16 Comments

Women and children don’t even get their legal and human rights enforced now and business is interested in only in themselves. Government is there to counter their bottomless greed not add to it. Sickening and superficial for a Labour Government. Based on none of their tradition as usual. As for National we are all stuffed with the bankers puppets in charge. I can smell the sexism on their breath. What are they thinking? Not much clearly.

Expand full comment

Remember who introduced neoliberalism to Aotearoa? 1984 Labour Government. It’s business as usual for these scoundrels. Socialism for the rich and to hell with the rest. Roger Douglas lives on. In the current Ardern Labour Government.

Expand full comment

Both main parties are the same and the rule of law and our nationhood is at risk with both and that’s backed up by solid evidence. They’re not working for all citizens of NZ. It’s a shambolic disgrace.

Expand full comment

I enjoyed your questions…they are “cads”. Different levels of rights for different people bloody appalling. “Overpayment” to beneficiaries who are not getting either enough or their rights to support in law is just so insulting to hardworking Mothers (usually) raising the next generation full time and more. Outrageous.

Expand full comment

The rekovery reminds me of capitalism in the aftermath of World War II. During the war the US Telecom giant of the day, ITT, made massive profits from its subsidiary Standard Telephone Corporation, developer of radar technology in the UK. ITT’s German subsidiary, C Lorenz, owned 25% of Folke-Wulf aeroplanes. These were destroyed using STC radar as they bombed UK industry and people. Another German subsidiary of ITT, developed radar for the Nazi regime and helped sink allied shipping. After the war, ITT won a payout of $27m, quite a sum in the day, from US government for damages their German subsidiary sustained when American planes bombed Folke-Wulf factories. When you lose you win. Don’t you just love capitalism! And its subservient governments 😖

Expand full comment

Hi Bernard. I enjoy reading your daily emails with the insights you provide but the more you provide free for non paying readers the more I wonder why I would continue paying in the future...

Cheers Philip

Expand full comment
author

Thanks Philip. Fair point. It’s a balance between widening my audience to new free subscribers I can sign up as paid subscribers and keeping plenty paywalled for subscribers. I try to keep the freebies ‘other than the weekly sampler on a Saturday or sunday’ down to once a fortnight or so.,

Expand full comment

Thanks Bernard for the explanation. Tautoko the balance you strike to maintain viewer readership, and getting more people aware of the discussions constantly unfolding and developing.

Expand full comment

Good value for money in my opinion Bernard. Especially considering the amount of time I imagine it takes to compile each day's Kaka.

Expand full comment

Thanks Bernard, It’s frustrating as to what our system has devolved into ie Corporate Socialism “privatise profits socialise losses” it’s Bulls&$t! Anyone who supports this doesn’t know what capitalism is! Businesses need to be able to go broke if they get into that situation. This refreshes things and hits the reset. Where we’re heading is some sort of Feudal oligarchy.

Expand full comment

I wish you had had time to squeeze in at the end of question time with Grant Robertson, something to the effect of ... "so how we (the government) treat you will depend on how big you are from a commercial point of view. If you are a recipient of our generosity, we will decide if you have been overpaid or not and there will be consequences if you don't pay up. If you are an entity in business for the profit of yourselves and/or your shareholders (and you may or may not also employ tax paying employees), you can decide if you have been overpaid and if you decide you have not been, there will be no consequences". It sort of reminds me of the Gallipoli campaign. The Officers sent the infantry up the hill to certain death while they sat in ships just off those tragic beaches, enjoying a G & T.

Expand full comment

It is distressing to compare the $20 billion this Labour government has showered on businesses with the risible $13.2 million a year it would cost it to restore the income-related rent subsidy to Wellington council tenants. The subsidy, still paid to state house tenants and community house tenants, was withdrawn in 2013 by the National government in a political move to force local bodies to end their social housing. This government, now in office four years, has still failed to restore the subsidy. I read that it's 'thinking' about it.

Matthew Hooton in October in his paywalled Herald column argued that MMP has given us government by Tweedledum and Tweedledee. It seems he is right: this Labour government continues the oppression of the dispossessed as surely and efficiently as its National competitor.

Expand full comment

Hi John

But if Labour got everyone out of poverty it would have nothing to justify it's existence. So they just look like they are 'doing something'.

Expand full comment

Great again Bernard how a labour government has let the capitalists run the henhouse for their own benefit and the property owners while the bottom suffers and wealth inequality grows apace. Subsidise the capitalists to save the working peoples jobs. Yeah right! It gets passed on to the shareholders because it was given to business and not their staff and as business does it has “Shonked “) named after Shon Key) the money away to those that least need it and already are wealthy. Modern day slavery for the bottom 20% edges even closer. I saw on netflix the other night a wealthy American who couldnt climb Everest because of a Sherpa Boycott. He was furious and asked”who owns these people”. Not far away?

Patrick Medlicott

Expand full comment

Another little something I whipped up, I have no other words https://imgflip.com/i/5w0oe3

Expand full comment

What if 2020, and 2021 was only a means test for what's to come in 2022. I worry, that we wouldn't be prepared for a COVID 2.0 where a pandemic doubles down.

Curious to know if there is a debt ceiling, or limit on borrowing. I'd like to think the "Bank" would treat Hon. Grant Robertson the same as me. Supporting what's fair and reasonable. And the rekovery is far from that.

I do want something to hope for, as Big Norm would put it, but reading this article just has me troubled and a less aspirational kiwi bloke than I was yesterday. Reality hitting me in the face having not jumped on the band wagon of the greatest wealth transfer in our time, thinking there was always a better way, and for things not going from already gone from unfavourable to bad. Though it could be worse.. right?

Expand full comment