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Kiwis still in the dark over non-resident housing speculators
Data released today by LINZ gives no real insight into the influence of non-resident foreign speculators on the New Zealand housing market, the Green Party said today. “By LINZ’s own admission, this is nowhere near the full picture on how many non-resident foreign buyers are snapping up properties in New Zealand,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei. “New Zealanders desperately need the Government to collect definitive information on the number of non-resident foreign housing speculators operating in New Zealand, and...
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Government can clean up foreign trusts tonight
The Government can start the clean-up of the foreign trust industry as early as tonight by supporting the Green Party’s proposed changes to a Government tax bill being voted on this evening. Green Party finance spokesperson Julie Anne Genter will put forward an SOP to the Government’s Taxation (Transformation: First Phase Simplification and Other Measures) Bill that will require trustees, settlors, and beneficiaries of foreign trusts to disclose to the IRD their name, date of birth, address, passport number and...
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Government helped Mossack Fonsecca’s tax avoidance business
The National Government helped facilitate Mossack Fonsecca’s tax avoidance business in New Zealand when it put a stop to Inland Revenue’s proposed review of foreign trust regulation, the Green Party says.
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Unemployment and housing crisis trump Crown accounts
The Government’s financial update today shows its focus on maintaining a wafer-thin surplus has come at the expense of real ideas about how to tackle the big economic problems we face, like child poverty, unemployment, and the housing crisis, the Green Party said. Government Financial Statements for the nine months to 31 March 2016, the last update before the Budget on 26 May, showed a modest $167 million operating balance before gains and losses and net government debt of $63.3...
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Aid needed as Pacific coastlines vanish
The Green Party is calling on the Government to target aid towards Pacific Island communities forced to migrate because of rising seas, after a new study revealed that the Solomon Islands are already being significantly affected by climate-related sea-level rise.
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Affordable-housing crisis will lead to more Aucklanders sleeping rough
The Government’s new emergency housing fund money does nothing to address the underlying causes of Auckland’s affordable housing crisis, the Green Party said today. Paula Bennett today announced a $41.1 million-dollar emergency housing fund boost to be spent over the next four years. “The Government finding some money to help the outstanding organisations who feed, clothe and help house our homeless is a good step, but it doesn’t address the underlying causes of the Auckland affordable housing crisis or prevent...
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Govt must broaden inquiry into tax avoidance
The Government must urgently broaden its limited review of foreign trusts in light of new revelations of the extent of New Zealand’s involvement in the global tax avoidance industry, the Green Party said today. “Newly revealed leaked documents from Mossack Fonseca demonstrate that New Zealand has become an integral part of the global tax avoidance network,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “It’s time for the Prime Minister to stop defending the tax avoidance industry and broaden the review of...
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Government should stop defending tax avoidance
The Prime Minster today should have come out and promised he’d throw everything he’s got at cleaning up foreign trusts, and stamping out the tax avoidance industry, the Green Party said today. “It is extraordinary to see our Prime Minister call a press conference to defend tax avoidance and dodgy practices in the New Zealand foreign trusts industry,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “We are calling on the Prime Minister to come clean about New Zealand’s role in...
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Govt must start again with foreign trusts inquiry
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/79714914/the-panama-papers-new-zealand-link-revealed
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Govt should support farmers into high-value organics
The Government needs to up its game and do more to support dairy farmers into organics as payouts for organics continue to skyrocket, the Green Party said today. Today Fonterra announced a 2016/2017 market-linked forecast of $9.20 per kilo for organic milksolids – more than double the price for conventional farmgate milk ($3.90 per kilo) – reflecting a global surge in demand for organics. “Organic milk is better for our farmers’ backpockets and for our environment – it should be...