In the week that the Prime Minister offended small business, unemployment rose to 170,000 and over 6% in the North Island, and the Reserve Bank continues to raise interest rates, Labour showed, again, why the public knows they are better for small business than any other party.
As we enter the home strait for the 2026 election National strategists must be thinking “what the f*(k do we do from here”? Because Christopher Luxon’s complete indifference to the difficulties businesses are facing and his inability to control Winston Peters are harming National’s reelection prospects big time.
That’s the headline of the pamphlet in the letterbox. But from their own measures is that true?
Again, we were woken up by a bunch of hoodrats drifting on the intersection by our house. Great clouds of smoke and lots of noise. As you do at three o clock in the morning, my brain started tying this together with recent articles about private helicopters in urban areas, and other forms of antisocial “Fuck You’s” to the rest of us.
Nicola Willis’ Budget is bad for growth and a Big throwback unfit for NZ.
By pursuing cuts, selling off assets to multinationals, enabling ACT’s attacks on the Treaty and cutting back on climate commitments, Luxon is guaranteeing that NZ will not be stable for long, writes Elliot Crossan.
ANZ, ASB and Simplicity are the latest to join the 77% of business leaders who now say CGT is essential for NZ. CGT goes wholly to the government so why is Luxon so against it?
A year ago this month, the Liz Truss/Kwasi Kwarteng mini-budget destroyed once and for all the myth that the Tories are better at managing the economy. The New Zealand National Party could not even wait until they were in government to prove the same applies to them.
The case for redistribution of wealth in New Zealand.
Vector has received a warning letter from the Commerce Commission for attempting to artificially boost the value of assets so that price increases for power could be imposed.
BusinessNZ’s attempt to put New Zealand on the ILO naughty list because of fair pay agreements has failed.
With an Omicron surge appearing to be inevitable the importance of proper mask wearing has never been more important.
Key here is the resilience politics of greenies, DIYers and anarchists, where we just don’t wait for the government to act, we get on with and build the new ways ourselves.
New Zealand is seeing a strong, business-led recovery. But what will we do with this success?
BusinessNZ and Federated Farmers have this week attacked the Government for intending to implement policy designed to improve the plight of poorly paid workers.
Fonterra is in the middle of a big restructure of its capital. It is still the case given its dominance over us that where Milk Supertanker Fonterra goes, we go.
ANZ Bank has just announced a $1.92 billion profit for the year to September 30, 2021. This is about 1% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.
This week Judith Collins was reported to be close to tears. But not about the possibility of a significant number of deaths but by the prospect of business closures.
With all the unfortunate rhetoric around “giving up on the elimination strategy”.
Small businesspeople around me, who have quietly carried on with the program, and have been supportive of the Government strategy of elimination, even though, in many cases, it has been personally costly, are telling me,, “why did we bother”!
It doesn’t matter if it is the actual Government intention, or the media interpretation, the damage has now been done.
Barry Soper and the Property Council are up in arms about proposals to ensure that all commercial tenants should only pay a fair proportion of their rental if their use of the premises has been affected by responses to the Covid pandemic.
The South Coast Environment Centre is creating a local food network that connects growers and customers directly, creates food resiliency, and keeps money in the local economy. Today is the last day of their Pledgeme, and they need a bit more support to push them over the top.
Back in the day when we had useful Opposition, business leadership could be relied upon to think as if they had interests in common as business. This budget, their ability to think let alone lead has deserted them.
The South Coast Environment Centre is creating a local food network that connects growers and customers directly, creates food resiliency, and keeps money in the local economy. This is an exemplar of climate, economic and community sustainability.
Yesterday Minister of Labour Michael Wood led the announcement of a policy that conceivably could do more to address the decline in workers wages and conditions over the past 40 years than anything else tried recently.
I was just reading a post by Bryan Gould on his current perspective on news media in “The Government v. the people”. It resonated because some news and opinion media are getting tedious. It made me reflect on my current habits because much of what he is discussing is that I remember as something in my rear view mirror. Not what I do today.
The bright-line test is a red herring and does nothing to deter housing speculation.
Government should have announced the decision for Auckland to go down to Level 1 first thing this morning.
Expecting a bit much aren’t you? We haven’t had that since Muldoon. At least he had them. The kind of people now asking for a plan were those who complained about governments that “interfered with the sacred ‘free market’” and screamed about “central planning”, “picking winners”, “protectionism” etc. They prefer just getting cheap labour to give the illusion of economic growth. And build a cycleway!
Senior business leaders have called for more openness and clarity from the Government on its plan for getting New Zealand to “COVID normal”. But have failed to say what they would do to contribute or what they are doing to help.
New Zealand is the best-managed country in the world. And currently has one of the best economies.
This government must demonstrate that it has the ability to lead the New Zealand economy where it has stated it wants it to go. It does not want more headlines like the average house in Auckland now being priced at $1 million.
The NZ Herald Mood of the Boardroom finance election debate should be for National what it is like attending a Living Wage campaign meeting for Labour. They should be at home and the participants should be solidly behind them. But not this year.
A brief look at steady state economics and the values of enough rather than more.
Everyone has recently had an education on “Socialism” working in practice.
And a graphic illustration of the shortcomings, of under regulated “Free market” Capitalism, Globalism, tax cuts for the rich, and the mania for monetising everything in sight, and “running it like a business”.
For a party that promised to be a policy factory National’s policy offerings are severely deficient.
I’m reasonably happy with where the coalition wound up on the quarantine cost recovery. It sends a clear economic signal to businesses and the fools who want to travel during a global pandemic. It will discourage some of the stupidity of the travel addicted. It also balances the legal position. Something that most of the critics clearly aren’t thinking through and cause them to whine without realistic alternatives
