Australian anti-monopoly regulator takes Woolworths to court over 'Prices Dropped' campaigns that followed price hikes; Woolworths faces A$5 million fine per breach & total fines of up to A$22 billion
Will David Seymour takes sides with Winston in a contortionist move to ensure he is able to become DPM? Otherwise could rail-enabled ferries be the fight that will bring down the government?
It's no real surprise that GDP/human has tracked slowly up then down. Just look where the business need has come from. Hospo, horticulture and agriculture. When even Chris Bishop thinks we should have more cafes in mixed use housing developments that's a recipe for a continued low wage economy. More RSE workers (who are amazing btw)...
We aren't spending on the higher cost employment areas - for example health, engineering, journos (lol).
The other thing that's happening is our low cost, high return energy is running out and our economy runs on energy. The inputs required for the same barrel of oil are going up, which means there will be less energy available and so a smaller world economy.
Have a wonderful Tuesday and thank you for your work Bernard!
The evidence for hybrid / wfh working in relation to productivity is clear. It works. So yet again we have policy / instruction driven from ideological perspective (aka control) rather than what actually works. We will lose more talented people from this.
The fact that there are 6000 less public servants in Wellington getting an income after this Government's slash & burn policy screams of irony by Willis & her 'public servants must not 'work from home' directive!
There are lots of angry public service officials today. They're not buying enough coffees and lunches because of WFH? What a ridiculous (selfish) reason to cite after the government has just laid off so many people. That's really why there's a lack of cafe foot traffic. ...another red herring distraction effort by CoC.
What I don't understand is the focus on the downturn in Wellington,it's happening everywhere . Lunchtime in downtown Auckland is much quieter nowadays, cafes are shutting down ,The shock doctrine experiment continues.
And here is the even more mind boggling part... from what I saw on last nights news, it looks like the shop owners are totally buying into Nationals narratives that the down turn is because of WFH employees... & not the fact that 6000 odd jobs in Wellington have been chopped by the current government.
The low-end of the petit-bourgeoisie are famously stupid. Too dumb for a professional career? Too arrogant to hold down a regular job- but got a bit of capital behind you? Start a cafe/ franchise venture, whatever.
Ridiculous generalisation I know, but these people really do exist.
I also know there are plenty of people that are so far outside the "news" loop, they literally don't know what is happening & therefore can't connect the dots.
I don't intend that in a demeaning way against those people, but it is a consequence of their ignorance that they do not know the full context of Wellingtons situation.
Unfortunately I saw tonight that Viv Beck is calling for the same "tighter" WFH policies by companies to revitalize the Auckland CBD. It is paternalistic feudalism! & it's starting to grind my gears TBH.
Very hard, once they've cast their vote, for some people to come to terms with the consequences of their choice. I mentioned here before the soft-furnishings company in Levin that was plastered with National posters that recently had to downsize to a side-street.
Simple truth is that government deficit spending puts money into the pockets of the public that they can spend on coffee and curtains.
The exact same thing is happening in across the Western world. Corporate realestate is pulling the strings here, they’re headed for a crash and are using the ‘poor coffee shops’ as the victim (see the NSW Premiers comments a few months ago). There’s also talk on the Aus Corporate subreddit that management are using a switch away from WFH to create a flood of resignations, so that redundancies don’t have to be paid.
Just to add. My brother works in the corporate realestate space, specifically massive offices in Australia (no idea what it actual entails). He was using these talking points in 2020, when WFH started to become a possibility. My siblings and I thoroughly ripped him to shreds and he doesn’t mention it to us anymore ;P https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-06/nsw-public-servants-return-to-workplace-wfh/104186540
It's compounded by the fact that repurposing commercial office space into other uses is extremely expensive, to impossible. Compare one or two blocks of facilities and a ducted ceiling air cond system for open/partitioned office floor space to the same area of individual apartments with kitchens, bathrooms, and small enclosed spaces to heat and ventilate.
Australia shows the way with regulators that actually regulate. I'm just waiting for one D Seymour to jump in and defend the rights of Woollies and Coles to make themselves a decent profit.
Today it's Australian regulators poised to punish corrupt supermarkets in a way that would never happen here; a few days ago it was a report on health services showing Australia top out of 10 countries for perceived fairness in access, and New Zealand scraping the bottom along with the United States.
I'm beginning to think we are incapable of governing ourselves, and it's time to beg to become a state of a federated Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand.
There's actually a column in that. 'Please Australia. Invade us. We want your 30% higher wages, your compulsory pension system, the benefit of the taxes paid by the NZ companies shifting profits/dividends to Australia, your capital gains tax, your currency, your aggressive approach to installing solar, your high infrastructure investment and your much healthier stock market. We'll keep our rugby team. Thanks in advance'
`Back in the 1870's a predecessor of mine, the first German in the NZ legislative council, stated that NZ should be part of Australia as it was too small on it's own. NB Germany had only just become Germany instead of numerous smaller municipalities.
I can only imagine that Te Tiriti o Waitangi would have been trashed even worse - had we been dissolved into Australia.
Te Tiriti most likely wouldn't have survived, and along with that loss our unique cultural identity.
The Native Land Act 1873 was devastating for Māori - it's not hard to imagine how much worse things could have been under Australian rule[s].
We are our own worst enemy.
We are the envy of much of the world, we just need to get out of our own way - elect a government who celebrates our unique strengths, a government who will back us instead of sell us off for parts.
I'm sure what you say is right Sarah. It's just that after trying to do my little bit over a lifetime here, I've got a bit selfish I guess. It would be really nice if at least some of my immediate family or even a few more extended family could still live in this country and they don't. Every now and again what I've always considered to be good about our country looks less sustainable. Seems to be more and more wishful thinking. Sorry.
Of course the Australian constitution actually has provision for NZ to join the Australian Commonwealth should it wish to.
I for one value NZ's nominally independent foreign policy (or at least the chance that it might some day return to that state) vs Australia's lockstep shackle to US foreign policy.
Might be an urban myth but I heard that the Australian Constitution allows for this. We could maintain our own state legislature in a federal arrangement.
Coles and Woolies have been pulling this stuff for decades, they’re still yet to be ‘punished’. But in the lead up to an Aussie election, where cost of living is a big issue, it’ll be easier to point the finger at Coles and Woolies than solve the housing crisis. So perhaps something might actually happen this time?
Nobody is making a rational decision about Cook Strait ferries. It’s all politics. This mess exists because of National’s pathological dislike of anything Labour had done. The cost overreach was just an excuse. If you run down important infrastructure for forty years of course it is expensive to bring it back. It’s even more expensive if you keep paying private companies to do the work because they recognise a good thing when you can just milk the public purse.
Rail-enabled ferries do seem to make good sense, even if it is NZF carrying the flag. Triple-handling ferry freight can't be time/cost-effective. That's the sort of thing that obviously lowers productivity.
It is going to be interesting when companies really start putting pressure on freight providers as part of reducing Scope 3 Emissions and realise that the cheapest way to reduce transport emissions is to have rail in the mix.
I have often wondered why the ACCC has so much more "gumption" than our poor old CC. Apart from Australians being spikier and more up for a fight generally. Resources and funds will be an issue of course but is it also the fact that our society is too small and everyone above a certain level of role knows everyone else: so, it is always personal relationships (and future employment prospects) that folks don't want to jeopardise, and it is much too cosy?
We always go down the route of 'voluntary codes" and "working with industry". We always let the poacher become the gamekeeper. What would it take to stiffen our regulatory agencies spines to go after the monopolies and duopolies and other malpractice in NZ?
Also, just quietly, having pointlessly tanked the economy by harsh cuts of public services based on no real evidence, forcing everyone back to work in Wellington feels like a desperate, handbrake screeching swerve to force people back to the city centre to buy coffee, cheese scones and wine to keep the small business owners sweet.
Because the small business owners are being taken for granted while the economy is reshaped in favour of the really big boys.
ComCom also has a very low risk tolerance, far better consumers suffer than the Commission is shown to be wrong in the courts for any decision it makes - they won't go for it unless they are absolutely, positively sure of winning.
"feels like a desperate, handbrake screeching swerve to force people back to the city centre to buy coffee, cheese scones and wine to keep the small business owners sweet."
You are right about this. But every time they do this, they dig a deeper contrary hole. A few weeks ago Bernard interviewed Deborah Hart who was a key advocate for Small Businesses at the Consumer Advocacy Council. This government scrapped the council and in so doing, removed the advocacy from the very same businesses they are now claiming to support. It's just double-speak BS, the only businesses they are actually looking out for are big-donor corporates and lobbyists
I heard Christopher Luxon interviewed this morning and one of his points was that they want to build the public service so that doesn't make sense with making 6000 public servants redundant. I think it's a distraction from their policies that have contributed to the reduction in activity in Wellington businesses.
I fear Christopher Luxon has not the slightest idea what he is talking about. An example of " They just open their mouths and let the wind blow their tongues around."
Also many businesses have decreased their office space as wfh becomes common businesses saving costs by reducing commercial rents. Often there will not be enough desks if everybody comes into the office at the same time.
Thought just occurred to me if you were to remove earthquake repairs ( funded from reinsurance) money what would our GDP track look like? I realise it is the ultimate Bastiat prognostication but just curious 🧐
I have been pondering the phrase " it's a privilege, not a right" a lot since yesterday's announcement. Doesn't this phrase bottle the entire vibe of this odious Government into one cheap nasty smelling perfume. All of the things we thought were basic human rights - education, health, decent housing, public transport, affordable electricity, to feel safe in our communities, to be looked after when we fall on hard times or are disabled or unwell or old. For these rights to be available no matter where we live in Aotearoa. The reason that every day, every week, every month feels worse than the last is because we are being told repeatedly that the way of life we have enjoyed in New Zealand is now too expensive for the government to pay so we must all pay. Corporatising and monetizing and privatizing every inch of our lives. Life in NZ is becoming a privilege not a right. Shame on this short sighted, mean spirited government. I don't blame all those hopping across the ditch to a country that still has the confidence to call itself "the lucky country."
Thanks Bernard for sharing that link about the quarry. Quarry expansions are of course needed for big roads. A good reminder of the wider destructive effects of car and speed centric transport strategy
Kind of cynical for Mr "I'm entitled to my entitlements" to come out now and take away people's entitlements that are written into their employment agreements.
The only reason HIS entitlements aren't being taken from him is because it is the same people who enjoy those entitlements that are in charge of changing and taking them away.
Will David Seymour takes sides with Winston in a contortionist move to ensure he is able to become DPM? Otherwise could rail-enabled ferries be the fight that will bring down the government?
It's no real surprise that GDP/human has tracked slowly up then down. Just look where the business need has come from. Hospo, horticulture and agriculture. When even Chris Bishop thinks we should have more cafes in mixed use housing developments that's a recipe for a continued low wage economy. More RSE workers (who are amazing btw)...
We aren't spending on the higher cost employment areas - for example health, engineering, journos (lol).
The other thing that's happening is our low cost, high return energy is running out and our economy runs on energy. The inputs required for the same barrel of oil are going up, which means there will be less energy available and so a smaller world economy.
Have a wonderful Tuesday and thank you for your work Bernard!
Recommend this for more background on energy intensity and its consequences for those interested https://open.substack.com/pub/platformenterprise/p/the-world-is-in-crisis?r=2rjq2&utm_medium=ios
Thanks Geoff. Great link.
Another link on energy and GDP/‘prosperity’ https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/2024/09/17/289-project-2050-part-one/
Thanks Mark. Interesting points. Agree on the low wage, low investment approach.
The evidence for hybrid / wfh working in relation to productivity is clear. It works. So yet again we have policy / instruction driven from ideological perspective (aka control) rather than what actually works. We will lose more talented people from this.
The fact that there are 6000 less public servants in Wellington getting an income after this Government's slash & burn policy screams of irony by Willis & her 'public servants must not 'work from home' directive!
There are lots of angry public service officials today. They're not buying enough coffees and lunches because of WFH? What a ridiculous (selfish) reason to cite after the government has just laid off so many people. That's really why there's a lack of cafe foot traffic. ...another red herring distraction effort by CoC.
What I don't understand is the focus on the downturn in Wellington,it's happening everywhere . Lunchtime in downtown Auckland is much quieter nowadays, cafes are shutting down ,The shock doctrine experiment continues.
And here is the even more mind boggling part... from what I saw on last nights news, it looks like the shop owners are totally buying into Nationals narratives that the down turn is because of WFH employees... & not the fact that 6000 odd jobs in Wellington have been chopped by the current government.
🤦♀️
The low-end of the petit-bourgeoisie are famously stupid. Too dumb for a professional career? Too arrogant to hold down a regular job- but got a bit of capital behind you? Start a cafe/ franchise venture, whatever.
Ridiculous generalisation I know, but these people really do exist.
I have no doubt those people do exist (LOL).
I also know there are plenty of people that are so far outside the "news" loop, they literally don't know what is happening & therefore can't connect the dots.
I don't intend that in a demeaning way against those people, but it is a consequence of their ignorance that they do not know the full context of Wellingtons situation.
Unfortunately I saw tonight that Viv Beck is calling for the same "tighter" WFH policies by companies to revitalize the Auckland CBD. It is paternalistic feudalism! & it's starting to grind my gears TBH.
Very hard, once they've cast their vote, for some people to come to terms with the consequences of their choice. I mentioned here before the soft-furnishings company in Levin that was plastered with National posters that recently had to downsize to a side-street.
Simple truth is that government deficit spending puts money into the pockets of the public that they can spend on coffee and curtains.
The exact same thing is happening in across the Western world. Corporate realestate is pulling the strings here, they’re headed for a crash and are using the ‘poor coffee shops’ as the victim (see the NSW Premiers comments a few months ago). There’s also talk on the Aus Corporate subreddit that management are using a switch away from WFH to create a flood of resignations, so that redundancies don’t have to be paid.
Just to add. My brother works in the corporate realestate space, specifically massive offices in Australia (no idea what it actual entails). He was using these talking points in 2020, when WFH started to become a possibility. My siblings and I thoroughly ripped him to shreds and he doesn’t mention it to us anymore ;P https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-06/nsw-public-servants-return-to-workplace-wfh/104186540
It's compounded by the fact that repurposing commercial office space into other uses is extremely expensive, to impossible. Compare one or two blocks of facilities and a ducted ceiling air cond system for open/partitioned office floor space to the same area of individual apartments with kitchens, bathrooms, and small enclosed spaces to heat and ventilate.
True - but they won't be going to work for Amazon, given its CEO's recent ruling on wfh
Australia shows the way with regulators that actually regulate. I'm just waiting for one D Seymour to jump in and defend the rights of Woollies and Coles to make themselves a decent profit.
Today it's Australian regulators poised to punish corrupt supermarkets in a way that would never happen here; a few days ago it was a report on health services showing Australia top out of 10 countries for perceived fairness in access, and New Zealand scraping the bottom along with the United States.
I'm beginning to think we are incapable of governing ourselves, and it's time to beg to become a state of a federated Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand.
There's actually a column in that. 'Please Australia. Invade us. We want your 30% higher wages, your compulsory pension system, the benefit of the taxes paid by the NZ companies shifting profits/dividends to Australia, your capital gains tax, your currency, your aggressive approach to installing solar, your high infrastructure investment and your much healthier stock market. We'll keep our rugby team. Thanks in advance'
And Australia can keep their mining, and their disregard for first nation peoples.
`Back in the 1870's a predecessor of mine, the first German in the NZ legislative council, stated that NZ should be part of Australia as it was too small on it's own. NB Germany had only just become Germany instead of numerous smaller municipalities.
Can't stop thinking was he right???
I can only imagine that Te Tiriti o Waitangi would have been trashed even worse - had we been dissolved into Australia.
Te Tiriti most likely wouldn't have survived, and along with that loss our unique cultural identity.
The Native Land Act 1873 was devastating for Māori - it's not hard to imagine how much worse things could have been under Australian rule[s].
We are our own worst enemy.
We are the envy of much of the world, we just need to get out of our own way - elect a government who celebrates our unique strengths, a government who will back us instead of sell us off for parts.
I'm sure what you say is right Sarah. It's just that after trying to do my little bit over a lifetime here, I've got a bit selfish I guess. It would be really nice if at least some of my immediate family or even a few more extended family could still live in this country and they don't. Every now and again what I've always considered to be good about our country looks less sustainable. Seems to be more and more wishful thinking. Sorry.
Considering how Auzzy is currently exporting their own criminals to us, imagine how they would treat us if there was less red tape in the way?
Of course the Australian constitution actually has provision for NZ to join the Australian Commonwealth should it wish to.
I for one value NZ's nominally independent foreign policy (or at least the chance that it might some day return to that state) vs Australia's lockstep shackle to US foreign policy.
Might be an urban myth but I heard that the Australian Constitution allows for this. We could maintain our own state legislature in a federal arrangement.
Coles and Woolies have been pulling this stuff for decades, they’re still yet to be ‘punished’. But in the lead up to an Aussie election, where cost of living is a big issue, it’ll be easier to point the finger at Coles and Woolies than solve the housing crisis. So perhaps something might actually happen this time?
Nobody is making a rational decision about Cook Strait ferries. It’s all politics. This mess exists because of National’s pathological dislike of anything Labour had done. The cost overreach was just an excuse. If you run down important infrastructure for forty years of course it is expensive to bring it back. It’s even more expensive if you keep paying private companies to do the work because they recognise a good thing when you can just milk the public purse.
Rail-enabled ferries do seem to make good sense, even if it is NZF carrying the flag. Triple-handling ferry freight can't be time/cost-effective. That's the sort of thing that obviously lowers productivity.
My understanding is Mainfreight are very keen on rail-enabled ferries.
It is going to be interesting when companies really start putting pressure on freight providers as part of reducing Scope 3 Emissions and realise that the cheapest way to reduce transport emissions is to have rail in the mix.
I have often wondered why the ACCC has so much more "gumption" than our poor old CC. Apart from Australians being spikier and more up for a fight generally. Resources and funds will be an issue of course but is it also the fact that our society is too small and everyone above a certain level of role knows everyone else: so, it is always personal relationships (and future employment prospects) that folks don't want to jeopardise, and it is much too cosy?
We always go down the route of 'voluntary codes" and "working with industry". We always let the poacher become the gamekeeper. What would it take to stiffen our regulatory agencies spines to go after the monopolies and duopolies and other malpractice in NZ?
Also, just quietly, having pointlessly tanked the economy by harsh cuts of public services based on no real evidence, forcing everyone back to work in Wellington feels like a desperate, handbrake screeching swerve to force people back to the city centre to buy coffee, cheese scones and wine to keep the small business owners sweet.
Because the small business owners are being taken for granted while the economy is reshaped in favour of the really big boys.
I'm also curious about the different approaches. I suspect our underlying legislation has always been weaker from a consumer point of view.
ComCom also has a very low risk tolerance, far better consumers suffer than the Commission is shown to be wrong in the courts for any decision it makes - they won't go for it unless they are absolutely, positively sure of winning.
"feels like a desperate, handbrake screeching swerve to force people back to the city centre to buy coffee, cheese scones and wine to keep the small business owners sweet."
You are right about this. But every time they do this, they dig a deeper contrary hole. A few weeks ago Bernard interviewed Deborah Hart who was a key advocate for Small Businesses at the Consumer Advocacy Council. This government scrapped the council and in so doing, removed the advocacy from the very same businesses they are now claiming to support. It's just double-speak BS, the only businesses they are actually looking out for are big-donor corporates and lobbyists
I heard Christopher Luxon interviewed this morning and one of his points was that they want to build the public service so that doesn't make sense with making 6000 public servants redundant. I think it's a distraction from their policies that have contributed to the reduction in activity in Wellington businesses.
I fear Christopher Luxon has not the slightest idea what he is talking about. An example of " They just open their mouths and let the wind blow their tongues around."
Also many businesses have decreased their office space as wfh becomes common businesses saving costs by reducing commercial rents. Often there will not be enough desks if everybody comes into the office at the same time.
Willis and Luxon said last night there was a lot of empty unused and still-contracted office space that could be used, without giving details.
There are 6,500 fewer public sector employees, so that will result in a lot of empty desks!
For housing?
On ferries err was Winston part of the team that was making the decision to purchase when he was with Labour.
Was a long process.
Thought just occurred to me if you were to remove earthquake repairs ( funded from reinsurance) money what would our GDP track look like? I realise it is the ultimate Bastiat prognostication but just curious 🧐
I have been pondering the phrase " it's a privilege, not a right" a lot since yesterday's announcement. Doesn't this phrase bottle the entire vibe of this odious Government into one cheap nasty smelling perfume. All of the things we thought were basic human rights - education, health, decent housing, public transport, affordable electricity, to feel safe in our communities, to be looked after when we fall on hard times or are disabled or unwell or old. For these rights to be available no matter where we live in Aotearoa. The reason that every day, every week, every month feels worse than the last is because we are being told repeatedly that the way of life we have enjoyed in New Zealand is now too expensive for the government to pay so we must all pay. Corporatising and monetizing and privatizing every inch of our lives. Life in NZ is becoming a privilege not a right. Shame on this short sighted, mean spirited government. I don't blame all those hopping across the ditch to a country that still has the confidence to call itself "the lucky country."
Oreos and Tim Tams listed under 'food'? Surely that's a deceptive trade practice too?
Thanks Bernard for sharing that link about the quarry. Quarry expansions are of course needed for big roads. A good reminder of the wider destructive effects of car and speed centric transport strategy
Kind of cynical for Mr "I'm entitled to my entitlements" to come out now and take away people's entitlements that are written into their employment agreements.
The only reason HIS entitlements aren't being taken from him is because it is the same people who enjoy those entitlements that are in charge of changing and taking them away.
If step one of a plan is to rid the country of unwanted workers, what on earth is the plan? That's what I'd like to know.
This government is so unhinged that we would be wise to sack them and apply for Australia to take us in.
Just a query. Economy stats nz reported an increase in crude oil exports?
Will watch with interest what happens with the supermarkets in oz.
Re wfh, luxon and willis are trying to distract us from something much bigger they are up to.
Absolutely! Willis and Luxon have been reading up on Boris Johnson's "dead cat" strategy...
A View from Afar commented NZers should be out marching.. what's with the silence.