Venkat Raman Although reports on commercial banks in Australia and Life Insurance Companies in New Zealand have raised cudgels against the players in the respective sectors, their strictures will eventually harm customers, an expert has said. He said that ordinary people- Australians and New Zealanders who the regulators such as the central banks and monetary authorities are trying to protect…
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Labour ahead of National in Poll in 12 years
The National Party is polling below Labour for the first time in twelve years in the Newshub Reid Research poll. The Poll has Labour at 47.5% ahead of the National Party, which has dropped to 41.6%. The Greens are at at 5.1% while New Zealand First is on 2.9%. Political commentator Professor Claire Robinson told Checkpoint it was great news for the…
Read MorePolytechnics to merge into a New Institute of Skills
Proposal for Public Consultation The government has proposed merging all 16 polytechnics in the country into a single National Institute and radically reforming industry training organisations. Education Minister Chris Hipkins said the Plan was challenging but necessary for shoring up a sector that had suffered falling enrolments and multimillion dollar deficits. Mr Hipkins said that the proposal included creating a…
Read More‘Wellbeing Budget 2019’ on May 30
Staff Reporter Finance Minister Grant Roberson has announced that he will present his Budget 2019 in Parliament on Thursday, May 30, 2019. New Approach “This year’s Budget will be the first to use the Coalition Government’s new ‘Wellbeing Approach,’ an evidence-based framework used to identify the Budget priorities and then assess which Budget bids should be accepted,” he said. Mr…
Read MoreYears of neglect cannot be fixed overnight
But KiwiBuild is moving ahead with renewed vigour Michael Wood The housing crisis is one of the biggest problems the coalition government inherited. On coming into office in 2017, we found ourselves facing some of the highest house prices in the world, record homelessness, and young people locked out of the market. That is the direct legacy of years of…
Read MoreKiwibuild off target and National springs a surprise
Peter Wilson National’s new tax policy has signalled that the Party isn’t going to sit on its hands in Opposition during the critical mid-term year. It was an unusual move, with Parliament still in recess, to spring a surprise like this. It’s a simple promise to align the tax brackets with cost of living increases every three years, ending what’s called “bracket…
Read MoreCapital Gains Tax throws up flurry of comments
The Government likely to enforce in 2021 Saurav Wadhwa The Tax Working Group headed by Sir Michal Cullen has recommended to the Government introduction of Capital Gains Tax. The Official Report is due to be released to the public on February 21, 2019 and the Government may consider introducing the Tax with effect from April 1, 2021. It is expected…
Read MorePM discounts Bridges’ take on Polytechnics
Jane Patterson The National Party was looking to gazump the Prime Minister’s first big speech of the year by making public what it says are the government’s plans for the vocational training sector. As Jacinda Ardern was outlining the problems facing polytechnics and institutes of technology and flagging what she called “far-reaching” changes, National leader Simon Bridges was briefing reporters…
Read MoreWe must know our history and who we are
Learning Maori Language should be compulsory Peter Dunne Another Waitangi Day has passed – this year without adverse event – and with it, the often too brief opportunity to consider what it means to be a New Zealander, 179 years after the signing of the Treaty. A striking feature of this year’s typically cursory discussion and woeful analysis was the…
Read MoreResearcher calls for robust Suicide Prevention strategies
Supplied Content ‘One-size-fits all’ approach to suicide prevention will not work and new strategies tailored to the older people are needed a University of Auckland Researcher has said. Dr Gary Cheung of the University’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, led a study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal that reveals a distinctly different pattern of stressors and behaviours…
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