Submissions

A thorough revision of the Local Government Act 1974 (the Act) is warranted. The new act must, however, be based on sound principles. Read more

From the viewpoint of New Zealanders' living standards, the most important commitment the government has made is to restore New Zealand to the top half of the OECD income rankings. It has also stated a goal of achieving a 3 percent unemployment rate. Read more

We believe that ratification would have far-reaching and harmful implications for economic activity in new Zealand, and for the standards of New Zealanders. It would put the competitiveness of many major industries at risk, yet any environmental benefits arising from the protocol would be barely discernible. Read more

Australia is by far the most important destination for direct investment by New Zealanders. Balance of Payments statistics indicate that Australia accounted for 64 percent of total direct investment abroad by New Zealanders over the last five years (see the attached Appendix). Read more

We have publicly commended the minister for his handling of the winter electricity shortage. Although the government inherited an imperfect market, it was wise to reject calls for further ill-conceived interventions at a time of market disruption. Read more

The NZBR has taken a close interest in Commerce Act issues because of the Commerce Act's pervasive influence on commercial decision making in New Zealand. We presented a submission on the Commerce Amendment Bill to the Commerce Select Committee in July 1999 and this submission should be read in conjunction with the earlier one. Read more

The serious deficiencies of the Local Government Act 1974 (the Act) are widely recognised. A thorough revision of the Act is warranted. Read more

The NZBR welcomes the opportunity to make this submission on the Issues Paper released by the Tax Review in June 2001. We consider the Issues Paper is a high quality document that sets out the principles that should guide tax policy development in a sound manner, clearly identifies the implications of applying those principles to the reform of the tax base, eco-taxation, tax rates, entity taxation, international tax and the tax treatment of savings and provides interested parties with an opportunity to comment on the Review's preliminary thoughts on options for reform. Read more

In our view the measures proposed in the Draft Report represent a major potential setback for the telecommunications industry in New Zealand. They could seriously deter further investment in facilities by those who have made the greatest investments in New Zealand. Read more

In general we consider the discussion paper is competent and sound. Our main criticism is its failure to highlight in chapter 5 the need to avoid imposing changes to offer back and related conditions that would have retrospective effect. Read more

This submission responds to the discussion document Reshaping New Zealand's Appeal Structure (December 2000), referred to below as 'the discussion document'. The document appears to take it as a forgone conclusion that appeals to the Privy Council will be abolished and implies that discussion is only required as to the new appeals system. Read more

The primary purpose of the tax system is to finance government expenditure. The level of government spending generally provides the best overall measure of the tax burden. Read more

The pre-funding proposal is largely an accounting exercise with no direct economic impact on the retirement income problem. As now spelled out, it is essentially a tax-smoothing scheme. Read more

We have made submissions on successive governments' Budget Policy Statements since their inception. This is because we believe that fiscal policy and the disciplines introduced by the Fiscal Responsibility Act 1994 are important for sound economic management and the quality of the communications between the government and the wider community, particularly the investment community. Read more

The NZBR commends the government for undertaking this review of the regulatory framework for pipfruit exporting. The pipfruit exporting sector is one of the most heavily regulated commercial activities in New Zealand and a fundamental overhaul of the regulatory environment is required. Read more