Yesterday at Mangere  I launched my Stop Loan Sharks campaign.  Along with Sua William Sio,   Len Brown Mayor of Manukau (and prospective Mayor of Auckland), Darryl Evans Mangere Budgeting and Family Support Services and Andrew Shann a long time campaigner against loan sharks (not pictured) I described elements of this exploitative practice and possible solutions.

I have been impressed by the level of support and interest in the lead up to the launch and in the 24 hours since.   The issue is well understood to be a significant problem within low income, Maori and Pacific communities but even so people are shocked by the details. 

One story I told yesterday was of  a Tongan family who needed $3,200.00 to repair their car. This family has 5 children under the age of 13. Husband works as a Store man at an airport based company and the wife is a stay at home mother. His total take home pay is $598.00 per week. They took out a loan with a company in Otahuhu and put up their car (valued at $4,500 as well as two cultural mats which had been in their family for over 80 years. The loan was for $3,500.00, interest charged was 55%over 24 months, which meant they had to repay $1,925.00 in interest or in total: $5,425.00. They defaulted on the payment in the 3rd month when default payments were established. Some 9 months later this family have had the car repossessed by this company and they also had to pay for the towage and storage of the vehicle. At today’s date they owe just under $9,800.00 and the case is still not resolved. The family want their mats returned but the company refuse until such time the debt is paid off in full. They have no car and still owe almost $10,000.

This is not an isolated story.  Hard economic times are good news for loan sharks.  For many New Zealanders struggling to make ends meet loan sharks end up being their only alternative.  There are a range of issues that make this the case – people struggling on completely inadequate incomes – low wages or benefits; people unable to get credit from mainstream banks; ease of credit from some providers coupled with low levels of financial literacy.    Whatever the reason people end up paying obscene interest rates and in a far worse financial position than they started. 

I want to acknowledge the work of community law centres, budgeting services and Citizens Advice Bureau who seek to help people struggling to make ends meet, unfortunately usually when they have become trapped in a spiralling cycle of debt.  Their work is extroadinary especially when the real limits of their resourcing is considered.

The Stop Loan Sharks campaign aims to shine the light on this unacceptable situation and build support for action. I will  be encouraging people to share their stories and putting the heat on the Government to do something concrete to end this exploitation.   The campaign includes building support for my members bill  the ‘Credit Reforms (Responsible Lending) Bill.  Initially submitted by Charles Chauvel , who remains along with Andrew Shann a keen advocate for legal reform in this area, the Bill will have its First Reading at the end of April.

The Bill allows for maximum interest rates to be set; a power that doesn’t currently exist in New Zealand law.  It also requires the lender to reasonably believe the borrower will be able to repay the loan and limits the ability of loan sharks to recover more than they initially lent in the event of a default. Finally, it allows registered pawnbrokers to charge administration fees, thereby removing the need for higher interest rates.  

The capping of interest rates, despite what the Minister of Consumer Affairs says, is not radical or unusual – many countries have such provisions eg Australia, Japan and Canada for example.  Barrack Obama is currently  in the process of capping interest rates in the USA. 

I believe this Bill should be supported by all parties to Select Committee to be thoroughly scrutinised and debated. It is a genuine attempt to deal with a real problem.  I will be seeking the support of politicians across the House although  Heather Roy has already rejected the Bill on ACT’s behalf. 

Whatever happens to the Bill I intend to continue campaigning on this issue.   Next week a website www.stoploansharks.org.nz  goes live.  It wll provide you with ideas and updates on how to help stop loan sharks.

As expected, Pete Bethune has been arrested after arriving in Japan aboard the Japanese whaling boat he has been held captive on since February 15th.

Pete Bethune is charged with piracy for climbing on board the Shonan Maru 2 after it collided with and ultimately destroyed the Ady Gil in the Southern Ocean. If convicted he could face imprisonment of up to three years.  Understandably, his wife is concerned that Pete will be made an example of by the Japanese Government.  She and Pete (who live in Murray McCully’s electorate of East Coast Bays) have every right to look to their local MP for assistance and support.

But don’t hold your breath.  McCully says NZ will provide “consular support”, but surely his constituents in East Coast Bays can expect a little more than that?

It’s getting nasty in Japan.  Pro-whaling activists yesterday protested outside the New Zealand embassy waving cans of whale meat, demanding the New Zealand Government punishes the Sea Shepherd activists, including Pete Bethune.  And our government has been busy this week appeasing the Japanese government and the whale-killers.

But McCully has a job to do in East Coast Bays as well as on the international stage.

It’s time he gave Pete’s wife a call and did his job as a local MP.

I know exactly where I was when I first heard the Pixies Dolittle album in 1989. It was in my family’s living room in Dunedin. My house was close to school so at lunchtime a large chunk of the 7th form would de-camp for instant coffee, giving each other a hard time and listening to music. I suspect my brother had bought the album, that was how I found out about most music in those days. The moment we played the album there was no doubt that this band pretty much hooked everyone present that day.

20 years (and a bit) on The Pixies are touring, playing the album end to end. It sounds fantastic, and tonight, a number of the boys in that room that day, older, balder and fatter (in some cases) will be in Auckland. So will lots of other friends and acquantances from the years after school. This was the band of our time. I walked into my civil union to the tune of Here Comes Your Man.

I can tell from the review of last night’s show that are in for fun. Feels a bit like my generation’s first chance for some nostalgia. Is 38 too young for that? Who cares.

Here’s a  sign of troubled times. John Drinnan reports today that TVNZ is looking at halving the news hour to cut cost – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10631450&pnum=0

The news hour is the anchor for ratings and revenue. It consistently rates near the top for audiences. Frankly I can’t pretend that it is compelling viewing from end to end. But if cutting it back to half an hour means it will be replaced by a game show or similar, then our capacity to be informed as a nation, albeit through the skewed lens of commercial television is reduced.

You have to ask if the budget could not be more easily trimmed (especially if TVNZ is indeed seeking agreement from TV3

What about:

• reducing to one presenter (and doing away with the cutesy pie chit chat)
• cutting the number of silly ‘live’ crosses to times when there actually is something happening, not just using motorway bridges and court entrances for after-the-fact reports
• filling the rest of the news hour with some more meat  – like decent local or foreign- sourced news backgrounders and  some live interviews . We deserve to see the Prime Minister on the night of his Statement to parliament outlining major tax changes
• Leave ex-All Black grovelling gropers and their ilk to Close Up, where ratings are all king

doing away w

Here we go again – divide and rule tactics that reek of the National Party…’let’s turn one New Zealander against another so they forget to hold us accountable for anything’.

I’m referring to the article in the Dom Post this morning – ‘Leader threatens Hikoi if Pacific funds cut’.  The title is ok and the proposed course of action is fine but the article and statements left me concerned.

JR Pereira and former All Black Michael Jones say the Govt needs to focus more resources on the PI community, not fewer.  Apparently JR said that MPIA’s buding of 7.6 million was not fair compared with Te Puni Kokiri’s $173m budget for Maori.  The issue should not be about how much less Pacific are getting than Maori -  If Pacific people were polled tomorrow, I doubt very much that they would advocate for cutting the budget to TPK in order to lift the funding to MPIA. 

The Government needs to find the money from other places - here’s two ideas:

1.  Take the $35 million that they directed to PRIVATE SCHOOLS and redirect that to MPIA and/ or education initiatives that are actually proven to work

2.  Take the $62 million that they plan to spend on the ‘doomed to fail’  National Party Standards in schools and redirect that to MPIA and/ or initiatives in education that are actually proven to work

The other thing National needs to do, is put someone in the role of Minister of Pacific Island Affairs who actually geninuely cares about the plight of Pacific people – this person doesn’t necessarily have to be Pacific (Phil Goff did a great job when Minister of Pacific Island Affairs as did Mark Gosche and Winnie Laban) – but it does need to be someone who is experienced, has influence in their caucus and takes the portfolio SERIOUSLY.  The Ministry has the people, expertise and passion to serve Pacific People and NZ effectively but it is lacking in funding and also political nous.

The National Government have largely ignored Pacific peoples over the course of their 18 months in power – meanwhile our levels of underemployment have gone through the roof; our thriving Creative Arts industry is being threatened; our access to quality and affordable health and education are being undermined and our voice at decision making tables is being minimalised. 

It has taken so much work for our Pacific communities to make the strides that we have made (we have by no means reached nirvana but we were at least moving forward under Labour) and now National is guiding us backwards incrementally step by step by step…..

Michael Jones is quoted as saying - “The brown tail must be shortened, not be lengthened.  It must be removed.  We need to be more involved with decision-making.  We must be part of the head and not the tail,”  As a sportsperson and a human being I do hold respect for Michael but for goodness sakes – can he not see that it is the very Government that he continues to tout as being good for us Pacific people – that are ones leading us down a track that will place us back where we were at least 15 years ago?

It seems that in Opposition it is easy to get criticised for not presenting alternatives. A 20 second sound bite on TV is never going to be enough to give a considered view on a given issue. For me that has come through with the latest round public sector cuts proposed by National. It was good that the issues were covered in the mainstream media, but there are lots of issues to consider. One way we can get longer messages out is through opinion pieces. However it seems the mainstream media are reluctant to run them from politicians.

So, if you are interested, here is 550 words from me on what I think is the basis of how we should look at the future of public services in NZ.  A bit long for a blog I know, but let me know what you think.

Future of Public Services Needs Better than an Ad-Hoc Approach

Grant Robertson, Labour State Services Spokesperson

 The latest round of restructuring proposals from the National Government is a continuation of their ad-hoc and piecemeal approach to the future of the public service. There does not seem to be a plan, but rather a desire to be seen to be “cutting costs”  and ‘back office staff’, regardless of how the actual agencies are performing. This is a short-sighted approach that will not deliver New Zealanders more effective and responsive services.

 Everyone wants more efficient public services. There is no doubt room for improvement in a number of Ministries and Departments. As members of the public we have all experienced frustration with government agencies from time to time.  For individuals and families who have complex needs the system does not always respond in a comprehensive or flexible manner. For many public servants a culture of risk aversion surrounds their work, even though they have many innovative ideas.

 The solution to these problems is not going to come from simply ordering more and more indiscriminate funding cuts or from shuffling and merging small departments. The Prime Minister himself noted before the election that “few problems are solved by significant reorganisations – in fact, many more tend to be created. It is easy to underestimate the amount of energy and inspiration soaked up by institutional change, as well as the loss of personal and institutional knowledge.”

 To get more efficiency and responsiveness in the public sector we need to re-examine the legislative framework that governs it. The State Sector Act and the Public Finance Act have now passed their 21^st birthday.  They are the products of an era of thinking that saw public service agencies as competing business units. Enormous power has been invested in individuals Chief Executives, and a silo mentality has grown up as a result.  We need to ensure legislation supports a collaborative and integrated approach to delivering public services.  This approach as former Government Statistician Len Cook has said could involve “broadening governance structures and practices to encompass sector wide solutions to outcomes”.  In other words let’s start by focusing on what we want public services to achieve and build our framework around that.

 It is also important to talk to those who deliver and receive the services about how they can be made more effective and responsive. We have some of the sharpest minds in New Zealand working in the public sector. We need to harness those capabilities to create innovation.  They need to be supported to take risks. We also have to get alongside communities, businesses and individuals to see what works for them, and what is needed in their area.  This might mean a mixture of central government provision of services and devolved provision, and it will mean that the public service has to adapt and change. Better use of technology will be a key part of this.

 The approach to continuing to provide and improve public services should be one of investment, inclusion and innovation.  Instead what we are seeing from the current government is a desire to be seen to be cutting back spending based on an artificial distinction between the frontline and back office, and inflated claims about the growth of the sector in recent years.  New Zealanders expect and deserve high quality and efficient public services. The government needs to stop undermining them through indiscriminate cuts and start investing in our future.

The Labour Party’s online petition opposing John Key’s apparent plans to resume commercial whaling has been signed by more than 2,000 people in less than 48 hours.

If you don’t think NZ should be a pro-whaling nation please send John Key a strong message and sign the petition. You can do it here on Red Alert by clicking this link.

Alternatively, sign the petition on my website at carter.org.nz/savethewhales.

Thanks for your support.

I thought the Mayor of Wellington was taking the piss – or thought it was 1 April when she proposed a plastic imitation on the Mirimar hill.

She has given jafas a great opportunity to poke sticks at us as shown by two columns in the Herald today :-

Jim Hopkins: If Wellywood’s the answer, I have questions

and Brian Rudman : Two cheers for Wellywood – they’re welcome to their wannabe sign

Kerry please tell us you were just trying to be funny.

JP Morgan report today that the unemployment differential between NZ and Aussie is the worst since records have been kept.

Remember we had lower unemployment than Aussie when Key became PM. Still not 1k of the cycleway built as part of his recovery package nor 1 metre of fibre in the ground.

Went to two in Auckland tonight.

She used the same presentation both times, seemed generic with no nod to the fact she was in Auckland.

Poor understanding of the research she was refering to – and mixed up different studies.

Problem definition not good – and objective, ( other than making sure ALL students leave with Level 2 NCEA, think about that one ) unclear.

Didn’t understand that the vague descriptions she was using are not standards.

Seemed to think that measuring was teaching.

Had a good cheer squad that moved from one meeting to the next – about ten people.

Had chairs who made the mistake of calling patsy questioners by their first names. The Standard highlights this in their report from the first meeting.

Was very wooden and rote like in responding to questions with what seemed like pre- prepared answers to different questions.

I got lots of material for use in the house but she seemed so fragile that I felt so sorry for her that I didn’t ask a question at the second meeting.

I’m convinced that she can’t last for long.