Politics 🗳️ NZ Politics

[marv.]

‘Better times ahead’: Consumer confidence bounces to 32-month high

Expectations about the future driving consumer confidence.

www.nzherald.co.nz

 

[miket12]

Bullshit. This government are fucking us over completely. Manufactured recession.

Mmmm...... the recession lasted over a two year period.... an election hadn't even been had then let alone a government formed when it started.

TBH, any government anywhere around the world where countries are still recovering from COVID and have had central banks raise interest rates (including Labour if it had won the last election) are in a lose/lose situation. Interest rates are put up to slow the economy and inflation growth by causing one hell of a lot of financial pain and belt tightening. Any government which didn't look at ways at reducing it's only costs while expecting all private companies and all it's citizens pain, would be labeled hypocritical. Despite what some economists will tell you, a government can't spend it's way out of a recession.... Germany in the late 1920's proves that.

It's the degree of government cutbacks too spending that people don't like. Unfortunately, we're suffering more than most countries because our Reserve Bank went too fast, too far and for too long, before acknowledging that inflation was coming down. Couple that with a government which, IMO, is going too far with it's cost cutting and steadfastly refusing to look at any form of preventing wealth transfer, and we're going to take a lot longer to recover than most other countries.

 

[MaybeTop8]

 

[Fred]

View attachment 9727

YUP bloody liars told us they would honour the hospital build before election

 

[miket12]

View attachment 9727

That entire project has been one massive cock right from the beginning. Before the 2017 election, National announced that a new hospital would be built and finished within 10 years. Then it became an election bribe race as Labour then National promised to build it sooner and make it bigger and flasher than what the other side was promising.

When Labour came in, it wanted to stick to an earlier finish date so the architectural plans were never finalized and an open ended contract signed. Then, as different people from Ministry, ODHB and clinicians looked at the documentation, changes were brought which were variations to the contract and the price escalated. COVID occurred and that added to delays and cost over runs.

Even after construction stayed, the Ministry and clinicians have changed things and parts needed to be rebuilt. It wasn’t helped when one person would authorize one change only for someone else to issue other instructions.

The whole contract was so open ended, there were always going to be huge increases.

What should have happened was a complete set of documents produced, reviews done and changes made before a contract was issued. Yes, there would always be changes made before and during construction but this would have limited them.

Then National made a huge cock up, promising to finish the project before the last Election without having the latest costs in front of them…. an absolutely stupid thing to do!!!!

This entire project, including not including a parking structure and not allowing for the demolishing a building with asbestos, should be used for decades to come for anyone studying project management on how not to do things.

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

Bullshit. This government are fucking us over completely. Manufactured recession.

From stats Nz mate.

‘GDP per capita decreased by 0.3 percent in the March 2024 quarter. This was the sixth consecutive quarterly fall. On an annual basis, GDP per capita fell 2.4 percent.’

The downward spiral started under Labour. It may be manufactured to combat inflation but it’s real people and real businesses losing real income and wealth.

GDP increases 0.2 percent in the March 2024 quarter | Stats NZ

New Zealand’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.2 percent in the March 2024 quarter, following a 0.1 percent decrease in the December 2023 quarter.

www.stats.govt.nz

 

[MrFrankWhite]

All governments for the last three decades have failed to invest the dividends back into the infrastructure. Privatisation has seen further wealth extraction for the already wealthy. Meanwhile, due to greed and interference the world still has an overreliance on fossil fuels, which also fuel climate change (yes Frank, come on, you can do it, it's true, science says so) add untold environmental destruction and are themselves a very finite resource.

So there is a need to shift to ev/hybrid/public transport that only those with an extreme regressive tendency, or self serving interest, or very conservative, or just want to make sure nothing changes, or all of the above are trying to actively prevent.

Oh and the foundational aspect of all of this is that it's all turbo powered by neoliberalism.

So hardly the ev/hybrid/aircon fault.

We have to change. Most of those over 60 won't have to care about their impact, but everyone else left on this planet will.

Air cons/heatpumps get installed everywhere. they are the most efficient form of cooling and heating. Thats why there is precisely fuck all subsidies required for them. EVs on the other hand are dog shit and a massive inconvenience, requiring massive govt subsidies at every point of the supply chain. Whats worse is they are additive to the fleet pool, ie people who buy EVs do so as their SECOND car. How does that help the environment?

 

[MrFrankWhite]

View attachment 9727

how the fuck is a hospital in Dunedin costing the same as a hospital in Adelaide?

Dunedin population - 114,000
Adelaide population - 1,379,000

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

how the fuck is a hospital in Dunedin costing the same as a hospital in Adelaide?

Dunedin population - 114,000
Adelaide population - 1,379,000

- Ferry budget quadrupled
- Lake Onslow estimated $4b to an estimated $16b
- City rail loop - most expensive tunnel in the world 3.3b to 5.5b
- Transmission Gully costs go up almost half a billion dollars, to $1.25b.
- Forsyth Barr Stadium up by $36m
- Christchurch's Te Kaha going up by $150m.

Yes, contractors are creaming it but many of them are struggling themselves eg Fletcher building.

NZ is just a low productivity, small market, high cost economy and we’re strangling ourselves in red tape. Cone capital of the world!

And still you get people on here saying they need to go ahead no matter the cost. We have an infrastructure deficit so we badly need to fix the cost drivers so we can get twice as much for the same price and not bankrupt ourselves as we descend to a third world economy.

 

[MrFrankWhite]

- Ferry budget quadrupled
- Lake Onslow estimated $4b to an estimated $16b
- City rail loop - most expensive tunnel in the world 3.3b to 5.5b
- Transmission Gully costs go up almost half a billion dollars, to $1.25b.
- Forsyth Barr Stadium up by $36m
- Christchurch's Te Kaha going up by $150m.

Yes, contractors are creaming it but many of them are struggling themselves eg Fletcher building.

NZ is just a low productivity, small market, high cost economy and we’re strangling ourselves in red tape. Cone capital of the world!

And still you get people on here saying they need to go ahead no matter the cost. We have an infrastructure deficit so we badly need to fix the cost drivers so we can get twice as much for the same price and not bankrupt ourselves as we descend to a third world economy.

Im all for spending money where required, but that price tag is insanity.. Would need to be main hospital in Auckland or the entire south island.

 

[Fred]

- Ferry budget quadrupled
- Lake Onslow estimated $4b to an estimated $16b
- City rail loop - most expensive tunnel in the world 3.3b to 5.5b
- Transmission Gully costs go up almost half a billion dollars, to $1.25b.
- Forsyth Barr Stadium up by $36m
- Christchurch's Te Kaha going up by $150m.

Yes, contractors are creaming it but many of them are struggling themselves eg Fletcher building.

NZ is just a low productivity, small market, high cost economy and we’re strangling ourselves in red tape. Cone capital of the world!

And still you get people on here saying they need to go ahead no matter the cost. We have an infrastructure deficit so we badly need to fix the cost drivers so we can get twice as much for the same price and not bankrupt ourselves as we descend to a third world economy.

You been to a emergency department lately long waitlist max 8hrs one night people waiting in the hallways getting treated It is not good enough
Road from Whangarei to Kaitaia is worse since schoolboy Brown has taken over absolutely no work been done on the roads and the trucks treat it like a race course

 

[John Nick]

You been to a emergency department lately long waitlist max 8hrs one night people waiting in the hallways getting treated It is not good enough
Road from Whangarei to Kaitaia is worse since schoolboy Brown has taken over absolutely no work been done on the roads and the trucks treat it like a race course

Plus cutting back on rail and coastal shipping. Increasing speed limits only going to create more damage to our already vulnerable roads

 

[MaybeTop8]

Air cons/heatpumps get installed everywhere. they are the most efficient form of cooling and heating. Thats why there is precisely fuck all subsidies required for them. EVs on the other hand are dog shit and a massive inconvenience, requiring massive govt subsidies at every point of the supply chain. Whats worse is they are additive to the fleet pool, ie people who buy EVs do so as their SECOND car. How does that help the environment?

To a point I agree - investing in mass public transport would be a far smarter move

 

[defensivebomb]

- Ferry budget quadrupled
- Lake Onslow estimated $4b to an estimated $16b
- City rail loop - most expensive tunnel in the world 3.3b to 5.5b
- Transmission Gully costs go up almost half a billion dollars, to $1.25b.
- Forsyth Barr Stadium up by $36m
- Christchurch's Te Kaha going up by $150m.

Robina stadium (2008) - A$160m

Christchurch stadium (2023) - NZ$683m
Eden Park covered seats + increase to 60,000 capacity (quoted) - NZ$500m - NZ$800m. Note - it would be $800m+

We get the shit ripped out of us due to many, many mouths in the chain

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

You been to a emergency department lately long waitlist max 8hrs one night people waiting in the hallways getting treated It is not good enough
Road from Whangarei to Kaitaia is worse since schoolboy Brown has taken over absolutely no work been done on the roads and the trucks treat it like a race course

I agree and I’m not saying don’t do it.

I’m saying we need to look at why costs are blowing out and why we are amungst the most expensive in the work for major infrastructure projects.

I want us to do more, but be able to afford it. This should scare everyone in NZ because it makes us all poorer paying so much more for the same thing:

 

[MaybeTop8]

I agree and I’m not saying don’t do it.

I’m saying we need to look at why costs are blowing out and why we are amungst the most expensive in the work for major infrastructure projects.

I want us to do more, but be able to afford it. This should scare everyone in NZ because it makes us all poorer paying so much more for the same thing:

View attachment 9730

Not cancelling the previous government's infrastructure projects if there is a common good would be a start

 

[MrFrankWhite]

To a point I agree - investing in mass public transport would be a far smarter move

100%. If you scratch the new Green movement, its just mass consumerism. No coincidence the economic life of batteries and EVs are shockingly bad.

 

[juju]

Decent protest down south.

If the public stay mobilised the government will change their tune

'Biggest protest in Dunedin in decades' as up to 35,000 rally against hospital cuts

'We're just getting started,' Dunedin's mayor says after a massive crowd estimated at 35,000 people turned up to protest possible cuts to hospital redevelopment.

www.rnz.co.nz

 

[Tragic]

Stats NZ: GDP per capita decreased by 0.5 percent in the June 2024 quarter. The last time GDP per capita increased was in the September 2022 quarter. On an annual basis, to the year ended June 2024 GDP per capita fell 2.7 percent.

Labour has delivered us a knackered economy with almost 2 years of negative growth and counting. That’s real money making us all poorer, lowers the tax base and means we can’t afford so much on social services and health…

Luxons hard at work focusing on the economy and getting government costs under control. Lowering our taxes, reforming the RMA, removing barriers, etc, etc.

Labour meanwhile on Q+A, where they could lay out a vision for NZ, Hipkins talked about more taxes to “expand the tax base” and said our debt-laden economy “needed to borrow more money” to fund infrastructure and services. When did Labour last talk about policy to actually grow the economy instead of tax and borrow?

So yesterday meat processors were shutting because of Labours land use push to farming trees instead of meat and Labours drive to lower herd numbers. Meanwhile Luxons overseas on trade missions, the difference between the 2 parties is clear.

More focus on growing NZ out of its economic doldrums needed. That’s the real issue affecting all NZers in the pocket after Labour left us with in a dismal economic downward spiral.

Luxon done some.good things some not good but the way you go on about him f he turns a corner too fast you're going to get a broken nose.

 

[juju]

The Hypocrisy of what's affordable and what's not

The things that are unaffordable and the things that aren’t

$3 billion for a new hospital? Unaffordable. $3 billion for a new motorway? Now we’re talking.

thespinoff.co.nz