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There's some mean little barbs for working Kiwis hidden in the Budget. Currently, if you get made redundant from your job - something that happened to tens of thousands of Kiwi workers last year - you get a 6% rebate on the tax on your…
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'The Bechdel test' requires a movie to pass three questions: 1) Does it have two or more women in it (who have names)? 2) Do they talk to one another? 3) Do they talk to one another about something other than a man? The two…
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The frustration was palpable today as Guyon Espiner struggled in vain to get a single straight answer from Bill English, who was only prepared to twist, evade, and repeat lines: GUYON Do you accept that for very high income earners, people on the sort of…
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The other day, we had a satire guest post about 'thank the rich day'. Michael Laws appears determined to out do us: Now well into a new century that social gap I observed as a child has grown into a gargantuan chasm. We have the…
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Climate change, despite the skeptics, has a firm grip on the international agenda. However a report due out soon is to challenge the assumption that this is where international efforts should be focused. According to Friday's Guardian: The economic case for global action to stop…
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I was going to write a post about another looming crisis. Bees. Specifically, the death of bees. "Is that really a crisis?" - I hear you cry. Only if you like to eat. Go read the article. Dancr has a post scheduled after ten on…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Colin James makes a good point in his latest column which talks about the rightward shift this budget has created: Longer term, the Budget points to smaller government. Core spending is projected to fall from 35 per cent of GDP now to 28 per cent…
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John Armstrong looks at the typical John Key-style punt that lies behind the budget: "the Budget's centrepiece package of tax cuts has National betting heavily on the economy continuing its slow recovery and not being hit by another international shock which plunges it back into…
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My wife and I are retired. We worked hard, we lived frugally, and we have a nest egg to get us through. Now John's mob have come along and taken part of that nest egg away from us. Staying clear of the finance companies, the…
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It's interesting to see how Irish's 'rabbit from a hat' metaphor has taken off for describing this Budget. Some, like Tracey Watkins, are even using it positively. She needs to have a bit more of a think about what the rabbit from a hat is.…
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Amongst all the budget reaction, there is a group of people that I don't understand. They are the small group who are very well off, and who are nevertheless exulting about tax cuts that give them a few tens of dollars a week. Is your…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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In 2008, Bill English was sprung secretly telling National members that he and Key would sell Kiwibank "'eventually but not now". After being caught out, English and Key categorically ruled out asset sales in the first term of a National government and said they would…
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In what it seems to think is an act of benevolence and economic genius, National has decided to borrow a pile of money, cut key public services, put up GST, and give me an extra $1000 a year. I'd rather the money was going to…
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John Key's "Don't Be Jealous" Budget has done little to stop the European contagion from ravaging our sharemarket - at time of writing down 2.4% and still falling. The NZX company itself has dropped more than 5%, leading other significant losses by Fletcher Building, Sky City,…
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There's some useful scenarios to look at on the beehive's tax site. They show how we all pay less tax, even after GST, and somehow the government also gets more tax. I love maths like that. But some of them seem to have something missing,…
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Doing the shopping with two children in tow is usually a challenge in itself but if I add increasing inflation I can see bumpy times ahead. What is of more concern is what is going to happen to good early childhood education. I've been talking…
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What does Treasury make of National's economic plan according to the Budget papers? Here's the outlook for when National is kicked out of office at the end of 2011: Unemployment will still stand at 145,000, 5.5%. That's compared to 98,000, 4%, when they took power.…
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I think the saddest part of this budget is that the government will spend $70 million building more prisons while cutting $120 million from early childhood education. It kind of sums up this Key Government's priorities, don't you think? This is actually the real story…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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"It is easy, in the first blush of excitement about a Budget, to miss a tiny bit of fine print that really matters. The government says that most people would be better off after taking into account the GST rise and the income tax cuts.…
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When I wondered what the rabbit was the last thing I thought it would be was the rip shit and bust budget we saw today. Let's be clear on one thing. Borrowing a billion dollars while simultaneously cutting services to pay for tax cuts is…
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Paul Reynolds is the CEO of Telecom. He has sacked 1200 Kiwi workers during his tenure. They're you're neighbours, the members of your community. His company has been disasteriously run as we fall further and further behind in internet and cellphone technology. This is just…
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Finance Minister Bill English today announced tax cuts worth $340,000* for National MPs on their Parliamentary salaries alone. "I'm very pleased we could announce this gift, ah, fair alteration of the tax system. There was a real danger that New Zealand could have lost the…
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The latest Roy Morgan poll makes for grim reading for the government ahead of what promsies to be an unpopular budget. Confidence in government is now bouncing between net 25% and 30% positive. That compares to 55% last October. Put that another way: 1 in 8…
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Hone Harawira does not want to vote for the 'don't be jealous' budget and he doesn't think the Maori Party will be standing true to its principles or supporters if it does: "I'm having difficulty supporting a tax increase that made things easier for the…
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On Tuesday, John Key told us that we don't matter. In fact, he said that we have to be taxed more to give money to the rich because they are so important and we are not. To top it off, he told us not to…
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Before we all get completely caught up in the budget kerfuffle, spare a thought for those with bigger problems on their hands, like the people of Thailand. The country is being torn by an ongoing and complex internal struggle: These conflicts date back several years,…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...