The Daily BlogRead the Other Side of the Story

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October 22, 2017

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Ummmmmmm, WTF?

…let me get this straight, the mainstream media are trying to accuse Jacinda of witchcraft?

I don’t even know where to begin with this.

Will she get blamed for curdled milk and crop failure as well?

Add this to the long, long, long list of incredibly biased mainstream media pundits who have savaged Labour and the Greens and it is glaringly apparent that we don’t just need a change of Government but we desperately need a new media to replace this crap.

Political Caption Competition

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October 22, 2017

7

The Daily Blog Open Mic – Sunday 22nd October 2017

How biased is the media? A Patrick Gower case study

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October 22, 2017

4

Announce protest actions, general chit chat or give your opinion on issues we haven’t covered for the day.

Moderation rules are more lenient for this section, but try and play nicely.

EDITORS NOTE: – By the way, here’s a list of shit that will get your comment dumped. Sexist language, homophobic language, racist language, anti-muslim hate, transphobic language, Chemtrails, 9/11 truthers, climate deniers, anti-fluoride fanatics, anti-vaxxer lunatics and ANYONE that links to fucking infowar.

The new Labour-led government has agreed to hold a binding referendum on legalising cannabis by or at the next election in 2020.

Chris Fowlie

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October 22, 2017

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After years of denial and obfuscation by the National-led Government, this is a massive opportunity. The world is watching.

The referendum is part of the deal between Labour and the Green Party. An email to party members said:

Increase funding for alcohol and drug addiction services and ensure drug use is treated as a health issue, and have a referendum on legalising the personal use of cannabis at, or by, the 2020 general election.

The Green Party policy is to treat cannabis as a health issue not a crime, legalise personal use, home growing, medical cannabis, and move towards a regulated market like we see in many places overseas.

Holding a referendum on cannabis has long been the New Zealand First position.

It seems Winston Peters allowed the Greens to have a cannabis win as part of their confidence and supply deal with Labour, as long as it was his policy (holding a referendum) and not theirs (legalising it now).

Ideally, we should just get on with legalising cannabis now. In the time taken to run this referendum and then pass any law change, around fifty thousand New Zealanders will be arrested for cannabis, at a cost of around $1.5 billion.

Still, this provides us with a path forward, with a government supporting rather than opposing the process.

Increasing funding for alcohol and drug addiction services is a huge win – although by how much remains to be seen. Perhaps they will shift funding from the bottomless pit of law enforcement and put resources where they will better help those with drug addiction.

That is certainly implied by the statement “ensure drug use is treated as a health issue”, ie, not a crime.

This points to changes that can be made without or in addition to legislative reform, such as increased use of police diversion, changing sentencing guidelines, allowing harm reduction utensils, or even a moratorium on arrests until the referendum.

The lack of reference to medical cannabis in the agreement is conspicuous but not at this stage any cause for concern – we assume it isn’t there because it is already Labour policy to legalise medical cannabis in the first 100 days of government (ie, Jan/Feb 2018).

While also not in the agreement, I think Green MP Julie Anne Genter’s medical cannabis bill is likely to be supported by all Labour MPs.

Here’s what you need to know about the cannabis referendum:

It will be binding. Unlike Citizen Initiated Referendums, which are non-binding and have largely been ignored, this referendum will be binding, as is the norm for government-led referendums such as the two for changing the flag and MMP initiated by the previous National-led government.

Don’t fuck it up. If we lose, there goes any chance of meaningful reform for several decades. That’s the rest of your life, fellow Gen X’ers through to baby boomers.

We need to win big . Although 50.1% is technically a win, for legitimacy and longevity we really need a comprehensive winning margin of something like 75%. At least.

It won’t necessarily be Green policy. It could already be decided, but that’s unlikely. What gets put forward might be quite different to what the Green Party policy currently says, depending on the process followed, and especially if the public have any input.

Words make a big difference. The deal reported in the media is a referendum on legalising personal use of cannabis. What will be the exact words? There is a lot of misunderstanding around what words like legalisation and decriminalisation mean, and we know from local polling and overseas campaigns that subtle changes in terminology can make big differences. For example, “make cannabis legal” gets more poll support than “legalise cannabis” even though they mean the same thing. And what does it actually mean in terms of a law change?Logically, if using cannabis is legal they would need to grow their own, or be given it or be able to purchase it.

Poll all the options, then poll them again. Base the preferred model on what people actually prefer. Use polling to learn what is important to people and what turns them off. Build that into the model, which can be unique for New Zealand while also taking good aspects from what has worked overseas.

Be bold, but don’t overreach. The successful approach used in the US is to go for the model that polls are showing has 65 per cent support, then plan to raise that ten points during the campaign. Anything with less support will face doubts around its legitimacy, and longevity of the policy will not be assured. Anything with much higher support may have been too timid a goal and may represent a missed opportunity for getting what could have been a truly transformational policy.

Support what is better, not perfect. Don’t oppose whatever model emerges simple because it’s not your favourite choice, or it has one feature you don’t like. This is complex and no option will be perfect, but almost anything will be better than what we have now.

It will still be a lot of work. We won’t need to collect 300,000 signatures just to ask the question. But we still have a lot of work ahead of us. We can’t just expect to win. We have to campaign hard, we need to shift and solidify public opinion, we need to anticipate and neutralise the negative campaigning that will come, we need probably five hundred people working on it for the year leading up, and we’ll need a significant amount of money to run any successful campaign. Then presuming we win the referendum, we’ll still need to work to get any law change through parliament.

This will take five to six years. Moving it forward to the census in a few months is not practical, and the census is not a secret ballot so it’s inappropriate for voting especially on matters of crime or morals. With so much misunderstanding and a lack of agreement around what the preferred model should be – even among cannabis law reform circles – it may require a multi-stage process similar to the flag referendum. This involved a period of public consultation followed by expert analysis and a recommended short list, followed by a first referendum of the top four or five contenders (which could be by post, or timed for the local body elections in 2019), and then a final proposal to take to the 2020 referendum. Then a Bill needs to be passed through parliament, including a select committee inquiry and further public submissions. This usually takes 18 months to two years. It is unlikely to be done under urgency as MPs will be wary of making mistakes like they did with the Psychoactive Substances Act. It may then need regulations promulgated to provide interpretation and fine detail. This process can itself take a further two years and require further rounds of public submissions and cabinet papers. Legal wheels turn very slowly!

We’re on the road to cannabis law reform.One step at a time, we will get there.

The Neverending Story in Mainstream Media Fairytale Land

Frank Macskasy

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October 22, 2017

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“Public backlash grows against pointless media speculation on coalition talks”

— is, unfortunately, not a headline we’ll be seeing any time soon.

The media role is reporting post-election politics has not been an edifying spectacle to watch. Put simply, the most exacerbating aspect of three weeks of coalition negotiation has not been the length of time – remarkably short by international standards – but the interminable, inane, media commentary we’ve had to endure.

As reported on 7 October, in lieu of any actual news-worthy stories, the msm (mainstream media) has taken to either parroting National Party propaganda on a non-existent “Teal Coalition” – or engaged in an onanistic beat up on the length of time needed for coalition negotiations.

National Party de-facto spokesperson, Maserati-owner, and legend-in-his-own-mind, Mike Hosking, waxed lyrical about a so-called “Teal” arrangement;

The concept of a grand coalition? Naive in theory yes, in reality not the slightest chance.

The best suggestion for the deal that never was – but could so easily have been – was the teal coalition, the Nats and Greens.

The Greens held themselves to ransom by tying themselves to Labour.

[…]

A teal coalition could well have worked and the Greens would almost certainly have got more out of it than they will get if the nod goes their way tomorrow (or whenever Winston decides).

Although why Hosking considers a “Grand Coalition between National and Labour as “naive” without “the slightest chance” and a National-Green coalition as something that “could so easily have been” – is never explained by him. But that’s the thing with public displays of political-porn – it requires no internal logic or consistency.

On 14 October, I watched TV3’s The Nation – expecting a one-hour long exercise in pointless navel-gazing as to who Winston Peters will “go with”.

To my pleasant surprise, adults had taken over the programme and the viewer was treated to more pressing issues;

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In segment one, Lisa Owen discussed workers’ rights and workplace safety with Richard Wagstaff, Hazel Armstrong, and Jackie Blue. It was a critical look at the grim stats surrounding workplace accidents; deaths; injuries, and maimings.

Former National Party MP – and now Human Rights Commissioner – Jackie Blue, made the startling admission that low unionisation in the workforce was part of the problem of workplace accidents;

I also think a fact in the forestry deaths is that they have very low rates of unionisation. They don’t have anyone speaking for them. There’s no voice for forestry workers. And I listened to an interview Helen did a year before she died, and she said she got to know the forestry workers, and once they understood the concept of a union, they wanted to be part of one.

The second segment featured an interview with BNZ CEO, Anthony Healey, supporting the Left’s call for a capital gains tax. Some of Healey’s comments would have come straight out of The Daily Blog;

“It’s really about equity in the tax system.

[…]

Well, I think you can take a very broad based approach to it, but one of the things that I think is really important in this discussion is we’re not talking about, and my opinion is we need to tax in aggregate more; it’s about redistributing tax. So if you were to apply a broad based capital gains tax, that gives you the ability to address other things in the tax system, like company tax, like income tax, especially for those that are more needy.

[…]

Well, I think where we really need to address tax is at the lower end of the taxation system. If you were to apply a capital gains tax where you see a lot of wealth accumulation as opposed to income, then you have room to move, and you can look at the lower income tax rate, particularly for those who are struggling to make ends meet.”

When bank CEOs are advocating Labour and Green Party tax policies, you just know that the neo-liberal paradigm has lost it’s 1980s/90s gloss.

The last segment featured a good look at how Artificial Intelligence (AI) would be impacting on jobs in the coming years and decades. People closely connected with the AI industry – Greg Cross, Grant Straker, and Ben Goertzel shared their insights as to where we were heading with increasingly advanced technologies.

Then came the panel – Tracy Watkins from Fairfax media; former National Party parliamentary researcher, Chris Simpson, and political pundit, Vernon Tava.

What came next in the following ten to fifteen minutes was not a word uttered to discuss any of the three issues raised in The Nation. Even Lisa Owen’s opening remarks on the one year anniversary of trade unionist Helen Kelley’s death and the role she played in highlighting workplace accidental deaths was not discussed.

Instead, Owen led the panelists down the garden path to discussing… the coalition talks and “the mysterious NZ First Board”.

It was ten to fifteen minutes of pointless pontificating and using up valuable oxygen as Fairfax political reporter Tracy Watkins lamented that Winston Peters “ just doesn’t look like he’s enjoying it very much“.

The obligatory cliche of “the tail wagging the dog” was trotted out by Watkins and Owen. Watkins description of the coalition talks as a “circus” suggests she has been too long in politics and jaded cynicism has coloured her view of things.

Only Vernon Tava’s comments struck home when he pointed out;

“…Media, who are becoming increasingly desperate standing around in cold lobbies in Wellington shouting questions at people as they walk briskly from one hallway to another…”

The only “circus” has been a media one.

Meanwhile, broadcast and print media have been going nuts with their ongoing speculations. For example, the 16 October edition of The Dominion Post had no less that seven distinct pieces in that edition, including an editorial headed “Time for Waiting to end“;

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(Curiously, the very same editorial was republished in Christchurch’s The Press, and headed, “New Zealand needs to know who will govern it“.)

The opening statement was so ludicrously dripping with sanctimony that it beggared belief anyone could write it with a straight face;

“The New Zealand public is to be congratulated for it’s extraordinary patience over the last three weeks since the general election.”

The New Zealand public is not only patient – but a darned sight more mature than the children who currently work in our mainstream media, and who constantly pester their Uncle Winston from the back seat of the family stationwagon;

“Are we there yet?”

“No.”

“Are we there yet?”

“No!”

“Are we there yet?”

“NO!!!”

The public are patient. They fully understand the complexities of forming a government and that it must be done carefully. As Labour leader Jacinda Ardern explained on Radio NZ’s Morning Report on 17 October with pained patience for the benefit of the media, ;

“…The ability of a government to be both stable and durable ultimately comes down to whether or not you have enough commonality to form a government that’s going to last the distance.”

In the same edition of the Dompost, Tracy Watkins had a front-page piece beneath the paper’s banner, entitled, “Is the coalition deal a crown or a poisoned chalice?” She stated matter-of-factly;

“After weeks of secrecy and the bizarre silence of the two major party leaders…”

“Secrecy”? “Bizarre silence”?!

Another way of phrasing Watkins’ prose could be;

“After weeks of nothing to write about by the two major newspaper chains…”

As a political blogger, I write often and passionately about transparency in government; government departments; NGOs, etc.

On coalition negotiations, however, confidentiality is a prerequisite for meaningful dialogue between the parties, unfettered by pressure from pious media pundits.

Case in point, TV3’s Patrick Gower passing judgement in 2014 on an electoral arrangement between Mana Movement and the Internet Party;

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Second case-in-point; numerous media commentators (Mike Hosking, et al) calling for the Green Party enter into coalition dialogue with National. As if such a scenario were remotely possible (or desirable).

On 11 October, Radio NZ’s Tim Watkin (former Producer of TV3’s The Nation) expressed his own personal frustration in a way that was verging on the farcical;

“Well, I hate to say ‘I told you so’. But as frustration builds over the way our new government is being built – amid casual abuse, secrecy and over-reach – we really only have ourselves to blame, for the way this administration is being born in darkness, at least. Its mother is our own complacency.

[…]

Yet many New Zealanders fell in behind the parties’ spin, complaining that journalists were wasting time asking coalition questions and pushing for answers the poor party leaders couldn’t possibly give. ‘Focus on the issues,’ they cried.

How many of them are now among those bemoaning the lack of transparency in these negotiations and the deals being done behind closed doors?

We are left with little idea of which policies are being traded for which and have next to no notion about the priorities of whichever government might emerge, because we failed as a public to demand answers before the election.

I have no problem with these negotiations being conducted in confidence. I don’t mind New Zealand First shuttling back and forth between parties and being able to handle this process in secret. This is a time for a veil, of sorts.

But we should know, from reportage and interviews pre-election, what’s being traded.”

Tim demanded that “we should know, from reportage and interviews pre-election, what’s being traded” – seemingly forgetting that any post-election agreement would eventually reveal precisely “ what’s being traded“.

The rest of his intemperate commentary is symptomatic of political journos and commentators venting their impatience. In the meantime, the public went about their daily lives, content with leaving coalition-building to those who had been elected to carry out that task.

This is not how the Fourth Estate should be behaving. This is not reporting unfolding political events. It is not even analysis of unfolding political events. This was a naked move to artificially generate political events.

No news? No problem.

Make some up.

The impatience of the msm was highlighted when, on several occasions, TV3’s news led with the length of time being taken for coalition talks – complete with this melodramatic graphic;

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It takes a remarkable talent to create a story out of simply… waiting. This desperation of the msm for any political activity to report was remarked on by Auckland University political scientist, Jennifer Curtin on 15 October;

Associate Professor Curtin said the amount of time being taken was reasonable and in Nordic countries such as Sweden taking two to three weeks to form a government was the norm.

“So asking for something to happen since October the 12th in four or five days is probably a little bit unrealistic and a little bit first past the post really, in the way we’re thinking about government formation.”

Four days later, as if further illustration was required, on 19 October Mediaworks presented us an updated report that… well… there was nothing to report;

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When Tracy Watkins referred to a “circus” on The Nation, she was almost right. There has been a circus in this country since 23 September. But this time it hasn’t come from our political representatives.

Lisa Owen from The Nation on 21 October was honest when she admitted on behalf of the Fourth Estate;

“We’re impatient. We are impatient.”

The ‘Devil finds work for idle hands’, it is said. More so for idle children and journalists with nothing to do, and too much time to do it in.

Let’s hope that all these well-paid, well-resourced journalists will be devoting equal air-time or column-inches to scrutinising the attacks-to-come from the Neo-liberal Establishment. Those attacks have already started.

That is where the real reporting, analysis, and commentary should be focused on.

What are the chances?

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References

NZ Herald: Mike Hosking – Reading the coalition tea leaves

Mediaworks: The Nation (14 October 2017)

Scoop media: The Nation – Workers’ Rights Panel

Scoop media: The Nation – Lisa Owen interviews Anthony Healy

Mediaworks: Panel – Tracy Watkins, Chris Simpson and Vernon Tava

Radio NZ: Labour, Greens ‘ready to go’ – Ardern

Fairfax media: It’s difficult to know if Winston Peters is offering a crown or a poisoned chalice

Twitter: Patrick Gower

Radio NZ: Negotiation secrecy a snub to democracy

Mediaworks: Newshub Live at 6pm (18th October 2017)

Radio NZ: NZ First board set to consider possible coalition deal

Mediaworks: Newshub webpage 19 October

Scoop media: The Nation – Lisa Owen interviews Jacinda Ardern

Other Blogs

Cut Your Hair: Don’t blame MMP for bad king/queenmakers

Sciblogs: For a teal coalition

The Standard: “Reporters”

Previous related blogposts

Observations on the 2017 Election campaign… (tekau)

An Open Letter To Winston Peters

Once Upon a Time in Mainstream Media Fairytale Land

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= fs =

Labour-NZ First-Green Government 2017 – Winners and Losers

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October 21, 2017

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On the night Winston announced he would join Labour and the Greens after 12 days of negotiations to form a new Government, my Daughter…

…and I went into ecstatic joy. I put her to bed, called in a baby sitter and hit the town with some comrades to jump as many Karaoke bars as we could find to sing the following…

I’ve only stopped parting to write this blog.

It’s been a long, long, long 9 years and finally there is hope.

Matt McCarten & me lurking in the background.

I was privileged enough to be talking with those involved in the negotiations and added my 2 cents worth when required and the entire behind the scenes machinations deserve to be made into a film one day.

Labour Party strategists unable to explain why the fuck Peter Dunne is trying to hang out with them. Most pictures say a thousand words. This one says 3, ‘fuck off Pete’.

Here’s how I broke down the 12 days.

12 DAY BREAK DOWN:

First 6 days: Policy, policy, policy. Everyone was amazed by how many things Labour, NZ First and the Greens agreed upon. There was a huge amount of enthusiasm and positivity. There’s a feeling this could all be sorted within an extra day.

Next 4 days:It suddenly occurs to everyone that Winston hasn’t actually stipulated what kind of Government he actually wants and the horror that he’s considering the cross benches causes vast depression. Rumours circulating that National are just opening their chequebook and have offered Winston most of Western Civilisation in return for support.

Final 2 days:Suggestion is made that because Labour can’t out bribe the National Party, they should appeal to Winston’s real passion which is dismantling Neoliberalism.

An hour before the result became public, I was tipped off we had won and the negotiation tactics had been wildly successful.

THE BIG ISSUES: These are the issues which seemed to shape the thinking of those making the decisions.

China: The report into how National are little better than a front for Chinese Business interests weighed heavily. There was a sense that China’s influence over the Government actually posed an existential threat to the political sovereignty of the country.

Global Financial Collapse (part 2): If you talk to any expert in the upper echelons of power, they are all convinced that part 2 of the 2007 GFC is about to hit and the economic damage will be immense. Labour, NZ First & the Greens needed to make the decision that they would show real leadership and front when that shit storm hits or were they going to be cowards and avoid it.

Neoliberalism: No one picked it going into the negotiations (mainly because Labour weren’t confident enough to engage in dismantling neoliberalism), but when Winston was given the choice between baubles and an opportunity to take a sledge hammer to the free market. The sledgehammer won.

Cultural Modernity: There was a deep sense that NZ has stagnated and gone backwards on many social issues and that National kept us locked in the 90s somewhere. Even NZ First, the supposed bastion of social conservatism wanted far more change than National were offering.

WINNERS:

Jacinda: She. Was. Amazing. Jacinda went beyond anything anyone had ever seen. She knew her sense of centre, she never lost her nerve. She deserves admiration for her real leadership over the 12 days.

Winston:In the end he really wanted to smash neoliberalism. I mean like REALLY wanted to smash it. More than anyone had ever guessed.

Shane Jones:Major lynchpin between Labour and NZ First. Expect him to be very important to keeping this Government together.

The Labour Maori Caucus: Willie Jackson and Meka Whaitiri are the new co-leaders and they are the largest faction within the Labour Party now. Expect huge political muscle from this group.

The Greens: I know, I know, I know, they wanted more, but for a Party that effectively self-immolated itself 9 weeks out from the election, this is a pretty fucking good result…

LOSERS:

National negotiating tactics: In the end all they had were bribes. They didn’t understand that Winston was serious about changing neoliberalism.

National campaigning tactics:Once they turned to just lying, it was difficult for anyone to treat them seriously and with respect.

National internal dynamics:Watch as the Blue Dragons flex their political muscle and Judith collins starts her campaign against Bill.

The champions of the poor – Hone, Met & Marama:The saddest thing about this election is that some of the Poor greatest champions, Metiria, Marama and Hone are not inside Parliament.

Mainstream media: The offensive double standards at play in this election was apparent throughout the campaign. How Metiria was a bigger story than a Chinese spy inside the Government has never been explained, and this sums up the ugliness…

Jacinda has pulled off one of the greatest political come backs in NZ history. To think that she has turned the Labour Party around and won the 2017 election in the space of 10 weeks is an achievement like none other in NZ politics and her leadership, courage and tenacity bear all the hall marks of a truly great Prime Minister. With Winston in full war mode against neoliberalism next to her and the very smart James Shaw on the other side, this is a Government who have every chance of producing an incredible 3 years.

WaateaNews: As we celebrate a magnificent political win – let’s remember those who could not survive National

First published on Waatea News:

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October 21, 2017

12

As we celebrate a magnificent political win – let’s remember those who could not survive National’s 9 years in office

We should be ecstatic. Big money, big corporate farming and big business interests have been defeated by a Leader like Jacinda who chose not to use lies and falsehoods to campaign on, but who put compassion and optimism first.

The Labour-NZ First-Green Government was a dream, an illusion with no fixed reality 10 weeks ago, yet here we are after MMP with a mandate for change and a functioning Parliamentary majority.

This is indeed a time for us to rejoice and feel empowered by our democracy.

But after we have celebrated, let’s remember those who could not endure National’s 9 years in office or who were crushed into apathy by their brutal policy decisions.

We need to remember those who have suffered and have been beaten into submission as well as those who have succumbed to suicide. We need to remember that 300 000 children live in poverty, that 550 000 New Zealanders suffer from extreme hardship, that over 10 000 are in prison, that 1200 die from the cold, that 41 000 are homeless and tens of thousands locked out of home ownership, that our suicide rate could be as high unofficially as 1500.

We need to remember how seriously ill Tauranga man Timothy Dalton-Edwards was thrown out of his home and is now living in an emergency motel. We need to remember the millions and millions blown out for such emergency motels. We need to remember why that’s happening as we privatise state housing. We need to remember how the Ministry of Social Development hounded a young woman into suicide after wrongly chasing her for a ‘fraud’ amount. We need to remember the tens of thousands who have been historically abused by the state. We need to remember that 20% of renters are spending 40% of their income on rents. We need to remember how staffing cuts in mental health have left a system that is functionally broken. We need to remember how WINZ refuse to tell beneficiaries of their entitlements so that they can be kept from them.

We need to remember how spite,hate and anger have shaped our social policy into an ignorant cudgel used to hurt and frighten rather than heal and support.

If we forget the pain of the last 9 years we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes.

I will sing and jump with joy as I gather with friends and whanau over this weekend. But I will also say a silent prayer to those who could not hang on and those who have suffered.

We must do better to honour them.

The magnificence of the new Labour-NZ First-Green Government

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October 21, 2017

19

Labour have announced their Cabinet…

…here is what the Greens have managed to gain…

…and here is what Labour are setting their sights on…

…and let’s not forget Winston’s denouncement of the failed neoliberal capitalism that has exacerbated poverty and inequality rather than combat them…

“Far too many New Zealanders have come to view today’s capitalism, not as their friend, but as their foe. And they are not all wrong. That is why we believe that capitalism must regain its responsible – its human face. That perception has influenced our negotiations.”

…this Government’s agenda has the ability to rebuild, repair and restore the mana of this nation.

Watch how the corporate elites who believe they run this country react to such a full frontal attack on the economic system that has enabled their power.

Running the campaign was easy.

Negotiating a new Government was easy.

Actually governing with a global financial collapse imminent, environmental apocalypse caused by climate change and corporate vested interests challenged, the Labour-NZ First-Green Government is going to have to fight every day to maintain their momentum.

The good news is that the stats quo simply can’t stand and that this new Government will have no choice but to implement radical new policy, the bad news is that every sector of the economy that benefit from the unfair economic settings are already plotting.

New Government’s TPPA Problems Start Next Week

Prof Jane Kelsey

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October 21, 2017

8

‘The new government of Labour, New Zealand First and the Greens will have to move fast if they are going to influence the outcomes of trade and investment agreements being negotiated under the National government’s mandate, and which they all, in various ways, have opposed’, says Auckland University law professor Jane Kelsey.

There are at least five negotiations currently underway, all using the same broad template: the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the Pacific Alliance, and agreements with the European Union and United Kingdom, plus reviews of the China and Singapore FTAs.

Most urgently, the remaining eleven parties that negotiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement will meet in the next ten days in Japan to decide how to resuscitate the deal.

New Zealand under National, with Australia and Japan, have spearheaded demands to leave the original text virtually unchanged, while suspending a small number of provisions unless and until the US re-joins.

All three parties in the new government wrote minority dissents in the select committee report on the original TPPA, when it still included the United States.

Labour is committed to ban overseas speculators from buying existing residential properties. A genuine ban would mean revisiting New Zealand’s investment schedule in the TPPA, as well as those with South Korea and Taiwan, with flow on effects to the China FTA.

Last night Winston Peters reiterated NZ First’s opposition to the rights of foreign investors to sue the government in controversial offshore tribunals, pointing to options in the Singapore NZ FTA that Labour negotiated in the early 2000s.

Professor Kelsey points out that the new government will have to agree on a position and brief its negotiators within the next few days, not just on the TPPA, and remember that they all called for greater openness.

‘Right now New Zealand’s negotiators are in Incheon, South Korea, pursuing National’s mandate at the latest round of negotiations for the 16 party RCEP. That includes rules on investment, which all three parties seem to agree must change.’

‘Next week’s meeting in Japan is meant to finalise options on the future of the agreement so their trade ministers or leaders can make a decision when they meet on the margins of the APEC in Da Nang, Vietnam from 5-11 November’, Professor Kelsey said.

‘That will put Prime Minister Ardern and New Zealand First under the spotlight. They cannot deliver a new direction for the economy and greater control of our regulatory decisions, including on investment, unless they substantially change New Zealand’s approach to these agreements.’

‘The best option is not to be rushed into any decisions. The government should step back and take the time to analyse, consult and revisit the defective approach of the past decade.’

New government presents opportunities for action – ActionStation

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October 21, 2017

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The community campaigning group ActionStation us welcoming the new government and hopeful about the opportunities it presents for action on several pressing issues.

“Since ActionStation started three years ago, hundreds of thousands of everyday New Zealanders have taken action on a wide range of environmental and social issues including fixing our mental health system, launching an inquiry for the survivors of abuse in state care, cleaning up our rivers, ending homelessness, better protection for people renting their homes, public broadcasting, reforming our drug laws, and ensuring international trade deals like the TPPA don’t come at the cost of the well-being of people and the planet.” says ActionStation co-founder Marianne Elliott.

“The parties forming the new government have all promised to make significant policy progress on those issues and, as a community, we look forward to ensuring they follow through.”

Over 92% members of the ActionStation community who responded to a survey said they wanted New Zealand First to side with Labour and the Greens.

“We’re pleased that New Zealand First have chosen change over the status quo.”

“In our years of campaigning for a more fair and flourishing New Zealand we’ve managed to achieve several victories under the previous government. Our hope is that this change will accelerate under the new government.”

“Labour, New Zealand First, and the Greens have all committed to holding an inquiry into our mental health system and significant increases to funding.”

“All three parties recognise that we must urgently clean up our rivers with Labour and the Greens committing to the Fresh Water Rescue Plan.”

“They’ve also all committed to several recommendations from our People’s Review of Renting to improve the lives of people who rent”

“MPs from Labour, New Zealand First, and the Greens accepted our 32,000 strong petition calling on them to unfreeze RNZ’s funding and all have committed to improving the state of our public broadcasting and media”

“Survivors of abuse in state care can finally expect an inquiry and state apology.”

“There are plenty of areas of agreement, where we expect to see progress under this government, but there also plenty of issues where all the parties can improve. We look forward to holding them to account for the promises they have made and pushing all the parties in government towards a fairer and more flourishing future for all, through the crowd-sourced vision in our People’s Agenda, created in the lead up to the election”

“It’s time to get to work” concludes Marianne.

Equal pay about to boost New Zealand communities – CTU

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October 21, 2017

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Vice President Rachel Mackintosh said today that she had woken up full of excitement for New Zealand women, their families and communities following the announcement of the new coalition Government.

Labour, New Zealand First and the Green Party have all committed to scrapping unfair equal pay and pay equity legislation which National drafted, and making the principles negotiated by the Joint Working Group into law.

Speaking from Australia, Ms Mackintosh said “Finally we have a Government that understands putting equal pay in women’s pockets is both the right thing to do and will lift whole families out of poverty. Hard-working women will be able to put food in their children’s lunchboxes, and provide the kinds of experiences that grow curious, confident citizens. Businesses can look forward to the increased purchasing power equal pay delivers to women in paid work throughout New Zealand.”

“Paying women fairly for the work that they do also pays off many times over for society as a whole. There are benefits beyond what we measure in dollar terms. Women are more likely to use time outside paid work volunteering for their community and caring for their loved ones. Equal pay is exactly the kind of shot in the arm that New Zealand communities urgently need to flourish. The faster Ms Ardern and her colleagues can get equal pay into New Zealand homes and business, the better for us all” she said.

Nurses looking forward to health spend hike – NZNO

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October 21, 2017

Two months to deliver by Christmas

New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) acting Chief Executive Jane MacGeorge says nurses welcome the new government and are looking forward to a reversal of the 2017 ‘scrooge health budget’ and the $2B going back into health.

Jane MacGeorge today says health was the number one election issue and a clear ‘shout out’ to those standing to represent the public and run the country. NZNO is pleased with many of the Labour Party initiatives promised such as nurses in schools, more money for delivery of primary health care for mental health and reduced fees for doctor’s visits. The 48,000 strong membership have also clearly seen the negative effects of poor housing on the health of children.

“It is only six months until this government delivers its first budget and we are looking forward to a proper funding correction to the health budget after years of funding stagnation,” Jane MacGeorge said.

“The underfunding of our health services has led several DHBs to cut costs, resulting in fewer nurses being available to ensure safe staffing levels and practice and cut backs in expenditure on basic healthcare tools.

“Many nurses we have surveyed said they believe this cost-cutting is affecting the pace of recovery of their patients.

“Underfunding ripples across the system, for example, limiting the time nurses have to support new graduates, attract and retain senior staff, take up new training and has a negative impact on job satisfaction and workplace relations.

“Many DHBs now report no more savings are to be found. There is no more room to cut nurse staffing numbers to save more costs. As state sector employers DHBs know they can’t continue to run their staff ragged, and not take care of their staff well-being,” Jane MacGeorge said.

NZNO will present its briefing to the incoming minister in due course and also hand over to the new Minister of Health 6000 signed Shout Out for Health letters from members and the public shouting out for greater public investment in the health care.

Closing the Gap Delighted at New Government & Direction

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October 21, 2017

The income equality project Closing the Gap, today congratulated the country’s incoming coalition government, saying it offered hope for the kind progressive change most New Zealanders voted for.

“We are delighted to see a change of government, and a coalition of parties that clearly have a common interest in tackling inequality by repairing and strengthening the social welfare state,” said Peter Malcolm, a spokesperson for the group.

“Incoming Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her team have much work ahead to tackle fundamental problems facing New Zealand, particularly our now entrenched levels of inequality.”

Mr. Malcolm said “Closing the Gap would continue to press for solutions to inequality. These include a more progressive tax system that lowers the tax on the middle class, and higher taxes on those who can afford it, ie the high income earners. A comprehensive capital gains tax also needs to be part of the solutions” he said.

“Housing is another priority area on the equality agenda, and the coalition simply must deliver on Labour’s promised KiwiBuild programme,” Mr. Malcolm said.

He said “it was also long past time to fund our health-care system properly. Successive National governments have undermined it to such an extent that health-care is now unaffordable for poorer New Zealanders”.

Mr. Malcolm, who is a retired high school principal, said that the other major investment needed to make a dent in inequality was education. “If we want a more equal society, it’s time to stop paying lip service to ‘equal opportunity’ and actually provide it — which means free education at all levels.”

“We know it’s a big agenda, but we’re heartened that New Zealand has a leadership team that is aware of what needs to be done. The task facing the rest of us is to keep the pressure on to make sure they deliver.”

EDS welcomes new government and environmental reforms

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October 21, 2017

EDS welcomes new government and environmental reforms

The Environmental Defence Society (EDS) has welcomed the new Labour-led government.

“The policy commitments from Labour, NZ First and the Greens promise a remarkably progressive trajectory for the environment and conservation over the next 3 years,” says EDS CEO Gary Taylor.

“There is a lot of overlap that we expect to see reflected in the coalition documents. The electorate is seeking faster and more decisive action on key areas of concern. These include freshwater, climate change and conservation management.

“Labour’s suggestion of a freshwater summit with all stakeholders needs some careful thought. There is little point in returning to the days of position stating that is all a big forum would deliver. Fixing freshwater demands a high degree of technical expertise and sophisticated policy development, building on where we have got to. Significant progress has been made with the National Policy Statement and we need to give its limits-based framework time to bite. There is still room for improvement, however.

“If the freshwater levy is off the table then solutions will need to be found in improving the regulatory and incentives frameworks, and finding an alternative funding pool to support freshwater clean-ups. Labour intimated that land use consents would be required for intensification of land use. That could be an effective measure but needs careful nuancing so that it’s only required where needed.

“There is broad agreement to establish a Climate Commission that would plan, recommend, monitor and report on the transition to net zero emissions by mid-century. The Commission should be statutory, report to Parliament and include adaptation within its remit. This commitment is very important and it would be constructive if the National Opposition could consider supporting the proposal. The Commission needs to be in place for decades and cross-party support now would ensure that.

“On economic development, it’s important that the coalition agreements reflect the fact that environment and conservation are integral parts of the economy, not separate. We don’t want a government that has the economic development Ministers in perpetual conflict with the environment and conservation ones. There are big challenges here that are not simple or one-dimensional.

“The economy needs fundamental transformation both for reasons of efficiency and to address climate change, points that are reflected in Labour’s election policies.

“Labour promised more funding for conservation and a continuing commitment to predator free New Zealand. We can expect NZ First to have demanded more research into alternatives to 1080, which remains the best tool meantime. DOC’s advocacy budget should be set for an increase and we can expect a fundamental relook at the future of High Country pastoral leases and tenure review.

“On resource management, we can expect to see some short-term reforms that will reverse a number of the changes to the Resource Management Act made earlier this year by National. One of those is to repeal the section 360 Ministerial override powers. Consistent with that commitment would be the refusal of the new plan provisions proposed by the Ministry of Primary Industries for expansion of aquaculture by King Salmon Ltd in protected parts of the Marlborough Sounds. That decision will be on the desk of the Minister for Primary Industries.

“EDS along with some key business groups has been arguing for a fundamental rethink of the resource management system. While Labour hasn’t quite gone that far, it seems open to at least considering whether such longer-term reform is desirable. The Greens do support such a review and NZ First seems open to it. That is welcome. We really need to design a resource management system fit for purpose for the next 30 years.

“As a leading environmental think-tank and litigator, EDS is keenly interested in the comprehensive reform agenda that now seems in play. We look forward to contributing to that process,” Mr Taylor concluded.

Government has ‘Historic Opportunity’ to Restore NZ Nature – WWF

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October 21, 2017