Recently I saw the Minister for the Environment Hon David Parker react to the Horticultural growers on TV1. Horticulture New Zealand is getting increasingly concerned that valuable horticultural land is being swallowed up by housing or by lifestyle blocks. Continue reading “We should be rating properties on their land value”
I am going to start with my beliefs and assumptions and you can refer to this blog when you puzzle about why I am saying something. Continue reading “Retirement Villages – land, capital gains”
Covid-19 in New Zealand has resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs, including from Air New Zealand, Auckland Council, Fletchers, Millennium hotels, Sky City, Ngai Tahu and Bunnings. With the first round of wage subsidies ending in June and the second round ending in September there will be thousands more jobs to be lost. Despite the fact that on Monday 8 June we moved to Level One and we can all move around normally within our country, there is no sign of overseas tourism starting up again or Air NZ getting back to 2019 levels within the foreseeable future. Continue reading “A dual currency system would help New Zealand recover”
Here is my recipe for what Government must do to revive the economy after the coronavirus. Continue reading “Rebooting the Economy for Justice and Sustainability”
For a society to move forward and to be fair, improving democracy is not enough. Continue reading “Democracy is not enough”
Although about a fifth of the South Island high country is owned by Government and leased out to runholders, this is changing. Since 1992 the Government has allowed the privatisation of leasehold land. Called “tenure review” it involves an unusual deal and the government loses. The runholders because of their input into the farm claim the improvements belong to them. They end up getting part of the farm for a song. No I am wrong – they sometimes make money on the deal by a strange mechanism. And then they flip it on, making millions in the process. The less valuable land is kept for conservation. There is something strange about the land valuation process. Continue reading “Time to halt privatisation of high country”
The Big Shift: Rethinking Money, Tax, Welfare and Governance for the Next Economic System by Deirdre Kent
This important little book is a very dense read. The current growth-dependent economic system is not only broken must be completely replaced with a new paradigm. Continue reading “Summary of The Big Shift: Rethinking Money, Tax, Welfare and Governance for the Next Economic System”