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Archive for August, 2011

Kiwis want to own our future

Posted by on August 23rd, 2011

Tonight TV3 revealed the results of a poll that asked New Zealanders about substantive issues and the results were revealing. New Zealanders overwhelmingly prefer the introduction of a capital gains tax over the sale of state assets.

53 percent opted for a capital gains tax while only 31 percent of respondents wanted to see state assets sold. Even amongst National’s own supporters, one in three prefer the policies that Labour is promoting.

National’s sales pitch for asset sales hasn’t convinced anyone. Kiwis know that once the assets are sold, they’re gone forever. They also know that the shares will probably end up being owned overseas, and we’ll be waving goodbye to more and more of the profits.

John Key’s assertion that it will be “different this time” rings a little hollow when even his own Finance Minister publicly admits there is no way they can stop the shares ending up in foreign ownership.

This election is a clear choice between owning our own future or selling off whatever is left to the highest bidder and becoming tenants in our own country. Labour’s got a lot of work to do over the next three months, but I’ll be proud to be out there campaigning under the banner of a party that’s willing to make the bold calls and do what’s right for the future of our country.

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Filed under: #ownourfuture, polling, privatisation
51 Comments

Ships of Shame

Posted by on August 23rd, 2011

I welcome the government’s announcement today on the Terms of Reference for the Ministerial Inquiry into the use of Foreign Crewed Vessels (FCVs) in New Zealand waters. So, credit where it’s due, but there’s been a huge push behind this from the media and in particular, Michael Field of Fairfax, communities and church groups looking after abused foreign crew and unions who have repeatedly called for change.

IMG_0254So well done to all of them and thank goodness for their help.

Meanwhile, the crew of the Oyang 75 and Shin Ji face uncertain futures.  They’ve been forced to appeal deportation liability notices on humanitarian grounds. The community and church backers have had to find the $550 fee for them to do so.  Their testimony to the inquiry is vital and if they want to stay in New Zealand, they should be able to until they are paid what they are due and their stories have been heard by the Inquiry.

The Ship of Shame, Shin Ji, whose crew ran away from physical and sexual assaults, is moored at Auckland waterfront’s new Wynyard Quarter just opposite the flash new Events Centre.  Go down and have a look for yourselves and imagine how any human being could be expected to live in such degrading and appalling conditions.

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Filed under: Foreign Affairs, workers rights
14 Comments

Politics should be about ideas

Posted by on August 23rd, 2011

Politics should be a contest of ideas. Increasingly it’s becoming more and more focused on tactics and personalities. More column inches have been devoted to analysing whether Labour’s tax policies have moved our poll ratings than have been devoted to detailing what the policies actually are and whether they’re a good idea or not. Plenty of publicity has been given to John Key’s Rugby World Cup forays, much less attention to the fact that under his watch unemployment has sky-rocketed and the cost of living is rising at the fastest rate in over 21 years.

But that’s the reality. We can complain about it, or we can get out there and redouble our efforts to promote the ideas we believe in. I want to be part of Labour government after this year’s election because I think we’ve got the best ideas for turning our economy around, giving hard-working Kiwis a break, and securing a brighter future for our country.

I hate comparisons between politics and sport, but there is one analogy with sport that I do find useful from time to time. In politics, as in sport, it’s important to “leave it all out on the field”. We compete fiercely with our opponents, we think our ideas are better, and we think we’re better able to manage the challenges we face. But we should never forget that our opponents are also driven by decent intent, however misguided we may think that they are.

Nobody is entitled to power, or to claim ownership of a particular constituency. In a democracy, it’s a right that has to constantly be earned. Likewise, I think it shows total contempt for voters to declare the electoral race all but run before the starting whistle has even been blown. There are still three months to go before polling day, and I, along with my colleagues, intend to campaign for the ideas and values that Labour represents right up to the last hour. This one is too important.

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Filed under: democracy, Elections, media
59 Comments

Today

Posted by on August 22nd, 2011

A man came to see me. He was laid off a few weeks ago. He’s a mechanical engineer. Highly skilled. He has five children.

His wife has  cancer. Inoperable cancer.

He was chosen for redundancy. Involuntary. Along with others. He thinks probably because of his outspokenness.

He can’t pay his power bill this month.

There are no jobs. He needs to stay in Dunedin for his wife’s treatment. Meanwhile, she has been forced to work part time to keep food on the table.

This man was a valuable contributing member of our society. He paid taxes. His skills were worth something to our economy.

As a direct result of this government’s policies, he, and others like him, do not have jobs.

What are his options?

Yes I’m angry, because this is the reality that more people are facing each day.

And I heard today that the foodbanks in Dunedin are empty.

Dunedin is just one place where there is rampant poverty and need. But it’s where I live and these are the people I represent.

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Filed under: #ownourfuture, economy, jobs, Manufacturing
48 Comments

Chippie and the retirees?

Posted by on August 22nd, 2011

SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS: More and more small children are being kicked out of school for bad behaviour…reaching an all new high. Why is this becoming such a problem? Some are blaming it on the parents, some on exposure to drugs and alcohol, some say food & environment are to blame. What can be done to make sure the troubled kids get an education? How do we make sure well-behaved children aren’t being held back? What about teachers—are teachers becoming more than teachers? What role do the teachers and the schools have to play? And where does learning fit in on all of this? And for those teachers who don’t perform well—should they get paid less?

CLEAN RIVERS: The Green Party wants to clean up our rivers and streams. No surprise there. The Government wants to clear up our waterways too but the Greens say they don’t go far enough. Do we need national water standards? Limits of amount of water used? Can we limit the amount of pollution going into our rivers & streams? Should we be charging for water used in irrigation and commercial use? Is this a job for our new EPA? Is charging for irrigation fair to our agriculture industry? Should we all be doing our part any pay for the water we use?

LIVE pub politics from the Backbencher Pub: Wednesday, 24th of August. Our Panel: ACT MP Sir Roger Douglas, Green Party MP Sue Kedgley, Labour MP Chris Hipkins and National MP Aaron Gilmore.

Filed under: Back Benches
4 Comments

The importance of being Labour #2

Posted by on August 22nd, 2011

And on another note, re white-anting; the attempts by the Greens to encroach on Labour territory is also happening in Australia. Former AWU Secretary Bill Shorten (now Assistant Finance Minister) got it right when he said that people will always need unions and that Labor and unions were a “bulwark of democracy”.

“The idea that people, when they go to work, don’t need assistance is wrong.”

Mr Shorten said his view of unionism was not based on the idea that workers were stupid or unable to think for themselves.

But an individual working in a large company would always need support.

“The company has a human resources manager, the company belongs to an employer association, the company has lawyers,” he said.

“Who do you have?”

Mr Shorten said Labor’s mission to deliver social justice remained in place and that the party’s strongest asset was its ability to tailor policies to help people cope with change.

He said he did not want to spark a verbal stoush with the Greens but noted that the minor party had no economic story.

The New Zealand Labour Party has its roots in the trade union movement. The unions are evolving and adapting as they should.The Labour Party draws on talent from many walks of life, as it should. It’s perspectives are not always in direct alignment with unions.

But let’s not every forget where we came from and what our enduring values are. And how important that relationship is.

I won’t.

Filed under: #ownourfuture, economy, labour, union
104 Comments

The importance of being Labour

Posted by on August 22nd, 2011

Have had a gutsful of the white-anting of Labour from both the right and the left of politics.

White-anting is an Australian expression. It means undermining. I lived there for 14 years, worked for the trade union movement and as a public relations professional. Proud of my time there, the work I did and the people I worked with.

I have strong enduring relationships with people across the right and left of the Labour spectrum.  In the last few days there’s been some very strong messages delivered about the importance of core Labour values. The compelling reasons for unions. And why there is a need for a strong Labour Party. And why Australia (like NZ) needs a strong manufacturing base.

All completely relevant here.

Paul Howes is the National Secretary of the Australian Workers Union. Over the weekend he sounded a strong warning that the high Australian dollar spells  the death sentence for Australia’s manufacturing export markets and for other sectors of the economy such as in-bound tourism and that diplomatic pressure should be put on on China to float the Yuan.

Today we see what he was referring to with the announcement of  1400 manufacturing jobs from BlueScope Steel in Port Kembla, south of Sydney. This is devastating.

THE loss of more than 1000 jobs at BlueScope Steel is a devastating blow for the retrenched workers and the manufacturing industry, the Australian Workers Union (AWU) says.

BlueScope confirmed today that it will shut down its number six blast furnace at Port Kembla, south of Sydney, and close its Western Port hot strip mill, east of Melbourne.

“Today’s announcement is devastating for the families of more than 1400 workers who will be feeling the trauma and distress that comes with the loss of a secure income,” AWU national secretary Paul Howes said in a statement.

It further strengthened the union’s call for action on the Chinese yuan, a robust anti-dumping system and strong local procurement policies for the resources sector, Mr Howes said.

The BlueScope closures sent a clear signal that Australian manufacturing was facing its worst crisis since the Great Depression, he said.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) said Australian manufacturing was under extraordinary pressure from the booming dollar, record high terms of trade and unfair competition from illegal foreign dumping.

“Local industry is not being given a fair go to work on the mining and resource projects which are driving the dollar sky-high, AMWU national secretary Dave Oliver said in the joint statement with Mr Howes.

Australia could not just rely on mining, Mr Oliver said.

Our economies are too important for the juggernauts of China and other bigger nations to turn us into service economies.

Strong Labour policies focussing on our economic sovereignty; owning our own future are what this country needs.

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Filed under: #ownourfuture, economy, jobs, Manufacturing
19 Comments

Absent guest

Posted by on August 22nd, 2011

The Minister of Transport declined an invitation to the Smart Transport conference co-hosted by Labour and the Greens on the weekend, but his policies were much discussed.

58 StevenJoyce Traffic 9Aug11

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Filed under: transport
4 Comments

Peter Dunne – Changes to Child Support

Posted by on August 21st, 2011

Peter Dunne has finally announced proposed changes to the child support regime in order to make it fairer. He admits that “on something as contentious and as emotionally charged as child support… it is not about trying to please people. It is about creating a system that people feel is fundamentally fair, and crucially, that they feel is for the benefit of their children. If we get those two factors through to people, then we have succeeded, and I believe we are doing that here.”

Aside from the obvious contradiction there (‘not trying to please people… but about creating a system that people feel is fundamentally fair’: in my experience, people are pleased with a fair system, and not with one that isn’t), I don’t think anyone would disagree with the sentiment. As Revenue spokesman, I get many e-mails from people who believe they are being ‘ripped off’ by a discriminatory child support regime.

Three points I would make however:
1. Two and a half years ago Dunne said he would complete a review of the system in 6 months. What took him so long?
2. Dunne’s IRD is undertaking a round of redundancies (16 front line staff in Napier alone) and yet they are about to restructure the child support system… Does that mean ‘more with less’? Give me a break.!
3. Most importantly, Dunne has said that the changes to the system will be in legislation introduced to Parliament in the next few months. There are only four sitting weeks left this term. This is incredibly important legislation because over 200,000 NZ children rely on child support payments. I hope like hell this isn’t something that Dunne and the Nats are planning to introduce under urgency.

I am not saying there doesn’t need to be changes to the child support system, because there quite obviously does (of the approximately $2b in child support debt, under $200m is actually principle). But any legislation reforming the child support system needs to go through the proper parliamentary process; e.g. public select committee where all NZers can have their say.

The real shame of all this: if Dunne had done what he said he would do, then we would have had this whole system reformed months ago. Wonder why he hasn’t…

Filed under: Child Support, IRD, Tax
15 Comments

Tweet of the Week

Posted by on August 21st, 2011

Tweets of the Week: Yip seriously….

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Snow Tweet of the Week: In hindsight maybe everyone did go a bit nuts (or maybe I’m just jealous because I had leave from Parliament and missed it)

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But the big trending issue of the week was the short-lived Telecom “Abstain for the ABs” campaign. Haven’t seen this many sex puns since Alasdair Thompson’s outburst.

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And Telecom – you left yourself wide open on this one:

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A contemporary twist on the classic ‘Bring back Buck’:

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Peter Dunne bravely states his position after Telecom have already announced they’re pulling the campaign:

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Air New Zealand decide that it wasn’t the style of Telecom’s campaign that was wrong, just that they picked the wrong side…

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Press Tweet of the Week : It’s a bad pun but someone had to make it…

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And from the ‘Trev’s random Tweets’ file: Thank god for fullstops.

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Filed under: Uncategorized
4 Comments

Carmel talks about the cost of living

Posted by on August 21st, 2011

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Filed under: #ownourfuture, Cost of Living, GST, Tax
11 Comments

The polls that matter

Posted by on August 21st, 2011

Matt McCarten’s commentaries have often had me tearing my hair out.  I’ve known Matt longer than most, and I know he and I share the same views on many things, especially when it comes to low-income workers and the poor. Where we differ is how change can be achieved politically and that comes across in his criticism of Labour. I’m sure he’s aware that the right-wing repeat his every word when he criticises Labour, but I bet they don’t reproduce his NZ Herald column today.

Matt, like the other union delegates at the packed CTU Conference on Friday sat up and took notice when Phil Goff spoke.

Phil nailed it.  He nailed the feelings of worker representatives who have seen the cost of living increase, tax cuts for the rich and nothing for them and their families. He spoke to their concerns about their workmates and families operating under National’s changes to employment law.  He spelled out our agenda for real change, of which there is more to come. He sent a message to the mining families on the West Coast saying Labour’s not going to muck around with mine safety.  We’re going to do what’s needed.

He showed there is fire in the belly in the Labour leadership and the Labour Party.   He showed passion, empathy and warmth.

It was a good reminder not to get distracted by silly made-up stories about Labour’s leadership, and pollsters that can’t get to working people.  One delegate said his union had just finished stopwork meetings of 4,000 workers around the country and of these, only 4 had been polled in the last year.

The polls that matter can be found in the stories and conversations on the doorsteps and workplaces of  South and West Auckland, in Otara, Manurewa, Manukau East, Mangere and Ranui.

The polls that matter are the 350,000 workers and their families represented at the CTU conference on Friday.

Filed under: 90 day trial period, politics, Workers, workers rights
24 Comments

Staggering Arrogance

Posted by on August 21st, 2011

For those viewers who have just tuned in to watch the debate on asset sales on Q+A this morning they would have seen David Cunliffe and Don Brash, but no representative from the National Party. That’s right, no Tony Ryall as SOE Minister or Bill English as Finance Spokesperson. TVNZ made clear it was a refusal to debate rather than either of them being unavailable. Good on TVNZ for doing the ‘empty chair’, but I think this is one of the most staggering arrogant actions we have seen from National. If its your policy, get out and debate it for goodness sake.

Anyway, since Bill would not debate, here is the video again from last week’s National Party conference where he fails to convince his own delegates of the asset sales policy and makes clear that he does not actually know how he will fulfil his own policy to put “Kiwis at the front of the queue” if assets are sold. This is a deeply flawed policy that will be bad for long term future of New Zealand.

Filed under: asset sales
24 Comments

Smart Transport- Day Two

Posted by on August 20th, 2011

Posting from day two of the Labour/ Green co-hosted Smart Transport event in Wellington. Focus today is on groups working regionally or nationally on specific campaign issues.

Couple of stand out issues. Almost everyone has noted the difficulty they have had engaging with Steven Joyce on issues. Anyone who has observed his response to any suggestion of alternatives to roading projects will not be surprised by that. But secondly, so much of what is being discussed here is about providing people with genuine choice when the government is instead focused on entrenching the use of cars, and ignoring that it is becoming less and less affordable (not to mention the environmental, urban design, and quality of life issues.) Case in point- the CBD rail link!

And a final word to one group in particular- Rob George from the campaign for better transport in Hamilton is who driving a huge campaign for Waikato trains. Hard slog, but you wouldn’t find a more passionate campaigner. Now he just needs some political will behind him…..

Filed under: Auckland, environment, Rail, roads, transport, Uncategorized
13 Comments

Time for smart transport

Posted by on August 20th, 2011

I spent yesterday at an excellent Smart Transport forum co-hosted at Parliament by Labour and the Greens.

One of the highlights was a presentation by Australian transport expert Dr Paul Mees who you can hear interviewed on National Radio. Mees debunks the myth that Auckland is such a low density sprawl that public transport can never be economic, and argues that its linear geography makes it ideal for rail.

There was some good debate between transport activists who had come from around the country, and people like Lawrence Yule (mayor of Hastings Napier and president of Local Government NZ) and Stephen Selwood of the Council for Infrastructure Development.  Also excellent were Chris Harris, who has done pioneering work telling the story of Auckland’s 60 years of motorway madness, and Julie Anne Genter who has shown the enormous land resource our car dependent city invests in parking.

Standing in for Shane Jones our transport spokesperson, I spoke for Labour. The forum showed there is a gulf between National’s obsession with the Roads of National Party Significance, and the centre-left’s plan for a more sustainable, more diversified, and more economically prudent transport system.

I argued the sharp end of the debate is happening in Auckland where the Government has set out to sink the city rail link promoted by Mayor Len Brown and the Auckland Council.

60 years of motorway madness in Auckland has made living in the city’s far flung car-dependent suburbs less liveable than it should be. Where I live in west Auckland there are many people who spend an hour and a half commuting to work morning and evening. It is not uncommon for it to take 20-30 minutes to make the mile-long journey from home to motorway on ramp.

There is a widespread transport poverty. People lose thousands of dollars out of their household budgets because there is no real alternative to running a car to get to work. And up to 10 hours a week sitting in traffic: time that could be spent with the kids, playing sport, going fishing, getting an education. I don’t need to tell you it is the poorest members of our society who suffer these things the worst.

This is a direct result of a stubborn insistence over six decades on building Auckland around motorways. The current scrap between Aucklanders and this Government over the Rail Link, and competing visions for the city – sprawl v compact city, public transport v more motorways – is a fight for the soul of our largest city.  The outcome will have huge implications for generations to come.

(full speech below)

If you want to hear more about this issue come along to ‘Keeping Auckland’s Transport on Track’, 6.30pm 25 August, at Trades Hall, 149 Gt North Rd, Grey Lynn.  Speakers include Mike Lee, chair of the Auckland Council Transport Committee, Cameron Pitches from the Campaign for Better Transport, Wayne Butson of the RMTU, and me.

(more…)

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Filed under: transport
8 Comments

Forget jobs just change the numbers

Posted by on August 20th, 2011

The Politician

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Filed under: Uncategorized
8 Comments

To MMP or not to MMP

Posted by on August 19th, 2011

While juggling between functions today at Auckland University I got the opportunity to read an interesting article in ‘Uninews’ about the different voting systems which will be listed in this year’s referendum.

A group of researchers from The Centre for Mathematical Social Science have created an election simulator which will help voters understand the consequences of their referendum vote.

The simulator showed that either National or Labour would have won a clear majority while the Greens, with the third largest party vote in 2008, would have had few or none seats in Parliament if recent elections were held under some of the voting systems in this year’s referendum.

The article stated:

These scenarios, and others, can be tested using an election simulator created by researchers at The Centre for Mathematical Social Science to help voters understand the consequences of their referendum vote

The simulator can be used by anyone who plans to take part in the voting system referendum

A lot of descriptive information about the upcoming referendum has been made available to voters, explaining, for instance, that coalition governments are more or less likely under particular voting systems. But as scientists interested in collective decision-making, we wanted to know more precisely what the voting systems would mean in terms of seats in Parliament and we think that voters should have this information too.

I believe the simulator will certainly serve as a dry run to see whether the riding-so-high-John-Key will be able to govern alone or get a stronger mandate than National got in 2008.

The dry run will help the informed voter better appreciate some scenarios of inconvenient reality should the current polls be translated into actual seats.

Some of the voters will be alerted: hey, if they now realise that they would return a Government that will put a choice between borrowing $300plus million a week or sale of our family silver.

If it’s choice you really wanted? What a choice is that? A choice? Yeah right!

Find the voting simulator online at: Cmss.Auckland.ac.na/2011-referendum-simulator.online

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Filed under: asian
16 Comments

Labour and the miners

Posted by on August 19th, 2011

Phil Goff got a great reception at the CTU conference this morning.

His speech was inspiring – while it is available on line, you had to be there to really get a sense of how well Labour’s message is going down with workers.

There’s much more to come on savings, skills, jobs, wages and social policy, but today’s announcement was for the miners.

Two days ago, the Minister of Labour announced she was implementing a High Hazards Unit in the Department of Labour which will double from two to four the number of Labour Inspectors in the Mining industry. Everyone is pleased about this, even if it took a lot of pressure to get the Minister to do anything.

But there is more to Mine Safety than having a well-resourced inspectorate. There also need to be strong regulations and worker check inspectors on the job.

Today, Phil announced that we will reinstate check inspectors and model new NZ regulations on Queensland’s mining safety regulations.

Queensland’s regulations are very comprehensive, and the underground section contains provisions for emergencies, rescue and communication, electrical equipment and installations, explosives and explosive power tools, gas monitoring, mechanical, mine design, mining operations, ventilation and working environment. 

Until they were removed by the National government in 1992, check inspectors were democratically-elected miners, responsible solely for the safety of workers with the power, amongst others, to order the immediate withdrawal of miners from a mine or part of a mine that the check inspector deems dangerous. Check inspectors were (and are in Australia) experienced senior miners who have the trust of their fellow workers. Unlike company employed health and safety staff, check inspectors are responsible to the miners, not the company.

This is a great announcement. It was well received today, particularly by the Miner’s Union, the EPMU, who have pushed hard for real change to mine safety in New Zealand.

And before anyone goes there, yes Labour didn’t reverse National’s changes to mine safety. We made significant change to National’s awful Health and Safety laws, but it wasn’t enough. We know that. And that’s why we will do something about it.

The findings of the Royal Commission into the Pike River disaster won’t be released until 2013.  Labour doesn’t believe we should wait until then to take action.

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Filed under: Health and Safety, Mining, Workers
17 Comments

Woburn. Questions

Posted by on August 19th, 2011

Parliament photo 2

This week Trevor Mallard and I went to visit the Woburn rail workshops in Lower Hutt.

This was after the news that there will NOT be redundancies at Woburn, despite Kiwirail announcing in June that around 20 jobs would go from the Hutt workshops. Around 10 jobs are still expected to be lost from the design team.

Meanwhile 44 jobs have gone from the Hillside Workshops in Dunedin. Skilled jobs. Jobs that shouldn’t have been cut, but have, because the government prefers to spend taxpayers money overseas purchasing rolling stock, than use Kiwi skills to build them here.

It’s good news about Woburn.

But I came away with a few unanswered questions. How come Kiwirail announced impending redundancies and then changed its mind? Because there’s too much work at Woburn and they can’t afford to lose any staff. Why is there so much work?

That’s a good question. Especially since there’s supposedly a bunch of new Chinese locos being commissioned.

Why is it taking so long to commission the new DL Chinese locos? That’s another good question. I’ve got a few more.

I’ll be asking Kiwirail for the answers.

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Filed under: #ownourfuture, economy, jobs, Rail, Skills
9 Comments

John Key and that stadium shot

Posted by on August 19th, 2011

Remember that video clip of John Key standing in the Westpac Stadium in Wellington before the last election lamenting the number of New Zealanders who leave every year to move to Australia? Well, he’d need a bigger stadium for this year’s campaign video.

After 3 years of John Key’s government, the number of people leaving NZ to move to Australia is at its highest level in 10 years. 46,436 people jumped the Tasman for good in the 12 months to July. By contrast, only 14,807 made the jump back the other way.

Remember what John Key said in his 2008 campaign opening speech?

“Do you want more of the same? The same directionless economy? The same political games and distractions? The same loose management of your money? The same excuses, buck-passing, and the same failure to deliver real results?”

Let’s compare the 9 years of Labour government with 3 years under National. Under Labour we had record low unemployment, more people in the workforce than ever before, more people in tertiary education than ever before. Under National unemployment has sky rocketed and tertiary education funding has been slashed.

As for political games and distractions? This from a PM who walked out of Question Time to avoid answering questions from the Leader of the Opposition. The same PM who backed Rodney Hide, then Don Brash, and has now done a dodgy deal with John Banks in Epsom. The same PM who paid PR firms to get him on Letterman. The same PM who won’t be interviewed on Morning Report but will happily take patsy questions on The Edge…

But of course the state of the economy isn’t National’s fault. Their failure to deliver any meaningful financial relief to those on middle and low incomes isn’t their fault. Youth unemployment isn’t their fault (and in less than a week it’s gone from being John Key’s biggest issue to being a problem that’s ‘overstated’). Now, what was that about “buck-passing”?

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Filed under: economy, national, Unemployment
22 Comments

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