The SME Stream

Tell me something: does what’s just happened with the Golden Mile upgrade in Wellington restore your faith in the possibility that councils can actually be run properly?

Because that thing - I don’t know if you’ve been following it over the years - but the Golden Mile upgrade has been an albatross around the necks of Wellington business owners and ratepayers since probably about 2016.

It was always going to be too expensive, especially when it tripled in price. It was always going to kill businesses once construction started and cars were banned from driving on the Golden Mile.

And it was always going to be one of the most frustrating examples of a Labour-Green majority council, obsessed with its hatred of cars, forcing through its pet project despite howls of outrage from the public - who would end up paying for it in more ways than one.

This went on for years and years: the public saying “please don’t,” the council saying, “nah, we’re gonna.” It just went on and on.
Then Andrew Little arrived - the first good mayor since Kerry Prendergast left office in 2010 - and everything changed. Within six months, the Golden Mile project was dead.

Even councillors who had previously voted for it, like Ben McNulty, changed their votes and killed it off - presumably because that’s what a good leader does. They take people with them. They change people’s minds.

Andrew Little is like a new broom in that city. He’s killed off the most vexed and controversial project. He’s fired a warning shot at the consultants that he is not prepared to pay endless bills for a cast of thousands to tell him what two or three people could.

He’s forced council staff to cut back on ridiculously high budgets. He’s immediately reduced the infighting around the table. He’s the grown-up who has taken over after 15 years of the kids trying to run the place themselves.

For the first time in a very, very long time, Wellington City Council is not the worst council in the country.

It restores your faith, doesn’t it? All you need is a decent candidate to put their hand up, and even the worst-run place can actually be rescued.

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Very shortly public voting will be underway for the Spark Retail NZ's People's Choice award.

The People’s Choice Award recognises a retailer that has made a genuine, positive impact on its customers.

Retail NZ Chief Executive Carolyn Young said it's important to allow Kiwis to have a say in who they think deserves the award.

Voting is open from Friday the 26th, and the awards ceremony will be on the 3rd of September.

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As the election gets closer, parties are starting to release their policies. And after a slow start, keeping their cards close to their chest, Labour's building up steam. We already had the three free doctors visits for all, now we've got free maternity scans and a promise to scrap the $5 fee on prescriptions and make them universally free. Add that to the free public transport, well, up to a point, $20 in the major cities and $10 everywhere else, and that capital gains tax is going to be working overtime to pay for it all. So far, so Labour. But I'm not really sure about the Oprah-fication of Labour's policies. "You get a doctor's visit, and you get a doctor's visit, and here's one for you too. You get a free bus ride, and here's a free bus ride for you, and one for you as well." 

I understand that universal allowances, free bus rides for all, means less admin as opposed to targeted assistance, which if the administration and the paperwork for that didn't exist, would be a faff. But it does. The admin's already been done to reach those who need help the most. We have the community services card. So why not link the three free GP visits, the free bus trips, the free maternity scans to the community services card? And when I say free, I mean taxpayer funded. There is no such thing as free.  

So why would the taxpayer be funding free public transport, free doctor's visits, free prescriptions for people who don't need it? I don't think anybody would object to trying to keep pregnant mums healthy, to trying to keep the community healthy, to trying to prevent people from going into hospital because they can't afford to go to the doctor or pick up prescriptions. We're all in it for that, and even if you don't care about people, you only care about the sums, if you do the sums, it pays off for people to be seen by their primary healthcare provider so they don't end up in hospital. All makes perfect sense. 

What doesn't make sense is why the taxpayer is funding all of these things for people who do not need it. And you can't even say no thank you very much to some of them. I totally get that one of the platforms of Labour's policies is health, and they want to make sure that we keep people out of hospitals. Absolutely fine. But when Chris Hipkins was talking to Heather du Plessis Allan yesterday afternoon about the 150,000 people who aren't picking up prescriptions, I am not convinced that all of those people were avoiding picking up their prescriptions because of cost. Some of them can't be bothered. You know, buses are put on to remote areas to take people to their hospital appointments. Short of picking them up in a sedan chair and carrying them on the shoulders of the healthy and the hale to get them to their hospital appointments, you could not make it any easier. But I've heard from nurses and doctors and people themselves that they don't go. They take the free bus and then they go shopping in Whangārei, even though they've got an appointment. They don't bother telling people they're not going to turn up. So there'll be people who just can't be bothered. They don't prioritise their own health, they've got other things they're prioritising and it's not their own health. There are people who don't like taking pills, thinking oh for heaven's sake, you're asking me to take another pill, I'm already taking three, I don't want to take a fourth. There are people who'll be feeling better, think nah, don't need this one. 

I am not entirely convinced that when he says 150,000 people aren't picking up prescriptions, that a) those numbers are right, because we're hearing a lot of numbers being thrown around by every party over all of their policies. I'm not entirely convinced about that. I'm not convinced about the cost. All I would like is targeted assistance to people who need it. As a taxpayer, I am perfectly happy to fund any kind of policy that will help make life a little bit easier and ultimately save us money in the long run by looking after people. The community services card exists to help those who need a little bit extra. Use that. The rest of us are fine. 

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The Prime Minister's blasting the Greens' wealth tax, saying it would make Kiwis poorer and drive away investment.

The party's proposing a 2.5% tax on net assets above 10 million dollars, excluding the family home - alongside income tax cuts for people earning under %160,000 dollars.

Chris Luxon says National's focused on growing the economy, while Labour has an 18-billion-dollar hole in its plans.

He told Mike Hosking that Labour would have to cover it through higher taxes or more debt, while their partner is coming out with financial lunacy.

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On the One Roof Radio Show Harcourts Managing Director Bryan Thomson joins Tim Beveridge to talk about how a Capital Gains Tax would affect the property market. 

And The Opportunity Party proposed a land tax on urban residential properties, and Bryan isn't keen on the idea.

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As business owners, you know how hard it is keeping up with your business, let alone the news. Join Wilhelmina O'Keeffe each week as she gives you a rundown of the biggest stories that could impact your business, so you can make informed decisions with expert advice. 

This week, The latest GDP figures are labelled the calm before the storm, a deal has been struck between the US and Iran so will that mean a road to recovery? Plus consumer confidence takes a hit, but retail spend is still up.

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Our economy was well on the way to recovery, driven by a resurgence in manufacturing, before the fuel crisis hit. 

Stats NZ data out today shows GDP rose 0.8% in both the quarter and year to March. 

Equipment manufacturing, food production, accounting and businesses services, wholesale trade, and agriculture were all doing well. 

But mining had a big drop, as well as residential and non-residential construction. 

NZ Herald Business Editor Liam Dann joined Kerre Woodham to unpack the figure. 

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New Zealand's continuing to feel the knock-on effects of continuing economic downturn - but is there light at the end of the tunnel? 

The latest data shows GDP rose 0.8 percent in the March quarter, before the fuel crisis started to hit.

However, EMA Head of Advocacy Alan McDonald is urging caution at this stage.

"Everyone's kind of hedging their bets a little, but those underlying good factors that were evident in those numbers...they're still there. But some of the intentions to hire and invest - understandably, it's gone on hold."

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New Zealand's economic recovery had been gaining momentum before the Iran war and fuel crisis hit.

Today's figures show GDP rose 0.8 percent in the March quarter.

That was driven by manufacturing, business services and wholesale trade, particularly production of equipment and food.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says there's still indicators the economy could rebound - assuming the US-Iran peace deal holds up.

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Nicola Willis says the Government's focused on the country's long-term economic outlook. 

GDP's risen 0.8% in the March quarter. 

The Economic Growth Minister says the June quarter won't be as sunny, as many businesses and households have been hit hard by the Iran war and fuel crisis. 

But she told Mike Hosking the global oil prices are tracking lower than Treasury had forecast. 

She says there's every reason to believe that flows through to lower prices at the pump, lower inflation, and better prospects for the economy overall. 

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