Andrew Little’s pre budget speech
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- Date published:
8:42 am, May 13th, 2015 - 174 comments
Categories: Andrew Little, Economy, john key, labour, Politics -
Tags: budget 2015
Tēna koutou katoa. Thank you for joining me this morning.
Thank you John Milford for your welcome, and Peter Cullen for your kind
introduction.
Next week, the Government will present its seventh budget.
Only on rare occasions does a single budget have a profound effect on the
economy, and on people’s lives.
Mostly, Budgets are markers along the way of the government’s plans,
which usually evolve incrementally and – under the present government – in
response to populist political itches.
This year’s Budget is different.
This Budget comes from a government with almost seven years economic
management under its belt.
It comes after four years of reasonable GDP growth, at a time of low
inflation, and increasing labour market participation.
Despite these good conditions, it is a budget that will, once again, fail to
deliver on the defining promise of the Key / English National government –
to get the books back into surplus.
This is not a promise that’s been made lightly.
In 2008, in the depths of the GFC, officials forecast New Zealand would
have a long string of Budget deficits.
National’s chief priority, it said at the time, was to turn that around in short
order.
And in the most recent General Election campaign, National repeated that
its central economic policy promise was to return to a Budget surplus this
year.
That promise, “to return to surplus in 2014/15” sat proudly as their number
one commitment in their election material, distributed to every corner of
New Zealand.
They made that promise knowing about the current state of government
revenue.
They made that promise knowing the Government’s revenue projections
were worsening.
Of the $4.5 billion lower revenue that Bill English is now blaming for his
failure, he knew about $4 billion of that in December last year, when he still
claimed a surplus.
They made their Budget surplus promise knowing world dairy prices had
consistently fallen for 8 months, and were projected to fall further. The
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation forecast this price slide
right at the start of the election campaign, and National chose to ignore
the warning.
National made the promise knowing other commodity prices were falling
and another industry important for exports, the oil and gas industry, was
under pressure.
Even with low inflation, even with growing participation in the labour
market, deep down they knew shortly after last year’s Pre-Election
Economic and Fiscal Update they could not generate a Budget surplus in
this Budget year.
There wasn’t enough milk money. There wasn’t enough oil money. And, as
a result, there wasn’t enough tax money.
But their promise was clear. Their good economic stewardship would see
us in surplus.
And now they’ve abandoned their promise.
National’s talk now is about how achieving surplus was an “artificial target”
and that getting a surplus is “like landing a 747 on the head of a pin.”
A lot of effort has gone into glossing over the broken promise. But I see it
for what it is – one of the biggest political deceptions in a lifetime.
The second major deception related to the Budget is this week’s
announcement on ACC levy cuts. It was a vague promise to do something
two years and one budget away.
It had all the hallmarks of trying to spruik a positive initiative that may not
happen ahead of a budget that has already been defined by what it won’t
do.
New Zealanders deserve better than this.
National’s election message last year was that we are on the cusp of
something special.
The only thing special seems to be the late realisation that this promise was
even bigger political pretence than the promise to produce a surplus.
It’s time to put the record straight on this government’s economic
performance.
It has squandered opportunity. It has left New Zealand’s economy
vulnerable and exposed.
Too many New Zealanders are working harder than ever, but they don’t
feel like they are getting anywhere.
Middle income families are struggling to get ahead, and seeing the dream
of home ownership slip away.
The rock-star economy is leaving everyday people behind.
A new approach is needed. One that deals honestly with the circumstances
that confront us.
Because of this government’s inaction, today we face major economic
headwinds:
• A 7 billion dollar hole caused by falling milk prices
• An economy dangerously over-reliant on the same old commodities
• An out of control Auckland housing market
• And growing regional neglect
Many New Zealanders ask me :
• When will I get ahead?
• When do I get to see a share of the growth in the economy?
• What does the future hold for me and my family?
These questions are difficult to answer. Not only has there been a failure to
deliver on promises, this government has also failed to lay the foundation
to generate future wealth.
We are entitled to expect better.
Today, I want to talk about how we found ourselves in this situation.
And I want to talk about what a responsible Government would do in next
week’s budget to grow our economy and ensure every Kiwi feels the
benefit.
Where Have We Come From
So how did we find ourselves here?
How is it that at a time of around 3% growth a year, people still aren’t
feeling better off?
How do we still have nearly 6% of our people unemployed? The last time
growth was this good, our unemployment rate was a full two per cent
lower.
How is it that with 3% economic growth, we still have working families
living in poverty? That remains one of the most disturbing statistics in New
Zealand today – two in five kids in poverty live in working families.
When the present government took over at the end of 2008, it inherited
one of the strongest balance sheets in the OECD. Net crown debt was zero,
a result achieved after 9 successive budget surpluses. Labour used these
surpluses to repay debt and establish a sovereign wealth fund to help
cover the future cost of superannuation.
Other factors also set us up well. We had one of the lowest unemployment
rates in the OECD. And we had concluded one of the most important free
trade agreements for our country – the FTA with China.
New Zealand was well positioned to weather the global financial crisis.
Yes, it’s true we had a drought-induced recession, and then the GFC, just as
National came to office.
But we were prepared. And we got through. Just as three years later we
got through the Canterbury earthquakes.
Let’s remember that National’s main response to the fiscal aftermath of the
GFC was to make a tax switch where a backbench MP got ten times as
much as a median income earner.
The truth is: if this government was really concerned about the predicted
decade of deficits, they had a funny way of showing it. They cut the
government’s revenue.
Even more telling is the government’s lack of response to the obvious need
to diversify our economy.
Since the GFC, we have enjoyed a sustained period of high commodity
prices and superior returns.
This should have been the very time to introduce measures to incentivise
and direct investment into a more diverse range of economic activity.
In the last 7 years, National hasn’t announced a single initiative that has
tackled the structural imbalances in our economy.
They haven’t tackled our over-reliance on dairy, or on housing speculation.
They have done little to encourage innovation.
They haven’t done anything to fix the issues that made our economy
vulnerable in the first place.
A different JK, John F Kennedy, once said the best time to fix the roof is
when the sun is shining.
But our JK would rather leave the hole, and take credit for the sunny day.
None of this will be news to you.
All over New Zealand I’ve had business people come up to me concerned
about the lack of economic vision they’re seeing. They’re worried there’s no
economic strategy beyond the next opinion poll.
Instead of substantive reform, National’s plan was to cheer the rise in
global dairy prices, which reached world record levels in 2014 but have
halved in the past year.
The prospects of that price recovering are not good – Goldman Sachs last
year warned there would be a glut in the global dairy market over the next
five years, and economists are downgrading their forecasts for next
season’s Fonterra payout.
That’s the economic reality we face today – falling income from a
commodity we have been heavily reliant on, with consequences for us all.
The Government likes to tell a simple story about their economic
stewardship, but here’s what really happened over the last seven years:
• The GFC and the Canterbury earthquakes caused major disruption,
but New Zealand was well-prepared to deal with both.
• Spending on rebuilding after the disaster has artificially boosted our
economic performance measures.
• For a while, we also got by on the back of record dairy prices.
• Those prices were a short term fix – a bandage on a broken leg.
• In fact, our exports have gone backwards since 2008.
• Most importantly, this Government has ignored the long term fixes
our economy needed.
What this failure to adapt means for New Zealand families, especially in our
regions, is this:
• Many of them still aren’t better off.
• We have working families living in poverty.
• John Key promised them 150,000 new jobs by 2016. They won’t get
them.
• He also promised them $7,000 more wages by 2017. They won’t get
that either.
• And, finally, our economic future looks increasingly precarious.
This government has been more than reckless in its complacency. It made
a surplus promise it knew it could not keep. It ignored the biggest
economic problems facing New Zealand today and tomorrow. It has grown
the number of New Zealanders struggling to get ahead. Next week’s
budget will do nothing to change that.
What they should have done:
So, what would a responsible government have done between 2008 and
today?
I say there were four major missed opportunities.
First, a responsible government would have laid the foundations to
diversify the economy.
Our over-reliance on dairy has never been more stark than it is now.
But the Government has ignored ideas that would help our other
businesses to get ahead.
New Zealand now spends just half the OECD average on R and D.
For a country dependent on innovation and rich in ideas, that’s appalling.
We should have used the economic growth of the last four years to
increase our investment in innovation. The government ignored that
approach.
Research and development tax credits would have been a good start.
Business knows this. You understand the benefits.
But right now, the government insists on picking the winners through their
grants programme. This week, Callaghan Innovation admitted they can’t
even be sure that the benefits from the government’s scheme are staying
here, rather than going offshore.
We have to change that.
The next thing a responsible government would do is level the investment
playing field.
For the average Aucklander, their house makes more than they do.
Our economy has to be so much more than milk and houses.
New Zealand needs less money going into housing, and more money going
into productive businesses.
The housing crisis we now find ourselves in is the result of two things: the
Government hasn’t cracked down on speculators. And they haven’t built
enough homes.
The untold millions speculators have poured into Auckland housing could
have been so much more useful to New Zealand in productive businesses.
Three years ago, we promised a Labour government would build
thousands of houses, and we would start immediately.
We also promised to crack down on overseas speculators, by stopping
non-resident non-citizens from buying Kiwi houses.
More Aucklanders would own the roof over their heads under our plan. The
market would stabilise, bringing interest rates down, and the exchange rate
with them.
Instead, this government has dithered, tinkered, and sat on its hands.
The third missed opportunity is that a responsible government should have
revitalised New Zealand’s regions. Instead, this government ignored them.
Of the new jobs created since the start of 2011, 70% have been in Auckland
or Christchurch, where only 47% of the population live. It’s a vicious circle.
Because the jobs went to Auckland and Christchurch, migrants went there
too, and New Zealanders left the regions.
More than three quarters of net migration in the last year went to Auckland
and Christchurch. Spending on infrastructure in our regions has declined,
services have closed, and development has stalled.
An active government partner would reward migrants and businesses who
invest their future in our regions. If someone commits to our regions we
need to commit to them, too.
Finally, this government should have reformed tertiary education to
prepare for the coming tidal wave of change in the future of work.
We live in a world where:
• the largest taxi company, Uber, doesn’t own any taxis
• the world’s largest media company, Facebook, doesn’t produce any
media.
• Xero, for all its brilliance, is putting accountants out of work.
New Zealand’s polytechs and universities, as well as our businesses, have
to keep up with these trends. A global survey found that 73% of CEOs are
concerned about the availability of the key skills they need in their industry.
The government should have listened more to business, found out where
they saw the skill shortages, then invested heavily in vocational training.
That hasn’t happened.
If we keep training people for the old economy, we fail in the new
economy.
A broader economy, more affordable housing, regenerating the regions
and educating for the future. That’s where a responsible government would
have acted. This government hasn’t.
That’s what a responsible government would fix next week. This
government won’t.
New Zealand’s next government
I began today by telling you that it is rare for a budget to profoundly affect
people’s lives. But that’s the sort of Budget we need now. This could have
been one of those budgets. With good growth and low inflation, this is the
moment for visionary thinking.
So what is my vision?
I want a New Zealand where neither your postcode nor your parents
determine the success you can achieve in life, only your effort does.
I want a New Zealand seizing the opportunities of new ways to do business
this century, not struggling to catch up as the world moves on.
A country that trains its young people for the jobs they’ll actually do, not
the jobs their parents did.
A country where we reward the risk takers, the innovators, the unafraid.
Where we celebrate growing wealth, and where everyone who works for
that success shares in the rewards.
A country where owning your own home is still an achievable dream.
None of this will be easy. The deep, structural problems we face in New
Zealand don’t have any quick fixes. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a
fraud.
Tackling New Zealand’s problems takes commitment, perseverance, vision,
and the willingness to take risks. Doing the right thing for New Zealand
requires focus, not focus groups.
That’s why our Future of Work Commission, led by our finance
spokesperson Grant Robertson, is a two-year commitment where we listen
more than we talk, and we come to pragmatic solutions that will guide our
policy in the decades ahead.
The Commission is a model of the way we’ll approach all the big issues.
We’ll listen, we’ll deliberate, and when we act we’ll make a real difference.
That’s the only kind of government I want to lead.
The challenge ahead
We’ll be holding this Government to account on New Zealand’s big issues
next week and beyond, in the House and around the country.
That’s our job, that’s what we do.
But there’s a role for you, too.
After the budget each year, Ministers hit the road.
John Key, Bill English and Steven Joyce will be speaking to businesses
many times in the coming weeks.
That’s the opportunity for everyone to raise the issues the Government
hasn’t delivered on.
Hold them to their word. Ask them:
• Why haven’t we hit surplus?
• Why are we still so reliant on so few commodities?
• Why are you still ignoring the housing crisis?
• Why are you still neglecting the regions?
• And, most importantly, where’s the plan to diversify our economy?
Put these questions to the Government, and see if they have any answers.
Next Thursday, this government has an opportunity to start answering
these questions. They have a chance to chart a new course for the New
Zealand economy.
It is imperative that they take it.
It’s not unreasonable for every New Zealander to want the best for New
Zealand.
• We deserve a government in surplus
• We deserve a solution to the housing crisis
• We deserve vibrant regions
• And most importantly, we deserve a plan to diversify the economy,
bringing good jobs to all.
That’s what a responsible government would deliver.
Thank you.
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Today, Saturday 16th of November, is Auckland Transport’s Bus Driver Appreciation Day! Saturday 16 November marks the third annual Auckland Transport (AT) ‘Bus Driver Appreciation Day’, and this year we are encouraging all of New Zealand to thank their driver or let the bus go first if you are in ...6 days ago
- Totally Normal: Holiday Edition
Hi,If I was to accurately sum up my mental state over the week, I’d just say that I got a huge fright from my own shadow.I’d nipped out for an 11pm neighborhood stroll, just to calm down after a day of stress and screens. The Cure and Fazerdaze’s new record ...6 days ago - We Are Not Listening
The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...
7 days ago - More lawlessness from National
On Tuesday, sick of government stonewalling, the Waitangi Tribunal issued a rare court order, ordering the Minister of Health to release unredacted documents within 48 hours showing its reasoning for disestablishing Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority. The government's response to the lawful order of a court? Yeah, ...7 days ago
- National’s tyrannical “foreign interference” law
Yesterday, under cover the the biggest political fight of the year, National quietly - covertly, even - introduced anti-foreign interference legislation. The bill is the product of a years-long work-program aimed at countering shit like this and this, and there's unquestionably a need to do something to counter foreign states' ...7 days ago
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A few months ago, I was in an audience watching a Haka-Kapa and as I watched children dance and sing and sway and shout and beat, I couldn’t help but think “The Haka represents the best of us.”Yes, yes - there will be a thousand voices that rush forth to ...1 week ago
- Adding up the climate cost
St Mary’s Bay housing left hanging: Climate risk is systemically underestimated in the climate scenarios used by central banks, and a new report warns 10,000 houses are set to become uninsurable in Aotearoa. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in ...1 week ago
- Auckland chafing at Bishop’s housing intensification orders
One of the major problems the Government has in implementing its ‘going for housing growth’ strategy is that it isn’t giving much funding help to councils. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and ...1 week ago - Friday 15 November 2024
The Treaty Principles Bill continues to dominate political news, with it passing its first reading in the House. Parliament was briefly suspended and Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke suspended for 24 hours after leading a haka that was joined by opposition MPs and the public in the gallery. Willie ...1 week ago
- Weekly Roundup 15-November-2024
Happy Friday, welcome to another round-up of interesting stories about what’s happening in Auckland and other cities. Feel free to add your links in the comments! This post, like all our work, is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers ...1 week ago
- Are We The Waiting?
And screamingAre we we are, are we we are the waitingAnd screamingAre we we are, are we we are the waitingForget me nots, second thoughts live in isolationHeads or tails and fairy tales in my mindAre we we are, are we we are the waiting unknownThe rage and love, the ...1 week ago - The Hoon around the week to November 15
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate news, including from COP29 this week; on the US Presidential elections, Israel vs Gaza/Iran/Lebanon, Ukraine/Nato vs Russia/North ...1 week ago
- First Tea and Toast, now Milo — why do NZ’s best beverages need so much defending?
Only two months ago, Nicola Willis had to step in to stop Health New Zealand cutting tea and toast for post-birth parents, and now Lester Levy is riding to the rescue with a welcome message for all: our health workers can once again drink Milo, and will no longer need ...1 week ago - Gordon Campbell on the folly of making apologies in a social vacuum.
Day One of the Treaty Principles Bill…and everyone got what they wanted, and did what they liked. Heated words were exchanged. Culturally appropriate acts of outrage were performed. David Seymour got to play the victim card. Willie Jackson got kicked out of class. A comically red-faced Mr Speaker bellowed “Order, ...1 week ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #46 2024
Open access notables Microbial solutions must be deployed against climate catastrophe, Peixoto et al., Nature Communications [comment]: The climate crisis is escalating. A multitude of microbe-based solutions have been proposed, and these technologies hold great promise and could be deployed along with other climate mitigation strategies. However, these solutions have ...1 week ago
- The PM gets some extremely valuable legal advice for free
You can pay a great deal of money for the services of a KC. So just what would some peerless legal writing from 40 or so of them be worth, do you reckon?Priceless, that’s what. It’s not even the half of it, but this is my favourite part of the ...1 week ago - D-day for the government
The government's Treaty Principles Bill is up for its first reading today - bought forward in a rush in a desperate effort to avoid the hikoi which is currently marching on Wellington. But the Prime Minister won’t be there for it – he’s literally running away to Peru! But he ...1 week ago
- 97% of submissions did not want no-cause evictions, Trump chooses a Russian spy for US Intelligence ...
Good morning, and I’m sorry I’ve been away for a couple of days.I’ve been focusing on the Hikoi, and also testing out sentiment on the Treaty Principles Bill. It’s complicated, and the Treaty Principles Bill will be debated in the House today. The Government’s own lawyers have told them the ...1 week ago - Government must vote down ACT Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is calling on the Government to vote down an ACT Party Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights by making it easier for employers to fire workers. Last week ACT MP Laura Trask’s Employment Relations (Termination of Employment by Agreement) Amendment Bill was ...1 week ago
- Seymour causes thousands of unjustified absences by forcing kids to fight for their rights instead o...
The State would like to remind you that they are in control. They manage your employment prospects, and can destroy the job market you and yours rely on by mass-cancelling construction projects, cutting funding, and firing a good chunk of our public servants. They wield the mechanisms that provide scrutiny ...1 week ago - The Weight of the World
As the weight of the world Hangs on your shoulders The weight of the world Starts to take over again And over again All that you once loved, now you hate So slowly relearn how to meditate To have and to hold And never let go Can you feel it ...1 week ago - Thursday 14 November 2024
The Treaty Principles Bill is set to have its First Reading in the House today, as the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti continues. More than 40 KCs have written to the Prime Minister and Attorney-General outlining their “grave concerns” about the substance of the Treaty Principles Bill, while an academic and ...1 week ago
- Trump’s return to White House brings the climate’s ‘find out’ phase closer
As we absorb the news of Trump's victory in the US Presidential election, here’s a wrap compiled just before the result of what it might mean for climate action: The UN Secretary General says the prospective departure of the United States would cripple the Paris Agreement, likening it to the ...1 week ago
- Time and Space in the City Centre
Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the City Centre Advisory Panel. The header image is from Walthamstow, London The city centre now has a few stretches of street where the space has been repurposed to a people and place focused design from full time traffic use. These are a great ...1 week ago
- An opportunity for a pro-growth tax switch
As the Hikoi against it swells into the tens of thousands, KCs call on National to kill off ACT’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, November 14: The ...1 week ago
- Release: Government should be transparent on live exports
Targeted consultation on reinstating live cattle exports by sea won’t allow the New Zealand public to have their say. ...4 hours ago - NZ’s global climate rankings plummet as Govt removes agriculture from ETS
The Government has passed legislation to remove agriculture from the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) while Aotearoa’s reputation on climate action plummets. ...19 hours ago - Failed boot camp experiment must end
As legislation to set up boot camps passed its first reading, the Green Party urged the Government to abandon this failed policy experiment for the good of our rangatahi. ...20 hours ago
- Gender-affirming care must centre evidence and health needs, not political posturing
The Ministry of Health has today released an evidence brief regarding the use of puberty blockers in gender-affirming healthcare, amid moves by the government to limit access. ...20 hours ago
- Release: National doesn’t care about manufacturing
The National Government is walking away from our manufacturing sector with constant reports of closures and job losses. ...22 hours ago
- Release: David Parker speech – Piketty, Inequality and Climate Change
David Parker's speech from the University of Auckland's forum on Piketty, Inequality and Climate Change in September 2024. ...22 hours ago
- Release: Youth mental wellbeing no longer a priority for Child Poverty Minister
Louise Upston has revealed her diminished vision for vulnerable youth against a backdrop of snubbed advice, scrapped priorities, shifted goal posts and thousands more children projected to fall into poverty. ...23 hours ago
- Release: National’s lack of climate action taking NZ backwards
National Government’s backward-looking climate policy has seen New Zealand fall seven places on the Climate Change Performance Index to 41 out of 63 countries measured. ...23 hours ago
- Release: Simple reason for drop in emergency housing
When the Government says it has reduced the number of people in emergency housing, what it means is it is stopping people from accessing it in the first place. ...1 day ago
- Govt’s child wellbeing strategy ‘shallow and shameful’
The Government is turning its back on children by not only weakening child poverty reduction targets, but also removing child mental wellbeing as a priority focus in their Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy. ...1 day ago
- Release: A historic win for Samoan communities
Labour warmly welcomes the Restoring Samoan Citizenship Bill as it passes its third reading, before becoming law. ...1 day ago
- Government plan to reinstate live animal exports a “national disgrace”
The Government has taken a giant step backwards by reinstating live animal exports. ...2 days ago
- Pasifika justice as Member’s Bill passes final reading
Teanau Tuiono’s Member’s Bill, the Citizenship (Western Samoa Restoration) Amendment Bill, has passed its third reading and will become law. ...2 days ago
- Release: Minister of Education thinks New Zealand ends at the Bombay Hills
The Minister of Education has shown complete disregard for rural communities and their school bus routes in Question Time today. ...2 days ago
- Economists sound alarm on Government’s slash-and-burn approach
A group of prominent economists has released an open letter to the Government, raising grave concerns about the far-reaching consequences of its fiscal policy. ...2 days ago
- Release: Smoking numbers up under Costello’s watch
National’s repeal of Labour’s smokefree legislation has taken New Zealand further away from achieving a Smokefree 2025 and a smokefree generation. ...2 days ago
- Release: Call for Palestine recognition by NZ, Australian and Canadian MPs
Parliamentarians from Australia, Canada and New Zealand have written an open letter to their respective Prime Ministers calling on them to recognise Palestine. ...2 days ago
- Justice Select Committee opens floor for Treaty Principles submissions
Today, the Justice Select Committee has decided to officially open submissions for the controversial Treaty Principles Bill. ...3 days ago
- Power of the people on full display as hīkoi approaches Parliament
Today, Hīkoi mō te Tiriti arrived in Wellington, with thousands gathering to march in unity against the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...3 days ago
- Hypocrisy as Te Whatu Ora contractor bill balloons
Te Whatu Ora’s bill for contracting and consulting staff has ballooned by nearly 20 percent under the National Government, breaking a promise they made during the election campaign to cut contractors. ...4 days ago
- Release: Growing pressure to scrap Section 7AA Repeal Bill
The newly released Section 7AA Repeal Bill's select committee report is further evidence that the Government should scrap it. ...5 days ago
- Government’s move to monetise access to nature a slippery slope
The Green Party is voicing serious concerns over the Government’s proposal to charge for access to public conservation land, released today. ...1 week ago
- Green Party condemns the passage of Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party condemns the passing of the Treaty Principles Bill at first reading, and is clear that the fight is not over. ...1 week ago
- Stand Up for Te Tiriti
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is our country’s founding document. It forms the basis of the relationship between Māori and the Crown – and the Aotearoa New Zealand we live in today. ...1 week ago
- Release: Over 15,000 sign Labour’s open letter to Luxon
As the hīkoi to Parliament continues, Labour has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in a last-ditch attempt to get him to kill the Treaty Principles Bill. ...1 week ago
- Fast Track Bill threatens environment, climate and reputation
The fast-track legislation passing its second reading in Parliament is another step towards environmental ruin. ...1 week ago
- Greens join King’s Counsel in calling for Treaty Principles Bill to be abandoned
The Prime Minister must answer the call from a group of senior lawyers of the King’s Counsel to abandon the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...1 week ago
- Chris Hipkins’ apology statement to state and faith-based care survivors
...1 week ago
- Release: Labour formally apologises to state and faith-based care survivors
Labour joins with the Government in unreservedly apologising for the abuse, neglect and trauma including torture in state and faith-based care and for ignoring the voices of survivors for too long. ...1 week ago
- Green Party stands in support of survivors of abuse in care
Today, the Green Party stands alongside the survivors of abuse in state care and faith-based care as the Government issues an historic apology. ...1 week ago
- Green Party calls for conscience vote on Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party has written to the Speaker of the House requesting he enable a personal vote on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt move to exclude journalist risks chilling effect
The Green Party is alarmed by the Government’s move to exclude a journalist from covering this week’s apology for the survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care. ...2 weeks ago
- Without action, an apology will be empty air
For tomorrow’s apology to survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care to hold any water, the Government must not pursue the same policies that drove the abuse in the first place. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Concerns remain over tobacco interference
Concerns about the tobacco industry’s ability to interfere in government policy making remain, despite the inability of the Office of the Auditor-General to investigate the Government’s decision to halve the excise tax on heated tobacco products. ...2 weeks ago
- Urgent wake-up call on climate
The Climate Change Commission’s latest advice indicates Aotearoa needs to be stepping up on climate action. ...2 weeks ago
- Green MP’s Meme-ber’s Bill set to save the world
Break out the punchlines and dust off your meme folder: Green Party MP Kahurangi Carter’s Copyright (Parody and Satire) Amendment Bill was pulled from the Ballot yesterday. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Poroporoaki: Ta Robert (Bom) Gillies
Kua hinga te manawa kairākau o Te Rua Tekau Ma Waru Tiwhatiwha te po! Kakarauru i te po! Ka rapuhia kei hea koe kua riro! Haere e te Ika a Whiro ki o tini hoa kua ngaro atu ki te Pō ...2 weeks ago
- Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principles Bill
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principle...
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- NZ must pursue independent foreign policy
The Green Party says the need is greater than ever for Aotearoa New Zealand to pursue an independent foreign policy. ...2 weeks ago
- Record number of submissions received on granny flat proposal
Nearly 2,000 submissions have been received on the Government’s proposals aimed at making it easier to build a granny flat of up to 60 square metres without a resource or building consent, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk say. “This is the highest number ...53 minutes ago - District Court Judge appointed
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Rebecca Guthrie as a District Court Judge. Judge Guthrie was admitted to the bar in 1997 following her graduation from the University of Canterbury in 1996 (LLB, BA). She commenced her legal career in Hastings in 1997 before moving to London in ...1 hour ago
- Appointments strengthen Predator Free 2050
The latest Predator Free 2050 Board appointments will help to strengthen biodiversity efforts across Aotearoa New Zealand, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. Mr Potaka today announced two appointments to the Board of Directors of Predator Free 2050 Limited, a key player in the wider Predator Free 2050 Programme. “The Predator ...3 hours ago
- New facility in Christchurch will improve the lives of young New Zealanders
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey today opened Kahurangi, an innovative and much-needed facility for Canterbury’s Child, Adolescent, and Family Mental Health Services. “The new state of the art outpatient facility opened today will be a gamechanger for the way mental health is delivered for young people in Canterbury,” says Mr ...3 hours ago
- Driver safety screens to be installed on Auckland buses
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed news from the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) that bus driver protection screens will be installed across Auckland’s bus fleet by 2026.“The Government is committed to improving the safety of working environments for bus drivers, and Budget 2024 allocated $15 million of Crown funding over ...3 hours ago
- Government action provides Southland farmers more time to meet plan requirements
The Government is taking action to ensure Southland farmers and growers are not affected by unreasonable regional farm plan deadlines, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard say.“Cabinet has agreed to provide more time for farmers and growers to comply with regional rules ...20 hours ago
- Bill reaffirms Government’s commitment to crack down on serious youth offending
The Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Bill had its first reading at Parliament today. The Bill reaffirms the Government’s commitment to crack down on serious youth offending, Minister for Children Karen Chhour says. “In recent years we have seen an unacceptable spike in youth offending. “This Bill makes ...20 hours ago
- Critical milestones for earthquake buildings review
Fairer, more sensible rules about managing earthquake risks are a step closer with the passing of legislation and the appointment of an independent chair to provide expert advice, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The Government is committed to reinvigorating our cities and regions to support economic growth, ...21 hours ago
- State of the art radiology machine for Auckland
People in Northland and Auckland will benefit from a new machine for cancer treatment installed at the Regional Cancer and Blood Service at Auckland City Hospital. The MV5 linear accelerator, or LINAC machine, officially opened today targets cancer tumours with pinpoint accuracy. Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says this new, ...21 hours ago
- Foreign Minister to visit Europe
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Europe for high-level talks with France, Germany and the United Kingdom next week. "Since taking office almost a year ago, the Coalition Government has emphasised the importance we place on New Zealand's traditional and likeminded diplomatic and ...22 hours ago
- First arrests made under gang patch ban
Police have made their first arrests under the new gang patch legislation, with two gang members arrested, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. “Just before 11 this morning, Police in Wairoa apprehended a gang member for wearing a patch to the supermarket. He has been arrested and will now face enforcement ...23 hours ago
- Better support for victims of sexual violence
The Government is proposing two major changes to name suppression laws that will put the views of victims of sexual violence first, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “We are committed to restoring law and order and these two proposed changes will help ensure the victims of crime are put at ...24 hours ago
- Government moving forward with Regional Deals
Cabinet has agreed to invite all regions to submit proposals for Regional Deals between central and local government that drive economic growth and deliver the infrastructure our country needs, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop say. Inviting all regions to propose a Regional Deal that boosts ...1 day ago
- MSA pilot participant update
One of the ten young men selected to participate in the Military-Style Academy Pilot has allegedly reoffended. Children’s Minister Karen Chhour is disappointed but says it would be naïve to think that none of these young men would reoffend. “I’m saddened that this young person has not taken this opportunity ...1 day ago
- Fighting for Kiwis in Trade
Delivered at Auckland Trade and Economic Policy School Good morning and thank you Deputy Vice Chancellor Lithander for your warm welcome and for inviting me to open Auckland Trade and Economic Policy School today. A Special thanks to the University of Auckland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and ...1 day ago
- Attendance rates increase, again
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says that school attendance is continuing to rise. In Term 3 of 2024 51.3 per cent of students attended school regularly, an increase of 5.3 percentage points from 46 per cent in Term 3 of 2023. “This Government has prioritised student attendance and it is ...1 day ago
- Improving the lives of young New Zealanders
Ensuring New Zealand is the best place in the world for children and young people is the vision at the heart of the Government’s new Child and Youth Strategy, Child Poverty Reduction Minister Louise Upston says. “Childhood represents a huge opportunity to set people on a positive path towards living ...1 day ago
- Government continues work to reinstate livestock exports by sea
The Government is reinstating the trade of livestock exports by sea while ensuring the highest standards of animal welfare, says Associate Minister of Agriculture Andrew Hoggard.“The Government will introduce legislation changes to reinstate the trade, enhance oversight, and strengthen requirements for exporters to identify risks and manage the welfare of ...2 days ago
- Speech to the National Quality Forum 2024
Tēnā koutou katoa – it is a pleasure to be here today. I would like to begin by acknowledging the important leadership role you all play in ensuring a quality health system New Zealanders can trust. There is enormous clinical expertise in this room covering a wide range of disciplines. ...2 days ago
- New Zealand’s COP29 National Statement
Tēnā koutou katoa. Mr President, Excellencies, Delegates. New Zealand, and all nations represented here today, are already dealing with the impacts of climate change. Our households, businesses, and economies are bearing the costs of its effects. The choices we make now will shape the severity of these impacts for generations ...2 days ago
- Latest Quarterly Investment Report released
The Government has released its second Quarterly Investment Report (QIR) which shows substantial work still to be done by agencies to improve investment reporting and meet the Government’s expectations, Infrastructure and Acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “New Zealand has significant infrastructure and investment needs. The Government is determined to get ...2 days ago
- New Zealand supporting loss and damage fund
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced New Zealand will contribute NZ$10 million to the new Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage while at the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan. “New Zealand is joining the global effort to address the significant challenge of responding to ...2 days ago
- Gang crackdown begins at stroke of midnight
The free ride for gangs is over when the clock strikes midnight tonight, with tough new laws officially coming into effect, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Police Minister Mark Mitchell say. “Gang patches will no longer be able to be worn in public. To earn the right to wear a ...2 days ago
- LGFA increases borrowing capacity to support high growth councils
The Government is welcoming the decision by the Local Government Funding Agency to increase access to financing tools for fast growing councils to support greater investment in critical infrastructure, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown says.“Communities across the country are facing an infrastructure deficit and significant population growth is projected in ...2 days ago
- Temporary Traffic Management costs revealed
The Government has revealed that over the past three years, the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has spent an eyewatering $786 million of taxpayers’ money on road cones and temporary traffic management (TTM), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“When I became Minister, I was surprised to learn that that NZTA did ...2 days ago
- Jurisdiction of Disputes Tribunal to double
Legislation that will double the financial jurisdiction of the Disputes Tribunal from $30,000 to $60,000 has passed first reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith. “We need to improve court timeliness and access to justice so that Kiwis and get on with their lives. Court delays affect everyone, the ...3 days ago
- Protecting New Zealand from foreign interference
Legislation that will specifically criminalise foreign interference and strengthen espionage offences has passed first reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “It is normal and appropriate for states to interact and work to influence one another. This encourages cooperation and can have mutually beneficial outcomes. “However, the reality ...3 days ago
- Significant milestone for Canterbury Road of National Significance
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed news that the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board has approved funding towards pre-implementation and early works on the State Highway 1 (SH1) Belfast to Pegasus Motorway and Woodend Bypass Road of National Significance (RoNS). “Reaching this significant milestone is a reflection of our Government’s ...3 days ago
- Health survey results to help drive change
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says findings from the annual Health Survey highlight the need to continue driving better health outcomes for New Zealanders. The New Zealand Health Survey is an annual snapshot of key metrics measured from July 2023 – July 2024. Findings released this morning include: In 2023/24, ...3 days ago
- Final push needed to get to Smokefree 2025
A renewed effort to get people to quit smoking will build on what has worked to date and target the groups who most need support, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said today. “The latest New Zealand Health Survey results show the daily smoking rate at 6.9 per cent and we ...3 days ago
- New diplomatic appointments
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced four new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign ...3 days ago
- Next steps for Regulatory Standards Bill
Regulation Minister David Seymour has today announced the next steps in the Government’s plan improve the quality of regulation by opening consultation on a proposed Regulatory Standards Bill. “New Zealand's low wages can be blamed on low productivity, and low productivity can be blamed on poor regulation,” says Mr Seymour. ...3 days ago
- Red Tape Tipline goes live
Minister for Regulation David Seymour has today announced that the Ministry for Regulation’s Red Tape Tipline is now live. “We want to hear about your red tape horror stories. From today, New Zealanders will have a say on how they are regulated through an online portal,” says Mr Seymour. The ...3 days ago
- Youth Parliament 2025 announced
The Minister for Youth Matt Doocey has today announced the eleventh Youth Parliament will be taking place in 2025. “Youth Parliament offers a unique youth development opportunity to young people from across New Zealand to experience the political process and learn about how government works,” says Mr Doocey. “The two-day ...4 days ago
- Police stats show promising change
After nearly a year in Government, Kiwis have seen significant change across law and order with promising early results shown across some Police statistics, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. “In August 2023, I told New Zealanders that if they had not started to see a change in public safety within ...4 days ago
- Better coordination of anti-scam efforts
With the launch of Fraud Awareness Week, the Government is committing to new coordination efforts across industry and government to combat online scams, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Online financial scams are a growing problem for New Zealand. New data released today shows that Kiwis lost nearly ...4 days ago
- Minister to consider 7AA select committee report
Minister for Children Karen Chhour will consider the recommendations made by the Social Services and Community Committee in its report back to Parliament on the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill. “I want to thank the people who made submissions and those who appeared before the committee in ...4 days ago
- Defence Minister to attend ASEAN meeting
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus in Vientiane, Laos. “We need to take every opportunity to engage with our international partners, given the increasingly unstable geo-political situation,” Ms Collins says. “New Zealand has a long-standing commitment to this ...4 days ago
- Launching the White Ribbon Ride
The Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Karen Chhour, was on hand to wish riders well at the start of the North Island leg of the White Ribbon Ride in Whakatāne this morning. The ride helps mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, ...5 days ago
- Construction to begin on next stage of Papakura to Drury
Construction on the next stage of the SH1 Papakura to Drury project will begin early next month, with the contract for works awarded to Fulton Hogan, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. "SH1 Papakura to Drury is a key project that will drive economic growth and productivity, reduce congestion, and enable people ...6 days ago
- Gang patch ban: The first 24 hours
The first arrest was made just three minutes after midnight, with 11 more to come. ...1 hour ago - New Zealand Government Urged To Back ICC Arrest Warrants For Israeli Leaders Without Equivocation
“We are waiting for our government to announce it will arrest Netanyahu and Gallant immediately if they set foot in Aotearoa New Zealand” says PSNA National Chair John Minto. ...1 hour ago - Justice Committee Makes Further Decisions About Submissions Process For The Principles Of The Treaty...
The committee plans to hold hearings in the week starting Monday, 27 January and the weeks starting 10, 17 and 24 February 2025. ...2 hours ago
- Watch live: Christopher Luxon faces questions during power station visit
It comes as Labour accuses National of not listening to evidence about boot camps. ...2 hours ago
- Survivors of abuse in care know how redress should work – will the government finally listen?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Winter, Associate Professor in Political Theory, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images When Prime Minister Christopher Luxon stood in Parliament last week to apologise to survivors of abuse in care, his words were among many fine speeches by ...2 hours ago - Review: The Day of the Jackal is a riveting and ridiculous ride
Eddie Redmayne’s globe-trotting assassin thriller on TVNZ is worth putting your phone down for. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. This is a vulnerable thing to say as someone who often writes about television for a job, but boy am I really ...2 hours ago - RNA editing is the next frontier in gene therapy – here’s what you need to know
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flora Hui, Research Fellow, Centre for Eye Research Australia and Honorary Fellow, Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), The University of Melbourne IoanaB/Shutterstock The United States Food and Drug Administration has just approved the first-ever clinical trial that uses CRISPR-Cas13 RNA editing. Its ...4 hours ago
- Yes, you still need to use sunscreen, despite what you’ve heard on TikTok
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“Our economy has to be so much more than milk and houses.”
Nice line. I’ve got a young working tourist staying with me at the moment. A trained accountant, working in the primary sector, he can’t believe how unbalanced our economy is and how reliant on dairy we are. He’s also compared our situation to that in Oz, where the mining industry has been the gloss hiding the essential emptiness of the economy.
With Agriculture directly accounting for about 4% of GDP, that hardly translates to: “how reliant on dairy we are”. Sure it puts a big hole in the books when the prices are low, but we produce some of the best quality Agg exports in the world, and the prices will return to a more normal level soon.
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/economy/overview/2015/12.htm#_tocPrimary_Industries
“and the prices will return to a more normal level soon.”
I’m glad you can see the future. Now, what are the lotto numbers?
Yep, they will and the normal level for agricultural exports is low. Especially now that the US has entered the milk export business and China is developing it’s own local milk industry with Fonterra’s help.
27 percent of our gdp is finacail services (buying and selling houses to each other ) and that’s really going well I guess we will all find out the illusion that is new Zealand
oh, but it much worse than that. Borrowing money means you pay more, both by competing with others who borrow, but by actually having to pay in interest. And then its even worse, we don’t have a capital gains tax, or stamp duty, and so can spend more while our economy becomes a riskier bet pushing up the risk premium. As we borrow more we collectively become riskier, which in turn means we pay higher interest, while incentives to spurge on non-productive capital prporty gains over take investment public and private. Its no surprise that there’s no dual carriageway between our largest city and our capital connecting the fourth and fifth largest cities. Its due to the imbalance of a under resourced ‘Senate’ like parliament lacking a upper chamber and without sizeable govt backbenches to raise all hell.
Doing stuff on the cheap, no. Eight wire, is no way to secure the future.
An upper house will do nothing for our governance except make it even worse. Just have to look to other nations that do have dual house systems to see that.
Yes, in the last thirty years upper houses have been stacked with neo liberals.
However whatever the civil or private body, when the underlying historical principle of the organisation is brought to the fore then the role becomes clean.
The problem has been profit above all else, the religion of neo liberalism has infected all, much like. Christianity purge the Roman empire and sent Europe into a dark age. Neo liberals have undermined democracy at every opportunity.
The problem isn’t neo-liberals but partisanship. If both houses are dominated by the same party then it’s a rubber stamp. If one house is dominated by one party and the other by the other then it’s a stalemate preventing the law changes that the state needs. Just look at the Republicans preventing the democrats from doing anything about their debt limit and almost bringing the US to collapse. There are many such examples of this sort of BS in many political systems that have two houses.
They do not achieve what the proponents of them say that they achieve but they do cause major fuckups.
Excellent speech. Andrew Little gives a great sense of being a genuine “good guy” not smile and wave PR driven.
Tova O’Brien didn’t seem to think so …. I’ve just watched TV3 News and it seems that she completely/UTTERLY missed the second half of the speech (e.g. ‘WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE’ and the next bit – simply dismissing things as Labour lacking in policy – as tho’ they should front up with some sort of pledge card NOW).
…. ALL that however when I’m no longer a Labour Party supporter – at least not until they return to some basic founding principles.
I was just completely flabergasted at Tova’s report. Where the fuck do they find them?
There’s a less charitable question of course, and that goes something like “Who the hell is she f – I mean ‘spruiking’?”
Agreed , a sham of a news report , I had already read the report.
Yep, Tova was piss poor. But then she was just echoing today’s rightie talking points, which were on display here on TS, where 3 commenters on multiple threads put the same question at roughly the same time: ‘Is it really the biggest deception etc.’. After lunch, the theme was ‘angry Andy’.
Can’t blame a pretty average journalist for not wanting to do her own thinking. It’s completely contra-indicated these days anyway.
Q. Can you point out what you felt the speech addressed ?
Same speech we’ve heard from all the leftie leaders over the last 5 or 6 years, just worded differently.
No vision, no solutions deeper than empty rhetoric and one-liners, and nascent xenophobia.
And the left wonder why they fail to get traction.
Labour is hardly a left leaning party. They have more in common with your money wasting mate Mr Budget Blow Out Key…..
Roflcopter’s right: Labour were like this all the way through the nineties too. Always banging on about unemployment and such. On Planet Roflcopter, nothing happened next.
Strange you say that – when reading through the speech I tuned out a thought it could as well have been john key giving it.
Bah and humbug we need some green power in parliament !
I thought similarly tinfoil… a little like his 2008 campaign speeches.
A less talked about side effect of the housing issue in NZ, is that when people who can afford to buy are in a low equity position, they can’t borrow against the house as easily to start a business.
In my youth and my when my Dad was 35 he could leverage against the house to start up a business…
Its not just about owning the roof over your head it’s owning a decent equity so those with ideas can take a risk
Even better would be if the government stepped in to support those with ideas so that they didn’t have to risk everything. There’d be almost nothing holding back our innovation then.
to Roflcopter: seems the comment of someone showing fear of hearing the truth, and if these facts have had to be repeated over recent years. there has been a reason for it…lack of action to ensure health of our economy.
Did you read past the first paragraph?
to Roflcopter: seems the comment of someone showing fear of hearing the truth, and if these facts have had to be repeated over recent years, there has been a reason for it…lack of action to ensure health of our economy.
A good cure for insomnia.
Any government which believes in surpluses as a good thing, is a government which believes that austerity, tax increases and service cuts are a good thing.
We should be damned pleased that National is abandoning its goal of getting to surplus. If you really want to push them to achieve their surplus, you know how they will. Tax increases on the poor and service cuts for the poor.
And he could still have attacked them for their lies and deception without endorsing the surplus goal or the notion that more GDP is the way to go.
he does point out that we have GDP of 3% but little trickle down…
So, to me, it is a confusing message, ideologically and practically.
Agree. In many ways it was an adequate speech but I’m also not sure with whom that speech was supposed to resonate. Is Labour promising to be better managers of the current economic system than National is? Is that what is really required now?
Yes, that is exactly what Labour are promising – better management of a failed system.
Same old… same old…. Just a different cloak.
As they had been doing before the Nats took over and racked our Govt debt up through the roof zero to millions go figure
I suspect that speech was supposed to resonate with business leaders and owners… particularly the small to medium enterprises developing niche ideas and products that could grow a lot further under the right conditions.
which is what Helen did… but National still has that ground amongst it’s 49% voters, doesn’t it?
That speech, imo, was to win over business… which means Labour Party is going nowhere Left of Centre in the near future…
To get into power it seems LP has to suck up to business and for Nat to get into power they have to demonsie union and the workforce and beneficiaries…. Sounds like both are relying on the same group to me.
Aye. It’s like Labour have looked at what’s worked for National and said, “ok… we can do that too”. They are trying to create the steady as she goes image so that WHEN the electorate get tired of FJK (and they eventually will), there is someone “safe” to take over.
It’s not leadership… it’s management. It’s not visionary… it’s pragmatic. It’s not what NZ needs but it probably what NZ wants.
And it’s what will destroy New Zealand.
oh dear..!
Yep – I expected the negative criticism as above.
What none of you negative types are taking into account is the fact that Labour IS working on its work/jobs policy and WILL come up with some realistic policies within the timeframe announced – and you are just all going to have to be patient and wait for it.
Rome wasn’t built in a day – and neither will the rebuild of the Labour Party be done in a quick space of time !
it reads like it was written by a committee..
..are there no decent speech writers in labour..?
we need a benevolent dictator… oh wait a minute
People would probably settle for one if the economy wasn’t falling apart.
Says someone who can’t structure a sentence, let alone a paragraph.
Could you , just for the heck of it, write a sample speech and pot it here so that we get to clearly understand your political perception/acumen and what really you want in his speech?
Whoops, ‘post’, not ‘pot’!
do you mean what i think he should be calling for..?
..or what i would want (dictator 4 a day – and all that)..?
Post the speech you think he should be making
No, just a pre-budget speech. (pretend that you are the leader of the opposition delivering that speech to the nation, the government and the potential voters. Just a succinct brief speech will do. I am sure you have the ability to write a great speech with your own thoughts and ideas.)
i note you are serially asking for speeches – but i had thought of doing that before his speech..
…as an intellectual/political-exercise..
..it’s already half-done in my head..so i’ll post it in the next day or so..
Great! I hope you will post it in a day or two or three. I just remembered about the last time you made a similar statement to me here stating that you would post a link to a video about the ride you were going to do the next day on a motorbike with your pet dog or was it a hedgehog? Um, may be a pet porcupine? What happened?
I think all these things are committee driven. A bit of this, a bit of that…
Yup, and every time Labour comes up with these policies, they’re like Little’s speech… the same old stuff worded differently.
Nothing has changed, nothing will change.
You mean, the same old stuff that delivers budget surpluses, lower unemployment, and higher per capita gdp?
That same old stuff?
Own goal, fool.
You have no proof that those policies would have achieved what you stated, as every time it was pitched, NZ voters worked out it was all a load of bullshit.
And it still is, and you’re expecting a different result.
Keep trying.
😆
“Same old stuff” as in – the things Labour led governments have always delivered in New Zealand.
Or are you as ignorant of history as you are of politics and economics?
The “same old stuff from the 90’s” doesn’t work any more… get that through your head, that’s why Labour keeps getting rejected… the world has moved on, but Labour is still looking backwards.
Oddly, I agree with every word in your comment here.
Yeah, the problem being that Roflcopter hasn’t worked out that National and every other right-wing entity are even further behind than Labour.
“same old stuff from the 90’s”
Perhaps Rofldunce has also missed that it was in fact National who failed in the ’90’s, followed by a period of surpluses, low unemployment, and higher per-capita gdp.
Thanks OAB facts not fiction
Just has to be in time for the next election… I won’t hold my breath. Coming from a staunch Labour family, which included a Labour MP in the First Labour Government (the values of which still resonate strongly with me), it seems to me the sun has well and truly set on the party it once was.
Of course it has and so it should. We are in a very different world from 1935. Just have a think how the world has changed. Jet planes, man landed on moon, 4K and 3D television, cell phones, cures for diseases that were once accepted as a death sentence. Not to mention computers, and all the benefits that has brought to society.
We have to stop living in the past and solve today’s problems which are very different from the 1930’s
Jenny it makes no difference what the policies are because they are underpinned by a failed ideology which is literally destroying the earth and its inhabitants
The speech was a waste of air and until someone addresses the money as debt situation then listening to them is a waste of time
Excellent analysis of the problems and missed opportunities. Light on the alternatives going forward, but you’d expect that at this stage. Overall a very good speech.
I disagree. We all know it’s fucked. Who cares about the precise details? Damned few. All he had to do was say things are fucked and that Labour believes in and is committed to change. Then lay out that roadmap of hope that takes us to big change.
Timorous wee beasties.
” All he had to do was say things are fucked and that Labour believes in and is committed to change. Then lay out that roadmap of hope that takes us to big change”
Cool! Could you, just for the heck of it, write a small sample speech and post it here so that we get to clearly understand your political perception/acumen and what it is that you really want in his speech? i take it it is not too hard for you do do that. If it is, then don’t worry.
Dunno if your attempting to rip the piss or what.
As I’ve indicated, I want to put a post contrasting the policies of the SNP in Holyrood and NZ Labour policies for NZ, bearing in mind that the SNP operate with one hand tied behind their back…they have no control over economic levers and operate off the back of a grant, the level of which is determined by the spending of a Westminster government running austerity cuts.
“Dunno if your attempting to rip the piss or what.”
No, not really. I am serious and keen to read your pre-budget opposition speech. Post it here in this thread.
(Pretend that you are the leader of the opposition delivering that speech to the nation, the government and the potential voters. Just a succinct brief speech will do. I am sure you have the ability to write a great speech with your own thoughts and ideas.)
If you want a taste of what vision and positive messaging looks like even when your on the back foot through being fiscally constrained and a crap speaker, then listen to this (second video down on the page) and extrapolate.
http://news.stv.tv/politics/295240-john-swinney-sets-out-scottish-government-draft-budget-statement/
I agree
It is however only the leader of the opposition saying this, which is what his job description entails. But to move this forward, independent people, and the media need to be asking these questions and raising the issues on a daily basis.
The current narrative that the public is hearing is that New Zealand is The stand out western economy (“Rock Star”), the naughty GFC is the reason we are in deficit, and keep the course and your brighter future will begin next week.
Only when “Jo and Jane, mortgage paying, debt ridden, poorly paid, Smith” start hearing the real story from people other than the Opposition, will it start sinking in that we are on the cusp of an economic disaster and only the elimination and destruction of the National Party will save us.
Maybe Andrew would like to contact Ed and get his pledge plinth sent down?
Truly. That’s fucking bereft.
Not today. But I’m going to trawl the SNP speeches and put up a post contrasting what truly social democratic left economic policies look like against Labour’s meh.
As a wee starter (and no,these aren’t all necessarily budget related) – no privatisation of health and rolling back what has already been privatised.
Holding retirement age at present levels.
Investing stated $ sums in child care, domestic violence measures etc…
Stating definite targets for numbers of businesses to adopt the living wage.
Investments stated for education including commitments to no university fees ever.
Top up allowances for poorer young students so they don’t have to drop-out of education.
Free prescriptions.
Targets announced for X number of public rental houses to be built.
Abolition of zero hours contracts.
All government employees and contracted employees to be minimally on living wage.
Working on the systemic and cultural impediments to women succeeding – committing to smash the glass ceiling.
Details of progressive taxation changes and protections for the poor and the vulnerable.
And on and on and on, from a government that has no power to create jobs, to raise revenue from taxes or borrow and has to operate within formulaic fixed sum grants calculated off the back of another government’s spending: one that is wedded to austerity.
Begging the question, if they can do it….
No to another generation of expensive, dangerous nuclear weapons and ballistic missile nuclear submarines.
An excellent start.
I would add support for business funding – it’s currently damn hard to find money if you don’t know the right people and you don’t have sufficient collateral, which is usually property, which is getting harder and harder to get into.
Finding ways to make this substantially easier would really improve the economy find better opportunities and move away from commodities, and would sell a tremendous narrative of Labour supporting businesses, growth and increasing wealth and jobs for all, IMO. It would greatly aspirational for students and apprentices, and would fit in well with the Future of Work.
Some ideas:
Something similar to the Student Loan Scheme for start-ups.
NZ Super/ACC/Kiwisaver funds make funding substantially more accessible for non-property business borrowing, especially new businesses and start-ups.
What I listed are specific ‘really existing’ SNP policies as they pertain to the Scottish Government in Holyrood.
There were/are small business incentives, but I can’t recall the details.
Obviously, it’s not a direct parallel example, there is no ACC for example.
All good stuff but how is all of this funded…? Return the creation of the money to the Government and away from the banks for a start.
The SNP have already funded a lot of stuff listed and are simply extending coverage.
I’ll reiterate – they cannot collect revenues from tax and they cannot borrow; they operate within a fixed budget that’s determined by a formula applied to spending in England and Wales. People in England and Wales have been subjected to austerity budgets.
So, what the SNP has done is cross subsidise within their fixed budget and run surpluses into the bargain.
The NZ government on the other hand, can raise revenue from taxes, borrow and create jobs to grow the economy etc, and yet….user pays, deficits and privatisation has run riot.
I’d really like somebody to explain and then, I suspect, I’d like for a whole generation of NZ politicians to go and fuck themselves.
I like it, especially the last paragraph. But if I understand it correctly, the Scottish Government have created a trust (so it’s at arms length from the Scottish Government) to invest in infrastructure initiatives, from which the savings and financial benefits are reinvested back into the fund for future initiatives… a futures fund if you will.
http://www.scottishfuturestrust.org.uk/
This is brilliant… canny Scots!
NZ could easily be doing this. I would like to posit an explanation as to why we have not… NZ has been bought by the foreign banks.
Hang on, Jones – didn’t Labour NZ have a policy similar to this in the last election campaign …….. ? mmmm yes I think they did. Its purpose was to fund initiatives which would create jobs.
“So, what the SNP has done is cross subsidise within their fixed budget”
What does cross subsidise mean there?
If money was meant to go to ‘x’ they prioritised and put it to ‘y’ instead. Like I say, it had to be done within the context of a fixed budget. So, the money used to ameliorate the bedroom tax was from a part of the grant meant for another area.
I have no idea what the bedroom tax is or what amelioriate means here.
Do you mean that if the UK govt allocated $100 for the Scottish govt to spend on say roading, then the Scottish govt might spend $20 on roading and $80 on health? They’re basically taking their portion of the UK tax and spending it how they like?
Essentially.
cheers. So the idea you are talking about above is that it’s possible to run a non-austerity economy on a fixed budget that is otherwise considered austere, and the SNP has just proved it? That’s very inspiring.
One danger that Scotland faces currently is that it cannot issue money, control the money supply and set interest rates like a “real” sovereign nation can. In many ways Scotland is the monetary equivalent of a an Australian or US state – subject to someone elses monetary policies.
Actually that’s not simply true – the Scottish Parliament has had the power to vary income tax by 3p in the pound since it was created, but Alex Salmond didn’t want to raise taxes so he let that power lapse.
Been through this before. Raise taxes and the revenue goes to the exchequer in London. Borrow, and the Barnett Formula gets tweaked accordingly.
No, that’s not right. The SNP even ran an election campaign (Penny for Scotland) back in 1999 premised on the use of the SVR to fund services in Scotland. They than backed away from it, and the Scottish Greens used to attack them from the left as being insufficiently willing to use taxing powers available to them to ameliorate austerity.
The equivalent amount to the money raised by the variable rate goes to the Scottish Consolidated Fund – s77 of the Scotland Act.
No government in Scotland – not of any persuasion be it the Labour/Libdem coalition or who-ever used that ‘tartan tax’. And it lapsed in 2012 or thereabouts.
As for ameliorating austerity, you seriously need to look at the record of the SNP on that front before commenting again.
Then you need to consider that they were the only party from among Labour, Tory or Libdem running on a platform of ending austerity. The other anti-austerity parties are the Greens and Plaid Cymru.
Firstly, so you do concede that the SVR money goes to the Scottish Consolidated Fund, right?
And the SVR was allowed to lapse by First Minister Alex Salmond and Finance Secretary John Swinney, both of the SNP! You can hardly say they are in a tough place because they can’t increase taxes when they themselves gave up that taxing power!
And no, no other party used the variable rate – the Labour Party (being in power at both Westminster and Holyrood) would hardly need to, would they?
As far as not using taxation powers to ameliorate austerity, I’m just telling you what Patrick Harvie of the Scottish Greens says – go argue with him, not me, about that.
“You can hardly say they are in a tough place because…”
That was never my point though Keir. My point was that a government that has no economic levers, nevertheless manages to protect the NHS (fully public in Scotland), education (free University), older people care (public provision in Scotland), free prescriptions, nullify the ‘bedroom tax’ etc, etc.
Meanwhile, governments that do have economic leverage are constantly harping on about how cuts need to happen….including here in NZ.
Now, someone is telling porkies on that front, (austerity is necessary/austerity is class war) and since it’s possible to judge the Scottish government by its actions, that leaves the obvious answer as the only answer.
You are confusing a pre budget speech from an opposition leader 2.5 years before the next election with ‘polices’ they will go into prior to the election for a mandate from the voters.
I put it to you that SNP got its massive support in Scotland due to strong nationalistic emotional regional ‘patriotic’ sentiments rather than their ‘Labour’ policies. If that was not the case, then SNP would have got massive support all over UK rather than just in Scotland. Explain that, then
“Explain that, then.”
Jesus wept! The SNP do not stand candidates in England or Wales. They do however, make no bones over their support for the Greens in England and Plaid Cymru in Wales and their desire to work with who-ever also advocates progressive social democratic politics.
Anecdotally, the policies advocated by the SNP – an end to austerity and investment in public services – rolling back privatisation of the NHS in England and Wales – moving towards free tertiary education in England and Wales – do enjoy support in south of the border. FPP fucks things up though.
Nicola Sturgeon was the only party leader who was actually liked in UK wide polls.
Meanwhile, are you suggesting that better informed and engaged Scottish voters are being merely emotional and/or sentimental? You’re wrong.
edit – to an extent you’re right about me confounding different types of speech. But that’s irrelevant. The ‘meta-message’ is important no matter the speech. Notice can be given on certain unacceptable matters regardless. Positive change can be sign-posted regardless. Real and substantive reasons for hope can be articulated regardless.
What some of you activists above miss is that Mr Little is talking to the masses ,you know ,the people he has to get to vote for him.!
So as long as people keep causing division in the ranks key and co are laughing.
My advise to you is if you got nothing good to say is say nothing,
And get out there and work you’re Arse! off making sure that what ever party floats you’re boat is ready to go into a government that will be lead by labour. Because like it or not the greens and mana have no show without labour.
Have a nice day.
Can’t stop posters having an opinion.
But ISTM that they are railing at the wrong people. The Labour Party has never been truly socialist. Even the original state housed were built by Fletchers. The party is much more a social democratic party, and as such Little’s speech is on message.
I’m not trying to stop people having a opinion but people on the left of labour need to consider how it looks if there bitching at each other. Win the election first then apply the pressure.
And ‘the masses’ couldn’t possibly resonate with a message confirming what so many know – we’re fucked? And ‘the masses’ couldn’t adopt and run with a message of hope based on fundamental left leaning social democratic principles?
Which is why ‘the masses’ got subjected, yet again, to negative dry ‘bleugh’ and no ‘fire in the belly’ promoting a message of hope?
“And ‘the masses’ couldn’t adopt and run with a message of hope based on fundamental left leaning social democratic principles?”
You can only win by carrying the MAJORITY with you to help the minority.
You can not win by carrying the MINORITY alone to help the majority.
You got to enthuse, engage and win the support of a majority of people!!?
Wow Sherlock! How come I didn’t get that?
“You got to enthuse, engage and win the support of a majority of people!!?
Yes, but you can not do it the old fashioned nostalgic way. The world, the people, the wealth, the economy and the way of life has moved on for a large number (vast majority) of people.
“Wow Sherlock! How come I didn’t get that?
Oh, my dear Watson, do you get that the majority now includes the business people, the small, medium and large job creators and the reasonably well paid educated professionals and ordinary workers too? THAT, comprise the ‘majority’ in the developed western societies in the MODERN world, unlike in the last century. A political party needs to ‘enthuse, engage and win’ THEIR support and their VOTES to be in government to do lots of good to society, including for the poor and the under privileged. Don’t you agree?
+ 100 % Clemgeopin.
+1 to you! Ta
Sure. I agree. But I’m confused as to why you made the comment as though it was a counter to something I said.
I made my comment because you are judging Little and his speech harshly, impatiently and in fact very unfairly considering the Labour policy platform/direction is under review after three electoral defeats and in any case his speech was not supposed to be a policy speech, nor an alternate budget 3 years before the election. That alternate budget speech, in line with the decided policies, will be the pre-budget speech in may, 2017.
Andrew Little used today’s opportunity appropriately to put the boot into National’s mismanagement, inefficiency and lies regarding their budget and election broken promises.
In some of your previous comments referencing SNP you implied that Little/Labour is unconcerned/not as concerned with ‘democratic social ideals’ and ‘policies’, unlike SNP. Really? Do you really and honestly think that Ed Miliband and Andrew Little are not for democratic socialist values?
Your support for SNP, Sturgeon, the Greens and Plaid Cymru, seems to have diminished your understanding of the reality of the political situation in UK and here in NZ. How come the Greens or the Plaid Cymbru are not able to get more than a handful of votes? The Greens are a bit more successful here, but not a lot more, in spite of MMP.
You have judged Little and his speech prematurely when he has only just begun his leadership journey and has 2.5 more years to go.
I tend to agree. Labour and Little’s performance in re-positioning Labour can be most properly judged a full ~12 months on from the last General Election. But bear in mind that’s in just 5 months time.
Does their front bench buy into core aspects of the neoliberal economic and monetary orthodoxy. Yes is my pick. With democratic socialist softenings around the hard capitalist edges of course. Isn’t that all you need to know? If you need to know more, isn’t it obvious that Miliband will be replaced by a right wing neo-Blairite?
It’s FPP in the UK. People know that their vote for GR and PC will be wasted. A lot of people in the UK can’t be bothered to vote for the options put in front of them. And the GR in NZ have some issues of their own currently.
The real question you should ask is – if Labour is truly the party of the 99% – why did only one in five registered voters vote for them.
National seems top do quite well carrying the rich on the backs of the majority.
‘fire in the belly’ promoting a message of hope?
Obama did a lot of that and it achieved no more than getting him elected.
I’ll take pragmatic and realistic any day.
That’s not to say I don’t hope for a real change of direction for NZ
Yeah. Okay. Real hope based on a concrete direction. Not the vacuous messaging or massaging a la Obama.
+100. Little is playing the long game. What would be the point in showing your best hand this early in the electoral cycle. The gloss is fast wearing off Key & his government and Little is establishing his cred’s with the electorate.
Little is the only alternative and if you don’t like it, bleating won’t produce the answer you crave.
“What would be the point in showing your best hand this early in the electoral cycle”
It’s not a fucking game. It’s people and real lives. Given that, there is no ‘best hand’ – there is only ‘getting your shit together’ and boldly representing people and their wishes.
Or should politicians sit above us all and gamely compete with one another and on their own terms, for a spectators cross on a ballot paper every election? The winners!! Yay!!! Now back to the sports TV, the drudge and the nonsense….my team won/lost.
It pretty much is a game. At least in the sense that it has rules, competitors and judges.
Atiawa is dead right. And not just because we don’t want to give the right two years to attack the policy platform. It’s also because Labour are doing exactly what the SNP have done for the last couple of years. Listening to the people and trying to find policies that the people actually want. I don’t see a problem with that.
Trust me, NZ Labour are NOT doing “exactly” what the SNP have done LOL
Yeah, like you would know about either party, CV.
The SNP spent the two years before the last Holyrood elections strengthening its local organisations, canvassing the electorate and building a policy platform that was more than just ‘we want a referendum’. They actively listened to the Scottish people. That’s exactly what Little wants to do. The NZLP’s Future of Work commission is meant to engage and learn from Kiwis. Combined with the internal re-organisation that began two years ago, and is ongoing, Little should be leading a far more plausible and electable party at the next election.
I can’t agree with you on this TRP.
NZ Labour’s main internal force is its crushing inertia.
What they’re doing is essentially what UK and Scottish Labour did…they said they were listening, but ignored everything that didn’t fit with their pre-conceived notions of what the right thing was. For those things that kind of fitted with their view, they tweaked what they heard to make it fit better.
The SNP went with their gut feeling. It resonated and resonates. 56 out of 59 seats. Over 100 000 members. Now they’re calling a spade a spade and brooking no nonsense from the ‘Establishment’.
I suspect they will not fuck it all up and will hopefully inspire civic nationalism within England. As Irvine Welsh wrote, “… it’s time to take that white flag that has been the real symbol of the mainstream left in Britain for the last 30 years, and paint a flaming red cross on top of it. The SNP evidently scares the establishment to a greater extent than a tawdry, complicit Labour, which is essentially competing with the Tories to serve it. How much more would a populist, leftist, decentralist, civic nationalist party in England?”
NZ Labour is at best going down the same track as UK Labour in England, or worse, the track they took in Scotland where, yeah…they’re dead. They won’t be coming back.
Bill, the essential lesson from the SNP is to listen to the people. That’s what Labour, under Little, is trying to do. It’s not a bad thing in any way. Hopefully the days when focus groups determined the decisions are over. The SNP had a clear strategy of engagement with voters and so does NZ Labour. Hopefully it’ll work here too. Maybe not as spectacularly, but then it doesn’t have to be much of an improvement to get to the place where an alternative government is viable.
Btw, I reckon Scottish Labour will do Ok in the next Scottish elections. At least there’s a degree of proportionality in that system.
If Scottish Labour separates itself from UK Labour – and this is what they are talking about – then maybe, but only due to the proportionality. I’d pick them to be on a similar level to the Tories. I suspect the Libdems are going to bounce back better than Labour and that the Scottish Green Party will do rather better than both.
You actually have hopes for this? LOL. The Labour Party can’t even learn from its own members. At Region 6 Conference a bunch of our branch’s remits which specifically take into account increasing resource, energy and economic instability were voted down and then Grant talked about how high tech automation was going to change the future of work for all Kiwis, which is an utter nonsense.
Yeah, democracy sucks, eh. Your branch failed to convince the region of the worth of your proposals. It’s probably you that needs to learn from that, not the other way round.
Q. Are denial and optimism pre-requisites for being a ‘team player’ ?
Q. How many LP leaders have you ‘supported’ over the years through your comments on this site ?
A: No. Your fear sustains me.
A: I’ve supported them all. But, then, I generally don’t care about the leader, it’s all about the policy for me. However, clearly, Andrew Little is more of a threat to your lot than the previous incumbents, hence the desperation over ‘angry Andy’. And that I like.
Labour failed to convince 3 out of 4 voters of the worth of its policies. It’s probably Labour that needs to learn from that and change – you would think?
“It pretty much is a game. At least in the sense that it has rules, competitors and judges.”
Er, no it doesn’t. That analogy falls flat as. But it does go some way to explaining what is wrong with politics in NZ.
“Atiawa is dead right. And not just because we don’t want to give the right two years to attack the policy platform. It’s also because Labour are doing exactly what the SNP have done for the last couple of years. Listening to the people and trying to find policies that the people actually want. I don’t see a problem with that.”
Isn’t that what Labour were supposed to be doing before the last election?
And yet it’s still a perfectly apt analogy, used in every election ever. And in most TV programs about politics, factual and fictional. House of cards, game of thrones etc. There’s even an area of academic study called the game theory of politics.
The difference now on listening etc. is that Labour is actually putting resources into and not just whipping out soundbites. We’ve had 3 leaders in a row who were all mouth, no ears, and at heart were just millionaires with an abstract understanding of what matters to Kiwis. Little’s a lot different from them and a has a history of following through and delivering on what he promises.
Yes. You obviously know the same Andrew Little as me. I think I missed one public meeting of the candidates during his 2011 & 14 election campaign’s. I also attended each of his 6 – 7 community meetings he held in 2011 whereby the general public were invited to hear him speak at various locations around the electorate and to ask him questions. He was always clear around the values he represented and keen to hear from electors their issues and concerns.
I thought that his finest attribute was the concern he has for the powerless and his desire and willingness to help to make a difference.
Atiawa – I didn’t have that opportunity of hearing Andrew Little on the hustings – but what you say sums up what I’ve thought since meeting him up here in the north and reading up on his background.
It seems, finally (after 7 years in the wilderness), Labour has a Leader who has real old-fashioned Labour values, knows how to articulate them – and what is more, can deal to the current government in terms that we all understand.
Which – no doubt – is why everyone else wants to attack him.
That is exactly my impression from meeting him and attending several events where he spoke. Consistent, never wavers, knows exactly where he is going to take the party and it ain’t down any neo liberal track!! The other thing I like about him… he is not the least bit phased by Key. There’s nothing Key and co. can throw at him that he hasn’t encountered before.
I know its frustrating – I get frustrated too – but be patient folks. He would be a fool to articulate policy details now. Time after time over the decades Labour announced their policies too early only to have National pinch them and walk away with victory. Holland, Holyoake, Muldoon and Bolger governments all did it.
I think those things are a reflection of how some people behave in politics.
Who are the judges btw?
You me & them
“you activists”…
WHAT does that mean, people who post their opinion on a website = activists?
Or something else.
IF the people expressing opinions here DONT represent the views of the masses why does it matter what they wrote? Cos the majority will never read it
I’ve always been under the impression that many commenters here are actively involved in politics as opossed to comenters on stuff etc.
The standard has a decent sized following so I imagine some are swing voters who may form an opinion of the state of the left from this site.
At the risk of being very corny ‘divided we fall’ and all that .
Andrew Little says not quite making surplus this year has been “one of the biggest political deceptions in a lifetime”.
I’d actually thought that Little might succeed where Cunliffe, Shearer, and Goff had not.
But not when something as minor as not making surplus is in his mind “one of the biggest political deceptions in a lifetime”.
That’s beyond silly and shows a total lack of judgement about what’s a really big issue and what’s not.
Why? It is a lie that National has peddled for the past seven years. Repeatedly telling fibs for political advantage ought to be regarded as a major issue. If you want to see some of the background see http://thestandard.org.nz/the-magical-disappearing-surplus/
You’d have to be on another planet to think that saying you’re hoping and planning to get to surplus by year x, is “one of the biggest political deceptions in a lifetime”.
And how can it be ” “one of the biggest political deceptions in a lifetime”. when English himself was reported as far back as last year saying treasury had forecast that there probably wouldn’t be a surplus.
Little needs to learn to pick his battles – when just a half percent change in govt income and expenditure (i.e just 1/4 of a percent each) is the difference between a deficit and surplus, this couldn’t be further from ” “one of the biggest political deceptions in a lifetime”.”
which of the other lies do you think is the biggest political deception of a lifetime?
Or, which group of lies amounts to the biggest political deceptions of a lifetime?
Or as long as you like the Government of the time truth and honesty is irrelevant?
You did not read the post did you John.
How about this?
“August 2011 – “In only three years we will be one of the first developed countries back in surplus. After that, we will be repaying debt while other countries keep borrowing.”
October 2011 – “An earlier return to surplus gives future governments more choices, and National is focused on that goal”
November 2011 – “We are committed to getting back to surplus in 2014/15 and that significant challenge will require ongoing spending restraint across the public sector and a focus on innovation and results.”
January 2012 – “Mr Key said that the Government’s focus on responsibly managing its finances includes a commitment to return to surplus in 2014/15 – which National campaigned on at the election.”
April 2012 – “Getting back to surplus is a challenge but we are making the decisions required to get there, so that we can pay down debt and have more choices about what we want to do.”
April 2013 – “We remain firmly on track to reach surplus in 2014/15.”
May 2013 – “New Zealand’s economy is in good shape. The Budget confirms the Government will get back to surplus by 2014/15.”
January 2014 – “After much hard work, the Government is effecting a remarkable turnaround in the books, with the latest forecasts showing a budget surplus in the next financial year – 2014/15 – after which government debt begins to fall.”
May 2014 – “A $500 million support package for families and children, dividends from a growing economy, and a track to surplus next year are all features of Budget 2014.”
Even the 2014 election campaign material continued this theme that a surplus was just around the corner. Remember this?
Since National came into government, we have been working towards achieving a surplus in the 2014/15 year as well as reducing debt.”
Key did not say that he was hoping or planning to show a surplus. He was promising one.
“”Key did not say that he was hoping or planning to show a surplus. He was promising one””
Didn’t you know Micky he was wearing his bullshit artist hat at the time.
Thanks MS more facts not fables,
Yep… I remember him saying all of them. And what does the MSM do? They sit there and say nothing – not a peep out of them.
Imagine if you will that we’re back in 2002, and Helen Clark made those claims and her govt. never managed a surplus from that time through to 2008. The MSM would have dined out on it every day. We would never have heard the end of it.
The reality is: Clark and Cullen never made any claims of the same nature that I recall, yet they achieved surpluses right through to 2008!
It’s not only a lie, it’s a deliberate confusion so NACTs don’t have to think about providing the modern democratic services to the people we would otherwise be calling for. Oh NZ can’t afford that, spending must be cut back so we can have a surplus.
“Surplus” is a code word for ‘fooling the masses who are ignorant of how national economies are actually run these days’. It’s like the juvenile way that Ministers of Finance like Blinglish talk about balancing the country’s economy as careful householders would balance their budget.
And further. gathering a surplus might mean less spending. Consumerism is one of the main ways that our present government keeps the economy running, giving the appearance of a healthy prosperous one. The credit that individuals take on to spend enables them to buy and it makes the country look as if it is just fine. I seem to remember that a significant number of NZs are insolvent with over 100% debt.
Some facts:
In 2003, New Zealand had the second highest household debt level as a proportion of disposable income (after the United Kingdom) of seven comparable Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
New Zealand and Australia have had the fastest growing debt-income ratios in the OECD, partly because of their low starting levels. New Zealand is unusual, however, in having the lowest net financial wealth and total net wealth amongst the same OECD countries (Goh, 2005).
http://www.superu.govt.nz/web/beyond-reasonable-debt/part-one.html
If I am wrong anywhere tell me and show the facts and link advising.
edited
Andrew Little says not quite making surplus this year has been “one of the biggest political deceptions in a lifetime”.
How can it be? The comment was made off the back of the PREFU… is he saying that the people responsible for compiling the state of the books are making shit up?
Nope. He’s saying the Government knew the figures wouldn’t match the likely (and actual) result. The said we’d be in surplus, when they knew we wouldn’t be.
No wonder National get in, their supporters can’t view beneath the surface. Is this government actually hypnotists?
“by John Key 1 year ago in reply to Jeff
This year, the Government will be in surplus, which will continue for a considerable period, based on the best information supplied by the Treasury. Raising the age of Super, would simply add to that surplus, which is not necessary. Good economic management, has allowed us to give New Zealanders this option” NBR
May 6 2014
National Party website
“Since National came into government, we have been working towards achieving a surplus in the 2014/15 year as well as reducing debt.
We remain on track to reduce debt to 20 per cent of GDP by 2020.
Achieving surplus has been made more challenging due to the unusual conditions the New Zealand economy is experiencing. For example, low inflation, including lower petrol prices, is helping New Zealand families to get ahead but makes it more difficult for the Government to balance the books.
We still believe a surplus is achievable in 2014/15 and we’re keeping a tight control on our spending to help us get there.
This term we’ll continue to build on our record of reining in spending while supporting families.
https://www.national.org.nz/plan/plan
More information:
Books show surplus for seven months to January”
No Tracey, their supporters are just dumb and dumber. There’s plenty of professional research work around proving it… not that we need to read it here at TS. We see examples of the dumbness on a daily basis. 🙄
“But not when something as minor as lying about your number 1 campaign promise/strategy is in his mind “
FIFY
I don’t want home ownership to be an achievable dream – it should be a very ordinary and natural achievement for anyone – a basic building block of the kind of strong communities in which people can prosper.
The rush to home ownership and the cost it entails takes away capital from business startup and investment, which is why it should be a natural achievement and not a dream. The fact that it is an aspiration for so many underscores how dire things are now.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11447820
Complaint about house and rental prices in Auckland… A real problem I see in pieces like that is that they don’t believe government can help, when really, it can. Changing that narrative is key to Labour’s ongoing success, IMO.
Exactly, which is why Labour “keeping the powder dry” on framing, policy and economic narratives early in the election cycle is a strategy which is doomed to failure.
Listen to Andrew Little describing the liar English and the Parnell Hair Puller Key, and their deception:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/68502332/andrew-little-government-recklessly-complacent
Because the growth has been a paper growth fuelled by the private banks creating lots of money and directing it into a housing bubble. There’s been no actual development of the economy.
The US government has been picking winners for decades and winning because of it. Of course, they’re then being shafted by the corporations that use that government funded R&D to get ahead and then offshore the profits so as to avoid paying tax.
It’s not about picking winners but about funding a hell of a lot of R&D and accepting that some of it won’t pay immediately (someone will find a use for the knowledge eventually). And being a small country we need more than the OECD average as well – lots more. At least 5% of GDP should be going into government funded R&D and probably more.
As for making sure that those benefits stay here rather than go offshore? Put a licensing agreement on the research. Use of them in NZ is free, use of them offshore comes with a major licensing fee.
And that pretty much proves that Labour are still wedded to the neo-liberal BS that caused all the problems that we see around us today.
“Even with low inflation, even with growing participation in the labour
market, deep down they knew shortly after last year’s Pre-Election
Economic and Fiscal Update they could not generate a Budget surplus in
this Budget year.”
This statement confuses me. Labour was promising surpluses at the election as well. Now Andrew Little is saying that achieving surplus this year was impossible?
Link:
http://www.3news.co.nz/politics/labour-determined-to-keep-surplus-2014082009#axzz3ZyXs9G13
From a party that has a track record of running 9 surpluses out of 9 in their last term in office – I’d believe it.
The last time that a National-led government actually had one of their mythic surpluses was when? 1971 maybe? Anyhow, they have a massive credibility gap. They talk surpluses. But they appear to have a problem actually erecting a surplus. When they get close they allow their dickhead supporters to talk them into premature taxcut ejeculations
Muldoon never had one. Nor Key. They all ran increasing deficits and increasing debts.
Bolger at least managed to stop the government debt rising. But his government did that mainly by rolling over loans to more favorable rates and selling assets to repay debt. But he didn’t run any budget surpluses that I am aware of.
Shipley wasn’t there long enough to do much damage.
The main reason to run surpluses in good times is to pay back debt. But in National’s “rockstar” economy it appears that we don’t need to do that. Instead what we need is a rescaling algorithm so National dickheads like yourself can show that you can get it up.
See wikipedia
Happy to help with your basic political education – ignorant bozo…
Ouch! “National Dickhead”? I think that hurts more than “ignorant bozo”! For the record, I would never vote National. As you say, their record on the economy is awful.
But at the same time, it doesn’t seem like Labour have much credibility either, when before the election saying they would post surpluses, and now after the election to say it is impossible.
I think we need some new thinking in the Finance portfolio, that we aren’t getting from National or Labour.
Just reversing Nationals tax switch would have done or.
Fair point.
I suppose Little saying “It is impossible to make a surplus” is stronger than “it is impossible to make a surplus unless National fold on their core policies”.
I guess the way Little said it had me a bit confused, but looking a bit deeper that makes sense.
Thanks Draco!
Helen Clark and Michael Cullen supporters like to repeat the Labour reduced government debt meme 1999-2008.
What they never say is that private sector and household debt exploded during the term of that Labour Govt.
Cullen funded his reduction in government debt with monies from the private sector digging itself deeper and deeper into the red.
Check out this RBNZ graph. Household debt at circa 98% of household income pre 4th Labour Govt. By the last year of Labour debt was at circa 160% of household income.
Come on all you 4th Labour Govt supporters. Why don’t you promote this as an example of Labour’s good economic management?
http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/key_graphs/household_debt/
[lprent: Try this one from wikipedia which puts both debt figures (and GDP) into perspective.
]
What was the household debt made out of?
Really, what? Cars, Boats, Houses, Education etc?
I don’t have debt, have been paying down my debt that i owed since 2005 when I decided that I wanted to buy a house, and best was to not have any other debt. Now with National and the ongoing speculation that is Auckland, i have given up on that goal altogether, mind I don’t have any debt. 🙂
But would it not be interesting to see what the household debt was made out of under Labour vs now National.
I have a hard time believing that private debt has gone down under National, what with houseprices up in the sky, tuition going up, etc etc etc.
Anyonw who has got some stats that make sense?
The majority of that debt was mortgage debt due to Auckland house prices exploding upwards. The private debt introduced a lot of new money into the economy which Cullen then taxed in to reduce the public debt.
The correct way of looking at what happened is that Labour 4 did not pay down NZ’s debt; instead it ran a debt swap where allowing the rapid running up of private debt helped pay down public debt.
I am not an expert on anything really, but i think when we speak of debt we should differentiate debt accrued in form of Studentloans, Mortgages and consumer driven debt.
The first two might yield a benefit or even a profit in time. However buying a car on tick is just a waste of money, imho.
So yes, i would like to see the debt levels under both National and Labour quantified and specified. Everything else is just muddling the water.
You may wish to attach a moral or economic value to what debt has paid for what, and whether it was worthwhile or not. That’s not an irrational approach by any means.
I am simply saying that on a balance sheet, it looks the same, and the Labour govt simply swapped private debt for public debt.
But as I said, the vast bulk of the private debt accrued was property debt, housing and farming. Not debt on cars or flat screen TVs.
Surely personnel debt is a persons personal choice, I chose to live low debt I have relatives who live on the red line and banks must love them but I can’t see how or why a government should have any input into those choices.
If your caught in the housing bubble of Auckland you have no option but to increase debt. All well and good saying you would have no debt. For many there was no other option.
The other driver of personal debt is of course our Consumption driven economy. Both Labour and National like a consumption driven economy. The more you buy, the more GDP increases, and that is good (in their eyes). But it has major flaws in that;
a. it is unsustainable, (We live on a finite Planet) and
b. in order to continue the “growth” more “Capital” (ie Money) needs to be created to create extra products that are already optimised. eg
http://www.beca.co.nz/services/~/media/publications/technical_papers/mill_optimisation_programs.ashx
c. the problem of b. leads to increasing debt.
National’s promise during 2014 campaign from which they garnered their mandate
juxtaposed with the quietly expunging of it from their site by 2015.
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/media/9209560/national-party-website-201415-surplus-changes-via-website.jpg?mode=crop&width=635&height=357&quality=80&scale=both
Yesterday, Kathy Odgers said she was expunging all traces of her website because when a company has finished that’s what you do… so when National expunges one of its promises… is it cos the job was done.
Lie to get re-elected
check
Re-elected
check
Do what we like
check
There’s an interesting division of Labour between party leader Andrew Little and party general-secretary Tim Barnett, both members of the liberal professional class.
Little schmoozes business interests, trying to convince them that Labour will manage NZ Capitalism Ltd better than National.
At the same time Barnett shows Labour’s fangs to the lower-income workers who aren’t on the electoral roll, threatening that they’ll be economically punished for not being enrolled.
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/05/10/labour-party-obey-or-starve/
Phil
By the way. Jim Mora dismissed Andrew’s speech in few words with the great help of Jock Anderson.” “One of the biggest deceptions of a lifetime”. That’s how Andrew Little phrased the government’s failure to deliver a surplus. Is the statement OTT?”
Course it was over the top they agreed. Not important. No discussion on the body of Andrew’s speech of course.
If they didn’t discuss the body of these speech it would be because they were pondering the “biggest deception of a lifetime” gem. A staggering hysterical statement to make. I imagine once the laughter had stopped they didn’t bother with the rest. There would be many other statements that qualify in my lifetime to a far greater degree.
“Chiropractors are doctors”
“911 was an inside job”
“Homeopathy is science”
“Vaccinations cause autism”
“CGT is a game changer”
OTT pretty much.
Well you forgot Watergate Realblue. But Andrew was talking about Government deception of the people in New Zealand. Has to be the biggest deliberate strategy of Key’s lot. Yes?
i see you chose farrars screech to repeat
Hey, you’re absolutely right, if only you can remind me who said cgt is a game changer without being a lying Tory asshole,
Calm down princess, your shoes are getting covered in wee.
Agreed Watergate was a shameful chapter. He didn’t say strategy he said deception. Quite a different context which spinning furiously doesn’t change. Vietnam war is another.
What’s wrong with calling a lie a lie?
Hopefully, the final four bullet points of AL’s speech will significantly reduce the gap between the mega rich and the rest of us?
I only raise this because it was never mentioned.
Given the audience, I fully appreciate why it was not mentioned.
Huge disparities in income with most of wealth concentrated in 1% to 5% of the population leads to an imbalance of power only rivalled by mediaeval times.
Money is power.
Power corrupts.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Which allows a Wall Street war lord to rule a SW Pacific country from his Summer Palace in Hawaii.
That war lord owes allegiance to…?
It is time we reclaimed NZ for ourselves.