Articles from ‘elocal magazine’ in ‘Opinion’

Christopher Luxon's latest KiwiSaver announcement is being promoted as a plan to help New Zealanders build wealth and retire with greater financial security. On the surface, it sounds sensible. Who wouldn't want larger retirement savings? Who wouldn't want greater financial independence in later life? · But beneath the headlines sits a deeper question that politicians rarely ask: · At what point does encouragement become compulsion? · And…

The Green Party's latest tax proposal is being marketed as a solution to inequality. I see it differently. I see it as envy dressed up as economic policy. A wealth tax. An inheritance tax. Higher corporate taxes. More levies on productive enterprise. More government intervention into the lives and assets of people who have spent decades building businesses, creating jobs, taking risks and generating prosperity. The question New Zealanders…

After what has felt like a very quiet few weeks around New Zealand's fuel ports, we're finally starting to see a bit more movement in the system. G'day everyone. · The good news is that fuel is still flowing. · The other good news is that several vessels are now either alongside, arriving, or scheduled across the country over the coming fortnight. That's a noticeable improvement from the sparse activity we've been tracking recently. · At…

Something is deeply wrong with a system where a company director can face prosecution, fines, disqualification, and even imprisonment for misleading shareholders, investors, regulators, or the public, yet politicians can make promises they know cannot be delivered, make statements they know are false, withhold critical information from voters, and suffer little more than a bad headline (if they are lucky). Enough is enough. · This week I came…

The latest shipping activity suggests New Zealand's fuel supply chain remains steady through June, but there are a few developments worth keeping an eye on. So far this month we've recorded six fuel vessel arrivals, with at least two more vessels already scheduled, and current projections suggest June will finish with around 15 fuel vessel movements. That's neither exceptionally busy nor unusually quiet — just about where we'd expect the system…

For now, fuel is still moving around the country and there are no immediate signs of supply shortages. However, there are a few unusual vessel movements and some interesting international developments worth keeping an eye on. As always, the shipping picture tells part of the story — and the conversations amongst our Marsden Point Radio subscribers often help fill in the gaps. · Marsden Point Looking Ahead · The next scheduled arrivals into…

This article addresses some of the most profound philosophical and spiritual questions that we ask as we seek to understand our existence. It challenges some popular notions that have derived from the discoveries of Darwin and modern genetics, from the perspective of an interdisciplinary comprehensive scientific understanding. On June 5 a paper was published by the prestigious journal Cell entitled “Replaying germinal center evolution on a…

Across the Tasman, anger has propelled Pauline Hanson’s One Nation from a fringe outfit to the most popular party, on 31 percent in a recent poll, ahead of both Labor and the Coalition. Yet Australia’s preferential voting, which redistributes losing candidates’ votes, could still return a Labor government. By Dr Oliver Hartwich · The same anger is loose across the democratic world, the product of a decade of crises that squeezed household…

!Image · !Image · !Image · !Image · !Image · Over the past couple of days, the fuel network has continued to function much as expected, although if you're watching vessel movements closely, you'll notice everything seems to be moving at a slower pace than normal. · My own feeling is that weather has played a part. I was recording wave heights yesterday ranging from around five metres to over ten metres in some areas, and that sort of sea state…

The NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party is calling on all everyday New Zealanders, hunters, fishers, 4WD clubs, jet boaters, and outdoor enthusiasts to fiercely oppose the Government’s newly introduced Conservation Amendment Bill, labelling it a direct assault on the traditional Kiwi way of life. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE · The Bill, touted by Conservation Minister Tama Potaka as a move to "cut red tape," introduces a dangerous new statutory mandate…