October 28, 2010

Hobbit saved

The government has secured  the $670 million Hobbit movies for New Zealand. Prime Minister John Key announced the agreement with Warner Brothers last night after two days of negotiations with studio executives who had been worried about industrial disputes and wanted a bigger tax break than what NZ has previously offered for big movies, according to TVNZ.

Law changes will clear up confusion about the legal status of contractors and employees, but the $20 million tax break was much less than Warner Bros had asked for. A Bill will be put through Parliament today under urgency today to seal the deal. 

Key said that in financial terms there was no doubt Warner Brothers could have got a better deal from other countries, but the studio wanted to make the movies in New Zealand and so did director Sir Peter Jackson.
"They wanted a lot more, they argued for a lot more," he said.  "I made it clear we were at our limit, this is a better deal than we have had with other big movies made here in the past."

And the government has also won an agreement that New Zealand will be promoted through all the marketing DVDs and other material that will be used to publicise the two Hobbit movies, as well as hosting one of the world premieres.  To get that it will offset $US10 million of Warner Brothers marketing costs.

"The strategic marketing opportunities for New Zealand from the movies will be worth tens of millions of dollars," Key said.  "In the financial sense, this is a good deal."

October 23, 2010

Zero-fees policy ‘helps more people, improves education quality’ | United Future

Zero-fees policy ‘helps more people, improves education quality’ United Future

Innovative approach to tertiary education from United Future.

UnitedFuture’s ‘zero-fees’ policy is a fairer, more effective solution to the student debt problem than Labour's universal student allowance as it also addresses the quality of education, according to leader Peter Dunne who spoke to students at Auckland University today.


“International university rankings released today show that our top universities are slipping down the list. They need a funding commitment from Government to reverse this trend ,” says Mr Dunne.

“Australia has 6 universities ranked in the top 50 in the world. We don’t have any. We have only one in the top 100 and two others in the top 200 – we can and need to do better,” says Mr Dunne.

“UnitedFuture would abolish all tertiary education fees, as well as commit to properly funding our institutions themselves. This will increase access to education and deal with student debt, as well as improving the value of New Zealand degrees.


Peter Dunne at the new building opening at Johnsonville School in July 2010.

“A limitation with universal student allowances is that they only help full-time students, part-time students are no better off, while allowances also do nothing to address the quality of education.”

Mr Dunne points out that in the long term, tuition fees are increasing at a rate faster than the cost of living.

“The funding is already there for zero-fees tuition – the cost falls within that for Labour’s Universal Allowance pledge, but it benefits more people and achieves better education,” he said.

October 19, 2010

Nick Clegg: Giving a fair chance to every child | The Liberal Democrats: Latest News Detail

Liberal Democrats launch new anti-child poverty initiatives. Nick Clegg: Giving a fair chance to every child The Liberal Democrats: Latest News Detail. The Conservative-LibDem government has launched a new anti-poverty initiative aimed at helping the most vulnerable group in the UK.  Linking educational funding to children is an important step towards empowering children and families.

The Liberal Democrat’s purpose in Government is to make Britain a better, fairer nation. "And ahead of next week’s comprehensive spending review, today we set out our plans for a four-year, £7 billion investment in improving opportunities for the most disadvantaged kids in this country."


Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg today wrote to Liberal Democrat supporters following the announcement of a £7bn "fairness premium".

Read the letter in full

Dear member,

Today is a defining moment for the Liberal Democrats. Today we show what can be achieved as a party in power - that we can deliver on a promise that we put on the very front page of our manifesto: giving a fair chance to every child.

The Liberal Democrat’s purpose in Government is to make Britain a better, fairer nation. And ahead of next week’s comprehensive spending review, today we set out our plans for a four-year, £7 billion investment in improving opportunities for the most disadvantaged kids in this country.

Every disadvantaged two year-old will be entitled to 15 hours free early education – in addition to the existing entitlements at the ages of three and four. Every poor school child will get additional help from a Pupil Premium paid to their school. Every young adult who wants to go to university will be able to do so, undeterred by financial barriers.

By the end of the spending review period, we will be investing £3 billion a year on this Fairness Premium – including £2.5 billion on the pupil premium alone, £300 million on the extra help for two year-olds and £150 million on the university fairness scheme. From next year, we will he helping poorer children from two to twenty: from a child’s first shoes to a young adult’s first suit.

Given that we are having to cut spending these are sizable new commitments. But even as we cut spending, we are determined to invest in fairness.

Whatever Labour say, we have no choice but to tackle the deficit. Ed Miliband thinks otherwise. He says he represents a ‘new generation’. But he seems happy to saddle the next generation with the debt that his Government racked up. I am not.

Every day we lose more in interest payments to the financial markets: the amount we pay in interest is enough to build a new primary school every hour. Let me be absolutely candid: we have a hard road to recovery ahead of us. But also let me assure you, that as Liberal Democrats we are determined to ensure that road leads to fairness, too.

For me, this is personal. A decade ago I argued in favour of a pupil premium to help children and close the educational gap. Under Labour this gap has been left to widen and for too long the achievements in life have been dictated by the circumstances of birth. I represent a constituency in Sheffield where, for all Labour’s promises, inequalities still scar the community.

All of us are having to work hard in order to make the spending review fair. We’re all having to accept difficult cuts in many areas of public spending that we would very much rather avoid. Both parties in Government are having to negotiate and compromise. We’re all having to change our positions on some issues when the arguments demand it.

But all of us in this government, including the Prime Minister and myself, are not willing to compromise on a better future for the poorest children.

None of this would have been possible without all the hard work done by members up and down the country at the last election and over the many years before that. We should all be proud that we are delivering in Government the changes for which we have campaigned for so long.

Best wishes


Nick Clegg

Leader of the Liberal Democrats

October 18, 2010

Which government takes the biggest bite out of an income of $100,000?

LOOMING debt and demographic crises have many governments searching for new revenue sources. Some governments have less room to raise taxes than others. An analysis by KPMG, a consultancy, compares effective tax rates—net of offsets—and social-security contribution rates across 81 countries. Unsurprisingly, European countries top the list. As a result austerity measures across much of Europe must focus on cutting spending. At just under 40%, the total burden of taxation in India is quite high relative to that in China. But a thin social safety net means that China’s residents must save a high share of their disposable income as insurance, offsetting some of the growth effect of low tax rates. For low rates, nothing beats living in a banking centre, a petro-state, or (naturally) a tax haven.

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