The $3b child poverty pric tag

[Lilith7]

And why these delightful people in govt won't write the needed cheque..


I can tell them that in four words - because they're greedy b'stards...

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/t...RzWblM0djw

[Jan]

Chippie could ask the big fat greedy overseas banks to pay back the Covid money Robertson lent them which they still have 5 years later despite reporting massive post covid profits .Was worse started off 19billion subsidy by the kiwi taxpayers - we have subsidised them on 19 million at 2.5% for 5 years while they are making huge profits - imagine how many kids could have been cared for by those billions of dollars
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/comp...ECL5SQQVE/

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Or, we could have a fairer tax regime going forward...

[Praktica]

As far as Jan is concerned, it's all labour's fault...

[king1]

probably be the first one to complain if the banks had collapsed

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Bailing out the BNZ did kind of set a precedent..

[heisenberg]

i thought jacinda solved child poverdy before she decamped

[king1]

i thought jacinda solved child poverdy before she decamped

until this government defunded the program...

[Oh_hunnihunni]

i thought jacinda solved child poverdy before she decamped

It isn't a one solution problem though, no matter what any government says or does. It needs a multipronged approach and decades of focus to come anywhere near to eliminating. It is a political stick to beat those we oppose with, and a political bone to wave at voters, which is really sad, because at the heart of it are families with children who simply do not deserve to pay that price.

But it is always the way, isn't it? When human communities stuff up, be it war, or just poor management, it is the children and the women who pay the highest cost. When we can fix that humanity will be worth saving.

[Lilith7]

Chippie could ask the big fat greedy overseas banks to pay back the Covid money Robertson lent them which they still have 5 years later despite reporting massive post covid profits .Was worse started off 19billion subsidy by the kiwi taxpayers - we have subsidised them on 19 million at 2.5% for 5 years while they are making huge profits - imagine how many kids could have been cared for by those billions of dollars
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/comp...ECL5SQQVE/

You may have overlooked this one little fact; he isn't in govt this time.


Its the other lot now...perhaps they might like to do some of those things....or not.

---

Or, we could have a fairer tax regime going forward...

Indeed, we could.

And remove Neo Liberalism before it does yet more damage to the entire country. And teach kids empathy in school as well as basic budgeting,cooking & gardening.
And set about building proper housing - rather than tiny cramped,dark places which are then rented for exorbitant sums. And fix, & fund our health & education systems properly, so that everyone has access to free education & healthcare, paid for with our taxes. And pay nurses  sufficiently so they don't have to beetle off overseas.
And prevent extremely wealthy people from entering politics. 


And end donating to politicial parties - let them hold cake stalls!

Yep, I know....

[zqwerty]

Everything seems completely out of whack, oh for the idealism of youth again, where did all my dreams go?

Spoiled by the low level greedy shits who want to spent their lives grafting for money as a prize and essentially go nowhere because we are never getting off Earth and money has only limited value. How many houses, cars, colour tv's, private yachts/planes, select pieces of land does one need?

In the process turn the eco-system of the Earth into a death trap for us all as well as killing a lot of the animals/fish/birds/insects because of over population and thoughtless over consumption and manufacture of barely useful 21st century junk.

As a final irony the "winners" of the money race now get ready to barricade themselves away and take refuge from the chaos their actions have caused and blame the poor for being poor and turn the society which allowed them the means to exist back into a feudal society like the ones of the past under the directives of Manifest 2025.

Some of them are in our very country influencing our government to more indignities against the less well-off and furthering the interests of the wealthy.

[Lilith7]

Everything seems completely out of whack, oh for the idealism of youth again, where did all my dreams go?

Spoiled by the low level greedy shits who want to spent their lives grafting for money as a prize and essentially go nowhere because we are never getting off Earth and money has only limited value.  How many houses, cars, colour tv's, private yachts/planes, select pieces of land does one need?

In the process turn the eco-system of the Earth into a death trap for us all as well as killing a lot of the animals/fish/birds/insects because of over population and thoughtless over consumption and manufacture of barely useful 21st century junk.

As a final irony the "winners" of the money race now get ready to barricade themselves away and take refuge from the chaos their actions have caused and blame the poor for being poor and turn the society which allowed them the means to exist back into a feudal society like the ones of the past under the directives of Manifest 2025.

Some of them are in our very country influencing our government to more indignities against the less well-off and furthering the interests of the wealthy.

I couldn't have put it better, well said.


And to think that I once (albeit briefly) lived on a  commune back in the days when peace & love was going to heal the planet - & people....sigh.
 
Dammit,well at least our generation tried.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Someone I respect once told me he thinks we have got too big and too disconnected with each other. He thinks much smaller communities function better than nations, are kinder, more efficient, less wasteful, and better to live within.

He might be right, but are we willing to give up the benefits of Living Big?

[harm_less]

Someone I respect once told me he thinks we have got too big and too disconnected with each other. He thinks much smaller communities function better than nations, are kinder, more efficient, less wasteful, and better to live within.

He might be right, but are we willing to give up the benefits of Living Big?

It will take just another pandemic or two to take the shine off of large, crowded settlements. Cities are a death trap in terms of population density, food supply and resilience in general. Far better to live rurally, with security in place against the marauding hordes.

[zqwerty]

The marauding hordes won't last long, think about it, couple of weeks at most for the disorganized ones if it comes to that.

[Lilith7]

Someone I respect once told me he thinks we have got too big and too disconnected with each other. He thinks much smaller communities function better than nations, are kinder, more efficient, less wasteful, and better to live within.

He might be right, but are we willing to give up the benefits of Living Big?

It wouldn't surprise me if he ws right - but I doubt its likely to happen; at least not now.

[Lilith7]

A very appropriate political cartoon


https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=128...6600036049

[amrist]

get rid of GST first

[Praktica]

get rid of GST first

What do you replace it with?

[dken31]

Removing GST likely wouldn't have much of an affect on prices, or, at the very least, wouldn't have the 13% reduction you hoped for. A big factor in price-setting is "how much people are willing to pay" which isn't affected by GST. As such, if GST was removed, retailers could continue to charge the same amount. This could be prohibited by law, in which case prices would all immediately reduce by 13%, however there would be no way to prevent a fairly steady increase over subsequent months until prices returned to their pre-GST removal levels.

And, a great argument for GST: it taxes tourists. Supposedly in the year to March 2024, tourists in NZ paid $1.7B in GST which equates to roughly $333 per tourist. If we scrapped GST in favour of a tourist tax, I think adding $333/person to NZ's entry fee would actually start to turn people away, whereas they probably don't even think about the GST they pay.