Category: imported_weekly
New Zealand’s welfare system is long overdue for reform. Far too many people are gaming the system. That’s not to deny that there are many deserving people who realistically will never be able to work and need the full support of the state. But the fact of the matter is that welfare has become a “soft touch” and almost everyone knows someone on welfare who shouldn’t really be there.
“I can assure you that the government has investigated the evidence on the science of climate change from a number of different sources and I can appreciate that there are many different perspectives on the matter. However, the government is convinced that climate change is a serious and legitimate issue and that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides the most reliable information on climate change science. In its most recent assessment, the IPCC states that the evidence for climate change is unequivocal, that humankind’s emissions are very likely the cause of these changes and that, unless action is taken to reduce emissions, dangerous changes in the climate system will result.”
In his iconic book “Free to Choose”, Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman, described what underpins a nations’ economic power: “A free society releases the energies and abilities of people to pursue their own objectives. Freedom means diversity but also mobility. It preserves the opportunity for today’s disadvantaged to become tomorrow’s privileged and, in the process, enables everyone, from top to bottom, to enjoy a fuller and richer life”.
“We have no problem with Pakeha living on our lands, we invited them there. But the problems we have is when they basically ignore us and trample all over us, at which time we say okay enough’s enough, we want all of our land back. You people can stay on it but so long as you acknowledge that we are the mana whenua and when we say to you that this is right and that is not right, that you listen to what we say”.
The Tax Working Group released its report on proposed changes to our tax system on Wednesday to a respectful response from the government. This is in sharp contrast to the dismissive reaction the 2025 Taskforce received to their report on ways for New Zealand to catch up with Australia.
It can be argued that the announced referendum on MMP, to be held in conjunction with the 2011 general election, is one of the most important constitutional reforms undertaken by any New Zealand Government. Yet, while there is “lofty” talk about the need for public consultation – “We want to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to have their say on this significant constitutional issue” – it is clear that the government is not serious about public input.[1]
New Zealand has a lot to be proud of but there are some aspects of life ‘down under’ that we would prefer not to mention. Near the top of that list is racism.
[New Zealand] is a beautiful place with boundless opportunity. So I won’t accept that the bottom third of the OECD for average income is where we rightfully belong. I simply won’t believe we have to put up with losing 80,000 of our people every year to other parts of the world. I am horrified that the gap between our wages and those in Australia are now wider than they have been in our history – at more than 35%. How can we hope to hold on to our young people, the educated, the talented, the motivated, if on the Monday you can earn $50,000 for doing one job and on the Friday earn $80,000 by simply moving across the ditch? If we stay on the same growth course and speed, by 2030 the gap between wages here and wages in Australia will have risen to over 60%. We have a plan to steer New Zealand on a course to a more prosperous future. And we need to get to work on that plan straight away. John Key, “National’s Blueprint for Change”, January 2008.
From the 7th of December through to the 18th, the much publicised United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark. The main aim of the conference is to reach an agreement on a framework to replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012. Attending the conference on behalf of New Zealand will be the Minister for Climate Change Nick Smith, his Associate Tim Groser, and a contingent of officials. In addition, as one of the concessions to the Maori Party for their support of the emissions trading scheme, taxpayers will also fund two iwi leaders and kaumatua to travel to the Copenhagen conference.
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