A "rich American" has done a runner from New Zealand, with a parting shot at the Government; and a response from Steven Joyce:
James Dale Davidson's $1.6 million mansion on the Wharekauhau Lodge estate will be sold in a mortgagee sale after he stopped paying his bank, despite having funds in the United States.
"In my view, it was more important to pay my children's private tuition than the bank . . . so that was that," he said from his Florida home yesterday.
He blamed the mortgagee sale on a break-up with his second wife, Taciana, who he says was a former Miss Brazil.
"I made the mistake of marrying a woman I thought was in love with me but who wasn't," he said. "When she divorced me she took a lot of money."
But he believed New Zealand was also to blame, with its hostility towards rich foreigners making it a terrible investment prospect. "I've made millions in Argentina. I've made millions in Peru. I went to Brazil and made millions . . . and I've gone to New Zealand and lost millions and millions. I think your country is run by idiots."
He claimed he lost $5m investing in New Zealand and still owed about $1m. "I love the house, I love the place. I think New Zealand is a lovely place to live, but it's just not a place that you can make money."
Instead of putting up barriers, it should be focusing on becoming a wealthy "retirement haven", he said.
But Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce said he wouldn't be losing any sleep over Mr Davidson's investment opinions.
The World Bank ranked New Zealand as the third-easiest country in which to do business, and other wealthy Americans, such as Hollywood director James Cameron, had invested in Wairarapa and elsewhere quite happily, he said. "But we are old-fashioned - we like people to pay their mortgages."
Davidson sounds like the kind of "rich American" that New Zealand is far better off without; he's the kind that gives "rich Americans" a bad reputation.
But if he thinks there's hostility towards rich foreigners now, then it's probably better that he's gone before there is ever a change of government, because then he'd find out what hostility towards the rich REALLY is, be they foreigners or locals!
We always make a point of listening to Mike Hosking's weekly chat with Steven Joyce and Annette King. They join Hosking every Wednesday morning just after the 8am news, and although they are political opposites, there is an element of mutual respect between them.
So it's no great surprise that the sensitive, gentlemanly side of Steven Joyce came out yesterday when he tweeted this:
Now with all those blokes lining up to be Labour's leader (Andrew Little, David Cunliffe, Shane Jones and Grant Robertson), you'd think Annette would have a great chance if Labour wants to appeal to female voters. Steven Joyce is just too kind in offering to be her campaign manager!
The Government will sign off today on its inquiry into Fonterra's handling of its contamination issue; Stuff reports:
Cabinet will today sign off a ministerial inquiry into the Fonterra food safety crisis as the dairy co-operative is dealt a fresh blow over a chemical scare.
Sri Lanka has ordered a recall of two batches of milk powder over a possible dicyandiamide (DCD) contamination.
But Fonterra disputes the test results and says no traces of the agricultural chemical were found in more than 200 tests by "independent and internationally accredited labs".
The new scare comes in the wake of a botulism alert involving the dairy co-operative last week, shaking consumer faith in the sensitive Chinese market.
The 2008 Sanlu baby milk melamine poisoning scandal and a DCD scare earlier this year have bruised Fonterra's international reputation and seen scorn poured on New Zealand's 100% Pure brand.
Later today Prime Minister John Key will outline details of a top level government inquiry. It will run alongside an investigation by the Ministry for Primary Industries, and two internal Fonterra reviews.
The company's handling of the whey powder saga is under scrutiny after delays in alerting the Government and the public to the contamination.
Whilst Fonterra and ultimately New Zealand's reputation has been bruised by this scare, the urgency and seriousness of the Government's response has ensured that the damage will be temporary, and of a relatively minor nature. The majority of Fonterra's exports have been unaffected, and there are no indications at this point of any actual health issues caused.Kudos are due to Trade Minister Tim Groser and Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce together with a legion of MPI officials. Mr Groser's credentials as a long-time trade negotiator have proved invaluable in providing reassurances to our trading partners.Fonterra will be under no illusions that it has dodged a bullet in terms of the contamination leading to actual cases of botulism. Whilst John Key said last week that then was not the time for recriminations however, Fonterra is about to face some pretty significant scrutiny, and rightly so.
The issue of contaminated whey product being produced at Fonterra's Waharoa plant in Waikato is going to dominate the news today, as it should. It has significant implications for New Zealand's dairy industry, and for our international trading reputation.We must confess that we've been a bit slow off the mark with this; it was only late yesterday that the gravity of the situation became apparent to us, and by that time we had visitors, and were getting disapproving glances from She Who Must Be Obeyed when we looked in the direction of the computer desk! But over at Homepaddock, Ele has plenty of coverage which, given that she and her farmer are at the bovine end of the dairy industry is unsurprising. This post (which we only saw this morning) is especially relevant.
And the Herald's lead story this morning is not flattering for Fonterra; check this out:
Worried parents are flooding an infant formula company's hotline, amid revelations almost 68,000 cans of formula could be tainted with a botulism-causing bacterium after the Fonterra contamination scare.
Karicare products affected were being bought by New Zealanders as late as Saturday night before a precautionary recall notice was issued, angering parents around the country.
The Government has criticised Fonterra, our largest company, for its handling of the situation amid growing frustrations at the amount of misinformation and lack of details, given it has known about the scandal since Wednesday when test results confirmed a contamination.
Last night, Prime Minister John Key told the Herald he was "deeply concerned" about the issue and said the trade implications were worrying.
John Key and his Ministers, especially Trade Minister Tim Groser are justified in being deeply concerned. New Zealand is one of the world's largest producer of dairy products, and by and large, it's something at which New Zealand excelsTwo Karicare infant formula products have been recalled in New Zealand. The Ministry for Primary Industries has more information on the domestic situation here. We have just subscribed to the Ministry's news feed, so that we will receive regular updates.But it is the wider issue that is of deeper concern. Russia's blanket ban on Fonterra dairy products seems to be an over-the-top response, especially given that Russia imports none of the affected product. However it is the reputational damage being done in China that is of the greatest concern from an export perspective.
The Dominion-Post suggests that Fonterra's response has been wanting; check this out:
Mr Groser and Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce held a meeting yesterday with top Fonterra officials, including chairman John Wilson, where they demanded full disclosure to the public.
The Government has promised a thorough investigation into the handling of the scare, but that it would not pressure Fonterra until food safety issues were resolved.
"Obviously there's a number of concerns about the time taken in terms of how this has come out," Mr Joyce said.
Botulism fears were raised on Saturday after Fonterra made public a "potential quality issue" in whey concentrate from a plant in Hautapu, Waikato.
Contamination had been traced to a pipe and three batches of whey, which were turned into 900 tonnes of varied food products sold by eight companies in seven countries.
The product was manufactured in May 2012, and the first signs of a problem emerged in March this year.
However, Fonterra discovered the scale of the potential problem only on Wednesday and the Government was told of it on Friday afternoon.
Prime Minister John Key has just reaffirmed his concern on Breakfast, but has sensibly noted that "this is not the time for recriminations". We agree wholeheartedly; there will be plenty of opportunity for that in due course, but as of this moment the most important issue for the Government is to reassure the countries who buy our exports that the products are safe, and of the highest quality.
And we've heard that Steven Joyce was not his usual jolly self on TV3's The Nation on Saturday. Perhaps having this dumped on his plate late on Friday may explain that. Messrs Joyce and Groser have a devil of a job to do over the next few days to convince the international market that this is a single and isolated error on Fonterra's part.
Steven Joyce and Russel Norman indulged in a very public spat last night. The Green Party co-leader was making claims via social media that simply didn't stack up, and was called on it by Mr Joyce; here's the exchange:
Whether or not it's a good thing for our politicians to be going at one another in such a public forum is open to debate. But on the other hand, it's good to see that they are human.
The opposition parties recently held a "parliamentary inquiry" into a "crisis" in the manufacturing sector. Labour, the Greens, NZ First and Mana had much of the wind taken out of their sails when the manufacturing sector rebounded strongly to levels not seen since before the Global Financial Crisis. It became clear that the "crisis" was manufactured.
There's more good news on the manufacturing front today. A report on High Technology Manufacturing has been released, and it paints a very rosy picture. You can view the full report here.Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce is understandably upbeat; check this out:The high and medium-high technology manufacturing sectors have shown growth and resilience despite global economic challenges, a new Government report shows.
The High and Medium-High Technology Manufacturing Sectors Report was today released in Christchurch by Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce.
High-tech manufacturing includes pharmaceuticals, aircraft manufacture, professional and scientific equipment manufacturing, and computer and electronic manufacturing. It is a small but fast-growing part of our manufacturing sector counting for 0.7 per cent of GDP and 3 per cent of our total exports.
Medium-high tech manufacturing products are diverse and range from domestic appliances, to motor vehicles and parts, milking machines and insecticides. The sector is almost double the size of the high-tech manufacturing sector at $2.8 billion a year in exports.
“These sectors are making a substantial and growing contribution to our economy,” Mr Joyce says. “Both were affected by the Global Financial Crisis but, as the report shows, they have bounced back, overcome barriers and shown renewed growth since 2010.”
“High-technology manufacturing has developed from small beginnings to become a significant export earner – from $139 million in 1991 to $1.4 billion in 2012 – and is now growing faster than the New Zealand wine industry.
“The sector spends almost four times the New Zealand average on R&D and this investment is paying off. Firms in the sector are producing smart, innovative products that New Zealand is known for internationally.”
This is great news. The opposition parties complain long and loudly about New Zealand being a low-wage economy, but the kind of companies surveyed for this report are at the upper end of the manufacturing sector. As Joyce notes they are companies who invest significantly on R&D and product development.Not everyone is impressed however. Labour's Economic Development spokesman David Clark has resorted to name-calling in his response: David Clark
Economic Development Spokesperson
1 August 2013
Joyce gilds the lily on high-tech manufacturing
Claims today by the Minister of Propaganda Steven Joyce about the success of high-tech manufacturing are an exercise in spin, Labour’s Economic Development spokesperson David Clark says.
David Clark is often touted as one of the rising stars of the Labour caucus, and goodness knows, Labour needs some rising stars. But puerile stuff like this does little to advance Mr Clark's claims.
Steven Joyce however reports that the Government is far from resting on its laurels, and has set ambitious targets for the sector; read on:
“Under the Business Growth Agenda, the Government has set a target to increase exports to 40 per cent of GDP by 2025,” Mr Joyce says.
“Within the BGA there are 58 specific initiatives that directly relate to the high and medium-high technology manufacturing sectors. These include establishing Callaghan Innovation to encourage greater business investment in research and development, lifting R&D co-funding to $142 million per year, and helping to better commercialise smart ideas into successful products.
“This report shows there is a lot to celebrate about New Zealand’s high technology and medium-high technology sectors. It highlights the exciting opportunities that exist to grow them, and boost investment and jobs for New Zealanders and their families with strong economic policies that keep improving the competitiveness of New Zealand firms.”
The parties who manufactured a crisis in manufacturing should be delighted to see that the sector is not in as dire a state as they led us to believe. There is still plenty of work to be done, but there is genuine cause for optimism that the manufacturing sector, far from being in crisis has ridden out the GFC, and is now poised for significant success as the economy grows.That's good news for all of us.
The New Zealand International Convention Centre Bill has its First Reading in Parliament this afternoon. This of course is the Bill that will empower the building of SkyCity's new convention centre in Auckland, which will produce hundreds of jobs both in the construction phase and once it is up and running.
And it's going to be very interesting to see who Labour puts up to speak in opposition to the First Reading of the Bill; check this out:Yes, dear readers; nearly a quarter of Labour's caucus enjoyed the corporate hospitality of SkyCity during the 2011 Rugby World Cup. They must have known at that time that a convention centre was in the wings, because National campaigned on the issue at the 2011 General Election.Can David Shearer lead the debate, having attended matches as a guest of the casino company in 2011, and having "dropped in" to the SkyCity box just a few weeks ago? Can Grant Robertson or Clayton Cosgrove? Can Annette King, Trevor Mallard, Phil Goff, Kris Faafoi or Moana Mackey?We don't think that they can, which leaves the Labour speaking list looking pretty lightweight. Of front bench MP's untainted by SkyCity's corporate largesse, all you have is David Parker, Jacinda Ardern, Shane Jones, Phil Twyford and Maryan Street. That's hardly the kind of speaking line-up that is going to send shivers down Steven Joyce's spine.Of course, the likes of Shearer, Robertson, Goff, Mallard and Cosgrove COULD speak out against the convention centre and against the jobs that it will produce (not to mention the future corporate junkets that might eventuate), but wouldn't that be rather hypocritical?
So it's going to be an interesting couple of hours of theatre tomorrow. If one was to have a drinking contest where every time the phrases "dirty deal" or "crony capitalism" was mentioned you had to drink, things would get messy soon. They will be hyperbole to burn from Labour and the Greens, but the bottom line is this; Auckland and New Zealand will benefit from this deal, and poker machine numbers nationwide will continue to fall; you can bet on it.
