Our PM Jacinda Ardern (and the government)

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Awrrr
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#2963354 5-Sep-2022 09:46

networkn:

I am of the belief that the Central or Local Government should step in and take over the Auckland Showgrounds.

We have no other suitable site to run many of the events that are hosted there, and the fact it's closed ongoing has been very disruptive. I understand the current landlord expects a reasonable return on it's investment, but such an important peice of land with no alternative shouldn't be able to be held to ransom. I am entirely sure what a 'good' solution looks like, but I know what's happening now doesn't seem productive.

I don't have an opinion on this and I don't live in Auckland, but maybe it should have its own thread. It doesn't really seem to fit here.

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networkn

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#2963358 5-Sep-2022 09:51

Rikkitic:

I don't have an opinion on this and I don't live in Auckland, but maybe it should have its own thread. It doesn't really seem to fit here.

Fits here if Central Government was to step in. It's pocket change compared to what they are prepared to waste on other less productive projects (I mean, $120M just for *another* business plan for Wellington for example), and affects more than just Auckland since many national shows are held here.

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#2963439 5-Sep-2022 12:29

I still think it should have its own thread.

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networkn

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#2963533 5-Sep-2022 16:16

I see the Government has announced new methods to be able to seize assets related to criminal activity. I applaud that, but wonder when they intend to do something about the crimes at the source? Another 5 ramraids last night and it seems a daily occurrence for months, along with the spate of gun crimes. In the past 4 days during my commute, I've seen 3 dairies with their windows boarded up.

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#2963821 6-Sep-2022 10:38

Good Grief. So apparently the Government didn't consult with *any* of the 11 fund managers over the proposed GST change affecting 3M people to the tune of Billions of dollars.

More and more it looks like without a common sense handbrake (I never considered myself using that language to describe NZ First), they are more or less completely without a clue.

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#2964055 7-Sep-2022 07:09

networkn: I see the Government has announced new methods to be able to seize assets related to criminal activity. I applaud that, but wonder when they intend to do something about the crimes at the source?

Asset seizure laws are used almost exclusively for drug profits. These days that's almost exclusively meth. Realistically the police will never be able to search every single shipping container coming into NZ. The stuff costs pennies to manufacture overseas. The profits are so high that losing a few shipments is not an issue. Many of the recreational drug users are just looking for any kind of temporary mental escape they can get. A decriminalized environment for marijuana at least would take a big chunk out of the meth profits.

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#2964078 7-Sep-2022 09:32

networkn:

Good Grief. So apparently the Government didn't consult with *any* of the 11 fund managers over the proposed GST change affecting 3M people to the tune of Billions of dollars.

More and more it looks like without a common sense handbrake (I never considered myself using that language to describe NZ First), they are more or less completely without a clue.

I don't really see the value of consolation in that instance. Seems obvious that any business would prefer not to have to collect GST on their fees. It is really odd that fund management fees were ever exempt. If we are going to exempting stuff from GST, I think doctors & dentists visits would be more worthy.

The consultation thing just seemed like an excuse to flip flop on the policy due to it attracting too much bad press. And I think the media deserves some blame for the latter, opting for emotive headlines, and focusing on kiwi-saver despite the policy covering all fund management fees. With regards to kiwi-saver, the elephant in the room is that the fees on some managed funds are epicly high, which is a far larger issue than 15% GST.

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#2964081 7-Sep-2022 09:38

This doesn't look good for the government.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/covid-19-outbreak-blunder-in-wellington-let-women-into-northland-and-shut-the-region-for-11-days/D3OIYTFMDOSWGRYBTHFO2VY7JQ/

Turn out that Chris Hipkins baselessly vilified the woman.

The women were publicly vilified for crossing the border with then Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins accusing them of using "false information to travel across the border".

The case also saw reporters quizzing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern over whether the women were prostitutes and former Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters was forced to apologise for falsely claiming the pair were helped by Hawke's Bay-based Mongrel Mob leader Harry Tam.

The police inquiry summary said: "The police investigation found no evidence to suggest that (the women) had any connection to Harry Tam, the Mongrel Mob or were involved in prostitution."

GV27

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#2964102 7-Sep-2022 10:05

Scott3:

With regards to kiwi-saver, the elephant in the room is that the fees on some managed funds are epicly high, which is a far larger issue than 15% GST.

...and therefore something you actually need to resolve before you then go about bringing the total fee into the GST net, otherwise the consequences of a high-fee environment means those would just instantly be passed on, because you're in a high fee environment anyway, so what's a bit more?

Unless the argument here was that funds would just swallow the lower margins, which is unicorns at the bottom of the garden type thinking.

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#2964109 7-Sep-2022 10:23

GV27:

Scott3:

With regards to kiwi-saver, the elephant in the room is that the fees on some managed funds are epicly high, which is a far larger issue than 15% GST.

...and therefore something you actually need to resolve before you then go about bringing the total fee into the GST net, otherwise the consequences of a high-fee environment means those would just instantly be passed on, because you're in a high fee environment anyway, so what's a bit more?

Unless the argument here was that funds would just swallow the lower margins, which is unicorns at the bottom of the garden type thinking.

I don't think it is reasonable to say a professional service shouldn't pay it's fair share of tax, because (some providers) are expensive.

Likely that the GST would get passed on, but there is a lot of room for an even greater amount of money to be saved by consumer's by moving to lower fee providers.

But it is over now. Government doesn't want the words "Kiwisaver" and "Tax" in the same news headlines, so they nixed the policy despite the reasons for it existing in the first place.

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#2964121 7-Sep-2022 10:47

Scott3:

I don't think it is reasonable to say a professional service shouldn't pay it's fair share of tax, because (some providers) are expensive.

Likely that the GST would get passed on, but there is a lot of room for an even greater amount of money to be saved by consumer's by moving to lower fee providers.

I think it's entirely reasonable to actually give the electorate a heads-up that you're changing the tax treatment of the fees which could have a material effect on their final retirement position, rather than put it through unannounced.

And given we already have a long standing 'financial services' exemption for GST, trying to argue something is suddenly about fairness isn't really much of an excuse to try and put it through under the guise of a remedial matters bill.

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networkn

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#2964157 7-Sep-2022 11:56

Scott3:

This doesn't look good for the government.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/covid-19-outbreak-blunder-in-wellington-let-women-into-northland-and-shut-the-region-for-11-days/D3OIYTFMDOSWGRYBTHFO2VY7JQ/

Turn out that Chris Hipkins baselessly vilified the woman.

The women were publicly vilified for crossing the border with then Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins accusing them of using "false information to travel across the border".

The case also saw reporters quizzing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern over whether the women were prostitutes and former Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters was forced to apologise for falsely claiming the pair were helped by Hawke's Bay-based Mongrel Mob leader Harry Tam.

The police inquiry summary said: "The police investigation found no evidence to suggest that (the women) had any connection to Harry Tam, the Mongrel Mob or were involved in prostitution."

This is really bad. I wonder what accountability will occur? They would have a reasonable claim to compensation one would imagine. If Labour wasn't so desperately short of competency, it would be the reason for Hipkins to stand down.

networkn

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#2964158 7-Sep-2022 11:57

GV27:

I think it's entirely reasonable to actually give the electorate a heads-up that you're changing the tax treatment of the fees which could have a material effect on their final retirement position, rather than put it through unannounced.

And given we already have a long standing 'financial services' exemption for GST, trying to argue something is suddenly about fairness isn't really much of an excuse to try and put it through under the guise of a remedial matters bill.

It was also announced in the same way good news was, it was pretty much small print.

You simply don't make a change that affects 3M people, some to the tune of 20K without consultation.

GV27

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#2964159 7-Sep-2022 12:06

networkn:

It was also announced in the same way good news was, it was pretty much small print.

You simply don't make a change that affects 3M people, some to the tune of 20K without consultation.

The other issue is that the tax system is long overdue for some basic administrative attention like, oh I don't know, adjusting the tax brackets for the first time in over a decade, and talking about taxing Kiwisaver fees instead of doing stuff like that is likely to lead to people asking about what the government considers a priority at a time when many people are struggling with day-to-day living costs.

A cynic may suggest that unless it raises revenue, they're generally not interested.

networkn

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#2964161 7-Sep-2022 12:11

GV27:

The other issue is that the tax system is long overdue for some basic administrative attention like, oh I don't know, adjusting the tax brackets for the first time in over a decade, and talking about taxing Kiwisaver fees instead of doing stuff like that is likely to lead to people asking about what the government considers a priority at a time when many people are struggling with day-to-day living costs.

A cynic may suggest that unless it raises revenue, they're generally not interested.

I agree with the tax brackets.

Playing devils advocate, either this or the next will need to raise revenue somehow, Covid put us in a pretty decent-sized hole. I'd like to see what the Government intends to do to raise productivity.

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