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It seems from the actions of PoAL this week that the management are either nuts or there is an ulterior motive to the dispute. What we do know is there is no strike notice or lockout currently in place, the union members want to return…
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Tom Scott's take:
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The rate of third world disease in this country is a crime. A crime against the poor perpetrated by the rich. They call it neoliberalism - the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the capitalist elite. They didn't set out to make…
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As we all should know by now, the road rules for giving way have changed. It's possible that most problems will occur not in the first few days, while everyone is reminded of the change, but in some weeks when people start to slip back…
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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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Is it not strange and a bit disquieting that the parliamentary left, or more precisely, the Labour Party, is all at sea with regards vision? The vision of the left…the only vision there is for the left… is the same now as it always was.…
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NRT with yet another example of the Nats' intimidation tactics. More information thuggery Today in Parliament, Labour MP Lianne Dalziel asked some questions about the fairness of the government's bailout for red zone property-owners. Gerry Brownlee's response? To dump the details of her earthquake claim into the…
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Growth in the December quarter was 0.3%, a third of the government's PREFU forecast. Quarterly GDP per capita, $95/96 Peak, Q4 2007 8,104 When Nats took power, Q3 2008 7,935 Now, Q4 2011 7,777 Brighter Future any day now Anyone else find it odd that…
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We've received the following press release from Auckland Council Local Board members calling on Len Brown and the councilors to stand up to PoAL's out of control management. The workers want to work and be more productive. The bosses want to screw them out of…
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This week the Government introduced their welfare changes to Parliament, and they'll have their first reading next week. They include of course the requirement for mothers of 1-year-olds on the DPB to look for work - as if they haven't got enough work at home. …
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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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Weekend social is for non political chat. What's on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no aggro, why can't we all just get along?
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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…