Articles in ‘Opinion’

The last time inflation was over 7% was more than 30 years ago, and I was responsible for doing what Adrian Orr, the current Governor of the Reserve Bank, is trying to do now: get inflation back to the target mandated by the Minister of Finance, in my case within a 0 to 2% range, and Mr Orr’s case within a range of 1 to 3%. · A few weeks ago, there was at least some cheering when the inflation figure for the year to September was announced: it…

I recently met the team from Henderson Budget Service who provide free advice for those who are struggling with financial hardship. There are many such organisations like this within our communities and they play a vital role in helping people to manage debt and get back to a semblance of financial stability. · FinCap (the National Building Financial Capability Charitable Trust) is the umbrella organisation that supports these financial…

Not since the Cuban missile crisis exactly 60 years ago has the world been in such danger. · And that’s not just my own view: early in October, US President Joe Biden said that the risk of nuclear Armageddon is at the highest level since the Cuban missile crisis. He was right. · As I write, Russia’s conventional military forces are being forced to retreat on many fronts and Ukrainian forces have destroyed a key bridge linking Russia to Crimea.…

They are dying in the drift of chemical crop sprays. Where are the birds? Declining in numbers in the toxic wind with more dead from eating toxic seeds. How will the world cope without them? Where in this scenario does the agenda of feeding the world fit in? It really is incredulous that these chemicals applied to crops were produced without a complete scientific analysis of the environmental impact upon nature and our complex waterways. · So…

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth has passed away, and the overwhelming majority of people in New Zealand mourn her passing. · Not, of course, because her death was unexpected, or a tragedy in the ordinary sense of that word: at the age of 96 and increasingly suffering “mobility issues”, she had outlived the great majority of her subjects by at least a decade and was able to perform her royal duties right up to the end. Not for her, prolonged…

Rarely has a political party promised so much in an election campaign and achieved so little during its time in office. Labour made extravagant promises to end child poverty, to build 100,000 houses over 10 years and make housing more affordable, to make a major contribution to reducing greenhouse gases, and to improve our education system. Instead child poverty has increased on most measures; the number of new houses built has been trivial…

By Maryanne Demasi, PhD In December 2020, the US FDA authorised the Moderna and Pfizer mRNA covid-19 vaccines, claiming “the benefits outweighed the harms.” · Now, a group of international researchers has gone back to re-analyse the original trial data upon which that claim was made. · A valid claim? · A pre-print study (not yet peer-reviewed) by Fraiman and colleagues contradicts the FDA’s claim that the benefits outweigh the harms of the…

Family trusts are used to protect and manage assets, such as the family home, for the future, but the new rules for the disclosure of information are set to increase compliance costs dramatically. Photo pexels. Since the Labour Government came into power, the Minister of Revenue, David Parker, has been on a mission to tackle wealth and income inequality in New Zealand. Whilst many social democrats in the Labour Party and the Greens might cheer…

On the night before the 2002 election, when I was a list candidate for the National Party, I was attending a black-tie event in Napier. Before we sat down to eat, the host asked the local vicar to give thanks. · The vicar gave thanks for the food and the drink which we were about to consume, and then said that we should give thanks also for the fact that, in just 24 hours’ time, we would have elected the members of the next Parliament “and…

Two days ago Jacinda Ardern said her government was about to make a significant Covid policy announcement. Yesterday we were subjected to an hour long government extravaganza where a succession of expert politicians urged us yet again to wear masks (we already are), get boosted, leave our windows open (in winter), test frequently, and isolate (presumably whenever you feel a need to hide). Several times we were urged ‘to do our bit’ to get…