If National wins ...

[neopoleII]

I would suggest Estate duty and gift tax as a wealth tax.

[fungus pudding]

I would suggest Estate duty and gift tax as a wealth tax.

Fortunately we got rid of them.

[elZorro]

National does it again, a nod and wink to smaller coalition parties, something that Labour has not lowered themselves to since 1999, when it was for a good reason.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/poli...ture-and-Maori

[fungus pudding]

National does it again, a nod and wink to smaller coalition parties, something that Labour has not lowered themselves to since 1999, when it was for a good reason.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/poli...ture-and-Maori

The last referendum endorsed MMP - a system that relies on coalitions. There was plenty of warning that this would happen from the likes of Peter Shirtcliffe before the first referendum. It's what the public wanted. In the main it works, and Labour would do it as quick as a flash if it wasn't the risk of associating with internet/mana. But whatever happened to the Waka jumping legislation? Internet/mana will become two parties six weeks after the election. Now that is a racket!

[elZorro]

Belgarion, maybe National does have a policy!

[fungus pudding]

What started the thread. It's what a majority percentage of overall voters wanted. Not the same thing as "the public" at all. But the lexeme has now become part of the lexicon of political speak.

Consequently, it has now indeed become a political racket, like govt assets sales, for bad politicians to claim "the public" endorsed such stupid actions.

Conservatives have at least recognised this.

It would be obvious to most that 'the public' referred to means 'the voting public' which excludes those who are still in nappies, or not interested in voting.

[elZorro]

I saw the article on a new rocket company on TV the other day. Here's some more detail. The National Govt has funded this project by $25mill over five years, and now overseas investors have stepped up. $25mill could have kickstarted a lot of smaller enterprises (lets say 250 at $100k each). Will the govt's investment be diluted by the new interests, and just what were they hoping to achieve? $1mill per employee has been granted so far.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/n...ectid=11301045

Will the new investors repay the govt funds, as this business looks like it'll be overseas owned soon? Does this mean that National is in the game of "picking winners"? If so, there are only a very few in NZ. The chosen few.

[BlackPeter]

I saw the article on a new rocket company on TV the other day. Here's some more detail. The National Govt has funded this project by $25mill over five years, and now overseas investors have stepped up. $25mill could have kickstarted a lot of smaller enterprises (lets say 250 at $100k each). Will the govt's investment be diluted by the new interests, and just what were they hoping to achieve? $1mill per employee has been granted so far.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/n...ectid=11301045

Will the new investors repay the govt funds, as this business looks like it'll be overseas owned soon? Does this mean that National is in the game of "picking winners"? If so, there are only a very few in NZ. The chosen few.

No worries, EZ. I am sure your Green friends will kill this enterprise anyway. This must be the next target after managing to wrestle down the mining industry. Just imagine a starting rocket in New Zealand - I am sure the Greens will stand up for the rights of blackbirds and magpies to populate our sky undisturbed from blasting NZ rockets.

And hey - if we sell out the company, than we can afford to hire some more left wing bureaucrats for the money - can't we?

[elZorro]

No worries, EZ. I am sure your Green friends will kill this enterprise anyway. This must be the next target after managing to wrestle down the mining industry. Just imagine a starting rocket in New Zealand - I am sure the Greens will stand up for the rights of blackbirds and magpies to populate our sky undisturbed from blasting NZ rockets.

And hey - if we sell out the company, than we can afford to hire some more left wing bureaucrats for the money - can't we?

No, that's not the point I was making, this is an interesting industry, and one we could do from here. But, the govt has granted these guys $25mill, it's a gift, they probably started saying that this is the end of the line as far as grants go. So then the business owners have targeted a bigger fish overseas, and these new people won't be doing it for free, they'll want a big return. The NZ govt won't have any holding interest in the operation, and now it runs the risk of being an Endace, overseas owned and no refund of the substantial grants back to the NZ taxpayer. It's a taxpayer rort if that happens. A really big one.

Forget about the Greens, what about all the smaller businesses that don't get grants or R&D tax credits under National? For the entire year, the NZ govt allows 195 uni undergrads funding for 400 hrs @$16 for job training out in businesses. Funds involved: about $1.3mill. The positions were taken in just a few days. Fonterra used to take 100 students by themselves, this year, none. There are thousands of students who'd like to be doing holiday work relating to their degrees. Most of them don't get the chance. So employers end up with new employees who need quite a bit of hand-holding in their first fulltime jobs.

[Cuzzie]

No, that's not the point I was making, this is an interesting industry, and one we could do from here. But, the govt has granted these guys $25mill, it's a gift, they probably started saying that this is the end of the line as far as grants go. So then the business owners have targeted a bigger fish overseas, and these new people won't be doing it for free, they'll want a big return. The NZ govt won't have any holding interest in the operation, and now it runs the risk of being an Endace, overseas owned and no refund of the substantial grants back to the NZ taxpayer. It's a taxpayer rort if that happens. A really big one.

Forget about the Greens, what about all the smaller businesses that don't get grants or R&D tax credits under National? For the entire year, the NZ govt allows 195 uni undergrads funding for 400 hrs @$16 for job training out in businesses. Funds involved: about $1.3mill. The positions were taken in just a few days. Fonterra used to take 100 students by themselves, this year, none. There are thousands of students who'd like to be doing holiday work relating to their degrees. Most of them don't get the chance. So employers end up with new employees who need quite a bit of hand-holding in their first fulltime jobs.

Rocket Lab says the average cost of a dedicated satellite launch system is $155 million, but it will be able to do the same job for $5.7 million. $25 Million is a good investment if they can secure business from customers used to paying $155 million but will only pay $5.7 million to this Kiwi company who will still make a good profit. Sounds like good enterprise to me.