Rizzah
Contributor
Do SailGP boats go through there?
Politics NZ Politics
- Thread starter wizard of Tauranga
- Start date
There is a reason for that, right?
No, because the race couldn't be viewed from land. However, dozens of boats do, most with a fucking great steel propellor spins so fast a mammal couldn't see it with the naked eye.
Rizzah
Contributor
I don't think you can compare these to pleasure boats and divers. They are extremely quick boats at 52 knots (~100km/h), with massively wide knife like dual steel rudder and foils that sit pretty close to the surface.
Yes, I know they travel fast, but the foils have basically no draft.
A dolphin calf stays very close to it's mother, that is my observation having seen hundreds of them. Dolphins are very smart, they enjoy interacting with boats and humans.
Looking back at the Amercas Cup, some of those boats did about half that speed with a huge keel, so I would think just as much chance if not more of running into a dreaming dolphin, not to mention the armada of support vessels and spectator craft.
Rizzah
Contributor
I guess there is nothing to worry about then.
You should know by now I couldn’t give a fuck about the opinion of someone who depends on government handouts their entire lives.
Again, ban it if those sailboats are actually a risk. And by that, I mean have an empirical evidence of endangering sea mammals. If that’s the case I’ll happily concede and double down on Coutts fuckwittery
Do these boats have a history of striking sea mammals?
Rizzah
Contributor
No idea. SailGP is only 35 events old.
I can't imagine many of the events are held in a marine reserve breeding area for endangered sea mammals.
I know nothing about sailing I think it’s a fucking stupid, sport for gay old rich men. But are these new types of boats or something?
As far as I can see, they are missing two of the biggest pollutants to marine life, one being fossil fuels, the other being noise.
Rizzah
Contributor
Lol! Yeah they are a newish high performance catamaran design. I think the idea came out of the 2017 Americas cup catamarans, but modified smaller faster craft - Coutts wanted a GP circuit of fast racing boats.
Rizzah
Contributor
I imagine if the Conservation dept had it all their way - you wouldn't be able to do much in the marine reserve.
Your last sentence indicates an interest in sailing, or, is it the sailing scene ?
I was in the army. Unfortunately I'm too familiar with sailors and their general degeneracy.
Maritime rules state that you can go more than 5 knots (around 9.5km) within 200m of any marine mammals. At 60kph, that 200m only takes 12 seconds to cover.
TBH, the chances of hitting something is pretty small.... but, Coutts was told last year not to come back in March, yet he ignored it. Apparently the same restrictions this year were in place last year.It's pretty clear from the discussion today that you can shove your maritime rulesmiket12
I used to sail a Laser in Tauranga harbour when I was in high school and only been on just standard cats but short of deliberately capsizing a $6 million craft, there is no way of stopping a F50 quickly. One of the consultants I use had tried out for the LA Olympics in the Tornado Class cats and were second in the trials to Sellers and Timms (who went on to win gold). He had a bit to do with helping train Team NZ on sailing cats and had gone out on an AC40. From what he said, once the boats are up on their foils, the helmsman has very little view of anything in the water directly in front of them.
A F50 isn't stopping in a hurry even if the crew do, by some miracle, see a dolphin in front of them.
More tax cuts for the rich.... at the expense of those even richer or without pre-school children!!!
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced the measure at his Post-Cabinet press conference this afternoon.
The FamilyBoost credit means families will be able to collect up to 25 per cent of the fees incurred with a licenced ECE provider, after the 20 Hours Free and Ministry of Social Development’s Childcare Subsidy are taken into account.
All families earning up to $180,000 with childcare costs are eligible, with the maximum amount available to families earning up to $140,000.
“Parents and caregivers will be able to submit their ECE invoices every three months via myIR, with FamilyBoost refunded as a lump sum,” Willis said.
“Parents should start collecting invoices from July 1, so they can begin to apply and be refunded from October 2024.”
No costings were provided for the policy, with officials saying that the costs and benefits were “to be confirmed”.
In its pre-election fiscal plan, National estimated it would cost $249 million a year, or $996m over four years.
According to the OECD, couples pay 37 per cent of their income towards childcare in New Zealand. The OECD average is 13 per cent of a couple’s income, while in Australia it is 22 per cent of a couple’s income and in the UK it is 25 per cent of a couple’s income.
Willis said National had wanted to directly reimburse parents every fortnight, but officials had told the Government that couldn’t be done, and it was “too long to wait” for such a system to be put in place that would enable this.
The trade-off is an “administrative burden” for parents, though Willis said advice is being sought by the end of the year on how to reduce this.
She said more than 100,000 families would be eligible for FamilyBoost.
Willis said 21,000 families would be entitled to the maximum rebate of $75 a week.
The cost was estimated to be $723m over four years, less than what National had planned for the policy in its pre-election fiscal plan. The difference was because of additional information from Inland Revenue, Willis said.
Asked why the Government kept getting its costings so wrong compared to its pre-election estimates, Willis said it mattered more that families would get the relief National had promised during the campaign.
She defended putting the onus on parents because it meant the policy could be rolled out this year, rather than waiting for the right system to be put in place.
Willis said it wouldn’t be inflationary as it would be funded from “reprioritisation” and new revenue measures.
“IRD have pretty good computer systems. The issue here is how well their systems talk to education systems.”
The costings assume 100 per cent uptake, she said.
Some families might not take it up because of the admin required, but IRD hadn’t provided a number on how many that might be, Willis said.
Inland Revenue officials said there were no existing information flows linking fee information with parents, childcare centres and family income. Building that system would take two to three years, so the Government has instead opted to have parents provide invoices.
This risked “lower take-up due to compliance costs on parents, integrity risks associated with invoices or disclosed personal incomes, the implementation date of 1 July 2024 sitting within Inland Revenue’s peak period of demand resulting in reduced levels of customer support”, IRD officials said in a regulatory impact statement.
“Finally, there is a risk that the basic refund model will become entrenched without a replacement model ever designed and implemented.”
The rebate rates will be $75 a week for those with household incomes up to $140,000, $56.25 for those on household incomes up to $150,000, $37.50 for those with household incomes up to $160,000, and $18.75 for those with household incomes up to $170,000.
“Many families are struggling with high housing, food, and childcare costs. One of our priorities is to support families to get ahead by helping them with the high cost of living, including help for those bearing the brunt of childcare costs,” Willis said.
“Being able to afford ECE fees can also be a barrier to entering the workforce, particularly for the second earner in a household. FamilyBoost will make it easier and more worthwhile for families with young children to work by directly assisting them to pay those ECE fees.”
When asked about prioritising tax cuts over a surplus, Willis said tax cuts were a pre-election promise. She again said the tax cuts would not be inflationary because they would be delivered in a fiscally neutral way.
“I believe that when New Zealanders see the tax relief we deliver at the Budget, and the responsible way we will deliver it, they will be grateful for it,” Willis said.
She agreed with the International Monetary Fund comment about New Zealand being in a structural deficit, and the Government was focused on fiscal sustainability and getting better value for money.
She said the IMF and the Treasury have long said it was necessary to broaden the tax base, but the Government was committed to the tax relief it promised before the election.
She said regulation was also on the Government’s radar because ECE providers say regulations were behind much of the higher costs.
www.nzherald.co.nz
PM Christopher Luxon, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announce early childhood tax credits at post-Cabinet
Families will be able to receive up to $75 a week in Early Childhood Education (ECE) tax credits from October this year - part of National’s election campaign promise to ease the cost of living.Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced the measure at his Post-Cabinet press conference this afternoon.
The FamilyBoost credit means families will be able to collect up to 25 per cent of the fees incurred with a licenced ECE provider, after the 20 Hours Free and Ministry of Social Development’s Childcare Subsidy are taken into account.
All families earning up to $180,000 with childcare costs are eligible, with the maximum amount available to families earning up to $140,000.
“Parents and caregivers will be able to submit their ECE invoices every three months via myIR, with FamilyBoost refunded as a lump sum,” Willis said.
“Parents should start collecting invoices from July 1, so they can begin to apply and be refunded from October 2024.”
No costings were provided for the policy, with officials saying that the costs and benefits were “to be confirmed”.
In its pre-election fiscal plan, National estimated it would cost $249 million a year, or $996m over four years.
Childcare financial burden high for Kiwis
Luxon said childcare costs in New Zealand were relatively high.According to the OECD, couples pay 37 per cent of their income towards childcare in New Zealand. The OECD average is 13 per cent of a couple’s income, while in Australia it is 22 per cent of a couple’s income and in the UK it is 25 per cent of a couple’s income.
Willis said National had wanted to directly reimburse parents every fortnight, but officials had told the Government that couldn’t be done, and it was “too long to wait” for such a system to be put in place that would enable this.
The trade-off is an “administrative burden” for parents, though Willis said advice is being sought by the end of the year on how to reduce this.
She said more than 100,000 families would be eligible for FamilyBoost.
Willis said 21,000 families would be entitled to the maximum rebate of $75 a week.
The cost was estimated to be $723m over four years, less than what National had planned for the policy in its pre-election fiscal plan. The difference was because of additional information from Inland Revenue, Willis said.
Asked why the Government kept getting its costings so wrong compared to its pre-election estimates, Willis said it mattered more that families would get the relief National had promised during the campaign.
She defended putting the onus on parents because it meant the policy could be rolled out this year, rather than waiting for the right system to be put in place.
Willis said it wouldn’t be inflationary as it would be funded from “reprioritisation” and new revenue measures.
“IRD have pretty good computer systems. The issue here is how well their systems talk to education systems.”
The costings assume 100 per cent uptake, she said.
Some families might not take it up because of the admin required, but IRD hadn’t provided a number on how many that might be, Willis said.
Inland Revenue officials said there were no existing information flows linking fee information with parents, childcare centres and family income. Building that system would take two to three years, so the Government has instead opted to have parents provide invoices.
This risked “lower take-up due to compliance costs on parents, integrity risks associated with invoices or disclosed personal incomes, the implementation date of 1 July 2024 sitting within Inland Revenue’s peak period of demand resulting in reduced levels of customer support”, IRD officials said in a regulatory impact statement.
“Finally, there is a risk that the basic refund model will become entrenched without a replacement model ever designed and implemented.”
The rebate rates will be $75 a week for those with household incomes up to $140,000, $56.25 for those on household incomes up to $150,000, $37.50 for those with household incomes up to $160,000, and $18.75 for those with household incomes up to $170,000.
“Many families are struggling with high housing, food, and childcare costs. One of our priorities is to support families to get ahead by helping them with the high cost of living, including help for those bearing the brunt of childcare costs,” Willis said.
“Being able to afford ECE fees can also be a barrier to entering the workforce, particularly for the second earner in a household. FamilyBoost will make it easier and more worthwhile for families with young children to work by directly assisting them to pay those ECE fees.”
When asked about prioritising tax cuts over a surplus, Willis said tax cuts were a pre-election promise. She again said the tax cuts would not be inflationary because they would be delivered in a fiscally neutral way.
“I believe that when New Zealanders see the tax relief we deliver at the Budget, and the responsible way we will deliver it, they will be grateful for it,” Willis said.
She agreed with the International Monetary Fund comment about New Zealand being in a structural deficit, and the Government was focused on fiscal sustainability and getting better value for money.
She said the IMF and the Treasury have long said it was necessary to broaden the tax base, but the Government was committed to the tax relief it promised before the election.
She said regulation was also on the Government’s radar because ECE providers say regulations were behind much of the higher costs.
Watch: Willis announces early childhood boost of up to $75 a week for parents
Police from other regions are being sent into Gisborne to help with public reassurance.
www.nzherald.co.nz
