I see Peter Dunne is proposing to remove GST on tools required to produce specific products for foreign firms.

Now that is no bad thing but it seems odd when the government said zero rating certain items was a cost to the system and should not be done.

Cheers

I see the Auditor General has been asked to look into the government breaching its own rules about tendering.

The Auditor General's "Best Practice Guide for Procurement for Public Entities" stated that public entities had a general public law obligation to act fairly and reasonably.

"Public entities must be, and must be seen to be, impartial in their decision-making," the Auditor General's guide stated.

"SkyCity had an unfair advantage over other bidders for the convention centre in that Prime Minister John Key offered the casino significant legislative change that would enable it to bid without seeking public contribution from the Government."

Nice to see someone else is saying the same as I did a few weeks a go.

Cheers

OK Hero ? So who else has got the money to build the Convention Centre? You just cant see the forrests for the trees Mate , the Convention Centre would create up to 1000 jobs to build it and there would be 800 new employees to work in the Casino and the Convention Centre.
Do you want the Tax payers to pay or do you think your Maori Mates will steal the money from us all and stuff the whole deal up?
Get a life mate .

I am only pointing out that they have been caught breaking their own rules.

If you were running one of the other companies bidding for the work would you be happy that Sky City had been given an unfair advantage in bidding for the work?

Are you happy that the laws of this country are up for sale to the highest bidder?

If a convention centre is such a big earner then they shouldn't need incentives to build one, eithe rin tax payer dollars or a change in the law.

Hero,

That's your problem matey, there's far too much negativity in that tunnel vision of yours at times.

Cheers.

Hero 42 ,
So who else could affort it Old Fella ? Tell me ? C'mon show us how clever you are ?

Re The Convention Centre - if this has deemed to be of value to Auckland and the nation and it needs a variety of funding, then let it be up front. A fair proposal that can be clearly seen to be 'clean' I am sure would get majority support.

Doing behind the scenes deals and offering to change laws the way John Key has done is not the way these things should be done.

Kvntoday
For all we know there could be others out there with the money, they just haven't been given the same opportunities to bid for the work.
JK had this deal done and dusted with Sky City a long time ago it would appear.
The only thing to do is open up the process with a level playing field for all bidders.
Now why is JK not prepared to do that?

Infratil and the convention centre consortium from Melbourne were interested in building it.

Lloyd Morrison's letter addressed to the PM apparently didn't even get to him but was flicked off down/over/up to Joyce & Brownlee and didn't even get the courtesy of a response.

Convention Centres this large don't actually make money, according to Treasury, the benefit to a city/nation is in the stuff that profits around it; like restaurants, bars, hotels, casinos and brothels plus the usual touristy stuff in the vicinity. I understand most have to be subsidized by the municipal or central government within a few short years.

NZ is a long haul flight from everywhere. Flying is expensive. Oil has peaked. Have we the big hotels to accommodate these proposed numbers of conventioneers? Plus, this site is not great - except for the casino. It's not near a transport hub. There's no rail from the airport to the city centre. A convention centre or any other National something like it, a sports stadium springs to mind, should be on Auckland's spectacular waterfront.

BUT ! BUT ! " Auckland's spectacular waterfront. "

Is wanted for CONTAINERS and CRANES !

Truedat.

The lunatics are running the asylum.

KC, John Key is not prepared to open up his grubby deal because of "Hush Money" it appears.