So John Key says Hollywood likes New Zealand because of weak unions, low fringe benefit costs and the ‘flexible labour market’.
In other words they can get their wage slaves to work longer for less with fewer complaints.
Bill English’s priority in 2013 will be to “bed in” welfare reforms. Because that’s where the big fiscal savings lie. He’s hoping to […]
The chance to submit your opposition to Charter Schools closes this Thursday 24 January. An easy submission form has been set up, or you can follow how to make your own more detailed submission.
If you’ve got any asset sales petitions hanging about, quickly send them in to the address on the bottom. The Keep Our Assets coalition are shortly to send in the petition for the Electoral Commission to start verifying the 350,000-odd names they have.
Child poverty is fixable, but National isn’t interested.
Irish has already covered the appalling statistics from the Children’s Social Health Monitor. What struck me was the paucity of the Government’s response. […]
It’s back in the news with Brendan Horan, but what to do in a party-based system like MMP with an MP who is no longer in their party?
RELEASE THE TEXT
There’s a fabulous win for consumers and a Government good news story out of the Commerce Commission yesterday – significant cuts in the cost of broadband for consumers. You. But John Key’s not happy and is threatening to legislate over the decision.
This story reads like a Bond film – with people getting bumped off left, right and centre.
And where do they do their money laundering? Good ol’ Aotearoa.
Anthony has already mentioned the amazing record of us winning both first and second prize in the first Fossil of the Day awards […]
This weekend a major nationwide collection drive aims to reach the signature target to force a citizens initiated referendum on asset sales. Can you help to collect signatures?
The Labour Conference was not ‘acrimonious’. The Party was not ‘split’. A good time was had. Shearer’s speech was fantastic. The Party was rejuvenated. The February vote can’t be brought forward. Labour showed great progressive values. The media showed great beat-up skills.
So the remit session was a bit of an endurance event as they always are (and we’ve still got policy remits tomorrow…). The vast majority was fairly easily agreed, including the big changes. The real contention was over the leadership vote trigger for the 3-yearly caucus endorsement.
So Lynn is giving you the media perspective, I thought I might get some delegate perspective. Housing, jobs, policy, speeches… a bit of the flavour.
While Audrey Young was giving the Key cabinet a glowing report card yesterday as they lurch from crisis to crisis (so many crises the Novopay scandal can’t make the front pages after 3 months of stuff ups), the economy continued to struggle.
The Electoral Commission’s report is out. Now we need to make sure that the Government follow-thru on what an independent board have decided having listened to ordinary New Zealanders’ submissions.
While Labour Day commemorates the 40 hour week, 13% of Kiwis are working more than 50 hours per week, and ANZ are predicting unemployment to rise to 7%… couldn’t we distribute that work a bit better?
Clean green 100% pure New Zealand?
Or the only nation in the world to vote against measures to stop the extinction of the world’s rarest dolphins?
So the current people on benefits will cost $78 billion over the course of their lifetime. To get this useless $78 billion factoid, National have given an Australian company $1 million of our money – next year, they’ll do it again, to see if the number has changed any. What use is this number? It’s not good for budgeting and doesn’t seem to actually tell us anything useful – so why is the government wasting money while telling us times are tight?
The Herald has had a plethora of columns urging action on the 230,000-270,000 in Child Poverty this week. There have been 3 weighty reports on Child Poverty out recently to spur them, but the even conservative ol’ Granny Herald seems to have got the message – will National?
2 great Member’s Bills are before the House today. National oppose both the Mondayising of Holidays and Paid Parental Leave, but they should have the numbers to get through their first readings.
Loyalty Scheme: $360 million.
Brokerage Fees: $90 million.
Advertising/PR: $30 million.
Iwi Settlements: $unknown.
Lost Revenue: $100 million/year.
I did posts on submitting against National’s Local Government Bill a while ago, but the end date for submissions is on the 26th, so here’s a reminder: this Bill will reduce your local say and give more power to central government. Wellbeing is removed from the remit, and low rates over better services is added.
As the Sir Graham Latimer and the Maori Council launch their bid to halt asset sales in the Waitangi Tribunal, the grassroots campaign is gathering steam too. This Saturday is to be a National Day of Action.
How do we move forward from here? How do we get the consensus we need? How do we get more politicians around the world making not just speeches like David Cunliffe’s, but acting on them? Setting the targets and the plan behind them to avoid the brutal logic of climate change.
National’s Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill will do significant damage to local democracy as they seek to restrict councils to “core” services, […]
National’s record on local government is horrific: the lack of consultation as they rammed through the Supercity, the canning of ECAN, and continued suspension of democracy in Canterbury, the pushing of asset sales on an unwilling Christchurch.
And their latest attack – the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill – will do significant damage to local democracy.
A draft agreement has been negotiated for the Rio+20 summit that starts today, but anyone who cares about the future of our planet should be disappointed. The expert panel of nobel laureates, scientists and ministers’ call to ‘seize the moment’ has largely gone unheeded, as the agreement is full of empty promises and lacking in concrete commitments.
Independent energy analyst Molly Melhuish is putting out some facts that Tony Ryall will not find comfortable: we pay on average 28.1c per kWh from private companies and 24.79c per kWh from state owned companies. Why is the asset sales process being rushed through parliament, before Treasury can analyse Molly Melhuish’s research?
John Key wants to debate school league tables. Presumably he thinks that this will do the double whammy of getting middle class parents back on his side in the education debate, and distract from asset sales. But he’s not checked with his Minister, or the Ministry of Education, or presumably read any of the official advice about how damaging league tables would be.
Iain Lees-Galloway has been leading an admirable campaign to keep Palmy North’s Capital Connection.
His latest effort is to have petition (online & offline versions) to present to Parliament at the end of the month. It has to be then, because it’s expected that the government (through NZTA) will cut the service in July or August.
We are using more than the planet can provide, and are growing both in population and in resource use per capita. Rio+20 is meant to be the opportunity to ensure both that the developing world can access the clean water and other resources they’re currently missing out on, while also committing ourselves to living within the planet’s limits. Is there any hope it will succeed? And is there any hope that we, as the nation with the world’s greenest image, might live up to our hype?
The Asset Sales Bill will be back in Parliament for its second reading tomorrow.
It’s a further abrogation of due procress, as it comes back 5 weeks early, curtailing proper scrutiny.
Austerity: another great idea brought to you by the same people who got us into this mess. But some economists are able to think outside the orthodoxy: There Are Real Alternatives. See you at The Voyage.
Two major new reports out yesterday (from the UN and in Nature) show the earth is headed for a tipping point: our consumption is unsustainable, and we’re degrading the environment. Soon it will be beyond the point of return.
