Online Press Release Service for New Zealand
Government Press Releases, New Zealand
Tax changes on October 1, 2010 will boost real wages. Personal income tax rates will be cut, bank saving resident withholding tax rate will drop, the top tax rate on savings in PIE investments will drop and GST will increase.
The Jobs Online monthly report for august 2010 shows a continued growth in the total number of job vacancies advertised online.
Justice Minister Simon Power has said that voters will be able to re-enrol and update their details online for next year’s general election.
The government will contribute up to $10 million to assist repair, restore, and strengthen heritage and character buildings in Canterbury that have been damaged by the earthquake.
Earthquake recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says the fast track process put in place to deal with minor house damage and lost contents has helped over 1,700 quake victims already.
A call for government assistance on Christchurch Heritage Restoration is being made by the NZ Archaeological Association.
Education Minister Anne Tolley has thanked principals, teachers, board members, students and Ministry of Education staff in Canterbury as they work to get schools up and running. The majority of schools will be open on Monday, but a few have structural problems.
Nathan Guy has visited Canterbury firefighters to thank them for their efforts and inspect recovery work. The Fire Service have moved from their initial involvement with assisting medical incidents and freeing trapped people to dealing with structural incidents.
The Government is working on a suite of streamlined measures to help ensure a swift recovery from the canterbury earthquake. Gerry Brownlee has been working with insurers, the Earthquake Commission, banks and local government to ensure a swift process of paying out claims to people who have suffered damage.
A number of support schemes are assisting Canterbury individuals, employers and community providers following the earthquake.
Tertiary providers in Canterbury have been significantly impacted by the Canterbury Earthquake. At this stage CPIT and Lincoln University will reopen on Monday 13 September, Te Wananga o Aotearoa will reopen at the Moorhouse Avenue campus on Monday 13 September, and Canterbury University will reopen to students on Wednesday 15 September and will resume teaching on Monday 20 September.
Most schools in Canterbury will remain closed until Monday. School buildings need to be checked to insure there are structurally sound and safe, then Boards of Trustees need to make health and safety decisions, clean up, and prepare for lessons.
John Key, Prime Minister of NZ, congratulated incumbent Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard for winning the right to govern.
A wage subsidy is being made available to support employees of small businesses seriously disrupted by the earthquake in Canterbury.
A fact sheet outlining the main options being considered to make child support fairer.
A discussion document proposing a number of changes to make the child support scheme fairer has been released for public consultation.
This week is Safety NZ Week and ACC is focusing on highlighting the number of accidents which could be avoided. One in seven New Zealanders were injured in their homes last year, and 621 people died from their injuries.
Parliament has tabled a bill which will make it easier for those with student loans to manage them online. The Student Loan Scheme Bill will simplify the way IRD administers student loans.
Details of the Government’s new alcohol law reform package have been announced. The Government has responsed to the public’s concern that alcohol laws have been relaxed too much, causing alcohol-related problems within society.
The NZ Defence Force, a number of group training organisations and Industry Training Organisations have created the Kiwi Co-Host Scheme which will provide a safety-net to apprentices by encouraging them to join the Reserve Forces – a new initiative flowing from the Prime Minister’s Job Summit.