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The Herald editorial says many "saw a more efficient and more flexible port emerging from" contracting out at PoAL. This is an oft-spouted fundamental misunderstanding of what is happening. Contracting out would not reduce time or cost to move freight. It would just reduce the…
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Nick Smith's handpicked chair of ACC, John Judge, denies that ACC leaked Bronwyn Pullar's name to the media after she made public the biggest leak of private data in history from the organisation. So, who did? Given the government's track-record of using private data to…
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National is having a pretty horrid time of it just now. Key's failure to lead on Nick Smith, industrial disputes everywhere, making a mess of MFAT, falling popularity, and so on. But if there is one silver lining for the Nats, it is that the…
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1,200 prison beds, 1 in 8, are empty plus the 1,300 bed reserve. Prisoner numbers are projected to keep falling. So, why are the Nats spending a billion dollars on the Wiri private prison? And where will they get the prisoners? By closing existing public…
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The Port of Auckland's refusal to let the stevedores return to work now that they have lifted their strike notice is a lock-out. There are specific legal requirements around strikes and lock-outs at ports and other essential services - notice must be given in writing…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Dear Simon Allen I wish to tender my resignation as Chair of the Ports of Auckland Board. I do so because my performance was so wholly unsatisfactory. I took a profitable and efficient Port and lost it millions of dollars in contracts. I spent, inappropriately,…
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Last night was the North Shore meeting of Labour's Organisational Review, going around the country this month. It was certainly a very heartening event. Everyone was on the same wavelength, and while mostly we didn't get into devilish details, there was a lot of consensus…
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Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here. The demise of Nick Smith has been spectacular, but it is not an end to the ACC privacy story, and the story continues to develop…
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It was good to see Green MPs, Forest and Bird and various other conservation groups challenging our fearless leader as he shilled for Bathurst Mining last night. Bathurst is an Australian mining company whose operations are entirely in New Zealand. That is, they exist purely…
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Nick Smith is gone but you might have missed 2 other senior ministers on the ropes yesterday. Steven Joyce hasn't bothered to do his homework, doesn't know if his 'mega-ministry' will save money or cost more. Meanwhile, McCully's shifting blame to the CEO he appointed…
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Good to hear PoAL are going back into negotiations with the union. That's a win for MUNZ and they'll now call off their strike and get back to work. However port chair Richard Pearson claimed on morning report that the company will determine when workers…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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It's back to the bargaining table for Ports of Auckland and the Maritime Union. Redundancies are on hold. The court minute is here. portcourt.
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Why did Key express confidence in Smith in the morning having read the 2nd letter that is the supposed reason for him going? The 2nd letter is a red herring, a far more minor conflict than the reference letter that Key had no problem with,…
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Murray McCully has been described as a "seagull Minister, one who flies in, squawks loudly, poops over everyone and flies away again." Today in the House he squawked, pooped over his Chief Executive and flew away from any responsibility for the the restructuring of MFAT,…
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It's a shame Nick Smith is all over the political news at the moment for his ACC botch up because he should really be all over the news for his Better Local Government proposals. That is not to say his apparent breach of cabinet guidelines…
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Part of Nick Smith's problem is that he doesn't understand how to build public support for change before trying to implement it. Instead, he pulls out some dodgy numbers and tries to trick the public. This backfired in the debacle over ACC levy changes when…
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On the 1st of March a community group called Ohariu People's Power established a Citizens' Select Committee. This committee wants to hear the opinions of the New Zealand public on the asset sales debate and the international trade agreement called the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement…
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Treasury has repeatedly proven itself incapable of forecasting its way out of a paper bag but, for some reason, that doesn't stop it trying to tell everyone else how to do their jobs. Currently, they're pushing for larger class sizes in the reduced education budget.…
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3 years ago, even 1 year ago, there would be no doubt what would happen next. John Key's political instincts then were sharp. He would have sized up Nick Smith weighing his value as a minister - he failed to find a way to let…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Here is an interesting video clip from Essential Media, an Australian opinion research company with a track record of developing effective campaign communication. They followed up Wayne Swan's recent speech to the National Press Club attacking vested interests in the mining industry, following on from…
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So, from a 300 police raid and headlines screaming 'Police foil paramilitary plot' to, 5 years later, 4 people convicted of half a dozen firearms possession charges each. I'll admit, the SIS and Police carved a compelling narrative from their video footage but the evidence…
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Barack Obama will be breathing a sigh of relief after David Farrar gave his endorsement to the President's call to end oil subsidies. It seems the 3rd oil price spike in five years is getting the attention of even the Right. Something, they've got an…
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Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here. So a woman has problems with ACC, and just happens to be a personal friend of the ACC Minister at the time. The said ACC…
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There's no rental properties in Christchurch. Impossible for builders to move there and for families to move while their houses are being repaired. Who warned of a mass housing shortage a year ago and called for action? What did the government provide? A few over-priced…
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Nick Smith, while Minister for ACC wrote a letter in support of the claims of, um, close personal contact Bronwyn Pullar last year after Pullar threatened to embarrass him and ACC. He says, this was in his personal capacity, even though it was on parliamentary ministerial…
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Surprising title given the discussion of here and elsewhere? Yeah, I know. But I want to contribute two things to the discussion. First, Shearer's speech did not signal a shift in policy to the centre. Second, Labour does not need to shift to the centre…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...