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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Some years ago, I found myself pondering the power of literature to endure. Or at least the power of some of it to endure, while the rest vanishes in mere decades: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2019/08/07/look-on-my-works-ye-mighty-and-despair-the-literary-future/. I have similarly had fun with the subject in some of my short stories, such as Another Alexandria ...5 days ago - Corrections is torturing prisoners again
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...6 days ago
- HYEFU and BPS data shows New Zealand is way off track
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...6 days ago
- “Better economic management”
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...6 days ago
- Shameless, clueless
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...6 days ago - Minimum wage ‘increase’ is an effective cut
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...6 days ago
- Crazy ’bout a Sharp-dressed Man
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...6 days ago - How much should you worry about a collapse of the Atlantic conveyor belt?
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson In this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...6 days ago
- 8% ACT Party Creates One Ring To Rule Them All
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...6 days ago - When austerity worsens public debt & cuts GDP
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...6 days ago
- Govt to double number of toll roads
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...6 days ago
- Luxon’s pre-emptive strike
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...6 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On The Coalition’s Empty Gestures, And Abortion Refusal As The New Slavery
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...6 days ago
- More public service contempt of parliament
Back in 2023 the New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties raised concerns about the inherent conflict of interest involved in public service agencies supporting parliamentary select committees. Our parliament is run on a shoestring, so depends on the public service for advice. But public service agencies work for Ministers, not ...6 days ago
- If There Is A God
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...7 days ago - A Lipstick Government
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...7 days ago - NZCTU open letter to Treasury on undue restrictions on restricted briefings
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...7 days ago
- Why you won’t hear me advocate for electric cars
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate. I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...7 days ago
- Coalition forced to back down on tolling Pahiatua track
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...7 days ago
- Thank You
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...1 week ago - 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #50
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...1 week ago
- Making Gravy
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...1 week ago - Nothing here but the shadows
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...1 week ago - The United Right: the FSU’s Continued Efforts to Undermine Academia
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...1 week ago
- Showing the Americans how to do it
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...1 week ago
- 2 Men, 1 Haircut
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...1 week ago - Chris Penk’s Hate Parade
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...1 week ago - Tell me a story
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...1 week ago
- National’s Greatest Misses 2023-4
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...2 days ago - Release: Minister’s plan for tertiary sector a backwards step
Returning to the model that was failing for most polytechnics and Institutes of Technology is not the answer. ...3 days ago
- Release: National buries 1019 planned homes
It’s been revealed that National has cancelled 60 percent of its housing projects planned before mid-2025 amidst housing woes. ...3 days ago
- Release: Rule-Czar bill a right-wing power grab
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...3 days ago
- Release: Why not both? Luxon shuns Waitangi celebrations
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is running away from problems of his own creation, with his decision not to go to Waitangi. ...3 days ago
- Govt’s ‘free speech’ legislation stokes fear, not freedom
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...4 days ago - Release: Nicola Willis spirals country deeper into recession
The economy shrank 1% this quarter and New Zealand has tumbled into the depths of a recession of Nicola Willis’ making. ...4 days ago
- Release: Hikes for company directors but not ordinary Kiwis
Working people are going backwards while company directors are being given huge pay hikes. ...5 days ago
- ECE no place to cut corners
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...5 days ago
- Release: Strengthening Justice Services for New Zealanders
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...5 days ago
- Release: Labour will continue fight against destructive projects
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...5 days ago
- Green Government will revoke dodgy fast-track projects
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...5 days ago
- Government for the wealthy keeps pushing austerity
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...5 days ago
- Release: Visa changes let migrant workers be paid less
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...5 days ago
- Release: Nightmare before Christmas for Nicola Willis
With more debt and a larger deficit, Nicola Willis’ reputation is in tatters after her failure to return the Government’s books to surplus. ...6 days ago
- Warning to Fast-Track Applicants – ‘Exploit the Whenua, Face the Consequences’
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt cuts wages for lowest paid NZers… again
For the second year running, the government has effectively cut wages for the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. ...6 days ago
- Govt’s miserly 1.5% minimum wage will take workers backwards
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt shirking responsibility for rate hikes
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...6 days ago
- Luxon’s ‘localism’ strikes again
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt breaks promise on EV chargers
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...7 days ago
- Greens call for end to subsidies for Methanex
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...7 days ago
- Govt child poverty targets allow for increase in poverty
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...1 week ago
- Release: Four weeks annual leave under threat
The Government’s attack on workers continues with news it is scrapping work on the Holidays Act. ...1 week ago
- Govt’s emissions plan for measly 1% reduction
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...1 week ago
- Greens stand in solidarity with Whakaata Māori on sad day
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...1 week ago
- Sanctions regime to create more hardship for families
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...1 week ago
- Govt gifts renters housing anxiety for Christmas
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...1 week ago
- Release: National Party urged to support modern slavery legislation
Labour is urging the Prime Minister to walk the talk and support legislation combating modern slavery. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour has lost confidence in the Speaker
The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament made an unprecedented decision on the government amendment to the Fast Track Approvals Bill last night. ...2 weeks ago
- One year on, still no progress on new ferries
Today’s announcement from the Government on its plan for new ferries throws more uncertainty on the future of the country’s rail network. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Nicola Willis’ smaller ferries will cost more
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...2 weeks ago
- Bill to sanction unlawful occupation of Palestine
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour fully supports greyhound racing ban
The Government has done the right thing in moving to ban greyhound racing. ...2 weeks ago
- Greyhound racing industry ban marks new era for animal welfare
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...2 weeks ago
- Rangatahi voices must be centred in Government’s Relationship and Sexuality Education refresh
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt introduces archaic anti-worker legislation
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...2 weeks ago
- Winston Peters – Kinleith Mill Speech
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...2 weeks ago - Swarbrick calls on Auckland Mayor to end delay of revival of St James Theatre
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...2 weeks ago
- He Ara Anamata: Greens launch Emissions Reduction Plan
Today, the Green Party of Aotearoa proudly unveils its new Emissions Reduction Plan–He Ara Anamata–a blueprint reimagining our collective future. ...2 weeks ago
- Internationally-trained doctors jump at chance to boost health workforce
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...17 hours ago - PM appoints business leader to APEC Business Advisory Council
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...3 days ago
- New intelligence oversight appointments
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...3 days ago
- New housing developments able to progress more quickly
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...3 days ago
- Actions to speed up air travel delivering results
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...3 days ago
- Ending contracted emergency housing in Rotorua
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...3 days ago
- Vocational education and training decisions support return to regions
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...3 days ago
- Reducing the environmental impact of synthetic refrigerants
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...3 days ago
- Ngāruawāhia section of Waikato Expressway back to 4 lanes for Christmas
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...3 days ago
- Appointments to the ENZ board
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...4 days ago
- Government to celebrate Waitangi Day around NZ
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...4 days ago
- More gangs added to Gangs Act list
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...4 days ago
- Judicial appointment announced
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...4 days ago
- GDP data highlights importance of growth
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...4 days ago
- Strengthening Free Speech in Universities
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...4 days ago
- Launch of Emergency Cellular Priority Service
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...4 days ago
- Minister reopens Mangamuka Gorge
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...4 days ago
- Funding confirmed for second Ashburton Bridge
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...4 days ago
- Government boosts support for avian influenza response
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...4 days ago
- Levelling the playing field for media advertising
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...4 days ago
- Inspector-General of Defence appointed
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...4 days ago
- Fire and Emergency New Zealand final levy rates confirmed
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...5 days ago
- More AML relief on the way for Kiwi businesses
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...5 days ago
- Hawke’s Bay Expressway moving at pace
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...5 days ago
- Government seeks partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned-land
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...5 days ago
- Wide ranging legislation to make justice system more efficient
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...5 days ago
- Diverse skills in community trust appointments
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...5 days ago
- Torture redress for survivors of the Lake Alice Unit
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...5 days ago
- A busy year in the House
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...5 days ago
- Consultation opens on working with engineered stone
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...5 days ago
- Greater reporting on Treaty settlement commitments
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...5 days ago
- New appointments to the Charities Registration Board
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...5 days ago
- Building consent processing times improve
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...5 days ago
- Faster access to support through Innovation Fund
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...5 days ago
- New Zealand to assist Vanuatu on earthquake response
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...5 days ago
- Government takes steps to reduce card fees for Kiwis
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...5 days ago
- Review recommends ECE regulation shakeup
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...5 days ago
- Offshore Renewable Energy Bill passes first reading
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...5 days ago
- Local Government (Water Services) Bill passes first reading
Legislation to enable new water service delivery models that will drive critical investment in infrastructure has passed its first reading in Parliament, marking a significant step towards the delivery of Local Water Done Well, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly say.“Councils and voters ...5 days ago
- Gene Technology Bill passes first reading
New Zealand is one step closer to reaping the benefits of gene technology with the passing of the first reading of the Gene Technology Bill, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. "This legislation will end New Zealand's near 30-year ban on gene technology outside the lab and is ...5 days ago
- Vanuatu quake: Warnings as bad weather threat looms for Port Vila
By , New Zealand’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) says impending bad weather for Port Vila is now the most significant post-quake hazard. A tropical low in the Coral Sea is expected to move into Vanuatu waters, bringing heavy rainfall. Authorities have issued warnings to people ...4 hours ago - Signs of the hīkoi: More than just ‘words on cardboard’
The placards seen at the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti conveyed "huge kōrero with immediacy", expert says: "People know the power of the word." ...14 hours ago - A final Ode to .. King Luxon
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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.