Kiwisaver and the 2026 Election
A review of its behaviour over time shows that National can’t be trusted with your Kiwisaver.
Economy
kiwisaver
With friends like NZ First …
This week Tama Potaka announced the Government will backtrack on a proposal that would have allowed for the sale of up to 60% of the country’s conservation land. But Shane Jones then completely undermined the announcement by talking about using Conservation land for mining.
National panics with Kiwisaver announcement as polling crashes
National’s recent Kiwisaver announcement, expected to cost $110 million a year, only pays back some of the savings from its erlier Kiwisaver cuts expected to save $610 million a year, and appears to be signs ofincreasing panic.
Should we renationalise the BNZ?
Winston Peters is trying to appeal to the far left by calling for the renationalisation of the Bank of New Zealand.
Labour’s Sub-Therapeutic Dose for Economic Sickness
Why is Labour proposing $200 million for a growth fund when New Zealand First got $3 billion?
The ultimate Fuck you, to your neighbours, the community and the environment. Private helicopters!
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.
Superannuation policy becomes political
National’s promise to increase the age of retirement and likely cuts to Cullen fund contributions and state Kiwisaver payments have been seized on by Labour as evidence that National does not care about ordinary people.
Can We Prepare for 2023?
2023 is going to hit New Zealanders hard. Since the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes New Zealand has been beset by a new major crisis about once every two years. 2022 was our year off and get ready we are in for a strange and hard recession.
Minister Robertson, UK Pensions, and Risk
The political question is whether Kiwis currently losing money on paper can remember this: all investment involves risk and it’s entirely fair for our government to only manage so much of that risk and for the rest to fall on us the investor. Will irrational anxiety beat rational risk in our upcoming politics?
About the reversed GST Kiwisaver changes
National’s attack on requiring banks to charge GST on the provision of Kiwisaver services the same as smaller services is deeply cynical when its attacks on Kiwisaver in the past are considered.
How Can Labour Win in 2023?
Right now Labour is preparing the ground for its run at 2023’s election with new policy. New policy must be wildly popular. What could make Labour popular enough to them back leading a third term in government?
Is This The New State We Want?
The New Zealand state is gaining power again, but is it what we want?
RIP Michael Cullen
Former Labour Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen has died.
So, You Want To Buy Your First Home?
Money does not grow on trees, it grows on houses. It is pure magic!
Should the Government spend massively more?
With yesterday’s announcement by the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates by 1%, some are suggesting that the government should embark on a massive public works spree to stimulate the economy while increasing national debt at low interest rates. But Kiwisaver reform may be more effective.
MAFS National Style*
National is grooming the voters for another dirty ACT.
Rental Rights Review
The Labour led Government has announced a review into tenancy laws. It’s about time we balanced the rental market, which has for too long let renters down.
Productivity
A more productive economy – and society – has been an elusive goal for many of New Zealand’s previous governments. The last National Government failed. What will Labour do to succeed?
Fletcher Chair resigns but directors retain huge fees despite staggering loss
Fletcher announces more huge losses but directors still laughing all the way to the bank
Cluster f*&k on cluster bombs
The Government is refusing to accept there are legal issues with Kiwisaver providers investing in manufacturers of cluster bombs. But it is also not ruling out there may be a problem.
Check your Kiwisaver
An excellent piece by Matt Nippert, Caleb Tutty, Olivia Carville in The Herald is generating a lot of discussion this morning. Are you unknowingly investing in tobacco and munitions?
We’re going to burn it all, until we burn it down.
What does it really mean to reduce NZ’s total fossil fuel use by 50% by 2030: a warm up discussion for an upcoming thought experiment.
Laundering earnings vs laundering money
When a corporation launders its earnings in a tax haven, it is completely upfront about where the money came from and who it belongs to, which differentiates the activity from “money laundering.”
The great big list of John Key’s big fat lies (UPDATED)
How many more lies will John Key tell today in his so-called State of the Nation address? Virtual chocolate fish to whomever guesses the closest number.
Another #Keyfib about Kiwisaver
The treasury release of budget policy advice suggests that John Key’s claim that changes to Kiwisaver would not have any effect on participation numbers was, ahem, erroneous.
Destroying a savings culture
Key: “The removal of the $1,000 kick-start contribution will not make a blind bit of difference to the number of people who join KiwiSaver.” Wrong. Completely and utterly wrong.
The myth of “Retirement Savings”
Advocates of Kiwisaver and other funded “retirement savings” schemes perpetuate the fundamental misunderstanding that “conventional” in New Zealand’s case “neo-liberal” economists, speculators, finance companies, politicians and those with a lot of share holding wealth in non-productive enterprises like to perpetuate.
Auto Kiwisaver
Nice to see English acknowledging the importance of Kiwisaver – thanks Michael Cullen, thanks Helen Clark! I certainly support default enrollment. But – isn’t this Big Government Nanny State Gone Mad?
Superannuation and Government forecasts
National has again refused to consider doing anything about the future of Superannuation. Yet its policies of increasing Crown debt, stopping contributions to the Cullen Fund and attacking Kiwisaver have made a discussion about the future of superannuation more important than ever.
Media response to Labour’s Monetary Policy Upgrade
The response to Labour’s Monetary Policy upgrade has been overall very good and it has dominated the policy debate at the same time as a series of scandals start to circle around the National Party.
KiwiFund: nationalisation or competition?
Winston Peters’ KiwiFund proposal would nationalise KiwiSaver. Russel Norman supports it, but in competition with private schemes. Cunliffe is open to negotiation. Key is dismissive, but says Peters is so untrustworthy he is likely to back down & form an alliance with National anyway.
It’s not us: it’s the big banks
MSM articles show the big Aussie banks are making record profits, Kiwis can save, and Adam Smith worshiping think tanks are not to be trusted. Cunliffe & Norman said it a while back – NAct policies and government spending cuts are not the answer.
Dithering Nats
Changes to the tax rules that kick in today reverse two decisions made earlier by the government. Dither dither dither.
Greens go red, Labour goes green
We live in a time of inter-related crises of the environment and the capitalist economic system. So, I guess it’s not surprising to see Labour becoming more environmentally aware at the same time as the Greens propose economic policies that would normally be out of Labour’s playbook. Don’t worry about them becoming too alike, welcome the solid platform for a new government.
Labour’s savings & retirement policy
Well, they said they were going to run this campaign on policy and make the bold moves, and Labour proved that with their savings policy. National is been left floundering. Brand Key is unraveling while Labour starts to dictate the play for the first time since Orewa. But the substance of the savings policy wants a closer look, it has both good and bad aspects.
Compulsory Kiwisaver?
Good to see the government considering a move that would significantly boost KiwiSaver uptake – even if it does highlight their ideological inconsistency!