This Politician Can't make the Right Decision...

-
NEW: Watch the footage of the exchange from TV3 News HERE


Commentary : Joe Carolan

Living Wage campaigners debated John Key when they were collecting signatures at the Big Gay Out last weekend. When I asked him to sign the petition for $15ph min wage, Key replied

"If I did that, 9000 workers would lose their jobs" he lied.

"What, on top of the 168,000 who've lost them already on your watch?"

We then asked the Prime Minister what he would say to a young worker, trying to survive on $420 a week, and could he personally survive on it?

"Not easily. No- that's your answer!" he laughed, before ambling away.

LET THEM EAT CAKE?

This answer is not good enough, and adds insult to injury after last week’s pathetic 25 cents on the minimum wage. If John thinks he couldn’t personally survive on a low income, why should it be a laughing matter for half a million of his fellow citizens?

Happily, thousands of people at the BGO disagreed with him, and signed the petition! This politician can’t make the right decision- now we want to bypass his government and let the people decide- and the next 10 weeks are going to be HARD OUT on fight to win enough signatures for the Referendum.

Join us in the fight.

BACKGROUND? Watch the interview on TVNZ News at Eight HERE


Comments

Anonymous said…
On the TV3 site one commenter complains that “one person writing on a blog” isn't real journalism.

The way I see it, it's someone asking the hard questions and getting (for once) a straight answer from Key, and someone else getting it on camera.

That looks like bloody good journalism to me.

Nicely done, all concerned.
3:52 AM
Anonymous said…
Where is the money coming from to pay the extra wage cost?

How many of your thousands of people were employers? How many people do you personally employ?

If minimum wage is so bad then how come so many can afford cigs, alcohol, video consoles, or going to events like the BGO?

If it comes from the government then they'll have to raise taxes even higher to pay for it!

If it comes from private sector then prices will rise significantly as people above minimum wage like to stay that way!

Increasing minimum wage will just increase everybodies costs and the _worst_ off will be the minimum wage folk, who will be worse off than they are now. Them and those employers can't afford to hire, businesses that fold under the cost, and those whose jobs can now be replaced by expensive machinery as the years wage bill gets closer to the price of the machine/robot!
4:41 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Commentary fron an American member of Socialist Aotearoa

-
Image
My Two Cents By Laura Hardin As with any presidential election, the American pubic will once again be asked to head to the polls to test which campaign slogans proved more effective. We can either vote for the fairy tale of “hope and change” or we can cast our vote for the “Maverick’s from Main Street.” The McCain/Palin ticket has just recently been trying to lure the middle class with their new Main Street myth, an attempt to portray themselves as sympathizers who understand how this economic crisis is affecting the majority of America. In the Vice Presidential debate last Thursday Palin said that credit markets is where "mainstreeters like me" would feel the effects of the meltdown. And earlier last week, presidential nominee John McCain said of the bailout, “The first thing I’d do is say, ‘Let’s not call it a bailout. Let’s call it a rescue,’ Because it is a rescue. It’s a rescue of Main Street America.” You know what you’ll find on most Main Streets in most American towns
Read more

Jacinda Ardern’s Resignation Is Anything But Simple - It’s Time For The Left To Organise

-
Image
Interview with Joe Carolan by Jennifer Pannell. The sudden resignation of Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand and Labour Party Leader, on the 19th January this year was a shock to many around the world. She was held up by the global mainstream press as a beacon of strong and empathetic leadership in the face of numerous crises throughout her two terms. In her emotional resignation speech, she gave little hint as to why she was stepping down, stating “having reflected over summer I know I no longer have that bit extra in the tank to do the job justice. It’s that simple.” ' As a socialist, Joe, what’s your analysis of why Ardern resigned? There is a narrative that as a female Prime Minister, she experienced vicious, relentless trolling - death threats and attacks from a deeply misogynistic far-right led mob, who thought she was a dictator, a tyrant, a Communist. This is similar to the ideology used by the far-right in many other countries; in America, in Ireland, etce
Read more

AS CAPITALISM CRASHES< THE RESISTANCE GATHERS! Rally Against Low Pay- $15 per hour minimum wage now!

-
Image
Please Print Out, Copy and Put up! The weekend before the election, join the rally for a decent minimum wage- $15ph NOW! For posters and leaflets, contact Joe at 021 1861450 RALLY AGAINST LOW PAY- $15 per hour minimum wage now! As Capitalism crashes, the resistance gathers... Event Info Host: Socialist Aotearoa Type: Causes - Rally Time and Place Date: 01 November 2008 Time: 14:00 - 17:00 Location: Aotea Square Street: Queen Street Town/City: Auckland, New Zealand View Map Google MapQuest Microsoft Yahoo Phone: 0211861450 Email: solidarityjoe@yahoo.com The Gathering Storm. In recent months, low paid people have taken strike action in casinos, banks, fastfood outlets, supermarkets and on the busses. Low pay is crippling a generation of workers who are now expected to bear the brunt of a vicious global recession. It's time the resistance gathered. We're not going to pay for their crisis. We're not going to endure low pay anymore. A new generation is going to resist the Glob
Read more