Will Jacinda Ardern meet her promise to transform?

Written By: - Date published: 6:53 am, September 4th, 2020 - 62 comments
Categories: election 2017, election 2020, greens, jacinda ardern, john key, labour, nz first, political parties, Politics, poverty, tax, winston peters - Tags: , , , ,

Jacinda Ardern’s second term in office will be more challenging than her first, even accounting for such crises as the Christchurch massacre and Covid 19.

In 2017, when Labour was languishing in the points and her taking on Labour’s leadership just weeks before the election, she had nothing to lose.

As we know, the miracle happened, but Labour was profoundly unready to govern. In its first 100 days it rolled out the Families Package but policy to address the underlying cause of inequality was lacking.

It also had the handbrake of coalition partners, mainly NZ First, which was instrumental in blocking or diluting any radical change, most importantly, the Tax Working Group’s main recommendation of a capital gains tax to make our tax system fairer.

This election will be far different. Polls consistently show Labour has very chance of governing with just the Greens, or outright. No handbrake, no excuses for being unready.

This has to be a scary moment.

Covid and Christchurch have proved Ardern is made of stern stuff, but having the freedom of total parliamentary control is another challenge altogether.

In her rhetoric, Ardern consistently claims her government will be two things – it will deal with climate change as her generation’s “nuclear-free moment” and it will be “transformation”.

On climate change, she and the Green Party have successfully set up a structure via the Zero Carbon Act and the Climate Commission to tackle this issue, even getting partial buy-in from National. But three years have elapsed and the goal of zero net emissions by 2050 is not much closer. So this coming term the hard yards of implementation need to be done.

This challenge will be eased by not having NZ First dragging the chain, but it remains continental in size, made more difficult in an economy beaten down by Covid and now debt-ridden.

Transformation will be equally scary and challenging.

What Ardern means by transformational is open to interpretation but in the context in which she has said it, it is hard to interpret it as meaning anything other than reducing inequality and poverty. In 2017 she set a prime goal of bringing all children out of poverty within six years. Half that time to reach the target has expired.

It is hard to see how, from the progressive side of the political spectrum, you can address inequality without tackling, if not unwinding the underlying structures of neoliberalism that have produced such inequality.

Nine years of Labour governance under Helen Clark did not attempt this. She mitigated neoliberalism by making the tax system slightly more progressive, repealing the hated Contracts Act and introducing the redistributive Working for Families package. But she left the underlying blocks of neoliberalism largely intact – an unfair, regressive tax system, capital gains left untaxed, deregulated labour, electricity and finance markets largely intact, a central bank based on monetarism, government finances restricted by debt ceilings and largely open slather foreign investment.

During his nine years in office John Key undid many of Clark’s mitigations and added his own neoliberal touches.

In 2017, when Winston Peters chose which party to side with, he cited the extremes to which capitalism had reached under the influence of neoliberals as his reason for choosing Labour.

“That experiment – of unbridled, irrational neoliberalism – has transformed what was once one of the most egalitarian societies in the world, into a case-study of acute inequity,” Peters said in a speech shortly after.

Even one of neoliberalism’s prime exponents, former Prime Minister Jim Bolger, whose first Finance Minister, Ruth Richardson, unwound much of the welfare state with her 1990 Mother of All Budgets, has freely admitted neoliberalism has “absolutely failed”.

“They have failed to produce economic growth and what growth there has been has gone to the few at the top,” Bolger noted.

Equality researcher and writer Max Rashbrooke documented this in a recent Guardian article. He cited Statistics NZ’s 2017/18 Household Economic Survey showing the 1 percent hold $140 billion of assets in trusts with a median value of $6.2 million per trust, while another $127 billion is held by the next 5 percent.

In all, the top 10 percent of Kiwis own 59 percent of all assets and the poorest half own just 2 percent. And a major point he makes is that most of the gains from those assets are legally untaxed because they derive from capital appreciation.

He cites IRD research showing half of the Rich List of Kiwis owning over $50 million declare income of less than $70,000. The bulk of their income comes from selling off assets, such as shares, that have appreciated hugely in value, but legally attract no tax.

This well documented and astounding wealth disparity is a major challenge to Aotearoa’s identity as a fair and equal society, Rashbrooke says.

Labour’s Tax Working Group’s main recommendation for redressing what it called an unbalanced and unfair tax system which underpins our newfound inequality, was for a capital gains tax. But Ardern boxed herself into a corner when she succumbed to Peters’ blackmail and not only rejected the recommendation, but ruled out a CGT while she remains leader.

CGT has been her Achilles heel. In 2017 she initially got into trouble via her “captain’s call” not to rule it out pre-election, then she u-turned and ruled it out until the TWG had deliberated. Her decision to permanently rule it out was due to fear of National using tax to spook the electorate in this election.

But something must be done if Ardern is to successfully address poverty. A fairer tax system is today even more pressing, having spent our way through the thick end of $60 billion to address the Covid crisis. That means little or no discretionary spending in many budgets to come.

“As a nation, New Zealand simply will not get through this crisis in one piece if it fails to answer the urgent need for an immediate and massive redistribution of wealth from those whose financial position is reasonably secure to those whose position is not,” says left wing commentator Chris Trotter.

The Green Party has come up with a well-thought, comprehensive poverty policy that would be funded by a wealth tax of 1 percent on individuals with net assets over $1 million, and 2 percent for those with assets over $2 million. It is neat, in that it would also operate as a de facto inheritance tax for asset-rich-cash-poor individuals who want to defer payment, and it also captures most trusts by treating them as individuals.

However, Rashbrooke says Ardern is “distinctly lukewarm” on the wealth tax and he reckons she has little appetite for redistribution, by which I assume he means higher income tax brackets.

Labour, still shy of spooking the electorate over tax, has been very quiet on tax policy and is likely to remain so ahead of the vote.

But, with a huge chunk of discretionary spending, not just for this term, but for the next generation at least, already allocated, the question is, how will Ardern fund her poverty-alleviation program?

Reports are in for working groups on welfare, education and health and, assuming those reports will not be rejected as the TWG report has been, they will result in substantive changes to our society.

But such measures and others such as decolonising the justice system, fall well short of societal transformation in the way that Micky Savage or even David Lange, with the introduction of neoliberalism, revolutionised our society.

Ardern looks poised to have the same opportunity they had and history will judge how well she seizes it.

(Simon Louisson worked as a journalist for Reuters, the New Zealand Press Association, and The Wall Street Journal among media organisations. He also worked two stints for the Green Party as a media and political adviser).

62 comments on “Will Jacinda Ardern meet her promise to transform? ”

  1. PsyclingLeft.Always 1

    Of course the nat Fear Mongers will be absolutely on this. Remember sir Key "communism by stealth" ?

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3571934

    And of course the rich are…

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/380550/the-rich-are-getting-richer-the-poor-are-getting-poorer-new-research

    There is always this….all the flow on effects…lead to a Cost. Why arent these Costs factored in? A country still has to pay for the collateral damage the Inequality brings…

    https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Economic_inequality#Effects_of_economic_inequality

  2. Stuart Munro 2

    Although NZ's wealthy have made out like bandits from the want of a CGT, it may not be the best immediate political solution.

    A Tobin tax of some description is more difficult to sledge in the press.

    • dv 2.1

      Yes and a financial transaction tax on all bank transfers (Like credit card charges at 2%)

      Zero tax up to 20k, say 50% over 200k

      And a UBI

    • mikesh 2.2

      Yes. Getting rid of the regressive GST and substituting a transaction tax would be a move in the right direction. Such a tax would catch large financial transactions, which GST misses.

      Mind you, I'm not sure how the average man in the street would regard, say, a 1% tax being added to his mortgage payments.

  3. Frankly, anything less than 'transformational' is selling out our grandchildren.

    If Labour gains a majority or goes into coalition with the Greens, then I for one hope they take this country by the collar and gives it a good shake. With a mandate for change, they could re-direct this country in even more profound ways than Michael Joseph did after 1935.

    Here's hoping.

  4. Pat 4

    The degree to which Labour feel the need to be transformational will be determined by the level of electoral support for the likes of the Greens…..and as weve seen 6% is not very transformational at all.

  5. Wayne 5

    Presumably Labour will have some sort of manifesto, or at least a list of election promises.

    I would be surprised if they were very specific, more in the nature of goals and objectives.

    However, they won't be allowed to get away with that completely. On some things Labour will have to be specific. For instance taxes.

    Being elected into government doesn't give a political party an unfettered mandate to do as it pleases, to only satisfy its own activists. They will have been elected (or in this case, re-elected) based on what they have done in the past, and on what they have promised to do.

    Both Labour (1999 to 2008) and National (2008 to 2017) essentially governed on the mandate they had been given in successive elections. They did not go, in any significant way, beyond the election commitments they had made. And on that basis, both were elected into government for three terms, and in National's case was the largest party on the fourth election.

    I appreciate Covid is an event bigger than the GFC, but we have now had it for 7 months and have a general understanding of its economic and social impact. Political parties are able to factor Covid into their 2020 election commitments.

    There seems to be a desire on The Standard, that political parties (or at least Labour) should no longer be bound by electoral commitments, that Labour, if re-elected, will simply have carte blanche. Perhaps even going further, that they could do radical things, even if it was against their specific election promises.

    Governments doing this in the 1980's and early 1990's is how we got MMP. New Zealanders wanted to reign in such unfettered exercises of power. Now The Standard (or at least some of the authors) seems to be advocating going back to that style of government.

    All I can say, is I hope senior politicians, irrespective of which party they are in, resist that siren call. That they will in fact govern according to the mandate given to them by electors. That mandate is best measured by the campaign commitments that parties make during the election.

    • PsyclingLeft.Always 5.1

      I was going to TLDR, but persevered. Was this Boomspeak? Neolib justify? or Nat-ification? : )

      I'm just going by…

      "There seems to be a desire on The Standard, that political parties (or at least Labour) should no longer be bound by electoral commitments, that Labour, if re-elected, will simply have carte blanche. Perhaps even going further, that they could do radical things, even if it was against their specific election promises."

      • Wayne 5.1.1

        Basically it is a view that political parties should essentially govern according to their mandate. That is, they govern according to what they promised to do during the election campaign, at least to the best extent they can.

        If that is Boomspeak, Neolib justify, Or Natification, so be it.

        To me it is the essence of democratic accountability.

        • PsyclingLeft.Always 5.1.1.1

          Yea but SPECIFICALLY…you stated

          "There seems to be a desire on The Standard, that political parties (or at least Labour) should no longer be bound by electoral commitments, that Labour, if re-elected, will simply have carte blanche. Perhaps even going further, that they could do radical things, even if it was against their specific election promises."

          Must be your blue tinted specs?

        • Stuart Munro 5.1.1.2

          Better than 80% of NZers opposed asset sales, and you knew that perfectly well, but still pursued the policy, because your party is, above all else, the party of corruption.

        • McFlock 5.1.1.3

          There is that view, and I support it.

          But I think imprecise goals (as long as they're not weasel words) are a better indicator than numbers. Numbers change according to circumstance, honest effort towards the goals is what counts.

          But then there are also outright lies – the one shortly before I went to university was Lockwood smith's signed pledge to end the student loan scheme in 1990. Outright fraud on the electorate.

    • mauī 5.2

      Being elected into government doesn't give a political party an unfettered mandate to do as it pleases, …

      That didn't stop the last National Government… State Asset Sales, Sky City Convention centre, TPPA, and plenty more…

      • Wayne 5.2.1

        Maui

        All of which were the subject of specific campaign commitments

        • mauī 5.2.1.1

          Ok, I will admit they may have campaigned on these issues. However, they did soldier on with these divisive policies while ignoring increasing public opposition.

          They were a Government that did as it pleases, the current Gov on the other hand would at least seek some sort of compromise in the same situation.

    • lprent 5.3

      Both Labour (1999 to 2008) and National (2008 to 2017) essentially governed on the mandate they had been given in successive elections. They did not go, in any significant way, beyond the election commitments they had made.

      But isn't that exactly what Jacinda did? If you actually read the post you'll have noted the link to a RNZ interview on the 12th September 2017 (the election was on the 23rd)

      Labour leader Jacinda Ardern says neoliberalism has failed and New Zealand has always been served well by interventionist government.

      The opposition leader, outlining her economic ideology to RNZ in a lengthy interview, was asked if she agreed with former Prime Minister Jim Bolger's assessment of neoliberalism in New Zealand: that it had failed.

      As I recall, this was largely reflected in the Labour election policy statements for the 2017 election. I haven't seen an actual manifesto since the 1980s except from the minor parties.

      Presumably Labour will have some sort of manifesto, or at least a list of election promises.

      I would be surprised if they were very specific, more in the nature of goals and objectives.

      And presumably National will get around to producing their comprehensive manifesto and list of election promises any month now – the ones that are costed.

      Unlike this pile of fantasy crap about a second harbour crossing in Auckland. It somehow fails to mention that in the last decade, while Auckland's population went up by 25% or more and cars be even more, that the traffic volumes on the bridge actually declined relative to population. The number of people transported over the bridge increased – on mass transit. Via the Northern Busway.

      So this bit of idiotic bullshit justifying the massive car spend is fatuous and irrelevant.

      Population and travel demand growth is forecast to increase by around 22% (an additional 40,000 vehicles per day) by 2041.

      There is one reason to replace the Harbour Bridge – maintenance issues of age. For anything else mass transit would be a more effective solution. And I haven't seen any engineering report to show that there is a maintenance problem. The big problem with a second harbour crossing is simply about how to put the approaches in. There simply isn't room and it will be a nightmare to do it now anywhere close to the city centre.

      So as far as I can see a 20 year replacement process for the Harbour bridge still hasn't started. We just need to kick more cars off and let more mass transit on.

      But I'd agree that there is a reason to put in the commuter rail to the North Shore. But so far I haven't seen any costing or feasibility study on a pure rail tunnel under the harbour. And I suspect that option will be really bad economically compared to just taking it over a bridge and approach on the upper harbour.

      But I believe that November is the target date for costed policies for National – right? Because when you look at National's current policies they are all of this ilk – useless slogans with no intelligence or understanding of the issues.

      Political parties should please give me intents and a rationale behind them. Or policies that have been costed. Just making up unfeasible waffle like National does really doesn't count for much.

    • The trouble is, Wayne, that BAU is just not acceptable any more.

      You may not have noticed but there is

      * a pandemic raging worldwide

      * an economic crisis engulfing the world

      * a climate crisis threatening to make the world uninhabitable for humans.

      BAU just doesn't cut the mustard these days.

      • Wayne 5.4.1

        Tony,

        If Labour campaigns on a specific transformational platform, and they win, then they have a mandate to implement it.

    • Gabby 5.5

      Didn't the gnatsies ignore a referendum and sell a bunch of stuff?

    • Draco T Bastard 5.6

      Governments doing this in the 1980's and early 1990's is how we got MMP. New Zealanders wanted to reign in such unfettered exercises of power. Now The Standard (or at least some of the authors) seems to be advocating going back to that style of government.

      And I'm pretty sure that National's and their funders support for Supplementary Member voting systems in their attempt to get rid of MMP was showing just how much they wanted to go back to that system.

      All I can say, is I hope senior politicians, irrespective of which party they are in, resist that siren call.

      That siren call is the electorate calling out for change from the failed system that government have put in place over the last four decades against the electorates will.

  6. Ad 6

    Jesus Simon. Holding Ardern to "transformation" in 2020 is as dumb as holding Gordon Coates to 1928 campaign promises in 1930, or Parker to Mayoral promises he made in 2008.

    Cataclysms got in the way, and what is left is operating the machine of government with all you have.

    We are going into a new Depression.

    Robertson is holding this ship together in the highest seas since 1930.

    Transformation? This is survival government.

    • PsyclingLeft.Always 6.1

      "Jesus Simon" ? Well he did raise some good Points : )

      • Ad 6.1.1

        How's our unemployment rate?

        Our mortgagee sale rate?

        Our bankruptcy rate?

        Homeless people piling onto the streets?

        Riots breaking out?

        Insurers going to the wall?

        Any of the features that we saw after either the 1929 crash or the Christchurch earthquakes?

        No.

        And the answer is no because this government is throwing everything at it. Successfully.

    • solkta 6.2

      but weren't the biggest transformational changes that we have seen done during a depression?

    • Andre 6.3

      Never waste a good crisis.

  7. Jum 7

    In a time of great need, Ardern can make new and reformed decisions.

  8. Sabine 8

    nope they will not.

    And that is the crux of the matter. And yeah, we have a pandemic that started 5 month ago and already in March we knew that the kinder gentler bullshit was just that bullshit.

    The increase in benefits of 25NZD and the double heating payment had nothing to do with the need of people to have more money and the heating allowance had nothing to do with the energy costs of people, but came about because Covid. That alone should tell us alot. Without Covid non of it would have happened.

    the unemployment benefits were to little three years ago, and are still to little. regular benefits still have people decide weather to eat to their hunger or weather to pay a bill because both don't work. Rent increases add to stress, cause now its back to the kinder gentler Winz Drone who can't be bothered (after all he/she gets paid no matter how much their 'clients' suffer, maybe even get a bonus if they make them suffer ) to ask for an increase in the Accomodation benefit.

    Here maybe have a read on that and ask yourself really if hope is the right tool to deal with the inaction of the government.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300097143/winter-energy-payment-to-end-their-income-is-going-to-fall-off-a-cliff

    The chair of the government's own Welfare Expert Advisory Group, Cindy Kiro, said the welfare system simply wasn't working.

    "I don't think there can be any doubt that when people are willing to sacrifice their dignity by waiting in a queue for hours and hours, there's something wrong."

    She said while boosting the winter energy payment was not the complete answer, it was a start.

    "Whatever justification you want to use people to pay people who desperately need more money, more money is fine by me – you can call it a Covid wage extension, you can call it a Covid hardship extension – you can call it a 'summer' winter payment – I don't care what you call it."

    Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said there were no plans to keep the money going – but it wasn't the only boost beneficiaries had received as part of the government's $5 billion families package.

    in bold the line of the government who tried a little, decided it was good enough and now can't be bothered doing more – unless the moment they realize that they are gonna loose their coveted spots as biggest beige suits on top.

    The best the poor in this country can hope for are a few morsels that fall of Grant Robertsons (current holder of the purse – but the same would happen under a National holder of the purse cause they all don’t care) dinner table, and they have to say thanks sir, may i have another to give satisfaction.

    • garibaldi 8.1

      I believe you are correct Sabine.

      Labour is so wedded to neoliberalism that it is incapable of being progressive. Jacinda may/may not have tendencies that way in her nature, but the Party ……hopeless. They are just a bunch of third wayers. Their only good point is that they are preferable to National.

      • greywarshark 8.1.1

        This from Sabine unfortunately hits the nail (I fear).

        in bold the line of the government who tried a little, decided it was good enough and now can't be bothered doing more – unless the moment they realize that they are gonna loose their coveted spots as biggest beige suits on top.

        And garibaldi fears they are still wedded to The Third Way. I am sure that there are some separations pending, even divorces. There are signs, keep up positives to those providing good governance. I think perhaps emails to all the others with simple why questions about what they aren't doing, with one practical step they could take which would show that they are actually alive! Don't tell them you are disappointed but set them a task that meets one need in their portfolio. Just saying.

        This is a summary of the 'Third Way ' in Wikipedia for your eddification:
        The Third Way is a political philosophy and political position akin to centrism that attempts to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of centre-right and centrist economic platforms with some centre-left social policies.

        I'll see if I can find it explained in common language!… Can't but this is interesting and to me, contradictory.

        https://www.tutor2u.net/politics/reference/third-way-socialism
        The "third way" is a middle-ground alternative route to socialism and free-market capitalism.

        The third way is a political and theoretical perspective that seeks to modify left-wing ideas towards the economic and political realities of globalisation. This centre-left way of thinking advocates a balance between rights and responsibilities and a combination of social justice alongside market-oriented economics.
        As a practical illustration of this mindset, the welfare state should provide a ‘hand up not a hand out.’ There is also a strong emphasis upon stakeholding (where businesses have a responsibility to various groups rather than just ‘fat-cats’ at the very top).

        In ideological terms, the third way is closely related to the concept of communitarianism which emphasises the interest of communities and societies over those of the individual and seeks to reinvigorate social democracy.

        However I did find this sardonic view in this BBC information piece.
        http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/458626.stm
        One supporter writing to The Independent claimed it was a form of benevolent pragmatism – a philosophy that asked of each policy – is it good, does it work? For this reason he argued it was hated by the old left and the new right – the new right because they never did anything that was good and the old left because they never did anything that worked.

  9. KJT 9

    @Wayne.

    Labour went into the last election promising "Transformational" change. Is that not a mandate?

    Even more so are polls showing 80% support for change rather than going back to where we were.

    Not that National ever paid much attention to democracy. After being elected in the 90's on the admittedly vague promise to reverse Labours "reforms" they doubled down on them. Not to mention continued asset thefts, sorry, sales, after a clear majority opposed it.

    • Morepork 9.1

      " Labour went into the last election promising "Transformational" change. Is that not a mandate? "

      Not when they received only 37% of the vote and the incumbents received 45%.

      • lprent 9.1.1

        Hello ignorant idiotic fool.

        The votes that count are those that allow the formation of a voting majority in Parliament on confidence and supply.

        The ‘incumbents’ received less than 50% of the seats in parliament. The Maori party and Peter Dunne departed parliament because of insufficient public support or old age.

        The Labour and NZ First were able to form a government with the confidence and supply agreement with the Greens because NZ First and the Greens disagreed with less with Labours programme than they disagreed with Nationals incumbent actions – which all three parties and the majority of voters disagreed with.

        Perhaps you should educate yourself about our parliament rather than self-pleasing your genitals to invent spurious, irrelevant, and mistaken lies..

        • Morepork 9.1.1.1

          I quoted the the specific comment I was replying to, which referred to a mandate, not about the formation of the government. Labour did NOT get a mandate from the last election. They formed a government with the suport of NZF, who have infact acted as a self styled 'handbrake' on labour's reforming policies.

  10. RedLogix 10

    Our entire political spectrum has repeatedly fallen short of dealing with the problem of gross relative poverty (or inequality as it's often also called). We have made huge progress in solving the absolute poverty problem in that starvation, famine and absolute deprivation do not by and large stalk our streets, and for this we should be very thankful,

    One trivial solution to the inequality problem is of course to render everyone absolutely poor and arrive at relative equality this way. Which is more or less where we started from 10,000 years ago, so I think we can set this one aside. No-one is for poverty.

    Every other attempt at solving the problem grapples with the problem that in the material domain, all people are innately different, and that differences in outcome inevitably accrue over time. As soon as you add actual prosperity to the human economy, some people will get more of it than others, and the more prosperous the system the large the inequality tends to become. This isn't necessarily due to greed or avarice; it's largely a property of the system.

    The conservative answer to this problem is to point to the individuals piled up at the bottom of the system and with some justification say that many have made poor choices and their unfortunate condition is something they could change if they made the effort to do so.

    The liberal answer to the problem is to point to the system and with some justification say that it tends to have too many constraints and restrictions on the individual by it's collective nature and that we could change everything if we freed people up from these in order they might fully express their true capacity.

    The socialist answer to the problem is to point to the system and with some justification say that the gross differences in outcomes is due to unfair structural oppression and privilege that condemns entire classes of people to perpetually inhabit the bottom rung of the ladder.

    And each political class has proposed various solutions aligning with their pre-suppositions, some more workable than others. (The more extreme versions usually turning out to be dismal failures but that's a tangent to my argument here.)

    Stepping back from this brief, and necessarily low resolution overview, it's fair to argue that neither the conservative, the liberal nor the socialist approach to inequality has fully embraced the true nature of the problem. At best we have muddled along toward compromise arrangements; progressive taxation, aggressively maximising equality of opportunity and the provision of collective physical and social infrastructure services that are equally accessible to all (health, education, security etc). These certainly ameliorate the inequality problem, but no-one pretends they represent a final satisfactory answer.

    And therein lies the question few people stop to ask. What exactly is the nature of the problem we are trying to solve here? And what would success like like? Not knowing our destination means we will almost certainly lose our way.

    Another part of the inequality paradox is that our very conception of a just solution to it, is rooted in the spiritual idea of all humans being of equal worth and dignity, while the material fact on the ground is that we are not all equivalent. This observation suggests that all attempts to solve a problem that has an essential moral root is probably not going to be well served by attempted solutions that ignore this. We tend to measure inequality by material numeric measure like wealth distribution, but this may mislead us into thinking that if we just change wealth distributions (the material outcomes) then all will be good, when in truth the root cause has remained untouched.

    The socialist left has always felt that conservatives and liberals don't care about inequality, when in truth they do, but not in ways we easily recognise. Certainly it can be held that the socialist value system places the problem at the centre of our political mores. And it's the broad failure of the left to convincingly grapple with this issue that has led to tragic missteps over time, like the workhouse culture of the Victorians, the marxist catastrophies of the 20th century and the failed neo-liberal dream of the 80's.

    Paradoxically as our societies have escaped poverty and become wealthy beyond the wildest dreams of our ancestors, the question of how best to distribute this largess has stepped urgently into the foreground. And it turns out I suggest, to be a far more difficult challenge than any of us have suspected.

    • RedLogix 10.1

      And for KJT's benefit this comment, that fully embraces and expands on the legitimate role of socialism, was posted before his "Reds under the Bed" post.

      As Ad says, no-one here is complaining about socialism. Except when it goes too far into marxism.

    • Descendant Of Smith 10.2

      I have to disagree – capitalism and capitalists in general do not desire to have wealth distributed. This was evident in NZ in the 1800's where Maori were deliberately and consciously paid 1/10th of the wage of an English worker for cutting down timber. This was well known and documented at the time. It was evident in New Zealand when increased profits gained by lowering workers wages were redistributed to themselves through ever increasing salaries – the easiest way to transfer the increase in capital value of a business to your own pocket. It was evident in New Zealand when the winebox enquiry occurred. It was evident in New Zealand when the papers were released around tax havens. It was evident in New Zealand when changes were made to remove the tax on selling properties and to offset interest against personal income to reduce the personal tax you could pay.

      These are all conscious decisions made to increase capitalists personal wealth and capitalists have been very successful in doing so. The fact that some capitalists might might like it to be more fair/liberal simply reflects the inability of their own to mitigate the negative aspects of these changes. Even in my first example there were capitalists who were concerned about the exploitation. They were ineffective in preventing it though.

      • RedLogix 10.2.1

        You really have completely and utterly missed my point. I'm not arguing that liberal capitalist are at heart secret socialists with a re-distributionist's conscience … not at all. Holding to them to that standard will always be a disappointment.

        This was evident in NZ in the 1800's where Maori were deliberately and consciously paid 1/10th of the wage of an English worker for cutting down timber.

        A liberal might look at this example and argue that employing Maori, even at the very low levels of pay they were willing to work for (because otherwise in the conditions that prevailed in the 1800's they might have zero income), was better than not employing them at all. And that over time the pay levels would equalise as the two labour groups competed freely in the market, and eventually their inequality would reduce. Which, whether you like this argument or not, you have to accept was more or less what happened.

        It's not that liberals don't care about inequality, but they perceive it and the solutions to it quite differently to socialists.

        And of course my comment above really has a much wider point than this.

    • mikesh 10.3

      While we can never eliminate the lack of "equivalence" with regard to human beings, we can endeavour to eliminate unfairness in the tax system.

  11. Tiger Mountain 11

    Good points raised by Simon, though he rather beats around the bush like other gentle critics of Labour’s non transformational ways. The structural and legislative underpinnings of Neo Liberalism need to be retired for good. No politics follower deserves the left tag if they do not acknowledge the evidence that leads to that conclusion.

    If Labour does not make any monumental errors in the next six weeks, and Covid does not go wild, then they are on track to be in Govt with no NZ First involved to drop floaters in the pool. So major change will indeed be possible, and, essential given the collapse of international tourism and migration associated education.

    One practical example; WINZ/MSD needs radical reform so that sanctions/stand downs/abatements are removed and benefits individualised as per the “Tier 2 Covid newbies” payments, where partners can keep working. The effect will be to create a seamless movement from say seasonal, intermittent, and gig work to welfare payments, and back again, without sadism and moral judgement. Ultimately a Basic Income administered by IRD would sort it for most. With a new Social Security Agency created to cater for special needs citizens i.e. home carers, disabled, sickness, ACC recipients etc.–basically just to bloody well pay these people liveable amounts without submitting them to inquisitions.

    It will take wide community organisation and direct action of various forms to shake the Labour Caucus on this. And a good Green vote would help too! Get Labour re-elected and then hold them to account and demand change is the way forward. A National/ACT/Conspiracy rats and mice Govt. would just create such negative political space that it must be avoided at all costs. Labour needs to toughen up right now with the public service Nat Toadies and leakers, sackings are required to set the example.

    • Kay 11.1

      One practical example; WINZ/MSD needs radical reform so that sanctions/stand downs/abatements are removed and benefits individualised as per the “Tier 2 Covid newbies” payments, where partners can keep working. The effect will be to create a seamless movement from say seasonal, intermittent, and gig work to welfare payments, and back again, without sadism and moral judgement. Ultimately a Basic Income administered by IRD would sort it for most. With a new Social Security Agency created to cater for special needs citizens i.e. home carers, disabled, sickness, ACC recipients etc.–basically just to bloody well pay these people liveable amounts without submitting them to inquisitions.

      This. Except it's TOO sensible and reasonable, and more importantly, fair. It also involves giving home carers, the sick and disabled more money and you have to remember there is still a large group of the public (and politicians of course, Labour included) ideologically opposed to increasing benefits for ANYONE, even those they tokenly consider 'deserving'. It would involve forcing a major mind switch which just isn't likely, so well ingrained is the indoctrination.

      • PsyclingLeft.Always 11.1.1

        Not forgetting having Bene's to Bash is always eminently useful for the neolibs. A (mostly) subdued grouping that just "exists". ….

        For all their railing…the nats would never rock this boat too much….might stir them up enough. for action…

        Biggest thing I observed during the Covid Lockdown…was how a ReSet NZ could be possible. People just seemed to be different. Friendlier…What could be. An actual Sustainable NZ.

        • greywarshark 11.1.1.1

          What needs to happen as far as tax is concerned is to remove the discouragement to work hard so you can improve your life. The lying of neolib system manipulators ensure that people not involved at the survival/lower income end of society's ladder don't understand its malevolent plan of using poverty as a spur to the precariat. Neolib culture holds out the goal of working hard, being self-sufficient so that needing welfare is a sign of degeneracy, laziness etc etc.

          Then wages are held to an artificial inflation level specially designed for the working class without housing security, the jobs and skills are demolished by new machinery and methods as in the Industrial Revolution, the newly unemployed broken-hearted and confused are objects of derision by those with certainty of employment at the office level; it is a disgrace to have this situation in the 21st century after all the education and economic experience of the past.

          So let's face up; neolib is nasty and false and acts to downgrade the human condition. Get it out of our heads and lives.

          Let people follow their natural bent to work and better themselves – if they want to work harder and longer, set good health limits but let them retain their rewards of wages or advantage for that work. Remove the fucking secondary tax, and reduce the GST to 10% on everything except food and water. Then 5% to the government general fund and 5% to fund infrastructure, provide services for the the area, the businesses where the money is spent, so they can invest it usefully.

          No GST on any food, cooked food, restaurant food, no worries; just stop trying to divide food into categories and whether it is tourists or locals – just let restaurants, takeaways, cafes, alone. Keep taxing booze though, and sugar, they are too tempting for us and we tend to excess on them, unhealthily.

          • roblogic 11.1.1.1.1

            when housing stops inflating faster than the median wage we might be getting somewhere. every government since 84 has allowed the disgraceful behaviour of the FIRE sector to rampage unchecked, and the real economy to be colonised by banskters and their thieving ways

          • Draco T Bastard 11.1.1.1.2

            Remove the fucking secondary tax,

            Repeat after me:

            There is no secondary tax.

            There is no secondary tax.

            There is no secondary tax.

            The secondary tax is a left over from when we didn't have computers. It achieved two things:

            1. It caught the higher tax rate that people ought to have been paying due to the higher income
            2. It encouraged people to actually fill in their damn tax return

            Once people did the latter the secondary tax would disappear in a puff of maths and the people who paid it would get a tax refund.

            Now, if we used our computers efficiently the amount that some one needed to pay could be accurately calculated on a week by week basis and that includes companies as well and thus could remove the need for Provisional Tax. Unfortunately, we have far too many people absolutely terrified of the government using computers efficiently and will come back with the bollocks of the government watching their every move.

            Its really amazing how much people have believed the crooks over the last few decades.

            Oh, and get rid of GST – another tool put in place by the crooks.

            • greywarshark 11.1.1.1.2.1

              Oh thanks DTB. You seem heated about the secondary tax reference – it is not real then. Glad to have got you warmed up on a cold winters day.

              But perhaps people don't want government looking over their shoulder and noting every week whether they have made a bob or two. I'm simple-minded I know. I think you are one who wants to drop cash and go plastic.

              And about secondary tax rate. If working longer so you could earn more money is a good thing – why should someone on a low wage go up to higher wage bracket for working longer. The differential in incomes worked out on an hourly rate, can be so high that it is daylight robbery to tax someone on the hours worked over 40.

              • Draco T Bastard

                You seem heated about the secondary tax reference – it is not real then.

                Its a misunderstanding that's been pissing me off for decades.

                But perhaps people don't want government looking over their shoulder and noting every week whether they have made a bob or two.

                The government does that every week for taxes. The only way to avoid it is by becoming a criminal.

                If working longer so you could earn more money is a good thing – why should someone on a low wage go up to higher wage bracket for working longer.

                Then don't work so long that you'll be taking work off of others.

                Yes, a large part of the reason for high unemployment is because we have so many working 50+ hours.

                Perhaps what we really need, instead of whinging about taxes, is better pay rates and less theft by the rich.

                • mikesh

                  "If working longer so you could earn more money is a good thing – why should someone on a low wage go up to higher wage bracket for working longer."

                  So you are, in effect, advocating a flat tax rate.

  12. Dennis Frank 12

    Now that she's been voted runner-up top global thinker, she may think twice. Let's hope she rethinks her support of the neoliberal doctrine.

    Jacinda Ardern voted second on list of world’s top thinkers

    https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/03-09-2020/jacinda-ardern-voted-second-on-list-of-worlds-top-thinkers/

    Ad makes a good point re necessity of crisis management, yet the crisis can only be solved if Labour transitions from talking progressive to actually being progressive. They may not realise it, but even Labour folk can walk & chew gum simultaneously.

    Since the crisis is global, someone must spell out the solution and start providing it. This is an opportunity for crowd-sourcing wisdom and co-design. The solution will be a package deal, so the task initially requires identification of all the essential components of the package.

    We can expect the smarter politicians to have a few clues, while other clues will come from experts. However, those two groups are afflicted by a mindset of adherence to the status quo. That leaves lateral thinkers as the group most likely to be the leading edge of the solution-finding process.

  13. Tricledrown 13

    Wayne your little fairy stories are pure BS.

    No govt meets its its promises no tax increases .

    GST increased a tax on the poor.

    Key said he was going to wipe out the P addiction its boomed exponentially.

    Key was going to grow the economy it barely grew wages and buying power.Immigration was the only policy that created a paltry growth at the cost of lower wages and worse housing situation.

    Housing was a complete disaster National now regretting selling off 6,000 state houses .

    When Judith Collins was housing spokesperson she promised cheap houses in the hobsonville development none were built developers didn't want to sell them below market value.

    Policing National cut police numbers by 800.

    Road policing was cut by even more while the road toll went up to as the number of miles driven on roads doubled.

    Education and Health spending were cut by the sinking lid policy.

    All to give a few dollars in tax cuts cynically 6 months out from elections ,bribes for the swing voter.

  14. greywarshark 14

    From Simon's great post. Picking out some concerns to think about and I have added links so we can be more informed by the wise opinions, facts and thoughts of writers who know what they are talking about, and reflect, update their information and shift in their opinions accordingly.

    In her rhetoric, Ardern consistently claims her government will be two things – it will deal with climate change as her generation’s “nuclear-free moment” and it will be “transformation”.

    These words are open to interpretation. Roger Douglas and hoods and Treasury set out to be transformational. They bloody well succeeded in just about every area of NZ life, the s…ts. So be careful fellow citizens, that we are all singing from the same hymnbook.

    What Ardern means by transformational is open to interpretation but in the context in which she has said it, it is hard to interpret it as meaning anything other than reducing inequality and poverty. In 2017 she set a prime goal of bringing all children out of poverty within six years. Half that time to reach the target has expired.

    It is hard to see how, from the progressive side of the political spectrum, you can address inequality without tackling, if not unwinding the underlying structures of neoliberalism that have produced such inequality.

    Nine years of Labour governance under Helen Clark did not attempt this….

    I heard yesterday a ringing slogan from PM Jacinda about wanting NZ to be the best country in the world to bring up children, or similar. I cringed, dear God I cried, people who keep the figures and note our decline have been begging for some stable positive change for decades. The known condition of NZs low standards for a large needy proportion of people is such that sentiments like that bring on reactions of cynicism, not hope.

    “As a nation, New Zealand simply will not get through this crisis in one piece if it fails to answer the urgent need for an immediate and massive redistribution of wealth from those whose financial position is reasonably secure to those whose position is not,” says left wing commentator Chris Trotter.

    The Green Party has come up with a well-thought, comprehensive poverty policy that would be funded by a wealth tax of 1 percent on individuals with net assets over $1 million, and 2 percent for those with assets over $2 million. It is neat, in that it would also operate as a de facto inheritance tax for asset-rich-cash-poor individuals who want to defer payment, and it also captures most trusts by treating them as individuals.

    However, Rashbrooke says Ardern is “distinctly lukewarm” on the wealth tax and he reckons she has little appetite for redistribution, by which I assume he means higher income tax brackets.

    It's time to bite the bullet; PM Jacinda has strong white teeth, and I believe that she has the intelligence, the political nous, and the mixture of hopeful youth and experienced maturity to take on the task. It is a tipping point in our history, and this one term of government is all she needs to make history. And for those Labour acolytes who want to manage through, BAU, they are not the men for this Gallipoli. They would be prepared to fight for some other country and lose their lives. But in the battle here and now they hope to survive personally unscathed at the expense of losing our country to the invasion of rentier capitalism, and "brutal, callous" and overbearing management of the vast majority of citizens.

    Those words were in stuff today uttered by a school principal who witnessed the execution of his school against all reason, figures, stats and despite its dedication and success with its low-income students. He said he was sorry for Hekia Parata, who he said did not understand what she was doing. That is almost Jesus-like, a resignation at the irretrievable loss of all that the people wanted, all that they had achieved together. That attitude will be echoed throughout the land if we are not active to prevent the attrition of NZ by the Right. https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/122485286/munted-it-was-quite-simple-it-was-good-versus-evil

    But another consideration is the fight to get the functionaries of government back on the side of the citizens. The attitude that neolib has embedded in them is that we are just a rabble and they are allotted the task of coping with us, and are regarded as successful if they can tick the boxes on their targets which are set by management which has likely come from the business class, with inflated egos that match their inflated salaries and perks. We are back to reference to 1st-2nd century Juvenal who posited the point "Who will guard the guards themselves?". We the citizens are either despised or indulged, we are losing/lost agency; is this democracy or an oligarchy or….? Sixteen different approaches to government are here, can we tweak ours? http://infographicfacts.com/16-government-types/

    Simon himself wrote about the problem of civil servants not being civil any more, and deciding who they serve. (I remember an old USA joke about a space rocket under development – 'They call it Civil Servant. It won't work and they can't fire it.)
    Sep./2017 Simon Louisson: An inside view of the politicisation of the public service https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/96522159/simon-louisson-an-inside-view-of-the-politicisation-of-the-public-service

    And Chris Trotter has thought about this also, and I put the link again for those who didn't see it before. https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2017/05/our-path-to-future-is-blocked-by-past.html
    …The simple answer is: The Past. A government elected on the strength of public misgivings about rampant homelessness and the lack of affordable housing; out-of-control immigration; and a despoiled natural environment; will be presented with thirty-year-old government machinery designed specifically to make effective state intervention as difficult as possible.

    Any attempt to deploy this machinery in pursuit of social and economic objectives for which it was not designed is highly likely to end in failure – and, quite possibly, disaster. Arrayed against a government in which only a handful of ministers possess Cabinet experience will be a bristling phalanx of public servants, National Party appointees, corporate and special interest lobbyists and public relations firms – all of whom have a vested interest in preserving the status quo.

    Other interesting and relevant posts Chris Trotter wrote in 2017. This one's caption for the image has a great quote by Dr Beaglehole:
    Dr J.C. Beaglehole, writing in 1961, recorded with considerable disdain: “The naïve, the almost childish brutality, with which the chiefs of the National Party fell upon power may seem quite surprising, until one remembers how famished for power they were, and with what an innocency of experience they faced the world about them ….. [Their] insensitiveness to administrative delicacies was quite appalling.” https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2017/05/insensitiveness-to-administrative.html

    And the term 'cargo cult' was applied to simple Pacific Islanders who were descended on with all sorts of elaborate machinery in WW2. They were amazed and attracted by this stuff, they wanted more. Isn't that the NZ story, willing to do anything to get more, more goodies, more materialism. https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2017/05/will-tpp-spell-nationals-doom.html

  15. McFlock 15

    Losing winnie would be a two-edged sword. On the one hand, NZ1 has held the government back (cameras on fishing boats come to mind).

    On the other hand, it leaves nobody to blame for inaction. And as long as the Greens are at the table, happily it means the Greens can drag Labour forward.

  16. Corey Humm 16

    The winter energy payment ends two weeks before the election. That's $40 and $60 being lost to the most vulnerable people in this country whose bills are up. Labour have created a two tier welfare system. Alot of people who voted labour in 2017 for the first time ,are going to be absolutely buggered. I reckon they'll stay home.

    Family packages don't help disabled people , people who are unwell , unemployed people on their own and the employment market isn't going to help the people on welfare prior to covid when so many who were working news jobs.

    Criminal negligence from Labour and its going to cost them at least a couple % of people who won't vote green they'll just stay home. Make that payment permanent

    • greywarshark 16.1

      Yes too many stop gaps. But NZ likes to wait for people to fall over rather than fix a possibly risky situation. We only have x money left over for the mass of the population once we have looked after our new aristocrats and their heartfelt needs. They are wealth creators you know, they amass it, they build a big dwelling and they wallpaper their rooms with the wealth, to keep it close and safe.

    • Barfly 16.2

      Yea I will be sad to see the $40.96 per week energy payment go 🙁

      But the 9 years of national government only gave fear ,harassment and panic attacks.

      I do not have the memory of a goldfish…and hopefully others do not as well

  17. mosa 17

    " Will Jacinda Ardern meet her promise to transform "

    Politicians break promises !

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    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
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    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
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    5 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
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    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
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    7 days ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
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