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Cute with semantics on water

Written By: - Date published: 7:22 am, July 13th, 2012 - 82 comments

John Key has been running round repeating that no one owns water. He’s just being cute with semantics. What is the effective difference between owning water, and owning water rights?

Australia’s sweatshop

Written By: - Date published: 10:29 am, July 7th, 2012 - 69 comments

The Nats have given up on catching up with Australia, and are content for us to become their low wage sweatshop instead. Their cheerleaders think it’s a great idea.

I beg to differ.

Exxon continues denier tactics

Written By: - Date published: 1:51 pm, July 2nd, 2012 - 37 comments

The Exxon Mobil CEO now acknowledges that the world is warming, but claims that there will be an “engineering solution”. This glib reassurance is simply the next phase of Exxon’s well funded and carefully planned denier tactics.

Making it here

Written By: - Date published: 10:42 pm, July 1st, 2012 - 14 comments

SST Business Editor Rob O’Neill said today: “There is a great deal of lip-service paid to “innovation” in business. What is not often acknowledged is how embedded innovation can be in manufacturing. Making stuff, or being able to talk freely with the people who do, can be a source of inspiration and great ideas for companies.” I got a lot of inspiration from Swedish Academic Goran Roos on this topic in Auckland on Friday. South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has asked him to head up their manufacturing strategy next year. We could do with someone like him too.

A poor investment

Written By: - Date published: 11:07 am, June 28th, 2012 - 60 comments

Now the legislation to sell our assets has passed, the question on lefties’ minds is whether it’s more principled to refuse to buy them or to spend the money to ensure they don’t get sold offshore.

What’s not getting a lot of attention is whether they’re actually the great investment our Prime Minister keeps insisting they are…

ImperatorFish: More Futile and Cynical Policy

Written By: - Date published: 1:54 pm, June 26th, 2012 - 6 comments

John Key must think the New Zealand public have the memory of a goldfish. He’s put forward bold plans before, but they usually end in failure. Closing the income gap with Australia, creating more jobs, reducing the number of people fleeing to a better life in Australia. And now the promise to get back into budget surplus, which he’s already backtracking on.

RWC Tickets

Written By: - Date published: 8:40 pm, May 23rd, 2012 - 32 comments

So Key is ‘surprised’ that David Shearer, the local member for Eden Park, accepted tickets to a local game, and doesn’t feel beholden to corporate interests?  He can accept hospitality and still criticise a company is somehow shocking?  I think this tells us more about John, than it surprises the rest of us about David…

True ‘cost’ of Mondayisation deliberately hidden

Written By: - Date published: 5:02 pm, May 14th, 2012 - 8 comments

An interesting press release from David Clark, sponsor of the “Mondayisation” bill.  It looks like the process of constructing the official advice on this matter was deliberately biased.  Why?

House Price Inflation

Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, May 6th, 2012 - 59 comments

Land prices rising much faster than wages. Shares, derivatives, hedge funds or other financial instruments are designed so that banks can gamble with our money. Win or lose they always get a cut. Loss comes out of our pensions and other savings. Or, if they really stuff it up, taxpayers are expected to borrow more from them to pay for it. Banks following their own self interest and are compounding economies to oblivion. The “invisible hand” has failed..

Nat’s sell Kiwis out for their mates (again)

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, April 27th, 2012 - 188 comments

Remember way back when the government were changing the law to take rights off film workers and increase tax breaks for Warners? It was all about keeping Kiwi jobs they said.

Well it turns out that at the same time they were doing this they were also making promises to Peter Jackson that those Kiwi jobs would be given to imported workers.

Banks’ secret donation from the ‘wide boys’

Written By: - Date published: 6:19 am, April 27th, 2012 - 101 comments

John Banks has had a miraculous change of heart on pokies. He used to say gambling bosses were “wide boys” who “sucked” the people of this country dry. Now, he’s rubbed up against John Key and become ‘relaxed’ about more pokies. Maybe the $15,000 undeclared donation from SkyCity helped. A donor Banks was legally required to disclose but didn’t. Labour’s laid a complaint. Update: donation has been referred to police.

A Butcher’s Shop, a Toy Shop, a Candy Store and a Childcare Centre

Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, April 25th, 2012 - 14 comments

Steven Joyce’s personal fiefdom of Economic Development, Science and Innovation, Building and Housing, and Labour is confirmed. Now for the redundancies…

Gaming industry whistleblower

Written By: - Date published: 10:21 am, April 23rd, 2012 - 8 comments

Very interesting article on Stuff yesterday, about ex cop Martin Legge and the information that he has on the practices of the gaming industry in NZ. Someone is trying to sweep this case under the carpet. They shouldn’t get away with it.

SkyCity’s convention centre would need $10m+ subsidies – MED

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 am, April 22nd, 2012 - 46 comments

Key’s selling our gambling law to SkyCity in return for a convention centre with no government capital contribution. But, MED says, we would be subsidising that convention centre with $10m for starters. Plus marketing costs. And, then, ongoing subsidies both if convention numbers fall short and as a kickback when it does host conventions.

Key’s Waterloo

Written By: - Date published: 7:50 am, April 20th, 2012 - 62 comments

It’s a bit rich for Key to claim that there were no credible alternatives to the back-room deal with SkyCity when he shut down one alternative proposal and ignored four others. But now the facts are coming out. Key has “advised himself” into his worst public relations fiasco yet.

Key ups the ante on an empty hand

Written By: - Date published: 8:25 am, April 19th, 2012 - 77 comments

Back before John Key’s political nous deserted him (circa mid-November 2011), he would have run a mile from the dirty pokies deal with SkyCity. Instead, he’s claiming the dirty deal as his own and SkyCity’s chairman bragging about his access to Nat ministers. All to build a useless convention centre that will demand ongoing subsidies. Not worth the political capital.

SkyCity’s incoherent excuses

Written By: - Date published: 7:21 am, April 18th, 2012 - 82 comments

Yesterday we were treated to a bizarrely incoherent media blurt from SkyCity. I guess trying to defend the indefensible is taking its toll.

The PoAL dispute and facilitation

Written By: - Date published: 6:43 pm, April 12th, 2012 - 114 comments

Ports of Auckland has called for facilitated bargaining.

How might this play out?

King Salmon hand out

Written By: - Date published: 10:27 am, April 5th, 2012 - 16 comments

MrSmith looks at the massive expansion of aquaculture in the Marlborough Sounds that King Salmon is planning, aided and abetted by National’s ‘Environmental Protection’ Agency. King Salmon got a public hand-out when it was having trouble selling its product but now it wants more public property to make more salmon, the public gets no voice.

Joyce’s dirty deals: Skycity

Written By: - Date published: 7:19 am, April 3rd, 2012 - 40 comments

While Collins is busy backing herself into a corner over the ACC affair and has found herself footing the bill for vexatious lawsuits, Joyce, her main rival for the post-Key leadership, is cutting a sleazy deal with SkyCity: more pokies and relaxed licencing in return for an international convention centre we don’t need. Now we learn SkyCity is fostering problem gambling.

On incompetent management

Written By: - Date published: 9:03 am, April 1st, 2012 - 28 comments

Once upon a time, decades ago now, ports were run by a person called the Harbourmaster. He used to be a highly qualified and experienced Master Mariner, who had extensive knowledge of shipping and decades of experience, at sea and within the port. All this competence and experience came at a wage,  at most, five times the average wage.

It’s safe to get off the fence now, Len

Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, March 31st, 2012 - 50 comments

The PoAL management looks as incompetent and divided as the Nats after their ‘bullet-proof’ contracting out plans were shot down by the Employment Court and a director resigned publicly admonishment management’s strategy. Time to use that bully pulpit, Len. Say you have no confidence in Pearson and Gibson, demand they drop their plans, and get the port back to work.

Cost of the Ports of Auckland fiasco

Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, March 29th, 2012 - 9 comments

Apparently the Auckland Council doesn’t know how much the POAL fiasco is costing. Rough estimates suggest that the cost is at least $400,000 a day, probably significantly more.  No wonder the Council doesn’t want to know.

Workers’ victory over incompetent PoAL management

Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, March 28th, 2012 - 43 comments

Ports of Auckland must pay the permanent workers among the union members it had illegally locked out. It’s only a partial victory for workers who want to work and have long-term job security, not just get paid for two weeks. But it’s yet another costly defeat for management. How long will they keep burning ratepayers’ money like this before the council acts?

Time for workers in the boardroom

Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, March 27th, 2012 - 20 comments

German corporations’ boards are half employee representatives. This has stopped outsourcing, short-term executive thinking, outrageous executive/director pay and can only have improved worker relations. Their economy is sustainable and powering ahead out of the financial crisis through innovation and productivity. Could such an idea catch on here?

Local Board members call for council action on PoAL

Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, March 24th, 2012 - 38 comments

We’ve received the following press release from Auckland Council Local Board members calling on Len Brown and the councilors to stand up to PoAL’s out of control management. The workers want to work and be more productive. The bosses want to screw them out of their pay to increase profits and are acting irrationally in pursuit of that goal.

What next at PoAL?

Written By: - Date published: 8:02 am, March 22nd, 2012 - 167 comments

Despite the court making them return to the bargaining table, PoAL Chair Richard Pearson seems to fail to understand some basic principles of employment law.

His comments on morning report suggest he’s either ignorant of some basic legal issues or still has no regard for good faith bargaining.

I’d suggest that either case indicates there’s a need for the council to step in and put some responsible adults in charge of this company.

China

Written By: - Date published: 9:40 am, March 13th, 2012 - 19 comments

There’s been much wailing and gnashing of teeth over Pengxin Shanghai’s attempt to buy the Crafar farms. Justified too. I want to take a step back and look at the strategy that China is executing and the imperatives behind it. Like any successful organisation, China is seeking to perpetuate its power. That requires securing access to resources. And China’s sitting on the low-cost cash to do it.

Some people just don’t learn

Written By: - Date published: 1:17 pm, March 11th, 2012 - 83 comments

POAL is on the backfoot industrially, legally, and in terms of public relations.

God only knows what kind of hubris made Gibson and his board think they could get away with attacking their workers like this.

It seems that no matter how many times these corporate ratbags get their arses handed to them by union members they just don’t seem to learn.

Women kept out of the boardroom

Written By: - Date published: 7:12 pm, March 8th, 2012 - 19 comments

Stuff has a report telling us what we already know: an old boys’ network keeps women out of the boardroom in Australia and New Zealand. This clubbiness is just one of the reasons we’re such an unequal country. A small network of white middle-class males appoint each other to the boards of their companies, then set each other’s pay

The real crims wear white collars

Written By: - Date published: 9:57 am, February 25th, 2012 - 74 comments

Directorships are the golden ticket in the world of the business elite. You attend maybe 10 meetings a year, sign whatever’s put in front of you, typically get paid $3-4K a pop, and do it over again half a dozen times or more for various companies. It’s a gravy train for managers past their use by date. But customers and shareholders have to trust what directors sign off on.

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