Simeon Brown places target on patients' heads
According to legend, this incident launched the struggle for Swiss independence against the Austrian Hapsburgs. Tell came to be widely considered to be the symbolic father of the Swiss Confederacy.
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Newsroom
3 days ago
- Newsroom
Simeon Brown places target on patients' heads
Opinion: Wilhelm Tell had an expert understanding of targets and outcomes. A 14th century folk hero in Switzerland, Tell was an expert marksman with the crossbow – most known for successfully shooting an arrow through an apple on his young son's head. According to legend, this incident launched the struggle for Swiss independence against the Austrian Hapsburgs. Tell came to be widely considered to be the symbolic father of the Swiss Confederacy.
NZ Herald
5 days ago
- NZ Herald
The double tax hitting ratepayers in the pocket, another rate cut looms and concrete data shows hard times roll on
Why is it that local bodies do not receive a share of the GST spent in their area? Local government spends a lot of money providing the services to enable businesses to generate tax dollars. Why not return a portion of this to local government? At the very least, removing a tax on a tax by not charging GST on rates would help councils to keep rates down. Is there an explanation as to why this can't or won't happen? Steve Browne A: Thanks Steve, a couple of good questions there. I wrote on Sunday about the dire state of Auckland's economy. Perhaps your suggestion would offer a way forward. The idea of letting councils have a share of GST has been pitched before. In particular, the New Zealand Initiative (the economic think tank) has been a champion of the idea for several years. The New Zealand Initiative is a strong advocate for more devolved government, giving local councils more say in decision-making and funding them to do it. It has even highlighted the merits of the Swiss model of tax sharing. Switzerland operates as a confederation with three levels of government – federal, cantonal (state), and communal (local). The Government, the federal level, collects income and corporate taxes but is constitutionally required to share a portion with cantons and communes. Currently, cantons receive about 17% of direct federal tax revenue and they often pass some of this down to their communes. In a research paper published in 2019, the New Zealand Initiative's Bryce Wilkinson and Patrick Carvalho argued that local councils bear most of the new development costs, while tax revenue windfalls from the developments flow directly to central government in the form of increased income and GST collections. They advocate for central government to pay local councils for every new house completed within a specified period. 'The payments could be benchmarked on the goods and services tax (GST) charged on residential building (excluding land value), or be a fixed sum,' they said. 'Under the GST model, if each of the 9400 residential building consents issued in Auckland in 2015 resulted in construction, and each home had a build value of $200,000, Auckland ... Council would have netted $282 million.' The idea has gained some serious traction with the coalition Government, which has agreed in theory to look into some kind of GST sharing. As to your other question about paying GST on rates, well, it's a relevant one, but perhaps not for the reason you might have hoped. From what I can see, any suggestion that the Government would give up the GST on rates would likely see it returned to the council rather than to ratepayers directly. But the Government probably won't even go that far, given that it is desperate for revenue at the moment. It looks more like it will limit things to considering returning some of the tax collected on new residential builds to help with infrastructure costs. So, why not? I guess if I have a reservation about devolving power and tax revenue to local councils, it is that they haven't exactly covered themselves in glory when it comes to financial management in the past few decades. I've never had a great deal of faith in central Government to get things done, and if anything, I'm probably more sceptical about the standard of governance at a local level. Smaller councils in particular are vulnerable to the vagaries of low levels of participation in democracy (that's a nice way to say they sometimes elect weirdos and nut jobs). What happens if we divert tax funding to local councils for infrastructure, but they vote for an unrealistic blue-sky project that bankrupts them? I suspect the Government will still be expected to come to the rescue. I worry that New Zealand doesn't have the level of sophistication in local body politics that Switzerland does. These fears may be unfounded. I'm pretty sure the New Zealand Initiative would argue that the low standard of local government simply reflects the low level of influence it has in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps if we funded local government to do more of our governing, the standard would rise. It's probably a moot point, though. The answer to your question as to why this idea isn't taken more seriously is probably simply down to politics. If we can trust central government politicians, from all ends of the spectrum, on one thing, it's that they are not going to be keen to legislate away their own power. Reserve Bank to deliver verdict on economic recovery Next Wednesday, we'll get the first full Monetary Policy Statement from the Reserve Bank (RBNZ) we've had since May. In July – when the RBNZ hit pause on cuts – it was just the shorter Monetary Policy Review, which doesn't include a full set of forecasts. The market, and almost all the local economists, are picking that we'll get a 25-basis-point rate cut, taking the Official Cash Rate (OCR) to 3%. But a lot has changed since May, so most of the interest is likely to be in the new forecast rate track that the RBNZ produces. Evidence that the economic recovery stalled in the second quarter has been pretty strong. We've seen the BNZ/BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing and Performance of Services Index slip back into negative (contractionary) territory. Employment growth has stalled, particularly in the big cities, where unemployment is running much higher than the national average. BNZ head of research Stephen Toplis has taken an early look at what we might expect from the RBNZ next week. 'Our expectation is that the bank will print a rate track not dissimilar to what it printed back in May, namely with a decent chance of a cut to 2.75%,' Toplis said. 'We can see the argument for taking a more cautious approach, especially if the committee feels it does not want to push an incoming new governor into a corner.' 'Equally, an admission that even more work than a 2.75% low might be required is plausible. While 2.75% is our central forecast for the low, we think the odds of 2.5% are marginally higher than a 3% stall.' But Westpac chief economist Kelly Eckhold took a slightly more upbeat tone in his latest Economic Overview. Eckhold is still forecasting the RBNZ to pause again, after next Wednesday's cut, leaving the OCR at 3% for an extended period. 'The near-term economic outlook has weakened slightly since May,' he said. 'Uncertainty associated with the trade war, ongoing cost-of-living pressures and the still slow pass-through of past OCR cuts into household budgets have been weighing on activity.' But so far, the tariff damage to the global economy had not been as bad as expected. And while the pass-through of interest rate reductions had been gradual to date, they would provide 'a sizeable boost to households' disposable incomes and demand more generally over the next six to 12 months'. Here's hoping ... Hard times More evidence of the big slowdown in the second quarter came through on Tuesday with the release of the latest concrete production statistics. Concrete production is a pretty good barometer of the state of the construction sector, which we know has been struggling in the past few months. The news from Stats NZ was not good. In the June 2025 quarter, the actual volume of ready-mixed concrete produced was 891,909 cubic metres, down 10% compared with the June 2024 quarter. That is a big fall. While the completion of big projects such as Auckland's City Rail Link might have compounded the fall, it still likely represents a big slowdown in home building and commercial construction. If you want to visualise the concrete deficit (about 99,000 cubic metres), artificial intelligence (AI) tells me it would be enough to cover Eden Park's main rugby field to a depth of 14m. I'm not sure why Eden Park ... perhaps the AI thinks we should build a new waterfront stadium. But anyway, it's a lot of concrete to not get poured in just one quarter. Annual ready-mixed concrete volumes continued the downward trend which has persisted since volumes peaked at 4.78 million cubic metres in September 2022. Annual volumes of 3.70 million cubic metres in June were 23% below that peak, and the lowest since September 2014. Infometrics economist Matthew Allman noted that annual ready-mixed concrete volumes had continued on the downward trend that has persisted since volumes peaked at 4.78 million cubic metres in September 2022. Annual volumes of 3.70 million cubic metres in June were now 23% below that peak and the lowest since September 2014. The near-term outlook for construction activity remains soft, which will likely prevent a material change in the trend in concrete volumes over the next few quarters, Allman said. Infrastructure activity provides some upside risk for concrete volumes, with the Government focused on progressing major projects heading into the 2026 election. Activity is more likely to show through in 2026 as there currently seems to be a mismatch between intentions and activity in the infrastructure sector. More clues to come We'll see other high-frequency data on Friday, with new monthly numbers for electronic card spending, immigration and tourism (short-term visitors). All of these will be highly relevant to Auckland's economic recovery, given it is largely underpinned by population growth (driving the property sector) and the service sector. FYI, 'high frequency' just means the regular monthly numbers we get for second-tier economic data as opposed to the quarterly numbers we get for the biggies like GDP, inflation and unemployment. All of this stuff will be relevant to the Reserve Bank as it tries to get a handle on the extent of the slowdown. It will be fed into the RBNZ Nowcast, which is its version of the AI-driven, real-time GDP forecaster that has become popular (Massey University and Westpac have their own version). The Nowcast model has New Zealand's economy contracting again from mid to late June and it has been flatlining at about negative 0.3% ever since. It's not clear how much weight the RBNZ puts on this model, but at face value, it will only add to the case for further rate cuts this year. Liam Dann is business editor-at-large for the New Zealand Herald. He is a senior writer and columnist, and also presents and produces videos and podcasts. He joined the Herald in 2003. To sign up to hisweekly newsletter, click on your user profile at and select 'My newsletters'. For a step-by-step guide, click here. If you have a burning question about the quirks or intricacies of economics send it to or leave a message in the comments section.
Otago Daily Times
04-08-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Hamas to allow hostages aid if Israel meets conditions
Hamas said it was prepared to coordinate with the Red Cross to deliver aid to hostages it holds in Gaza, if Israel meets certain conditions. It comes Sunday (local time), after a video it released showing an emaciated captive drew sharp criticism from Western powers. Hamas said any coordination with the Red Cross is contingent upon Israel permanently opening humanitarian corridors and halting airstrikes during the distribution of aid. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Hamas, thus far, has barred humanitarian organizations from having any kind of access to the hostages and families have little or no details of their conditions. On Saturday, Hamas released its second video in two days of Israeli hostage Evyatar David. In it, David, skeletally thin, is shown digging a hole that, he says in the video, is for his own grave. The arm of the individual holding the camera, which can be seen in the frame, is a regular width. The video of David drew criticism from Western powers and horrified Israelis. France, Germany, the UK and the US were among countries to express outrage and Israel's foreign ministry announced that the UN Security Council will hold a special session on Tuesday morning on the issue of the situation of the hostages in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had asked the Red Cross to give humanitarian assistance to the hostages during a conversation with the head of the Swiss-based ICRC's local delegation. A statement from The Hostages Families Forum, which represents relatives of those being held in Gaza, said Hamas' comments about the hostages cannot hide that it "has been holding innocent people in impossible conditions for over 660 days," and demanded their immediate release. "Until their release," said the statement. "Hamas has the obligation to provide them with everything they need. Hamas kidnapped them and they must care for them. Every hostage who dies will be on Hamas's hands." Six more people died of starvation or malnutrition in Gaza over the past 24 hours, its health ministry said on Sunday as Israel said it allowed a delivery of fuel to the enclave, in the throes of a humanitarian disaster after almost two years of war. The new deaths raised the toll of those dying from what international humanitarian agencies say may be an unfolding famine to 175, including 93 children, since the war began, the ministry said. Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said two trucks carrying 107 tons of diesel were set to enter Gaza, months after Israel severely restricted aid access to the enclave before easing it somewhat as starvation began to spread. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, said later in the day that four tankers of UN fuel had entered to help in operations of hospitals, bakeries, public kitchens and other essential services. There was no immediate confirmation whether the two diesel fuel trucks had entered Gaza from Egypt. Gaza's health ministry has said fuel shortages have severely impaired hospital services, forcing doctors to focus on treating only critically ill or injured patients. Fuel shipments have been rare since March, when Israel restricted the flow of aid into the enclave in what it said was pressure on Hamas militants to free the remaining hostages they took in their October 2023 attack on Israel. Israel blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza but, in response to a rising international uproar, it announced steps last week to let more aid reach the population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, approving air drops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. UN agencies say airdrops are insufficient and that Israel must let in far more aid by land and open up access to the territory to prevent starvation among its 2.2 million people, most of whom are displaced amidst vast swathes of rubble. COGAT said that during the past week over 23,000 tons of humanitarian aid in 1,200 trucks had entered Gaza but that hundreds of the trucks had yet to be driven to aid distribution hubs by UN and other international organisations. Meanwhile, Belgium's air force dropped the first in a series of its aid packages into Gaza on Sunday in a joint operation with Jordan, the Belgian defence ministry said. France on Friday started to air-drop 40 tons of humanitarian aid. LOOTED AID TRUCKS The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said on Sunday that nearly 1600 aid trucks had arrived since Israel eased restrictions late in July. However, witnesses and Hamas sources said many of those trucks have been looted by desperate displaced people and armed gangs. More than 700 trucks of fuel entered the Gaza Strip in January and February during a ceasefire before Israel broke it in March in a dispute over terms for extending it and resumed its major offensive. Palestinian local health authorities said at least 80 people had been killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes across the coastal enclave on Sunday. Deaths included persons trying to make their way to aid distribution points in southern and central areas of Gaza, Palestinian medics said. Among those killed was a staff member of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, which said an Israeli strike at its headquarters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza ignited a fire on the first floor of the building. The Gaza war began when Hamas killed more than 1200 people and took 251 hostage in a cross-border attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel's air and ground war in densely populated Gaza has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to enclave health officials.
