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Another good poll for a LabourGreen government
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The election of David Cunliffe has had the desired effect; in yet another poll, Labour is up, whilst National is either down or trailing. If these polls are any indication, and barring any major f**k up from the left, we are on course for a change in government next year (if not earlier).
A recent Herald Digipoll had Labour on 37.7%, giving it 48 seats. With the Greens on 11.3%, giving it 14 seats, and with Mana’s one seat, the centre-left would have 63 seats in the House. (See: Labour rockets in poll) More than sufficient and not needing to rely on the unpredictable Winston Peters (who has still not ruled out coalescing with the Nats, post election).
The Herald Digipoll is backed up by the latest Roy Morgan poll (for which this blogger was recently polled as well, via cellphone – see: Mr Morgan phoned).
The results are a spectacular boost for a new LabourGreen government – and a death notice for the Tories;
Centre-Left Bloc
Labour: 37% (+ 4.5%)
Greens: 11.5% (- 3.5%)
Mana: 0.5% (n/c) 1 seat (?)
Centre-Right Bloc
National Party: 42% (+ 1%)
Maori Party: 1% (n/c) 3 seats?
ACT NZ: 0.5% (- 0.5%) 1 seat?
United Future: 0.5% (unchanged) 1 seat?
Conservative Party of NZ: 2% (+ 0.5%)
Unknown orientation
New Zealand First: 4.5% (- 2%)
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Source: Roy Morgan
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Gary Morgan, of Morgan polling, says,
“Today’s New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll shows a large boost to Labour’s support (37%, up 4.5%) after the election of David Cunliffe as the new Labour Leader – now at its highest since Helen Clark was Prime Minister in October 2008. The boost to Labour’s support has come at the expense of fellow Opposition Parties the Greens (11.5%, down 3.5%) and New Zealand First (4.5%, down 2%).
“A potential Labour/Greens alliance (48.5%, up 1%) remains well ahead of National (42%, up 1%) and would form Government if an election were held now. The immediate boost to Labour support provides Cunliffe with a great ‘platform’ to explain why New Zealand electors should vote for Labour again.
“If Cunliffe can enunciate a consistent and concise message of the Labour Party policies and how they will improve the lives of New Zealanders and the country in general over the next 12 months, Cunliffe stands a real chance of being elected as New Zealand’s next Prime Minister at next year’s election.”
Indeed.
Roy Morgan explains it’s polling techniques, “This latest New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll on voting intention was conducted by telephone – both landline and mobile telephone , with a NZ wide cross-section of 934 electors from September 16-29, 2013. Of all electors surveyed a high 5% (down 1%) didn’t name a party.”
It is interesting to note that the number of undecideds/wouldn’t say, are down by a percentage point. That means that just over a year out from the election, voters are making up their minds. And it isn’t looking too good for the Nats. The Nats promote a pseudo-“hands off” approach to economic/social problems (except for Skycity, Rio Tinto, Warner Bros, Southern China Airlines, Mediaworks, etc) – such as Brownlee’s infamous quip that the housing crisis in Christchurch is best left to the free market to solve (see: Christchurch rent crisis ‘best left to market‘). Yeah, right.
People want active solutions to pressing problems. Throwing corporate welfare at companies like Warner Bros and Rio Tinto will not help struggling young New Zealanders into their own homes; feeding hungry children from poverty-stricken families; or create jobs for the 164,000 unemployed in this country. The latest Reserve Bank restrictions on first home buyers with low deposits – sanctioned by Bill English – will be the final straw.
When New Zealanders eventually tire of flirting with a do-nothing National government, they look to interventionist parties (Labour, Greens, and Mana) to do the job.
After two terms, the smile and wave frontman for National will be thrown out and their diabolical legislation can be reversed and consigned to the garbage heap of history.
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References
Fairfax: Christchurch rent crisis ‘best left to market‘
Previous related posts
Latest Roy Morgan Poll – on course to dump this rotten government
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Citizen A: With Martyn Bradbury, Julie Fairey and Keith Locke
– Citizen A –
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– 27 June 2013 –
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– Julie Fairey & Keith Locke –
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This week on Citizen A host Martyn Bradbury, Julie Fairey & Keith Locke debate the following issues:
Issue 1: Poll Dive for David Shearer. Does this latest Herald Digi-Poll scare Labour’s caucus into reconsidering Shearer as leader?
Issue 2: Would a NZ First backed GCSB bill be the worst outcome for New Zealand?
Issue 3: And what did Auckland mayor Len Brown give away to get the support of this National-led Government?
Citizen A screens on Face TV, 7.30pm Thursday nights on Sky 89
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Acknowledgement (republished with kind permission)
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Polls, Rogue Polls, and Damned Rogue Polls!
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Two previous polls this month showed a slight increase for National, and a small corresponding drop for Labour,
National – 47.9% (+0.45)
Labour – 32% (-2%)
Greens – 10.7% (+1.6%)
NZ First – 5.5% (+1.1%)
ACT – Dog tucker
Source: Herad Digipoll 11 September 2012
National – 46.5% (+2%)
Labour – 31% (-1%)
Greens – 12.5% (-2%)
NZ First – 4.5% (-0.5%)
ACT – still dog tucker – with biscuits thrown in
Source: Roy Morgan 13 September 2012
Which makes a recent TVNZ/Colmar Brunton Poll somewhat odd, as it appears to break the trends shown in the above two polls,
National – 45% (-3%)
Labour – 34% (+2%)
Greens – 12.0% (n/c)
NZ First – 2.0% (-1%)
ACT – dessert, leftover humble pie
Source: Labour makes gains on National – poll 23 September 2012
So two polls show National tracking up – and one shows the same Party dropping. Which is correct? Which is the ‘rogue poll’?
This blogger opts for the latter, the TVNZ/Colmar Brunton Poll.
With National’s recent strategy to paint Maori water claims as “greedy” and maintaining that “no one owns the water” (as opposed to coal, oil, and gas being sold to power thermal electricity generation) ; and Bennett’s relentless beneficiary-bashing proceeding at Warp Factor 9 – it is hardly surprising that the Nats are rising in the polls.
This is the same dog-whistle politics which Don Brash used during his stint as leader of Labour Greens ACT Mickey Mouse Party the National Party (finally got the right one – hard to keep track of The Don, these days) in January 2004 during his infamous “Orewa Speech”.
The racists and low information voters loved it. Whether bashing the “lazy druggie benes” or bashing the “lazy greedy Mow-ries” – National and ACT know they can always rely on exploiting this country’s latent prejudices to secure some increased electoral support.
The Nats enjoyed a stunning 17% meteoric rise in the polls in 2004, thanks to Brash’s odious speech, that would’ve made a certain German Corporal proud.
The TVNZ/Colmar Brunton Poll is definitely rogue.
It is too early for the punters to cotton on to the fact that National Party strategists, beavering away in their little dens on the Beehive’s Ninth Floor (or basement dungeon, or where ever Key keeps his Orc-ish minions) are conning them Big Time. Diversion and distraction – the oldest game in the political book to keep the Middle Classes from realising that National is failing to rev up the economy and unemployment is on the rise.
I am reminded of playing with kitty cat with a bit of string…
It works similar with the Middle Classes. But instead of string, use bene-baiting or “standing up to dem Mow-ries“. Guaranteed to work.
This blogger still believes that we are in line for a change in government come 2014 (or earlier). Eventually, the Middle Classes tire of hearing the unemployed, solo-mums (but never solo-dads), Maori, etc, demonised and begin to realise that National has nothing positive to offer.
That is when people realise that the Emporer has no clothes. *ick*
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Addendum
As a side issue…
Colmar Brunton brags on its website that it ” is delighted that the One News Colmar Brunton Poll is noted as the poll that most closely predicted the 2011 election “.
According to their own data, they are nothing of the sort. In fact, Roy Morgan achieved closer Party polling than Colmar did. The closest polling figures to actual Election Night voting results are marked in red,
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Colmar Brunton got four results closer to Election Night with scores for the Conservative Party, Labour, Greens, and Mana.
Roy Morgan got five scores closer to Election Night; National, ACT, United Future, Maori, and NZ First.
If you’re going to brag that you do a better job than your competitors, it might be a good idea to back it up with real evidence. (At least 50% of respondents agree with that assertion… )
Interestingly, Colmar Brunton generally got it right with the opposition parties (except for Conservatives) whilst Roy Morgan generally got it right with the government coalition parties (except for NZ First).
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Previous related blogposts
As predictable as the rising sun (11 Sept)
Poll shows gain for National’s ‘dog whistle’ politics (18 Sept)
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As predictable as the rising sun
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As previously posted on 6 September,
“With low polling and redundancies dominating the headlines, National has cast about for another dog-whistle to distract the easily-led Middle class.
They’ve done the unemployed and solo-mums (but never solo dads) “to death”.
Next minority on the List; Maori.
Cue: John Key’s derisory response to the upcoming nationwide hui on water rights,
“The Government does not believe there should be a national hui; does not believe there should be a national settlement and it probably would not recognise all of the rights and interests that some Maori groups believe they have.
If the Crown was to be represented at the hui, and it wont be, because we’ve said were not having a national hui, we don’t support that…if you are an MP in the government you represent the Crown and any representation by my MPs at such an event would be interpreted as representation by the Crown.
I’ve made that position absolutely crystal clear..I do not accept the view that there needs to be a national hui, because I do not accept there will be a national settlement, because I do not accept it’s a national issue.”
See: Key – Government won’t go to water hui
Maori-bashing.
Almost as good as bene-bashing.
Or “get tough on crime/crush cars” rhetoric.
“Standing tough” with Maori “demands” for water rights will probably work a treat with racist rednecks and low-information voters. With the former, their racism is deeply ingrained and such ignorance can be written of like the forty-plus financial companies that sucked billions out of mums and dads investors.
With the latter, it is a matter of education and dispelling myths and prejudice, before people’s eyes eventually open and they connect-the-dots.
National will probably rebound in the polls on this strategy.
See blogpost: National in trouble? Time to dog-whistle the Middle Class!
It appears that my prediction has come true and the latest Herald-Digipoll shows a slight “burp” in National’s poll rating.
Support for National has risen marginally by 0.4% – a barely discernible rise for the Party,
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The slight rise in support for National is due in no small part to their redneck dog-whistling; opposition to Maori water-rights claims; beneficiary bashing; and suchlike.
This kind of support is a kneejerk reaction and can be comfortably ignored. People eventually look for a government that offers positive messages – not constant negatives.
By contrast, Labour has dropped in the polls by 2%. But it can take heart that the move has gone to NZ First (1.1%)and predominantly the Greens (1.6%). (This poll was taken before Shearer announced Labour’s Food in Schools policy.)
The increased support for the Greens should reinforce Labour’s move to the centre-Left, and confidently abandon all pretenses of adopting a “National-lite” mirror-image.
For Labour to rise in the polls, they need only stay true to their roots and raison d’être – as the conscience and humane face of New Zealand society.
Likewise there is room for only one hard-arsed, neo-liberal obsessed, bene-bashing Party in this country, and that segment of the political spectrum is firmly inhabited by the National Party.
Labour’s path is clear; reassert it’s moral leadership on the political spectrum and reach out to every sector of New Zealand society.
Offer New Zealanders a clear path; more of the same of National’s unworkable policies; or something better. Something that encapsulates New Zealanders’ sense of fairness.
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Bolivia, New Zealand, and Tony Kokshoorn
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As the economy continues to stagnate, business confidence plummets, unemployment remains stubbornly high, and other negative social and economic indicators feature in our daily media reporting, National’s desperation for any means for economic growth becomes more apparent.
The national cycleway fizzled out; the Christchurch re-build moves at a snail’s pace; and the Sky City convention centre has become a liability as the public is (rightly) concerned about increasing problem gambling.
National continues to look at easy, quick-fix solutions. And nothing is easier as a quick-fix than digging a hole and extracting precious stuff. You can’t get easier than that.
Facing staunch public opposition, on 20 July 2010, National announced that it was backing away from mining in Conservation land. In an attempt to allay mounting public anger, Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee stated categorically,
“At the time the discussion document was released, I made it clear that it was a discussion. There were no preconceived positions from the Government. We have no intention of mining national parks.”
See: Govt confirms no mining Schedule 4, national parks
But it seems that the Nats cannot help themselves. Like a kleptomaniac drawn to shiny things, National disclosed on 25 June,
” The Government has confirmed plans to survey for minerals in world heritage sites on the West Coast.
Aeromagnetic surveying will be conducted in the South Island from Haast to Karamea, including large chunks of Te Wahipounamu South West New Zealand world heritage area.
The surveying follows a similar project in Northland last year, when more than 13,590 square kilometres of the region were surveyed from February to August. That was followed by an announcement from Energy and Resources Minister Phil Heatley this month, of a competitive tender process for exploration permits for metallic minerals in the region. “
See: Mineral hunt in heritage areas
They said were “just looking“.
On the following day – probably sensing rising public unease – Dear Leader John Key rushed to reassure the public,
“I can give you an assurance we won’t be mining on world heritage sites. What we are doing is gathering information for a variety of other reasons.”
See: Key: No mining in world heritage areas
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One wonders what Key’s “ variety of other reasons ” are?!
As one media report states,
” The Conservation Department says it is one the great natural areas of the world, with “landscapes of untouched beauty”.
The West Coast surveys will not include areas protected under Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act. However, the schedule does not prevent mining in world heritage areas such as Te Wahipounamu.
Economic Development Ministry spokeswoman Tracy Dillimore said yesterday that Te Wahipounamu would be surveyed to provide a good understanding of the geology and mineral potential of the wider area.
“New Zealand is potentially highly prospective for a wide range of minerals. The Government would like to see New Zealand maximise the benefits of safe and environmentally responsible development by reputable operators”. “
See: Mineral hunt in heritage areas
On 11 July, in response to a Herald-Digipoll, Grey District mayor, Tony Kokshoorn was invited to comment on the issue of mining on the West Coast, on Radio New Zealand’s ‘Afternoon With Jim Mora’s‘ show.
To say that Kokshoorn was enthusiastic about mining – including open cast mining – would be the understatement of the year,
” … Look the benchmark has always been talked about in the last two years was when Gerry Brownlee said they were going to actually mine on Schedule 4 [DoC] land. What happened was you had a big protest that was just alluded to a minute ago, down Queen Street and they said 50,000 went down there and that was taken as the benchmark and people were against mining on Conservation land.
But the benchmark is totally wrong. I mean, it’s a well known fact it was nothing like 50,000 people. It was more like only 25,000 or 30,000 people that marched in the first place, so it’s all out of kilter. The bottom line here is that West Coasters and a lot of people in New Zealand, they do want mining. They want to actually get the wealth that’s in the ground, out, so we can have good health, education, and policing.
Why would we send our workers to Australia and the rest of the world, to earn big wages and earn those countries valuable overseas exchange when we can have it, and we can have wealth ourselves? “
Jim Mora asked,
“ Even if it’s open-cast, a lot of it? “
Mayor Kokshoorn replied,
” Yes, of course. Look, it’s a pin-prick on the surface. The West Coast runs from Karamea to Haast, which is the equivalent of Wellington through to Auckland. It’s a huge, huge, area. We’re not going to ruin the crown jewel that we have, and which is our rain forest. We’re gonna make sure they stay intact.
There’s a big tourist industry round that and you got to go back to the fact that the Resource Management Act 1991 was put in place for that exact reason, and was to get a win/win so we can actually manage our environment and at the same time get economic development for our region. So for anyone to think that somehow we’re going to ruin it; we’re going to get the chainsaws out again; or we’re going to get the bulldozers out, that is just absolute rubbish.
Those days went many, many years ago. “
Source: Radio NZ The Panel with David Slack and Ali Jones (Part 2)
Tony Kokshoorn sez “we’re not going to gret the bulldozers out again”. In which case, pray tell, Mr Mayor, how do you propose to dig an open-cast mine? With f*****g teaspoons???
And how can he say that “those days went many, many years ago” – of chainsaws and bulldozers – when that is precisely how open cast mines are dug out of ground or mountains. Let us be absolutely candid and straight up; open cast mines are excavated with bulldozers and other massive earth-moving equipment.
The waste material – millions of tonnes of rock – has to be dumped somewhere. Much of those tailings contain toxic heavy metals and other elements,
” Mining can cause serious long-lasting water pollution through acid mine drainage. Copper, lead, zinc, cadmium and arsenic can leach out when water contacts the exposed rock in mine workings or tailings. This pollution is very serious and can be a problem that remains long after a mine is abandoned.
On Mt Te Aroha, poisonous waste – from just 90,000 cubic meters of tailings of the Tui mine, (which was abandoned in 1970 when the mining company went bankrupt) , is costing taxpayers over $17.5 million to attempt to fix. The Martha Mine will have over 40 million cubic meters of toxic tailings. Which means the Tui Mine tailings are just 0.225% of the volume of the Martha mine tailings ! “
See: How would outstanding areas be degraded by gold mining?
To remind folk what an open-cast mine looks like, this is the Newmont mine in Waihi,
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Perhaps the most dubious claims made by the likes of Tony Kokshoorn, Steven Joyce, et al, is that mining will create new jobs and increase our wealth.
As recently as 5 July, Key stated,
” New Zealanders, mostly, understand that while we owe it to future generations to do everything we can to protect our environment, we must also do all we can to leave them with a robust and sustainable economy where they can expect a good job and a good standard of living.
We have always believed that New Zealand’s mineral wealth can play a large part in the economy, and we have also always believed this can be done with a minimal impact on our environment”. “
See: Poll backing for more mineral searches cheers Key
They almost always point to Australia as an example.
However, Australia’s wealth is predicated on several other factors as well,
- A$1.3 trillion-dollar compulsory savings fund
- Stable political system and economy
- Strong trade union movement that ensures regular wage increases and protection of conditions
- The service sector of the economy, including tourism, education, and financial services, accounts for about 70% of GDP. Source
Far from rolling in cash, Australia has a balance of payments that is more than 7% of GDP negative, and has had persistently large current account deficits for more than 50 years. Source
As well,
” One single factor that undermines balance of payments is Australia’s narrow export base. Dependent upon commodities, the Australian government has endeavoured to redevelop the Australian manufacturing sector. “
See: Balance of payments of Australia
So it appears that the mining industry is not quite the ‘gold mine‘ that many believe for Australia.
More to the point, in de-constructing the illusion that mining is some kind of economic ‘panacea‘, is the example set by Bolivia. A cursory comparison of fiscal indicators between Bolivia and New Zealand yields some interesting facts,
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Bolivia |
New Zealand |
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Population |
10,629,000 [2] |
4,416,000 [1] |
Gross domestic product (2011) |
US$24.604 billion [2] |
US$161.851 billion [1] |
Gross domestic product per capita (2011) |
US$2,314.826 [2] |
US$36,648.204 [1] |
GDP Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) Total (2011) |
$50.904 billion [2] |
$122.193 billion [1] |
GDP Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) per capita (2011) |
$4,789.212 [2] |
$27,668.367 [1] |
Gini coefficient [3] |
58.2 (high, 2009) [3] |
36.2 (medium, 1997) [3] |
Unemployment |
5.5% (est.) [4] |
6.5% (est.) [5] |
Growth |
5.1% (2011 est.) [4] |
2% (2011 est.) [5] |
Inflation |
6.5% (2011 est.) [4] |
4.5% (2011 est.) [5] |
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Sources
[1] Source IMF
[2] Source IMF
[3] Source Wikipedia – The Gini coefficient measures the inequality among values of a frequency distribution (for example levels of income). A Gini coefficient of zero expresses perfect equality where all values are the same (for example, where everyone has an exactly equal income). A Gini coefficient of 100 expresses maximal inequality among values (for example where only one person has all the income) .
[4]CIA Factbook
[5] CIA Factbook
Bolivia’s economy is heavily dependent on oil, gas, and mining,
” Bolivia’s estimated 2011 gross domestic product (GDP) totaled $23.3 billion. Economic growth was estimated at about 5.1%, and inflation was estimated at about 6.9%. The increase in GDP primarily reflected contributions from oil and gas production (7.9%); electricity, water, and gas distribution (7.6%); construction (7.2%); transport and communications (6.0%); and financial services (5.5%). Exports rose by more than 30% between 2010 and 2011 to $9.1 billion, due mostly to increased commodity prices, not increased volume.
In 2011, Bolivia’s top export products were: hydrocarbons (45% of total exports), minerals (27%), manufactured goods (24%), and agricultural products (4%). “
See: Wikipedia Bolivia Economy
Quite simply, Bolivia’s reliance on mining and hydrocarbons does not seem to have yielded the wealth that people like Key, Joyce, Kokshoorn, and others, are telling us should be our reward for digging bloody big holes in the ground.
Whilst the Bolivian GDP grew two and a half times that of New Zealand, the income appears not to have “trickled down” to ordinary Bolivian workers.
In fact, as the chart above shows, GDP per capita and GDP Purchasing Power Parity per capita is greater for New Zealanders by several orders of magnitude, than it is for Bolivians.
Further GDP per Capita rankings can be found here: List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita. Despite Bolivia’s higher GDP growth, New Zealanders’ per capita incomes are far higher. Our standard of living is greater.
Accepted wisdom tells us that our more diverse economy is more productive, and a subsequently greater wealth-producer. Opportunities for higher wages (than Bolivia) abound throughout our economy that includes food processing, wood and paper products, textiles, machinery, transportation equipment, banking and insurance, tourism, as well as mining and hydro-carbon extraction.
As David Slack said on the same panel, hosted by Jim Mora, when he addressed the NZ Herald-Digipoll ‘support’ for mining,
” I’m kinda dismayed that there’s still this Lotto mentality that wants to just find a way to just happen upon our wealth rather than developing our economy so that we’ve got more high value business so that we’ve got perpetual wealth from that… [host interuption]
… Yeah, well you’ll have it once then it’s gone, and you’ll only be getting the royalties off it, not the whole damn thing. “
If mining was such a quick-fix wealth creator, then Bolivia should be light-years ahead of us. It clearly is not, and this blogger believes that our higher per capita income can be attributed to the diversification and sustainability of our economy.
It should also be remembered that, as David Slack pointed out, New Zealand does not earn $100 million from the extraction of Mineral X. We benefit from only the royalties (currently set at 1 or 5 %), some taxes, and a few thousand jobs.
See: Taxation and Royalties for Mining Companies
This Fairfax article is illuminating,
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Compare,
” Crown royalties from the mining industry returned just $6.5 million last year… “
With,
” Mining was a $2b a year industry, with $1.1b in exports… “
Obviously, New Zealand makes bugger-all from mining royalties.
And if the mining companies are owned by offshore interests (eg; New Zealand’s two biggest gold mining companies; Newmont, which owns the open pit Martha Hill and underground Favona mines at Waihi, is US-based; and Australian-based OceanaGold), then profits made are remitted overseas, worsening our balance of payments. Only company tax (which can be minimised) and employment of local people provide any measurable benefits to our economy – and even those are minimal.
” Where the mining activities result in a tax loss, this loss may be set off against income from non-mining activities, although the benefit of the mining loss is reduced by 50%; ie $300 of mining losses are required to be offset against $200 of non-mining income. The reasons for these unusual offset arrangements relate back to a period when mining companies paid a lower rate of tax than ordinary companies.
Mining companies are prohibited from grouping their profits or losses with other mining companies or with non-mining companies.
Despite these limitations, the tax regime for mining companies is generally regarded as concessionary. For example, it allows mining companies to immediately deduct their exploration expenditure and any expenditure incurred in the development of the mining licence. Thus buildings, mine-shafts, plant and machinery, production equipment and storage facilities, which would ordinarily be capitalised under standard accounting conventions, may be deducted immediately for income tax purposes. “
See: Taxation and Royalties for Mining Companies
Further regarding taxation, the Fairfax article states,
“… but the Government had not yet done any work on how much more tax or jobs could be created from expanding mining into conservation land.”
“More tax”?
Doubtful.
Dear Leader is already on record opposing the Capital Gains Tax, and any other tax for that matter,
” National is not going to be raising GST. National wants to cut taxes not raise taxes. “
See: Key ‘no GST rise’ video emerges
And lastly; jobs.
How many workers does the mining industry employ?
” Number employed: 4,000 directly, another 8,000 indirectly, as suppliers of goods and services “
See: Key Facts of New Zealand Mining
By comparison, the tourism sector plays a significant role in New Zealand’s economy,
” Tourism Satellite Account 2011 Report [1 MB PDF]
Year to March 2011 (released October 2011)
- Tourism Expenditure
Total tourism expenditure was $23.0 billion, an increase of 2.1 percent from the previous year.- Tourism Contribution to GDP
Tourism generated a direct contribution to GDP of $6.9 billion, or 3.8 percent of GDP. The indirect value added of industries supporting tourism generated an additional $8.8 billion to tourism.- Domestic and International Segments
Domestic tourism expenditure was $13.2 billion, an increase of 2.5 percent from the previous year.- Tourism Export Earnings
International tourist expenditure in 2011 ($9.7 billion) represents 16.8% of the total export earnings ($52.4 billion). Tourism is New Zealand’s second largest export earner, followed dairy ($11.6 billion or 19.9% of exports) in 2011.- Tourism Employment
The tourism industry directly employed 91,900 full-time equivalents (or 4.8 percent of total employment in New Zealand), an increase of 0.6 percent from the previous year.- Tourism Contribution to GST
Tourists generated $1.7 billion in goods and services tax (GST) revenue. “
See: Ministry of Economic Development – Tourism satellite account
It should not escape anyone that there is a high degree of irony here. A multi-billion dollar industry (tourism) relies on the very environment that the Mining industry would despoil with their activities.
To sum up;
- Mining is not as beneficial to a modern economy as some insist.
- Bolivia is a mining nation and is lagging behind New Zealand in per capita income.
- Bolivia’s GDP is growing 2.5 times faster than ours – but so is their inflation, whilst incomes still lag behind ours.
- Australia’s mining wealth is considerable – no doubt – but their balance of payments is more than 7% of GDP negative, and has had persistently large current account deficits for more than 50 years
- Australia is far too reliant on mining wealth; their economy is far too dependent on commodities; and they need to diversify.
- Crown Royalties are minimal – 1-5% .
- Big profits by foreign-owned mining companies leave New Zealand.
- Open cast mining creates a considerable impact on the environment, despite claims to contrary.
- Mining companies enjoy a taxation regime that “is generally regarded as concessionary”.
- And far more New Zealanders are employed in the Tourism sector than in the mining industry.
To repeat David Slack’s comments from Radio New Zealand,
” I’m kinda dismayed that there’s still this Lotto mentality that wants to just find a way to just happen upon our wealth rather than developing our economy so that we’ve got more high value business so that we’ve got perpetual wealth from that… [host interuption]
… Yeah, well you’ll have it once then it’s gone, and you’ll only be getting the royalties off it, not the whole damn thing. “
Whilst Dear Leader John Key stated,
” New Zealanders, mostly, understand that while we owe it to future generations to do everything we can to protect our environment, we must also do all we can to leave them with a robust and sustainable economy where they can expect a good job and a good standard of living.
We have always believed that New Zealand’s mineral wealth can play a large part in the economy, and we have also always believed this can be done with a minimal impact on our environment. “
See: Poll backing for more mineral searches cheers Key
I know who I believe.
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Additional
NZ Herald: Optimism dips in struggling economy
NZ Herald: Poll backing for more mineral searches cheers Key
Fairfax Media: NZ economic growth ‘unspectacular’
NZ Herald: Unemployment rate lifts to 6.7pc
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As predicted: National dropping in polls!
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As this blogger has predicted over the last couple of months, National is starting to drop in the polls. They are taking a ‘hit’ in electoral support as scandal after scandal hits various government Ministers and the public are becoming more and more aware that National has no economic plan to grow the economy and generate new jobs.
The Poll results for the latest Herald Digipoll,
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National: 48.1% (- 2.8 points)
Labour: 34.8% (+ 6.8)
Greens: 9.2% (- 2.6)
NZ First: 4.9% (- 0.3)
Maori Party: 1.7% (+ 1.3)
United Future: 0.7 per cent (up from 0)
Mana: 0.1 (- 0.2)
Conservatives: 0.1% (- 1.2)
Act: 0.0% (- 1.8)
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As if to underline National’s fall in the polls is confirmed by voter confidence in the way the country is being run. Voter confidence has fallen as well,
- 49.2% believe the Government is moving in the right direction (down from 54.4%)
- 42.1% believe the Government is moving in the wrong direction(up from 36.7%)
As well as confirming the view that this government is becoming less popular with each passing day, this blogger predicts that this government will not run it’s full course to 2014.
The Opposition parties (Labour, Greens, NZ First, and Mana) should be working over-time to present a credible broad front of a government-in-waiting. Policies for job creation, alleviation of poverty, and government-supported economic groweth must rank as the top three policies.
Nothing else will do.
Along with those three policies, all opposition parties must maintain a strong internal discipline.
In plain terms of single syllables: for god’s sakes, don’t stuff it up!
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References
NZ Herald Editorial: Labour leader shaping up as quiet achiever
Related Blogposts
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= fs =
Latest Horizon Poll – released today!
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The latest Horizon Poll has been released today, with results on,
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- the electoral system referendum
- political party ratings
- Maori voting intentions
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Electoral system referendum
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MMP is still the preferred option, with FPP coming in second place. This will no doubt annoy the heck out of the “Vote for Change” lobby group, who chose the FPP-variant, Supplementary Member (SM) as their preferred option.
Big mistake, boys. I know why you did it – you believed that FPP was tainted by past political abuses of power (which is correct) and that Supplementary Member would be a welcome alternative. “Vote for Change” even touted SM as a “compromise between FPP and MMP – which it isn’t, of course. But you relied on low-information voters not knowing this and following your lead.
Unfortunately for “Vote for Change”, their non-existant campaign achieved very little. In fact, it was distinctly amateurish, to put it mildly.
The results,
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Political party ratings
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As usual, Horizon Polling results differ markedly from Roy Morgan, Herald-Digipoll, et al, because Horizon prompts Undecided respondants to state a preference. Other pollsters also often do not include Undecideds when calculating their percentages.
The poll results,
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It’s interesting to note that the poll results for ACT, Labour, and the Greens match very closely other political opinion polls – only the result for National is markedly different.
For example, a Fairfax Media-Research International poll released yesterday had the following results;
- Labour – 26%
- Greens – 12%
- ACT – 0.7%
Very similar results to the Horizon Poll, with two important exceptions – Fairfax had the following results for National and NZ First;
- National – 54%
- NZ First – 4%
Significantly different to the Horizon Poll.
As the poll above stands, a Labour-led government is possible, with NZ First support. (And woe betide Winston Peters if he plays silly-buggers with Supply & Confidence.)
The election results will point to which company has gauged voter preferences the most accurately.
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Maori voting intentions
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As Maori politics follows Pakeha political movement and fragmentation along classic Left/Right lines, Mana and Maori Parties are becoming critical potentional partners for National and Labour. (Phil Goff may say he won’t go into Coalition with the Mana Party – but I believe he will need Hone Harawira’s Supply & Confidence to govern. He is hardly likely to turn down Mana Party support – critical if the left are to win on Saturday.)
Party Vote Results:
- Labour is attracting 27.6% of Maori nationwide
- Mana 14.9%
- Maori Party 14.9%
- NZ First 11.3%
- Green 11% and
- National 9.5%.
It is interesting to note that, generally speaking, Maori still favour Labour-led government;
- 20% of Maori want the Maori Party to enter a post-election coalition agreement with National.
- 53.5% would prefer it enter a Labour coalition.
- 45.8% of Maori would prefer Mana to enter a coalition agreement with Labour, 9.2% National.
If Horizon Polling is accurate – and I believe that their results are more realistic than the 50%, 53%, 56%, results that other polling companies have been coming up with – then National is on-course to being a one-term government.
And if John Key follows comments he made earlier this year, he will resign from Parliament.
Interesting times, indeed…
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Tea, tapes, & tantrums
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To re-cup – er, I mean, to re-cap…
Last Friday, (11 November) John Key met ACT’s Epsom candidate, John Banks for their symbolic “cuppa tea” meeting. It was supposed to send a message to Epsom voters, and to the rest of the country.
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A ‘message’ was sent – but not the one intended.
It’s been one week since the saga of the “Teapot Tapes” began. During that time, the issue has been a tsunami over the election campaign and has had unintended consequences.
The saga has not helped Labour – polls seem to be clear on this point. In fact, the ruckus appears to have hindered Labour’s strategy to imprint itself on the voter’s psyche as a credible alternative to a government led by a popular politician.
Only Winston Peters – who has a knack for “playing” the media like a violinist with a carefully tuned stradivarius – appears to have benefitted. For him, the “Teapot Tapes” has been a blast of ‘oxygen’ to his struggling campaign. Peters succeeded in ‘mining’ the issue as he tapped into an underlying anger and distrust toward John Key, ACT, and their public machinations in Cafe Urban, last week.
There was no way that a politician like Phil Goff could exploit this latent collective anger. This is territory that could only be covered by a populist politician adept at taking this collective anger and focusing it like a surgeon’s laser. This was firmly Winston Peters Country.
And sure enough, the latest Herald-Digipoll had NZ First at 4.9% – a fraction below the magical 5% MMP thresh-hold.
Thank you, John Key.
As the saga unfolded, people were taking note of John Key’s actions, reactions, and behaviour.
On Monday, the first ‘crack’ in John Key’s veneer of “laid back blokeyness” appeared when he laid a complaint with the police. For a man who was insistant that he was “comfortable” with what was on the tapes – calling in the police and mounting an investigation against four media outlets was hardly consistent with some who was “comfortable” and relaxed.
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His walk-out from his own press conference on Wednesday was the second sign that the pressure was getting to him. For John Key – used to high popularity ratings and a compliant media – this was uncharted territory for him. His walk-out on 16 November was a classic “flight or fight” response to someone stressed and unable to cope.
To memory, no other Prime Minister has ever walked out so abruptly in such circumstances.
The “Teapot Tapes” situation has now moved on from whatever machinations were being plotted by the Two Johns. What we are now witnessing is how a man – fighting for a second term as Prime Minister and hopeful leader of our country – is coping with a situation that he can no longer control.
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It doesn’t look good for Key.
Even if the polls are correct and National is still rating highly with voters, the image of a distinctly un-comfortable Prime Minister; rattled by run-away events; and immune to his charm, has been witnessed by the public. The mask has fallen away – albeit briefly – and we’ve seen a three-dimensional man with a short fuse and limited patience. Certainly not the two dimensional caricature, of an ever-smiling figure, seemingly in a perpetual state of grace that we’ve all been familiar with.
We have seen some of the real man behind the facade.
Just as critically, as I wrote in It’s official: the media honeymoon is over Key’s cosy relationship with this country’s media has come to an abrupt halt. The media have now identified John Key as Just Another Politician, and this will prove fatal to the “ordinary bloke” image Key has cultivated these last three years. From this week onward, he will be treated like every other politician.
It’s like we’ve just discovered that our father, who once upon a time could do no wrong and was infallible, is actually just like other people. It’s a bit of a let-down really.
If National is re-elected to government – by no means a certainty any more – then I wonder if John Key’s media advisors have prepared him that the next three years may be rougher than anything he’s experienced thus far. Ironically, even if the economy improves, his relationship with the press will worsen. The media will no longer be quite so accepting of his care-free, easy-going manner and style of management.
Like Stephen Sackur’s interview with John Key on BBC’s Hard Talk last May, they will be asking harder questions, and less inclined with his classic “ackshully” fob-offs. If Key thought that the preceeding week was a bitch – he ain’t seen nothing yet.
This time he will be held to account.
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+++ Updated+++ Footnote
ACT’s need for the photo-op between the Two Johns is hypocrisy in the extreme.
Not too long ago, ACT’s Rodney Hide rejected any idea of Maori Seats on the new Supercity Auckland Council. According to ACT, Maori were expected to wins seats on the Council on merit alone.
“Maori Must Earn Auckland Seats On Merit – By Guest Author Denise Cameron
…There are lots of different ethnic groups with representatives in Parliament, on City Councils and as Mayors – who all got there on merit, not as a gift. Let our people do it the same way. Some individual at the Hikoi said that [having Maori representatives on the new Auckland Council] was our right under the Treaty.Let our bright boys and girls EARN their seats, I say…” – Source
Really? Like ACT is trying to win the seat of Epsom on “merit” alone? With a “political subsidy” from National?
Oh dear. Never mind. ACT will be goneburger the day after 26 November…
… which in itself raises new problems for the Left. Activists from a dead political party have a habit of colonising other parties and becoming factions within.
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Additional Reading
How bad are National’s internals?
What if the unexpected happens?
Will there be election-night fright for the Nats?
Tea Pot Tapes: Revenge of the Meme
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Poll: 1 July 2011 – Herald-Digipoll Poll
- National 51.2% (-3.2%)
- Labour 36.1% (+2.4%)
- Greens 6.6% (+1.1%)
- Maori Party 1.7% (+0.2%)
- NZ First 1.2% (-1.5%)
- ACT 1.9% (+0.2%)
- United Future 0.0% (no change)