Stop press: Bosses support bosses’ party

29 comments on “Stop press: Bosses support bosses’ party ”

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1. infused 1

   14 July 2009 at 9:55 am

   Brace yourself guys, Zeteic post.
2. StephenR 2

   14 July 2009 at 10:23 am

   Funnily enough, if you go back to the late 90s when the same sort of people were being canvassed, they were actually fairly positive about the prospect of a Labour government and negative about the Nats, as to them it seemed that National was bereft of ideas while drifting along in a sea of mediocrity. Things change, how bout that.
3. Bright Red 3

   14 July 2009 at 10:26 am

   Zetetic – Roger Kerr says the same thing, but a little more euphemistically:

   “Actions are falling short of aspirations.”

   and this one:

   “I get no sense of urgency or purpose from the Government. There is no policy programme to unambiguously address New Zealand’s two big obstacles to lifting our game: to reduce the level of government claims on the economy, and to lift the level of productivity”
   • Eddie 3.1

     14 July 2009 at 10:29 am

     It’s a Fran O’Sullivan piece, she’s running running the angle that National is largely heading in the right direction and is better than Labour, but that they need to pick up the pace of reform by implementing ACT-style policies. That’s her agenda, and it comes through in every piece she writes.
4. snoozer 4

   14 July 2009 at 10:29 am

   Got to love Mark Cairns CEO of Ports of Tauranga – “Give Key a break”, “They could do more to remind the public that under the Labour-led Government we were in recession well before the global financial meltdown”

   No sense of accountability. No sense that the guys who wanted the job so damn much ought to get on and do it.

   captcha – ‘serve’
5. Tom Semmens 5

   14 July 2009 at 10:38 am

   “…There is no policy programme to unambiguously address New Zealand’s two big obstacles to lifting our game: to reduce the level of government claims on the economy, and to lift the level of productivity…”

   Which is code for: “For God’s sake, stop wimping out by using this ridiculous democracy thing as an excuse and ram through some fire sale privatisations so we can do what New Zealand business does best – acting as a Quisling class extracting monopoly rents from key utilities which we run into ground to maximise our (foreign) shareholder return.”
   • So Bored 5.1

     14 July 2009 at 10:48 am

     100% right Tom.

     Its all these unproven myths, that government is an economic drain (privatise), and productivity is low (slash wages). Having Jonkey do nothing is probably wisest.

     From where I am sitting I can see the illuminated numbers going round the NZ Stock Exchange. If he must do something Jonkey might add a bike track above and see if the cyclist racing can keep up with the numbers going down and around.
6. samiam 6

   14 July 2009 at 10:47 am

   Well good on the big fulla Farrar doing a post first on how much the business types hate Labour before doing a second very gentle post on how they think National is the most awsomeness ever.

   Very predictable and very boring.
7. mike 7

   14 July 2009 at 11:48 am

   The Herald’s ‘Mood of the union movement’ survey is predictable reading. Year after year, it’s the same ideologues with the same outdated ideas.

   The Unions are happy that their Girl is in power. Can’t point to anything she’s actually done. But love her nontheless. Still hate Nats and Business.
   • snoozer 7.1

     14 July 2009 at 12:02 pm

     but.. the herald doesn’t do a ‘mood of the union movement’ survey, which in itself is telling… only CEOs are worthy of getting a survey and multiple articles on their opinions.

     and are you admitting that CEOs and union activists are simply agents of opposing ideologies?
     • mike 7.1.1

       14 July 2009 at 12:27 pm

       “CEOs and union activists are simply agents of opposing ideologies?”

       At a simplistic level – yes of course they are.
       • snoozer 7.1.1.1

         14 July 2009 at 12:34 pm

         good. that means every time you accuse unions of being reflexively idelogical, you have to remember that your beloved bosses are just the same.
       • Quoth the Raven 7.1.1.2

         14 July 2009 at 1:51 pm

         “CEOs and union activists are simply agents of opposing ideologies?’
         At a simplistic level yes of course they are

         At a simplistic level unions and businesses are just part of the market. They are simply market entites working for thier interests.
         • chris 7.1.1.2.1

           14 July 2009 at 10:28 pm

           yet they both still think both of them are anti-market. sigh
   • IrishBill 7.2

     14 July 2009 at 12:03 pm

     You make a good point Mike. Why is there no mood of the unions? Or mood of the smoko room? Why does business get privileged with this kind of authority but workers don’t? And why is the Herald partnering with Business New Zealand for a report but not with the Council of Trade Unions?
     • snoozer 7.2.1

       14 July 2009 at 12:23 pm

       Now, Irish, that’s hardly fair.

       Mike was just trying to make a bitter little point. You’ve gone and totally reinterpreted it in a way that points out the bias in this country towards the desires and opinions of the boss class.
     • mike 7.2.2

       14 July 2009 at 12:30 pm

       “Or mood of the smoko room?”

       They do that every 3 years – it didn’t go too well for you guys last time from memory
       • felix 7.2.2.1

         14 July 2009 at 12:48 pm

         The Herald runs the elections, mike? Really?

         Come on mike, why doesn’t the Herald have a regular “mood of the workplace” feature?
8. Craig Glen Eden 8

   14 July 2009 at 12:12 pm

   What a load of Wanker’s honestly, what is it that Key has done that has actually helped NZ Business or its employees? Nothing, these people are self serving idiots. If they cared about the country at the very least they would be asking some hard questions.
   The National Party is bad for business bad for the economy and bad for NZ. My god is this the best they can come up with, what a joke.
9. Tim Ellis 9

   14 July 2009 at 1:17 pm

   Craig, if that is the reality and National really is a bunch of incompetent idiots, then what does that say about the competence of the labour party when they are twenty percent behind national in the polls?
   • Wrangle 9.1

     14 July 2009 at 2:07 pm

     If we were to all follow that line, Tim, it would mean no-one could criticise a popular government (‘you must be wrong, because the polls say this governemnt is still popular’). We don’t want to be like post-9/11 America.
10. Trevor Mallard 10

    14 July 2009 at 1:24 pm

    Tim there is a poll that counts probably in 2011

    And we wonder why we have one of the worst performing stcok exchanges in the world – have a look at the boardrooms.
    • Pat 10.1

      14 July 2009 at 1:43 pm

      Gotta love Trevor and his scorched earth policy, as he blows up all the bridges leading to Labourland.

      Whatever you do, Trev, don’t you dare resign. The Nats need you to keep up the good work.
      • Wrangle 10.1.1

        14 July 2009 at 2:00 pm

        The man’s got a point though. Too much rent-seeking. Too much focus on lower taxes for themselves. Not enough focus on innovation.
11. The Voice of Reason 11

    14 July 2009 at 1:45 pm

    What polls, Tim?

    I haven’t seen many in recent months and I suspect it’s a bit too early for people to admit their mistake in trusting Mr Floppy just yet. But give it time. The low turnout of Labour voters in Auckland will not be repeated, especially if the supercity transition is cocked up. The arrogance of the lightweight ministers in employment, education and, well, everywhere, really, should be enough to doom this shower to one term.

    BTW, Craig Glen Eden did not refer to the Nats as incompetent idiots; he referred to moaning employers as ‘self serving idiots’. A small difference, I know, and all those rich white men in suits do tend to blend into one another, but there ya have it.

    Mind you, if you do think of the Nats as ‘incompetent idiots’ and it was an unconscious recognition of reality or some sort of cry for help, please let us know. We’re here to help.
12. Daveski 12

    14 July 2009 at 2:07 pm

    A couple of comments.

    1. The Flip Flop thing has been shown to be the crock of the proverbial it always was given the breadth and width of Labour’s own flip flops since the election. Principles are for schools (with bad spelling), not politics.

    2. I agree that there have been some outstandingly poor ministers, altho again you come to expect that from both sides.

    3. Bollard is now expecting NZ to come out of recession earlier than most (after all, we started before the others). This is in stark contrast to bulk of the comments here. Quite evidently, our long term position will be improved if we’re not burdened with debt which will undoubtedly be the case in the US and many of the other western economies.

    4. In the midst of possibly the worst economic crisis since the 1930’s, Labour’s finest achievement in opposition appears to be the Worth affair (pun intended). Hardly visionary is it?

    5. Rod Oram’s article in the SST at the weekend should be compulsory reading. The “economic miracle” under Labour was simply the borrow, consume, and bust cycle. Debt is not the long term answer to our economic problems.
    • Draco T Bastard 12.1

      14 July 2009 at 3:17 pm

      borrow, consume, and bust cycle.

      Standard neoclassical economics then?

      Debt is not the long term answer to our economic problems.

      True. Interesting then that the entire economic crises is blamed on there not being any credit isn’t it?
      • Pascal's bookie 12.1.1

        14 July 2009 at 3:24 pm

        “Debt is not the long term answer to our economic problems.”

        Not tax cuts and deregulation neither.
13. BLiP 13

    15 July 2009 at 1:50 am

    The New Zealand Herald is a minor cog in a foreign owned multinational corporation focussed solely on maximising return to shareholders – anything and everything it says must be considered through this lens.

    I had to chuckle, though: in the same paper that had a full page spread with headlines fellating John Key, there was also a Letter to the Editor from “Disgruntled of Parnell” claiming he was seriously considering ceasing his purchase of The Herald as a result of its bias against Mr Floppy – poor bugger must have had too much folic acid in his breakfast.

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