Stephen Kearney and the team take a bow...

Because that is awesome! A slice of heaven alright.

Tonight the Kiwis helped to ease the pain left by the loss of last years Rugby world cup with an awesome, emphatic and completely unexpected, win. It was that unexpected that I think even in their own heart of hearts the Kiwis has some doubt as to whether they would every really be able to do it. But they did.

And boy did the do it well.

But while I think that Stephen Kearney has a lot to be proud of, he did after all step up when Kiwi league needed him most, it needs to be said the man who really should take credit is Wayne Bennett.

While he is ironically an Aussie, he was New Zealand's guiding light tonight and for the weeks leading up to this one big moment. The master is still the master.

Tonight the Kiwi's became the world champions and I liked it.

In to the real world

I had my first taste of a real deadline in a daily newspaper today.
I loved the adrenalin it bought but I am in no doubt that there two very different types of jounalists in a newsroom. There are the thrill-seekers that thrive when the blood is pumping and you are up against the clock, the limelight seekers; and then there are those who like to savour the ride, painters who revel in taking the time to carve a story. The hunters and the gatherers.
Both are equal in the dicipline it takes and each skill-set requires a very special commitment. I am in admiration of anyone who can do either well, but even as a very junior reporter I know which catergory I want to be in.
The job itself is nothing like I thought it would be: the highs are unimaginable and the lows are unthinkable. Everday brings something new, something unexpected and exciting. I hear a million different stories; some touch me in ways I can't explain and some I file away for later.
The other morning I almost ended up in tears because I missed the mark massively and received an email from my editor that was acerbic to say the least. It was my mistake and I had to not only suck it up but own it, and while it was bloody hard to do I think I did it.
Because no matter what I know why I got into this game and at the end of the day it is because I want to be a writer. I want to be able to tell a story that moves someone. I want to be able to share with the world things that I am to shy, and more than likely too tongue-tied, to say. I want to be able to change the world in my own little way.
So ends the first week of my new career and while I am glad it is over I can't wait for the next week (just let me have this weekend first).

Come hell or highwater

Deputy leader Bill English was recorded telling National Party delegates: "Winning is fantastic. Nothing beats winning in politics, despite all our highly principled statements. It's fantastic ... do what we need to do to win."

And despite English saying he is not embarrassed by the recording and John Key saying the release to TV3 was "pathetic", it doesn't look good does it?

The pressure was always on following National's announcement that they would give kiwis a $50 dollar a week tax cut if elected to power.

And despite the world's economies crumbling National needed to keep their promise, or as close to it as possible, considering that tax cuts were meant to be their trump card.

So when Michael Cullen opened the Treasury's books on Monday only to show a deficit the rope suddenly tightened around Key's neck.

I mean Key probably already expected the books were going to be in a bad state considering the economy and the recent government acquisitions but I am not sure if he would have predicted that the situation was this dire.

I mean who would - they are after all predicting a decade with of government defecits and perhaps Cullen needs to do a bit of explaining. But still this National party seems to have a win at all costs mentality and well with the pressure mounting Key and English had to deliver on Wednesday when they announced the party's tax package.

It was better than I expected: provided you were a single person or a couple not contributing to Kiwisaver or receiving Working For Families or a high income earner.

So i guess middle income New Zealand with no kids who are not yet thinking about their retirement are the winners at the end of National's day. But oh well they delivered their much promised tax cuts (sort of) didn't they?

But to be fair National had a bit of a dog to work with and considering that they did alright, i guess. But then isn't that what Helen Clark called National's tax package?

So where does all leave us?

Who knows because all it seems to prove to me is Key and English really are willing to sell their souls to win this election and well who could blame them it has been nine years in the wilderness.
But what did surprise me was the media's coverage of the announcement. By Monday night Key was being hailed as some sort of genius because he could afford to give tax cuts even in a tight situation. Nobody seemed to be asking where the money was coming from until the next day.

In accounting these sorts of things have a direct relationship - a push/pull sort of a relationship, if money is going some where it must, obviously, be coming from somewhere else. The question should have been where is that somewhere?

Finally by Tuesday morning the media were starting to click and began to think about answering that question.

It then became obvious that the people that would suffer the most from this package are our low income families who are considerate enough to be thinking about their future by contributing to Kiwisaver.

And aren't these the people that Key says he wants to help the most, remember the wee girl Aroha from Otara who he took to Waitangi last year?

Also wouldn't you be a little peeved if you are the big income earner or business who really gets nothing from this tax package considering National are meant to be your guys. (Although it is a little hard to feel sorry for those who are on a six figure salary that they won't get a few extra pennies in their pockets come next April).

So now it is time to ask the BIG question: Does this promised tax package really deliver - enough to give your vote to Key and National?

Despite all the hype and the much touted polls I think only time will tell, and hopefully we will all know by 9 November but what concerns me is that the Kiwisaver will be seriously undermined if National gets into power.

I am not a Kiwisaver member as I am yet to find employment (although I hope that shall be remedied by this afternoon) but I like the idea that people are not only being encouraged to save for their retirement but they able to do it with the help of the government and their employers.

We are a progressively ageing population with the beginning of the baby boomers generation starting to retire and I am not sure our welfare system can take it if each of us don't at very least start taking some responsibility for our old age and retirement.

I guess now it is a decision between the lesser of two evils.

A packet of chips and a can of lemonade

Last week the great Brian Lochore told more than 1000 fathers at a Parents Inc event that political correctness is destroying New Zealand.

"Yes, I smacked my children, but I've never hit them. Yes, I smacked other people's children, but I never hit them. But we are not allowed to do that any more in this PC world," he said.

Comments that sparked a furor, and saw the line drawn between those who th0ught Lochore was a chauvanistic child abuser and others who thought thank god Brian is someone who is willing to stand up and say that this PC mentality is a load of crap.

I remember as a child being at the rugby clubrooms with my parents. There were plenty of us who spent our weekends barefoot playing in the mud with a packet of chips and a can of lemonade for lunch. Kids, who hung around waiting while Dad swallowed a jug of well-earned beer with his mates and Mum sat in the corner gossiping with the other wives.

I have a hundred different Uncles and Aunties from that time, and the funny thing is that even though these people have no blood relationship to me they still cared enough to make sure that I was safe back then. Even today many still ask after me .

Brian Lochore rejects as "so much bullshit" the suggestion that a macho rugby culture is linked with violence. "It's unbelievable. I don't know any person I played rugby with that ever was involved in family violence because the point of playing rugby is that you get rid of your frustrations on the field because it's a physical game."

He said he and his wife never went to the pub but socialised at rugby clubrooms with other players and their wives and kids. Brian said the pub was only about drinking, the club was aobut friends.

And I have to agree, my Saturdays at the rugby field were all about friends and family. We wernt left at home while dad went and did his thing, we encouraged to join in. In fact on a Saturday morning we used to play netball at our local courts, wait for Mum to play her game and then head to the club rooms to watch Dad.

I remember rushing up to my dad after he came off the field and being lifted up in to his arms. I could smell the mud and sweat on his skin, and I know now that I have never felt more safe and secure.

I had to laugh at Brian Lochore's description of the birth of his children because my father had the same sort of outlook.

"It was always embarrassing, you know how you used to have to look through the glass in those days and they would throw one up in front of you and then throw another one up. There were fathers there gooing over their kid but I just found that whole thing quite embarrassing really. Everyone has got to have the old macho exterior I guess, and that was what it was like in those days. But God I can't understand how I would be without my children. My life would be totally empty. They are all great kids," Brian said.

"For the modern father it's the greatest day of their lives. But I was a farmer and I've probably calved 100 cows and thousands of lambs and the last thing I wanted to be was in that situation."

My dad almost missed my birth but this morning I called him and wished him a happy fathers because at the end of the day he is still my dad and he was and is a fantastic father, even if he is a little old school.

The big business - part 2

We are now officially in a technical economic recession. Although with the rising costs of fuel and food we have all known this for a very long time.


And we all know now that an economic recession is six months worth of negative growth - right? We also know that growth is represented by the change in GDP in the last three months (a quarter) - right? And GDP is usually measured by the equation C+I+G+(X-M), where C is Consumer spending, I is Investment, G is Government spending and the (X-M) is the net exports (ie cost of exports minus the cost of imports) - right?

I mean business reporters seem to have great fun in quoting economic terms like GDP and negative growth and the like, so we all know what these terms mean, right? Yet there are so many people out that are happy to stick their heads in the sand. They say "Why do we need to borrow and invest in our infrastructure? Sure we are in a recession and that means we have had two quarters of negative growth, but we will be fine wont we? I mean we have experienced good times in the last few years and our economy has been thriving. Isnt that enough?"

Well in short no.


If we are spending less, ie our GDP figure is down from six months ago, then that means that businesses are receiving less cash, which means that they will have less cash to pay their bills. And guess what - which business expense is the easiest to cut when hard times hit? Savings made by cutting overheads will limited, because although there are components of overheads that are variable the major costs remain fixed. The lease still stays the same and cutting back phone calls and turning off lights is a long term plan and not to mention a hard road to make the necessary savings. The easiest way to make large savings is by cutting employee numbers.


Take the media industry for example and more specifically the newspaper industry. Businesses have already started to cut back on variable costs and we are seeing a drop in advertising sales. With this decrease in a newspaper's income stream that obviously means that there is less money to put that paper out. And sure they can cut back on mobile phone calls, buying columns, paying for outside photos etc but really these are just stop-gap measures. Eventually the numbers of staff will need to be assessed.


In the last couple of months Fairfax have announced a change the sub-editing department, a cut in staff numbers across the country and a temporary new employment freeze (although apparently this has now come off). This is a recession at work.

So as to the question can we grow our economy is a way that is steady and still remain stable? The easy answer is yes we can but the problem is the economy is like a child, if we do not keep feeding it we will end up going backwards. Imagine if you thought well ive alreay committed five good years to that child I have got some time to cruise here, where do you think that child will end up in comparision to the rest of his/her peers. The economy is just like that if we do not keep investing/spending then we will lose any ground we have made and then if left to continue the economy will spiral downwards until hyper-inflation, high unemployment and negative growth are just a natural part of life. When there is no growth ,businesses push up their prices to make a profit, but then staff demand wage rises to cope with the rising costs which in turn pushes up business's costs effecting the price of goods. It is a dirty horrible cycle with very little way out - just ask the residents of Zimbawe, im sure they are feeling the pinch of 300 per cent inflation. And worse still, so many businesses do not last under these conditions and so they fold under the pressure, making their staff unemployed.

So here we are in a recession, and yes what comes up most come down and surely that means what goes down sure must come back up? But without investment to stimulate growth how do you think we are going to end up climbing back up the economic ladder, that is why they call it 'hyper'-inflation. And if we want tax cuts, which apparently we do because we are all demanding a financial break to cope with the rising food and fuel bills, then where do you think we are going to get the expenditure to stimulate growth - apart from borrowing to invest. Because keep in mind part of the GDP equation is government spending and if consumer spending is down because of the high prices, where do you think that needed stimulation is going to come from?

The big business

This post has nothing to do with rugby, but limiting myself to blogging about one subject has become awfully boring...


I know that many of you who know me and read this will be surprised and perhaps even a little disappointed but I think that National’s policy to fund the needed upgrade in the country’s infrastructure by borrowing is brilliant.

And what’s more I think that many of those who are opposed to the idea simply do not understand the workings of our economy well enough to appreciate it.

It is a concept of basic accounting principles but one that inspires fear in many.

Using debt to finance an asset is a good idea when that asset has future potential to earn a return that would be more than the costs of that debt, whether that profit is financial or a more intangible return, like economic growth.

Those who are scared by this idea are almost always the ones who think blindly that national debt is a four-letter word. It is ironic, however, that these are often the same people who sign themselves to a mountain load of debt for the next 25 years, simply to place their name a piece of paper that says they own a peice of land.

Somehow it is okay for these people to feather their nests while our roads, broadband connections and public systems deteriote further. I just don’t get it because although we will all be responsible for paying back any loans our government takes out, the government can in fact borrow at a much lower price than the private sector would have to pay.

We complain that our economy and resources are under-funded and under-performing and yet, somehow, we think that we should be doing better, in fact we are always trying to measure ourselves against our trans-tasman cousins.

Increasingly people are leaving New Zealand because our country’s economic growth is being held by the reserve bank’s focus of keeping inflation down through a tight money policy and a lack of investment in crucial infrastructure. If our economy is not growing how are we meant to increase wages, job numbers and financial stability.

Too often we hear news reports telling stories of families who have moved to bronzed shores of Australia, chasing the dream of a high standard of living, home ownership and financial freedom. Why, because Australia’s economy is still growing from years of investment, even in these tough times.

We have become a community of keeping up with Jones’ and yet we think that John Key’s proposal to send our country further into debt is a hideously bad idea because it means that we will owe millions of dollars.

People are scared, naievely so because they do not understand. I , however, think the idea is brilliant and forward-thinking.

It is a good idea because if we are do not stimulate our economy so that we can all benefit we will be left to flounder in this no-mans land of mediocre growth, poor wages and our over reliance on agriculture – more specifically the dairy industry.

Sure we are seeing high times and good returns in the dairy industry at the moment but like anything there is always the danger of the downward cycle, in economics what comes up must go down. Do we really what to be so dependent on one industry for our country’s future export earnings?

Simply slipping a few pennies into upgrading our infrastructure when we have the spare cash is no longer cutting it and we are being left behind.

If we do not invest in our infrastructure now our economy will grind to a halt and we will all be left to eke out an existence. It is matter of borrowing to solidify against any future trends, fortifying our individual potential to each earn a reasonable wage and protecting our ability to compete with other growing nations.

In these dark times with our county fast heading towards the expected recession we must fortify against the side effects and hopefully dispel any economic depression.

The credit crunch has taken its toll on economic growth and this is now impacting on the employment market. While we are yet to see figures that will document a decrease in employment, we are all aware that the job market is tightening and if we do not do anything we are destined to spiral downwards.

Investing in our country through debt is a good idea provided because it means that you and I will have the option to stay in New Zealand and bring up our children in a financially stable environment in a land we know and love.

We do not, however, want to just throw money at a black hole, hoping to increase our productivity and growth by chance. We need a well thought-out plan for advancement and a government willing to be courageous in the tough times.

And while I back this policy it does not mean that I will support the National Party come election time, but I happy that one party is thinking about our economic future.

Hell yes

Ok so we lost last weekend, but who cares. It was just one of those games and all things considered I have to agree with Ted and say we did well. Okay Grizz Wylie would have never accepted a loss, but then Grizz didnt coach in the professional age.

We are doing well for a tiny set of islands at the bottom of the pacific considering clubs like Munster, Harlquins and Pepe Leon can offer squillions to lure a promising rugby player to the chill of the Uk and France.

I was impressed with the guts of the All Blacks conidering they were missing their star captain and a number of of other senior players (through injury or non-selection). So give them a break. One loss doesnt mean we have lost the tri-nations, nor does it mean that South Africa deserve to be no. 1 in the IRB rankings. It was just one of those games, South Africa had to step up after the pitiful perfomance the week before and New Zealand was a little green around the edges. A South African win in NZ is as rare as an All Black win in South Africa. And what that all means is that this year the rugby is going to become very very interesting.

Bring on the Graham the great redeemer Henry Vs Robbie the dingo Deans....