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6:00 am, January 30th, 2011 - 57 comments
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The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...
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Can someone explain something to me…
Phil Goff was cabinet minister during the Lange Govt which sold off 100% of some SOEs, Trev Mallard recently stated hes in support of public-private partnerships yet Phil Goff and other MPs are now saying its wrong to sell off 49% of certain SOEs
So which is it? Is it ok to sell them off or not ok to sell them off?
Chris. PPP’s are not sell offs, they are partnerships for the building of infrastructure, so there is no contradiction between Mallard’s position and the opposition to privatisation.
Labour’s sell offs were 25 years ago and wrong. Don’t blame Goff, who was relatively junior at the time and, as I recall, in charge of portfolios not directly related to the privatisations. Blame Douglas, Prebble and a gutless Lange for those mistakes all those years ago and congratulate Labour for recognising the mistake and moving on.
I agree with you…partially (excuse the pun) I don’t agree with 100% sell offs, in fact I’d rather not see any sell offs at all BUT
NZers (Aucklanders mostly) don’t want major mining to go ahead
Limiting WFF would be a political no-no (I’d drop the threshold substantially)
Putting a limit on how long you can claim the unemployment benefit and investigating the sickness benefit rorts (i mean claiming you cant work because of an addiction to weed?!?!?!) would galvinise the left
All fines/debts/monies owed to the govt to be automatically garnished from wages and benefits, no exceptions would also get the lefties up in arms
These are the sort of things I’d like to see before any asset sales but not likely to happen…maybe in Nationals third term
What I’d like to see before any asset sales was a committed and focussed attempt to increase employment and job opportunities in NZ. But we won’t see that from National, either.
I’m pretty sure increased mining would have generated jobs
Not really, it would have increased the amount of our wealth that went foreign corporations though.
Yes, so now that increased mining isn’t going to happen, could we please have an alternative policy to increase jobs? Thanks.
Nope it’s mining the national parks or nothing. Come on, you know National campaigned for years on a “mine the national parks” platform.
Why, when I think back to the last 2 elections it seems like all they ever talked about was mining the national parks.
So would increasing our housing stock, extending rails lines, research into green tech and keeping manufacturing local. And we would have something to show for it at the end.
YOU HAVE TO BE JOKING . what part of tailings dams /cyanide treatment/ acid mine drainage do you really want to embrace ?
especially when the companies leave it up to the regional council to pick up the costs years later .
A couple of big calls there, Chris!
I don’t think the opposition to open cast mining/any mining on DOC land is limited to AK, there are plenty of Coasters who don’t want their backyard fucked over, and mining was never going to be underpinning NZ’s economic future anyway.
I think you’ll find that most NZers are opposed to the results of time limits on the UB. There are enough burglaries already without forcing the long term unemployed into that trade. As for benefit fraud, it is a tiny, tiny problem. A very small percentage of beneficiaries rort the system and at a financial level that Bill English wouldn’t consider worth the effort. The gang guy you highlight has now had his benefit stopped and quite rightly, because as any fule kno, marijuana is not addictive. Tobacco, on the other hand …
The fines etc. repayment I totally agree with. If you do the crime, then pay the fine.
Have you considered joining Labour, Chris? The list of ideas you propose already puts you to the left of Chris Trotter.
Naah wouldn’t be a good fit if you knew my views on the death penelty and defence spending 😉
But seriously this highlights the problem with democracy…we don’t have it, we point out other countries that have one party states but we’re not much better as we have a two party state (come election time what will it be Labour or National?)
Which means I suspect theres quite a few people out there who agree with the views on both sides and then have to decide who to vote for on other factors which arn’t importent/good for the country such as blatent voter bribing or voting for a party because it has male/gay/women/hetro MPs etc etc
The vast majority of Aotearoeans opposed mining. There was noting in it for them, only for the foreign owned mining companies.
Thames. The site of the biggest area of industrial scale gold mining in NZ. After the mining stopped the town declared bankruptcy.
This is the typical mind blocked attitude of the dumb. People can and do change their opinions in light of fresh knowledge and circumstances. I don’t mind partial sell offs or PPP’s so long as the shares are restricted to New Zealand residents. So the Maori offer may be a partial solution.
On the other hand I had a concept come to me yesterday .. roughly it goes … profits from shares owned by Aussies shareholders go to Aussie and those shareholder then come to NZ as tourists and spend it here promoting NZ.
Shares held by Kiwis enable NZders to spend the profits to travel overseas and promote other countries economies.
All too complicated for me 🙂
Key might just be heading for a fall. He is getting wildly overconfident. As Danyl at the Dimpost says:
“I don’t think you need to be a feminist to feel there’s something naff about the Prime Minister going on a radio show hosted by Tony Veitch and talking about which Hollywood celebrities he wants to fuck.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-news/news/4597545/John-Keys-celebrity-crushes
If it has been Labour’s strategy to nurture Key’s ballooning narcissism with its ineptitude to date, it’s starting to work a treat. Now he is blindly in love with himself, it might be time to cut the pratfalls and reel him in.
Or hes just cemented his persona as “one of the boys” or “hes a politician but hes all right”
But it is interesting the place honesty (or is it honesty because hes a politician…) has in politics
God, I can hear another story about Goff and his power tools coming already.
Anyway Chris73, the swaggering sports lad crowd is just one demographic, and I wouldn’t be too sure that all, or even most of the women the ‘lads’ associate with, really are laughing along with them on this occasion.
Still he may get away with it, and even boost his brand. I don’t understand the appeal so I wouldn’t know.
the goffice will have to be careful because whatever goff says key will take the piss out of him and then it will all be about key again being the big man. And if they say nothing he just gets a free ride.
Yes it needs to be done with finnesse.
Those Key comments are just about the most puke-inducing comments by a PRIME MINISTER that I have ever read. But then according to Dean Lonnegan I’m just jealous that I didn’t make his list! yep that’ll be it.
Oh no John Key finds attractive women attractive whatever next
Its a non-event
Who would ever admit to finding Angelina Jolie hot? Anyone whose read the womans weekly knows shes mentally unstable, into hard drugs, kinky sex and disgraced herself by passionately kissing her brother in public.. Hows that for a headline Herald? “Key’s admits lust for kinky sex, black magic, heroin and incest” lol..
Bizzarre isn’t it? At High School boys might drool over “hot Chicks” but the PM? Maybe the “power corrupts” has struck the PM and he is thinking about attracting the “hot” ones for a little slap and tickle in the Clinton or Berlusconi style?
Look at the Italian situation …Bellasconi or something 🙂
My Italian friends, without exception, despise Berlusconi for his disgusting antics (one of them sent me an article from La Repubblica, comparing il nano’s activities to those of the Emperor Tiberius! (I can provide a link for Italian speakers, if anyone wants..)
Is this a desperate attempt on Key’s part to be hated for something other than stuffing the economy?
Or just an attempt to seem interesting?
Deb
Just an attempt to seem interesting I think.
At High School is about the level of Key and his lot.
Yes js I saw that and was disgusted.
It was a great insight when he talks about how he’d like to be tiger woods because of the money and “other benefits”. What a sleazebag.
overconfidence and addiction to popularity – the fall will be messy and I can’t wait.
“”Obviously for the money I would be Tiger Woods. You get paid a truckload of money,” he said, adding “there are other benefits that clearly come with the job” too.”
Says it all, really.
Yeah hes probably grabbed a few more votes from Labours voter base 🙂
Too right Chris 73. My wife too was overjoyed to read that John lusts after the glamour-persona/celebrities. Bromnia is tickled pink too. And those women who fought for Herceptin privileges just know that John is a real red blooded man. Why can’t you be like John Chris73? Oh. You already are. That figures.
Well I was referring to young, male and probably unemployed 😉
But seriously its not strange at all, my wife knows I have a thing for Anna Faris and Scarlet Johan…(whatever her last name is) just like she has (my wife) the major hots for Ryan Reynolds and Mark Wahlberg
Or is it you think all politicians should be humourless asexuals?
Well, as far Jonkey and the rest of the NACTs go, I’d prefer if they were humourless asexuals 😛
Then they could get a job at the UN.
If I was young and unemployed (already the former), I don’t think John Key, or Goff, saying who they’d like to shag or be “because they’re rich” would make any difference to my choice of voting for them?
Many who are young, male and unemployed won’t be reading about this, or have heard the original interview, anyway.
I see you’re following the John Key PR strategy yourself there Chris.
Say something boorish and ignorant then append it with a smile.
At least you didn’t say mean 🙂
Apt.
But does he think women can run the line? It’d be terrible if Key had to resign because he didn’t know the new offside rule.
I hope not because I’m not sure I understand it either
Oh? Well the rule is Chris73, that to lust after women because of their looks is offside especially if the bloke has painted the image of happily married family man.
Reply to Chris73 at 10.21
You do get that it was Veitch he was laughing with.
The Guardian’s profile on the new Egyptian vice-president makes me wonder if there has been a coup from within government. Mubarak may go, but there might be enormous repression afterward. A Soviet-trained head of intelligence capable of dealing with insurrection.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/29/egypt-protests-government-live-blog#block-51
And what to do when the government blocks web access, use analogue, fax it.
Hasn’t the population already rejected the new vice-president? Clean sweep or nothing.
Yes, they have but this guy looks as if he’d have no problem running the protestors down by whatever means necessary. The US considers him a ‘safe pair of hands’
More twitter from Egypt.
http://twitter.com/alaa
http://twitter.com/SultanAlQassemi#
http://twitter.com/FaezaMoghul#
http://twitter.com/beleidy#
A moving interview with an Egyptian protesting outside the Egyptian embassy in London.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hBV0ApIh_4&feature=youtu.be
..freedom from the criminals who oppress us
while I remember, Tracy Watkins in the Dom yesterday mentioned by the by that Key’s office rang to complain when Stuff’s headline on his privatisation was ‘Key reveals plan for assets sales’ – they were sensitive about the media saying ‘asset sales’.
what did stuff do? report this ridiculous interference to the public?
No, they changed the headline to “$10b asset sale savings” – which doesn’t make any sense.
All it would take is for some ‘hot’ chick to comment that she has had an affair with Key. Just another dumb comment of Key’s that could have disasterious ramificaions be it true or not.
In all honesty he probably has, just like most MPs (from both sides) probably have done the dirty but what happens in private should stay private…unless they do in fact portray themselves as something they’re not
Um, I’m pretty sure philanderers would be in the minority in parliament. Worth apparently got thrown out for indiscretions, and look what a big fuss was kicked up around that. Similarly with Shane Jones and his porn. I think you’d have to be an idiot to think you could do that sort of thing and get away with it as a politician.
Interesting, what do you know about the reason Worth was sacked that the rest of us don’t?
Are you serious?
These are people who run the country, power is an aphrodesiac, and they spend alot of time away from their homes and families. You think its a coincidence that quite a few of their staff are young and attractive?
As for being idiots I could give a number of examples of MPs being idiots that makes adultary seem like nothing
Is that why Key spends so much time in Hawai’i? Is he doing a Kevin Costner?
i respect our MPs but I dont worship them 😉