For all the shit National gave Labour for borrowing, National are borrowing MORE and they are borrowing for TAX CUTS!! At least Labour borrowed to save us from Covid, National are borrowing for fucking tax cuts you stupid sleepy Hobbits! We are robbing Hone to pay Peter and Paul and John! In-work tax credit rise, independent earner tax credit boost and tax cuts – explicitly excludes the poorest NZers: beneficiaries. This is a budget whose tax cuts give twice as much to the PM than to minimum wage workers, it has $2.9bn in tax cuts for landlords, and excludes many poor families from many initiatives!

Last year, in the lead up to the national election, Governor Orr said in May 2023 that he was “very confident” there would not be further interest rate hikes, stating the Reserve Bank had done enough in terms of rate rises. He was interviewed by

In a move to promote te reo Māori among tamariki, musician Codi Wehi-Ngatai has released a new te reo EP titled Tahi — released under the artist name Kia Whanake, which means to grow or develop — which aims to bridge a significant gap in educational waiata Māori. “This motivated me to share these waiata with others who wish to support their tamariki with their te reo Māori,” he said. “Growing up, my parents would always sing waiata to me, and I grew up in and around kapa haka. At present he’s deepening his knowledge of te reo Māori and te ao Māori as a student at Te Wānanga Takiura. The Tahi EP is now available on all major streaming platforms, and educational resources are accessible for whānau, schools, and kōhanga reo at www.kiawhanake.co.nz.

Photo: RNZ / Natalie AkoorieOne of the five who died in a horrific head-on collision on State Highway 3 on Tuesday is being farewelled at Te Awamutu College this afternoon. It is unclear if Otufangavalu is a current Te Awamutu College student and principal Tony Membery was unavailable for comment. Lefai has also been named by a Tongan newspaper as one of the five crash victims. The crash wreckage came to rest across two northbound lanes not far from the home of Margaret and Dane Alexander. "The car that had crashed was sideways on it's side, on the northbound lane and you couldn't see.

Peter Clark takes up his bow as part of the NZSQ for the first time on June 7 in Wellington. The pair have known each other since they were gifted kids in Aussie and Lapins hinted that Clark should apply. “I think she knew I’d be a good fit for the group,” Clark says. There was a period when Clark was flitting between Sydney, Melbourne, Wellington and New York, where he’s completing a doctorate. “You know,” Clark says finally, “it sounds corny, but they can change the world.”Quintessence: An NZSQ Celebration, 6.30pm, June 7, Hunter Building, Kelburn, Wellington.

Photo: 123RFFree prescriptions are gone for most people - but this year's health budget includes new money for training more doctors, increasing access to breast screening and putting security guards in emergency departments. Health Minister Dr Shane Reti said the government was increasing overall health funding by $16.68b over the three budgets. "We want the health sector to plan for the future with confidence, knowing our government will always prioritise increased investment for services it delivers. "That's why we are confirming today not just health funding increases from this Budget, but pre-commitments for additional funding from our next two Budgets as well." In response to questions about the "broken promise" to fund cancer drugs, Willis said the government remained "committed to increasing access to cancer treatments".

The Government has revealed a Budget with $14 billion of tax cuts ranging from $4 - $40 a fortnight for all workers on more than $14,000. Income-earning Kiwis will get a tax cut from a $14.7 billion tax package in this year’s Budget. The already-announced changes to property taxes, a Working for families tax-credit adjustment, and FamilyBoost tax credit make up the rest. Last year’s Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update forecast spending $27.7b in core health and disability services this Budget. “We regret that it hasn’t been possible in this Budget,” Willis said, saying the funding of specific pledges represented a challenge to Pharmac’s operating model.

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 2:43 pm, May 30th, 2024 - 39 commentsCategories: budget 2024, national, nicola willis, same old national, treasury - Tags:So the budget is now live and the analysis is now starting. There are tax cuts. There are tax cuts, $15 billion of them. Can someone reconcile this with Willis’s claim that the budget is fiscally neutral? They are excluded from the in-work tax credit rise, independent earner tax credit boost, and tax cuts.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon have repeatedly said tax cuts are in the Budget, as promised. Today, at 2pm, New Zealanders will discover to the surprise of no one that the Budget includes... tax cuts. The tax cuts come with a hefty price tag. Tax cuts that trigger on July 1 could be a headache for payroll systems. The other challenge for the Government is the intrigue that will naturally surround the 200 programmes axed to fund the tax cuts.

ANALYSISFinance Minister Nicola Willis’ first Budget has been printed and is good to go. The Reserve Bank has already threatened to lift to the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 25 basis points should inflation not abate quickly enough. However, because the programme effectively saw $55b created by the Reserve Bank to buy bonds, even small changes to the arrangement would be noteworthy. The current plan is for Treasury to buy-back $5b of bonds per year from the Reserve Bank until 2027. She specialises in government and Reserve Bank policymaking, economics and banking.

The contents of the Budget will be revealed by Willis in Parliament at 2pm. It will coincide with a protest, organised with help from Te Pāti Māori, descending upon Parliament after midday while the Budget lockup is under way. The Budget will also show the full extent of spending cuts faced by government departments, and how much of those have been redirected to frontline services. However, most attention on the day will be on the tax cuts. The Opposition parties have attacked the planned tax cuts, questioning whether they are affordable and the cuts needed to pay for them.

Te Pāti Māori supporters march from Kiririroa Marae to Waikato University in Hamilton. Steel barriers have been set-up ahead of the Te Pāti Māori protest at Parliament. It is the second nationwide protest action Te Pāti Māori supported against the Government and its policies, coming after action on December 5 last year. Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi (left) and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer defended a day of protest and continued to urge Māori people to join. Police Minister Mark Mitchell has condemned the planned “unlawful protest” action.

Image 1 of 18 : Te Pāti Māori supporters rally on the Rimu Rd overbridge in Mangere Bridge, Auckland. Photo / Jason DordayStory continues:Te Pāti Māori, alongside the Toitū Te Tiriti, said in an online post that the action was intended to “prove the might of [the Māori] economy by disconnecting entirely from it”. It is the second nationwide protest action Te Pāti Māori supported against the Government and its policies, coming after action on December 5 last year. Protest organiser Eru Kapa-Kingi, from Toitū Te Tiriti, said protest motorists in Auckland will converge on to the Northwestern, Southern and Northern motorways from 6.30am to try to accomplish maximum disruption. Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi (left) and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer defended a day of protest and continued to urge Māori people to join.

More broadly, US mortgage applications sank -5.7% last week from the previous week, the most since mid-February, and ending three consecutive rises. The retreat follows a fresh rise in benchmark mortgage rates, above 7% and following the rise in long-date Treasury yields. The median yield today was 4.59%, down marginally from the 4.66% at the prior equivalent event a month ago. The German CPI inflation rate edged higher in May to 2.4%, a marginal increase from their 2.2% April rate. Wall Street has slipped again today as rates rise further with the S&P500 down another -0.7% in late Wednesday trade.

The Commission adds the increases to household electricity bills will differ depending on location. “Some companies have forecast that they require an increase in investment that is as much as three times higher than their historical spend. Transpower and local lines companies face higher costs and more expensive borrowing and materials, as well as inflationary pressures since the last revenue review that took place in 2019. That’s why we’re proposing to increase the amount of revenue Transpower and local lines companies can earn," McWha says. The Commission's draft decisions for Transpower and the local lines companies will now go into consultation over June and July, before a final decision is made in November.