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Jacinda Ardern

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Heather du Plessis-Allan: Don't blame Winston for Capital Gains Tax U-turn

Let's stop with this nonsense of blaming New Zealand First for killing off the capital gains tax.

NZ First didn't kill it off. Labour did.

Labour killed it off the moment they stopped fighting for it. And that was pretty much the moment Labour got into Government.

Labour gave up on this policy long ago. They euthanised it through neglect.

If they really wanted to introduce a capital gains tax, they would've fought for it.

Why didn't Jacinda Ardern try to convince the public about this tax? Apart from one short statement in a post-Cabinet press conference last month, I can't recall any passionate defence of the CGT from her. Ardern was AWOL in the debate. She loves a good Facebook Live. Where was the eight-minute Facebook Live explaining why it was her answer to New Zealand's inequality?

Ardern is one of the most gifted communicators of her generation. She could've sold the CGT to New Zealand. Or at least tried.

Instead, she palmed that job off to Sir Michael Cullen. The Government paid him $1000 a day to take the heat on the CGT. He was never going to be a convincing salesperson.

Then look at what happened the day after Ardern killed off the tax. She didn't front up for early morning radio and TV interviews. She left the mop-up job to Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Revenue Minister Stuart Nash. Her office says she was leaving the more detailed questions about next steps to them. I think she clearly wasn't prepared to take any more heat on it. She mic-dropped and walked away.

Labour voters have a right to feel cross at this backdown. They voted for a party that swore by a CGT. For three terms Labour said a CGT was crucial. And then, when the party got the chance, they lost their nerve. Labour has sold out their own voters.

Ultimately, Labour didn't care enough about those voters. Labour had to choose between upsetting their own voters or upsetting the centrist voters who hate the thought of a CGT. Labour chose to burn their own voters. Labour would know their own supporters have nowhere to go apart from the Greens, and what is that if not a vote for a left-wing government led by Labour anyway? Angry Labour voters are trapped. And they should feel let down.

And so much for being a transformational government. Ardern and Robertson can call themselves transformational all they like but at the first opportunity to really transform the country they ran a mile.

What's transformational about this Government? Child poverty is worse. Homeless numbers have increased.

They say they've delivered but they haven't really delivered much. Sure they've handed out free university education and the winter energy payment, I'll give them that. Middle-class white kids send their thanks, as do all the retired couples in Remuera and Khandallah who enjoy the help paying their electricity bills.

Let's see this for what it is. It's a retreat from a policy that Labour must've known would make it harder to win the 2020 election. This is a cynical political decision.

You know how you know that? Because Jacinda Ardern didn't just rule out a CGT this term while NZ First is still there to oppose it. She ruled it out for the rest of her leadership. If she really believed in a CGT, and really wanted to do it, she would have left that door open to try again once NZ First are out of the picture. She'd have done that if she really wanted a CGT.

Labour will be grateful that we're all blaming NZ First for this backdown. It means they don't have to take the blame themselves for doing something I suspect they have wanted to do for a while.

 

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On ‎4‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 8:01 PM, crustyngrizzly said:

She said that a CGT was her ''cornerstone policy'' and that she had campaigned on it.

It was obviously not just put out there for debate.

One thing i gotta ask is ,surely in coalition agreement talks she must have asked NZF what they thought about a CGT.

I wonder what Winnies reply was. 

Crusty I have looked at the Labour Party's 2017  election policy on tax and there is no mention that CGT was the cornerstone policy. It stated that they would carry our a review of taxes  but not your false claim.

 

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55 minutes ago, bloke said:

Crusty I have looked at the Labour Party's 2017  election policy on tax and there is no mention that CGT was the cornerstone policy. It stated that they would carry our a review of taxes  but not your false claim.

 

In her speech admitting her defeat on the CGT policy shes says it was a cornerstone policy that she campaigned on and had been campaigning on for 10 years.

Nothing false about that

Go to Interest .co.NZ and look at her speech at about the 1 minute 40 sec mark.

She actually says that it has been a cornerstone policy for 3 elections.

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She is paper thin and ducks the hard questions everytime because she understands sweet FA about the economy.

And as for being  "one of the most gifted communicators of her generation..."  Really....???  If you like platitudes perhaps.....

Enough holes in this mob to drive a bus or two through....trouble is nobody is stepping up the pressure on the other side.

 

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Access to hardship grants hits record high

by Christie 
 
poverty_meme.jpg?w=1280&ssl=1

This is the year of delivery for Jacinda Ardern’s government. So far, it hasn’t gone particularly well. First, they decided to stop publishing the number of houses built by Kiwibuild… mainly because it was becoming comical. Then the census became a total farce, which means that regional decisions and boundary changes will be made in the dark, if they are made at all. Capital gains tax has been dropped like a hot brick, without even offering the public a softened version of the TWG’s report, ostensibly because Winston was not having a bar of it.

Now Jacinda’s other priority, the reason she came into politics in the first place, is reaching new heights for all the wrong reasons. Jacinda always said she wanted to fix child poverty. There is no such thing as child poverty, of course – children live in families, and the number of hardship grants to families has reached new highs in recent months. quote.

Figures from the Ministry of Social Development for the March 2019 Quarter showed that hardship assistance grants increased by $48 million in the past year.

They also showed the emergency housing grants went from $6.6m to $23m, and there were 70,000 extra requests for assistance for food.

National Social Development spokesperson Louise Uptson [sic] said the government promised to reduce child poverty, but more New Zealanders were struggling to live day-to-day.

“The Families Package they introduced last year was meant to help low income families and those families who were worse off.
“That absolutely hasn’t worked when we’ve seen significant increases in people seeking help for food and housing.”

end quote.

Over $100 million was paid out in hardship grants in the last 3 months of 2018. That is a huge amount of money given to people already struggling.

The reasons are obvious, of course. Mostly, it comes down to housing. If the government had actually developed a proper housing programme, including the building of adequate numbers of state houses, the chronic housing shortage would be starting to ease by now. They needed a proper plan, including making significant changes to the Resource Management Act, which they would probably never have got past their Green friends. Instead, they just yelled at National from the other side of the house and made grandiose promises they had no idea of how they were going to keep. One thing should have been clear to them, but wasn’t: if building 100,000 homes was as easy as they said it was going to be, National would have already done it. quote.

The benefit figures showed that more than 385,000 grants were made in the December quarter of 2018 – an increase of almost 95,000 on the same period the previous year.

RNZ. end quote.

One thing is for sure. The child poverty situation is not being improved at the moment. Things appear to be worsening for families at the bottom of the heap. Housing has become so expensive that it is taking up most of their incomes just to put a roof over their heads.

While I was not happy in any way to see a Labour-led government, I did think that they would at least try to do something for families on low incomes. Things have become considerably worse for such families since this government came into power. As we head into winter, more and more families will find themselves sleeping in cars, as the reality of rents and house prices continues to bite.

We won’t hear about it of course – we only hear about this when National is in power. Nevertheless, Labour came into government on the back of an ambitious programme of tax reform, building 100,000 houses and solving child poverty, but they didn’t have a clue how they were actually going to do any of it. Now, halfway through their term, the truth is out there. This government is an abysmal failure.

And it is failing children in low income families most of all.

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Catholic Churches in Sri Lanka attacked a short time ago by suicide bombers with over 158 dead and hundreds injured. The death toll sure to rise.

Whilst no one has claimed responsibility IS or a Muslim group are strongly suspected as behind all this. If Muslims are responsible:

Will we see our Prime Minister don a nun's habit, carry a cross and state "they are not us after all."?     

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20 hours ago, tripple alliance said:

And here's another total eff up by this government who have no idea what they are doing , Plastic Bags .

I  went to New World today , loaded the trolley and asked for 2 x15c bags, ah sorry we aren't allowed to sell you any , what , that's right the bags are two thick and are causing problems , the government has asked us not to sell any more , we have ordered thinner bags , they might be available in a week or so . It seems the free  bio degradable bags that we were all using as bin liners etc were better for the environment than the .15c so called  long lasting reusable bags which  people are using as bin liners and disposable rubbish bags .

What's happened is the recyclers, councils  have been swamped with long life plastic bags , who would have guessed.

They haven't got a clue .

'', the government has asked us not to sell any more ,'...yeah right.

 

 

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30 minutes ago, rdytdy said:

Catholic Churches in Sri Lanka attacked a short time ago by suicide bombers with over 158 dead and hundreds injured. The death toll sure to rise.

Whilst no one has claimed responsibility IS or a Muslim group are strongly suspected as behind all this. If Muslims are responsible:

Will we see our Prime Minister don a nun's habit, carry a cross and state "they are not us after all."?     

you should be ashamed of yourself with comments like that.

 

Such a staunch right winger...whats your life"Are you the vaunted 'hardworking Kiwi' or a layabout,dreamer?

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At least she has acknowledged this act of terrorism describing it as "devastating"   unlike she did after what happened in the Philippines earlier this year when Muslim terrorists bombed a church killing 20 and wounding many.   

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An analogy not for the faint-hearted

by GP 
 
Grant-Robertson.jpg?w=480&ssl=1

By George

A word of warning: The written image I’m about to describe is not for the faint hearted:

Imagine Grant Robertson, the Minister of Sports, clad in lycra, squatting over his starting blocks in lane one of a hundred-metre race. In lane two is Usain Bolt. They are the only two in the race. The gun goes off, the race is under way and Usain does what he usually does and crosses the finishing line about nine and a half seconds later.

He does his customary ‘archer pose’, grabs a Jamaican flag from the crowd and does a lap of honour, signing autographs, posing for ‘selfies’ and giving brief media sound bites along the way. But, always the sportsman, he returns to the finish line to cheer in his rival Grant, who three and a half minutes later crosses the line.

In the media box is a sports reporter from Fortune Magazine. In his haste to get his scoop he sends a brief message to his publishers, “Grant Robertson, the second fastest man in the world behind Usain Bolt”. And dutifully, the headline is published the next day. That is the second most misleading headline they have ever published. The worst was a few days earlier when they published “Jacinda Ardern: The world’s second greatest leader”.

Let’s look at who fills the number one spot: Bill & Melinda Gates.
From January 1995 through to the end of 2017 the Gates Foundation has donated $45.5 billion to international charities.

That funding has launched, and then continually supported, what global health experts widely acknowledge to be some of the most successful international, private-public partnerships ever formed.

Fortune Magazine.

 

Not to mention being the co-founder of one of the biggest and most successful companies in the world. (Microsoft).

Second: Jacinda Ardern

An unmarried mother living in a state house in Wellington, New Zealand. Mentors other beneficiaries on how to become a “rich prick” without intellect or experience.

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Another weekend, another puff piece

by Christie 
 
Jacinda-Pink.jpg?w=1240&ssl=1

Another week is over, with another embarrassing backdown by this woeful government. This time it was Capital Gains Tax: another flagship policy of this transformational government that has bitten the dust. No wonder many political writers are openly criticising the administration that was going to transform everything away from ‘nine years of neglect’. This is a government now hellbent on achieving absolutely nothing.

Not everyone in the media has lost the faith though.What happens every time there is bad news for this coalition? We get a lovely puff piece about Jacinda. This time it was a play date between Neve and Pink’s children. Yes. You heard that right. quote.

During one of Pink’s many Auckland performances in September, she broke from the script to wax lyrical about Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

She told the crowd she had just met Ardern and “she’s awesome”.

In a sly jab at US President Donald Trump, the American singer said: “You’re so lucky, you have no idea. Even if you don’t think you are, you are. Trust me.” end quote.

We are not lucky, Pink. Trust me. Donald Trump is making huge economic changes for the USA, bringing back industries that had long since disappeared. Unemployment for blacks and Hispanics is at an all time low. By contrast, we have a prime minister who confuses the Crown accounts with GDP, whose flagship policies are failing miserably, and who has caused the biggest fall in business confidence in over a decade. Our economy is spiralling downwards. We are definitely not lucky. quote.

Today, Stuff can publish the backstage pictures of the prime minister and pop star Pink.

The duo met on Friday night, September 7, at Spark Arena. They were there for what’s been called an organised “play date”, where Pink’s two children, Jameson and Willow Hart, caught up with Neve Gayford.

Their backstage room had been set up with Playdough and a colouring-in table, complete with a Playdough ice-cream machine and paints.
Neve was just a few months old at the time, and looked more interested in hugs than games. end quote.

In case you missed it, Pink was in New Zealand last September. Stuff has implied that they were not allowed to publish these photos before now, but this is unlikely to be for security reasons, as the children’s faces are mostly not shown. This article was deliberately kept for a time when news about the government had been particularly bad. With the collapse of their flagship policy on taxation, Easter weekend provided such an occasion. quote.

Meanwhile, Ardern, who was there with her family, chatted with and impressed the pop star. Pink’s management, Sony Music, said Ardern was “a big fan”. They said Ardern had asked if she would be able to meet Pink when the musician played one of her six New Zealand shows.

Stuff. end quote.


As we have found before, Ardern is using her status as prime minister to get things that she wants… afternoon tea with Ed Sheeran, play dates with Pink… Obviously, Jacinda is enjoying her status as a celebrity politician.

I wonder though if this particular side of her is being overplayed. Rubbing shoulders with the mega rich and famous is not really the ideal image for a Labour prime minister. She is supposed to represent ordinary people in New Zealand: those on low incomes who are locked out of the housing market, those living in poverty with children. Instead, the media present her as someone who uses her status to get the junkets she wants with the pop stars that she favours. As more of her governments policies fall flat, this image will do her government no good whatsoever.

It was interesting that the article has “Comments are closed” at the bottom. I suspect many of the comments would not have been favourable. Many would have echoed my sentiments that she should get on with doing the job the New Zealand taxpayer pays her so handsomely to do.

No one would deny the prime minister a bit of leisure time, as we all acknowledge that running the country is a tough job, but Jacinda is not really running the country. In between photo shoots and play dates with her favourite musicians, Jacinda does little of the tough stuff expected of a prime minister. As the puff pieces mount up, they paint a picture of a prime minister severely out of her depth in politics, but enjoying the celebrity status that the role brings. She is not known as the Kim Kardashian of NZ politics for nothing.

All these puff pieces just confirm what we already know. Play dates and photo shoots are all our prime minister is good for. The serious business of running the country is not her forte. That is why we really are not lucky at all, Pink. Trust me.

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'Donald Trump is making huge economic changes for the USA, bringing back industries that had long since disappeared. Unemployment for blacks and Hispanics is at an all time low. '

 

 

absolute horse shit.The U.S deficit and trade imbalance with China is worse than..ever.

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14 hours ago, flockofewes2 said:

'Donald Trump is making huge economic changes for the USA, bringing back industries that had long since disappeared. Unemployment for blacks and Hispanics is at an all time low. '

 

 

absolute horse shit.The U.S deficit and trade imbalance with China is worse than..ever.

Flocko , read what he said , the trade deficit isn't mentioned , that's your spin .

When Trump successfully renegotiates  the trade deal with China the deficit will turn around . The unemployment figures are spot on and Trump has a huge card up his sleeve , ENERGY , yep The USA will finish up the biggest exporter of energy in the world , that's why THIS lot exist , Big Green, Inc. they want Trumps energy development  stopped so they can pick up the green subsidies .

''Today’s environmental movement is fuelled by a group of interconnected, left-leaning foundations that are seeking to disrupt the development of America’s energy resources. In order to understand how these groups work together and where the environmental movement’s funding originates, IER developed Big Green, Inc., a database that tracks environmental grants stemming from 14 foundations and directed to over 1,900 grassroots activists groups and totaling more than $4.2 billion. 

• As evidenced by the emergence of the “Keep it in the Ground” Movement, this money plays a major role in shaping public opinion, which translates to economically destructive policy initiatives that emanate from all levels of government. • Environmental funding has been tied to foreign actors, which raises concerns over the role geopolitics plays in environmental advocacy''.

Now Focka , remember the greens in NZ running the  ''keep it in the ground campaign'' , it would be interesting to find out who funded it .

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Open letter to the prime minister

by GP
 
letter-writing-day-fun.jpg?w=750&ssl=1

By George

As you must be painfully aware, there have been two major terrorist attacks over the last two months. One in New Zealand and the other in Sri Lanka. You received international acclaim for the way you responded to the attack in New Zealand. And so you should have, considering your absolute immersion into the role as a genuinely grieving supporter of the Muslim community. So much so you dressed as a Muslim and invited their religious leaders to pray their Islamic prayers in the New Zealand House of Parliament and had this prayer simultaneously broadcast throughout our national broadcasting network.

You of course, would not have endorsed this prayer without knowing that the last two lines of the prayer are “Allah is most great, there is none worthy of being worshipped except Allah”. So as a Christian country, why were we subjected to this Islamic pronouncement with your blessing?

You must be aware that there are some who viewed your response to this terrorist attack as somewhat over the top. This could have been your naivety as you felt it was important for you to be seen doing the right thing. It wasn’t long before the terrorist attack itself became secondary news and your personal response became the headline news both locally and internationally. Which is sad really. Though one might be forgiven for thinking you had no control over that.

Your substantial Muslim focused response has cast an unease amongst Christian New Zealanders but like most Christians, they kept their silences for the better good. As a Christian community, they showed a considerable tolerance towards your extravagant endorsement of the Muslim faith.

Whilst I agree the Muslim community is one of us, so is the Christian community. Over the last year, thousands of Christians worldwide have been victims of terrorism, the vast majority by Islamic extremists. This has continued in Sri Lanka where three Christian Churches were bombed killing hundreds of Christian worshipers. Your only response to this was a rather short and formal condemnation of this attack.

You referred to the dead as worshippers, not Christian worshippers. This is in stark contrast to your response to the New Zealand tragedy where you were at pains to identify the worshippers as Muslim, and your entire response was to promote and support their Islamic doctrine. I understand your current response could not be as extreme as it had to be in your own country but just a small acknowledgement of the fact that the victims in Sri Lanka were Christians would have been welcome.

There are members of your Coalition government who have been on a relentless crusade condemning “white separatists”, their emphasis very much being on the “white.” There appears to be a deafening silence by these parliamentarians and yourself to apply equal condemnation of terrorists of colour.

All acts of terrorism are evil. So why does one’s ethnicity become the point of difference? The inconsistency of your administration has not gone unnoticed by many New Zealanders.

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Open letter to rdytdy

Your repetitive critique of Jacinda Ardern, tiresome and subjective that it might be, occasionally sees you raise some valid points. However, this harping on about her response to the Mosque massacres in Christchurch is borderline at best. I'm sure you're merely looking to leave further black crosses against the Prime Ministers name. However with this "we are Christians - they are Muslims" line of attack you end up sounding like it's "them and us". It's extremely divisive, and will not have gone unnoticed by many New Zealander's, or the couple of people who read your posts.

It's not who we want to be in NZ any longer. You're out of step - you sound like a dinosaur - someone born in the 1800's.

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A question to Uriah Heap

When you go to catch a plane you are subjected to go through security can you please tell me is the security because of the Amish, Buddist Monks, Mormons  or Christians that took Box Cutters, Shoe Bombs on planes to kill the passengers or did they belong to the religion of Peace?

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4 hours ago, Uriah Heap said:

Open letter to rdytdy

world wide Your repetitive critique of Jacinda Ardern, tiresome and subjective that it might be, occasionally sees you raise some valid points. However, this harping on about her response to the Mosque massacres in Christchurch is borderline at best. I'm sure you're merely looking to leave further black crosses against the Prime Ministers name. However with this "we are Christians - they are Muslims" line of attack you end up sounding like it's "them and us". It's extremely divisive, and will not have gone unnoticed by many New Zealander's, or the couple of people who read your posts.

It's not who we want to be in NZ any longer. You're out of step - you sound like a dinosaur - someone born in the 1800's.

I'll have ago at this one .

If there WASN'T a real concern by politicians of ''THEM and US' then why have ANZAC day proceedings been altered , it seems there is a struggle to guarantee security , even the military have been asked to help .

Why did a member come out of the Mosque at a peace rally and blame Israel for CH CH .

Why have all civilians been banned on ANZAC day at Anzac cove , not even the bus drivers are allowed near the ceremony's .

Why have 4000 Christians been murdered in the last couple of years , The Christian persecution we read about in Scripture and history books is not a thing of the past. It still exists. Today, in the 21st century, we are living in a time when persecution against Christian believers is the highest in modern history. According to Open Doors’ 2019 World Watch List—an in-depth investigative report focusing on global Christian persecution—persecution is increasing at an alarming rate. Research for the List indicates that each day, a staggering 11 Christians are killed for their faith in the top 50 countries ranked on the World Watch List.  

 

Now our pm (destination un) has chosen to pander to one group , that group was subject to horrific totally unacceptable violence but putting on the oppressive headwear was a mistake , if these people are truly ''US'' then treat them like US , she didn't .

 

 

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6 hours ago, Ohokaman said:

Sorry people but a name change is going to happen . The name Crusader is like a bulls eye on the players backs .

Anyone game to get on a plane full of crusaders ? . 

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