privatisation

Categories under privatisation

Shocking the people into submission

Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, May 29th, 2013 - 24 comments

Last night The Shock Doctrine (2009) aired on Maori TV.  John Key, and his cheerleaders have followed their latest series of shock-inducing attacks on democratic processes and (low income) people’s rights, with positive forecasts for our future. Meanwhile, the gap between the haves & have-nots has grown.

The myth of ‘mum and dad’ investors

Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, May 24th, 2013 - 121 comments

The myth that National sold Mighty River Power to ‘mum and dads’ is dead. New analysis shows that half the retail shares went to just 12,844 people. A tiny group of 394 people bought 10% of the retail shares. Only 13.4% of the company is owned by what you might call ‘ordinary Kiwis’ – less than the amount owned by foreign investors. But the truth is, ordinary Kiwis are the 98% who bought nothing.

When an “accord” is not

Written By: - Date published: 10:08 am, May 17th, 2013 - 130 comments

Yesterday’s budget is a sop to affordable housing & aims to privatise state housing. Penny Hulse says the government’s related “housing accord” Bill is at odds with the agreement her council has not yet ratified.  It overrides local democracy & endangers the AKL “agreement”. [Update] Waitakere News analysis

‘That’s what the fuss is all about’

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, May 16th, 2013 - 22 comments

Hone Harawira challenged the Maori Party for its support of charter schools, at the expense of Maori and public education. He challenged Sharples to resign if today’s budget fails to adequately support kura kaupapa and the Manaaki Tauira programme.

Sky City, pokies and corruption

Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, May 13th, 2013 - 51 comments

Key and Joyce made sure Gilmore was out of the way before they announced their dubious Sky City for (more) pokies deal.  The pokies system in NZ is rife with dubious goings on. It’s bad for low income families, communities and their children. [update: responses]

The neoliberalisation of Universities

Written By: - Date published: 8:08 am, May 12th, 2013 - 43 comments

An article in today’s Sunday Star Times, provides evidence of an organised business in providing students with assignments for their tertiary education courses.  The focus is on Chinese ethnicity.  Ultimately, the blame for such rorts lies with the neoliberalisation of universities: the undermining of the critical endeavour of education.

Spin-bustin’: new investors scared off MRP

Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, May 10th, 2013 - 27 comments

The Nats’ spin is that ‘mums and dads’ were scared off investing in Mighty River Power by the Green-Labour NZ Power plan to reduce power prices but sophisticated buyers bought in. Look at the evidence: 80,000 of the 113,000 retail investors are new to the stockmarket and they boost stockmarket participation by 20%. Hence there were 400,000 existing Kiwi shareholders, and less than 10% of them bought in.

Selling Mighty River cost you $100m

Written By: - Date published: 7:33 pm, May 9th, 2013 - 158 comments

National admitted today that the sale of Mighty River cost around $100m, and that the paltry 2.5% of New Zealanders who bought an average of $8,000 each are not typical Kiwis. The figures themselves are shocking but the politics is really revealing. English didn’t try to avoid the unpalatable failure of asset sales, he was flippant. He is so out of touch he doesn’t see the problem.

We’re leaving & we’re taking the dams

Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, May 7th, 2013 - 18 comments

Following the Labour and Greens’ rejection of their demand that the parties drop their NZ Power policy to lower power prices, the business elite has announced capital flight. ‘If Origin Energy loses its rentier profits, who’s next? said Phil O’Reilly, close to tears, ‘The banks? The Telecoms duopoly? The petrol companies?* The construction materials oligopoly? The ports and airports?

Why Phil O’Reilly wants you to keep paying too much for power

Written By: - Date published: 7:12 am, May 3rd, 2013 - 80 comments

Yesterday, Phil O’Reilly’s Business New Zealand basically declared war on Labour and the Greens. Their ‘open letter’ demanded opposition parties to withdraw the NZ Power policy or risk a capital strike. Unprecedented in modern NZ history. It was a boots and all attempt by the capitalist elite to try to monster the Left. It proves that they think NZ Power is both practical and popular.

Why Brian Gaynor wants you to keep paying too much for power

Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, May 2nd, 2013 - 34 comments

To say Brian Gaynor is excited about the Mighty River sale is an understatement. Of his last five Herald columns, two have been about how great it will be, and two have been about how awful NZ Power is. His other media appearances have been in a similar vein: Mighty River = good, NZ Power = bad. It’s in his financial interests that investors aren’t scared off Mighty River.

Networks of influence: (dis)Advantage NZ

Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, April 30th, 2013 - 21 comments

An Advantage New Zealand conference at SkyCity is the centre of major PR for John Key-backed, big oil exploration in NZ. While promoting and backing each others’ destructive profiteering, and endangering NZ’s environment, they are nurturing their networks of influence over expensive dinners and on the golf course.

Reminder: Day of Action Sat 27 April

Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, April 27th, 2013 - 123 comments

Aotearoa is Not for Sale is counting down to the National Day of Action this Saturday 27 April.  Now is the time to support NZ (People) Power & say there are alternatives.  Get your banners & placards ready, polish up your chants and slogans, and get ready to make some noise. [Update: added poster][Updated posting time to move it to the top today]  Update – AKL photos]

Meanwhile, in the real world…

Written By: - Date published: 7:44 am, April 23rd, 2013 - 27 comments

So, John Key, Bill English, and Steven Joyce are now devoting all their energy into trying to stop the asset sales programme collapsing after the Greens and Labour gave notice the excessive profits are going to end, and National confirmed they’re for real by suspending the sale. While the government’s wasting its effort on that, real families are suffering.

MRP share offer suspended til tomorrow

Written By: - Date published: 5:19 pm, April 22nd, 2013 - 36 comments

The government announced about an hour ago, that it has suspended the share offer for Mighty River Power until tomorrow, while it devises a supplementary disclosure in the light of the Labour-Green NZ Power policy.

When they’re laughing at you…

Written By: - Date published: 4:15 pm, April 22nd, 2013 - 160 comments

You know it’s getting near time to go.

In Saturday’s DomPost, Chelsie Preston Crayford shows what she thinks of John Key and asset sales.

National Day of Action vs Asset Sales: Sat 27 April

Written By: - Date published: 12:31 pm, April 22nd, 2013 - 18 comments

Aotearoa is Not for Sale is counting down to the National Day of Action this Saturday 27 April. Some people have explained why they will be joining the Day of Action on Saturday. Why do you support action against asset sales? What are the alternatives? [Updated: details of actions around NZ]

Nats trying hide Mighty River risks?

Written By: - Date published: 1:49 pm, April 21st, 2013 - 21 comments

It is absolutely essential for National that lots of ordinary Kiwis buy Mighty River shares. Is that why, as Rod Oram found, there’s no independent advice available to ‘mum and dad’ on the size of the risks? National must have such advice, but it’s keeping it from the public and beating the ‘buy, buy, buy’ drum instead.

The “socialist” vs capitalist PR war: NZ Power

Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, April 21st, 2013 - 123 comments

The Key government and its allies are playing the “red scare” gambit, the Greens get to the heart of the reason for NZ Power, Parker goes Third Way, while Bernard Hickey and Matt McCarten weigh in to support the (alleged) “socialist” NZ Power policy. Bomber Bradbury adds some words of caution. [updated title]

Do the lights ever go out on Planet Key?

Written By: - Date published: 8:19 pm, April 19th, 2013 - 33 comments

John Key says that the Labour-Green Power policy is “barking mad” and will take people back to the power cuts of the 1970s.  Another John Key brainfade, or just being “clueless”? I look at power cuts and fuel poverty since the 1990s.

Key’s power price record

Written By: - Date published: 7:48 am, April 17th, 2013 - 78 comments

Spooked by tomorrow’s joint announcement by Labour and the Greens on policy to cut power prices, National is trying to claim they have solved the problem. Get real. In the past year, household electricity prices rose an average of 5%, that’s over six times the rate of general inflation. By my reckoning, the average power bill has risen 16%, or about $300 a year under Key.

The Greens, electricity & sustainability

Written By: - Date published: 2:15 pm, April 16th, 2013 - 48 comments

The Greens and Labour are planning a joint announcement on their policies on power prices. Both parties want to bring down costs of electricity.  The policies of the two parties will also have some differences.   How will it mesh with Green Party policies on sustainability?

Caveat emptor 2

Written By: - Date published: 6:46 am, April 15th, 2013 - 104 comments

Labour’s put out a release saying power prices are too high and “signalling that the future Labour Government will make changes to the sector so that New Zealanders considering purchasing shares in Mighty River Power, which go on sale tomorrow, are aware of that before investing”. In other words, ‘we’re gonna cut power prices, and the electricity companies’ profits will be hit’.

Sums it up, really

Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, April 12th, 2013 - 134 comments

National’s 3 quarters of the way through its time at the crease now. And what has it achieved? A record debt pile. 300,000 jobless. 100,000 underemployed. Rising poverty. 1,000 a week fleeing to Australia. A new housing bubble. A record high dollar that’s killing our businesses. And falling household incomes. A list of articles on Stuff sums it up.

I thank Margaret Thatcher …

Written By: - Date published: 9:03 am, April 9th, 2013 - 314 comments

… for her major contribution to my political education: of the need to combat the extensive, destructive power of the “neoliberal” elites.  I lived in London during the entire time Thatcher was prime minister.  It was a time of major change; of political activism; of hope; of disillusionment.

Looters’ bonus to cost $40 million

Written By: - Date published: 7:57 am, April 8th, 2013 - 26 comments

Bill English has just admitted to Breakfast (good questioning by Nadine Chalmers-Ross) that the looters’ bonus on Mighty River Power will cost around $40m. You and I can think of many valuable things this government could be doing with $40m, rather than giving it to people who already have thousands in the bank. But that number also tells us something.

Caveat emptor

Written By: - Date published: 10:32 am, April 3rd, 2013 - 15 comments

Analysts are apparently ‘not worried’ about the impact of the increasingly likely-looking closure of Tiwai Point on the price of electricity and, hence, on the value of the assets National is trying to hock. A 12% reduction is all one analyst sees in Mighty River’s price is Meridian floods the market with some of the cheapest power going. The analysts have missed the politics.

Rio Tinto ups the ante

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, April 2nd, 2013 - 166 comments

Our “let’s make a deal” PM is outclassed on this one. I actually have some sympathy this time, the government is between a rock and a hard place. But while most of us worry about Southland, I suspect the Nats’ concerns will be a little closer to home…

On the accuracy of online polls

Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, March 25th, 2013 - 30 comments

mighty river power prereg 2

Key sends more Kiwi jobs to Aussie

Written By: - Date published: 8:57 pm, March 18th, 2013 - 52 comments

So much for all this propaganda about the asset sales being all about deepening markets here and giving Kiwis a chance to invest. When it came to building the website for the pre-registration, where did the Nats go? To Aussie. They got an Aussie company to build the site, saying Kiwi companies weren’t up to it. Cause, you know, the site is soooo secure and all.

Keep Our Assets petition submission

Written By: - Date published: 7:25 am, March 12th, 2013 - 51 comments

The Keep Our Assets petition will be submitted today at 12.30 at Parliament with approximately 400,000 signatures. It is the largest petition in New Zealand history. The referendum that will follow will test National’s mandate for asset sales – clearly and unequivocally. Well done to the thousands of collectors and all the signatories. National – stop the sales and listen.

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