Remember those famous, all too insightful words of gumbooted Kiwi bloke persona Fred Dagg?

Well, if you’re in need of some reminding as to just how lucky we are, mate, New Zealand has just been named the world’s most peaceful nation.

The land of the long white cloud jumped ahead three spots in the Global Peace Index in 2009, knocking last year’s leader, Iceland, off the top spot.

Now in its third year, the index defines peace as “the absence of violence,” and looks at 23 indicators of peacefulness across 144 countries. Internally, these include homicides, the percentage of the population in jail, the availability of guns, and level of organized crime. External indicators include the size of the military, the exports and imports of arms, battlefield deaths, United Nations peacekeeping contributions, and relations with neighbouring states.

New Zealand scored highly because of its stable government, high level of respect for human rights and relatively small defence spending. The world’s major military powers scored poorly, with Russia at 136th and China 74th.

The US was 83rd, due to its enormous military and the fact it still jails a higher proportion of its population than any of the other 143 nations in the Global Peace Index.

Lucky Southerners have a long weekend to look forward to this weekend with Southland Anniversary Day on its way! There’s been a bit of historical controversy around the Southland Anniversary - but Jan 19 officially marks the date and paid public day off for everyone in the Southland region in 2009.

On passing the New Zealand Constitutional Act, the marked out district of Southland did not hold sufficient population or income to be selected as one of the six regions for Provincial Government, and was thus considered a part of Otago. It celebrated the first Otago anniversary on March 23^rd in 1852, and it wasn’t until 9 years later (after a large campaign and petition) that Southland’s first regional anniversary was recognised.

However as Southland fortunes slipped below Government criteria, the region was forced to revert back to the Otago Anniversary in 1870. In 1875, the Provincial Government model was abolished in New Zealand in favour of one Central Government, and the official Southland Anniversary date was set. It has not changed since, and is now celebrated on the Monday closest to January 17 - the anniversary of the day that the intention to build the town of Invercargill was announced.

The New Zealand treasury has forecast between 68,000 and 87,000 job losses for Kiwis during the next 15 months, along with a bigger Government deficit ($11 billion within 5 years) that those that were announced pre-election.

However, Finance Minister Bill English is determined not to let the Government’s rising debt burden future workers, and strongly believes in our Government’s ability to turn the situation around with “a combination of effective management of Government spending and higher than expected growth rates”. Mr. English is determined on seeing this through.

With all of this talk about Government debt going on you’d be silly not to think about your own personal debt. How are your financial management skills? Effective personal budgeting and changing your spending habits (i.e. living only with the use of a charge card which must be paid monthly, rather than a credit card - which you just pay the minimum and are constantly accruing high interest). Individual money management is the key to ensuring even in tough times, your standard of living can remain as good as ever.

At 11.08am this morning, Prime Minister-elect John Key signed his warrant of office and just seven minutes later was sworn in under oath as the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

John Key is the youngest PM New Zealand has ever seen at just 47 years old, the same age as recent President-elect of the United States, Barack Obama. Prime Minister Key is the 38^th sworn into the role in New Zealand history.

Alongside Act and the Maori Party, the National party will govern New Zealand over the next three years. Helen Clark of the Labour party officially resigned her ministers’ warrants earlier this morning at Government House.

For New Zealand’s new National-led Government to be, John Key and future Finance Minister Bill English are rushing to set up shop for reasons far more pressing than the drive to assume power.

Officials from the Treasury and the RBNZ are expected to brief Key and English on the updated economic growth forecasts (or, presumably, growth deficits) any day now. It is expected that employment rates and the Government’s accounts will be looking the darkest. With the NZD exchange rates currently still sitting under 60 US cents, the pre-election fiscal updates that were released are expected to look even worse now than a month ago.

The pre-election fiscal and economic update (Prefu) was released in early October, however the data was finalised at the end of August, meaning foreign rate and other economic forecasts were not representative of the financial crisis to come in later months. It is expected that shortfalls will amount to around $1 billion more than as released in the Prefu.

Not since 1990 has a Prime Minister-elect arrived at Parliament the day after the election has a Government faced such financial disarray. Some 18 years ago, National came to power with Jim Bolger at the helm after a Labour-led term, and was told that the mostly State-owed Bank of New Zealand immediately needed a large injection of cash.

For more information on NZ’s economy and finance, check out our New Zealand finance section, updated daily at 3.30pm.

Last week’s polls were pretty much on the money, NZ elections results were counted and just before midnight on Saturday November 8, the Labour party conceded as the election results showed a clear win by National:

PARTY
National 45.5%
Labour 33.8%
Green 6.4%
NZ First 4.2%
Act 3.7%
Maori 2.2%
United Future 0.9%
Progressives 0.9%

SEATS
National 59
Labour 43
Green 8
Act 5
Maori 5
Progressive 1
United Future 1

Coalition talks begin this week and we can expect an official Government arrangement within 2 weeks. However, it has been made pretty clear by National party leader John Key that National will team up with Act, and talk with both United Future and the Maori Party to create a Government.

While the above are just the preliminary results - special votes must be counted in order for the Government to be officially sworn in - political commentators do not expect the results to change significantly. While the stated confirmation of Government date is November 18, Prime Minister-elect Key wants to fast track this in order to best deal with the current world financial crisis.

The last YouTube debate has screened, and all advertising material must be pulled down by the end of tomorrow in preparation for election day on Saturday. Have you made your decision? Experts estimate that one in four voters are undecided at this stage, so read up on the political parties New Zealand has to offer online and make sure you are informed before making your big decision.

Wondering where to vote? Find your local polling office - there should be one pretty close by in your area. Voting opens on Saturday morning at 9.00am, and finishes at 7.00pm. If you can’t make it to a polling place on Saturday you have until tomorrow to place your vote in advance.

Voting is faster and even easier this year with your EasyVote card, which you will have received in the mail sometime during the last few weeks. It has all of your particulars on it (name, electorate, etc), and makes the voting process smooth and stress free. If you have misplaced yours don’t worry, you can still vote by producing your ID like you would have for the 2005 election.

Read up on NZ Elections to make sure you’re aware of how the process works on Saturday, and make a decision in support of your political allegiance.

We’re just hours away from the first election debate from the leaders of the political parties. Screening tonight on TV1 at 7pm, the televised debate will be made more interesting than ever by truly involving the New Zealand public - and making history at the same time.

Alongside TVNZ, the debate is run by YouTube, and will see questions posted via video on the popular streaming content website, to be responded to by the party leaders in the televised debate.

This enables any New Zealand citizen with a webcam a chance to communicate directly with political leaders in a way never possible before - and voice their questions and concerns at the highest level.

As New Zealand has often been a leader in both political strides and embracing technology, it seems a perfect fit to merge the two together in preparation for the upcoming 2008 election.

Go to the YouTube debate channel to post your questions now.

Image from Flickr.

The much-anticipated opposition tax cut plan has just been released by the National party in the last few minutes, and finally New Zealanders have a clear picture of what John Key has been talking about for several months.

It was revealed yesterday that National would scale back on tax cuts because of the declining state of the New Zealand economy. Breaking news has announced that if elected in the 2008 election next month, John Key plans to put an extra $15 in the average wage earner’s pocket each week above the current tax cut plan offered by the incumbent New Zealand Government.

National plans to, if elected, roll out most of the tax cuts in April next year, while the current Labour party plan sees cuts rolling out slower, culminating in 2011.

John Key will formally confirm figures this afternoon at a press conference in Auckland. Keep tabs on the NZS.com political news headlines for updates.

After months of waiting, it’s finally October 1, and New Zealanders can look forward to a slightly chubbier pay packet for their first pay period ending in October.

Labour’s tax cuts roll out today, giving Kiwi wage-earners a little extra each week to help with the rising cost of living.

How much more can you expect each week?

Salaries between $20,000 and $30,000 will gain an extra $12 per week ($624 per year); salaries between $40,000 and $60,000 will give you an extra $16 ($832 per year); and $70,000+ salaries will yield an extra $28 ($1456 per year).

This wage bump-up will increase yearly in 2010 and 2011, and to find out exactly how much extra your family is set to receive weekly over the next three years, check out the tax cut calculator on the Labour website.

Unfortunately the world’s financial crisis is again in disarray after the US congress failed to agree on a $1 trillion bail-out plan for the US economy. While the NZ Government and the opposition continued to insist that today’s tax cuts remain affordable, the NZX fell 4.5% yesterday, along with a NZ to US dollar, dropping 2c.

For updates, keep tabs on the latest business news headlines on NZS.com.

Image from Flickr.