Showing posts with label Xenophobia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Xenophobia. Show all posts

29 October 2008

Greens share National Front perspective

Oh dear, the Green Party’s agricultural policy continues the theme of “do as we say”.

It wants 15% of farms organic by 2015 and half of all production organic by 2020. The Greens don’t intend to do this by promotion or market demand. Indeed, they want food self sufficiency. Like Japan, like North Korea, like many dictatorships, like fascists. It smells so much of a centrally controlled state, with an attitude to both imports and foreigners that stinks of xenophobia. Clearly if you hate foreigners and foreign muck, vote Green – somehow I think most Green supporters wouldn’t really like the range of imported foods being banned because they don’t meet the strict standards they demand.

However if you vote Green you are voting to ban things – it’s compulsory or it’s illegal.

According to Stuff the policy includes:
- Sovkhoz (State farms) (ok I used that word) modelling the example of organic farming to other farmers, through Landcorp. Yes comrade farmer, learn from the state farm. Buy your organic produce from state farm number 13675;
- “Regional councils could advise farmers on cost-effective options, and land and water management plans such as nutrient budgets and stocking rate limits” Yes now the regional council is the State Farming Advisory Authority. Turn to your council for advice on how to run your own farm!
- “Landowners would be offered incentives for appropriate land use” Read landowners would be offered YOUR money taken from you to pay for what is appropriate. Don’t want to use your own land “inappropriately now do we”?
- “there should be incentives for maintaining or enhancing the environment, such as riparian plantings or preventing soil erosion and nutrient run-off” Earth to Greens, these already exist it is called “protecting the value of your property”. However that P word is one you just can’t grasp right?
- “cut pesticide use by 50 per cent in five years, and it says landowners using sprays should be responsible for chemical trespass when pesticides affect areas outside their property” Well how will you cut this use? However, amazingly suddenly property matters – and yes, landowners should be responsible, if damage is caused of course. It is basic tort law (just when you thought they didn’t understand);
- “Aerial spraying would only be permitted when it was the safest, least toxic, most effective method of control” Yes zee state wont allow it otherwise (couldn’t just make trespass the issue surely?);
- “levy vessels, passengers and freight entering the country to better fund biosecurity services” ah more taxes on trade and tourism, though the problem isn’t exactly defined. Keeps those foreigners out though from stealing “our jobs”;
- “prevent people buying land here unless they were residents or held New Zealand citizenship” Yes those foreigners, dirty little bastards, let’s decimate the value of existing farms instead. True loyal patriotic kiwi farmers will welcome this. Ka Pai.;
- “farmers should not have to face unfair competition at home from cheap imported food and agricultural products produced with lower environmental, health and safety standards, such as garlic from China and imported pork” No of course not, consumers should never be able to choose from filthy foreign muck. If the dirty foreigners wont let us export there, who cares – our people happily will be self sufficient, and paying a lot more for the satisfaction of food sovereignty;
- “Importers should have to show their products meet minimum environmental, labour, health and safety standards, and country of origin labelling for all single-ingredient agricultural products should be mandatory” Yes those filthy foreigners from poor countries try to undercut us at every moment, because they don’t understand how to run a fair society. We do, we are proud of it, so when you want to buy foreign muck it better meet our standards or else!

Oh that’s enough. I mean take this “Urban sprawl should be limited to stop prime agricultural land being taken for housing, lifestyle blocks and commercial developments”. Taken? Taken from whom by who? Taking is what the state does. It takes your money, you didn’t choose to do that.
Buying is what individuals do. They use their own money and buy from a voluntary seller.

You don’t know the damned difference. You also want “affordable housing”, but want to forcibly limit the amount of land available to it – so you can effectively force housing to be high density London type high rise next to your beloved railway stations.

The Greens are, once again, proving their addiction to big Nanny State, addiction to telling people what to do and not do, banning, regulating and subsidising. It is socialism, but the agricultural policy is far more sinister. It has so much that is “anti-foreign” that the National Front would have little to disapprove of.

11 March 2008

Strategic assets

For all those on the left (and Muldoonist right) who fear strategic assets, like airports, run by foreigners. Consider these airports with at least 40% of the shares owned NOT by nationals of the country they are in:

- London Heathrow Airport
- London Gatwick Airport
- London Stansted Airport
- Glasgow International Airport
- Glasgow Prestwick Airport (owned by New Zealanders no less)
- Athens International Airport
- Hamburg Airport
- Tirana Airport
- Copenhagen International Airport

10 March 2008

Muldoonism all round

Several blogs have commented, quite rightly, about Dr Michael Bassett's excellent column about the posturing on foreign investment by Labour. Bassett, as on of the more honourable Ministers of the fourth Labour government, clearly is non-plussed about his former colleagues being upset. Statements such as "the “whatever it takes” mentality that the Labour Party uses these days when they campaign for re-election" say a great deal.

Labour, having lost the votes of most businesspeople, much of provincial New Zealand, many Maori and most of those on middle to higher incomes, is now pandering to the Winston Peters crowd for votes. That's what Auckland airport is about, and the railways - the old Muldoonist crowd that is wary of foreign investment, the working class semi-literates who are easily fired up with xenophobic rhetoric.


Winston's Muldoonism isn't new. Back when he visited North Korea he was quoted as saying there is a lot for New Zealand to learn from North Korea. Funny how Labour chooses a man who is anti-foreign investment to be the Minister of Foreign Affairs isn't it?

Whatever it takes - Labour has spent the surplus up, to make tax cuts harder, but can also claim any spending cuts will "hurt health and education", forgetting that the increases have done little to improve either. Labour will scaremonger that National will hurt the poor and damage the fragile economic growth, that has been in decline in the last few years.

04 March 2008

Winston Cullen's populist xenophobia

So according to Stuff Michael Cullen is as hysterical as Sue Kedgley. Who would have thought! Like some squawking bird he has thrown up his hands in leftwing xenophobic horror at the "gateway to the world" falling into foreign hands. You can see the talons of foreigners, eagerly trying to pillage what is "ours". Of course it seems to be ok for the Christchurch gateway to be held by a loony leftwing council and the Wellington one by a New Zealand investment firm.

What absolute nonsense.

The hurried legislation is Labour making a marriage with "don't trust the wogs" NZ First, pandering to the xenophobic fears of some on the conservative right as well as the anti-globalisation left - with no objective basis for it whatsoever.

The government will now have the right to interfere in ANY private land transaction, as "ministers will be able to block the sale overseas of any land or assets if it runs counter to the need to maintain New Zealand control of strategically important infrastructure on sensitive land."

What is this "strategically important infrastructure" or "sensitive land"? Better hope it's not yours, or those of a company you own shares in - because Ministers can now pillage part of the asset value -purely due to xenophobic hysteria.

The arguments Sue Kedgley rattled off in her press release are all too ludicrous, and I pulled them apart a few days ago. I said the Greens are Canadaphobic only partly in jest, because they are xenophobic when it comes to ANYONE from another country making an investment in New Zealand.

The impression is that somehow Canada Pension Plan would blow up the airport, or treble landing charges, in other words do anything OTHER than run it to maximise a rate of return.

Of course this isn't the first time. Dr Cullen deliberately delayed allowing Singapore Airlines to raise its shareholding in Air New Zealand to 49% because of a preference to consider the Qantas offer, which had already been rejected by the Air New Zealand board. It is speculation to claim that this dithering was because of a preference for an ANZAC Air NZ over a more "foreign" one. This dithering saw Air New Zealand collapse, until Dr Cullen forced taxpayers to bail out and nationalise the airline.

So I want three questions to be answered by those on the left who will cheerlead this on flying the red flag as they do...

1. What evidence is there and what incentives are there for a foreign owner of a New Zealand company to treat the assets and the business in a manner differently from a New Zealand one? Give verifiable examples, not simply tired rhetoric.

2. What is the financial value of land being "strategic"? Will you compensate the owners for this over and above the previous market value now reduced because of this legislation?

3. If the land is so "strategic" to you, why don't YOU and those who agree with you come together and buy it? Clearly the value is so high that you are willing to use force to ride roughshod over private property rights and contracts. Can you explain why you are unwilling to use your OWN money to demonstrate how strategic this land is?

Finally, I expect the shrieking Greens and xenophobic NZ First to support this, along with xenophobic Anderton. That will be enough, but will Peter Dunne, National and ACT stand on some principle? (The Maori Party is inherently racist so I expect nothing from it).

By the way, this isn't about privatisation - this is about already privately owned shares not being allowed to be sold to a willing buyer. Just think about it, and think about your own xenophobia.

It is racism, just a kind the left champions.
UPDATE: Not PC rightfully points out that "Too many New Zealanders don't like foreigners, however (or investment, for that matter). We think we might catch nasty diseases from them -- things like hard work and being enterprising".
Sue Kedgley is taking the credit for this nonsense, repeating her absolute doggerell that "New Zealand could not afford the economic, environmental, biosecurity or security risks of allowing control of our main aviation gateway to pass into foreign hands".
Go on Sue, explain yourself will you? Why do foreigners pose risks that locals don't?
Meanwhile Winston is cheering it on, like the Muldoonist he is.
UPDATE 2: No Right Turn makes the ultra nationalist/socialist assertion that privately owned shares comprise “our” strategic assets. If HE finds it strategic, why does he not buy them from those who don’t see it as being strategic? At the very least he argues this is about the balance of payments deficit - without explaining that this deficit is privately funded. The owners of Auckland airport shares are not responsible if some New Zealanders spend more overseas than they receive from overseas. It is not THEIR responsibility to make money to pay someone else’s deficit. Sadly he panders to the xenophobic populist nationalism of Winston Peters that is more about prejudice than it is about economics.

29 February 2008

Greens Canadaphobic


Sue Kedgley is at it again, hysterically trying to ban something. This time the sale of private shares in Auckland airport to a (wait for it, it is horrifying and disgusting) FOREIGN company. Those wogs (well they are Canadian, but they are foreign, so they must be inferior) can't be allowed to have "our" airport (well actually it is owned by the shareholders, but Sue doesn't understand property rights), I mean after all, think what they could do. They might want it to run efficiently, at a profit, encouraging people to use it and that would NEVER do.

Sue's press release on this says "The Green Party sees no reason why a Canadian pension fund should be allowed to gain control of the gateway to New Zealand"

Well I see no reason why it shouldn't? Why is a Canadian pension fund less of a good owner than a New Zealand pension fund, or local government, or central government (remember Wellington airport when it was majority government owned?)? Sue doesn't say, just apparently as long as the Green Party doesn't see a reason to allow something, it should be banned.

Then she goes on a little to suggest that "New Zealand cannot afford the economic, environmental, biosecurity and security risks of letting control of our main aviation gateway pass into foreign hands"

What are these Sue? Economic risks. Hmmm that it will be efficiently run, will seek to encourage passengers and airlines to operate there. Are you concerned about monopoly pricing? Well apparently not since the Green Party opposes outright Whenuapai being developed as a second airport.

Environmental risks? What are the Canadians going to do Sue? Use the airport as a toxic waste dump? Encourage less fuel efficient planes to fly in? I mean those Canadians are such environmental vandals.

Biosecurity risks? Oh yes, apparently they will take over the MAF role too will they Sue? Or the Canadians will just let it rip on foreign plagues of insects and plants to ravish our countryside.

Security risks? Yes they'll let those Canadian terrorists in to hijack planes, or Canadian thieves to steal luggage.

Not a single rational reason to stop the sale, other than xenophobic hysteria.

Blame Canada, with their evil little eyes and their heads that flap with lies.

Bloody hell Sue, take some pills and get some therapy, it's not nice to discriminate against those from other countries.

25 July 2007

Peter Dunne does occasionally have common sense

Well, just this once.
^
On Auckland airport the NZ Herald quotes him saying "the sale of the airport was a matter to be sorted out by its shareholders"
^
Amazing Peter, such common sense!
^
JohnKey on the other hand is pandering to a group that Winston thrives on by saying according to the NZ Herald that "in principle he would like to see the airport remain in New Zealand hands". Fine John, you put together a consortium!
^
Winston meanwhile is satisfied that national security issues will be taken into account.
^
Of course he is pandering to the racist, bigoted, largely monolingual constituency who drag their knuckles to vote for him, because you see Dubai... well they're foreign aint they it's Iran isn't it? They want nukes and they stop girls going to school you know. They ummm are ummm Muslims u know they have beards, they're not like us, they're probably bloody terrorists those Iraqis who want our airport, they like camel riding, well I wont use the word, but you know. They have funny ways and that weird music, you know, for belly dancing and stuff. They are not like us those Arab types, they eat funny spicy food that isnt our sorta thing not like steak and chips, real tucker. you know they'll bomb our planes those Palestinians you know, they're just going to use it to train terrorists, they'll hire their own kind, they do that.. probably bring their families over and fill up our schools and hospitals then where we'll be? We fought them in Gallipoli those Turks too.
^
Hysteria, seen also in the Greens who say on their website that "Auckland International Airport is the single most important piece of monopoly transport infrastructure in the country".
^
1- It's a monopoly partly because you don't want Whenuapai developed as a competitor;
2- Given it is more important that the rail and road networks, can't we sell those too now? (foaming at the mouth foreseen) (I mean give away the rail network, since it was bought for $81,000,001.

24 July 2007

Grey grizzling anti-wog brigade and the xenophobic economic infants

You know them as NZ First and the Greens. Not PC has written well on this,
^
On Auckland airport, have you ever read such sheer nonsense?
^
The Bigoted wog haters (when has NZ First ever been positive about immigration?) talk of it being the selling of “another New Zealand plum” to a foreign owned company. What rot. The Bigoted Wog Haters could always buy it out if they wanted. “New Zealand” doesn’t own it, so stop using deceptive language that some collective entity called New Zealand has any rights to it. Anyway, what do they think Dubai Aerospace are going to do? Put rockets on it and send it to the Middle East, or destroy it? Have another sherry or five and go watch TV1 and fall asleep. This is the economic illiteracy that nearly bankrupted NZ under Muldoon.
^
The xenophobic economic infants are funnier still. Apparently there will be monopoly issues because of the change of ownership!! Air New Zealand will wonder what it has been going on about for years then, and I guess the Commerce Commission investigations had too many big words for the economic infants to read. Changing ownership makes NO difference. Such xenophobes rant and foam at the mouth saying “Coming on top of the attempt to buy up Tourism Holdings Limited, tourists to New Zealand could be landing at a foreign owned airport, travelling in foreign owned campervans, and visiting foreign owned iconic tourist sites and spending money which will simply go back to the overseas owners.” We'll all be branded with 666s and those foreigners will be so mean and cruel to us. I'm so scared of the foreigners, they eat babies and drink the blood of virgins! The foreigners will only hire their own kind after all, who wont spend a cent in New Zealand, but repatriate it all, they wont eat our food or rent our buildings or spend money in our shops - and then they'll stop us using the airport because monopolies like to stop people using their facilities, and then they'll buy our homes, our clothes, our children, then it will be hell, and the little elephants in the sky will land on our houses and eat gingerbread trees and...
^
The answer to the bigoted wog haters and the xenophobic economic infants is:
^
BUY THE F**KING AIRPORT YOURSELF!
^
However they wont, it’s SOOO strategically important they want to stop others using their money to buy it and others to realise their investments by selling it, but like most good old socialist whingers they wont cough up a cent to risk by investment. Of course they'll blether on about "we used to own it". Oh really? Did you get dividends, vote on the directors, could you sell what you owned if you thought the management performed poorly? Of course not, you owned nothing - the state owned it and took risks with your money, and spent the dividends on what IT wanted.
^
Anyway that was the past. NZ First and Green party members should put together an offer and buy the strategically important and valuable Auckland airport shares, or put up and shut up.