Merry Christmas from NZ

15 comments on “Merry Christmas from NZ ”

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1. Bill 1

   17 December 2010 at 8:27 am

   But these days, real aid’s profitable, innit?

   Can’t just go about dishing out aid on the basis of philanthropy. No money there. For ‘us’.
2. prism 2

   17 December 2010 at 9:47 am

   Major aid agencies that have been operating and applying for grants for yonks – and the government turns them down grumbling that the applications were poorly prepared! Teach your grandmother to suck eggs. Don’t know quite what that phrase means, but it’s as clear as government intentions and requirements before supporting aid agencies’ valuable work are.

   In the past NZ aid has been noted for boosting businesses in NZ supplying resource etc, rather than developing the P. Islands capacity. No doubt this new approach about promoting economic development in the Pacific will show a similar boomerang approach when reviewed in 3 years or so.
   • Ron 2.1

     17 December 2010 at 10:17 am

     As I said in my comment here:
     http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17122010/
     this is just the tip of a very smelly pile.
     The lack of funding for impOtant projects is one thing – the delays, hassles and disorganisation of the process is the real story and is being repeated in a number of departments. EVERYTHING is late.

     I am on the reference group for a Ministry of Youth Development Youth Partnerships project which was approved months ago. MYD have yet to sign the contract and have just returned to the organisers with “queries” about the project.
     PTEs contracted with TEC have yet to get details of next year’s contracts. These are contracts that begin in January.
     MSD can not give basic information to contractors and partners on their new education/training set up and seem to have no conversations with TEC from whom they shifted the contracts a month or so ago.

     If any of these contractors were this tardy with applications or reports they’d be hauled over the coals and lose their contracts.

     I guess the main reason the MSM isn’t on to this debacle occuring in Govt departments is that the organisations suffering from the changes are reticent about annoying their funder by speaking out.

     I was called to a meeting with a regional manager of MSD last year for speaking out at some community meetings about the short comings of MSD’s operation. I was told that as a contractor I was not to speak out. A threat basically.

     Staff at these departments seem to labour under the mistaken impression the “we are all in this together” and that it’s simply a matter of working together through the process. Except that philosophy doesn’t flow in the other direction.
     • Jenny 2.1.1

       17 December 2010 at 11:40 am

       Yet Ron, contrast this tardiness in meeting their obligations to the rest of society with the government’s immediate response in bailing out out the wealthy investors who had gambled their money away in South Canturbury finance.

       In this case the government displayed indecent haste in handing over $1.7 billion of taxpayers money no strings attached, minimal paper work and none of the bureaucratic hold ups typical of other government payments that you have described here Ron.

       One can only conclude that this is not an accident, but is deliberate policy to make life as difficult and miserable as possible for those at the bottom of society.
3. marsman 3

   17 December 2010 at 10:24 am

   We can’t afford to give to poor nations,we’ve just given $30million to Warner Bros and Jackson.
   • TightyRighty 3.1

     17 December 2010 at 10:33 am

     at least we will see something back from warner bros apart from homophobia, racism and ungratefulness. Jobs for people in New Zealand obviously don’t mean as much to you as giving money away that we don’t even have.

     but it’s all right when it’s tax dollars huh? because only a small bit is yours.
4. Akldnut 4

   17 December 2010 at 11:11 am

   Gordon Campbell over at Scoop agrees McCully still has the reds under the beds mentality.

   “There’s no way around it. Murray McCully is a national embarrassment – and his ideological witch hunt in the foreign aid sector is not only harming the aid sector, but New Zealand’s reputation as a reliable development partner in the Pacific.”

   http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2010/12/17/gordon-campbell-on-the-fiasco-in-overseas-aid-funding/

   Just another straw to break the camels back.
5. Jenny 5

   17 December 2010 at 11:17 am

   Twas the week before Christmas….

   Vision is my capcha for this comment. It immediately made me think of the line “as visions of sugar plums danced in my head” a sumptuous celebration of Christmas, from the poem Twas the Night before Christmas.

   Rob the depiction of this government as a Scrooge is not completely accurate, when I was reading your post on how this government cut aid to some of the poorest people on the planet, I couldn’t help but remember that while others lie ill and uncared for amongst our poorest neighbors, it will allow a certain Mr Kerr to enjoy a very lovely Christmas indeed. The $100 million of tax payers money, which this government generously gifted to this individual to add to his already vast personal fortune.

   In a just society those responsible for this obscene atrocity should be facing criminal charges, and the $100 million gifted to Kerr given back to those really in need.
   • Jenny 5.1

     17 December 2010 at 1:11 pm

     Misappropriation of public money.

     Theft as a (public) servant.

     Might be just two of the charges the criminal scum who committed this heist of public money should be charged with.

     As well as indicting the perpetrators, I think rightly, charges should also be brought against George Kerr with being the receiver of stolen goods.

     And as being party to a conspiracy to defraud.

     In line with this government’s stated policy of cracking down on crime, I think, the culture of entitlement that exists amongst our “tall poppies” needs to be nipped in the bud. (Pardon the pun).

     While a custodial sentence may not be appropriate in Kerr’s case, I think that as well as retrieving the stolen money, a fine of $10 million imposed on George Kerr may be appropriate as an example to all other corporate robber barons intent on preying on the public accounts.

     Such a sum ($10 million) would still leave Mr Kerr as a multi-millionaire free to enjoy his freedom, and the luxurious lifestyle he has become accustomed too.

     Because of this, I think that Kerr’s non-custodial punishment should include 6 months compulsory community work in one of the poorer countries that have suffered from his greedy raid on our public funds. This might just give him a little taste of the misery he and the others like him have caused.

     Of course none of this will happen, but what surprises me, is the number of people on the left grovelling and tugging their forelocks in deference to the wealthy, who rush forward to defend this sort of behaviour.
6. Deadly_NZ 6

   17 December 2010 at 1:02 pm

   @Akldnut, they dont call him Meddleing Murray for nothing .. he is probably the most useless of the whole bunch and that does not say much for our duly elected highly revered head of government John key..

   excuse me while I wipe the vomit off my keyboard for having to write nice things about theTeflon john..
   • Ron 6.1

     17 December 2010 at 1:10 pm

     The thing is, Murray isn’t the only one. I believe the chaos in these departments at the moment is a direct result of Ministers just handing out ideological orders. Baiscally ideas they’ve come up with over gins with their mates around the swimming pool on the weekend.

     An example is the chaos around TEC/MSD training programmes.

     TOPS providers are now required to deliver to twice as many students and achieve much more onerous employment outcomes on the sdame funding as this year. They are also required to administer things like travelk payments which used to be the government’s job.

     Despite extensive feedback from the industry the basic structure of this hasn’t changed from when it was first mooted. I believe this is because it is essentially Paula Benefit’s idea of how to lower unemployment and cut costs. When MSD and TEC went back to her with the sensible feedback from people who deliver this sort of contract she’s simply said “Nah – that’s the way i want it”. So they’ve had to implement a big change at the last minute and it basically doesn’t work. Every time someone in the industrty points out an obvious flaw TEC/MSD have had to try and plug the hole – leading to more delays. The main reason it’s so late is that they’ve had real trouble making a stupid idea work. But it’s Paula’s idea so they have to do it.
7. Tanz 7

   18 December 2010 at 5:05 pm

   But the coffers are broke, welfare is blowing out, we are being downgraded by S and P, maybe in this case, justified, Lots of suffering Kiws here, homeless, etc. Charity begins at home, in desperate times? MPs have not gotten pay rises, Key donates part of his salary, the perks are going…NZ has helped overeas countries enormously….Christchurch earthquake to deal with, lots of our own problems this year. Crime rates in free fall, prisons bursting…what pays for all this?
   • Jenny 7.1

     18 December 2010 at 9:17 pm

     Tanz, What a load of over stated rot. If things are so bad how come the government can hand over $1.7 billion to SCF investors to cover their losses, and never even break stride.

     And a fortnight ago $178 million to the Todds. The wealthy just need to snap the fingers to get gifted hundreds of millions of tax payer dollars.

     capcha – “treats”
     • Colonial Viper 7.1.1

       18 December 2010 at 9:20 pm

       And Jenny I know you haven’t forgotten the $9.1B in tax cuts given to the top 10% of income earners, over the next 4 years.

       If you are one of NZ’s 650 millionaire earners, congratulations to you, that’s $1000 plus per week extra in your pockets thanks to Bill and John.

       Plenty of money for the few, none for the many, that’s it isn’t it Tanz.

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1. The Standard: posted on 16 December 2010 at 7:17 pm

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