ACC Archive

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  International Public Service Day - by Denise Roche

  
  
  
  International Public Service Day fell on our weekend – this is a time to appreciate the work done by millions of workers throughout the world who provide public services to their communities. In New Zealand we need to think about the workers who are paid out of budgets provided by our taxes and the services [...] read more
  June 26, 2012 5:18 pm - 1 Comment
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  What the ACC recording means - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  I’ve done a day of media interviews about the revelation that the crucial meeting last December between two senior ACC managers, claimant Bronwyn Pullar and her support person Michelle Boag was recorded. Several journalists have now heard the tape of the meeting and/or read a transcript, and have been reporting today that the tape does [...] read more
  April 30, 2012 7:15 pm - 3 Comments
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  Serious process failures by ACC: Bronwyn Pullar’s list - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  As you scan this list, please reflect on the fact that every one of these reminds me of issues other claimants have brought to me, and are endorsed by claimant organisations, lawyers and service providers who deal with ACC on a regular basis. And ask yourself if it is okay for this catalogue of issues [...] read more
  March 28, 2012 8:44 pm - 32 Comments
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  ACC: what we really need to ask - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  There’s nothing quite like a ministerial resignation to send political insiders and journalists into a frenzy. There are big issues arising from Nick Smith’s interference in Bronwyn Pullar’s ACC claim. Such as: Are the four letters that Nick Smith wrote concerning Ms Pullar’s claim the extent of his interference in her claim, or is there [...] read more
  March 22, 2012 11:32 am - 19 Comments
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  Insurance company fail re Christchurch bodes ill for ACC privatisation - by frog

  
  
  
  Last week David Hayward blogged about his own experience dealing with his insurance company over the fate of his Christchurch home: Tower Insurance maintain that the house is not a write-off.  They maintain that they are only obliged to repair the house — not to honour our insurance policy for total replacement.  They say that [...] read more
  June 27, 2011 8:28 pm - 18 Comments
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  Kevin Hague talks to Pasifika on ACC privatisation - by frog

  
  
  
  Last week, Green ACC spokesperson Kevin Hague and Pasifika lawyer Amelia Saafi were interviewed on Pacific Viewpoint, a programme broadcast on Triangle/Stratos. The interview is 27 minutes long, but it’s well worth a watch to see Kevin and Amelia expose the Government’s economy with the truth in manufacturing a “crisis” in ACC in order to [...] read more
  June 11, 2011 7:49 am - 13 Comments
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  MacDoctor and me: We agree and disagree on ACC - by frog

  
  
  
  Medical practitioner and right wing blogger MacDoctor has three recent posts on the disastrous failings of ACC to provide entitlements to injured claimants. I couldn’t agree more with MacDoctor’s definition of the problem. But I disagree vehemently with his faux solution of privatisation. read more
  May 17, 2011 7:11 pm - 2 Comments
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  Time for another inquiry into ACC medical assessments - by frog

  
  
  
  The NZ Herald today reports on orthopaedic surgeon Brian Otto who featured in an ACC appeal judgment from the District Court recently: Liangfang Lu, 48, was awarded about $5000 after Auckland District Court Judge Martin Beattie found ACC wrongly suspended payments to him on the basis that his back pain was caused by degeneration. read more
  April 20, 2011 3:01 pm - 4 Comments
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  Back to the future with ACC experience rating - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  There are quite a number of nasty legislative and regulatory provisions coming into force today.  Among them are Nick Smith’s Experience Rating Regulations for ACC. Experience rating will result in an individual employer’s ACC levies being adjusted up or down on the basis of their work injury record.  The idea is supposedly that individual employers [...] read more
  April 1, 2011 2:01 pm - 4 Comments
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  ACC digs a deeper hole - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Financial Review of ACC today, so I subbed in for Gareth on the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee. Usual thing – we and Labour make the running and when things get too hot the Government members take a turn with patsy questions. ACC fronted with Chair, John Judge, by videoconference and CEO Jan White [...] read more
  February 10, 2011 4:03 pm - 35 Comments
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  ACC privatisation: Let the fightback begin - by frog

  
  
  
  I’ve run the “ACC: undermine, cut privatise” banner on a few posts on ACC over the last couple of years, and now we’re seeing the third leg of the trifecta emerging with the announcement yesterday that ACC’s work account is to be partially privatised. This may be good news for some employers, because in the [...] read more
  December 22, 2010 12:11 pm - 13 Comments
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  ACC disentitlement saga a shameful exercise from start to finish - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Four years ago the District Court decided that ACC claimants who were not earners at the time of their original injury, but who later became incapacitated from subsequent employment due to that injury, were not entitled to weekly compensation. Irrespective of the legal technicalities, it was an anomalous decision for a compensation scheme that is [...] read more
  December 9, 2010 11:04 am - 6 Comments
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  More reasons emerge for independent inquiry on ACC reforms - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  I’m pleased Simon Collins at the NZ Herald has picked up on my blog post last month in which I released figures showing the number of people being moved off ACC weekly compensation onto welfare benefits increased to 1956 people in the latest June year from 764 two years earlier. Collins also highlights some other [...] read more
  November 8, 2010 12:22 pm - 4 Comments
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  Nick Smith needs to open his ears to the deaf - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  As an MP I receive many lobbying letters.  Today one arrived that really caught my attention.  It was from the National Foundation for the Deaf, and it was about the cutbacks to ACC cover and entitlements for work-related hearing loss. Attached to the letter was a very detailed 82 page position paper.  The paper describes [...] read more
  October 22, 2010 4:45 pm - 2 Comments
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  More questions than answers over ACC cost shifting - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  A couple of months ago, following ACC Minister Nick Smith’s u-turn on counselling for ACC sexual abuse claimants, I called for an independent review of the wide-ranging cutbacks to ACC imposed by the Government. I have now asked some questions about people being moved from ACC to welfare benefits. What really disturbed me about the replies is the huge increase in the number of people being shifted from weekly compensation onto welfare benefits since March 2009. read more
  October 6, 2010 4:39 pm - 8 Comments
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  Have your say on John Key’s plans to undermine ACC - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  On Friday, the Government released consultation papers on levy increases and experience ratings for ACC. They are calling for submissions by 29 October.  Let them know what you think!  Reading between the lines, the papers also make clear that there is no financial crisis in ACC. As we have pointed out all along, ACC is [...] read more
  October 4, 2010 2:53 pm - 5 Comments
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  It’s dob in a bludger time - by frog

  
  
  
  Someone dropped a pen from ACC near my lilypad yesterday. Could it have been Dr Felicity Goodyear-Smith, who advised ACC to require a diagnosis of mental illness before sex abuse survivors could get counselling paid for by ACC and who thinks sexual abuse counselling is ‘a scam’? read more
  September 7, 2010 8:14 am - 29 Comments
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  Case for wider probe of ACC entitlement-cutting culture now even stronger - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  ACC’s use of Dr. Felicity Goodyear-Smith to advise on sexual abuse claims can only have resulted from catastrophic systems failure or a sick culture. New Zealanders need to know which, and Minister Smith must take steps to thoroughly investigate so the problems can be fixed read more
  August 30, 2010 10:58 am - 11 Comments
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  ACC “crisis” was all in Nick Smith’s head - by frog

  
  
  
  Remember the financial crisis with ACC? Remember Nick Smith describing ACC as “technically insolvent”, a claim that was rubbished at the time by NZ Herald economics editor Brian Fallow and actuary Jonathan Eriksen? Guess what? ACC is set to make a $2 billion surplus, and that’s before the levy increases and entitlement cuts have any impact, as they are only now beginning to phase in! read more
  June 28, 2010 9:38 am - 43 Comments
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  An ACC model for welfare? No thanks - by frog

  
  
  
  Over the weekend, Social Development Minister raised the prospect of an ACC model for sickness and invalid’s benefits. My bet is that Bennett is talking about moving sickness and invalid’s benefits to the insurance model that ACC is increasingly becoming based on, rather than to a model based on the Woodhouse principle of complete rehabilitation that it was founded on. read more
  May 31, 2010 10:35 am - 5 Comments
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  A privatisation lesson from an unlikely source - by frog

  
  
  
  Cameron (Whaleoil) Slater has been having a bleat about how he has been treated by the private insurer Fidelity Life, which has cut off his income protection insurance. Funny how those on the political right don’t seem to get it – until it affects them personally, that is. read more
  May 25, 2010 11:34 am - 37 Comments
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  Welfare Working Group off to inauspicious start - by frog

  
  
  
  Presumably under pressure from ACT, the Government seems to be unable to resist finding places for wingnuts on the various advisory groups it is setting up. Yesterday it continued this trend by appointing Business Roundtable communications consultant and former ACT Party President Catherine Isaac (formerly Judd) to its Welfare Working Group. read more
  April 15, 2010 1:22 pm - 20 Comments
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  Save ACC ads - by frog

  
  
  
  There is a Save ACC rally at Parliament on 16 February to fight back against National’s cutbacks. The good people at the CTU have got these ads running at the Sevens: read more
  February 5, 2010 2:32 pm - 8 Comments
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  Will Cathy Taewa get answers from Paula and Nick? - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Four years ago, Bay of Plenty meatworker Johnny Taewa tragically died of the occupational disease leptospirosis. His widow Cathy has been told she was not only ineligible for a benefit, but won’t be eligible for five years, because the lump sum payment she received from ACC in respect of his death is treated as income. read more
  February 2, 2010 2:06 pm - 36 Comments
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  ACC changes hurt sexual violence victims - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  The biker lobby has managed to get considerable public attention and support for motorcyclists’ grievances over ACC levies, but there is a group of more vulnerable people who cannot march in their thousands on Parliament grounds to defend their ACC access. Many of them cannot email Members of Parliament because it exposes them as possibly [...] read more
  December 16, 2009 11:01 am - 4 Comments
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  Levy hikes prelude to privatisation - by frog

  
  
  
  If ACC is made to work like an insurance company, then it’s a lot easier to flog bits of it off to insurance companies some time in the future. Levy hikes and entitlement cuts will undermine public confidence in ACC and soften up public opinion for the privatisation agenda. read more
  December 11, 2009 10:35 am - 2 Comments
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  ACC: Mirrors smashed and smoke dispersed - by frog

  
  
  
  Crisis! What crisis? ACC’s reserves are now above forecast by $739 million (5.4 percent), a further improvement over last month, said CTU Economist and Policy Director Bill Rosenberg. The main problem is the full funding of future claim payments which means ACC accounts will always be susceptible to large apparent variations which in reality may have little practical consequences for the ACC scheme. read more
  December 4, 2009 6:43 pm - 6 Comments
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  Faux savings from gutting ACC - by frog

  
  
  
  Shunting injured people off ACC onto welfare benefits where they may languish for years rather than rehabilitating them into employment is a false saving – as bad for the economy as it is for the injured person. read more
  December 3, 2009 1:52 pm - 7 Comments
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  Nick Smith: I don’t know and I don’t care - by frog

  
  
  
  Nick Smith doesn’t know the most basic statistical information necessary to determine the likely extent of cost containment or the impact on claimants of going back to the 1999 work capacity policy. What’s more, he’s not even prepared to have ACC do the analysis to find out. What a shambles! read more
  December 3, 2009 9:59 am - 2 Comments
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  Can you trust Nick Smith? - by frog

  
  
  
  In February this year the Green Party heard a rumour that the review of ACC was being conducted solely by Treasury and Business New Zealand, so on 5 March we decided to put this to Nick Smith in the House. read more
  November 26, 2009 3:34 pm - 19 Comments
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  Submit now or lawyer up later - by frog

  
  
  
  The Government estimates its cut to ACC cover for hearing loss will save up to $4 million a year. But it is not just that cost that will be borne by employers – there will be the associated costs of investigating and litigating damages claims by employees for low level hearing loss. Employers have a choice – submit in opposition to this now, or lawyer up later. read more
  November 25, 2009 9:31 am - No Comments
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  Gutting ACC: Only three days to go for submissions - by frog

  
  
  
  The deadline for submissions on the Government’s Bill to gut ACC is only three days away. This Bill is designed to prepare ACC for National’s and Act’s ultimate objective – the privatisation of accident compensation to foreign-owned insurance companies that have to make a profit for their foreign shareholders on the backs of New Zealanders’ [...] read more
  November 23, 2009 6:53 pm - 21 Comments
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  A government at war with its own Treasury - by frog

  
  
  
  In all the time I’ve been hopping around Parliament I’ve never heard a statement more extraordinary than this one: The numbers from Treasury are nonsense. Treasury can’t tell us what the deficit is going to be in December let alone what’s happening in 2030 or 2040. Now, I’ll admit to having a go at Treasury [...] read more
  November 18, 2009 1:50 pm - 128 Comments
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  Who’s next? Bikers say no to ACC levy increases and privatisation - by frog

  
  
  
  Thousands of bikers descended on Parliament today to protest levy the Government’s hike in motorcyclist levies, and their attack on ACC.   New Green MP and lifetime biker David Clendon and new Green Party ACC Spokesperson Kevin Hague headed down to support the protest. David gave a great speech where he explained that the Greens [...] read more
  November 17, 2009 3:08 pm - 19 Comments
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  ACC protest videos – raw footage - by frog

  
  
  
  The motorbikes are coming, and there are a lot of them! This photo was taken from quite a distance so the perspective makes it look like there are fewer people, but basically the entire of the area outside the beehive is covered in people. read more
  November 17, 2009 1:59 pm - 9 Comments
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  ACC cuts put home care workers below minimum wage - by frog

  
  
  
  It is not just the caregivers who will suffer from this policy. Injured people who live in isolated areas are likely to find it increasingly difficult to find any caregiver prepared to travel to their home to provide the home help or attendant care they need. But do ACC care? Seems not. read more
  November 10, 2009 3:13 pm - 9 Comments
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  Spinning it on ACC levies - by frog

  
  
  
  ACC’s advertising last week promoting the Government’s proposed increase in motorcycle levies countinues a disturbing trend under the National-led Government of using public service funding – in this case your and my ACC levies – to promote Government political spin. read more
  November 9, 2009 2:06 pm - 17 Comments
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  Fancy that. Kiwis hate National’s ETS - by frog

  
  
  
  It was no surprise to me to find this morning a new ShapeNZ poll shows Kiwis overwhelmingly reject National’s proposed changes to the ETS. Eighty-two percent of National voters believe emitters should pay for any emissions in excess of New Zealand’s agreed limit under the Kyoto treaty, not taxpayers. Among Maori Party voters this rises to ninety-one percent. read more
  November 2, 2009 9:18 am - 12 Comments
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  Gutting ACC – There is hope! - by frog

  
  
  
  There is hope! Just today, ACC Minister Nick Smith partially backed down on ACC’s proposals for sexual abuse victims to have to be diagnosed by a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist as being mentally ill before they can get cover. That has to be great news for everyone else affected by Dr Zachary Nick Smith’s planned [...] read more
  October 27, 2009 7:38 pm - 7 Comments
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  Gutting ACC – National flies true colours - by frog

  
  
  
  National has now openly revealed its plans to privatise ACC – clearly, the Government has been softening the public up for this for a while. read more
  October 23, 2009 2:26 pm - 9 Comments