lapsed kiwi

So, bread would be subject to GST but fresh lobster tails and caviar, venison fillet etc would be GST free. Yes, that should sort it out

The beauty of GST is that it is simple and cheap to administer. As soon as you start tinkering, you create a whole industry in defining the rules, policing them and defining more rules to cover the exceptions. Best to leave it alone

bourbon-biscuit

Yes! Lobster tails, caviar and venison are probably all healthier than bread. Almost all bread in NZ is absolute scum and should come with a health warning.

lapsed kiwi

Any facts to back up that assertion or are you just trolling / talking bollocks?

lapsed kiwi

To me this thread is tl;dr but I find the whole thing fundamentally flawed. They are defining "living in poverty" as having an income (nett or gross?) when adjusted for various factors, as being below 60% of the median income. So, if we do really well and lift our median to that of Brunei or better and it's say $1M, then anyone on less than $600k per year is by definition, living in poverty. It's just a totally flawed statistic, and is more about the Marxist ideal of wealth distribution than any absolute measure of poverty.

Bellasmum

LK I saw the survey questions yesterday at a meeting and had the opportunity to speak to two parents who were interviewed for the research. Thequestions had two choices and often neither applied to their families. Typical govt dept research.

marblep

I know I've banged on about this in the past so please forgive me. I work in the industry and it's the suppliers profits you need to complain about. The supermarkets don't make as much margin as you think. And they do run loss leaders here. Write to Fonterra, Bluebird, Watties, Griffins, McCains, Nestle, Coca Cola etc - and tell them to reduce their cost prices and margins. Then the supermarkets will be able to offer lower prices.

marblep

And just to add info, it takes power (margin) to run the freezers, chillers, meat bar, produce freezer etc. It takes a lot of money.

bourbon-biscuit

Nah, I'm basing it on looking at bags of bread that seem to be made of gloop - no crumb and no crust. I don't mind vogels for toast but it's still a bit soft imo. The bread comment is more generally based on that bread is a staple food but unless you part with a lot of money a loaf it's made from highly refined flour, a lot of yeast and sugar - none of which are good candidates for a staple food. I make bread but the cost of decent flour and the cost of the electricity means it's an expensive option.

BTW, just because you don't agree with someone's pov (especially if it's about bread!) doesn't make them a troll!

bourbon-biscuit

Well, another interpretation might be that wealth and poverty are relative terms so a relative definition could be argued as suitable. I'm not necessarily arguing it is, just that I don't think it's a "totally flawed" statistic.

Mark Smith

And here's The Press again with another: http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/new...s-food-parcels