Politics

public services

State enforced amnesia

Written By: the sprout
Date published: - 7 comments

John Key’s National government has, in its infinite wisdom, decided to subsume Archives New Zealand and the National Library within the Department of […]

Nats’ wage drop plan progressing well

Written By: Marty G
Date published: - 11 comments

How’s that brighter future looking? A couple of years back, Steve wrote a piece on how National could reduce pay packs accordance with John Key’s statement that he “would love to see wages drop”. Now, wages are dropping thanks to a combination of government neglect on job creation and policies that are actively designed to suppress wage rises. Let’s see how the plan is playing out:

‘Front-line’ needs ‘back-office’

Written By: Marty G
Date published: - 9 comments

The head of the nurses’ union, Geoff Annals, has given a vivid analogy for why his ‘front-line’ nurses oppose ‘back-office’ staff cuts: “I’ve flown very often but I’ve never seen many staff essential to the safety of my flights. I’ve never seen an air traffic controller for example. Does that mean that air traffic controllers should be dispensed with?”

High unemployment helps Nats keep wages down

Written By: Marty G
Date published: - 21 comments

While other countries have used their strong public sectors to steady the private sector and keep unemployment down during the economic downturn, our government is compounding unemployment by cutting the public sector, throwing people out of jobs and feeding worker insecurity.

Whanau Ora defined-ish

Written By: Eddie
Date published: - 18 comments

BLiP gives the best definition of the Key Government’s billion dollar Whanau Ora plan to date: “Whanau Ora = privatisation of social services.”

Yeah, it does. But I’m still struggling to understand what social services. Will Whanau Ora providers be running hospitals and clinics? Will they be running schools? Will they be making dole and super payments?

Outsourcing away

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 8 comments

We’ve had a few posts about the lack of action from the government – but over on Bernard Hickey’s blog he’s spotted progess […]

Memo from a muppet

Written By: Guest post
Date published: - 43 comments

So John Key thinks I’m a Muppet. “[when I’m in Hawaii on holiday] they’ll send me stuff … those Muppets in the background […]

Whanau Ora: privatisation by stealth

Written By: Eddie
Date published: - 23 comments

The government is beginning to explain more about its Whanau Ora plan, although it is still startlingly vague considering we’re talking a billion […]

What is Whanau Ora?

Written By: Eddie
Date published: - 16 comments

Family Commissioner Jan Pryor says she can’t give a definition of Whanau Ora, Tariana Turia’s pet programme that Pryor’s Commission will be helping […]

Nats find no government waste

Written By: Zetetic
Date published: - 8 comments

I missed this one a few weeks ago but it’s worth pointing out. National spent $300,000 hiring half a dozen supposed business geniuses […]

To my friend

Written By: Guest post
Date published: - 17 comments

We haven’t talked lately and that has partly been my fault. Just doesn’t seem that we share as much in common now that […]

Wee gripes: private=efficient

Written By: Zetetic
Date published: - 54 comments

Can Treasury Secretary John Whitehead explain how paying profit-making companies to do what is already being done by non-profit-making departments will save money? […]

Good jab, now land some punches

Written By: Eddie
Date published: - 88 comments

It was excellent to see Phil Goff laying down the gauntlet to Key yesterday. He announced Labour’s policy to temporarily relax partner means […]

The productivity shell-game

Written By: Guest post
Date published: - 24 comments

Is he named for the great economist John Maynard Keynes or Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan? Either way, he speaks a lot of sense: […]

Bill sez: ‘pay cuts for youse’

Written By: Eddie
Date published: - 91 comments

Yesterday in Question Time, Bill English sent a message loud and clear to teachers, police, doctors, nurses, and all other public servants (‘frontline’ […]

National still hate women

Written By: rocky
Date published: - 65 comments

Despite women being 51% of the population, and it being women who won National the last election, they are still showing their contempt […]

Nats slash education

Written By: Marty G
Date published: - 21 comments

Did anyone else notice that for all this supposed government waste that National was going to get rid of it made only $500 […]

Future shock

Written By: Marty G
Date published: - 18 comments

Yesterday, my comrade Zetetic wrote that despite all the bad stuff in the Budget there was still a “meta-victory” for the Left because […]

Politicising the public service

Written By: Tane
Date published: - 48 comments

During the last Labour government the Kiwiblog Right used to call Wellington ‘Helengrad’, a play on Leningrad. Ironic then that, after the election […]

Public service numbers

Written By: Tane
Date published: - 44 comments

I’ve just stumbled across this killer graph from the PSA on public service numbers under Labour and National. It helpfully puts in graphical […]

Starving the beast

Written By: Tane
Date published: - 60 comments

Before the election National promised that the public service would be capped, not cut. That promise was betrayed a long time ago, but […]

Friday quiz

Written By: John A
Date published: - 5 comments

Question 1. Which of these are ‘front-line’ staff and which are ‘back office’? a) the extra staff members for National and Maori Party […]

Environment Ministry cut

Written By: Tane
Date published: - 21 comments

The National/ACT Government’s axe has fallen on the Environment Ministry today, with staff being flown to Wellington to discover a raft of environmental […]