Author Archive

Something about deckchairs…

Written By: - Date published: 7:21 pm, February 24th, 2013 - 71 comments

Word is Labour’s reshuffle will be announced tomorrow.

Re-run: SkyCity’s convention centre would need $10m+ subsidies – MED

Written By: - Date published: 11:22 am, February 21st, 2013 - 15 comments

A year ago, I wrote that SkyCity was pursuing the dirty practice of ‘subvention’ – where owners of white elephant infrastructure extort governments for subsidies – for the convention centre. The msm has caught up and is reporting on it now. MED denies there will be any subvention; but Joyce says it’s all on the table. And what about the $10m+ in operating subsidies the centre would need?

Family members of traitors of the Motherland

Written By: - Date published: 1:16 pm, February 20th, 2013 - 85 comments

No-one likes fraudsters, whether they’re ripping us off as beneficiaries or as suit-clad businesspeople. National’s announced some ineffectual steps to ‘crack down’ on the minor amount of benefit fraud that occurs (no similar crackdown on white collar fraudsters). But they’ve gone to far in trying to criminalise people just for being partners of benefit fraudsters.

Reshuffle for unity

Written By: - Date published: 11:28 am, February 19th, 2013 - 229 comments

As you all know I haven’t been the biggest cheerleader for Labour in recent times. And let’s not beat around the bush. I still have my concerns. But there’s a real opportunity on the near horizon. There’s hope for Labour yet. While the plan for the reshuffle before the vote was clearly punitive  things may have changed. Indeed they should have. Update: Oh dear.

$18.40 an hour to live, not just exist

Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, February 14th, 2013 - 89 comments

The Living Wage Coalition has released the results of their research, calculating that a wage of $18.40 is needed for workers and their families to have a decent life and participate in society. About 40% of workers currently earn less. The pressure is now on bosses of businesses and public bodies to pay the living wage or explain why they deserve a decent life but their workers don’t.

Missive to a parasite

Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, February 11th, 2013 - 25 comments

Convicted fraudster and Herald columnist Damien Grant says ‘good riddance’ to manufacturing in his latest piece. A lower dollar would make his next smartphone more expensive, he says. When not in jail, Grant’s a receiver. Things are good for him at the moment. But, I’ll tell him this: even carrion birds ultimately need a healthy herd to scavenge off.

For a living wage

Written By: - Date published: 7:26 am, February 11th, 2013 - 175 comments

The living wage campaign is announcing this week the results of its study into the pay that a family needs to afford the basics for a decent life in New Zealand. It’ll be around $18-$20 an hour, which is more than 40% of workers get. I look forward to the proposal receiving strong support from the parties of the Left – the Left has always said a well-paying job is better than welfare.

De-regulation, de-democratisation

Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, February 9th, 2013 - 26 comments

Is it just me or does the argument for a four year term of Parliament look a lot like the argument that’s presented for deregulation? It’s the same dropkicks who say that government needs to get out of the way of business to create jobs who are saying that the people need to get out of the way of government and let it govern with less ‘regulation’ in the form of elections.

Mallard wtf?

Written By: - Date published: 7:52 am, February 4th, 2013 - 88 comments

Is an absurd public endorsement by someone as politically damaged as Trevor Mallard actually an endorsement or is Trevor trying to undermine his leader? That’s a question I’m asking myself after reading Audrey Young’s piece on the caucus vote today.

Living together

Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, February 3rd, 2013 - 128 comments

There’s a thought in some parts of Labour that they need to ‘put the Greens in their place’, then they will get back the votes that the Greens have taken from them, and that will lead to victory. It’s an Underpants Gnome strategy, missing the crucial link of how doing what they want to do emotionally results in the supposed objective. Better to build together.

Foolish games

Written By: - Date published: 8:37 pm, January 31st, 2013 - 108 comments

As I indicated would happen in my post this morning on the Labour reshuffle, Mallard made a run for speaker today.* He and the Labour leadership tried to keep the fact he was running secret right to the last moment. Why not run an honest, open campaign? Because a vote on speaker can only be made by MPs physically present in the chamber. No proxies. Let me explain.

A new broom?

Written By: - Date published: 8:55 am, January 31st, 2013 - 96 comments

david shearer

Word is that Shearer’s team has taken a cue from the media response from Key’s reshuffle and is looking to bolster his new tough image by dropping some of the old hands in his own reshuffle. Almost without doubt the losers will be Street, Sio, and Mahuta. Hipkins and Jones look set for promotion. Goff, King, and Mallard will continue to hold top tier jobs.

Key’s ‘big’ new policy

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, January 28th, 2013 - 83 comments

Reboot apprenticeships in context

States of it – Turei and Shearer

Written By: - Date published: 2:35 pm, January 27th, 2013 - 93 comments

Metiria Turei and David Shearer have today given their State of the Planet and State of the Nation speeches respectively. There’s a lot of commonality, which is good. A critique of the government is solidifying and it’s centred on jobs, housing, and the environment. The Greens’ policy agenda looks heftier than Labour’s but both are heading the right way.

‘Nuff said

Written By: - Date published: 7:23 am, January 25th, 2013 - 23 comments

wave goodbye billboard words are cheap

Late analysis on the reshuffle

Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, January 24th, 2013 - 15 comments

I’ll say this for Key’s media people, they’re masters of the undersell when it comes to the insubstantial. And they know the media love to be surprised. But how ‘ruthless’ was Key really in the reshuffle? Two mediocre ministers with little political clout got the chop, but the real under-performers were too powerful for Key to touch.

Maori Party in terminal decline

Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, January 24th, 2013 - 69 comments

What a mess. Katene wants Turia’s job but will she be the one given the tap or will it be a member of the Turia clan? Flavell has made a play for Sharples’ job, but there’s no mechanism for deciding leadership battles. Harawira has offered a re-merger. Sharples is open to it, Turia isn’t but she wants Sharples gone.

Shearer to put it to the vote

Written By: - Date published: 10:49 am, January 19th, 2013 - 71 comments

Word around the traps is that David Shearer is going to use his state of the nation speech next weekend to announce that he will put his leadership to full membership vote in February. If it’s true, and it’s a big if, it’s a ballsy but smart move politically and a welcome sign that Labour’s leadership is embracing democracy.

So, that’s what Nats mean by creating jobs

Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, January 15th, 2013 - 111 comments

We all know, because that Nice Man Mr Key told us, the government can’t create jobs. That is, unless it has given away $67m to international bully boys and wants to show a return on investment. Then, it can create 3,000 jobs out of thin air. It turns out, that’s where the claim that the Hobbit films created 3,000 Kiwi jobs came from. But it gets worse.

Johny on ice

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, January 14th, 2013 - 55 comments

After four weeks holiday in Hawaii, John Key will briefly land in New Zealand this week before popping off on a junket to Antarctica. Now, you won’t hear a lot about this in the media – because half the press gallery is going with him and they’re just excited to go to Antarctica – but there’s all kinds of buzz coming out of the public service about how and why Key set up this trip.

I know, how about a Jobs Summit

Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, January 12th, 2013 - 150 comments

Today, Fran O’Sullivan calls Key out on his complete failure on jobs: “If I have one New Year’s wish it is that John Key returns from his Hawaiian summer holiday brimming with enough determination to challenge the nation’s employers – and himself – to tackle youth unemployment.” In fact, she is the latest of the rightwing’s pundits to conclude neoliberalism has failed.

The year in review

Written By: - Date published: 4:58 pm, December 31st, 2012 - 68 comments

Most of the years in review I’ve seen in the couple of weeks have concentrated on gossip and rating individual MPs. Most of what matters not a jot outside the beltway. What matters is how the parties are doing in terms of progressing or thwarting the government’s policy agenda – how’s the government doing at governing? – and how polling is shaping up for 2014.

The beggared neighbour

Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, December 20th, 2012 - 12 comments

Japan just elected a Liberal Democrat government promising more jobs through a huge quantitative easing programme. The US has stated it’ll continue QE until unemployment drops below 6.5%. The effect has been to send our dollar to new highs, killing exporters and import-exposed local businesses. Contrary to media belief, Japan and the US aren’t in worse positions than us.

Closing in on 500,000 comments

Written By: - Date published: 1:13 pm, December 19th, 2012 - 41 comments

We’re on track to reach half a million comments before the week is out. Who will be number 500,000? As always, its nice to mark these milestones because it’s a reminder of what a big and vibrant community this is. Those half a million comments have sure made writing here a lot more fun than it would have been if no-one wrote back. Cheers.

Greens pony up for a second cable

Written By: - Date published: 6:52 am, December 18th, 2012 - 43 comments

Market failure is one of the marks of our time. From unaffordable, low-quality housing to child poverty to the over-valued dollar killing jobs to over-priced broadband and failed government IT procurements, the market keeps getting it wrong. The Greens and Labour know the answer is for the Government to step in; National just turns a blind eye. Russel Norman did it again yesterday.

Port workers show how its done

Written By: - Date published: 8:07 am, December 17th, 2012 - 22 comments

You have to respect how the Ports of Auckland workers stood staunch in the face of the bosses’ attempt to contract out their jobs, without support from the ‘leftwing’ mayor and against an expensive PR effort. They’re still getting their own back. PoAL has just been fined for employing a strikebreaker. And, in Lyttelton, wharfies have started a smart new campaign.

A-G’s SkyCity report looming over Key

Written By: - Date published: 8:39 am, December 13th, 2012 - 16 comments

A typical Auditor-General report takes 3 months. “Larger and more complex” ones take 6. Metiria Turei’s complaint about the way SkyCity was chosen for an international convention centre in a ‘pokies-for-convention-centre’ deal has been going 8 months. Clearly, what they’ve found has non-trivial implications for the government and they’re making sure all their ‘t’s are crossed and ‘i’s dotted.

Banks private prosecution begins

Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, December 11th, 2012 - 36 comments

The hearing into the private prosecution of John Banks over his ‘anonymous’ mayoral donations begins today. That the private prosecution has got this far shows the judge believes there is a prima facie case – which puts the Police to shame for failing to take Banks to court. Banks is trying to avoid taking the stand, but I don’t see how he ultimately can.

Butterfly upon a wheel, or we haven’t changed

Written By: - Date published: 11:20 pm, December 9th, 2012 - 251 comments

Back five years ago*, when The Standard was founded by people like Ralph, Irish, Lynn, Tillerman, and Tane, it stood for a few basic Leftwing principles. Pro-worker, pro-environment, pro-equity, and anti-elitist. And it saw a Labour-led Left government as the best vehicle to achieve those goals. Much of the crew has changed but the values and the goals haven’t.

The enemy is still not your friend

Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, December 8th, 2012 - 95 comments

It’s pretty clear: the Greens have managed to hold on to the massive gain they made during the last election campaign, largely at Labour’s expense as it imploded. Labour’s back to its pre-campaign level, at National’s expense. Lab+Green=Nat or thereabouts but the Left needs a good 5% more from the Right to feel confident. So, this is not the time to be listening to John Armstrong’s advice.

AA wakes up to Peak Oil

Written By: - Date published: 8:29 am, December 6th, 2012 - 49 comments

“It can only get worse from here.” – that’s the Automobile Association’s numbers man on petrol prices. It’s quite a revelation because, until now, the AA has been firmly part of the dinosaur establishment that has been insisting petrol prices will ‘soon’ fall to ‘normal’. Mark Stockdale also gets the logical response to peak oil – stop building sprawl, reduce consumption.

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