Press editorial on failed state house sell-off
It’s more than a “dreary lack of ambition”, it’s a deliberate plan to underfund / rundown the stock to “justify” selling off, so that the Nats can indeed “wash their hands” of their obligations.
Economy
Posts on the economy, work, business, income, and labour
“They’re about to pour concrete on my son’s grave” – Campbell on #StandWithPike
Heartbreaking stories from the picket line down at the West Coast.
Dire warnings of the bleeding obvious
Warnings from the government and the Reserve Bank that first home buyers are taking on too much debt. Prices are too high, wages are too low, interest rates are rising. These warnings are effectively telling the average first home buyer to give up.
Tax the Rich An animated fairy tale
A short video produced by US unions “to support a fairer tax system”.
Child abuse and poverty – still with us
As topics like Trump and the quakes take the limelight, the slow tragedies unfolding in NZ carry on in the background.
Treasury predictions – not good
Brian Fallow in The Herald summarises the take-home messages from the latest Treasury report. National have us on track to disaster.
Audrey Young on resurgent unions
Audrey Young writes on growing union numbers, strengths, and wins for their members. Excellent!
National better late than never on pay equity
A 2015 court decision forced National’s hand on pay equity. This week the equity working group reported back. To its credit National is accepting the recommendations, and unions are hailing a big win. But the final form of any law is not yet clear.
National plans to sell Housing Corp home Key grew up in
John Key, the state house tenant turned good who has relied heavily on his humble upbringing is overseeing the sale of the state house he grew up in.
Elf & Safety
It was disappointing to see Michael Woodhouse’s complacency for the government at one worker each week dying on the job. That can’t be […]
Mining engineer: Solid Energy’s decision is “irrational”
An engineer’s report concluded it would be safe to enter the mine to look for evidence of the cause the blasts which killed 29 men.
The sharemarket moved because…
This is just something that gets my goat, and there was a particularly egregious example on the RNZ Business News this morning. Apparently […]
Nat state house selloff in tatters
Another fail in National’s plan to sell off state houses is good news for those of us who believe that it is the government’s responsibility to take care of society’s most vulnerable.
TPP: An epitaph for self-interested treaties done in secret
The misogynist buffoon, under-skilled charlatan and ignorant bigot that the Americans have elected to be their constitutional monarch for the next four years appears to have effectively killed the constraint of trade agreement known as the TPP. From a freer trade advocate, avid exporter, and labour movement supporter with a touch of green :- Good riddance.
QC describes Pike River mine as a ‘homicide scene’
On Checkpoint Nigel Hampton QC described the Pike River mine as a ‘crime scene’ and a ‘homicide scene’, and he questioned the motives of those rushing to seal the mine.
The eternal tax-cut mirage
Despite the unknown cost of the quakes, and the host of other urgent needs, Key is once again talking up election-bribe tax cuts.
Andrew Little: Promises to Pike families must be kept
Yesterday marked the sixth anniversary of the Pike River disaster. Here is a statement released by Andrew Little urging that the mine not be sealed and the deaths of the miners be investigated and their bodies brought home.
Six years on, the government still lies about Pike River
For six years the families of the men who died at Pike River have not had clear answers about what happened. From the Pike River Royal Commission, they got some answers. From the government, nothing but lies.
Pike River anniversary: what have we become?
Six years ago this morning, 31 men went to work in a coal mine. 29 of them still lay there.
National tries to have it both ways
Despite the Kaikoura earthquakes, the damage to the Capital and the fact the EQC fund is now in deficit, the Government is still holding out the possibility of tax cuts in election year.
As politicians go….
Following voters in the USA adding yet another to a growing list of defeats for the radical centre….
Pike River Mine can be safely re-entered – but the Government says no
Damien O’Connor and Denise Roche have taken it to Nick Smith in the House today over the government’s plan to seal Pike River mine forever.
Kindness
It has been a terrible year. People should think about being kind to each other and looking after each other.
Celebrity Debate: Will a Universal Transaction Tax benefit the NZ economy?
Details of a celebrity debate happening this Friday in Auckland on the benefit of a Universal Transaction Tax or Robin Hood tax. The affirmative side will feature Peter Nielson, Jane Kelsey and Rod Oram and the negative side will include Deborah Russell, Nigel Haworth and Shamubeel Eaqub.
Trump and the NZ housing bubble
The bright orange trigger for a sharp rise in mortgage interest rates may have just arrived. Our over-indebted home owners are highly vulnerable.
Te Ikaroa – Seismic Testing Presents Significant Risk To East Coast
“Seismic blasting, every 10 seconds, 24hrs a day from now until next May” Time to step up again and protect our environment.
Sonya Rockhouse: This isn’t just about our families. It’s about all of us
“Now six years later, the Government is moving to seal the mine. They are literally putting hundreds of tonnes of concrete between us and our boys. Between the whole world and whatever evidence of what happened is down there.”
I’m a Muslim, an Immigrant and I voted Trump
Take a deep breath and transcend your fear.
South Island quake
A night of quakes.
Beach and shore warning (original major Tsunami warning is over).
Wellington recommends avoid CBD today (all trains cancelled).
Scholarship exams today are postponed, NCEA exams proceeding where possible – official link.
Oh noes! The world’s not going to saved now!
Bollocks. It was never going to be.
Remembering what happened at Pike
What exactly happened at Pike River? The families of the 29 men who died don’t know, and as Solid Energy moves to seal the mine forever, they demand justice.
An interesting time for the Republicans
Trump is going to be a figurehead, not a president, leaving governance to an unfettered Republican machine. That machine is no friend of the disenfranchised, never was, never will be. How will Trump’s base react to being betrayed?
#StandWithPike
The Pike River families have decided to take a stand and are occupying the road to the mine to ensure it cannot be closed, sealing up the evidence of what happened and the bodies of their loved ones forever.
The Trump peace dividend: opportunity for rapprochement
Walking back the last 5 plus years of escalating military, economic and diplomatic proxy war between Russia and the United States will be difficult. But it has to be done.
Kia kaha, Pike River families
The Pike River families will be protesting tomorrow to get their men out of the mine that killed them.
Flogging the dead TPP horse
The Nats are determined to keep flogging the TPP horse in Parliament. Someone should buy them a newspaper.