Posts by Martin Roberts
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I suspect that the majority of voters don't really understand what an overhang is.
Probably true, Mike. I was surprised at church this morning how few of the National voters had even considered their possible coalition options, which I would have thought a more obvious question. (No idea if the Labour voters were any better - they weren't very talkative.)
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Interesting thought, but of course some of the minor votes may have differed if there was no threshold. On the other hand, I was surprised how many votes were cast for Progressives and UF -- did people really believe they might get to two MPs; did they just want to vote their support; to avoid and overhang; or did they not think about a strategic vote?
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I have heard many stories about the old 'ferry' bus -- none of them very complimentary about how it worked in practice. Two problems come immediately to my mind, in addition to those mentioned above:
1) I don't want to commute over the bridge, but visit friends on Friday night. Will there be a 'ferry' when I want to return home at 2am?
2) Stopping and waiting mid-trip completely changes my weather-management strategy. I rely on staying warm by keeping moving, rather than remaining dry (and somehow not sweating profusely inside my raincoat). -
I also had a chat to the Freedom Farms people, who supply my local butcher with free-range pork.
Your local butcher is probably closer to me than any of the New Worlds listed on the Freedom Farms website. Would you care, please, to share their location?
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Presumably we pay the lowest rate in the world for dairy products, since our milk is priced at the global rate less shipping half-way around the globe. Although that would be more true if we offshored all our value-add factories: cheese would have to be re-imported, but we would have to ship all the milk not just the solids so transport goes up and local milk prices drop. No more blessed are the cheesemakers if they're stealing milk from the mouths of schoolchildren!
Not only do the Greens seem to be turning more populist with 'Food Security', but I am troubled that they are turning inward to kiwi angst where they have often brought a global perspective.
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There may well have been a rise in domestic violence after the All Blacks lost, but my understanding is that there was likely to have been a greater rise in the ABs had actually won. All those millions who had had their manhood affirmed, and wouldn't take no for an answer (according to my preferred interpretation).
There certainly have been studies done overseas on televised sports and violence, but it's been too many years for me to reference you anything. As for NZ statistics, I know that there are some but disappointingly few. I recall meeting a couple of years ago a woman interning(?) with Preventing Violence in the Home, Auckland, who was constructing on a basic list of all women who had been murdered in DV incidents over recent years.
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And let me vote in favour of our anthem. We may have the least nationalistic anthem ever.
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I've been snatching time to look into the salary sacrifice thing, and I can't make it work any differently than for any other super scheme. Your employer can make as large a contribution as they want, but that is subject to Specified Superannuation Contribution Witholding Tax above the lesser of 4% and your contribution. You can still get the company to put in more money for you and save on the marginal tax rate, but that is neither kiwisaver specific nor new.
If you cannot afford the reduction in take-home pay required to contribute 4% then you can always ask your employer to increase your salary by 2% and make occassional contributions to that amount which your employer then matches. The employer is somewhat exposed to your accidentally starting to pay up to the 4%, of course.
Your employer used to be able to pay your side of the contribution as well, but that can no longer count towards the 4% minimum from 2008. There are transitional arrangements involved with that which might give you some short-term advantage, and of course you can get ahead on the SSCWT exemption between July 1 and whenever the full 4% becomes factored into your salary (presumably 2011).
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Martin: Not really sure how the government contribution applies to [part-time
workers] however. Anybody?Graeme: The taxpayer will match their savings up to $20 a week, and their employer'c contribution by up to $20 a week - the same as everyone else.
If you have two part time jobs, can your employers each get up to $20 a week? Perhaps more likely for the unlucky sorts pressured into two fulltime jobs, but getting past $10 subsidy in each job seems like it wouldn't be uncommon.
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Rich- good point that there is more to setting wages than the basic numbers. On the down side for low paid workers, this also means that they could be squeezed to compensate for benefits that they don't get, just because better-paid workers are facing slower wage growth.
This could be particularly bad for part-time workers, doing the same job but getting less pay over the tax year. Not really sure how the government contribution applies to them, however. Anybody?