Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, July 26th, 2011 - 152 comments
Just after Irish has discussed how little it takes to jump from the violent language of the NZ Right to the violent actions of Anders Breivik (and an ‘expert’ had said it can’t happen here), we learn of a rightwinger who planned a van-bomb attack on ACC. The striking thing is that his online rants are unremarkable within the Right’s discourse.
Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, July 12th, 2011 - 14 comments
After coming to office, National cried ‘crisis at ACC’ as an excuse for raising levies, cutting cover, and privatisation. Suddenly, the ‘crisis’ has disappeared and good ol’ National is cutting your ACC levies, back to where they were before National raised them. Now, just forget who put them up in the first place, and tick the blue box in November.
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, June 2nd, 2011 - 41 comments
National has announced plans to privatise ACC’s work account. Currently, they don’t have the numbers to get it through the House. ACT won’t vote for it because its not completely rabid and the Maori Party won’t vote for privatisation. So, this becomes another election issue: another bloody good reason to vote National out.
Written By: - Date published: 6:30 am, May 30th, 2011 - 84 comments
Labour’s Chris Hipkins has the inside word: On Wednesday this week, Nick Smith is going to announce what amounts to the effective privatisation of a large part of ACC. You won’t hear the word privatisation uttered from his lips, he’ll use all sorts of other words like ‘competition’ and ‘market discipline’, but privatisation it will be.
Written By: - Date published: 9:56 pm, December 21st, 2010 - 29 comments
‘Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the House,
Nats announced policies, they’re usually scared to espouse.
Journos on holiday, Key out of reach on his Hawaiian vacation,
It was the time to let slip, their plan for ACC privatisation.
Written By: - Date published: 3:15 pm, December 21st, 2010 - 37 comments
The disastrous experiment of competition for ACC from the 1990s is to be repeated. Businesses will be allowed to chose a private firm to cover their workplace injuries. Workers won’t get to choose their level of cover of course, they’re just the ones who get injured or killed – why should they have a say.
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, November 8th, 2010 - 20 comments
The Government is planning to reduce ACC cover and portray it as a cost saving for levy-payers. You would get less income coverage when injured and have to endure a longer wait time of three weeks until your coverage would begin. Levies would be personalised on the private model. This is privatising ACC on bite at a time with no actual cost savings.
Written By: - Date published: 9:26 am, October 16th, 2010 - 42 comments
National is developing an agenda for privatisation. It’s crazy. State owned assets are generating some rare bright spots in an otherwise dismal sea of poor economic news. So why would any rational government sell ACC (or other state owned assets)? Why would any rational government be cutting back on the Cullen Fund? Why are the Nats determined to kill the golden geese?
Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, May 11th, 2010 - 4 comments
A headline on Newsroom caught my eye a couple of days back: “Deficit Falls Further”. Good news, so, well done the Nats? Turns out no, not so much…
Written By: - Date published: 9:03 am, April 23rd, 2010 - 70 comments
National’s hysteria around ACC last year was focused on creating an air of crisis. Now they’re going to ‘do something’. That something is privatisation of ACC. It won’t work, it won’t save money. The costs of injuries will still exist. Privatisation will put more of that cost on the injured. Added ligation and profits will mean worse cover for more cost.
Written By: - Date published: 9:09 am, February 16th, 2010 - 4 comments
There’s a demo at Parliament today to protest against the Government’s ACC bill, which raises levies, cuts Kiwis’ entitlements and paves the way for privatisation. If you’re in the CBD make sure you head down in your lunch break.
MARCH AND RALLY FOR ACC
TODAY 16TH February
12.30pm – Parliament
Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, February 5th, 2010 - 7 comments
The CTU is launching its “that’s gotta hurt” campaign against government cuts to ACC on the big screens at the Sevens today and the result is not what you’d expect from the normally rather earnest organisation. S
Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, December 11th, 2009 - 78 comments
As expected, Nick Smith has imposed substantial ACC levy hikes on families. For a worker on $40,000 with a car, you’re looking at $150 more a year. I would say that would take a large bite out of most people’s tax cuts but the fact is most people didn’t get a tax cut from National. …
Written By: - Date published: 9:04 am, November 25th, 2009 - 13 comments
I was watching that vid by the Greens on ACC and bikoi. What caught my attention was the bikers’ chant: “who’s next, who’s next?” The Right loves to atomise us – make us think of ourselves only as individuals or narrow interest groups. Our reaction to the bikers getting hammered with these unecessary ACC hikes …
Written By: - Date published: 3:38 pm, November 23rd, 2009 - 10 comments
Good video from the Greens’ Kevin Hague. Gotta love the dirty mo:
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, November 19th, 2009 - Comments Off
Hat tip: Labour.
Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, November 18th, 2009 - 10 comments
It looks like the government’s sleight of hand on ACC is about to pay off. Having put up a clearly outrageous proposal to hike motorbike levies and thus made it the focus of anger over the ACC changes the government is now signaling they will back off. Thing is, they were never going to ramp …
Written By: - Date published: 2:16 pm, November 17th, 2009 - 43 comments
Just got away from the bikoi at Parliament. What a sight. At least 6,000 people they reckon. The lawn and half the forecourt covered. Tui flying overhead joining in the fun. The bikers know are they being treated unfairly and National is using their levy money to pay for false propaganda for levy increases. They …
Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, November 12th, 2009 - 5 comments
A very well-produced youtube vid on National’s distortions over ACC The clever thing National has done is set up ACC as the agent of its own demise. With Business Roundtable member John Judge in charge ACC has become a propaganda wing for National’s anti-ACC rubbish. Judge and Nick Smith have created a false air of …
Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, November 11th, 2009 - 4 comments
Frogblog has another example of the continuing politicisation of the public service under National. I meant to post on this a while back, but you may have seen these ads in your local paper recently: Not only is the ACC’s message in this ad contrary to the Woodhouse principles it was founded on, but there’s …
Written By: - Date published: 4:00 pm, October 28th, 2009 - 19 comments
One of the Right’s silly myths, never backed up by any facts, is that not privatising ACC leads to more injuries. The logic (and it’s a logic only the money-obsessed could come up with) is that private workplace insurers would charge higher premiums for dangerous workplaces and lower premiums for safer workplaces – this would …
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, October 28th, 2009 - Comments Off
This memo was sent by the Insurance Council to its members in 2005 but it may as well have been sent this week. Because as sure as National was keeping its agenda secret and having clandestine talks with the insurers about privatising ACC in 2005 they will be having the same talks under wraps while …
Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, October 24th, 2009 - 14 comments
So – Labour have stood up for ACC. Bravo! History repeats. In the last year of the last National government (1999) they flogged off the profitable parts of ACC cover to their mates in the insurance industry (“opened ACC to competition”). The incoming Labour government reversed those changes and re-instated ACC as the sole provider …
Written By: - Date published: 5:26 pm, October 22nd, 2009 - 59 comments
National is going to privatise ACC. As part of the deal for support on its ACC cuts and levy hikes from the Maori Party and ACT, it will be privatising ACC’s Work Account (the part paid by employers for workplace accidents). First, there will be a perfunctory report provided by the ACC Stocktake Group, a …
Written By: - Date published: 3:50 pm, October 21st, 2009 - 8 comments
Here’s Tariana Turia on Q&A last Sunday, responding to a question from Guyon Espiner about National’s plans for ACC: I’m very concerned and one of the reasons why I’m really concerned is that there’s been a lot of talk about privatising the work account. Now the face of it is that’s the only account that …
Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, October 21st, 2009 - 24 comments
It is a reflection of the schizophrenic nature of the Maori Party that one day they’re professing to care about poor Maori who are apparently missing out on their ACC entitlements and the next day they’re backing privatisation of ACC, which would lead to even worse outcomes for those Maori, because it might be a …
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, October 20th, 2009 - 31 comments
When asked to explain why they want to start privatising a world-leading institution like ACC, National and ACT tend to fall back on the excuse that it will somehow lead to lower ACC premiums. Of course, the international experience and every independent report that’s been done shows the exact opposite, but they can always point …
Written By: - Date published: 3:40 pm, October 20th, 2009 - 18 comments
The Maori Party has decided it will support National’s changes to ACC despite Tariana Turia just two days ago saying she was “very concerned” about those changes. Here’s their explanation for their latest flip-flop: “We know that Maori have consistently had less access to ACC entitlements than other groups, under existing legislation. While this Bill …
Written By: - Date published: 2:51 pm, October 20th, 2009 - 5 comments
Tim Hazledine, a professor of economics at the University of Auckland, has a nice piece in the Herald today that lays out just how absurd National’s spin about the ACC “blowout” really is. Suppose you and your spouse are in charge of a family of, say, three young children. That means you are legally responsible …
Written By: - Date published: 1:01 pm, October 20th, 2009 - 32 comments
John Dalley makes a good point in the comments section of our last ACC post: About now would be a good time for Labour to state publicly that they will do away with private insurers when next in government. I say absolutely right. It would throw a spanner in any plans to privatise the ACC …
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, October 20th, 2009 - 5 comments
It seems certain National will begin the privatisation of ACC starting with opening the work account to private competition. As happened in 1998, private insurers will cream off large and low-risk employers with loss-leading special deals to gain market share, leaving the taxpayer to shoulder the burden of the rest, and put up premiums later. …
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