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Friday Night Free For All

Yes it's Friday and it's still Free. That's because the government, in all its various guises hasn't yet decided to "solve" another problem by taxing blogs. Or conversations for that matter.

The latest new tax idea is a "congestion tax" for people driving into the city from one or two roads. Interestingly, whilst such taxes are often touted as the "fairest thing to do" there is no suggestion of taxing drivers living in the Airport Suburbs, or over Karori way, or driving down from the back roads of Johnsonville.

Secondly, this congestion tax is on top of a newly added regional petrol tax, instigated to raise funds for regional roading projects. In addition to our general taxes, rates and the current huge set of taxes on fuel.

And the government is also talking of increasing car registration rates, making third party insurance mandatory and the Greens want to add more taxes to pay for carbon emissions. Apparently, there is no problem that cannot be solved by another tax. Look at the IRD, you pay your tax late and you get penalty taxes.

But to a lefty, the money that represents your payment for work was never yours, so they have no compunction in taking it any way they can.

Comments

  1. Good evening

    But have any of the proponents of the scheme traveled on public transport in the time bands they are proposing. Trains from our way are packed now so forcing more people into them will not work because there is no spare capacity.

    Also there needs to be true cross town integration or new buses to allow people like my daughter to get to work which using public transport requires a bus, a train and another bus, she uses the convenient alternative it is called a car, it is cost competitive and saves her at least an hour a day.

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  2. Hi there. Yes, it seems taxes come before any promises of exactly what they'll buy. It seems to me they need to improve public transport at least at the same time as charging for it.

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  3. digi - they don't care about no capacity on trains etc. They just want to tax evil motorists. There's no thought process here, just ideology.

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  4. It's worse. I see in the local rag they are canceling plans to build a train station at Raumati South, after many years of promises. They reckon not enough people will use it.

    So much for investing for the future. This attitude is so ridiculous, especially in light of demands to use public transport and ideas to tax people into moving to public transport.

    This was also an "election issue" last year, with an about face this year, now that the votes have been counted.

    There will be several councilors who will no doubt change their tune yet again coming up to the next election, and pledge to have a "fresh look at the issue". Well, I'm not going to have a fresh look. I'm going to have a long look at their broken promises and vote accordingly.

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  5. Evening everyone.
    Are we bracing ourselves for recession?
    Dp we seek sanctuary in Australia?
    Or in a nice public sector job.
    I'm aiming for the latter at the moment, having tried the former.

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  6. Evening all.
    FFM, I take it your comment about preferring a public sector job in NZ being preferable to standing on your own two feet in Oz was sarcasm?
    Or are you really planning to become yet another useless journo on the public tit?

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  7. The name of the game is "media officer". Not only do they get paid more than a decent journalist, but it would seem a flair for spin is a requirement.

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  8. And tonights movie is "Gabriel": Between Heaven and Hell lies the fate of mankind.

    The back cover features an Angel with a gun. It would seem the traditional "love thine enemies" message is backed up with "dead or alive".

    A review will follow....

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  9. ZT is very close
    Communications Advisor
    And he's right
    it pays a damn site more than working for yourself or for someone else as a journalist
    I also get to work with people instead of being home alone
    So like a good capitalist I am going where I can sell my talents for best price
    I have other irons in the fire
    but the public sector role looks most promising of the possibilities to date
    And if there's a taxpayer-funded tit to suck, better a vrwc member suckle it than someone else.
    Anyway, KG, don't worry its local government not central government we are talking.
    I'll only do that when John Boy is PM.

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  10. "So like a good capitalist I am going where I can sell my talents for best price"
    Sorry Fairfacts, much as I like your stuff I can't agree.
    A good capitalist doesn't make a living off taxes ripped off from others--in the criminal courts that's known as receiving stolen goods. ;-)
    And since buying a house, I'd venture to say that local government is no better than the Labour thieves. They charge for services they don't provide and charge owners for doing what they wish to do with their own property.

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  11. But if the public sector is just left to lefties, is it surprising its grows and and grows
    How can we complain of the lack of public sector neutrality if the right leaves it wide open for the left to take all the jobs?
    I agree about your point about value for money from rates, KG.
    I hope I did not blow it when I criticised one of their pet public transport initiatives.
    As for a mortgage, working freelance won't make it possible for me to obtain one as earnings fluctuate.
    A steady income, 40-50% higher than present will convince the banks to make it possible.
    Idealogical purity is fine but it comes at a price.

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  12. save your money and hang around FF.

    Things are going to get rough. There are likely to be a lot more realistic house prices soon.

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  13. Evening all. What a week. Maybe I can forget it by cutting firewood all weekend.


    George

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  14. It sure does come at a price.
    I sympathise with the problem about income--in the end it comes down to doing what's necessary to provide for a family, doesn't it?
    Don't mind me, I just feel that sometimes we're weighed down by a huge bureaucratic monkey on our backs and if only we could shake it free, then we'd be able to get on with living instead of providing that monkey with a very comfortable lifestyle.
    I was struck by a mail I got from a friend in the U.S. the other day. She decided to build a garden shed out of half-inch ply, some 2x4's and a lot of bolts and nails etc. Total cost from Home Depot: $160!
    We'd be very lucky to just buy two sheets of ply for that much.
    i realise there's such a thing as economies of scale, but we make plywood by the millions of square metres in this country.
    Compliance costs, non-productive bureaucrats and just plain ripoffs are making life far harder than it needs to be.
    So I'm just feeling a little niggly right now.

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  15. G'day George. The forecast is for 2 degrees here tomorrow night. Firewood sounds like a good idea...

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  16. I rant often on this topic, but there is honourable work in the Government and Local Government.

    I've also met good people doing good work across all levels of government.

    It's just a pity that these organisations are always naturally moving to bureaucratic inertia with the continual deviation from core services.

    I shall expand on my cures in a future post!

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  17. I look forward to it. And perhaps it'll be something of a moderator of my one-eyed loathing of all forms of government.

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  18. Don’t ask me what I want it for
    (Ah Ah! Mister Cullen!)
    If you don’t want to pay some more
    (Ah Ah! Ms Clark!),
    ‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
    Yeeeah, I’m the Taxman.*

    *Apologies to the Beatles.

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  19. I shall expand on my cures in a future post!

    I'll try to include a section on ordinance.

    Ordinance: Or*dain"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ordained; p. pr. & vb. n. Ordaining.] [OE. ordeinen, OF. ordener, F. ordonner, fr. L. ordinare, from ordo, ordinis, order. See Order, and cf. Ordinance.]

    1. To set in order; to arrange according to rule; to regulate; to set; to establish. "Battle well ordained." --Spenser.

    1. an authoritative rule [syn: regulation]
    2. a statute enacted by a city government
    3. the act of ordaining; the act of conferring (or receiving) holy orders; "the rabbi's family was present for his ordination" [syn: ordination]

    Ordinance: Ord"nance\, n. [From OE. ordenance, referring orig. to the bore or size of the cannon. See Ordinance.] Heavy weapons of warfare; cannon, or great guns, mortars, and howitzers; artillery; sometimes, a general term for all weapons and appliances used in war.

    Which meaning of the word ordinance? You decide :-)

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  20. re garden shed.
    I waited 2 months for a building permit on a basic 9x9m lean-to. Six posts and a roof. The permit and engineers report cost $800. A significant fraction of the total cost.

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  21. ditto. Time to strangle a few bureaucrats, methinks....

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