Silver linings

Written By: - Date published: 10:12 pm, March 4th, 2014 - 124 comments
Categories: internet - Tags: ,

When I first heard a labour staffer had accidentally sent Amy Adams’ office a document on ICT my first thought was “here we go again.”

But then I heard Adams’ weird and defensive interview on Checkpoint. So I took a look at the actual paper and realised just why she was so awkward and nervous on what should have been an easy political hit. The stuff Curran has been looking at is actually really very good. So good it shows National up for the backwards and self-interested lot they are.

There’s stuff in it about a digital bill of rights. Which appears to mean new privacy rights and new protections of Kiwi business’ IT intellectual property.

Then there’s stuff about strengthening the commerce commission and regulating against monopolies. Again it’s just a paper but it shows that Labour is thinking about how they keep the net free and ticking in New Zealand. Contrast that with National’s moves to recreate Chorus as a new monopoly and you can start to see why Adam’s sounded a bit on edge.

And the thoughts on digital education looks like a good idea too. I’ve got a lot of mates in the industry and a lot of what I hear is about what a mess the training in New Zealand is. In fact there’s a massive shortage of skilled IT workers right now. It’s what you get when you leave it to the market.

If you’re looking at Labour values the notes on digital inclusion are a real move in the right direction. Nowadays if you don’t have internet access you pay more for everything, you miss out on a lot of the news, you just don’t get to take part in anything organised by email or on social media. It’s a real social divide, and it’s one that National doesn’t give a flying toss about (kind of like all the other social divides they ignore or actively increase). But it looks like Labour are thinking hard about it.

Don’t get me wrong, this release has been a cock-up and I feel sorry for Curran having to deal with it, but if there’s a silver lining to this it’s that it shows there’s real work being done on a lot of important stuff by a major political party. That’s more than Adam’s could even dream of. It’s a shame Curran didn’t go on Checkpoint. She would have had the Minister for breakfast.

 

124 comments on “Silver linings ”

  1. quartz 1

    Clare Curran’s done some solid work on this. I hope it makes it into policy.

  2. ianmac 2

    I wondered why Amy Adams skirted the intent of some of the ideas in the paper. They will have to work to spin the release. Clearly if Telecom are concerned it must have some bite. All is not lost.
    Wonder if Amy Adams should have returned the email since it was not meant for her. Are they not heavy on the obligation to preserve the integrity of mistakes?

  3. Corokia 3

    I heard Checkpoint and thought Adams sounded smug and not at all defensive, especially when she and Mary Wilson scoffed at Labour putting ‘Kiwi’ in front of everything. I hope there is a silver lining, but with both Curran and Cunliffe refusing to speak to National radio , it has been a step backwards for the Left today (bugger, cos we have to win this election and we don’t need our side making it harder)

    • fender 3.1

      That’s just standard National Party condescension you heard, it’s a prerequisite for all in their caucus.

      Adams may be a fast talking puppet, but she hasn’t a clue so it was generous of Labour to give her some ideas.

      As for not wanting to appear on checkpoint, that’s nothing, nearly every day there is a Nat refusing to front.

    • Lanthanide 3.2

      I agree. I don’t think it was defensive and weird from her at all.

  4. Draco T Bastard 4

    doesn’t look too bad. At least they seem to realise, finally, that the actual network has to be a monopoly. pity that they haven’t yet that ISP’s are also a thing of the past. The services that will be supplied over the network will be where the competition is.

    Today I found out just how bad the present system is.

    My landlord decided to get his own ADSL connection. This was to be connected today. In the process of connecting him I got disconnected. After half an hour of talking to telecom and chorus I found out that they wouldn’t do anything until after I had reported a fault with Orcon even though they were the ones that had caused the problem and their tech was still in the area.

    In talking to the tech I learned two things:
    1.) The tech isn’t given all the information to do their job and
    2.) The tech was actually really ignorant having no understanding that connections can now exist that don’t have a phone connected.

    The end result of this ignorance and lack of understanding is that we’ve ended up with neither connection working and that they may get round to it tomorrow.

    This is the type of service that you get from privatisation.
    truly and utterly pathetic.

    • tc 4.1

      It will get a lot worse as the number of people who actually know how stuff works decline, especially under moutter at telecom. Those left are under untenable levels of pressure by management to ‘go the extra distance…..make it happen….’ etc etc

      chorus systems and processesare often still tied to telecon with experienced field crews virtually an extinct species after being shafted by telecom, vision stream, transfield etc.

      Spoke to one years back who admitted parts of akl CBD are a complete mystery as no schematics were done, it’s trial and error and we pay top dollar for it , awesome.

    • John 4.2

      Wow! – it’s getting fixed tomorrow. Before telecom was privatised, faults were taking weeks or even months to fix.

      They were SO famously slow that the official Encyclopaedia of NZ even has a specific entry on just how slow Telecoms appalling service was. (with an example of two months to do minor jobs).

      However I agree that they’re still way too slow – just pointing out that it was infinitely worse when they were government run (and had to apply to go on a waiting list just to buy a phone).

      • Hayden 4.2.1

        However I agree that they’re still way too slow – just pointing out that it was infinitely worse when they were government run (and had to apply to go on a waiting list just to buy a phone).

        And the internet speeds were terrible!

        • John 4.2.1.1

          Mobile service was even worse

          • Colonial Viper 4.2.1.1.1

            Time to nationalise Telecom and stop the bleed of a billion dollars a year offshore. Any management you think is effective can stay on, but most of the senior bureaucrats can go.

            • John 4.2.1.1.1.1

              Considering that Telecoms TOTAL profit for this year will be $300m, and less than half of that will go offshore, then your claim of bleeding “a billion dollars a year offshore” is more than a little off the mark (you are out by a factor of 10)

              15 years ago only 30% of the NZ stock market was owned by Kiwis.

              Today Kiwi ownership up around 70% and growing.

          • Draco T Bastard 4.2.1.1.2

            Physical limitations. Something you RWNJs never seem to take into account. Just like Key’s $50m cycleway the length of the country.

          • Tracey 4.2.1.1.3

            my mobile service in the 80’s was AWFUL

      • felix 4.2.2

        “Before telecom was privatised, faults were taking weeks or even months to fix.”

        Before telecom was digitised, John. You don’t know what you’re talking about.

    • Lanthanide 4.3

      Yes, I’ve discovered #2 in the past as well.

      Probably the majority of the people doing these installations are trained to do specific things, and they have little understanding of how the whole system works outside of what they’ve been trained to do. There are some that are more knowledgeable, but the base level is really quite shocking.

      • BM 4.3.1

        Cog in the machine, very easy to replace staff if someone leaves, very little training involved to get some one else up to speed.

        Last thing a business wants is to be is completely reliant on a staff member.

        Also you don’t have to pay as much.

        • felix 4.3.1.1

          Disposable staff.

          Low wages.

          Shit service.

          Welcome to the Brighter Future™

          • BM 4.3.1.1.1

            I didn’t say I agree with it, but I can see why many business operate like that.

            • felix 4.3.1.1.1.1

              Yeah you did. You say all the time how you want to crush workers and pay them less and strip away their rights and protections.

              You just never thought it through before.

            • Tracey 4.3.1.1.1.2

              you vote national, ergo you agree with it, nay, mandate it. John says so.

  5. xtasy 5

    Maybe the “leak” was intentional after all, as a “new” and “cunningly smart way” to release policy, to get the maximum media and public attention. With leaks the MSM journos rush to the prey like mice for a rare piece of cheese.

    Maybe McCarten worked this new “strategy” out, because the usual speeches by Cunliffe and others simply either get taken to pieces, or are simply largely ignored by the MSM.

    I would not rule anything out now, after the last few weeks.

    • tc 5.1

      Maybe or curran yet again displays that she is a liability who undermines the party a lot more than she advances it, I’m sure others impacted by her actions would have views on her credibility to the cause.

      • quartz 5.1.1

        Two things: 1) Curran wasn’t the one who fucked up. 2) The paper she’s put together is bloody good work.

        • grumpy 5.1.1.1

          The leak did not come from Curran. I can understand Cunliffe’s lackeys trying to sheet the blame there but it ain’t so……

          • Tracey 5.1.1.1.1

            You speak with suck authority.

            • grumpy 5.1.1.1.1.1

              Also from lprent yesterday that his sources also say that Curran was not responsible for the leak. Even I would respect his sources within Labour.

            • Disraeli Gladstone 5.1.1.1.1.3

              It’s now reported that the leak was from Cunliffe’s office.

              So yeah, grumpy was right.

              • xtasy

                Yes, it is quite astonishing what is going on within the Labour member offices at Parliament:

                http://techday.com/it-brief/news/cunliffe-not-curran-to-blame-for-labour-ict-leak/180161/

                Surely, there cannot be an easy mix up between National MP email address lists and the ones that Labour staff use, can there? If so, some of their staff must be totally useless di**heads, I am afraid.

                The only other explanation is, as I suggested above, an “innovative” but peculiar way of releasing new policy!?

                • karol

                  I gathered from Question time today it’s fairly common for emails to be sent to the wrong person – National MP s or their offices have done it a few times.

                  Chris Hipkins: I seek leave to table a further briefing from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority to Hekia Parata’s office, which was sent to the Labour Party last month.
                  […]
                  Clare Curran: I seek leave to table an email meant for my office mistakenly sent from Amy Adams’ office to a member of the public.
                  […]
                  Kris Faafoi: Yes, I do. I seek leave to table correspondence from the Department of Corrections to the Dominion Post, which was mistakenly sent to Labour.

                  • xtasy

                    Yes, I heard and saw that!

                    So at Parliament, they must have an email system, where all MP’s email addresses are listed in one group, or as part of a master list of emails, so that they are easily accessible to all MPs, but also leave the MPs (or their staff) open to risks that a wrong email address may be clicked, and hence emails getting sent to the wrong MP.

                    In the end, staff need to be trained and firmly told and reminded, to be extremely careful with using such a risk prone system. Some MP’s office staff appear to be more prone to send emails to wrong addressees. Parata’s staff must be belonging to them.

                    • karol

                      It’s probably like my work email. when I start to type an email address, a list pops up for me to choose from.

  6. TightyRighty 6

    @draco – privatisation caused your accidental disconnection? And you rag on the poor tech just doing his job. Amazing how quick you are to hate on an individual doing their job to make ends meet because you mildly inconvenienced.

    Back to the original idea. Labour should just rename themselves KiwiTax

  7. big bruv 7

    Another day, another gift from Cunliffe.

    I do hope he keeps it up, at this rate Key will not need a coalition partner and the Nat’s can really go after a few of the lefts sacred cows.

    • felix 7.1

      So you think Key and the Nats have been concealing their true intentions, big bludge?

      • big bruv 7.1.1

        Nah.

        I think Key is just another socialist. That is what gets me about you lot, while I realise that most of you are stupid that alone should not stop you being able to see that Key is not the right wing child eater that you try and paint him to be.

        Now, once he stands aside and we get our very own Maggie Thatcher into the PM’s seat then it will be all on. At that time we can really have a crack at crushing what is left of the union movement, end the Labour party bribes (WFF and Interest free student loans) and go after the thousands of dole and DPB bludgers this nation is infested with.

        I can put up with another one or two terms with Key at the helm, it will just make the changes this country needs to make all the more enjoyable. Of course I will really enjoy watching the screams from the hard left as one by one their scared cows are slaughtered.

        • felix 7.1.1.1

          So that’s a yes from you re:- the Nats concealing their true intentions.

          It’s all quite dark in there though, isn’t it? It’s all slaughter and crushing and fascist imagery. You must be very lonely.

          Paid your debts yet you welching miserable bludging lying coward?

          • grumpy 7.1.1.1.1

            So that’s why Curran was visiting Dotcom? I wondered why Mickey (Greg Presland) Savage got so touchy a few weks ago when I raised it. Mind you, he probably had a lot on his mind, what with being the main Trustee for Cunliffe’s secret slush fund (that reputedly reveived money from Dotcom).

        • TheShrubbery 7.1.1.2

          So, a summary of what you want:
          1) Hard working people to earn less money and have worse working conditions
          2) Less people receiving a tertiary education
          3) Less support for families to supplement the low wages mentioned in point 1, thereby increasing the number of children in poverty
          4) Increase poverty by removing people from the dole and DPB
          5) Increase child poverty as a result of removing the DPB

          Summary: you want New Zealand to be a failed society with massive inequality, poverty, poor education, and characterised by a massive underclass supporting a few rich oligarchs. In what universe is that an intelligent approach to running a society?

        • SpaceMonkey 7.1.1.3

          John Key’s not a socialist, unless you precede it with “corporate”. He actually has few principles or beliefs beyond whatever it takes to make more money. I’m sure in person he’s an easy guy to talk to and I have seen others say how easily he can work a room. And he’s comfortable goofing off with others for a laugh, so…. as Prime Minister he’s having a hoot. Winging around the world photo-op after photo-op. Great pics for the grandkids.

          The role of Prime Minister is a financial investment in his future. He can happily give away his Prime Minister’s salary… yus sah… there’s a LOT more coming in the future. Post-Prime Minister-ship, the deals he’s cut for his City of London/Wall St buddies (through Warner Brothers, Anadarko, Sky City, Bathurst, etc) will be returned in kind… with interest. What’s in his top drawer…? It’s his ever-expanding list of UOME’s.

          The longer he stays in office, the bigger the payout when he leaves. Trash NZ? So what. NZ’s just a rung on the ladder. He’s playing the only game that matters to him. But he’s not unique in that. On a global scale John Key is small fry, in subscript. I mean only worth $50 million…? Embarrassing.

  8. Ennui 8

    Clare has this amazing ability to shoot herself in the foot……going by Collins standards she is ministerial material. Gotta love her, good paper too.

  9. BM 9

    According to whale oil these policy ideas are mostly dotcoms.
    http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/03/much-labours-ict-policy-dotcom-write/

    Probably explains why Curren was up at the mansion,hmmmmm.

    No doubt more will emerge through out the day.

    • tinfoilhat 9.1

      If that is only half true it confirms my worst fears that some of those on the left have been hoodwinked by Dotcom, as a Green party member i’m very disappointed in Russell Norman’s intercourse with him.

    • geoff 9.2

      Wherever good ideas come from doesn’t matter, they’re still good ideas.
      What stands out is the complete lack of good ideas from National.

      • BM 9.2.1

        So you don’t see the issue with Dotcom writing policy for Labour?

        Really?, ask yourself why would Dot com want to help out Labour?.

        Is it because he’s such a good guy and just wants to see NZ prosper and do well or do you think it’s something else?

        • geoff 9.2.1.1

          Now Dotcom is writing policy for Labour?
          It’s a pity you don’t put that imagination of yours to better use.

        • Tracey 9.2.1.2

          Ask yourself, why would someone want to pretend DotCom writes policy for Labour?

    • Tracey 9.3

      What proof does he offer in support?

      • BM 9.3.1

        You could try clicking on the link.

        • Tracey 9.3.1.1

          I dont want to take another shower. You are making the allegation here so how about you post your evidence here, otherwise it just appears like you are a wee click collecting puppet for slater.

        • Tracey 9.3.1.2

          in other words he offers no proof, just words and innuendo. What we used to call at school, gossip.If you had proof you would have no problem posting it.

        • Tracey 9.3.1.3

          no surprise there.

          i do wish Slater would suggest some of his readers jump off a bridge.

  10. Draco T Bastard 10

    @Tighty

    no I’m saying that privatisation has made it more complicated than it should be resulting in decreased service and higher prices.

    • TightyRighty 10.1

      decreased service? higher prices? my mobile phone bill is significantly cheaper than it was a year ago even though my usage has gone up. and the coverage range has extended. previous parts of the south island i regularly traveled through now have mobile coverage. my 4g network is blazing fast in the main centres. bizarrely, the hutt valley is a main centre. my home internet allowance is massive and fast at no extra cost. you had one bad experience and you blame the whole system?

      • lprent 10.1.1

        He isn’t the only one. I’m dumping Orcon and so are at least 4 other techheads that I know. All for the same reason. Their tech support has gone down the toilet.

        And over the last 4 years, about half of the chorus contracted techs were superb, and about half were massively sloppy at a technical level. All were harassed by their cellphones chasing meaningless KPIs, which didn’t give them to do the damn work.

        Unlike a weenie like yourself, some people actually value having the systems they pay for actually working for work (rather than your characteristic shallow fluttering around – how you’ve always seemed to me).

        Having meaningless low bandwidth voice minutes on their cell is useless if I don’t use them. I have 300 minutes these days and use maybe 30 per month. On the other hand, I use a lot of data. I pay for ~4GB on the 4G cell which I mostly use on the tablet. But the limiting factor is that around Auckland CBD about half of the places I alight at only have H, sometimes with flitters of 3G. Unlike the SI or the Hutt, I live in a central city of hills and valleys.

        • TightyRighty 10.1.1.1

          I just got bumped from 1gb to 5gb on my contract plan for nix. i use truckloads of data so this is helpful. orcon have always sucked the fat one, i use vodafone for home and whoever the business uses i’m with for mobile / business internet (vodafone i’m fairly confident at the moment, we change at the drop of a hat around roll over time if rates are more competitive). I’ve never had a problem with either supplier and i’m fairly conservatively at the top end of usage and my expectations are high.

          Calling me a weenie when you know next to little about me apart from my surfing traffic is pretty tragic. your like one of those nerds who used to snigger at people at high school with UWSI, and then wondered why they got ripped on by the general populace. they usually ran the AV club with a soggy fist.

          Give me your good old geek who had a powerful interest in some obscure tech thing and loved to share their knowledge through sheer passion. Just met a lift engineer whose been schooling me on his passion for elevator science, it’s incredible and he just wants me to know without flaunting his ubersuperior knowledge.

      • felix 10.1.2

        “my mobile phone bill is significantly cheaper than it was a year ago even though my usage has gone up.”

        And your mobile provider was privatised in the last year eh tighty? Cos that’s what you were arguing, remember?

        🙄

  11. Draco T Bastard 11

    @big bruv

    did you read the information that the proof was in that right wing policies make the economy worse off?

    • Hayden 11.1

      I don’t think he cares, as long as people he doesn’t like are made to suffer.

  12. John 12

    Geoff says the policy is great because it has “important stuff” in it, “stuff” about the commerce commission, and “stuff” about digital rights, and “stuff” that’s “really good”.

    I’m really convinced about it now, that it has so much good “stuff”.

  13. appleboy 13

    Adams was moronic on radio. A staffer makes a mistake and “the governemt are not fit to govern”. Pathetic.

  14. Draco T Bastard 14

    @John

    having worked at telecom back in the 1980s I can say that that bit about the slowness is absolute rubbish. We got things done as fast as physically possible. considering that there often wasn’t even any plant there sometimes it would take awhile. faults were usually fixed within three days and often faster. The official encyclopedia seems to be based upon anecdotes and treasury projections rather than fact.

    privatization has done nothing for the service except make it worse.

    • John 14.1

      I had good friends who worked for telecom in the 80s. Typical of the culture, was the workshop was full on a Saturday with Telecom workers doing their OWN projects, and charging the company overtime for it.

      Then there was the absurd toll call charges which came down 60% after privatisation.

      The Railways was even worse. The government had to pay off well over $1billion in debt, just so they could get $300 for it – effectively they paid a billion dollars for someone to take it off their hands.

  15. Draco T Bastard 15

    and BTW John, I shouldn’t be waiting to get my connection fixed because there was nothing wrong with it in the first place. It shouldn’t have been disconnected.

  16. Draco T Bastard 16

    @John

    I didn’t say that it was perfect but I do know one thing – telecom depots didn’t have workshops.

    Also we had to buy rail back because privatisation had failed there as well.

    • BM 16.1

      telecom depots didn’t have workshops.

      What do you mean?

    • felix 16.2

      John is just repeating stories he heard at kiwiblog. Pity he can’t keep them straight.

    • John 16.3

      Draco says “I do know one thing – telecom depots didn’t have workshops”

      Obviously you don’t know one thing. I’ve went to a Telecom workshop in the 80s.

      Railways (private or public) will always fail in NZ – we’re the worst country in the world to try to run a railway. However under private ownership NZ Rail never hemorrhaged money in the way it did under government control.

      When privatised, productivity improved massively. Freight was moved cheaper, faster, more reliably, and in much greater amounts.

      Despite that, the reality is rail is not financially viable in NZ (treasury reports show that in the 110 years up to privatisation, NZ Rail was never able to support itself financially).

      • greywarbler 16.3.1

        John is making statements again that are critical of our general beliefs and understandings on this blog.

        And you are generalising and bringing anecdote up as fact. I don’t think you know shit from clay John. If you are going to throw things in here, telling us that we are wrong, give us the link to the paper, the research, the report, that you rely on. Or be truthful and say that it seems to you that such and such was the case, but you can’t produce proof.

        Just go back to your people and tell them that you have done your dash with putting up the RWNJ stuff for February and get them to call on the next on the list. Give yourself a break, and do your proper job better. You are probably skimping while you are putting in your time here dropping in your bits of badly cooked imitation fast facts. You are certainly wasting our time.

      • Draco T Bastard 16.3.2

        I’ve went to a Telecom workshop in the 80s.

        I went to a depot that had a building labelled workshop. It was one of the old 1950s depots that used to have them. All the heavy machinery had been removed long since though. Changing technologies had made them worthless by the 1980s.

        Railways (private or public) will always fail in NZ – we’re the worst country in the world to try to run a railway.

        Nope. They worked very well until neo-liberalism set in and made the least economic method of transport, trucks, cheaper.

        When privatised, productivity improved massively. Freight was moved cheaper, faster, more reliably, and in much greater amounts.

        Having to rebuild the railway lines and buy massive amounts of new rolling stock due to not enough maintenance and investment says otherwise.

        NZ Rail was never able to support itself financially).

        That’s ok, it’s not supposed to. It’s supposed to support itself economically.

        • John 16.3.2.1

          Draco says “Nope. They worked very well ”

          That’s hilarious.

          In the 70s and 80s if you wanted to freight something by rail, it would cost a fortune, take forever, then get stolen before it reached it’s destination.

          It was losing money so fast that it’s debt was around a billion dollars MORE than the TOTAL value of the company.

          Rail freight was appallingly inefficient, and trains fell off the rails all the time

          And you say the NZ Railways worked very well. Got any more jokes?

          • Draco T Bastard 16.3.2.1.1

            And in the 1970s and 80s the roads were losing money a hell of a lot faster. They’re now breaking even after taxes on them were raised enough but they’re forecast to start losing money again in the mid term as less people use cars. The only option then, even under financial accounting practices rather than economic ones, will be to go back to using rail and buses.

            • John 16.3.2.1.1.1

              We are the one of the worst places in the world to run a rail system. We have
              – low population
              – low population density-
              – steep topography
              – a gap in the middle of the country with water in it
              – no land borders.

              Rail is efficient when you’re taking bulk goods from a to b.

              In NZ we mainly need to take non bulk goods from a.b.c.d.e.f.g.h and j to s,t,u,v,w,x,y and z, half of which don’t have a direct rail link if they have one at all.

              • lprent

                Rail is efficient when you’re taking bulk goods from a to b.

                Except of course that the country is really long and skinny. The north island is what? 1000km+ long and no more than 200km wide. South island is even longer and only slightly wider.

                If we actually pushed some money into the long routes, increased its speed, and electrified the whole thing (ie pretty much as was planned before National sabotaged it), then rail is ideal for fast long haul transport in NZ. The trucks do the local (50-100km runs max) and stop destroying bloody expensive roads with excess weights.

                The real problem is (as usual) the short-sighted nutwits like you with an attention span that thinks 3 years between elections is a long time.. A classic right fool incapable of planning infrastructure that lowers overall costs over the long term..

                • John

                  Wanting it to be financially feasible just because it fits your ideology, and it actually BEING financially feasible, are two completely disjointed worlds.

                  The cost of electrification of our busiest line – the NI main trunk – didn’t even get close to the cost /benefits originally hoped for.

                  Doing the same on low volume lines (in your words electrifying the “whole thing”) would be an insane waste of taxpayers money.

                  And making a fast rail system is not feasible in countries with ten times the population and a flat landscape.

                  Again, there’s a total disjoint between ideology, and the real world.

                  • lprent

                    “Costings” is an interesting word. If you load the dice on any kind of discounted cash flow analysis then you can make a project come out anyway you want. I had some entertaining education in that in one of my finance classes, which I incorporated into the finance aspects of the management sims that we marketed worldwide a decade later.

                    For instance judging things like the holiday highway or a second harbour crossing (for instance) with a presumption that traffic volumes will grow exponentially. Which is exactly what the NZTA does do despite the flat and even declining traffic around Auckland since 2004. I’d suggest that you look at the Transport Blog for many examples.

                    If you look at a project like the Northern busway, where the NZTA planning presumption was that it would have a flat or slow growth you can make it seen like a white elephant. Of course as we know, the main problem with the northern busway in Auckland was that they didn’t provide enough parking at the terminals.

                    That is the only constraint between it and doubling over the next decade was some dumbarse “costing” by the same dickheads in NZTA who assume that people want to keep getting stuck in commuter traffic jams. Funny thing is that when you give them any kind of choice then they don’t. Which is why the public transport system is massively underfunded. It makes the road makers repeat business look bad (and reduces their contributions to National’s campaign funds).

                    If you look at the actual returns of growth in traffic from speeding up long distance freight offshore. As opposed to the theoretical least risk returns that treasury uses. Then you’d see different cost/benefit.

                    But you have to remember that treasury does exactly the same kind of analysis on roads, and it has seldom married up with NZTA’s super optimism. In fact treasury has advised against most roading projects that have been built since I started driving 38 years ago. Like all the extensions to the Auckland motorways..

                    Basically Treasury has seen very few projects in the last 50 years that they have wanted to spend revenue on. It is kind of their thing. They are deliberately pessimistic in all of their cost benefit analysis because that is their role.Of course if you took their advice, about the only thing that would ever increase is the government’s cash position. Sadly for them doing infrastructure involves expenditure and risk – the two things that they have a professional aversion to. So raising them as an authority on projects simply makes you as being quite ignorant and possibly simply stupid…

                    Personally, I’d just force NZTA to adjust their projections to the observed discrepancies from their previous forecasts. They have been consistently completely wrong.

                    In Auckland, their predecessors were insisting in the 70’s that it was imperative that we built the kind of motorway system that we are only just getting now – like the SH20 diversion around the city. The only reason it wasn’t built then was because Muldoon didn’t like the Auckland election results and pushed the money into paving back country gravel roads (nice for my parents farm) for votes. Both would have bee wasted infrastructure then, although building a bit faster in subsequent decades would have been useful.

                    But forcing some reality into the NZTA projections would drop the road traffic projections markedly. It’d also more than double the public money put into dense urban public transport – nice light axle stuff.

                    I’d also force all vehicles to pay road user charges for the amount of damage that they do to our very expensive roads. Currently these are massively cross-subsidised by any any analysis not done by the trucking association. It would probably increase road charges for most large trucks by more than 10-fold, and reduce the smallest vehicles massively.

                    And I’d expect that if that rebalancing towards reality happened, the logical economics would fall out. Many of the rail spur routes would wither away. The main rail lines would be improved, and trucks would wind up with shorter routes and lighter axles fed from the several main lines down the islands.

                    Instead we have passenger traffic subsidising the trucking industry to make bridges bigger for road damaging over sized lorries. Such is the nature of National’s “planning”. It mostly seems to relate to who they can take campaign funds from…

                    • John

                      Here’s an example of how off-the-planet high speed rail is for NZ.

                      LA to San Francisco is the same distance as Auckland to Wellington, and their proposed high speed rail will cost $68 billion – that’s BILLION. Other high speed rail systems have cost a similar amount per km.

                      That’s 100 times greater than the total value of Kiwi Rail.

                      And our construction costs would be more than those in the US because while almost all of their route is tediously flat, almost all of ours is through hilly steep terrain.

                      And high speed trains don’t go high speed on hills.

                      If it’s barely feasible for California’s 40 million people, then engineering an even more expensive high speed rail in NZ is lala land.

                      If you built it, and it was massively successful, and a million Aucklanders paid $100 each to do the trip every single year, it would still take 680 years to get back just the build costs, without paying for any running costs, trains fuel staff maintenance etc.

                      I take your points on road building, but what is and isn’t worthwhile doing for roads bears no resemblance to the off-the-planet costs of high speed rail.

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      @John

                      And you just proved that you have NFI WTF economics is. It’s not about money but about resources and we have the resources. We could build such a rail from Auckland to Wellington if we so choose. The resulting transport system would be far cheaper to run in resource use that than our present one and that is what makes it economical.

                      Hint: You don’t get back spent resources.

                  • Draco T Bastard

                    There’s a difference between financial and economic. Most transport systems that are financially viable aren’t economically viable.

                    This is something that economists, politicians and RWNJs just don’t understand.

                    • John

                      So spending over $50,000 for every household in the country on high speed rail between just two cities is economically viable?

                      Spending the total value of every public company in the country, just so trains can go between Auckland and Wellington at 6 times slower than a plane instead of 15 times slower than a plane is economically viable?

                      Spending every cent of the transport budget from now until the year 2050 on a single project between just two cities is economically viable?

                      It’s total lunacy.

                    • John

                      If Kiwi Rail saved every cent it previously spend on fuel and electricity ($57m per year), the savings would pay for the upgrade in only 1192 years.

                      However it wouldn’t actually save $57m a year, because most of its fuel and electricity costs are for freight trains, along with other branch lines, and it’s expensive to run high speed trains.

                      It’s a great example of blindly following and ideology without question can lead to something that’s total lunacy.

                      Do you really believe there nothing better to spend $68 billion on (total tax take for a year) than on the tiny percentage of the population who want to travel between Auckland and Wellington faster than a normal train, but several hours longer than on a plane?

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      How much it costs in money is irrelevant. The question is how much of our resources would need to be diverted to build it in a reasonable time. With modern earth-moving equipment, our steel making capability and farming practices I doubt if it would divert more than 1% of our capacity for a few years and the ongoing savings (measured in less resource use) is what makes it worthwhile.

                      As I said, you really don’t understand the difference between financial and economic which is why you and other RWNJs keep making uneconomic decisions. You keep making decisions based upon finances and they’re contrary to economics.

          • gnomic 16.3.2.1.2

            This is nonsensical. I’d call you a clown, but clowns are sometimes amusing, whereas you are just a bore.

      • SpaceMonkey 16.3.3

        NZ Rail never hemorrhaged money because Fay Richwhite weren’t spending it. They were working hard to increase the profit, to increase the share price so they would have something they could sell. They were never interested in the railways.

        • John 16.3.3.1

          NZ Rail hemorrhaged money when the government ran it.

          The govt got $328m for NZ Rail, but only after paying off $1.3billion in debt, and injecting a further $300m.

          Effectively we didn’t sell it – we PAID someone $1.3 billion to take if off our hands.

  17. Philj 17

    Xox
    Curran failed to impress with her shepherding of the TVNZ7 issue. She didn’t seem to really understand the wider issues

  18. Draco T Bastard 18

    @tighty

    all of that has nothing to do with competition. It simply has to do with improving technology. You get to pay more for it due to the added costs of competition.

    • TightyRighty 18.1

      i’d be paying the same if it was just technology improving draco. that i’m paying less is a result of competition in the market. 4 major players in a tiny market both geographically and population wise is competion enough in the mobile market. but we’ll welcome more if price and service keeps improving. luddite

      • Draco T Bastard 18.1.1

        i’d be paying the same if it was just technology improving draco.

        No you wouldn’t as the state monopoly, being accountable to the people of NZ, would have dropped the prices. And they would be lower prices than you have now because of the lack of duplication especially in the bureaucracy.

        • TightyRighty 18.1.1.1

          oh you are so cute with your faith in monopolies. state owned good, private bad. we’ve never seen a state owned monopoly supply the government with super profits before have we? nope, just every electricity supplier owned by the government during the 4th labour government.

  19. karol 19

    LOL – Labour tabled various documents showing Nat ministers 9Prata Amy Adams) office sent emails by mistake to Labour MPs and/or a member of the public.

    • Tracey 19.1

      thats different… there is no as yet only imaginary connection between them and DotCom. Perata has just been appointing family to high paying, tax payer funded jobs.

      • Ant 19.1.1

        KDC writing Labour policies is massively laughable, but its probably building up for another round of whataboutery to protect brand Key when he gets busted knowing about Dotcom.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • EV road user charges bill passes
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April.  “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Bill targets illegal, unregulated fishing in international waters
    New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Reserve Bank appointments
    Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates.  Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Stronger protections for apartment owners
    Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Travel focused on traditional partners and Middle East
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend.    “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says.   Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Keep safe on our roads this Easter
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Cost of living support for over 1.4 million Kiwis
    About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Tenancy reviews for social housing restart
    Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary plan halted
    The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Cutting all that dam red tape
    Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track.  “Dam safety regulations ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Drought support extended to parts of North Island
    The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Passage of major tax bill welcomed
    The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Lifting economy through science, tertiary sectors
    Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government announces Budget priorities
    The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says.  The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government to consider accommodation solution
    The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government approves extension to Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care
    Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says.                                         “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • $18m boost for Kiwis travelling to health treatment
    The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says.   “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM’s Prizes for Space to showcase sector’s talent
    The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Concerns conveyed to China over cyber activity
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government.     “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry
    Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function.  The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Brynderwyns open for Easter
    State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech to the Infrastructure Funding & Financing Conference
    Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Parliamentary network breached by the PRC
    New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ to provide support for Solomon Islands election
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ-EU FTA gains Royal Assent for 1 May entry to force
    The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union.    “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • COVID-19 inquiry attracts 11,000 submissions
    Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says.  “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Families to receive up to $75 a week help with ECE fees
    Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Unlocking a sustainable, low-emissions future
    A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Chief of Army thanked for his service
    Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders
    25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government commits nearly $3 million for period products in schools
    Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech – Making it easier to build.
    Good morning, it’s great to be here.   First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning.  I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Pacific youth to shine from boost to Polyfest
    Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • 2024 Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships announced
    ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Breast Cancer Foundation – Insights Conference
    Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Kiwi research soars to International Space Station
    New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to the New Zealand Planning Institute
    Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Support for Northland emergency response centre
    The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed.  “Northland has faced a number ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Celebrating 20 years of Whakaata Māori
    New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Some commercial fishery catch limits increased
    Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-03-29T13:09:34+00:00