Our PM Jacinda Ardern (and the government)

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5869 posts

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#2910141 4-May-2022 14:44

Rikkitic:

Personally I think all education should be free. It is an investment in our future. On condition successful graduates spend a specified portion of their post-graduate years living and working in NZ, their loans should be forgiven or converted into Kiwisaver assets or the like.

It took a significant brain drain to get the current interest-free arrangement, so who knows at this point - maybe we will finally see some action on this. The only real change I can remember since I've been working is the increase in repayments to 12% and the yeeting of the 10% voluntary repayment bonus (because too many people were using it).

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networkn

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#2910144 4-May-2022 14:52

Rikkitic:

Personally I think all education should be free. It is an investment in our future. On condition successful graduates spend a specified portion of their post-graduate years living and working in NZ, their loans should be forgiven or converted into Kiwisaver assets or the like.

I'm guessing a billion trees Labour promised to plant were money trees? ;)

I mean, it sounds great, where is the money coming from ?

Rikkitic

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#2910155 4-May-2022 15:10

networkn:

Rikkitic:

Personally I think all education should be free. It is an investment in our future. On condition successful graduates spend a specified portion of their post-graduate years living and working in NZ, their loans should be forgiven or converted into Kiwisaver assets or the like.

I'm guessing a billion trees Labour promised to plant were money trees? ;)

I mean, it sounds great, where is the money coming from ?

If Brazil can do it, surely we can?

Edit: Not to mention most of Scandinavia

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

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#2910158 4-May-2022 15:13

Rikkitic:

If Brazil can do it, surely we can?

Edit: Not to mention most of Scandinavia

Sure, feel free to compare all the other factors involved, like average wage, house prices, tax rates, etc etc etc, so you are *actually* comparing apples with apples.

GV27

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#2910254 4-May-2022 20:41

networkn:

Sure, feel free to compare all the other factors involved, like average wage, house prices, tax rates, etc etc etc, so you are *actually* comparing apples with apples.

This is mainly why the Australian option is such an interesting middle-ground.

tdgeek

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#2910533 5-May-2022 12:03

Interesting piece here, Scott Morrison saying how good AUS is, look at inflation in USA, NZ and other countries, NZ is 7%.

Its actually 6.9% but ours was 1.8% last quarter, theirs is now 2.1% and on the rise most likely

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/05/inflation-scott-morrison-takes-crack-at-new-zealand-as-pressure-builds-ahead-of-australian-election.html

GV27

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#2910534 5-May-2022 12:06

An alternative way of looking at it is that Australia has much higher wages, much lower housing and living costs and they're still freaking out about cost of living pressures.

Meanwhile, today the RBNZ's response to inflation concerns is 'just don't worry about it'.

Oh... thanks.

On2or3wheels

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#2910643 5-May-2022 17:25

So are any of these people complaining about price increases doing anything about it or is it just a beat up on the Gov?

I pass people everyday filling up with petrol at a super expensive station when 4 minutes down the road they could save 18c a litre (It's crazy here the prices can differ by 30c across the city).

I haven't had a power price increase for about 6 years since I've shopped around. My parents bill was about to go up with the government low user change so I changed them to another provider & the rates have decreased.

This week the butter price flipped to being $2 cheaper Countdown instead of PnS so got it there instead.

GV27

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#2910732 6-May-2022 06:52

On2or3wheels:

So are any of these people complaining about price increases doing anything about it or is it just a beat up on the Gov?

No man we're all just banging rails in the Prego dunnies while we talk about how we're having to take fewer trips to the beach house because it costs more to fill the boat than it does to fly to the chalet.

Serious answer: I run GASPY, we have switched a bunch of our shop to local merchants instead of the supermarkets even though we get a price discount and we have basically eliminated all eating out that isn't a $6 bakery wrap. I pivoted our power plan to a higher use, low daily charge when my partner was on maternity leave but now that's all been screwed with and there's no more prompt payment discounts either. Pending EV purchase to help take the edge off the commute.

You pretty quickly reach a point in an environment where food is going up by double-digits where shopping around isn't going to be making much of a difference.

sen8or

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#2910744 6-May-2022 08:04

There are things you can do to mitigate some of the cost increases that don't have much of a negative flow on effect (as GV27 above, making sure you are getting the lowest price) but then there are other things that just hurt the economy and are almost counter productive (retreating spending on lifestyle choices, which reduces income for some sectors, which forces them to raise prices for the remaining customers, vicious circle stuff). The reduction in luxury / optional spending may not be so much by choice, if theres no money left over after the basics, theres no money, but the flow on effect can be the same.

I think the beat up on the Govt of the day is more around their constant need to spin the narrative and not accept responsibility for contributing to where things are at now. If they put as much effort into actually effecting meaningful change as they do into talking about it, things might actually improve.

GV27

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#2910772 6-May-2022 09:41

sen8or:

I think the beat up on the Govt of the day is more around their constant need to spin the narrative and not accept responsibility for contributing to where things are at now. If they put as much effort into actually effecting meaningful change as they do into talking about it, things might actually improve.

Some of us also remember when a National government who did about as much was decried as a do-nothing lazy administration more interested in looking after 'rich mates', using a platform of fantastical garbage campaign promises as an attack-platform, with relatively little scrutiny of just how plausible they actually were.

I think part of that 'beat-up' is actually that you can't outrun scrutiny forever and some quarters just aren't used to it being applied in this direction.

sen8or

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#2910777 6-May-2022 09:57

Staggering amount of extra cash Mr Robertson has to play with -

Tax intake $2.7bn above forecast as pressure builds on Government to give inflation relief (msn.com)

Wonder if the TAB will give odds that the budget will include meaningful tax relief for the working poor......

wellygary

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#2910778 6-May-2022 10:03

sen8or:

Staggering amount of extra cash Mr Robertson has to play with -

Tax intake $2.7bn above forecast as pressure builds on Government to give inflation relief (msn.com)

Wonder if the TAB will give odds that the budget will include meaningful tax relief for the working poor......

The problem is that the Government is in a Supply shock bind... Giving more money to people helps their immediate ability to handle higher prices, but from a strict economic point of view pouring more money into an economy with high inflation juts begets more inflation over time ......

It looks like we're going to need a recession to get out of this bind we have found ourselves in and all the financial markets appear to now be pricing one in

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#2910779 6-May-2022 10:07

sen8or:
Staggering amount of extra cash Mr Robertson has to play with -

Tax intake $2.7bn above forecast as pressure builds on Government to give inflation relief (msn.com)

Wonder if the TAB will give odds that the budget will include meaningful tax relief for the working poor......

Imo the working poor are more in need of things like 100% free dental care common in many countries than a couple of dollars of a BS tax cut.

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#2910780 6-May-2022 10:17

I do not believe that a tax cut is a way forward, but do support an adjustment of the tax brackets.

I believe that tax increases are very likely a consequence of the amount we have spent in the past 3 years, it's hard to see how we are going to fund everything that we really really need, let alone paying back the money we have borrowed to stay afloat.

I believe the next term of government is going to involve whoever is in power delivering a lot of bad news and unpleasant consequences.

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