ROB MacCULLOCH: Newshub and NZ Herald report Misleading Garbage
- Administrator
- Dec 6, 2023
- 2 min read
Newshub and NZ Herald report Misleading Garbage about ACT's van Velden not following Treasury advice
In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT's Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden is not following Treasury advice regarding the coalition's desire to repeal Fair Pay Agreements.
"Fair Pay Agreements: Leaked Cabinet paper reveals Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden at odds with official [Treasury] advice" screamed Newshub, adding van Velden was soon to undermine the employment of "women, Māori & Pasifika and young people". Meanwhile, the NZ Herald hysterically screamed, "Government shaken by leak of Cabinet paper, criticising urgent repeal of law to lift wages, conditions of low-paid workers"
Not true. The NZ Herald & Newshub should have done proper reporting & spoken to the Treasury Secretary, Caralee McLiesh, about whether or not her advice has been followed by ACT Deputy Leader. Caralee is an economics coauthor of Andrei Shleifer at Harvard University. He states (see reference below), "Heavier regulation of labor [which includes collective representation by unions] is associated with lower labor force participation and higher unemployment of the young". There is no way Caralee would ever have advised Cabinet that Labour's Fair Pay Agreement regulations would unambiguously produce the opposite effects. Shame on the NZ Herald. Shame on Newshub.
More generally, any competent Treasury would never advise a government that strengthening sector-wide union power would for sure be beneficial to the economy & low wage groups. Debate has raged across thousands of articles for decades as to whether or not unions - especially the sectoral ones which were empowered by Labour - are good or bad for efficiency and equity. There are a ton of reasons in theory why unions may increase unemployment of low income workers, decrease productivity and increase the cost-of-living. Identifying the real-world effects of unions has been difficult since they are classified in economics as being an institution - and institutions tend to change only slowly over time. Furthermore, measuring the precise characteristics of institutions is fraught. (By contrast, measuring a variable like a stock price is simple by comparison, making empirical work easier).
Sources
Robert MacCulloch holds the Matthew S. Abel Chair of Macroeconomics at Auckland University. Rob blogs at Down To Earth Kiwi
I’ve also noticed that the Herald cartoonist Emmerson ( widely published) is one of the most blatant anti National/Act cartoonists I’ve come across. I’m tempted to make a formal complaint. I suppose this is part of the PIJF pro-Labour / Green/ TPM bias?.
It seems that the main stream media have decided that because their preference of nonsensical utterances and twisted stupidity was rejected by the majority as unsuitable and unqualified to to lead parliament and were given the bums rush by their betters, us, they swe themselves as above us , and self qualified to embark on their little self poisonous crusade of denigrating anyone and anything this government represents,believes in and sully it, misrepresent it( who am I kidding) fucking blatantly lie about it and interview the usual suspects for their deranged and bitter ranting , take that as the truth and run it as gospel.
" te Pati racist says this , Chris hapless and desperate for recognition says this....."
The issue stems solely from governments being allowed to fund media organisations.
In a functioning democracy, this practice should be prohibited and legislated against for the obvious reasons.
It's not only News Hub or the New Zealand Herald reporting misleading garbage, its the Government and most groups using the Treaty of Waitangi as our Founding Document.
Answer these 10 Question then read, 'The Six Documemnts that made New Zealand into a British Colony on: www.onenzfoundation.co.nz.
“The NZ Herald & Newshub should have done proper reporting & spoken to the Treasury Secretary…”
This is an insightful example of how some journalists have the appearance of writing the story they want first, rather than simply laying out the facts like Robert MacCulloch has done here. Why go searching for opposing views when you already know what you want to write?