What Do I do Now?

On wind down to Christmas. Contract expires on Friday so am facing the New Year with trepidation given the gloomy economic news. Just had call from head hunter for a job I applied for so have interview. What a change.

Have applied for 8 jobs in past 6 weeks. Have had 1 interview, 3 email rejections and 4 no replies. We are talking senior positions here. I never treated applicants to even the most junior positions in any of my employers in this manner. This treatment is entirely from HR & Recruitment agencies. My earlier comments re them have been continually reinforced.

Have just seen the government's redundancy law changes. My permanent job disappeared in redundancy in July this year and my 3 month contract started in October. So, depending on when the starting point is, I may not be able to demonstrate 6 months continual employment. The savings rule me out anyway as I have considerably more than allowed.

Bludging Taxi Drivers

How come the tax drivers expect the government to pay for the equipment that any idiot would regard as the absolute minimum. We don't see the government paying for a steering wheel, so why should they consider loans for cameras or other protection gear? If you are in any business in NZ you are required under H&S legislation to 'take all practicable means' to protect your workers. The government does not provide loans if it costs you money for equipment or safety modifications. What makes taxis special?

Come on John, you are a nominally right-wing, stand on your own feet, no nanny state party. You shouldn't even be considering this.

The Minister and the Private Secretary - Lesson #2

Was consulting to a SOE who were undertaking a massive project that I was managing. We had to get the Minister of SOEs on side and keep him there at all times. One of our opponents was a commercial firm that would lose out heavily if we succeeded.

In to see the Minister, with his private secretary. Minister agrees with our proposal. We walk back to the office, a walk of 10 minutes, and on arriving receive phone call from the private secretary that minister has done a 180 and has changed his mind. Schedule another meeting and return following day. Minister again agrees with us and again we return to office to get same phone call as day before. We make enquiries and find that each time we visited Minister, the private secretary has pre-warned the opponents and books them an appointment straight after ours.

The Minister could not hold an opinion in his own right and reversed his stance so many times in the same manner that we called him the 'Roundabout'. The Minister was only interested in ass covering and never developed a framework against which he could make decisions. A shallow man despite appearances to the contrary. In the end, we had to use some influence to get around him to the Cabinet and plead our case. The Cabinet backed us and away we went.

The private secretary was so busy playing both sides of the street that he never stopped to think what was the best thing for NZ. He only worried about what was best for his minister and himself. Gotta love those public servants

Dealing with Treasury #1

I was trying to change a piece of tax law which I, my very influential employers and even more influential directors thought was unnecessarily driving up financing costs to NZ companies. With my CEO's support and through directors' networks I was put in touch with a very senior Treasury manager who was responsible for tax policy. I also contacted very senior IRD people I knew.

The IRD thought my proposal could work and agreed in principal with the idea, despite it meaning a loss of tax revenue. The Treasury mandarin decided he did not like the idea. The IRD, my directors and CEO and I piled up the evidence and knocked over every objection Mr Treasury mounted. Finally, he stated, "The Minister of Finance is opposed to the idea." Unfortunately for him, we had direct input to the Minister and so we asked the question. The Minister loved the idea and ordered the law to be changed.

The point is that Mr Treasury lied. Had we not had the means to go around him, the idea would never have seen the light of day. It has now been a feature of NZ tax law for many years.

This is unfortunately typical of what I have experienced, the dead hand of the public service.

Never Under-estimate the Stupidity of the NZ Public

Ask most kiwis for their opinion of public servants, either in central or local government, and they will mostly have very negative views of their abilities, activities and remuneration etc. As an ex-Wellingtonian, I have returned to visit family and friends in the past 5 years on many occasions. I have been stunned at the growth in the public service and the new premises they are occupying.

Then you ask kiwis about privatising SOEs such as Solid Energy, the electricity industry, ACC, TVNZ etc and all hell breaks lose. No, can't have that. Who do they think runs and actually controls those government-owned enterprises - yes, those reviled public servants. You might find business people running SOEs but they report to lickspittles in CCMAU in the MED and to ministers and to Treasury.

Decisions are made to cover ministers' asses not to take the action that will provide the best outcome for the SOE or the public of New Zealand. I think I might blog some more on some of my experiences in this field.

Labour Shit on a New Government Again

Is this deja vu or what? I remember well the pile of shit Labour left the incoming National government in 1999 with the BNZ. Here we go again, ACC seriously under funded by $6 billion, Housing Corp maintenance $2 billion and various rorts with funding for previous electoral promises. Cullen's reputation as a fiscal manager is quickly unravelling as the new Government get their hands on the books. Makes you wonder how the Treasury and public servants could keep quiet but of course we know why. The evil bastards crucified public servants for any political advantage or to transfer the blame so whistle blowers knew it would be open season on them.

Where to Invest?

Isn't the financial news gloomy? I look after the family investments for my aged mother and am faced with plunging interest rates for her fixed rate investments while there is nothing I can safely invest in for some growth. I'm personally in the same position also. It looks like cash is king and that I should cash up everything. Shame is that if I could afford to put some dosh away for some years, there are probably some very good bargains to be had on the stock exchange that will do very nicely once things turn. As my contract is about to finish, I cannot tie up cash as I suspect jobs and new contracts are going to be hard to find next year. The other problem is that the financial markets may not turn soon enough for me (and certainly not for mum). This could be a long wait.