This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 9 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Tuesday 18th August.
NEWSROOM_MONITOR
Top stories in the current news cycle includes the release of an IRD discussion paper outlining the Government’s plan to apply GST to all international online purchases, an indication from Finance Minister Bill English that Landcorp New Zealand may have to consider selling off land to reduce its debt levels and ne that the Auditor-General will hold an inquiry into expenditure of public money on the Saudi Arabia Food Security Partnership.
Note: As well as providing a precis of leading broadcast bulletins each day, our NewsRoom_Monitor service does a daily paper round with succinct ‘news picks’ from the main metropolitan papers emailed by 9am each morning. If you’re interested in a free trial please email monitor@newsroom.co.nz
POLITICS PULSE
Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:
Government: Wanaka lake weed reduced by two thirds; Online GST discussion document released; More surgical assessments leading to more ops; NZ expresses condolences after Bangkok blast; Minister welcomes Auditor-General inquiry; Tourism boosting South Island’s economy; Foss welcomes in-flight support for road safety
Greens: Pre-paid power parity needed; Govt must keep Lochinver Kiwi; Health Minister misled Select Committee over Pharmac funding; Landcorp farms must stay in NZ hands; Statement from James Shaw regarding investigation by Auditor General on Saudi Agri-hub Partnership
Labour: Key must explain why Health and Safety Bill pulled; Contact bows to pressure; Landcorp sales will go to foreign investors; Crucial Auditor General investigation welcomed; Minister must stand down during investigation
New Zealand First: Key Breaks Promise, Putting Asset Sales Cash Into Asia
NZ National Party: More surgical assessments leading to more ops for Wellington region
LINKS OF THE DAY
Links of the day have been a feature of NewsRoom_Digest since we first started production in August 2014 at newsroom-nz.tumblr.com. We are currently building an archive of these at:http://newsroomplus.com/resources/resourceful-links/
9 NEW ZEALAND SPOTS MAKE LONELY PLANET TRAVELIST:
The Lonely Planet publishing empire has put out its Ulimate Travelist today athttp://www.lonelyplanet.com/ultimate-travel On a list of 500 must-see-in-your-lifetime destinations, there are nine in New Zealand. Can you guess which ones? See: http://newsroomplus.com/2015/08/18/tourism-3/
A-G TO INQUIRE INTO SAUDI ARABIA PARTNERSHIP: The Auditor-General, Lyn Provost, has decided to carry out an inquiry into the expenditure of public money on the Saudi Arabia Food Security Partnership. A letter setting out the terms of reference for the inquiry can be found at: http://www.oag.govt.nz/media/2015/saudi-arabia-partnership?utm_source=inquiry-saudi&utm_medium=subs&utm_campaign=inquiry-saudi
ECONOMIC FORECASTS: New Zealand’s economy has cooled. and growth over 2015 will be modest compared to last year, according to the latest ASB Quarterly Economic Forecasts. View the full report here:http://reports.asb.co.nz/report/article/21480/22/0/with-a-little-help-from-my-friends.html
EFFECTS OF HOUSING BOOM: The strength of the housing market has been the centre of the country’s attention for most of 2015 but it seems it is now sharing the spoils, shown in the SEEK report here:http://www.seek.co.nz/investor/news-media
GST DISCUSSION: Revenue Minister, Todd McClay, today released a discussion document on the collection of GST for online purchases. The discussion document, ‘GST: Cross-border services, intangibles and goods’ is also available at: http://www.taxpolicy.ird.govt.nz
GST DISCUSSION – PwC REPORT: PwC has welcomed todays release of the discussion document on collection of GST on online purchases, and issued its own report with the point that the policy “demonstrates that our Government and policy makers have a desire to keep our GST model current for the digital economy”. See the PwC report here:http://www.pwc.co.nz/tax-services/publications/gst-direct/issue-27-august-2015-tax-by-the-megabyte-gst-law-and-offshore-online-purchases/?utm_campaign=TaxPublications&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=GSTDirectIssue27August2015TaxByTheMegabyte
IMMIGRATION NZ IN BREACH: Privacy Commissioner John Edwards has referred a case to the Director of Human Rights Proceedings after finding Immigration New Zealand breached a migrant’s privacy by failing to correct his date of birth. For more information, read the case note : https://privacy.org.nz/news-and-publications/case-notes-and-court-decisions/case-note-264435-2015-nz-privcmr-8-immigration-new-zealand-inz-refuses-to-correct-birth-date/
LOBBYISTS WELCOME INQUIRY: The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the Auditor-General’s decision to begin an investigation into the the Saudi Arabia Food Security Partnership . In May, the Union wrote to Ms Provost requesting an investigation. The request to the Auditor-General can be found at:http://www.taxpayers.org.nz/saudi_sheep_deal_complaint_to_auditor_general
RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION: Auckland continues to build fewer dwellings than required to meet the demands of population growth. Read Westpac’s assessment here:https://wibiq.westpac.com.au/wibiqauthoring/_uploads/file/New_Zealand/2015/August_2015/Outlook_for_Auckland_residential_construction_August_2015.pdf
STUDENT LIGHTS UP INTERNATIONAL STAGE: A Victoria University of Wellington PhD student is creating waves around the world with a win in the 2015 Sonic Arts Award. A video of Rasping Music can be found here:https://vimeo.com/114283575
And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Tuesday 18th August 2015.
Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>
