Politics 🗳️ NZ Politics

[MrFrankWhite]

On that note, I highly recommend reading the articles on the WHOLE story. Not just the Afghan stuff but the subsequent media, police, and AFP investigations and trials. It’s fucking insane.

I would love to option the rights and make a movie. It’s waaay better than any James Bond story as it’s real

 

[miket12]

You don't think that you can take an idea and tweak it to remove some of the inequalities as you have pointed out?
Seems there are many good things to take away from the Scottish intervention.

What I found interesting when looking into how Scottish Water works, they’re looking at altering their Private Water Services (PWS) regulations which were written in 2008. One of the models they’re considering is how NZ deals with PWS.

Not related to Scottish Water but I do think that the government’s new scheme should include two things. The first I doubt the Nats will do, considering ACT is a coalition partner, but I think they should declare water services strategic assets and ensure that the public systems always remain public assets and can’t be sold. Maybe allow them to be privately run but never sold.

The other is to ensure that water service providers don’t pay dividends to their council’s but use profits to reduce the water providers debts or be used to improve or provide additional water infrastructure. I’d also want a percentage of those profits to be used to improve waterways within their area.

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

One News are reporting Efeso has passed away.

RIP Collins.

The Greens are going through tough times at the moment

 

[Mr. Brownstone]

One News are reporting Efeso has passed away.

Geez that’s so sad, two daughters, horrible. Saw an ambulance bottom of Queen St on my morning coffee mission but thankfully was heading the other way. Just awful.

 

[Noitall]

One News are reporting Efeso has passed away.

Absolutely tragic. He had plenty still to offer in his new career, but most of all tragic his family has lost a good man.

 

[sup42]

Gee sad news alright. Efeso Collins it turns out collapsed and died during the kids fundraiser run this morning eh.

Terrible news.

A real voice for the Pasifika community lost.

A nice way to leave this world, serving the kids, horrible for his family and mates though.

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

Here’s one for my mate, MaybeTop8

June 2023 - Otago Uni gets $21 million bailout from Finance Minister Grant Robertson
September 2023 - Otago Uni gets $32 million of research grants from Finance Minister Grant Robertson
February 2024 - Otago Uni appoints their first non-academic VC, Grant Robertson on $630,000 - more than the PM.

Corruption! Get fired up MaybeTop8

The real irony is Grant Robertson and his Labour Party has overseen the continued decline in educational achievement and finances in NZ - best of luck Otago uni…

 

[Rizzah]

Here’s one for my mate, MaybeTop8

June 2023 - Otago Uni gets $21 million bailout from Finance Minister Grant Robertson
September 2023 - Otago Uni gets $32 million of research grants from Finance Minister Grant Robertson
February 2024 - Otago Uni appoints their first non-academic VC, Grant Robertson on $630,000 - more than the PM.

Corruption! Get fired up MaybeTop8

The real irony is Grant Robertson and his Labour Party has overseen the continued decline in educational achievement and finances in NZ - best of luck Otago uni…

Did only Otago get grants and a bailout or was it sector wide?

 

[defensivebomb]

I'm actually a fan of Grant getting the job at Otago for two reasons:

1. he can't do any more damage to the economy and
2. he actually has to face up to the students who are saddled to repay his generational debt

Feel sorry for the students though!

 

[Rizzah]

I'm actually a fan of Grant getting the job at Otago for two reasons:

1. he can't do any more damage to the economy and
2. he actually has to face up to the students who are saddled to repay his generational debt

Feel sorry for the students though!

The real generational debt is not using the Govt balance sheet and debt capacity to fix the real problems. Govt debt is a tool to get shit done. The real debt cap is not fiscal, but productive capacity (material resources, workers etc). Use the govt books to expand those things.
You don't maintain a AAA credit rating if your economy and books are fragile. Nor do you get heavy interest from bond investors when floating long-term sovereign bonds to the market. S&P said NZ could borrow a further 30% of GDP ($120 billion) before they would look at downgrading.
Fucking enormous borrowing capacity and you mugs want to sit back, curse the poor and penny pinch for a rainy day - when it's pouring! We have a multitude of things we need to invest in and we're just going to sit on our hands for the next 3 years. Lol.

Flying in the face of comments from a ratings agency and a mountain of demand for a new long-term sovereign bond issued yesterday, Finance Minister Nicola Willis has again characterised the Government’s finances as too fragile to borrow in its own right to solve Aotearoa-NZ’s infrastructure deficits.

She also again compared the Government’s budget to a household budget, saying spending cuts needed to be found to ‘balance the books’ and that she was afraid of losing the confidence of financial markets when the ‘rainy day’ came for borrowing.

But the ‘grown-ups’ in financial markets and in ratings agencies are saying the exact opposite. S&P Global Director of Sovereign and Public Finance Ratings, Anthony Walker, told me in an interview yesterday the Crown’s AAA rating was not fragile and the Crown had 30% of GDP ($120 billion) of borrowing capacity before it would be downgraded.

He said the Crown using its balance sheet to borrow from fund managers to fix infrastructure deficits would be the fastest and cheapest way to do it. His comments came after record-high demand for a 30-year bond issued yesterday by the Treasury’s Debt Management Office at just one basis point above secondary market rates.

Govt's Budget 'just like a household,' says Willis

Willis says Budget finances same as household's, telling MPs cuts needed when money's tight; S&P says NZ's finances not fragile & sees extra 30% of GDP of borrowing capacity; Huge demand for 2054 bond

thekaka.substack.com

I think Luxon & Willis are cowards, They are telling us the state of NZ is fragile, so they don't have to do anything. Coz they don't actually have any policy to fix anything.
Saying the economy and the books are fragile, is the easy way out. Just cut spending and sit on your hands.
If they were serious about 'the tough calls', they would review/expand the tax take to include CGT, Wealth or a land tax and remove tax from income tax. That way we could fund investment in infrastructure (~$200 billion deficit), health, education etc, whilst also paying down debt faster.

 

[miket12]

The real generational debt is not using the Govt balance sheet and debt capacity to fix the real problems. Govt debt is a tool to get shit done. The real debt cap is not fiscal, but productive capacity (material resources, workers etc). Use the govt books to expand those things.
You don't maintain a AAA credit rating if your economy and books are fragile. Nor do you get heavy interest from bond investors when floating long-term sovereign bonds to the market. S&P said NZ could borrow a further 30% of GDP ($120 billion) before they would look at downgrading.
Fucking enormous borrowing capacity and you mugs want to sit back, curse the poor and penny pinch for a rainy day - when it's pouring! We have a multitude of things we need to invest in and we're just going to sit on our hands for the next 3 years. Lol.

Govt's Budget 'just like a household,' says Willis

Willis says Budget finances same as household's, telling MPs cuts needed when money's tight; S&P says NZ's finances not fragile & sees extra 30% of GDP of borrowing capacity; Huge demand for 2054 bond

thekaka.substack.com

I think Luxon & Willis are cowards, They are telling us the state of NZ is fragile, so they don't have to do anything. Coz they don't actually have any policy to fix anything.
Saying the economy and the books are fragile, is the easy way out. Just cut spending and sit on your hands.
If they were serious about 'the tough calls', they would review/expand the tax take to include CGT, Wealth or a land tax and remove tax from income tax. That way we could fund investment in infrastructure (~$200 billion deficit), health, education etc, whilst also paying down debt faster.

While I agree with most of what you've said, they have got some planned infrastructure..... it's just likely to cost one hell of a lot more than what they've said it would.....

Transport projects could cost twice as much as National estimated, leaving potential fiscal hole of $24b - NZTA​

Delivering the roads and public transport National campaigned on ahead of the October 2023 election could end up costing more than twice as much as the party said it would, leaving a potential fiscal hole of $24 billion.

The Herald has seen a document New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) prepared in late November that includes updated cost estimates for various transport projects.

NZTA estimated 17 projects could collectively cost between $30.9b and $46.6b.

National, which was accused by Labour before the election of under-cooking its estimates, budgeted only $22.2b for the same projects.

NZTA’s upper estimate is a whopping $24.4b (110 per cent) above National’s, while its average estimate is $16.6b (75 per cent) higher.



The revelations come just days after Prime Minister Christoper Luxon used his State of the Nation speech to accuse Labour of underfunding its transport promises to the tune of $200b.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown recognised National’s costings were “well-debated” before the election.

He assured the party was cognisant of inflation, and used the most recent costings when it put its transport policy document together.



He wouldn’t comment on which projects would be prioritised, deprioritised or even cancelled in light of the costs likely being so much higher than anticipated.

“I am currently finalising the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on land transport as part of the coalition Government’s 100-day plan,” he said.

“The GPS will outline the Government’s priorities across transport, including how projects will be funded.”

The most expensive project identified by NZTA was the North-West Rapid Transit, estimated to cost between $5b and $9b - considerably more than National’s estimated $2.9b.

NZTA put the cost of the Warkworth to Wellsford “road of national significance” at between $2.9b and $3.75b - up from the $2.2b pencilled in by National.

It expected the Second Mount Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve upgrade to cost up to $2.75b - in line with National’s estimate, and Mill Road Stage 1 up to $1.95b.

Green Party transport spokeswoman Julie Anne Genter accused National of being “untrustworthy and irresponsible”.

“Their campaign promises were not deliverable,” she said.

“They’re promising people heaps more infrastructure with less taxes - that’s not possible… They have no way to pay for these roads. User charges are not going to pay for these roads.”

NZTA also included a few estimates in its document for “recovery and resilience projects”, which National didn’t include costings for in its pre-election policy document.

These included for State Highway 1 Brynderwyns to Port Marsden ($2.8b-$2.4b), the Hawke’s Bay Expressway ($0.85b-$1.2b), SH5 Napier to Taupō ($2.3b-$6b) and SH2 Napier to Gisborne ($1b-$1.8b).

Meanwhile, NZTA didn’t put figures on a couple of smaller projects National mentioned in its policy document.

NZTA cautioned its costings were “preliminary” and individual project estimates shouldn’t be quoted.

It explained the estimates were based on the “latest known project scope”, and said in many cases, projects have been inactive for two to six years. So, its starting point for some cost estimates were highly variable.

Nonetheless, for each project it inflated the last known business case to 2023 dollars, before adjusting the upper range for “scope uncertainty”.

It said while modelled costs help with planning, a number of other factors influence costs, including timing, future labour costs, consenting, market capacity and capability.

NZTA, in a separate (publicly available) briefing to the incoming transport minister, warned funding the transport system in a way that delivers what’s needed is an “imminent challenge”.

It presented the new minister with a confronting graph that showed it would need to spend about twice as much as it expected to receive in revenue over the next decade.

The funding shortfall it identified was worth several billion dollars a year.



NZTA gets most of its funding from road-user chargers and fuel excise duties. It also borrows money and is sporadically allocated money by the Government to deliver specified projects.

While Brown is scrapping the Auckland Regional Fuel Tax, he is keen to broaden the types of mechanisms used to fund infrastructure.

He is supportive of using more public-private partnerships, value capture (which could include imposing rates on property owners that benefit from new infrastructure), tolls and congestion charging.

Again, Brown didn’t want to get into the details of how these tools might be used ahead of the draft GPS, which he said would be released “soon”.

“As Minister of Transport, I have already made a number of decisions to rein in the previous government’s reckless and unfunded spending commitments,” he said.

“This has included scrapping Auckland Light Rail, which was expected to cost up to $29b, and after six years and $228 million of spending, has failed to deliver even a metre of track.

“I also cancelled Let’s Get Wellington Moving, an expensive project that failed to deliver for the capital city.”

Jenée Tibshraeny is the Herald’s Wellington Business Editor, based in the Parliamentary press gallery. She specialises in government and Reserve Bank policymaking, economics and banking.

$24b fiscal hole? Transport projects could cost twice National's estimates - NZTA

NZTA estimates National's transport plan includes a hole worth up to $24 billion.

www.nzherald.co.nz

Interesting that the Greens have criticised National for having a possible $25 billion hole in their transport plan but were happy with Labour's $200 billion hole in theirs.

 

[defensivebomb]

The real generational debt is not using the Govt balance sheet and debt capacity to fix the real problems. Govt debt is a tool to get shit done. The real debt cap is not fiscal, but productive capacity (material resources, workers etc). Use the govt books to expand those things.
You don't maintain a AAA credit rating if your economy and books are fragile. Nor do you get heavy interest from bond investors when floating long-term sovereign bonds to the market. S&P said NZ could borrow a further 30% of GDP ($120 billion) before they would look at downgrading.
Fucking enormous borrowing capacity and you mugs want to sit back, curse the poor and penny pinch for a rainy day - when it's pouring! We have a multitude of things we need to invest in and we're just going to sit on our hands for the next 3 years. Lol.

Well, he did borrow $55b, which he could have spent on infrastructure. But he frittered it away. I think we all would have loved for him to do what you mentioned, using the government's books to get stuff done

 

[MaybeTop8]

They are liars. Costing us more, putting people in prison longer. Great for profit in prisons if you privatise them.

 

[marv.]

They are liars. Costing us more, putting people in prison longer. Great for profit in prisons if you privatise them.

some people SHOULD be in prison longer though.

some of you guys talk like it was just bad luck some of these guys find themselves in jail.

'Severe pain': Dairy worker who had thumb sliced off speaks of struggles

Trayd Tahau, who was high on meth at the time, has now been jailed.

www.nzherald.co.nz

starting sentence of 15 years reduced to likely 4 years 2 months.

talk about spitting in the face of the victims.

imagine getting your sentence reduced because you were a methhead white supremacist who grew up in a white supremacist house?
ha! unlikely.
nevermind the fact that you were caught red handed but pled guilty so you get a QUARTER of your sentence knocked off???

give me a fucking break.

also i’m well aware far too many people are imprisoned unfairly, but you cannot honestly say that dude deserves to have 73% of his sentence wiped for ANY reason.

 

[MrFrankWhite]

some people SHOULD be in prison longer though.

some of you guys talk like it was just bad luck some of these guys find themselves in jail.

'Severe pain': Dairy worker who had thumb sliced off speaks of struggles

Trayd Tahau, who was high on meth at the time, has now been jailed.

www.nzherald.co.nz

starting sentence of 15 years reduced to likely 4 years 2 months.

talk about spitting in the face of the victims.

imagine getting your sentence reduced because you were a methhead white supremacist who grew up in a white supremacist house?
ha! unlikely.
nevermind the fact that you were caught red handed but pled guilty so you get a QUARTER of your sentence knocked off???

give me a fucking break.

also i’m well aware far too many people are imprisoned unfairly, but you cannot honestly say that dude deserves to have 73% of his sentence wiped for ANY reason.

What outcome are you trying to achieve?
Punishment? Safety?

 

[marv.]

What outcome are you trying to achieve?
Punishment? Safety?

both?
shouldn’t every day people be able to feel safe enough to leave their homes and go about their business without having limbs chopped off with machetes because someone feels entitled to $15,000 worth of inventory at their business? or safe enough to drive in their car without being smashed in the face with a rifle butt and or carjacked?

and shouldn’t if you want to be out on parole for previous crimes already, with an ankle monitor no less! living like you’re in a GTA game be punished accordingly for those crimes?

 

[Bay39er]

some people SHOULD be in prison longer though.

some of you guys talk like it was just bad luck some of these guys find themselves in jail.

'Severe pain': Dairy worker who had thumb sliced off speaks of struggles

Trayd Tahau, who was high on meth at the time, has now been jailed.

www.nzherald.co.nz

starting sentence of 15 years reduced to likely 4 years 2 months.

talk about spitting in the face of the victims.

imagine getting your sentence reduced because you were a methhead white supremacist who grew up in a white supremacist house?
ha! unlikely.
nevermind the fact that you were caught red handed but pled guilty so you get a QUARTER of your sentence knocked off???

give me a fucking break.

also i’m well aware far too many people are imprisoned unfairly, but you cannot honestly say that dude deserves to have 73% of his sentence wiped for ANY reason.

What would you say if instead of 15 years he was only sentenced to 9 years and got out after serving 3 years?

 

[marv.]

What would you say if instead of 15 years he was only sentenced to 9 years and got out after serving 3 years?

haha yeah for sure.
and how many light sentences do you get for your recidivism?

what else can even be done?

 

[MaybeTop8]

Here’s one for my mate, MaybeTop8

June 2023 - Otago Uni gets $21 million bailout from Finance Minister Grant Robertson
September 2023 - Otago Uni gets $32 million of research grants from Finance Minister Grant Robertson
February 2024 - Otago Uni appoints their first non-academic VC, Grant Robertson on $630,000 - more than the PM.

Corruption! Get fired up MaybeTop8

The real irony is Grant Robertson and his Labour Party has overseen the continued decline in educational achievement and finances in NZ - best of luck Otago uni…

Sure. Hey, doesn't matter what party it is right? Corruption is corruption.

However Wiz, given your proneness to post out and out complete and utter rubbish, lack of fact checking, lack of context through cherry picking, and propensity to just repeat the right wing political mantras, you'll forgive me if I ask for some more information here.

1. Can you provide the sources of your information and maybe some reasons that lead to a conclusion, and please elaborate what that conclusion is that you're implying? Although of course I can guess.
2.Was the bailout part of a larger university package that was distributed to all universities? If so, what did the other universities get? And if so that kinda negates this item
3. How are research grants allocated? Which departments did the grants go to and for what research?
4. How many other universities received grants and for how much?
5. It's a private sector salary. This is to be expected
6. You're cherry picking - how about we look at all the former National mps hmmmm??? Steven Joyce? Bill English? John Key? Now there's real corruption

 

[MaybeTop8]

The real generational debt is not using the Govt balance sheet and debt capacity to fix the real problems. Govt debt is a tool to get shit done. The real debt cap is not fiscal, but productive capacity (material resources, workers etc). Use the govt books to expand those things.
You don't maintain a AAA credit rating if your economy and books are fragile. Nor do you get heavy interest from bond investors when floating long-term sovereign bonds to the market. S&P said NZ could borrow a further 30% of GDP ($120 billion) before they would look at downgrading.
Fucking enormous borrowing capacity and you mugs want to sit back, curse the poor and penny pinch for a rainy day - when it's pouring! We have a multitude of things we need to invest in and we're just going to sit on our hands for the next 3 years. Lol.

Govt's Budget 'just like a household,' says Willis

Willis says Budget finances same as household's, telling MPs cuts needed when money's tight; S&P says NZ's finances not fragile & sees extra 30% of GDP of borrowing capacity; Huge demand for 2054 bond

thekaka.substack.com

I think Luxon & Willis are cowards, They are telling us the state of NZ is fragile, so they don't have to do anything. Coz they don't actually have any policy to fix anything.
Saying the economy and the books are fragile, is the easy way out. Just cut spending and sit on your hands.
If they were serious about 'the tough calls', they would review/expand the tax take to include CGT, Wealth or a land tax and remove tax from income tax. That way we could fund investment in infrastructure (~$200 billion deficit), health, education etc, whilst also paying down debt faster.

Unfortunately it serves a couple of purposes:

They can repeat their "Labour broke everything" mantra which they've been saying now for 5 years, with little real proof most of the time

it fits well into the neoliberal framework of "Big Government bad small government good". Portray everything as broken, government should get out of the way, conveniently hey we can privatise everything at no cost to the government.

A government that represents those same private interests. This one definitely does not care about the taxpayer, except maybe Winston, and that's a stretch.

Then you see headlines like this: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-b...solutely-critical/D5VRUYDXZFEHDOZCV7SGKLPMLE/

They've repealed the resource management act before christmas. They want to fast track dams, supposedly as infrastructure. This means private land will be bought at inflated costs and conservation land will be grabbed.

And as Bomber Bradbury points out, who really benefits? You need dams for mining... https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2024/02/21/of-course-luxon-wants-to-fast-track-dams/