John Minto: Key teaches class-quake lessons

By John Minto
from Frontline

It took three days but it was a welcome announcement from Prime Minister John Key that the government will meet some wage costs for Christchurch workers in small businesses (less than 20 employees) who are unable to work because of the earthquake.

Key's payment plan expects to help around 10,000 workers meaning an initial cost of $15 million. It sounds a lot but it's a piddle in the pool compared to the eye-popping sums we are likely to hear before the end of the week when the government announces its first comprehensive rebuilding plans.

The government will provide $350 a week for the next four weeks and John Key hopes employers will top up the pay to each worker's usual rate when they are unable to work. In general terms (and yes there will be exceptions) companies are more easily able to withstand the financial shock of four weeks without work than are families which struggle to make ends meet in our chronic low-pay economy.

NZ–tax haven for the international rich

By Peter de Waal

The conservative UK Sunday Times newspaper recently published a survey of countries with a comfortable western standard of living wealthy tax-exiles could consider escaping to.

This article [only available online for a fee], published on July 11th 2010, described New Zealand’s 2010 budget as “the most radical change to taxation in 25 years.” Compare this to Key’s local attempts to downplay the importance and impact of the 2010 budget.

For a British boss or money speculator making £150,000 a year, Switzerland will take only £40,000 a year, yet “socialist” New Zealand is next cheapest tax shelter with just £50,000 of income taxes.

For this, the wealthy ex-pat gets access to a free world class health system, cheap housing conveniently out of reach for 90% of the population, anti-labour union laws such as the 90-day “fire at will” law that makes the setting up of a tax-loss generating “business” simple and relatively risk-free, and much more.

The cost of these gifts to the transient wealthy is a massive destruction of citizenship rights for Kiwis, with swingeing cuts to ACC entitlements, access to education, health rationing, the protection of union membership, GST rising to 15%, etc. Key’s austerity policies for the poor and working class are costing some their lives and making survival near-impossible for many families.

John Key sold himself to the electorate on the basis of tax cuts, but many didn’t realise that these cuts are biased towards the ultra-rich top 2% of the workforce. Key has transformed New Zealand into a tax-exile destination and articles such as this one in Bloomberg are here to sell the results of these decisions to the world’s rich.


‘Smiling assassin’ targets rich immigrants

By William Mellor 

Bloomberg via NZ Herald

Wednesday Aug 25, 2010

Business news agency Bloomberg takes an outsider’s look at where it thinks New Zealand and John Key are heading.

Prime Minister John Key promoted New Zealand on David Letterman’s Late Show last year. Photo / AP

Activists send message to Key: “Make the banks pay!”

Bad Banks media release
13 May 2010

Prominent New Zealand activists and unionists are among the 53 public signatories to a letter to prime minister John Key calling for action to curb banking power and protect grassroots people. The full list of public signatories is included below.

The letter, written on behalf of grassroots people in New Zealand, reads:

Dear Mr Key,

Why are you wanting to raise GST? Food and everything else will be more expensive. It's already hard to make ends meet. Why don't you tax the banks and other fat cats that have been ripping us off? We want justice Mr Key, make them pay.

Signed,

Grassroots people of NZ

Bad Banks leaflet #6: MAKE THE BANKS PAY

The latest Bad Banks leaflet is out now (leaflet #6). It features on the front a "letter" to prime minister John Key, which reads:

Dear Mr Key,

Why are you wanting to raise GST? Food and everything else will be more expensive. It's already hard to make ends meet. Why don't you tax the banks and other fat cats that have been ripping us off? We want justice Mr Key, make them pay.

Signed,
Grassroots people of NZ

On the back of the leaflet, under the headline 'Make the Banks Pay' are three demands:

1. Stop forced mortgagee sales
Regulatory muscle used to stop banks turfing people out of their homes. A government body to oversee the re-negotiation of mortgages based on current market values and ability of the homeowner to pay.

2. Turn Kiwibank into a proper public bank
Offering 3% interest loans to first home buyers, zero-fee banking for people on modest incomes, and low interest loans to local bodies for sustainable eco-projects in the public good.

3. Introduce a Robin Hood Tax
(also known as a Financial Transaction Tax)
A small percentage tax on financial transactions would net billions of dollars from banks and global financial speculators. GST could be phased out.

These "common sense" measures to curb banking power and protect grassroots people should hit the mark with people who already have negative attitudes towards the banks, which is the majority of New Zealanders. Early feedback from people on the street to the new leaflet has been positive.


SIGN ON TO OUR "LETTER" TO JOHN KEY

To go with the new leaflet, there's a 'Make the Banks Pay' sign-up sheet where people can give their support to our "letter" to John Key and the three demands.

If you would like bulk copies of Bad Banks leaflet #6 and the 'Make the Banks Pay' sign-up sheet, contact Vaughan svpl(at)xtra.co.nz or 021-0415 082.

Send all completed sign-up sheets to Socialist Worker/Bad Banks, PO Box 13-685, Auckland.


SIGN ON ONLINE

There's an online version of the 'Make the Banks Pay' sign-up. Go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/badbanks/ to add your signature. Tell your friends, family and workmates. We want to get as many signatures as possible, to grow the campaign and hopefully get crucial media coverage.

You can also join, and invite others to join, the 'Make the Banks Pay' Facebook group. Go to http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=392390694275&ref=ts


IN THE MEDIA AT BUDGET TIME

There's going to be a lot of media coverage either side of the upcoming budget (20 May) about an almost certain hike in GST, as well as other policies the National government will be implementing in response to the global economic crisis. It's possible that the alternative message of the Bad Banks campaign: "make the banks pay, not grassroots people", could break through into the media. That possibility will be increased if we can build some campaign momentum on the ground and online over the next couple of months.

If we work hard we may be able to lift the Bad Banks campaign to the next level. The three "common sense" measures are necessary to curb banking power and protect grassroots people in New Zealand. If we act together we just might be able to deliver a blow to the banks.

In solidarity,

Vaughan Gunson
Bad Banks campaign manager
svpl(at)xtra.co.nz
021-0415 082

Open Letter to John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand

26 November 2009

Kia ora Mr Key,

We've never met, but since I'm a longtime socialist and you're Minister for the Security Intelligence Service, you have undoubtedly read SIS reports about me and my fellow promoters of a more democratic, just and ecological society.

However, it's in your capacity as Prime Minister that I'm writing you this Open Letter.

Recently one of my friends (who I shall name Jason to protect his identity) was sacked from his job by a fairly new manager. The reason given was that Jason's job was supposedly "redundant". Yet another worker was hired just days before Jason was sacked to do essentially the same job which Jason had been doing for some years, earning praise from his previous manager.

Here's what I see as the core facts. The new manager is a bully. He set out to squash Jason who, having a mind of his own, was regarded as a threat. Meanwhile, the business owner instructed managers across the company to axe some jobs and cut all wages, regardless of employment agreements. That would allow the firm to keep on making healthy profits at a time of capitalist slump, at the expense of loyal staff, of course. The bully-manager took advantage of this directive from the top boss to knife Jason, opening the way for a lower-paid substitute to be taken on.

I'm guessing that, as Prime Minister, your reaction to what I'm saying may be two-fold. First, Jason could take a complaint to the Employment Relations Authority, as allowed under the Employment Relations Act. And second, you have important affairs of state to deal with, and cannot possibly involve yourself in the affairs of workers.

Well, Jason did attend a mediation session at the Employment Relations Authority. Here he ran up against a wall of weasel words from company managers, aided by a smooth and expensive lawyer whose speciality is getting bosses off the hook. They insisted Jason's sacking was a "genuine redundancy".

The mediator informed Jason that he could take the complaint further, to a hearing of the Employment Relations Authority, but in the event of losing he faced having to pay several thousand dollars towards the other side's legal costs. With Jason made poor by his sacking, how can he afford to take such a risk? So the legal winners look likely to be those with money on their side, regardless of the truth.

I readily admit that, under current legislation, you and your political colleagues could not get involved in this one particular case, even if you so wanted. I do believe, however, that at the heart of the affairs of state should be the affairs of workers, who together with their families compose the great majority of people living in New Zealand.

Right now there's a marvelous opportunity for you, as Prime Minister of New Zealand, to do something really practical to help workers help themselves. And to do so on an international stage.

You are attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Trinidad & Tobago which will discuss a democracy report from the Commonwealth's policy studies unit. This report notes that "the development of a democratic culture demands that democracy is practiced not only in political parties, but also in most other social, political, cultural and economic institutions, organisations and communities".

You see, the unjust sacking of Jason could not have happened if his "economic institution" had been a place where "democracy is practiced", to quote from the Commonwealth report. In any firm operating in a democratic manner, proposed sackings and other important issues would be decided by majority vote after all sides had been heard. Then it would be hard for some boss, acting like a dictator, to impose unjust decrees on the majority working at the firm.

So, Mr Key, I hope you will support the Commonwealth report's proposal to extend democracy to "economic institutions" and other areas of society where, at present, the great majority of people have absolutely no democracy.

And, when you return to New Zealand, I hope you will begin the process of passing this extension of democracy into law.

I do realise that, if you were to stand up strong for democracy, you would run into heavy flak from your old corporate mates. And from those states around the world which want to stop democracy from breaking out in the workplace in order to privilege the wealthy few who make most of their money from other people's labour.

However, Mr Key, you would get rapt support from Jason, and all his friends, and all workers under the thumb of their bosses, in fact the great majority of people in New Zealand and around the planet. You would become an international people's hero if you advocated democracy in the workplace, and passed a law to make it happen in New Zealand.

I hope you will reply in a meaningful way to my Open Letter. Even if you don't, I guess we will see how much of a democrat you are by what you say at the Commonwealth meeting and, more important, by what you do upon returning home.

Grant Morgan
021 2544 515
grantmorgan@paradise.net.nz

Living Wage campaign: Wellington Public Meeting video

A couple of dozen grassroots campaigners gathered in Wellington on August 9 to organise community support for Unite Union’s campaign to raise the minimum wage. The goal of the campaign is to gather the 300,000+ petition signatures needed to trigger a Citizens Initiated Referendum asking, “Should the adult minimum wage be raised in steps over the next three years, starting with an immediate rise to $15 per hour, until it reaches 66% of the average total hourly earnings as defined in the Quarterly Employment Survey?” Matt Jones from Unite talked about why the union had decided to initiate the petition, and how the campaign was going so far. “We’re still putting our feelers out to the wider activist communities across New Zealand to try and get a support base”, he said, “before we push out into the streets and make our campaign known to the wider public. So we're still at the initial stage where we make our arguments to people such as yourselves.” Although the immediate goal of a $15 minimum wage, and then linking the rate to 66% of the average wage, are both in line with Council of Trade Unions policy, there's been a noticeable lack of active, top-level support from most other unions. One exception is the Maritime Union of New Zealand. Joe Fleetwood from MUNZ talked about how his union was gathering signatures, and also how he saw it fitting into the wider political picture. “The flyer and the petition went out. Our communications officer put that into all our magazines, that go to about 3,000 members. All worksites down on the wharf – especially our passenger vessels – have got these packs already. Our young activists are out there asking passengers, while they're travelling on the ferries, to sign the petition.” The public meeting was jointly organised by RAM – Residents Action Movement, and the Alliance Party. Growing cooperation between these two parties in Wellington had already seen the start of joint street stalls, gathering petition signatures. “Small parties like RAM, the Alliance and the Workers Party have stood in elections and campaigned against the market-driven policies of National and Labour”, said RAM chair Grant Brookes. “But what we urgently need is a bigger, broader, more united Left that can take the fight to National and become a credible alternative for all those without a voice. The petition can bring together Left and grassroots activists – like those of us in this room – and build connections for joint action and cooperation in other areas as well.” After the meeting, RAM and the Alliance decided to take their collaboration further by producing a joint leaflet. To get involved with the community campaign, or help out on the Saturday street stalls in Lower Hutt, Newtown and other areas, contact Grant on 021 053 2973.

Gordon Campbell on "nice guy" Key and National's pitiful response to the global economic crisis

Political commentator Gordon Campbell has just posted an article on the National government's response to the global economic crisis. See Gordon Campbell on Friday’s job summit, and whether anyone has an end game for the recession Campbell has this to say of the global economic crisis and the National government’s response so far: How bad is it? Campbell: "…the latest economic news lends credibility to the feeling that the hole is getting deeper and darker than Treasury’s public estimates - too rosy, and hopelessly out of date – would indicate." "Could the meltdown and its effects really linger on for 18 months or more ? Unfortunately, yes." "As economist Paul Krugman pointed out last week, the US Federal Reserve has been talking lately to central bankers around the globe, and all of them have concluded that unemployment rates will stay at substantially high levels until 2011 at least. A few central bankers are picking it could take until 2015 before we see a recognizable recovery." "As Krugman says, it took an enormous world war to finally put an end to the Great Depression. Until then, the Depression had been resistant to desperate attempts to cut interest rates to near zero in order to stimulate growth - a tactic today’s central bankers are also finding just won’t re-start the engine." "The slump that followed Japan’s “bubble economy” also eventually ended, but only after a lost decade. And when Japan finally did start to experience some solid growth, it was thanks to an export boom, which was in turn made possible by vigorous growth in the rest of the world — not an experience anyone can repeat when the whole world is in a slump." Unemployment in NZ Campbell: "Will it be 7.5 % by 2011 as the briefing papers for the summit reportedly indicate, or 11.2 % as the horror estimate from the New Zealand Institute suggested on Sunday? Or somewhere in between, for quite a while ….maybe even for the next five or six years or so?" John Key and the National government Campbell: "Frankly, it is hard to see many links between the causes of the recession, and the actions taken so far by the Key government in response to it. In total, we have seen so far: a modest package to assist the cash flow problems of small to medium business. A construction package mainly made up of an old wishlist compiled by the Clark government. A programme of tax cuts already budgeted before the crisis began. This week, we have a talk shop convened by the government. Now, is a tax cut/construction programme a particularly good response – or even any response at all – to the economic problems at the heart of this crisis? Or merely a band-aid on its effects?" "You can bet that when and if our economy ‘recovers’ to anything like previous growth levels, nothing substantive will have been put in place to stop another housing bubble from surfacing." "Sadly, it seems that the Key government doesn’t have any co-ordinated plan to protect this country from the financial crisis. It has done the bare minimum required to look politically responsible, and is taking a huge punt that the colossal sums being spent by other countries will put our overseas markets back in working order again, in time to save us from the worst. If however, we are still in crisis mode 18 months from now – and that seems very likely – these enduring bad times are just as likely to curdle the current rosy perceptions of the new government. Nice guy, but out of his depth could easily become the public verdict on Key as this recession endures." Cutting the country’s “support net” Campbell: "Some state departments, such as the one managing welfare support, need to be bolstered, not cut. Yet as the Greens Sue Bradford pointed out last week, the government is planning to cut 500 jobs from the Ministry of Social Development. This seems incredibly stupid. Someone needs to tell Paula Bennett that with the long recession stretching before us, the safety net in society needs more strands, not fewer." Based on what Campbell is arguing the National governments "Job Summit" is likely to be a non-event for grassroots people fearful of the economic crisis and the impact on their jobs and welfare. The Labour party leadership – tied as it is to a similar mess of neo-liberal and newly popular neo-Keynesian ideas – is not offering anything significantly different to National. There's a political space opening up for the Left to put before worried New Zealanders a real plan for protecting them in this time of global economic turmoil. That's if we can build a credible broad left vehicle, which remains the crucial link in turning good ideas into a political force that can change society. See also:

• The New Depression: a global confrontation between grassroots people and the mega-rich
• Battle of the manifestos
• History will judge the left on how we rose to the crisis