Fabian Seminar with Bernard Hickey
Financial journalist Bernard Hickey of interest.co.nz and Selwyn Pellett of the Productive Economy Council will discuss the need for a complete rethink of […]
Mike Smith
Electoral finance reform in NSW Parliament
The NSW Parliament has just passed passed the Election Funding and Disclosures Amendment Bill 2010. It includes donations capped at $5,000 for parties and $2,000 for candidates and third parties, all donations over $1,000 declared, caps on expenditure for parties, candidates and third parties, reimbursement of election spending up to a reasonable limit, and provision of funding for policy development.
Fabian Seminars – New Zealand’s economy needs a rethink
The next series of Fabian Seminars will feature financial journalist Bernard Hickey of interest.co.nz and Selwyn Pellett of the Productive Economy Council discussing […]
Law Society – rule of law under threat
A fascinating interview on Nine to Noon this morning – Kathryn Ryan with Jonathan Temm, President of the Law Society, on what the […]
Poppy day in Beijing
It’s diplomacy time in the Asia-Pacific region. While Secretary Clinton came to New Zealand and Australia and President Obama to India and Indonesia, […]
Man for all seasons – book review
“Man for all Seasons” is the title of David Grant’s authorised biography of Ken Douglas ONZ. The choice of title puzzled me – […]
US midterms – deflation the risk so be afraid
As predicted, the US midterms have not gone well for the Democrats, as they have lost control of the House of Representatives. But […]
At least Barbara Castle had some guts
Wellington’s Embassy theatre hosted the New Zealand premiere of the Ring movies a few years ago. There’s another good movie showing there now. […]
Fabians on privatisation
Fabian Society seminar tonight in Wellington:
“Are there any new arguments for privatisation?”
5:30-7:30 at Connolly Hall, Guildford Terrace.
Enjoy Dave Kent
You’ve only got a day left to see “Dave Kent, a Listening Eye” at Enjoy Gallery on Cuba Street. If you’ve got the […]
Fa’afoi for Mana
Kris Fa’afoi will be Labour’s candidate for Mana. There were four candidates – all very high quality -all spoke well and the selection […]
Treasury? Leaks? Casino?
Fran O’Sullivan claims inside knowledge of the bailout plan may have given some investors the inside running.
That’s reminiscent of the headstart some investors got in ’84 when the dollar was devalued.
And it’s one more reason we need a public inquiry into the bailout.
Aid shift – security not poverty the objective
The latest Guardian Weekly had two interesting and seemingly unconnected stories about major shifts in aid priorities on both sides of the world […]
Fabian seminar – why not fix child poverty?
The next Fabian seminar will be held in Wellington on Monday 13th September at Connolly Hall in Guildford Street at 5:30pm. Titled “Why […]
Rorts in the age of internet advertising.
The Australian Liberal party has been posting sponsored links on Google websites pushing voters seeking information on independent candidates and candidates from other […]
Labour can win led by Phil Goff
Chris Carter is wrong. Labour can win the next election led by Phil Goff. The objective conditions make it possible, and there is […]
The real economy vs the casino
For the business pages, it’s Reserve Bank week and once again the banks want the Governor to push up the price of money, […]
Beware the young advisers – they reflect their masters
An interesting parallel between Kevin Rudd and the Key government’s leadership style surfaced in our papers this weekend. On Saturday, Tracy Watkins had […]
Congratulations Julia Gillard
It’s been a big day for Julia Gillard. Up late last night with Kevin Rudd and John Faulkner, the ALP’s elder spokesman, doing […]
Referendum vote count undemocratic
The way the votes will be counted in the Government’s MMP Referendum Bill is highly unusual and in my view undemocratic. There will not be any independent scrutiny on election day of the votes cast or spoiled in the referendum. Independent scrutiny of the ballot in my view is essential part to retaining confidence in the democratic process.
Kiwi favourite of speculators
Read this story to understand why the real economy in New Zealand struggles to get ahead of a volatile currency driven by overseas […]
Fabian Seminar in Christchurch
The next Fabian seminar on the Resilient Economy will be held in Christchurch on next Tuesday, 8th June. Speakers are Rick Boven from […]
An early election in 2011?
Recent posts and comments on the Standard have suggested that National may call an early election in 2011 because the Rugby World Cup’s […]
Get the real oil on the Budget
Peter Conway will speak on the likely composition of the Budget in the second Fabian Society lecture at St John’s Church Hall cnr […]
Aussies build trains “for a living” – that’s why their standard is better than ours
Steven Joyce has virtually ruled out Kiwirail building its new trains here in New Zealand. The Aussies have a completely different view about government purchasing, as I learnt from my years on the Industrial Supplies Office management committee in the 1990’s. They believe in Australian jobs for Australian money.
Power pulls a swifty on electoral finance
The Electoral Finance (Reform) Bill contains a major change from what had been previously indicated. The regulated period for limiting election expenditure could be as little as six weeks. This is effectively a 50% increase in the expenditure cap.
It looks like a swifty by Simon Power tilting the election playing field.
New export ideas not wanted on Stuff.co.nz
A really interesting three-quarter page article by Ben Heather in today’s DomPost is titled “Looking for new tools to help exporters.” Lord knows […]
Fabian seminar gets big tick
The first Fabian Society seminar in Auckland last weekend attracted a good crowd watch an participate as some of New Zealand’s top economic thinkers debated how to get the economy working for us. It has been judged a huge success. The next seminars will be in Wellington on Sunday 28 March and in Christchurch on 18 April.
Ashcroft – “dead horse pong gets worse”
Only days ago, British Conservative leader David Cameron told journalists they were “flogging a dead horse” when asking about Tory deputy chair Lord Ashcroft’s donations and tax status. Now new information has come to light about destruction of documents, tax avoidance, and offshore funding of the Conservative party.
Ashcroft owns up to “non-dom” tax status
Lord Ashcroft, the British Conservative party’s major donor, has admitted that while he is “permanently resident” in Britain he is not domiciled there for tax status.
As a result the Conservative party may have to repay donations totalling several million pounds.
A Power grab?
The Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill would allow Simon Power to appoint a new Chief Electoral Officer and new Electoral Commissioners for the 2011 election. This is wrong. These officials must be completely independent, they must not be or be seen to be political appointees.
National-style standards and Key’s teacher trap
When the Government came under fire over National Standards John Key was quick to raise the anti-union bogey. The old stereotypes are certainly still strong in National, but they have led Key into a trap. What might have worked for Muldoon or Maggie in the past won’t work now for a number of reasons.