This is how much food prices have increased since 2017:

• All food 29%
• Fruit 38%
• Vegetables 41%
• Cheese 48%
• Eggs 106%

So by the election, food inflation since 2017 will probably have exceeded 30%.

  

The Maori Party released:

“The legacy of this Crown has been genocidal. King Charles is now the figurehead of the world’s largest, longest, and most politically supported terrorist organisation.

As a Republican, the rantings of Rawiri Waititi don’t overly concern me, but what is of interest is the double standard around inflammatory language.

If one was to describe Te Rauparaha as a genocidal torturing terrorist and rapist, would that be okay?

The headline:

National Party fails to land blows on Labour despite news of a recession

So they manage to take the fact that under Labour we have gone into recession, and turned it into a negative story for National.

The lead para:

Despite National calling news the economy went into recession a “big flashing red light” for all New Zealanders, the economic downturn has yet to develop into a full-on election battle.

That is a weird take as the economy and cost of living score around five times as many people saying it is the most important issue as anything else, and Chris Hipkins has ditched multiple policies to try and focus on the economy. Not sure how you conclude the economic downturn is not a massive election battle.

Stuff reports:

Meng Foon has resigned as Race Relations Commissioner for a conflict of interest involving $2 million of Government funding for housing, but says he made an “error of judgement” and that officials knew about the money. 

Foon, who has been in the role since August 2019, is the director of a company which received payments worth $2m during his term. He failed to adequately declare this, Associate Justice Minister Deborah Russell in a statement, despite being involved in a report on emergency housing.

Foon absolutely should have declared the conflict in the context of contributing to a report on emergency housing. It is standard practice that you both declare potential conflicts generally, but also specifically in regard to individual agenda items.

Having said that, I’m not sure the omission quite reaches the standard for removal of office. There was no pecuniary gain to be made, and the HRC has no decision making ability around housing – they are basically just an advocacy voice.

I suspect that if the Michael Wood situation had not recently arisen, he might have escaped with a reprimand. But having had Wood so badly manage his conflicts, they need to make an example of Foon.

Foon’s behaviour, while sub-standard, is still well above Wood. Foon did not file false declarations for multiple years and Foon did not hold onto shares for 2.5 years despite 12 reminders. So if Foon’s management of his conflicts means he must go, why is Michael Wood still a Minister?

  

Newshub reports:

Hundreds of criminals could have avoided jail time under a proposal from the Justice and Corrections departments.

The idea was to prioritise home detention instead of incarceration and address the overpopulation of Māori in prison – but it didn’t work out like that.

Tommy Doran’s come a long way from his teenage years committing petty crime to fund his meth addiction.

“As it does for a lot of people who meth gets their hooks into, it led to my incarceration,” he told Newshub.

He’s done his jail time and he’s now doing an honour’s degree in criminology. He said home detention isn’t a silver bullet.

“I don’t think the solution lies in just taking them out of prison and sticking them in their home where they probably did a lot of their using and offending.”

But that’s a solution a document – released under the Official Information Act – recommended to the Government.

It was to the Minister of Justice, proposing an increase in the use of home detention to safely reduce the prison population. Judges would prioritise home detention when a short prison sentence – anything under two years – would usually be imposed.

While it would reduce the prison population by around 600 beds after three years, and save $7 million annually

The Government is obsessed with reducing the prison population, regardless of the impact on the community.

The way to reduce the prison population is to reduce the level of criminal offending. It’s not that hard to comprehend. Have fewer people raping and bashing people, and fewer people go to prison.

Stuff reports:

New Zealand pledged to spend $375 million reducing greenhouse emissions and protecting communities in vulnerable countries. 

But according to official documents reviewed by Stuff, some of that cash promoted planet-heating dairy and meat farming. …

A Fiji project aiming to “create a sustainable domestic milk supply” received NZ$2.4m of climate finance over four years, according to official documents. Another project in Myanmar planned to “establish an inclusive, vibrant and sustainable dairy sector”.

Aid to Sri Lanka intended to grow the country’s dairy production.

So the official position of the Government is that dairy production in New Zealand is bad and needs to reduce, and that it will take the revenue from taxing emissions in New Zealand and spend them on increasing dairy production in other countries!

Countries can run modest current account deficits without a problem. But when the deficit triples in size, it becomes a worry.

  

The Herald reports:

Radio New Zealand (RNZ) staff are expected to meet with members of the New Zealand-Ukrainian community this week as calls for a Government inquiry into the state broadcaster mount.

One independent think tank says the edits, which appeared sympathetic towards authoritarian regimes in Russia, China, North Korea, Cuba, and the Middle East, gave “legitimacy to terror”.

That is the one things they all have in common. Every single edit was done in a way that is more favourable to an authoritarian regime and less favourable to Western-style democracies.

Often bias is hard to prove, as you can always argue about how a story can be framed. But here we see the explicit edits made by a Radio NZ staffer.

A panel to head an independent review and its terms of reference were announced earlier today.

It looks to be a pretty good panel, but I hope they don’t try to make this all about one staffer. The focus has to be on the fact this happened for years with no-one detecting it. Who was in charge of the processes for digital news?

Radio NZ is hugely privileged. Almost every other media company in New Zealand has declining revenue from advertising etc. They have had their funding not just stay stable but increase by over 20%. Other media organisations have had to lay off sub-editors because of declining revenue. Radio NZ has made a decision, unaffected by falling revenue, not to have anyone checking the work of their digital team.

The problem for Radio NZ is that what happened lines up perfectly with the narrative amongst many on the right that Radio New Zealand is “Red Radio”. To have it revealed that RNZ has been changing international wire stories so they are more pro-Kremlin just feeds the narrative perfectly.

Newsweek reports:

Outrage has been expressed online at Johns Hopkins University over its non-binary-inclusive definition of “lesbian” in its glossary of LGBTQ+ terms.

The Baltimore-based university, a major hub of medical research in the U.S., maintains an extensive glossary of definitions for terms relevant to the broad LGBTQ+ community, which is updated as the subject of gender and sexual identity changes.

On Monday, the glossary’s new definition of “lesbian” came under attack as the university defined the term as “a non-man attracted to non-men.”

I bet you it wasn’t a woman who came up with that definition!

I wonder if defining someone by what they are not could be extended elsewhere. We could define a child as a non-adult and an Asian as a non-European and a Catholic as a non-Jew!

Stats NZ reports:

Gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.1 percent in the March 2023 quarter, following a 0.7 percent fall in the December 2022 quarter, according to quarterly figures released by Stats NZ today.

We’re in recession, with a 0.8% drop over two quarters. As interest rate rises flow through, we may have the recession extend to a third quarter.

Recessions are rare in NZ. Here are the recessions we have had since 1991:

• Jul 97 – Mar 98 – shrunk 0.9% (Asian Financial Crisis)
• Jan 08 – Mar 09 – shrunk 2.7% (Cullenomics and GFC)
• Jul 10 – Dec 10 – shrunk 0.7% (Canterbury earthquake)
• Jan 20 – Jun 20 – shrunk 11.2% (Covid-19)

This recession is mainly because inflation got out of control, and interest rates have had to be hiked to bring inflation down.

The ODT reports:

The University of Otago is refusing to say how much it has spent on a Māori sculpture that is still under wraps, and has warned it will consider any further questioning about the object “culturally insensitive”.

Wow, a new ground to refuse under the OIA! It is now culturally insensitive to be questioned on cost!

Any public interest in a cost breakdown of the pou whenua was outweighed by other considerations, it said in response to an Official Information Act request by the Otago Daily Times. In the OIA response, the university cited a meeting the ODT had with the office of Māori development last year to discuss the sculpture where it highlighted the need for tikanga Māori to be respected. “In light of this, we consider any ongoing information requests in relation to the pou whenua to be of a vexatious nature and culturally insensitive.” The university needed to protect confidential information between itself, contractors and Ngāi Tahu. Revealing the information was likely to impact the supply of other information. “It is in the public interest that such information continues to be supplied, such that the university is able to work efficiently and effectively with its contractors and relevant stakeholders.” Making the project costs available would also be likely to prejudice the commercial position of contractors, the university said.

What a load of crap. I hope the ODT takes this to the Ombudsman.

Considering the university is about to lay off over 100 staff on the grounds it is running at a loss, I would say there is very high interest in the cost of a sculpture.

  

Stuff reports:

Sir Tim Shadbolt wants a statue of himself put up in Invercargill, as a tribute to his 26 years as mayor of the city – but the current mayor has rejected the idea of a ratepayer-funded statue.

As he should.

Shadbolt said no-one would be comfortable advocating for a statue of themselves, but his initial, embarrassed hesitance had been overcome by people around him being adamant it was the most appropriate form of tribute.

If so many people are adamant about it, they should fund it themselves. Someone could set up a crowdfunding appeal. But no way should ratepayers be forced to pay.

Alternatively, Shadbolt got paid $140,000 a year for the last 26 years as Mayor, so he could pay for it himself.

AKA: PPTA/teachers get back to school and do your job. Fight your battle through actually creating success.

This is the third piece from the memoir/novel I have written. These all actually happened.

Some of those I have “Taught”

The saying “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life” has been attributed to Mark Twain.

I found such a role in teaching and coaching young people. I consider that I have never worked a day in my life, except with my dad, all those years back, stacking shelves. That doesn’t mean that there has not been challenges. For someone who was undiagnosed socially phobic until my late forties it meant a clutched stomach, cold sweats and holding back tears more often that I would care to remember – both in staff rooms, classrooms, and coaching (let alone public events). When I finally thought to discuss this with someone who had studied such things, he asked questions like: Why do you think that you like going fishing, running, cycling, etc., on your own? How long do your normally last in a conference or a room full of people? What is your first, if unspoken, response when asked to a function or to speak? How often do you turn up early to meet and greets? Do you dance at parties or wash the dishes? Why don’t you have a phone? Do you sometimes just spontaneously yell out “biscuits and gravy”?

The truth is, though, that everyone has a struggle. It is good to know what it is so that you can plan to minimize the effects and think through of some of the limitations. You also need a purpose to fight it. For me, seeing young people thrive is the trick that works. It is also true that I have learned a lot more from children and young people than they have from me – even based on the sheer volume of experience. There have been thousands of them and only one of me.

Often the recalled experiences are funny but sometimes tragic and deeply sad.

A young man who is an All Black as I write turned up late to one of our schools one day. The Principal asked, “You are twenty minutes late … can you explain that?”

“Oh … Sir … I was going to be on time and was trying really hard …”

“And …”

“I don’t want to say it Sir.”

“I need to know why you are so late.”

“But Sir, I really don’t want to say it.”

“As I said – I need to know why you are so late.”

“The homos in the park chased me Sir.”

“Pardon? What? The homos in the park?”

“Yes sir. The homos in the park!”

“The homos in the park?”

“Yes sir. Yes sir. They are frightening and they were after me Sir.”

“The homos in the park”?

“Yes Sir. Those guys who have nowhere to live!”

“Okay. You are excused but it might be better to call them “homeless people” to avoid confusion.

 

Then there was a great young man who was on the “spectrum”. He was with us for four years and did so well then and since. There were many memorable occasions with him but the one that sticks (don’t excuse the pun) is when I saw him eating a glue pen.

“Hey Henry. Stop eating that glue-stick. You will make yourself sick!”

“Nope. I have read the label and it says ‘non-toxic’.”

“Yeah … but if you eat too much it will go through your system and stick your bum cheeks together and you will be constipated for life.”

“No sir. All I need to do is, each time I sit down, I will grab those butt cheeks and pull them apart.”

“You win. If you are hungry eat the glue stick. I have a headache.”

After sitting with staff in a large school and one saying … “there are some kids that just don’t want to learn”.

“Okay” … I said … “give me the name of the worst child in this school”.

They conferred and said … “It is Zev.”

“I will be back in ten minutes.”

I wandered about until I found the said child. “Zev … I am told that you are struggling with learning and behaviour. Tell me; would you rather be doing well or doing badly and always in trouble?”

A long pause, and looking at our feet and scuffing, then both of us were crying.

“I want to do well sir.”

A staff member and I are sitting in a room having lunch and a young student is preparing for PE. He has his sports shoes on the floor and for five minutes we observe him repeatedly stamping on his shoes in the hope that, somehow, they will latch themselves onto his feet and lace themselves up. We can no longer just observe, and mirth overcomes us.

The ten-year-old glares, picks up a shoe, thrusts it in my direction, and states: “Do you want me to come in there after you boy?”

We had a wonderful child, Luke, who was well along the autism spectrum, but we believed that we saw progress. One day he turns up with a self-designed lego-submarine with incredible working, spring loaded, torpedo tubes. So very cool.

He sits in my class month-on-month, doing his very best but, I am deeply unsure as to his engagement and awareness. Suddenly, one day, a boy student says to the girl sitting next to him: “I really like you.”

“Ewwww”, she replies.

Luke looks up at me, winks, and then quietly says; “Awkward.”

The favourite rugby player I ever coached was a man called Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu. History will note that he was one of the change agents for the IRB Rugby World Cup draw that created fairness for “second-tier” nations. He was a brilliant rugby player – powerful, skillful, intelligent. And he stands up for what he holds dear:

“I played in England for seven years. I played in Japan for three years. I played in Bath for about three years and played for Gloucester for three and a half years.” said Fuimaono-Sapolu. “In terms of Gloucester I did really well there. I won all the awards; I won players’ player, player of the year, try of the year, season ticket holder player of the year, fan player of the year, club player of the year. I won everything, so I thought at my next contract I can ask for something pretty decent. And I was told straight, there’s no way I could be paid more than a Scottish player. So, learning all those things, having those experiences, about what really goes on in rugby, and knowing that you are never what you achieve. I will always be the stereotype in their mind that I’m not worthy of a Six Nations (level) contract or a Tier 1 contract regardless of how I played.”

The thing was he, and the others in the team I coached those years, many of them internationals, spent most of their time laughing while challenging the world. No more so that when they burned me time and again playing touch – and laughed harder when I sulked and walked away. I would like to say that I was just playing with them to build their confidence/egos, but they just know that they were better by far.

Matty was maybe the physically laziest student I even taught – and it nearly killed him. If any exertion was required, he was nowhere to be seen. I caught him one day walking up the drive towards his mum and then breaking into a limp. “What are you doing?” I respectfully asked.

“If she thinks that I have had a bad day she will get me maccas and an ice cream.”

The crisis happened when we went on a school kayaking trip and – 800metres from shore – he decided he had enough and was exhausted. “I cannot tow you in Matty.”

“Oh well. I think I am going to have a seizure then.”

“What? No one does that, they just happen. You don’t know when.”

Next think he is over and in the water having a grand-mal seizure. I had been thirty seconds away for simply paddling in and letting him sort himself out. Instead, I ended up in the water – still worrying about Jaws – towing this child, who was way bigger than me, through the water and praying for all to settle. We got within shouting distance of the beach and were rescued. I have no idea what happened to the abandoned kayaks.

He had cried wolf so many times that I had nearly left him out there. What a regret and tragedy that would have been. I hung with him in the hospital and he came through.

“Hey Mr Poole.”

“Yes Tane.”

“Where are you going?”

“Just popping out for a minute.”

“Are you going to drop the kids off at the pool?”

One of the hardest situations that confronts a teacher in the classroom is when a student has a bad stutter. I have taught three such people. One who went on the be a very good All Black and then moved into another quality profession. The first one I encountered, though, happened to be on my very first day teaching. The class list I was given featured a first initial and a last name. Clearly wanting to make a good impression and show that I cared I went around the class and asked for their first name to match the initial. One boy looked particularly nervous when I asked him, and with imploring eyes, he gently shook his head. However, my kindness was not going to be discouraged.

“Hello Mr Anuj – please can I have your first name.”

Silence.

I was going to say; “Are you deaf?” but just in time remembered that I had done that in one of my teaching practices when someone did not appear to be paying attention and then was told, in no uncertain terms, by the rest of the class that … yes … he was deaf.

Young Mr Anuj, however, was clearly paying attention. He was obviously shy. I had no alternative but to ask again.

“Mr Anuj – what is your first name.”

He took a huge breath and began a process that, for those that have witnessed the like, causes anxiety and instant sweating for the whole group.

“N, N, N, …. N, N, N, N, …. (another breath, the rest of the class is not breathing at all) … N, N, N, N, N …. (students now glaring at me like I am an serial killer of children, puppies and kittens) … N, N, N, N, … (beads of sweat forming on my own forehead) … N, N, N, N, ……..  NiTISH!”

It was my first day, but it still terrifies me now that I nearly said: “How many Ns was that?” He had a great year – despite the rocky start.

From two of my senior classes I had students who topped the nation in their final exam. For half a second you take credit but then quickly remember that hundreds you have taught didn’t. So, what was the lesson? They showed up to every class. They asked questions whenever something was not explained well enough or understood. They soaked-up methodology with how to study and sit exams. They were generous with their time for their classmates and lead others to great results through example. They were funny and personable, are friends to this day, and are engaged in stunning careers.

I took a rugby team to Hong Kong and Japan. I was so impressed with their behaviour throughout and, clearly, I had forgotten the lengths I would go to as a young person to disguise bad behaviour. Seeing two of them a few years later and sitting down to a meal I commented on their outstanding behaviour on that trip. They both started laughing. “Poolsey … we had you worked out from the first minute. Where were we sitting on the plane to Hong Kong?”

“No idea.”

“In the two seats directly behind you.”

“Why?”

“Because we knew the best place to hide was right behind your back. When we got on the plane we changed out of uniform. We sat behind you and the flight attendants brought beersies to us on the whole flight.”

I changed the subject.

Tragedy for a student or their family is a constant source of worry for a teacher or Principal. You dread the phone calls or messages that let you know of a severe illness or a death. Once a career is too many but anyone in the profession for long inevitably has had to care for people through more occasions than that. It is amazing how young people can respond. An incredibly hard working, deeply cheeky (as in – always knew how to get her way), very caring young student named Alex developed a severe cancer prior to her 15^th birthday.

When I took some students to see Alex in hospital, she had been a series of chemo treatments. I was struck dumb and very unsure of myself as I observed the effects. Her rich, Samoan, skin had turned pale, her body thinned and her hair missing. We had quietly entered. She looked up and her smile simply lit the room. I was still next to useless, but the children were natural, joyous, and so positive. I don’t use the word much – but they were “awesome.”

Cancer at any age and of any type is appalling. For one so young and so full of life it defeats explanation. Hope comes and goes, and it is very hard to believe that they won’t be healed. Alex passed away. I still cry as I write it. Her mother and brother taught us so many lessons in how to grieve and remember. In a very challenging time, our young students rose to the occasion and even at the funeral, with wisdom and respect, celebrated their dear friend’s life. Again, they were awesome!

Nigel was an amazing student of mine with Tourette’s. Now that also is tough and at times his ticks caused him great distress. However, he also laughed a lot and charged into anything that was going. On one school camp, on a back field, I taught some of the kids how to drive a manual. Nigel was the best and just loved the accolades. His ticks were normally benign but one day I had a parents’ meeting after school and another boy charged into my office just as the meeting was starting.

Without a filter he yelled out: “Nigel called me a Mother F&^*%#@.”

“What?” I stammered.

“Nigel called me a Mother F&^*%#@.”

“I heard you the first time. You didn’t need to repeat it.”

“You said, ‘What’?”

“Yes.”

“So, I said – Nigel called me a Mother F&^*%#@!”

The parent’s meeting at this stage was somewhat in disarray.

“My ‘what’? was rhetorical.”

“I don’t even know what that means. What are you going to do about Nigel calling me a Mother F&^*%#@.”?

“Stop saying that!”

“What? Mother F&^*%#@.”

“Yes! Don’t say it again.”

“But that is what Nigel called me.”

“No he didn’t”.

“Yes, he did. He walked past me and said: “Mother F&^*%#@.”

“He wasn’t saying it to you.”

“I was the only one there.” (Goodness – had he seen De Niro in Taxi Driver?)

“Right. But you know how he sometimes blurts out funny things in class.”

“Yes.”

“Well that is what happened only this time it was sweary.”

“I am still telling my parents.”

“Okay. You do that but, can I suggest, for your own well-being, that you say “F’er” as opposed to “F&^*%#@.”

A well-known New Zealand personality is former MP Rodney Hide. To young people his political career was of far less interest than the time he was on “Dancing with the Stars.” As Associate Minister of Education Rodney visited one of our schools. While talking to me in my office one of the students – who was sweeping a path outside – looked through the window and noted his presence. Now this child had, what was then called, Asperger’s Syndrome. He operated in a very literal world. He put down his broom and thoughtfully walked towards the front door and I heard him making his way towards my office.

“You’re Rodney Hide.”

“Yes. That is right … I am.”

“You are a lot fatter than you look on television.”

Back out to sweeping.

When coaching a 1^st XV rugby team, I considered it a good plan to have a game recorded on video and asked two senior students to do the task. They set themselves up superbly on the roof above the changing rooms. It was a perfect vantage point. Such was the quality of these two young men that they decided to commentate as well. I don’t believe I ever watched past the first few minutes.

“Well – I have to say that Tauranga Boys’ has made a great start.”

“Yes. They are playing hard and fast.”

“You are right. Hard and fast is exactly how they are playing it and I understand that is exactly how Mrs Poole likes it.”

I always tried to minimise conflict and or punishments but one day I had to ask a child to leave my class. I walked out with him, went to the resource room, and set him up with some tasks to do so he wasn’t just wasting his time. I noticed he was clutching his bag but thought nothing of it and didn’t want another argument. I left the resource room door open.

I went back to class.

About three minutes later I heard footsteps. They were followed by an authoritative, Deputy Principal, voice; “What are you doing out of class boy and what have you got in your hands.”

“It is a bag of marijuana sir and I have just found it sellotaped to the bottom of Mr Poole’s desk!”

Sometimes in rugby games players get things wrong. When they do, they may get sin binned and/or sent off. One such player in my side was HUGE but a gentle giant. A genuinely good person and a very good rugby player. One game turned somewhat violent and seeing his team mate on the ground getting a kicking Phillip intervened and a punch, backed by 130kg, was thrown. It was seen and he was sent off.

I accompanied him to the judiciary and was hopeful given his clean previous record. As I stood to testify, I noted to the people present that he had been defending a vulnerable teammate and that although, he did throw a punch, it was at best/worst (whichever way you looked at it) a glancing blow and no further punishment is needed.”

Suddenly Phillip intervened. “No way Poolsey – I smacked him really hard right in the head!”

In a meeting with 10 to14 year old students one day I asked them if anyone had done something really nice for their parents on the weekend. It was a theme we were running with at the time.

As hand went up.

“Yes Sally. What did you do?”

“On Saturday night – I let my mum go out “cougaring.”

“Right guys and girls – off to class.”

Walking down towards Newmarket one day I saw a past student walking towards me. He had thrived in so many ways through several challenges. It was the peak of the GFC, and his father was a cosmetic surgeon. “How are you doing Peter?” I asked. “And how is dad?”

“I am good. Dad is good. But business is tough. Can I interest you in a new rack?”

It is amazing how many kids do brilliantly despite their circumstances as opposed to because of them.

“Sometimes, I feel I gotta get away
Bells chime, I know I gotta get away
And I know if I don’t, I’ll go out of my mind
Better leave her behind with the kids, they’re alright
The kids are alright, the kids are alright, the kids are alright”

The Who

[email protected]

The Herald reports:

As the Government celebrates its milestone of putting “1800 new police officers on the beat”, it can be revealed 270 of them don’t have arrest powers and work predominantly within stations.

Police Association president Chris Cahill and National police spokesman Mark Mitchell allege the Government has been misleading.

“They’re not what the public would call a police officer,” Cahill said.

So Labour has redefined what a police officer is, so they can claim they met a target they haven’t actually met.

They promised 1,800 extra officers by the end of 2020 and its mid 2023 and they are not even at 1,600.

An open letter from Sir Ian Taylor to Chloe Swarbrick:

Dear Chloe,

Let me put this open letter in context for you.

An ex-colleague of mine recently accused me of being a “chardonnay socialist” because of the views I shared in an article I wrote around inequities in our tax system, my support of a capital gains tax, and my willingness to pay more tax — not less.

The article that had raised his ire was one I had titled “Let’s talk about tax”.

In it, I questioned the terms usually associated with the word tax here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Terms like “tax avoidance” and “tax burden”.

Why couldn’t we talk about being “proud to pay tax” as part of the social contract we had with each other to create a fair and equitable society? A society that placed a value on education, health and the wellbeing of everyone with whom we shared that society.

The “chardonnay socialist” comment highlighted the tribalism that has become an increasing part of our political discourse. A recent article featuring your suggested “wealth tax” accentuates that tribalism.

The introductory blurb on top of that article read “The golden age of stashing vast sums of money in trusts, or indeed, anywhere, may be over.” You yourself went on to add, “wealth in Aotearoa is concentrated in the back pockets of a wealthy few. It’s time we got on and fixed this.”

There goes the tribalism again. Bad people “stashing vast sums of money in trusts” or the “wealthy few” stashing it in their back pockets.

So, Chloe, in the interest of complete transparency, something politicians appear to be struggling with these days, I need to declare that I have one of those family trusts. I am assuming that you don’t, so let me share with you why I do.

More than 30 years ago I set up a business in Dunedin, not because I wanted to be rich, but because I had found the place I wanted to live and had decided I wanted to create a company that built high-value jobs for others who wanted to live here.

To do that I had to borrow $500,000 to get started and, as part of that, I had to guarantee that loan using our family home, on which my wife and I were paying a mortgage with interest rates of over 20%.

Within two years, working with some incredibly talented people who would have normally moved north, we built a technology company employing more than 30 people. All of them paying PAYE tax from the jobs we had created. All of them paying GST on the goods they bought, with the salaries they got, from the jobs we had created.

I am not sure how many of your colleagues fully appreciate the risks involved in starting a business that creates real jobs. As I look around the debating chamber, I am not sure how many have ever created a business themselves. Perhaps, more tellingly, the question might be, how many have spent most, if not all, of their working lives based on income that comes directly from taxes we pay.

Tax that is generated by people who have taken the risks that are inherent in starting a business.

In 2008, I faced that risk head-on when I had to explain to my wife that the business we had built was on the verge of going under because of conditions beyond our control. This meant that the family home, where we lived with our two young sons, would have to be sold.

People who have never created a business probably won’t ever appreciate the sense of failure that comes as they face the prospect of sharing this message with their staff, and the family who have built the business with them.

As you may have gathered, we did find a way around this, but that’s another story.

However, what I vowed from that experience was that as soon as I could, I would find a way to pay off that loan and get my family home in a trust to protect it, and them.

It took more than 20 years to get to the position where I could remove the need to continually put our house up as security against the bank loans that were needed to keep the business running and people gainfully employed.

Today, the trust holds more than our family home and it pays tax on income generated. That tax is set by the government of the day and I am more than happy that it is paid.

I don’t share this story because I think I am special. I share it because I know there are countless people out there who will have been through the same things. This is the reality of building a business that creates jobs — that pay taxes.

So, Chloe, instead of joining in on the tribalism, why not lead from the front, do things differently, and avoid getting caught up in the nonsense that politics has become?

We could start by agreeing this is a discussion we need to have, but let’s have it in the context of a celebration of the success of people who have placed so much at risk to create the jobs that pay taxes in the first place.

People like a friend of mine who runs a hugely successful business that generates $80 million in annual revenue. I imagine that many reading the story on your wealth tax would place him in the “wealthy” category — stashing money in a trust, or his back pocket, so he doesn’t have to pay tax.

So, let’s look at the tax he does pay, or collect for the IRD, based on that $ 80 million revenue.—

—  $26 million in PAYE and company tax. That’s tax that exists because of the jobs he created and the success he has made of his business;

—  $12 million in GST. That’s tax that exists because of the business he built and the income that business generates;

—  $2 million is made up of KiwiSaver contributions, ACC levies, fuel taxes, local council rates and car registrations. Those are all taxes that occur as a result of the business he has created, and the risks he has taken.

That is $40 million in tax, annually, generated by one person who had the courage to build a business and create those jobs. Yes, he is wealthy (I prefer “successful”) but how many people can you identify in that debating chamber who generate that much revenue for you to spend, every year?

This leads me to my final point. The annual tax take is $113 billion a year. Of that, $19 billion is spent on health, $17 billion is spent on education. Both are on the verge of collapse.

So, Chloe, my question of you is: When will you start to give those who take the risks to create jobs that pay tax the confidence that, were we to pay more, you will spend it well and not pour it down a seemingly endless drain with little or no accountability?

  

The Herald reports:

A state housing tenant who endured years of intimidation from an unruly neighbour’s wild parties with blaring music, loud yelling, trespassing and people urinating on her fence has been awarded thousands in compensation.

The Tenancy Tribunal recently ruled Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities must pay the Auckland tenant $3000 for ongoing breaches of her quiet enjoyment of her premises. It’s the second time in just over a year the government agency has been directed to pay damages to the same tenant.

So Kainga Ora have already been fined for being an awful landlord, but even after that they just carried on, and now have got fined again. The problem is they don’t pay the fine – we effectively do as taxpayers.

I have a proposal – let’s transfer the entire state housing stock to say the Salvation Army. I’d trust them far more to be humane decent landlords.

Kāinga Ora claimed, at the time, it was in the process of relocating the troublesome neighbour but more than a year later the behaviour continued unabated.

A year ago they claimed they were moving them, but they didn’t.

Jones said the unruly neighbour had now agreed to voluntarily relocate, for a third time after reneging on two previous occasions.

It shouldn’t be voluntary.

“A suitable home has now been found for the neighbour and she will be moving shortly.”

Pity the new neighbours. The solution isn’t to move the troublemaker. It is to tell them that if they act like an arseh**e then they will be evicted.

Yesterday, RNZ CEO Paul Thompson apologised to the public for copy wire articles that were altered without senior management realising.

Thompson told Checkpoint "I would point out that it is confined to one area."

Checkpoint reported that "He said the audit had not yet found…

— Thomas Cranmer (@CranmerWrites) June 12, 2023

Thomas Cranmer has broken more stories in the last 12 months than many journalists, and he is a lawyer!

Here he has found an example of Radio NZ taking a neutral article from Reuters on Israel/Palestine and changing it to remove reference to the Palestinians being gunmen and refers to Hamas as being democratically elected, when the last election was 17 years ago!

Radio NZ need a full and independent inquiry into all aspects of how they edit material from overseas sites.

The BBC reported:

Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been arrested in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the SNP.

Police confirmed a 52-year-old woman was taken into custody as a suspect and is being questioned by detectives.

It follows the arrest and subsequent release of her husband, ex-SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, in April.

Incredible news, even if not entirely unexpected. She has not yet been charged, but the arrest indicates charges are likely in the future.

I wonder who will get to trial first – her or Trump!