Feb 23, 2018  - The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will invest more than $6 million towards revitalisation of the Whanganui Port and upgrade of the town’s rail line, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says.

Feb 21, 2018  - Better for Business (B4B), a cross-agency programme led by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE), has partnered with its nine other agencies to showcase a range of breakthrough government services and digital initiatives designed for business at the D5 2018 summit in Wellington.

New Zealand is among the D5 nations, recognised as the world’s five most digitally capable, alongside South Korea, the United Kingdom, Israel and Estonia. Canada and Uruguay have just joined.

“Coming together with the world’s most advanced digital nations allows us to both share and learn, so we can keep innovating and improving government services with our business customers in mind,” says Lisa Casagranda, Director, B4B at MBIE.

B4B is dedicated to improving the experiences businesses have when dealing with government, so they can operate more efficiently, effectively, and with more confidence.

Its showcased initiatives include the Accounting Income Method (AIM) – led by Inland Revenue to give businesses a pay-as-you go option for provisional tax, in anticipation of the changes to the provisional tax payments system kicking in on 1 April 2018.

MBIE’s Business.govt.nz is also showcased, including its online tools and services tailored to the individual needs of small business. This B4B partner has seen huge demand for its services, including the Employment Agreement Builder, which has been used by businesses to create more than 390,000 employment agreements since its inception in 2016.

WorkSafe’s Around the Block and Ports interactive tools enable businesses to understand health and safety risk management in their business context and operating environment.

“New Zealand is a great place to do business, but we know that dealing with government can be painful. B4B works with businesses and others to identify and deploy the best digital solutions, and give businesses assurance that they’re doing things right while on a pathway to growth,” says Ms Casagranda.

The theme for the D5 2018 summit is ‘e kōre e taea e te whenu kotaki te whāriki te raranga’ — ‘one strand alone will not weave a tapestry’ — with a particular focus on digital rights.

B4B is led by MBIE, working alongside Inland Revenue, ACC, Callaghan Innovation, the Ministry for Primary Industries, the New Zealand Customs Service, Stats NZ, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, NZ Transport Agency, and WorkSafe New Zealand.

| A MBIE release  ||  February 2018   |||

Feb 20, 2018  -  PM to Tonga, Samoa, Niue, and the Cook Islands.  Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says the New Zealand government’s Pacific Mission will take place from 4-9 March and travel to Tonga, Samoa, Niue, and the Cook Islands.

Feb 20, 2018  -  Police and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash departs today for the United States and Mexico to discuss mutual cooperation on law enforcement and economic issues.

Feb 16, 2018  -  Revenue Minister Stuart Nash has confirmed the bright-line test on residential property sales will be extended from two years to five years in legislation currently making its way through Parliament.

Feb 15, 2018  - The Government’s decision to rule-out funding for embattled company Fletcher Building is a refreshing change from years of corporate welfare and a bad habit of taxpayers’ money being used to bailout private businesses, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, says “The previous Government used our money to bail out Solid Energy, Rio Tinto, and even Mediaworks. It’s great news for taxpayers that the new Government is starting their term by refusing to continue that policy.” “Company bailouts are socialism for the rich. Shareholders don’t have to face any risk for their investment and the average taxpayer ends up footing the bill.” “Sometimes taxpayer groups are accused of always being negative. Here we want to applaud David Parker and his Government for making the principled, moral, and right decision.” | A taxpayers Union release  ||  February 15, 2018   |||

Feb 12, 2018  - Research released today reinforces the need to do more to stop people being unnecessarily killed and injured on our roads, says Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter.

Feb 12, 2018  - The government are planning to sign the re-branded Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Chile on March 8th 2018.

“The TPP might have been re-branded as the CPTPP but it's still the same bad deal”, says Professor Jane Kelsey, New Zealand's expert on international economic regulation.

Professor Kelsey will speak on the current situation of the CPTPP at a public meeting today, Monday 12th February at 6.30pm, in the Ellen Melville Hall, 1 Freyberg Place, Auckland CBD.

Rebranding it as "comprehensive and progressive" doesn't make it any better when it still contains the discredited ISDS (Investor-State Dispute Settlement) provisions which allow foreign investors to challenge the laws and policies of the New Zealand government in off-shore investor-state dispute settlement tribunals,” Professor Kelsey says." “ISDS is unchanged from the original text; it's only some peripheral enforcement options that have been suspended."

The suspended clauses and more could be reinserted into the TPP-11/CPTPP, as it appears there is interest from the US in rejoining. At the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Donald Trump raised the possibility that the US might rejoin the new TPP.

Also speaking will be Dr Burcu Kilic from Public Citizen, Global Trade Watch (US), and Laila Harre, who will speak about the issues confronting the unions, and her assessment of the problems and solutions.

Prior to last year’s election, Labour, New Zealand First and the Green Parties all said that they would not support ratification of the TPP. During the parliamentary examination of the text, Labour cited concerns about sovereignty, secrecy and inadequate economic modelling leading to uncertainty in projected outcomes. The Greens added that the TPP is an obstruction to the imperative of sustainability. New Zealand First focused on the anticipated dangers of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). What has changed?

Local activists remain firmly opposed to the CPTPP. TPP Action Auckland spokesperson Lisa Er says that the concerns about Treaty rights, ISDS, environmental protection, constraints on climate action, and affordable healthcare are issues for all New Zealanders.

In the past there has been much concern from the public. The 3 News Reid Research Poll in November 2015 found, 87 per cent of NZ First voters, 84 per cent of Greens, 73 per cent of Labour, and 23 per cent of National voters opposed the TPP."

"CPTPP is an old-fashioned agreement that privileges multinational corporations over sustainable businesses," Er says, "TPP is not a sustainable agreement for the 21st Century."

Come and hear Professor Kelsey explain what this will mean for New Zealand. There will be an opportunity for questions afterwards.

The Auckland event will also be live streamed from 6.30pm on The Daily Blog at this link for all those who may not be able to make it along to a meeting.

For the details of meetings in other centres, please visit Its Our Future.

Source:  SCoop    ||  February 12, 2018   |||

Feb 08, 2018  - Green MP Julie Anne Genter announced today that she will put her name forward to be the next female co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Feb 04, 2018  _  The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has today released the full breakdown (available here) of Callaghan Innovation’s entertainment expenses for 2015/16.Earlier this month, we revealed Callaghan spent $304,000 on ‘entertainment’ in 2015/16. We can now confirm this was mostly purchases at cafes, bars and restaurants, and we have obtained receipts and explanations for the biggest purchases, showing booze forms up to 40% of a typical Callaghan dinner bill.