Written By: - Date published: 10:53 am, March 9th, 2013 - 97 comments
Analysts are talking about risks of investing in Mighty River Power in the media today. Weather, electricity demand, overseas expansion. I’ll tell you what would make me think twice: everyone acknowledges the power companies over charge. Right now, the government has 400m reasons a year not to do anything about it. But that’s about to change.
Written By: - Date published: 11:42 am, March 6th, 2013 - 19 comments
John Armstrong may think that “the question now – as far as most people are concerned – is whether Mighty River Power shares will be a good investment,” but Scott’s been out there to find out what ‘most’ people really think…
Written By: - Date published: 10:17 am, March 6th, 2013 - 41 comments
It appears that someone in the government is leaking private information from the asset stripping of SOE value. Serious questions are being asked about how a sharebroking firm managed to obtain the details of a woman who’d just registered her interest in buying Mighty River Power shares. Is there a kickback system in operation? Perhaps to help fund the exorbitant upfront costs of sale?
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, March 5th, 2013 - 104 comments
National’s going to spend a million taxpayer dollars just on advertising trying to convince Kiwis to sign up to buy something we already own and just in the ‘pre-registration’ phase of the Mighty River sale. God knows what the full cost of the sale will be. They’ve wasted $26m already and seem determined to keep throwing good money after bad while ignoring Kiwis’ howls of protest.
Written By: - Date published: 5:24 pm, March 4th, 2013 - 41 comments
Prepare for the government’s million dollar asset sales ad blitz…
Written By: - Date published: 9:28 am, February 17th, 2013 - 78 comments
The Greens have revealed that National has spent $26m on asset sales so far. They haven’t even sold anything yet! They haven’t even really begun the sales process! And they’ve wasted $26m of our money. The bill’s going to get a whole lot longer if the sales actually go ahead. There’s $106m budgeted for the sales and huge unbudgeted costs like the looters’ bonus
Written By: - Date published: 12:41 pm, January 29th, 2013 - 42 comments
The Greens, I’m in for the Future, is a promising initiative. The Greens’ focus on Auckland transport will be a great start. To end the “neoliberal” dominance, it is necessary to apply pressure from below. What can we learn from Canadian anti-“neoliberal” groups like Common Causes & Idle No More? [Updated]
Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, January 11th, 2013 - 160 comments
Labour’s 2012 Kiwibuild policy has focused on building homes for first time buyers. Now we are told Labour’s 2011 policy pledging to increase the state housing stock still stands. This raises many questions: including do-ability and the Labour leadership’s continuing (neoliberal) focus.
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, December 28th, 2012 - 104 comments
Many want Shearer to break with neoliberalism, clearly state his politics and a new political direction. He became leader with a compelling, but worryingly selective, back-story. Party members want democratic participation. What of consensus-building, coercion, public services, social security, TPP, PPPs, state assets, sustainability?
Written By: - Date published: 8:21 pm, November 30th, 2012 - 16 comments
The next round of secretive TPP negotiations is in Auckland next week, 3-12 December. John Key will be lovin’ it! A National Day of Action & world wide protest on Saturday 8 December, – it’s about NZ independence, economy and sovereignty. Update: protest events 3-8 Dec
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, November 7th, 2012 - 17 comments
Today is Housing Crisis Day of Action with a march on parliament in Wellington (see Facebook page). The government’s plan will benefit private developers and property speculators, and involves risks of “cutting red tape”. Instead, they should be building more state houses. Updates: General Debate. John Banks heckled by protesters.
Written By: - Date published: 7:44 am, October 24th, 2012 - 64 comments
The Nats have decided to try to lean on the judiciary to get asset sales handled the way they want. The Judge is ‘Red Ron’. The Court shouldn’t try to decide water rights at a level of general principle. The Maori Council mustn’t get legal aid. The case should be kicked straight up to the Supreme Court and settled before March. It’s not working. It’s not going to work. And the costs are mounting. Updated
Written By: - Date published: 2:32 pm, October 23rd, 2012 - 28 comments
As expected, the High Court advised today that the government should hold off sale of Mighty River Power. The government is complying.
Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, October 18th, 2012 - 28 comments
Paid Parental Leave, Charter schools, compulsory early childhood education for beneficiaries: for NAct it’s all about money, and they use ‘shonky’ figures to justify their ‘shonkey’ policies and vetos. This is ostrich and patriarchal behaviour, ignoring the evidence of the wider benefits to communities and society of good quality child care, education and Paid Parental Leave.
Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, October 16th, 2012 - 27 comments
Public trust in the police is at a new low. But what of the trust in our government? How much collusion is there between the police, government, spy agencies and foreign governments? However, citizens are also using the technologies of the surveillance society to hold the government and state authorities to account.
Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, October 16th, 2012 - 2 comments
Treasury is trying to tell us that private power companies don’t charge more than SOEs to justify privatisation. Of course, a moment’s thought tells you that private owners, with higher costs of capital, need larger profits than public ones. And private owners always complain the SOEs don’t charge enough. Moreover, Treasury’s spin is a complete fail.
Written By: - Date published: 9:40 am, October 7th, 2012 - 29 comments
There is increasing concern about New Zealand’s housing situation, with an escalation in homelesssness, people living in totally unacceptable conditions, and the lack of sufficient affordable housing stock.Update: Government close to unveiling plans for “cheap” housing on city fringe and ‘brownfield’ sites.
Written By: - Date published: 9:51 am, September 19th, 2012 - 16 comments
Only 12 people turned up to Key’s first sham talks with iwi. He might have gotten a better turnout if he had come with cupcakes or, you know, a genuine intention to negotiate in good faith.
Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, September 18th, 2012 - 14 comments
It seems that whenever a matter arises that involves some claim of collective ownership or control by Maori, John Key comes up with what he describes as an ‘elegant solution’. If Key can come up with a string of such solutions I thought maybe I could give it a try. Therefore, this is my attempt at developing an ‘elegant solution’ to the matter of Maori claims to the ownership of water.
Written By: - Date published: 8:18 am, September 18th, 2012 - 13 comments
The Nats are beginning their sham consultation with a handful of tame ‘Iwi Leaders’ today. The hui will be by invitation and will not include the Maori Council, which iwi have appointed to lead for them on the water rights issue. Of course, National doesn’t want a real debate. It won’t genuinely discuss shares plus. This is a fake process. And it will all end up in court next year.
Written By: - Date published: 9:52 am, September 6th, 2012 - 20 comments
Steven Joyce is meant to be the Jobs Czar. So, what’s his reaction to another hundred job losses yesterday at the Bluff smelter and the threat of the loss of 3,200 more? “If [Tiwai Pt closed], it would adjust different things like investment profiles and all sorts of things” but no worries because Rio Tinto and Meridian will “come to some arrangement”.
Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, September 5th, 2012 - 85 comments
The National/Act government wants to sell essential public infrastructure assets that we all own, and that returns a public dividend, to a few of its mates. It’s private appropriation of public assets that causes the problem. Take that away and the problem becomes different, and resolution much easier.
Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, September 4th, 2012 - 37 comments
I think Mike’s hit it on the head. National’s asset sales policy is dead, it just doesn’t know it yet. Key’s punted for touch, pushed the hard calls out by six months (at a cost of another $10 million to us, thank you very much). But what’s really going to have changed when we get to March 2013? Key’s ruled out giving iwi what they want. So, any sales will be blocked by court injunctions.
Written By: - Date published: 8:17 pm, September 3rd, 2012 - 21 comments
Key has gone for a gamble again; but not the gamble some of the pundits were expecting. On the asset sales, he’s chosen flight over fight. But the real problem the asset sales face now isn’t Maori action, it’s the state of the economy.
Written By: - Date published: 9:26 am, September 3rd, 2012 - 41 comments
The Keep Our Assets Coalition has now collected 250,000 signatures for the petition for a referendum on asset sales in just four months. You need to help with the big final push – the Spring Collection – to get the last 60,000 signatures and the 10% spares within the coming month.
Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, September 3rd, 2012 - 82 comments
Last week, TVNZ covered a MYOB poll that showed 50% of small business owners disagreed with asset sales and 21% supported it. That’s 2.5 to 1 of ones of National’s core votes opposed to its flagship policy. They oppose asset sales for a simple reason: the numbers don’t add up. They wouldn’t sell high profit […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, August 30th, 2012 - 16 comments
National, Banks, and Dunne voted to keep the door open for more asset sales yesterday. Clayton Cosgrove’s Bill would have required a super-majority in Parliament or a referendum to move more companies out of the SOE Act – a necessary step in the privatisation process. Dunne in particular has promised not to support further asset sales, yet given a chance to stop them, he refused.
Written By: - Date published: 7:37 am, August 29th, 2012 - 42 comments
If the Government still hasn’t decided whether to sell the assets, why is its stockbroker advertising them?
Could it be that the Nats’ consideration of the Tribunal’s findings is just a sham?
Written By: - Date published: 6:45 am, August 27th, 2012 - 130 comments
The Maori Party is meeting with National to discuss the Waitangi Tribunal’s report on water and asset sales today. Notice how no-one’s saying ‘will they walk if the Nats ignore the Tribunal and proceed to breach the Treaty?’ That’s what happens when you cry wolf then sell out time after time. Everyone knows Turia wants her comfy limo seat more than anything else.
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