Attracting overseas investment: A step forward, but not far enough
THE FACTS
The Government's Overseas Investment (Amendment) Bill is more good than bad.
It is more welcoming of incoming overseas investment.
That is good for several reasons. First, billions of dollars need to be invested in infrastructure.
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NZ Herald
a minute ago
- NZ Herald
Frank: Stories from the South, ep. 12 – The fastest growing district in New Zealand
'A lot of our population was born overseas, and that proportion is growing all the time,' says Broughton. Last month, the mayor attended a celebration of citizenship at the Dunsandel Community Centre. 'Over 100 people,' he tells Frank Film. 'All new people in Selwyn, and all new people to New Zealand and they're all becoming citizens.' The appeal of the district, according to Broughton, also lies in its booming agricultural, industrial, manufacturing and construction industries. He points to the new homes being built, the new library and the industrial park currently providing 1200 jobs, many for people commuting from Christchurch. 'This has turned into the place where New Zealanders want to be, where things are happening, where jobs are available,' he says. But population growth has its complications. In 2000, the number of dairy cows in the Selwyn district was 59,900. That number almost tripled in under 25 years, reaching more than 176,000 last year. Selwyn is undergoing rapid transformation and is described as "the place where things are happening". Photo / Frank Film 'I think that the intensification of land use has both positive and adverse effects,' says Broughton, acknowledging the impact of dairying on the district's waterways. Selwyn District Council is currently investing $5 million into finding low-nitrate water sources to supply the district. Selwyn is also home to some of the most productive soil in the country, land Broughton warns is irreplaceable. 'If we lose that to housing, then it's gone,' he says. But that decision no longer comes down to local government. 'We sort of had red lines drawn around our towns about where growth would and wouldn't happen', Broughton says. In July 2024, the Government's National Policy Statement on Urban Development changed the requirements for councils to free up land for housing. 'The Government changed the rules and basically said, 'If you've got land on the edge of an existing town and the infrastructure is there to provide capacity for urban growth, then that urban growth can occur',' he says. Selwyn Mayor Sam Broughton says there are job prospects and challenges arising from the district's growth. Photo / Frank Film Other aspects of Selwyn's growth are also in the hands of central Government. 'What's missing in that planning, and local council doesn't have control over it, is where schools go and where new hospitals and GPs are,' he says. Even today, with its burgeoning population, the district still does not have its own hospital. 'Sure, community needs new roads and it needs water supplies, but a great community has also got those other social services that are the central Government's responsibility.' He compares Rolleston to Timaru, which, despite having a smaller population, has four high schools. Rolleston has one. 'We need more classrooms here,' says Broughton. 'There's a second campus being built at the moment, but I think we also need a second school or provision for that.' The population of Selwyn is expected to almost double in 30 years. Photo / Frank Film When it opened seven years ago, Rolleston College had 225 kids. 'Now, we've got just under 1900,' says principal Rachel Skelton. Lincoln University is also growing quickly, receiving a record-breaking 5500 enrolments this year. Broughton was 35 when he was first elected mayor in 2016. Raised on a farm near Darfield, job opportunities then, he says, were 'always elsewhere'. Now, he recognises the university as playing a pivotal role in shaping Selwyn's increasingly diverse population. 'I've seen a massive change in the ethnic make-up of Selwyn. It's really exciting, and I think the centre of that was around Lincoln University, people being attracted internationally to come and study, and then found out how good Selwyn was and decided to stay.' One resident who immigrated from India says living in Selwyn has brought him 'peace of mind'. 'It's such a lovely place, and community, and relaxed environment,' says another resident from Chile. 'The only thing that I can say from my perspective as a foreigner is just that we have to look after what is provided to us, because sometimes we take things for granted here.'
NZ Herald
2 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Government overcooked spending during pandemic, against official advice, harming economy
This year's is on how fiscal policy – taxing and spending – should be used to respond to economic shocks. Treasury's calculation of the size of the Covid response. Graph / Treasury Its main finding, learning from the Covid-19 pandemic, was that fiscal policy should be used sparingly, with the Reserve Bank taking the lead on managing the economic cycle using its monetary policy tools like the Official Cash Rate. 'Polite, but its conclusions are damning' – Willis The report lands in the midst of a protracted economic downturn, with both the Government and the Opposition pointing the finger at each other over who is responsible. The Government blames Labour for excessive, inflationary and unsustainable spending that prompted the Reserve Bank to plunge the economy into recession with high interest rates. Labour blames the Government for cutting spending and axing infrastructure projects. Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the report validated the Government's concerns about Labour's spending. 'Treasury's language is spare and polite, but its conclusions are damning,' Willis said. 'The report makes clear significant errors were made in the fiscal response to Covid.' Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the report validated her concerns. Photo / Mark Mitchell Willis pointed in particular to Treasury's criticism of the last Government for spending the Covid-19 fund on things that were only tangentially related to the Covid response, such as the school lunch programme. The report said the fund was established in May 2020 to 'support a timely economic response and public confidence'. However, it added that 'as the economy recovered, the then Government was advised against further stimulating, in favour of more targeted support'. Willis said the Government 'ignored' that advice, favouring 'undisciplined spending that pushed up inflation, eroded New Zealand's previously low public debt position, and fuelled a cost-of-living crisis that many families are still suffering from'. Labour has been approached for comment. Just ahead of Budget 2022, the then Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the Government struck the right 'balance'. 'There were and are no costless decisions. Doing less would have seen unemployment grow, or put people's health at risk,' Robertson said. Treasury told Govt to ease up on spending Treasury outlined a history of its advice during the pandemic. It said that initially, it had encouraged the Government to spend money to support the economy through things like the wage subsidy. However in late '2020 and into 2021 ... Treasury started to move away from recommending broad-based fiscal stimulus to support the economy towards more targeted and moderate fiscal support'. After the 2020 election, Treasury said it informed Robertson that there was 'adequate' fiscal space to support the economic recovery and space for 'further temporary support if the economic or public health situation deteriorated'. However, officials also 'highlighted the importance of controlling ongoing spending and ensuring it was high value to meet the medium-term fiscal challenge'. By August 2021, the beginning of Auckland's long lockdown, Treasury warned that any support to businesses should 'take account of macroeconomic trade-offs'. By Budget 2022, Treasury said it was recommending 'against any further stimulus'. The briefing noted that five years on from the beginning of the pandemic, spending is still close to its pandemic-era peak and has only been partly offset by higher revenue. Higher debt-servicing costs are weighing on the Government's balance sheet and lower GDP has 'contributed to the deficit both directly, by leading to a smaller tax base and lower revenue than anticipated, and indirectly, as spending plans were based on revenue expectations that did not eventuate'. The Covid fund was closed in 2022, ending that era of stimulus and Budget 2023 ended up being more stimulatory than planned thanks to the Auckland Floods and Cyclone Gabrielle. Unlikely comparison between Labour Govt and Ruth Richardson The briefing made an unlikely comparison between the Labour Government of Dame Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins and the fiscal policy of National Finance Minister Ruth Richardson. Treasury noted that fiscal policy can be counter-cyclical, which means it tries to counter and blunt the business cycle by, for example, spending money during a downturn to stimulate an economy, or saving during an upswing to cool an overheating one; or fiscal policy can be pro-cyclical – this means exacerbating a business cycle by spending money when an economy is hot or cutting back when an economy is shrinking. Treasury noted that the responses to the Asian Financial Crisis and the GFC had been accidentally counter-cyclical thanks to pre-promised tax cuts, however, fiscal policy was 'pro-cyclical in the early 1990s and during 2021-2023″. It said in the 1990s, 'pressures on fiscal sustainability motivated fiscal consolidation even as the economy was in recession'. In the case of the Covid response, the Government thought it was engaged in a counter-cyclical response to a 'severe economic downturn', however 'from late 2020, the economy turned out to be much stronger than expected (perhaps, in part, caused by the strength of fiscal stimulus itself)'. 'Combined with expenditure that was enduring rather than temporary, this resulted in large fiscal deficits while the economy was overheating.' The current Government is facing similar criticism for being pro-cyclical. Much like the Governments of the 1990s, it is trying to pull back spending to rebuild the balance sheet at a time of economic weakness. The Government was criticised for spending Covid money on school lunches. Photo / Liam Clayton How much was spent? Of the 20% of GDP spent on the pandemic, about half was spent on direct pandemic economic and health initiatives. Thirty-five per cent was spent on wage subsidies 'and similar schemes during lockdowns' and a further 18% 'arose from health-system costs such as vaccination and contact tracing, along with managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) costs'. The parties that now form the Government broadly agreed with this spending at the time – National, at some points, called for spending on wage subsidies to be even greater. The remainder of the response was 'made up of a wide range of initiatives with varied objectives', Treasury said. Some initiatives were 'aimed at more directly responding to the impacts of Covid-19 and others aimed at providing fiscal stimulus or achieving social or environmental objectives'. These included tax changes, training schemes, housing construction, shovel-ready infrastructure projects, increases to welfare benefits, the Small Business Cashflow Scheme, Jobs for Nature, additional public housing places and school lunches. The then Opposition disagreed with much of this spending. Lessons for next time In a foreword to the report, Treasury Secretary Iain Rennie noted that increased use of fiscal support during shocks had 'contributed to public debt ratcheting up over time'. Rennie warned that if nothing changes, 'this leaves future generations with less financial capacity to respond to shocks'. The recommendations from the report note the Government needs to get better at saving money when the economy is booming to ensure there is fiscal space to support the economy when times are grim. When times are grim, the Government should allow the 'automatic stabilisers' to kick in, spending money on increased benefit payments. Managing the ups and downs of the economy should mostly be left to the Reserve Bank – a conclusion reached in Treasury's draft report, published earlier. 'Monetary policy changes can be reversed more readily and can often be implemented faster. The Government's spending and taxation decisions should generally seek to optimise long-run value for money rather than moderating economic cycles,' Treasury said. This does not mean there is no role for the Government. If monetary policy is constrained or at extremes – as it was at points during the pandemic – Government spending can kick in. Or, if interest rates can fall further, the Government could restrain spending to 'help moderate booms that would otherwise result in interest rates or the exchange rate becoming extremely high'. Treasury also said fiscal policy could be used to ease some of the distributional impacts of monetary policy, which can be blunt. Monetary policy during the pandemic was largely responsible for the housing boom and bust.
NZ Herald
2 hours ago
- NZ Herald
MetService National Weather August 7
Foreshore and seabed bill to pass and cyber security concerns | NZ Herald News Update The Government plans to pass the Marine and Coastal Area Bill despite Supreme Court ruling and growing concerns over New Zealand's cyber security. Video / Herald NOW
