NBR Rich List 2011 - NZ's wealthy doing just fine

04 May 2012 08:30a.m.

Aron wrote:

Homeless people in the streets of our cities, unemployment numbers exceeding jobs available and the jobs available are minimum wage with bosses who consider thier staff simply as tools to manipulate into profit making zombies. And where are the workers rights? Hidden and then compromised by a lack of work available. As for get out there and work to get rich, that would be nice if income distribution wasnt cornered by those at the top of the ladder that make wage negotiations a comparitive waste of employee breath, take it or leave it son. Yeah thats fair. So where to from here? social revolt? no just more crime and more prisoners.... Just remember new zealand that those on under 50g a year run this country and one day we all might just take the same day off. What about your precious economy then? Working class slaves exist in 2012...

01 Mar 2012 08:01p.m.

Jacob wrote:

My family wouldn't want a higher minimum wage I'm afraid. There's just not enough money for our small business and the opther projects being funded. New Zealand runs on small independant businesses. Yes our politics is easy on business, but we aren't like Sweden or Norway with government monopolies on everything just so the wealth can be dispersed and the 'elite' punished. I voted in a very parochial way. It was so difficult to do anything under labour without government assistance. There are still expensive social programmes for everything in this country. Sometimes the loopholes for tax are really helpful and often neccesary for protection under different circumstances, especially considering how competitive business is, and what people's livelihoods consist of. It's not like we don't have big social programmes in this country.

31 Jul 2011 10:32p.m.

AJ wrote:

@ Luke Robinson. No Mr Key is not a mean man, hes a brain dead idiot. Not even fit to run a race, and i am certain that if phil goff had a bit more about him, john wouldnt have much to stand on. any "spare" money as you put it, goes to ever increasing rates, prices of groceries and gold (petrol). You also must realise that inflation goes far above and beyond the income increases. we almost need horse and cart, cause if car needs a new tyre etc wow there goes a heap of saving. cause necessary spendature is totally going to the pub these days. (sarcasm). theres over a dollar a litre in tax on our petrol, last april while i was in australia they were going mental at how it was over 99 cents a litre, they also mine for their gold unlike us which would create thousands of jobs over night and another 80 billion dollars for this economy, (another reason why 40,000 skilled kiwis are going across the ditch every year) but no cant do that, precious grass and dirt there.. and by the way a large number of the people on this list found their way there by chance, inheritance is a large factor. If the Iwi did something useful instead of holding its hand out and Te Awa payed some tax, and prisoners didnt earn $1,000 a week with their underfloor heating and TV's and steak 3 times a week, this country might be moving somewhere. (hypothetically now) I can go to prison tomorrow and the tax payer will pay $1,000 every time i attend a "self help" course and if I somehow manage to be a total shit head and happen to get 20 years come out with quarter mill easy and if the guards look at me funny i can be eligable for up to $100,000 without neededing any proof other than my "honest" word. The two largest expenses to the tax payer is the prison system and the Benefit, and if you read the news paper the numbers on the DBP is dramatically going up. 99% of "refugee's" go straight into a free house with free money, i work my arse off and i dont get jack shit for free

29 Jul 2011 04:03p.m.

ju wrote:

At Luke Robson. I Couldn't agree with you more. These people did not just find themselves on this list thru chance. They worked for it.( An oppertunity open to every kiwi.) So all you haters, Get off your backside and work instead of being a pack of grumbling miserable sods.

29 Jul 2011 12:38p.m.

crystal wrote:

@alien,why do you talk so much rubbish, 3.5 million in tax.
as a shareholder in a very large export company, no one in this company comes anywhere near that figure, if yor friend is mr Hart then even then, his accountant would tell you 3.5 million tax would means he would soon be looking for a new job. mr key made 5 million sinse 2008 so he should not be on this list ,just media rubbish. Hart makes key look like a pauper.

29 Jul 2011 11:29a.m.

Wiseacre wrote:

Despite the fact that New Zealand society is the 7th most unequal in the developed world, with all the attendant social ills; despite the fact that the already fiercely wealthy have increased their wealth by 20% at a time that purchasing power is going backward for the vast majority of people; and despite the fact that conservative US think-tank The Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal rank New Zealand as already having the highest level of freedom for business in the world, the poor dears feel that it is too difficult in New Zealand for them to acquire and horde ever more wealth, and so want further deregulation and easing of constrictions such as minimum wage requirements. Boo Hoo. It was their free-market fundamentalist prescription of excessive deregulation, tax cuts for the rich, and pillaging of the communal assets that helped bring about the Global Financial Crises of 2008. If anything this country needs more regulation, to help blunt the ill effects of rampant greed on our horrendously unequal society. Our financial 'elite' have always had a problem with New Zealand as an egalitarian society. For the last 30 years the top 1% of our financial and political elite have been conducting a class-war by stealth against the rest of society, with the wholesale upwards transfer of wealth from the people to the elite, through privatization, tax cuts for the rich and GST for the poor. After a generation of Rogernomics they have almost succeeded in creating a permanent underclass through their control of the apparatus of state. Remember, they don't create wealth for society - they create wealth for themselves. They don't create jobs - the create wealth by cutting jobs and shifting jobs overseas for even cheaper labour. They don't care about New Zealand society, they are selfish individualists desperate to cling on to what they have at the expense of the everyone else. New Zealand has become a country of the rich, by the rich, for the rich.

29 Jul 2011 10:32a.m.

Grant wrote:

I know the Chandler boys (Richard and Christopher) and they are amused to be listed on the NZ rich list. Yes they were born in NZ but have not lived here for many years. None of their investment is in NZ and so they do not make money off NZers or pay tax in NZ. They do however use their money to help the world poor. People who are far worse off than low income NZers in India and Asia (see http://horiwood.com/2009/03/13/what-a-guy-richard-chandler-is-a-billionaire-philanthropist-whose-rebuilding-india/). These guys make a difference with their money. Having money is a big responsibility and these guys are amazing with what they do. Rather than be jealous because they are rich and I am not, I celebrate their success.

29 Jul 2011 09:24a.m.

Alien wrote:

Mike, I can tell you that one of my close friends pays around $3.5 million in personal tax per year. funny thing is that over 70% of NZ personal tax are paid by the high income earners mike. you can request the official documents that show this. One of the first things national did was close the loop holes that had the wealthy escaping taxes. Life is for the creating, some like to moan and blame others for why they are not successful, others just get on with it and make their life what they want it to be.

29 Jul 2011 01:22a.m.

Luke Robson wrote:

All the comments on this page so far (with the exception of tdog) are people with either 1)loser mentality, 2)uneducated people or 3) all of the above. There is no excuse for not being able to become rich, there is more than enough information and resources freely available for ANYONE to get rich, so people, it's YOUR CHOICE. How do you spend your time and money? Do you spend your spare time getting a financial education and learning how to invest? or do you spend your spare time at the pub, or shopping, etc? My bet is the later, and that is why you are poor. You can cry all you like, but you have a CHOICE in this country to become rich or stay poor, it YOUR CHOICE. Where you are today is a direct result of YOUR ACTIONS in the past. You can CHOOSE your actions in the future, so what are you going to CHOOSE to do? Get educated or keep crying 'it's unfair John Key is a mean guy?' Take RESPONSIBILITY for where you are in YOUR life, if you CHOOSE to be honest with yourself I can tell you that the truth will set you free my friend, and you too shall enjoy great wealth. I look forward to joining these people on the rich list, not to be on the list, but because I know what being rich really means, it means freedom from a job and having the time to spend your life doing the things that are really important, like giving to charity, trying to help educate people (like you lot) about how to become wealthy (although there is stacks of information out there about this already) and running businesses to help those who CHOOSE not to be rich by giving them a job (see how nice the rich are?) without the rich people we have most of you wouldn't even have a job, be GRATEFUL. Lack of education is the main reason why people are poor. The rich people of this world give more to charities and good causes than the rest of the poor and middle classes combined. Look deep into your soul, find the real you, be honest and ask yourself, "DO I TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR MY OWN ACTIONS?".

28 Jul 2011 11:48p.m.

Clarke wrote:

@tdog really? where are these mythical jobs? because they havent happened infact most economists are predicting that even after these tax cuts companies will be looking to shed more staff. And if you have more money you have a Greater responsibility to help society, instead the wealthy just feed on it tdog as you well know. The americans lowered their tax rates on business and wealthy to encourage the rich to create jobs. It didnt happen instead what happened was companies paid out their directors and share holders greater profits. In the last fortnight there have been 7 company directors arrested for fraud, theft, dishonesty.. related to the dodgey way in which finance companies were run and let collapse. These people that you support are the biggest thieves in society. Paula Bennett went on a beneficiary bashing campaign and as a result in 3 years there have been 5 or 6 arrests relating to serious benefit fraud. In 2 weeks there have been 7 ex-finance company directors arrested in the last 3 years ... probably dozens. The biggest thieves in society are those at the very top of the ladder. But calling these people job creators is misinformation tdog. If we lived in your fair communist society tdog then no one would get paid more than anyone else ever and no one would ever pay more tax than anyone else. But the more you have the greater your responsibility to the society you live in. If you dont like it, move to communist north korea. And the wealthy dont and never had paid their fair share of tax's they all shelter their incomes to avoid the tax man.. invest in markets where dividends arent taxed.. use loopholes as a way to avoid tax. Business helps no one but itself tdog thats just fact. New Zealand is also becoming recognised internationally as a tax haven... which means the rich have far better ways of hiding their full incomes and get away with it. Try a google search Keywords NZ and Tax Haven.. then you will see how honest the rich are here.