By: Larry Williams | Thursday, April 12, 2012

PORTS

Once again mediation has failed to find a resolution to the increasingly bitter, eight month long Ports of Auckland dispute.

The Ports Company today tabled what it describes as a "constructive" offer, making a number of advances on its previous offers.

But it says the Union failed to bend at all on its position.

This is offer number 10 by my count that the union has rejected.

The previous 9 offers looked to be fair and reasonable. An independent report found that the wharfies are paid between 91k and 120k on average.

I think the time has come for the union to just go away and let the Ports get on with running a viable port on behalf of the ratepayers.

MEATWORKERS UNION

The Serious Fraud Office says it will not be pursuing a complaint against the Meat Workers Union.

Affco filed the complaint claiming the union is not declaring all of its revenue, with Affco members alone paying half a million dollars a year to the union.

But SFO Chief Executive Adam Feeley says an immediate evaluation of the information provided to SFO investigators failed to disclose any evidence of fraud.

That was one very quick investigation.

AFFCO has come out swinging in response. They say that it appears the Union has gone to great lengths to deliberately structure its affairs to conceal the majority of its revenue, expenditure and assets

Indeed yesterday there were contradictory statements.

The union union claimed that union members paid their fees to the branches but the CEO of AFFCO Hamish Simson said the union dues were paid into one bank account. The name of that account was the NZ Meatworkers Union.

Go figure.

PARENTAL LEAVE

Bill English was correct to confirm that the Government will veto the bill to extend paid parental leave from 14 weeks to 6 months.

The Government would have to borrow to fund it. Standing orders are clear. The bill can be vetoed if it would have more than a minor impact on the fiscal aggregates if it became law.

English put the cost at $500m over four years. It would be irresponsible to proceed at this time.

Some are on another planet - Labour is simply OK borrowing more to fund the policy;  the Greens, the true NZ socialist party don't know what debt is;  and someone who should understand debt, Peter Dunne the Revenue Minister has had a brain fade.

So English got this right.

It’s a pity he doesn't veto a few more things that are nothing but straight out welfare schemes in drag.

BREAKERS

Game one of the finals series against the Perth Wildcats. There's apparently some bad blood between the two teams.

The Breakers are a breath of fresh air in professional sport.

They are a vibrant and genuine bunch of young men.  They have values like honesty and discipline and dedication. They probably don't get paid much compared to rugby players but they have a great team culture. Its not all about the money. They love the game they play. The game is more important than the money. It’s about competing and winning.

That's why they have such a big fan base.

The series should be a ripper. 

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