Dear Bill English – if NZ Labourers are ‘hopeless’ who is to actually blame for that?

By
Martyn Bradbury
-
26
17

Bill-English-Idiot

Bill English has come out and said that NZ labourers are ‘hopeless’

Bill English made the comments at a Federated Farmers meeting last week, based on what he had been told by many employers.

He said people seeking jobs through the Ministry of Social Development did not show up to jobs they were offered and did not stay in them.

Labour MP Iain Lees-Galloway said it showed the Government had given up on young people.

…let’s take Bill at his word and agree that NZ labourers are ‘hopeless’ – whose fault is that?

Bill’s Party has been in power now for 8 years. What training for farming has Bill done in that time?

Sweet fuck all.

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Labourers in NZ on farms are expected to work 12 days on with 2 days off. They have to move to the middle of no where and are often price gouged by greedy farmers for rent meaning the minimum wage they do get is often far lower. The health and safety standards are appalling and we continue to see many die at work. These workers from WINZ are being forced to work in these places rather than chose them because they are being threatened with having their welfare cut off if they don’t agree to work on farms, and all of this has happened when the dairy industry was supposedly making huge profits – although that dairy intensification program has melted down.

If NZ Labourers are ‘hopeless’ it’s because Bill English’s Government has done sweet fuck all to make the positions attractive. What Bill and the Federated Farmer Mafia are really calling for are slaves who are so fearful of retribution that they work tirelessly for their masters.

Fuck Bill English, fuck Federated Farmers and fuck any New Zealander who votes for a Government who promote wage slavery so their farming mates can make a buck off the back of the poor.

26 COMMENTS

  1. Martin, you’re correct that English is a dick-head but I think you’re missing the big picture here. In general, young people, and young males in particular, are not useless as English states. Sure some are but that’s true of all generations in all nations – some people just have no ambition. No, the real problem is that many of New Zealand’s young aspire to something more than being a shit shifter forever. They want a fair wage, fair working conditions, a place they can feel safe, secure and respected by their colleagues and their employer. Most of all, they want to see a future that gives them an opportunity to grow in the job and to one day, perhaps, aspire to own their own dairy herd or may be even their own farm. Instead of allowing the country’s youth to achieve these ambitions, farmers label them as useless thus creating a stereotype. By providing us with examples of wayward youth and their errant ways, they effectively secure the support of much of the community thereby achieving their real goal – to employ compliant, cheap overseas labour, many of whom will be so grateful for the opportunity that they won’t complain about their effective hourly rate being less than the minimum wage or their sick and annual leave entitlements being gouged. Indeed, these compliant workers would never dream of engaging a union or some other advocate to help them resolve any problems. No, these people simply suffer in silence while their employer’s wealth grows. That, my friend, is English’s real objective.

  3. English is evil, and a product of the 1% of the greedys on Planet key with no soul or compassion.

    Simply he has grown insular as Key has and now is going for broke to be the second biggest foul mouth in parliament that he actually belongs in the Act Party with al the other foul mouths.

    Put him on the register of bad for NZ when the global crash comes this year as he has borrowed to saddle us all in debt more than Australia is with over 100 BILLION AND RISING BY THE DAY UNTILWE GO BROKE..

  4. Bill English is certainly not an “idiot”. although he may at times appear to be one. He is intentionally playing into the too widespread public sentiment, which is a rather negative one when it comes to people on benefits.

    This is just more beneficiary bashing. Let us remember recent developments, which the last Colmar Brunton poll did partly not even consider. There was Key’s disastrous flag referendum outcome, where he was made looking like a “dick” who pushed hard for a change of flag, like it was some simple rebranding and marketing exercise, and nothing else.

    Then cane the release of some of the Panama Papers. This is stuff that got Key surprised and dragged into a discussion about the conduct of the mostly rich and privileged using tax havens and trusts to dodge taxes they would have to pay in their various countries they live and operate in.

    Key himself worked for merchant banks and so, regularly will have met people advising clients on how to best “protect” their wealth and incomes from tax authorities. He will himself be well informed about what is really going on. What he may hold in investment vehicles and portfolios, perhaps also under a shell company or so, we can so far only guess, as he does not like to be too transparent on these matters.

    So there have been some bad news for Key and the government.

    And how does the government usually deal with such challenges? It tends to deny a problem exist and get out the beneficiary bashing tools. Here we go again, a new discussion playing into the mood of many, that the system is allegedly too “soft” on those not willing to work.

    The truth though is, it is mostly BS what English tells Farmers, business people and others, as the way WiNZ deals with people not going to job interviews, and with refusing jobs without good reasons is by handing out harsh sanctions. So that would happen unless people had good reasons not to take on a job or stay in a job. The same applies to people who may do some sabotage or whatever else, to get sacked again. If they do that they also face sanctions, like weeks with benefits halved or stopped altogether, up to 13 weeks as I remember.

    And re those supposedly failing drug tests, where is the proof, Mr English, he is again talking BS and pulling the wool over people’s eyes. Read the following:
    https://www.fyi.org.nz/request/1863-statistics-on-beneficiary-drug-tests

    https://www.fyi.org.nz/request/1863/response/6627/attach/2/Harris%20Alex%20Final%20Response%20dated%2027%20August%202014.pdf

    https://www.fyi.org.nz/request/1295-costs-of-drug-testing-job-seeking-beneficiaries

    There has only been a small increase in those failing drug tests as stuff.co report:
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/70405113/Beneficiaries-increasingly-failing-drug-tests-numbers-show

    The media, Bill English and some right wing idiots may try to spin the last report to make it look as a wide-spread problem, but looking at the whole number of people referred to jobs needing a drug test, it is a miniscule number of persons.

    But Bill English is not new with this nonsense:
    http://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2014/10/19/nz-finance-minister-bill-english-insults-beneficiaries-with-mansel-aylwards-work-will-set-you-free-approach/

    And they have the “right” kind of propagandist as ‘Principal Health Advisor’ for MSD and WiNZ get away with telling doctors and others the same BS:
    http://www.gpcme.co.nz/pdf/BO%2012%20830am%20David%20Bratt%20Benefit%20were%20a%20Drug%20V2.pdf

    http://www.gpcme.co.nz/pdf/GP%20CME/Friday/C1%201515%20Bratt-Hawker.pdf

    So another round of beneficiary bashing, and also worker bashing, as the intention is to get them feel really guilty and bad, so that more harsh measures can be brought in to force them to accept any kind of work there may be, whether they are even sick or disabled, and to force them to compete with low paid Filipino farm workers, imported to work under conditions few New Zealanders would accept to work under.

    The sell out of New Zealand and New Zealanders continues and goes into another round, helping also to distract people from the Panama Papers and uselessness of this government.

  5. Ive said this on earlier posts …

    I remember after Bill English was rolled and walking dejectedly down parliament steps – the very picture of the crest fallen ex leader – when a 30 something Maori guy yelled out ” Piss off ,ya bastard ”…

    This was some years ago and at the time I felt it vaguely disrespectful.

    However … that was then .

    Since then , we have seen this man rorting the public purse and rightfully being dubbed the ‘ Double Dipper from Dipton ‘.

    How very apt.

    We have seen this man utter the infamous neo liberal catchphrase for this country …

    ” We should be glad we have a LOW WAGE ECONOMY as this encourages FOREIGN INVESTMENT ”….

    We have seen this man talk about the concept of the sovereign state as ‘ outdated’…

    Well,… how very ironic it is that both ‘foreign investment’ in the form of tax havens and a work slave economy for the Kiwi battler has come about…it puts a whole new light on the real motives for the TTPA and the Panama papers, doesn’t it ….

    What we are in fact witnessing is the after effects of allowing the cancer of neo liberalism and its inherent corruption take hold over 32 long years.

    And neo liberal subversives such as Bill ‘ Double Dipper ‘ English are a classic example of their ilk.

    These days,… far from feeling vaguely disrespectful …I too… would now find myself on those steps in chorus with that Maori guy yelling ” Piss off , ya bastard !!! ” .

  6. If Bill is so clever, why is our national debt so high and where he is getting the money from to artistically “balance” his budget? If the Rothschild/Khazarian Mafia are his source and the “money” is the phony fiat dollar, he might like to take a large glass of whisky and then get down on one knee to the Chinese in his next begging move (actually down on both knees might not be low enough):
    http://www.ascensionwithearth.com/2016/04/china-says-no-dollars-for-new-gold.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ascensionwithearth%2FVcrr+%28Ascension+with+Mother+Earth+and+Current+State+of+Affairs%29
    In the meantime the HONEST NZ labourer will go about his business.

  7. Of all the National mps, Bill English ranks at the top of the list of the most dismissive and arrogantly rude politicians we are unfortunate to have now.

    He has no clue about the reality of the working class and he states such nonsense as if he represents their interests. He is lap dog, par excellence, and ” smarmy ” comes to mind every time I hear him speak in parliament. He sets up his questions with Natz, back benchers so he can pontificate and put us all asleep with his defense and fuzzy logic of a train wreck of a government.

    I hear your disgust Martyn and am glad you are continuing to focus on these greedy corporate pigs who serve their masters well and have no clue about why the workers in NZ are struggling so much. Bill English’s “out of touch” govt. has provided very little housing for the poor; strips away funding to help those in need and barely offers any new jobs tho their fuzzy logic stats lie otherwise.

    When ( ? ) are the voters of NZ going to wake up from their slumber and see what IS REALLY GOING ON ! ! !

  8. Frank we are tanking at almost 100 Billion now according to treasury
    and it would be much larger if Government stopped lying and hiding losses with slippage of other asset losses and sales of other assets,

    “Any excess cash proceeds raised from the bond programme will be invested in financial assets and used to meet future debt maturities.”

    Question is; What has happened since the market slump occurred and now the approaching crash in the Global economy.

    Here they are,

    http://www.treasury.govt.nz/budget/forecasts/befu2015/021.htm

    Net core Crown debt peaks as a share of GDP in 2014/15…

    Gross debt is expected to peak at $93.6 billion in 2016/17 after which forecast maturities are expected to exceed new debt being issued, so gross debt begins to decline. Gross debt is forecast to be $83.7 billion in 2018/19 which is equivalent to 29.3% of nominal GDP.
    Figure 2.14 – Gross debtFigure 2.14 – Gross debt. Source: The Treasury
    The bond programme is expected to raise funds of $36.5 billion over the forecast period, while $34.8 billion of existing debt will be repaid, providing net cash proceeds of $1.7 billion (Table 2.11). Any excess cash proceeds raised from the bond programme will be invested in financial assets and used to meet future debt maturities.

    The total bond programme is broadly in line with total repayment of market bonds over the forecast period. The issuance profile is relatively flat in order to reduce year-to-year volatility of bond programmes and ensure consistency of supply over this time.

    Expand the Table Below
    Table 2.11 – Net increase in government bonds

    Year ending 30 June
    $billions

    2015
    Forecast

    2016
    Forecast

    2017
    Forecast

    2018
    Forecast

    2019
    Forecast

    5-year
    Total

    Face value of government bonds issued (market)
    8.0 8.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 37.0

    Cash proceeds from government bond issue

    Cash proceeds from issue of market bonds
    8.2 8.5 6.9 6.5 6.4 36.5

    Repayment of market bonds
    (8.7) (1.8) – (11.3) (11.5) (33.3)

    Net proceeds from market bonds
    (0.5) 6.7 6.9 (4.8) (5.1) 3.2

    Repayment of non-market bonds
    (1.2) (0.3) – – – (1.5)

    Net repayment of non-market bonds
    (1.2) (0.3) – – – (1.5)

    Net cash proceeds from bond issuance
    (1.7 ) 6.4 6.9 (4.8) (5.1) 1.7

    Source: The Treasury

  9. One of the reasons farmers can’t get good workers is because farming is seen as so rightwing and pro National that no Labour or Green voters would feel comfortable working in the industry which keeps out half the working population.

  10. National have had control of the education system for 16 of the last 25 yrs, and all of the last 8 yrs. If NZ’s youths are hopeless, then National has to take responsibility for that. If they have lost hope, waste their lives, resort to drugs, or even suicide, then again, Bill English needs to take responsibility. When you remove all practical means of achieving upward social mobility, of meeting societal stands of success (own home, well paid job etc) then yes, people become ‘hopeless’ – they lose hope and only exist (they also stop voting).

    When Bill moves on to stage two and looks for the blame, let’s hope he has a mirror with him because this one is on him.

    • Charter Schools, mostly for profit for these huge investors, have been the death nail for good quality public education. Privatization and mega testing and making tons of money for the elite and to hell with quality education and happy teachers and happy students.

      Charter Schools is very big business. They often want to do away with busing and food and art and music classes and encouraging creativity and independent thinking. All about money and profits as the quality of our health care and legal and prison and education systems slowly flow down into the toilet through PRIVATIZATION and cold hearted greed.
      Money before substance. Profits before People. Sounds like the natz to me.

      Now Jonky wants to sell our airport in Auckland. He is on a roll.

      I will try and find and get up a very good link that explains the Privatized Charter School system and why it is not in everyone’s best interest but sure makes buckets of money for the few. Sound familiar ? ? ?
      Of course this PM wants to privatize everything, its part of the agenda
      to make the rich richer and to hell with good quality education and enhancing well being for all.
      Clearly I have a beef against the Charter School system after my recent research.

  11. Spot on Martyn. New Zealand farmers, orchardists, and vineyard owners are always saying they can’t find New Zealanders to do the work but what they really mean is New Zealanders don’t want to work in servitude for the shabby minimum wage they’re offering. If they paid a fair wage for what is bloody hard work, they’d have no problem at all finding willing Kiwi workers. Market forces (of which our finance minister and his fellow parasites in National are so fond) dictate that if you can’t source adequate supply with what you’re prepared to pay, then you need to pay more. That’s the market rate.

    Bill and his greedy farmer and horticulturalist mates have found a great way to circumvent the need to pay New Zealanders more by importing foreign slaves willing to work for next to nothing from the Pacific Islands and Thailand.

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