Waste tax starting at wrong end
Yet another proposed tax from the government that said no new taxes:
Eugenie Sage's proposed six-fold increase in the levy rate for landfills will not only cost households more but lead to more illegal dumping, National's Environment spokesperson Scott Simpson says.
The plan was a key policy in the Government's Waste Discussion Document released today.
"The proposal will have perverse outcomes on both the environment and New Zealanders' back pockets," Mr Simpson says.
"Fly tipping is already a huge problem in New Zealand, and knee jerk price hikes like this will only make it worse.
"Sadly people will realise it's cheaper and easier to dump their rubbish over a bank or into the bush rather than paying the exorbitant fee to use their local tip.
Most mornings I walk along roads bordering our farm and each time I come across odd bits of rubbish – usually bottles and food wrapping – that has been thrown from car windows. Fortunately there are no banks or bush on my usual route to encourage fly-tipping but every now and then I venture further afield and it's not unusual to find rubbish that ought to have been taken to a tip.
"People in some parts of the country are already paying close to $200 per tonne at their landfill. This will only drive the price even higher.
"Meanwhile expanding the number of landfills to which the levy applies is a belated follow-through on plans National had already announced in Government.
"Eugenie Sage should be investigating practical ways of addressing our waste problem like waste to energy systems used in other countries. Instead she seems happy to indulge her ideological preferences and hit the tax button."
The Taxpayers' Union points out this tax will hit the poor hardest:
. . .Taxpayers' Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, "Like any levy, this will be a regressive tax hike, with a disproportionate impact on the budgets of large households in the country's poorest suburbs. If it brings in the forecast $220 million, that's a tax hike of $120 per Kiwi household, per year."
"This is yet another painful tax hike that betrays the Government's claims of compassion for the poor."
"Meanwhile, the beneficiaries of this proposal will be the businesses taking handouts from the poorly managed Waste Minimisation Fund, and the local councils that get a revenue boost. No wonder they're supporting it."
"Earlier this year the Tax Working Group pointed out that increasing the rubbish tax will cause a spike in illegal dumping. Even the Green Party should agree that it's better for old mattresses to end up in the tip than dumped on the road or riverside."
Waste to energy systems would be a much better idea than another tax, especially as this one is starting at the wrong end of the problem – hitting the people who have to get rid of rubbish rather than those who create waste in the first place.
Take bananas as a small example – they grown in bunches with their own protective covering. Why do supermarkets find it necessary to put them in plastic bags? It's the businesses that put them in bags who cause the problem, not the people who buy the fruit and are left with the unwanted bags.
1 Comment	| environment, politics	| Tagged: Eugenie Sage, Louis Houlbrooke, Scott Simpson, Taxpayers' Union	| Permalink
Red tape rules
Louis Houlbrooke tweets:
The pictured planned infill development in Te Atatu (seven townhouses) includes a footpath (circled) connecting the units.
LINZ's rules class this footpath as a *road*, because it connects more than six units. This means it needs a *name*. 2/13
— Louis Houlbrooke (@louishoulbrooke) October 17, 2019
The developer isn't fussed about the name for their new "lane". They'd be happy to just address the units for the existing street, e.g. 1/45 Vera Rd, 2/45 Vera Rd, etc. But rules are rules. 3/13
Here is Auckland Council's 16-page document explaining the rules and application process for naming a lane (or in this case, a footpath).https://t.co/x2GdROesNF 4/13
Before the formal application process for a road name even begins, the Council advises the developer to seek ideas from the community (i.e. heritage groups, special interest groups, resident associations, mana whenua, etc). 5/13
Once the council writes back to confirm the names are acceptable, the application is then put on hold while council staff liaise with mana whenua for feedback. New suggestions from mana whenua become options for the 'road' name. 7/13
Now, the developer must complete a 13-point checklist, including: application form, resource consent details, site plan, three name options w/ explanations of meaning and local relevance, evidence of community/mana whenua consultation, permissions from namesake kin, & more. 8/13
The full application is then submitted to Council staff, who assess it all for compliance with Auckland Council Road Naming Guidelines, and produce a summary report for the local board. 9/13
At its next meeting, the local board reviews the report, and has full discretion to reject names, defer a decision, and even undertake its own consultation. 10/13
Board members and members of the public can (and do) use this 'final' stage of the process to obstruct progress on a development they oppose for unrelated reasons. 11/13
The entire process, which must be completed after gaining a resource consent and before building begins, can take NINE TO TWELVE MONTHS, as experienced in this thread's example. 12/13
I'm writing this from a developer's perspective, but we should remember that ratepayers are paying council staff to administrate almost every stage of this mess.
The exception is of course signage, which the developer is expected to arrange and install. For a footpath. 13/13
Anyone seeking causes for New Zealand's poor productivity, housing shortage and high cost of building should start here.
1 Comment	| bureaucracy, housing, politics	| Tagged: Louis Houlbrooke	| Permalink
Don't doom us to darker days
Take Back The Clocks wants daylight saving to be abolished:
. . .Louis Houlbrooke, chief executive and founder of Take Back The Clocks, said the twice yearly changes disrupted people's sleep, were unnatural, and made international business much more complicated.
"They cause disruption and inconvenience to people's lives in a trivial sense but also in more serious ways with tired drivers and the impact on dairy cows." . .
Most people who favour shifting clocks forward want more light for recreation in the evening. They don't take into account that that means less light in the morning for people who work, making it harder to do early morning tasks like milking and mustering.
He suggested moving New Zealand to permanent "summer hours" – the change in late September that leads to sunnier evenings and darker mornings.
If there is any change to daylight saving it should be shorter not longer.
When it started clocks went forward in late October and back in early March. Someone decided if some daylight saving was good, more would be better without taking into account we don't get the same amount of daylight all year.
We were waking up to light at 6am last week, this week it's nearly 7am and before the clocks go back in autumn the sun doesn't rise here until about 7:50. It's even worse further south.
Waiting a few weeks in spring before clocks went forward and putting them back in early to mid March would make a big difference to the amount of light in the morning.
If daylight saving was permanent, mid-winter sunrise wouldn't be until 9:30am in Invercargill.
Children would be walking and biking to school in the dark, roads would be icier until later and there would be no benefit from a bit more light in the evening when it's so cold.
Daylight saving is too long now, please don't doom us to year-long darker dawns.
3 Comments	| business, Farming, rural, seasons	| Tagged: Louis Houlbrooke, Take Back The Clocks	| Permalink
Tax Freedom Day at last
We're nearly half way through the year and have only just got to Tax Freedom Day:
A media release from the Taxpayers' Union says:
From today until the end of the year you are finally working for yourself, and not the taxman, says the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union.
'Tax Freedom Day' marks the day on which New Zealanders have collectively worked enough to pay off the cost of government for the year.
Taxpayers' Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, "For the average New Zealander, getting to work on Monday represents the first day they're working for themselves."
"This year's total government expenses have been forecast to suck up 41.5 percent of the economy. That means, if a taxpayer wanted pay off their share of government expenses as soon as possible this year, they would have to work sacrifice all their wages from January the 1st, until today, June 1st."
"Today is worth celebrating, but it's a shame we had to wait so long to pay off the politicians' expense card. Unfortunately, government spending increasing faster than economic growth means the continuation of the trend of a later Tax Freedom Day."
"Some other groups chose to observe Tax Freedom Day earlier this year. But our chosen date – based on OECD figures – takes into account local government and spending paid for with debt, meaning it reflects the full burden of government on taxpayers."
And on the eve of Tax Freedom Day, the government pushed through an increase to fuel taxes under urgency:
The Taxpayers' Union is slamming the passage of legislation hiking the price of petrol at the pump to see that more than 50 percent of the price paid will soon be tax. Union spokesperson, Jordan Williams says:
"Clearly 'wellbeing' is just marketing fluff. Petrol taxes are highly regressive – they hit the poor, those in regional New Zealand, and those who live on outer suburbs the hardest. It's one of the cruelest forms of tax."
"Rushing these new petrol taxes through Parliament under urgency is disgraceful. They are a total breach of the Prime Minister's 'no new tax' election promise. And Labour know it."
"Pain at the pump underscores the fact that big-ticket Budget announcements come at a real cost, regardless of the fuzzy wellbeing language the politicians use to promote them."
Petrol was more than $2.45 a litre when we passed through Omarama earlier this week. Tax is already too big a contributor to that.
Taking more money from everyone and adding to the cost of everything will not contribute to wellbeing.
2 Comments	| politics, tax	| Tagged: Jordan Williams, Louis Houlbrooke, NZ Taxpayers' Union, tax freedom day	| Permalink
If can't count the concrete . . .
Statistics NZ has finally come out with the number of partial responses to the census:
Stats NZ's confirmation that the problems with Census 2018 is not just with the record low response rate, but a doubling in the partial response rate compounds the problems for the State Sector, says National's State Services Spokesperson Nick Smith.
"We now know over 700,000 people or one in seven New Zealanders did not complete Census 2018. This leaves a huge data hole that will create problems for years in allocating tens of billions of dollars in funding for central state services like health and education, as well as affecting electorate numbers and boundaries for Election 2020.
"Stats NZ needs to accept responsibility for the 2018 Census shambles. It cannot blame the funding when it was 36 per cent greater than Census 2013 and when this budget was underspent. It cannot blame the digital strategy when Australia successfully delivered its 2016 Census with a 95 per cent response rate using a similar strategy.
"Stats NZ botched the delivery of Census 2018 by excessively relying on online responses and providing insufficient neighbourhood backup for others. It compounded the problem by dismissing concerns expressed by Census field offices, commentators and the National opposition when the Census could have been retrieved. . .
The census shambles hasn't stopped the department coming out with more things to measure:
Indicators Aotearoa New Zealand is being developed by Stats NZ as a source of measures for New Zealand's wellbeing. The set of indicators will go beyond economic measures, such as gross domestic product (GDP), to include wellbeing and sustainable development.
The wellbeing indicators will build on international best practice, and will be tailored to New Zealand. . .
The indicators cover New Zealand's current wellbeing, future wellbeing (what we are leaving behind for future generations), and the impact New Zealand is having on the rest of the world. Under these dimensions are a list of topics and indicators developed to measure wellbeing.
You'll find a link to the suite of indicators if you click on the link above. Among them are abstract things like spiritual health, sense of belonging, ability to be yourself, locus of control and sense of purpose.
If Stats NZ hasn't managed to properly count concrete things through the census, how on earth is it going to measure these abstract things?
Even if it can, when did spiritual health, a sense of belonging, the ability to be yourself, locus of control (whatever that is) and sense of purpose become the government's business?
Stats NZ isn't the only state entity getting touchy-feely.
Eric Crampton reports on a Treasury initiative:
There's a $35 registration fee for this event at Treasury. . .
I have no clue whether the money goes to the folks running the session or what; I suspect it covers a cost of the deck of cards provided. But they recommend that attendees buy a deck of their cards in advance as practice as well, so attendees would wind up with double the compassion. It's wonderful how Treasury is helping to promote a small business by hosting it and encouraging folks to buy its products.
Minister Jones would approve, if Heartwork were based in the Provinces.
Here's the pitch. Treasury is Love.
Imagine surprising Aotearoa with a strain of compassion so delightful that it re-wires our collective consciousness!
COME TO THIS SOCIAL LAB TO CONNECT AND CREATE TOGETHER.
We've created a "compassion starter culture" – a network of people who want to create a more compassionate culture in Aotearoa, starting where we are – in our workplaces.
We've been playing and rapidly prototyping with the Heartwork Wellbeing Card Game* – now available publicly.
We know that the intention for what we want to create has a huge power.
We don't have all the answers. And we can't do this mahi alone.
So we'd like to invite you into this social lab.
So we can grow an even more beautiful, and more resilient strain together.
We'll share what we're learning while we're still metabolising. . .
Crampton concludes:
I, for one, love that this is a priority both for Operations and for Strategy and Performance at Treasury, as indicated by the attendance and presumed endorsement of the Chief Operating Officer and the Manager for Strategy and Performance.
Just imagine how better Treasury would have been prepared for the currency crisis after Muldoon lost election if they had thought to consult both their sun feelings and their moon feelings. I don't know how New Zealand came through it without that. But we will be far better prepared for the next crisis. Treasury may have few remaining economists, but every single person who remains there will care deeply.
And surely that matters more than anything else.
You can watch a video of the card game here.
Not surprisingly the Taxpayers' Union isn't impressed:
Treasury's 'well-being' focus is leading it to replace economic rigor with buzzword culture, says the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union, as top department officials host a 'social lab' centered around a 'Heartwork Wellbeing Card Game'.
Taxpayers' Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, "The purpose of Treasury is to provide the Government with economic analysis and monitor the success of the wider civil service. It seems this has been abandoned in favour of feel-good card games."
"It's no wonder we need a taxpayers' union when the agency responsible for monitoring public spending is busy trying to 'surprise Aotearoa with a strain of compassion so delightful that it re-wires our collective consciousness!'"
"Treasury was once a proud institution, a key cog in the vital economic reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. It's a bleak vision of the future when you see adult civil servants consulting with their 'sun' and 'moon' feelings." . .
Do the government, and it's agencies, know about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs?
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid.
Needs lower down in the hierarchy must be satisfied before individuals can attend to needs higher up. From the bottom of the hierarchy upwards, the needs are: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualization. . .
The government has a role in ensuring some of its citizens' basic physiological and safety needs are met.
The abstract concepts in the indicators come under psychological and self-fulfilment needs. Most of these aren't the business of government and those which are won't be met unless the government and its agencies get the basics – health, education, welfare, housing, infrastructure . . . right.
2 Comments	| politics	| Tagged: Eric Crampton, Louis Houlbrooke, Maslow's Hierarchy of Need, New Zealand Taxpayers' Union, Nick Smith, Statistics NZ	| Permalink
If not sacking AG must investigate
Shane Jones is in another spot of bother:
After declaring a conflict of interest in a proposed Northland cultural centre, Shane Jones sat through a meeting when ministerial colleagues decided on its multi-million dollar funding application, even giving reassurance about its governance.
Manea, Footprints of Kupe was among the first group of projects to be awarded cash from the Provincial Growth Fund, a $1 billion a year fund secured in coalition negotiations between Labour and NZ First, which is coming under increasing criticism. . .
He has repeatedly said he stepped back from having involvement in the project and denied advocating for it.
But documents quietly posted on the website of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) showed that Jones attended what appears to be the single ministerial meeting to determine the application.
"Minister [of Finance Grant] Robertson raised his concerns about the broader management and commercial operations of the project," MBIE official Mark Patterson wrote.
"Minister Jones provided reassurance that as the project has Far North Holding Ltd, the commercial arm of the Far North District Council, involved in its governance structures, he was comfortable their presence would alleviate any concerns on the issue."
Patterson added that MBIE would manage other concerns through milestone payments.
"Minister Robertson was comfortable to sign the briefing knowing this mitigation was in place."
Less than a month after Davis announced the funding, Jones was asked by Act leader David Seymour whether he had held any discussions with his ministerial colleagues about Manea.
"I asked my colleagues to make the decision on that project in order to manage a conflict of interest".
Later he said he "noted" the involvement of Far North Holdings to colleagues.
On Friday, Jones insisted he purely offered "statements of fact" in the meeting and he believed he had managed his conflict of interest, but acknowledged others would consider it appropriate to exit meetings altogether.
"You can physically exit or you can declare a conflict and let colleagues deal with the issue," Jones said.
"I don't believe my presence in any meeting with three other powerful ministers has any deterrent effect." . .
He might believe that but it doesn't stop the perception that he used his influence when he declared a conflict of interest and ought to have not even been in the room.
[Act leader David] Seymour said the documents suggested Jones "was decisive" in seeing the funding go ahead to an organisation he had a prior association with.
"He actually provided reassurance to his colleagues, which is at stark odds with his repeated assurances in Parliamentary questions that he'd recused himself from any role," Seymour said, claiming Jones had breached the Cabinet manual.
"I don't see how you can continue to be a minister when something as simple as a conflict of interest, you can't manage."
On Sunday morning, Seymour, called for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to sack Jones.
"Shane Jones not only involved himself in an application in relation to which he had a conflict of interest, he also concealed this key meeting in answer to a written parliamentary question," Seymour said.
Clare Curran was eventually sacked for a similar transgression.
National's regional development spokesman Paul Goldsmith said it defeated the purpose of declaring a conflict of interest and delegating responsibility, "if a minister then engages fully in favour of a project which Shane Jones appears to have done".
"We need a full explanation from Shane Jones of his involvement in this project from start to finish." . .
Seymour and the Taxpayers' Union have both called for the Auditor General to investigate:
Taxpayers' Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, "Ministers have it drilled into them that when it comes to decisions that involve a personal interest, they shouldn't be in the room, let alone provide advice and 'reassurances'. Shane Jones' behaviour will give taxpayers zero confidence that the Growth Fund is being spent impartially or for economic good."
"Businesses across the country will look at this example, along with other Growth Fund handouts, and figure that the key to profitability is cosy relationships with the political class. That is the path to cronyism and corruption."
"The Prime Minister mustn't let her Government's reliance on NZ First lead to an open season on taxpayer funds. She should call in the Auditor General to investigate Shane Jones' actions, and be prepared to strip him of his Regional Economic Development portfolio if necessary." . .
The Provincial Growth Fund is a $3 billion fund which has been criticised several times for doling out money without the usual cost-benefit appraisal and rigour which should precede largesse with taxpayers' money.
The Prime Minister dilly-dallied before sacking Clare Curran.
Given the sensitivities with New Zealand First, it is unlikely she will act on the calls to sack the minister over this matter so it is up to the Auditor General to investigate.
1 Comment	| politics	| Tagged: Clare Curran, David Seymour, Far North District Council, Far North Holding Ltd, Kelvin Davis, Louis Houlbrooke, Manea Footprints of Kupe, Mark Patterson, Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE), New Zealand Taxpayers' Union, Paul Goldsmith, Shane Jones	| Permalink
Govt can't cope with CGT oppositon
The normal course of events for government working groups is to do the work, submit a report and leave what happens next to the politicians.
That this government feels the need to keep the chair of the Tax Working Group, Sir Michael Cullen, on at $1000 a day to explain and defend the group's recommendations is a sign the politicians don't think they're up to explaining and defending it themselves.
Paying a working group chair $1000 a day might be the going rate while he's actually chairing for a day but continuing to pay him that to lobby is outrageous:
The Tax Working Group process has become blatantly politicised with the Government's decision to pay Sir Michael Cullen to continue lobbying for a capital gains tax, says the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union.
Taxpayers' Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, "The advertised purpose of the Tax Working Group was to deliver an expert-driven appraisal of the tax system along with a series of recommendations. That advice has now been received, but Sir Michael is still being paid over $1000 a day to argue for higher taxes. Funding for expert advice is one thing, but taxpayer-funded public campaigning is outrageous."
"If the National Party set up a Steven Joyce led Working Group and paid Mr Joyce to get on radio and attack the Labour Party and advocate for lower taxes, the political left would rightly get up in arms. It's the same principle here: expert advice should not be politicised at taxpayers' expense."
"Grassroots organisations like the Taxpayers' Union campaign using voluntary donations. Proponents of the capital gains tax should try to do the same." . .
Paying Cullen is in effect a government vote of no-confidence in themselves and their ability.
Government MPs have had remarkable little to say on the TWG's report, with the exception of James Shaw who asked if the government deserved to be re-elected if it didn't introduce a capital gains tax (CGT).
That it needs to hire the group's chair to speak for it, shows it doesn't deserve to be re-elected anyway.
1 Comment	| politics, tax	| Tagged: James Shaw, Louis Houlbrooke, New Zealand Taxpayers' Union, Sir Micahel Cullen, Tax Working Group (TWG)	| Permalink