Author Archive

1951 it ain’t, for now

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 8:38 am, January 16th, 2012 - 120 comments

Some have compared the Port of Auckland dispute to the 1890 waterfront dispute, 1913 general strike, and 1951 lockout. They want Labour and the Greens to get involved. Actually, this is no 1951 redux. The POA fight is just about one company trying to undercut another. The net effect on New Zealand is zero. The last thing the workers need is Labour creating an excuse for National to attack them.

Report shows ports not to blame for freight costs

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 10:19 am, January 13th, 2012 - 5 comments

The Productivity Commission reports that freight costs are 25% higher here than in Australia and freight costs as a % of cargo value has risen in recent years. Their solution? Make the public and port workers poorer by privatisation and casualisation. Of course, those are ideological goals, not solutions to the freight cost issue, which has nothing to do with ports.

NZ has best value for money education in the world

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 10:52 am, January 11th, 2012 - 65 comments

Generating a false crisis to justify their ideological policies is a classic rightwing tactic. Key gravely pronounces the system is ‘broken’ and their policy is the solution. Education has been victim to this bullshit. But OECD stats show that we have the best value for money education in the world. How will National justify their ideological assault on teachers now?

2012, more of the same?

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 3:01 pm, January 7th, 2012 - 57 comments

After blissful isolation in the bush, it’s a shock to come back and read of more earthquakes, the government bullying the media, port workers having to strike to get an inflation-rate pay raise, more road deaths, and today’s balloon tragedy in Carterton. Not to mention government massacre in Kazakhstan and rising violence in Syria. Looks like 2012’s going to be another tough one.

Workers beat the Grinch

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 8:45 am, December 23rd, 2011 - 22 comments

In a heart-warming Christmas story, 111 workers have stood strong and faced down Canterbury Meat Packers, which locked them out for2 months to extort a 20% wage cut and make them work harder for less money. It’s not a total victory, there will be small pay cuts, but they won improved conditions and they’re back at work. United, workers win.

Irony

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:22 am, December 21st, 2011 - 71 comments

Irony will be if Anne Tolley gets sacked over a portfolio she no longer holds. And if she’s fired, not for turning one of the world’s most successful education systems into an ideological warzone over performance pay but, for lying to Parliament about a principal turned ministry expert with a sleazy husband being suspended.

Trickle down

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 8:19 am, December 19th, 2011 - 44 comments

Key: “Of course, if we could have lower personal taxes, we think that would stimulate the economy – but we just can’t afford it”. But, if tax cuts stimulate the economy, you could make them self-funding. The 2010 tax changes were meant to pay for their net cost with extra growth. Didn’t happen. They’ve cost $1.1b so far. Does Key still buy this trickle down garbage or not?

Shearer’s Address in Reply

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:59 am, December 18th, 2011 - 97 comments

David Shearer’s brand is of a new kind of politician. Not burdened by the old rivalries, he is touted as the man that can move New Zealand forwards – a consensus-builder rather than a scarred old warrior. The weekend media coverage has been excellent. His Address in Reply this week will consolidate his brand. Here is what I would say if I were him.

Countering the Tories’ bait & switch

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:00 am, December 14th, 2011 - 89 comments

Congratulations David Shearer, you’re leader of the Left now, and the prime target for the Right’s smear machine. The Right’s strategy is obvious: bait and switch. Having proclaimed Shearer’s virtues to high heaven, they (and their useful idiots) will now say ‘who is this man?’, try to frame unreasonable expectations, and try to beat up leadership rumours.

The big win

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:22 am, December 12th, 2011 - 41 comments

The new government comprises the same parties as the previous one: National, ACT, United Future, and the Maori Party but with 64 votes, not 69. The governing parties’ total vote fell from 51.84% to 50.41%. Even the narrower Nat+ACT bloc fell. National’s ‘big win’ was just one more seat. And the most powerful man in the country now? Peter Dunne.

Right-whiner: Paula Bennett

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:53 am, December 12th, 2011 - 33 comments

Paula Bennett did pretty well in 2008, she won a seat that gave more party votes to Lab+Greens than Nat+ACT. But she was a bad MP. The electorate swung away from Nat+ACT and Bennett lost. But does she take it with grace? No she whines that Labour used “nasty and vicious” tactics like “mobilising the left” and getting out the vote on election day.

A solution to the Bridgeman problem

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 10:06 am, December 9th, 2011 - 24 comments

I have a theory that the Herald employs Shelley Bridgeman et al as columnists only because, while a relatively small team of monkeys on typewriters could spit out much more cogent and insightful pieces well within deadline, the price of bananas these days makes it more economical to fill the space between ads with whatever dross these ‘writers’ throw-up. But, I have an alternative that benefits everyone.

Your government at work

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:34 am, December 8th, 2011 - 18 comments

Paula Bennett’s staff in tomato-growing contest with MSD staff – Stuff

Benefit costs up up $2 billion pa in the last 3 years – Treasury

The long game on charter schools & national standards

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 12:32 pm, December 7th, 2011 - 57 comments

Charter schools and national standards/league tables are part of the same process. It’s about siphoning off public funds, the best pupils, and the best teachers into ‘elite’ schools, and leaving everyone else behind. It’s about cutting money for ‘failing’ schools and ‘failing’ students. It ultimately means more lost potential and a poorer NZ, but one that serves the elite’s interests.

Playing to lose

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 10:19 am, December 7th, 2011 - 88 comments

“That’s MMP for you” John Key smugly proclaimed in justification of his charter schools policy. Apparently, it’s MMP’s fault that he chose to rort the system and then us the one ACT MP as an excuse for unmandated rightwing policies. But why are the Nats suddenly acting so haughty and pushing through unmandated policies? The answer is MMP.

National’s Spending Cap Bill

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 12:13 pm, December 6th, 2011 - 11 comments

National will pass a Spending Cap Bill, under the cover of its Confidence and Supply deal with John Banks. The question isn’t if this Bill is a farcical idea that would hurt NZ if ever enforced (which it wouldn’t be) – even the arch-neoliberals in Treasury oppose it. The question is why National has no better ideas for Parliament’s precious time.

Buying back the assets

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:26 am, December 5th, 2011 - 216 comments

David Cunliffe has said that, if he is Labour leader, he will look to buy back any assets National sells once he is PM. Under the existing Takeovers Code, that wouldn’t be too hard. But why not go a step further and make it clear to any potential investor that our energy sector won’t be their cash cow? A bit of regulatory reform would sink the assets’ share value.

Grinding to a halt

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 8:12 am, December 2nd, 2011 - 30 comments

In May, they were promising growth would be 4.2% in 2012. By October, it was 3.3%. November, 2.5%. December, 1.5% …. with ‘downside risks’ aplenty. Looks like we’re going to be waiting on that brighter future a while longer. Vernon Small points out there’s no way National’s going to keep its promise to get back into surplus in 2014. When will they tell the truth?

The John Key Party

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 8:24 am, December 1st, 2011 - 121 comments

Ubiquitous Tory blonde #5 (Jo Goodhew?) was on Backbenches last night. At the factory where Nat backbenchers are stamped out, they’re programmed to say ‘John Key’ whenever possible. It went wrong, though, when Goodhew said she was proud to be a reelected member of the John Key Party. It was a slip that told the truth: National, and the Right, is now completely dependent on one man.

Demise of the Maori Party

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 10:15 am, November 29th, 2011 - 91 comments

I’m calling it right now. This is last election where the Maori Party’s will return MPs. It has gone from 5 to 3 MPs, 2 of whom are retiring this term, and the survivors have had their majorities slashed (on the back of scandalously low turnouts). Turia and Sharples will take the baubles again, which will just be the final nails in the party’s coffin.

The rise of the Greens

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 7:24 am, November 28th, 2011 - 111 comments

The Greens can be very proud of their achievement this election. With 13, probably to become 14, seats, they have achieved the second-best ever result for a minor party under MMP. They have succeeded in becoming credible to mainstream New Zealand. What they do next carries big risks and big potential rewards.

A vote for Key is a vote for asset sales

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:00 pm, November 25th, 2011 - 66 comments

76% of Kiwis are against National’s plan to sell our assets. We know it just doesn’t make sense. We know privatisation leads to higher prices, under-investment, asset-stripping, and profits going overseas rather than into public services. Make no mistake: the only way to stop asset sales is to vote Green, Mana, Labour, or New Zealand First.

Listen to us – Homebrew

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:00 am, November 25th, 2011 - 2 comments

We’ve been getting links to this song for a week or two. Wish I’d gotten round to posting it earlier. Just fantastic.

Hiding in his mansion/While half the population flies across the Tasman/The other half try to act like it’s not happening

There’s no depression in New Zealan’/ Just a slow sinking feelin’

Fact checkin’: police numbers

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 8:21 am, November 24th, 2011 - 69 comments

John Key said last night the Nats has boosted Police numbers by 600. In fact, 2008, Police numbers have grown by only 442, 5.4%, barely more than population growth. All but 80 of those extra cops came in the 2008/09 year – under Labour’s last budget. Cops per capita has fallen in the last two years. No wonder there are more unsolved crimes.

Tea tape judgment

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 2:00 pm, November 23rd, 2011 - 140 comments

Any minute now, we should find out whether we are allowed to know the secret plans that John Key and John Banks were foolish enough to discuss in a public cafe in front of the country’s media, or whether that information will be denied us before we vote on Saturday.

Update: Judge has declined to make a decision.

So it can be published without breaking the law. Publication is only illegal if publisher knows the interception was illegal. No-one can now know that.

Will Key sign pledge not to sell Kiwibank?

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:42 am, November 23rd, 2011 - 97 comments

Phil Goff has signed a pledge that Labour will not sell Kiwibank if it becomes government. Other party leaders have been invited as well. I expect the Greens, New Zealand First, Mana, and the Conservatives will (who knows about the Maori Party). But will Key sign? National is secretly itching to sell Kiwibank, Bill English got caught out admitting as much.

Nats’ cuts cause benefit overpayments to rise

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:23 am, November 22nd, 2011 - 8 comments

Checking out data matches that show beneficiaries may have moved overseas and stopping their benefit if they have. That’s back-office work, eh? Exactly the kind of ‘unsexy’ jobs National has been cutting. Well, MSD stopped data matching because its resource were stretched too thin – and overpayments doubled to $19m. Heck of a job, National.

Fearing Winston

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 7:32 am, November 21st, 2011 - 46 comments

National is getting increasingly hysterical as its internal polling shows its majority slipping away and New Zealand First above 5%. National is lashing out, saying Winston could trigger a snap election because he wouldn’t sacrifice his principles like the Maori Party and ACT. Invent your own anti-NZF scare line for National:

Integrity or hocus pocus

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:32 am, November 20th, 2011 - 59 comments

I have no sympathy for politicians complaining about their ‘private’ political conversations being made public. What politicians say on politics is inherently of public interest. Don’t say different things in private then in public, and you won’t get caught out. It’s a matter of integrity. We can now reveal what John Key really thinks about climate change.

Unbridled power

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:40 am, November 18th, 2011 - 77 comments

Kazakhstan police have ordered four media organisations to hand over evidence of an alleged illegal recording of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The police said they would carry out searches to get the material. Opposition politicians have accused Mr Nazarbayev of trying to gag the media in the run-up to an election next weekend.