Leaders’ debate

 

I like it. Its substantive & snark is being kept to a minimum. It's one of the better leaders' debates I've seen. #LeadersDebate

— Rob Hosking (@robhosking) August 31, 2017

The Government will decide what level of profit is acceptable!

— David Farrar (@dpfdpf) August 31, 2017

Bill cleaning up on water (see the double entendre there!) #BackingBill

— Simon O'Connor (@SimonOConnorMP) August 31, 2017

"What's your plan on water?" says @jacindaardern. @pmbillenglish lists at least seven things the Govt is doing. #smackdown #LeadersDebate

— Jenna Raeburn (@JennaRaeburn) August 31, 2017

We’ve got to make sure water tax doesn’t have unanticipated flow on effects, says @pmbillenglish #leadersdebate #wordplayintended

— NBR (@TheNBR) August 31, 2017

#whoownswater BIG question #shehasnoanswer #Bigbrownelephant in the room but she has her eyes shut #BackingBill #nzpol #maorisaykapai

— bustedblonde (@bustedblonde) August 31, 2017

"How do you maintain profitability while increasing costs?" "It's ok as long as you leave them a profit margin". Classic @nzlabour

— Jenna Raeburn (@JennaRaeburn) August 31, 2017

Why a water tax? Because tax is in the Labour Party's DNA. They think they know how to spend kiwi's money better than they do.

— Todd Muller MP (@toddmullerBoP) August 31, 2017

#LeadersDebate 'Businesses don't run on vague education policies and expensive tertiary education promisies' – English to Ardern

— Rob Hosking (@robhosking) August 31, 2017

"Business don't run on vague business policy" – @pmbillenglish #Vote17

— NZ Young Nats (@nzyoungnats) August 31, 2017

"Businesses run on getting their costs down and their incomes up" vs "Businesses will benefit from our education policy" – you choose.

— Jenna Raeburn (@JennaRaeburn) August 31, 2017

RT if you agree that Labour needs to be upfront with New Zealanders about tax. pic.twitter.com/mlYM4UUenY

— NZ National Party (@NZNationalParty) August 31, 2017

#LeadersDebate 'you can't say 'I'm worried about your poor wage, and I'm gonna make you pay more tax.' – English pivots to tax.

— Rob Hosking (@robhosking) August 31, 2017

.@nzlabour will push us back into the 70s according to @pmbillenglish. First direct attack of the night! #LeadersDebate

— NBR (@TheNBR) August 31, 2017

This. #BackingBill pic.twitter.com/u8hZ3GrMX8

— NZ National Party (@NZNationalParty) August 31, 2017

"Someone has to milk the cows, someone has to drive the trucks. We need these people," – @pmbillenglish . #BackingBill

— Todd Muller MP (@toddmullerBoP) August 31, 2017

.@jacindaardern runs away from Mike’s q on how apprenticeships and building will work by hammering on the housing issue being an issue

— NBR (@TheNBR) August 31, 2017

“We’ve made estimates from our policies…” — @jacindaardern. Not an overly confident sounding line from someone who could be PM.

— NBR (@TheNBR) August 31, 2017

#LeadersDebate 'We've been really clear….' always followed by unclear stuff from Ardern.

— Rob Hosking (@robhosking) August 31, 2017

Ardern leads off with 'I've been upfront/very clear about this' and then gets vague & talks about working groups etc…. #LeadersDebate

— Rob Hosking (@robhosking) August 31, 2017

Only being leader for four weeks is no excuse for not having the numbers on new taxes #LeadersDebate #ShowMeTheTaxRates

— Brittany Raleigh (@BrittRaleigh) August 31, 2017

It's not "absolutely transparent" to release a tax policy with an unknown future rate and unknown future. #LeadersDebate

— David Seymour (@dbseymour) August 31, 2017

Being hopeful about the things you want to achieve isn't the same as being honest about how much you're going to tax people #LeadersDebate

— Brittany Raleigh (@BrittRaleigh) August 31, 2017

Jacinda is being absolutely transparent that as a leader being open will be one of her values

— Ben Thomas (@BenThomasNZ) August 31, 2017

"I'm being absolutely transparent about tax" – then pivots to housing for the third time. Answer the question about tax! #LeadersDebate

— Jenna Raeburn (@JennaRaeburn) August 31, 2017

Jacinda Ardern promises to establish a working group to assess what her values will be. #GreatHoskingDebate

— The Civilian (@TheCivilianNZ) August 31, 2017

Bill English – people can’t go shopping with your values they need to know the impact your policies will have.

Bill English: with strong economy can achieve social and environmental objectives.

BIll English: transparency would require Labour to tell freezing workers their taking $1000 off them to give students a bit more.

 

Bill English – We’re out to earn every vote in the next three weeks.

Policies are well costed and clear unlike high level vague ones from Labour.

 

Would you like more tax with your tax?

Comrade Jacinda:

Omnomnomnomtaxesnomnomnom #letstaxthis #nzpol #letsdothis pic.twitter.com/34EqzVITaf

— Comrade Jacinda (@ComradeJacinda) August 31, 2017

Word of the day

Stampcrab – someone clumsy and heavy footed.

The Resilient Farmer

Marlborough farmer Doug Avery had already faced more than his fair share of difficult times when successive droughts through the 1980s and 90s  struck.

It got so bad that he hated to go outside and despair turned to depression. He treated that with alcohol and anger, neither of which helped.

The turning point was a meeting addressed by  Lincoln University professor Derrick Moot.

Doug became a convert to lucerne and started working with the environment rather than against it.

He not only turned himself and his farm around, he used what he learned to help others become more resilient on their farms, in their businesses and their lives.

He’s told his story to many different audiences and now he’s written it in The Resilient Farmer, weathering the challenges of life and the land.

It’s an honest and simply written account of  his life and troubles which could have sunk him and nearly did. It’s sad in places but far from being depressing, it’s an inspirational read.

It’s one of the best stories of or by a farmer I’ve read but that doesn’t mean it will only appeal to people interested in farming and farmers.

The book would make a great gift for Fathers’ Day but that doesn’t mean it would only appeal to men.

It would  be of interest to a wide audience, men and women, country and town.

The Resilient Farmer is co-authored by Margie Thomson with a foreword by Sir John Kirwan.

It’s published by Penguin Random House with a retail price of $40.

 

Doug has a website Resilient Farmer.

Doug and Wendy are interviewed by Kathryn Ryan on Nine to Noon.

There’s more on Doug here

 

Rural round-up

South Canterbury coastal plan will become operative in September – Elena McPhee:

A change to coastal South Canterbury’s farming rules will come into force next month and despite an initial challenge, farmers say they are now looking forward to helping protect a nationally significant wetland area.

The South Coastal Canterbury Plan Change addresses both water quality and water quantity in the catchment, which includes Wainono Lagoon.

Environment Canterbury councillor Peter Skelton said the schedule set out good farming practices relating to nutrient management, irrigation management, grazing intensively-farmed stock, farm cultivation, and animal effluent. . .

‘Retirement’ is apples for Murray – Yvonne O’Hara:

Former Alexandra retailer Murray Bell has given up heels and soles for Honeycrisp and Jazz.

Mr Bell, 63, retired from his shoe retailing business earlier this year, but relaxing with his feet up has yet to happen.

He and partner Rachel Samuel have Crag-an-oir Orchard, which is 15ha of apple trees on the outskirts of Alexandra.

They originally grew some apricots, but they now focus solely on growing several apple varieties, using organic principles. The orchard is certified under BioGro as part of the Springvale Apple Growers Partnership. . .

TracMap gets room to expand:

TracMap founder Colin Brown addresses the crowd at the opening of the company’s new offices in Dukes Rd, Mosgiel, last week.

The company supplies precision guidance systems to the primary food production industries with the cloud-based system allowing accurate task management and placement reporting for products, people and vehicles in-field. . .

Agrifood sector is tech-savvy but not ready for major disruption:

A new agrifood sector report has found that New Zealand farmers have been quick to adopt smart farming techniques, but few are preparing for major technological disruption.

The report, funded through Microsoft’s Academic Programs initiative and prepared by researchers from the Massey Business School, examined the impact of cloud computing and other potentially disruptive technologies on the sector.

Researchers interviewed both technologists and members of the agrifood industry – and found there was a gap between how the two groups perceive the future. . . 

Red Stag Timber plans to lift production from its Waipa ‘super mill’ to meet demand – Tina Morrison

(BusinessDesk) – Red Stag Timber, which developed New Zealand’s first ‘super mill’ a year ago, plans to step up production next year to meet demand in its local and overseas markets.

The Rotorua-based Waipa Mill increased its production of sawn timber to an annual 550,000 cubic metres from 450,000 cubic metres after investing over $100 million in more efficient machinery, transforming the mill, and plans to lift production further to 600,000 cubic metres from next year, general manager Tim Rigter told BusinessDesk in an interview at the Waipa State Mill Road site. . . 

Telco minnow joins giants by winning rural broadband contract:

A no-frills approach has seen Hawke’s Bay-based rural wireless broadband company AoNet Broadband successfully compete with the giants of the industry to win a slice of the Government’s latest rural broadband funding package.

Telecommunications Minister Simon Bridges today announced AoNet Broadband as the Wireless Internet Service Provider for the King Country, making it responsible for connecting homes over an area that includes remote and mountainous terrain.

The appointment is part of a $150 million funding package for telco companies to partner with the Government through Crown Fibre Holdings Limited (CFH) to bring better broadband and mobile services to an increased number of under-served rural areas, state highways, businesses, residents and tourists in New Zealand. . . 

First chilled meat shipments to China – Allan Barber:

According to a press release from SFF the company’s first sea container leaves this week for arrival early next month, claimed by the company to be the first sea freight consignment of chilled product to the Chinese market which has only recently opened up to New Zealand meat exporters. However, I have since been informed that the first shipment from Greenlea arrived on 18^th August and a chilled container of AFFCO product is already on the water, arriving on Friday 1^st September, with a container of chilled mutton being shipped next week.

According to SFF’s press release the company has already trialled small quantities of chilled beef cuts to food service distributors for high end restaurants and lamb cuts to a multinational supermarket chain. But the sea shipment is planned to test the port and supply chain protocols for large scale consignments of chilled product. . . 

Swiss meat is expensive in dollars, cheap in minutes – Catherine Bosley:

Swiss meat prices are pretty hard to stomach at first glance.

At $49.68, Switzerland tops the ranking for a kilogram of beef leg round. Yet that seemingly eye-watering sum – around 150 percent higher than the world average – gets more reasonable when you factor in what locals get paid: An unskilled worker needs just 3.1 hours to afford it.

The 2017 Meat Price Index is a foray into the study of relative price levels of goods and labor. According to publisher Caterwings, the cost of beef, fish, chicken, pork and lamb in each country’s biggest cities were compared to the minimum wage and then calculations were run for affordability. In those where there is no federal statutory minimum, it used the average pay for unskilled labor. . . 

Allied Farmers posts 60% lift in full-year profit as livestock division outperforms – Rebecca Howard:

 (BusinessDesk) – Rural services firm Allied Farmers reported a 60 percent lift in net profit on an improved result from its livestock division, particularly in the second half, and further cost reduction.

The Hawera-based company said net profit was $2.2 million in the year ended June 30 versus $1.4 million in the prior year. Pretax earnings were up 52 percent to $2.4 million, which was ahead of the guidance it gave in June when it forecast a 40 percent gain. . . 

 

Thursday’s Quiz

The questions are up to anyone who chooses to pose them.

Anyone who stumps everyone will win a virtual rhododendron.

Maniototo women on water

Maniototo women give the fact on water and the costs – environmental, social and financial, of Labour’s water tax:

Free water not valued, free education is?

A very good question:

Free water is considered inefficiently used, not valued so let’s TAX IT, but free tertiary education for all and that’s different?

Except that water isn’t free to use.

No-one pays for water but we all pay to use it through charges for infrastructure, delivery and, if it’s potable, treatment.

Taxpayers already cover more than 70% of tertiary fees.

It’s perfectly reasonable to ask students to pay a small proportion of their fees.

That would recognise the personal benefit they get from their education and make it more likely they value it.

Quote of the day

The development of language is part of the development of the personality, for words are the natural means of expressing thoughts and establishing understanding between people. –  Maria Montessori who was born on this day in 1870

August 31 in history

12 Gaius Caligula, Roman Emperor, was born (d. 41).

1218 Al-Kamil became Sultan of Egypt, Syria and northern Mesopotamia on the death of his father Al-Adil.

1422  Henry VI became King of England at the age of 9 months.

1803 Lewis and Clark started their expedition to the west.

1841 – The brig Sophia Pate, was wrecked on a sandbar at the entrance to the Kaipara Harbour with the loss of 21 lives.

1870 Maria Montessori, Italian educator, was born (d. 1952).

1876 Ottoman sultan Murat V was deposed and succeeded by his brotherAbd-ul-Hamid II.

1880 Wilhelmina I of the Netherlands, was born (d. 1962).

1886 An earthquake killed 100 in Charleston, South Carolina.

1888  Mary Ann Nichols was murdered, the first of Jack the Ripper’s known victims.

1894 The new Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration (IC&A) Act, a flagship policy of Richard Seddon’s Liberal government, made New Zealand the first country in the world to outlaw strikes in favour of compulsory arbitration. There were no major strikes for 11 years and wages and conditions generally improved.

1894 Albert Facey, Australian writer, was born (d. 1982).

1897  Thomas Edison patented the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.

1907 Count Alexander Izvolsky and Sir Arthur Nicolson signed the St. Petersburg Convention, which resulted in the Triple Entente alliance.

1918 Alan Jay Lerner, American lyricist, was born (d. 1986).

1920 Polish-Bolshevik War: A decisive Polish victory in the Battle of Komarów.

1940 Pennsylvania Central Airlines Trip 19 crashed near Lovettsville, Virginia. The CAB investigation of the accident was the first investigation to be conducted under the Bureau of Air Commerce act of 1938.

1940 Jack Thompson, Australian actor, was born.

1943  The USS Harmon, the first U.S. Navy ship to be named after a black person, was commissioned.

1945 The Liberal Party of Australia was founded by Robert Menzies.

1945 Van Morrison, Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician, was born.

1949 The retreat of the Greek Democratic Army in Albania after its defeat in mountain Grammos marked the end of the Greek Civil War.

1949 Richard Gere, American actor, was born.

1957 The Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) gained its independence from the United Kingdom.

1958 A parcel bomb sent by Ngo Dinh Nhu, younger brother and chief adviser of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, failed to kill Sihanouk of Cambodia.

1958 Serge Blanco, French rugby union footballer, was born.

1962  Trinidad and Tobago became independent.

1965 Willie Watson, New Zealand cricketer, was born.

1965  The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy aircraft made its first flight.

1974 Leader of the Labour Party since 1965 and Prime Minister from late 1972, Norman Kirk, ’Big Norm’, died suddenly at the age of 51. He was the fifth New Zealand PM to die in office.

1978 William and Emily Harris, founders of the Symbionese Liberation Army, pleaded guilty to the 1974 kidnapping of

1986 Aeroméxico Flight 498 collided with a Piper PA-28 over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air and 15 on the ground.

1986 The Soviet passenger liner Admiral Nakhimov sank in the Black Sea after colliding with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev, killing 423.

1991  Kyrgyzstan declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

1992  Pascal Lissouba was inaugurated as the President of the Republic of the Congo .

1993  HMS Mercury, shore establishment of the Royal Navy,  closed after 52 years in commission.

1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Al-Fayed and driver Henri Paul died in a car crash in Paris.

1999 The first of a series of bombings in Moscow, killing one person and wounding 40 others.

1999 – A LAPA Boeing 737-200 crashed during takeoff from Jorge Newbury Airport in Buenos Aires, killing 65, including 2 on the ground.

2005  A stampede on Al-Aaimmah bridge in Baghdad killed 1,199 people.

2006 Edvard Munch’s famous painting The Scream, which was stolen on August 22, 2004, was recovered in a raid by Norwegian police.

2012 – Armenia severed diplomatic relations with Hungary.

2016 – Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff was impeached and removed from office..

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

PM Dad and daughter

Prime Minister Bill English was interviewed by his daughter Maria live on Facebook this evening.

You can see it here.

Apropos of Maria, she sang the National Anthem a capella at the National Party campaign launch on Sunday.

You can hear her here.

PM on The Project

They said it couldn't be done, but we've proved them wrong! @pmbillenglish will be our fourth host on the desk tonight! pic.twitter.com/Bhv7BgpGsn

— The Project NZ (@TheProject_NZ) August 29, 2017

Word of the day

Scobberlotcher – an idle person; someone who avoids work.

Rural round-up

Why we need irrigation and water storage – Nathan Guy:

Water is one of New Zealand’s greatest natural and renewable assets. Many New Zealanders probably don’t fully appreciate how it powers our economy through the primary sector, giving us a standard of living many other countries can only envy.

For farmers and growers the importance of water is obvious, especially in the many areas that have suffered through droughts in recent years. You only need to look at Hawke’s Bay where the tap is close to being turned off for new resource consent applications for commercial use.

The impact of climate change is likely to make dry spells even more frequent in the future. This is why irrigation and water storage is so important, and why as a Government we are proud to be a strong supporter and investor. So far we have allocated nearly $280 million towards these schemes around the country. . . 

Feds disappointed but not surprised by M.bovis finds:

Federated Farmers is disappointed, but not surprised, to learn of three new finds of stock with Mycoplasma bovis.

The affected properties confirmed by the Ministry for Primary Industries today are all linked to Van Leeuwen Group farms where the cattle disease was first identified last month.

“This latest identification is obviously disappointing but it was anticipated as the animals were traced back to the origin of the initial outbreak,” says Federated Farmers biosecurity spokesperson Guy Wigley. . . 

Farmers, schools and hapu join forces to save Kaipara Harbour – Lois Williams:

The project is part of a larger campaign to stop silt build-up on the seabed, and reverse the damage caused over the years by deforestation and the failure until recently to fence off cattle from waterways.

The Integrated Kaipara Harbour Management Group, made up of councils, landowners, Crown agencies such as NIWA and iwi, has been working for a decade to protect the harbour, which drains half of Northland.

Its chairman, Willie Wright of Te Uri o Hau, said two million trees had been planted in the massive catchment, stretching from Hokianga to Whangarei down to the Waitakere Ranges. . . 

Even Labour doesn’t know it’s tax policy – Rodney Hide:

Starter for 10 – What’s Labour’s tax policy?

Don’t know? Don’t feel bad – neither does Labour. Or it is just not telling.

It has said it will tax water. But Labour isn’t calling it a tax – it’s calling it a “royalty”.

The royalty will apply to commercial consumption, the rate will be “proportionate and fair” and will be set after consultation post-election.

We don’t know what the price of a cabbage, or anything else, will be because we don’t know the rate and exactly what the royalty is to apply to.

What is and isn’t “commercial consumption” also isn’t clear. . .

Ingham’s NZ plant recognised for outstanding water management:

Inghams Group Limited  Australia and New Zealand’s leading integrated poultry producer, has been recognised for its outstanding water management by a global leader in sustainable water use.

Ingham’s Te Aroha primary processing plant is the first New Zealand site to achieve certification from the international Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) and only the seventh site in the world to be certified. . . 

Plant milk a ‘threat’ to IQ of unborn children – Sarah-Kate Templeton:

The fashion for alternatives to cow’s milk, such as soya, almond and coconut drinks, is putting women at risk of giving birth to children with low IQs, a professor will warn at a conference next month.

Researchers at Surrey University have found that plant-based milks, which also include oat, rice and hazelnut drinks, have about only 3% of the concentrations of iodine that are in cow’s milk. . .

We'll be supporting #LoveLamb week, starting 1st September! Give @LoveLambWeek a follow to keep up to date with everything! #BritishAgri pic.twitter.com/99ZSJw49O5

— British Beef & Lamb (@BritishBeefLamb) August 29, 2017

Rob today’s poor to pay tomorrow’s rich

A leaves school and gets a job. A doesn’t have much in the way of qualifications or experience and the pay reflects that.

B leaves school and goes to university. B isn’t sure why s/he’s there, what to study or what s/he wants to do, mucks around and drops out.

C leaves school and goes to university. C loves to party and does, work suffers, s/he fails and drops out.

D leaves school and goes to university. D studies well enough, graduates and goes overseas.

E leaves school and goes to university. E loves to party but manages to do enough work to get by, graduates and gets a job, parties less, works more and gets well paid.

F leaves school and goes to university. F gets a qualification which doesn’t provide a meal ticket but manages to find a job with average pay.

G leaves school and goes to university. G works hard, gets well qualified, gets a good job and earns well above the average income.

H leaves school and gets a job, works hard, saves hard, decides s/he needs a qualification, goes to university, works hard, graduates and sets up a business which booms.

I could continue through the alphabet with the many and varied scenarios about people who choose to get a tertiary education.

Not one of them would provide a good reason why A should pay more tax to help people who don’t know why they are at university, don’t work and drop out; or do graduate and leave the country, or graduate and earn $1.6 million more on average over their lifetime than those who do not:

 That is a huge personal benefit which is why we say that they should contribute something towards the cost of that degree. Not a huge amount – usually $20,000 or so. A great investment for a $1.6 million return.

That is an average of $40,000 more a year for a 40-year working life than someone who doesn’t have a tertiary qualification.

Why should a waitress, truck driver, tradesperson, receptionist or anyone else pay more tax to give even more help to people who will go on to earn so much more?

Fee-free tertiary education is Robin-Hood reversed:

The implementation of a zero fees policy for tertiary education would reach into the pockets of the disadvantaged, to line the wallets of the future’s wealthy, according to a briefing paper just published by the Taxpayers’ Union.

‘Robin Hood Reversed: How Free Tertiary Education Robs Today’s Poor for Tomorrow’s Rich’ assesses the impacts of free tertiary education policies, like that announced today by the Labour Party.

Jordan Williams, Executive Director of the Taxpayers’ Union said, “We found that similar policies overseas have led to job shortages in crucial areas, and poorer quality courses.”

“Contrary to claims that zero tertiary education fees help the poor, in Scottland, which introduced zero fees in the early 2000’s, students from low socio-economic groups were the first to be shut out. This contradicts the political ideology of those who advocate for it, because the policy hampers social mobility, and actually increases barriers to reducing inequality.”

“The costs of such a policy are borne by low and middle-income earners, to help tomorrow’s rich get a free ride.”

The briefing paper, Robin Hood Reversed: How Free Tertiary Education Robs Today’s Poor for Tomorrow’s Rich, is available for download at: www.taxpayers.org.nz/robin_hood_reversed.

Key findings: 
• Taxpayers already cover 84 percent of the cost of obtaining a tertiary degree.
• The average household currently pays $2,456 in tax per year to fund tertiary education.
• Fully implemented, Labour’s proposal would increase that cost by $852.57 per year.
• Low and middle-income earners will pay more to subsidise tomorrow’s rich.
• Likely effects of the policy, based on the experience in Scottland with its zero fees policy, include:
o more job shortages in crucial skills-based areas;
o lower quality tertiary education;
o less access to education for students from disadvantaged or low socioeconomic backgrounds; and
o less social mobility and entrenched income inequality. 

A better educated population benefits a country, but there is also a considerable personal benefit from an education.

There’s a choice – students can continue to pay a small proportion of the cost of their education while they’re studying or everyone pays more tax forever.

Anyone with the intelligence to get a degree should be able to work out that they, and the country would be better off paying a little more for the few years while they’re studying than a lot more for the many years ahead when they’re working.

Water tax gets worse

Labour has changed its mind on the water tax again, making it even worse:

Supporters of Labour’s proposed water tax may be changing their minds when they hear the money raised won’t all be spent on cleaning up rivers.

Labour introduced the water tax proposal with the stated aim to ‘restore our rivers and lakes to a truly swimmable state within a generation’. They even called it a ‘Clean Rivers’ announcement. http://www.labour.org.nz/water

They also said the money would be spent cleaning up rivers in the regions where the money would be raised, from irrigators and water bottlers.

But speaking on RadioLive at the weekend, Labour’s spokesperson on Primary Industries Damien O’Connor backtracked. O’Connor said some of the money would be used to introduce a government subsidy on drinking water improvements. He also said some of the money would be transferred between regions.

It was bad enough that people doing everything right were going to pay to clean up after those who aren’t in their own region, but now the money would go out of the local economy to fix up messes in other parts of the country.

Andrew Curtis, CEO of Irrigation New Zealand, said: “Supporters of Labour’s proposed water tax are likely to feel let down by the news that the money won’t all be going on cleaning up rivers, as Labour originally said it would. And we know that many of our members will be dismayed that their hard-earned dollars won’t all be going back to rivers in their region.

‘This is yet another example of Labour chopping and changing it’s mind on the water tax. That’s why we can’t support the tax. There are too many unanswered questions.

“This a proposal that could cost $650 million to $1 billion over the next decade.

Labour doesn’t even have a policy setting out how such a huge amount of money would be spent and it hasn’t done any analysis of the impacts of the tax on the economy, jobs and farmers.’

‘It seems to me that Labour’s latest announcements indicate they see this as another opportunity to introduce a new tax to be spent on whatever the government decides.”

The PREFU showed continuing surpluses. There is no need for new or higher taxes.

Not thought through

Andrew Curtis said the constant changes in direction on the water tax over the last few weeks demonstrated Labour did not have a grasp of the issue and hasn’t thought through the implications.

“When they introduced the policy Labour said the tax would vary depending on the scarcity of water, which they’ve since backtracked on after realising that was too complex. They’ve also backtracked on the cost of the tax after telling us it was 2 cents per 1,000 litres, and then saying they hadn’t decided.

“And now we find out the money won’t be spent within the regions it comes from and some of it won’t even be spent on rivers.”

Labour agrees with Irrigation New Zealand on Auckland

Mr O’Connor acknowledged what Irrigation New Zealand have been saying for a while – that the water tax would not solve poor quality rivers in urban areas like Auckland.

He said Auckland ratepayers would need to fund a rates rise to provide money to fix the region’s rivers. Auckland has the least swimmable rivers in New Zealand with 62% of rivers graded poor for swimming, and no rivers graded as good or excellent.

Andrew Curtis said: “At least Labour has now acknowledged that the water tax won’t fix some of the country’s worst rivers. Aucklanders need to realise this too, and that they are facing a higher rates bill.”

Labour has chopped and changed so much on this, it’s difficult to know what their plan is unless it’s to muddy the waters over exactly what they’ll do, in which case they’re succeeding.

Quote of the day

Of all created comforts, God is the lender; you are the borrower, not the owner. – Ernest Rutherford who was born on this day in 1871.

August 30 in history

1363 Beginning date of the Battle of Lake Poyang; the forces of two Chinese rebel leaders— Chen Youliang and Zhu Yuanzhang—were pitted against each other in what is one of the largest naval battles in history, during the last decade of the ailing, Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty.

1574  Guru Ram Das became the Fourth Sikh Guru/Master.

1590  Tokugawa Ieyasu entered Edo Castle.

1720 Samuel Whitbread, English brewer, was born (d. 1796).

1791 HMS Pandora sank after running aground on a reef the previous day.

1797 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, English writer, was born (d. 1851).

1799 Capture of the entire Dutch fleet by British forces under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby and Admiral Sir Charles Mitchellduring the Second Coalition of the French Revolutionary Wars.

1800 Gabriel Prosser led a slave rebellion in Richmond, Virginia.

1813  Battle of Kulm: French forces defeated by Austrian-Prussian-Russian alliance.

1813  Creek War: Creek Red Sticks carried out the Fort Mims Massacre.

1835 Melbourne was founded.

1836 The city of Houston was founded by Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen.

1862  American Civil War: Battle of Richmond: Confederates under Edmund Kirby Smith routed a Union army under General Horatio Wright.

1862 – American Civil War: Union forces were defeated in Second Battle of Bull Run.

1871 Ernest Rutherford,  Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate, was born (d. 1937).

1873 – Austrian explorers Julius von Payer and Karl Weyprecht discovered the archipelago of Franz Joseph Land in the Arctic Sea.

1903 Guide Joseph Warbrick and three tourists were killed instantly whenRoturua’s Waimangu geyser erupted unexpectedly.

1907 – John Mauchly, American physicist and co-founder of the first computer company, was born (d. 1980).

1908 Fred MacMurray, American actor, was born (d. 1991).

1909  Burgess Shale fossils discovered by Charles Doolittle Walcott.

1909 – Virginia Lee Burton, American author and illustrator, was born (d. 1968).

1912 Nancy Wake AC GM, New Zealand-born World War II secret agent, was born (d. 2011).

1914  Battle of Tannenberg.

1918 Fanny Kaplan shot and seriously injured Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin.

1922 Battle of Dumlupinar, final battle in Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922).

1926 – Kawarau Falls dam became operational.

1930 Warren Buffett, American entrepreneur, was born.

1935 John Phillips, American singer/songwriter (The Mamas & the Papas), was born (d. 2001).

1942  World War II: Battle of Alam Halfa began.

1943 Jean-Claude Killy, French skier, was born.

1945 Hong Kong was liberated from Japan by British Armed Forces.

1945 – Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Douglas MacArthur landed at Atsugi Air Force Base.

1946 Peggy Lipton, American actress, was born.

1951 Dana, Irish singer and politician, was born.

1956 Lake Pontchartrain Causeway opened.

1962  Japan conducted a test of the NAMC YS-11, its first aircraft since the war and its only successful commercial aircraft.

1963 – the  Moscow–Washington hotline between the leaders of the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union went into operation.

1967  Thurgood Marshall was confirmed as the first African American Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

1972  Cameron Diaz, American actress, was born.

1974  A Belgrade–Dortmund express train derailed at the main train station in Zagreb killing 153 passengers.

1974 – A powerful bomb exploded at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries headquarters in Marunouchi, Tokyo – 8 killed, 378 injured.

1984   The Space Shuttle Discovery took off on its maiden voyage.

1995 – NATO launches Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces.

1999 – East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia in a referendum.

2003 – While being towed across the Barents Sea, the de-commissioned Russian submarine K-159 sank, taking 9 of her crew and 800 kg of spent nuclear fuel with her.

2014 – Prime Minister of Lesotho Tom Thabane fled to South Africa as the army allegedly staged a coup.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

Word of the day

Natant – swimming or floating; of aquatic plants – floating on the surface of water.

More tax, more spending, more debt

Labour’s recipe for government is more tax, more spending and more debt:

. . To help cover the additional spending, Labour would ditch National’s promised tax adjustments, extend the bright line test to tax capital gains on residential housing, aggressively target multinational corporate tax avoidance, and impose a tourist levy, which would cumulatively reap some $9.73 billion over the period. Labour would also take a slower path to cutting debt a proportion of the economy, with net debt peaking at $68.09 billion, or 21.9 percent of gross domestic product, in 2019/20, adding an additional $1.11 billion interest bill to the government over the horizon. . . 

It’s the same old tax and spend:

Labour is once again proving they’re the same old Labour Party with plans for big increases in both government spending and debt over the next four years, National Party Campaign Chair Steven Joyce says.

“In their fiscal plan released this morning, Labour has committed to $13.7 billion in additional spending over the next four years funded by cancelling tax changes for Kiwi families and increasing debt,” Mr Joyce says.

Cancelling the tax cuts would leave people on middle incomes paying more because of bracket creep.

It also shows Labour thinks it’s better to spend more of other people’s money than to leave a little more with them to spend, or save, as they choose.

“This nearly doubles the additional expenditure of $17 billion over four years already allowed for in the pre-election fiscal update. All up Labour is proposing to add more than $30 billion in new operating spending over the next four years. And then there’s additional capital spending as well.

“All this flows through into increased debt. Again by their own numbers, Labour will increase debt by $11 billion over four years compared with the pre-election fiscal update. This is not the stage of the economic cycle to be increasing debt. We should be reducing debt and putting money aside for the next rainy day.

The natural and financial disasters of the last nine years reinforce the importance of lower debt to provide headroom for more when the next one strikes.

“Labour’s tertiary policy announced today alone has an additional $3.4 billion over four years in expenditure in just one announcement.

“And the ink had hardly dried on their fiscal plan when they made another commitment to fund 26 weeks paid parental leave, which isn’t listed anywhere in the document.

“Labour also has some questions to answer about how their numbers add together. For example, their remaining annual operating allowances don’t seem to be cumulative.

“Big increases in expenditure and debt can only flow through into higher interest rates, and that would be bad for Kiwi businesses and homeowners. That’s before you even get in to Labour’s extra taxes.

Higher taxes and  higher interest rates would put pressure on businesses and households.

“We need to keep the country moving in the right direction and Labour’s approach to spending and debt would only slow the country down and put up costs for consumers.”

It’s the same old Labour Party with the same old recipe which will increase the burden of government, undo a lot of the good that’s been done in the last nine years and act as a hand brake on the growth needed to generate the income required for first world services.