by frog
An event of some significance in the history of the Greens’ relationship with the wider left occurred yesterday, but is yet to register on the mediascope.
Sue B received a standing ovation at the end of her speech to the CTU conference.
Not only was the standing ovation more enthusiastic and genuine than the one dutifully given earlier to Helen Clark, but afterwards Sue, Rod and the Green unionists present were swamped by delegates wishing them well. They even ran out of Green Party membership forms!
Rod says such a reaction was a “whole new experience”.
Published in Campaign | Economy, Work, & Welfare by frog on Thu, October 20th, 2005
Tags: environment
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
This is indeed heartening to hear!
For some time now I’ve been advocating the need for the Greens to work more closely with the union movement, and for us to look at targeting the working-class vote more fervently next election.
A society with a strong, healthy and empowered workforce is one that will ensure a vibrant economy.
Kudos to Sue B by the way.
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Well done Sue!
I’ll buy you coffee and cake at the Boatshed Cafe next time you are here
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I get the impression that Labour is going to regret the dalliance with Winston. They have just given the Green Party every impetus to cater to left wing voters in NZ.
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One swallow doesn’t make a summer, but this is an early and instinctive reaction towards Labour’s move into the center.
I really wonder though, if Labour is too concerned, having helped decimate union membership?
What the union movement can bring are organisational skills and a funding base for the Greens, as well as a good dose of practical reality about how policies work in the real world.
And Green values and principles will be of benefit to workers and unions alike as older union leaders are replaced with those who understand that it’s not an ‘us v them’ battleground with the business sector.
Kiwi owned businesses deserve investment from unions and staff so that all participate in the profits, whether social, environmental or financial.
The Greens, together with unions, can help create those opportunities, and the Green Party exercise political power to bring them into fruition.
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excellent…i am hoping sue and the other mps will ignore the strictures (spoken or unspoken) of their ‘deal’ with labour…..and will perform in the house as a fully functioning opposition party..and will finally show what they are made of…(i am looking forward to blogging questiontime..)
this is a good start…
phil(whoar.co.nz)
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Wow…
Sue B knows how to hit the right buttons with this sort of audience, but I’m worried about the mid-term capacity of the Greens to grow in this direction.
I regret bitterly the demise of the Alliance (a shame Waitakere voters didn’t quite understand the tactical voting issue in 2002), precisely because I’m uneasy about the Greens having to occupy all of the vast space Labour has opened up to their left. There is no-one else for the union movement to turn to, and the Greens have a historic responsibility to take up the slack, but there is a risk of “denaturing” the party…
It would be nice to get certain retired Alliance people on board, but probably wishful thinking.
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Note that South Korea promises to meet a per capita GDI of $20 000 US by 2010, and they are presently around $10 k. NZ, presently on $16 k has no plans for anything except tax cuts. GDI will fall.
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Pushing worker shareholding and ex Alliance MP’s Harre McCarten and Jackson and an improved relationship with the MP.
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Compulsory savings allows lower interest rates and dollar. This allows higher wages (sustaining income while savings increase wealth) and increased ownership of our economy.
The savings could be used for buying a first home, starting a business, paying off the mortgage between jobs and for retirement).
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Great stuff Sue!
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Just realised that I had missed the link to the speech itself off this post, so I’ve now installed it, apologies for that folx.
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SPC
I agree with the idea of “compulsory” long term savings in theory, but have some “buts”.
We seem to have bred a whole “NOW” generation addicted to buying stuff and zooming around. (The next generation appears to already follow enthusiastically in their wake.)
With many of this group compulsory savings would “go down like a lead balloon” I suspect.
Once the money is compulsorily saved, how would you ensure it stays there? If that can be enforced / “encouraged” there seem to be a plethora of obliging people who will lend money on assets. I’m sure they would be obliging enough to lend money on compulsorily saved money as well (at a high interest rate of course… and with foreign money.)
eredwen
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Compulsory saving:
I think one of the side effects of the Australian compulsory super scheme is that people don’t save much apart from their compulsory portion, so the overall rate of saving is comparable with NZ. However that is 50% anecdotal evidence and 50% speculation on my part – I’m not sure of the numbers, sorry.
Also, in Australia (and NZ) heaps of the savings is in property (in Australia this is inflated because rental losses can be written off against income, lowering an investors tax bill, giving an incentive to invest in housing for the capital asset rather than for the rental income stream. I think..). In NZ not having a capital gains tax on housing produces an incentive to buy houses, particularly because they’ve performed so well as an investment in the recent past. But housing is essentially a craply unproductive investment, and also raises the cost (interest rate) on productive investments.
Another also, in Australia and NZ inflated housing values make people ‘feel’ rich and spend up bigtime. If the housing market adjusted down people might sober up, which would be nice. Also idiot 20 year olds (with rich parents and ‘generous’ bank managers) who have bought houses on a tiny deposit would learn a thing or two about stuff that actually DOESN’T grow on trees. Not that I’m bitter about this
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Tom
It would be advantageous, if some of our saving went from investment in property (deposits supplemented by mortgage finance from offshore) to financing the mortgage loans of others buying their family homes.
Some may not save more – but many not saving at all now, would be saving. If the economic factors worked right (lower interest rates, because of less offshore borrowing, leading to a lower dollar which would allow higher profits and wages) these lower income folk would have higher wages to offset the money going into savings.
Higher wages (more tax revenue), greater net wealth for the poor, a more advantageous position for production here (more tax revenue and more jobs) and with higher local ownership a lower invisibles deficit.
Currently the RB Governor is saying he will have to raise interest rates – if OUR INCOMES/spending increase (this pressures the dollar upward and thus business ability to pay higher wages) – the current policy mix does not work. If we save more, we can have a rise in wages and become wealthier as individuals and as a nation providing public services.
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Well, I am grateful to Rod for bringing up again the subject of foreign buyers of housing here. The housing bubbles of other countries are helping to inflate the values here, and there isn’t even tracking of it, much less rules against it.
That makes things quite nasty for the average Kiwi who aspires to own a house. Adding the direct subsidy of the investors who buy in order to rent, but get to deduct from their normal income in the LAQC scheme then contributes to the steepening climb to get into a house of your own.
The problem of NOT being able to buy a house is that as a renter there is stuff-all you can do to make the house better insulated, warmer, more fuel-efficient etc… and as a landlord there is stuff-all incentive to do those things, the tenant pays the electricity and gas bills.
… and we wonder why our housing is in such grotty condition…
respectfully
BJ
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The bigger issue about compulsory savings plans is that when they were in place in the past, we had strong unions, higher real minimum wages, and employers were compelled by law to match employee contributions, so it effectively buffered wage slippage. Housing was cheaper on average, too but then we had more import controls, so less Gaggenau and Smeg designer kitchens…
BJ, fully agree with you about the lack of incentives for landlords to go out of their way to maintain housing stock. Mine especially, all she’s done in the past year is quit working and have a baby (I beleive the phrase is “retired property manager”) So now my income is feeding another child, on top of the 3 I’m personally responsible for…..
BTW, I would love to have money left over at the end of the week to save, but between my student loan and my bank account manager, I’m not going to save much any time soon.
katie
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