Eddie explored yesterday who stands to lose from falling asset values in electricity companies resulting from lower power prices. The answer: the Crown and foreign investors. Now, JBWere has estimated those book value losses at up tp $1.4b for Contact and Trustpower, meaning $4b all up. But, despite the cries from the Right, that doesn’t mean wealth is being lost, it’s moving.
So, John Key, Bill English, and Steven Joyce are now devoting all their energy into trying to stop the asset sales programme collapsing after the Greens and Labour gave notice the excessive profits are going to end, and National confirmed they’re for real by suspending the sale. While the government’s wasting its effort on that, real families are suffering.
Aotearoa is Not for Sale is counting down to the National Day of Action this Saturday 27 April. Some people have explained why they will be joining the Day of Action on Saturday. Why do you support action against asset sales? What are the alternatives? [Updated: details of actions around NZ]
Can there be a greater sign of the threat that National sees in NZ Power than the fact they have put out 5 press releases condemning it in 4 days? I bet Key spends his Monday media round attacking it too. National knows they’re on to a hiding – they’re defending excessive profits over lower power prices for people. But they’re ideological bound to reject the solution.
Given the drama surrounding the Labour / Green electricity policy it seems appropriate for this week’s Poverty Watch to explore the topic of fuel poverty in NZ. It’s a killer, and it’s long past time that something was done.
The current direction of Key’s government, and the challenging circumstances of the 21st century create a need for urgent attention to the form of a new left politics; one that embraces the working class, trade union solidarity, gender, diversity & the emerging “precariat”.
This government is tough on welfare cheats and soft on tax cheats, and they shouldn’t bother trying to pretend otherwise.
Telecom’s $1.3 million a year CEO has announced a pay freeze. Says workers who don’t like it should quit. The rich fuck’s already sacked a thousand workers, now he thinks he can dictate the terms of employment contracts. I’ve got news for you, arsehole. Employment contracts are bargains between worker and employer, not diktats from rich dickheads.
Key has announced changes to the GCSB roles that will include assisting business and the police in spying against Kiwis. it is anti-democratic, and will increase lack of accountability of the intelligence and crime fighting services.
The Court Martial of Flight Lieutenant Dan Pezaro by the NZ Defence Force is making me uneasy. The internal Court of Inquiry into […]
I must have missed the memo on the beneficiary dress code.
John Key’s government has been gradually dismantling NZ’s democratic processes. Various activities this week are a major part of a frightening shift: a Bill enabling mining conservation land; punitive social security Act; Key’s control over NZ’s “intelligence community”.
The government doesn’t measure child poverty, so has no way to tell if it is getting better or worse. Hilarious right? Paula Bennett certainly thinks so. “Gosh!”
Yesterday more planks in the NAct raft amounting to major changes, were before the House. These undermine democracy, fairness, the security and rights of individuals, and increase hardship for those on low incomes. Ardern on Social Security. Cunliffe on child support, privacy breaches & trust.
Any day now the Government will announce more changes to the Employment Relations Act. These changes will drive down wages and undermine the […]
… for her major contribution to my political education: of the need to combat the extensive, destructive power of the “neoliberal” elites. I lived in London during the entire time Thatcher was prime minister. It was a time of major change; of political activism; of hope; of disillusionment.
Ryall has announced that Might River Power top brass will be receiving massive pay rises, in relation to the sale of the powercos. The directors have multiple positions, and questions have been raise about the past of one or two of them. They benefit; we pay.
As you know, the Right says more money incentivises harder work. John Key felt he wasn’t working very hard when he first became PM on a net $250,000 a year, so he gave himself tax cuts and pay rises worth $100 a day. Just look at the results! But I’m confused: why’s he cutting our pay with youth wages, higher Kiwisaver, and higher student loan repayments?
A raft of Tory policies have been dismantling the British welfare state: bedroom tax, privatising the NHS: NZ’s NAct government is following the same pattern of slyly changing small things, adding up to major changes that are ultimately socially & economically destructive.
The ideological loonies advising the government want us to go even further down the stupid and damaging path of income tax cuts. Surely even the Nats have too much sense to listen this time.
New figures show that the wage gap with Australia is still increasing. National has nothing to offer but useless policies and excuses, while the captains of industry trot out the old productivity lie again.
National, the party of beneficiary bashing that has lead a crusade against parents on the DBP, appears to have triggered a surge of new births to DPB parents.
I/S at No Right Turn on youth rates…
When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman? From the beginning all men by nature were created alike, and our bondage or servitude came in by the unjust oppression of naughty men. And therefore I exhort you to consider that now the time is come in which ye may (if ye will) cast off the yoke of bondage, and recover liberty.
The Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill second reading is first up on the provisional order paper for today. It is a further step in Paula Bennett & NAct’s vicious, punitive, bennie-bashing campaign. MPs are urged to vote against it!
All sorts of bad polling news for the British Conservative government, as the Brits lose faith in the politics of economic austerity.
In 2002 a television crew from Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTÉ happened to be recording a documentary about Chávez when a coup was staged against him.
Highly recommended.
No surprise to find that Mighty River Power bosses are behaving like spoiled brats – that’s pretty much what they are.
Chavez was too young to die, but he is a significant figure in South American politics. A controversial figure in Venezuela, the full story has yet to be written of his contribution to his country, his impact on the left & world politics.
Why must we turn welfare, an important safety net and part of the social fabric / contract of our country, into a stupid pissing match about a minister’s “reputation”?
Yesterday, David Cunliffe,on Peter Dunne’s Student Loan Amendment Bill, & the related inter-generational swindle, labelled Dunne as “Minister for Small Changes” & “for Small Things”. Dunne further showed his support of the “neoliberal” swindle, with a couple of tweets on non-residents buying NZ property, smearing the Greens as racist.
The minimum wage should be at least $15 per hour. A living wage is estimated at $18.40 per hour. So what have the Nats done? Raised the minimum wage by $0.25 per hour to $13.75. It’s a derisory increase. Even their own supporters think so.
The average CEO got a 10% pay rise last year. The average worker got 2.6%. Minimum wage workers will get 1.9% – a 25 cent an hour token gesture. And 30,000 fewer of us have jobs than a year ago and are not earning at all any more. And now we learn the finance sector sucked $440m more out of us last year – a total of $4 billion. No wonder the planes to Aussie are full.
