The Dominion Puke Wednesday May 18 2011

Newspaper, or fish and chip paper

"Is This Fair?", surely the year's nadir in reporting and publishing.
As described once by talk-back host, Leighton Smith, "fair" would have to be the most abused, misused, distasteful, plain losers/whingers suck of a word, in the whole English language.
And reporter Vernon Small would have to take second prize behind editorial staff for the Business Illiterate of the Year.
That IRD could verify the average dairy farmer's tax take so low, would only indicate how mediocre the reward for the 90% of us who arent in the top 10% of farm business managers, really is.
The inference that substantial personal expense is somehow hidden in the business budget spend is plain offensive.
IRD place so many road-blocks in any attempt to file one's own business tax return, a farmer is forced to enlist the services of an accountant to do it, whose reputation is then on the line if proper accounting isnt effected. And we all get audited by IRD sometime or other.
Neither is the effect of bad season on farm profitability allowed for in the year singled out for examination.
The truth of the matter is that the majority of farmers reward themselves with less than the dole at the end of year wash-up, and have done for years.
Many spouses work off farm to contribute to the family coffers, many farmers do themselves, and if it looks like this dosent totally account for the apparent affluence of farmers, then there's less obviously been a lot of borrowing, or living on capital going on.
As Mike Hosking pointed out this morning on ZB radio, ultimately to the fiscal benefit of all the community. Never have so few done so much for so many, for this sort of thanks, yeah right.
Our (Farmers) Federation have invested a lot of effort in trying to improve town/country relations. Personally, I'd sooner a watch my back policy.
Despite townies individually being quite nice chaps, any text on social development themes will infer directly or otherwise, that an urban conglomeration is nothing more than a rapacious out of control collective animal, hell bent on serving itself.
This paper's continued airing of the fiasco that is roading in and out of the capitol only illustrates the inherent nimby attitude driving all us outsiders to go elsewhere to spend our alleged "unfair" gains.
We arent that dumb to notice that ex-pat urbanites want us to slow down enough going through villages on the high road to Wellingtown, so we can be further pillaged by their highway stalls.
Anyone who's been to America, Europe, or China even, has seen that a 4-lane trafficlight-free highway punched all the way from Levin to Thorndon via Paekakariki, Pukerua and Mana on the existing SH1 route, would be chicken-feed to those guys, but oh no, not to a Wellingtonian, far better to over-run the livelihood of one farming family running a road up an impossible Gully.
Apart from sports columnists Tony Robson and Mark Reason, the business pages, Jane Bowron's award meriting heart-warmers, Jon Morgan's thoughtful contributions on the rural scene, the crossword page, and intelligent letters to the editor not signed by anyone prefacing their name with "Dr", the rest hardly qualifies as reading material. (That dosent leave much does it, just the editorial here-in referred).
Or is this a beat-up to lead into introducing capital gains tax?
Or just as likely, a Labour promoted one to argue against dismantling Working for Families, so a heap of their voters can continue a tax-free existence.
As FarmFeds dairy leader Lachlan McKenzie summed on yesterdays ZB talk-back, the front page article was rubbish.