AGM Announcement & Other News and Events

Message from BINZ President, Lowell Manning:

Ngā mihi mahana kia koutou,

I have a few things to announce and some news to discuss.

AGM and Next Committee Meeting: The 2017 BINZ Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday, May 27, in Wellington (Venue TBD).
 

Our next Committee meeting will be on Sunday, April 2 in Tawa. You are welcome to join us. We will be reviewing more of Tom Brian's work on our rebrand among other things. Get in touch with Gaylene for details on 021 155 7084.
 

Otago University Panel on Basic Income: I've been invited to join a discussion panel organised by the Otago Politics department. The panel discussion is entitled "The BIG idea whose time has come: A basic income grant for all?". I intend talk to about what the BIG idea fundamentally is and what is at stake for all of us.

It will be held on Wednesday April 5 between 6pm - 7:30pm at Otago University in Dunedin in BURNS 1. Here is a link to all the details of the event otago.ac.nz/news/events/otago638510.html. It will also be audio recorded and put on to the University's website. We'll send a link to the audio in the next newsletter.

Basic Income & Housing Policy: BINZ will be represented by myself and Te Rangikaheke Kiripatea in some high level meetings on housing policy. Housing is an important consideration in any tax and income distribution scheme as it is the largest source of expenditure among New Zealand households. We will update you on how this progresses.

Gareth Morgan's UBI Policy: The TOP Party recently released their UBI Policy. Here's a link to see the summary: top.org.nz/top7. The Committee would appreciate your thoughts on the policy. We are considering our response, so your comments would be very helpful. Please email us at binzcontact@gmail.com or give me a call on 022 344 3229.

Superannuation Age Raised to 67: Prime Minister Bill English recently announced that the age of eligibility for Superannuation will be raised from 65 to 67. Many in the media have claimed that this was a necessary step, but this isn't the case. 

The policy ignores the growing impact of technology change on employment. It doesn't make sense to ask old people to work longer while young people struggle with unemployment and insecure work.

In an RNZ panel discussion about the policy, Sue Bradford argued that instead of tinkering with costs by raising the age we need look at how the entire system works and consider implementing a fair UBI for everyone instead. I couldn't agree more. Copy this link to your URL bar to listen to the panel:  http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201836120/political-pundits-evaluate-pm's-superannuation-overhaul

Nāku iti noa, nā

Lowell Manning
BINZ President