Friday, December 7, 2007

Share Investor Friday Free for all: Edition 13

Bollard sits on his hands

Allan Bollard in a more animated frame of mind.

Allan Bollard rattled his sabre again this week.

Keeping the cash rate at 8.25% while telling us inflation was a risk down the road.

Well helloooo! could one of the reasons to the risk of inflation be your 4 rate hikes this year and multiple ones over the last few years?

The short answer is yes but the less interesting answer is that Bollard is clearly out of his depth.

Barely able to see over the rims of his accountant style glasses, he rarely has the vision to see further than what happens from day to day..

Instead of dropping the cash rate, as he should have, he risks putting the New Zealand economy at the sort of risk the Labour Government has put it under for the last 8 stifling years.

Labour did it with world record breaking high taxes, removing cash and investment from the economy and Bollard did it with the worlds highest interest rates outside the worlds other banana republics, ditto removing cash from street level and strangling productive investment, savings and business.

World economies are cutting rates to stimulate economies and Bollard sits on his hands. It looks like he will only move once the economic cycle we are in is in the middle of a meltdown.

The Warehouse wont be sold for a bargain

Warehouse extra store, one of only three

It looks like it is all on for young and old in the fight for The Warehouse.

After the recent High Court decision granted New Zealand's Foodstuffs and Australia's Woolworths the right to bid for the general merchandise retailer the two prospective buyers have wasted no time in talking to Warehouse management.

Competition between the two to bid for the company is going to be intense and this writer has a $NZ 50000.00 bet that the bidding is going to be explosive.

There is talk of Foodstuffs teaming up with a private equity player to make a bid but the star likely to shine through is Woolworths. It has a very strong balance sheet, excellent cash flows and a history of paying good money for assets it really wants.

The share price has already done the impression of a Nasa rocket by taking off from below 5 bucks last week to close at NZ$6.65 today.

The Canadians Fly in, again.

In the long running saga that is the Auckland International Airport merger/takeover, yesterday news that the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has changed the terms of its proposed amalgamation with the airport, stimulating more interest in the company's shares. CPPIB would reduce the convertible note component and increase the value of the ordinary share.

Part of the main Auckland international airport at Mangere

It is offering a convertible note, valued at $2.75, an ordinary share valued at 70.5c and 20c cash.

The proposal will be put to airport shareholders only if CPPIB's $3.66 a share all-cash partial takeover bid for 40 per cent of the airport is successful.

The proposed amalgamation, which requires the support of 75 per cent of airport shareholders, is the second part of the CPPIB's two-pronged scenario to negotiate a restructure of the airport's balance sheet to realize tax benefits.

That offer opens on December 14 and closes mid-March.

The possibility that the board will recommend the bid to shareholders could be a little dodgy considering the pedigree of some of its board members.

Lloyd Morrison or John Brabazon have voiced their opposition to such deals over the last 6 months or more of this long opus and the two council shareholders look reluctant to sell.

Who the hell knows really. The sale process of the airport has only been trumped in its complexity and opaqueness by the sorry tale of Sky City Entertainment and its managements' dilly dallying over bids for the casino company.

Hobson's choice

According to NZ Government stats the Kiwisaver super scheme has 300,000 participants that have "chosen" to "enroll" in it.

What is left out of any analysis is that the scheme is an opt out one rather than opt in so the bulk of those 300,000 haven't done anything. They are merely too lazy to opt out.

Micheal Cullen, our out of his depth Minister of Finance, of course trumpets this as a great success but as usual leaves out the details when they don't stand the scrutiny of logical argument and clear thought processes.

Of course this is the chap who has spent the last 8 years telling New Zealanders that tax cuts don't stimulate economies but is going to hand our money back to us in election year 2008.

Good luck balancing your check book Mr Cullen.

I'm no big fan of this harebrained state controlled and controlling scheme because it is expensive and tax inefficient but it will benefit shareholders in New Zealand listed companies.

Burgers going for half price

In Burger Fuel news, you guys out there love Burger Fuel:

According to Google information released this week, Burger Fuel was the subject of the most internet searches of any New Zealand listed company.

This is no surprise to me because I have known this little tidbit since the company listed back in July. Its the biggest search term on my blog as well, followed by the worlds credit problems and Pumpkin Patch Ltd.

Incidentally the share price still languishes at 60c and is thinly traded, with a massive $150 going through today.

Its still on my watchlist though.

NZX Market Wrap & commentary

6:27PM Friday December 07, 2007
By Melanie Carroll, NZ Herald

New Zealand shares made a late rebound today to recover the ground lost after last week's downgrade by international share index compilers MSCI.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 49.4 points, or 1.2 per cent, at 4092.9, its highest in over a week. Turnover totalled $109 million, and rises outnumbered falls by 58 to 38.

Lines company Vector was the standout stock, recovering to a two-month high of 251, up 6c or 2.5 per cent, from 218 last week.

"The stock always looked cheap anyway but particularly post-the MSCI selldown the market is starting to focus on fundamentals behind the stock, and the fact that there was effectively a profit upgrade in recent times," Macquarie Equities NZ investment director Arthur Lim said.

Other blue chips to rebound were Telecom, up 13c to 444, Auckland Airport, up 7c to 289, Fletcher Building, up 29c to 1169, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, up 11c at 329, and F&P Appliances, rising 6c to 340.

Sky City was up 6c at 491, Sky TV rose 3c to 566, and Contact Energy slid 17c to 847.
The compilers of the MSCI indexes, which guide international trading and portfolio composition, downgraded New Zealand and are removing five of the top-10 stocks due to lack of liquidity and market capitalisation.

Remaining in the index are Telecom, Fletcher Building, Contact Energy, Auckland Airport and Sky City.

The Warehouse was up 10c at 664, having jumped over 12 per cent since the High Court overturned a Commerce Commission ruling blocking supermarket chains Foodstuffs and Woolworths from bidding for the retailer.

"If you add back the special dividend of 35c, it means that the price is now the equivalent of $7. Clearly the market is saying it is unlikely that the Commerce Commission is going to appeal, and it follows news in Australia that discussions have started taking place between the different parties," Mr Lim said.

Air New Zealand was up 3c at 182, Nuplex gained 10c to 700, Infratil was up 7c at 297, Mainfreight rose 11c to 721, and Ryman Healthcare was up 2c at 212.

Freightways fell 6c to 374, Pumpkin Patch was down 5c at 265, NZX fell 5c to 925, and ING Medical Properties was down 2c at 122.

Among dual-listed stocks, ANZ jumped 50c to 3225, Westpac was up 35c to 3265, AMP rose 16c to 1192, and Lion Nathan rose 17c to 1090.

NZPA

Disclosure: I own Auckland Airport, The Warehouse shares

C Share Investor 2007

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Cartoon and comment; Emmerson: Winston Churchill Clark

C Emmerson, NZ Herald 2007

Emmerson gets to the nub or middle finger of the Electoral Finance Bill.

Labour and its cronies are blaming The NZ Herald for whipping up undue fear among the unwashed public but it is doing a stellar job over the EFB bill. A stand, the likes of which has never been seen since the heyday of Muldoon in the 1970s-80s.

On Wednesday in parliament Labour lapdog Winston Peters called the Herald's "attack" on the EFB a conspiracy of big foreign business trying to gain a foothold of power in New Zealand to enable them to make more money.

Paranoia clearly rules in Winston's office.

We can only hope he gets his foot caught in his mouth again on his latest holiday abroad.

Link to the Herald's EFB website: Electoral Finance Bill in detail

C Political Animal 2007

Electoral Finance Bill gets stalled in Parliament

They don't call it a political grind for nothing.

C Emmerson, NZ Herald 2007

The passing of the Electoral Finance Bill by Labour into law this week isn't going to happen.

The National opposition party are hammering every new clause to the hastily rushed and badly drafted bill and it is chewing up valuable parliamentary time.

There is a very distant possibility that National could stall the bill long enough for Labour to have to come back next February after the summer break.

There is of course the possibility that the house sit under urgency to pass the bill, as they have done with many other contentious constitutional and social changing legislation.

Whatever the time line, the bill is going to pass and the net affect will be that New Zealand citizens will have their democratic right to express their political views, without fear, in election year, removed.

C Political Animal 2007

Sky City Management: blind, deaf and numb

The absolute garbage that masquerades as management at Sky City Entertainment has got to come to a logical conclusion some time soon.

The lobby of the 5 star Sky City Grand Hotel
The company let the market know that the only remaining suitor, which was rumoured as US private equity funds TPG and Apollo Management, was still attempting to arrange financing for a takeover bid.

Sky City management have been effusive, misleading and amateurish in their attempts to keep the market informed accurately and sheppard a deal with a prospective buyer.

If market experience from this end is as deficient as we know it, one can only imagine how the prospective buyer was treated.

Were Sky City management clear, precise and upfront with the two rumoured funds?

I seriously doubt it.

Now I'm not displeased that a deal looks like it is going to fall through but can you imagine this motley crew turning around the company and having the potential to put things back on track?

Not bloody likely mate.

Brook Asset Management, a large Sky City shareholder, has been angling for a board clean out for a long time and I would have to concur with that, for I cant see a way forward with sub standard people at the helm.

TPG and Apollo Management have apparently fallen short in the moola stakes because of the global "credit crunch" but I'm finding that a little hard to stomach considering the timing of the initial bid interest in September and at that time easy credit had already become a thing of the past.

What shareholders need is a clear assessment of where things are with any bid and it is certainly not up to Sky City management to wait around for a possible buyer to raise funds.

There needs to be an understanding from this last possible bidder that they are serious, give them a definite deadline-Sky City management have moved their deadline several times-and if they are not interested tell them to bugger off so we can all move on.

Without the current board of course.

You can bet the current state of indecision will also be permeating the business side of the company as well, not forgetting the considerable amount of money it will be costing shareholders in putting any bid together.

Roll the dice.

Disclosure: I own Sky City shares

C Share Investor 2007

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Electoral Finance Bill: The purpose is clear

The crucial and main thrust of the Electoral Finance Bill is as follows and is the clearest part of an otherwise confused, contradictory and appallingly written bill. From part one of the preliminary provisions and purpose of the bill:

5. Meaning of election advertisement
(1) In this Act, election advertisement –

(a) means any form of words or graphics, or both, that can be
reasonably be regarded as doing 1 or more of the following.

(i) encouraging or persuading voters to vote, or not to vote,
for 1 or more specified parties or for 1 or more candidates
or for any combination of such parties and candidates:

(ii) encouraging and persuading voters to vote, or not to vote,
for a type of party or a type of candidate that is described
or indicated by reference to views, positions, or policies
that are or are not held, taken or pursued (whether or not
the name of a party or the name of a candidate is stated):

(iii) taking a position on a proposition with which 1 or more
parties or 1 or more candidates is associated; and

(b) includes-
(i) a candidate advertisement; and
(ii) a party advertisement.

Lets have a closer look:

(a) means any form of words or graphics, or both, that can be
reasonably be regarded as doing 1 or more of the following.

So the purpose of the bill is clear, any words or graphics constitute an election advert.

(i) encouraging or persuading voters to vote, or not to vote,
for 1 or more specified parties or for 1 or more candidates
or for any combination of such parties and candidates:

This blog will be captured as a result of this and so will political writers, broadcasters and individuals who support or have a contrary view to a particular party. Even though in other parts of the bill this purpose is contradicted by saying it allows blogs like this one and the other media I mentioned.

(i) encouraging or persuading voters to vote, or not to vote,
for 1 or more specified parties or for 1 or more candidates
or for any combination of such parties and candidates:

(ii) encouraging and persuading voters to vote, or not to vote,
for a type of party or a type of candidate that is described
or indicated by reference to views, positions, or policies
that are or are not held, taken or pursued (whether or not
the name of a party or the name of a candidate is stated):

Part one and two of the purpose are similar so I will look at them as one. Largely self explanatory and very clear about their purpose. That individuals are unable to express views that may influence others by encouraging them to vote for or against a candidate or party.

"Advertising" those views, as expressed in the purpose and definition of an electoral advertisement, is merely giving ones own opinion to another individual or group to the positive or negative and may be seen as an "advertisement" as a result, according to this portion or the purpose of the bill.

This shuts down all opposition to the incumbent government in an election year and is clearly designed to favour Labour at the expense of democracy and our rights to speak our minds.

The debate continues in parliament this week and the bill looks set to pass into law soon.

C Political Animal 2007

Herald gets angry at Electoral Finance Bill(again)

The New Zealand Herald has ripped into the Labour Governments' fascist anti democratic Electoral Finance Bill this morning. Once again granny has put their editorial on the front page and cut deeply into the morass of subterfuge and cover ups over the direction of this piece of trash bill.

Parliament debate the bill today and Labour and its hangers on plan to pass it into law before the end of sitting this year, for it to take effect on January 1 2008. It is possible that the bill could be passed this week.

This will be the last time New Zealanders' will be able to freely debate political issues in an election year and all opposition against the incumbent government will be censured to such a degree people will be too scared to speak out should they be tapped on the shoulder and charged for inciting other people to vote or not to vote for a particular party.

Along with a whole host of other anti democratic laws passed by this power crazed government over the last 9 years, the ditching of the Privy Council and the hiring of politically appointed judges to the "Supreme Court" high among them, the EFB bill passed into law, will mean the end to one of the worlds longest running democracies and put us into the realms of banana republics like Zimbabwe, Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan, where those governments keep criticism by its citizens in line by similar means.

The Herald is doing a fine job exposing this fascism and seems to be man alone in mainstream media circles. Other media outlets ignoring the fact that they will be unable to publish such criticism in election year:

Editorial: Speak now, or next year hold your peace

5:00AM Tuesday December 04, 2007

This morning's Herald front page

Democracy under attack

The Herald has today, for the second time in a month, run a front page editorial calling for the Electoral Finance Bill to be scrapped, saying it is an attack on democracy

There will be no winners if the Electoral Finance Bill is passed into law this week. The Labour Party will have revised the electoral rules to suit itself, but that will be a pyrrhic victory if it loses the next election, as polls suggest it will. The National Party has promised to repeal the bill as soon as it gets the chance.

Thus our electoral law is reduced to a game of political ping-pong, a game that would not have started had the Government done the right thing from the beginning.

Even its friend the Green Party has been urging it to refer its concerns about election finance to an independent body that could recommend changes to the law if necessary from an impartial position.

But the Government has ploughed ahead, making minimal changes to the bill's clamp on political expression from January 1 until after election day next year, and adding an extraordinary new dimension, making the Electoral Commission the vehicle for disbursements of parties' secret donations. That drastic sudden proposal alone should tell the Government this is not the way to make constitutional change.

Unless the Greens and United Future act on their reservations and withhold support for the bill this week it will pass. And they will be as guilty as Labour and New Zealand First for the offence to free speech.

From next month until a probable November election, any person or group wanting to promote an issue of concern would face a legal and bureaucratic minefield. For the right to spend their money they would need to register as a "third party", file declarations about donors and expenses and keep within a spending limit of $120,000, just 5 per cent of the amount MPs' parties may spend.

The regulations would apply to any material that might encourage people to vote or not vote for "a type of party or a type of candidate" described by reference to views, positions or policies even if the party or candidate is not named.

As revised, the bill seems to catch everything from a billboard to a bull-horn, but the Justice Minister says "common sense" will apply. Whose?

The self-serving electoral fix is being done now in the hope it might be forgotten at an election 11 months hence. Those 11 months will be quieter than they would have been without the electoral finance gag. Labour's union allies will be as constrained as any moneyed group agreeing with National. Public debate will be constrained and our politics poorer.

Money does not win elections unless the message it is financing strikes a popular chord. Labour is legislating in fear of messages it might not like. At the same time, it has given parties in Parliament the right to use public funds for purposes the Auditor-General ruled improper at the last election.

The country should not stand for this. It is not unduly susceptible to paid campaigns. The bill is an insult to our intelligence as well as our rights. Even now, at the 11th hour, it can be stopped and sent to an impartial panel. Let's hope the common sense outside Parliament can prevail.

C Political Animal & NZ Herald 2007

Monday, December 3, 2007

Mallard in the docks

Trevor Mallard cut a sombre figure in the Wellington District Court earlier today.

Trevor Mallard in the Wellington District Court earlier today, unusually placid.

I was fascinated by the innocent plea from Trevor"The Bash" Mallard today in the Wellington District Court over the charge put before him over his assault of Tau Henare, in the Parliamentary precinct a few weeks back.

Mallard admitted his guilt in assaulting Henare at the time and faced no disciplinary action from the Prime Minister.

Helen Clark made a revealing comment today on this issue:

"I just say that with something like this, I think everyone in public life - whether they are media personalities or a politician or whoever - we're all vulnerable to someone deciding they will try a private prosecution and I think that is an issue of some concern,"

Missing a salient point though , Clark of course managed to wangle herself out of prison by changing the law last year to make her parties stealing of taxpayer money, to buy the 2005 election, legal.

Also missing prosecution for fraud, for falsely signing a painting and aiding and abetting dangerous driving when she ordered her drivers to speed through a small town at 170km per hour so she could watch a rugby game.

May I add, the amount of photo shopping of Helen's image on Labours' election material made voters think they were voting for Paris Hilton rather than the very sweet lady we know Aunt Helen to be.

But I digress.

Perhaps Helen could change the law to allow all Labour Politicians to be immune to private or criminal prosecution for assault or fraud. It would certainly have allowed a least half a dozen of her cabinet to escape the scrutiny her and her party faced when they transgressed various laws over the last 9 years.

What really made me laugh though is that Trev's lawyer wanted media banned from the courts proceedings because images of Mallard would reflect him in a bad light to the public and he would be associated with such "negative images" that would affect his reputation for the rest of his life.

Kerthump!!

The sound of me hitting the floor with laughter.

Mallard's reputation has been long associated with nastiness, bullying and pushing his weight around, so pictures of him sobbing falsely in the dock isn't going to do the poor boy any harm.

Trev will be back in the dock December 18 for the hearing.

C Political Animal 2007

Current credit crunch a blessing in disguise

The current credit crunch could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

With the private equity boom earlier this year we saw cheap money being used to buy public companies at hugely over inflated values and it looked like it was going to escalate to the point of explosion and huge economic destruction looked certain.

This fallout was gazumped by the sub prime blowout where lunatic lending institutions lent money to private individuals for houses, cars and other goods and surprise surprise they couldn't pay their loans back.

The effect of the latter scenario though is the same outcome that would have happened had the private equity boys been allowed to continue to borrow money from the drunken sailors that were lending it to them- the credit market is very tight and bankers don't trust anyone all of a sudden.

Credit is tight right now, it has slowed down US M and A activity, the housing sector and investment in business expansion and will have further downstream effects as time wears on.

In New Zealand we have seen questions over our own finance companies going bust, 13 in the last 24 months or so and with more to come. They lent money to questionable property developments and car and chattel purchases and have cost a collective NZ$1.5 billion so far.

A major takeover of a large New Zealand company, Sky City Entertainment, is in peril because a couple of the interested private equity partners are having trouble raising cheap credit to purchase the casino and entertainment company.

What is the blessing?

Well, all this recklessness, which the financial world seems to like to go through with monotonous regularity, has put a brake on stupidity and seems to have focused the minds of lenders and borrowers.

Unfortunately the lenders have pulled back way too far and don't want to get their wallets out at all but the overreaction seems a mirror reaction to the gay abandon that they handed out dollars to anyone in a suit in the first instance.

These overreactions always happen and lenders will start to loosen again when trust is back in the market.

The focus from the beginning then, one would hope, that the reasons for lending money in the first case would pass the basic questions from the lender when one asks for credit.

Can he pay it back?

Is his credit history good?

In the case of a business, much the same but with the addition of whether the business makes money and are you paying too much for it.

Simple huh?

Then how come lenders got themselves and as a consequence, us, in this mess in the first place.

Until the next credit cycle of madness!

Disclosure: I own Sky City Shares

C Share Investor 2007

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Daily Forex Updates

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C Share Investor 2007

Saturday, December 1, 2007

NZ Herald Report: Auckland EFB protest lures 5000

More than twice as many protesters than the November 17 march, this level of interest indicates public opposition to the Electoral Finance Bill runs very high in all sectors of our community.

This fascist, communist type bill may be passed as soon as next week and it means from January 1, Blogs like this one wont be able to criticise the government or influence others to vote alternatively.

As this Blog has its servers outside of New Zealand it maybe hard for authorities to shut me or others down though!! I wont stop the backchat either way, its my bloody right.

NZ Herald Report: Auckland EFB protest lures 5000

Several thousand people have marched in Auckland this afternoon in protest at the government's Electoral Finance Bill.

Police estimates put the crowd at close on 5,000.

The first Auckland march against the bill, a fortnight ago, drew about 2,000.

Marchers then stayed in QEII Square listening to speeches telling them the bill threatens democracy in New Zealand. Organisers are delighted with the turnout, saying it indicates people are realising what the bill will mean for them when it becomes law.

Among the marchers were ACT leader Rodney Hide and high profile opponent of the bill Christine Rankin.

Marches were also held last month in Wellington and Christchurch.

Newstalk ZB & Political Animal 2007

Auckland Electoral Finance Bill Protest, Dec 1, 2.00pm, Aotea Square

Just a reminder that the 2nd Auckland Electoral Finance Bill protest is on today, 1 Dec 2007. Assemble at Aotea Square at 2.00pm, when the protest will kick off at 2.30pm, march up Queen St down to Britomart where John Boscowen and others will be giving speeches.

I wont be there because I'm sick with the flu but I will be there in spirit.

Beat these fascist dictators, Helen Clark and the Sisterhood, Winston Peters' and his fellow lapdogs, the Greens and their nasty grasp for power and all the other power hungry persons who want to take your democratic rights away.

C Political Animal 2007

Friday, November 30, 2007

The Warehouse in play

The decision by the High Court to grant a positive decision to the appellant's Woolworths Australia [WOW.ASX] Foodstuffs and itself will make the coming months for the company very interesting.

The High Court decision to allow Foodstuffs and Woolworths to make bids for The Warehouse Group [WHS.NZX] means it is just the beginning of a long process of a bidding war, possible legal wrangles by the Commerce Commission should they wish to appeal the High Court decision in the Appeal Court and difficulties for either Foodstuffs or Woollies to get the required 90% stake for a takeover.

Both Foodstuffs and Woollies own 10% of shares each and they require at least 90% of shareholder approval to make a takeover successful so both companies could block their rival bids. Considering founder Stephen Tindall has a 51% majority, it is definitely up to him and his family interests to sell or not should bids be made.

It is possible that the difficulties of gaining a 90% approval could be got around by organising a complicated "takeover" structure in the guise of a "merger", as was done when Transpacific Waste effectively took over Waste Management in 2005. Only 75% shareholder approval is needed in this scenario.

At today's AGM shareholders were told that the company had strong cashflow and he dropped hints at a capital return to shareholders.

"In the absence of any major acquisition opportunity, the company will consider undertaking further capital management initiatives in the 2008 calendar year," Chairman Keith Smith

Little was said about a possible takeover and the main focus was on company performance for next year which was expected to be flat.

The bulk of sales for the company are made during the November /December Christmas lead up and look to be flat as well, due to high mortgage rates and petrol prices.

The positive news out yesterday led Warehouse shares up around 24% and by 5c to NZ$6.20 today.

Disc: I own WHS shares in the Share Investor Portfolio

The Warehouse Group @ Share Investor

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The fight for control begins soon

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NEW - From Fishpond.co.nz | Think Bigger, By Michael Hill

c Share Investor 2007 & 2009

Bitching and Moaning

There has been some moaning and bitching about this piece that I wrote on Political Animal and my Share Investor Blog regarding the conflict that Jeanette Fitzsimons and the Labour Government have over their championing of Windflow Technologies and a shareholding that Jeanette has in the company and her involvement in changing laws and stopping normal economic development to favour Windflow Tech.

I have been told by an anonymous individual and by someone else that calls herself Jeanette Fitzsimons that Fitzsimons no longer has shares in the company. Neither of these two persons were able to furnish any proof of such a statement.

I searched high and low to find any information to the contrary but common information from all sources on the net lead me to the same conclusion. My main source was from the Greens' Website.

Does Jeanette, a family trust or her family members own Windflow Tech shares? You would have to ask yourself this question considering her involvement in putting the brakes on oil, gas, hydro and coal energy and financially penalising those industries through her actions and those of her partner in Government, the Labour Party.

An interesting speech from Deborah Coddington related to the pecuniary interests of members of Parliament where she discusses some of the points that I have covered here and incidentally another source of little Jeanette's shareholding in Windflow Tech.

Coddington, Deborah, Standing Orders

2nd August 2005

[Volume:627;Page:22361]

DEBORAH CODDINGTON (ACT) : I rise on behalf of the ACT party to oppose Government motion No. 3, which relates to the pecuniary interests of members of Parliament. What is the problem that this is trying to fix? All this will do is be a burden for the honest, who will agonise over it. It is so complicated and so badly drawn up that it is very difficult to see where to begin and where to end. It will build a climate of dishonesty. The crooks, who do not give a stuff, will just make it up anyway—and who will have the time and energy to trawl through everything and find out whether members have been honest? It is like taking the rich list at face value. The rich list does not even take into account people’s liabilities. All it can do is take into account their assets. The poor, diligent, honest MP who struggles to declare everything under this measure will possibly trip up, or by accident exclude something, and the media will pick it up, have a field day, and destroy him or her for no reason at all.

This measure would not have caught Donna Awatere Huata. We asked her time and again whether she had any interest, any personal gain, and she lied to us. She would not tell us the truth. It would not have picked her up. If this Parliament really wants to get down on corruption, why does it not take note of what Ian Ewen-Street said yesterday when he talked about the scampi inquiry and Mr Peters’ involvement with Simunovich Fisheries? That has never been fully explored. For instance, provision 4(1)(b) in new appendix B states: “the name of every other company or business entity in which the member has a pecuniary interest …”. Is that direct or indirect? What if a member had shares in something like the New Zealand Investment Trust? That is a very respectable trust. If a member had shares in it, he or she would not have a clue about all the things that trust does. How on earth would one list them? How would trusts like that be listed? Land holdings are mentioned further on in this measure. If we tried to get information from members on all the land and property they own they would probably tell us to go away and mind our own business.

I was very interested in what Rod Donald, the co-leader of the Greens, said. A moment ago he said that the Green Party stood for high standards and that it was the cleanest party in Parliament. They would have no trouble declaring their pecuniary interests. Why does Rod Donald not start by reading what we already have under Standing Order 164, which states: “A pecuniary interest is a direct financial benefit that might accrue … as a result of the outcome of the House’s consideration of a particular item of business.” The Greens have a particular interest in high electricity prices. They opposed Project Aqua. They oppose any energy projects. Why is that? Because it is in their pecuniary interests to have high electricity prices, because of their financial interests, through their taxpayer-funded superannuation fund, in establishing the commercial viability of wind energy. They should tell us these things. If they do not tell us these things we have to go into Google to find them out. This statement is from a press release in May 2001: “the Green Party’s Superannuation Fund have joined the growing list of investors in local wind power company Windflow Technology. Windflow director … said ‘We’re delighted that the Greens are going to be part of our company. Windflow Technology is both environmentally and investor friendly,’ … Rod Donald, said ‘Our superannuation fund has a policy of ethical investing.’” Why do they not declare that when they come into this House to argue against any power project or development that anyone cares to put up, whether it be State-owned, or, heaven help us, one of the few private ones? Not only that, Jeanette Fitzsimons owns 30,000 shares in the Green Party superannuation fund. She is one of the top 10 shareholders. One of the biggest shareholders is UK millionaire, Sir James Goldsmith, and US billionaire Delane Wyeross also owns shares.

But they have directly benefited also from carbon credits. A subsidiary of Windflow Technology, New Zealand Windfarms, won Government backing of up to $10 million to set up a 60-turbine wind farm in the Manawatū. This was in December 2003. Members should listen to what the business development manager—[Interruption] It is not a scandal at all. I never said it was a scandal. I am just pointing out the—we are not allowed to use that word, but the term “conflict of interest” perhaps is a way to describe it when one stands up in this House and says that everyone has to declare their pecuniary interests, and everyone has to declare how much money they are owed over $50,000, and any debt over $50,000. I do not see the point in that. Why have it declared that someone owes a member of Parliament $50,000 or more?

Members will not have to declare it if it relates to a spouse, a partner, children, step-children, or foster children, so the dishonest ones will put all these things in the name of their spouses, partners, children, step-children, or foster children and get them to pay them. The very thing that should be declared, and the very thing we should be most suspicious of—that is, electoral campaign expenses that could be covered up—is excluded. The very thing we should be suspicious of—where someone wants to try to buy one’s vote—is the only thing that we should be declaring, and it is excluded.

But I go back to this Greens’ thing. The business development manager of the wind farm said that it would not have been viable without the Government’s award of carbon credits. It was one of the two firms named by the Minister of Energy, Pete Hodgson, to take a share of 4 million carbon credits designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions. I think the public should know these things. The public should know that the Greens stand up in this House and accuse every other party, except Labour, of being dishonest and bordering on the corrupt, yet the co-leader of the Greens did not declare all of these things, which anyone can get on the website. The Greens are strangely silent whenever anyone brings the matter up, and it is an example of how this legislation is just a nonsense. There is no problem here that we have to fix. In general, most people who come into this place are honest. If they are not, then the media are not doing their job properly, because it is the job of the fourth estate to find out what is going on and report it accurately. ACT will not be supporting this motion.

C Political Animal 2007

Thursday, November 29, 2007

15 year old Kristen Byrne's take on "Global Warming"

A message for all our dopey politicians about New Zealand's moronic march towards self imposed economic disaster in the form of bending over to global warming, carbon footprints, Kyoto and Al Gore's growing bank balance.

The Left and the Greens especially, have us on a path, to NZ before the wheel was invented.

In case you haven't found it yet, let me recommend 15 year old Kristen Byrne's insightful website, Ponder the Maunder that puts all the GW bullshit into perspective.

Ponder the Maunder was an extra credit project for Honors Earth Science, Portland High School, by Kristen Byrnes of Portland Maine.

This report is a comprehensive look at the global warming issue without financial or political bias. It uses the most updated information provided by scientists and researchers and interjects common sense, an important component missing from the global warming debate.

Related

Teenage Skeptic Takes on Climate Scientists : NPR

c Political Animal 2007

The Carbon Fairy has no clothes on

In what is clearly gearing up to be one of history's greatest financial explosions and implosion when it all inevitably collapses, is news today that the carbon trading "market" tripled in size to US$30 Billion last year.

With this market built on failed "science", lies and spruiking by the likes of wealthy green investors Al Gore and Leonardo Di Caprio, like all markets built on such flimsy backgrounds the money made, and there will be billions, will be made by those that get on the greenwagon first:

Since co-founding Climate Change Capital in 2003, James Cameron and his business partner Mark Woodall have turned their company into a powerhouse in the burgeoning global market in greenhouse gases. Driven by the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, an accord Cameron helped write, this corner of the derivatives arena is growing as never before.

Clearly, Cameron and Woodall are smart cookies but these self interested scam artists, who have written their own rules and now profit from them by "investing" other peoples hard earned cash into worthless carbon credits will be the first to withdraw their own funds when the climate change hysteria is revealed for what it is, that the sun simply getting hotter.

A Carbon footprint recently traded on Ebay for
US$1 Million.

I am old enough to remember similar things happening during the dot com era where mum and dad investors piled into worthless "businesses" and the big boys got out first before the truth about the bulk of silicon valley Internet companies hit the investment fan.

The same thing is going to happen with the carbon trading market.

Related Share Investor Reading

Rod Oram: On the Prius to Obscurity
Another reason to ignore Rod Oram
Rob Fyfe's "Environmental Extremism"
Carbon Credit Trading puts markets at extreme risk
Mark Weldon Strikes out on Carbon Trading
Quote of the year
Of Tulip bulbs and Tooth fairies
Global warning: Tax iceberg ahead
Mark Weldon in two minds about carbon trading

Related links

Kristen Byrne : Ponder the Maunder - a 15 year old schoolgirl debunks climate change myth

From Amazon

	Global Warming and Other Eco Myths: How the Environmental Movement Uses False Science to Scare Us to Death by Competitive Enterprise Institute Buy used from: $3.77

Global Warming and Other Eco Myths: How the Environmental Movement Uses False Science to Scare Us to Death by Competitive Enterprise Institute
Buy used from: $3.77

c Share Investor 2007

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Sky City sale could be off

Christchurch March against EFB: Report

The piece below was written by Andy Moore and republished at Political Animal with his permission. From the NZ Debate Blog

Proving that even South Islanders have some passion left! Good on Andy and the rest there today.

Approximately 350 people turned out in Christchurch today for the march against the Electoral Finance bill. Starting at 1:00pm at Victoria Square, we followed Bob McCoskrie of Family First, John Boscawen and a Korean War veteran, winding through the streets of the inner city, on the way to Cathedral Square.

Two of us carried blank signs, reference to the fact that if the EFB passes into law, it may become necessary for people to protest with blank placards to avoid being fined or imprisoned simply for speaking out against the Government or a particular party!

John Boscawen spoke powerfully against the bill, and passers by stopped and joined the rally. Next, Bob McCoskrie brought people's attention to the seriousness of the bill - and also paid tribute to John for the time and money he has put into the fight so far. Then we heard from a lecturer from Canterbury University who's main and most excellent point was that...

"This bill makes it a lot harder for the challenger, and easier for the incumbent Government."

An excellent point, which only then really hit me. Of course, it is obvious that Labour is pushing this bill through as a last ditch attempt to steal the election in 08 - I just didn't quite understand how. But the statement above puts it pretty simply and accurately. I will be looking round for an audio version of his speech.

At about 1:30pm we finished up with a round of applause.

A table had been run at the starting point in Victoria Square, and then in Cathedral Square to gather signatures for the petition calling for a referendum on the question: "Should a smack as a part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?"

Click here (www.unityforliberty.net.nz) for more info on the fight against the oppressive new anti-smacking law, yet another arm of Nanny State.

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