Author Archive

Volunteers wanted!

Written By: - Date published: 9:54 pm, June 22nd, 2013 - 6 comments

As National Volunteer Week draws to a close, let us continue to celebrate the 1/3 of New Zealanders who regularly do volunteer work in our communities.

Manufacturing Inquiry report

Written By: - Date published: 2:59 pm, June 17th, 2013 - 83 comments

The parliamentary inquiry into the future of manufacturing has released its report today. I’ve not had time to read it, but it’s great to see a report by 4 out of parliament’s 7 or 8* parties, showing a united stance to one of our country’s biggest economic problems. 40,000 lost jobs in 4 years; the worst current account deficit in the developed world (overtaking Greece) – and a government that’s ignoring it.  We need some big solutions and a combined force committed to it.

Stealth Taxers

Written By: - Date published: 10:09 am, April 19th, 2013 - 16 comments

National, far from being their idealised “low tax party” are in fact the “stealth tax party”. While they’ve lowered the top rate of tax and the company rate, helping out the wealthiest, there has been regressive tax after regressive tax increase on the smaller hidden things.

English drained Solid

Written By: - Date published: 11:53 am, March 14th, 2013 - 57 comments

Some great work from Labour yesterday as they got the documents showing Bill English being advised about Solid Energy’s predicted lower profits from a lower coal price  – and asking for a bigger dividend anyway.

Novopay: debt collection

Written By: - Date published: 11:09 am, March 13th, 2013 - 26 comments

Apparently quite a few teachers got tempted from the fold and voted for John Key in 2008… it’s hard to imagine many of them wanting to do so after the Novopay debacle. But Novopay seem determined to make sure of it. Not content with failing to pay large numbers of teachers, it’s now persecuting those it overpaid, even when they give the money back.

The Government must be crazy

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, March 1st, 2013 - 22 comments

Come one, came all to National’s fire sale! See how fast we can flog off your assets! Low prices, great returns to foreign investors!

Regulate this!

Written By: - Date published: 8:14 am, February 28th, 2013 - 172 comments

If we can’t afford to buy the assets back, we should at least make clear we will regulate them severely and take the profit out of electricity companies…

Workers’ rights: too many steps behind

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, February 25th, 2013 - 30 comments

I’m a big fan of the Living Wage campaign. And I really liked the Herald’s series covering the launch week. But part of that coverage highlighted a big problem that I don’t think the Living Wage campaign will reach.

Inequality: even Treasury cares…

Written By: - Date published: 9:21 am, February 16th, 2013 - 64 comments

There’s a book I’ve heard about that I’m hoping helps push the inequality awareness barrow a little further this year.

Asset Sales delay?

Written By: - Date published: 11:11 pm, February 14th, 2013 - 42 comments

The Herald reports that the Supreme Court will not meet the Government’s timetable for its decision on the Maori Council’s challenge to Asset Sales.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Written By: - Date published: 5:40 pm, February 13th, 2013 - 50 comments

Child Poverty, a high exchange rate and suppression of free speech. It’s that National Government again.

Key Living Wage: “A matter for them”

Written By: - Date published: 5:49 pm, February 11th, 2013 - 26 comments

John Key, as expected, failed to take any sort of lead – or even fast following – on the Living Wage campaign. It’s “a matter for them” – businesses and workers – not something for a mere Prime Minister to be interested in. He thinks it’s nice if businesses pay more as they can afford it, but obviously doesn’t see higher wages as a priority.

Save the Family Court

Written By: - Date published: 10:20 am, February 11th, 2013 - 8 comments

The Government’s Family Court Proceedings Reform Bill is receiving submissions until this Wednesday, 13 February.  This Bill needs drastic alteration, as it puts the Family Court out of financial reach of many of those who most need it, reduces needed rights to legal representation, and forces those who’ve been experiencing violence into inappropriate mediation as it’s cheaper.  Best we all submit against it…

Jobs & Manufacturing

Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, January 31st, 2013 - 75 comments

National is failing to resolve the lack of jobs as they provide a 14-year high in unemployment – even after exporting 180,000 Kiwis to Australia. If we add them in the unemployment rate doubles to 13.8%. More than 40,000 of those job losses have been in manufacturing.  Research says that manufacturing jobs have a multiplier of 2.9, that means about 80,000 other indirect job losses.  Combined that’s 2/3rds of our unemployment rate, just by getting back to where we were when National took office.

Complementary Housing

Written By: - Date published: 6:52 am, January 25th, 2013 - 94 comments

It’s great to see the Greens’ new housing policy nicely complementing Labour’s affordable housing policy.

You say ‘flexible labour market’, I say ‘workers’ rights’

Written By: - Date published: 9:28 am, January 24th, 2013 - 35 comments

So John Key says Hollywood likes New Zealand because of weak unions, low fringe benefit costs and the ‘flexible labour market’.

In other words they can get their wage slaves to work longer for less with fewer complaints.

Sick

Written By: - Date published: 4:21 pm, January 23rd, 2013 - 90 comments

Bill English’s priority in 2013 will be to “bed in” welfare reforms. Because that’s where the big fiscal savings lie. He’s hoping to cut 44,000 beneficiaries and save $1.6 billion by 2016-17.  Which would be fantastic if this was a jobs government focussed on employment growth and those 44,000 were going into decent paying jobs. […]

Action: Stop Charter Schools

Written By: - Date published: 2:02 pm, January 21st, 2013 - 91 comments

The chance to submit your opposition to Charter Schools closes this Thursday 24 January. An easy submission form has been set up, or you can follow how to make your own more detailed submission.

Get your asset sales petitions in

Written By: - Date published: 9:40 am, December 14th, 2012 - 22 comments

If you’ve got any asset sales petitions hanging about, quickly send them in to the address on the bottom.  The Keep Our Assets coalition are shortly to send in the petition for the Electoral Commission to start verifying the 350,000-odd names they have.

This

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, December 11th, 2012 - 54 comments

Child poverty is fixable, but National isn’t interested.

Help our kids!

Written By: - Date published: 2:25 pm, December 10th, 2012 - 4 comments

Irish has already covered the appalling statistics from the Children’s Social Health Monitor. What struck me was the paucity of the Government’s response. Tony Ryall – unavailable for comment – merely put out a statement saying the Government was doing plenty as 33% of the budget went on social security and similar things.  One might […]

A fair waka-jumping law?

Written By: - Date published: 6:28 pm, December 6th, 2012 - 37 comments

It’s back in the news with Brendan Horan, but what to do in a party-based system like MMP with an MP who is no longer in their party?

Give TPP the ‘Dracula Treatment’

Written By: - Date published: 7:54 pm, December 4th, 2012 - 40 comments

RELEASE THE TEXT

Govt to ban cheap broadband

Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, December 4th, 2012 - 46 comments

There’s a fabulous win for consumers and a Government good news story out of the Commerce Commission yesterday – significant cuts in the cost of broadband for consumers. You. But John Key’s not happy and is threatening to legislate over the decision.

When were National fixing Shell Companies again?

Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, December 2nd, 2012 - 10 comments

This story reads like a Bond film – with people getting bumped off left, right and centre.

And where do they do their money laundering?  Good ol’ Aotearoa.

A National attack on the environment

Written By: - Date published: 11:34 am, November 29th, 2012 - 14 comments

Anthony has already mentioned the amazing record of us winning both first and second prize in the first Fossil of the Day awards at the Doha climate talks – quite a remarkable achievement, particularly for a nation that trades on its “100% Pure” environmental credentials. Over at Pundit Claire Browning has an extensive list of […]

Signathon this weekend

Written By: - Date published: 4:28 pm, November 21st, 2012 - 36 comments

This weekend a major nationwide collection drive aims to reach the signature target to force a citizens initiated referendum on asset sales. Can you help to collect signatures?

Some facts for today

Written By: - Date published: 11:42 pm, November 18th, 2012 - 27 comments

The Labour Conference was not ‘acrimonious’. The Party was not ‘split’. A good time was had. Shearer’s speech was fantastic. The Party was rejuvenated. The February vote can’t be brought forward. Labour showed great progressive values. The media showed great beat-up skills.

Labour Conference day 2

Written By: - Date published: 11:53 pm, November 17th, 2012 - 9 comments

So the remit session was a bit of an endurance event as they always are (and we’ve still got policy remits tomorrow…). The vast majority was fairly easily agreed, including the big changes.  The real contention was over the leadership vote trigger for the 3-yearly caucus endorsement.

Labour Conference day 1

Written By: - Date published: 12:25 am, November 17th, 2012 - 8 comments

So Lynn is giving you the media perspective, I thought I might get some delegate perspective. Housing, jobs, policy, speeches… a bit of the flavour.

Jobs and wages

Written By: - Date published: 7:58 am, November 13th, 2012 - 9 comments

While Audrey Young was giving the Key cabinet a glowing report card yesterday as they lurch from crisis to crisis (so many crises the Novopay scandal can’t make the front pages after 3 months of stuff ups), the economy continued to struggle.