The desperate need to regulate NZ Capitalism laid bare in Supermarket Duopoly, Drainage Industry and Migrant Worker exploitation

As NZ shunts towards the election, the level of desperation generated by our under regulated capitalism is demanding attention like never before…

Revealed: Cut supermarkets make on products has more than doubled since 90s, suppliers claim

In April, Newshub revealed what Consumer NZ calls disturbingly high margins supermarkets make on the food they sell – in some cases, they’re pocketing more than half the shelf price. 

Now, Newshub can reveal just how much those margins have grown,  known in supplier circles as “margin creep”.

Two long-time suppliers, who wish to remain anonymous, claimed the cut supermarkets make on their products has more than doubled since the 1990s. Both suppliers said they sell dry-packed products.

They said back then, the supermarket took 12 to 15 percent, compared to today where it sits between 35 and 41 percent.

That means if their food item sells for $1, the supermarket is now taking around 25 cents more than it was 30 years ago.

…the dominant position the Supermarket Duopoly has built ensures they control the market and that the power of competition doesn’t allow for consumers to enjoy the fruits of capitalism.

Meanwhile migrant labour is being exploited and the lack of policing the existing rules by the Government is laid bare…

‘The system is f…..’: Immigration staff say bosses knew visa system didn’t work, and ignored it

Immigration New Zealand staff have been warning their managers for a year that the under-fire Accredited Employer Work Visa(AEWV) system has major flaws and is a recipe for migrant exploitation – but were ignored.

Concerned INZ staff say employers are being allowed to bring in migrants without any paperwork or financial checks, even when immigration officers fear jobs may be fake, paid for with illegal premiums, or the migrants will be exploited.

Instead, they say, they’ve been told to focus on faster processing times.

This is just so outrageous and the timeline gets worse and worse for Labour!

Barely a week ago, Andrew Little was on Q+A getting grilled by Jack Tame on the Worker Visa accreditation scheme that effectively trusts the 27 000 accredited to not exploit the 77 000 migrant workers.

Jack challenges the process and argues the system is only funded to review 15% of applications yet to date had barely reviewed 3% and of the 27 000 accredited, the Government had dumped only 2.

The Minister struggled to look credible as he sat with a straight face and declared the current 3% was working fine.

24 hours later Newshub is breaking a story about 50 migrant workers living in a South Auckland slum exploited by the Worker Visa accreditation scheme .

The Minister stood by his previous statements.

Then Newshub break that the number of migrant workers being exploited is now 100.

The Minister, while standing by his previous statements that barely 3% of the 27 000 accredited employers means the system is working, he does now agree that an investigation is necessary.

Then Newshub finally arrive at a total of 115 migrant workers exploited and scammed into using this accreditation scheme minus any jobs.

Andrew Little turns on the Ministry and demands to know why the system is falling to pieces.

Under pressure from the Bosses, Labour threw open the immigration floodgates with zero checks and balances and simply trusted bosses not to exploit the workers they were bringing in.

We are now told that the barest checks and balances promised weren’t even adhered to and they just rubber stamped the exploitation!

How are domestic workers supposed got compete against exploited migrant labour?

Then we have the Commerce Commission investigation into the Drainage Industry and market dominance of a few players…

Commerce Commission to investigate Drainage monopoly while Kāinga Ora fuels it

The Commerce Commission has agreed to investigate monopoly practices inside the drainage industry while Kāinga Ora continues to fuel it.

The insanely under regulated NZ industry allows for monopolies and duopolies and oligopolies to form and there is a huge one inside the drainage industry, but because it’s all under ground, the full costs of this uncompetitive market is hidden.

…we can’t keep having under regulated capitalism that creates duopolies, monopolies and oligopolies!

We aren’t asking for sweeping new powers or over the top communism here, all we are looking for is the industry as it currently exists being properly policed!

Supermarket duopolies shouldn’t be screwing us because of a lack of competition, Migrant workers shouldn’t be getting exploited and the cost of housing should be brought down by increasing competition in the drainage industry!

There are basic solutions to all these issues, I’m not looking for socialism from the NZ Government, just basic regulated capitalism.

Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.

If you can’t contribute but want to help, please always feel free to share our blogs on social media