Russel Norman

The Green taliban just can’t help themselves when it comes to telling fibs. Of course they are aided and abetted by the left-wing slant of the NZ Herald who give them prominent headlines featuring their lies.

The Green Party says that shares sold in the recent float of Mighty River Power went to only a small group of investors – and claims of widespread ‘mum and dad’ ownership are false.

They say half of the shares in Mighty River Power sold by the Government went to just 13,000 people, with 10 per cent going to just 400 individuals, trusts and organisations.  Read more »

Labour and Greens have been leaking their 2013 budget over the last 12 months.

Owl’s Observation

Affordable homes $3.5 billion
Andrew Little raid on ACC Fund to pay for Christchurch $3 billion
Greens printing money $3.5 billion
NZ power company raid on super profits $4 billion
Total: $14 billion.  Read more »

Both co-leaders of the Greens were attempting to bully Patrick Gower on Twitter last night.

Sensitive are they?

Russel had intended to celebrate the news that the Asset Sale Referendum was “on” by getting a “Green Appropriate” new car.  One that he could use right into the election, and of course, continue to drive as Finance Minister.

So it is all up to you now.  Make sure you sign the petition to get the Greens over the 16,500 mark so that Russel can finally celebrate!

Fran O’Sullivan outlines her thoughts on the Green/Labour power sabotage:

It’s blatantly obvious that Labour and the Greens have been attempting to short the returns the National-led Government expects to receive through next week’s Mighty River Power float.

Yup, and the gloating of the likes of Gareth Hughes in his now infamous Hey Clint moment was brutally apparent.

[T]ilting at the style of the political intervention and asking the two parties to withdraw their interventionist plan is a waste of space. Not because of their own rationale in doing so (this was soundly based). But because Labour leader David Shearer and Greens leader Russel Norman don’t give a damn about such requests at the midway point of the electoral cycle.

The 10 leading business lobbyists – including major leaders such as BusinessNZ’s Phil O’Reilly and the Chamber of Commerce’s Michael Barnett – who sent a public letter to Labour and the Greens this week – know this in their bones.

They know that the two parties are “not for turning” (at least in the short term). It makes political sense for the politicians to damn the power companies as rapacious commercial beasts, led by overpaid directors and chief executives who will suck all the spare cash out at consumers’ expense.

This tactic works well for Labour and the Greens with their own political power base. Their supporters hate fat cats. Demonising the power company bosses could rile them enough to ensure more of Labour’s and the Greens’ voting base actually turn up to cast a vote in 2014. Or so the hope goes.  Read more »

Current Labour Leader David Shearer bolted a day after announcing Labour’s biggest lurch to the left since … well forever.

John banks wants to know where the $670 million dollars are going to come from to pay for the Green/Labour Kiwi-Power plan.  The answer is simple.  Russel Norman will be manning the money printing press on Day One and he won’t stop until everything is paid for.

ACT Leader John Banks today called on the Labour and Green parties to ‘please explain’ the $670 black hole in their plan to nationalise the electricity sector.

“These parties claim their plan will reduce household electricity bills by up to $750 million a year. But there is no such thing as a free lunch.  That money must come from somewhere and someone must be worse off,” Mr Banks said.

“The Greens state their policy will only cost the Government (i.e. taxpayers) $80 million a year.  So where is the other $670 million a year coming from?

When costing policy, Greens and Labour have never reached for the calculator.

Labour and the Greens get their beans from the Herald editorial writer:

Earlier this week, a Herald editorial suggested people thinking of buying Mighty River Power shares had little to fear from David Shearer’s statement that the Labour Party planned to shake up the electricity market when next in power. That, however, was before it was known how far back in time Labour planned to travel and how errant its policy would be. The details, released yesterday, have serious implications for the profitability of the state-owned power companies to be partly sold by the Government. A 3 per cent fall in Contact Energy’s share price soon after Mr Shearer’s announcement confirmed as much.

It really is a 1930s command economy solution not unlike Soviet Russia would employ. Worse it wiped $190 million off the value of power companies overnight, a nice little landmine from Labour and the Greens for Kiwisaver accounts.

Labour proposes to set up a single buyer, NZ Power, to purchase all electricity generation at what it deems a fair price, based on the actual cost of production. This, it says, will reduce the average household’s power bill by between $230 and $330 a year, a 10 per cent drop. Among its myriad functions, NZ Power would also be able to direct generators to use available capacity, and play a key planning role, including determining future investment needs for both generation and transmission. It would run a tender process for new generation, signing long-term contracts, so successful bidders received what was considered a fair return on their investment.  Read more »

Labour and the Greens have helped destroy $212M of mum and dad investors wealth overnight with one policy announcement.

Yesterday before the announcement shares in Contact Energy, which are held by many Kiwisavers and individual investors were trading at $5.75. By the close of trading they had shed 4.5%….$212.6 million in value.

It is economic vandalism like we have never seen before.  Read more »