An Upper Hut resident who defrauded the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) for NZD 41 000 by using a system fake church donations has been sentenced to seven months home detention and 120 hours of community service. James Talaga Toala, received sentencing at the Wellington District Court on February 26th, after pleading guilty to six charges of using documents to defraud or receive monetary gain. It was alleged by the IRD that in the period between April 2002 and March 2008 James Toala ... Read More

The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) has released its latest report, in which it describes New Zealand’s economic recovery over the upcoming years as “jagged”, along with “bumpy and subdued”. On March 1st, the NZIER released the March 2010 Quarterly Predictions report, which stated that although New Zealand is no longer facing a recession, its economic recovery will be slow and “jagged”. Growth of only 2.7 percent was projected for the 2010 calendar year, and 1.4 percent for 2011. Shamubeel ... Read More

The New Zealand Labour Party has announced that it will be launching a cross-country bus tour in protest to the National Party’s proposed Good and Service Tax rate increase. Phil Goff, Labour Party leader, announced on February 22nd that a two week protest bus-tour will be launched on February 28th to fight the possibility of a the GST rate being raised to 15 percent. He claimed that the tour’s aim was to visit New Zealand communities and "to show them just ... Read More