Fiji’s new Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad says the good policies of the government that are in place will continue.

He said policies would only change through consultation and dialogue.

“People understand the policy direction of the new government,” Professor Prasad said.

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“But that does not mean that tomorrow, we’re going to change every policy or everything that was being done or has been done in the past.

“We will review — we will look at those policies. Good policies that are there will continue.

“It will never be about changing policies willingly without thinking through, without consultation, without dialogue.”

He said one of the hallmarks of the style of the new government would be to make policies with appropriate consultation, appropriate evidence and through dialogue.

“So that the implementation of the policy is not only simple, easy, but also that people understand generally the impact of those policies,” Professor Prasad said.

“So yes, we will do this with humility with understanding and keep good policies and build on good policies that are there.”

Rakesh Kumar is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Million-dollar houses are now being sold in one of Auckland’s lowest-income suburbs and a local politician says New Zealand government failure is allowing the market to drive further inequality and hopelessness.

Last month an unremarkable 1960s weatherboard house on less than a quarter acre section in Ōtara in South Auckland sold for $1.01 million.

Another – which 12 years ago sold for $340,000 – went for $1.1m, more than triple its last sale price in October.

• READ MORE: ANZ calls housing unaffordability an “enormous problem” in NZ

Manukau ward councillor Fa’anānā Efeso Collins said more than 80 percent of Pacific people did not own their own homes, and rising house prices were a cause of pain for his constituents, as rents went up and incomes did not.

“That means there are times where some people have to go without,” Collins said.

“I know there are parents who are decreasing the number of meals they’re having to ensure that the kids are eating enough, and getting three basic meals a day. That’s part of what I call the social trauma that’s being faced by many constituents that I work with.”

He said people felt hopelessness about the situation, which they did not think would get any better.

People ‘have given up’
“I think people have given up. There are many people in the Manukau ward… that have just given up,” he said.

“I’m really disappointed with what the government’s done. I think the government’s thrown money at a banking system that in my view isn’t working, and that’s not going to keep house prices down.”

The new highs in the local housing market served as a reminder to people in a low-income Auckland suburb that housing costs were eating up their paychecks.

“There are parents in Ōtara that I know of that are going without just to keep their babies fed,” one woman in Ōtara’s town centre, who did not want to be named, said.

“Sometimes you hear of parents that don’t eat because their babies need to eat.”

Born and raised in Ōtara – and still living there – she thought the high cost of living was feeding crime.

“It contributes to the poverty in Ōtara. How expensive the houses are is contributing to why there’s such a high crime rate,” she said.

Window washing
“There are heaps of children out here that are window washing because there parents can only just afford the rent. It’s not their fault – they are doing crime, but if they’re doing it to put bread and milk on the table, who can blame them?”

Another woman, a shop owner, said she was a Labour voter but housing was the government’s biggest failure.

“I’ve been living here for 35 years. I would like to buy my own house but I can’t afford to. It’s ridiculous, and now I’m over 60 [years old].”

She had been in paid work her entire adult life, and was only ever just keeping her head above water, she said.

“They’re too greedy, landlords. Every year she’s putting up our rent.

“For nearly six months I [haven’t] cut my hair. I have no money… $35 for a haircut, I can’t afford to pay. House prices must come down in New Zealand.”

One man in Ōtara said Auckland was a city of the haves and the have-nots. Another, without a house at all, said homelessness had broken him.

Economists and banks are not expecting house price rises to plateau any time soon.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

National’s economic policy of temporary tax cuts for next month’s New Zealand general election yesterday proved – if proof be needed – that they are unapologetic neoliberals.

While their claim that with more money in their pockets people will spend more might sound attractive, the reality is that tax cuts always benefit the wealthy and make the lives of folk on lower incomes worse.

Why?

READ MORE: Other Bryan Bruce columns on Asia Pacific Report

Because we know from bitter experience that neoliberal trickle-down theory widens the gap between the rich and the poor and even the most cursory look at National’s tax cuts announcement confirms that a vote for them is a vote for the ME society, not the WE society (especially if they hold political hands with ACT to form the next government).

For example, under National’s scheme if you were to earn between $20,000 and $40,000 a year you would receive roughly an extra $8 a week, while if you were to earn $90,000 and over you would have $58 more in your pocket.

We know that people on low incomes spend every dollar they have just to get by, whereas wealthier people don’t. So high income earners who receive extra money can invest it in things that increase their personal wealth but don’t necessarily contribute to the public good.

Logic also tells you that the less money a government collects the less it has to spend. This means that under National there would be cut backs in vital services like Health and Education – the very things that the rich can already buy but the poor desperately need to stay well in the covid-19 economy and also improve their lot in life.

If Labour were brave
If Labour were brave they would turn this National tax policy on its head with a progressive tax that raised the level for those on incomes over $90,000 and lowered the rate for Kiwis on low incomes, because THAT would be a move in the direction on Well-being and the WE society.

That said, I do think that Labour’s approach of more state involvement in the marketplace, which proved so effective in getting us out of the Great Depression, is a far better way of fixing a broken economy.

The government can create money because it has its own bank. It can also borrow money at very, very low interest rates and pass that benefit on to its citizens in many ways – such as cheaper housing.

Economic policy statements by the Greens such as “People with the least ability to pay tax should pay the least as a proportion of their income, while those who can pay more should do so to contribute to the welfare of society” suggest they want to close the gap between the rich and the poor.

But while their full economic policy certainly contains lot of feel good factors in it, I would really like to see some specifics from them. For example – How much would each income tranche pay in progressive tax and other taxes under a Green-led government? (Since writing this, however, I am now reliably informed the detail is on Page 21 para 12.2 of their policy! This really needs to be upfront info).

NZ First Economic policy ??… umm.. well when I Googled it I found a couple of news items where party leader Winston Peter’s made statements back in March to the effect that there would be no personal or company tax increases and a No to such things as a Capital Gains tax .

Coalition agreement reference
Their approach, as best as I can garner it from news items, would, in my view, put them closer to National’s economic philosophy – ie. that private businesses, more than state intervention in the market place, is the way to deal with the economic crisis we are facing: Their ideas of special tax concessions for certain business start-ups in rural and regional New Zealand, an Instant Asset Write-Off Scheme – allowing small businesses with turnover less than $1 million to claim immediate deductions for new or second-hand plant and equipment purchases such as vehicles, tools and office equipment up to a combined value of $3000 annually and so on.

However if you go to NZ First’s website and click on “policy” you get a reference to the coalition agreement. Nothing is immediately clear and I shouldn’t have to hunt for a party’s economic policy.

If you are looking for a completely different approach to running our economy there are the Social Credit Party and The Opportunities Party, both of which advocate state intervention in the economy.

Social Credit’s website, for example, promotes the idea of using the Reserve Bank to create money rather than the current system where the commercial banks are basically given a licence to do it.

They would get rid of GST and replace it with a Financial Transaction Tax . They want a maximum payment of $20 for all GP and dentist visits, no tax on the first $20,000 of income, no fares on all urban public transport, a “Child Dividend’ of $30 per week for all children under 18, a guaranteed minimum income for all low income earners, a rent-to-own public housing programme an grants for relocation to lower cost parts of the country

The Opportunities Party on the other hand is promoting such things as a Universal Basic Income of $250 a week for everyone no questions asked, the introduction of a property tax, taxing houses the same as other assets and a tax on sugar and junk foods.

Does this help clear the fog of choice in the up coming election for you a bit …or not?

Over to you.

Bryan Bruce is an independent filmmaker and journalist. The Pacific Media Centre is publishing a series of occasional commentaries by him during the NZ election campaign.

TVNZ have made the decision to exclude the Māori Party from their election debates.

The argument being forwarded by TVNZ is that the Māori Party is polling too low to be included.

However, TVNZ is the state broadcaster and the state broadcaster carries larger obligations to New Zealand’s political process and to Māori.

READ MORE: Minor parties hit out at exclusion from multi-party debates

So the decision seems to fly in the face of the broadcaster’s wider obligations.

The seven Māori electorates barely get news oxygen as it is, and while the Māori Party are currently polling 1 percent, a small increase in that number alongside an electorate win would bring two MPs into Parliament.

But those pathways to power aside, the Māori Party represents the only uniquely Māori political aspiration running this election, and banning their leaders from participating in Leader debates seems more 18th century colonialism than 21st Century public broadcasting.

The Māori Party have challenged TVNZ’s decision on this, but if it isn’t overturned, the Leadership debates look set to be a very Pakeha Party discussion which is especially dangerous to Māori seeing as they are the ones who feel the bite of a recession far worse.

Also in the post-covid virus recovery, Māori political aspirations will be silenced.

TVNZ should be ashamed as the public broadcaster.

Martyn Bradbury is the editor of The Daily Blog. This commentary was first published by Waatea News and The Daily Blog.

New Zealand’s National Party has elected Judith Collins as its new leader to replace Todd Muller, with Gerry Brownlee as her deputy to take on the Labour-led coalition government in the September general election.

Collins, 61, was first elected as an MP for Clevedon in 2002 and has been part of six Parliaments.

“I think it’s really important that we all have a common goal … to get rid of the current government and put in place a better government,” she said after emerging from the caucus meeting.

READ MORE: Muller’s ‘bolt from the blue’ resignation

“One of the things that unifies any party is if they see that we’re getting the results that we want … I think you’re going to find that we’re very focused on winning.

“There is no chance at all that I am going to allow … [Prime Minister Jacinda] Ardern to get away with any nonsense to do with our economy. I am going to hold her to account.

“I would say experience, toughness, the ability to make decisions … that would be myself. Jacinda Ardern is someone we should not ever underestimate.”

“We’re actually better. If you look at our team, our experience … it’s all better than Jacinda Ardern and her team.”

No major changes
She said the party’s policies would not see any major changes.

Collins, the MP for Papakura has been the shadow Attorney-General since May and holds the National Party’s spokesperson roles for several areas, including Economic Development, Regional Development and Pike River Re-Entry.

She has previously been the minister for ACC, Corrections, energy and resources, ethnic affairs, ethnic communities, justice, police, revenue and veterans’ affairs.

According to her National Party profile, she holds a Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws with Honours and a Master of Taxation Studies from the University of Auckland and was a lawyer and company director before being elected to parliament.

Brownlee said he was there to support Collins “and the rest of the team and that’s what I’ll be doing”.

He ruled out ever wanting the leadership.

Consideration for Muller
Collins replaces Todd Muller, who resigned this morning, saying it had become clear he was not the best person for the job.

Brownlee offered his sympathies.

“I just was devastated for Todd Muller and his family, I found Todd a wonderful person to work with … I’m sure he will continue to be just that.”

The party would continue to support Muller in what was a difficult time, Collins said. She said it was important that National MPs had no further distractions before the election.

History with scandal or controversy

• Dirty Politics 2014: She was accused of leaking information to her friend and right-wing blogger Cameron Slater in the book Dirty Politics. She resigned from Cabinet after allegations she tried to undermine the Serious Fraud Office director. An inquiry cleared her of wrongdoing. She was reinstated in 2015.
• Oravida 2014: She visited the Shanghai offices of Oravida, of which her husband is a director, while on a taxpayer-funded trip. The company used her photo as a product endorsement.
• Wetlands comments 2014: It emerged swamp kauri had been stockpiled in Northland under the name Oravida Kauri, another business linked to Oravida and Ms Collins’ husband. She outraged environmentalists by telling a reporter she did not care, saying, “Am I the Minister of Wetlands?”
• Brownlee was among former National ministers forced to defend the activities of private investigators under their watch after it emerged insurer Southern Response broke its code of conduct when it used security firm Thompson and Clark to secretly record meetings of earthquake victims. As former Earthquake Recovery Minister Brownlee took issue with the report, saying it used “inflammatory language that’s designed to make the big cost of it more palatable.”

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

Pacific Media Watch News Desk

The largest crowd ever to attend an election campaign rally on Manus greeted Prime Minister Peter O’Neill as he campaigned with Manus Governor Charlie Benjamin and Manus Open candidate Job Pomat, reports EMTV News.

Leading the People’s National Congress (PNC) campaign rally, O’Neill said Manus had great potential from its marine resources, particularly in areas such as fisheries and tourism.

As the campaign draws to the end of eight weeks of campaigning, O’Neill said yesterday now was the time for candidates who had not demonstrated any policy platforms to reveal if they have any policies.

“Now is the time to talk about your policies, to talk about your vision and reveal if you have anything to offer,” the Prime Minister said.

“Candidates need to discuss issues of national importance with a clear set of polices and vision for the nation.

“Instead many, particularly some former leaders, are dropping down to attacking personalities and spreading rumours.

“Our country deserves strong policy platforms from those aspiring to form government, not hollow statements and foolish claims.

‘Start being realistic’
“The candidates who are now part of one-and-two-man parties have to start being realistic.

“You have Sir Mekere [Morauta] saying he will be PM, and so is Don Polye, and Sam Basil, and all the others, but one-and-two is a long way from 56.”

The Prime Minister said he has no intention of debating with any aspirant PM if they could not demonstrate that they had the support of enough opposition members.

“I am not going to waste my time debating someone who does not have the support to potentially lead a parliamentary majority.

“If one of these opposition leaders gets the backing of their counterparts to be the opposition’s candidate for prime minister, they will get their debate.

“If Ben Micah, Patrick Pruaitch, and Belden Namah, and all the other leaders come out and say publicly they are supporting Don Polye, or another leader, they will get their debate.

“But while they are a loose gaggle of dividend group of rivals, this will not happen.”

Western eyes ‘a mistake’
The Prime Minister said the mistake some commentators made was to look at the PNG  election through Western eyes.

“In Australia, historically opposition leaders are often just a few seats away from forming government.

“In Papua New Guinea, the Opposition Leader is more than 50 seats away from forming government.

“The same goes for Mekere, he is just one of the 3000 plus candidates in this election.

“He has no party support, he is yesterday’s man who abandoned his own party that he founded. He has no principles or loyalty, so why would any of the opposition leaders want to follow him?”

The Prime Minister thanked Manus for the hospitality they extended to the PNC delegation and promised them that Charlie Benjamin and Job Pomat would work hard for Manus and further improve lives.

“Manus has huge potential in tourism and fisheries, and has the potential to keep advancing.

“A lot has changed in Manus over the past five years, and communities are economically stronger than in decades past.

“We must keep changing Manus, we must keep staying strong and deliver an even stronger economy for our nation and for provinces like Manus.”