Failed Labour nonentity Grant Robertson made a comment in his valedictory speech to parliament saying the tax system is very unfair. Let us take a look at that contention and see if there is anything in it. One of its implications is the usual socialist chestnut that all your money
Bryce Edwards I am Political Analyst in Residence at Victoria University of Wellington, where I run the Democracy Project, and am a full-time researcher in the School of Government democracyproject.substack.com Pay cuts, wage restraint, and redundancies are currently being forced on everyone in the government sector. Except in
The Soviet-born Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin once reminisced about the her childhood. Her father would sometimes bring home a special gift: an orange. She would, she said, save the orange for as long as possible, eating one precious segment a day. It’s a stark reminder to Western children today,
Chris Lynch chrislynchmedia.com If more funding to reinstate Christ Church Cathedral is not secured by August, then the project will be indefinitely mothballed, Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Limited announced today. This is despite the fact that rate payers were forced to contribute $10 million to the project in 2017,
The public sector has been hit with another blow, as the Ministry of Health and Ministry for Social Development are expected to cut hundreds of jobs. Up next week are the Department of Internal Affairs, followed by the Department of Conservation. What isn’t clear is what will happen to
I see a great many memes bewailing that schools don’t teach kids things like taxes, household budgeting and other such ‘adulting’ tasks. Once upon a time, of course, we learned such things at our parents’ knees. When my mother went back to work after her youngest (me) started school,
Grant Duncan Visiting scholar in politics, City, University of London If you live in New Zealand and you’re feeling poorer, you’re not imagining it. Stats NZ has revealed the economy was in recession over the second half of last year. GDP fell in the September and December quarters
Bryce Edwards Political Analyst in Residence, Director of the Democracy Project, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington democracyproject.substack.com “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon
Vance Ginn Vance Ginn, PhD, is founder and president of Ginn Economic Consulting, LLC and an Associate Research Fellow with AIER. He is chief economist at Pelican Institute for Public Policy and senior fellow at Americans for Tax Reform. He previously served as the associate director for economic policy of
Lisa Marriott Professor of Taxation, Victoria University of Wellington Jonathan Barrett Associate Professor in Commercial Law and Taxation, Victoria University of Wellington Ahead of the 2023 election, it was clear there was not a lot in National’s tax policies to benefit the least well off. Nothing has happened over
dailytelegraph.co.nz THE NEW ZEALAND FILM COMMISSION IS ALLOCATING $800,000 TOWARDS A DOCUMENTARY ON THE ‘LEADERSHIP’ OF FORMER PRIME MINISTER JACINDA ARDERN, AMIDST THE CONTEXT OF ‘RISING VIOLENT EXTREMISM’ AND ONLINE HATE IN NEW ZEALAND. According to a report in state news outlet RNZ, the documentary is not
Kelli Ballard libertynation.com As waves of illegal immigrants continue to cross the US southern border, cities, states, and towns across the nation are buckling under the fiscal weight of providing services in the form of legal protections, food, housing, clothing, and medical care. Some lawmakers are going even further
The state of the nation is very fragile, as PM Luxon has rightly stated. Tough choices and tough love are what’s needed for a “fragile” New Zealand as it faces a “rough” economic forecast and massive infrastructure deficit, says Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. NZ Herald Let’s look at
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon gave his first State of the Nation address yesterday. “I won’t apologise for making tough choices to support young people off welfare and into work, because 24 years languishing on welfare means no hope. It means no opportunity. It means no dignity from work.” This
If you’d guessed John Tahimere you’d be correct. Pretty good pay considering annual revenue of $71m. Next on the list is Professor Dawn Freshwater of the University of Auckland. Again pretty good pay. But notice that here that the annual revenue is $1.35 billion. And in third
