PETE'S KIWI WATCH - My place to rant.

John and John having a tea-party...

2012-01-27T19:36:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehz9M6huaDg&feature=share

John and John: You can fool some of the people all of the time, but a cup of tea indicated who the fools really are! History will show that being millionaires and having the first name John won't lead you to the political promised land. So John Key and John Banks I welcome you to your future hell!

Key under fire for Crafar farm sales to Chinese

2012-01-27T00:40:00.000-08:00

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Heated row over Crafar farm sale to China

Prime minister John Key is under fire following the announcement 16 Crafar dairy farms will soon be Chinese-owned.
Milk New Zealand Holdings, a subsidiary of Shanghai Pengxin Group, has been granted approval to buy the land in a deal worth $210 million.
Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson and Associate Finance Minister Jonathan Coleman announced their decision to grant consent for the purchase on Friday morning, following a recommendation from the Overseas Investment Office (OIO).
Mr Key says the Chinese offer "well and truly exceeded" the strict conditions set for overseas purchases of New Zealand farmland.
But other party leaders say they strongly disagree with the decision.
Among these, Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples says the farms should be sold to New Zealanders.
"Our land should stay in our hands."
New Zealand First leader, Winston Peters, called the decision "economic treason".
He accused Mr Key of delaying the announcement of the OIOs decision until after the election because he did not "have the guts" to tell New Zealanders.
During a press conference on Friday Mr Key said the sale could not be stopped simply because the buyers were Chinese.
"While ministers were in a position to review the decision from the OIO, if they were to turn that decision down, they would have had to have reasons to do so."
"In our view there were no reasons to do so."
Meanwhile, a rival consortium, Crafar Farms Purchase Group, led by businessman Sir Michael Fay has promised to challenge the sale via a judicial review.
The group launched a rival $171.5 million offer in September but had its bid declined by KordaMentha - the farms' receivers - who called the offer "unacceptable".
The consortium and Crown will hold a phone conference on Monday.
Milk New Zealand's purchase includes nearly 8000 hectares of land, along with livestock, chattels, machinery and Fonterra shares.
It's proposed state-owned farming company Landcorp will operate the farms, and a joint venture company to be owned by Milk New Zealand and Landcorp will develop and manage the farm portfolio.
Milk New Zealand will face strict conditions, enforced by the OIO, including investing more than $14 million into the farms to make them more economically and environmentally sustainable.
Before going into receivership in 2009, Crafar Farms was New Zealand's largest family-owned dairy business, running 20,000 cows in various regions of the North Island.
The family had a history of prosecutions for resource consent infringements over a number of years, mostly for breaching effluent discharge rules.

Auckland police probe into hidden identity numbers of Occupy protest arrests...

2012-01-22T22:53:00.000-08:00

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Three police officers are being investigated for wearing matching identification numbers while helping Auckland Council evict Occupy protesters today.
Protesters claim up to four officers in Aotea Square were wearing the same badge number - Z557 - while police shut down Occupy camps this morning.
Photographic evidence partially backs those claims, with one photograph showing two officers wearing the same number.
Police this evening released a statement confirming the officers were now "subject to an employment investigation" over the incident.
It is police policy for each officer to wear their own identification number.
"An employment procedure has commenced into this breach of policy," Inspector Gary Allcock said.
Police, security guards and council staff today moved to shut down the Occupy camps across Auckland, leading to the arrest of three protesters and frequent scuffles and standoffs between the parties.
Protester Merlin Blackmore, who today claimed four officers were wearing the same number, claims the identical numbers are being used to allow police to act with impunity.
"The police are supposed to have an identification number so you can identify them if they're being naughty.
"That's like having two people with the same driver's licence or passport... One of them was one of the people who was being physically quite brutal whilst arresting a protester and yanking them out of the van."
Blackmore believed police could use this tactic to deny complaints, saying the officer could not be identified.
However, the break-up of the protest and subsequent arrests were carried out in front of a large media contingent and members of the public.
It is not yet known why the officers were wearing the same identification numbers.
A police national headquarters spokeswoman confirmed the officers should be wearing their own numbers but referred calls to Auckland police, who have not returned calls.
This is not the first time issues have been raised over the way police dealt with Occupy protesters as the movement spread across the world.
Officers in Oakland, Boston and Houston were found to have covered their nameplates and badges while dispersing Occupy protests in the US.
"This is exactly the kind of thing that we've seen in New York and across the world where police have covered their badge numbers and [used] these kinds of tactics," Blackmore said.
It was also reported that some officers in the US were targeted by internet hackers as a result of their involvement in arresting protesters.

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Blackmore said they would discuss what they would do as a result.
"We will be seeking appropriate legal recourse, we'll have to talk to our lawyers and we'll have to have general assembly and discuss that in consensus.
"This is a complete crock of s---".
Acknowledgements and thanks: - © Fairfax NZ News

Eviction of Occupation Auckland protesters resisted...

2012-01-22T16:21:00.000-08:00

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Efforts to evict Occupy Auckland protesters have come to a halt after some of the occupiers stood in the way of security guards trying to take their tents down.
Security guards acting on Auckland Council instructions began taking down tents from 8am on Monday at Aotea Square.
They showed little resistance at first but after three people were arrested by watching police for breaching the peace, protesters began standing their ground as the guards tried to dismantle more tents.
The security guards stopped their actions about 10.45am and limited their action to stopping the protesters putting new tents back up, attempts which at times became heated.
Three protesters sat undisturbed atop a three-metre high wooden tower erected in the square.
Attempts were also made to evict protesters at Occupy sites in Albert Park and Victoria Park.
Protester Joe Carolan of Unite Union said he was proud of the protesters after the security actions were halted.
He said they were ashamed Auckland Mayor Len Brown was not acting in their interests and said attempts would be made to occupy his office.
A posting on the Occupy group's Facebook page called for supporters to head to Aotea Square.
It promised the council it would not be the end of the protest.
"First they ignored us - then they ridiculed us - now they will try to fight us - then we will win," they posted.
The council, in a statement, said the protesters' gear was removed because it was interfering with plans for next month's Auckland Lantern Festival and the people of Auckland wanted their public spaces returned to them.
"People have a right to freedom of speech and protest, but not the right to camp indefinitely," the statement said.
Before Christmas, a judge ruled that the occupation breached a council bylaw banning camping and building structures in a public space without a permit.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10780549 Latest news:

Have a very happy non-political New Year from NZ...

2011-12-31T22:48:00.000-08:00

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Image by Getty Images via @daylife

deals on guitars. Buy it. Sell it. Love it. eBay.

www.ebay.co.uk/guitars

Have a Very Happy non-political New Year from NZ...

http://by152w.bay152.mail.live.com/default.aspx?fid=1&fav=1&n=218300858&rru=inbox&mid=0c9d6ac3-2064-11e1-8277-00215ad7ab6a&fv=1#!/?rru=inbox!n=451848723&rru=inbox&fid=1&fav=1&mid=bacdaafe-3431-11e1-bfd0-002264c24798&fv=1

Beyond the HuttRiver

Labour on the journey back to power...

2011-12-17T22:47:00.000-08:00

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Labour Party President congratulates new leadership team...

The Labour Party caucus today elected Labour’s new leadership team.

David Shearer was elected as Leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party, with Grant Robertson as his deputy.

“I congratulate both David and Grant and look forward to working closely with them as we build towards a Labour victory in 2014”, Moira Coatsworth, President of the New Zealand Labour Party.

“David and Grant bring a fresh approach; a breadth of skills and a strong commitment to rebuild for a Labour win in 2014.

“I offer the Party’s thanks to outgoing leaders Phil Goff and Annette King. They shared a passion for making New Zealand a better and fairer society and I thank them for their contribution and their legacy of bold policy for the future.

“Our selection process enabled a robust contest of ideas throughout New Zealand. I congratulate all four candidates and party members nationwide for the way they contributed to the selection of our new leadership team,” Moira Coatsworth said.

The Clark years are well and truly behind Labour now; the Goff years were almost irrelevant. These are the days of David Shearer, Grant Robertson and the rebirth of the Labour party and New Zealand.

David Cunliffe badly misjudged the political situation and has lost his chance of ever leading Labour. Hope is on the way!

John Key and his old rusty lock administration is now on the way out!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6130205/Shearer-confirmed-as-Labour-Party-leader

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NZ Govt expects $100 million in fees for its asset sales...

2011-12-14T22:14:00.000-08:00

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The government will probably stump up around $100 million in fees to investment banks preparing the partial sell-down of state-owned energy companies, according to State-Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall.

He told a media briefing in Wellington the mixed ownership model is a “very very big programme” but he wouldn’t expect to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for it. Rather it would be “more around $100 million.” That would work out to be around 1.8 percent of the sale price, which was in line with costs relating to the Contact Energy privatisation in 1999.
In June, Ryall told Parliament’s Commerce Select Committee the Treasury’s expected range of fees of between 2 percent and 9 percent was at the high end of the scale.
The government confirmed Mighty River Power as the first electricity generator and retailer to go to market, with a sale flagged for the third quarter next year. Treasury officials estimate the company could raise as much as $1.8 million.
Finance Minister Bill English said the government, as shareholder, is limited in what it can say due to securities market disclosure rules, but more information will be forthcoming in March or April next year once the lead manager has completed due diligence on the sale.
MRP, which operates under the retail brand Mercury Energy, is first off the rank due to its long-running chief executive Doug Heffernan and chairman Joan Withers being known to the market and its structure and scale being attractive investment opportunities.
“It’s a very good size to offer kiwis that should have very good interest to New Zealanders and sufficient scale to market,” Ryall said. MRP also has produced consistently better returns on capital than its two state-owned rivals and candidates for partial sale, Meridian and Genesis Energy.
The government hopes to raise as much as $7 billion by selling down minority stakes in Meridian, Genesis, MRP, coal miner Solid Energy, and Air New Zealand.
The sale programme will get legislative sign-off as part of the supply and confidence deal with United Future, which will remove the companies from the State Owned Enterprises Act and set a cap on the Crown’s level of ownership and how much a single entity can buy.
English talked down the threat to the programme caused by volatile global financial markets, saying the prospect of a steady return from utility companies was more attractive than other investment opportunities, and a better way to clamp down on new government debt.
He said he expects the companies will have New Zealand ownership of between 85 percent and 90 percent, with retail and institutional investors likely to divert property investment and some cash in term deposits into the shares.
Corporate iwi investors are likely to join institutional investors such as the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, Accident Compensation Corp’s investment portfolio and KiwiSaver funds when the allocations are determined, English said.
He confirmed no shareholder, other than the government, will be allowed to own more than 10 percent of the partially private-owned entities.

(BusinessDesk

Maori party signs a deal with National - foolish act?

2011-12-10T20:27:00.001-08:00

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

http://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/post-mortem-5-election-results-coalition-deals-and-other-matters/

Labour leadership voting...

2011-12-07T23:38:00.003-08:00

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Labour leader contenders focus on undecided MPs

Updated 15 minutes ago

MPs in the contest for the Labour Party leadership are concentrating on securing the votes of their caucus colleagues who remain undecided.
Labour leader Phil Goff and his deputy Annette King have announced they are stepping down on 13 December.

David Cunliffe believes he's the clear choice to become Labour leader.

PHOTO: RADIO NEW ZEALAND

Four contenders are mid-way through a series of meetings where they are putting their case directly to party members.
David Shearer, the MP for Mt Albert, says he is quietly confident of winning the leadership when MPs cast their vote next Tuesday.
Mr Shearer says there is still a group of MPs who have yet to make up their mind and he will be working hard to convince them he is the best candidate.
His rival, Mt Albert MP David Cunliffe, says it will come down to who the caucus thinks is ready for the role - and believes it is clear that person is him.
Central Wellington MP Grant Roberston says he would like to be deputy in a team led by Mr Shearer, but says they are not running on a formal ticket.
Mr Cunliffe is running on a ticket with Hauraki-Waikato MP Nanaia Mahuta as his deputy.
MPs will vote at next Tuesday's caucus meeting, with separate votes for the positions of leader and deputy leader.

key and Banks chart course to total disaster - political ideology not education...

2011-12-07T15:57:00.001-08:00

Image by Sean MacEntee via Flickr

Millionaire ideologues Key and Banks chart course to educational disaster...

John Banks assertion that he will, hand-pick 'like-minded' people to implement the controversial charter schools trial is proof the proposal is about political ideology, not educational achievement says Labour's Education Spokesperson, Sue Moroney.
"Given that he only represents 1% of the population, Mr Banks assertion to Radio Live yesterday that he would surround himself with 'like-minded people' means he will be choosing from a small pool of people," said Sue Moroney.
"The future of our children's education is too important for politics to rule over best educational practise.
"The education system is meant to be about doing what is best for children and their future, not shonky political deals that have excluded the public and the education sector.
"It is quite clear from John Banks' insistence that Onehunga High School is a charter school, when it clearly isn't, that he has no idea what he is talking about.
"If he doesn't know what charter schools are, how can it be his policy that he insisted on?
"John Key seems to know a lot more about the detail of the policy, than John Banks does, so who's policy is it?" Sue Moroney said.

The controversial "teapot tape" to be released after the NZ elections...

2011-11-14T23:20:00.001-08:00

Image via WikipediaImage via WikipediaNew Zealand's online predictions market, iPredict, has today launched new stocks asking about the content of the so-called "teapot tape"
.
Prime Minister John Key and Act Party Epsom candidate John Banks met for tea on Friday and their conversation was recorded by Bradley Ambrose, formerly known as Brad White. Act leader Don Brash did not attend the meeting.

The Herald on Sunday and TV3 have reported that they have obtained the recording but its contents remain unknown. Mr Key has asked the police to investigate the circumstances of the recording. The Deputy Editor of the Herald on Sunday, Jonathan Milne, says the contents of the recording are potentially a "game-changer" for the election. The Political Editor of TV3, Duncan Garner, disagrees but says the contents are "interesting and raise some questions for Key and Banks".

The new stocks launched by iPredict today are as follows:

Tea Pot Tape to NOT be released before Election Day: https://www.ipredict.co.nz/app.php?do=contract_detail&contract=TAPE.NORELEASE

Cosgrove in for a hiding in Waimakariri seat in Canterbury

2011-11-12T23:06:00.001-08:00

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Fairfax Media Poll

Big defeat threatens Waimak's Cosgrove

Waimakariri Labour MP Clayton Cosgrove faces a crushing defeat as a new poll shows his National rival, Kate Wilkinson, has opened up a huge lead in the seat.

A Fairfax Media-Research International snap poll in the seat put Wilkinson on 53.9 per cent of decided voters against 36 per cent for Cosgrove.

The only consolation for Cosgrove is that the poll of 250 voters had a margin of error of 6.2 per cent and a high proportion of undecided voters – 23.5 per cent.

The poll also showed a huge lead for National of 71.9 per cent to Labour's 17.4 per cent.
That compares with 2008 when National won the party vote in the seat by 49.4 per cent to 33.9 per cent for Labour.

Paul Epplett of Research International said his best explanation for the huge shift in support was related to the earthquake and polling on that had been positive for National.

"The rebuild of Christchurch is the number one issue and we know 66 per cent of Cantabrians feel the response by the Government has been at least good [only 15 per cent said poor]," he said.
"If the electorate believes that National have done a good job post earthquake, it will likely be translated into confidence in the local candidate."

In the latest nationwide poll, Labour leader Phil Goff's increased popularity seemed to come from Labour voters previously not willing to endorse him.

"A large part of the undecideds ... may also be reserving judgment on Cosgrove," Epplett said.
Cosgrove, who has held the seat for 12 years, has led the party's Christchurch MPs in their response to the earthquake.

Wilkinson is ranked 19 in John Key's Cabinet. Her portfolios include labour and conservation.
She said she was surprised by the poll result and it was hard to know if it was accurate.
Even if he loses the seat Cosgrove is likely to remain in Parliament as a list MP at number eight for Labour.

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- The Press

Stopping all asset sales an immediate priority for an incoming Labour Government...

2011-11-09T20:24:00.001-08:00

Labour Party leader Phil Goff has stepped up his opposition to asset sales, saying his first act if he became Prime Minister would be to stop the sales process.

Labour has made opposition to National's plan for partial state asset sales one of the central planks of its election campaign.

National's policy is to sell up to 49% of state-owned energy companies Meridian, Mighty River Power, Solid Energy and Genesis and reduce the Government's majority shareholding in Air New Zealand.

Phil Goff says National Party leader John Key is ploughing ahead arrogantly by letting an Australian arm of the investment bank, Lazard, and others prepare to put the assets on the block for sale.

And he says the partial sale of state-owned assets would ultimately end up lining the pockets of overseas bankers and brokers.

Based on the percentage that is taken from the sale of assets, Mr Goff says, brokerage fees and other expenses are likely to cost up to $100 million.

"For a start, the Aussie banks that have been promised $100 million to sell off our assets, they'll be told to go home."

He says this will further erode the returns from selling New Zealand's state-owned assets.

Mr Key is defending the appointment of the Lazard to advise the Treasury about the merits of proposals presented by bankers involved in the sale process.

Asked whether the appointment was jumping the gun, as National does not yet have a mandate to start selling shares, he said that it was not.

"They're doing some preliminary work for us and in the end their contract - I mean it's done with Treasury and I haven't looked at all that - but I imagine they're paid for the work that they do and in the end if we're not the government they won't be doing any work and they won't be getting paid."

Mr Key says there will be bank fees to be earned if and when the sales go ahead, but he says that business would be more likely to go to New Zealand banks.

Kiwi Riverman says: And all asset sales must be scrapped, including the new policy to dam rivers in the South Island and distribute our water to wealthy dairy farmers.

John Key can't do his maths...

2011-11-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

Expand

Labour says National is wrong on three major counts which between them counted for more than half of the $17 billion 'made up hole' in Labour's figures. Picture / Getty Images

National's attack on Labour over the alleged $17 billion "hole'' in its economic plan ignores more than $1 billion a year in proceeds from the state owned assets National would sell and also the assets generated by super fund contributions, Labour's David Parker says.

Associate spokesman Mr Parker led Labour's defence against National's criticisms as his party unveiled the keenly anticipated numbers underpinning its economic transformation plan this morning.

The credibility of those numbers became an important election issue after Prime Minister John Key goaded Labour leader Phil Goff about them during a debate earlier this week.
This morning Mr Goff said Labour's borrowing relative to National would peak at $4 billion in the 2016/2017 financial year.

"But from 2017/2018 we will be paying back the debt faster than a National Government would because of the ongoing asset returns and the increasing revenue of our fairer tax package", he said.
Mr Parker said National was wrong on three major counts which between them counted for more than half of the $17 billion 'made up hole' in Labour's figures.

National's own figures, against which Labour's were being compared hadn't factored in lost dividends from selling up to half of state owned enterprises, "despite it standing out like dog's balls''.

"You can't sell an asset and pretend you're still going to get the revenue... Within four years that's half a billion dollars.''

Labour's figures this morning show it expects to receive ordinary and special dividends from the SOEs of just over $845 million in the next financial year, rising to $1.28 billion five years later.

Under National, that cashflow would be halved.

Mr Parker said National had also "tried to ping us'' for resuming NZ Super Fund contributions.
"They've ignored the asset it purchases, how fair is that?''

The third major misrepresentation was over the cost of Labour's plan to part fund the Auckland rail link.

"They have said we have not funded that. You all know that we are funding that through cancellation of the holiday highway and in fact we come out ahead.'

National had budgeted $1.7 billion for the project but Labour would spend $300 million to 400 million making the "required'' but cheaper highway improvements leaving more than enough for the $1.2 billion it has said it would contribute to the rail link.

"It is not us that have misrepresented the Standard & Poor's downgrade, it is not us that said the capital gains that would put a dagger throught heart of the economy and it's not us that's misrepresenting the figures.''

But Mr Key said Labour's claim that it would only borrow $4b over the next four years was a "shambles",

"If you take the New Zealand Super fund, for example, he's saying if you have a mortgage against your home, that [debt] doesn't count and the day you buy the house, you should book the profits of what you think you might be able to sell the house for some time in the never-never.

"And he's wanting New Zealanders to believe that's real, at a time where we're living through the most volatile financial markets and stockmarkets in the world.

"It might be a form of economic management that Greece is happy with, but it will not work in New Zealand."

Mr Key again played the "I spent my life as an investment banker" line to talk up his financial literacy.

"The definition of borrowing is where you issue a bond. Ask Phil Goff if he'll be issuing bonds for $4b, or a lot more than that."

He said restoring ECE centres to having 100 per cent trained staff would cost $400m a year, and the Government only has $800m in new operating money a year.

"Their numbers don't add up. They're using a Greek calculator."

But a Labour spokeswoman said Labour's numbers included an allowance yet to be announced policies over and above that $800 million.

"We have not announced our ECE policy and we have not announced how much we will spend on it. So he is wrong on all counts.

Welfare reform will not protect the vulnerable children in NZ...

2011-11-03T00:21:00.000-07:00

Image via WikipediaImage by Getty Images via @daylifeImage via WikipediaImage by nznationalparty via FlickrImage by nznationalparty via FlickrThe National Party's welfare reform will not improve CYF (Child Youth and Family) and protect our vulnerable children in this country. How many more maimed and dead children will stain the credibility of our nation's leadership.

Nationals welfare reform is all about benefit cuts - reducing money paid out to welfare beneficiaries through the taxes of the privileged and wealthy in NZ, not the interests of the poor of this country. New Zealand has become a mean-spirited society, and our politicians will live to regret it. If National wins this election this month, New Zealand will head for one of the biggest social shake-ups in our country's history, and it will have nothing to do with the so-called welfare reform - it will be about social reaction. That is something I will predict!

As a retiree in this country I'm becoming ashamed of the mean-spiritness that has permeated NZ society in recent years. A nation is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable members - the young and the aged.

Create jobs for beneficiaries to go to says Goff...

2011-10-31T23:19:00.000-07:00

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The best welfare reform is to get people into work. Renaming benefits and penalising parents won't create jobs, Labour Leader Phil Goff says
.
"Kiwis want to work. John Key has been promising 170,000 more jobs since early 2010. Where are they?

"Fiddling with the welfare system and punishing parents won't create them. A long-term economic plan will. As Business NZ said, National obviously doesn't have one," Phil Goff said.

"John Key says he plans to get 46,000 people off benefits within four years. Yet there are now 60,000 more people claiming a benefit since he became Prime Minister.

"National has done nothing for three years about the escalating numbers of Kiwis forced onto benefits. Now four weeks before an election it announces a policy that just tinkers with the system.
"Kiwis will see this for what it is - an admission of failure. National hasn't created jobs and has no plan to do so in the future. All it is proposing is to rename benefits and tell parents with children to get back to work. What you have to do is give them jobs to go to and affordable childcare," Phil Goff said.

"Labour is committed to lifting people out of poverty, and to tackling unemployment. We will do that with a suite of measures that include paying the dole to employers to take on apprentices, creating more industry training places and up-skilling our young people.

"Providing jobs and skills - placing people in work, education or training- is the best welfare policy and we have a plan to do that," Phil Goff said.

Goff won the debate a poll claims!

Acknowledgements: Voxy.co.nz

John Key all alone on super age - Phil Goff...

2011-10-27T01:39:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

]

John Key all alone on super age - Phil Goff
Voxy News Engine

John Key's refusal to make the right calls for New Zealand's future is being undermined by his own Finance Minister, says Labour Leader Phil Goff.

"John Key claims he is skipper of his party. Well he is clearly facing a mutiny. While he says he won't support raising the age of entitlement for New Zealand Super, Bill English has admitted there is merit to a gradual increase in the age saying it is a "legitimate debate".

"John Key is living in cloud cuckoo land. He is afraid to front up and debate the issues that matter to Kiwis. He wouldn't even debate the savings plan with me on television tonight," Phil Goff said.
"Not only is he afraid to confront the important issues facing the country, he's also being dishonest.

"Today he claimed lifting the age was a bad idea, but in 2004 he said this at a speech to the Super Funds Summit: 'But will lifting the retirement age by a couple of years in twenty years' time be all that big a deal? I suspect not. If anything, it is likely to be welcomed by the majority of New Zealanders who recognize that increased levels of longevity inevitably means that any private capital they have squirreled away will need to be spread more thinly and last longer'.

"John Key doesn't have the courage to tackle the tough issues. Things can't go on as they are. We are not saving enough. We need to do better. We must pay back the debt, save more and live within our means.

"That's why the savings plan that Labour announced today is so important. We will own our own future," Phil Goff said

Key pitches asset sales to older voters...

2011-10-25T21:51:00.000-07:00

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Key pitches partial assets sales to older voters, but these probably won't be conned by key...

The National Party leader hit the campaign trail on the Kapiti Coast near Wellington on Wednesday, telling voters they have a clear choice at the election.

John Key spoke at a senior citizens meeting in Paraparaumu and said the election is about who can provide stable government in difficult times.

He told those gathered the election on 26 November is about who can provide stable government in difficult times.

National plans to sell a minority stake in four state-owned energy companies but Mr Key told the audience it will not be like the asset sales of the 1980s and 90s.

"Unlike the mid-eighties, we are not selling assets holus-bolus. We are keeping a majority control, and will always keep a majority control.

"Funnily enough, we're not using the money to repay debt. We're actually using the money to acquire other assets."

Mr Key says the Government will keep a majority control and New Zealanders will be at the front of the queue to buy shares.

The fact of the matter is why would kiwis want to 'buy' assets they already own?

Acknowledgements: Radio New Zealand

Predictions of a massive aftershock in Christchurch kept under wraps...

2011-10-20T03:21:00.000-07:00

A property damaged by the Christchurch earthquake

Predictions of a massive aftershock for Christchurch were not made public by earthquake experts for fear of alarming locals.

GNS scientists have admitted to keeping forecasts of a massive aftershock following the magnitude 4.9 quake on Boxing Day quiet at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Canterbury earthquakes.

Dr Kelvin Berryman gave evidence and said scientists were very aware that a magnitude 6 may occur.

While the possibility of aftershocks was discussed, social scientists advised them not to make that public, he said.

But Berryman told the inquiry that he believed Kiwis had a right to know that a magnitude 6 may occur so they could prepare.

"There were five or six obvious scenarios where that future earthquake might occur. The worst possible case was directly under the city. Other possibilities were out in the southwest around Wigram, or Lincoln, and areas at Rolleston, and way out at Hororata.

"But we didn't want to alarm unnecessarily.''

Dr Berryman said his colleague Dr Terry Webb said that warning the public was deemed "unhelpful''.

The Royal Commission is charged with investigating buildings that collapsed during the February 22 earthquake
.
The earthquake killed 182 people.

A winning formula for workers and wages...

2011-10-19T18:06:00.000-07:00

Darien Fenton

Labour portfolio

A winning formula for workers and wages

New Zealand workers aren't paid enough and the way we set wages isn’t working for many Kiwis, says Labour’s Spokesperson on Labour Issues Darien Fenton.

“New Zealand used to pride itself on its egalitarian workforce, where people were paid a fair wage for a fair day’s work.

“That is no longer the case. Labour wants to change that and believes the introduction of an industry-specific ‘floor’ or ‘floors’ for wages would go a long way to improving the lives of a great many Kiwis.

“That means amending the Employment Relations Act 2000 and drawing up a new framework where better pay and standards can be extended through ‘Industry Standard Agreements’,” Darien Fenton said.
“An Industry Standard Agreement would build on existing individual, collective and multi-employer collective agreements that the Act currently provides for.

“An industry union or employer could apply to a new Workplace Commission – set up under the ERA - for an Industry Standard Agreement. The Commission would determine the ‘norm’ of the standards already applying in collective agreements in a particular industry and extend those to all workplaces in the industry where there is no collective agreement.

“Flexibility is important in enabling small businesses to adapt to new standards.
“The Workplace Commission would be able to take the potential impact on small businesses and employment into account during its deliberations.

“Employers and unions will still be able to negotiate collective agreements as an alternative to the Industry Standard Agreement. Individual Agreements can still apply, but cannot be less than the Industry Standard,” Darien Fenton said.

“This is not about a return to central wage fixing, or compulsory unionism. It’s about raising the wages of New Zealanders.

“Workers will not have to join a union to be part of an Industry Standard Agreement, but unions will have access to workers in the industry to talk about the Standards, as they do now.

“The model is widely used in successful economies, including Australia which has a far more rigid system than the one Labour is proposing.

“The adaptations we plan will continue to enable unions and employers to bargain directly with each other when that is the most effective approach.

“Industry Standard Agreements are about improving the pay of New Zealand workers. They will help ensure that every Kiwi worker receives a decent living wage,” Darien Fenton said.

“Another important focus of Labour’s Work and Wages policy is around non-standard work, where large numbers of contractors, casual and temporary workers effectively have no rights.

“To ensure workers are protected in these situations Labour will:

Ensure that workers employed in precarious forms of employment are given similar rights to those in more traditional forms of employment
Investigate and implement best practice statutory support and legal rights, including minimum wage protection, for dependent contractors
Repeal the National Government’s changes to the Employment Relations Act in regard to workers in the film and video production sector
Extend the right to organise and collectively bargain to contractors who are primarily selling their labour

“The policy also provides for workers affected by outsourcing and redundancy by:

Providing for the right to strike when a collective agreement is in force where the employer makes a significant proposal for restructuring or outsourcing that in effect renders the collective agreement ineffective
Implementing the recommendations of the 2008 Ministerial Advisory Group report on redundancy and restructuring.

“Labour also intends to strengthen current collective bargaining arrangements under the ERA to ensure the guaranteed international rights to collective bargaining can be achieved by a greater number of workers.
“Urgent changes are needed. New Zealand wage and salary workers are struggling to make ends meet and thousands are leaving for Australia for better wages.

“Labour has studied other jurisdictions and thoroughly thought this policy through. We believe this is the best formula for growing Kiwi wages,” Darien Fenton said.

Labour’s Health and Safety policy will be released separately.

Acknowledgements: Darien Fenton, NZ Labour Party

Young voters appear ignorant - suits the National government...

2011-10-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

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Lack of knowledge surprises MMP supporters

A "surprising" number of young voters did not know there was an alternative to MMP, say supporters of the voting system.

About half a dozen MMP supporters were in The Square in Palmerston North yesterday handing out leaflets and talking to passers-by about MMP.

Campaign organisers John Shennon and Lawrence O'Halloran said they had been surprised by the number of young voters who were not aware that there were other voting systems besides MMP. Mr O'Halloran said many young people were not interested in politics.

Some had not even been born in the early 1990s when the referendums to introduce MMP were held.
The pair said the response to MMP had largely been positive.

"I am yet to come across anyone who is vehemently opposed," Mr Shennon said.

Some people had "nagging issues" about MMP such as the thresholds required for a party to enter Parliament, he said.

But Mr Shennon said MMP would be reviewed if it came out of this year's referendum as voters' preferred option.

Keep MMP planned similar rallies for the next couple of weeks, it had been invited to speak to several organisations and it had paid for an advertisement on a city bus, which should be ready by the weekend.

There will be two questions asked at the referendum held in conjunction with this year's general election on November 26.

The first asks whether voters want to keep MMP or change to another voting system.

The second presents four systems for voters to choose from. They are the first-past-the-post, preferential voting, single transferable vote and supplementary member systems.

This week, the Electoral Commission began its information campaign about the referendum, with brochures mailed to every household in New Zealand.

Chief electoral officer Robert Peden said a series of advertisements had been designed to help voters understand what the referendum was about and where they could get more information.

"The Electoral Commission wants to help voters feel confident they are able to make an informed choice when they go to vote in the referendum," he said.

Acknowledgements: - Manawatu Standard

John Key has misled the public of New Zealand...

2011-10-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

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The rise and fall of John Key...

The PM, John key, refuses to name the person he alleges claimed that Standard and Poors said it was more likely to downgrade New Zealand if Labour won power at the coming elections.

Standard and Poors has publicly denied saying that. Phil Goff claims the statement was a breach of privilege. Because any privilege claim couldn't be made until after the elections, it is really immaterial. I think PM John Key knew that when he made the false claim!

All voters can really do is consider whether they have any future faith in a person who appears to have misled the country. Should the voting public vote for Pinnochio?

http://www.scoop.co.nz/multimedia/tv/business/57462.html

National Government to force Christchurch asset sales...

2011-10-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

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]

National to force Christchurch City Council to privatise local assets - local MP Brendan Burns says...

Brendon Burns

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee must front up and confirm the Government's plans to install commissioners in the Christchurch City Council and sell its assets, says Christchurch Central MP Brendon Burns.
"In Parliament today, I asked Gerry Brownlee to confirm the Government's timeframe for action given he told The Press last month that he had no plans to move against the council "at this time". He refused to say what he will do.

"So rather than use the opportunity to refute the growing view that he will move swiftly against the council, Gerry Brownlee has added to the concerns.

"Mr Brownlee might play cute in Parliament and deny any responsibility for the next Government or the Christchurch City Council but the intent is there for all Cantabrians to see - a returned National government will bulldoze through the sale of Orion, Christchurch airport, Port Lyttelton and other council assets, just like our state power companies."

Further proof of National's plan can be found in the fact Finance Minister Bill English has confirmed the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act gives the Government the power to force the sale of Christchurch City Council's $2 billion worth of assets, said Brendon Burns.

"That fact was revealed in the report of the Finance and Expenditure Committee after I questioned Mr English when he appeared on Budget estimates. The report confirms the Government is talking to the council about how it will pay its share of earthquake recovery. While Mr English said asset sales were up to the council, the legislation clearly gives Government the power to sell them."

Brendon Burns tabled research he commissioned from the Parliamentary Library today showing the Orion lines company alone, mostly owned by Christchurch city, has returned around $980m to ratepayers since 1993, or about $1m a week.

"We must not lose our valuable assets and the dividends they return to the community.
"National has already shown its contempt for democracy and the management of important Canterbury assets by taking out ECAN to facilitate the flow of water to vested interests. Clearly Christchurch City Council is next on its list," said Brendon Burns

John Key's real persona comes through after parliamentary jump attempt.

2011-10-05T22:35:00.000-07:00

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Health Sector|Employment Figures |Tobacc

John Key's real persona comes through after parliamentary jump attempt. You can't hide the snake all the time, can you?

Yesterday's balcony jumping incident was a really sober reminder that there are desperate people in our society. Desperate people who are poor and have been possibly shafted by Work and Income and other state agencies. However, the vast majority of those impacted by bad decisionmaking would never contemplate such acts.

But for John Key to insinuate that this incident was arranged by Labour is a real low, even for him. I heard the commotion while working at my desk and listening to Parliament on radio yesterday. I must admit that my heart rate picked up a bit when the incident occurred. Although I couldn't obviously see it, I thought that something awful was happening due to the distressed calls of some MPs in the chamber. I guessed at the time that a protester might have breached House security and made it onto the floor. I thought this given the exchanges between Opposition MPs and the Government benches after the PM shouted "You should be ashamed of yourselves", and "That's down to you." Apart from being very un-parliamentary remarks (as MPs stating you in the Chamber brings the Speaker into the debate), Key accused Labour of engineering this incident.

Yesterday, the media (through covering this incident) publicised more than they usually do the nasty side of the PM's character. This doesn't come out in the numerous public photo opportunities or media conferences that he engages in. During these times, we see the smiling, laughing, confident, friendly face of Key. No Muldoon or even Helen Clark like instincts to coldness on show. Key simply follows the Crosby-Textor rule book: don't make nasty, insensitive comments in public
.
Of course, this doesn't apply to Key's behaviour in Parliament which most of the public don't follow. It seems that the media doesn't broadcast some of the cheap comments that the PM tosses at left wing opposition parties during question time. I have seen Facebook postings from Labour and Green MPs which criticise the PM's often arrogant behaviour in the House. The PM thinks he can get away with it as the news bulletins will only dutifully carry his excited statements extolling government policy. Even before this week's incident, Key overreached himself in the House when talking about the government's supposed economic successes prior to last week's credit ratings downgrade (see earlier blog).

Away from the cameras, though, Key has often been reported to be a lot colder than the warm, fuzzy public persona he projects. I remember Sue Bradford saying a year or so ago that a participant at a meeting between Key and church leaders related as to how he and other participants had been astounded by the PM's response to a question about how he felt about the prospect of families starving if welfare benefits were cut due to non-compliance with proposed receipt requirements. Upon receiving the report of the Alternative Welfare Working Group (of which Bradford had been a member), Key dismissively remarked "I don't believe anyone will starve."

While (sadly) much of the public appears to be supportive of National's welfare reform proposals, I believe that in about a year or so, he will be vastly more unpopular on a whole host of issues. So, as the pressure builds on his re-elected government over stalling economic growth, problems around the Christchurch rebuild, and state asset sales, you will begin to see the real John Key emerge. The man who didn't cry even at his mother's funeral. The smiling assassin that even some former fellow Merrill Lynch employees remember well.

This leads to a major question - how much of the Key persona has been manufactured and how much is natural?

I think that once New Zealanders re-elect Key next month, they will get a very rude shock! Mark my words! To paraphrase Lenin's famous phrase, Key may smile but he does (definitely) have teeth!

Chris Ford's blog

Mana Party says NZ sick of Nats and Labour arguing over crime

2011-10-03T23:39:00.000-07:00

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Press Release: Mana Party

MANA says NZ sick of National and Labour squabbling overCrime

MANA justice spokesperson Annette Sykes believesNew Zealanders want a real debate over our appallingimprisonment rates now the crime statistics have reportedlydropped to their lowest in 25 years.

"Even when the statsshow crime is low, National and Labour are still squabblingover who has thrown more New Zealanders into prison longerrather than as what is occurring in other jurisdictions likethe United Kingdom questioning the efficacy of privatisationof prisons and the burden to the State and communities thisburgeoning industry is costing us all.

“ We know thatwhile that debate is focused on in the media it is Maori whoare impacted upon the most due to the systemic discriminatory practices right from the moment ofquestioning, through charging and representation tosentencing that they confront daily.”

“In light ofthe incredibly low crime rate, MANA says we need to reviewthe obnoxious private prison cancer this Government hasreleased.

“The time is now to drag us away fromcorporate profits for imprisonment and focus on a justicesystem that moves from punitive talkback radio knee-jerks toa responsible corrections policy that is built on promotingsocial wellbeing.”

Ms Sykes says with National, Labourand the Maori party all having followed policies that haveruined the economy they clearly would like to run anelection based on law and order issues but here as much asanywhere they are on shaky ground.

Ms Sykes says whilethe rest of the world has been moving away from imprisonmentthis government has been locking up more and more peoplehaving to resort to inhumane double bunking, putting humanbeings in containers, and building more prisons, all at hugecost.

“The fact they want to do it in a way that theirprivate sector mates can benefit by running and owning theprisons rubs salt into the wound especially when those matesare foreign companies benefitting from the misery of NewZealanders many of whom are tangata whenua.”

Ms Sykessays privatisation of misery of this kind mustcease.

Why is the NZ Treasury preparing state energy companies for privatisation before a mandate is given...

2011-10-03T21:23:00.000-07:00

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I thought the coming elections were to be a mandate to enable National to privatise energy companies?

Prime Minister John Key keeps saying publicly-owned power companies won't be sold unless National gets a mandate at the general election.

However, 'BusinessDay', May 26, claimed that theTreasury had already set up a group "to do the background work on the privatisation programme".

Last month, the Government reportedly made 18 new appointments throughout 12 state-owned enterprises, aimed at firing up their boardrooms. They included appointing Keith Tempest, former chief executive of TrustPower (provider of some of the highest- priced electricity) to the board of TransPower.

Then the Treasury called for tenders for a project manager and adviser, and will soon establish an expert advisory panel.

Apparently this is being done in order to enable the sell-down "as soon as possible" after the election.

The Government doesn't have a mandate to sell any SOEs. Is the Treasury a law unto itself? Or is this outright arrogance on the part of Mr Key?

The National Party government is not only behaving arrogantly, it is acting illegally. The smell of fascism is permeating the political scene in the run-up to the elections in New Zealand.

If New Zealanders were aware of what they are planning would they want to vote for them?

New Zealanders are actually too busy watching the Rugby World Cup at present than worrying about the political machinations of this National Party government. Smile, wave, mince, smile, wave, that's the style of Prime Minister John Key.

NZ Criminal Procedures Bill passes second reading...

2011-09-28T00:28:00.000-07:00

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NZ Criminal Procedures Bill passes second reading

Just because you may be famous will be no guarantee of getting name suppression if law changes before Parliament are passed.

Just because you may be famous will be no guarantee of getting name suppression if law changes before Parliament are passed.

Rules around suppression are being tightened in the Criminal Procedures Bill which has passed its second reading in Parliament by 110 votes to 11.

Justice Minister Simon Power says the Bill contains measures that will help address name suppression concerns around so-called celebrities.

"By providing that there is no presumption of extreme hardship solely on the ground that the defendant is well known or famous or think they are."

Labour MP Charles Chauvel is endorsing the Government's decision to loosen its original restrictions around access to jury trials, and also its change of heart on making inroads into a defendant's right to silence.

He says it's an ancient principle of our justice system that the prosecution's job is to prove an offence.

"The State has enormous resources which it can deploy in the detection and punishment of alleged offences, and when it does so there has to be some balancing."

Charles Chauvel says the right to silence is one of the most important of those.

The legislation will have its third and final reading after the election.Acknowledgements: © 2011 NZCity, NewsTalkZB

Gormless optomist NZ prime minister has apparently done it again...

2011-09-27T01:55:00.000-07:00

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PM's coalmine joke falls flat. Some consider him a proper dickhead. That's their opinion I guess.

Prime Minister John Key's humour fell a little flat this morning when he suggested that Australia could give New Zealand a coalmine if the New Zealand Warriors won the NRL grand final against Manly on Sunday.

He said he made the suggestion to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard last night when the pair had been texting each other.

They were working out what they could put up as prizes for a winning bet.

"It's got to be something useful," he said. "It's hard to swap ties when one side doesn't wear a tie. I suggested a coalmine actually - they've got a few in Australia.

"We can give her the pavlova recipe."

"Anyway we're working it out," he said before before heading into National's weekly caucus meeting.

Australia's mining boom has helped to keep it out of recession during the global financial crisis and Mr Key was likely referring to that.

But the mention of coalmines in New Zealand at present is synonymous with tragedy with the Pike River mining disaster being relived at the hearing of the Royal Commission of Inquiry in Greymouth.

...he's incredible isn't he? In the wake of the Pike River tragedy he's making tasteless coal mine bets? It's not the first time he's shown the vacant unawareness of a methadone patient. Remember when he made the International press headlines with his hilarious thigh-slapping- country-club-good-'ole-boy Maori cannibalism jokes? When it comes to race relations comedy, John Key is like a white Chris Rock minus the humor, intelligence, grace, appreciation of historical injustice and dress sense.

Then there was his cringe worthy impersonation of gay mincing on the catwalk...

...and let's not forget his recent attacking of critics of party central during the RWC opening ceremony 30 minutes before downtown Auckland became a public safety hazard. Apparently after telling NZers to come to party central, come to party central, come to party central, come to party central, come to party central, come to party central, come to party central, come to party central for three years, when everyone came to party centrally it all became Len Browns fault.

John Key's humor is as amusing as a tumor. Personally his claim this week that marijuana is a 'gate way drug' was my high point of hilarity. A gate way drug to what? Dominos Pizza? For Key to attempt the moral high ground on Marijuana while backing down on any meaningful alcohol reform is about as credible as his sad Dad jokes are funny.

Acknowledgements: Bomber 's Blog

NZ politics this week...

2011-09-20T00:35:00.001-07:00

NZ Politics Daily - 16 September - The Political Right's opinion...

A week into the Rugby World Cup and political fatigue is probably setting in – people are sick of all the finger pointing, point scoring, and the passing of the buck. Yet it’s still the major story of the moment, and David Farrar does his best to eloquently put the political right’s point of view through in his Herald blog post, Rugby World Cup and the blame game, which is worth reading. And Brian Rudman asks Who dropped the ball? Point the finger at everyone. But the most interesting analysis on the issue comes from Chris Trotter, who takes a historical view in Chaos on tracks: Auckland parties like it's 1949. Clearly it’s been a tough week for both the National Government and the Auckland supercity authority, so they’ll both be hoping that the worst of the RWC politics draws to a close today. [Continue reading below for a full list of the highlights of NZ Politics Daily]

Below are the internet links to all the NZ politics material from the last 24 hours that are either informative, insightful, interesting or influential. This list and the links are taken from a fuller document, NZ Politics Daily, which is emailed out, Monday to Friday, to various researchers, academics, journalists, MPs and so forth. The document is purely for research purposes only, and if you would like to be on the subscription list, please email: bryce.edwards@otago.ac.nz

RWC politics
Brian Rudman (NZH): Who dropped the ball? Point the finger at everyone
Chris Trotter (Dom Post): Chaos on tracks: Auckland parties like it's 1949
David Farrar (NZH): Rugby World Cup and the blame game
John Hartevelt (Stuff): Mallard tears into McCully over World Cup
Robert Winter (Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow): The RWC: turning the political tide?
Belinda McCammon (Stuff): Party Central backup may be 'ghost town'
Michael Dickison (NZH): Police find flaws in Party Central
TVNZ: Revised Party Central prepared for second weekend
APNZ: Auckland train boss: 'take buses'
NZH: Superpower Rugby World Cup clash lures big guns
RadioLIVE: Key meets Russian deputy PM
Kim Savage (Newstalk ZB): Russian free trade negotiations could get boost
Stuff: Politicians cross ditch for RWC match
Vaimoana Tapalaeo (NZH): Trains full during the World Cup? Drive to the game, it's the Auckland way
Isaac Davison (NZH): World Cup yet to do the business for firms
Vaimoana Tapaleao (NZH): World Cup patriotism's fine in little doses

http://www.radiolive.co.nz/The-Week-in-NZ-Politics---Duncan-Garner/tabid/506/articleID/20972/Default.asp http://www.radiolive.co.nz/The-Week-in-NZ-Politics---Duncan-Garner/tabid/506/articleID/20972/Default.aspx

Charities brace for homeless spike in New Zealand

2011-09-06T02:07:00.000-07:00

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Charities brace for new homeless spike in New Zealand...

Expand Photo - NZ Herald

Social services are bracing for another spike in homelessness as Housing New Zealand withdraws from looking after its tenants' social needs.
Housing NZ chief executive Dr Lesley McTurk has told the corporation's 1100 staff that staff numbers will be cut by about 100 as the agency's focus narrows down to managing its 70,000 state houses.
"We will no longer have a role to assist individuals with their wider social needs. We will concentrate on their accommodation needs," she said.
Most tenancy managers will become "fully mobile" by next September, reporting from their cars to five home bases in central and South Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch.
All tenant calls to tenancy managers will be diverted to two national call centres.
Some 144 jobs will be axed and 339 existing staff will compete for 187 other jobs. This overall cut of 296 will be offset by 130 new jobs, including a new 37-person call centre in Auckland as well as the existing centre in Porirua.
The agency has also axed work in its eight "community renewal" projects in the Auckland suburbs of Northcote, Talbot Park, Wiri and Clendon and in Otangarei (Whangarei), Fordlands (Rotorua), Porirua East (Wellington) and Aranui (Christchurch).
"The corporation will continue to deliver tenancy management services in these areas, but there will be no new funding for community development," it said.
John McCarthy, social services manager for the Methodist Mission's Lifewise agency which looks after Auckland's homeless, said the changes would drive more vulnerable tenants on to the streets.
"The great risk for organisations like us and others working in the area of homelessness and emergency accommodation is that we are going to see more people in Housing NZ poorly supported, which will put more tenancies at risk, result in more evictions and more people coming out of Housing NZ accommodation and potentially more homelessness," he said.
Labour housing spokeswoman Moana Mackey said a Labour Government would reverse the changes and turn Housing NZ back into "a social housing provider rather than just another landlord".
Historian Ben Schrader, who wrote a history of state housing in 2005, said social support became an increasing part of Housing NZ's work as its role shrank from housing low-income workers in the 1930s and 40s to being a "last resort" provider for people such as beneficiaries, those with mental health problems, ex-prisoners and refugees.
But a consultation document issued to staff a week ago says the agency would "stop delivering social services that should be delivered by other organisations".
"Tenancy managers and case managers frequently find themselves following up with many other agencies such as Child, Youth and Family [CYFS] on child safety concerns; district health boards on health; budget services; school truancy issues and so on," the document says.
"The Ministry of Social Development [MSD] will act as a conduit for all other agencies that need to provide social support to the corporation's tenants."
Dr McTurk said all existing Housing NZ branches would be absorbed gradually into MSD's "Community Link" centres, which already bring together Work and Income, CYFS and sometimes other agencies in 50 locations. A further 30 are planned in the next year.
Narrowed focus
* HNZ "will no longer have a role to assist individuals with their wider social needs".
* Tenant calls to tenancy managers will be diverted to a call centre.
* Most tenancy managers will operate from their cars.
* Staff cut by about 100.
Acknowledgements: Simon Collins | Email Simon

Sick of a child molester and the Judge who claimed he was talented...

2011-09-04T21:52:00.000-07:00

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I have to write about the following, even if it did happen down in my neck of the woods.

A Judge has cited a well-known comedians talent as one of the reasons she discharged him without conviction despite him pleading guilty to a sex act on a child - his four year old daughter.

In weighing the offence against the effect of a conviction the Judge said the comedian and entertainer had already paid a high price with the loss of his family and career, and the case was unusual,"And his talent - he's a talented New Zealander. he makes people laugh, and laughter's an incredible medicine that we all need a lot of."

I'm not laughing, New Zealand is not laughing, and I bet most of the world will not be laughing at an adult man who drank too much and interfered with his four year old daughter. He thought his daughter was his wife. What? He got into bed, and suddenly his wife said what are you doing? He had taken the girls pyjamas and pull-up nappies off and kissed her.
The Judge has imposed permanent name suppression. The Judge is a joke!

Now there is doubt cast on the industry, comedians and entertainers. Who is it, people are asking?
A Justice campaigner,Garth McVicar said there is one law for them and one law for us. He also said, "We're talking about a child. I can't think of a much worse act. This sets a precedent. Its disgraceful."
He said he had no time for the "excuse mentality" and saying, "I was drunk at the time.

A doctors report said the man had "odd" incidents in the past after drinking, and waking up without knowledge of what he had done.

If he had been just a poorly educated rubbish collector without any talent, I imagine the Judge would have jailed him. This makes me bloody sick! Sick of him and that excuse for a Judge!!

Community Bloggers Evolve

Hutts Blogesphere

Beyond the HuttRiver

Labour youth policy will dip into dole money...

2011-09-01T00:46:00.000-07:00

Labour leader Phil Goff - Source: Q + A
Related
- National welfare reform plan sparks criticism watch
- Key's 'radical policy' to target teen beneficiaries watch

Labour youth skills and employment package unveiled today willcut spending on the dole and redirect millions to fundapprenticeships.

Labour will reprioritise $80 million from existing schemes, with$58 million going to the apprenticeship subsidy instead of dolepayments.

It will be funded out of revenue from Labour's tax plan.

The party proposes converting dole payments into a $8700 subsidyto fund 9000 additional apprenticeship places. Dole payments wouldbe converted into incentives for employers to take on additionalapprentices.

The package will cost $251 million over four years, startingbefore young people leave school and Labour claims it will seeteens earning or learning within three years.

Leader Phil Goff said youth unemployment is too high.

"Our young people represent more of our total unemploymentnumbers than in any other OECD country," he said.

"This is a ticking time-bomb and has to be fixed. These kids areour future but at the moment they are being left on thescrapheap."

He said if something is not done now the New Zealand Instituteestimates the cost of disengaged youth is $900 million a year.

Goff said Labour will also adopt ideas from the old Maori Tradetraining programme and apply them to Maori and Pasifikacommunities. The party also aims to build on proven programmes suchas Gateway, the youth transition service, tertiary high schools andtrades academies, and the Conservation Corps.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister John Key unveiled welfarereforms which take a hard line on unemployed youth and solo parentswho do nothing to find a job.

National's policy would involve cash bonuses paid to privateorganisations and putting controls on teenage beneficiaries interms of how they can spend their welfare money, while also offerthem more mentoring and support to get back into work.

Labour MP Jacinda Ardern said Key is targeting a small group ofunemployed and ignoring the majority.
She said he has targeted 1600 young people rather the other58,000 people who are not in jobs, education or training.

National doesn't have a youth policy - its an anti welfare policy! National doesn't have an employment policy; its an anti-welfare policy!

My likes

The Blogfrog

Tax on the rich...

2011-08-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

Tax on rich...

The government in France will impose higher taxes on the rich as part of new measures to cut the deficit.

France's economy is slowing and forecasts of activity have been revised downwards from 2.25% to 1.75% in 2012
.
Financial markets have already questioned France's AAA credit rating and the austerity package aims to cut the deficit by 12 billion euros over two years, to 4.5% of GDP
.
A 2% tax increase on those earning more than 500,000 euros per year follows a call by some of the wealthiest people in France for the government to tackle the deficit by raising taxes on the rich.

Now that is a real good idea and should be done in NZ too!

Acknowledgements:@ Radio NZ 2011,

Public service cuts should be a thing of the past...

2011-08-22T01:29:00.000-07:00

How often do we have to put up with National Party BS that the Public Service is bloated and should be slashed? It is far from bloated and when Labour returns to power it will be extended once again. So many services are corruptly farmed out to friends of the National Party for financial gain not public service.

There have been and will continue to be further rounds of cuts to the Public Service. At present they are amalgamating a number of departments to cut costs and services. They go hand in glove!

In 1985 there was a public service worker for every 38 kiwis, now there is one for every 94 Kiwis. A bloated Public Service? Yeah right!

If you believe that there should be an adequate and capable Public Service working in the interests of all New Zealanders, make sure your voice is heard in November 2011 - and make sure your vote counts too!

In 1985 - 85423 public servants.

In 2010 - 46822 public servants

In 2011 - even fewer

Keep NZ Working

Key tight lipped on Israeli spy claim - what really happened?

2011-07-20T02:38:00.000-07:00

John Key tight lipped on Israeli spy claim - what really happened?

The Prime Minister's refusing to be drawn into any detailed comment on whether there's been a security breach by Mossad agents in New Zealand.

The Security Intelligence Service has been reported as having suspicions about the activities of a group of Israelis during the quake aftermath.

Among the suspicious activities reported include the discovery of five passports on an Israeli earthquake victim, his comrades fleeing the country the same day of the event, and a confrontation between armed New Zealand police and an unaccredited Israeli search and rescue team.

John Key, who's in San Francisco, has confirmed the Israeli Prime Minister rang him four times on the day of the quake and also confirmed three Israelis who escaped from a van buried in the rubble left the country within 12 hours.

But Mr Key wouldn't be drawn into commenting about one of the Israelis who died in the quake having five passports or the possibility of Mossad agents working in New Zealand again, saying that's not in the public interest.

"If I thought it was in the national interest to discuss those matters, I would," he says. "In the case of the previous Government where there was misuse of New Zealand passports, that was deemed to be in the national interest."

When Mossad agents were caught in 2004, Helen Clark reacted angrily - eventually cutting off diplomatic ties with Israel that have only recently been restored.

Mr Key also says he's had no advice or reason to believe that the police intelligence systems have been intercepted or there's been any untoward behaviour in regards to the police systems.

Newstalk ZB sources have confirmed that the SAS was deployed to the red zone and issued live rounds in connection with a "possible threat".

That's thought to be the presence of an unaccredited Israeli rescue squad.

Southland Times Editor Fred Tulett, the journalist behind the story of Israeli spies, is unshakable in his conviction his facts are accurate.

He says the initial information given to him was checked with other sources, including an intelligence agency source.

Mr Tulett also put the allegations to Israeli Ambassador Shemi Tzur.

"He said he was angry and upset at the suggestions that these were Israeli spies or that any of them were Israeli spies, and that's not surprising of course," he told Newstalk ZB.

He says there were too many unusual things going on.

Meanwhile security expert Paul Buchanan believes the police and SIS have reason to be concerned about reports of possible Israeli spies in Christchurch during the February earthquake.

"One has to wonder what was going on," he told Newstalk ZB's Susan Wood. "To have known the fact that the survivors left the country immediately and there were high powered Israeli overtures to the New Zealand Government to bring in a search and rescue team, and as it turns out an unauthorised search and rescue team was sent here and actually detained by the police when they were in the red zone."

Paul Buchanan says given the young age of the suspects - in their early 20s - it's highly likely they were involved in identity theft

.

Acknowledgements: Juliette Sivertsen, Barry Soper and Newstalk ZB Staff

Women wearing burquas refused entry onto NZ buses

2011-07-05T16:29:00.001-07:00

Women wearing burquas refused entry onto NZ buses...

The two bus drivers who refused to accept passengers on their buses because they wore burquas didn't do anything wrong. If I was a bus driver and had a potential passenger wearing a burqua, hoody with dark glasses or a person with a handkerchief around their face, I would refuse them admittance too until they removed them. As far as Muslims wearing burquas goes, remember the adage, "when in Rome do as the Romans do." NZ is not a Muslim country, but we should remember also that the burqua is a cultural requirement, not the Prophet's. I don't have a problem with head scarves, because some Christian sects still wear them.

I don't appreciate the comments emanating from Saudi Arabia either about the veiled threats about 'paying students' from that country. We don't like being intimidated by people who won't even let their women drive in their home country.

But John Key is such a gutless wonder he won't stick up for NZ citizens either! Strange from a prime minister of Jewish descent too?

Will there be Mana in the House...

2011-06-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

There will be MANA in the house ? At long last!

"Something very important happened on Saturday night. For the first time in nearly a century, a revolutionary was elected to the New Zealand Parliament." - Chris Trotter, 28 June 2011

At 2pm on Thursday 14 July 2011, Hone Harawira will be called back into the house where he will be sworn in and take his seat as the leader of MANA, Movement of the People.

Following his swearing in, Hone will give his first speech as MANA leader and its first MP. All supporters of MANA are invited to join with his whanau from the Tai Tokerau to celebrate this wonderful occasion

Voxy NZ

KR says:

Well, thats the opinion of Voxy, but I'm waiting for the general elections. A good win there for Mr Mana could well see a change in the political system here in NZ. A wonderful occasion? I think that is a little premature. The great political redeemer, champion of the poor? I remember Hone as the rascist big-mouth Maori seperatist son of Titiiwhai the rabid female rabble-rouser with a doubtful past . Does a leopard change its spots? Bullshit and jellybeans, perhaps!

Hone and Mana - become a leader with real mana...

2011-06-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

Hone and Mana- become a leader with real mana...

Please view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O13SpVjePY

Well that was the easy part Hone Harawira. You have done all the talking, the big-mouthing and the audacious. You are no longer a Maori Party MP for the North - Te Tai Tokerau, but leader of the Mana Party. You now claim to be the representative of the poor and disadvantaged, Maori or Pakeha. Well there are just a few months to the general elections. You took a margin of thousands and reduced it to hundreds. You now have real opposition in the form of Labour's Kelvin Davis, and you will be out of a job if you lose to him in November. If you win and win well, you could be joined by some compadres in the House of Representatives. You could also be a catalyst for change in government. Phil Goff said he won't work with you in a coalition, but if Goff found he could become prime minister, he'll find some place on the front benches for the leader of Mana with some real mana?

2011-06-16T00:28:00.000-07:00

Cameron Slater acts like a badly unbalanced person.

Small photo of a very small minded person...

"Whaleoil" blogger Cameron Slater - now says he does not intend to publish details of Labour Party donors.

A database containing about 18,000 supporters' personal information could be freely downloaded from Labour's website until the problem was fixed over the weekend.

Mr Slater - son of former National Party president and power broker John Slater - obtained a copy of the data and has said he would name supporters on his website.

Today he blogged that he had changed his mind.

"I have decided to withhold the vast bulk of material that I found, because I absolutely agree that as the law stands, everyday New Zealander should be free to contribute to political parties without fear of their name being made public," he said.

Labour deputy leader Annette King yesterday warned against releasing such information.

"He might want to hurt the Labour Party on behalf of the National Party, but it might be wise if he thought about other innocent people who are not expecting to see their personal information out in public," she said.

"I have to say I have no time for his style of politics and the sort of things that he's prepared to do."

Labour accused the National Party of downloading the data from its head office and tipping off Slater, calling it a "politically motivated attack" -- an allegation National has denied.

Slater said people should know about Labour's slack management.

"I thought it important that New Zealanders were made aware of the appalling treatment that the Labour Party gave to people’s confidential information through their wide open website.

"Google and at least nine other bots (web robots) have archived material on the same open Labour site that has been in the news this past week and my post on how this occurred has generated unanimous condemnation of Labour among the IT community."

Slater named two donors including a Labour staffer who he has accused of using Parliamentary resources to do party business. Today he said the staffer had used a Parliamentary funded email address.

Ms King said the party constantly reminded staff to be careful about such matters.

"I don't believe they've used them inappropriately outside the rules, but we will keep a very careful eye on what happened, just as every political party should do," she said.

The Clown of NZ politics...

The Privacy Commissioner has raised concerns about the information and was monitoring the situation while Labour had apologised to affected supporters.

KR says: Cameron Slater is badly in need of psychiatric treatment - its obvious he is badly unbalanced, and being a National supporter its understandable because they are badly unbalanced people, from John Key down. Anybody who is supportive of Don Brash has to be.badly, badly around the twist. LOL

Acknowledgements: NBR

The Alliance Party condemns Attorney General's intervention in sleepover court case...

2011-06-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

Alliance condemns Attorney General’s intervention in sleepover pay court case

The Alliance Party believes that the Attorney General’s decision to apply to the Supreme Court for permission to intervene yet again in the IHC sleep over case shows how little regard the government has for low paid workers and for disabled people.

The Alliance believes that the Government would be better advised to spend the money it is using to fight the case on helping to pay sleepover workers a decent pay rate instead, says Alliance Disability Issues Spokesperson Chris Ford.

“With or without the Attorney General, the Supreme Court will rule against them, as has the Employment Court and the Court of Appeal. Therefore, the whole exercise is a blatant waste of taxpayer’s money.”

“What exactly is wrong with paying disability support workers a decent wage and paying them for all of the hours they work? Nobody should have to work 16 hours for eight hours wages, especially not at the miserly hourly rates support workers are paid. This would not be tolerated in any other sector.”

The government can afford to increase funding to IHC and other disability support providers to enable them to pay their workers adequately for the very valuable work that they do.

But they choose not to because they don’t consider the disability sector important enough. They prefer to spend taxpayer’s money on such things as tax cuts for the wealthy, rugby tournaments, stadiums, cycle tracks, and BMWs for MPs.

“The Alliance Party believes it is time to reprioritize and spend money where it really matters, so that all New Zealanders earn a liveable wage and that those in need of support receive the assistance they require to live a decent life,” says Mr. Ford.

The Alliance fully supports the SFWU in their fight for justice for support workers and disabled people and calls on all other political parties to do the same.

KR says: Good question. Why is the government doing this? For the same reason they won't raise the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour.

Budget leaves majority of kiiwis feeling worse off...

2011-05-31T01:26:00.000-07:00

Budget leaves majority of Kiwis feeling worse off...

Fewer than five percent of us feel better off after the budget – that’s the finding from the latest ONE News Colmar Brunton poll, which shows that while spending cuts weren’t popular voters felt they were necessary to help the economy.

In fact just 4% of NZers feel better off. 62% say their circumstances haven't changed and 28% say they are worse off.

Cutting back KiwiSaver was a big part of the Budget spending cuts and that wasn't popular with voters. 42% said they supported the Kiwi Saver changes. 50% opposed them and the remainder were undecided.

It seems though that voters accept the idea that spending cuts were necessary for the health of the economy. 31% of people thought the Budget would improve the economy. 41% thought it would have no real impact, 20% thought the Budget would have a negative impact on the economy and the remainder were undecided.

http://voxy.co.nz/

Far North mayor claims faults in new Coastal and Marine legislation...

2011-05-27T01:04:00.000-07:00

Mayor says beach access a problem in Far North - faults in new Coastal and Marine legislation...

Far North mayor Wayne Brown says he has no confidence the Coastal and Marine Area Act will protect public access to beaches.

Two Maori iwi have formally expressed interest in seeking customary title under new seabed and foreshore legislation enacted in March this year.

The Marine and Coastal Area Act allows the tribes to seek title to areas where they can prove uninterrupted and exclusive occupation since 1840.

The iwi are Kaitaia-based Te Rarawa in the Far North and Ngati Pahauwera on the East Coast.

Te Rarawa has confirmed it will seek customary title to Te Oneroa a Tohe, or Ninety Mile Beach.

Mr Brown says he has already been ordered off beaches in the region by angry young Maori men and chose to leave rather than risk a fight.

On two occasions, Mr Brown says he has come into a beach from his boat with his wife and been confronted while walking below the high-tide mark.

A spokesperson for Te Rarawa, Haami Piripi, says encounters such as Mr Brown's stem from resentment and uncertainty.

Mr Piripi says tangata whenua (people of the land) are uncertain of their rights and aggrieved at the lack of recognition for them.

A NZ education union claims $63 million in cuts to schools...

2011-05-27T00:41:00.000-07:00

A NZ Education Union claims schools facing $63 million in cuts to schools...

The Post Primary Teachers Association claims secondary schools are facing $63 million in cuts, while having to pay more for KiwiSaver contributions.

A NZ teachers' union claims secondary schools are facing $63 million in cuts, while having to pay more for KiwiSaver contributions.

Post Primary Teachers Association President Robin Duff says the Government has been sly in saying education would get more funding, when in reality money is being stripped from schools.

He says schools also face being stripped of $24 million in the guise of quarterly funding.

Mr Duff says there needs to be clarity around exactly where the cuts are going to be made.

The Government has claimed that there would not be any cuts to health or education. Are they now telling porkies to New Zealand?

Fijian dictator Frank Bainimarama rejects election claims...

2011-05-25T01:52:00.000-07:00

Fijian dictator Frank Bainimarama rejects election claims...

Fiji dictator Bainimarama rejects election claims...

Frank Bainimarama has rejected claims that the 2014 election will not go ahead, dismissing Lieutenant Colonel Tevita Mara as a "little kid who doesn't know what's happening".

Fiji's regime leader Frank Bainimarama has rejected claims that the 2014 election will not go ahead, dismissing the man who made them as a "little kid who doesn't know what's happening".

A former Fiji government insider, Lieutenant Colonel Tevita Mara, fled to Tonga earlier this month while on bail on charges of plotting to overthrow Bainimarama.

Holed up in the capital Nuku'alofa, the former head of the main infantry regiment has thrown a string of accusations of corruption and violence at his former boss.

Lt Col Mara accused the regime of "losing its way" since it took power in a 2006 coup, and said Bainimarama and his attorney-general, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, had no intention of holding the 2014 election that both Canberra and Wellington have been pushing for.

This was just a "ploy" to soften sanctions and to secure loans, Lt Col Mara said in a statement this week.

Fiji's government has refused to comment to international media on the issue but has told local news website FijiLive that it has every intention of going to the polls.

"I said elections will be held in 2014 so it's going to happen," Bainimarama told the site.

"Don't listen to him, he is not a soothsayer. He is a little kid who doesn't know what is happening around him."

Meanwhile, Tonga is understood to have received an extradition order from Fiji calling for the fugitive's immediate return to Suva to face a charge of sedition along with another senior officer, Lieutenant Colonel Pita Driti.

Lt Col Mara has repeatedly said he would be denied a fair trial as Fiji's judiciary was controlled by the regime, a claim the chief judge has dismissed as "totally untrue".

New Zealand's prime minister John Key this week said he would consider removing the army man from the list of banned officials so he is able to travel to New Zealand.

"The ban that we have is a travel ban on those that are members of the regime or are related to members of the regime. In the case of Mr Mara that is no longer the case," he told Radio New Zealand.

Bainimarama hit back, telling FijiVillage that New Zealand would further strain its relations with Fiji if it made such an offer.

Acknowledgements: -AAP

PETE'S KIWI WATCH - My place to rant.: Watch out for Chinese takeover of NZ warns Winston Peters...

2011-05-23T00:39:00.000-07:00

PETE'S KIWI WATCH - My place to rant.: Watch out for Chinese takeover of NZ warns Winston Peters...

Watch out for Chinese takeover of NZ warns Winston Peters...

2011-05-23T00:36:00.000-07:00

Watch out for Chinese takeover of NZ warns Winston Peters...
Winston Peters claims another Chinese bidder is trying to buy the Crafar dairy farms which he says the Government is trying to keep under wraps until after the election.

A Chinese takeover is being predicted by New Zealand First leader Winston Peters with a warning that if our energy companies are partially sold power prices will go through the roof.

Mr Peters has told a Grey Power meeting they had better start buying more clothes and blankets because they won't be able to afford the rising prices if the Chinese or the Australians move to buy the power stations.

He also warns that Chinese are hungrily eying our dairy farms, saying it's our main source of wealth and should remain in New Zealand hands. He says they're also a major source of protein in a world running out of food and China is one of the only countries with any money.

Mr Peters claims another Chinese bidder is trying to buy the Crafar dairy farms which he claims the Government is trying to keep under wraps until after the election.

He believes the sale will be rubber stamped by the Overseas Investment Commission but says his party will block the sales at every turn by mobilising a people's army to stop what he says is economic lunacy.

Mr Peters has also launched an attack on three National Party leaders accusing them of selling our country.

The New Zealand First leader says Jenny Shipley is the head salesperson for selling New Zealand to the Chinese. Mr Peters says Wrightsons, the main supplier to the agriculture industry, is now controlled by China thanks to her.

He says Don Brash is going to help John Key stay on track with asset sales and a full privatisation campaign.

Mr Peters says he also wants to cut the pension and raise the eligibility age using John Key as the smiley front person.

He's accused Mr Key of telling the biggest porkie in the history of New Zealand politics by saying 170,000 new jobs will be created when his Budget was all about getting rid of jobs.

Acknowledgements: - Newstalk ZB/ MSN News

Labour's election year conference starts - high hopes for the future...

2011-05-20T17:13:00.000-07:00

The Labour Party conference has opened in Wellington with the party's president Moira Coatsworth promising bold policies to turn around Labour's fortunes.

In notes for a speech to party faithful at Wellington's town hall, Ms Coatsworth said Labour would campaign on the issues that worried New Zealanders, including the rising cost of living, asset sales, giving children the best start in life and decent jobs.

"Our polls are rising. We need to turn out 2000 more party votes per electorate and we are determined."

Around 500 party delegates are in Wellington for the conference which comes hard on the heels of an unpopular budget which cut KiwiSaver and Working for Families entitlements from some families and has been panned for the lack of impetus behind plans for economic growth.

Ms Coatsworth said the dramatic rise in the cost of living was plunging many homes into hardship.

"And we see nothing being done about it. The reality is that the answer to the growing crisis of hardship and inequality is the same as it was 80 years ago: good, decent jobs, warm and affordable housing, the opportunity to train and learn and get new skills – the skills of a modern, healthy, wealthy nation.

Ms Coatsworth stressed the environment as one of the major policy areas to address and reversing inequality as the other.

"The current government's policies now continue to increase inequality at an alarming rate. Billions of dollars in tax cuts are going to the rich, while ordinary families struggle to feed their children healthy food or take them to a doctor at night or in the weekend. Many families have gone hungry as they choose between paying the school fees, buying the uniforms or putting kai on the table."

New Zealand needed a coherent plan for economic recovery.

"As well as the environment, the recession, the Christchurch earthquakes, spiralling youth unemployment, the cost of living and our debt burden all require bold responses.

"Labour understands we have a huge opportunity to use our reputation, our skills and our technology to transform our economy. We know that this economy includes exports and high value production. It is a knowledge economy. It includes rebuilding savings, reducing debt and maintaining our independence as a nation. It includes living the living standards of all New Zealanders and it means doing this in ways that really are clean and green."

- Acknowledgements: Stuff.co.nz

NZ is to change the give way road rule - to bring it into line internationally...

2011-05-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

Motoring

Give way change will improve road safety

The AA says changes to the proposed give way rule will improve road safety and will also help tourists on our roads.

1

Currently if you're turning left, you have to give way to right turning traffic coming towards you, but this would reverse if the new rules come into force. Public consultation is underway on the proposed changes.

The AA's General Manager of Motoring Affairs Mike Noon says New Zealand is the only country in the world which gives way to the right.

"Quite a portion of intersection accidents are relating to giving way to the right," he told Newstalk ZB. "Make that rule simpler, as this change will do, and it will improve road safety."

He says changes may be needed to the way some intersections are controlled.

"Possibly now we have extra space for holding traffic that wishes to turn left which may not be required for instance, and we may have the requirement to increase the holding areas for traffic turning right."

Mr Noon says the signal timings of controlled intersections will also need to be looked at, with some possibly needing turning arrows. He believes having a rule which is the same as the rest of the world, will also help tourists on our roads.

KR says: It was a previous National Government who changed it in any case. It is a purely political motive that has motivated this change. Though in this case it will be supported.

Acknowledgements: Anna Cross NZ City News

Cunliffe addresses Key's lies...

2011-05-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

Cunliffe addresses Key's lies...

David Cunliffe has addressed Key’s truly uninspiring pre-budget speech this morning.
National have no economic plan, and it shows. Key’s tinkering to fix the massive economic gaps, and his only suggestions are a vague warning that National would reduce the member tax credit, and reverse its own earlier move to reduce the default contribution rate.
Yes: they plan to encourage savings by cutting savings.
But the speech was much more about blame-shifting on to the weather, the earthquakes, the GFC and the previous Government. After 2.5 years, we apparently still shouldn’t blame them.
Cunliffe addresses what he politely calls Key’s ‘misleading’ claims:

Rebutting false claims on Labour’s economic record in Key’s pre-Budget speech
1. Key says: “Government spending increased markedly in the mid-2000s”
Fact: Government spending was 31.0% of GDP in 2000 and 31.2% in 2008. Under National, spending as a percentage of GDP has exploded

Source: Parliamentary Library
2. Key says: “Government spending rose 50 per cent in just five years”
Fact: Between 2003 and 2008, core Crown spending grew 42.9% but this was before inflation and population growth. In real terms per person terms, spending grew by less than 20%, which was in line with economic growth. This money went into programmes like Kiwisaver, Working for Families, and increased infrastructure spending, which National hasn’t scrapped.
Source: Parliamentary Library

3. Key says: “Since 2004 almost 60 per cent of new jobs have been in heavily government-dominated sectors”
Fact: Key is counting the extra teachers, doctors, and nurses Labour funded as if they are ‘bureaucrats’. Core public servants remained roughly 2% of the workforce under Labour.

Source: State Services Commission, Human Resource Capability Survey of Public Service Departments; Statistics New Zealand Household Labour Force Survey. Compiled by the Parliamentary Library.
4. Key says: “export volumes grew only one per cent in total between 2004 and 2008”
Fact: Key is using selective dates and the impact of the global recession to mislead. In reality export volumes grew 42.2% in Labour’s first 8 years in office before shrinking 11 per cent during the recession. Under National, export volumes have just now regained the level they were at under Labour four years ago.

Source: Statistics New Zealand, Infoshare
5. Key says: “since the end of 2004, GDP per person have fallen by an average of 0.1 per cent a year – the weakest period since the late 1980s and early 1990s
Fact: Again, Key is using the recession and his own poor economic record and trying to attribute the blame to Labour. In reality, GDP per person grew 16.8% in the first 8 years under Labour. Since the recession, GDP per person has fallen 5%. National has made no progress on growth, with GDP per capita falling for 6 of its 8 quarters in government so far.

Source: Statistics New Zealand, Infoshare

[Update: now with graphs!]

Acknowledgements: The Standard

Beyond the HuttRiver

Hone Harawira takes on the Maori Party...

2011-05-09T00:14:00.000-07:00

Hone Harawira takes on the Maori Party...

Mana Party leader Hone Harawira has threatened electoral war against the Maori Party after claiming it broke a deal struck with him when he resigned from its ranks in February.

Maori Party president Pem Bird last night confirmed the party had resolved to stand a candidate against Hone Harawira should he call a by-election in Te Tai Tokerau.

Mr Harawira today said that went against an agreement brokered between him and the Maori Party before his resignation from the party, where he said he would not field candidates in Maori electorates in return for the party not standing against him in Te Tai Tokerau.

The deal was now off and Mana was considering standing candidates in every Maori electorate, Mr Harawira said.

"Despite massive pressure by many people to put candidates up against the Maori Party MPs, I have resisted the temptation because I believe it is important to stand behind a promise you make.

"Mana accepts that the agreement is effectively redundant because of the Maori Party's actions. Whether Mana will now offer a strong candidate in every Maori electorate at the general election will be a matter we will determine after the by-election."

He said he would strongly contest the Te Tai Tokerau seat against any challengers and painted the Maori Party as a potential ally of new Act leader Don Brash.

"The voters of Te Tai Tokerau have two clear choices; an un-named candidate whose party is happy to join Don Brash, or a candidate who has already stood up to Brash and has always shown a commitment to Maori rights.

"I look forward to seeing what choice the voters of Te Tai Tokerau make."

A Maori Party spokeswoman said Mr Harawira was the one who broke his deal with the party when he announced he may force a by-election in Te Tai Tokerau.

The deal included an agreement Mr Harawira would remain an independent MP up until the November general election, she said.

Mr Bird said it was up to the Mana Party whether it wanted to contest the other Maori electorates. "We are prepared for any eventuality."

Maori Party leader Tariana Turia said she believed the abusive behaviour directed at her by Mr Harawira's mother and sister Titewhai and Hinewhare Harawira in a hui at Waitangi's Te Tii Marae showed they were nervous about Hone's chances.

"Otherwise why would you come to a hui that wasn't your hui, threaten people who were attending by writing their names down and being rude and abusive?"

The Labour Party, if it decides to stand a candidate, could gain from the controversy - they could come through the middle and take back the seat they lost a few years ago. Labour always takes a majority of party votes anyway.

Acknowledgements: NZ Herald staff

Ageing with Dignity: RIP - Don and Iris Flounders

2011-05-04T03:24:00.000-07:00

Ageing with Dignity: RIP - Don and Iris Flounders: "An awfully brave couple who have chosen to end their lives with as much dignity as possible. Sydney Morning Herald article." Click link to view the video!

Don Brash is another Hitler - Hone Harawira...

2011-05-04T02:30:00.000-07:00

Don Brash is another Hitler - Hone Harawira

Harawira again compared Brash to Hitler, echoing comments he first made six years ago.

"The politics you talk about are very much like Hitler's, Don. You target Maori very much like Hitler targetted the Jews. You are aiming to destroy us the same way that others haved done.”

Brash he was "absolutely not" a racist.

"I am not trying to destroy Maori at all," he said.

The two came head to head this evening on TVNZ's Close Up, with the match-up chaired by host Mark Sainsbury.

Harawira launched his new Mana Party at the weekend, while Brash is making a comeback to New Zealand politics.

Brash and Harawira have clashed in the past.

Harawira first compared Brash in 2005 to Hitler, saying: "Hitler had plans for the Jews. Pauline Hanson had similar plans for the Aboriginal people of Australia. Don Brash wants Maori to be subsumed within the larger culture of this country and to become one people."

At the time Brash said he found the comparison "really offensive".

Brash said he would "probably" stand in a seat but hadn't picked one yet.

Acknowledgements: The Dominion Post

PETE'S KIWI WATCH - My place to rant.

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