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notices and features - Date published:
6:00 am, December 24th, 2025 - 23 comments
Categories: open mike -
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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 Policy).
Step up to the mike …
A wee acknowledgement of the crew of MV Buffalo who are losing their jobs over the festive season.
Classy Holcim, fire people in the lead up to Christmas. I hope Holcim pays over the odds in redundancy.
They have sold the ship, been denied access to a
foreign flagged slave ship"foreign-owned company called NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers (NACC) which would use a foreign-flagged vessel called NACC Vega, crewed with foreigners."https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360912355/cement-giant-warns-500-extra-trucks-month-after-foreign-run-coastal-shipping-plan-rejected
No plan B just hollow threats to truck cement around the Sth Island. They are one outfit that will be happy about The Great Negotiator' latest announcement.
Scum.
I blame the Ministerial decision.
It's not hard to get a change in legislation to cover this situation – too lazy and too inept to sort it.
Meagher is living up to his name.
Why?
Holcim could charter a ship and crew it from NZ. Like Golden bay.
No way should the Government allow any more foreign crewed ships on the coast. Enough already!
Because there will now be thousands of trucks each year on the roads.
And given the investment in trucks it would become permanent.
They offered to charter a ship and foreign crew for 3 years and then once they had a new ship of their own (long term commitment) go back to current arrangements.
Part of the issue is their (old) current ship had to be serviced and there was a current downturn in business (not enough to continue their current shipping arrangement – as to hiring of crew over 12 months pa.
Bullshit.
They were trying for a permanently foreign crewed ship on the coast. After 3 years there would have been another sob story.
Which would have had a flow on effect to other shipping. Including the current NZ crewed ships carrying Golden bay cement.
The trucks are theatrical blackmail, to persuade the gullible.
The costs were self inflicted, when they bought a ship already near the end of its life.
If they can bring in a chartered ship with foreign crew, there is no obstacle to bringing in a bareboat charter and crewing it from NZ, apart from the fact it would then have to be up to NZ standards for seaworthiness, wages and crew competence.
If you see the now inevitable outcome, a future where for over a decade cement is moved around the SI by trucks, as a victory for “NZ crewed coastal shipping”, good on ya. Staunch.
Is there any government subsidy for electric trucks?
There is none for more expensive New Zealand crewed ships (more so where it was a specialist ship not at work locally for all 12 months).
KJT just pointed out there is a solution that doesn't involve fucking over NZ workers nor increasing trucks on NZ roads.
There is a solution to the current government remaining in office – if enough voters decide to vote them out.
There is also that outcome, if the company chooses it. They have indicated they will not.
The greatest volume of cement shipped per voyage in NZ, shipped per voyage, is on the Moana Chief, a container ship.
You don't have a clue.
You have not assimilated this point.
The company have indicated they are not going down the route of chartering a ship because they do not, at the moment, have 12 months of work for it.
How can two people who basically agree find something to argue about disdainfully? Let's get better arguing methods going soon.
List the points in contention with numbers. Then put why, otherwise we might go down in a whirlpool.
I'm opposing the position of the Minister – because of the consequences.
KJT supports the position of the Minister, as to retaining existing legislation, despite what appears to be a likely adverse outcome for New Zealand.
The Minister could have indicated there might be a subsidy as to the cost of shipping cement with a contracted New Zealand crewed ship (but the lack of 12 month demand still makes this difficult – thus the choice of using the foreign shipping company).
We might, or might not, end up subsidising electric trucks.
Jingos!
Calm down.
"KJT supports the position of the Minister…"
For the second time in one conversation, Bullshit.
KJT has shown nothing but support for the workers.
SPC has swallowed Holcim's empty threats.
I thought you had a few more clues.
The government does not support a NZ owned and crewed coastal shipping. Is that agreed? That's a Nactafact one anyway – does Labour promote coastal shipping, or support the idea and do little, or not support it?
I think all NZ-supporting people would encourage NZ owned shipping that was well-run with NZ registered crew who didn't go on strike regularly, (we remember the Cooks & Stewards Union on the ferries at Christmas and holidays). But which would be Kiwis in long-term residence. And it would stay Kiwi crewed majorly nearly all the time, even if in the short term it was dearer than could be obtained from some other system. (And knowing the tricks that these corpse will get up to with 'organics' which they will probably start calling humans, I think going NZ would be dearer in cost.)
But frankly my dear I don't give a damn about grinding people down for lower cost, so cheaper can go with the wind. We need to pay and play fair. No skiving off for half a day after signing on. I've heard about those people 'pushing the envelope', what envelope?
Who voted this load of political shite in anyway. I reveal my ill-bred side.
A lie. KJT supports the position of retaining the legislation as is.
That is true.
That is more likely wishful thinking on your part.
I'd rather not support the government Minister on this, given how this might turn out.
What happens if one company is allowed to sidestep the law about NZ crew on coastal ships.
You may think that is a desirable outcome.
I don't!
Define where a Minister can grant an exemption to the legislation,
"where the company is facing a downturn and needing to replace an existing owned ship, it has a period to replace a ship (and crew it using New Zealand sailors) or face penalties".
The exemption being temporary (and only involving a situation where a company owned their own ship) would have no long term impact.
Bremworth has other options, the local one named in the article or the Oz based Feltex.
https://www.thepost.co.nz/business/360920280/takeover-carpet-maker-bremworth-dealt-blow-competition-watchdog
Thanks for that about Bremworth. The sheep farmers and the wool industry are important to us and this world-wide monopoly approach to anything that keeps our domestic economy going and the land in Kiwi ownership must be managed carefully.
It's been a surprise to me how sheep farmers haven't acted to vertically integrate and prevent this foreign leakage coming in. Fonterra I suppose did the same so there would always be that pretentious big business chant implying that we aren't clever and capable and a better deal is just round the corner from 'corporations that know best'. It has been pointed out by commenters for years that corps are no longer headed by an entrepreneur but are really machine and dogma-run. What about the people! should be the cry replacing that of 'the children'.
This in the article refers to the growers: <i>The commission also considered it unlikely that Mowhawk buying Bremworth would substantially lessen competition in the wholesale supply of soft flooring products.
“In order to manufacture carpet, both Godfrey Hirst and Bremworth need to acquire the necessary fibres from upstream suppliers and both parties acquire New Zealand grown wool,” the commission said.
“However, we understand that, post acquisition, the merged entity would be in competition with, and constrained by, a variety of domestic and overseas purchasers of the New Zealand wool that can be used to manufacture carpets.
“In order to supply carpet to end-customers, both Godfrey Hirst and Bremworth tend to sell their products through flooring retailers or other third parties. As such, there is no relevant downstream overlap in the supply of carpet.”
Submissions close 5pm, February 2, with cross-submissions due by close of business on February 10. The commission is scheduled to make a decision March 13.
[Part of the argument] Mohawk, which also owns carpet manufacturer Godfrey Hirst, had argued its proposed takeover of the country’s last listed carpet maker, Bremworth, could be a lifeline for the country’s struggling strong-wool sector….</i>
There were some percentages on local v imported materials but the site won't let me in again to sight them!!
Here
PS
I missed this bit.
It still operates separately.
Pertinent details
Mohawak claims
Under Mohawk's foot (think Monty Python) I feel afraid that Bremworth would fall behind the pile. I fear they are trying to pull the wool over our eyes.
Why not have some swanky star, like Sam Neill, go doolally over the softness of lying on a Bremworth carpet in front of a fire with some light of love? My neighbour has gone all bare boards, such a great expense and expanse, and removes large areas of inside insulation.
Get FENZ to sell ticks for woolen carpet and make some money so we can afford to look after our fire fighters, and get insurance companies onto it with facts about controlled tests showing the extra delay of flaring, because of the inhibiting wool. So all-purpose – inhibiting fire, but maybe enabling passion by controlled fires. You never thought scientific tests could be so interesting eh.
The Bremworth Chair should just write a letter to the Commerce Commission and get an exemption based on economic national interest.
It worked for our power companies just fine this year.
And honestly this government has massively weakened the OIO, as well as having weak cartel legislation. Even if carpet or petrol prices were jacked up, really what can we do about it?
In 2026 or 2027 all petrol tax will be removed, and we alreaknow from the previous government that enforcement against oligopolistic behavior is so, so weak.
Just do the Kiwi thing and get a sick note.
John Clarke could get us beyond the sick thing, and if you get a chance in the hols here is a film that will tickle wherever you keep your fancy. And fill you with sly verve to keep on keeping on!
https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/not-only-fred-dagg-2025
Defence – Afghanistan – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwdIlGGNvbM
Financial by a bank economist – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_3T-Af57Pg
Banks about – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyaitC91hEM
Real estate agent – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbFlstJ4u8E
Also a bonus Clarke and Dawe about the end falling off the oil tanker (15 years old).