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Nats fail to save jobs in quake zone

Written By: - Date published: 10:16 pm, September 9th, 2010 - 70 comments

86 workers have been fired from Kaiapoi New World, which will be closed for a year due to quake damage. This is exactly why the government should implement the kind of scheme I outlined where the government steps in to supply the full wages of workers who can’t work due to the quake, funded by delaying the tax cuts for the rich.

Wage subsidy a half-hearted gesture

Written By: - Date published: 8:12 am, September 8th, 2010 - 60 comments

The unions, business, and Phil Goff have all gritted their teeth and called the Nats’ $15 million wage subsidy scheme for small quaked-affected businesses ‘a start’. The problem is, it’s likely to be the end. This scheme will leave workers and employers severely out of pocket, killing businesses and jobs.

An economic plan for Christchurch

Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, September 7th, 2010 - 59 comments

Christchurch needs a more ambitious rescue package than has been announced. Relying on EQC and insurance payouts is not enough. I would cancel the top bracket tax cuts due to come into force in a month saving half a billion dollars for a real economic revival plan The first step would be to grant emergency bridging funding to businesses closed by the quake so that they can continue to pay their workers

Newsflash: Nation not a Business

Written By: - Date published: 8:11 am, September 2nd, 2010 - 50 comments

National don’t understand macroeconomics. As such they are inflicting massive and unnecessary harm, with high unemployment and a long time until recovery.

Our $20 million bill for Nats’ expediency

Written By: - Date published: 8:48 pm, September 1st, 2010 - 28 comments

Many argue English should never have extended the deposit guarantee to South Canterbury Finance in April, or question whether the terms of the guarantee called for the pay-out. Then there’s the stink around the payment of SCF bonds. One thing’s for sure, the Nats didn’t need to spend $20 million on foreign depositors – they did it to try to kill the issue faster. Plenty of meat for Labour. Will they bite?

Anything too big to fail should be publicly owned

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, August 31st, 2010 - 96 comments

South Canterbury Finance is on the brink of collapse. The plan appears to be for the government to purchase the bad loans from the company at twice their book value, giving SCF the cash it needs to get back on its feet. That’s a dumb idea. The owners of SCF have taken huge profits in the good times, they can’t be allowed to pass their losses on to the rest of us now and continue as if nothing happened.

Unions launch name and shame

Written By: - Date published: 7:09 am, August 13th, 2010 - 144 comments

John Key challenged the unions to “put up or shut up”. So they’re going to put up. The CTU has launched a campaign to name and shame businesses that are abusing the fire at will (90 day probation) bill. It’s a campaign based around personal stories. Heather Smith tells the first of many…

Just who does Business NZ represent?

Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, July 15th, 2010 - 31 comments

Business New Zealand CEO Phil O’Reilly has come out against Clare Curran’s procurement bill despite the fact procurement legislation would benefit his members.

It makes you wonder just who exactly Business lobby groups represent.

The Right and the foreshore and seabed deal

Written By: - Date published: 1:33 am, June 19th, 2010 - 14 comments

We know that the foreshore and seabed deal does not do what the Maori Party was established to achieve but, almost paradoxically, it gives iwi the veto and mineral rights that will be seen by businesses wanting to undertake activities like aquaculture, tourism, and undersea mining as imposing an unknown and possibly very large tax from an unaccountable power.

NZ Sharemarket plummeting

Written By: - Date published: 12:52 pm, May 21st, 2010 - 9 comments

John Key’s “Don’t Be Jealous” Budget has done little to stop the European contagion from ravaging our sharemarket – at time of writing down 2.4% and still falling. The NZX company itself has dropped more than 5%, leading other significant losses by Fletcher Building, Sky City, and Contact Energy. Telecom is now down to an historic […]

Key “short-sighted, irresponsible”

Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, May 5th, 2010 - 88 comments

Today’s Herald has a front page piece criticizing Key’s abandonment of his Middle East trade mission to return home for the funerals of the three airmen who crashed on their way to an ANZAC Day parade. Trade delegate Dr John Langley said the decision was not in New Zealand’s long-term interests and that Mr Key was […]

Why the miners are so keen on public land

Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, May 3rd, 2010 - 36 comments

Most of this country’s mineral wealth lies under private land, according to the government’s own figures. So, why are the Nats so determined to override public opinion and let their mining allies dig up our precious protected lands? Simple: mining on private land means paying a lease to the owner. Mining on public land is cheaper: we’re played like chumps for bigger profits.

Nats plan to subsidise greenhouse polluters

Written By: - Date published: 9:07 am, April 29th, 2010 - 21 comments

National is predictably planning to put the cost of polluters’ actions on to the rest of us by canning the major parts of the ETS. This stupid game of pass the buck is played out all over the world – polluters refuse to accept their responsibilities, governments refuse to act – as more greenhouse gases are pumped into the atmosphere, locking us in to economic and ecological devastation.

Battlers vs billion dollar banks

Written By: - Date published: 11:56 pm, April 21st, 2010 - 33 comments

Finsec’s Andrew Campbell introduces the union’s Better Banking, a trans-Tasman campaign they’re running with their Aussie counterparts to get a better deal for bank workers and bank customers. Campbell notes the banks’ $1 billion profit in the last 3 months alone and asks “Have your fees gone down? Has your mortgage payment become more manageable?”

National’s rock and hard place

Written By: - Date published: 11:31 am, April 12th, 2010 - 23 comments

National’s proposed reform of the foreshore and seabed legislation is no ‘elegant solution’. Instead, it is being criticised in the business press as an undemocratic favouring of Maori business interests over Pakeha ones, while iwi are saying that it doesn’t give them what they want.

On Gattung’s revisionist history of Telecom

Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, March 5th, 2010 - 15 comments

Over at Scoop, Gordon Campbell takes Theresa Gattung to task for her revisionist history of Telecom in the Dominion Post this morning.

More than anything, her latest outburst reveals her clanging naivety and complete inability to take personal responsibility for her failures.

Free Market Failure

Written By: - Date published: 9:38 am, February 27th, 2010 - 56 comments

It’s time for the National Party to issue an abject apology to the nation… for the 1992 Building Regulations that directly led to the astounding public crisis we now face. Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson told the Weekend Herald the official $11 billion figure – which experts believe is half the true cost – […]

‘Atlases’ don’t deserve a tax cut

Written By: - Date published: 9:47 am, February 24th, 2010 - 67 comments

This man is Paul Reynolds, CEO of Telecom. He has overseen the largest corporate disaster in recent New Zealand history. The Nats are planning to give him over $6,600 a week in tax cuts. Apparently this screw up on a $7 million salary is the kind of guy New Zealand needs.

Don’t take stock tips from Murray

Written By: - Date published: 10:18 pm, February 23rd, 2010 - 18 comments

Turns out McCully’s shares in Widespread Portfolios are worth 20 cents a pop. $31 total. He paid a grand for them at $5-odd each. Ouch. Are these guys really so good at business? Is mining really such a good bet for the country? And what is hidden away in the trusts?

A rare opportunity

Written By: - Date published: 6:26 pm, February 19th, 2010 - 6 comments

It is not often that I compliment the authors that write for No Minister. However I have to compliment SageNZ for his prescient post about Huljich Wealth Management – “Huljich funds and stock pumping”.. I noticed the post while I was scanning their site with my usual level of mild distaste (it usually feels like […]

Financial literacy – Educate adults.

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, February 19th, 2010 - 21 comments

While measures to fix problems in investments are good, the best approach is increase financial literacy. However Anne Tolly has already shown she does not understand education. Her idiotic decisions to destroy adult community education has removed the best channel for promoting knowledge amongst current investors. This suggests that the government isn’t serious and we are seeing more PR than substantive measures.

Colin, I missed you

Written By: - Date published: 11:17 am, January 28th, 2010 - 44 comments

Colin Espiner’s back with his first blog of the year. It’s so much fun having him back. In his first outing, he comes up with four suggestions for government action in the year ahead. Since the government doesn’t seem to have any other ideas, let’s look at two of them: End interest-free student loans Yeah, […]

The power of public condemnation

Written By: - Date published: 3:39 pm, January 25th, 2010 - 23 comments

Phew, that was quick. Yesterday John Kingi writes to us about Club Physical promoting homophobic myths. I publish his email. The same day a 300 member Facebook group pops up, and John’s on NewstalkZB and GayNZ. Today, Club Physical’s apologising. A lot of the righties complained that we shouldn’t have posted this. Suspect that deep down they are sympathetic […]

Subsidising Pandora’s box-office

Written By: - Date published: 11:46 am, January 25th, 2010 - 43 comments

 Gerry Brownlee is defending the $45 million tax break the Government gave the makers of Avatar to do most of their special effects work here. “Attracting large budget film productions here offers wider benefits to the economy, including increased opportunities for New Zealanders as well as tourism benefits from having New Zealand locations shown to […]

Cartoon: A brief history of corporate whining

Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, November 19th, 2009 - 13 comments

Great cartoon from Barry Deutsch at Lefycartoons.com Lifted from Joe Hendren

Closed for tax evasion

Written By: - Date published: 11:17 am, November 4th, 2009 - 7 comments

I see the BNZ’s got itself a new PR campaign: On 4 November, most BNZ people will be working on projects around New Zealand to help our communities be better off – we’re calling it Closed for Good. Um, thanks all the same, but why don’t you just pay your f*cking tax bill instead? Update: […]

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 […]

Aussie Minister shows guts, foresight and concern; ours… not so much

Written By: - Date published: 2:11 pm, October 25th, 2009 - 31 comments

Australia’s Federal Industry Minister Kim Carr has criticized Bridgestone’s closure of its Australian and New Zealand operations and the 1000 redundancies it’ll bring. Carr is looking at ways to alleviate some of the unemployment problems for the laid-off aussie workers but criticizes Bridgestone for pulling out (and no doubt relocating to countries where workers get […]

Big business demands to pillage state

Written By: - Date published: 5:49 pm, October 24th, 2009 - 18 comments

Fran O’Sullivan runs up some more big business proposals today unsubtly reminding Key that big business, which put up the cash to get him into power, expects pay back by being allowed to pillage the State: Behind the scenes the two task-forces investigating capital markets and tax reforms are taking a look at whether a […]

Management: clueless

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, October 23rd, 2009 - 5 comments

Saw this article on Stuff yesterday: Employers and employees have dramatically different opinions of why workers remain in their jobs, says research released on Tuesday showing US companies may struggle to retain employees in an improved job market. Employees cite benefits, financial compensation, and their career growth and earnings potential as the top three reasons […]

Wee gripes: As Kiwi as shrimps on the barbie

Written By: - Date published: 4:00 pm, October 22nd, 2009 - 19 comments

I love the ASB ads saying “We’ve been a Kiwi bank since 1847” No. You were a Kiwi bank. Since 1989 you’ve been owned by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Also, what’s up with calling themselves ASB Bank? Auckland Savings Bank Bank?

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