If National wins ...

[Sgt Pepper]

Craic

Don't underestimate Winston Peters intense dislike of John Key

[craic]

WP's dislike of anyone except himself is of little importance - I don't think JK is likely to play footsie with him, but if he is stupid enough to do so then he will earn the level of approval that he deserves. I was once a member of WP's party, back in the dim old days until I realised that WP was only interested in the glittering objects in politics, the bling, after that there was hollowness.

[elZorro]

Who was it a while back, who was prepared to take a big bet that National would win the election?

http://livenews.co.nz/2014/04/06/pol...since-january/

[winner69]

Who was it a while back, who was prepared to take a big bet that National would win the election?

http://livenews.co.nz/2014/04/06/pol...since-january/

That can't be right EZ ..... methodology cant be right or something is amiss

Hope John gets to hold the royal baby and the cameras catch it .... that will save the country from a disaster of all disasters

Disc. don't like National but heck better than the 2nd and 3rd ranked parties

[craic]

The bet still stands.

[Sgt Pepper]

That can't be right EZ ..... methodology cant be right or something is amiss

Hope John gets to hold the royal baby and the cameras catch it .... that will save the country from a disaster of all disasters

Disc. don't like National but heck better than the 2nd and 3rd ranked parties

Looking ahead to the medium term economic clouds, i.e. rising interest rates, negative equity for the overmortgaged, cyclical decease in commodity prices, US Fed ending quantitative easing etc, perhaps John Key look may look back and wish he had held the baby and handed things back to Bill English

[elZorro]

The bet still stands.

That was for a thousand NZ dollars, right? Even bet. I'd take that on, if you mean that my side of the bet is that Labour and the Greens and any other alliance combines to form a left-leaning government. But maybe we should set it up so the money that is paid by the losing side after election day goes to a charity or organisation (like the Labour party!). It'll certainly make the election even more interesting.

I didn't know there was a bit of history in Winston's dislike of John Key. In a way, putting NZ asset ownership to the forefront (NZ First policy) lines up with Labour's R&D tax credits, which are aimed at SMEs throughout the country, in a bid to make their businesses stronger, and better employers.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post...e-impedes-deal

http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/wins...-silly-5888307

At least Labour and NZ First are on the same page, both want NZers to succeed, first, and back that idea with policy that should actively help in that goal. Labour already have policy that limits foreign ownership of non-residents. Sometimes you get the impression that the National Party have given up on NZ.

And let's face it, the last thing larger scale property owners want is limits on foreign ownership - these buyers tend to bring the market up, and waiting behind that is the tax free capital gain. I'd rather see the capital gains being made because all NZers produce more foreign exchange on average, from more productive and export-oriented businesses. That way we'd get both - higher incomes and increased local ownership.

[iceman]

deal[/URL]
At least Labour and NZ First are on the same page, both want NZers to succeed, first, and back that idea with policy that should actively help in that goal. Labour already have policy that limits foreign ownership of non-residents. Sometimes you get the impression that the National Party have given up on NZ.
.

This policy on foreign investment from WP is yet another play on racism, nothing else. Any policy to do what he proposes would be so full of holes that it would be unworkable and costly to administer. It would achieve nothing.

I really fail to see how you can possibly believe that WP can work effectively in a serious Government alongside the Greens. He may dislike John Key but he hates the Greens and everything they claim to stand for. Do you really think he will play 2nd fiddle to them, assuming they may have double the MPs Winston will have ?
Personally I am not convinced the WP party will even make it into Parliament but a long way to go yet and many things can happen.

How will WP and Labour reconcile his biggest issue/policy, not to raise the retirement age ? After all that's the group where he gets most of his votes from.

[Cuzzie]

Meanwhile our National Govt. just keeps on pumping out great results like Trade Me's job advertisements figures showing more jobs on the rise. Job listings on Trade Me increased 21 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter, according to the auction website.

Trade Me says the new figures follow a 17 per cent year-on-year increase in listings in the final quarter of 2013, reinforcing the upturn in the economy.

The company wouldn't say how many jobs were listed in the three months to March 31 due to "commercial sensitivity", but it said the number was more than 50,000.

The figures show all the major centres had strong year-on-year growth in the first quarter. Listings were up 25.5 per cent in Wellington, 24.1 per cent in the Bay of Plenty, 23.9 per cent in Canterbury, 20.1 per cent in Hamilton and Auckland and 19.0 per cent in Otago.

Southland (up 41.3 per cent) had the strongest growth, while only three of the 15 regions (Gisborne, Hawke's Bay and Manawatu/Whanganui) saw listings growth of less than 10 per cent.

The improving job market is a good sign for human resources and recruitment, which was the fastest-growing sector with a 45.7 per cent year-on-year listings increase.

Trades and Services (up 40.4 per cent), manufacturing and operations (up 35.8 per cent) and agriculture, fishing and forestry (up 34.0 per cent) were other sectors with big gains.
More here

The other good indicator is the rise of more cranes. New Zealand's crane population is booming with 71 up, compared to just 10 two years ago.

Richard Anderson, Rider Levett Bucknall Auckland director, said that was a sign of economic growth. Auckland has 25, the biggest crane fleet.

The tallest was on the University of Auckland's science block job and Anderson said that had been identified as the largest free-standing tower crane in the Southern Hemisphere.
More here

Here's just one more indicator that we are in good times right now - New car sales reach 20-year high. New car sales hit a 20 year high in March driven by Kiwis' rosy outlook of the New Zealand economy.

New vehicle registrations for March 2014 reached 11,238 during the month, up 18 per cent on March last year.

Motor Industry Association chief executive David Crawford said last month's new vehicle registration figures were the strongest March since 1984.

"This result shows that New Zealanders are continuing to take advantage of our strong dollar backed by confidence in the economy to replace their vehicles," Crawford said.
Read more here

All we need now is the Green-Labour Party to win the next election to ruin our economy and drive us into depression again. Please don't let that happen, let the good times roll.

[craic]

The overall size of the overseas ownership of the Auckland housing market is just 2% by this mornings news. Most of that is Australian and USA and the Chinese have the smallest share by a mile. Ask yourself - what is ownership? It is very limited use for speculative purposes. Any government in NZ can take ownership or control at any time and that includes your land. I am the umpteenth "owner" of this bit of land and when I go it will be flogged off to someone else.