New Zealand for sale--- come and get it

In the last fifty years New Zealand has thrust itself forward as an ‘offering’ to the highest bidder. Yes, NZ is for sale. Not just the present Government, but previous ones have also put us on the blocks.

We have a massive public debt and we must pay that off or face dire consequences. The spectre of Greece and other European nations hover just beyond the financial horizon. It seems that the only way out of this dilemma is for us to sell ourselves. New Zealand and its docile labour force is up for grabs.

What will we offer our future masters? Hey, why not put the lot up and then we can sleep at night knowing that our benevolent overlords will take care of us. At least we can rest in peace, because the debt will no longer be ours. That debt itself can be bought and sold; tossed around in a sea of selfishness.

Imagine our power production, fisheries, minerals, prospecting rights and our land--- oh--- go the whole hog. Why not chuck in our hospitals, education services and all of our financial institutions. Oops, I forget--- aren’t they basically already owned by overseas interest? The Trojan horse has been and gone long ago. We have lived for quite a while, thinking that we are a sovereign nation. The old colonial set-up simply changed its name and assumed a different guise.

It seems that the process is way too advanced to respond to public disquiet and by the time we collectively punish the politicians of the day, it will almost be too late. When we attempt to renationalize our assets we will face a different type of enemy in the new war. Those who we thought were our allies will be actively involved in putting down any opposition to their aims to swallow up the remainder of our dwindling assets.

We will be modern day slaves in a low wage economy, where the profits will depart our shores. A new class of local lackeys will arise and serve their foreign masters.

‘But what about our mates across the ditch in Australia?’ you may ask----- Too late my friends. They will also have succumbed to the new order. Do we just give up?

Of course not! That is not the New Zealand way. It means we have to take a long hard look at ourselves and what we want as a nation and how we share our wealth. It may mean a different way of living--- one that is sustainable and one that has entrenched in law that New Zealand is not for sale. We will most definitely need to return to the more caring nation we were once known for around the world.

I am not being simplistically nostalgic. I believe we face many real challenges. We must end the flow of cheap imports and a return to a locally owned manufacturing base. It may mean that we won’t be able to live in the ‘see, need and buy,’ mode that we have made our own.

What I have briefly presented is most surely a naive piece of economic non-reality and one that will be shot to pieces from every quarter, but we cannot shirk our responsibility to keep as much of our economic heritage for those  following and not give in to short-term gains. If we cannot reach across the political divide then we are doomed to a very uncertain future.

Slow down Mr Key and listen to the people! Keep our assets in New Zealand hands.

TVNZ7 replaced by an 'insulting lowest comon dem---

I think we get the picture Mr Dunne--- where were you when all of this was discussed? There has been a great deal of opposition to dump the TVNZ 7 channel, with its high quality free to air programming. Were you hiding in a retreat for disenchanted Cabinet Ministers or have you just pulled your head out of the sand?

I do not believe that you haven’t noticed the outcry that ensued when the ‘Government,’ to which you have so happily attached yourself to, announced that TVNZ7 was about to go.

You are of course the ‘Revenue Minister, so I guess you have a lot on your shoulders, supporting the government in its desire to save money.

How now can you come out and attack TVNZ and its decision to put up a poor copy of TV1 as a substitute for the loss of a quality TV channel?

Maybe you have been frightened by the demonstrations outside your local electorate office, maligning you for your lack of guts in challenging the government asset sales programme. You are in a position where you could have made a difference, but instead you have chosen to go down the path of political oblivion.

Make a brave choice and start speaking out for what most NZers want. It may be your swan song--- but hey--- you are near retirement, so why not go out with a bang!

Latvia joins us

We are getting more and more countries joining us.I wonder if we can get readers in every country in the world--- our own United Nations. All we need then is to actually talk to one another. What a cool aim.

Is it back to the old 'Cold War days?

I got quite a shock today when I saw the headlines that a Russian general is talking about making a pre-emptive strike against the missile system being proposed for Eastern Europe. This is a NATO-USA led inactive and it reeks of the old Cold War Days.

The USA says that it is in response to ‘threats from Iran. We all know about the controversy involving Iran moving toward a possible nuclear future and that is enough to raise the hairs on anyone’s back. It is almost akin to the feeling one gets when North Korea starts strutting its stuff along the same lines.

I doubt anyone wants to turn the clock back to the bad old days when we had nightmares about a possible nuclear confrontation. How do we avoid this terrible scenario?

 We step back and put ourselves in the shoes of our ’counterparts.’ By that I mean, the USA needs to be a lot more sensitive to the way Russia feels about this issue and have talks that really matter. On Russia’s part, they need to look south at Iran and see the bigger picture. Perhaps they are in a position that South Korea feels--- about its northern neighbour. Russia may be a vast country but having a neighbour that is seeking to arm itself with a nuclear capacity should be enough to push it towards a ‘common’ approach with its NATO neighbours.

That Iran sponsors terrorism is also another reason to bring a voice of reality to the table. Do we have to go back as I said before? One difference now is that I know Russians have access to what Western commentators say in a manner they never had before. They have many more outlets in which to express their point of view. I know that Russia is my third largest readership group. That would never have happened in the distant past.

It is time for Russians to be aware of the threat we can assume in the rhetoric reported in today’s papers. We must never get to the point where we are going to bed at night knowing that nuclear clock is once again approaching midnight.

Russia is little different to the USA. Just take the issue of the war in Afghanistan. The vast majority of American people are against this war, but the USA is still actively involved in that country.

 I wonder if the Russian people are happy with their government’s stance on the issue of taking Russia to the brink. Time will tell, hopefully in a manner which will let us all sleep.

USA---- Russia---- NATO partners---- talk to one another.

Make a promise and get bitten on your butt

Politicians never learn. Come election time and for a good deal of the time in between elections, politicians and their ‘wannabe’ mates make all sorts of promises. These utterances can be from those in opposition to the ‘power –clingers.’

I don’t need to search archives to bring up a few clangers, but the issue of the ‘gap’ between Australian and New Zealand incomes is never far from the front pages. Both main parties in NZ have used it to raise their profiles and both have distorted it, hiding in behind half-truths and downright lies.

Of course this then leads to accusations from either party about the outflow of New Zealanders, heading across the ditch to reap the rewards of the land of OZ. Higher incomes and lifestyle are the main attractions and the debate has raged for many years about the accuracy of the various claims.

 The National Party Government in New Zealand wants it both ways.  They claimed that NZers were heading to Aussie in ever increasing numbers, while Labour was in power and that they would turn the figures around and narrow the income gap. That has not happened; if anything the flow is looking more like a flood now. So what does the government do to reverse this outflow? --- It increases the payback rate of student loans and limits student allowance support to four years of study.

How stupid and unfair is that? Is it not making educational achievement beyond those first four years an aspirational goal only achievable for the rich? Where is the fairness in this policy? Is this not going to add to even more NZers leaving our shores, because they are cut off from financial support, just when they are about to put the cream on their qualifications? How short sighted and nasty is that?

We need to invest in our young people so that all have the opportunity to take part in all sectors of economic life. So National---shine the torch on to the land of OZ and say---‘go for it, because we are not going to assist you any further.’ What can young people think? –‘Might as well go there as soon as we finish school in NZ--- start planning for it now.’

Pull your head out of the sand, Mr Key and your advisors, or better still leave it in there--- the worms will tell you how short sighted you have become!
Maybe you should think a bit more about the promises you make--- all political parties, that is.

Ms Parata---'It may take some time.'

OMG--- did I hear right?  Ms Parata is now saying that ‘this issue of performance pay for teachers may take some time to implement.’ Is it possible that she has realized that blank policy statements and their implementation may have ramifications further down the track? Is she perhaps looking to see what will happen in the UK where things are a little more advanced re performance pay? Is she running a little frigid on the whole proposal? Maybe she has had someone whisper in her ear that some of the other initiatives that the National Government has mooted and started out on are not quite the golden goose she thought they were?

Let’s hope she does take stock and do some real thinking.

Watch this space.

China-- growing pains or just-----

China--- a huge country with a massive population and a history stretching back way beyond ‘developed civilization in Europe.’ Dynastic power can be measured in centuries and times of peace lasting generations. There were times when China could have spread its influence in far more drastic ways than it is doing now with its economic wealth.

China has much to be proud of. It has lifted significant numbers of its people from poverty and has taken its place in the modern world. That is how it should be.

The development of the last few decades has not come without costs, to the people in rural areas and to the environment. China’s leaders are well aware of the burgeoning demand from its huge middleclass for more freedom and for a say in their future; not one dominated by the Communist Party. One could say that the ‘Party’ is a modern day dynasty. The power vested in that illustrious body far surpasses any institution in the West, one that it is unwilling to give up.

Many Chinese citizens are proud of their country’s new status and have no thoughts of challenging the power of the Party. This will probably remain so, unless the economic growth slows or reverses. The forces that influence this are complex and difficult to understand from the perspective of many in the West.

There are however many worrying aspects to the

New China. For a start, I would be very surprised if Chinese citizens were able to read this blog. I know some do in Hong Kong and I see some hits occasionally from China in the past, but I am pretty sure if my stance changes and becomes more critical of Chinese leadership, then my blog would mysteriously disappear from their screens.

I have watched with a sense of unease the reports coming out of China about the treatment of ‘dissidents,’ Mr Chen being the latest. The fact that the USA and China have reached an ‘uncomfortable,’ understanding about his fate, is also causing me concern. He is a brave man and has spoken out on many issues. He has endangered his family by doing so.

Why has the USA backed down re his safety? Can they take at face value the assurances they have been given that Mr Chen and his family will be safe? There is a new ‘reality’ underlying any understanding between the US officials and their Chinese counterparts. Both countries are now dependant on one another and I believe we are going to see less and less support from the USA (and its allies--- NZ being one) for dissident Chinese.

Yes, we will hear platitudes but everyone knows that such words are meaningless. China now has so much economic power that any country going against them on any issue will face some sort of reprisal or underhanded pressure. I believe that NZ is and has been the victim of this in recent months, over the selling of NZ farms to Chinese interests.

Such unofficial pressure is not new to us, or indeed limited to China. It is now accepted that NZ came under intense pressure from the USA in the 1960’s to send troops to the unpopular Vietnam War, so I am not limiting my sense of unease to China.

What is the future for dissident Chinese? History has taught us that nothing remains the same. There are numerous examples of citizens in many countries demanding better conditions; for political participation and the sharing of wealth. These movements have been the basis for violent revolutions and peaceful transitions. China is no different.

With the internet and other social media formats and future development of these ‘tools,’ no government is going to be exempt from the pressures building up for change. The possible exception may be North Korea, but even there; ‘family’ dynasties will fold or evolve.

The young people of China are increasingly searching for contact with their counterparts in other countries and no amount of surveillance by their government will completely cut off this pathway.

The growing ‘green movement in China will also gain momentum, as its citizens witness and feel the degradation of their environment. The Party will then either change and evolve peacefully or become even more oppressive.

 I believe that it is too late for the Government of china to turn the tide. There will be times when their actions will hold the fort for a while, but the expectations built up since Tiananmen Square, will become a flood. China is in for a torrid time, but the end result will be a China quite different from the one we see today.

It is for China to find its own destiny and it surely will.