PARLIAMENT | PARTY | GRASSROOTS

Red Alert

Archive for the ‘Cost of Living’ Category

Heartland: going backwards

Posted by Clare Curran on April 24th, 2011

I’ve been door knocking this week in South Dunedin. Will be out regularly with a team of people touching base with how people are feeling.

In quantitative terms it’s not very efficient for the MP/candidate to be out doorknocking, because everyone wants to chat and ask you in for cups of tea. But in qualitative terms it’s pure gold.

This is heartland. Talking to people on their doorsteps keeps me grounded, lets me know in no uncertain terms where my flaws are,  where the flaws of my party lie. It also gives me great hope.

The people I speak to are honest. They don’t beat about the bush.

Many in my electorate are Labour voters and diehard Labour supporters. That doesn’t stop them giving me the odd piece of advice and sometimes a bit of a serve. I take everything they say seriously because they’re the ones who’re having to make do every week with an income which isn’t increasing though the price of everything else is.

Two conversations stand out.

The first was with a bloke in his 30s, a shift worker, Samoan, with a Maori wife and two wee kids. He said nothing had got better for him under National. Only harder. They both work and they don’t seem to be able to get anywhere. The early childhood cost increases were the thing that got him, he just didn’t understand the logic.

He’ll be voting Labour this time. He didn’t last time.

The second conversation was with an electrician, with his own business. He’s been a Labour voter in the past but not last time. He was a bit more philosophical about the wider geo-economic issues but didn’t believe the current government was investing in the economy.

His work wasn’t drying up, but people were more reluctant to pay the going rate for an electrician and he knew sparkies who were cutting their prices. He said that was the downward slope because that made it harder for all electricians to make a living.

His wife had just got a part time job, but he was concerned about the shrinking job market in Dunedin and with the lack of opportunities for kids coming out of school. He didn’t blame people for moving to Australia and was really disappointed he felt that way.

He’s thinking about voting Labour again.

The top of mind issue for everyone I spoke to was the high cost of living. I would have liked to talk more about ideas for the future. But most people are just consumed with getting through the week.

I’d rather be part of a government that’s taking people forward not backward.

Tags:
Filed under: Cost of Living, economy, family, jobs
36 Comments

Stop Loan Sharks Community Coalition

Posted by Carol Beaumont on April 19th, 2011

Today in Onehunga a community coalition to Stop Loan Sharks was launched.  Throughout last year I committed to continuing this campaign no matter what happened to the ‘Credit Reform (Responsible Lending)’ Bill I had picked up from Charles Chauvel.  Since the defeat of the Bill at the hands of National and ACT I have been constantly asked ”why” and “what next”.

And of course the need for action has continued increasing – ever increasing prices, evidenced today by a huge increase in the CPI, and static or reducing incomes (often starting from an inadequate base!) are a recipe for disaster for many New Zealanders.   New Zealanders who struggle to make ends meet,  New Zealanders who need food parcels and increasing numbers of New Zealanders who end up taking out loans at excessive interest rates that they cannot realistically pay back.

Today I was joined by my colleagues Charles Chauvel, Carmel Sepuloni and Green MP David Clendon all of whom along with the rest of our fellow party members will continue to campaign on this issue within Parliament.  Carmel and I will both be putting  Members Bills in the ballot.  Both will deal with the need for responsible lending practices and both of which (in different ways) seek to limit excessive interest rates.

We were joined by groups and individuals committed to dealing with the fringe lending sector. They included Church organisations, budgeting organisations, unions, lawyers, anti-poverty groups and credit unions. In addition to me the  speakers included the Salvation Army, the NZ Federation of Family Budgeting Services, FINSEC, Charles Chauvel  and the Mangere Budgeting Service.  We were also addressed by a fine young man who last year, not far from where we were today, went ‘undercover’ seeking to obtain loans from a number of loan companies.    He pointed out how easy it was to get money and  how no real checks were undertaken. One of the interest rates he did manage to get disclosed was 24% per month.

In the course of the launch we heard of the massive increase in food parcels being supplied by organisations like the Salvation Army, the massive increase in workloads of our budgeting services and the increasing level of indebtedness of those seeking help at budgeting services.  The case studies we heard included a pensioner with six loans with interest rates varying between 25% and 49% and a Samoan family of five with multiple loans with interest rates between 19% and 82%.  We heard of the reality of many families (both on benefits and in work)  where paying food and rent comes after the payment of high interest loans.  The impact on children was stressed and how the consequences can be with them for the rest of their lives.

The Government’s response is seen as not only inadequate but also irresponsible.  The delay in the review of Consumer Credit is impossible to fathom.  The delay was a deliberate decision of the Government. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs website states that submissions which closed in August 2009 are still being scrutinised!  It should be noted that while there are positive suggestions from that review which are languishing this doesn’t include proposals to deal with excessive interest rates. 

The Community Coalition to Stop Loan Sharks will seek in this election year to keep the issues centre stage and to put pressure on all parties to identify solutions.  Solutions that other countries have been far more proactive in seeking than New Zealand. 

In the end this issue is about people, often people who have children, people who are poor and who are vulnerable. How we react to this issue is a measure of our sense of decency and fairness.  I am absolutely clear that most New Zealanders find loan shark behaviour abhorrent and that they want the Government to take action.

Tags:
Filed under: Consumer Affairs, Cost of Living, Loan Sharks, debt
16 Comments

The price of milk

Posted by Trevor Mallard on April 17th, 2011

I’m a strong supporter of the Fonterra approach. Worked on their legislation. They get some real advantages from it although there are parts which give their competitors an easy run. There is a debate starting around their domestic pricing structure and the Commerce Commission is involved.

Fonterra collects and processes around 90% of New Zealand’s raw milk. In the absence of a competitive market, it is the default setter of the milk price for wholesale and, ultimately, retail.

However I think with their enormous legislative advantage there comes a moral obligation to minimise domestic milk and milk product prices. I hope the Commission does a full investigation and we get a good look and pricing model choices.

Tags: ,
Filed under: Cost of Living, agriculture
31 Comments

The Great Broadband Sell-off

Posted by David Cunliffe on March 18th, 2011

Yesterday’s FEC hearings on the Telco Amendment Bill were remarkable.

By the end of the day it was starkly obvious that the Bill hands a gold-plated license-to-kill to Telecom under the guise of ‘structural separation’.  No-one, not even Govt members, could deny that.

Don’t take my word for it: check out the Commerce Commission submission, or (bipartisan) Internet New Zealand’s, or Vector’s, or TelstraClear’s – all here.

The Bill seeks to lock in a “regulatory holiday” by preventing the Commerce Commission from exercising its current oversight for 10 YEARS.  NO other country in the world has done that, and it would be illegal in Europe. It may be in breach of NZ’s WTO obligations here.

Despite that Telecom had the gall to ask for longer! And to weaken the purpose clause of the Telco Act to boot! Have they lost their PR mind? Do they want to channel the ghost of abuses past?

Fair trading “equivalence of inputs” rules between the network owner (Telecom) and wholesale competitors would be watered down so much as to be unenforceable.  Arms-length trading rules currently in Telecom’s Operational Separation Undertakings become “optional”.

And so on.  It’s so patently obvious it is not even worth repeating all the examples.

No wonder Steven Joyce wanted the hearings over in indecent haste.

The result of this great leap backwards to the 1990’s will be much higher prices and less choice for consumers for a decade.  YOU will pay for this sleazy deal.

So WHY has the National Government done this?

Roger Douglas summed it up – it is a “legislative subsidy”: National is ‘selling the law”.

In plain speaking, National in the last election over-promised ultra-fast broadband to 75% of Kiwis for $1.5 billion.  But rather than being a clean subsidy there were massive strings attached, requiring a commercial return through the hopelessly conflicted Crown Fibre Holdings.    The numbers just did not add up.

Hence no rollout for 2½ years, and Steven Joyce is worried about his reputation.

But instead of fronting the problem honestly and getting the whole industry to be part of the solution while building a vibrant competitive market, National has done a side-deal with the incumbent telco that leaves everyone else worse off and the market beggared beyond belief.

That will set back innovation, chill investment and deliver less broadband at higher prices than necessary for a decade to come.

As if Kiwis aren’t facing enough price rises without paying too much for their broadband as well.

Tags: , , ,
Filed under: Cost of Living, Investment, Uncategorized, broadband, business, comms & IT, digital, economic, economy, finance, infrastructure, internet
12 Comments

The cost of putting a healthy meal on the table

Posted by Grant Robertson on March 17th, 2011

It is a perversity of modern life that it is cheaper to eat badly than it is to eat healthily. We all know from the visits to the supermarket that the fizzy drinks are often cheaper than the milk. Processed foods are discounted as the price of fresh fruit and vegetables goes up. This is true for everyone, but especially hard work if you are on a modest or low income.

The Regional Public Health service here in Wellington has produced an interesting study on food costs for families, using data from the University of Otago food cost survey.

While the study notes that on average New Zealanders spend 16% of their income on food, the study shows that in order to put a healthy meal on the table, many New Zealanders would need to spend a far greater percentage of their income on food.

International studies indicate that if you are spending more than 30% of your disposable income on food, you are experiencing ‘food stress’. This study shows that to purchase a basic healthy diet, many low income New Zealanders will be spending a far greater percentage than that.

For example for a family living off the minimum wage would need to spend 34% of their income before rent and 50% of their income after rent to do this. For a beneficiary family the situation is even more difficult with a range of 43% (before rent) and 74% (after rent) required.

Obviously this will be next to impossible for many people. The social and economic consequences of an unhealthy diet are obvious, not only for the individuals concerned, but for the country as a whole. Obesity and poor nutrition will contribute to high health costs, poor quality of life and a cost to us all through the health system and the human cost of lost opportunity.

The rising cost of food, and the impact of the GST increase are all contributed to making this situation worse. John Key showed he was getting out of touch when he described going to foodbanks as a lifestyle choice. The unaffordabilty of the basics is the reality that many families are facing.

While some people like to disparage Labour’s policy of removing the GST from fresh fruit and vegetables that is a step in the direction of making healthy food more affordable. Making our tax system fairer, including through the tax free zone and lifting minimum wages are also part of our plans to give people the income they need to provide for their families. It is vital for all our futures.

Filed under: Cost of Living, GST, health
45 Comments

The cost of after hours care

Posted by Grant Robertson on March 7th, 2011

Campbell Live did a piece tonight on the cost of after hours medical care. Worth a watch.

The amount of money being charged right around the country that they are reporting is huge, including well over $100 in some places, and even $66 for a fourteen year old in Auckland.

When I raised in Parliament earlier this year the case of Linley Williams who had paid $41 for her 20 month old to get after hours care I was told by Tony Ryall that this was a particular problem on the Kapiti Coast. It seems it is a particular problem in a large number of areas!

Since I raised that case I have had a number of letters from people who have been charged astronomical sums for after-hours care. As Linley Williams and one of the people quoted in the story said the only option for many people is heading an Emergency Department, which clogs them up even further.

These kinds of costs on top of the rest of the cost of living increases with petrol, power and food is really putting the pressure on families.

Tags: , ,
Filed under: Cost of Living, health
16 Comments

Sunday papers

Posted by Grant Robertson on February 20th, 2011

Politicians, me included, have been known to be pretty negative about the media in New Zealand, so today I wanted to offer a bouquet to the new look Sunday Star Times.  The focus section in particular has been beefed up, starting off with a great feature by Kim Knight on poverty in New Zealand. As the Christchurch City Missioner says

?It is not a matter of the poor making poor choices, but of the poor having few options from which to choose.

The article should be required reading for the government. Also a very interesting interview with Paul Callaghan, and in the business section, as ever a good column from Rod Oram.

The only black mark for the paper is another ridiculous Jonathan Marshall story that states that Kanwaljit Bakshi is a “senior National MP”. Ah, not sure that even Bakshi himself would make that claim!

While the Herald on Sunday seems to be attracting more readers, it is good to see a Sunday paper with some detailed features. On the subject of the HOS, their editorial today is a cracker. As they say

We’ve all come across beneficiaries whose spending was questionable but the vast majority are trapped in a poverty cycle not of their making and the PM’s dismissive comment was that of a man seriously out of touch

Tags: , ,
Filed under: Cost of Living, media, poverty
40 Comments

Poor choices… or just “poor”?

Posted by Clare Curran on February 18th, 2011

I understand John Key reiterated his comments this morning about people on benefits making (poor) lifestyle choices. I can’t find a link.

This is what I think. John Key, David  Farrar and the national strategists are using the trick of finding the example of someone on a benefit abusing the system in order to build a picture of systematic abuse. Pitching their messages to the middle ground; reinforcing a suspicion held by people who suspect that beneficiaries rort the system

It’s a common tactic used mostly by conservative governments against the groups who are most vulnerable, in order to undermine the  basis of welfare for those most in need. Sole parents, the chonically ill, people on invalid and sickness benefits, people receiving ACC. People who live in state housing. Poeple on low incomes generally.

People attending adult education classes, people who depend on 20 hours free early childhood education. There’s a longer list.

I have those people coming through my door every day. In need. Often desperate. I’m told by one of the major social agencies that these people are often the best budgeters. They can make $5 go a long way.

Yes there are people who take advantage. In any situation, whether it’s through the welfare system, in the workplace, the school, at the local Church or community organisation, or in the boardrooms and stockmarket floors. It’s human behaviour. But then there’s need, hard circumstances and grinding poverty. And it’s increasing. Certainly in my electorate Mr Key and Mr Farrar.

Yesterday (and again this morning) a South Dunedin man came in. He’s close to retirement. He was declined ACC -although injured by assault in September. He’s on a sickness benefit and struggling financially. This week he had $2.00 left in his bank account the day after benefit day. He had an  insurance payment go out and always in overdraft by the time benefit goes in. He has been selling his possessions.

He went to Work and Income for an emergency benefit this week and was declined on the basis that had another within the last three months. This happened while on 3 week stand down between ACC and his  benefit starting.

He has been referred to a food bank but won’t go. He would rather rely on friends. He feels too proud.

He suffers severe pain and is getting very depressed. We will do what we can to help him. My office has made an appointment with Work and Income to argue his case.

No doubt John Key and David Farrar could pick holes in the way he’s lived his life and the choices he’s made. Wouldn’t it be better to try to give him some support and get him back on his feet? What kind of bloody country are we becoming?

Tags: , , ,
Filed under: Cost of Living, poverty
46 Comments

What’s he going to say next?

Posted by Clare Curran on February 17th, 2011

I’ve been saying for two years that this government specialises in rhetoric vs reality. Arguing that black is white. Pulling the wool over people’s eyes. Fudging it. However you want to describe it.

John Key is the master of Orwellian language. He gets away with it mostly, but won’t forever.

He and his Ministers consistently argue that the “global recession” is responsible for unemployment and more people living on benefits.

According to his narrative, his government has nothing to do with it. But every now and then his underlying belief system seeps out.

Yesterday he outdid himself by saying in parliament  in response to a question from Annette King that beneficiaries who resort to food banks do so out of their own “poor choices” rather than because they cannot afford food.

In other words it’s their own fault that they’re poor. And in need of help.

My office in Dunedin rang around the foodbanks this morning and was told that they are seeing an increase in referrals from WINZ.

The letters that the clients bring from WINZ indicate that they have been declined assistance on the basis that they cannot produce a family budget and the implication is that the organisation will assist with both the immediate food needs and the budget.

It’s not new for people to be referred to these organisations from WINZ. What is new though is the increase in referrals and the denial of assistance on the basis of not being able to produce a family budget. And the pressure being put on the social service agencies who themselves are struggling to cope with demand and having their own funding sources starved.

Many of these people are what’s being described as the “new poor”. People who have been made redundant, can’t find new work and are not coping.

John Key is totally out of touch.  What’s he going to say next?

Tags: , , ,
Filed under: Cost of Living, Unemployment
17 Comments

We aren’t a corporation Mr Key, we’re a country

Posted by Clare Curran on February 9th, 2011

People need to know that they can trust their elected representatives to have their best interests at heart, and to have a plan.

A plan that’s not using the tired old strategies from the past, but some new ideas, some innovative solutions that build confidence in our local industries and create jobs for the future.

John Key’s vision, expressed in his speech to parliament yesterday, was dull. It had no substance. There’s no other way to put it. He’s out of touch with real New Zealanders who are struggling to cope with skyrocketing power, petrol and grocery bills.

And he doesn’t have any new ideas. The ideas he’s had are questionable as to whether they can be delivered and whether he’s committed to delivering them. There was no economic growth plan set out in his speech yesterday.

It’s a wasted opportunity.

I’m Labour’s communciations and IT spokesperson. Obviously I believe in and want to advocate for this industry. Not many people know what it actually is.

Consider this (Info from NZICT):

You might be surprised to learn that the ICT industry in this country contributes $20- billion a year to our economy. It’s worth $5 b in exports a year. Second only to the dairy sector. It employs around 40,000 people.

And it invests on average around 9% of revenue in research and development.

The top 100 NZ ICT companies accounted for 10% of goods and services exports in 2009.

It has scalability to lead economic growth.

ICT attracts $2 billion of govt procurement, 7% of all procurement spending.

ICT is on the precipice of vast opportunities with the urban and rural broadband initiaitives.

These are the industries of the future. An ICT manager attracts an average wage of $90,000. But finding skilled workers is the industry’s biggest challenge.

Read the speech I gave yesterday. You may not agree with all of it, but doesn’t it make you ask some questions about the energy, commitment and dare I say “vision” that is lacking right now.

Here’s the video link

Tags: ,
Filed under: Cost of Living, broadband, comms & IT, economy, infrastructure
27 Comments

Return to McGehan Close

Posted by Grant Robertson on February 4th, 2011

Tonight, TV3 returned to McGehan Close, the street in Auckland which John Key branded a “street of shame” in 2007 as he sought to highlight the so-called “underclass”, and involved Aroha Nathan and her family in a publicity stunt culminating with taking her to Waitangi.

This story is worth a look. (Sadly you can not embed TV3 items, so just follow the link) I watched it live, and the comments that came in after were not complimentary of the Nathan family. I don’t want to make any comment on them, but it is worth reflecting that the people of this street feel worse off now after two years of National- and they know that John Key’s “aspirational” government has favoured the wealthy rather than them in the face of rising food prices and living costs.

Just in case anyone does not believe that John Key is a “politician”, this is a reminder of a cynical piece of political theatre. Theatre that John Key did not even have the guts to come on TV and defend tonight.

Tags: ,
Filed under: Cost of Living, national, poverty
21 Comments

Middle New Zealand needs someone on their side: Phil’s speech

Posted by Clare Curran on December 6th, 2010

Phil Goff has just given an important speech in Auckland.

He says Labour will step in and actively manage the economy in a new, more aggressive, hands-on approach to ease the financial pain being felt by middle and low-income earners.

“Middle income earners are being squeezed and the financial pain they’re feeling is getting worse not better. National has no plan to help them. It’s left them feeling frustrated, unable to get ahead and worried about the future for themselves and their children.”

He said lower and middle income earners are paying a greater share of total tax, while top earners are paying less. Labour will turn that around.

Read the full speech here

Tags: ,
Filed under: Cost of Living, economy
82 Comments

GST increases by over 2.5% – yr examples please

Posted by Stuart Nash on November 3rd, 2010

I have heard many stories regarding goods and services that have increased by more than the 2.5% increase in GST.  I blogged earlier about retailers pricing at psychological price points ($9.95, $19.95, $24.95 etc), however, Key and English assured us that prices wouldn’t increase by more than the 2.5% GST rise.  Okay… 

So, if you have examples of goods and services that have increased by more than 2.5%, please let me know.  I am building a simple database to prove that the increase in the cost of living, brought on by the increase in GST, is having a significant impact on Kiwis who are really struggling with stretched budgets.  I should note that it is not illegal to increase prices in NZ, and a NZ Herald poll highlighted the fact that over 1/3 of companies planned to use the GST rise as an excuse to whack up prices – so are they? 

Especially interested in price increases from state-owned organisations. 

And also interested in organisations that have rebelled and dropped prices (like Saphire and Heath coffee shop in Napier: dropped the price of coffee by 50c in protest)

Filed under: Cost of Living, GST, Tax
64 Comments

Does Bill English really believe his own words?

Posted by Clare Curran on October 20th, 2010

Every day in the House Bill English says these words:

“There’s no doubt that the vast majority of NZers are better off.”

He’s just done it again. I guess he figures that if he says it often enough, it’ll become true.

I suppose there might be some people feeling better off, those earning more than $100,000 a year. The vast majority of people certainly don’t feel better off. And they’re not.

Unemployment is up 20,000 in the last quarter. Bill English says this is ‘a necessary rebalancing’ and the unemployed are ‘collateral damage.’

All family budgets are under pressure. Prices are rising faster than wages. Median incomes are down $9 a week.

National put GST up when  families could least afford it. They moved the tax burden off the top, but a lot of New Zealanders have ended up worse off.

National has cut jobs and kept wages down. And they legislated to cut working conditions. National gave 42 per cent of the tax cuts to the top ten per cent…and gave two per cent for the bottom twenty percent.

But Bill English and John Key keep telling New Zealanders they are better off.

If they say it enough will everyone believe them?

Tags: ,
Filed under: Cost of Living, economy
18 Comments

Tax Swindle Leaves 38% in Waikato worse off

Posted by Sue Moroney on October 18th, 2010

So says the front page of Saturday’s Waikato Times, after they polled 180 readers on the subject.

only 12% felt they were any better off, 38% worse off and 33% unchanged. Some readers said John Key has lost their vote over the GST increase.

And just to show how out of touch those on big incomes are with reality, a partner of Deloitte Hamilton says people just had to “reprioritise.”

“You can choose whether or not to spend money and therefore pay tax,” he said.

Really? Choose not to buy groceries, pay the power bill, pay for petrol, pay the rent? This man has no idea that low and middle-income families spend all they earn on just getting by.

His out-of-touch comments reflect arrogant National Party thinking. Guess he must be in the 12% laughing at the expense of the other 88%.

Tags:
Filed under: Cost of Living, Hamilton, Uncategorized, economy, inequality, polling, waikato
19 Comments

No substance: in plain English or otherwise

Posted by Raymond Huo on October 15th, 2010
Image from the Shanghai Expo

Image from the Shanghai Expo

Following a panel discussion at the University of Auckland and a speech at the Rotary Club I felt compelled to ask this question of Finance Minister Bill English: Do you have a plan to grow our economy or have you missed yet another opportunity?

As one of the six panellists at the World Habitat Day Seminar we engaged in a quality debate as to what the success of the Shanghai Expo meant to New Zealand. A similar debate was followed at a Rotary Club function in Auckland where I was invited as a keynote speaker.

I noted that one-third of the expo buildings (250,000m2 of 800,000 m2) were revamped from old, obsolete manufacturing buildings, with many of the new facilities eco-equipped.

The expo is not a one-off showcase. Instead China took the opportunity to enhance the infrastructure of its largest city. The development acted as part of a massive stimulus package which quickened the country’s recovery from the recession.

In fact it is not a simple “recovery”. It managed to maintain its GDP growth to the level of at least 9 per cent. This is extraordinary when we compare China’s economy to that of Japan in the mid-1970s. Back then per capita income in Japan reached US$4000 (in current $ terms) and its GDP growth stalled from 7 per cent to 5 per cent before eventually stopping.

At that time 66 per cent of Japan’s population lived in cities as opposed to now where only 45 per cent of Chinas population lives in cities. It is therefore believed that through urbanisation alone China can and will maintain its growth which is so powerful that it has lifted the growth of other countries, including Australia and New Zealand.

(more…)

Tags: , , ,
Filed under: Cost of Living, asian, ethnic
8 Comments

As you do the Saturday shopping

Posted by Grant Robertson on October 2nd, 2010

You saw it here first (well not quite first, but for the first time after the election), so a reminder as you look at the bill from shopping this morning that National campaigned explicitly not to increase GST.

Tags: , , ,
Filed under: Cost of Living, GST, Tax
46 Comments

The Tax Switch/Swindle

Posted by Grant Robertson on September 26th, 2010

The last few days in the electorate have been marked by an increasing number of people, of all political persuasions working out that the tax switch is going to see them no better off, and in many cases worse off. The GST increase, and the associated price increases are top of mind. In Wellington 6% increases in power bills and the increasing costs of bus travel will wipe out the meagre tax cut benefits for those on low to middle incomes. Everything from the increased cost of rates, rents, stamps and food have also been raised with me.

The NZ Herald had a feature story on this yesterday as well, and the experience of the family who have had the benefit of tax cuts wiped out by the government’s funding cut to early childhood education is another commonly raised issue.

The Sunday Star Times story today, though, makes clear the real problem with the tax switch

The real winners from the cuts are people earning more than $70,000 a year. Anyone earning $100,000, for instance, can expect nearly $70 more in their pay, making them $42 better off after paying that extra GST. For low income earners, the impact is marginal. Someone on $20,000 will be nearly $3 better off, while someone on $30,000 will be $6 richer.

No wonder John Key has instructed his MPs to try to sell the tax switch. The problem is people know their own budgets and costs, and no amount of spin will change that.

Tags: , , ,
Filed under: Cost of Living, GST, Tax, economy
40 Comments

Electricity Industry Bill

Posted by Chris Hipkins on September 24th, 2010

Yesterday the National/ACT government pushed through the Electricity Industry Bill. It will do nothing to deal with rising power prices, fails to address issues around sustainability, and despite the rhetoric, doesn’t increase the security of supply. The evidential base for many of the changes the Bill imposes simply isn’t there.

The Treasury, the Ministry for Economic Development, and the Institute of Professional Engineers all raised concerns about the SOE ‘asset swap’ that will see the Tekapo A and B generators switched for Meridian to Genesis, thus breaking up the Waitaki hydro system. Treasury argued that the government hadn’t put together a business case to justify the swap, yet they went ahead and did it anyway. Given these are multi-million dollar state assets we’re talking about, that’s pretty concerning.

The Institute of Professional Engineers argued that splitting up the Waitaki hydro system could lead to water being used less efficiently given the competing generators would be encouraged to maximise their market position. They argued that no evidence had been presented to demonstrate that the benefits of the (small) increase in competition the swap is designed to create will outweigh the risks.

The government has also dodged some of the real issues. National claims to be committed to the goal of having 90 percent of our electricity generated from renewable sources by 2025, but they’re doing nothing to achieve that. It’s just more hollow rhetoric. In fact, Gerry Brownlee’s obsession with mining and mineral prospecting suggests they actually want to see less of a focus on renewables.

Then of course we come back to the biggie – power prices. Brownlee’s advice to those concerned about the increased cost of electricity is to switch companies. Does he really expect everyone to jot down their meter reading everyday and work out which company they should switch to? Perhaps if they set a common standard for smart electricity meters that might help consumers keep track of their electricity use and make it easier to switch, but they’re not even willing to do that.

The Electricity Industry Bill fails to address the big issues. It’s another case of National reverting to their 1990s ‘the market knows best’ mantra. Not surprising, therefore, that the loudest interjector in the House during the Third Reading of the Bill was Maurice Williamson. It was Williamson and Max Bradford who hacked up and partially privatised the electricity network in the first place, promising us that competition would lead to lower power prices – how did that work out in the end?

Tags: , , , , , ,
Filed under: Cost of Living, Energy
18 Comments

Goff does English (with a little bit of help from the ref)

Posted by Trevor Mallard on August 18th, 2010

Part 1:

Part 2:

From yesterday and doesn’t need much comment but there must be a limit to how long the Nacts will let English reply on behalf of the Prime Minister.

For those without broadband Hansard is below :-

(more…)

Tags:
Filed under: Cost of Living, economy, national, parliament
15 Comments

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »