New Zealand Conservative

Ports of Auckland has lost Fonterra to Tauranga and Napier - representing 27M of trade a week (which is not the same as the Port fees received for moving that stock). Nevertheless, that's still a substantial volume of business that has just sailed out of the harbour. I'm not sure that Tauranga wasn't simultaneously aiming to win Fonterra over, but Ports of Auckland blame the current strike, and it surely must have had some impact on such decisions? Reading the news article, the Port looks to be the good guys in this, with what seems to be the 9th offer on the table in the last 5 months and still suffering ongoing strike action in the face of economically dangerous times. What exactly are the union after? Shares in the business so they can pay their workers bonuses based on the actual financial performance of the port? Probably not. If they are not careful, they'll be looking for new jobs. I hear Tauranga has a good life style, what with views of the re...

The Occupy Wall Street movement seeks to call attention to what many perceive as excessively high remuneration packages. For example, Directors of large companies manage to skim large salaries for small amounts of work and justify it on their experience. Here's an example, and it's rather random because I just picked it up as the first item from this article: Ransom demands from Board of Directors : Skellerup proposes a 48 per cent fee increase in the Directors pool for non-executive directors, from $320,000 to $475,000. They have their reasons of course. Fees have not been raised since September 2006. Skellerup wants to raise its fees to attract "the highest quality directors" It's a "market rate" So what that fees haven't been raised? What raises have their staff experienced? They recently announced a huge jump in profit, but in 2010 they announced a huge drop in profit, so what's the actual net effect from 2006? Then they go on t...

Creditors of two of Steve Crow's failed companies are unlikely to see any of their money again, although the porn entrepreneur has transferred the firms' assets into another company and continues to trade. Lloyd Hayward of accountants Meltzer Mason Heath, the liquidator for both companies, said Vixen Direct owed $262,000 to unsecured creditors and Erotica Expo owed about $145,000. Mr Crow said he would not be making any attempt to recompense creditors of the liquidated companies. "I don't have any obligation to do so and it's an unfortunate fact of business these days. No-one does it to me when they go under." His creditors are probably feeling rather violated right about now. Exploited at the very least. Let's hope the cycle doesn't continue. In broader terms, his modus operandi isn't too different from many people. I've seen a few examples where people have left creditors with the debt and yet they are happily trading in another company ...

[SATIRE] We’ve been told to get used to the global economy. We’ve been told to accept that many jobs previously done by Kiwis are better done by people in other countries prepared to work for less than one dollar per hour. The people that make these decisions are paid lots of money for “making the hard choices". But who could have guessed the ramifications as this philosophy was adopted throughout the western world? Business The BRW top 100 businesses stunned shareholders today by announcing that CEO’s, board members, and top management are all being outsourced to an Indian Consortium “Rajahs Executives”. “We’ve found we can get fully qualified management teams for as little as NZ$50,000pa. Even better, we purchase this as a subscription service and gain full tax write offs without incurring KiwiSaver charges, PAYE and FBT. The guys in accounting have really outdone themselves. I'd say more, but it's my last day on the job and I've got to clear my desk.” Analysts...

It's Big Bikkies to run a factory. So Griffins are tossing their cookies and closing down the Lower Hutt factory and consolidating in the face of increasing competition from overseas. Another 228 jobs lost. I reckon it's all National's fault, right Helen? Related Link: Griffins have Ginger Nuts that are now past the use by date.

Hey all. I have a question which relates to my job. I work in administration, and part of my job is phoning debtors; like everyone who does the job, it's really not my most favourite time of the month. The thing which especially peeves me is that our terms (much like most businesses) are that people pay us by the 20th of the following month. This is all well and good, but my boss wants me on the phone RIGHT ON the 20th of the month asking debtors when they are going to pay. This strikes me as being very rude and most unbusinesslike. I don't mind phoning people if they are a week to 10 days late or perhaps at the beginning of the next month, but right on the 20th just seems too soon to me. My boss has even given me a written warning because of my reluctance to do it. What is the generally accepted practice? I know our business usually doesn't get phoned until we're in 30 days or 60 days. The boss says he has to know for cash-flow reasons, but still....