Written By: - Date published: 8:02 pm, October 13th, 2015 - 287 comments
Today, Labour showed the commercial world that its non-negotiable “bottom lines” are actually very negotiable, and even disposable.
Written By: - Date published: 8:08 am, August 30th, 2015 - 55 comments
The latest financial reports for the privatised companies suggests that the New Zealand Government has lost in the past twelve months $470 million in dividends it would have received had it held onto the shares.
Written By: - Date published: 10:15 am, August 24th, 2015 - 10 comments
New allegations that at least one Serco prison guard was active involved in Mt Eden’s “fight club”. In some ways the public mess that Serco has made of Mt Eden has done us all a favour
Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, August 24th, 2015 - 118 comments
Jeremy Corbyn announces the potential renationalisation of privatised state assets, with minimal compensation. While 41 leading economists back his anti-austerity stance. This is what left wing leadership and courage looks like.
Written By: - Date published: 8:35 am, August 19th, 2015 - 21 comments
National’s selloff of our state houses is yet another example of its two main obsessions, secrecy and unaccountable power.
Written By: - Date published: 10:23 am, August 8th, 2015 - 84 comments
Under Unitec’s new vision students will be known as Customers. Student services will be outsourced (overseas)
Aspiration statementTo be a world leader in contemporary applied learning and an agent of positive economic and social change.
Written By: - Date published: 12:14 pm, July 25th, 2015 - 72 comments
Recent focus has been on the tragedy and incompetence of a Serco run private prison. But problems extend further than that, into the entire way NZ views its prison system. We need fundamental penal reform.
Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, July 25th, 2015 - 32 comments
The Nats have been forced to call in the good old-fashioned state to clear up Serco’s mess.
Written By: - Date published: 1:33 pm, July 24th, 2015 - 33 comments
The Friday afternoon bad news dump is on with news that Education Minister was recommended to close a poorly performing charter school. She has elected not to do so and to instead give the school extra money.
Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, July 23rd, 2015 - 18 comments
I love how right-wing ideology is just some thing that can be switched on and off at will. Case in point, ownership of state houses…
Written By: - Date published: 10:29 am, June 28th, 2015 - 20 comments
English needs to explain why the government can’t find NZ buyers for their “social housing” plans. The Nats to explain how selling state houses helps a single family in need.
Written By: - Date published: 6:08 pm, June 26th, 2015 - 433 comments
A respectful open letter to Andrew Little with suggestions for how to win the next election!
Written By: - Date published: 10:18 am, June 9th, 2015 - 101 comments
Advocates of Kiwisaver and other funded “retirement savings” schemes perpetuate the fundamental misunderstanding that “conventional” in New Zealand’s case “neo-liberal” economists, speculators, finance companies, politicians and those with a lot of share holding wealth in non-productive enterprises like to perpetuate.
Written By: - Date published: 11:38 am, June 5th, 2015 - 26 comments
A superb piece by Dita De Boni on the Nats’ plans to privatise mental health. See also (and sign!) Labour’s open letter opposing the “social bonds” scheme.
Written By: - Date published: 6:08 am, May 17th, 2015 - 64 comments
Back in March 1988 David Lange had a clear idea about what lay ahead for New Zealanders as the long-term consequences of Roger Douglas’ psychopathic worshipping of the metaphysical Invisible Hand gradually materialised.
Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, May 8th, 2015 - 7 comments
If National were serious about their “social housing” spin they would place restrictions on the use and resale of these houses. Without such protections its just another privatisation of public assets.
Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, May 7th, 2015 - 16 comments
The Auditor General found that no one in National Ltd™, the Māori Party, Te Puni Korkiri, or any other of its apologists can detail exactly what Whānau Ora is supposed to be doing, provide evidence of its outcomes, or explain why up to 33% of the money is being paid in “administration”. In other words, Whānau Ora is a shambles. And dodgy.
Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, April 9th, 2015 - 14 comments
For those who are wondering how National’s “social housing” policy is going to work in practice, The Herald today has a piece that gives a pretty fair idea.
Written By: - Date published: 6:55 am, March 23rd, 2015 - 48 comments
Where does this leave National’s “social housing” sell-off?
Written By: - Date published: 2:13 pm, February 5th, 2015 - 76 comments
The social democracy of my youth has radically collapsed into our current culture of individualism, privatisation and personal greed.
Written By: - Date published: 11:51 am, January 31st, 2015 - 27 comments
“The Government’s continuing attempts to divest itself of state housing overlook the enormous benefits to society which these homes produce in alleviating severe housing shortages. They were built up by successive generations of New Zealanders, and to “sell them off” under the pretence of efficiency is a disservice to all of us, whether we’re homeowners or renters.”
Written By: - Date published: 4:18 pm, December 11th, 2014 - 55 comments
New author Mandy Hager joins us with some reflections on having become a grandmother: “So that’s why I’m speaking out now, every opportunity I get. Not because I like the exposure (shudder), but because I love this tiny little person and I will fight for his future, come what may. It’s the right thing to do. …”
Written By: - Date published: 3:11 pm, December 10th, 2014 - 4 comments
A last-minute, urgent appeal from Phil Twyford – oppose the sell off of state houses – today!
Written By: - Date published: 10:07 pm, December 4th, 2014 - 35 comments
I miss Fred Dagg – John Clarke’s latest is a purler. “New Zealand … is an egalitarian nation made up of well over four million rugged individualists and naturally gifted sportspeople and is run on alternate days by the government and whoever bought the national infrastructure.” Read, laugh and weep – he might be gone but we’re not forgotten, and thank God for that.
Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, November 28th, 2014 - 12 comments
Kevin Hague says, the government’s plan to replace state housing with “social housing” will make the affordable housing crisis worse & is “economically reckless”. The Labour Party have circulated a petition to save state houses from being sold by the NZ government.
Written By: - Date published: 9:18 am, November 27th, 2014 - 6 comments
The stage was long ago reached where members of the US Government were told they should “wear their sponsors logo’s on their shirts”.
Written By: - Date published: 9:08 am, November 12th, 2014 - 46 comments
Is Key planning to flog off state houses at half price to a liquor company?
Written By: - Date published: 7:13 am, November 11th, 2014 - 120 comments
The entirely predictable effects of privatising much of our electricity generation capacity are arriving thick and fast.
Written By: - Date published: 9:39 am, July 27th, 2014 - 124 comments
The SST this morning have broken a story about how an American couple were able to purchase $1.6 million worth of shares in Genesis while “mum and dad kiwi investors” had their share allocation limited to $5,000.
Written By: - Date published: 10:32 am, July 8th, 2014 - 149 comments
If the aims of National/ACT’s education policy were, genuinely, to to improve the learning, education and career choices for our children, including the ones that are failing at present, they would not be following policies which have signally failed to achieve any of these goals, anywhere else they have been tried.
Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, June 29th, 2014 - 11 comments
How to make your very own New Zealand Prime Minister. Even better looking than this vessel.
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