Economic cycle

Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, August 20th, 2011 - 24 comments
Categories: cycleway, open mike, unemployment - Tags: ,

Prime Minister John Key has reacted to growing fears that the world is slipping into a second round of financial crisis and recession before it has recovered from the first one by boldly opening a 180km cycleway through the King Country. Part of a $50m cycleway project, it is expected to boost the economy by $5 to $20 quadrillion, according to the PM.

The ‘national cycleway’ project is part of a ‘rolling maul’ of initiatives that the Prime Minister announced in response to the first round of recession after it was already over. Other initiatives included … um, oh, … that one where they paid $30,000 for a single pumpkin to be grown, and that finance hub thingy that is still just around the corner… oh yeah, and pandas, economy reviving pandas! Are they still coming?

Together, these measures have succeeded in reducing the number of Kiwis out of work from a staggering 188,500 when the recession officially ended to just 251,000 today.

“Fun fact,” said Mr Key “If all 58,000 young people not in employment, education, or training lay end to end with their arms stretched out above the heads, you could cover over two thirds of the length of the cycleway in wasted young lives! But if you only count those on the unemployment benefit, like I do, then they would reach only about 30km!”

84,000 New Zealanders could not be reached for comment because they have emigrated to Australia since the cycleway project was announced.

24 comments on “Economic cycle ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Bored 1
    20 August 2011 at 11:03 am

    Thanks Zet, in all respects that f***ker Key has not delivered. Wheres our feckin cyclewway Key, dont you know how the real world of production actually happens yoy useless bankster?

  2. Afewknowthetruth 2
    20 August 2011 at 11:41 am

    The cycleway is clearly in preparation for the time when most NZers will not have motorised transport because they won’t be able to afford it and because NZ will not be able to buy oil on the international market. Indeed, there won’t be an international market.

    Key is onto it after all.

  3. mik e 3
    20 August 2011 at 11:49 am

    Thats after he sells of Air NEW ZEALAND when the next bout of oil price hikes kills off cheap airfares there will be no tourists in any numbers coming to this part of the world to use these cycleways so like the bootcamps the card etc $300million 300permanent jobs efficiency from the right wing rationalists.

  4. jackal 4
    20 August 2011 at 12:13 pm

    I propose we amend the RMA to ensure that all John Key’s bullshit no longer pollutes peoples minds.

    • Cin77 4.1
      20 August 2011 at 1:11 pm

      I don’t think the stains will go away. Not sure there’s brain bleach strong enough.

  5. ghostwhowalksnz 5
    20 August 2011 at 12:56 pm

    A bicycle led recovery – at last something that will be Keys legacy

    But to make sure its followed through, this should be de rigeur for our nations elite

    http://bmw-bikes.net/bikes/bmw-bike-3.jpg

  6. deservingpoor 6
    20 August 2011 at 2:12 pm

    The sun’ll come out, tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there’ll be sunshine.

  7. Deb 7
    20 August 2011 at 4:39 pm

    For those of us that actually follow the cycleway, the speed of the rollout is inspiring. Maybe some of you might like to off-couch and get down to the National Park and try the new 180km track, officially opened this morning.

    This is all good, and as tourism picks up it will bring export dollars into our economy, provide a boost to businesses, and create jobs in communities near the trails.

    Pity that the left can’t be less partisan about this.

    http://www.nzcycletrail.com/

    • Colonial Viper 7.1
      20 August 2011 at 4:47 pm

      Pity that the left can’t be less partisan about this.

      Jobs Deb, what % reduction in the unemployment rate did the cycleways project deliver?

      Or was the main purpose headlines to smile and wave to?

      Pity the right can’t focus on things which matter to hundreds of thousands of ordinary (unemployed and minimum wage) New Zealanders.

    • Frank Macskasy 7.2
      20 August 2011 at 5:01 pm

      Debs, “partisan” doesn’t even come close to it.

      As a job-creation programme programme, it is a joke. And not a particularly funny one at that. The cycleway project didn’t even deliver what it was promised If you doubt me, here, have a look at the “Dominion Post” (well known Left Wing newspaper owned by socialist Fairfax Media Group);

      A $5 million government fund to employ young workers on cycleway projects has quietly been shelved after delivering just a quarter of the jobs envisaged.

      Prime Minister John Key and Social Development Minister Paula Bennett announced the $5.3m package as part of a larger programme of youth employment schemes at the National Party conference last year.

      It was to subsidise an estimated 500 youth working on the Government’s cycleway project, paying them the minimum wage for up to 30 hours a week.

      However, Budget documents just made public show it was dismantled before this year’s Budget because only $800,000 was spent and just 123 youth were employed under it.

      The unspent $4.5m was siphoned off to boost another jobs subsidy programme for youth – Job Ops, which gives employers $5000 for each 16 to 24-year-old they take on for at least six months.

      Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3907845/Governments-cycleway-youth-jobs-fund-shelved

      So not only do we NOT have jobs for young people – but now we have National ‘gunning’ for 16 and 17 year old beneficiaries. Because as we all know, welfare beneficiaries here in New Zealand are directly responsible for the Banking Crisis that began in wall St, USA, and sparked the global recession.

      Damn, these beneficiaries have more clout than I ever imagined!!

      And do beneficiaries really,. really, REALLY, want jobs? Well, shucks, just check this out: http://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/right-way-wrong-way/

      Notice that the NUMBER of unemployed are GREATER than the NUMBER of job vacancies?!

      Yeah, I noticed that as well.

    • RedLogix 7.3
      20 August 2011 at 5:19 pm

      Well you do have half a point Deb.

      When the cycleway project was first announced most authors and commenters here were pretty positive about the cycleway itself, while pretty cynical about Key’s claimed benefits for it. This cycleway has been around a couple of years now and it’s got a lot of history here at The Standard you may not have read.

      I’ll fully back you on the cycleway itself. Hell I rode around the SI as a young lad of 18 way before such a thing was fashionable. Three months on the road and saw only one other person touring!! These days you’d see that many before breakfast. So yes I do see the huge potential for the scheme in the long run. (Although that thought is tempered by other concerns for the overall viability of tourism in this country. You cannot after all cycle to NZ and if visitors can’t afford to get here, a cycleway will be worthless.)

      But if Key had been serious about the idea as a genuine employment scheme, we would have seen ten times as much cycleway, and other spin-offs, built by now. If he had just said something like, “As Minister of Tourism I’m going to put up this govt money as an investment into the industry” I would have got it. But that isn’t how Key pitched it.

    • Carol 7.4
      20 August 2011 at 5:46 pm

      I’d like more cycleways near home for my daily journeys. Much more useful, IMO. Who has the time to go down for a cycle on the tourist cycleway?

    • Draco T Bastard 7.5
      20 August 2011 at 7:00 pm

      as tourism picks up

      Peak Oil. tourism isn’t likely to pick up or, at the very least, be sustainable.

      • seanmaitland 7.5.1
        20 August 2011 at 7:16 pm

        lol, and on that note scientology is 100% real – take your fucking tinfoil hat off man and wake up.

        • Ianupnorth 7.5.1.1
          20 August 2011 at 8:58 pm

          Debs, I am a cyclist; we have a far few cycling gems already, the Otago rail trail, the best mountain bike tracks in the world in Rotorua, relatively quiet rural roads 9shame about the fuck wit drivers though). We didn’t actually NEED a cycle way, we needed better publicity.
           
          We also needed proper jobs and proper training, neither of which have appeared. I don’t call that very partisan.

        • Draco T Bastard 7.5.1.2
          20 August 2011 at 9:23 pm

          What has reality(Peak Oil) got to do with fantasy(religion)?

          Unlike you delusional RWNJs, I’ve been awake for some time.

  8. Frank Macskasy 8
    20 August 2011 at 4:49 pm

    The current generation have a short attention span, so I prefer to make my message in “visuals”; http://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/that-was-then-this-is-now-1/

    It was fun doing it.

    And I’ll be putting a few more together.

  9. Oligarkey 9
    20 August 2011 at 6:40 pm

    I think that this is probably all part of the occultist kabbalah prophecy that John Key signed on to whilst in the world of New York banking. Peak oil and further financial collapse will decrease economic activity and all the while we’ve got Mr multi-millionaire Key twiddling his thumbs, waiting for society to fall apart.

  10. Adrian 10
    21 August 2011 at 1:23 pm

    Have you missed the fact that this is not a new cycleway, it is just existing ( mostly ) paved roads that have had some signs stuck on it and a TV crew invited. What a load of bullshit, smoke, mirrors and spin. Typical lying Key.

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    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    6 days ago

  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    7 days ago

  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes – The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    1 week ago

  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 week ago

  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • COP28 National Statement for New Zealand
    Tēnā koutou katoa Mr President, Excellencies, Delegates. An island nation at the bottom of the Pacific, New Zealand is unique.          Our geography, our mountains, lakes, winds and rainfall helps set us up for the future, allowing for nearly 90 per cent of our electricity to come from renewable sources. I’m ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Ministers visit Hawke’s Bay to grasp recovery needs
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawke’s Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Government’s commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand condemns malicious cyber activity
    New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UK’s attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Disestablishment of Te Pūkenga begins
    The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te Pūkenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says.  “I have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te Pūkenga to advise them of my ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change Minister to attend COP28 in Dubai
    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealand’s national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • New Zealand to host 2024 Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins yesterday announced New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM). “Having just returned from this year’s meeting in Nouméa, I witnessed first-hand the value of meeting with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security and defence matters. I welcome the opportunity to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Study shows need to remove distractions in class
    The Government is committed to lifting school achievement in the basics and that starts with removing distractions so young people can focus on their learning, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.   The 2022 PISA results released this week found that Kiwi kids ranked 5th in the world for being distracted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Post-Cabinet press conference
    Most weeks, following Cabinet, the Prime Minister holds a press conference for members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. This page contains the transcripts from those press conferences, which are supplied by Hansard to the Office of the Prime Minister. It is important to note that the transcripts have not been edited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

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