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Myth-busting: ACC and injuries

Written By: - Date published: 4:00 pm, October 28th, 2009 - 20 comments

One of the Right’s silly myths, never backed up by any facts, is that not privatising ACC leads to more injuries. The logic (and it’s a logic only the money-obsessed could come up with) is that private workplace insurers would charge higher premiums for dangerous workplaces and lower premiums for safer workplaces – this would […]

Remember who they’re fighting for

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, October 28th, 2009 - Comments Off on Remember who they’re fighting for

This memo was sent by the Insurance Council to its members in 2005 but it may as well have been sent this week. Because as sure as National was keeping its agenda secret and having clandestine talks with the insurers about privatising ACC in 2005 they will be having the same talks under wraps while […]

Labour stands up for ACC

Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, October 24th, 2009 - 14 comments

So – Labour have stood up for ACC. Bravo! History repeats. In the last year of the last National government (1999) they flogged off the profitable parts of ACC cover to their mates in the insurance industry (“opened ACC to competition”). The incoming Labour government reversed those changes and re-instated ACC as the sole provider […]

National announces ACC privatisation

Written By: - Date published: 5:26 pm, October 22nd, 2009 - 59 comments

National is going to privatise ACC. As part of the deal for support on its ACC cuts and levy hikes from the Maori Party and ACT, it will be privatising ACC’s Work Account (the part paid by employers for workplace accidents). First, there will be a perfunctory report provided by the ACC Stocktake Group, a […]

Turia on ACC

Written By: - Date published: 3:50 pm, October 21st, 2009 - 8 comments

Here’s Tariana Turia on Q&A last Sunday, responding to a question from Guyon Espiner about National’s plans for ACC: I’m very concerned and one of the reasons why I’m really concerned is that there’s been a lot of talk about privatising the work account. Now the face of it is that’s the only account that […]

Maori Party supports foreign business over working Maori

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, October 21st, 2009 - 26 comments

It is a reflection of the schizophrenic nature of the Maori Party that one day they’re professing to care about poor Maori who are apparently missing out on their ACC entitlements and the next day they’re backing privatisation of ACC, which would lead to even worse outcomes for those Maori, because it might be a […]

EMA busts another privatisation myth

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, October 20th, 2009 - 32 comments

When asked to explain why they want to start privatising a world-leading institution like ACC, National and ACT tend to fall back on the excuse that it will somehow lead to lower ACC premiums. Of course, the international experience and every independent report that’s been done shows the exact opposite, but they can always point […]

Another day, another sell-out

Written By: - Date published: 3:40 pm, October 20th, 2009 - 19 comments

The Maori Party has decided it will support National’s changes to ACC despite Tariana Turia just two days ago saying she was “very concerned” about those changes. Here’s their explanation for their latest flip-flop: “We know that Maori have consistently had less access to ACC entitlements than other groups, under existing legislation. While this Bill […]

ACC fracas ‘truly dumb’

Written By: - Date published: 2:51 pm, October 20th, 2009 - 5 comments

Tim Hazledine, a professor of economics at the University of Auckland, has a nice piece in the Herald today that lays out just how absurd National’s spin about the ACC “blowout” really is. Suppose you and your spouse are in charge of a family of, say, three young children. That means you are legally responsible […]

Take a stand Phil

Written By: - Date published: 1:01 pm, October 20th, 2009 - 32 comments

John Dalley makes a good point in the comments section of our last ACC post: About now would be a good time for Labour to state publicly that they will do away with private insurers when next in government. I say absolutely right. It would throw a spanner in any plans to privatise the ACC […]

Big bucks for Aussie insurers in ACC privatisation

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, October 20th, 2009 - 9 comments

It seems certain National will begin the privatisation of ACC starting with opening the work account to private competition. As happened in 1998, private insurers will cream off large and low-risk employers with loss-leading special deals to gain market share, leaving the taxpayer to shoulder the burden of the rest, and put up premiums later. […]

ACC protests send clear message to NACT

Written By: - Date published: 9:13 pm, October 19th, 2009 - 8 comments

Today hundreds of people around the country marched against the cuts to sexual abuse counselling due to be implemented by ACC next week. The protests were widely covered by the media, with excellent coverage by both TVNZ and 3News. I was at the Auckland march where a couple of hundred people turned up to rally […]

Told you so: Right pushes ACC privatisation

Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, October 19th, 2009 - 57 comments

Last Thursday, Colin Espiner was mocking all of us who said that National and other rightwing groups were trying to create a sense of crisis around ACC to soften us up for privatisation: “That somehow this is all just a VRWC* to derail the ACC, lower public confidence in it, and then sell it to […]

Smith still lying with numbers

Written By: - Date published: 12:03 pm, October 19th, 2009 - 7 comments

Last week, David Parker asked Nick Smith what the “whole-of-life cost to ACC of all new claims” for the last year were. Smith’s answer surprised everyone because it made no sense. He told us that claims made last year alone would cost $7 billion over their lifes. If that were really so, ACC’s liablities would […]

Woodhouse: ACC not in crisis

Written By: - Date published: 9:23 am, October 19th, 2009 - 13 comments

A fascinating interview with the Sir Owen Woodhouse in the Herald today. Sir Owen has led an amazing life – after helping supply Yugoslav partisans fighting the Nazis, he rose through the ranks of our judiciary becoming a Privy Councillor and President of the Court of Appeal, and is still going strong at 93.  His most enduring achievement, […]

Protests against cuts to sexual abuse cover

Written By: - Date published: 12:33 pm, October 18th, 2009 - Comments Off on Protests against cuts to sexual abuse cover

[Pulling the following comment from Toad in Open Mike up to the front page.] If you are in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch or Dunedin tomorrow, please try to find the time to support the protests against ACC’s proposed cuts to sexual abuse cover and therapy. There are protests organised for this Monday 19th October: AUCKLAND: Meet […]

ACC a good investor

Written By: - Date published: 10:24 am, October 16th, 2009 - 40 comments

The other day, John Key said “ACC’s investment portfolio had not been working well”. Now, if there’s one golden rule regarding people with power it’s never take what they say for granted. And that’s never been more true than with this Prime Minister. So, I took a look at ACC’s annual report (Colin Espiner et […]

It’s called politics, Colin

Written By: - Date published: 4:11 am, October 16th, 2009 - 30 comments

Colin, I think we need to discuss your work: the conspiracy theory peddled by Labour and the EPMU (i.e. Labour) that somehow this is all just a VRWC to derail the ACC, lower public confidence in it, and then sell it to the highest (or any) bidder just doesn’t ring true for me. Don’t you […]

Fiasco after fiasco

Written By: - Date published: 4:23 pm, October 15th, 2009 - 33 comments

It seems National has a problem with numbers. First they fudge the numbers for ACC so they can claim a “blow out” and now they can’t even get the numbers to pass their legislation. You heard correctly. After all of that hoopla about how ACC is in crisis and how they need to strip entitlements […]

Spin-busting: ACC rises and cuts

Written By: - Date published: 1:45 pm, October 15th, 2009 - 38 comments

The Herald’s editorial today largely reads like it was written by Nick Smith and John Judge, so let’s use it as the basis for some spin-busting (my source is the ACC annual report unless otherwise mentioned): opponents say any change would be a prelude to privatisation. Yet all this exaggeration could not disguise the fact […]

Nick Smith plays dumb

Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, October 15th, 2009 - 14 comments

Answering the question you wish you were asked rather than the one you were is a common PR tactic (to a point) when speaking to the media. Watching a cabinet minister try the same trick in parliament really starts to unveil this government’s contempt for democracy (though this example is perhaps not quite as bad […]

The Independent on National’s ACC agenda

Written By: - Date published: 11:26 am, October 15th, 2009 - 5 comments

Very good editorial on ACC in The Independent today. The article’s offline, but it’s quite clear about why the Government is trying to manufacture a crisis over the financial position of ACC: ACC currently collects sufficient levies to meet each year’s claims – it has levy revenue of $4.1b in the 2009 June year, compared […]

March against ACC cuts

Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, October 14th, 2009 - 5 comments

From October 27th, survivors of sexual violence will only be eligible for ACC funded counselling if they are first diagnosed with a mental illness. Firstly, you don’t need to have a mental illness to need a few counselling sessions after going through a traumatic and disempowering experience. Why should a survivor miss out on services […]

Oldest trick in the book

Written By: - Date published: 5:49 am, October 14th, 2009 - 7 comments

How do you get someone to change their mind about something they like? Simple, find one negative element to it (nothing is perfect) and blow it into a major issue. Nick Smith knows how to do this, he’s built a career on it. Now, he’s trying to make compensation payments to criminals the issue in […]

We still pay, ACC or no ACC

Written By: - Date published: 10:01 am, October 13th, 2009 - 25 comments

Labour’s David Parker has been a bit slow reacting to National’s latest attack on ACC but now he’s in play he has a killer point to make: if ACC cover is cut, the costs of what was paid for by ACC will still have to be paid for by society somehow. The treatments and lost […]

A quick question

Written By: - Date published: 8:14 pm, October 12th, 2009 - 26 comments

Do any health insurance companies fully fund long-term claims in the way ACC is being asked to?

First, manufacture a crisis…

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, October 12th, 2009 - 49 comments

The first thing you need to understand is ACC is not spending more money than it is taking in through levies. It is not going bust. It is not ‘making a loss’ despite what Nick Smith writes and the media faithfully repeats, but, then, they got taken in by this same trick six months ago. […]

“Blow out” more like Blowup

Written By: - Date published: 1:29 pm, October 10th, 2009 - 11 comments

Readers of a certain age will remember an Antonioni film called Blowup. The title conceit involves a photographer who finds what appears to be a dead body in one of his photographs but when he blows the photo up to find out more all that happens is the resolution degrades. The more closely he looks […]

Talleys: Corporate scum

Written By: - Date published: 2:14 pm, April 6th, 2009 - 41 comments

I’ve long been of the opinion that the Talley family, owners of the Talleys food empire, are a corrosive force in this country who have a complete contempt for their workforce, the public and our democratic institutions. Sure enough, they’re at it again. NZPA reports: The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) plans to call […]

Anyone else get the feeling…?

Written By: - Date published: 11:04 am, April 1st, 2009 - 1 comment

National dumps worker reps from ACC board

Written By: - Date published: 5:49 pm, March 31st, 2009 - 13 comments

Nick Smith announced National’s changes to the ACC board this afternoon. As expected they’ve kicked Wayne Butson and Ross Wilson off the board, meaning ACC no longer has any worker representation. In their place are a mixed bag of company directors and consultants headed by an affiliate member of the Business Roundtable. This isn’t just […]

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  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
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  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
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  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
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