Bill English Archive

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  Tell Bill we want a CGT - by frog

  
  
  
  Minister of Finance Bill English has a poll going on his website asking “do you support a capital gains tax?” The results so far are pretty obvious, Bill. Have your say and show Bill English that New Zealand wants a smart green capital gains tax. Also, check out what we’ve been saying about capital gains [...] read more
  July 8, 2011 3:40 pm - 180 Comments
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  Bill English’s rapture Budget – illustrated version - by frog

  
  
  
  I’m not sure if I should feel flattered or annoyed that Guy Body has seized upon my comparison last Friday between Harold Camping’s Rapture predictions and Bill English’s Budget predictions as the theme for today’s NZ Herald cartoon: Anyway, we’ve survived the first one.  Just one to go! read more
  May 23, 2011 8:48 am - 1 Comment
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  Bill English’s rapture Budget - by frog

  
  
  
  The world is going to end on May 21, according to a man called Harold Camping. He has predicted the end of the world by doing maths with the Bible. Having crunched the numbers in the Book of Genesis, he’s fairly certain tomorrow will be the day when it all kicks off. Perhaps that’s also how Bill English got his GDP per capita growth predictions that supposedly see the Government accounts in a healthy surplus by 2014-15. read more
  May 20, 2011 2:13 pm - 98 Comments
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  Russel Norman’s Budget speech - by frog

  
  
  
  Go Russel! I make no pretense of being unbiased, but I think Russel nailed the real economic issues facing New Zealand very well: Bill English didn’t. read more
  May 19, 2011 10:20 pm - 34 Comments
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  $36 million more in “essential” Government spending - by frog

  
  
  
  Times are tough.  We all have to tighten our belts.  So says Bill English. So let’s give $36 million to a yacht race: Team New Zealand will get $36 million from the Government to contest the 2013 America’s Cup, the Government has confirmed. Acting Economic Development Minister David Carter said the Government was contractually obliged [...] read more
  April 21, 2011 1:07 pm - 26 Comments
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  SCF: A proper, businesslike, efficient and prudent manner. Yeah, right! - by frog

  
  
  
  Yesterday, Treasury released a stack of documents relating to failed finance company South Canterbury Finance’s involvement in the Government’s Deposit Guarantee Scheme (DGS). They reveal that within two months of entering the DGS, South Canterbury Finance breached its Deed of Guarantee by lending almost $90 million to its parent company, Allan Hubbard’s Southbury Group Limited, [...] read more
  April 15, 2011 11:53 am - 56 Comments
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  Our advantage is low wages, says Bill English - by frog

  
  
  
  Remember all that talk of “catching up with Australia“? It was a big part of Nationals rhetoric in the 2008 election, followed by the Don Brash 2025 Taskforce, etc? Bill English: …over the next few years New Zealand’s advantages would become more apparent. “One is the wage differential. We have a workforce that is better [...] read more
  April 9, 2011 10:08 am - 36 Comments
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  Something is crap about Government priorities in Canterbury - by frog

  
  
  
  Here’s John Key, at a public meeting in Timaru last night, talking about (audio) the Government’s knowledge of the financial woes of South Canterbury Finance: But for the entire time I’ve been Prime Minister I’ve had the Treasury in my office, week after week, month after month,  telling me South Canterbury Finance was going bankrupt. [...] read more
  March 31, 2011 7:03 pm - 12 Comments
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  Saved from recession by the Christchurch quake? - by frog

  
  
  
  Yesterday, Statistics New Zealand released numbers showing the economy grew by 0.2 per cent in the three months ended December 31, having contracted by 0.2 per cent in the third quarter last year. So we’ve avoided recession, but only by our fingertips. Or have we? read more
  March 25, 2011 8:26 am - 5 Comments
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  Paying to rebuild – cuts vs levy - by frog

  
  
  
  John Key’s Government is now openly talking about cuts to Working for Families to pay for the cost of earthquake rebuilding. As Russel pointed out yesterday, we think a small, temporary earthquake levy would be a much better and fairer way of funding the rebuilding. Depending on how you set it, it would raise between [...] read more
  March 4, 2011 4:42 pm - 23 Comments
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  Government Beamer contract optional, no penalty - by frog

  
  
  
  Well done Metiria, for breaking the story of the Government’s BMW limousine purchase for its Ministers. When Bill English is encouraging everyone else to cut back, spending $6.8 million on new limousines for Ministers to swan about in when the existing fleet is less than 3 years old is indeed a disgrace. There has been [...] read more
  February 16, 2011 10:12 pm - 17 Comments
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  Parliamentary expenses: Here are ours, where are the rest? - by frog

  
  
  
  The last few days have resulted in a renewed focus on Parliamentary expenses. In the interests of transparency and democracy, the Greens are fronting their own expenses, despite changes in rules and proposed rules that may help MPs to hide taxpayer-funded expenses. Let’s see which other parties front with theirs! read more
  November 2, 2010 6:47 pm - 24 Comments
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  Dispelling the ‘Mum and Dad investors’ myth - by frog

  
  
  
  One of Bill English’s favourite lines is ‘Mum and Dad investors’ that he uses whenever he wants to try to tie the concerns of everyday people to the fortunes of, say, Telecom or South Canterbury Finance. We must do such-and-such because if we do not, the numerous hard working Mum and Dad investors of NZ [...] read more
  September 21, 2010 1:06 pm - 46 Comments
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  Williamson and English running racial interference on foreign investment - by frog

  
  
  
  Yesterday, Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson claimed that opposition to foreign investment is more about racism than overseas ownership. He needs to have a word to his colleague, Finance Minister Bill English, who last month seemed to be pandering to the supposed racism Williamson criticises. Williamson and English seem to be both running racial interference, albeit from opposite sides of the field, for continued slack regulation on foreign investment. read more
  September 3, 2010 9:44 am - 17 Comments
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  But most foreign investment is from nice white people like me - by frog

  
  
  
  John Key should be telling his Finance Minister to focus his Overseas Investment Act review on the real economic and ecological implications of increased land ownership by foreigners, rather than pandering to the xenophobic underbelly of New Zealand society whose only concern about foreign investment is that it is from “nice white people like me”. read more
  August 6, 2010 11:23 am - 52 Comments
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  Overseas ownership of land – Bill and Natural Dairy - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  This has become a bit of a live issue for the Govt. Originally when the review of overseas investment rules was announced Bill English and John Key made it clear that they wanted to weaken the rules protecting land from overseas ownership. Now they seem to be backtracking after the Greens and others have been [...] read more
  July 28, 2010 6:52 pm - 56 Comments
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  Inequality in Aotearoa: inequality and social mobility - by Metiria Turei

  
  
  
  You can’t move from rags to riches when there’s a yawning gap between rich and poor. Much of the post-Budget debate has been focused on whether John Key and Bill English’s prescription for the country’s finances will increase or decrease the gap between rich and poor. Despite assuring us that he cares about inequality, Mr [...] read more
  June 2, 2010 5:09 pm - 91 Comments
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  Inequality in Aotearoa: Mind the Gap! - by Metiria Turei

  
  
  
  As you know, I’ve been writing a series of blog posts about Inequality in Aotearoa during April and May. I’ve also been working on ideas for solutions to the growing gap between rich and poor in New Zealand, and this morning I’ve launched a major package of eight practical ideas to reduce inequality. Here I [...] read more
  May 17, 2010 3:43 pm - 139 Comments
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  Why cuts to Early Childhood Education are a dumb idea - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  This morning I was dismayed to hear Bill English signalling – to all intents and purposes – that there will be funding cuts for Early Childhood Education in the upcoming Budget. As the NZEI have pointed out today, spending on ECE is an investment, not a cheap way to balance the books. In fact, it [...] read more
  April 28, 2010 3:46 pm - 24 Comments
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  On Carter and conflicts - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Agriculture Minister David Carter has over a fortnight before Parliament resumes to ponder his personal explanation of how, back in October last year, his recollection of then recent events involving the Hurunui River Water Conservation Order application was so faulty. read more
  April 6, 2010 2:01 pm - 19 Comments