FIRST WITH YESTERDAY'S NEWS (highlights from Thursday on Newstalk ZB) Quite Boring, But Probably Important/Farms Beat Forests/Kainga Ora's Controversial Carpet Conversation/Marcus Goes to a 3-Way/Christmas Loopholes
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Hello, my beautiful beanies, and welcome to the bean for Friday. First of yesterday's news. I am Glen Hart and we are looking back at Thursday. The forestry versus farm debate has seems to have swung fully back towards farming again, tapp into that shortly.
Conga Order's carpet controversial.
Marcus goes to the rebranded parent Teacher interview and who has the best Christmas party? We'll go to somebody who goes to several so they'll be able to tell us. But before any of that, Andrew Dickens just has a look at the generally what's going on there.
If you look at government debt to GDP, there was around about ninety percent at the end of last year, not good. Private debt is at one hundred and forty percent. That's you and I at forty percent of GDP. That's private debt. Some of that is working capital for businesses, but most of it is in mortgages. It's in houses and not in businesses and in jobs, which is why when the Reserve Bank puts the squeeze on interest rates, we slump into a recession quick smart and round about. Now you're going to say, here goes Dickens. He's going to say we need a capital gains tax. But you'll be wrong because I'm part of the problem. I'm sixty one, I'd be working for forty years. I've got a portfolio of four properties. This is the best way to ensure personal financial growth. We've all known it. We've known it for generations. Even though I know it's not great for the country, it's great for me. We're all saying this. I don't want a capital gains tax, but at least I'm honest about it. And if anybody thinks that they can change this fundamental structural problem that New Zealand has fallen into over fifty years year dreaming it would lead to a very long winter of economic discontent and are painfully slow recovery. The only thing we can really do is try and make the share market work, try and make liquid investments work, make them more attractive, make them more lucrative, because at the moment we stick them into asset classes and property and maybe you could drop corporate taxt levels or maybe capital gains on the share market. Maybe that makes a lot more sense. But if we don't watch out, we will end out dirt poor, with a lot of property that looks very nice and maybe some nice art, but no jobs.
Can we just if this one thing out of twenty five I would like to see sort of that time of year we start looking forward?
Isn't it for next year?
Can we get people to stop describing bad times.
As a winter of discontent because it's.
Just the most misquoted quote or misused quote and literary history if you ask me, because you know the discontent was coming to an end. That's why it was the winter of the discontent. It wasn't a winter of discontent. It was the end of discontent. And that's what I hope twenty twenty five or b have I got a little bit bogged down on that.
Probably news talk has it been okay?
So it seems like the government's stepping in and telling farmers they can't sell to forestry or plant trees or something.
Trees are bad. Now farm's good.
We don't have to be bigger, better than more morally robust than China or the US or all of those countries where it absolutely matters. So there's that, there's that part of it. We must do our bit. We must be the most efficient in the cleanest possible way. That's a great goal, but setting arbitrary targets that most countries are failing to meet it just seems pointless. I'd love to hear from the farmers themselves, you've got one shot when you sell the farm. Is this going to mean you're not going to get the best possible price, or that the price will be reduced somewhat because you're not going to have the same competition when you had foresters looking to put the farm into pine forest? And what's going to mean for the rural communities too? Is this an injection a rejuvenation of rural communities that have slowly been dying.
I've a sort of.
A slight uncomfortable feeling about the artificiality of all of this. It seems strange that this particular government seems to be resisting market forces in this way.
I've probably got it wrong. I don't understand how any of this stuff works.
Shouldn't even be commenting on it? Talk right the controversial carpet conversation.
Or the CCC is I like to call.
It, in fact, the Cooinger Order controversial tarfet conversation ACCC.
Let's just get into it, and it.
Happens despite a coalition agreement deal with New Zealand. First ensuring we're practical, and that might be the caveat that Ko is using here to get out of wool, that the local product be used in government procurement and in government buildings. But Ko, like a good kid in class, has been listening to the government's main lecture, which has cut costs. Wool is thirty percent more expensive on average in carpets for state houses than the nylon equivalent. But the industry, says KO, and the deal could revitalize a flailing product and its fortunes. So we have a clash of competing priorities cost versus localism. The answer to the question posed at the start of this is another question, which is never It's kind of annoying when people do that, But here we are what is the net benefit to New Zealand's economy as a whole of government buying wool carpet, including the jobs that you would create, including the spending that you would encourage, and the increased cost of wool on the taxpayer. That surely is your number. That is the number that you would base a decision on whether to use a new Zealand made product over a synthetic, imported equivalent.
This is just the team new thing well over again, isn't it. We're supposed to feel guilty about buying cheap stuff.
So are we supposed to feel guilty about that?
Or are we just going to turn a blind eye to because I mean, if it's cheaper, you know what's involved in making stuff cheaper?
We all do, and we will pretend that it's not.
Sometimes that week's bit more convenient and it costs us this money.
We know that somebody is being exploited somewhere. The cheap you know, it's the economy, isn't it.
You've got to its best for then.
I mean, right now, it's that time of year.
If you're a parent, you've probably got to go and see the teachers.
Oh yeah, sure, what's it called?
Now?
I had I had parent teachers interviews to that school.
Get this.
They call it a three way. Yeah, they call it a three way because the teachers, the parents, and the pupils. So we had our three way today, so I said for the three way, although there was actually five of us because the two kids are in the same class. So there was the teacher, the two children the same class, and me and my partner. And then the teacher said any questions, and I said, yes, which of the children do you prefer? She wouldn't answer that, which I thought was very fair. But anyway, that was kind of how it went. It was the three way, which was the five ways. So anyway, it was good, very good.
Nothing like the joy of sitting on a child's chair as you always do.
For the three way.
Anyway, that's my story. That was I had some other funny things. I said, I forget what they were. Let's get a bit of a high going back into the classroom. Anyway, that was that. That was all very good. Kids were delightful. I'll be too scared of a child to go along to a three way, but the kids loved it and they go They liked the teacher, so that was exciting. Then I just went into a ramble we planned for the holiday's discussion.
So that was good.
Something that was a three way.
Yeah, I don't know that it was called the three way with my kids.
I think we had student lead I think they were called student.
Lead interviews where the students presented their quote learning journeys unquote. All I know is that whenever I had to go back into the school, I just would suffer from PDSD.
My vision would start.
To swim, my head would spin around, I'd get busy.
Sometimes worse consciousness.
So yeah, I never you did what because you're talking about I was just thought the list we're just trying to.
Get through without throwing.
Up news talk.
Has it been.
Many ways similar to you know, waking up in the morning after with a terrible hangover.
So I feel like every time I have to go back to the school, which I don't really have to do it all these days, it's fantastic. We're going to finish up here.
Speaking of hangovers, there's a been a bit of talk about Christmas parties because it is Christmas party season this week, and obviously the public service Christmas parties sound absolutely terrible.
But this bloke, it sounds like it gets to go to a few different ones.
Being a subcontract, you know, just contracting out the different people you do work for them, you howking to other companies knew it when it comes to meat puts.
Mate. We're getting border to so many and that gets hard, and that's the best way to do it. Pick and choose who's got the best way? Who's it? You know, I'm not bringing six bucks to play for you. A lot gets so many invitations.
Yeah, they're looking they're looking to I guess you're in a different circumstance though. They're looking to whine and dine you, aren't they They're they're looking to say thank you for for for what you've done for them across the year.
I think it's that too. But the other thing too is that's the relationships you build with the guys you work with. And it is hard because I'd like to be with them and they're different and you're all invited, but it shows how it's changed with you. But too, because there's a lot of guys out there who work like us who don't have a Christmas function. Well we kind of do, but I'm not going to talk about that on it.
But you know, it's neat that other people recognize it and want to include us.
Yeah, and that's the yeah.
Yeah, as a subby who lets loose the most parts, that's the plumber isn't.
It chippees mate, Yeah, yeah.
Yet life.
As opposed as opposed to Chris Hopkins, the other chippe. I don't know how many, because I say he gets some by the forms.
I was a bit like that when I used to.
Billiver the papers because I was the substitute deliveroro and so when other paper boys and girls we're on holiday, I got the paperwork, which meant that I've got the presents that people would leave in a little box, thinking that they were giving a present to the person who delivered their paper all the year round, but really it was only me, and I'd only be doing it for a couple of days.
Oh it was great. What a loopholes.
I am a glen hat exploder of loopholes that has been used to they've been Don't worry.
I'm back here again on Monday. It's not the end of the year.
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