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New Zealand
A socialist response to the Christchurch terrorist attack
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- Published: Saturday, 23 March 2019 21:46
- Written by Miles Lacey
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden called it one of New Zealand's darkest days. As Muslim worshippers gathered at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand, for their Friday afternoon prayers on March 15th, 2019, an Australian white supramacist walked in and gunned down 50 worshippers as he live-streamed it on Facebook. Prior to this heinous terrorist attack the terrorist posted a ranting manifesto on various hate sites and sent a copy to the Prime Minister. This atrocity was the worst terrorist attack in New Zealand history and it has left New Zealand in a state of shock. How could this happen in a country like New Zealand?
New Zealand and Australian perspectives
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- Published: Sunday, 23 September 2018 02:23
- Written by Miles Lacey
Both Australia and New Zealand escaped lightly from the 2008 global financial crisis and recession. Australia avoided a recession from 2008 onwards, on the one hand due to the minerals and aggregates boom (exported mainly to China) and on the other hand as a consequence of Keynesian policies pursued both in Australia and China. Additionally, due to Australian financial laws the domestic banks were not overly exposed as overseas bank (especially European and North American banks) were.
Workers must be paid for work related activities
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- Published: Sunday, 23 September 2018 01:23
- Written by Miles Lacey
On May 11th, 2018, the Employment Relations Court dropped a major bombshell on the bosses by ordering Smiths City, a major New Zealand furniture and appliance store, to pay workers for their attendance of daily meetings held before the stores opened. According to Chief Judge Christina Inglis: "The expectation to attend, and pressure placed on staff to do so, was direct and forceful. The practical reality for sales staff was that to satisfy this expectation, and so as not to be seen as poor performers, they had to attend."
General election 2017: New Zealand First hold balance of power
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- Published: Monday, 09 October 2017 06:10
- Written by Graham Day
The 2017 general election resulted in a hung parliament on 23 September election night. Under MMP this is not a surprising result. Now that the special votes have been counted the National Party, under proportionality, lost two list seats awarded to them on election night with Labour and the Greens picking up one list seat each. The final result puts National on 56 seats, Labour on 46 seats, New Zealand First on nine seats, Greens on eight seats and ACT on one seat. The formation of a fourth term National-led government or a Labour / Green government requires an agreement with New Zealand First to get past 61 seats to form a majority government. New Zealand First holds the balance of power.