Now Parliament is back in full-swing, demos against Government action (or inaction) are heating up again.
Last week, the Corrections Association and PSA protested outside parliament about privatisation of their jobs in prisons.
Representatives from the Northern Action Group and Wellsford Community Action were on Parliament’s forecourt to present a 7,000 signature petition opposing North Rodney being part of the Supercity.
Then, over the weekend, workers angry about the pitiful minimum wage increase, 15% GST and threats to the youth rates protested outside National MP’s offices.
This coming week, there’s plenty going on.
Tuesday sees the ACC Futures Coalition, now joined with the Bikers, back at Parliament protesting ACC cuts and privatisation.
Wednesday the cleaners from Government Buildings, including Parliament, will be banging their buckets because they’re sick of being offered nothing more than minimum wage.
Thursday is Red Bag Day with a march and rally at Parliament organised by Business and Professional Women to remind National that pay equity is still an issue.
And that’s just in parliament. NZEI will continue its national bus tour to highlight the issues around national standards and we’ll be with them wherever we can.
Should be a noisy week. And it’s only February.
Surprise New Zealand’s major opposition party reporting and supporting ragtag union organisers and miscreants creating civil unrest. What is New Zealand coming too?
So, in short, a collection of agitators demanding that the government spend more money that they do not have and borrow even more money than the $240 million each week currently being used to prop up the unsustainable. We need to live within our means.
It seems the two commenters above me think that the workers and the poor should just shut up and take their screwing over like good little peasents.
These were not independant protests, this was the Labour Party ‘Lite’ demonstrating, who no matter what a National Government does, they will disagree with it as a default position. Labour and the unions seem to have a problem with performance being measured. As a teacher I know a lot of my lesser skilled colleagues are terrified they will be found out that they are really, just not very god at their jobs. But the union will persist and insist they be retained, regardless of the effect on students.
I counted nine organisations in various venues around the country. Which makes Doug and Fisiani’s allegations difficult to substantiate. “Ragtag”, “miscreants”, “agitators,” “civil unrest” indeed. Such choice of putdown terminology tells me more about the writers than their subjects.
Still, they might wish to justify all these terms, or allow us to believe that this is typical right wing invective- and they accuse the left of the ‘politics of envy”.
I would like the “in short” to be longer, Fisiani, else I will think you are short on many things. And Doug, indeed what is NZ coming to if you are typical of right wing thought. Another Labour government if you write off all your opposition in this way.
Good God, Calc, remember every teacher is a teacher of English.
I hope the noise gets loud enough for people like the first posters to get the message – yes, we should live within our means, but what I see happening is that the well off get to really live well, and those that need it most are being hit hardest – each week something comes to make the gap wider – that is not fiscally sensible or nationally appropriate. Time for the right to understand that some of these policies are going to create far more problems for all of us in the future than you think – and the fall out will be worse than you can imagine. If you think the disparity is bad now – just you wait to see what the fall may be – higher levels of: crime, unemployment, school drop outs, less home ownership, abuse, kids who are hungry and neglected and poverty where homeless outweigh current levels by a long shot, cultural disharmony etc… If that is the country you want to live in and for your kids to inherit, by all means, keep singing Key the praises – but I for one want a better future for my family and those who live in NZ.
Sock it to them!!!!!!!!
Oops, wrong emoticon,
So should we be borrowing 250, 350 or say a round 500 million a week.
2billion a month 24 billion a year.
At that point who would lend us money?
This is yet again a thread about dividing up the cake more “equitably” .
The Government , despite the recession is baking a bigger cake and so bigger slices for all.
You just have to give it time to rise.
The ingredients are being mixed . There will be dough enough for all especially if topped up every three years
Fisiani, cake mixes have to be agitated, referring to your first comment, or at least stirred.
When the cake is baked and sliced, will you slice and I choose or will I slice and you choose? Or do we get the crumbs, when others slice and choose?
Calc better get a new job if you have such terrible spelling “God ” what would your maths be like?
@Calc – nonsense – not sure I believe you are a teacher – if so most decent schools wouldn’t employ you – have a look at :- http://blog.labour.org.nz/index.php/2010/02/07/farting-in-church/
Ask any of the demonstrators how many more millions each week we the taxpayers should borrow to fund their claims. You will get a blank stare of incredulity. Certainly not an answer.
Anyone like to to assert specifically how much more we SHOULD be borrowing? Thought not!
@Fisini, how much does the goverment have to borrow to put the minimum wage up by 25cents? The needed to boorow 36million to inform us about national standards, how much do they need to borow to not privatise prison jobs. How much does the governemnt have to borrow to not change gst to 15%.
Is ACC in debt and needing to borrow lots of money??? Before you spout off think about what your saying.
I don’t think the current govt will listen. Good on the protesters for giving it a go.
Sorry I’m losing faith that anyone will be heard. Their ego’s rule not their compassion for people. They only what one thing and that is to be right. Even if they are wrong and they know it, they will persist just to save face. I know and have known alot of people in my time, just like this.
@Doug and Fisiani : Surprised you think that the farmers from Rodney who don’t want to be part of the Supercity, the Business and Professional Women, and the Doctors, Occupational therapists and audiologists who are part of the ACC Futures Coalition are “ragtag” and “miscreants” and “agitators”. How else are people supposed to have their voices heard when the government isn’t listening?
Doug it’s called “Closing the Gap”. Australian Unions are MUCH stronger than ours. And we all DO want to close the gap, don’t we?
Waterboy, ACC’s reserves have climbed back to pre-Recession numbers.
Waterboy
This might halep you and others on this thread
http://web.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/fms/default/uoa/about/research/units/accgroup/docs/ACC%20comments%20-%20oct%2011%2009%20_2_.pdf
Calls for ACC to be fully funded shows that Government is operating with a false sense of
urgency and misleading the public on how ‘financially unsustainable’ the system actually is,
a leading academic watchdog group says.
The ACC Group – a mix of economists lawyers and policy experts from New Zealand
universities – disputes claims today that the ACC scheme’s long-term future could be under
threat from financial woes.
Led by University of Auckland economist Dr Susan St John and Massey University’s Dr Grant
Duncan, the group says ACC enjoys a healthy economic position unmatched in previous
years in relation to its outgoings.
Sorry to Waterboy, my posts are to Fisini (can we get a timed edit function (say 4 minutes to edit?)
13 hours and still not one person to pick up the challenge and state how much borrowing they would advocate to fulfil Labour’s fanciful wish list.
Thought not……Knew not!
Fisiani
Labour would need nothing more than was already in place to fulfil their ACC “wish”. It wasn’t broken. You have simply biought into the Nat and ACT misinformation to make you think it was broken. Sadly the facts contradict National and you.