Gordon Campbell on scrapping the capital gains tax
With the wisdom of hindsight, the Labour/Greens combo never did have the numbers to get a meaningful capital gains tax (CGT) across the line…
Real Estate
Gordon Campbell on Sir Michael Cullen’s timely and progressive final words on tax reform
To ordinary earners whose income is taxed via PAYE and who also pay GST, there’s something quite surreal about the centre-right’s anguish at the Tax Working Group’s final report.
Gordon Campbell on not crying foul, Argentina
So a couple of guys found to be criminally liable of environmental pollution in Argentina lodge an application with the Overseas Investment Office… in order […]
Gordon Campbell on Paula Bennett’s gaffe, and Luna in Newtown
Local Government Minister Paula Bennett’s statement of support for cutting red tape in the building industry was probably self-certified as being politically OK, but it […]
Gordon Campbell on the plight of dairy, anti-Chinese sentiments and Pluto
Where now for dairy farmers? On RNZ this morning, Economic Development Minister Stephen Joyce was portraying the carnage of plunging global dairy prices, declining Fonterra […]
Gordon Campbell on telling the poor to ask for more
The government’s “let them ask for more” response to the dilapidated, cold and unhealthy conditions faced by many families in state housing can only be […]
Gordon Campbell on why the Reserve Bank has cut interest rates
All hail Graeme Wheeler. Because at some point this year, the government appears to have contracted out all the major decisions to do with running […]
Gordon Campbell on the Cullen Review of our security service
Whatever the conflicts and point scoring between them on other issues, National and Labour have always spoken virtually as one on free trade and the […]
Gordon Campbell on Budget 2015
From the outset, the slogan for yesterday’s Budget – “The Plan Is Working” – begged to be mocked. There’s actually a plan for the national […]
Gordon Campbell on the government’s belated moves on property speculation
Is it a property tax on capital gains or a capital gains tax on property? The Jesuitical distinctions in the government’s spin about its latest […]
Gordon Campbell on the Reserve Bank’s call to arms about the Auckland housing crisis
The ‘crisis – what crisis?’ response by the government to the Auckland housing price bubble is no longer acceptable. So says Reserve Bank governor Grant […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s housing assistance plan
So, as many as 90,000 people could derive some benefit from National’s housing assistance plans for low and middle-income earners. As much as $218 million […]
On the Greens housing proposals, and Pita Sharples
In the wake of David Shearer’s Labour party conference speech last year, housing policy has become a crunch test of how well each political party […]
On the crisis in affordable housing
The lack of affordable housing, as Finance Minister Bill English conceded last year, is an example of market failure, and in this Q&A transcript English […]
Public Office, Private Gain?
The saga of Keith Holyoake and Kinloch
On the government’s new PPP deal in education
Supposedly, the big advantage of public/private partnerships is that they will bring the alleged efficiencies of the private sector to projects that involve public money […]
On comparing the Crafar Farms court ruling with the China/NZ Free Trade Agreement
At yesterday’s post-Cabinet press conference, Prime Minister John Key indicated that the government is waiting for a Crown law office opinion on Justice Forrest Miller’s […]
On the Crafar Ruling, and the New Asset Sales Shortfall
Clearly, even when you’ve got a rubber stamp, the rubber can still fall off the stamp. That’s what happened yesterday to the Overseas Investment Office. […]
On the upcoming Cabinet re-shuffle
Prime Minister John Key has indicated that a Cabinet re-shuffle is on the cards. In all likelihood that re-shuffle won’t be moving Bill English, Tim […]
On the EQC’s funding woes, and a peak oil update
So, it seems, the Greens were right all along – a special levy to fund the costs involved with the Christchurch earthquake still makes good […]
On the Christchurch rebuild, and the political abuse of the SIS
Probably, some will regard the height restriction of seven stories for the rebuild of Christchurch’s central city area as being unnecessarily arbitrary and uniform, and […]
On Labour’s tax package (and Rupert Murdoch)
There could hardly have been a better set of Dom-Post headlines yesterday – Fruit and Vege Prices Rocket / Healthy Choices Off The Menu As […]
On the capital gains tax debate
Illustration by Tim Denee – www.timdenee.com The fact that, at last, one of New Zealand’s major parties has embraced the kind of tax on capital […]
On the Christchurch deal, and sexist dinosaurs
Clearly, the deal put on the table for Christchurch yesterday by the government has to be only an opening bid, not a final resolution. Those […]
On rebuilding Christchurch – and Rupert Murdoch’s beef with the Rugby World Cup
So the long awaited report on land remediation in Christchurch by the consulting engineers Tonkin and Taylor has been delivered to Prime Minister John Key […]
On the draconian Christchurch Earthquake legislation
Come back Frank Bainimarama, all is forgiven. As of last night, New Zealand has surrendered the moral high ground from which to could denounce the […]
Gordon Campbell: Risk Free Tax!
On current indications the Buckle Tax review will provide the final draft of their recommendations to the government just before Christmas – to enable it […]
Gordon Campbell: Foreshore and Seabed deals & dealing with Iran
Click to enlarge So today, the government formally agrees to dump the foreshore and seabed legislation. On one level, this means karma retribution for National, […]
Selling our defence bases to property speculators
The proposal to sell our defence bases and lease them back to the armed forces from their new, private sector landlords is a pretty good […]