This was originally posted June 29th, 2022 but deserves another airing now that the bad actors to my blog have retired to nurse their wounds.
Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry and wines etc
New Zealand earns about 50 billion NZD a year from its agricultural, horticultural and forestry exports or 80% of NZ’s total exported goods. It employs up to 15% of New Zealand’s workforce. We currently rely on this industry in this country.
"New Zealand's primary sector exports reach a record $46.4 billion".
So what does Ardern’s Government do? They set out to hobble the industry. Via land confiscation, making farmers the enemy (also see James Shaw below) and now, a ‘Cow tax’1
“Australians should be worried about Ardern’s so-called ‘backdoor cow tax’ which is designed to hit farmers for the emissions produced by their cows and sheep.”
But not as worried as New Zealanders should be;
‘In order to reduce our emissions, we’ve got a lot of work to do,’ added James Shaw.” (NZ’s climate change minister)
This is the same James Shaw who seems to have been picked by oil giant Shell to be their ‘green’ spokesperson greenwasher via Jame’s involvement with “Future Considerations”.
And who was associated with the WEF’s “Pioneers of Change” program.
There’s more about James, race and farmers in the footnotes.2
The article goes on to state that “New Zealand’s Labour Party is using the stick of legislation to destroy businesses it doesn’t like and direct profits into the hands of individuals it does.”
It surely is. Disclaimer, I’ve only ever voted for Labour (& Labor) or the Greens. But I now want for 10 or more current Labour MPs to resign on masse to bring down this Government. Now guys. Now.
Tourism
Previous to 2020 tourism was NZ’s single largest export earner (Dairy being a close 2nd) responsible for about 21% of NZ’s export of goods and services (considered to be exports even though consumed locally as it brings in foreign currency). International travel to NZ fell by 98.6% in 2020/21 from over 4 million to 50,0003. And although there are boasts about of an increase in international tourists the ‘you ain’t allowed in here without several jabs’ policy of the NZ Government is a big restriction. So too is Ardern who is hated outside of upper middle class pockets of Wellington, Auckland, Geneva and Boston. Which is why she’s away on a permanent holiday right now. For those of you not subject to her patronising ways she was back in NZ for about a week or two after her US trip and is now off in Europe . No I don’t know when she’s going to China or Russia. Or Brazil. Probably never I guess not unless she can patronise them somehow.
But everything is going to be ok as the New Zealand government based in Wellington, not exactly the centre of tourism in the country (yes nice tram I know), has a Tourism Industry Transformation Plan! (Btw Unions have pretty good representation on this board which is a bit jarring. The only time they should be running into these guys is in negotiating better deals for the workers who belong to their Unions)
New Zealand’s domestic power supply
“Transpower cautions electricity supply looking tight again this evening”
Who knew that increasing the number of electric cars might put pressure on the electricity grid? Well nobody in this fucking government that’s for sure (soz Cairns, I know potty mouth).
New Zealand’s Housing Market
“New Zealand crowned world’s riskiest housing market”
NZ is right at the top of the list for unaffordability.
I really cannot remember this story in the local news in the last few days. Something about trees in a forest, if nobody sees them comes to mind.
Days to sell (your house on average) in May 2022 is 43. The figure is normally around 32-37. Wellington has seen a particularly steep increase in the number of days to sell, jumping from the mid 30s to 55 in May. Are the rats leaving the ship (Wellington is where the Parliament and the civil servants are).
The number of houses for sale has also increased from around 300 to 600 or more for Dunedin for example. It’s just anecdote of course but our neighbours couldn’t sell theirs and it went off the market a few months ago. I’ve heard the same from Tauranga, one of the more desirable real estate markets in the country. In that case they had the house on the market from November and took it off the market around February. And real estate agents certainly know how hard it is to sell right now but are looking to past dips in the market to try and figure out when it comes out of the dip. Obviously they’re yet to get up to speed with Klaus.
The banks aren’t calling the mortgages in yet though as mortgagee sales are pretty normal with only 11 countrywide on TradeMe currently, when normally this ranges from ~ 10 to 24 or so.
By the numbers: The cost of building is going through the roof
The price of building materials is going through the roof. The build cost in NZ has always been way higher than it should be with an entry level house currently costed at $3800 NZD per m2 (or $251 USD per square foot) when the same house can be built in Australia at maybe 1/3 the cost. There are too many monopolies in NZ so this is definitely part of the problem. But a government that couldn’t organise a pissup in a brewery is the main problem right now.
When the hell are they going to resign?
The Spectator (June 2022) “Ardern’s cow tax set to destroy NZ farming”, sourced 29th June from;
https://spectator.com.au/2022/06/arderns-cow-tax-set-to-destroy-nz-farming/
And also the same James Shaw who comes from Pakeha (i.e. white) farmers in the Bay of Plenty/Gisborne region. The Shaws, various of them, own thousands of hectares in this region…
…that is, ironically enough, more Maori than most other parts of New Zealand, i.e.
Sourced, 29th June, 2022.
And also the same James Shaw who derogatorily referred to some opposition to him as 'a group of pākehā farmers from down south' (i.e. the Groundswell org, based in the lower part of the South Island).
IbisWorld (2022) “Recent Trends – International Travel to New Zealand”, sourced 29th June 2022 from;
https://www.ibisworld.com/nz/bed/international-travel-to-new-zealand/1/
This same thing happens all over the world.
When the United States was formed the colonists were ruled by the king. They designed it so that it would be a Nation of the people, by the people and for the people. What we have is a government of the rich elite who disdain those people.
They say that the "red wave" is going to restore the freedoms we are entitled to but the only thing that the Democrats and Republicans agree on is taking more money and freedom. The land that is owned by private entities is well managed and healthy. The land run by the government is not.
Is that the same way in NZ?
Any dairies there have anaerobic digesters?