profits in what is still described as one of the finest forex plays ever completed. “

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    1 day ago

  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    2 days ago

  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    2 days ago

  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    2 days ago

  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    Bowalley Road
    3 days ago

  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes – The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    3 days ago

  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    4 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #48 2023
    Open access notables From this week's government/NGO section, longitudinal data is gold and Leisorowitz, Maibachi et al. continue to mine ore from the US public with Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2023: Drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. adult population, the authors describe how registered ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • ELE LUDEMANN: It wasn’t just $55 million
    Ele Ludemann writes –  Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 1-December-2023
    Wow, it’s December already, and it’s a Friday. So here are few things that caught our attention recently. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered the new government’s coalition agreements and what they mean for transport. On Tuesday Matt looked at AT’s plans for fare increases ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    6 days ago

  • Shane MacGowan Is Gone.
    Late 1996, The Dogs Bollix, Tamaki Makaurau.I’m at the front of the bar yelling my order to the bartender, jostling with other thirsty punters on a Friday night, keen to piss their wages up against a wall letting loose. The black stuff, long luscious pints of creamy goodness. Back down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 1
    Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop and other National, ACT and NZ First MPs applaud the signing of the coalition agreements, which included the reversal of anti-smoking measures while accelerating tax cuts for landlords. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • 2023 More Reading: November (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for November: A Modern Utopia, by H.G. Wells The Vampire (poem), by Heinrich August Ossenfelder The Corpus Hermeticum The Corpus Hermeticum is Mead’s translation. Now, this is indeed a very quiet month for reading. But there is a reason for that… You see, ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies.The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. They also describe the processes of the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago

  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
    Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    7 days ago

  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    7 days ago

  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago

  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago

  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    1 week ago

  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago

  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago

  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

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