OnPoint: Budget 2010: What’d you expect?
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Nice piece o satire, Mr Welch
Exhausted by the fight for every breath, the dying woman somehow musters the strength to give a grateful smile.
‘Thank God,’ she murmurs. ‘Thank God for that. And the
business community, the corporate investors? Please tell
me they will suffer no more.” -
3410,
Don't forget that right-wing parties are funded by people with deep pockets, and can afford to spend a great deal on research and communications professionals.
Well, I agree with that too. National have really done a superb job of framing the narrative in the last five or so years, but I'm still slightly surprised that so many can be bought off so cheaply.
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Choice quote from NZHerald's Your Views:
Anyone saying that this is unfair to lower income earners is either really stupid or just greedy.
Take that!
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but I'm still slightly surprised that so many can be bought off so cheaply.
Yeah that was why I suggest selfish because the majority support this Government.Sad also that, the deep pockets want to go down the path of the con. All the research in the world suggests this sort of budget is not beneficial to the majority of the country or the people and yet the spin would seem to be the size of the bloody oil spill off the U.S coast of gulf of Mexico. Like Cunliffe said, early chilhood education WTF?
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Well, I agree with that too. National have really done a superb job of framing the narrative in the last five or so years, but I'm still slightly surprised that so many can be bought off so cheaply.
Three words: bread and circuses.
Or in this day and age, whitebread and media circuses.
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I find it fascinating how skillful this government is at spinning the public. Just imagine if a GST rise was dismissed as an issue by pre-Budget commentators as Key had promised not to raise it, before the last election. And then sprung on us on Thursday. Just as people will be fine with Kiwibank privatisation by the next election as it will by then be old news.
Interesting article in DomPost today about the careful media management by the Government and implying that Key is scared of a grilling by Sean Plunket so refuses to be interviewed on Radio NZ. Only Paul Henry and a few hand picked soft touches are allowed that privilege.
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Interesting article in DomPost today about the careful media management by the Government and implying that Key is scared of a grilling by Sean Plunket
Plunket would truly put Key's feet to the pillow, yes.
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Plunket would truly put Key's feet to the pillow, yes.
applause
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Yeah, wasn't Plunket unusual on Friday morning? You could feel his smile over the airwaves: he seemed to purr all morning. It was an unusually naked display.
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some good reading on Red Alert regarding the Budget
Thanks Sofie - I'd seen that. Let's hope that some journalists pick up some of the issues raised and they get wider exposure. I suspect that a lot of those that will be worse off as a result of the Budget are not political blog readers, or even regular internet users.
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OK, so why is the meme of this budget that people who basically pay no tax just got a tax cut, and so will be no worse off after 6% inflation?
Even when Jonkey managed to say it himself. Working for Families? Two parents, two kids, not even counting the trouble they'll have with free daycare now (ECE my ass), pay nothing after WFF credits, all they way up to where most people live. So, like, how do you cut nothing?
They really just took a 5% loss in income this year, assuming they've still got a job in the first place, which tens of thousands extra don't. Me too, as a poor fuck with no income again. Great fun, yay GST.
No one worse off? WTF? I mean, sure, parrot the Nat's spin doctors enough and they hire you for a huge wage increase, but .... -
Rod Oram on Budget 2010. Talk about damning with faint praise.
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Even when Jonkey managed to say it himself. Working for Families? Two parents, two kids, not even counting the trouble they'll have with free daycare now (ECE my ass), pay nothing after WFF credits, all they way up to where most people live.
Surely that shonky, wonky, honky, Jonkey
would be useful for entertaining kids? -
JLM,
Thanks for this, DR. I had the surreal experience of looking on the Sunday Times business pages for Rod's take on the budget, and reading the highlighted opinion piece with a growing sense that Rod was losing his touch. It took two paragraphs before I looked at the byline to see it was written by that other well-known "Ro" - Roger Kerr.
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It took two paragraphs before I looked at the byline to see it was written by that other well-known "Ro" - Roger Kerr.
I read a piece on Stuff bylined as Vernon Small, and thought: this is refreshing, I'd better take back at least some of the criticism I've leveled at New Zealand's political journalists. A strong but fair investigation of the budget and the way it had been sold by the Government.
It turned out that there had been a mixup among the sub-editors, and it was in fact the work of David Cunliffe.
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Violins for BlueChipBoy from his chums.
Many of the investors at court wanted jail for Bryers, but the corporate community considered a community work sentence severe for such charges.
Court files viewed by the Herald on Sunday show Bryers' employer at Northern Crest Investments Ltd tried to convince the judge to let him off with a fine.
Chairman Marc Wilson wrote to say a scheme planned to repay Blue Chip investors was likely to be cancelled if Bryers was given community work.
He said the company could also end its financial arrangement with Bryers.
Although Bryers did not make a plea for clemency, Wilson said the end of the company had a "profound emotional impact at all levels" on the former finance boss.
He said the company collapse and bankruptcy was "an enormous ordeal" for Bryers. "They have caused him to look closely at himself and to undertake a great deal of soul-searching."
That would explain his smug shit-eating grin in court and stony silence outside.
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The threat that if they dared give Bryers community service (gasp! the horror!) it would hurt the creditors' chances to get what little money might be coming to them is I think the most appalling low in this whole saga. Which is saying something.
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Bryers' employer at Northern Crest Investments Ltd
He has an employer? Why would anybody hire someone so monstrously incompetent? I hope everybody with their money at "Northern Crest" realises.
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Mates rates?
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According to the Companies Office the former name of Northern Crest Investments Ltd is
BLUE CHIP FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS LIMITED
Name changed 1/4/2008.
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Like Cunliffe said, early chilhood education WTF?
According to the Herald (quoted approvingly by DPF), the Labour government had offered early childhood providers more money if they hired skilled staff. By cutting that funding, the National government is giving ECE providers the freedom to hire quality staff who do not have formal qualifications.
See? It's all about choice.
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Bryer-ties and other bunnies...
At first I thought maybe he's working off a debt?
but then I found this - jobs for the boys then:The interesting thing from a Canberra angle is that, according to a report in the NZ Herald, Northern Crest Investments is paying Bryers over $10,000 a month, and the $5,000 a month rent on his Sydney apartment, for his “intellectual property”.
The chair of Northern Crest Investments is, according to the NZ Herald, “Marc Wilson, a Canberra accountant.”
One wonders what Mr Wilson hopes to gain from Mr Bryers’ expertise?so I guess Intellectual properties aren't affected by Bankruptcy - I'd have thought any earnings on them would be subject to creditors demands if they are the same intellectual properties (ie his "Business expertise"!!?) that created the mess...
and then I see in NCI's annual report (2008) that Bryers was the founder of Northern Crest Investments Ltd - "Mark Bryers is a founder of the Northern Crest business and has considerable know how and expertise in property investment products"
just not book keeping apparently...
even though he "studied law at Auckland University and majored in accounting."
and his career history includes "...acting as a barrister and solicitor, merchant banking, property development and holding several senior positions in large trading companies."
that is Oscar-worthy acting indeed...further to what Heather pointed out I see that NCI was a backdoor listing on the stock Exchange in NZ (and is delisted on the ASX)
Previously named as:
* BLUE CHIP FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS LIMITED until 2008, Apr 1st
* BLUE CHIP NEW ZEALAND LIMITED until 2005, Oct 4th
* NEWCALL GROUP LIMITED until 2004, Jul 1st
* THE NEW ZEALAND SALMON COMPANY LIMITED until 1999, Sep 20ththere is some relevant commentary on this by Jenny Ruth :
who notes thatThe company is in its third incarnation, having started corporate life 1983 as New Zealand Salmon and then morphing into Newcall Communications, which had a similarly sorry existence until the Blue Chip transaction. Shareholders were faced with an invidious choice: approve the back-door listing or your company will be left with an estimated $135,000 to $170,000 shortfall owed to unsecured creditors and liquidators costs.
and Brian Gaynor has an interesting article on the history of back-door listings in NZ:
Blue Chip was originally listed on the NZX in 1983 as The New Zealand Salmon Company Ltd. It was not a commercial success and in 1999 the company was used as the backdoor listing for Newcall, a telecommunications company.
Newcall was also unsuccessful and on July 1, 2004 it was used as the backdoor listing for Mark Bryers' Blue Chip. The PricewaterhouseCoopers independent report concluded that the former New Zealand Salmon/Newcall group had nil value after over 20 years in operation.
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'Blue Chip Group Pty Ltd' and 'Blue Chip Financial Solutions Limited' own 6-7 NZ trademarks, according to the IPONZ database.
I've no idea how the ownership of those fits into the whole mess. I'd think they'd be more of a liability than an asset now. Who would want their product to be associated with that particular carcinogen?
Oh, and if anyone wants a bleak laugh, one of the TM's they applied for was 'futureproof'. It was abandoned prior to registration.
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one of the TM's they applied for was 'futureproof'.
As in "No Future"? Mr Bryers previous attempts to be a successful businessman do not suggest any chance of success in the foreseeable future, however, his fiddling about in fiduciary fun and frolics pale into insignificance compared to US banking lobyists. I fear another bout of Monetary madness is not so far off into our future.
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