ACT agrees with Grant Robertson’s comments today that tax is not the solution to the housing crisis – so why on earth is he piling on a new tax? The new Interest Deductibility rules means tenants are destined for increases in their rent as this law comes into effect on
Brooke van Velden ACT Deputy Leader and Health spokesperson Andrew Little needs to take some responsibility after blaming the Ministry of Health who “has struggled to achieve as much as we would have liked them to” on mental health. “The Government has allocated billions of dollars towards the issue and
Brooke van Velden ACT Deputy Leader and Housing spokesperson The Government is rushing through the Housing Tax Changes (Interest Limitation Rules) before 1 October under urgency in order to lay their hands on an extra $800 million. From October 1, most residential property investors will no longer be able to
Brooke van Velden ACT Deputy Leader and Housing spokesperson ACT is calling on the Government to issue exemptions and extensions for any landlord caught out by Alert Level changes when it comes to complying by the new standards. Alert Level 4 means that tradespeople have been unable to carry out
Brooke van Velden ACT Health spokesperson A report this morning that all PHARMAC staff, rather than clinical experts or those with patient experience are making decisions about life-saving medicines is astounding. Is PHARMAC using staff as de facto focus groups for funding decisions? Every year ill people cross their fingers
Brooke van Velden ACT Deputy Leader and Housing spokesperson The Olympics have finished but Jacinda Ardern’s Government is still breaking records. Between July 2020 and July 2021, the median price of a house increased by 25.2 per cent to a record $826,000, according to the latest data
Brooke van Velden ACT Deputy Leader The Government needs to answer why Google billionaire Larry Page was able to get residency so quickly when skilled workers are being turned away. Media are reporting that Page was given residency under the ‘Investor Plus’ category after he came into New Zealand with
Brooke van Velden ACT Deputy Leader and Health spokesperson Comments from Health Minister Andrew Little about throwing billions at the health system with no results show he’s completely out of his depth. In a Newsroom article today Little says “So, what I’m saying is how can we possibly
Brooke van Velden ACT Housing spokesperson Labour’s interest deductibility change has been revealed as an $800 million tax grab on landlords. In Budget documents released today, Treasury told the Finance Minister, ‘…had the interest deducibility denial been fully implemented in 2018/19, and current interest rates prevailed, it may
Brooke van Velden ACT Housing spokesperson Treasury’s fantasy forecast of flatlining house prices are already out of date. In fact, house prices reached levels Treasury predicted in three years after just three months. The CoreLogic House Price Index shows house prices have outstripped Treasury’s forecasts. “At Budget 2021,
Brooke van Velden ACT Trade spokesperson Comments this morning from Building and Construction Minister Poto Williams that the Government is considering limiting wood exports to keep construction materials from going offshore, will send a shiver down the spine of many businesses. Why would you invest in your business, if the
Brooke van Velden ACT Deputy Leader and Health spokesperson I welcome the establishment of the Support and Consultation for End of Life in New Zealand (SCENZ) group. ACT is encouraged by the establishment of SCENZ, the calibre of its 11 members and their collective experience in medicine, psychiatry, pharmacy, nursing,
Brooke van Velden ACT Deputy Leader and Health spokesperson The ACT Party welcomes PHARMAC recognising New Zealanders are asking for more transparency on which medicines it funds but today’s announcement falls short of providing the information needed. All of the information PHARMAC has released for ‘transparency’ is already available
Brooke van Velden ACT Deputy Leader and Health spokesperson The ACT Party is offering 10 votes in support of Tamati Coffey’s ‘Improving Arrangements for Surrogacy Bill’ in the hopes it can go straight into Parliament without languishing in the biscuit tin. New Zealand’s current laws are too complicated
Brooke van Velden ACT Deputy Leader and Health spokesperson It’s taken the Government more than six months to adopt a new technology based on evidence everyone had in February. The Government’s ability to work with private business and adopt new technology is hopeless, as we have been saying
Brooke van Velden ACT Deputy Leader and Housing spokesperson ACT has today announced it would remove barriers to finance build-to-rent schemes. Developing new apartments is hard. The Overseas Investment Office makes it harder. New Zealand is among the hardest countries in the world to send money to. We are amidst
