82% in a poll reject foreign ownership of our land. (btw, the chinese do not let foreigners own their land)
“A UMR Research survey, commissioned by a North Island farmer group trying to buy the in-receivership Crafar dairy farms against a Chinese bid, showed 82 per cent of 500 respondents believed foreign ownership of farms and agriculture land was a “bad thing”. Only 10 per cent believed it a “good thing” and 8 per cent were unsure. ”
But deceptive bastard Bill English deceptively confuses the issue of foreign ownership of land with foreign investment in business…. “We recognise the important contribution foreign investment can make to New Zealand”
Foreigners can invest in business, they just cannot own land. It is a fundamental so that we are owners of the land on which we live. An absentee landlord is weak for the entire community. Tenant communities are weak – examples abound, domestically and internationally.
Foreign investors can lease land. There are plenty of instruments for dealing with a business which requires land to operate on without having to own the land.
Why do they want to own it anyway? They claim they are incvesting in the business, not the land… rats smell.
This splitting of the two issues should be raised with the public…. foreign investment in business is entirely different from foreign ownership of land.
Land should be nationalised and users no more than leaseholders held to public account for its conservation.
That would give the right something to think about.
It would also give the left something to think about.
Well, yep, that’s further along the spectrum but definitely worthy of consideration.
Another colossal benefit of either idea is that land prices would fall, which means less of our daily toil has to go into paying for the land on which we walk and rest, leaving more available for actual real costs like food, housing, health, etc. And I challenge anybody to explain how that is not a good thing …..
I also challenge anybody to explain how high and rising land prices is a good thing ….
A majority of voting NZers will not sanction it, however, until they become landless serfs (which is probably about 3 or 4 generations away at the rate we’re going). The “Quarter Acre King” meme is too deeply programmed as a kind of “New Zealand Dream” . For settlers coming here in the mid-19thC, cheap land was a solution to the problem of land unavailability in Britain. But it was ultimately an evasion not a solution to this problem, because the same set of problematic values got imported. It all began when common land in England began to be enclosed in the 15thC.
For settlers coming here in the mid-19thC, cheap land was a solution to the problem of land unavailability in Britain. But it was ultimately an evasion not a solution to this problem, because the same set of problematic values got imported.
I remember reading Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series and in one of the books she mentioned the same problem (although, as she’s a RWNJ, she classed the problem of the rich sons not having any land to rule over). Her “solution” was opening up of the massive Southern Continent which, as you point out, just puts problem off for a few more generations.
It all began when common land in England began to be enclosed in the 15thC.
Privatisation of the commons was certainly part of the problem and needs to be addressed but the bigger one is actually uncontrolled population growth. Excess population growth will always result in too little land but the capitalists want it anyway because it’s from the work of others that capitalists get their wealth and the more people there are the more wealth they’ll have.
So John Key wants this campaign to be all about economic credibility.
He should rethink this. After all his Government:
1. Has overseen two recent credit rating downgrades.
2. Is responsible for the biggest budget deficit in the country’s history.
3. Intends to sell assets to pay for operating costs.
4. Has at various times said that the asset sale proceeds will be used to reinvest, to pay down debt or to pay for operating costs.
5. Has not taken the income dividend out of the financial forecasts even though it has included the sale proceeds in the same forecasts.
6. Has allowed for a billion dollars of savings on operating expenses in the latest budget even though the government does not know where these savings may come from.
7. Failed to convince IRD to accept in its entirety its financial forecasts.
Key is quickly becoming the worst overseer of the economy since Rob Muldoon.
And if Labour nails its presentation of its costings he is in trouble this election.
A tax free threshold basically simplifies a number of welfare policies that
sees many getting benefits in and out of work, you simply can’t have missed
the obvious that working for families won’t cost as much if it doesn’t have
tax removed, similarly benenit. fact is a bennie pays 20% tax unlike a
bennie in OZ, so when some bennie fraudster is caught they are actually
force to pay back not only the amount they stolen but the tax they
paid on it unlike in Oz. Weird that, bennies pay more tax, suffer stiffer
penulaties if they steal than in Oz, and if they move to oz they aren’t
even afforded welfare!!! who stacked those decks!
I’m talking about UF’s policy of splitting the income of a parent with children with their partner for tax purposes. Eg instead of being taxed on your $100k income, it would be split between your partner and yourself and only taxed as if you earned $50k each.
This was posted on the Standard recently from a contributor from an Asian country, and deserves better coverage as many people take astrology seriously.
“I’ve been catching up with a few Feng Shui masters and astrologers here, including those who do their castings based on the Vedic system.
Key is inauspicious for National and for New Zealand. Given his birthdate/year and his face reading (Mian Xiang) and if he clings on to power, there will be another lot of bad news arising before Christmas 2011.
Am told that Goff has castings that are better for the country as his aura is that of a guardian (as compared with Key’s being a parasite).
If astrology is your thing, good luck with your vote.”
National claims that partial asset sales will bring in 5 – 7 billion (and have already banked this money in their forcasts to return to surplus).
Labour claims that these same assets brought in $900m in dividends last year
National claims that the average is more like $300m
I’m no rich financial trader so I might have my figures wrong, but:
1. If the assets bring in $300m a year, and they are going to sell half, investors will be sharing $150m in dividends per year.
2. At a 5% p.a. return that makes them worth $3b (not 5 or 7). At less than 5% then a savings account is better for these (mythical?) ‘mum and dad’ investors with billions in the bank, and there are plenty of investment oppurtunities that can return more than this.
3. Some have argued that private ownership is more efficient and would make more money than they do now, the implication being that its worth paying over the odds because the power companies will make much more money with shareholders than they do at the moment.
4. Even if it was true that private run companies are more efficient and make more money the Government is retaining a controlling stake. Won’t this negate the effects of private ownership? Either the Government already has the capability to run these assets more efficiently (and could return more money to the government coffers as Labour is arguing) or is already doing the best job possible and $300m on average is what investors can expect see point number 2.
In short, who is going to be buying these assets? And are they really going to be looking to put $5 – 7bn into them and be happy with their investment making 2.1% a year?
I only skimmed through the article you linked to bu doesn’t the bit below impact real returns on an annual basis…… I could have misread.
“During the year Meridian sold the Tekapo A and B power stations on the upper Waitaki to Genesis Energy in a reshuffling of the state-owned enterprise’s generation portfolios intended to boost retail competition.
Of the $830 million sale price, the Government receives a special dividend of $531 million, boosting the total dividend to the Crown for the year to $685 million.”
his regular opinion pieces in the local paper were most irritating, so I stopped even reading them for “alternative points of view”. Not worth it, and frequently missing the main point (which generally involved caring about those who are less well off)
propagandist kerr no real economic facts to back his BS All he has proved is those with money and power have a bigger say in the running of it and us citizen should shut up work for next to nothing and be grateful.
Phone team MacMillan, ask for a test drive, can you bring it to my work; drive car badly for an hour or so, then politely ask about who they sponsor and when they admit national tell them where they can stick their car.
A couple of local businesses have National hoardings, tempted to do similar!
The silly Herald says ACT obtained 1,072 party votes last time but should have mentioned that John Riddell, ACT’s candidate, only obtained 482. A lesser number although still relevant.
Interesting that ACT are still running in Palmerston North. Clearly, the right are conceding that Iain Lees Galloway is going to retain the seat for Labour. New Plymouth is also interesting and the withdrawal there suggests that the Nat’s polling is showing that Andrew Little has his nose in front. Given that there were only 100 or so votes in it last time, it could be the last seat to be decided, with specials making the difference.
Coverage of last night’s Christs College debate by Jon Hardfelt or whatever and Small Vernon in the Christchurch Press was unbelievably biased in favour of Key, ‘ journalism’ reminiscent of Fox News.
Journalism… That’s a laugh! I’d like someone to do a detailed analysis of their language but couldn’t stomach reading their partisan fabrications again. Maybe they were at a different debate.
I once knew a sub editor on a Christchurch newspaper who was so right wing he couldn’t help inserting his sometimes unconscious but usually conscious prejudices into any headlines to do with Helen Clark.The partisan saga continues.
On the inside pages of today’s Press there is a carefully selected unflattering photo of Goff together with a couple of Christ’s boy sycophants assuring us that Key ‘won’ the debate….Surely not something to do with the $$$$millions previously gifted to private schools by Key?
This paper is so blatantly partisan that Fairfax has to be renamed Fairfox!
Good on Goff for fronting for a debate up at the bastion of those ‘born to rule.’
I wonder if Key would front up for a debate at Aranui High school. Ha! Not likely.
the $17 billion lie KEY made up has come back to bight Key he is constantly lying.All the radio statios today are getting phil goffs rebuttal labour borrowing $2.6 billion more than national but paying off debt sooner and holding onto income generating assets
Don’t tell me you didn’t expect it… the US has been providing New Zealand’s MSM with plenty of propaganda to try and justify yet another one of their unjust invasions for a long time now.
Instead, Obama administration staff briefed privately almost immediately that a military response was not being contemplated, not even sending more naval vessels to the Gulf or announcing new military manoeuvres in the region.
No, the US sending more naval vessels into the Gulf would just be giving Iran more targets.
Then there’s the obvious point. If Iran is attacked Iran will turn off the oil to pretty much everyone except possibly China which is where they’ll be buying up to date military hardware.
The USA is already bankrupt and has been decades. The reason why this hasn’t been a problem is because the governments of the rest of the world have been ignoring this fact, kowtowing to the lone “super-power”.
John Key’s Wall Street ‘BANK$TER’ background publicly exposed.
Penny Bright
Independent Candidate for Epsom
Campaigning against ‘white collar’ crime, corruption (and its root cause – privatisation), and ‘corporate welfare’.
Today, National announced they will continue the same policy that was announced prior to the 2008 election… which means no increase in funding for the arts. However without any increase to match inflation, such policy amounts to a cut…
two things here.
New Zealanders know that only the Labour Party can do a fair deal rebuilding Christchurch.
If National get their hands on it, it will all be corrupt and jobbery.
and
There is no leaders debate.
the moderators are not letting the debates develop.
too many ad breaks and opinions from the sidelines.
and the commentators, especailly claire robinson, are telling the viewers what to do before they text the online polls.
You have to watch these people because they are very sneaky while pretending to be objective.
fire claire robinson.
NOW!
According to figures published by the Social Security Administration on October 20, the median income for American workers in 2010 was $26,364, not much more than the official poverty level of $22,025 for a family of four. Given that a family making even twice the official poverty level faces real hardship and insecurity, it is no exaggeration to say that the SSA report shows that the “poor,” by any reasonable definition, constitute the absolute majority of the American people.
On the other side of the spectrum, a Congressional Budget Office study released October 25 shows that the richest 1 percent of US households saw a 275 percent increase in their income between 1979 and 2007 and more than doubled their share of the national income. While the income of this layer nearly tripled, the income of the middle 60 percent of the population rose only 40 percent over 28 years, and the income of the poorest 20 percent rose by only 18 percent.
Some other revealing statistics:
The unemployment rate for workers aged 55 or older has doubled since 2007, and the average period spent jobless has tripled. One-third of employed workers 65 and older make less than $11 an hour, while the rates of poverty and food stamp dependence have increased sharply for this sector of the population.
The dollar amount of student loans taken out in 2010 topped $100 billion, the largest ever total for a single year, and total student loan debt has passed the $1 trillion mark in 2011, exceeding the total of credit card debt. Students are borrowing twice as much as they did only ten years ago to pay for their college education.
Never be a debtor be. The only debt anyone could argue have is a
mortgage but even that is dumb when job insecurity is hailed as
the goal. Retraining essentially is a way to push costs onto
employees and allow employers to push down wages, retraining
for what exactly? another shallow career that has no value
in the economy. Watered down professional class directly
part of the demolishing of the middle classes. Money talks
and money men went negative, shifting risk onto the masses
when we were promised they’d produce positive outcomes,
they have in fact left the world in a worst state. how is
it we are the fifth best place to live, not because we did
anything, but becuase so much of the world ran its affairs
like John Key does, same thinking same dismal economic
Asked this two days ago, no response!
Anyone care to comment on the legal status of the following?
1) National banners nailed on to the fences of public reserves? (Is it legal for my local MP to have around 50 banners nailed to the retaining walls of roads, fences on public reserves? If I was selling a car, promoting an event or anything else similar I suspect the council would not be impressed – can I ask the council to get them removed?)
2) National MP’s agents sending out recommendations to government departments to purchase this programme? http://www.eatforkeeps.com/
I know in my electorate that before a sign can be erected on a persons property, they have to sign a declaration showing where the sign will be situated . This is lodged with the council for the duration of the campaign period . From what i understand councils can vary on rules and periods of display times.
There used to be signage on council reserves, but not anymore in my electorate . It would be worth ringing up the council to check on the guidelines .
I particularly like the graphs on p.9 and 10; look at the employment rates from 2001 – 2008 and then look at the decline – did something happen to mess things up?
Look again – you mean there was a dip in June 07, returning to 66% by mid 08, then down to 64% – it rose from 62% to 66% during nine years, dropped 2% in three – you figure the relationship.
every bloody year the morwesters arrive in force and smash by beautiful vanilla essenced wisteria to smithereens. Even the roses and their delicate petals get ripped and strewn all through the house.
Lol. I’m not a gardener, but my parents would commisserate. They’re replacing oft-destroyed trellis with corrugated iron for a similar reason. Hopefully the roses will be able to deal with the tin.
Yes – they’re slowly returning to normal after the abysmal start that was the Nat’s opening address. A bit like a student in evening-wear creeping through the botanic gardens on a Sunday morning, the walk of shame” that they hope nobody will notice.
The tory owners of the Herald and Stuff are whipping their journos into a frenzy as well. A lot of subtle spin going on (okay, some of it isn’t so subtle as well). Funny how they’re giving Key lots of air on Labour’s costings when they haven’t hounded him and English on their shonky, shonky figures.
They’re even republishing articles that they’ve already published before. Lazy spin isn’t going to win elections NZ Herald… room full of typing monkeys who can’t do basic math.
FYI – given that mainstream media seem a bit allergic to publicising this issue? 🙂
Perhaps monies saved by ‘CUTTING OUT THE CONTRACTORS’ on ‘corporate welfare’ would help release more public monies for ‘social welfare’ – including the cost of superannuation?
________________________________________________________________________
PRESS RELEASE: Independent Candidate for Epsom Penny Bright:
“How many billion$ of public monies could be saved by ‘CUTTING OUT THE CONTRACTORS’?
3 November 2011
Where’s National’s ‘corporate welfare’ reform?
Which of the maor political parties are pushing for ‘corporate welfare’ reform and shrinking the long-term dependency of the private sector on our public monies?
Where is the ‘devilish detail’ at both local and central government level – which shows EXACTLY where our public rates and taxes are being spent on private sector consultants and contractors?
Why aren’t the names of the consultant(s)/ contrators(s) – the scope, term and value of these contracts, published in Council or central government Annual Reports – so this information on the spending of OUR public monies is available for public scrutiny?
Where are the publicly-available ‘Registers of Interests’ for those local government elected representatives, and staff responsible for property and procurement, in order to help guard against possible ‘conflicts of interest’ between those who ‘give’ the contracts and those who ‘get’ the contracts?
Where’s the ‘transparency’?
Given that New Zealand is ‘perceived’ to be the least corrupt country in the world – along with Denmark and Singapore, according to Transparency International’s 2010 ‘Corruption Perception Index – shouldn’t we arguably be the most transparent?
Going back a step – where are the New Zealand ‘cost-benefit’ analyses which prove that the old ‘Rogernomic$ mantra – public is bad – private (contracting) is good’ can be substantiated by FACTS and EVIDENCE?
At last – someone – somewhere has actually done some substantial research – which proves the opposite.
That ‘contracting out’ services that were once provided ‘in-house’ is actually TWICE as expensive.
“USA Project On Government Oversight (POGO)[1] decided to take on the task of doing what others have not—comparing total annual compensation for federal and private sector employees with federal contractor billing rates in order to determine whether the current costs of federal service contracting serves the public interest.
Based on the current public debate regarding the salary comparisons of federal and private sector employees, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO)[1] decided to take on the task of doing what others have not—comparing total annual compensation for federal and private sector employees with federal contractor billing rates in order to determine whether the current costs of federal service contracting serves the public interest.
The current debate over pay differentials largely relies on the theory that the government pays private sector compensation rates when it outsources services. This report proves otherwise: in fact, it shows that the government actually pays service contractors at rates far exceeding the cost of employing federal employees to perform comparable functions.
POGO’s study analyzed the total compensation paid to federal and private sector employees, and annual billing rates for contractor employees across 35 occupational classifications covering over 550 service activities. Our findings were shocking—POGO estimates the government pays billions more annually in taxpayer dollars to hire contractors than it would to hire federal employees to perform comparable services. Specifically, POGO’s study shows that the federal government approves service contract billing rates—deemed fair and reasonable—that pay contractors 1.83 times more than the government pays federal employees in total compensation, and more than 2 times the total compensation paid in the private sector for comparable services. ”
The implications of this both nationally and internationally are HUGE.
If NZ central government figures are comparable with those of USA Federal Government – could the current NZ $82 billion central government spend be sliced in half by $40 billion ‘CUTTING OUT THE CONTRACTORS’?
Which political parties / candidates are focussing on the SPENDING of public monies, rather than debt and borrowing?
If central and local govt departments /SOEs / CCOs / Crown Research Institutes are all defined as ‘PUBLIC- BENEFIT ENTITIES’ as defined under NZ Equivalents to International Financial Reporting Standards (“NZ IFRS”) – then their primary objective is to provide services and facilities for the community as a social benefit rather than make a financial return.
So – how come so many services that USED to be provided ‘in-house’ are now contracted out to the private sector – whose primary objective is most certainly to ‘make a financial return’?
What magic is this that transforms public (ratepayer and taxpayer) monies into private profit?
WHERE IS THE NZ EQUIVALENT OF ‘POGO’ the USA ‘Project On Government Oversight ‘ which has just completed first-ever research which proves that private contractors cost twice as much as ‘in-house’ providers of Federal Government services?
HOW MUCH MONEY could be saved in NZ at central and local government by cutting out all the private ‘piggies in the middle’ with their greedy snouts in our public troughs?
Why aren’t the statutory ‘third party’ Public Watchdogs, as well as other major political parties demanding this accountability?
How much public money at central and local government level could be saved by ‘CUTTING OUT THE CONTRACTORS’?
Who else is even asking this question?
Penny Bright
Independent Candidate for Epsom (nomination accepted today 🙂
Campaigning against ‘white collar crime’, corruption (and its root cause – privatisation) and ‘corporate welfare’.
“Anti-corruption campaigner”.
Attendee: Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference 2009
Attendee: Transparency International’s 14th IACC 2010
What magic is this that transforms public (ratepayer and taxpayer) monies into private profit?
In economic terms it (private profit) is called a dead-weight loss as monies given for one purpose are subsumed to another in cases like this just to make an individual richer. In real terms it’s private tax on our public monies.
The government doing the job in house is more efficient than getting contractors in part time. The part time contractors have to charge to cover their own over-heads and the times that they’re not working which pushes the costs up. A government employee working in the normal building that the government owns (if they really are looking for efficiency and cost saving they’re owning and not renting (which would be another example of private tax on our public monies)) on the other hand just has to paid their normal weekly pay.
Everything about private contractors to do government jobs and privatisation in general is about shifting more of the communities wealth into private hands. There’s no benefit achieved (in fact there’s often a decrease in service) but it always costs more.
What the fuck are you worried about Farrar? They’ve shored up this tory lot for three years, why use them as a whistle for racists to get stuck into MMP? Oh that’s right, you’re a whore to FFP and National.
Have come home and read many of the comments and that is a lot of interesting reading!
Body talk. Last night when Phil started his remarks about the young Morgan not paying any tax, it seemed to me that John Key suddenly stared at the ground. Often when people do that it is an indicator of guilt. Maybe. S’pose we will never know how much tax Key pays on his millions.
A fantastic report about fracking causing earthquakes on 3 News tonight. Labours upcoming environment policy announcement will be one to watch. I’m interested to see the balance Labour has between our environment and industry.
With the majority of people recently polled saying the environment is their number one concern, it looks like Labour is playing their cards well while National are just reacting with spin.
Reminding everyone that there is a debate with Bill English, David Cunliffe, Russel Norman, Pita Sharples and Stephen Whittington. Starting at 7pm on Radio Live tonight, dont think its being streamed or Televised.
And last night on Campbell Live John interviewed Paula Bennett on Beneficiary reforms. He pointed out that nothing had changed in three years and that John Key’s statement on the subject was identical to that he made in 2008. Campbell pinned Bennett down quoting her words back to her and she just sort of grunted. He gave good weight to the question and pointed out that nothing had or would change.
This good interviewing is why Key and others do not usually appear before JC. http://ondemand.tv3.co.nz/Campbell-Live-Wednesday-November-2-2011/tabid/59/articleID/4584/MCat/73/Default.aspx (Part 1 of Wednesdays Campbell Live.)
JERUSALEM — Israel’s summertime protest movement, which was occupying “Wall Street” before it was cool, can now celebrate their first major tangible success.
At a Sunday cabinet meeting the government approved the restructuring of Israel’s tax system, shifting a few degrees of the social burden onto corporations and the very rich.
On Monday, during the opening day of the winter session of parliament after a three-month summer break, legislators received the new tax plan for approval, alongside a lengthy list of demands for financial reform and social justice that were nonexistent when the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, was last in session and which have been catapulted to the forefront of a pre-electoral year.
As lawmakers gathered it became clear that Likud, the party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, hoped the government’s imprimatur of approval on significant changes in taxation would shift credit from the young protest leaders to the party itself.
More bank profits while the economy stagnates and unemployment increases.
The largest bank in New Zealand made a $1.085 billion profit even as lending contracted.
How is it that the financial sector, which is the cause of the GFC, is making record profits while the majority of people are seeing wages and salaries decreasing?
And yesterday, sulky pants decided to write another pathetic post in yet another failed attempt to discredit Trevor Mallard, by claiming he couldn’t spell…
I sort of feel sorry for Cam. He overwhelmingly strikes me as someone on the wrong side of the political paradigm. He has a weird vulnerability, and too much anger… I used to enjoy his strange friendship with Bomber and how they seemed to get on despite hating each others politics.. Until Bomber accused him of being a right wing gun totin’ fundy.. He put his sulky pants on then too.. http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/tag/citizen-a/
Does anyone know if National have paid for the music they are using in their TV adverts?
It appears to be The Feelers – Stand Up and be Counted, and royalties should be paid for that.
You all remember how embarrassing and costly it was for National last election when they used Coldplay Clocks without permission, and they had to withdraw tens of thousands of DVDs.
Well I’m not an expert on The Feelers and have not got a recording of the National Advert.
But knowing that last election National had a complete idiot adviser who made slight changes to a Coldplay song then all the Nats said there was no similarity, maybe they’ve done it again.
I read that the feelers were glad of the money National was paying for their music. Claimed to be non-political though, (where have I heard that before?)
But yeah, their music is naff, and is a perfect match for the purpose it is being put to.
Yeah Nah VoR. It’s purely a business deal that is negotiated between the Feelers admin and the Natz… I don’t think the band has an opinion, although some have speculated that they are happy to make some cash.
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The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter has apologised in Parliament after National accused her of intimidating and attacking one of its ministers in the House. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Prime Minister and state and territory leaders met on Wednesday as the national cabinet to discuss a crisis gripping Australia – the horrific number of women murdered this year. The killings have shocked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Radhika Raghav, Teaching Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Otago Netflix Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for his big-budget Bollywood production, featuring grand sets, star casts, meticulously choreographed dance sequences and lavish costumes, jewellery and furnishings. ...
Sir Robert devoted his life to disability rights after living in institutions in his younger years, says Kaihautū Tika Hauātanga | Disability Rights Commissioner Prudence Walker. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University Violence against women is not a women’s problem to solve, it is a whole of society problem to solve; and men in particular have to take responsibility. Those were the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Newcastle Snapshot freddy/ShutterstockPlans to revive an old coal-fired power station using bioenergy are being considered in the Hunter region of New South Wales. Similar plans for the station ...
Responding to the long-awaited release of judges’ special allowances, including free air travel and hotels for spouses, generous sabbaticals, and access to limousines, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Alex Murphy said: “In what world does your employer ...
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82% in a poll reject foreign ownership of our land. (btw, the chinese do not let foreigners own their land)
“A UMR Research survey, commissioned by a North Island farmer group trying to buy the in-receivership Crafar dairy farms against a Chinese bid, showed 82 per cent of 500 respondents believed foreign ownership of farms and agriculture land was a “bad thing”. Only 10 per cent believed it a “good thing” and 8 per cent were unsure. ”
But deceptive bastard Bill English deceptively confuses the issue of foreign ownership of land with foreign investment in business…. “We recognise the important contribution foreign investment can make to New Zealand”
Foreigners can invest in business, they just cannot own land. It is a fundamental so that we are owners of the land on which we live. An absentee landlord is weak for the entire community. Tenant communities are weak – examples abound, domestically and internationally.
Foreign investors can lease land. There are plenty of instruments for dealing with a business which requires land to operate on without having to own the land.
Why do they want to own it anyway? They claim they are incvesting in the business, not the land… rats smell.
This splitting of the two issues should be raised with the public…. foreign investment in business is entirely different from foreign ownership of land.
My vote swings on it. 2c. Actually, 2,000,000c.
Land should be nationalised and users no more than leaseholders held to public account for its conservation.
That would give the right something to think about.
It would also give the left something to think about.
Well, yep, that’s further along the spectrum but definitely worthy of consideration.
Another colossal benefit of either idea is that land prices would fall, which means less of our daily toil has to go into paying for the land on which we walk and rest, leaving more available for actual real costs like food, housing, health, etc. And I challenge anybody to explain how that is not a good thing …..
I also challenge anybody to explain how high and rising land prices is a good thing ….
This is a good general approach.
A majority of voting NZers will not sanction it, however, until they become landless serfs (which is probably about 3 or 4 generations away at the rate we’re going). The “Quarter Acre King” meme is too deeply programmed as a kind of “New Zealand Dream” . For settlers coming here in the mid-19thC, cheap land was a solution to the problem of land unavailability in Britain. But it was ultimately an evasion not a solution to this problem, because the same set of problematic values got imported. It all began when common land in England began to be enclosed in the 15thC.
I remember reading Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series and in one of the books she mentioned the same problem (although, as she’s a RWNJ, she classed the problem of the rich sons not having any land to rule over). Her “solution” was opening up of the massive Southern Continent which, as you point out, just puts problem off for a few more generations.
Privatisation of the commons was certainly part of the problem and needs to be addressed but the bigger one is actually uncontrolled population growth. Excess population growth will always result in too little land but the capitalists want it anyway because it’s from the work of others that capitalists get their wealth and the more people there are the more wealth they’ll have.
So John Key wants this campaign to be all about economic credibility.
He should rethink this. After all his Government:
1. Has overseen two recent credit rating downgrades.
2. Is responsible for the biggest budget deficit in the country’s history.
3. Intends to sell assets to pay for operating costs.
4. Has at various times said that the asset sale proceeds will be used to reinvest, to pay down debt or to pay for operating costs.
5. Has not taken the income dividend out of the financial forecasts even though it has included the sale proceeds in the same forecasts.
6. Has allowed for a billion dollars of savings on operating expenses in the latest budget even though the government does not know where these savings may come from.
7. Failed to convince IRD to accept in its entirety its financial forecasts.
Key is quickly becoming the worst overseer of the economy since Rob Muldoon.
And if Labour nails its presentation of its costings he is in trouble this election.
And if they don’t nail their costings?
Petey
The costings have been done and I am assured are bulletproof. Perception of course is everything.
If not the perception will be that National and Labour are both pushing dodgy figures.
Does UF have costings on it’s tax-splitting bribe for working families?
The one where many families will get $5,000-6,000/year and some will get up to $9,000?
More tax cuts for the well-off. Pity John Key already ruled out more tax cuts.
A tax free threshold basically simplifies a number of welfare policies that
sees many getting benefits in and out of work, you simply can’t have missed
the obvious that working for families won’t cost as much if it doesn’t have
tax removed, similarly benenit. fact is a bennie pays 20% tax unlike a
bennie in OZ, so when some bennie fraudster is caught they are actually
force to pay back not only the amount they stolen but the tax they
paid on it unlike in Oz. Weird that, bennies pay more tax, suffer stiffer
penulaties if they steal than in Oz, and if they move to oz they aren’t
even afforded welfare!!! who stacked those decks!
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
I’m talking about UF’s policy of splitting the income of a parent with children with their partner for tax purposes. Eg instead of being taxed on your $100k income, it would be split between your partner and yourself and only taxed as if you earned $50k each.
This was posted on the Standard recently from a contributor from an Asian country, and deserves better coverage as many people take astrology seriously.
“I’ve been catching up with a few Feng Shui masters and astrologers here, including those who do their castings based on the Vedic system.
Key is inauspicious for National and for New Zealand. Given his birthdate/year and his face reading (Mian Xiang) and if he clings on to power, there will be another lot of bad news arising before Christmas 2011.
Am told that Goff has castings that are better for the country as his aura is that of a guardian (as compared with Key’s being a parasite).
If astrology is your thing, good luck with your vote.”
I’m not one for astrology, but there’s no denying that Key is a bad luck PM.
No, Key is not a “bad luck” PM, that implies that it’s all out of his control.
He’s just a bad PM, full stop.
With a bit of bad luck fu on top of it all! 🙂
+1
jinxed key
I probably didn’t need astrology to tell me Key’s a parasite.
I’m confused:
National claims that partial asset sales will bring in 5 – 7 billion (and have already banked this money in their forcasts to return to surplus).
Labour claims that these same assets brought in $900m in dividends last year
National claims that the average is more like $300m
I’m no rich financial trader so I might have my figures wrong, but:
1. If the assets bring in $300m a year, and they are going to sell half, investors will be sharing $150m in dividends per year.
2. At a 5% p.a. return that makes them worth $3b (not 5 or 7). At less than 5% then a savings account is better for these (mythical?) ‘mum and dad’ investors with billions in the bank, and there are plenty of investment oppurtunities that can return more than this.
3. Some have argued that private ownership is more efficient and would make more money than they do now, the implication being that its worth paying over the odds because the power companies will make much more money with shareholders than they do at the moment.
4. Even if it was true that private run companies are more efficient and make more money the Government is retaining a controlling stake. Won’t this negate the effects of private ownership? Either the Government already has the capability to run these assets more efficiently (and could return more money to the government coffers as Labour is arguing) or is already doing the best job possible and $300m on average is what investors can expect see point number 2.
In short, who is going to be buying these assets? And are they really going to be looking to put $5 – 7bn into them and be happy with their investment making 2.1% a year?
Meridian made $659.9M profit in the last year, by itself.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/2011-financial-results/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503017&objectid=10747012
I only skimmed through the article you linked to bu doesn’t the bit below impact real returns on an annual basis…… I could have misread.
“During the year Meridian sold the Tekapo A and B power stations on the upper Waitaki to Genesis Energy in a reshuffling of the state-owned enterprise’s generation portfolios intended to boost retail competition.
Of the $830 million sale price, the Government receives a special dividend of $531 million, boosting the total dividend to the Crown for the year to $685 million.”
Colonial, try this link. You’ll get to read something by an extremely bright man.
http://rogerkerr.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/the-truth-about-privatisation-14-dividends/
I’d recommend reading some of the other references there as well.
Anything written by Roger Kerr is designed to benefit Roger Kerr and no one else.
his regular opinion pieces in the local paper were most irritating, so I stopped even reading them for “alternative points of view”. Not worth it, and frequently missing the main point (which generally involved caring about those who are less well off)
propagandist kerr no real economic facts to back his BS All he has proved is those with money and power have a bigger say in the running of it and us citizen should shut up work for next to nothing and be grateful.
This whole thing is a hoodwink and the media are complicit. We need far more analysis, instead they’re shilling for Key.
You’re right to be confused. That’s how National like it.
I have a further question I might ask John Key myself (though I doubt he’ll answer).
Is he going to be buying shares in these assets?
Is there video or audio of last night’s debate anywhere?
Team McMillan BMW donates $35,000 to National
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/campaign-trail/5898672/Campaign-donations-favour-the-Right
Money rolls into Right Wing parties
And not much into Labour, since they allow their donors details to be laid bare to anybody that feels like looking.
Which is exactly how it should be so that corruption can more easily be detected. NAct don’t like this idea though as they’re inherently corrupt.
BTW, As businesses are not people and don’t vote they shouldn’t be donating to political parties at all.
Phone team MacMillan, ask for a test drive, can you bring it to my work; drive car badly for an hour or so, then politely ask about who they sponsor and when they admit national tell them where they can stick their car.
A couple of local businesses have National hoardings, tempted to do similar!
ACT and National Gaming It: ACT steps down in Waitakere and New Plymouth to give NATs clear run
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10763541
The silly Herald says ACT obtained 1,072 party votes last time but should have mentioned that John Riddell, ACT’s candidate, only obtained 482. A lesser number although still relevant.
More relevant of course since candidates not standing would logically only be handing across their personal vote.
So is this more tory spin or just poor journalism? I’m picking the former.
Interesting that ACT are still running in Palmerston North. Clearly, the right are conceding that Iain Lees Galloway is going to retain the seat for Labour. New Plymouth is also interesting and the withdrawal there suggests that the Nat’s polling is showing that Andrew Little has his nose in front. Given that there were only 100 or so votes in it last time, it could be the last seat to be decided, with specials making the difference.
unexpected earthquake observation #007;
All the recent immigrants leave and go back home. England will have experienced a recent reverse influx.
http://www.tumeke.blogspot.com/
Finally – protest music. Love this song. Hope it gets airplay.
Debate
Coverage of last night’s Christs College debate by Jon Hardfelt or whatever and Small Vernon in the Christchurch Press was unbelievably biased in favour of Key, ‘ journalism’ reminiscent of Fox News.
Journalism… That’s a laugh! I’d like someone to do a detailed analysis of their language but couldn’t stomach reading their partisan fabrications again. Maybe they were at a different debate.
I once knew a sub editor on a Christchurch newspaper who was so right wing he couldn’t help inserting his sometimes unconscious but usually conscious prejudices into any headlines to do with Helen Clark.The partisan saga continues.
On the inside pages of today’s Press there is a carefully selected unflattering photo of Goff together with a couple of Christ’s boy sycophants assuring us that Key ‘won’ the debate….Surely not something to do with the $$$$millions previously gifted to private schools by Key?
This paper is so blatantly partisan that Fairfax has to be renamed Fairfox!
Good on Goff for fronting for a debate up at the bastion of those ‘born to rule.’
I wonder if Key would front up for a debate at Aranui High school. Ha! Not likely.
FauxFax?
FairFaux?
Maybe “unfairfax?”
Or ‘fair balanced and full of b***sIt!’
fearfix
Yeah the right wing nickname for Vernon Small isn’t ‘comrade’ for nothing…
the $17 billion lie KEY made up has come back to bight Key he is constantly lying.All the radio statios today are getting phil goffs rebuttal labour borrowing $2.6 billion more than national but paying off debt sooner and holding onto income generating assets
Good grief!
Tell me it’s not so. A war with Iran is all the world needs.
The sooner the US cuts itself loose from Israel, the better.
Exactly!
Puddleglum, that was precisely my thoughts when I heard this news on ALjazeera this morning – very scary.
Don’t tell me you didn’t expect it… the US has been providing New Zealand’s MSM with plenty of propaganda to try and justify yet another one of their unjust invasions for a long time now.
No, the US sending more naval vessels into the Gulf would just be giving Iran more targets.
Then there’s the obvious point. If Iran is attacked Iran will turn off the oil to pretty much everyone except possibly China which is where they’ll be buying up to date military hardware.
War with Iran will bankrupt USA. If they go convention not Nuke that is.
They’ve been 10 years in th 5th poorest country in the world with no progress, the last few months the bloodiest.
Iran will fight back hard, and will likely be joined by Iraq having brought them
onside via Sadar.
Will the f16’s end up being used against their master?
The USA is already bankrupt and has been decades. The reason why this hasn’t been a problem is because the governments of the rest of the world have been ignoring this fact, kowtowing to the lone “super-power”.
YouTube video link
March on banks – Queen street Auckland – 29 October 2011
ANZ financing Lockheed-Martin cluster munition exposed
National bank occupied
John Key’s Wall Street ‘BANK$TER’ background publicly exposed.
Penny Bright
Independent Candidate for Epsom
Campaigning against ‘white collar’ crime, corruption (and its root cause – privatisation), and ‘corporate welfare’.
National Cuts Funding for the Arts
Today, National announced they will continue the same policy that was announced prior to the 2008 election… which means no increase in funding for the arts. However without any increase to match inflation, such policy amounts to a cut…
Bank News………..RNZ news at 11am today.
Westpac & ANZ Bank profits up 41% this year.
Requests for help at NZ food banks up 30%.
I’d say the Aussie banks are winning.
two things here.
New Zealanders know that only the Labour Party can do a fair deal rebuilding Christchurch.
If National get their hands on it, it will all be corrupt and jobbery.
and
There is no leaders debate.
the moderators are not letting the debates develop.
too many ad breaks and opinions from the sidelines.
and the commentators, especailly claire robinson, are telling the viewers what to do before they text the online polls.
You have to watch these people because they are very sneaky while pretending to be objective.
fire claire robinson.
NOW!
A Portrait of America in Decline
Some highlights:
Never be a debtor be. The only debt anyone could argue have is a
mortgage but even that is dumb when job insecurity is hailed as
the goal. Retraining essentially is a way to push costs onto
employees and allow employers to push down wages, retraining
for what exactly? another shallow career that has no value
in the economy. Watered down professional class directly
part of the demolishing of the middle classes. Money talks
and money men went negative, shifting risk onto the masses
when we were promised they’d produce positive outcomes,
they have in fact left the world in a worst state. how is
it we are the fifth best place to live, not because we did
anything, but becuase so much of the world ran its affairs
like John Key does, same thinking same dismal economic
Asked this two days ago, no response!
Anyone care to comment on the legal status of the following?
1) National banners nailed on to the fences of public reserves? (Is it legal for my local MP to have around 50 banners nailed to the retaining walls of roads, fences on public reserves? If I was selling a car, promoting an event or anything else similar I suspect the council would not be impressed – can I ask the council to get them removed?)
2) National MP’s agents sending out recommendations to government departments to purchase this programme? http://www.eatforkeeps.com/
I know in my electorate that before a sign can be erected on a persons property, they have to sign a declaration showing where the sign will be situated . This is lodged with the council for the duration of the campaign period . From what i understand councils can vary on rules and periods of display times.
There used to be signage on council reserves, but not anymore in my electorate . It would be worth ringing up the council to check on the guidelines .
Unemployment rates up (again!!)
http://media.nzherald.co.nz/webcontent/document/pdf/201145/HouseholdLabourForceSurveySep11qtr1.pdf
I particularly like the graphs on p.9 and 10; look at the employment rates from 2001 – 2008 and then look at the decline – did something happen to mess things up?
yes forecasts of National easy return for a second term. The body scanners
at Auckland airport have been cliking over something rotten
every conumer lost to au, every renter, every parents whose child was taught by
a teacher, or seen by a doctor, is a loss of more employment to Nz
Well given the decline started in late 07 early 08 it must have been something Helen Clark said. 🙂
Look again – you mean there was a dip in June 07, returning to 66% by mid 08, then down to 64% – it rose from 62% to 66% during nine years, dropped 2% in three – you figure the relationship.
aaaarrrggh !!!!
every bloody year the morwesters arrive in force and smash by beautiful vanilla essenced wisteria to smithereens. Even the roses and their delicate petals get ripped and strewn all through the house.
it’s just not fair.
Lol. I’m not a gardener, but my parents would commisserate. They’re replacing oft-destroyed trellis with corrugated iron for a similar reason. Hopefully the roses will be able to deal with the tin.
Interesting to see the nervous Right commenting today. They must be rattled.
They want numbers, Numbers! Anyone not speaking numbers should be excluded from life!
They want to turn the clock back 50 years to a time when the system wasn’t so obviously flawed. They’d do it right, this time. Please believe them.
They want to gift us our individuality. Oh dear. They just haven’t been watching the news. People have woken up to the fact they already have it.
3 more years, they cry! Because it’s all just a race to the grave with the most toys… and then … nothingness.
They’re so alone, so scared of being individuals.
Yes – they’re slowly returning to normal after the abysmal start that was the Nat’s opening address. A bit like a student in evening-wear creeping through the botanic gardens on a Sunday morning, the walk of shame” that they hope nobody will notice.
The tory owners of the Herald and Stuff are whipping their journos into a frenzy as well. A lot of subtle spin going on (okay, some of it isn’t so subtle as well). Funny how they’re giving Key lots of air on Labour’s costings when they haven’t hounded him and English on their shonky, shonky figures.
They’re even republishing articles that they’ve already published before. Lazy spin isn’t going to win elections NZ Herald… room full of typing monkeys who can’t do basic math.
FYI – given that mainstream media seem a bit allergic to publicising this issue? 🙂
Perhaps monies saved by ‘CUTTING OUT THE CONTRACTORS’ on ‘corporate welfare’ would help release more public monies for ‘social welfare’ – including the cost of superannuation?
________________________________________________________________________
PRESS RELEASE: Independent Candidate for Epsom Penny Bright:
“How many billion$ of public monies could be saved by ‘CUTTING OUT THE CONTRACTORS’?
3 November 2011
Where’s National’s ‘corporate welfare’ reform?
Which of the maor political parties are pushing for ‘corporate welfare’ reform and shrinking the long-term dependency of the private sector on our public monies?
Where is the ‘devilish detail’ at both local and central government level – which shows EXACTLY where our public rates and taxes are being spent on private sector consultants and contractors?
Why aren’t the names of the consultant(s)/ contrators(s) – the scope, term and value of these contracts, published in Council or central government Annual Reports – so this information on the spending of OUR public monies is available for public scrutiny?
Where are the publicly-available ‘Registers of Interests’ for those local government elected representatives, and staff responsible for property and procurement, in order to help guard against possible ‘conflicts of interest’ between those who ‘give’ the contracts and those who ‘get’ the contracts?
Where’s the ‘transparency’?
Given that New Zealand is ‘perceived’ to be the least corrupt country in the world – along with Denmark and Singapore, according to Transparency International’s 2010 ‘Corruption Perception Index – shouldn’t we arguably be the most transparent?
Going back a step – where are the New Zealand ‘cost-benefit’ analyses which prove that the old ‘Rogernomic$ mantra – public is bad – private (contracting) is good’ can be substantiated by FACTS and EVIDENCE?
At last – someone – somewhere has actually done some substantial research – which proves the opposite.
That ‘contracting out’ services that were once provided ‘in-house’ is actually TWICE as expensive.
“USA Project On Government Oversight (POGO)[1] decided to take on the task of doing what others have not—comparing total annual compensation for federal and private sector employees with federal contractor billing rates in order to determine whether the current costs of federal service contracting serves the public interest.
http://www.pogo.org/pogo-files/reports/contract-oversight/bad-business/co-gp-20110913.html
Executive Summary
Based on the current public debate regarding the salary comparisons of federal and private sector employees, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO)[1] decided to take on the task of doing what others have not—comparing total annual compensation for federal and private sector employees with federal contractor billing rates in order to determine whether the current costs of federal service contracting serves the public interest.
The current debate over pay differentials largely relies on the theory that the government pays private sector compensation rates when it outsources services. This report proves otherwise: in fact, it shows that the government actually pays service contractors at rates far exceeding the cost of employing federal employees to perform comparable functions.
POGO’s study analyzed the total compensation paid to federal and private sector employees, and annual billing rates for contractor employees across 35 occupational classifications covering over 550 service activities. Our findings were shocking—POGO estimates the government pays billions more annually in taxpayer dollars to hire contractors than it would to hire federal employees to perform comparable services. Specifically, POGO’s study shows that the federal government approves service contract billing rates—deemed fair and reasonable—that pay contractors 1.83 times more than the government pays federal employees in total compensation, and more than 2 times the total compensation paid in the private sector for comparable services. ”
The implications of this both nationally and internationally are HUGE.
If NZ central government figures are comparable with those of USA Federal Government – could the current NZ $82 billion central government spend be sliced in half by $40 billion ‘CUTTING OUT THE CONTRACTORS’?
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/budget/2011/estimates/est11sumtab.pdf
Which political parties / candidates are focussing on the SPENDING of public monies, rather than debt and borrowing?
If central and local govt departments /SOEs / CCOs / Crown Research Institutes are all defined as ‘PUBLIC- BENEFIT ENTITIES’ as defined under NZ Equivalents to International Financial Reporting Standards (“NZ IFRS”) – then their primary objective is to provide services and facilities for the community as a social benefit rather than make a financial return.
So – how come so many services that USED to be provided ‘in-house’ are now contracted out to the private sector – whose primary objective is most certainly to ‘make a financial return’?
What magic is this that transforms public (ratepayer and taxpayer) monies into private profit?
WHERE IS THE NZ EQUIVALENT OF ‘POGO’ the USA ‘Project On Government Oversight ‘ which has just completed first-ever research which proves that private contractors cost twice as much as ‘in-house’ providers of Federal Government services?
HOW MUCH MONEY could be saved in NZ at central and local government by cutting out all the private ‘piggies in the middle’ with their greedy snouts in our public troughs?
Why aren’t the statutory ‘third party’ Public Watchdogs, as well as other major political parties demanding this accountability?
How much public money at central and local government level could be saved by ‘CUTTING OUT THE CONTRACTORS’?
Who else is even asking this question?
Penny Bright
Independent Candidate for Epsom (nomination accepted today 🙂
Campaigning against ‘white collar crime’, corruption (and its root cause – privatisation) and ‘corporate welfare’.
“Anti-corruption campaigner”.
Attendee: Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference 2009
Attendee: Transparency International’s 14th IACC 2010
[email deleted]
In economic terms it (private profit) is called a dead-weight loss as monies given for one purpose are subsumed to another in cases like this just to make an individual richer. In real terms it’s private tax on our public monies.
The government doing the job in house is more efficient than getting contractors in part time. The part time contractors have to charge to cover their own over-heads and the times that they’re not working which pushes the costs up. A government employee working in the normal building that the government owns (if they really are looking for efficiency and cost saving they’re owning and not renting (which would be another example of private tax on our public monies)) on the other hand just has to paid their normal weekly pay.
Everything about private contractors to do government jobs and privatisation in general is about shifting more of the communities wealth into private hands. There’s no benefit achieved (in fact there’s often a decrease in service) but it always costs more.
Farrar doing some lovely racist dog-whistling about the Maori Party potentially holding the balance of power.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/blogs/david-farrar-by-the-numbers/5901028/The-October-polls
What the fuck are you worried about Farrar? They’ve shored up this tory lot for three years, why use them as a whistle for racists to get stuck into MMP? Oh that’s right, you’re a whore to FFP and National.
Have come home and read many of the comments and that is a lot of interesting reading!
Body talk. Last night when Phil started his remarks about the young Morgan not paying any tax, it seemed to me that John Key suddenly stared at the ground. Often when people do that it is an indicator of guilt. Maybe. S’pose we will never know how much tax Key pays on his millions.
A fantastic report about fracking causing earthquakes on 3 News tonight. Labours upcoming environment policy announcement will be one to watch. I’m interested to see the balance Labour has between our environment and industry.
With the majority of people recently polled saying the environment is their number one concern, it looks like Labour is playing their cards well while National are just reacting with spin.
Reminding everyone that there is a debate with Bill English, David Cunliffe, Russel Norman, Pita Sharples and Stephen Whittington. Starting at 7pm on Radio Live tonight, dont think its being streamed or Televised.
And last night on Campbell Live John interviewed Paula Bennett on Beneficiary reforms. He pointed out that nothing had changed in three years and that John Key’s statement on the subject was identical to that he made in 2008. Campbell pinned Bennett down quoting her words back to her and she just sort of grunted. He gave good weight to the question and pointed out that nothing had or would change.
This good interviewing is why Key and others do not usually appear before JC.
http://ondemand.tv3.co.nz/Campbell-Live-Wednesday-November-2-2011/tabid/59/articleID/4584/MCat/73/Default.aspx (Part 1 of Wednesdays Campbell Live.)
Someone’s succeeded.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s summertime protest movement, which was occupying “Wall Street” before it was cool, can now celebrate their first major tangible success.
At a Sunday cabinet meeting the government approved the restructuring of Israel’s tax system, shifting a few degrees of the social burden onto corporations and the very rich.
On Monday, during the opening day of the winter session of parliament after a three-month summer break, legislators received the new tax plan for approval, alongside a lengthy list of demands for financial reform and social justice that were nonexistent when the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, was last in session and which have been catapulted to the forefront of a pre-electoral year.
As lawmakers gathered it became clear that Likud, the party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, hoped the government’s imprimatur of approval on significant changes in taxation would shift credit from the young protest leaders to the party itself.
More bank profits while the economy stagnates and unemployment increases.
How is it that the financial sector, which is the cause of the GFC, is making record profits while the majority of people are seeing wages and salaries decreasing?
Worst Blog Post of the Year Award
And yesterday, sulky pants decided to write another pathetic post in yet another failed attempt to discredit Trevor Mallard, by claiming he couldn’t spell…
I sort of feel sorry for Cam. He overwhelmingly strikes me as someone on the wrong side of the political paradigm. He has a weird vulnerability, and too much anger… I used to enjoy his strange friendship with Bomber and how they seemed to get on despite hating each others politics.. Until Bomber accused him of being a right wing gun totin’ fundy.. He put his sulky pants on then too..
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/tag/citizen-a/
Does anyone know if National have paid for the music they are using in their TV adverts?
It appears to be The Feelers – Stand Up and be Counted, and royalties should be paid for that.
You all remember how embarrassing and costly it was for National last election when they used Coldplay Clocks without permission, and they had to withdraw tens of thousands of DVDs.
Given how naff the Feelers are, I imagine they think it’s kewl that Key is a fan.
Well I’m not an expert on The Feelers and have not got a recording of the National Advert.
But knowing that last election National had a complete idiot adviser who made slight changes to a Coldplay song then all the Nats said there was no similarity, maybe they’ve done it again.
I read that the feelers were glad of the money National was paying for their music. Claimed to be non-political though, (where have I heard that before?)
But yeah, their music is naff, and is a perfect match for the purpose it is being put to.
Yeah Nah VoR. It’s purely a business deal that is negotiated between the Feelers admin and the Natz… I don’t think the band has an opinion, although some have speculated that they are happy to make some cash.
Right here right now… fucken epic fail!
You folks are nutters, do any of you actually work?