Thursday, May 19, 2005
Personally, I don't think today's Budget will have any appreciable effect on the coming election. Most of the spending will not kick in till well after the election, and come September I suspect people will look at each other and decide nothing much has changed economically. If anything, they will be worse off, because the rise in personal tax thresholds is pathetic, and won't take effect till 2008. Dr Cullen admitted in parliament earlier this week that to honour Labour's 1999 pledge that no more than 5% of workers would be in the "rich people's" tax bracket, the top threshold would have to move to $80,000. To raise the threshold to only $63,672 is going to look very bad, particularly to those earning an "average" wage above that and still struggling to make ends meet. Exactly the same goes for small businesses. Dr Cullen claims that changes to business taxation amount to a 2% tax cut - but it's all smoke and mirrors, because that has mostly to do with arcane tax regimes way beyond the average business. The main points of today's Budget are covered here.
Justice Minister Phil Goff has introduced a Bill to parliament which raises the income threshold for legal aid and introduces a new repayments and debt management regime. More people will qualify for legal aid. The costs of additional grants will be partly offset by requiring a higher proportion of legal aid recipients to repay some, or all, of their grant. This Legal Services Amendment Bill (No. 2) will increase the pool of those eligible for legal aid from 765,000 to 1.2 million. Approximately 22,000 legal aid recipients will be required to repay their legal aid grant.
A nationwide programme to help parents prevent stress and trauma for children facing parental conflict and separation is being funded in this year's Budget. It provides $6.2 million over the next four years to run programmes through the Family Court to help separating parents reduce conflict and the stress that separation can cause for their children. The programme will consist of two two-hour sessions, held a week apart, presented by a psychologist or counsellor and a family lawyer. Children do not attend, and couples attend separate sessions.
The programme has been criticised by National Party families spokeswoman Judith Collins. She says National will grant the Youth Court power to issue new parenting orders, whereby parents whose children have been involved in offending, anti-social behaviour or truancy are required to attend regular counselling and guidance sessions on parenting skills in courses lasting up to three months. The Court may add other requirements lasting for up to 12 months, including curfews, controls over association with others, and school attendance.
And ACT's Muriel Newman is concerned that despite three attempts, she has been unable to get the concept of shared parenting accepted by government. “The problem of conflict between separating parents, which creates victims out of their children, stems from the antiquated custody laws which Labour has refused to change. Under these laws, two parents who are considered equal with regard to their responsibility for their children before their relationship breaks down, are no longer considered to be equal afterwards. The mother is awarded sole custody of the children and dad is charged child support and has an occasional visit with his children."
Mobile phones are more important to young people than TV, new research by Aim Proximity shows. The research, commissioned by BBDO Europe and Proximity Worldwide, looked at 3000 mobile phone users aged 15-35 in 15 countries (not New Zealand). It found: * Twice as many would keep their mobile over their TV if forced to choose; * Up to 20 per cent, depending on country, admitted they’ve answered their mobile during sex; * 38 percent would go home for a forgotten phone before they’d go back for a wallet; * 63 percent wouldn’t lend their mobile to a friend for the day. * Most importantly from a marketer’s point of view, 78 percent leave their phones on and in reach for 16 hours or more a day and 53 percent have responded to a brand promotion on their mobile.
If it worked for Saul of Tarsus, Augustine of Hippo and George W. of Texas, then NBC must figure it'll work for a struggling TV network. The US network is going big on Biblically themed dramas. "Revelations" began airing in April. On Monday, NBC announced a new reality show called "Three Wishes," an inspirational hour to be hosted by Christian music superstar Amy Grant. Also coming this fall is a sitcom called "My Name Is Earl," which isn't overtly religious but features an ex-con determined to turn his life around and make amends to all the people he has wronged. It's a bit of a switch for a network that soared to the top of the ratings with such racy fare as "Friends" and "Will & Grace."
Justice Minister Phil Goff has introduced a Bill to parliament which raises the income threshold for legal aid and introduces a new repayments and debt management regime. More people will qualify for legal aid. The costs of additional grants will be partly offset by requiring a higher proportion of legal aid recipients to repay some, or all, of their grant. This Legal Services Amendment Bill (No. 2) will increase the pool of those eligible for legal aid from 765,000 to 1.2 million. Approximately 22,000 legal aid recipients will be required to repay their legal aid grant.
A nationwide programme to help parents prevent stress and trauma for children facing parental conflict and separation is being funded in this year's Budget. It provides $6.2 million over the next four years to run programmes through the Family Court to help separating parents reduce conflict and the stress that separation can cause for their children. The programme will consist of two two-hour sessions, held a week apart, presented by a psychologist or counsellor and a family lawyer. Children do not attend, and couples attend separate sessions.
The programme has been criticised by National Party families spokeswoman Judith Collins. She says National will grant the Youth Court power to issue new parenting orders, whereby parents whose children have been involved in offending, anti-social behaviour or truancy are required to attend regular counselling and guidance sessions on parenting skills in courses lasting up to three months. The Court may add other requirements lasting for up to 12 months, including curfews, controls over association with others, and school attendance.
And ACT's Muriel Newman is concerned that despite three attempts, she has been unable to get the concept of shared parenting accepted by government. “The problem of conflict between separating parents, which creates victims out of their children, stems from the antiquated custody laws which Labour has refused to change. Under these laws, two parents who are considered equal with regard to their responsibility for their children before their relationship breaks down, are no longer considered to be equal afterwards. The mother is awarded sole custody of the children and dad is charged child support and has an occasional visit with his children."
Mobile phones are more important to young people than TV, new research by Aim Proximity shows. The research, commissioned by BBDO Europe and Proximity Worldwide, looked at 3000 mobile phone users aged 15-35 in 15 countries (not New Zealand). It found: * Twice as many would keep their mobile over their TV if forced to choose; * Up to 20 per cent, depending on country, admitted they’ve answered their mobile during sex; * 38 percent would go home for a forgotten phone before they’d go back for a wallet; * 63 percent wouldn’t lend their mobile to a friend for the day. * Most importantly from a marketer’s point of view, 78 percent leave their phones on and in reach for 16 hours or more a day and 53 percent have responded to a brand promotion on their mobile.
If it worked for Saul of Tarsus, Augustine of Hippo and George W. of Texas, then NBC must figure it'll work for a struggling TV network. The US network is going big on Biblically themed dramas. "Revelations" began airing in April. On Monday, NBC announced a new reality show called "Three Wishes," an inspirational hour to be hosted by Christian music superstar Amy Grant. Also coming this fall is a sitcom called "My Name Is Earl," which isn't overtly religious but features an ex-con determined to turn his life around and make amends to all the people he has wronged. It's a bit of a switch for a network that soared to the top of the ratings with such racy fare as "Friends" and "Will & Grace."
