At least Barbara Castle had some guts
Wellington’s Embassy theatre hosted the New Zealand premiere of the Ring movies a few years ago. There’s another good movie showing there now. […]
The changes to employment law
The government is currently rushing through changes to employment law.
But the change won’t make any difference to the kind of action Actors Equity took.
So what’s the point?
Campbell on Key’s sell out
Scoop’s Gordon Campbell has written a long piece on the Hobbit settlement and its implications. Key said that we couldn’t match the tax deals offered by other countries, but according to Campbell’s calculations that’s exactly what we have done. Campbell also has harsh words to say about Key’s “skill” as a negotiator, and advice about strengthening the film industry in NZ.
20 hours free to go?
The last Labour government introduced 20 hours free early childhood education. It’s a resource that many parents have since come to rely on, taking some pressure off household budgets as every other cost seems to keep on going up and up. But now we have the latest in a series of indications that the Nats are going to cut the programme…
The best country money can buy
Today, the Hobbit Enabling Act will be slammed through Parliament by National removing the right of employees working in the film industry to get employment rights if their contract calls them a contractor. It’s the latest in a series of anti-democratic laws that show National is the party of big business, not democracy and ordinary Kiwis.
Q&A on The Hobbit
The Right argues that an already settled labour dispute involving a small union somehow scared a multi-billion film company enough to make them consider abandoning the $100 million already invested in NZ. Blue has gone beyond the slogans and done some excellent research to answers our questions on what really happened.
Harawira off foreshore committee
Select committees are very important. They take Bills after first reading, hear submissions, and recommend alterations. Ministers do not (usually) sit on them and they are not meant to be mere rubber stamps for the government. But Harawira’s removal from the foreshore committee shows this government doesn’t care about good lawmaking.
Caption Contest
There was some expenditure that didn’t qualify under the old scheme…We’ve looked to broaden that out. John Key on Warner Brothers, 27 […]
Open mike 28/10/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
The price of our hysteria
The Government will give the Hobbit producers an extra $33 million to stay in New Zealand and it’s going to use this ‘crisis’ as an excuse to slam through more anti-worker laws. New Zealand has been played like naive hicks. The Hobbit was never leaving. We let Jackson and his Hollywood mates whip us into a frenzy of fear – now we’re paying the cost.
Key’s announcement
John Key will be making an announcement on The Hobbit this evening, with a press conference due to be held at 7.20pm. Will update this post after the announcement.
Update: Predictably, the movies are staying in NZ, with a sell out of our employment law, and further tax sweeteners for the studios.
Matt McCarten standing in Mana
Matt McCarten is chucking his hat into the ring for the Mana by election. This is a typically gutsy move by McCarten, but a third candidate on the left simply isn’t going to find the space for a win. My guess is that he will split the Green vote. But with Key quietly campaigning in Mana, Labour needs to stay on top of their game. Labour activists — with greetings and thanks to you all — get out there and give it all you have!…
Gillard gives Key the finger
It’s highly unusual for a new PM to meet a foreign leader of the opposition before she meets her fellow leader. But Julia Gillard’s direct snub of John Key is a fair payback for the leaks by the Key Government to try to help his mate Tony Abbott win the Australian election. Key didn’t set up the Gillard-Goff meeting. But his actions certainly cleared the way.
An invitation to Warner Brothers to be up front
Wallace Chapman has a thoughtful Open Letter to the visiting Warner Brothers executives on his blog, inviting them to front up to the […]
Tax Cuts or High Wages?
At the last election we chose tax cuts and unemployment instead of stimulus and stability – which was the more ambitious, high wage way to go?
National are not fulfilling their government’s core reason for existence: closing the wage gap with Australia. No, we’re fast going backwards on that score, and it’s predictable: high unemployment causes low wages.
Key’s Banana Republic?
So the question is: will John Key turn us into a tin-pot banana republic by changing employment law to suit Warners, and make one movie?
Are we going to change our laws, and remove protections every time a company demands it to invest in Aotearoa?
Lord of the tax breaks: A history of capital flight threats
The Hobbit ‘crisis’ is just the latest in a series of capital flight threats from Jackson and Hollywood. We’ll end up paying more to stave off the threat of capital flight because the wider economic benefit makes it worthwhile. Key is trying to talk down how much we can pay but he bears responsibility for talking up the ‘crisis’ to put the boot into unions.
Open mike 27/10/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Tax breaks and the Hobbit
From Stuff: A meeting between Warner Brothers and senior government ministers has ended, with studio executives asking for larger incentives to keep The Hobbit movies in NZ. The two-hour meeting, which included New Line Cinema boss Toby Emmerich, ended with no resolution to the Hobbit standoff…
Universal Income & the Minimum Wage
There is no need to tolerate the existence of poverty. It is an economic and social drag on our country that wastes human potential. The minimum wage, super, and benefits help, yet 15% of Kiwis, and 20% of kids, live in households with incomes below 60% of the average income. A universal income is the best way to eliminate the blight of poverty.
Bending over for Warner Brothers
Otago Law Professor Paul Roth says possible law changes by the Key Government to provide more tax-payer funded charity to corporate giants Warner […]
The State Housing review
It’s not surprising that the Housing Shareholders Advisory Group came to the conclusions it did. Despite its name, the group included no state house tenants. It was a group packed with private social housing providers, hand-picked to deliver the conclusion that these groups should be given control of state houses.
As The Dust Settles
It appears that Bob Parker is about to kick up a storm by insisting that commercial buildings be either repaired or demolished by 31/01/11. He should be reaping a whirlwind.
Mana campaign heating up
The Mana by-election campaign has largely been missing from the national political news in the last few weeks, due in part to bigger stories but also because National is purposely running an under the radar campaign. John Key is spending a lot of time in Mana, hoping to surprise Labour and the media. Time to fight back.
Win win for Key
Lucky John Key – he’s going to have a great week! It’s hard to see how he can lose. He’ll either be the man who single-handedly saved The Hobbit, or he’ll be handed a big stick to beat the evil unions with forever. In reality, however, the decision to keep the movies here is probably already made. Key’s ego will be just another tool used against him in negotiations as the studios go for the best deal they can get…
Open mike 26/10/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
A time of trouble, a time for action
The release of 400,000 classified documents on the Iraq war today highlights a much broader issue for New Zealand. As the world moves into uncertainty, some commentators call it a ‘new new world order’, New Zealand must establish itself definitively, cementing the values we wish to hold true for the coming century.
The sea-change on the left
One of the strange things about helping to run a left blog like this is looking at the varied opinions of those on the left of the political spectrum, and then looking at the monolithic opinions that the right seem to have of the left. I was musing on this while reading Matt McCarten’s excellent Saturday article. Now you have to understand that Matt and myself are almost at the ends of the spectrum when it comes to politics on the left….
Granny Herald opening eyes?
There was an excellent piece in the Saturday Herald by John Armstrong. A large 2-page spread, fairly prominent in the paper, and not critical of Labour. Not fulsome praise; just great, unbiased reporting.
Now admittedly I shouldn’t get excited by such things, but the steadily slipping standards of New Zealand’s papers, combined with a media love-in with National at the last election, leaves good quality newspaper journalism a sight to behold.
Tolley – the reverse Rumpelstiltskin
Rumplestiltskin spun hay into gold. It stikes me Anne Tolley is quickly becoming a “reverse Rumplestiltskin”. Taking a very successful Early Childhood Education sector and stripping out millions, putting the primary sector through the national standards debacle, forcing secondary teachers to strike – Tolley is turning gold into hay.
Performance Pay Paradox
I’ve just been reading The Age of Absurdity, which has many good ideas on modern happiness.
One of the ideas that won’t cause happiness – but will decrease motivation and quality of work – is performance related pay.
(Consumerism and a Sense of Entitlement also causes unhappiness, but big ups to Personal Responsibility. None of that is in this post though)
Labour Day: Thank a unionist
The Nats and their repeaters are trying to paint unions as some kind of public enemy. How can we be a public enemy when we are the public? Unions are just people. Unions exist to work for our rights. Rights like the eight hour working day, the origin of the celebration of Labour Day. If you enjoy decent conditions at work, if you’re enjoying your long weekend, why not thank a unionist!
Open mike 25/10/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Two conflicts don’t make a right
Former ACT MP Deborah Coddington isn’t a journo anymore. Shot her reputation with the infamous ‘Asian Angst’ piece. Just does opinion pieces now. Strange, then, to see her by-line on 2 Herald articles attempting to vindicate disgraced conflict of interest judge Bill Wilson. Turns out her husband was Wilson’s lawyer.
Key the real target of Hobbit producers’ game
The Hobbit ‘crisis’ is all about money. It’s about the producers of this long-troubled production, who are in financial difficulty, wanting to minimise their up-front costs. The mark in the con is the only one with cash to offer on the scale they need – the Prime Minister. He’s the one with the most to lose and the most ability to pay.
Some “watchdog”
No Right Turn asks some questions about the behaviour of the Independent Police Conduct Authority in deeming the release of information about unlawful behaviour by the Police as “not in the public interest”. There are few safeguards on the police – perhaps the main one should explain its decision in this case.