Posts on the economy, work, business, income, and labour
Written By: - Date published: 3:38 pm, December 5th, 2024 - 11 comments
The resurgence of the tax debate reflects impacts of neo-liberal economic policy and developments in the global economy over the last half century. As Labour considers further its approach to tax policy, this wider context should be considered
Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, December 4th, 2024 - 19 comments
Five recent polls show that Kiwis are tired of the Coalition government, but will the trendline hold?
Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, November 30th, 2024 - 20 comments
Shane Reti has said publicly that privatising health is not his overt policy. Which suggests strongly that it is his covert policy, especially given that he wants to increase the relationship with and outsourcing to private operators.
Written By: - Date published: 6:42 pm, November 28th, 2024 - 24 comments
The economy is tanking and Treasury has downgraded the forecasts again after “the government inherited finances in better shape than expected” in January. So who is Nicola Willis blaming, and Winston Peters too?
Written By: - Date published: 1:49 pm, November 27th, 2024 - 3 comments
If David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill is passed it may complicate Ngapuhi’s outstanding claim.
Written By: - Date published: 7:03 pm, November 24th, 2024 - 30 comments
What is the game plan for the Coalition government? What characteristics can we observe and what is the “end game?”
Written By: - Date published: 9:42 am, November 21st, 2024 - 36 comments
We woke up last week to the post-mortem on the US election. How and why Trump won, and their implications for political alignments everywhere, are front and centre. A fundamental issue, explicitly identified when Trump won in 2016, is the presence of large sections of the working class vote into the Trump camp. So why has that happened – again?
Written By: - Date published: 8:53 pm, November 20th, 2024 - 14 comments
2024 is the worst-ever year for our forest export industry as a whole, with most of our largest sawmills closing and the loss of hundreds of jobs.
Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, November 10th, 2024 - 10 comments
Nicola Willis deflects a question on why National are spending billions on roads without a business case – after cancelling the 2026 i-Rex – which had a strong business case and required $1.4bn more to complete seismic upgraded ports and next generation ferries.
Written By: - Date published: 6:28 pm, October 30th, 2024 - 12 comments
Chris Luxon continues to talk up privatisation and wealthy foreign interests from the Middle East and elsewhere. Privatisation and PPP models have been shown to cost a country – but he and ACT and NZ First seem set on their course to sell NZ assets.
Written By: - Date published: 2:20 pm, October 28th, 2024 - 21 comments
Enjoying your weekend? Thank a unionist!
Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, October 24th, 2024 - 17 comments
Welcome news from yesterday was the request to the Auditor General under the Public Audit Act on the arbitrary and unsupported by evidence decisions on tobacco products by the Customs Minister Casey Costello. As the request stated, Labour’s health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall had reached the limits of the information that she could seek using the Official Information Act.
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, October 24th, 2024 - 9 comments
Here are photos of the union protest around the country yesterday.
Written By: - Date published: 10:44 am, October 23rd, 2024 - 14 comments
Today is Protest Day – Stand Together. Here are the locations around the country and why you might feel moved to join.
Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, October 21st, 2024 - 62 comments
“We’re doomed” was Private Frazer’s inevitable response to any crisis in “Dad’s Army”. One might stray into such despondency when considering the external context in which New Zealand finds itself, then considering what we are doing as a nation to respond. Nigel Haworth looks at where we are at.
Written By: - Date published: 9:25 am, October 20th, 2024 - 22 comments
National Minister Andrew Bayley has apologised for his conduct after a complaint that he repeatedly called a worker “a loser” and swore at him while on a business visit.
Written By: - Date published: 7:06 pm, October 16th, 2024 - 90 comments
ANZ, ASB and Simplicity are the latest to join the 77% of business leaders who now say CGT is essential for NZ. CGT goes wholly to the government so why is Luxon so against it?
Written By: - Date published: 2:04 pm, October 6th, 2024 - 92 comments
Join us to protest privatisation of health on the 23rd October. But can we have more oomph and co-ordination please?
Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, October 4th, 2024 - 12 comments
Yesterday a former Health NZ Chair said the government is intentionally manufacturing a crisis to privatise healthcare. However privatisation will not solve anything and will only lead to worse financial and health outcomes for all Kiwis as confirmed by Lancet Medical Journal and case studies around the world.
Written By: - Date published: 9:49 am, October 2nd, 2024 - 41 comments
The National-ACT-NZ First government have signaled they want to privatise our health system. It’s a now or never moment.
Written By: - Date published: 12:59 pm, September 26th, 2024 - 45 comments
NZ has already spent $1bn on thin air (Kiwirail ferries), $70bn on roads, and $35bn on tax cuts so no to your hospitals and investments!
Written By: - Date published: 8:22 am, September 26th, 2024 - 24 comments
There appears to be an impasse in the Coalition’s ranks with Act and National not wanting rail enabled replacement ferries but Winston Peters demanding that they be rail enabled.
Written By: - Date published: 1:17 pm, September 22nd, 2024 - 20 comments
Nigel Haworth argues that the 2012 reforms of the Labour Party created a perverse effect. Not to engender stronger member voice, but to empower a managerial model akin to a Piketty’s Brahmin caste. It weakened the Party’s ability to act strongly at arms length of Caucus and Parliamentary Leader.
Written By: - Date published: 10:51 am, September 19th, 2024 - 26 comments
A recently Tax Justice Aotearoa study suggests that the country could impse a capital gains tax or wealth tax and the wealthy would still be better off than they would be in similar countries.
Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, September 13th, 2024 - 23 comments
This is what David Seymour was told. But he and the Government still chose to push through significant cuts to the scheme.
Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, September 12th, 2024 - 25 comments
It seems clear that the Government refused to do anything to stop Winston Pulp from closing its mills. And the Government’s plans to address price volatility by the use of LPG is counterproductive, especially when the cost of renewable energy is considered.
Written By: - Date published: 5:50 pm, September 7th, 2024 - 26 comments
Unions have fought for the rights of employees in the past, present, and future.
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, September 6th, 2024 - 31 comments
The Government has mistakenly released confidential legal advice confirming that the Charter School legislation breaches ILO conventions, free trade agreements and potentially the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.
Written By: - Date published: 9:23 am, September 4th, 2024 - 26 comments
Nicola Willis’s bungling of the Kiwirail Interislander project cancellation has so far cost Kiwis $1bn, but that’s not all. Today RNZ’s reporting reveals the government may have also undermined NZ’s relationship with South Korea.
Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, August 31st, 2024 - 69 comments
Guest post by Nigel Haworth discussing recent publicity given to the Labour Party’s debate around tax reform.
Written By: - Date published: 12:24 pm, August 30th, 2024 - 8 comments
NZ Parliament sitting where Labour’s Kieran McAnulty implores the Coalition government to stop deceiving Kiwis, and Winston Peters and Louise Upton both get fired up. Meanwhile, Casey Costello still doesn’t know who wrote her tobacco Ministerial papers.
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