We heard John Key slamming the Occupy movement last night.
Here Bill English is on their side against the money dealers who have ripped us off.
Red Alert
Posts Tagged ‘double dipton’
English lied – papers show foreign ownership essential to his privatisation
Posted by Trevor Mallard on July 10th, 2011On Thursday Bill English told the house that he had not received advice that indicated having foreigners buy his privatised SoEs was essential to his plans.
He had received that advice. He read it. He signed it. He sent it to Joyce and Key.
He and Key used the report at least five times in the House in the last month.
I’ve complained to the Speaker.
It is bad to sell our power companies. To sell them to foreigners is worse. To lie about it is worse still.
Key will quit at end of year, mixed incentives for the Double Dipper and questions about the system
Posted by Trevor Mallard on January 3rd, 2011John Key’s announcement that he will quit politics at the end of the year when he is no longer PM is no surprise. He has always given the impression of being a CV builder and someone who lives for the moment rather than the grind necessary to get real change. The same interview shows he has given up on catching Aussie wages.
His comments will be causing interesting debate around the English bbq. Talk about mixed incentives for a deputy.
There is however a serious issue raised. Should Key be running for Helensville ?
Geoff Palmer and the Royal Commission were always of the view that list positions should be used by senior MPs rather than (mainly) being an entry point.
In some countries there is a nominated list member as a deputy for electorate members, so there is an ability to shift to a list and not cause a by-election. And voters know about it at election time. That way say PM Deputy Finance Foreign Affairs and Trade at least would not have day to day constituency responsibilities. And it can be a two way door – ie former Ministers resume electorates if they choose to. Might be something for a longer term debate.
But in the interim I wonder if we are up for a discussion on whether we should, in the medium term, develop a convention of leaders and deputies of major parties being list but not electorate candidates.
And no I never made the suggestion to Helen. And please don’t show this to Phil and Annette while they are having a break.
Systemic Market Failure?
Posted by David Cunliffe on September 22nd, 2010When this country is in recession and Kiwi families are doing it bloody tough, I cannot bear to stand by and see rich and powerful private interests – whom I will not name at this point and this post is not about SCF – rorting the rules and using their clubs and networks to finesse processes.
It makes Godzone look like “the coldest banana republic in the world”.
For goodness sake interests associated with the Natural Dairy Crafar farms bid (potentially with Nat links) reportedly gave $200,000 to the National Party while the Natural Dairy application was still before the OIO and while National has a ministerial policy review underway.
National should IMMEDIATELY reject that bid – otherwise what is left to separate this from complete corruption? Brown envelopes? Is David Garrett really the only sick or crooked puppy on the Govt benches?
Was it OK for the OIO-overseeing Minister of Finance to lease his (trust’s) house to the govt for a staggering ministerial rent, or accept hours of free TV for his “Plain English” ads? Isn’t it time we Kiwis stood up and demanded that the tories do sweat the small stuff like the rest of us? Isn’t it time John key held SOMEONE to account for SOMETHING rather than smile, wave and make excuses?
The Fendalton and Queen St methods are different from the Crafar one but they are even more dangerous and subversive: very polite circles of influence in the clubs and boardrooms - with massive flows of funds through anonymous trusts that violate the intent of the Electoral Finance Act. Prestigious law firms and lobbyists. This is up with the worst sort of influence peddling I saw in Washington D.C. - One dollar one vote: permanent plutocracy unless we fight back.
Beyond political donations, look at the ability of the rich and powerful to get their way while the poor and middle struggle: $2 billion a year of tax avoidance through LAQCs and trusts that National in government has refused to touch. Half the top 100 welathiest NZers are still not on the top tax rate!
This post is not about SCF, but researching that issue has opened my eyes to the complexity of the company and accounting structures in daily use around the markets. One prominent international investment broker told me he tells his clients never to invest in NZ other than through an ASIC-regulated (Australian) vehicle, because our market is a wild west.
Well what is the point of getting our savings rate up (and asking hard working families to go without consumtion) if the investment vehicles we need to get the money to our struggling firms are being milked and siphoned by fees and sweet deals to the cronies in the markets? Why would any sane Kiwi sweat 80 hours a week to build a real business here? Where will our kids choose to live?
We are talking the need for a full scale root and branch reform. For example, is the Trustee model not a fiction? Issuers want tame trustees; trustees want clients. How do you prevent a race to the bottom? I will wager now the FMA Bill will not do the job. We have BIG problems here folks.
It might have been cool to point the finger at Labour when the champers was flowing during the bubble hype days; but corporate influence peddling is about as attractive as a bucket of sick in the middle of a recession.
There is a real risk of systemic market failure in the NZ financial markets. They remind me of telecommunications markets in the 1990s – time for a big cleanup.
It is not right and not fair on the silent majority who play by the rules and who are getting absolutely screwed.
It will only get worse until we have a Govt with the guts to stand up to it. The smiling millionaire from Bankers Trust is hardly likely to do that!
Friday poll – how much did bill english double dip
Posted by Trevor Mallard on August 13th, 2010
Loading ... Loading ...Friday poll – who should replace English as Nat MoF ?
Posted by Trevor Mallard on July 16th, 2010Much of the more open discussion leading into the Nats conference has been the apparently failed attempt to drop Goodfellow the President.
The failure of Bill English to regain credibility, especially in the business community, following exposure of his double diptoning has been widely but more quietly discussed. His shocking (dis)approval figures have also been circulating.
Of course the best thing for Labour would be for English to stay in his job until the election. But there are now real doubts about this. Key didn’t get his smiling assassin title for nothing.
So to be generous I thought it would be good to give people a chance to nominate a successor and have included all front bench and a couple of others as options.
Who should replace English as national's Minister of Finance ?
- Anne Tolley (26%, 42 Votes)
- Steven Joyce (24%, 39 Votes)
- Simon Power (23%, 37 Votes)
- Lockwood Smith (9%, 15 Votes)
- Tony Ryall (7%, 11 Votes)
- Gerry Brownlee (5%, 8 Votes)
- Judith Collins (3%, 5 Votes)
- Nick Smith (2%, 3 Votes)
- Chris Finlayson (2%, 3 Votes)
- Murray McCully (-1%, 1 Votes)
Total Voters: 164
Loading ...Recovery slowing – interest rates dropping
Posted by Trevor Mallard on July 2nd, 2010Kiwibank have dropped their interest rates - a clear indication that smiling and waving and voting yourself some more housing money has not been good enough to keep the recovery on track in NZ.
Dipton resident running education as perk job
Posted by Trevor Mallard on May 18th, 2010
As I ask Tolley questions in Parliament it is amusing to see the former leader from Dipton dictating the answers to her.
Always a danger pulling out old websites but this one is a beauty. And it is still live.
We never knew English was Finance and Education at the same time.
But some things don’t change.
Update Bill’s team has awoken and changed his link.
Triple Diptoner
Posted by Trevor Mallard on May 9th, 2010 
But I’m sure there wouldn’t be room at his primary place of residence. Thanks Herald.
Time to plead guilty bill
Posted by Trevor Mallard on March 8th, 2010Yet another inquiry into the Brash email leaks doesn’t find quite enough evidence to name the Deputy Prime Minister.
Is John Key racist for criticising Hone Harawira but backing Wiremu Pakeha?
Posted by Trevor Mallard on February 5th, 2010Kelvin Davis has posted on whether it is appropriate to copyright the Maori Party flag. Interesting discussion but it now appears that neither Hone Harawira nor his wife has any beneficial interest in any application that may be made in the future.
So why has John Key been so aggressive in his criticism of Hone?
Hone is a sometimes an easy target. He puts his head up and I’ve certainly had a go at him when it is appropriate.
But contrast this question of a perceived (but not actual) conflict of interest of a member of Hone’s family with the decade of the English whanau ripping the taxpayer off by pretending to live in Dipton. And Wiremu was found to have an interest. And it is continuing.
So is Key kicking Hone because he is Maori and if not what is his explanation for his hypocrisy?
Double dipton on public service ethics
Posted by Trevor Mallard on December 11th, 2009Have been looking for a copy of the speech he gave.
Unusually not available on government website – wonder why.
Apparently didn’t mention housing rip off and was very unhappy when it was raised in the first question.
The standard on pay the bill english’s changing story on trust
Posted by Trevor Mallard on October 31st, 2009They call it Bill’s pants are on fire.
Cactus Kate on pay the bill english
Posted by Trevor Mallard on October 28th, 2009I’m sure a few of my colleagues won’t think much of me linking to Cactus Kate.
This story has comments that are wrong – and her conclusion is pure Acting – but the nub of it that Bill English is on the ropes, a liability and a hypocrite is where we have common ground.
Pay the bill english on trusts and tax
Posted by Trevor Mallard on October 27th, 2009Cactus Kate highlights the problem pay the bill has as MoF.
“Bill English has absolutely no right to talk about Trusts with any authority ever again. He set the Endeavour Trust up with the purpose of using it as a vehicle for not only home ownership but rorting the taxpayer of their subsidy on housing. This is beyond what English says he is now targetting – the age old fair practice of using companies or trust to lower the top personal tax rate from the high thirties to the low thirties. Still too bloody high.”
The last bit confirms that Kate hasn’t joined the enlightened side of politics and shows that pay the bill is being written off as a credible figure by the right as well as the left.
I do however want to warn against the idea that government can just hike up the tax rate in order to cover the budget. It doesn’t work.
When I was first an MP the Nats left us a legacy of a 66% top tax rate. Anyone with brains could work out that money invested with an accountant or tax lawyer resulted in a better return than investing it in productive activity.
And when GST was introduced and all rates dropped – including the top rate coming down to 33% – income tax revenue increased. Partly because a pile of exemptions and legal rorts were removed, partly because some people who had never had a relationship with the tax system became registered for GST and therefore paid income tax as well and partly because it was better to get on with earning money and cop the tax rather than spending valuable time energy and money trying to avoid it.
Pay the bill english relaxed about the high dollar
Posted by Trevor Mallard on October 26th, 2009The Press reports that Bill English is relaxed about the high dollar and that it is a vote of confidence in the economy.
While I’m tempted to just agree with him and to welcome him back to the position he took when he became MoF a year ago that wouldn’t be fair.
Our $ being at these levels is a result of currency traders expectations that NZ interest rates increasing earlier and faster than those in the US and UK in particular.
Selwyn Pellett has contributed extensively to a thread on the subject.
Pay it back bill should get John Key to explain it to him.
And he should schedule another visit and double back through Dipton the place he still certifies is his primary place of residence and discuss the results of the level and instability on sheep and beef farmers and maybe even call into Christchurch and have a similar discussion with manufacturers.
Tumeke on pay the bill ad for 7
Posted by Trevor Mallard on October 26th, 2009Fair amount of email traffic on this and I’m sure it will be taken up but in the interim couldn’t put it much better than Bomber on Tumeke.
Pay the bill english yet another thing
Posted by Trevor Mallard on October 25th, 2009So Bill has repaid the cash he got for pretending to being resident in Dipton when he was in fact living in Wellington.
But he only repaid to Ministerial Services the amount since the election. He hasn’t paid back for the previous nine years when he pretended to reside in Dipton when he was in fact living in Wellington.
And surely as an Opposition member the expectation that he live in his electorate was even stronger then.
He certainly doesn’t look happy in the House trying to preach fiscal restraint.
Pay the bill english one more thing
Posted by Trevor Mallard on October 23rd, 2009A very good authority has indicated that despite Bill English repaying the money he (or his iffy trust) received from Ministerial Services he has not withdrawn or amended the form he lodged with the Speaker indicating that Dipton is his primary place of residence.
I wonder why. Is it on legal advice because of the investigation? Or because he knows Key would require him to repay that $250k? Or another reason?
Or two of the above?
Or all three?
