National’s ‘line calls’

Written By: - Date published: 7:38 am, September 1st, 2010 - 76 comments
Categories: Economy - Tags: ,

The retail deposit guarantee scheme, which has just led to the government handing over $1.7 billion of borrowed taxpayer money to the depositors in South Canterbury Finance, was extended less than a year ago. There are now serious questions being asked why SCF was allowed to join the extended scheme in April given that its financial problems were well-known and its credit rating was downgraded just weeks later. The guarantee was instrumental in SCF taking on all the bad loans that have led to its collapse.

Corin Dann on Breakfast this morning reports that Bill English says allowing SCF in was a ‘line call’. (will have to see English’s interview when it comes online).

That’s another of National’s line calls that’s cost us a fortune. In this case, it’s expected the final bill will be at least $600 million (plus the cost of borrowing the $1.7 billion).

It follows their great call to cancel contributions to the Cullen Fund, which has cost us over a million dollars a week and rising.

And don’t forget the government’s failure to invest more than a few tens of millions in jobs when the fiscal cost of additional unemployment is over a billion a year. Of course, that mistake wasn’t a ‘line call’, it was ideology all along.

The one upside of this is that Kiwibank might be the buyer of SCF’s assets. Someone’s got to buy them. If it’s Kiwibank then the profits on those loans will stay in New Zealand, rather than going to a foreign institution. English hasn’t ruled out Kiwibank being the buyer and says he will be talking to Kiwibank. Let’s hope he makes the right call for once.

76 comments on “National’s ‘line calls’ ”

  1. luva 1

    Marty, please do not take this the wrong way but what the hell would you have done? It is very easy to criticise what Bill English has done here but I would love to know what Marty G finance minister would have done over the past week with this mess.

    Those on the right believe a company that cannot pay it’s bills should be allowed to fail. Those on the left believe….im not sure fill in the gaps.

    Bill English and the western world have take a pragmatic approach which seems to piss everyone off.

    • Luva

      Those on the left believe that if it is in the national interest the Government should take action. As simple as that. We are not handcuffed by ideology that says that Companies must be allowed to fail.

      The response is never simple and depends on circumstances. The original guarantee scheme was put in place because the economy was showing signs that the flow of finance would freeze. The guarantee scheme kept the flow of finance going.

      I note that SCF’s cover under the scheme was extended in April this year, just before it’s problems became public. At that time I agree that it should have been allowed a peaceful death. I cannot see the national interest then being in issue.

      Blinglish’s “line call” just cost us $600m. Can we, like, sack him or sue him?

      • luva 1.1.1

        You can definitley sack him Mick. Offering a half decent alternative should guarantee that.

        In 12 months time there is an election that is playing into the labours hands. I just dont thing they have the leadershp to grab it.

      • Pascal's bookie 1.1.2

        Also, the left tend to having fewer compunctions about stepping in to prevent things getting too big to fail in the first place. Regulate against individual players gaining that sort of position.

        The right tend to argue that that would be unjust and/or inefficient, that players should be free to get as big and powerful as the market allows, as the market will price the risk of failure with pixie power.

        If it fails, let it fail, they say,
        but when it fails, we must be pragmatic.

        If you accept the latter, (and there seems to be consensus around that in the real world of what politcians actually do) then it’s also pragmatic to prevent companies becoming too big to fail in the first place.

        • ZB 1.1.2.1

          You don’t get it. English and Key spent his time in government blaming Labour for the high
          unemployment only to turn round and justify the collapse of SCF on the recession!

          The left has to get its head out of its behind, because we’re in a recession, a pretty
          nasty and not your bog standard cyclical one. So Labour’s voters are locked in,
          they’re hurting and want relief. Labour doesn’t need to convince people who are
          unemployed, who are on a benefit, who are paid crap, they are in the booth
          already voting Labour!

          Labour needs to undermine the middle right vote, and it does this by attacking on
          financial dithering (however worthy) of National. SCF was down to the recession,
          so is unemployment so why is Labour getting blamed for that! Labour built up
          the government books, National have throw money around to mates while
          unnecessarily cutting.

          Labour should be going for the jugular, National alignment with free market
          philosophy that has so wrecked the world western economies. US is a dire
          economic situation because of free markets – no regulation.

          You ask what National would have done, they would have extended the
          scheme to more of finance companies, just like they gave tax cuts to the few,
          just as they’d have buried us in debt to give tax cuts before the recession hit.

          National are exposed on their core financial competency and the best you
          have is nickpicking over SCF? Its far bigger and more reckless than them.
          And also bad politics since National heartland – the south island – just got
          a bail out, why bring too much attention to that – move on and turn the
          facts about the double dip recession around.

          That governments of left and right loosen finance to keep up with ever
          groing oil surpluses, and the loose finance days are over, free markets
          theory is too shallow for the economy going forward. The left have
          every opportunity now to stamp a new ideology on the political landscape.
          Moderate popular capitalism for all – not just the extreme finance for the few.

    • Blighty 1.2

      was it pragmatic to allow a company on a verge of collapse into the scheme? Bernard Hickey says that being in the scheme allowed SCF to go wild with its lending, helping to lead to its collapse.

      • Loota 1.2.1

        This was all about setting the scene for short term game playing by the high rolling finance guys.

        Gaming the system, the few win, the many pay for their entertainment and their profits.

      • Ari 1.2.2

        Not sure why ANY investment company needs into the scheme, let alone one on the verge of collapse. Banks might need guaranteeing, but if you tie up your retirement money in private investments, you ought to be liable for the risk yourself.

        Really, the need to guarantee private investments is predicated on a failure of retirement provisions anyway, which is its own problem that needs to be sorted out.

  2. Richard 2

    I had no idea that SCF was only allowed to join the scheme in April. That is a bit like giving life insurance to someone diagnosed with a terminal illness.

    • Red Rosa 2.1

      Precisely the point Cactus Kate is making, Richard. Well worth a read.

      http://asianinvasion2006.blogspot.com/2010/08/ahubb-over-hotch.html

      • Pascal's bookie 2.1.1

        Brutal

      • just saying 2.1.2

        Cactus is worth reading on this issue.

        She makes the point (fleetingly) about the questionable haste with which the guarantee is being paid out, possibly related to whether the terms of the guarantee might have meant the public was not liable.

        I’m even wondering if SCF being allowed into the scheme might have been because, rather than in spite of, the problems it was already having, ie helping out rich mates save their dodgy business, and farmers their investments.

        • just saying 2.1.2.1

          oops, scratch the “fleetingly” I thought the blog had ended way before it had.

          Strongly recommend CK’s investigation linked at 2.1, and hope the media starts reading it very soon.

          Reeking of corruption.

          • Carol 2.1.2.1.1

            There’s a lot of useful info in Cactus’s piece. But I’m not sure that I wholeheartedly support her favouring the basing of the economy on good ideas and entrepreneurialship, creating something out of nothing (sake-oil?) – as compared with getting back to more of a “real” economy…. but, in this instance, it’s prpbably going off into another argument.

            • just saying 2.1.2.1.1.1

              Agree with you Carol. Didn’t mean to seem to be whole-heartedly agreeing with her, (always unlikely given our politics are almost polar opposites).

              One thing that niggled with me was the idea that rural NZ is just farmers. There are many country wage earners, small business people etc. Rural economies may be mainly based around farming, but I suspect actual property owning farmers are very much a minority.

            • Cactus Kate 2.1.2.1.1.2

              A “real” economy? You mean peasant low real returning activities like squeezing milk from cow’s tits, encouraging banks to ease liquidity and plowing the money earned back into land at inflated values to let farmers “earn” tax free capital gains in the meantime driving property prices up so they can buy more land off the increased unrealised equity? In the meantime leveraging with interest so highly that farmers are paying stuff all tax?

              I’d take a Trademe entrepreneur anyday, a young fellow or felless with an IT idea, a restaurant owner or tourism operator, the jetpack dude….hell I’d even take Peter Jackson…without a haircut.

              Fonterra talks about “value add” all the time but at the end of the day it’s still milk powder and packaged butter I am seeing in supermarkets overseas. If NZ is basing its future off that then it will be a low earning future.

              • Bored

                Thank you Ms Prickly for using the words “cow’s tits” and “liquidity” in the same sentence. Gave me a good laugh, as did your very precise description of the NZ dairy industry vis a vis the economy. For once we are agreed.

                In todays world you are spot on, we will have to wait until Global Warming drives dairy herds from formerly formerly temperate climates to sell butter fat as a “value add” i.e something to eat because theres nothing else. Until then give us a Morgan.

              • just saying

                I didn’t read “real” as ‘agricultural,’ CK,.

                I agree with you about tax-dodging capital-gain farmers. Like the anti-smoking ads say: “Not my future”.

          • Draco T Bastard 2.1.2.1.2

            Definitely reeking. It’s too much of a coincidence that they went into the guarantee scheme and then pretty much fell over immediately without being in the process of falling over already. In which case, they shouldn’t have been in the scheme. If it was a “line call” then it was a political decision and the fact that SCF was falling was known.

            How many of National and their backers wanted that guaranteed 8% return? Even better question: How many of them entered SCF after the guarantee was ensured and who are they?

  3. infused 3

    I haven’t been watching this much at all – but.. What would happen if the govt haden’t steped in? I’m guess a lot worse.

    • Bright Red 3.1

      informed comment from infused.

      Step 1) event happens

      Step 2) people discuss how it should be handled

      Step 3) Infused sez ‘I love Key!’

    • Loota 3.2

      Damn right it would have been a lot worse, there would have been money to fund community services, night schools, sexual abuse counselling services and more good **** the NATs don’t give a damn about ahead of their tax cuts and bailing out rich mates.

    • bbfloyd 3.3

      infused… the real question is,, why didn’t the govt get involved much sooner. the fact that they sat on their hands for so long has allowed this to turn into a nightmare for everyone.

      same approach they have to anything that involves real governance it seems.

  4. BLiP 4

    Who are the foreign investors National Ltd™ bailed out by bending the rules?

  5. Red Rosa 5

    From Interest NZ last spring. Comment – ‘John Key will have a lot of explaining to do’. Well, now is the time.

    Would love to have been a fly on the wall at the meeting JK & AH in Timaru, 12 months ago! Note this is 6 months before the GG was extended to SCF in April this year.

    http://www.interest.co.nz/news/90-9-bryers-bankrupt-south-canterburys-concern-dairy-holdings-loss

  6. grumpy 6

    Way back in 1969 when I started studying Accounting and Economics at Canterbury, I thought that lenders either had the cash or security of a value at least equal to the cash.

    Silly me.

    It appears that SCF, emboldened by the Govt guarantee lent money and had NO security. Now, I can understand how being (say) a 4th Mortgage behind Hanover to Henderson’s Hole might set SCF back a few mill – but $700mill??????

    All those crooks who say “I lost it on the horses (or Casino etc etc) your honour” and it eventually turns up after they get out of jail from Caymans, Fiji, Jersey, Cyprus etc.

    Where is the list of these “toxic” debts and what is their listed security? Until I see it, I will suspect some off-shore dodgy facility is sitting on the cash.

  7. Bill 7

    I’m going to guess that a majority of people are, like me, fairly illiterate when it comes to these kinds of shenanigans. We know something isn’t right, that we just got mugged, but can’t help but glaze over as the details approach.

    So anybody capable of bringing it down to basics?

    If SCF had collapsed would land prices, as an example have dropped? Meaning, poorer people would have had a better punt at getting a bit of financial security for themselves as the market flooded with cheaper land and properties through mortgagee sales or people desperately down sizing?

    If so, could the bailout be fairly described as many poorer people paying to ensure that the privileges of poverty are maintained just as much as, or as well as guaranteeing that the terrible burden of wealth remains unshakably weighted on the shoulders of the already rich?

    And would it be fair to say that a farm owner having to downsize doesn’t really lose much? If they have to sell a $10 million farm for even half price, they would pick up a $5 million farm for $2.5 million and probably clear most of their debt in the process?

    Or am I being way too simple and missing something that is glaringly obvious?

    Any way to find out exactly who is stepping through the revolving doors between government and business?

    • Bored 7.1

      Bill, the usual scenario for the reciever / statuatory managers in these situations is to ascertain what mortgages / loans are recoverable and which need to be foreclosed upon.

      As I understand (without having read too much) the major exposure from loans is not from diary farms but from failed property development in Queenstown (Henderson?) and the major cities. Which would indicate that with regard to the farming sector sound mortgages and loans would be continued with, or packaged for assignment to other financial institutions who would take them on as a going concern. So a collapse in farm prices is unlikely to be a result of SCF, something else will have to cause this.

      I suspect there will be some farm foreclosures but given what has been said they wont be major and the resale of the assets will reflect current market prices, which given the payouts and returns dairy is still making should ensure that the losses to the taxpayer are not extensive. The same cannot be said for the likely return for the commercial property developments.

      The place you should be looking for shenanigans is amongst the financial community who probably knew that SCF was shaky but who under the regulations knew that they could invest with impunity as the government would bail them out. Legal but morally dubious, the government knew this and mad no attempt to close this off.

  8. Jum 8

    This government has sewn up Auckland, ECAN, and now it’s moving in on the asset base of New Zealand land, by stealth.

    No fire sale of assets, no siree, the public might get jittery. We’ll create an urgent crisis with SCF and then instead of working alongside the borrowers and lenders to stabilise this huge finance conglomerate we’ll take over that ‘asset debt’ with tax payers’ money, pay out value to our rich investor mates on high risk/miraculously now/no risk high return shares, and then start slippery/sliding the assets to foreign corporates or expat mates to plunder quietly over the ‘next 3 to 4 years’ says English.

    Any money ‘we’ make from those sales and all others going out under the radar, ‘we’ll’ give out as tax cuts to the rich to go out and buy up more of ‘our’ assets that JKeyll and Hide have legislated for unapproved sale, while the poor worker fools continue to vote for that nice rich male Mr Key.

    What is it going to take for the majority of New Zealanders to wake up to the sleight of hand devilry by this government?

  9. prism 9

    Bill English comes from south of Christchurch, he must know a lot of the wealthier people down there. Which means that likely they will have contacted him as ‘one of us’ with ‘What is going to happen to this company Bill’ (and our money)? And the government had appointed some accountant/ financier Stiasis? to keep a watching brief for some months/a year? Apparently the rot set in to the integrity of the investments over the past three years with too much going to property speculation, someone mentioned as far as Fiji, and the usual NZ suspects and those riskier ones causing the ship to list, too much ballast not spread!

    English must have had a good handle on the breadth of SCF lending and that there were bad apples about to spoil the good ones in the barrel when he let the company join the guarantee scheme in April. And agreed to pay all investors in full and with interest which I presume is the hiked up rate that was offered by the company to induce new investors.

    Listening to the speakers I had the impression that the investors had been flocking in since the guarantee was agreed, but if that was just last April then there must have been a desperate attempt in these last few months to entice investors who in turn had no risk and high interest, great if you have spare money!

    It seem that it was like a Ponzi scheme teetering on its toes ready to fall if new investment wasn’t obtained to plug the gaps. The longer left to teeter, the more it would have cost the country so the government, having signed SCF on to the guarantee, can argue that they had no option or there would have been a loss of confidence in our country’s ‘sovereign’ finances. Our hands were tied etc.

  10. Look. This is all about rent farming land for speculative gain. English is worried the the downturn in land prices will plummet further.
    He’s propping up land values by injecting our wages and social wage into the balance sheets of corporate capital.
    The answer is more state intervention like nationalising the gains as well as the losses.
    Preferably nationalising land and going with leases that allow hard working farmers to concentrate on production and not speculation.

  11. john 11

    Why must Public money be used to bail out a Moneylenderwhose bets went wrong!? Surely this is a free market correction (Something Nact fervently clings to,unless it affects their mates).The free market is always right!

    • Draco T Bastard 11.1

      NACT don’t believe in the free-market and never have done as a free-market would kill their income. What they believe in is being rich and being paid because they’re rich and not because they actually produce wealth (which they don’t).

      • aj 11.1.1

        Think like a cross between Nationalisation, and socialisation of losses and privatisation of gains. Standard Nat policy

  12. Blue 12

    On the bright side, the righties can no longer scream about the Labour Govt buying KiwiRail. 690 million to buy a rail company vs. 1.7 billion sunk into a failed finance company.

    I always thought investment meant the investor takes the risks. If you want higher returns, you take a greater risk of losing everything.

    The absurd situation where you can put money in a dodgy finance company, take the high returns and have the taxpayer pick up the bill if the company goes broke defies all rules of logic, investment and justice.

  13. outofbed 13

    Amazing Thread
    http://www.interest.co.nz/news/90-9-bryers-bankrupt-south-canterburys-concern-dairy-holdings-loss

    So its not like we didn’t see this coming
    Some dodgy dealings Key has a lot of explaining to do

    Well fuck it, I can do some dodgy dealings too
    I’m fucked if my tax is going to be used to prop up some shady cunts in the South Island
    I’m going to to be working for the folding stuff as much as possible from now on

    • Draco T Bastard 13.1

      Companies office records show that three other companies (Little Cow Company LLC, Pals Plus LLC and NZ Cow Company LLC) own a further 25% of Dairy Holdings. These three companies are based at 39 George St in Timaru, which is the same address as Allan Hubbard and South Canterbury Finance.

      All three companies at the same address. So who owns the companies? Is it the same people?

      Oh, look at that, none of them in the companies register except Dairy Holdings LTD. At a guess I’d say that the whole damn thing was some sort of incestuous tax rort.

  14. Red Rosa 14

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10670273

    Well said in the Herald this morning. Here are the questions – let’s see if Key and English have the answers.

  15. ak 15

    Watershed lose-lose for the grinning asp: his own rural rump siding with honest Uncle Al’s scream that the gummint killed their ponzi, the other pimply Actoid cheek crying “nanny state” and sniffing for “corruption”. Betwixt, a $400/head haemorrhoid for everykiwi blurring the Midas image of their $50mill cypher irreparably.

    Time for Labour to dig hard and apply the iodine.

  16. outofbed 16

    List of finance company failures
    http://www.interest.co.nz/saving/deep-freeze-list/

    I reckon John key’s plan to make us a financial hub isn’t a flier , but i could be wrong

  17. outofbed 17

    $400 per kiwi yes But $2000 for every taxpayer

    • Bright Red 17.1

      how many taxpayers do you think there are? less than a million?

      IRD says there are 3.1 million

      • prism 17.1.1

        How many taxpayers pay substantial amounts? Old age pensioners are taxed on their grants so they must count. If IRD figures take in all comers, as in employment stats with everyone who is in paid work for more than one hour a week counted as an employed person – then seedbed taxpayers ie earning money for work, not paying it on benefits or interest earned must be a lot less than 3 million.

        And what about GST taxation of 12.5% soon to be 15%, We all must be taxpayers on this basis. The only ones who aren’t are in nappies and short trousers and even they might be juvenile taxpayers for trust receipts. Yet the pollies always finish their speeches with something about hard-working taxpayers as if they are rare, special and bearing all the burden of funding the country, What are becoming rare are people in full-time, stable jobs to pay the tax needed to be a modern progressive state.

  18. Carol 18

    Marty said:

    The one upside of this is that Kiwibank might be the buyer of SCF’s assets. Someone’s got to buy them. If it’s Kiwibank then the profits on those loans will stay in New Zealand, rather than going to a foreign institution. English hasn’t ruled out Kiwibank being the buyer and says he will be talking to Kiwibank. Let’s hope he makes the right call for once.

    Ya think?

    This just in:

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/personal-finance/4081604/Govt-intends-to-sell-off-South-Canterbury-Finance

    South Canterbury Finance may be sold off to foreign investors, Prime Minister John Key said today.

    antispam: failed

    • Draco T Bastard 18.1

      Well, those of us who understood NACT knew that would happen. They’re not their for NZ but for their rich mates – where ever they may be.

    • marsman 18.2

      Does the Chinese Bank which Shipley is involved in figure in the “sold off to foreign investors’ equation. Same as the Crafar Farms?

  19. BLiP 19

    This whole deal just gets murkier and murkier. Rich-listers began pouring money into SCF in June and even until Monday were buying discounted bonds on the NZX at 70c and now will not get paid out $1 – a 42.8% return in just 24 hours.

    As the Prickly One has pointed out, SCF was in breach of the government’s guarantee provisions at the time National Ltd™ made the decision, based on Treasury advice, to extend coverage for SFC in April. As Liam Dann points out:

    A lot was already wrong with South Canterbury when it had its public guarantee extended. For a start it was effectively in breach of its trust deed and had failed to file audited accounts. Having a look at the numbers is usually considered important when assessing a business decision. The Treasury – which officially makes the call on who gets in to the scheme – could have waited months before accepting the finance company. But it didn’t. It rushed South Canterbury in to safety because the Government knew it was a goner without the guarantee – although in the end it was a goner anyway.

    When the audited accounts finally did turn up, credit agency S&P downgraded SCF’s rating and John Key’s mates sniffed blood in the water. Just to add a final, lethal stab wound, the Serious Fraud Office is sent in with a blaze of publicity and the feeding frenzy begins.

    Well done, the Banksters. We have just seen the effective and lightning-speed transfer of $1.7 billion from the public to purse to the private sector and, as promised by National Ltd™, the “deepening of the New Zealand sharemarket”. Corporate welfare by stealth.

    Meanwhile, the MSM political commentators are painting the endeavour as “text book crisis management” and reiterating the Blinglish line calling for gratitude from the hinterland.

    What a fucking rort!!

    • BLiP 19.1

      EDIT

      and now will not get paid out $1 – a 42.8% return in just 24 hours.

      . . . and now WILL get paid out at $1.

      • pollywog 19.1.1

        *sigh*… if only us brownies weren’t so broke and ignorant as to capitalise on the culture of white capital.

        hmm…i wonder if any of the Ngai Tahu corporate warriors were in on the scam ?

        hope not, but then again, hope so…

        • prism 19.1.1.1

          pollywog – I met a man involved with a vibrant waka enterprise the other day. Thought of your ideas for future project.

          • pollywog 19.1.1.1.1

            Hah…it might have been me and you’d never know or somebody i been talking to 🙂

            • prism 19.1.1.1.1.1

              Don’t think so – this bloke’s name is Graham and he’s involved with Wala Ana I think it’s called. Heard of it? They do their thing at numerous coastlines in NZ.

      • Loota 19.1.2

        Also known as a cool 15,600% return p.a.

        Much more with compounding.

        captcha: counts

        • prism 19.1.2.1

          There is a smug saying about how the hustlers amongst us will always shine and if we were all given $1 million, soon some would have tripled it and others
          lost it. Like the biblical story of the servants and the talents. Well I think that with compounding interest and a prudent yet acutely intelligent approach I could do well and I am willing to undertake this onerous experiment as long as I don’t have to sell my soul to raise the wherewithal.

    • Ari 19.2

      I’d hesitate to glorify that as “political commentary”.

      • Ari 19.2.1

        Especially now I’ve had time to get to the last comment- effectively he said “this is Labour’s fault for managing the economy too well”. O_O

    • Draco T Bastard 19.3

      That’s not murky – that’s clear proof of corruption.

    • Cactus Kate 19.4

      To be fair based on the CEO’s evidence on Campbell Live last night, SCF were in breach during the entire guarantee period which was 2 years from 2008 October from their signing in November 2008. Of course now Treasury are denying SCF ever were in breach, but then they are in the gun themselves having overseen the whole thing.

  20. Treetop 20

    What a jewel in the government’s crown Kiwi Bank is. To think National ever considered selling/privatising Kiwi Bank tells me that this government is short sighted and daft when it comes to considering not to retain (100 %) the financial control of Kiwi Bank. What I cannot figure out is how one minute Kiwi Bank is surplus and the next minute it is vital for economic stability. I think I get it that the government bailed out SCF so as to have economic stability. I just hope that the government gets it, that once Kiwi Bank is gone, economic recovery/stability is so much harder to achieve.

    • BLiP 20.1

      What I cannot figure out is how one minute Kiwi Bank is surplus and the next minute it is vital for economic stability.

      Blind ideology tempered with Crosby/Textor focus group feedback.

  21. Jenny 21

    Marty Your figure of $60 million for teachers, to properly compensate them for the huge responsibility they have for the guidance of our youth, looks pitiful, against the $100 million given to just one single investor in South Canterbury Finance.

    What is really sickening is that George Kerr doesn’t need this money, as with a personal fortune of $180 million, Kerr ranks amongst the most privileged and fortunate of individuals to have ever lived in this country.

    This is a slap in the face for all New Zealanders on low wages and long hours and those suffering unemployment due to the recession.

    Tamsyn Parker, New Zealand Herald Business:

    George Kerr is to receive a $100 million taxpayer-funded payout from the Government in order to make the receivership of South Canterbury Finance run more smoothly.

    How on earth did Kerr get the government to give him so much money?

    It seems that Kerr along with a number of other ‘sharp’ investors in South Canterbury Finance are being given a return of $1 for every .70c they put in to this “failed” investment company.

    So not only is Kerr and his mates getting their money back from their failed investment, but they are being gifted a sizeable profit as well – the whole lot, out of our taxes.

    In the normal scheme of things, if the Government hadn’t stepped in his behalf, Kerr and his mates would have lost the lot.

    With other more worthy line calls on our tax dollars for teachers and radiographers being rejected –

    Is this fair?

    Is this just?

    Is it even sane?

    • Draco T Bastard 21.1

      It’s pure corruption and these people need to be treated as the thieves they are.

      • Bill 21.1.1

        You mean put them in public stocks, throw away the key and leave a tomahawk handy for some sympathetic passer-by to use to set them loose?

  22. Red Rosa 22

    Sandy Maier gave it his best shot, and his latest candid comments do not reflect well on the Timaru Saint. Comments on the post itself are also revealing.

    http://www.interest.co.nz/news/sandy-maier-says-demise-south-canterbury-finance-ultimately-traces-back-allan-hubbard

    • BLiP 22.1

      Ahhh . . . the cherry on top! Just what National Ltd™, John Key, Blinglish, Treasury, Torchlight, the NZX, Lachie McLeod, the Reserve Bank, and Maier need – a nice, juicy, doddery old scapegoat. Very clever.

  23. Frederick 23

    I have been reading avidly all the comments. I note with interest that no-one has even speculated what a labour government would have done if they were still in power. I would contend exactly the same response. Imagine if they did though. Congratulatons all round on a well managed Cullenesque response to a difficult situation.

    • Marty G 23.1

      National is the government. They make the decisions. They get the critique.

      ‘What would Labour have done?’ is a classic attempt at distraction that basically admits National’s actions have been bad, only claiming that Labour would have been just as bad

    • Draco T Bastard 23.2

      Hell no, I’d be jumping up and down on Labour even more than I am on NACT. I expect NACT to do underhanded things to benefit themselves and their rich mates (it’s their modus operandi and always has been). Labour pretends to be left so when they do things that the right do I let them know.

  24. smhead 24

    marty first comment from luva is what YOU would have done, thirteen hours ago, not what labour would have done. you haven\’t answered it

    • Marty G 24.1

      I wouldn’t have extended SCF’s guarantee in April. And, as SCF was in breach of the terms of the guarantee, I would have evicted if from the guarantee before that.

      Would have bought the assets for Kiwibank in at a fair price in the ensuing collapse and the bond buyers and depositors would have borne the loss, rather than walking away with a profit paid by the taxpayer.

      why, what would you have done?

      • IrishBill 24.1.1

        Absolute worst case scenario, assuming the problem was dropped in my lap a week ago, I would have picked up the minimum percentage of bad debts required to halt the recievership and then restructured/forgiven them to ensure the moral hazard signal was sent to borrowers (i.e. the people and companies that took money to make/grow stuff) rather than to investors.

        But this is a financiers’ government. They’ll back the people speculating on stuff over the people making stuff every time. Something to do with having a currency trader as a PM perhaps?

  25. Jenny 25

    At risk of being accused by of quoting myself. I set out what I thought should be done in the comment, Social Welfare for the Rich? Which I posted yesterday.

    In a nutshell – What should be done, is nothing.

    Let SCF collapse.

    When property values and mortgages naturally settle at a less inflated speculative level then the government can buy them all up, at a fraction of the cost of a bail out.

    From there the government could re-negotiate all outstanding loans and mortgages at lower more affordable rates, keeping people in their houses and on their farms.

    Another benefit of allowing the SCF to fail, is that all the overpaid managers and executives etc. would all be out of a job. Consequently we would be spared the spectacle of these shameless bastards rewarding themselves with huge windfall bonuses paid out of the bail out money, as was witnessed overseas in the US and the UK.

    The bail out of South Canterbury Finance is a doomed effort to inflate a burst speculative bubble and artificially keep up an unnaturally high rate of profit for investors. The interests of the shareholders is the primary concern here. (Particularly the major shareholders)

    Putting investor interest first, means artificially trying to re-inflate the busted speculative market and keep the profits rolling in at the pre-bust levels. In practice this means keeping mortgages and loans unaffordably high, as compared to income in a recession. As night follows day, this will lead to more defaults, more foreclosures and more bad debt.

    Though major conservative commentators are defending the SCF bailout as a “stimulus” for the economy. Experience from overseas shows, that as a stimulus package, using tax payers money to re-inflate the speculative pre-recession bubble economy, by propping up the failed Finance Companies actually makes things worse.

    Why would it be any different here?

    So why can’t we learn from the overseas experience of bail outs?

    The answer is greed and the self interest of a tiny minority used to getting money for nothing, and of course, a government politically inclined to cater to this minority.

    Today’s Emerson cartoon in the Herald asks the same question.
    ‘Should public money be used to bail out sinking Finance Companies?’
    In my opinion Emmerson gives the best answer yet.

    Emmerson:

    The only thing to come from the public purse, should be…….

Links to post

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Top 10 for Monday, December 11
    Luxon does not see the point in Treasury analysing the impact of some of his government’s ‘first 100-day’ reforms. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Monday, December 11, including:Scoop of the day: A Treasury ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 hours ago
  • BRIAN EASTON: How should we organise a modern economy?
     Alan Bollard, formerly Treasury Secretary, Reserve Bank Governor and Chairman of APEC, has written an insightful book exploring command vs demand approaches to the economy. Brian Easton writes – The Cold War included a conflict about ideas; many were economic. Alan Bollard’s latest book Economists in the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 hours ago
  • Coalition Circus of Chaos – Verbal gymnasts; an inept Ringmaster, and a helluva lot of clowns
    ..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Curtain Closes…You have to hand it to Aotearoa - voters don’t do things by halves. People wanted change, and by golly, change they got. Baby, bathwater; rubber ducky - all out.There is something ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    6 hours ago
  • “Brown-town”: the Wayne & Simeon show
    Last week Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown kicked off what is always the most important thing a Council does every three years – update its ‘Long term plan’. This is the budgeting process for the Council and – unlike central government – the budget has to balance in terms of income ...
    7 hours ago
  • Not To Cast Stones…
    Yeah I changed my wine into waterHad a miracle or four since I saw youSome came on time, some took a whileLocal Water Done Well.One of our new government’s first actions, number 20 on their list of 49 priorities, is the repeal of the previous government’s Water Services Entities Act 2022. Three Waters, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    8 hours ago
  • So much noise and so little signal
    Parliament opened with pomp and ceremony, then it was back to politicians shouting at and past each other into the void. Photo: Office of the Clerk, NZ ParliamentTL;DR: It started with pomp, pageantry and a speech from the throne laying out the new National-ACT-NZ First Government’s plan to turn back ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    9 hours ago
  • Lost in the Desert: Accepted
    As noted, November was an exceptionally good writing month for me. Well, in an additional bit of good news for December, one of those November stories, Lost in the Desert, has been accepted by Eternal Haunted Summer (https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/) for their Winter Solstice 2023 issue. At 3,500 words, ...
    16 hours ago
  • This Government and their Rightwing culture-war flanks picked a fight with the country… not the ot...
    ACT and the culture-war warriors of the Right have picked this fight with Te Ao Māori. Ideologically-speaking, as a Party they’ve actually done this since inception, let’s be clear about that. So there is no real need to delve at length into their duplicitous, malignant, hypocritical manipulations. Yes, yes, ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    18 hours ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #49
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Dec 3, 2023 thru Sat, Dec 9, 2023. Story of the Week Interactive: The pathways to meeting the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C limit The Paris Agreement’s long-term goal of keeping warming “well below” ...
    1 day ago
  • LOGAN SAVORY: The planned blessing that has irked councillors
    “I’m struggling to understand why we are having a blessing to bless this site considering it is a scrap metal yard… It just doesn’t make sense to me.” Logan Savory writes- When’s a blessing appropriate and when isn’t it? Some Invercargill City Councillors have questioned whether blessings might ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Surely it won't happen
    I have prepared a bad news sandwich. That is to say, I'm going to try and make this more agreeable by placing on the top and underneath some cheering things.So let's start with a daughter update, the one who is now half a world away but also never farther out ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Let Them Eat Sausage Rolls: Hipkins Tries to Kill Labour Again
    Sometimes you despair. You really do. Fresh off leading Labour to its ugliest election result since 1990,* Chris Hipkins has decided to misdiagnose matters, because the Government he led cannot possibly have been wrong about anything. *In 2011 and 2014, people were willing to save Labour’s electorate ...
    2 days ago
  • Clued Up: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    “But, that’s the thing, mate, isn’t it? We showed ourselves to be nothing more useful than a bunch of angry old men, shaking our fists at the sky. Were we really that angry at Labour and the Greens? Or was it just the inescapable fact of our own growing irrelevancy ...
    2 days ago
  • JERRY COYNE: A powerful University dean in New Zealand touts merging higher education with indigeno...
    Jerry Coyne writes –  This article from New Zealand’s Newsroom site was written by Julie Rowland,  the deputy dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland as well as a geologist and the Director of the Ngā Ara Whetū | Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Society. In other ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.
    Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.For the last couple of weeks its felt as though all the good things in our beautiful land are under attack.These isles in the southern Pacific. The home of the Māori people. A land of easy going friendliness, openness, and she’ll be right. A ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Speaking for the future
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.MondayYou cannot be seriousOne might think, god, people who are seeing all this must be regretting their vote.But one might be mistaken.There are people whose chief priority is not wanting to be ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • How Should We Organise a Modern Economy?
    Alan Bollard, formerly Treasury Secretary, Reserve Bank Governor and Chairman of APEC, has written an insightful book exploring command vs demand approaches to the economy. The Cold War included a conflict about ideas; many were economic. Alan Bollard’s latest book Economists in the Cold War focuses on the contribution of ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    3 days ago
  • Willis fails a taxing app-titude test but govt supporters will cheer moves on Te Pukenga and the Hum...
    Buzz from the Beehive The Minister of Defence has returned from Noumea to announce New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting and (wearing another ministerial hat) to condemn malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government. A bigger cheer from people who voted for the Luxon ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • ELIZABETH RATA: In defence of the liberal university and against indigenisation
    The suppression of individual thought in our universities spills over into society, threatening free speech everywhere. Elizabeth Rata writes –  Indigenising New Zealand’s universities is well underway, presumably with the agreement of University Councils and despite the absence of public discussion. Indigenising, under the broader umbrella of decolonisation, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the skewed media coverage of Gaza
    Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website. If he did, Peters would find MFAT celebrating the 25th anniversary of how New Zealand alerted the rest of the world to the genocide developing in Rwanda. Quote: New Zealand played an important role ...
    3 days ago
  • “Your Circus, Your Clowns.”
    It must have been a hard first couple of weeks for National voters, since the coalition was announced. Seeing their party make so many concessions to New Zealand First and ACT that there seems little remains of their own policies, other than the dwindling dream of tax cuts and the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 8-December-2023
    It’s Friday again and Christmas is fast approaching. Here’s some of the stories that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered some of the recent talk around the costs, benefits and challenges with the City Rail Link. On Thursday Matt looked at how ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    3 days ago
  • End-of-week escapism
    Amsterdam to Hong Kong William McCartney16,000 kilometres41 days18 trains13 countries11 currencies6 long-distance taxis4 taxi apps4 buses3 sim cards2 ferries1 tram0 medical events (surprisingly)Episode 4Whether the Sofia-Istanbul Express really qualifies to be called an express is debatable, but it’s another one of those likeably old and slow trains tha… ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 8
    Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro arrives for the State Opening of Parliament (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)TL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:New Finance Minister Nicola Willis set herself a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • New Zealand’s Witchcraft Laws: 1840/1858-1961/1962
    Sometimes one gets morbidly curious about the oddities of one’s own legal system. Sometimes one writes entire essays on New Zealand’s experience with Blasphemous Libel: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/blasphemous-libel-new-zealand-politics/ And sometimes one follows up the exact historical status of witchcraft law in New Zealand. As one does, of course. ...
    4 days ago
  • No surprises
    Don’t expect any fiscal shocks or surprises when the books are opened on December 20 with the unveiling of the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). That was the message yesterday from Westpac in an economic commentary. But the bank’s analysis did not include any changes to capital ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #49 2023
    113 articles in 48 journals by 674 contributing authors Physical science of climate change, effects Diversity of Lagged Relationships in Global Means of Surface Temperatures and Radiative Budgets for CMIP6 piControl Simulations, Tsuchida et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0045.1 Do abrupt cryosphere events in High Mountain Asia indicate earlier tipping ...
    4 days ago
  • Phone calls at Kia Kaha primary
    It is quiet reading time in Room 13! It is so quiet you can hear the Tui outside. It is so quiet you can hear the Fulton Hogan crew.It is so quiet you can hear old Mr Grant and old Mr Bradbury standing by the roadworks and counting the conesand going on ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • A question of confidence is raised by the Minister of Police, but he had to be questioned by RNZ to ...
    It looks like the new ministerial press secretaries have quickly learned the art of camouflaging exactly what their ministers are saying – or, at least, of keeping the hard news  out of the headlines and/or the opening sentences of the statements they post on the home page of the governments ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • Xmas  good  cheer  for the dairy industry  as Fonterra lifts its forecast
    The big dairy co-op Fonterra  had  some Christmas  cheer to offer  its farmers this week, increasing its forecast farmgate milk price and earnings guidance for  the year after what it calls a strong start to the year. The forecast  midpoint for the 2023/24 season is up 25cs to $7.50 per ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • MICHAEL BASSETT: Modern Maori myths
    Michael Bassett writes – Many of the comments about the Coalition’s determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is happening ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • Dreams of eternal sunshine at a spotless COP28
    Mary Robinson asked Al Jaber a series of very simple, direct and highly pertinent questions and he responded with a high-octane public meltdown. Photos: Getty Images / montage: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR The hygiene effects of direct sunshine are making some inroads, perhaps for the very first time, on the normalised ‘deficit ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Oh, the irony
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Appointed by new Labour PM Jacinda Ardern in 2018, Cindy Kiro headed the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) tasked with reviewing and recommending reforms to the welfare system. Kiro had been Children’s Commissioner during Helen Clark’s Labour government but returned to academia subsequently. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Transport Agencies don’t want Harbour Tunnels
    It seems even our transport agencies don’t want Labour’s harbour crossing plans. In August the previous government and Waka Kotahi announced their absurd preferred option the new harbour crossing that at the time was estimated to cost $35-45 billion. It included both road tunnels and a wiggly light rail tunnel ...
    4 days ago
  • Webworm Presents: Jurassic Park on 35mm
    Hi,Paying Webworm members such as yourself keep this thing running, so as 2023 draws to close, I wanted to do two things to say a giant, loud “THANKS”. Firstly — I’m giving away 10 Mister Organ blu-rays in New Zealand, and another 10 in America. More details down below.Secondly — ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago
  • The Prime Minister's Dream.
    Yesterday saw the State Opening of Parliament, the Speech from the Throne, and then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dream for Aotearoa in his first address. But first the pomp and ceremony, the arrival of the Governor General.Dame Cindy Kiro arrived on the forecourt outside of parliament to a Māori welcome. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • National’s new MP; the proud part-Maori boy raised in a state house
    Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth – How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
    5 days ago
  • They do not speak for us, and they do not speak for the future
    These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Another attack on te reo
    The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • For the record, the Beehive buzz can now be regarded as “official”
    Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came  from  Education Minister  Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change: Failed again
    There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
    This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
    5 days ago
  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
    New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has  been under  pressure  from rising  costs. Down on the  farm, this  has  been  hitting  hard. But there  was more positive news this week,  first   from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where  prices  rose,  and  then from  a  report ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    5 days ago
  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Eleven years of work.
    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    6 days ago
  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    6 days ago
  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Pushback
    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 ...
    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 ...
    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 ...
    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 ...
    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 ...
    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
  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    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
    7 days 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

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2023-12-11T02:05:39+00:00