Search

The strong and growing New Zealand job market provides great opportunities to get more Kiwis into life-long careers, say Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse.

The Ministers announced the release today of the 2016 update of the ‘Building Skilled and Safe Workplaces’ chapter of the Business Growth Agenda, which contains 55 current and 12 new initiatives to build sustainable careers and grow productivity in New Zealand.

Good morning. Thank you for inviting me to speak to you today. This is my first address to you as Revenue Minister and it’s a great opportunity to meet some of the people who help implement government policies.

As the people who ensure that wages are paid correctly and on time, you are a very important group for the government and for the economy. A lot rides on you being able to do your jobs accurately and efficiently.

So I’d like to spend a bit of time today telling you about how the Government aims to help you in your important work.

An information exchange agreement with the Australian Tax Office (ATO) has carried out its first match, locating 10,400 student loan borrowers living across the Tasman.

Inland Revenue last week sent an initial list of 104,000 names of New Zealand borrowers who are living overseas to the ATO. Those names matched with the contact details of 10,400 people living in Australia.

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse today announced the appointment of Len Cook as a new member of the Remuneration Authority (the Authority).

The Authority is responsible for setting the rates of pay and allowances for Members of Parliament, the Judiciary and local authority members.

Len Cook replaces Angela Foulkes who has performed her duties admirably as a member of the Authority for eleven years.

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse has this morning expressed his condolences to the family and friends of Helen Kelly who lost her battle with cancer overnight.

“Helen was a passionate advocate for the rights of New Zealand workers,” Mr Woodhouse says.

“She championed the cause of making our workplaces healthier and safer, particularly in the wake of the Pike River Mine disaster.

Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse today announced changes to the Government’s New Zealand Residence Programme (NZRP) for the next two years.

“Migrants make a valuable contribution to New Zealand both culturally and economically, and the Government periodically reviews all our immigration settings to make sure they are working as intended,” Mr Woodhouse says.

Tomorrow we celebrate 30 years of having a GST system that is world leading and simple to apply, says Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse

“For 30 years now, the basic concepts of GST have remained unchanged since its introduction, and have rightly seen New Zealand’s GST system held up around the world as a model for other nations,” Mr Woodhouse says.

“When our goods and services tax was introduced, it was marked by three revolutionary concepts:

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will partner with the Edmund Hillary Fellowship to bring innovation-based ventures to New Zealand, announced Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse.

“In April, the Government agreed to pilot a new Global Impact Visa (GIVs) in partnership with the private sector, to enable high-impact entrepreneurs, investors and start-up teams to launch global ventures from New Zealand,” Mr Woodhouse says.

Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse today signed a Working Holiday Scheme with Luxembourg during a meeting with the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn in Wellington.

“This is Luxembourg’s first Working Holiday Scheme and will allow up to 50 young people from New Zealand and Luxembourg to live and work in each other’s countries,” Mr Woodhouse says.

A strategy used by some large multinationals to shift profits overseas and minimise their New Zealand tax is the focus of international tax proposals released for consultation today, says Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse.

“A discussion document which proposes that New Zealand adopt the OECD recommendations on hybrid mismatch arrangements was today released for consultation,” says Mr Woodhouse.

“Our international tax rules are sound, but the Government considers that New Zealand’s rules on hybrids can be stronger.

A Bill that enables territorial authorities to decide whether shops in their district can trade on Easter Sunday has passed its third reading in Parliament this afternoon.

“The Shop Trading Hours Amendment Bill is a pragmatic and well-balanced Bill which provides choice for local communities on whether or not to allow shop trading on Easter Sunday while also improving protections to all shop employees,” Mr Woodhouse says.

Cabinet will consider a recommendation to allow Inland Revenue to waive interest on late payments of taxation for businesses affected by the Havelock North gastroenteritis outbreak, announced Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse and Small Business Minister Craig Foss.

“Inland Revenue already has the ability to waive penalties for late payments, but due to the impact of the outbreak on businesses, Cabinet will consider enabling interest to be waived for late PAYE and provisional tax payments, due later this month,” Mr Woodhouse says.

A tax Bill to simplify tax processes, reduce compliance costs for smaller businesses, and tighten foreign trust disclosure rules was introduced in Parliament today, says Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse.

“Business tax changes proposed in the Taxation (Business Tax, Exchange of Information, and Remedial Matters) Bill deliver on the Government’s Budget 2016 SME-friendly tax package announcement and will reduce compliance costs and make tax simpler for small businesses,” Mr Woodhouse says.

Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse today welcomed two reports which show the learnings of Immigration New Zealand’s successful Vision 2015 programme in being recognised  as a trusted partner, delivering outstanding immigration services and bringing in the best people New Zealand needs in order to prosper.

The Government is acting on all recommendations from the Shewan Inquiry into foreign trust disclosure rules, Finance Minister Bill English and Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse announced today.

The Inquiry made a number of recommendations which propose improvements to registration and disclosure of information, anti-money laundering rules and increased information sharing between government agencies.

“The Government has always been open to making improvements to New Zealand’s already strong tax settings if that was warranted,” Mr English says.

A discussion document released today could simplify taxpayers’ end-of-year processes while improving accuracy in the system, says Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse.

“The discussion document, Investment income information, is the sixth in a series of public consultation documents and seeks to improve the administration of tax on income earned from investments,” Mr Woodhouse says.

The Government today released tax expert John Shewan’s independent Inquiry into Foreign Trust Disclosure Rules, and the steps it is taking to strengthen tax rules as part of its work with the OECD to clamp down on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS).

Mr Shewan’s inquiry noted that foreign trusts are legitimate vehicles and that New Zealand’s tax treatment of foreign trusts is appropriate. However, it also recommends disclosure arrangements should be strengthened, including by:

Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse is welcoming the opening of the rebuilt Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre in Auckland.

The Government announced the rebuild of the Centre in the 2013 and 2014 Budgets and has invested $24.7 million in the project.

“The original facilities at Mangere were built during the Second World War and were well past their economic life,” Mr Woodhouse says.

“The new facilities are a vast improvement and will give refugees the best possible start to their new life in New Zealand.”

Finance Minister Bill English has today vetoed proposed changes to paid parental leave.

Mr English has exercised his powers of Financial Veto ahead of the third reading of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave and Work Contact Hours) Amendment Bill.

“Treasury estimates the cost of this legislation amounts to $278 million over the next four years, a significant extra - unbudgeted - cost.

Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse is welcoming the launch of Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ) new identity management system.

The system, known as IDme, enables face photos and fingerprint information from applicants to be captured online and automatically matched against personal data already held by INZ.

“IDme is a major step change in our ability to protect against identity fraud by non-New Zealanders. It gives greater assurance that the visa system detects and prevents identity fraud,” Mr Woodhouse says.

Today the Government announced that it will increase the size of the Refugee Quota from 750 to 1000 places per year from 2018,” says Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse.

“We take our international humanitarian obligations and responsibilities seriously, the increase today demonstrates our commitment to meet the needs of some of the world’s most vulnerable people,” says Mr Woodhouse.

The Joint Working Group on Pay Equity Principles has reported back to the Government with a number of recommendations, State Services Minister Paula Bennett and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse say.

The Joint Working Group was tasked with recommending principles for dealing with pay equity claims under the Equal Pay Act.

“I would like to thank the Joint Working Group members for their commitment to improving our pay equity laws,” Mrs Bennett says. 

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse today announced two new appointments to the WorkSafe New Zealand Board.

“These appointments bring a range of new skills and experience to the Board which will be beneficial WorkSafe as they implement the reforms introduced by the new Health and Safety at Work Act,” Mr Woodhouse says.

Nicole Rosie and Jan White will join the board from 30 May for two-year terms.

A Bill aimed at simplifying and improving the settings for the administration of the tax system passed its third reading in Parliament tonight.

“Inland Revenue are currently implementing more customer-focused business practices and new technologies to make it simpler for people to complete their tax affairs and get them right,” Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse says.