Privatisation

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Asset sale delay likely

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, July 17th, 2012 - 62 comments

Even John Key is now admitting that the asset sale program is facing a serious legal challenge, and that delays in the sales are likely.  Any such delay would have several implications…

A confession

Written By: - Date published: 9:47 pm, July 14th, 2012 - 7 comments

I joined Mighty River Power today. They offered me $150 incentive payment, no contract and a cheap rate. But couldn’t help wondering – am I part of a push to up their user numbers in preparation for sale?  So the numbers look good on the books, even if people (like me) might not stay?  What will happen to the share price when lots of users leave after the Government’s flogged 49% off?

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?

Day of Action

Written By: - Date published: 10:38 am, July 12th, 2012 - 89 comments

Asset sales fight cont…

Written By: - Date published: 12:29 pm, July 9th, 2012 - 7 comments

As the Sir Graham Latimer and the Maori Council launch their bid to halt asset sales in the Waitangi Tribunal, the grassroots campaign is gathering steam too.  This Saturday is to be a National Day of Action.

Iwi and the riverbeds

Written By: - Date published: 8:51 am, July 3rd, 2012 - 15 comments

The only remaining possible legal threat to the Nats’ plans to sell off our power companies is a Treaty based claim to water rights or riverbeds.

Sale of the century

Written By: - Date published: 12:02 pm, July 2nd, 2012 - 71 comments

So – what kind of person does well out of asset sales?…

Privatisation bill passed

Written By: - Date published: 5:17 pm, June 26th, 2012 - 239 comments

They’re quite literally selling our country down the river.

Bye bye Local Government 2

Written By: - Date published: 10:32 am, June 26th, 2012 - 12 comments

National’s Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill will do significant damage to local democracy as they seek to restrict councils to “core” services, put in fiscal constraints, put power into fewer hands and override local concerns with amalgamations. Overall the legislation is shoddy.  The Regulatory Impact Statement on the Government’s proposals from the Department of […]

51% swindle averted

Written By: - Date published: 12:43 pm, June 21st, 2012 - 31 comments

It looks like the Nats’ attempt to pull a swindle on the meaning of “51% ownership” has been averted.

Phony Tony

Written By: - Date published: 7:23 pm, June 19th, 2012 - 83 comments

The Herald reports that Tony Ryall said Labour had a history of privatising state owned assets back in the 1980s and early 90s. Ryall was elected to Parliament in 1990 – and it was a National government that  privatised the BNZ and Tranzrail. Ryall’s a phony. National’s asset sales programme is a dog.

1600 dead, power prices 2/3 higher than Oz/US: Market working – Ryall

Written By: - Date published: 2:28 pm, June 19th, 2012 - 81 comments

Independent energy analyst Molly Melhuish is putting out some facts that Tony Ryall will not find comfortable: we pay on average 28.1c per kWh from private companies and 24.79c per kWh from state owned companies. Why is the asset sales process being rushed through parliament, before Treasury can analyse Molly Melhuish’s research?

Know when to fold ’em

Written By: - Date published: 7:29 am, June 19th, 2012 - 8 comments

Key’s ditched  the surplus target that was so important a month ago –  yet another casualty on the way to the brighter future. The Queen may have asked him why he didn’t see European contagion coming. Shearer is right – Europe is an excuse for a government that has run out of ideas. Labour does have a fresh approach – we need to hear more.

Dunedin asset sales protest

Written By: - Date published: 2:28 pm, June 16th, 2012 - 12 comments

Between 1 and 2 thousand people turned out in Dunedin today to march in protest at the National government’s plan to sell our assets.

Asset sales: What’s the rush?

Written By: - Date published: 3:13 pm, June 13th, 2012 - 49 comments

The Asset Sales Bill will be back in Parliament for its second reading tomorrow.

It’s a further abrogation of due procress, as it comes back 5 weeks early, curtailing proper scrutiny.

Postcards from the “brighter” future

Written By: - Date published: 12:26 pm, June 5th, 2012 - 18 comments

Hey John – where’s our “Brighter Future”? Hey National voters – was this what you voted for?

Asset sales: still bad

Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, May 27th, 2012 - 16 comments

Adding to the canon of reasons and commentators on why you don’t sell your assets (particularly to pay for your maintenance) is an excellent article on The Guardian. It is an article exhorting the countries of the Arab Spring to resist Western countries pressure to implement neo-liberal economics in the name of ‘freedom’. It cites […]

Greens Budget Alternative

Written By: - Date published: 1:11 pm, May 21st, 2012 - 68 comments

The Greens launched their Budget alternative this morning. Titled “Smart Green Economics” it lived up to the billing.  Extra heft was provided by BERL economist Dr Ganesh Nana  paper arguing that the Government’s asset sales programme leaves the government accounts permanently worse off. It was also good to hear about opportunities and their alternatives. We’ve had enough of TINA.

Another MMP rort?

Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, May 4th, 2012 - 44 comments

The media are doing a good job investigating John Banks’ donation history.  The Police are presumably also doing theirs, and it seems clear that the matter must end up in Court and the issue of who is telling the truth will be decided by a judge. Some in the media have dismissed the question of any threat to National’s majority. Short-term maybe, long-term I’m not so sure.

Will Dunne heed his own poll on asset sales?

Written By: - Date published: 11:48 am, April 30th, 2012 - 46 comments

United Future are polling the public about their support for partial privatisation. Will Peter Dunne heed his own poll?

Policy for Money?

Written By: - Date published: 9:50 pm, April 29th, 2012 - 13 comments

Party donations for the 2011 general election  will be published on Tuesday . One new provision in the Act provides for the declaration of the number of donations in two bands; $1500 to $5,000, and up to $15,000. It will be very interesting to see the number of upper level donations in National and ACT particularly. They could hide Banks-type split donations from asset-sale backers.

$100m for Lizards

Written By: - Date published: 8:54 pm, April 26th, 2012 - 26 comments

John Key and Bill English couldn’t find $150million over four years for increased parental leave that would hugely benefit future children. Horrors – we would have to borrow! But they could find $100million straight away to pay international investment banks including Australian company Lazard’s to advise on asset sales that robs our children’s future and that  nobody else wants. It’s a matter of priorities – money gets money, kids get nothing.

Woka Woka Wharfie Fundraiser – Akl tonight

Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, April 3rd, 2012 - 10 comments

Something to do in Auckland tonight: What:  Special screening of The Muppets Where:  Hoyts Sylvia Park, Mt Wellington When:  Tonight, April 3rd, 6.10pm to 8.30pm Don’t let those muppets at the Ports of Auckland get you down, come laugh at the real Muppets instead! Some door sales will be available, or you can email julie.fairey@gmail.com […]

Private Welfare to Work – how well does that work?

Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, March 24th, 2012 - 42 comments

The government has introduced their welfare changes to parliament. In addition to making mums of 1 year-olds seek paid work in addition to raising children, it introduces private companies profiting from unemployment misery with welfare to work schemes. The UK has been trying this for a couple of years – let’s look at how that’s going…

“Largely symbolic”

Written By: - Date published: 5:26 pm, February 2nd, 2012 - 15 comments

According to TVNZ, the Prime Minister said section nine of the SOE legislation, referring to the Treaty of Waitangi,  was “largely symbolic” because it had not been enacted since it was drawn up in 1986. It wasn’t a felicitous phrase; he might well find Maoridom’s response is both symbolic and large, if not in the sense he meant.

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