Peter Williams: CGT is just an Envy Tax

As the Labour Party and other whingers of the left try their best to excite their mainstream media mates about why this country needs a Capital Gains Tax (CGT) perhaps it’s timely to remind the lefties about just who pays the most income tax in this country already.

Before that though, a quick glance at the Crown Accounts for 2023/24 FY published on October 10th. What they comprehensively show is that the country is living beyond its means.

Government income was $167.3 billion. It spent $180.1 billion.

Ele Ludemann: Who’s running this show?

David Farrar received an email alerting him to the Solicitor General’s new guidelines for prosecutions which started:

. . . “Research over many years has consistently found that Māori are significantly overrepresented in the criminal justice system at every stage, including as victims, and we recognised at the start of the project that the discretion to prosecute may contribute to that. The Guidelines expressly reference these disproportionate impacts and assist prosecutors by providing guidance about the matters to factor into their decisions. I am grateful to the kaitiaki and kaimahi of Ināia Tonu Nei for their wisdom, generosity and commitment. These Guidelines are much better for their input” says Ms Jagose.” . .

Lindsay Mitchell: Needless attack on government directive by public health academics

In September 2024 the government issued a directive to government agencies not to prioritise services on the basis of race. Shortly after, a group of public health academics from Auckland and Otago Universities wrote a paper which was published in the NZ Medical Journal strongly opposing the directive.

They began by objecting to the term "race" because it is "discredited terminology" which "suggests that the foundations of white superiority are still alive and well in New Zealand today."

Breaking Views Update: Week of 20.10.24

Tuesday October 22, 2024 

News:
Government's colourblind directive an 'attack on science and public health advice' - expert
Public services must now be determined on need, not race. But in the health sector, experts say the biggest determination of need is ethnicity.

It's a dogma labelled in some sectors as 'colourblind ideology' - the idea that everyone should be treated the same when it comes to public services.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: We might have to leave the America's Cup alone

As predictably as the clock striking 12 twice a day, here we are after an America's Cup win talking - yet again - about whether the Cup should be held in New Zealand.

In one corner, there's Helen Clark - who says Kiwis want to witness a successful event at home. And in the other corner, there's David Seymour who says we're too broke.

Clive Bibby: Shane Jones walks the talk

For those of us farmers here in the East Coast provinces- many of whom have just been through the most dreadful experience of our lives - listening to a Cabinet Minister who has our back is a refreshing change from all the broken promises we heard from the last mob of false prophets.

It isn’t so much that Shane Jones actually understands the problems we face here at the coalface - but more about his ability to state the obvious when helping us get back on our feet. There are things that we can and must do irrespective of whether they contravene established popular thinking about environmental primacy.

Jonathan Ayling: Desinformatsya - a Soviet hangover

The Disinformation Project represented so much of what is wrong with the censorship culture we’re experiencing in democracies like New Zealand today. The word disinformation itself has troubling origins, coined by Stalin to control public opinion.

I’ve studied 6 languages, and to me, big words can be fascinating.

The word obscurantism, for instance, means the use of technical or overly-complex language to confuse a meaning or make understanding a concept more difficult than it needs to be.

David Farrar: Sir Apirana Ngata on The Treaty

Sir Apirana Ngata is on our $50 note. He was a lawyer and then was the MP for Eastern Maori for almost 40 years. He was Minister of Native Affairs for six years.He made huge contributions to Maori land reform, language and culture.

He also wrote a booklet in 1922 on the Treaty of Waitangi, which NZPCR has usefully published online. Well worth a read to compare to what some today claim the Treaty means.

Some extracts:

Centrist: Broad funding guidelines for Rongoā Māori, while other alternative therapies remain uncovered by ACC

What is Rongoā Māori?

Rongoā (also known formally as Rongoā Māori), a traditional healing practice, is officially recognised by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) in rehabilitation programmes, but loose guidelines regarding its definition raise concerns. Anyone can access this service equally under ACC.

JC: The Things Media Won’t Tell You

A Trump win looks inevitable. Will Kamala’s friend Jacinda find a place at Harvard for her so they can spout their Marxist duologues?

Regarding the presidential election in America, listening, watching or reading about this in the mainstream media gives you no idea of what is really happening. The results of polling from those companies which have proven to be the most accurate at picking the winner, are painting a very different picture from what 1News (Pravda) and other left-wing media are delivering – they do this by employing a false narrative – a tactic they employ on many occasions. It is their go-to for spreading propaganda.

Kerre Woodham: Can we really afford to host the America's Cup right now?

Who doesn't love hosting a good party? Who hasn't enjoyed the buzz that comes from having people from all over the world heading into town intent on having a good time?

Even if you can't afford the price of the tickets to the Rugby World Cup, or through fee for Women's World Cup, or you haven't got a gin palace to head out on the water to get up, close and personal to the America's Cup racing, you can still share in the good times and the positive vibes that are generated when a marquee event is set up in New Zealand.

Monday October 21, 2024 

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Mike's Minute: A win for common sense

A very good victory on Friday for common sense.

The Solicitor-General fell on her sword over the instructions to the prosecution service promoting race.

It was Monday, this time last week we raised it because it seemed scandalous.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 21/10/24

Don’t forget the Paddle Ferns, while saluting Kiwi sports teams’ weekend triumphs – and please note Peters’ success in Thailand

Our sports teams did the country proud over the weekend.

Besides holding on to the America’s Cup and winning the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, our teams beat Aussie netballers (here in Wellington) and Indian cricketers on their home turf.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: Multiple Sclerosis NZ argues....

Finance Minister Willis, Pharmac Chair Bennett & Regulation Minister Seymour Should Answer Multiple Sclerosis NZ

Evaluating spending and regulation decisions on the basis of objective criteria is a good thing. The standard tool in economics to do so in called Cost-Benefit Analysis. In a high quality, just-released report, Multiple Sclerosis NZ argues, with great lucidity, that Pharmac is not taking into account all costs & benefits on society when it decides which drugs to fund.

Graham Adams: Should patients be able to choose medical staff by race?

Racial compatibility is central to affirmative-action entry programmes.

The news early this month that a Pakeha patient asked not to be treated by Asian staff at Auckland’s North Shore Hospital and that the hospital complied was quickly and roundly condemned by the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists and health-worker unions. Many of the public, too, criticised the patient’s request as blatant racism.

Sir Bob Jones: The dying Wellington myth

Sheer nonsense is being published about the capital dying.

House prices have not risen as fast as other cities, the government has sacked lots of (unnecessary) public servants, cafes and small businesses particularly retail, are failing, Council rates are soaring and so it goes with a seeming daily toll of publicised woes. A seriously dysfunctional Council adds to the negativity.

Now, here are the facts.

David Farrar: Which ethnicities are over and under represented in the public service?

The PSC reported that the ethnicity of the public service is:

Professor Robert MacCulloch: A Police State for the "Next (Inevitable)" Pandemic?.....

Is Sir Ashley Bloomfeld Arguing in the NZ Medical Journal that this Nation should be Turned into a Police State for the "Next (Inevitable)" Pandemic?

In the latest edition of the NZ Medical Journal, former Ministry of Health employee, Ashley Bloomfeld, who was head of our health system during the pandemic, has written a paper called "Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response: Are We Better off Now than Pre-COVID?". The paper seems to argue that Kiwis are now better off. The authors seem to have missed something called the "cost-of-living-crisis", which has seen GDP per capita - that is, Kiwis personal incomes - decline more over the past several years than even during the Global Financial Crisis. That decline is directly attributable to policies implemented during the pandemic that never traded off economic & health outcomes. The underfunding of our health system happening now is collateral damage.

Mike Butler: The Ned Fletcher Treaty book

The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi, published two years ago, adds new footnotes to the old argument that in 1840 the British only really intended to set up in New Zealand a government to control wayward British subjects while the chiefs could carry on being chiefs.

The main problem with that view is that there was no record in any of the treaty debates and signings of any British functionary telling the chiefs just that.

Moreover, chiefs at the February 5, 1840, treaty debate were recorded as objecting to the prospect of having a chief over them, which is clear evidence that the treaty contemplated a government over settlers and Maori alike.

Fletcher does include this inconvenient fact but carries on with his argument, unfazed.