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Posts Tagged ‘John Key’

RBS show how mixed ownership doesn’t work

Posted by Trevor Mallard on January 31st, 2012

The Royal Bank of Scotland is getting a bit of publicity at the moment.

Royal Bank of Scotland was among the biggest fallers in the FTSE 100 on Monday, in part because of anxiety among investors about political interference following Stephen Hester’s decision to waive his near-£1m bonus.

The move sparked a debate about whether the government should step back and try to maintain the “arm’s length” management approach set up by Labour through UK Financial Investments (UKFI), or take full control of a bank in which the taxpayer already owns an 82% stake.

In New Zealand the Labour government handled Air NZ at arms length. Provincial route cuts, industrial disputes all resulted in political pressure which Cullen and Clark rejected. But not all finance Ministers are as strong, and Prime Ministers like Key take the line of least resistance trying to please as many people as the polls tell them to.

I’m not sure that these shares are as risk free as Key pretends. He should be able to see the biggest risk in the mirror as he shaves.

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Filed under: #ownourfuture, asset sales
6 Comments

The Sad State of Key’s Nation

Posted by Grant Robertson on January 27th, 2012

There is an old joke about the politician who dies, and arrives in heaven to find that market forces have taken hold, and that heaven and hell are offering one day trials so that he can decide where to spend eternity. The politician takes up the offer and spends a delightful, restful day in heaven listening to harp music. He goes down to Hell and has a great time partying, eating, drinking and generally having fun. He goes back to heaven and tells St Peter his decision’s made, its Hell for him. When he gets back there he finds none of the fun, but just a brutal, cold, barren landscape. He seeks out Satan, and asks what’s happened to the Hell he saw the day before, and Satan says, ” you’re a politician you should understand, yesterday we were campaigning, today we’re in office.”

In the election campaign we have just had, the paying down of debt and the return to surplus were big issues. The “show me the money” moment was just one where John Key brandished his credentials to lead us to the promised land of surplus by 2014-15. It was a certainty, and it could happen even earlier. Yet, six weeks on, the dampners are on. Key now says its only a “reasonable probability”. Another $1 billion have been knocked off the forecast. Truth is little is different in the challenging global environment now from when the promises were made, except the PM is not campaigning any more, he is in office. Not for the first time he gave the public the message they wanted to hear about economic growth, but now its time to lower expectations.

The so-called State of the Nation speech from the PM yesterday was a dull and miserable affair. Gone is the brighter future we were all promised just a few weeks ago. What plan there is has at is centrepiece more cuts to the public service. Regardless of the wisdom of those, they will be a drop in the bucket of improving the government’s finances.

No one is underestimating the challenge in front of the government. But what’s happened to the sunny optimisim of our PM? Actually there is every reason to be optimistic about New Zealand’s future if the government is prepared to do things differently. The world has changed, will the government? There is opportunity to reset fiscal and economic policy, and make the investments that will support innovative growing companies, grow our skills base and ensure that everyone reaches their potential.

But there was none of that in the speech. Not just a lack of economic vision either. And as Pita Sharples (yes, he is a Minister in the government) points out nothing on dealing with poverty or inequality. Nothing on the issues that need to be dealt with to unlock the potential of thousands of New Zealanders.

It was a defeatist, sad and tired effort. A bit like an old joke.

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Filed under: economy, inequality, national
38 Comments

His vision of a grey country

Posted by A Guest Poster on November 22nd, 2011

Jordan Carter is a Wellington-based List candidate

John Key’s rather wooden performances in the leaders’ debates so far, are consistent with his vision for New Zealand.  A country painted bright grey, where everyone is “ambushus” for — well, nothing much really, except power in Key’s case.

Through the whole election campaign, Labour has stood up for New Zealand and the country we can be:  a place where everyone can work at a decent job on decent wages, where the environment is clean and protected, and where we respect and look after each other, rather than creating false divides between Kiwis.

The policy framework we have rolled out is a plan that will tackle long-standing problems the country faces.  It’ll fix the things that hold us back: unfair taxes, biased investment into speculation, a lack of skilled and trained workers, housing shortages and so on.

But it’s the frank appeal to what it means to be a New Zealander that is exciting about Labour’s campaign.

Stopping asset sales is part of that, but think back to the other bits of recent political history: “gone by lunchtime” on New Zealand’s nuclear free (Brash, who Key is trying to disinter from his political grave); the effort to get mining done on Schedule 4 lands; the attacks on people on benefits; the pegging in of people’s rights at work; the “it’s not a priority” message to diverse communities all around New Zealand.

Their whole effort is to diminish and undermine the things that make us who we are, and to turn us into a privatised, corporatised bunch of Klingons who are only consumers, never citizens, and where to have a different ambition or even a different opinion is to be something other than “mainstream”.

National and John Key are running a grey campaign and their vision of our country is grey to match.  They are avoiding the tough issues, have no plan to change the economy or protect our environment, and just haven’t got what it takes to let every New Zealander get ahead — and to look after the people who can’t.

There is more to us than that. We are a better country than that.  We don’t need a bright grey future. We need one where everyone can fly.

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Filed under: #ownourfuture
10 Comments

John Key’s “cheap shot”

Posted by Grant Robertson on November 15th, 2011

It just felt wrong to me when John Key decided to compare the taping, accidental or deliberate, of his conversation with the systemic phone hacking of the News of the World. It’s no real surprise that someone connected with that case, the lawyer for the victims has spoken out describing John Key’s comparison of the recording of his conversation with John Banks with the NOTW phone hacking as a “cheap shot”.

There is a difference between the News of the World hacking into someone’s phone to find out private information and seemingly – whether accidental or on purpose – effectively a journalist investigating some political statement.

I am certainly not condoning covert recording, but I felt uncomfortable when I heard the comparison to NOTW made by John Key. This was an orchestrated media stunt gone wrong, and is not even close to the intrusive, criminal behaviour in the UK.

Then, tonight on TV1 John Key made a comparison to the idea of high profile New Zealanders being recorded talking about a child considering suicide, that being published, and then the child committing suicide.

This just makes me even more uncomfortable. I had given credit to Key for saying he wanted to see coordinated action on youth suicide, but trying to draw that issue ( under which media have operated almost without fail in line with strict reporting guidelines) into what is a political situation seems wrong to me.

These comparisons and claims are all a smokescreen to John Key not wanting to be caught out for what he said to John Banks. He should wind back the rhetoric and just front up to what he said.

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Filed under: act party
17 Comments

Cuppagate- Game Changer?

Posted by Grant Robertson on November 14th, 2011

Interesting to read Jonathan Milne from the Herald on Sunday’s account of the cuppagate tape.

Milne says

But the potential disclosure of the contents of that conversation – held only a metre away from the closest reporters – could yet throw a rocket into this election campaign. It is a game-changer.

And therein lies the problem. I am sure as hell not endorsing covert taping of anyone. But this was a major media stunt in a campaign. It was designed to be a public event. As David Farrar has noted if the tape reveals something where Key or Banks is saying one thing publicly and another thing privately, then that gives strong reasons in the public interest to know what was said. Milne uses the langauge “game changer”, which indicates there is something here.

Milne goes on

But it’s the sheer range of comments in Key and Banks’ discussion that is breathtaking – and the pair’s assessment of the prospects of National, Act and NZ First.

Perhaps leadership in ACT discussions? Maybe a discussion about future asset sales? Whatever, this episode has more to play out, and the all guns blazing approach of National against its release indicates there is something of public interest in those tea leaves.

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Filed under: #ownourfuture, act party
28 Comments

Cuppa Tea gone sour

Posted by Clare Curran on November 14th, 2011

On the Stuff website last night:

Key, campaigning in Hawke’s Bay, said he wasn’t in the “slightest bit concerned” about what was on the tape. He said the conversation was “bland” – but has refused to make public what was said.

I don’t know all the circumstances of the taping of John Key’s and John Bank’s cuppa tea conversation. But I make these points:

  • The event was stage managed by the National Party. It was a hyped up event. Media were invited to film the meeting of Key and Banks, but not the actual conversation. There was an enormous amount of spin around it.
  • National’s intention was for Epsom voters to know that John Key thought they should vote for Banks.
  • The meeting was recorded without their knowledge. The journalist responsible owned up and fronted the media himself.
  • The Herald on Sunday did not publish the contents. They reported they had the tape.
  • John Key is now spinning it as News of the World tactics. He asserts that the journalist deliberately set out to covertly record a conversation. That’s a big accusation. I’d like to know if he wants the journalist charged? What about the Herald on Sunday?
  • Key says the conversation was bland.  But he won’t provide the nation with the contents.
  • There is enormous public interest in this issue. It could result in an Act/National coalition arrangement.
  • If National allowed the cameras and the media part way in for their own ends, then they’ve now got to front up and tell the nation what was said.
  • I cannot fathom what the privacy argument could possibly be that outweighs the public interest on this. There’s an election in 13 days time. These two men were discussing an arrangement between their respective parties. Surely the public has a right to know what it is.

A private conversation is held privately. Not stage managed in public. Tell us what you promised John Banks, John Key!

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, media
27 Comments

Cuts to public services- more misleading from Key

Posted by Grant Robertson on November 2nd, 2011

A very interesting story in the Manawatu Standard today where John Key is accused of misleading the New Zealand public. The accusation does not come from a Labour politician, it comes from a health professional.

A leading injury rehabilitation specialist has lashed out at comments made by Prime Minister John Key, saying he has misled the public over cuts made to the health system. Rehabilitation medicine consultant physician Jurriaan de Groot said he was left outraged at a statement made by Mr Key in a televised leaders debate that only administrative jobs had been cut from the public health service.

This is the mythology that the National Party have tried to create. The fact is that they have no idea whether the jobs that have gone in the core public service or the wider state sector are frontline, back office or any other term. They are just the result of indiscriminate cuts. In this case services delivered for rehabilitation.

Dr de Groot said the slashing of MidCentral District Health Board’s rehabilitative Star Unit from 12 beds to eight, proved Mr Key was “wrong at best, deliberately misleading at worst”. “It certainly wasn’t just administrative services that were cut from there, the hospital lost a valuable resource expertise and they’ll never get it back.”

Throughout the health sector cuts in funding have caused lost services. This was the result of $10 million being taken from a budget. In other places its been mental health or youth health or public health.

I am really glad a medical professional has called out the misleading from the government on the real impact of cuts to services. Many have been scared as to what will happen to them when they speak out. Good on Dr De Groot.

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Filed under: health, public services
10 Comments

You Can’t Hide if You are Prime Minister #2

Posted by Grant Robertson on October 31st, 2011

Let’s be absolutely clear, Radio New Zealand’s flagship show Morning Report said this morning that they had invited John Key and Phil Goff to debate each other. Phil Goff said yes, John Key said no. John Key said they are debating on some other occasions, and “because of the time needed to prepare he was not going to do any more”. (Simon Mercep says this in the first few seconds of the link below).

I am sorry? To start with that is a stupid excuse, because the issues being raised in any given debate will be similiar, so preparation can not be used. And it is not as if this is a community radio station in Twizel. This is the most listened to morning news programme in the country. This is disgraceful. John Key said you can’t hide if you are the Prime Minister. Well he seems to be giving it a good go!

The two leaders will now have seperate interviews (obviously Mr Key could squeeze that into his schedule). Phil’s was today, and you can listen here

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Filed under: #ownourfuture, Elections
14 Comments

The Three-Way Handshake, by popular demand

Posted by Grant Robertson on October 27th, 2011

We have had a number of requests for some footage of the famous awkward moment from Sunday night. So by the wonders of modern technology, the moment has been captured for you. Don’t say we don’t do anything for you!

Handshake

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Filed under: humour, rugby world cup
27 Comments

Foodbanks and the Underclass

Posted by Grant Robertson on October 18th, 2011

There have been lots of reasons to feel proud to be a New Zealander lately. We have hosted what looks to me like a brilliant major sporting tournament (the debacle around the opening notwithstanding) where we have fulfiled the “stadium of 4 million” ideal. And what’s more on the field the All Blacks are poised to break the 24 year drought and make us world champions again.

But today I read two stories in the New Zealand Herald that made me ashamed as a New Zealander. The first is the news that the government has slashed the number of food parcels it hands out by 20% in a year at a time when foodbanks are dealing with more and more individuals and families who need support for the very basics of food. Food parcels are not about anything other than people getting the necessities of life.

Last night in Wellington there was a public meeting on poverty issues where Stephanie McIntyre from Downtown Community Ministry talked about the more than 400 clients they dealt with in the three months to June. They do a great job at DCM, making real and substantive differences in people’s lives, but the current government is making their job much harder by changing policies to make it harder to access food grants.

The government’s approach in my view is privatising dealing with poverty, it is an abdication of responsibility and it is morally wrong.

The second story is an acknowledgement from John Key that the “underclass” he talked so much about in the 2008 election campaign has grown under his watch. He can’t deny the evidence, it is all around from the massive increase in foodbank use, the rise in unemployment to health indicators like the 5,000 extra avoidable hospital admissions among children for respiratory illness and skin infections.

So the PM acknowledges it, great. But he is not a spectator here, he is actually running the government. More can and should be done to directly attack the growth in poverty. It is simply not good enough.

Labour has policies that are directly aimed at addressing this, from the increase in the minimum wage to $15, a fairer tax system including making the first $5000 tax free for everyone, increasing the top tax rate and introducing the CGT. We also will have a comprehensive children’s policy, which as Annette King has already announced will include legislating targets for the elimination of child poverty. And for me that must be the goal. Nothing less is acceptable.

At the forum on poverty last night Brian Easton spoke and he said while it was possible to argue on a technical basis about the best policy response to poverty, the real question to be asked is what are the ethical and moral principles that lie behind the policies. It seems to me to be hard to find an ethical principle that lies behind cutting the number of food parcels or letting inequality and poverty grow.

I think Brian’s question is a legitimate one to ask. So here is my answer. The ethical basis for Labour’s policy at this election is fairness, inter-generational responsibility, inclusion and respect and a belief that if we reduce ineqaulity we will harness all our potential, which common sense tells us will benefit us all. So what’s the ethical basis for National’s policy?

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Filed under: Fair Share, inequality, poverty
23 Comments

Rena and Leadership

Posted by Grant Robertson on October 16th, 2011

When I was doing Vote Chat with Bryce Edwards at Otago University on Friday he raised the good question of the political balancing act that surrounds how opposition political parties respond to a disaster, in this case the Rena. As an Opposition there is the risk that people will see criticism of the government as politicising the situation, being opportunistic etc. Equally part of the role of an Opposition is to hold the government to account, whatever the horrendous circumstances might be.

To get one thing out of the way straight up, no one is saying the Government is to blame for the Rena hitting the reef. I am also sure that John Key, Steven Joyce and Nick Smith are as disturbed as I am by the images of the oil on beaches and the death and injury of wildlife. Every New Zealander will want to see the damage from the accident mitigated and the environment cleaned up. What is a legitimate question though is whether faced with the incident the government showed the leadership that we should expect of them and acted as swiftly and effectively as they should have.

My take is that the government were flat footed and to keen to sheet blame and responsibility elsewhere rather than take the leadership role we want our government to take in times of crisis. Someone I worked with once said that people mostly want the government out of their way when things are going well, but they want them there yesterday when things go wrong. I think National got that wrong in the first few days of the Rena incident.

And criticism of this is not just coming from Labour, but also from people who might normally be described as friends of the government like John Roughan, Paul Holmes and even Matthew Hooten. Here is part of Hooten’s NBR column which is not on-line. (h/t Liberation)

Joyce failed totally to comprehend what the Rena grounding meant to the Bay of Plenty’, and ‘He did not see that, as transport minister and arguably the most powerful figure in the government after Mr Key, his role was to lead and improve the quality of the response, and ensure it was sufficiently empowered and resourced. When he spoke publicly, he demonstrated little empathy with locals, telling them there was no point going to the beach to clean up the oil, saying more was on its way and that it could take years to resolve anyway

Then there is the question of whether the government had done the work over the last three years to have us planned for a disaster like this. There are questions here too, with the freeze on funding for Maritime NZ and the failure to put in place the mechanism that would see more of the costs of dealing with the disaster fall on the ship company and less on you and me.

So, in the face of this disaster, we join with all New Zealanders in wanting to protect our beautiful coastline and all those, human and animal who inhabit it. But we also take our role seriously to raise the question- Where was the leadership?, and in this case it was sadly lacking.

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Filed under: Health and Safety, conservation, transport
15 Comments

NZ doesn’t need dilettante PM – Dompost

Posted by Trevor Mallard on October 12th, 2011

Dompost editorial on Key this morning:-

However, his failure to check the facts before opening his mouth has had the opposite effect to that which he intended. Instead of casting doubt on Labour’s economic credentials, he has damaged his own credibility.

It is not the only occasion in recent weeks in which he has misfired. Sunny-and-confident is in danger of tipping over the edge into flip-and-glib.

The Rugby World Cup has lifted spirits everywhere, but it is not an excuse for the prime minister to knock off work early. That, however, is the impression he has given. He seems more interested in hobnobbing with celebrities than the serious business of steering the country through an economic downturn.


and

Mr Key is a different creature from Miss Clark – he relies more on instinct and less on analysis; he is more optimistic, less doctrinaire. However, style is not a substitute for substance. The country does not need a dilettante prime minister. It needs someone whose No1 priority is the state of the nation. Less blokey joshing and more attention to detail would be in everyone’s interests

.

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Filed under: economy, national
18 Comments

Explaining is losing- Key on Standard and Poor’s

Posted by Grant Robertson on October 10th, 2011

Here is John Key at his Post Cabinet press conference trying to explain his claim in Parliament that Standard and Poors had said there was a much higher chance that there would be a credit downgrade if Labour was in office.

So, lets get this right. John Key gets an email from someone he won’t name who says he was at a meeting with some Standard and Poor’s people and they said something that this annonymous person ‘inferred’ meant that a Labour led government would mean a greater chance of a downgrade.

Up against this is Kyran Curry a named person from Standard and Poors who was at the meeting, on the record in the New Zealand Herald.

Standard and Poor’s sovereign rating analyst Kyran Curry, who attended the meeting in Auckland, said that would not have happened. “In Auckland last month, I might have talked about the importance of the Government maintaining a strong fiscal position in the medium term but I would never have touched on individual parties. “It is something we just don’t do,” Mr Curry said. “We don’t rate political parties. We rate Governments.”

John Key came to Parliament and gave everyone (including as you can hear in the video the Press Gallery journalists) the impression that this was a direct quote about what Standard and Poors said. Judge for yourself, here is what John Key said in Parliament

‘When Standard and Poor’s was giving a meeting in New Zealand about month ago, what it did say was that there was about a 30% chance that we would be downgraded. That is what happens when one is on a negative outlook. It did go on to say, though, that if there was a change of Government, that downgrade would be much more likely

This not true, and John Key knows it. Standard and Poors did not “say” anything, someone who John Key won’t name thinks that is what they might have meant. There is a big difference. As John Pagani said on radio earlier today one of the things that frustrates Labour MPs about John Key is that the public don’t see or hear some of the things he does in Parliament. This time he has been caught out.

And lest anyone forget, this was all part of the strategy of obfuscation and buck passing in response to the fact that we did get downgraded on John Key’s watch, the first time since 1998.

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Filed under: economy, parliament
39 Comments

Reflecting on yesterday

Posted by Grant Robertson on October 6th, 2011

In a lot of ways I would rather not write this post, but I have been reflecting on what happened yesterday in the Parliamentary debating chamber and there are some things I want to say. The incident itself is not a political matter It was an awful experience, and had potential tragedy written all over it. The man who tried to throw himself into the chamber just a couple of feet from where I was sitting, clearly is troubled. Like many people I see in my electorate office it sounds like he has major problems with government agencies, and he was agitated. He was heading over the balcony head first, to a four metre drop, onto a collection of desks, chairs and people. To me it was the act of someone with deep and difficult issues and problems. I hope he is now getting help to deal with those.

The actions of the security guards and members of the public who pulled him back and then had to struggle further with him were courageous and certainly saved him and others from serious injury. I know that all MPs are grateful for their actions. From our party, Phil managed to speak to the guard before he was taken to hospital and Annette visited him last night in A and E (where, I am told, he waited nearly 6 hours before getting medical attention), and I understand he is doing ok today.

But there is a political element, and it was introduced by the Prime Minister. I just can not fathom his reaction. I could not hear everything he said, and it is not picked up on video because his microphone was not on, but from talking to others, it is quite clear he was talking about the incident and saying “Labour should be ashamed”, and that is “down to you”. He then did a strange gesture moving his hand across his throat (you can see it at 2.06 on the video below). What follows from that is the angry reaction from Labour members, and what I think was a very measured and calm response from Phil Goff.

Emotions were running high for all of us, and I accept that the PM would have been as disturbed as anyone in the Chamber. But now that he has had time to reflect, would it hurt for him to acknowledge that somehow trying to link Labour to the incident was wrong, inappropriate and highly likely to cause extreme offense? He has said he was making some reference to DPS. I am not sure what the connection was actually, albeit a DPS officer assisted once the man had been hauled back over the balcony. In any case, that does not make it right to link Labour with the incident.

Parliament can be a high emotion, robust and stressful environment, and in the heat of the moment some terrible things get said. If Mr Key had come out and said yesterday that he was sorry for linking Labour to the incident but that it was a very stressful time, he might actually have gone up in my estimations. Unfortunately, he has gone down.

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Filed under: parliament
66 Comments

Keeping the ratings agencies happy

Posted by Grant Robertson on October 3rd, 2011

Governments quite often set the criteria by which they want their policies or budgets to be judged. In his Budget speech in May this year John Key was very clear about how he judged his Budget to be a success- the accolades of Standard and Poor’s. So how should we judge the Government’s success, given the double downgrade?

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Filed under: Budget, economy
24 Comments

Dr Brash defies National’s gravity and is speaking the truth

Posted by Raymond Huo on September 23rd, 2011

Rarely would I agree with statements from Dr Don Brash, but he had me nodding my head in agreement for parts of his interview on Chinese Radio AM936 this morning.

Regarding Government spending, Dr Brash said the current National Government had spent much more than the previous Labour Government.

Dr Brash went on to say that both the previous National and Labour governments had managed government debt well, meaning the current John Key-led Government started from a good point. However under Prime Minister John Key and Finance Minister Bill English’s watch, government debt has gone from bad to worse.

This reminded me of our debate with National MPs in 2009. National claimed that ACC was leaking millions of dollars under Labour, we argued that the figures do not back up the National Governments unjust cutting of services and upping of ACC levies and that National’s claims were nothing more than scaremongering.

But it has now proved that the ACC debacle of 2009 was just a pre-cursor that led to the National Government hiking ACC levies before they privatise the organisation should they get another term in office.

The world will be a much nicer place if politicians would say what the issues really are (as they are).

Bill English’s repeated lines such as “in the last long nine years” and “economic mismanagement by Labour” may give him an instant boost in his blame game, but the facts will be spelt out sooner or later – just as Dr Brash did this morning.

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Filed under: ACC, asian
11 Comments

The PM’s Speech

Posted by Grant Robertson on September 15th, 2011

Imagine.  You have been given 90 seconds to speak to an audience of millions across the globe at the start of the fourth largest sporting tournament in the world.  You are following on from a spectacular and uplifiting opening ceremony.  This is your chance to reinforce to the world what is special about New Zealand and the kind of host we will be.  Its a huge opportunity. To paraphrase the famous quote, a short speech like this is much harder to write than a long one.  

So what do you do?  If you are John Key, you wing it.  That is what we were told in Parliament yesterday.  In answer to the question of who wrote his speech at the Opening Ceremony, John Key said ” I did. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I wrote a speech, I created one.”  Check out the video below, right at the end at 6.15.

It showed.   Which still begs the question, how did it end up this way? 

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Filed under: rugby world cup
54 Comments

‘A side order of complete and utter shambles’

Posted by Grant Robertson on September 14th, 2011

If you are struggling to work out quite what has happened today in terms of the government’s handling of the Party Central/Rail Fail events in Auckland, then you will not be alone. Its been a confusing day with the government’s attempts ranging from bluster and denial to what sounded like outright takeover.

The best attempt at making sense of it all to my mind came from John Campbell on tonight’s Campbell Live. It is well worth a watch, which you can do by clicking here.

Several highlights for me

  • John’s description of the opening night of the World Cup as ” A great start with a side order of complete and utter shambles”
  • The extraordinary revelation that neither Murray McCully nor John Key spoke to Len Brown about their decision to invoke some powers before they told the media.
  • John asking the question that was also asked several times in Parliament today by Phil Goff- ” What has the Minister for the Rugby World Cup actually been doing for the last three years.”
  • Len Brown’s gritted teeth state of calm. I think he comes off well. Accepting his share of the blame and making very clear that the whole process has been a collaboration with the government and that they have “equal responsibility”.

Everyone, including me, wants New Zealand to host a successful Rugby World Cup. We have made a great start around the country and the rugby hasn’t been half bad either. Now is the time for us to sort out what is happening in Auckland, and for the government to work with the Council and take its share of the responsibility for what’s gone wrong, and what we hope will go right.

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Filed under: rugby world cup
51 Comments

Politicians as Commentators: Am I bothered?

Posted by Grant Robertson on September 12th, 2011

The great thing about being in government is that you can take action to do things, or stop things or change things that you think are important. It’s the privilege that goes with the responsibility. But the current government seems to approach a number of issues as if they were commentators at a rugby game, saying something about an issue but in actual fact not doing anything at all.

Two examples from this weekend. The first and most transparent being the transport debacle that David has already posted on. On Friday Murray McCully was full of confidence about the state of Auckland transport, and seemed to be taking some ownership of what he saw as a success waiting to happen. It of course did not turn out that way.

Now of course this is not all the Government’s problem. The successful running of infrastructure for RWC was always going to be a matter for both local and central government to manage. Len Brown fronted on Saturday morning and apologised. All we have seen from Murray McCully, the Minister for the Rugby World Cup is comment on how bad things were and that they should be better. Why have a Minister for the Rugby World Cup if you are not going to play your part in making things work, and in taking some responsibility when they don’t?

The more subtle version of this tactic came from John Key in response to the reluctance of insurance companies to pay out for Christchurch homeowners to rebuild. Mr Key is quoted in the Press as saying he was “bothered” by the stance that the companies were taking. Is he auditioning for Catherine Tate or something? If you are bothered you are the one in a position to do something about it. For god’s sake man you are the Prime Minister not some talkback radio caller. Do something.

There are other examples, like the PM saying National could do better in terms of the number of women on on the National Party list. I know, why doesn’t he talk to someone who could show some leadership on this, like the Leader of the National Party?

The Prime Minister and his Ministers are not interested spectators in how our country runs, they are the people who have their hands on the levers of power. They should be held to account for what they do, not just that they have had something to say on the matters of the day.

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Filed under: Canterbury Earthquake, rugby world cup, transport
49 Comments

To MMP or not to MMP

Posted by Raymond Huo 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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