Letter No.10
7 February, 1995

21 January 1995

Consumers Institute Executive Officer David Russell calls for govt action over Mortgage Corp's plans to raise its mortgage rates.

The Justice Dept predicts a 10% drop in bankruptcies and company liquidations in the next 6-12 months.

22 January 1995

Senior National MP's push Bill Birch to drop his offer of tax cuts saying he has "oversold the economic recovery". They feel that paying back debt should be the main priority.

23 January 1995

Bill Birch stands firmly behind his proposals for tax cuts. "The best reason for lower tax rates is to leave more wealth in the hands of individual taxpayers to invest or spend as they see fit".

Michael Laws says that although 13,000 state tenants have sought to use the right-to-buy housing scheme, the Housing Ministry has set aside only sufficient money for 3000 suspensory loans.

25 January 1995

Auckland's largest food bank is giving out less than half as many food parcels as it was this time last year. The reason : a direct result of the govt relaxation of criteria for emergency grants for food.

Federated Farmers strongly criticise American plans to dump subsidised dairy products onto Asian markets. Helen Clark says the US move was as attempt to gain a foothold in Asian markets before their subsidies are phased out as required by GATT. Impact on NZ : up to $100 million from our Asian markets.

26 January 1995

Lockwood Smith orders a review of career information and guidance available to people entering or returning to the workforce.

The ANZ makes a bid for Mortgage Corporation customers, saying it will foot the early repayment penalty costs if people switch to ANZ.

Senior secondary students are posted brochures to encourage them to consider returning to school to take advantage of course improvements and transition-to-work programmes.

27 January 1995

The Institute of Economic Research reports a sharp decline in business confidence.

28 January 1995

Government had a $2.27 billion surplus for the five months to November 94.

The Labour Party calls on Bill Birch to review economic policy in light of a sharp decline in business confidence. They warn that an increasing number of analysts were picking growth to fall back to 2%.

Education officials are investigating raising student allowances to match the rate paid to beneficiaries.

The Justice Department recommends changes to the laws governing charitable trusts after a rise in the use and abuse of the trusts.

29 January 1995

Exports of manufactured goods increased 13% last year to $7.5 billion. Manufacturers Federation CEO Simon Arnold says that while there was a bottleneck in getting skilled staff, it was not pushing up wage demands like that in the building industry.

30 January 1995

Jim Bolger glows in the glory of NZ's economic achievements as one of 30 heads of government mingling with the "movers and shakers" at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Switzerland.

The Council of Christian Social Services releases a survey showing that most people seeking budget advice did so because of poverty, not because they cannot budget. The Council calls for a task force to be established to examine benefit options, immediate steps to increase benefits and improve access to them, and to reduce rents.

31 January 1995

Ross Grantham, former Executive Officer of the YMCA, is appointed chief executive of the Federation of Voluntary Welfare Organisations.

1 February 1995

John Carter lashes out at church criticisms about the social impact of government policies.

The Reserve Bank wants home mortgage rates to remain at a 3-yr high to take the heat out of our growing economy.

Despite the interest rate rises, new building consents are 34% up on last year, hitting a 70-yr high. Master Builders chief executive Trevor Allesbrook says there is an `insatiable demand' for larger, better quality homes worth more than $150,000.

2 February 1995

"Equal Employment Opportunities in Aotearoa" 2-day conference starts at Massey University.

Church leaders and foodbank organisers react strongly to John Carter's comments and insensitivity over poverty.

Statistics NZ produces figures to show that superannuitants living costs were lower than those of the general public. Superannuitants had been campaigning for a consumers price index, that measured their group alone, to be used to adjust national superannuation.