Posts on the economy, work, business, income, and labour
Obesity is a difficult topic to write about, but with the release of new government policy yesterday it is very much in the news. Unfortunately, unsurprisingly, National have chosen to tinker with the consequences of obesity without addressing the causes.
There are a lot of canaries giving warning in the world’s economic coal mine just now.
The last fortnight has not been a great time for Labour when it comes to the TPPA. But a couple of imprecisely worded comments may have had far too much read into them. And the left and the media may have fallen into a trap set by the right.
“Throughout the TPPA negotiations Minister Groser sought to justify their obsessive secrecy with a mantra that ‘it’s always done this way’. That was parroted unquestioningly by every fellow travelling journo and politician, and others who were unwilling to challenge the Minister, despite being told that was untrue.
Groser changed his tune during the case, arguing that ‘every agreement is different’ and the TPPA is special. Why the shift?
Three of the four member’s bills drawn yesterday were sponsored by Labour leaders. What followed was one of the most disgusting maneuvers ever pulled by this government, justifying the headline – Nats play politics while Kiwi kids die in homes.
The Government books have hit surplus. But it looks like treatment of the financials for the Canterbury Earthquake may account for pretty well all of it. Update: Underspending on special education accounts for much of the “surplus”.
Speech notes from Helen Kelly’s address to the CTU Conference given today where she talks about the importance of the union movement and some of the achievements she has been involved in over the past few years.
We need a welfare system that acknowledges the realities of cancer and other major medical conditions. That isn’t “special treatment”, it is basic human decency.
I/S at No Right Turn writes on the continued suspension of democracy in Canterbury.
Today, Labour showed the commercial world that its non-negotiable “bottom lines” are actually very negotiable, and even disposable.
The High Court has upheld Jane Kelsey’s application for a declaration that the Government and Tim Groser improperly considered her application for information concerning the TPPA negotiations.
Briefing Papers have been busy recently, check out some recent articles. How long can wealth keep sucking up before a society breaks down completely?
Rod Oram’s Sunday Star-Times column, as made available on Facebook, is a level-headed evaluation of the TPP. He lists five points of concern…
Communications Anat Shenker-Osorio has some simple messages for Labour in its quest for Government. The left’s strongest advantage is its care for people rather than the economy and the message that will resonate is a positive one emphasising the care of people and the environment.
Great post on the UK based NEF Blog: Don’t be fooled, dismantling the rights of workers is not good for you, or for the economy.
The proposed TPP is a protection racket – not a trade deal.
According to the EFF “The Final Leaked TPP Text is All That We Feared”…
Helen is standing down from her role as President of the CTU due to health reasons, but will remain active supporting union causes.
Associated Press: BREAKING: Hillary Clinton says she opposes Pacific Rim trade deal, breaking with Obama.
Bryan Gould on the TPP: “…it is about managed, not free, trade – and trade that is managed in the interests of large, international, and mainly US corporations.”
E Tū Union, the amalgamation of the EPMU and the Service and Foodworkers Union has formally launched.
If this report is accurate it opens an interesting can of worms!
A roundup of the best analysis of and reaction to the TPP. The gains are minor and delayed, the losses are real. In NZ we don’t have any democratic input into ratification, but the US does, and the deal may fall there.
Details of the announcement tomorrow of the formation of the largest private sector union in the country.
In 15 to 25 years, long long after I have retired, and the TPPA is fully realised. It may be worth an extra $260 million per year in possible tariff benefits. By contrast, the China Free Trade Agreement within 5 years was increasing our exports each year by an extra $350 million. But the costs for the TPPA start as soon as it is signed. We may make a profit off it in 10 years. This is not a good deal.
The TPPA has been agreed to. Dairy access improvement is minimal, there will be a cost hit on Pharmac and every industry but Tobacco will be able to access the investor state dispute resolution procedure.
I guess it’s not exactly news that WINZ is dysfunctional, but its interesting to have some actual data on one of the symptoms. Bonus feature – one of the Nats’ worst excuses ever.
The TPPA is said to be close to being concluded with resistance to change in Pharmaceutical rules being provided by Australia, not New Zealand. And John Key says that the deal isn’t a very good deal for Dairy.
The text of a speech Andrew Little gave to the Committee for Auckland about Auckland’s future.
Kiwiblog is advertising the TPPA Ministerial protest promoted by the Its Our Future website.
Last Friday I wrote a post on Volkwagen gaming NOx emissions. This is a follow up.
I’m going to get to reviewing Labour’s next 3 Future of Work papers, honest.
But in the meantime, I have something to share from Andrew McAfee.
Just a great Ted Talk on YouTube.
Gordon Campbell (one of the last known practitioners of the dying art of journalism) claims that the TPP dairy deal is already done. He makes a convincing case.
The Rebstock Panel inquiry could be read to confirm that Child Youth and Family is unable to perform its job properly because of it is not properly resourced to provide the job. But it is clear that National is loathe to provide it with any more resources. And the elephant in the room is that the Government fails to understand that escalating child poverty is the cause the crisis.
Goff has attempted to throw a fire-cracker into the notion of the National Party leadership and caucus being one big happy family. Is this the Labour Party’s way of sowing seeds of discontent without tainting the image of their leader? It is NOT Dirty Politics by any normal understanding of that term as captured in the book of the same name. Is this Goff’s role now? To box from the shadows?
