The leader of the opposition has been less than forthcoming over his ownership of Tranz Rail shares..
“(A One News interview once again had Mr Key faltering when he was asked about the shares, initially saying his family owned 25,000-50,000 shares, then shifting to “sometimes 50,000, sometimes 100,000” then finally “yeah, sorry, it was 100,000 in total”.Asked why he had only ever admitted to the 30,000 shares owned by the family trust, Mr Key said: “No one’s ever asked me the number I owned.”)”
As we move towards the election we need to consider……Is the polish starting to come off? Are the cracks starting to show?
What do you make of this?
NZ economy insulated from the worst effects of the global financial crisis
Due to the care and attention the government has paid the economy over the last nine years it would seem that New Zealand is in better shape to weather the global economic storm than it could well have been.
Just imagine if the opposition had been in power, NZ would be in the same position we have been in during every other recession, the government would have owed billions to overseas banks and our exposure would be so much worse.
With an election now scheduled for the 8th of November it will be critical that people look long and hard at how they use their vote.
Two Great Sporting Wins
The All Blacks beat Australia on Saturday night and now hold the Tri Nations and the Bledisloe cups. Many people say that the changes away from the rotation policy have been a significant factor in the win.
For the first time in the history of the NRL the NZ Warriors have beaten the Melbourne Storm. What makes this a historic win is that a team qualifying in 8th place has ever beaten the top qualifier
I have a feeling that there will be a few people not at work Monday or if they are they may not be felling particularly well.
New Zealand OCR drops to 7.5%
With the announcement that the OCR has dropped to 7.5% Kiwi Bank has already dropped fixed term mortgage interest rates. West Pac has also dropped interest rates and it is expected that other banks will follow in due course. This will assist home buyers and assist many people in the community. The real estate industry should also make some gains and the present decline should be relieved. This should also have flow on effects for the New Zealand economy.
Many Supporters Now Disenchanted
One of the groups who were most supportive of the National parties bid for election are now “luke warm” or left cold after John Key spoke at the NZ Forum on the Family. Some of those present had worked arduously for months to get a referendum on the “the anti-smacking laws”. When John Key stated “If I can see compelling evidence that the legislation is not working, I will change it,” ……. “To this day I haven’t seen this evidence.” He left large numbers of people “gob smacked” and astounded with his statements, and this fall out has continued with those who were not present at the forum expressing their dismay and disbelief on “talk back” radio and in newspapers and on blogs.
New Zealand Medal at the Beijing Paralympics
Is the recession over or just on hold?
The economists, who comment for the news media, today stated that “there are indications that the current down turn in the economy is over”. They predict the New Zealand economy will move in a positive direction from now, on gradually recovering in the medium to long term. The more stable price of oil, the expected change in the weather, and the pending tax cuts all being contributing factors. Perhaps the main factor that is holding things back, is the imminent general election. Polls to date have suggested that a new right government will be elected. The recent lack of political acumen on the part of opposition members and their new leader have tended to shadow this inevitability. MMP means that unless the governing party gains a very large portion of the vote they can not govern alone. For the right to form a coalition may be difficult particularly now the leader has ruled out one of the more significant minority parties…..