Author Archive

How National plans to smash collective agreements

Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, July 26th, 2013 - 43 comments

Over the coming weeks I’m going to go through each of National’s changes to employment law to show how they will make our workplaces less fair and reduce Kiwis’ pay.

The first is the change allowing the boss to refuse to negotiate a collective agreement.

Child poverty: Are we that heartless?

Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, June 15th, 2013 - 34 comments

New Zealand’s issue of child poverty has lingered around for the past thirty-odd years, and although the rate is lower than it was in the 1980′s, it is by no means at an encouraging level. 1 in 4 kiwi kids live below the threshold, that’s around 270,000, equivalent to filling Eden Park five and half times with impoverished kids

Nothing moderate about National’s employment changes

Written By: - Date published: 3:41 pm, June 11th, 2013 - 71 comments

There is nothing ‘moderate’ about pushing policy that increases the power of the powerful and reduces the power of those dependent on them for a living, says the EPMU’s Rachel Mackintosh.

National’s employment changes will drive wages down and increase insecurity and poverty in this country.

The hairdo takes a haircut from the smiling assassin?

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, June 10th, 2013 - 31 comments

In politics, one week is a long time.

And for this year, the week on either side of Queen’s birthday weekend was especially interesting. And particularly hectic for some key people!

Nats’ environmental record

Written By: - Date published: 12:25 pm, May 21st, 2013 - 40 comments

Long time commenter BLiP on the National government’s environmental record.

“Project Choice” – foisting bad faith

Written By: - Date published: 10:09 am, May 17th, 2013 - 55 comments

Air NZ has recently posted a $138 million profit. It now forecasts that it will double that profit in the next financial year, and is offering a sale of shares in the near future. So a few months after concluding a collective agreement, they’re indulging in bad faith and illegal practices. This is how you embroil yourself in keeping share prices low.

A silent war – mental health in the NZDF

Written By: - Date published: 7:36 pm, April 24th, 2013 - 11 comments

On the eve of ANZAC day,  it is appropriate to read the reasons of a soldier for departing the Defense Force. There are few local organisations who spend as much resource and effort on training as the Defense Force does. It is ridiculous to expend the vast resources required to train modern non-commissioned soldiers and then to skimp on one of their primary medical needs – mental health.

An honest man?

Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, April 22nd, 2013 - 65 comments

John Key has promised live on television to never lie and to always do his best. Now, four-and-a-half years later we know that was his first lie, and it certainly wasn’t going to be his last. And these are only the ones we know about. In fact, as the litany of lies still spills from John Key, it must be asked: is the litany orchestrated? – BLiP’s extraordinary list of Key’s lies.

3D Manufacturing

Written By: - Date published: 9:32 am, April 13th, 2013 - 125 comments

It seems that 3D Printing is really starting to mature. Such printers are becoming smaller, cheaper and more capable. It’s only a matter of time before builders become obsolete. A lot can be done with the diffuse energy of the sun. Although it has a ways to go 3D printing is the next level in manufacturing.

External review of Wellington City Council outsourcing needed

Written By: - Date published: 6:29 am, April 12th, 2013 - 4 comments

The Wellington City Council has agreed to a review of the outsourcing.

But that review needs to be independent.

National’s war on Auckland

Written By: - Date published: 12:57 pm, March 14th, 2013 - 49 comments

motorway madness

Phil Twyford is the Labour MP for Te Atatu, and Labour’s spokesperson on Housing and Auckland Issues. He is also asking the same questions that many Aucklanders keep asking as they watch a succession of government ministers trying to valiantly advance backwards into Auckland’s past with no obvious purpose.

Save the Trees!

Written By: - Date published: 12:11 pm, February 22nd, 2013 - 41 comments

The Government is currently attempting for a second time to remove blanket tree protection from Auckland’s district plan. Submissions close on February 28, 2013 – Greg Presland tells us why and how you can have your say.

Labour: the democratic reforms continue

Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, February 20th, 2013 - 98 comments

The focus in recent months has been on the democratisation of the leadership process. But actually, a far more important change is coming.  Over the next few months, the party is going to roll out the draft policies and the proposed policy structure to a series of membership meetings. The new regional hub structure will also be explained.

Species of Kiwi

Written By: - Date published: 7:24 pm, February 16th, 2013 - 67 comments

There have been various Kiwi taxonomies – attempts to label and describe social types in NZ. In comments Ad proposed this interesting one, highlighting the tensions created by inequality. Thanks for permission to post it…

Upcoming talk on Canadian student uprising

Written By: - Date published: 3:44 pm, January 11th, 2013 - 6 comments

This Sunday hip hop artist and political activist Darius Mirshahi will be speaking in Auckland about the political situation in Canada and how the left are organising to resist Neo-Liberalism. Later he will be performing material which has lead to attention from Glen Beck and the Canadian police.

Federated Farmers want more urbanites

Written By: - Date published: 8:58 pm, January 3rd, 2013 - 38 comments

Federated Farmers pushed out a press release the other day calling for NZ to both have more population and to stop spreading urban areas out over farmland. MrSmith has a view on it.

Secretive Haast-Hollyford Highway

Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, December 5th, 2012 - 15 comments

A rather secretive bid in Central Otago/Westland for what amounts to a toll road cutting through a National Park. As with the as-yet-undecided tunnel and monorail proposals, this raises the question of whether Zealand is moving in the direction of selling its most public and protected land to private developers, for their private profit-generating schemes. It will have meetings to brief as many “key stakeholders” with a “significant interest” but will include “no public meetings”.

Our polytechnics are under threat

Written By: - Date published: 11:25 am, December 5th, 2012 - 20 comments

This year the government departed with a tradition of working closely with polytechnics to establish how best to spend taxpayers’ money and instead made our public institutions compete for taxpayers’ dollars to provide foundation courses. Institutions won money if they were the most competitive in terms of price, though all successful competitors had to meet minimum quality requirements – a true market approach to pricing. So, why is this problematic?

My Dad the bowler

Written By: - Date published: 10:46 am, November 26th, 2012 - 21 comments

My father remembers Labour Party meetings in our local town hall through the 70’s and 80’s. Staunchly Labour, Dad had many rousing discussions at the local pub with men of varied political persuasions – most of whom were his good friends. A heated debate on a Thursday night would often melt nicely into a friendly roll up at bowls on a Saturday.

A stronger mandate for the Labour leader?

Written By: - Date published: 9:25 am, November 24th, 2012 - 199 comments

A Labour Party member writes, praising Labour for the new democratic reforms, and calling for David Shearer to submit his leadership to the new Party selection process: “David Shearer, you need a mandate from this new organisation, not a prop-up from the shards of the old one.  Give us this chance to really unite behind you, or your successor, and give you the backing you surely will have earned”.

Crays and Aussie Carrots

Written By: - Date published: 12:58 pm, November 22nd, 2012 - 51 comments

Damn, a kiwi recently moved to aussie explains what the attraction is and isn’t.  Basically there is work there, the pay is better, and you can afford to eat out. But kiwi’s can take comfort that the food is crap – unless you go to a restaurant of course. Perhaps their politicians are better than their farmers.

One step too far

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, November 20th, 2012 - 20 comments

The minister for tertiary education, Stephen  Joyce, may think he’s above the law but we don’t. He has told the New Zealand Herald “he would step in to force change at Auckland University” if necessary. What change does he want to force?  He wants to determine what the university teaches. This threat shows the minister has little regard for New Zealand’s Education Act.

On Loyalty

Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, November 20th, 2012 - 120 comments

The ABC club would have us believe that David Cunliffe has ‘openly undermined’ both David Shearer’s leadership and Phil Goff’s before him.

These attempts to rewrite history are amusing but factually inaccurate. We all know who undermined Phil Goff’s leadership and it wasn’t David Cunliffe.

Cunliffe Has Overplayed His Hand

Written By: - Date published: 1:52 pm, November 19th, 2012 - 100 comments

At the end of this weekend’s Labour Annual Conference, delegates were happy. Speaking as a delegate, we had made the first and most important changes to the party in its history. But every night, after we got home and turned on the TV or visited a news website (or even some of the blogs), we didn’t see those stories we felt proud about. We saw Patrick Gower and Brook Sabin and Jessica Mutch sticking the camera in David Cunliffe’s face

#Labour2012 Voting for democracy

Written By: - Date published: 8:06 pm, November 16th, 2012 - 32 comments

There’s a few remits on the floor at conference today that are going to be make or break for the future of the Labour party. They’re all about democratising the party which is something I think needs to happen if it’s going to survive and thrive.

Pagani to lead Labour to victory!

Written By: - Date published: 1:20 pm, November 14th, 2012 - 20 comments

In a bold and exciting move Labour MP David Shearer stood down at today’s Labour conference and handed the reins to mild mannered media commentator Josie Pagani. Shearer said it became clear he had too much parliamentary experience for the role and the public was calling for someone ‘less like a politician’ than he was.

At conference, vote for a members’ democracy

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, November 13th, 2012 - 53 comments

The Labour Party conference this weekend is crucial for the democratic future of the party. A party member outlines his view on how to vote. His main point? In U.K. Labour you only need 20% of caucus to allow a vote on the leadership. That’s about right.

What will the new president do about Climate Change?

Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, November 7th, 2012 - 107 comments

Voting starts. What will the new president do about Climate Change? For good or ill, America has a tradition of global leadership. When it comes to climate change America needs to lead more actively in the world – not from behind, but from the front. Will Obama be that president? Will Romney? Or will we have to wait another four more terrible years of rudderless inaction?

Is more people the answer for NZ?

Written By: - Date published: 9:12 am, November 5th, 2012 - 71 comments

The estimated population of New Zealand reached 4,444,444 on the 1st of November 2012. Nothing special other than a rare moment of symmetry in an otherwise random and chaotic world. It is an opportunity to ask a pretty basic question: what is the ideal population for New Zealand? We can’t keep growing our population forever, nor would it make us richer if we did so. When is enough enough?

Aotearoa to little America

Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, November 1st, 2012 - 28 comments

As National cuts services, incomes, and pushes more Kiwi’s into the gutter, their real agenda it seems apart from creating an underclass is removing them from the Government tit, and after that supporting them with charity. Corporations see charity as tax free advertising, with the added bonus of being able to lobby & pressure the Government of the day.

Earthquake Red Flags

Written By: - Date published: 11:24 am, October 19th, 2012 - 9 comments

Two years on and the chief executive of the Canterbury District health board David Meates has started to see some worrying trends showing up in Christchurch/Canterbury. People are failing to take their meds. Binge drinking and other dangerous behaviours are on the increase. Government is adding to the problem, not fixing it.