Nats won’t follow Australia and UK in crackdown on multinational tax avoidance
Collins’ excuse is just waffle. Why won’t the Nats follow Australia and UK in a crackdown on multinational tax avoidance?
Economy
Posts on the economy, work, business, income, and labour
New Zealand is number 1! *
* in a list of developed nations for homelessness.
NZ’s climate change guinea pigs
The first round of climate change pass-the-parcel is about to knock some players out of the property investment game. The rest of NZ should be paying attention.
Government admits it has “no idea” on homeless
Today in news that makes you want to scream: “Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett has admitted “in hindsight” the Government’s response to the housing crisis has been too slow.”
The Catholic Church is urging its parishoners to vote
The catholic bishops of Aotearoa have released a pamphlet urging parishoners to vote. And apart from conservative positions on euthenasia and drug liberalisation the policies they support have a decidedly progressive bent.
Tax cuts or fix this…
Auckland City Councilor Richard Hills yesterday tweeted some of the things we would like to see fixed before a tax cut. You might want to add to the list. Good thing Labour is promising to cancel the cuts and spend billions more on health and education.
Why be a public servant?
Today thousands of IRD workers face the prospect of losing their jobs while two MOT workers who lost their jobs for whistle blowing are vindicated. Who would be a public servant?
Maori Party proposes immigrant slave labour!
Is how the media would report the plan – to have immigrants work here for 2 years unpaid – if it was a Labour Party policy. (Lookin’ at you Newshub)
National reckon public health and education are a waste of money?
According to Morning Report the Nats are calling Labour’s budget for more spending on health and education “a plan to waste more money”. Tell it to the people who can’t afford private alternatives and depend on the public systems.
There is something rotten in the Ministry of Transport
Radio New Zealand is reporting that the State Services Commission will report today that it believes that the convicted fraudster Joanne Harrison forced whistleblowers out of the Transport Ministry in 2015. Updated with link to formal announcement.
#IamMetiria
If you know that feeling of dread when you get a WINZ letter, or if you’ve had roiling anxiety from being ‘called in’ for a WINZ interview, or sighed with relief when the letter from WINZ turns out to be a replacement community services card, then follow #IamMetiria. And if you just don’t recognise those, then you might want to follow #IamMetiria to find out why others do…
I am Metiria
If you’ve ever left a WINZ office crying because you asked for help and were humiliated instead #IamMetiria
Flavell has “no idea” how homelessness got so bad
Could it have anything to do with the government of the last nine years, and the policies that you and your party have been supporting?
Benefit fraud vs white collar crime
The political hills are echoing with the aftermath of Meteri Turei’s confession of lying to WINZ, and Paula Bennett’s conciliatory and very precisely worded claim of not having done so “deliberately”. A good time to revisit the topic of benefit fraud vs white collar crime / tax evasion.
Metiria Turei and Paula Bennett on benefit fraud
Turei’s admission that she lied to WINZ back in the day was a political gamble. It could resonate with a big chunk of non-voters – here’s a politician that’s just like us – has been through what we’re going through. On the other hand it gives the usual mean-spirited righties a club to beat her with. Interesting that Paula Bennett is treading so lightly round the issue.
Lefties on fire
The best of twitter from the weekend.
This is not an image of a Low Flying Penguin.
It’s also is not a picture of a person claiming entitlements who has not felt compelled to bend the truth when dealing with WINZ. Both images would be equally difficult to find.
The Greens’ new welfare policy
“Green co-leader Metiria Turei described it as one of the most important Green policies in her 15 years in Parliament.”
Incrementalists ‘Brick It’
Meet Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and original negotiator behind the Paris Agreement. She’s co-signed an article, published in Nature and signed by over 60 scientists as well as business leaders and other ‘pillars of the global community’ that headlines – “Three years to safeguard our climate”
Who are the real enemies of the centre left?
Simon Wilson recently claimed that left wingers and party members are problems for and enemies of Labour and the Greens. This is why I think he is wrong.
Nats panic over climbing prison population – I have some advice
The government is “seeking advice” over the skyrocketing prison population. I’m happy to oblige – but they aren’t going to like it…
Breeding for a business
It looks like ACT the party of less government will be focussing on pregnant beneficiaries this election.
A clear choice for voters
Herald editorial: “Credit where it is due. It takes courage to say that if elected, you will cancel a tax cut. … In doing so it has presented the voters with a clear choice which, for those without young families or earning above the income limits, will mean deciding whether to take the tax cut or give the benefit to children of the less well off.”
Non-news News and News Non-news
A politician said their party would insist on being a part of government depending on the vote falls in September, while another gets called out for his habitual stirring at the pot of ethnic division. In a place like the South Africa of old, we all know which one would be the story. But this is New Zealand and this is now.
Labour coming in from the cold
Amongst all the hooha of the political week, Labour did something pretty cool with its winter heating announcement. They made a policy for all beneficiaries. We should be paying attention to what underpins that because there is potential here.
NRT: National’s new Muldoonism
I/S at No Right Turn: “at its core, the National Party is an anti-environment party, dedicated to destroying our natural heritage and impoverishing future generations for the profit of their cronies”.
Nat / ACT don’t think poor people should have kids
ACT’s David Seymour thinks that poor people shouldn’t be allowed to have kids. If that sounds familiar it should – the Nats have said more or less the same thing over the years.
Labour’s Targeted Families Package
As covered by Vernon Small on Stuff: “Labour is promising to scrap National’s Budget tax cut plan. Instead it will funnel the cash into higher Working for Families payments and extra help for those with young children. It’s a package it says will deliver up to $48 a week extra to middle income families.”
Generous donation – why was it necessary to get a hospital built?
Thank you Mark Dunajtschik. But why did it take a generous private donation to get a badly needed public hospital off the drawing-board?
That’s cold
What’s wrong with a few mid-winter power cuts down south?
The Government is misrepresenting the effect of the Ruataniwha Dam decision
The Government has responded to the Supreme Court decision which puts a halt on the Ruataniwha Dam by claiming wrongly that the protected land was of low quality and by stating that a law change, possibly retrospective, will occur.
Does the left do more of the same or does it get radical this election?
Andrew Dean has written an opinion piece for Stuff where he suggests that to win this election Labour and the Greens have to become more radical.
The cost of the surplus
Where are our priorities?
Labour and National government spending
The magical disappearing Foreign Trust industry
National’s original claims that New Zealand was not a tax haven are in tatters as the Sherwan rule changes have resulted in the mass exodus of Foreign Trusts from New Zealand.
The great Auckland housing crash of 2017
Two indicators both agree that the Auckland property market has started trending downwards. Over leveraged buyers are going to get burned, and first time buyers are still shut out. Perfect.