It’s GOT to be Cunliffe. Robinson or Parker must be his deputy. Shane Jones is a flake, and should not be anywhere near the levers of power. Minister of Racing?
Minister for sealord, seriously jones needs to be shown the door if he doesnt walk on his own. He is a lazy businessman not a servant of the people which he shown on many occasions.
“Women are concentrated in those traditionally low-wage occupations – the three C’s, caring, cleaning and clerical work. They have been there for a long time, so it’s been a systemic issue.”
And around a third of men – damning stats. Also damning, though not intended to be by the article’s author, are the denials that these widespread low wages are a problem.
“The problem is people who do very low skilled work and therefore only receive low pay trying to live a life that is impossible on their income.”
Cleaning, caring and clerical are not very low skilled jobs. If you’ve ever had someone clean your house/business/workplace who doesn’t know what they are doing then you would know that. Those jobs that women are doing are underpaid, because it is women doing them. I was going to say we don’t value the skills, but we do – think how important cleaning and hygiene are in our society. So why do we pay so low?
The idea that people are incompetent at living on a low wage is ridiculous. Talk to people in places like Queenstown about how someone on low wages is expected to live there. Do you think that Queenstown doesn’t need cleaners? (hint, it’s not on Planet Key).
+1. & cleaning is bloody hard work! & of course by its nature often unpleasant. its one of those jobs i didn’t really value (or even think about) until i did it myself. i had a part time job years ago cleaning a bar in the mornings, was def an eye opener, ppl are pretty disgusting.
but i should add i found the cleaning work quite rewarding when i had finished. i had great employers too.
Then there is the often trotted out ”raising the minimum wage will lead to massive job losses” rubbish, or worse,”why not make it $30 an hour then”, which those with light-weight intellects like Farrar and Hooten squeal as opposition,
Slippery the Prime Minister’s little scare tactic is the ”it will cost $2.5 billion” whine, as if any of us are proposing that the ‘living wage’ be legislated for in one rise from the present minimum,
A series of raises over a 3 year period will spread that ‘cost’ across the economy in a logical 3 steps injecting into that economy around $800 million a year in extra wages, and while negative little intellects the likes of what Farrar, Hooten, and, Slippery the Prime Minister are see this as a ‘cost’ it is in reality for ALL business, big and small, a PROFIT OPPORTUNITY,
Where after all do these people think that the extra money in the pay packets of the low waged economy is going to go, the share-market perhaps, a rental investment property or 2 to help drive up demand in the Auckland property market perhaps, perhaps stashed under the mattress,
Such extra monies pumped into the economy will simply be spent back into that economy thus making any pay rises for the low waged economy that ‘Profit opportunity’ for business that it really is,
Far from crying over the ‘cost’ of the ‘living wage’ all business big and small should be chomping at the bit ready to compete for a slice of that extra money in the economy…
What about NZ manufacturers all these added wage costs having to be passed onto the consumer, how do you think they’ll get on competing against the same product imported from overseas? , it’s pretty hard going as it is, this living wage will make it a hell of a lot worse.
”Not a lot you can do about the high dollar”, rubbish, BM you and Slippery the Prime Minister might operate in a bubble of seclusion but the rest of us see solutions evident from real world experience,
Simply ‘fix’ the currency so as it floats freely between heaven for exporters and heaven for importers,with an obvious bias toward exporters,
The Kiwi$ is still one of the most traded currencies in the world, not for the benefit of the NZ economy but for the benefit of you guessed it the money trading firms where the Prime Minister’s real loyalties are said to be at home…
“Ask yourself BM, how Germany can sell twice as many cars as the USA despite their auto workers being paid twice as much?”
Because German cars are good cars and American cars are (too often?) bad cars?
Hey I can play that game!
“Ask yourself how Toyota can sell 5 times as many cars as the USA despite their auto workers in Guangzhou being paid 20% as much as USA auto workers?”
OOOhh ? I know it must be other factors!
Lets extend your fantasy. If we lift minimum wages to $18.40 per hour, the happy workers will become more productive. We can go back to making cars in NZ which the newly magically rich workers will buy.
BM,you and Slippery should stick to ‘rogering goats’,
Any negative impact of instituting the ‘Living Wage over a 3 or 4 year timescale will be negligible and far out-weighed by the positives, firstly business will suffer a ‘profit lag’ where profits would be expected to dip and then pick up markedly to reflect the extra $800 million yearly in the economy,
What you and your ilk seem to be suggesting is that business will cut off its nose to spite its own face and sack 10s of 1000s of workers,
That little proposition would presuppose that business is and has been running some form of welfare organization where they all are employing far far more workers than what they actually require to run their business’s and create their profit,
Only a fool would ascribe to such a theory and seeing as we have proven knowledge that you occupy such a demographic we all would expect nothing less than you ascribing to such views…
And again, just to school BM in an effort to get Him/Her a little deeper into economic research than economics 101,
Raising the minimum is shown to have a small negative effect on employment, Initially, remember that ‘initially’, such a negative effect is in fact counter-intuitive to basic economic theory, and, i would suggest is based more on the ‘Politics’ of the employers concerned as opposed to sound business economics,
The NZ experience when the youth rate was abolished???,
”16-17 year old’s unemployment initially increased by 1.4-2.6%, BUT, that negative impact on employment was not evident a year later in 2010”
“where profits would be expected to dip and then pick up markedly to reflect the extra $800 million yearly in the economy,”
I don’t know what planet you live on. You will be lifting wage costs for cafes and small businesses by 30%. That will suppress demand for those services as prices rise.
We don’t WANT to give inflationary wage rises funded by state dictate to low income earners to be spent at the Warehouse.
You should go test your idiotic rants on a labour intensive small business owner. I can tell you have never run one.
Let’s not pretend you’re worried about the small cafes and restaurants. If you were you’d tell McDonalds and Burger King and all the other big chains who pay low wages and take profits out of the country to fuck off.
Low wages simply benefit the corporate owner who can get economies of scale and pressure the government to pass legislation that benefits themselves.
Changes to laws such as allowing retail to open on Saturday and Sunday drove out many good small business owners who struggled to maintain their business for 7 days a week. The removal of centralised wage bargaining means that low wages became the dominant factor of competition rather than product or service.
It’s quite clear that I occasionally eat out / use a cafe because I earn more than the minimum wage. I can tell you if I was on minimum wage my eating out cafe use would be nil – the same as it was when I was paying 22.5% on my mortgage.
According to your hypothesis Srylands, the USA should be paying the highest interest rates in the world.
“Printing money” like there is no tomorrow. In debt for trillions.
In fact they are starting to grow sooner than all the followers of “Austerity”. Though they would have returned to growth much sooner if the stimulus had been given to low paid workers, not banks.
The ratings agencies had an epic fail.
No serious investor takes any notice of them any more, otherwise US bond rates would be hitting the roof.
Even I didn’t think it was that bad. So do rubbish collectors receive more than cleaners? If so why same work really?
Seriously, this is a problem for all of us.
Women, after relationship breakdown, provide all of the money for the kids less about $1500 per annum. So this is affecting a lot of kids as well, particularly if a living wage to support two kids is based on 1.5 adult earners.
Secondly, with long education profiles, kids are dependent long after 15 years old which was the norm back in the 60’s so women are stumping up more. Kids are also born at older maternal ages so women have less time to save between child independence and retirement.
This is creating a huge ticking demographic time bomb of older women with no money in retirement.
“The man has a sense of theatre but it was more than that. The others were trying hard but Cunliffe had it. He spoke more quietly than them. He was calm, measured, ready.”
This is also what I observed.
“Cunliffe undeniably has the extra quality needed to lead an election campaign.”
“He would go where wiser heads fear to tread. He doesn’t lack political courage.”
Roughan also calls our 35 years of failure against Aussie and other similar countries, despite even better per capita resources and a similar export boom, good Government.
And O’Sullivan shows that Jones is not popular with women to the left and the right.
Why doesn’t earthy Shane Jones just come out and say it? “I’m not just another Labour ‘soft cock’.”
“I’m for big, bold economic policies to grow the economy”; “I’m against hitting ‘rich pricks’ with new taxes (after all some of my best friends are just that);” “I want new mines in Northland and gas fields in Taranaki – Labour’s communist mates in the Greens don’t know how to promote jobs …” You get the drift?
All right, I apologise for the tasteless introduction, but listening to, watching and reading Shane Jones interviews can do that to a “gelding” (as we women are in the Jones lexicon), you know.
Those who know the unvarnished Jones find the political snow job he is currently orchestrating during his extended bromance with TV3 political editor Patrick Gower and 3rd Degree’s Guyon Espiner and Duncan Garner is more than simply comical.
Women are not geldings.
Jones was describing how the public perceive men within the labour party, and how that perception was being magnified with the manban carry on.
“It may be different in the labour party but normally Women don’t have willies.”
Yes, but gelding refers to testicals not penises, and both women and geldings don’t have balls. It’s an age old slur against women, that they’re lesser humans because they don’t have the right equipment. I’m surprised you are unaware of that.
It’s about making sure we get excellent candidates up and we select them. It’s as simple as that… and the overwhelming response is the public doesn’t want the country run by geldings.
Jones was calling women geldings.I can’t see how this can be read as other than read that if women are selected and they’re not ‘better’ candidates than men, then the country will be run by geldings. i.e even if they behave like men and do a man’s job they are not masculine.
i am fast to condemn the ‘Jonolism’ of the likes of the Herald’s Fran O’Sullivan when they use their position with that particular rag to push their positions of utter bias,
Today i have to give a ‘Hat-tip’ to Fran for what is in essence a good piece of telling it ‘like it is’ warts and all,
Obviously only the hard core ‘groupy’ firmly ‘fixated’ on Jones as something or someone He is obviously not would find much to disagree with in O’Sullivan’s piece in the Herald today…
For the nth time the ‘gelding’ comment was not about women as such but candidates selected on something other than merit – he was expressing his opinion that affirmative action lists would result in inadequate candidates getting selected. A gelded horse is a castrated male, so the persistent interpretation is stupidly wrong.
FWIW, I don’t agree with Jones on that matter – I think there are sufficient numbers of competent women out there to make putting together an all women, all competent short list a dawdle – and if Jones is the hallmark for competence, then it should be almost impossible for any woman not to do a better job.
But misrepresenting his comment as specifically aimed at women is dimly myopic.
Though his frequent references to genitalia is a bit creepy.
In that specific instance, it was all women short lists, as well you know. Please don’t play dumb or as phoney ingenuous questions.
But the idea he was alluding to holds good whether it referred to preferential treament for women, Maori, gays, straight white males or whatever. If you aren’t getting there through merit, you’re not going to be up to the job – gelded. Which means castrated, not female, for the terminally hard of thinking.
If Jones had really wanted to insult women, would he have chosen a term that specifically refers to males?
“In that specific instance, it was all women short lists, as well you know. Please don’t play dumb or as phoney ingenuous questions”.
That was a straight up question. That specific instance is specifically what he made the comment about.
Whether it holds that he would use that insult for other situations was never posed. It trips of his tongue so lightly he’s probably used it many times.
“If Jones had really wanted to insult women, would he have chosen a term that specifically refers to males?”
He hates feminists – considers them male wannabes, I suspect, so yes.
This sentence from Roughans article is a doozie, he must have been having a quiet chuckle to himself when he wrote this thinking “This one will get those people on The Standard riled up”
“The consensus is hard for Labour MPs to maintain because their party outside Parliament does not share it. By and large the activists and unionists have had the sort of education that gives you a jaundiced understanding of economics. It is not until Labour people get a seat in Parliament and read their briefs that the consensus makes sense.”
I’m just wondering what sort of education Roughan had, which allows him to accept the horrendous levels of inequality and poverty in New Zealand. Has he got a brain at all??? What an incredibly out of touch person he is.
“The consensus is hard for Labour MPs to maintain because their party outside Parliament does not share it. By and large the activists and unionists have had the sort of wages and insecure employment that gives you a jaundiced understanding of economics. It is not until Labour people get a seat in Parliament and read their pay checks and pension plans that the consensus makes sense.”
If you read it that way it could start to make more sense …
Roughan probably wrote the editorial a couple of weeks back that banged the same oligarchy drum –
members votting for the leader
“…carries risks not just for Labour but for the good government of New Zealand if the consensus between the two major parties on economic fundamentals is undermined by a leader’s public commitments in a campaign for the party’s vote.
There is good reason to confine these elections to a party caucus. MPs are generally well briefed on policy issues and aware of the national interest. They also work closely with leadership contenders and are best-placed to assess their character and capabilities…”
Roughan is a fundamentally not a believer in democracy – he supports an oligarchy/plutocracy of right thinking rich people.
However, when taken together with Key’s attempts to paint a Labour/Green coalition as a far left devil beast the size and power of the forces being arrayed to defend neo-liberalism suddenly gains a focussed clarity. A new/y proud and invigorated left movement should be under no illusion of the difficulty and the defeats that lay ahead on the road to destroying the neo-liberal grip on power.
Still, our great grandparents and great great grandparents defeated them and I personally think that once was done once, can be done twice.
Despite Roughan’s obvious bias, he does put his finger on the point of tension with which Labour has been beset since Key gained office, and which has escalated since the beginning of his second term. What Roughan is not saying is that Key has upped the anti on “the consensus” so that poverty and inequality have reached a point where it is no longer possible for Labour to offer itself as a continuity government and hold to Labour principles (except perhaps cosmetically) at the same time.
The election is just a year away, and there is clearly a groundswell of support for Cunliffe. And since MPs are paid to hold the government to account while in opposition and to seek office for themselves, you would expect them to pay attention to such things. But it seems that at least some of them would rather lose the election than put pressure on the economic consensus.
“..The Guardian’s James Ball and cryptology expert Bruce Schneier will take your questions about revelations that spy agencies in the US and UK have cracked internet privacy tools..”
I was interested in Bruce Schneier’s answer to a question about whether encryption can still be trusted:
Schneier: I wrote about this explicitly here. I believe we still can trust cryptography. The problem is that there is so much between the mathematics of cryptography and the “encrypt” button on your computer, and all of that has been subverted.
This fits with what I know about this stuff, and my suspicions. For their purposes, the spooks would rather have us believing that they have beaten the mathematics than that they have companies rolling over and getting their stomachs scratched.
Yeah, far easier to subvert software implementations, or grab the message data before it is encrypted eg via a keylogger, than trying to brute force some bloody tightly written open source 256 bit algorithm.
And treat every MS Windows/Android installation as if it is an active listening post…
Perhaps one way of thwarting the papal crap is to give Cunliffe first and Jones second preference. Of course there is then the danger that Jones may be the new pope. What to do?
The only papers that will count in a run-off are those that voted Jones as first preference. What Robertson or Cunliffe supporters place as second or third preference won’t make any difference at all (unless one of those two are eliminated in the first round)
I think Robertson and Jones posted too close to each other for anything definitive to be read into it. Though it is embarrassing for Robertson that he’s even polling close to Jones …
Note the careful framing at the beginning……this woman has worked all her life, always paid taxes etc.
That’s right viewers, this story isn’t about one of those bludging, whinging, dope smoking layabouts. This is the OTHER kind of beneficiary – deserving of support.
Think you’re being a bit harsh there AWW. I abhor the ‘deserving/undeserving’ wedge, but the reality is, that it’s only when the reasonably comfortable middle classes realise that the punitive WINZ culture can and will be applied to them too, that there will be any chance of killing the currency of that particular meme.
From examples of ‘their’ possible situation, they can extrapolate in a general sense. But if examples of long term unemployed or whatever are used, they simply won’t identify with the examples given and nothing will change.
Technically the taxpayer has paid both her wages and her taxes. Appreciate she works for it but tis paid by the taxpayer none-the-less.
The lack of empathy shown in the story for the people who every day are required as a matter of policy required to go seek budget advice on benefits that are two low is abysmal. If she’s finding it hard going from $70,000 per year how but some conviction that it must be even harder for those who go from minimum wage to benefit, or those who get only regular seasonal work, or those who only get part-time work.
Most people on benefit budget well – they have to.
Generally, clients who have received Special Needs Grants, Advance Payments of Benefit, and Recoverable Assistance Payments on three or more grant dates during the past 12 months are required to take reasonable steps before they receive any additional payments.
Reasonable steps should include actions that increase their income, reduce their costs, or improve their financial management.
You should let clients know at their third grant date and each subsequent grant date that they are required to take reasonable steps and complete a budgeting activity, before they are able to receive further assistance. At their sixth grant date they will be required to participate in an intensive interview, take reasonable steps and attend a budgeting advice service.
I don’t think features like this or articles like this:
do any more than enforce the notion that beneficiaries are useless and bludgers. These articles try and say hey but we’re not like them other people – we’re special.
I’d rather the debate was about lifting the incomes and support for all those who but for the grace of god go I.
Yes, the classic “divide and rule” policy. While we’re hating on each other because there’s always someone worse off than us that ”doesn’t deserve help”, others are quietly lining their pockets with monies that should have trickled down to those in need.
Think you’re being a bit harsh there AWW. I abhor the ‘deserving/undeserving’ wedge, but the reality is, that it’s only when the reasonably comfortable middle classes realise that the punitive WINZ culture can and will be applied to them too, that there will be any chance of killing the currency of that particular meme.
From examples of ‘their’ possible situation, they can extrapolate in a general sense. But if examples of long term unemployed or whatever are used, they simply won’t identify with the examples given and nothing will change.
I’m in two minds about this. I think the risk is that two classes of beneficiaries get created. The deserving ones like the woman on Campbell Live, who wants to get off a benefit, wants to get back to work, and became unwell through no fault of her own (according to JC). And the undeserving ones, who are whoever ‘we’ judge them to be any given year.
One of the things CL should have made clearer is that a large part of why that woman has had such a hard time is because WINZ currently operate a queueing system for appointments, where you get whichever staff member happens to be available at the time irrespective of if that staffer knows your case or history or not. The woman in the story obviously needs continuity of support (aka case management) so they don’t have to keep re-explaining everything. There is a story here for investigative journalism to look at why that system of case management was introduced a few years ago, compared to other systems.
That lastest version is Bennett’s. It’s pretty hard to see it as anything other than breaking compassion between staff and clients. Real cynics would also say it’s designed to make beneficiaries feel like shit (which it does), and thus encourage them to get off the benefit and/or stop asking for extra assistance. I’d love to see an official explanation for running things that way (probably crude cost efficiency in terms of staff hours).
In general I would say that WINZ is distinctly more functional under a Labour govt than a NACT one, but Labour do some stupid shit sometimes too. One of the problems is that the internal restructuring happens on a fairly regular basis when govts change. At least they haven’t done a major rebrand this time.
This is a glorious state owned Bank established to deliver low cost banking to struggling New Zealanders…
No…
This is the state behaving like a corporate – watch the ideologically blind defend it in KiwiBank because it’s got to generate a return on investment for the investors while they slag “The Nasty Banks” for doing the same. I fail to see how differentiating who scoops the profit makes much difference to people struggling with mortgage interest rates …
The move has been sparked by the Reserve Bank’s new restrictions on low-equity home loans.
Kiwibank has been forced to do it because of the moves of the RBNZ. Essentially, the interest rates for people with less than 20% interest will be going up due to an increased restriction of money.
Kiwibank has been forced to do it because of the moves of the RBNZ. Essentially, the interest rates for people with less than 20% interest will be going up due to an increased restriction of money.
Forced … right… they had no other choice ? They couldn’t have opted to make less profit on low equity loans under the banner of being The Peoples Bank ? That wasn’t an option for a Bank established with tax payers funds, to deliver low cost banking to struggling New Zealanders ?
Well, not under a National government which insists all public services are run like “real” businesses, no. So you’re also advocating for a strong leftwing government which will run public services for the public good, instead of demanding dividend, after 2014? Awesome.
I’d say that they didn’t. Their costs will be going up and they’ve already have cut margins to the bone. They have two choices: 1) Put interest rates up across the board or 2) put them up only on those who it costs more to service.
BTW, I’m not in favour of what they’re doing – just pointing out why they’re doing it. Mortgages should be at 0% interest.
You must be even more worried about the interest rate charged on student loans, burt. That’s around 6%, which is more than KiwiBank’s highest rate. I’ll join you on the barricades, comrade!!
. . . addiction ashpurashnul politics is nothing more than the gradual implemntation of a time-consistent, forward-looking, welfare-maximising, inter-temporal consumption plan . . .
I opened my local paper (The Dominion/Post) expecting to see a couple of front page stories and an editorial.
One front page story should have been a detailed coverage of Shane Jones sado-masochistic dreams about John Key.
The Editorial should have been a statement that Jones is unfit to be a New Zealand MP and the Labour party should be demanding that he step down from Parliament immediately.
The other front page story should have been a joint statement from Cunliffe and Robertson. They should have stated that if Jones is elected leader they will resign from the caucus and become independent MPs. They should also have said that if they become leader they will ensure that Jones is expelled from Caucus and they will do their best to see that he is expelled from the party and is removed from consideration as an electorate or list MP in the future.
What did I see?
Nothing of the sort. Jones of course, to Fairfax, is like every other leftward leaning politician and can do no wrong. Cunliffe and Robertson aren’t going to risk their own spot at the trough by showing any integrity in the affair.
Why do the Labour party put up with a man like Jones?
Exactly alwyn its this lack of housekeeping that holds labour to a middle of the road perception that they are all the same in the sheeple swinger land.
A perception the nats were relying on with DS at the helm to keep participation levels low in 2014.
If cunliffe wins, and its by no means certain with the old guard still scheming away, he should place robertson as deputy to shore up caucus and read the riot act to some complete dropkicks like curran, hipkins etc.
A big task for labour is getting better candidates in winnable seats not lazy ineffective types like carol beaumont and adern who does nothing to take akl central.
Totally agree there..
On Clare curran, at least she has taken some good advise and minimised her use of twitter. Limits here idiotism.
Anyway all I say is go the greater left block within the caucus, whoever can deliver after the flowery and full of promises rhetoric are done with.
Millsy trolls do as instructed, more wages means they can charge more rent but thats counter to the spin line and they never mention that other neo lib spinner…trickle down which has been comprehensively debunked.
Yeah, saw that. First I thought what a poor interviewer, lousy stitch up padding the debate as a contest between the environment and the economy. Then one lone guest up against the shabby interviewer, the nonsense Bridges was bleating, and two others, put it all in context, it was old economy against the new economy.
See the pattern. National wants oil over renewables,
want roads over public transport, want big foreign
owned dairy farms over local manufacturing. Fifty
years ago we needed a dual carriageway connecting
Auckland and Wellington, not so much today. Fifty years
of oil and now National want to keep the old aged, aging,
oil industry alive. Its National who want to continue
the success of selling off assets to rent seekers
like it was ever a successful strategy.
No, don’t see the patteen, its called weakness,
the National party fears progressive decision making,
and goes with tired old hollywood in an era of
internet communications, and the one exception,
broadband even there they have gotten frightened
and reworked the payments to crush the rollout.
They are the post-modernist luddites. Tried and true
can’t be wrong, well sure if you ignore climate change,
ignore an aging population, ignore resource limits,
ignore accumulated wealth that grinds the world
economy into stagnation. The industrial revolution
would never have happen had Key been in power.
Now don’t get me started, Labour are not much better,
they did grab the progessive neo-liberal agenda
that sharfed their base, and funneled wealth to the
top few for thirty years, it was progressive yet wrong
and quite contrary to their parties beliefs. National
are were never capable of bringing in Rogernomics.
I Vote Green the progressive conservationists.
And why nuclear power protests says the interviewer like
he can’t imagine… …oh what a soap box for the right.
“…the fact of the matter is…” Simon Bridges has caught the ‘ackshully’ idiom, and has the depth to call Neill and Lawless out as “hypocrites”?, while the CEO of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association acknowledges that “this government has a good relationship with our sector and (is) growing our industry”.
Geez Nigel!
Yes Alwyn, the anti-Key Jones tirade was a bizarre circus act; he should be careful, he’s harming his chances of migrating to his natural home with National or NZ First.
They wouldn’t take him. His closet is full of skeletons they would be aware of that’s why they want him to lead labour so they do a skeleton dance in the 14 campaign.
And just when do you think Robertson or Cunliffe will disown him?
When do you think they will come out and say they cannot work with him?
When are they going to say that his views are disgusting?
Polish Govt takes private retirement fund assets for itself
If the top 20% can’t see what is happening in the world, and that it is also very bad for them unless they join up and stand against it…
By way of background, Poland has a hybrid pension system: as Reuters explains, mandatory contributions are made into both the state pension vehicle, known as ZUS, and the private funds, which are collectively known by the Polish acronym OFE. Bonds make up roughly half the private funds’ portfolios, with the rest company stocks.
And while a change to state-pension funds was long awaited – an overhaul if you will – nobody expected that this would entail a literal pillage of private sector assets.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said private funds within the state-guaranteed system would have their bond holdings transferred to a state pension vehicle, but keep their equity holdings. The funds would effectively be left with only the equities portions of their assets, even this would be depleted, and there will be uncertainty about the number of new savers joining.
In his government’s domestic policy, Tusk has pursued the continuation of free-market policies, streamlining the bureaucracy, enacting long-term stable governance, cutting taxes to attract greater foreign business ventures, luring foreign-working Poles back to Poland, and privatizing state-owned companies. The construction of a more adequate and larger national road network in preparation for the UEFA 2012 football championships has been a stated priority for the Tusk government.
They’re part of the crew running the book on Bank Zachodni WBK SA.
The consortium of investment banks includes Deutsche Bank, Citi, Morgan Stanley, Bank of American Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, as well as KBC Securities and Santander Investment, who are joint global coordinators and join bookrunners, BZWBK said in a market filing.
Goldman Sachs and UBS are also on as joint bookrunners.
No, they probably got the idea from Argentina, which seized private pension funds in 2008.
I very much doubt that they were a client of Goldman Sachs, do you think?.
The Green party in New Zealand seem to be getting the same idea though. They talk about how they would invest KiwiSaver funds, which of course are people’s private superannuation.
They want to put the money into their favourites, ie things that don’t make any economic sense but give them the warm fuzzies.
Number 1. My second line, when it referred to “they” clearly means Argentina.
Number 2. Argentina claims? Try http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/business/worldbusiness/22argentina.html
If you don’t like that one just google “2008 Argentina pension seizure”
The quote by the Government was just their spin. They wanted the money to pay their debts.
There: Happy?
Rogue Trooper, what drug induced you to quote that foolish, pretentious and deservedly obscure minor academic? She has been utterly discredited, not least by this writer, i.e. moi…. http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-07062013/#comment-644796
sorry, multi-tasking. 😉 Surprise, surprise my satirical friend, I remember that post of yours, you can take the boy from the ride yet you can’t take derida (sic) from the boy: It was the theme of the article that interested moi, the quote is not originally Rata’s.
Now Ed awaits Mr; nothing like a little hokie sentimentalism to put the world to rights! 😀
…and it must be conceded, an interactive, well-moderated, stimulating blog opens up connections in the brain / mind; a relatively healthy, informative distraction.
After all, even the ‘Wild West’ had a Holliday.
i think you will find that many..(ahem..!..myself included..)..find the tea/doob-combo to often be a launching pad for creative/other bursts of activity..
..for fans/many..it is the perfect mix of relaxant and stimulant..
..(kinda like a poor mans’ speedball (heroin/cocaine mix)..that mix of the up and down..coming together to make something new..and interesting..)
..why..!..just today it launched me into both a couple of hours of frenzied spring-cleaning of abode..and a serious burst of news-gathering..
..so..y’know..!..not everyone wants to curl up in the corner with a lollipop after a doob..
..and especially not after a doob and a strong cup of tea…
..and if there is ‘drift’..
..that ‘drift’ can take you to interesting places..
Smoked a few times at uni about 1980. Found that it destroyed my concentration for programming for about 3 days afterwards. Excessive booze was only a day.
To get to a creative state, all I have to do is to read a book I have already read, or to have a think about a problem before I go to sleep – and I usually do both most nights.
I’d point out that I am greenfield system designer/programmer. People pay me quite a lot for long periods to be creative and to finish projects.
http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/shane-jones-unapologetic-targeting-pm-s-sensitive-spot-5574342
Fri 6/9
ONE News political reporter Michael Parkin says after a week of relatively clean campaigning around the country, we have finally seen a one of the three Labour leadership candidates deliver “a low blow” to the Prime Minister. At last night’s hustings meeting in Hamilton, Shane Jones said: “I’m going to tie a bungy cord around a sensitive spot. And then I’m going to get those calipers, and cut them. And then the trader from Wall Street, and then the mercenary of capitalism, can suffer what he deserves – a dead cat bounce.”
Rational thinking man presenting himself and his thoughts on political policy to thinking citizens? A stand up comedian of the low joke kind as leader of the Labour Party? Appealing to the working class, which is what Jones says he is trying to do, what calibre of people I wonder? The suitable venue would be at the pub after an afternoon or even day’s drinking, and talking about how good the last spear tackle was, how good the under sized paua tasted, and making appreciative remarks about women with big breasts spilling out of their low cut tops, while they talk about them as c…s and use the word f..k freely and probably motherf……r. As a package it’s a brown-paper wrapped bo…..b.
True, for the sake of goodness there shouldn’t be views of that nature. But there are a lot of views like that around. So what’s your point. Are you going to clean up the town!?
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“…we are especially sensitive, Chuck and I, to never again asking any member of Congress to take a vote on faulty intelligence.”
See also….
No. 27 Lyse Doucet: “I am there for those without a voice.”
No. 26 Sam Wallace: “So here we are—Otahuhu. It’s just a great place to be, really.”
No. 25 Margaret Thatcher: “…no British government involvement of any kind…with Khmer Rouge…”
No. 24 John Key: “…at the end of the day I, like most New Zealanders, value the role of the fourth estate…”
No. 23 Jay Carney: “…expel Mr Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice…”
No. 22 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton had integrity beyond reproach.”
No. 21 Tim Groser: “I think the relationship is genuinely in outstanding form.”
No. 20 John Key: “But if the question is do we use the United States or one of our other partners to circumvent New Zealand law then the answer is categorically no.”
No. 19 Matthew Hooton: “It is ridiculous to say that unions deliver higher wages! They DON’T!”
No. 18 Ant Strachan: “The All Blacks won the RWC 2011 because of outstanding defence!”
No. 17 Stephen Franks: “Peter has been such a level-headed, safe pair of hands.”
No. 16 Phil Kafcaloudes: “Tony Abbott…hasn’t made any mistakes over the past eighteen months.”
No. 15 Donald Rumsfeld: “I did not lie… Colin Powell did not lie.”
No. 14 Colin Powell: “a post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizations…connections are now emerging…”
No.13 Barack Obama: “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.”
No. 12 U.K. Ministry of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UK’s top priorities.”
No. 11 Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”
No. 10 Boris Johnson: “Londoners have… the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
No. 9 NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”
No. 8 Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question….”
No. 7 Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.”
No. 6 Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.”
No. 5 Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.”
No. 4 Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
No. 3 John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
No. 2 Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.”
No. 1 Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
Mr Robertson,
As you are trailing so badly in the political polls will you be more of a statesman than the leader you so long supported (Shearer) and stand aside in order to empower the candidate the NZ population are picking as the next Leader of the Labour Party and the person most likely to take on Key and win the election next year?
[lprent: Moved to OpenMike – that is a rant framed as a question ]
Excellent Rail and Maritime, 4500 members, 1.2% and Dairy Workers, 7000 members, 2.5% get behind David Cunliffe.
Oops, that was meant for the Grant Somebody thread,
and it appears that support for US intervention is falling at home, 225 senators against;
Putin-“Will we help Syria, we will!” Got those anti-Tomahawk / Cruise missile defense systems being constructed.
Less than a 1/3 of G20 supportive. Liberte, egalite, fraternite Heh!
this is one of the delusions currently driving the americans/local warmongers..
..some unhinged belief that assad/syria will just lie down and take it if france/hollande and america/obama (with key/nz as lap-puppy-of-war..?..)..decide to rain death down upon them..
..assad/syria is armed to the teeth with the latest state-of-the-art (russian-supplied) missiles etc..
..and he/syria will strike back
..which could set/kick-off some serious shit..
..and just think for a moment..if it turns out the american-side/’rebels’ were the ones who launched this chemical-attack..?
..(4-5 stories i found today are making this a very strong possibility..)
..and just the basic logic is kinda compelling..
..if e put to one side for a mment that assad isn’t a mad fucken dog..and has a brain..he/his land forces are already winning this war..so why would he..?
..and that’s aside from the fact that assad wastrying to clear his name of previous allegations..and had invited the un to inspect to clear his name..
..so once again..putting aside the mad fucken dig theory..
..why the hell would ghe..?..then../
..whereas for the losing america/rebels..they had every reason to do it..)
..and if so this is a war crime of stunning proportions evil from obama/america..
The wars are created, where the bankers dictate, its as simple as that.
Of course its not the bankers, but those who site behind the banks, the owners and controllers.
Who they are, is debatable, but they, are in control of much of the mess, certainly anything which in directly financial, or can be controlled by finance, so more or less, everything!
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Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
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A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
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The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Have you voted?
(and I don’t mean Australian)
It’s GOT to be Cunliffe. Robinson or Parker must be his deputy. Shane Jones is a flake, and should not be anywhere near the levers of power. Minister of Racing?
Minister for sealord, seriously jones needs to be shown the door if he doesnt walk on his own. He is a lazy businessman not a servant of the people which he shown on many occasions.
People who can’t even get the names of the candidates right probably aren’t best placed to comment.
Ouch! Got me good there!
Yep, via the website as i could not get to the local meeting.
Almost half of women paid less than ‘living wage’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11120965
“Women are concentrated in those traditionally low-wage occupations – the three C’s, caring, cleaning and clerical work. They have been there for a long time, so it’s been a systemic issue.”
And around a third of men – damning stats. Also damning, though not intended to be by the article’s author, are the denials that these widespread low wages are a problem.
The problem is people who do very low skilled work and therefore only receive low pay trying to live a life that is impossible on their income.
If the individual wants to improve their situation,there is only two options.
1- Cut your expenses
2. -Up skill.
Any one with more than two brain cells realizes this, this living wage is nonsense and is pitched at the terminally stupid.
“The problem is people who do very low skilled work and therefore only receive low pay trying to live a life that is impossible on their income.”
Cleaning, caring and clerical are not very low skilled jobs. If you’ve ever had someone clean your house/business/workplace who doesn’t know what they are doing then you would know that. Those jobs that women are doing are underpaid, because it is women doing them. I was going to say we don’t value the skills, but we do – think how important cleaning and hygiene are in our society. So why do we pay so low?
The idea that people are incompetent at living on a low wage is ridiculous. Talk to people in places like Queenstown about how someone on low wages is expected to live there. Do you think that Queenstown doesn’t need cleaners? (hint, it’s not on Planet Key).
+1. & cleaning is bloody hard work! & of course by its nature often unpleasant. its one of those jobs i didn’t really value (or even think about) until i did it myself. i had a part time job years ago cleaning a bar in the mornings, was def an eye opener, ppl are pretty disgusting.
but i should add i found the cleaning work quite rewarding when i had finished. i had great employers too.
trying to live a life that is impossible on their income
Yes, how dare they expect to be able to pay the rent and the power bill and have one hot meal a day. Fuckin’ scroungers.
Totally agree karol.
BM Not worth responding to your condescending attitude.
Have a look at this graph
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hourly_Minimum_Wages_in_Developed_Economies,_2011.jpg
We are number six on the list for highest minimum wage, above Canada,UK,Japan.
What Labour is proposing would put us at the very top in fact 50 cents more per hour than the lucky country Australia.
I can’t believe how irresponsible labour are and who are willing to bankrupt the country just to gain power.
“We are number six on the list for highest minimum wage, above Canada,UK,Japan.”
Maybe you should reflect on what countries are not on that list at all (hint: Europe).
And then have a look at this map and see how many minimum wages are above the living wage for the country concerned.
Then there is the often trotted out ”raising the minimum wage will lead to massive job losses” rubbish, or worse,”why not make it $30 an hour then”, which those with light-weight intellects like Farrar and Hooten squeal as opposition,
Slippery the Prime Minister’s little scare tactic is the ”it will cost $2.5 billion” whine, as if any of us are proposing that the ‘living wage’ be legislated for in one rise from the present minimum,
A series of raises over a 3 year period will spread that ‘cost’ across the economy in a logical 3 steps injecting into that economy around $800 million a year in extra wages, and while negative little intellects the likes of what Farrar, Hooten, and, Slippery the Prime Minister are see this as a ‘cost’ it is in reality for ALL business, big and small, a PROFIT OPPORTUNITY,
Where after all do these people think that the extra money in the pay packets of the low waged economy is going to go, the share-market perhaps, a rental investment property or 2 to help drive up demand in the Auckland property market perhaps, perhaps stashed under the mattress,
Such extra monies pumped into the economy will simply be spent back into that economy thus making any pay rises for the low waged economy that ‘Profit opportunity’ for business that it really is,
Far from crying over the ‘cost’ of the ‘living wage’ all business big and small should be chomping at the bit ready to compete for a slice of that extra money in the economy…
So you see absolutely no negative impacts of raising workers wages by $5.00 an hour.?
It’s going to be just awesome for everyone.
“So you see absolutely no negative impacts of raising workers wages by $5.00 an hour.?”
To date no-one has raised any concern that bears scrutiny.
What about NZ manufacturers all these added wage costs having to be passed onto the consumer, how do you think they’ll get on competing against the same product imported from overseas? , it’s pretty hard going as it is, this living wage will make it a hell of a lot worse.
Manufacturing crisis here we come.
Like I said, none that bear scrutiny.
The companies that pay minimum wages aren’t in manufacturing.
Ask yourself BM, how Germany can sell twice as many cars as the USA despite their auto workers being paid twice as much?
Hint. people on $13.75 an hour do not buy new cars.
And, as Felix says the companies that pay low wages are retail chains and fast foods, not manufacturing.
Wow, you guys really do live in your own little world.
Says the guy with nothing to back up his hunches.
How do you think stuff is put together and placed into boxes?
Hint it’s not a robot.
So you admit that manufacturing has been in crisis under a National Government then? I thought Key and English said it was all OK?
The high dollar was definitely hurting the exporters but as Key said there’s not a lot you can do about that.
And if any one would know, it’s Key.
Key learnt his trade as a financial speculator. It’s not surprising that he still favours their viewpoint.
”Not a lot you can do about the high dollar”, rubbish, BM you and Slippery the Prime Minister might operate in a bubble of seclusion but the rest of us see solutions evident from real world experience,
Simply ‘fix’ the currency so as it floats freely between heaven for exporters and heaven for importers,with an obvious bias toward exporters,
The Kiwi$ is still one of the most traded currencies in the world, not for the benefit of the NZ economy but for the benefit of you guessed it the money trading firms where the Prime Minister’s real loyalties are said to be at home…
“Ask yourself BM, how Germany can sell twice as many cars as the USA despite their auto workers being paid twice as much?”
Because German cars are good cars and American cars are (too often?) bad cars?
Hey I can play that game!
“Ask yourself how Toyota can sell 5 times as many cars as the USA despite their auto workers in Guangzhou being paid 20% as much as USA auto workers?”
OOOhh ? I know it must be other factors!
Lets extend your fantasy. If we lift minimum wages to $18.40 per hour, the happy workers will become more productive. We can go back to making cars in NZ which the newly magically rich workers will buy.
Hey shitlands. Why don’t you go wreck the economy of your home country instead.
Oh dear, three of the seven most made in America cars including the Camry, the highest selling model, are Toyotas.
http://theweek.com/article/index/246327/the-7-most-made-in-america-cars-that-you-can-buy
http://kogodnow.com/autoindex/
BM,you and Slippery should stick to ‘rogering goats’,
Any negative impact of instituting the ‘Living Wage over a 3 or 4 year timescale will be negligible and far out-weighed by the positives, firstly business will suffer a ‘profit lag’ where profits would be expected to dip and then pick up markedly to reflect the extra $800 million yearly in the economy,
What you and your ilk seem to be suggesting is that business will cut off its nose to spite its own face and sack 10s of 1000s of workers,
That little proposition would presuppose that business is and has been running some form of welfare organization where they all are employing far far more workers than what they actually require to run their business’s and create their profit,
Only a fool would ascribe to such a theory and seeing as we have proven knowledge that you occupy such a demographic we all would expect nothing less than you ascribing to such views…
Oh and befor i forget, does raising the minimum wage lead to job losses, not according to these people,
i will post yesterdays link just in case BM missed it along with another…
http://www.aneconomicsense.com/…/the-impact-of-increasing-the-minimum-wage-o...
And yet another debunking of the myth,
http://www.businessforafairminimumwage.org/…/research-shows-minimum-wage...
And again, just to school BM in an effort to get Him/Her a little deeper into economic research than economics 101,
Raising the minimum is shown to have a small negative effect on employment, Initially, remember that ‘initially’, such a negative effect is in fact counter-intuitive to basic economic theory, and, i would suggest is based more on the ‘Politics’ of the employers concerned as opposed to sound business economics,
The NZ experience when the youth rate was abolished???,
”16-17 year old’s unemployment initially increased by 1.4-2.6%, BUT, that negative impact on employment was not evident a year later in 2010”
http://www.blog.greens.org.nz/…/its-official-abolishing-youth-rates-did-not-increase...
“where profits would be expected to dip and then pick up markedly to reflect the extra $800 million yearly in the economy,”
I don’t know what planet you live on. You will be lifting wage costs for cafes and small businesses by 30%. That will suppress demand for those services as prices rise.
We don’t WANT to give inflationary wage rises funded by state dictate to low income earners to be spent at the Warehouse.
You should go test your idiotic rants on a labour intensive small business owner. I can tell you have never run one.
Get back to us when you’ve learned the difference between the minimum wage and a living wage, Srylands.
Let’s not pretend you’re worried about the small cafes and restaurants. If you were you’d tell McDonalds and Burger King and all the other big chains who pay low wages and take profits out of the country to fuck off.
Low wages simply benefit the corporate owner who can get economies of scale and pressure the government to pass legislation that benefits themselves.
Changes to laws such as allowing retail to open on Saturday and Sunday drove out many good small business owners who struggled to maintain their business for 7 days a week. The removal of centralised wage bargaining means that low wages became the dominant factor of competition rather than product or service.
It’s quite clear that I occasionally eat out / use a cafe because I earn more than the minimum wage. I can tell you if I was on minimum wage my eating out cafe use would be nil – the same as it was when I was paying 22.5% on my mortgage.
I have Sryland.
I sold it when National got back in.
Knowing that the first thing they would do is cut the pay of my customers. Including businesses I subbed for.
And the second, is, pre-long or cause a recession, as right wing Governments, always do.
Time has proved me correct.
SSLands, who is this ‘we’ you speak of, what you ‘want’ is of no importance to me and you are free to leave,
Please do, Vanuatu is a close country with a serious lack of an income tax system, you would enjoy that…
“the rest of us see solutions evident from real world experience”
Your solutions indicate a dangerous fantasy land. I am sure that is your real world and you are genuine.
If NZ surrendered one of its main adjustment tools, what do you think the ratings agencies would do? Or are you going to fix interest rates too?
Your policies have been tried and failed – by Muldoon – one of the great socialist leaders. He failed.
Muldoon tried to hold wages down, Artificially.
And borrowed for unaffordable election bribes for National’s cronies.
Just like Key’s destroying workers rights, to drop wages. And borrowing for unaffordable election bribes for cronies.
National has a long history of failure..
Ratings agencies!
Hah! You do realise srylands that their ‘ratings’ are just their opinion and not based on facts?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_and_Poor%27s#Criticism
Read from the Criticism heading onwards. All nicely laid out with citations 🙂
According to your hypothesis Srylands, the USA should be paying the highest interest rates in the world.
“Printing money” like there is no tomorrow. In debt for trillions.
In fact they are starting to grow sooner than all the followers of “Austerity”. Though they would have returned to growth much sooner if the stimulus had been given to low paid workers, not banks.
The ratings agencies had an epic fail.
No serious investor takes any notice of them any more, otherwise US bond rates would be hitting the roof.
You do realise that the Reserve Bank targets the OCR it wants on a nightly basis and always hits it’s target?
Do you actually have any idea how the economy works? Because it sounds like you hold several major misconceptions.
Mind-blowing information: things cost different amounts in different countries.
BM Not worth responding to your condescending attitude.
Even I didn’t think it was that bad. So do rubbish collectors receive more than cleaners? If so why same work really?
Seriously, this is a problem for all of us.
Women, after relationship breakdown, provide all of the money for the kids less about $1500 per annum. So this is affecting a lot of kids as well, particularly if a living wage to support two kids is based on 1.5 adult earners.
Secondly, with long education profiles, kids are dependent long after 15 years old which was the norm back in the 60’s so women are stumping up more. Kids are also born at older maternal ages so women have less time to save between child independence and retirement.
This is creating a huge ticking demographic time bomb of older women with no money in retirement.
Todays Herald contribution re Labour leader candidates
John Roughan: Cunliffe has the wind in his sails
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11120832
“The man has a sense of theatre but it was more than that. The others were trying hard but Cunliffe had it. He spoke more quietly than them. He was calm, measured, ready.”
This is also what I observed.
“Cunliffe undeniably has the extra quality needed to lead an election campaign.”
“He would go where wiser heads fear to tread. He doesn’t lack political courage.”
Not so complimentary for Jones
Fran O’Sullivan: Jones gets a pass on the third degree
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11120843
Within Roughan’s begrudging praise of Cunliffe’s there’s a few, unsubstantiated backhanders.
Roughan also calls our 35 years of failure against Aussie and other similar countries, despite even better per capita resources and a similar export boom, good Government.
Joke.
And O’Sullivan shows that Jones is not popular with women to the left and the right.
Women are not geldings.
Jones was describing how the public perceive men within the labour party, and how that perception was being magnified with the manban carry on.
Jones’ gelding comment can be read either way.
It may be different in the labour party but normally Women don’t have willies.
Which leads me to believe he was talking about Men not Women
A gelding
noun: gelding; plural noun: geldings
1.a castrated animal, esp. a male horse.
“It may be different in the labour party but normally Women don’t have willies.”
Yes, but gelding refers to testicals not penises, and both women and geldings don’t have balls. It’s an age old slur against women, that they’re lesser humans because they don’t have the right equipment. I’m surprised you are unaware of that.
Oh, BM’s very aware, he’s just derailing shit again.
Funny that both Jones and Robertson remind me of court eunuchs.
Just picture them in Arab robes sitting around hatching plots.
You’re being too conciliatory Weka, imo
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10895113
Jones was calling women geldings.I can’t see how this can be read as other than read that if women are selected and they’re not ‘better’ candidates than men, then the country will be run by geldings. i.e even if they behave like men and do a man’s job they are not masculine.
Thanks miravox, I’d forgotten the original quote.
+1
I almost found myself agreeing (in part) with BM there. That should have been warning enough in itself to fact check the quote!
The way I read that is that Jones was saying the public doesn’t want the country run by weak MEN eg: Geldings.
Not a very politically astute comment to make because it implies that only men should be running the country.
BM; also-ran con-man.
Game-plan; Woman Elan over-ran manban.
i am fast to condemn the ‘Jonolism’ of the likes of the Herald’s Fran O’Sullivan when they use their position with that particular rag to push their positions of utter bias,
Today i have to give a ‘Hat-tip’ to Fran for what is in essence a good piece of telling it ‘like it is’ warts and all,
Obviously only the hard core ‘groupy’ firmly ‘fixated’ on Jones as something or someone He is obviously not would find much to disagree with in O’Sullivan’s piece in the Herald today…
+1 bad12
For the nth time the ‘gelding’ comment was not about women as such but candidates selected on something other than merit – he was expressing his opinion that affirmative action lists would result in inadequate candidates getting selected. A gelded horse is a castrated male, so the persistent interpretation is stupidly wrong.
FWIW, I don’t agree with Jones on that matter – I think there are sufficient numbers of competent women out there to make putting together an all women, all competent short list a dawdle – and if Jones is the hallmark for competence, then it should be almost impossible for any woman not to do a better job.
But misrepresenting his comment as specifically aimed at women is dimly myopic.
Though his frequent references to genitalia is a bit creepy.
Remember Bob Clarkson?? Shane Jones sounds like a great companion for him!
“candidates selected on something other than merit”
Who, pray tell, were the candidates he was opining on who were to be selected on something other than merit and in the context of what?
** Cheerfully walks into the ‘cunning’ trap **
In that specific instance, it was all women short lists, as well you know. Please don’t play dumb or as phoney ingenuous questions.
But the idea he was alluding to holds good whether it referred to preferential treament for women, Maori, gays, straight white males or whatever. If you aren’t getting there through merit, you’re not going to be up to the job – gelded. Which means castrated, not female, for the terminally hard of thinking.
If Jones had really wanted to insult women, would he have chosen a term that specifically refers to males?
“In that specific instance, it was all women short lists, as well you know. Please don’t play dumb or as phoney ingenuous questions”.
That was a straight up question. That specific instance is specifically what he made the comment about.
Whether it holds that he would use that insult for other situations was never posed. It trips of his tongue so lightly he’s probably used it many times.
“If Jones had really wanted to insult women, would he have chosen a term that specifically refers to males?”
He hates feminists – considers them male wannabes, I suspect, so yes.
This sentence from Roughans article is a doozie, he must have been having a quiet chuckle to himself when he wrote this thinking “This one will get those people on The Standard riled up”
“The consensus is hard for Labour MPs to maintain because their party outside Parliament does not share it. By and large the activists and unionists have had the sort of education that gives you a jaundiced understanding of economics. It is not until Labour people get a seat in Parliament and read their briefs that the consensus makes sense.”
I’m just wondering what sort of education Roughan had, which allows him to accept the horrendous levels of inequality and poverty in New Zealand. Has he got a brain at all??? What an incredibly out of touch person he is.
Yep, that’s one of the backhanders, Saarbo.
“The consensus is hard for Labour MPs to maintain because their party outside Parliament does not share it. By and large the activists and unionists have had the sort of wages and insecure employment that gives you a jaundiced understanding of economics. It is not until Labour people get a seat in Parliament and read their pay checks and pension plans that the consensus makes sense.”
If you read it that way it could start to make more sense …
Roughan probably wrote the editorial a couple of weeks back that banged the same oligarchy drum –
members votting for the leader
“…carries risks not just for Labour but for the good government of New Zealand if the consensus between the two major parties on economic fundamentals is undermined by a leader’s public commitments in a campaign for the party’s vote.
There is good reason to confine these elections to a party caucus. MPs are generally well briefed on policy issues and aware of the national interest. They also work closely with leadership contenders and are best-placed to assess their character and capabilities…”
Roughan is a fundamentally not a believer in democracy – he supports an oligarchy/plutocracy of right thinking rich people.
However, when taken together with Key’s attempts to paint a Labour/Green coalition as a far left devil beast the size and power of the forces being arrayed to defend neo-liberalism suddenly gains a focussed clarity. A new/y proud and invigorated left movement should be under no illusion of the difficulty and the defeats that lay ahead on the road to destroying the neo-liberal grip on power.
Still, our great grandparents and great great grandparents defeated them and I personally think that once was done once, can be done twice.
Despite Roughan’s obvious bias, he does put his finger on the point of tension with which Labour has been beset since Key gained office, and which has escalated since the beginning of his second term. What Roughan is not saying is that Key has upped the anti on “the consensus” so that poverty and inequality have reached a point where it is no longer possible for Labour to offer itself as a continuity government and hold to Labour principles (except perhaps cosmetically) at the same time.
The election is just a year away, and there is clearly a groundswell of support for Cunliffe. And since MPs are paid to hold the government to account while in opposition and to seek office for themselves, you would expect them to pay attention to such things. But it seems that at least some of them would rather lose the election than put pressure on the economic consensus.
All that hair dye must have gone to his brain, I think, Saarbo – I wonder if he and Key and Banks get a job lot between them??
As requested:
@ Lynn: the [s] tag is broken.
Yahoo publish data requests for NZ http://info.yahoo.com/transparency-report/nz/
56% content disclosed, 22% only NCD disclosed, 11% rejected, 11% no data found
9 Government requests
More info on Anonymous twitter
(i found this on the morning trawl..encryption-code-cracking explained..)
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/06/nsa-surveillance-revelations-encryption-expert-chat
“..The Guardian’s James Ball and cryptology expert Bruce Schneier will take your questions about revelations that spy agencies in the US and UK have cracked internet privacy tools..”
phillip ure..
I was interested in Bruce Schneier’s answer to a question about whether encryption can still be trusted:
Schneier: I wrote about this explicitly here. I believe we still can trust cryptography. The problem is that there is so much between the mathematics of cryptography and the “encrypt” button on your computer, and all of that has been subverted.
This fits with what I know about this stuff, and my suspicions. For their purposes, the spooks would rather have us believing that they have beaten the mathematics than that they have companies rolling over and getting their stomachs scratched.
Yeah, far easier to subvert software implementations, or grab the message data before it is encrypted eg via a keylogger, than trying to brute force some bloody tightly written open source 256 bit algorithm.
And treat every MS Windows/Android installation as if it is an active listening post…
http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2013/09/06/gordon-campbell-on-the-labour-leadership-race/
Hope he ain’t right
Perhaps one way of thwarting the papal crap is to give Cunliffe first and Jones second preference. Of course there is then the danger that Jones may be the new pope. What to do?
See also:
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/09/07/the-people-are-screaming-for-cunliffe-is-wellington-labour-deaf-how-shane-jones-wins-the-leadership/
The only papers that will count in a run-off are those that voted Jones as first preference. What Robertson or Cunliffe supporters place as second or third preference won’t make any difference at all (unless one of those two are eliminated in the first round)
Except at the Moment, the huge elephant in the room is that Robertson is polling 3rd. TV3’s Campbell live last night.
An elephant, Shane’s gorilla, and now siamangs escaping from Orana Park! What’s next?
I think Robertson and Jones posted too close to each other for anything definitive to be read into it. Though it is embarrassing for Robertson that he’s even polling close to Jones …
http://www.3news.co.nz/Woman-feels-humiliated-by-WINZ/tabid/367/articleID/312222/Default.aspx
Note the careful framing at the beginning……this woman has worked all her life, always paid taxes etc.
That’s right viewers, this story isn’t about one of those bludging, whinging, dope smoking layabouts. This is the OTHER kind of beneficiary – deserving of support.
Huh.
Think you’re being a bit harsh there AWW. I abhor the ‘deserving/undeserving’ wedge, but the reality is, that it’s only when the reasonably comfortable middle classes realise that the punitive WINZ culture can and will be applied to them too, that there will be any chance of killing the currency of that particular meme.
From examples of ‘their’ possible situation, they can extrapolate in a general sense. But if examples of long term unemployed or whatever are used, they simply won’t identify with the examples given and nothing will change.
Yep.
Technically the taxpayer has paid both her wages and her taxes. Appreciate she works for it but tis paid by the taxpayer none-the-less.
The lack of empathy shown in the story for the people who every day are required as a matter of policy required to go seek budget advice on benefits that are two low is abysmal. If she’s finding it hard going from $70,000 per year how but some conviction that it must be even harder for those who go from minimum wage to benefit, or those who get only regular seasonal work, or those who only get part-time work.
Most people on benefit budget well – they have to.
Here’s the policy here:
http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/manuals-and-procedures/income_support/extra_help/special_needs_grant/special_needs_grant-117.htm
Applying reasonable steps obligation
Generally, clients who have received Special Needs Grants, Advance Payments of Benefit, and Recoverable Assistance Payments on three or more grant dates during the past 12 months are required to take reasonable steps before they receive any additional payments.
Reasonable steps should include actions that increase their income, reduce their costs, or improve their financial management.
You should let clients know at their third grant date and each subsequent grant date that they are required to take reasonable steps and complete a budgeting activity, before they are able to receive further assistance. At their sixth grant date they will be required to participate in an intensive interview, take reasonable steps and attend a budgeting advice service.
I don’t think features like this or articles like this:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1307/S00189/new-welfare-reforms-catch-grandparents-raising-grandchildren.htm
do any more than enforce the notion that beneficiaries are useless and bludgers. These articles try and say hey but we’re not like them other people – we’re special.
I’d rather the debate was about lifting the incomes and support for all those who but for the grace of god go I.
Yes, the classic “divide and rule” policy. While we’re hating on each other because there’s always someone worse off than us that ”doesn’t deserve help”, others are quietly lining their pockets with monies that should have trickled down to those in need.
Think you’re being a bit harsh there AWW. I abhor the ‘deserving/undeserving’ wedge, but the reality is, that it’s only when the reasonably comfortable middle classes realise that the punitive WINZ culture can and will be applied to them too, that there will be any chance of killing the currency of that particular meme.
From examples of ‘their’ possible situation, they can extrapolate in a general sense. But if examples of long term unemployed or whatever are used, they simply won’t identify with the examples given and nothing will change.
I’m in two minds about this. I think the risk is that two classes of beneficiaries get created. The deserving ones like the woman on Campbell Live, who wants to get off a benefit, wants to get back to work, and became unwell through no fault of her own (according to JC). And the undeserving ones, who are whoever ‘we’ judge them to be any given year.
One of the things CL should have made clearer is that a large part of why that woman has had such a hard time is because WINZ currently operate a queueing system for appointments, where you get whichever staff member happens to be available at the time irrespective of if that staffer knows your case or history or not. The woman in the story obviously needs continuity of support (aka case management) so they don’t have to keep re-explaining everything. There is a story here for investigative journalism to look at why that system of case management was introduced a few years ago, compared to other systems.
Introduced by Labour or by National?
That lastest version is Bennett’s. It’s pretty hard to see it as anything other than breaking compassion between staff and clients. Real cynics would also say it’s designed to make beneficiaries feel like shit (which it does), and thus encourage them to get off the benefit and/or stop asking for extra assistance. I’d love to see an official explanation for running things that way (probably crude cost efficiency in terms of staff hours).
In general I would say that WINZ is distinctly more functional under a Labour govt than a NACT one, but Labour do some stupid shit sometimes too. One of the problems is that the internal restructuring happens on a fairly regular basis when govts change. At least they haven’t done a major rebrand this time.
The Peoples Bank !!!!!
This is a glorious state owned Bank established to deliver low cost banking to struggling New Zealanders…
No…
This is the state behaving like a corporate – watch the ideologically blind defend it in KiwiBank because it’s got to generate a return on investment for the investors while they slag “The Nasty Banks” for doing the same. I fail to see how differentiating who scoops the profit makes much difference to people struggling with mortgage interest rates …
Shame on you KiwiBank !
/facepalm
You really should learn to read:
Kiwibank has been forced to do it because of the moves of the RBNZ. Essentially, the interest rates for people with less than 20% interest will be going up due to an increased restriction of money.
I think burt is pushing for KiwiBank to greatly lower the cost of banking to NZers and to massively cut the profits made by the big four.
I would back his contention 🙂
Forced … right… they had no other choice ? They couldn’t have opted to make less profit on low equity loans under the banner of being The Peoples Bank ? That wasn’t an option for a Bank established with tax payers funds, to deliver low cost banking to struggling New Zealanders ?
Well, not under a National government which insists all public services are run like “real” businesses, no. So you’re also advocating for a strong leftwing government which will run public services for the public good, instead of demanding dividend, after 2014? Awesome.
I’d say that they didn’t. Their costs will be going up and they’ve already have cut margins to the bone. They have two choices: 1) Put interest rates up across the board or 2) put them up only on those who it costs more to service.
BTW, I’m not in favour of what they’re doing – just pointing out why they’re doing it. Mortgages should be at 0% interest.
You must be even more worried about the interest rate charged on student loans, burt. That’s around 6%, which is more than KiwiBank’s highest rate. I’ll join you on the barricades, comrade!!
Economists Say The Funniest Things
Long but well worth reading. Here’s a video about one of the things that an economist said.
‘
Classic!!
. . . now it all makes sense 🙂
😆
cool read: filed under ‘Tomorrow’.
I opened my local paper (The Dominion/Post) expecting to see a couple of front page stories and an editorial.
One front page story should have been a detailed coverage of Shane Jones sado-masochistic dreams about John Key.
The Editorial should have been a statement that Jones is unfit to be a New Zealand MP and the Labour party should be demanding that he step down from Parliament immediately.
The other front page story should have been a joint statement from Cunliffe and Robertson. They should have stated that if Jones is elected leader they will resign from the caucus and become independent MPs. They should also have said that if they become leader they will ensure that Jones is expelled from Caucus and they will do their best to see that he is expelled from the party and is removed from consideration as an electorate or list MP in the future.
What did I see?
Nothing of the sort. Jones of course, to Fairfax, is like every other leftward leaning politician and can do no wrong. Cunliffe and Robertson aren’t going to risk their own spot at the trough by showing any integrity in the affair.
Why do the Labour party put up with a man like Jones?
Exactly alwyn its this lack of housekeeping that holds labour to a middle of the road perception that they are all the same in the sheeple swinger land.
A perception the nats were relying on with DS at the helm to keep participation levels low in 2014.
If cunliffe wins, and its by no means certain with the old guard still scheming away, he should place robertson as deputy to shore up caucus and read the riot act to some complete dropkicks like curran, hipkins etc.
A big task for labour is getting better candidates in winnable seats not lazy ineffective types like carol beaumont and adern who does nothing to take akl central.
Totally agree there..
On Clare curran, at least she has taken some good advise and minimised her use of twitter. Limits here idiotism.
Anyway all I say is go the greater left block within the caucus, whoever can deliver after the flowery and full of promises rhetoric are done with.
Srylands and BM.
Why do you want wages held down?
Do you own rental property?
If yes did you put you rent up last year?
And to you think people have too much money?
Millsy trolls do as instructed, more wages means they can charge more rent but thats counter to the spin line and they never mention that other neo lib spinner…trickle down which has been comprehensively debunked.
1- People should be paid what they’re worth.
2- No
3 -No, you can never have too much money.
Why do you want wages held down?
No
Do you own rental property?
Yes
If yes did you put you rent up last year?
No
And to you think people have too much money?
No
bunny mcdiarmond from greenpeace just saw off the infidels…
http://whoar.co.nz/2013/comment-the-nation-a-review-simon-bridges-runs-rings-around-his-interviewer-the-interviewer-is-that-guy-who-used-to-be-on-morming-report-i-call-him-tgwutbomr-and-whod-a-thunk-it-br/
(excerpt..)
“….and the interviewer is showing an ineptitude/sloppiness i thought beyond him..”
phillip ure..
Yeah, saw that. First I thought what a poor interviewer, lousy stitch up padding the debate as a contest between the environment and the economy. Then one lone guest up against the shabby interviewer, the nonsense Bridges was bleating, and two others, put it all in context, it was old economy against the new economy.
See the pattern. National wants oil over renewables,
want roads over public transport, want big foreign
owned dairy farms over local manufacturing. Fifty
years ago we needed a dual carriageway connecting
Auckland and Wellington, not so much today. Fifty years
of oil and now National want to keep the old aged, aging,
oil industry alive. Its National who want to continue
the success of selling off assets to rent seekers
like it was ever a successful strategy.
No, don’t see the patteen, its called weakness,
the National party fears progressive decision making,
and goes with tired old hollywood in an era of
internet communications, and the one exception,
broadband even there they have gotten frightened
and reworked the payments to crush the rollout.
They are the post-modernist luddites. Tried and true
can’t be wrong, well sure if you ignore climate change,
ignore an aging population, ignore resource limits,
ignore accumulated wealth that grinds the world
economy into stagnation. The industrial revolution
would never have happen had Key been in power.
Now don’t get me started, Labour are not much better,
they did grab the progessive neo-liberal agenda
that sharfed their base, and funneled wealth to the
top few for thirty years, it was progressive yet wrong
and quite contrary to their parties beliefs. National
are were never capable of bringing in Rogernomics.
I Vote Green the progressive conservationists.
And why nuclear power protests says the interviewer like
he can’t imagine… …oh what a soap box for the right.
“…the fact of the matter is…” Simon Bridges has caught the ‘ackshully’ idiom, and has the depth to call Neill and Lawless out as “hypocrites”?, while the CEO of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association acknowledges that “this government has a good relationship with our sector and (is) growing our industry”.
Geez Nigel!
‘
Meanwhile . . . http://vimeo.com/73215350
🙂
smiles
Yes Alwyn, the anti-Key Jones tirade was a bizarre circus act; he should be careful, he’s harming his chances of migrating to his natural home with National or NZ First.
They wouldn’t take him. His closet is full of skeletons they would be aware of that’s why they want him to lead labour so they do a skeleton dance in the 14 campaign.
Danse Macabre- the dance of the skeletons. (for those up to a teensy bit of French culture)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcOZmtbLRP0
‘You’re dressed to kill and guess who’s dying? “
And just when do you think Robertson or Cunliffe will disown him?
When do you think they will come out and say they cannot work with him?
When are they going to say that his views are disgusting?
Long, long silence.
Polish Govt takes private retirement fund assets for itself
If the top 20% can’t see what is happening in the world, and that it is also very bad for them unless they join up and stand against it…
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-06/poland-confiscates-half-private-pension-funds-cut-sovereign-debt-load
Trickle down, again.
/
In his government’s domestic policy, Tusk has pursued the continuation of free-market policies, streamlining the bureaucracy, enacting long-term stable governance, cutting taxes to attract greater foreign business ventures, luring foreign-working Poles back to Poland, and privatizing state-owned companies. The construction of a more adequate and larger national road network in preparation for the UEFA 2012 football championships has been a stated priority for the Tusk government.
bet you a million dollars that Goldman Sachs is advising the Polish govt.
Looks like they are doing a good job then.
The handicraft of the bankster economic hitmen is very obvious.
Poland started with a different Sachs but sure enough, the other bunch couldn’t resist.
http://jeffsachs.org/
And I was actually only guessing by the obvious fingerprints…cheers joe90.
They’re part of the crew running the book on Bank Zachodni WBK SA.
The consortium of investment banks includes Deutsche Bank, Citi, Morgan Stanley, Bank of American Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, as well as KBC Securities and Santander Investment, who are joint global coordinators and join bookrunners, BZWBK said in a market filing.
Goldman Sachs and UBS are also on as joint bookrunners.
No, they probably got the idea from Argentina, which seized private pension funds in 2008.
I very much doubt that they were a client of Goldman Sachs, do you think?.
The Green party in New Zealand seem to be getting the same idea though. They talk about how they would invest KiwiSaver funds, which of course are people’s private superannuation.
They want to put the money into their favourites, ie things that don’t make any economic sense but give them the warm fuzzies.
What do you know Alwyn?
joe90 found evidence that Goldman Sachs is in Poland, boots and all. Economic hitmen, the bodies they leave behind are obvious.
As for your Argentina claims – link please.
Number 1. My second line, when it referred to “they” clearly means Argentina.
Number 2. Argentina claims? Try
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/business/worldbusiness/22argentina.html
If you don’t like that one just google “2008 Argentina pension seizure”
The quote by the Government was just their spin. They wanted the money to pay their debts.
There: Happy?
🙂
best not to get into debt with the mafia banksters in the first place methinks. Thanks Alwyn.
“You don’t know what you don’t know”
Elizabeth Rata on the Decline and Fall of knowledge.(with a little ‘name-dropping’ for good measure).
The Geography of Thought may be a good map to consult; there can be no exclusion of the middle of a journey.
Rogue Trooper, what drug induced you to quote that foolish, pretentious and deservedly obscure minor academic? She has been utterly discredited, not least by this writer, i.e. moi….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-07062013/#comment-644796
speaking of drugs…, a cup of tea and a Doobie in the sun awaits bro’ 😎
sorry, multi-tasking. 😉 Surprise, surprise my satirical friend, I remember that post of yours, you can take the boy from the ride yet you can’t take derida (sic) from the boy: It was the theme of the article that interested moi, the quote is not originally Rata’s.
Now Ed awaits Mr; nothing like a little hokie sentimentalism to put the world to rights! 😀
Right you are, Rogue. Although I’m always ready to derrida fraud like Elizabeth Rata, I respect your work. Enjoy that doob, my friend.
multi-task with a tea, a “doobie”, and sun. Ummm I suspect that is more of a delusional fallacy than reality. Drift is the word that springs to mind…
Unless of course if you are still putting that relaxing posture into place.
drift is an excellent choice of word.
…and it must be conceded, an interactive, well-moderated, stimulating blog opens up connections in the brain / mind; a relatively healthy, informative distraction.
After all, even the ‘Wild West’ had a Holliday.
re/@ ‘stimulating blog’..
..(ahem..!..)..have you not found whoar yet..?
..so ‘stimulating’ you need a wee lie down/herbal-sedative..after all the excitement..
phillip ure…
@ ‘multi-task with a tea, a “doobie”..’
i think you will find that many..(ahem..!..myself included..)..find the tea/doob-combo to often be a launching pad for creative/other bursts of activity..
..for fans/many..it is the perfect mix of relaxant and stimulant..
..(kinda like a poor mans’ speedball (heroin/cocaine mix)..that mix of the up and down..coming together to make something new..and interesting..)
..why..!..just today it launched me into both a couple of hours of frenzied spring-cleaning of abode..and a serious burst of news-gathering..
..so..y’know..!..not everyone wants to curl up in the corner with a lollipop after a doob..
..and especially not after a doob and a strong cup of tea…
..and if there is ‘drift’..
..that ‘drift’ can take you to interesting places..
..and i mean..even ‘geniuses’ use(d) drugs..
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/10-geniuses-who-used-drugs-and-their-drugs-choice
..so who are we mere mortals to quibble..?
phillip ure..
Smoked a few times at uni about 1980. Found that it destroyed my concentration for programming for about 3 days afterwards. Excessive booze was only a day.
To get to a creative state, all I have to do is to read a book I have already read, or to have a think about a problem before I go to sleep – and I usually do both most nights.
I’d point out that I am greenfield system designer/programmer. People pay me quite a lot for long periods to be creative and to finish projects.
Sounds like the usual RWNJ approach to education – wrote learning.
Good Lord Man! rote , and pull those socks up! 😛
lol
It’s one of those nasty tricks of the English language 😛
http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/shane-jones-unapologetic-targeting-pm-s-sensitive-spot-5574342
Fri 6/9
ONE News political reporter Michael Parkin says after a week of relatively clean campaigning around the country, we have finally seen a one of the three Labour leadership candidates deliver “a low blow” to the Prime Minister.
At last night’s hustings meeting in Hamilton, Shane Jones said: “I’m going to tie a bungy cord around a sensitive spot. And then I’m going to get those calipers, and cut them. And then the trader from Wall Street, and then the mercenary of capitalism, can suffer what he deserves – a dead cat bounce.”
Rational thinking man presenting himself and his thoughts on political policy to thinking citizens? A stand up comedian of the low joke kind as leader of the Labour Party? Appealing to the working class, which is what Jones says he is trying to do, what calibre of people I wonder? The suitable venue would be at the pub after an afternoon or even day’s drinking, and talking about how good the last spear tackle was, how good the under sized paua tasted, and making appreciative remarks about women with big breasts spilling out of their low cut tops, while they talk about them as c…s and use the word f..k freely and probably motherf……r. As a package it’s a brown-paper wrapped bo…..b.
“The suitable venue would be at the pub …”
For goodness sake there is NO suitable venue for views of that nature.
True, for the sake of goodness there shouldn’t be views of that nature. But there are a lot of views like that around. So what’s your point. Are you going to clean up the town!?
LIARS OF OUR TIME
No. 28: John Kerry
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“…we are especially sensitive, Chuck and I, to never again asking any member of Congress to take a vote on faulty intelligence.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
—-U.S. Secretary of State, serial liar and Al-Qaeda bag-carrier JOHN KERRY, 3 September 2013
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10285033/John-Kerry-US-inaction-on-Syria-would-send-a-terrible-message.html
See also….
No. 27 Lyse Doucet: “I am there for those without a voice.”
No. 26 Sam Wallace: “So here we are—Otahuhu. It’s just a great place to be, really.”
No. 25 Margaret Thatcher: “…no British government involvement of any kind…with Khmer Rouge…”
No. 24 John Key: “…at the end of the day I, like most New Zealanders, value the role of the fourth estate…”
No. 23 Jay Carney: “…expel Mr Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice…”
No. 22 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton had integrity beyond reproach.”
No. 21 Tim Groser: “I think the relationship is genuinely in outstanding form.”
No. 20 John Key: “But if the question is do we use the United States or one of our other partners to circumvent New Zealand law then the answer is categorically no.”
No. 19 Matthew Hooton: “It is ridiculous to say that unions deliver higher wages! They DON’T!”
No. 18 Ant Strachan: “The All Blacks won the RWC 2011 because of outstanding defence!”
No. 17 Stephen Franks: “Peter has been such a level-headed, safe pair of hands.”
No. 16 Phil Kafcaloudes: “Tony Abbott…hasn’t made any mistakes over the past eighteen months.”
No. 15 Donald Rumsfeld: “I did not lie… Colin Powell did not lie.”
No. 14 Colin Powell: “a post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizations…connections are now emerging…”
No.13 Barack Obama: “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.”
No. 12 U.K. Ministry of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UK’s top priorities.”
No. 11 Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”
No. 10 Boris Johnson: “Londoners have… the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
No. 9 NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”
No. 8 Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question….”
No. 7 Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.”
No. 6 Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.”
No. 5 Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.”
No. 4 Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
No. 3 John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
No. 2 Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.”
No. 1 Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
Mr Robertson,
As you are trailing so badly in the political polls will you be more of a statesman than the leader you so long supported (Shearer) and stand aside in order to empower the candidate the NZ population are picking as the next Leader of the Labour Party and the person most likely to take on Key and win the election next year?
[lprent: Moved to OpenMike – that is a rant framed as a question ]
Excellent Rail and Maritime, 4500 members, 1.2% and Dairy Workers, 7000 members, 2.5% get behind David Cunliffe.
Oops, that was meant for the Grant Somebody thread,
and it appears that support for US intervention is falling at home, 225 senators against;
Putin-“Will we help Syria, we will!” Got those anti-Tomahawk / Cruise missile defense systems being constructed.
Less than a 1/3 of G20 supportive. Liberte, egalite, fraternite Heh!
“..”Will we help Syria, we will!”..”
this is one of the delusions currently driving the americans/local warmongers..
..some unhinged belief that assad/syria will just lie down and take it if france/hollande and america/obama (with key/nz as lap-puppy-of-war..?..)..decide to rain death down upon them..
..assad/syria is armed to the teeth with the latest state-of-the-art (russian-supplied) missiles etc..
..and he/syria will strike back
..which could set/kick-off some serious shit..
..and just think for a moment..if it turns out the american-side/’rebels’ were the ones who launched this chemical-attack..?
..(4-5 stories i found today are making this a very strong possibility..)
..and just the basic logic is kinda compelling..
..if e put to one side for a mment that assad isn’t a mad fucken dog..and has a brain..he/his land forces are already winning this war..so why would he..?
..and that’s aside from the fact that assad wastrying to clear his name of previous allegations..and had invited the un to inspect to clear his name..
..so once again..putting aside the mad fucken dig theory..
..why the hell would ghe..?..then../
..whereas for the losing america/rebels..they had every reason to do it..)
..and if so this is a war crime of stunning proportions evil from obama/america..
..phillip ure..
and if orders/knowledge/planning of this war-crime can be traced back to the americans/obama..?
..whoar..!
..eh..?
..it’ll make watergate look like a misdemeanor.
..eh..?
(‘war-crime’..such a strange/sanitising-term..
..as all war is a ‘crime’..
..innocent victims and all..
..eh…?..)
..phillip ure..
.
The wars are created, where the bankers dictate, its as simple as that.
Of course its not the bankers, but those who site behind the banks, the owners and controllers.
Who they are, is debatable, but they, are in control of much of the mess, certainly anything which in directly financial, or can be controlled by finance, so more or less, everything!