It has nothing to do with what taxes are like, what services, industry and infrastructure are like, what wages and cost of living/doing businesses is like, what the quality and work ethic of employees are like, or anything else for that matter.

Actually the world bank survey measures almost all of those things. You can see the metrics here: http://www.doingbusiness.org/economyrankings/

July 29th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
“Oh so “Honest” John, it’s because there’s not a strong union movement in NZ that wages are crap? Utter, utter rubbish. Union penetration (take that for what you will) is somewhere around 17% in New Zealand, and somewhere around 22% in Australia. Unionism/leftism or a lack of it is not the reason why I, as a senior in the IT world, am earning DOUBLE in Melbourne what I was offered to do the same job in Auckland. I am not (now, nor have been since I was emancipated from union shackles in the ’80s) a member of a union.

The reason for the (increasing) gap is a decade of socialist ideology and systemic wealth transfer away from productive individuals & enterprises onto bludgers (i.e. Liarbore & Greens voters).

There can be little doubt that the Key government has betrayed not only their core constituency, but also the principles on which the National party was founded. I suspect the one true statement Michael Cullen has made in his entire life was when he said a Key national government would just be “Labour-lite”. Apart from that, the man is and has always been a lying PoS.

Of course, 3 years of a Gillard Liarbore government, with a watermelon majority in the senate, and NZ may well catch Australia – because Gillard and the watermelons will undoubtedly take Australia down the same path to destruction as the corrupt Clark dictatorship took New Zealand.”

What a sad, bitter contribution. Good to see an Offshore Kiwi really enjoying life.

Yeah, I’ve noticed that you guys like to use this argument.

Shame that all it does is demonstrate that you clearly don’t have a clue what your talking about.

The survey measures ease of doing businesses with regard to regulation and administration – in other words, how easy it is to file your paperwork.

It has nothing to do with what taxes are like, what services, industry and infrastructure are like, what wages and cost of living/doing businesses is like, what the quality and work ethic of employees are like, or anything else for that matter.

Care to try again Honest John?

Company’s would just close up shop and piss off to Fiji or China if they can make more profit and we will become a debt laden consumer society (kind of like now) reliant on loans from the exporting Nations, what a shit way to live, maybe we could dress up in flax skirts and do a haka at the airport for our new overlords when they come to holiday on their newly brought beach front property.

Sun could set suddenly on superpower as debt bites

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/sun-could-set-suddenly-on-superpower-as-debt-bites/story-e6frg6zo-1225898187243

Time they hardened up and removed so much privilege that exists to the detriment of NZ.
Interest free Student loans, ETS, handouts from the taxpayer for this that and every minor wart and scratch.ever expanding (still) social welfare. It just goes on and on and on.

Because 98% of the population is at least border-line sane, whilst only 2% are genuinely certifiable.

http://www.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://lanekenworthy.wordpress.com/files/2009/04/areunionstheanswer-figure2-version1.png&imgrefurl=http://crookedtimber.org/2009/04/14/reducing-inequality-are-unions-the-answer/&usg=__f6ExC37nWAm5_EkAO5MpRUwRsFs=&h=448&w=344&sz=6&hl=en&start=0&sig2=Djn7ZQlWzSdjm7kRn0VeTg&tbnid=qFKfkFIzkoD2cM:&tbnh=169&tbnw=129&ei=EA5RTJuKNpO-sQOJ3YXuBw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcollective%2Bbargaining%2Bcoverage%2Baustralia%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D619%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=1042&vpy=272&dur=8981&hovh=256&hovw=197&tx=149&ty=235&page=1&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:15,s:0

Funny, I’ve been here 7 years in various industries and only once seen any significant collective agreement. In the banking world, where I was until the end of last year, my non-scientific straw-poll indicated that while FINSEC are a noisy bunch, very few people (among my colleagues anyway) were actually members. Most preferred to negotiate their own deals.

Oh, and ease of doing business does not equal cost of doing business. And legislating a high minimum wage does not automagically lead to higher overall wages. In fact, it would likely lead to high(er) unemployment in New Zealand.

Typical progressive bullshit. Unions and high minimum wages are the answer to New Zealand’s ills. Nothing to do with an addiction to welfare and bludging.

Ignorant bullshit. World bank ease of doing business survey – NZ second in the world. Say no more.

“Union penetration (take that for what you will) is somewhere around 17% in New Zealand, and somewhere around 22% in Australia.”

Firstly, it’s called Union density, not union penetration. Secondly, density is a secondary measurement to coverage. Collective bargaining coverage in Aus is about 70%, which means that 70% of Australian workers are covered by a union-negotiated contract, then there’s the free-riding effect, which boosts the impact of union-negotiation further. Then there’s the general impact of higher union covergae on the rest of the labour market (if 70-80% of ppl are covered by a union, the remaining 20-30 percent have thier wages set to union standards, or they lose thier employees to unionised work-places). In NZ around 20% of workers are covered by a union negotiated contract which means that the impact of unions on the labour market is much smaller. Understand?

Firstly, it’s called Union density, not union penetration. Secondly, density is a secondary measuremeout That mean to coverage. Collective bargaining coverage in Aus is about 70%, which means that 70% of Australian workers are covered by a union-negotiated contract, then there’s the free-riding effect, which boosts the impact of union-negotiation further. Then there’s the general impact of higher union covergae on the rest of the labour market (if 70-80% of ppl are covered by a union, the remaining 20-30 percent have thier wages set to union standards, or they lose thier employees to unionised work-places). In NZ around 20% of workers are covered by a union negotiated contract which means that the impact of unions on the labour market is much smaller. Understand?

They scarcely need to outline policies. The mere fact that we have built 10km of cycleway is the ultimate monument to National’s commitment to close the wage gap.

If that is the case then you must accept that the latest Maori child who has been bashed to death owes it’s demise to Sue Bradford.

Yep – i knew lots of them growing up. Got to experience all the benefits of Ruthenasia between the ages of 7-13. When National collapsed the economy in 1990 by slashing state spending with the mother of all budgets my father lost his construction business. We went from a 6 person family on $1000 per week in 1987, to around $400 in 1991.

The stress caused dad to have a breakdown, and he started abusing everyone in the family. Think we would have all ended up on the streets if it wasn’t for the the fact that we were stuck out in the country, and neither of my parents drunk or smoked – plus we had the church community to help us get through the toughest times. Many of my school friends weren’t as lucky – and are now in jail, on the dole, or are drug dependant.

National has been, and still are indifferent to these people, even though they had a lare part in creating thier life-circumstances. That’s part of what makes them such an easy party to hate.