If National wins ...

[dobby41]

Without trawling through all the pages here, comments on the closure of Hillside Engineering in Dunedin comes to mind. From memory many comments were made on here blaming the Government for not keeping this unsustainable business open

Unsustainable?
Is that the one where we purchased the Chinese train locos instead?
The ones with asbestos that didn't work properly?
I wonder what the overall 'real' saving was in the end?

[elZorro]

Without trawling through all the pages here, comments on the closure of Hillside Engineering in Dunedin comes to mind. From memory many comments were made on here blaming the Government for not keeping this unsustainable business open

Hillside were still making really good train bodies, and the govt accountants didn't look at the full story of the cost of laying off a lot of govt employees and the increased WINZ costs versus the tax gain of having people paying PAYE instead. Instead, they just looked at the likely NZ rolling stock costs versus Chinese made ones. Now KiwiRail are dropping out of electricification, so more hardware is being made redundant, probably because Hillside staff aren't there to help keep it running. What's the long-term cost of that? We're going to be stuck with fossil-fuel locos when we have heaps of zero-carbon electricity. The rules for govt depts or SOES are surely different from private enterprise. The govt has obvious benefits from being an employer, that the private sector doesn't have.

[dobby41]

What's the long-term cost of that? We're going to be stuck with fossil-fuel locos when we have heaps of zero-carbon electricity. The rules for govt depts or SOES are surely different from private enterprise. The govt has obvious benefits from being an employer, that the private sector doesn't have.

What will happen next is that the govt will decide that trains are too polluting and get rid of them as the cost of reinstating electrification is too high.

[GTM 3442]

What will happen next is that the govt will decide that trains are too polluting and get rid of them as the cost of reinstating electrification is too high.

The usual lack of strategic vision of any New Zealand government since 1984

[elZorro]

The usual lack of strategic vision of any New Zealand government since 1984

I'd rewrite that to:

The usual lack of strategic vision of a National Government.

For Labour: What about the Cullen Super Fund? R&D tax credits? The KiwiBuild plan? All great ideas that are being held back while National is in power.

[winner69]

Suppose Winston with his views on immigration would not have given Peter Thiel NZ citizenship by being a person of "special benefit to NZ."

Apparently you don't even need to live in NZ to get citizenship anyway

[elZorro]

Suppose Winston with his views on immigration would not have given Peter Thiel NZ citizenship by being a person of "special benefit to NZ."

Apparently you don't even need to live in NZ to get citizenship anyway

Is this what you're referring to, W69?
http://gizmodo.com/peter-thiel-gains...ite-1791550567

Almost makes NZ look like a safe haven as its main attribute. I was hoping that our politicians would raise their sights a bit.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/t...tizenship.html

[GTM 3442]

I'd rewrite that to:

The usual lack of strategic vision of a National Government.

For Labour: What about the Cullen Super Fund? R&D tax credits? The KiwiBuild plan? All great ideas that are being held back while National is in power.

I rather think that you're wearing rose-tinted glasses as you write.

The last dying gasp of strategic vision was Sir Robert's electrification of the main trunk line.

[elZorro]

I rather think that you're wearing rose-tinted glasses as you write.

The last dying gasp of strategic vision was Sir Robert's electrification of the main trunk line.

It was one of the "Think Big" projects, and like the Huntly Power Station, it's still around, so it wasn't too crazy an idea. Both would have employed many people for the construction works, they gained skills and paid taxes.

http://www.kiwirail.co.nz/about-us/h...ification.html

Of course a Labour Govt must have helped see this through, the project didn't open until 1988.

[westerly]

Suppose Winston with his views on immigration would not have given Peter Thiel NZ citizenship by being a person of "special benefit to NZ."

Apparently you don't even need to live in NZ to get citizenship anyway

It is all about the money. Buy your way in, NZ is poor and mortgaged.

westerly