Watch Kelvin Davis on Q+A with Hone Harawira. He was superb. He says the message he is giving about being part of the future for Maori is resonating around the Tai Tokerau. I’ll bet it is. The by-election result could be very interesting indeed. I liked his take on leadership too – it’s about being focussed on the objective and doing what is necessary to achieve it. Couldn’t agree more.
Lindsay Tanner’s book “Sideshow” is described as laying “bare the relentless decline of political reporting and political behaviour that occurred during his career. Part memoir, part analysis, and part critique, Sideshow is a unique book that tackles the rot which has set in at the heart of Australian public life.” I found it disappointing. In my opinion politicians should not waste time complaining about the media, just concentrate on the best way to get their message across in a way that people will respond positively to.
Speaking to Audrey Young in today’s Herald, Prime Minister John Key stated “the one thing I’ve come to learn is that the single biggest driving factor in Kiwisaver is inertia”. This confirms what many in the community have been thinking, and a few in the business world have been saying, that inertia is also the single biggest driving factor in the National/ACT/Maori Party government’s economic policy.
Good speech here from David Cunliffe to the Manufacturers and Exporters Association last night. He and David Parker both spoke and I understand their message was very well received by the audience. He outlines the principles for a good budget, and then answers the question about what would Labour do. There is another one to Business New Zealand today.
Fabian lecture from Rick Boven of New Zealand Institute on “The Plan for the Productive Economy” St John’s Church Hall, Tuesday 17th, 6pm. All welcome. I heard Rick in Auckland, he was very good.
Lobbyist Mark Unsworth of Saunders Unsworth is campaigning against Pharmac, ahead of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations with the US. They want more money spent on patented drugs.
Lloyd Morrison and Gareth Morgan have come to the defence of Pharmac.
Watch Jacinda Ardern clean up Jamie-Lee Ross on Breakfast this morning. Nearly half of the National Government’s much-quoted borrowing of $300 million a week is to pay for their tax cuts. That was this government’s choice. Now their choice is that everyone else has to pay for it.
It was good to hear Mike Williams as the voice of the left on Nine to Noon yesterday. It is high time that someone from the broad left had the mike, to coin a phrase. Mike “spat on the altar” and had a friendly go at his mate Matt McCarten’s strategy for a by-election in Te Tai Tokerau, a kind of joust of the gurus. He thinks Matt made a mistake there, and I agree.
Colin James tips National’s plan for our water: ” a Crown company like that for ultra-fast broadband fibre-laying, capitalised from the proceeds of selldowns of state-owned enterprises and operating in public-private partnerships to get projects under way and then sell them on to farmers. Now where does China fit in that?”
Sounds like one disaster after the other. Decisions after the election of course.
The National Government has relaxed the rules for so-called business migrants, those who can get easy access to a passport by investing in New Zealand. The Minister is proud that the scheme has now raised $562 million. He says it is part of the government’s economic growth programme.
Results are coming in for council elections in England and for the Welsh and Scottish Assemblies.
The most interesting result will be the referendum on Alternative Vote for the whole UK.
It is likely to go down according to the polls.
Watch Obama do Donald Trump like a dinner at the White House Correspondents’ party.
Trump didn’t like it. Crybaby.
Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have won majority government in the Canadian election with under 40% of the vote on a turnout of just over […]
The Royal family have banned humorous comment on the royal wedding. Clarence House has banned a satirical sketch from ABC’s programme “The Chaser”. […]
Canada will go to the polls on May 2. That election has just got a whole lot more interesting. The latest poll has […]
They called it the “flying coffin”. The Vickers Vildebeest, top speed 95 miles and hour. They joked that its only defence was that […]
“Fallen soldier records free to access over Easter” is the headline in a Herald story today promoting a special free access to a […]
Buckingham Palace cleaners aren’t even paid the London living wage while the British taxpayer will have to pay for the royal wedding cleanup. That’s one reason why I’m a republican. The Globe and Mail reports: “The cost of cleaning the streets of Westminster the day before the wedding is estimated by the council at $83,000.”
This Herald story about spin doctor Brad Tattersfield was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the Ministerial offices of the Prime Minister, Judith Collins, Paula Bennett, and the Chief Executive of the Department of Labour to “minimise scandal” is one example of the sort of back-room spending of public money I’d like to see cut.
The News of the World phone hacking saga involving the Murdoch media has opened up with news that there could have been over […]
John Key wants to talk about how average after tax wages have gone up since he became Prime Minister. But as Brian Fallow […]
1000 economists have written to the G20, about to meet in Washington, and to Bill Gates, asking for a tax on financial transactions known as a Tobin tax after its originator, or a Robin Hood tax as it is known in the US. 4 New Zealanders are among the 1000; Prue Hyman, Stefan Kesting, Peter Conway, and Petrus Simons. Good on them.
When I went to China on a private visit in 2008, Helen Clark sent me a text message telling me on no account […]
“Workers lose in two-speed recovery” is the headline of an interesting article in today’s Business Herald print edition, sourced from “The Economist.” Living […]
The next Fabian Seminar at Connolly Hall Thursday 31 March at 5:30pm will feature economist Geoff Bertram examine how the high level of New Zealand’s overseas debt that figures prominently in much policy discourse is largely an increase in foreign-currency liabilities voluntarily taken on by mainly Australian-owned banks in pursuit of private profit. It will be interesting – all are welcome to attend.
Well-known Wellington artist Bob Kerr has produced a series of paintings on “The Three Wise Men of Kurow”, Davidson the teacher, McMillan the […]
Last week, Treasury issued a press statement saying it had commissioned research on the impact of governments’ fiscal stimulus packages, now published in the influential publication the Economic Journal. One article, “Tax policy for economic stimulus and growth”, had this to say:
The Civil Defence centre, the police, the ambulance services, the firemen, the hospitals, the army, the search and rescue specialists, the social services – they’re all part of the bureaucracy, as are all those who provide their back office support.
They don’t get a great press and are often described collectively as a block to progress. They’re not called public servants for nothing. Thank God they’re there when we need them.
There are some interesting legal and constitutional parallels between the Maori party’s attempts to rid themselves of Hone Harawira and previous unsuccessful attempts […]
According to its Constitution ,the Maori Party Council makes decisions by consensus. I remember consensus decision-making from my days as a community activist in the 1970’s. Nay-sayers have a veto. If Te Tai Tokerau’s representatives don’t agree, the Council can’t decide and Hone doesn’t go. Hence the co-leaders’ move to suspend him.
The Maori Party has budgeted $22,000 for legal advice regarding the complaint made against Hone Harawira for stating the obvious, and hired Mai […]
A good day at Ratana today with the Labour party delegation led by Phil Goff and Annette King. For me personally, it was […]
It’s a bit late, but this post is in response partly to John Armstrong’s bouquet piece at the end of 2010 headlined “Forget […]
The Fabians’ Resilient Economy series run through this year has been stressing the looming problem with New Zealand’s private debt and the need […]
