The main thing that saved us from a total economic meltdown in 2008 was a very robust banking system. Amid all the silliness going on in the rest of the world, our banks still insisted on 20% deposits for home buyers (smaller deposits were allowed but in restricted numbers), giving
Press Release: ACT Party ACT Leader David Seymour is questioning whether the Finance Minister has enough information about COVID-19 to know when New Zealand should come out of lockdown. “Every day of this lockdown is costing a fortune. Livelihoods are being lost as businesses burn up their working capital and
Businesses across New Zealand have had to close, with no exceptions at all except for “essential businesses”. What is an essential business, you ask? Examples given have included supermarkets, pharmacies – and the Imperial cigarette factory in Petone, Wellington. Huh? Stage-four – the most-extreme of New Zealand’s coronavirus alert levels – means
Our face of the day PM Jacinda Ardern on Monday said that: “the Government was not looking at allowing greengrocers to reopen to provide extra competition.” because “Unfortunately that would undermine what we’re trying to do, which is limit the public’s contact with workers and each other,” But
Dear Editor On Thursday, my wife and I visited the Countdown supermarket in Taupo to do some essential shopping. * We found there was only one Entry point – good. * At that Entry point, a gentleman was posted to control the flow of shoppers – good. * At that Entry point, there was no
OK, now for some boring stuff. Money is going to become very short over the next few weeks. Sure, businesses have had some assistance from the government to help to pay wages (and I commend the government on their assistance package) but as payments to businesses dry up, things will
Humans can be pretty intriguing creatures. As God found out in the Garden of Eden, tell us not to do something and our immediate impulse is to find the most ingenious way to get around it. As governments impose ever-more onerous restrictions on daily life in response to the Chinese
China is mounting an impressive and so far successful propaganda war trying to reset perceptions that they are to blame for the global COVID-19 pandemic. They are, of course, being assisted by global media who, despite months of calling the virus variations of the Chinese virus, are now lambasting Donald
Essential businesses that can stay open are: Accommodation: • Any entity that provides accommodation services for essential workers, isolation/quarantine, and emergency housing Border: • Customs New Zealand, Immigration New Zealand and the Ministry for Primary Industries Building and construction: • Any entity involved in building and construction related to essential services and
John Daley Chief Executive Officer Grattan Institute This is longer than the usual Conversation article, so allow some time to take it in. Nobody likes talking about the COVID-19 endgame, but we need to choose one. The appropriate interventions – public health, government spending, and freedom of movement – all depend on
Liz Minchin Veronika Meduna Wes Mountain The Conversation New Zealand will spend NZ$12.1 billion to support businesses, increase benefits for seniors and low-income families, pay people who can’t work because of self-isolation, and boost virus testing and intensive care capacity. The NZ government’s new economic package
Jordan Williams Executive Director New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union The team spent yesterday afternoon working through the Government’s COVID-19 response package. A couple of the staff are in self-isolation, so we’ve well and truly rehearsed using the virtual technology in preparing this article and our media commentary. In summary,
There has been a lot of talk about this virus thingy. In our daily meanderings we come across opinions covering all scenarios, “It’s not as bad as the flu”, “It’s only old people who die”, “It’s ok, we only have a few cases”, “The Governments aren’t
This week’s podcast, in my opinion, is one of the most important ever. The government’s ‘Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill’ is, in short, shocking for any landlord. If you own a rental property, you need to listen to this podcast and then submit feedback to your local government representatives.
The Morrison government is walking a barbed-wire fence when it comes to climate policy. On the one hand, the government is smarting from sustained, opportunistic left-media attacks in the wake of this summer’s bushfire disaster. On the other, the Coalition’s voting base are unequivocally opposed to sacrificing economic
