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They eat their own

Written By: - Date published: 2:18 pm, March 28th, 2012 - 96 comments

ACC denies leaking Bronwyn Pullar’s name. It’s not credible that they would act so high risk and so politically. Boag and Pullar clearly didn’t leak it. So, that leaves Collins and her office. Collins denied leaking the email to the media … but leaves a fair bit of wiggle room, doesn’t it? The tipline is, as they say, running hot – and the name on everyone’s lips is Lusk. More soon.

Blood sport

Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, March 28th, 2012 - 48 comments

Judith Collins has twice told the Prime Minister that she didn’t leak Bronwyn Pullar’s information. But who else could have? The internecine fighting within National is heating up with Michelle Boag saying “When you can’t send a communication to a Government minister without fearing that the privacy of that communication is going to be breached, that’s very, very dangerous.” This is going to end badly for someone.

Collins’ attack on Pullar continues

Written By: - Date published: 8:53 am, March 26th, 2012 - 58 comments

It’s strange watching National’s factions fight it out in the media- the Herald on Sunday running the Collins/Slater faction stuff and the Dompost running material from Boag/Pullar. Both sides are scum. Pullar received (somehow) the largest leak in ACC and passed to the media. Collins has imitated her fellow ministers by leaking Pullar’s private details in revenge.

Who leaked Pullar’s name?

Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, March 23rd, 2012 - 78 comments

Nick Smith’s handpicked chair of ACC, John Judge, denies that ACC leaked Bronwyn Pullar’s name to the media after she made public the biggest leak of private data in history from the organisation. So, who did? Given the government’s track-record – Bennett vs the solo mums, Brownlee publicising Dalziel’s redzone offer – I’m betting it was Judith Collins.

ImperatorFish: The ACC Scandal Live Updates

Written By: - Date published: 3:54 pm, March 22nd, 2012 - 4 comments

Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here.

The demise of Nick Smith has been spectacular, but it is not an end to the ACC privacy story, and the story continues to develop by the hour.

The real questions

Written By: - Date published: 8:29 pm, March 21st, 2012 - 83 comments

Why did Key express confidence in Smith after reading the 2nd letter that is the supposed reason for him going? Why did he really resign, what are they trying to distract us from? How did it happen that the woman who Smith resigned over also is the person who got the largest ACC leak in history? What deal did Smith get to stay in Parliament avoiding a risky by-election?

Smith to go

Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, March 21st, 2012 - 218 comments

Even 1 year ago, there would be no doubt what would happen next. He would have sacked Smith without hesitation. Has Key lost those instincts already?
Updates: won’t comment now but will this afternoon. Needs time to make some backroom deals so that skeletons stay in closets? Smith was been summoned to Wellington. Press conference at 1.45. And  He’s gone. They’re trying to downplay the reasons. What a disgrace. Full video of Key offloading Nick Smith

Nats’ ACC scandal getting worse by the day

Written By: - Date published: 9:08 am, March 20th, 2012 - 88 comments

Nick Smith, while Minister for ACC wrote a letter in support of the claims of, um, close personal contact Bronwyn Pullar last year after Pullar threatened to embarrass him and ACC. He says, this was in his personal capacity, even though it was on parliamentary ministerial letterhead. And what kind of coincidence is it that the largest accidental leak by ACC in history went to Pullar?

Nats back down from ACC privatisation why not asset sales?

Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, March 16th, 2012 - 16 comments

National has backed down from privatising ACC’s work account. To make it work, they were going to have to pump up ACC levies and make it pay a dividend to the Crown to make prices high enough for the private sector to compete. A sign of how weak the government is that they couldn’t push this through. Problem is, the same logic applies to asset sales.

Private sector can’t compete with ACC

Written By: - Date published: 12:04 pm, February 27th, 2012 - 35 comments

Government documents from last year reveal a plan to make ACC boost its levies and pay the government a dividend so that private insurers can compete. But that wasn’t enough. Now, the plan seems to be to exclude ACC from workplace injury insurance altogether. Private insurers just can’t offer cover as cheap as ACC can. So that Nats’ solution is to deny us access to ACC workplace cover.

Nats want more expensive ACC so private insurers can profit

Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, February 18th, 2012 - 127 comments

Private sector competition brings market disciplines and efficiencies to bloated publicly-owned monopolies. That’s the mantra, eh? That’s the indisputable truth… right? So, how come the Nats are planning to make ACC raise its levies and pay a dividend – for the first time ever – so that private insurers can compete? And how does that benefit NZ?

Growing our own Breivik

Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, July 26th, 2011 - 152 comments

Just after Irish has discussed how little it takes to jump from the violent language of the NZ Right to the violent actions of Anders Breivik (and an ‘expert’ had said it can’t happen here), we learn of a rightwinger who planned a van-bomb attack on ACC. The striking thing is that his online rants are unremarkable within the Right’s discourse.

The get ACC levy con

Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, July 12th, 2011 - 14 comments

After coming to office, National cried ‘crisis at ACC’ as an excuse for raising levies, cutting cover, and privatisation. Suddenly, the ‘crisis’ has disappeared and good ol’ National is cutting your ACC levies, back to where they were before National raised them. Now, just forget who put them up in the first place, and tick the blue box in November.

ACC privatisation plans announced

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, June 2nd, 2011 - 41 comments

National has announced plans to privatise ACC’s work account. Currently, they don’t have the numbers to get it through the House. ACT won’t vote for it because its not completely rabid and the Maori Party won’t vote for privatisation. So, this becomes another election issue: another bloody good reason to vote National out.

Smith to announce ACC privatisation

Written By: - Date published: 6:30 am, May 30th, 2011 - 85 comments

Labour’s Chris Hipkins has the inside word: On Wednesday this week, Nick Smith is going to announce what amounts to the effective privatisation of a large part of ACC. You won’t hear the word privatisation uttered from his lips, he’ll use all sorts of other words like ‘competition’ and ‘market discipline’, but privatisation it will be.

A very Tory Xmas

Written By: - Date published: 9:56 pm, December 21st, 2010 - 30 comments

‘Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the House,
Nats announced policies, they’re usually scared to espouse.

Journos on holiday, Key out of reach on his Hawaiian vacation,
It was the time to let slip, their plan for ACC privatisation.

More Christmas Surprises

Written By: - Date published: 3:15 pm, December 21st, 2010 - 38 comments

The disastrous experiment of competition for ACC from the 1990s is to be repeated.  Businesses will be allowed to chose a private firm to cover their workplace injuries.  Workers won’t get to choose their level of cover of course, they’re just the ones who get injured or killed – why should they have a say.

Nats push ahead with ACC privatisation agenda

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, November 8th, 2010 - 22 comments

The Government is planning to reduce ACC cover and portray it as a cost saving for levy-payers. You would get less income coverage when injured and have to endure a longer wait time of three weeks until your coverage would begin. Levies would be personalised on the private model. This is privatising ACC on bite at a time with no actual cost savings.

Killing the golden geese

Written By: - Date published: 9:26 am, October 16th, 2010 - 45 comments

National is developing an agenda for privatisation.  It’s crazy.  State owned assets are generating some rare bright spots in an otherwise dismal sea of poor economic news.  So why would any rational government sell ACC (or other state owned assets)?  Why would any rational government be cutting back on the Cullen Fund?  Why are the Nats determined to kill the golden geese?

The brains deficit

Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, May 11th, 2010 - 4 comments

A headline on Newsroom caught my eye a couple of days back: “Deficit Falls Further”. Good news, so, well done the Nats? Turns out no, not so much…

RNZ reveals ACC privatisation agenda

Written By: - Date published: 9:03 am, April 23rd, 2010 - 71 comments

National’s hysteria around ACC last year was focused on creating an air of crisis. Now they’re going to ‘do something’. That something is privatisation of ACC. It won’t work, it won’t save money. The costs of injuries will still exist. Privatisation will put more of that cost on the injured. Added ligation and profits will mean worse cover for more cost.

ACC demo today

Written By: - Date published: 9:09 am, February 16th, 2010 - 5 comments

There’s a demo at Parliament today to protest against the Government’s ACC bill, which raises levies, cuts Kiwis’ entitlements and paves the way for privatisation. If you’re in the CBD make sure you head down in your lunch break.

MARCH AND RALLY FOR ACC
TODAY 16TH February
12.30pm – Parliament

That’s gotta hurt

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, February 5th, 2010 - 7 comments

The CTU is launching its “that’s gotta hurt” campaign against government cuts to ACC on the big screens at the Sevens today and the result is not what you’d expect from the normally rather earnest organisation. S

ACC levy hikes another step to privatisation

Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, December 11th, 2009 - 79 comments

As expected, Nick Smith has imposed substantial ACC levy hikes on families. For a worker on $40,000 with a car, you’re looking at $150 more a year. I would say that would take a large bite out of most people’s tax cuts but the fact is most people didn’t get a tax cut from National. […]

Who’s next?

Written By: - Date published: 9:04 am, November 25th, 2009 - 13 comments

I was watching that vid by the Greens on ACC and bikoi. What caught my attention was the bikers’ chant: “who’s next, who’s next?” The Right loves to atomise us – make us think of ourselves only as individuals or narrow interest groups. Our reaction to the bikers getting hammered with these unecessary ACC hikes […]

Kevin Hague blasts Nats on ACC

Written By: - Date published: 3:38 pm, November 23rd, 2009 - 11 comments

Good video from the Greens’ Kevin Hague. Gotta love the dirty mo:

Bikoi video

Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, November 19th, 2009 - Comments Off on Bikoi video

Hat tip: Labour.

ACC misdirection

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, November 18th, 2009 - 11 comments

It looks like the government’s sleight of hand on ACC is about to pay off. Having put up a clearly outrageous proposal to hike motorbike levies and thus made it the focus of anger over the ACC changes the government is now signaling they will back off. Thing is, they were never going to ramp […]

Bikoi

Written By: - Date published: 2:16 pm, November 17th, 2009 - 44 comments

Just got away from the bikoi at Parliament. What a sight. At least 6,000 people they reckon. The lawn and half the forecourt covered. Tui flying overhead joining in the fun. The bikers know are they being treated unfairly and National is using their levy money to pay for false propaganda for levy increases. They […]

The resistance

Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, November 12th, 2009 - 5 comments

A very well-produced youtube vid on National’s distortions over ACC The clever thing National has done is set up ACC as the agent of its own demise. With Business Roundtable member John Judge in charge ACC has become a propaganda wing for National’s anti-ACC rubbish. Judge and Nick Smith have created a false air of […]

Politicisation of ACC continues

Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, November 11th, 2009 - 4 comments

Frogblog has another example of the continuing politicisation of the public service under National. I meant to post on this a while back, but you may have seen these ads in your local paper recently: Not only is the ACC’s message in this ad contrary to the Woodhouse principles it was founded on, but there’s […]