Thursday, 12 August, 2004

Adams: ACC stings farmers while counting the cash

Farmers have faced a 74 percent hike in their ACC levies in the past three years, as the monopolistic ACC is expected to return an $850 million surplus this year, United Future's Paul Adams revealed in Parliament today.

"And the levies bear no relation to the level of responsibility shown by farmers," he said in tackling ACC Minister Ruth Dyson.

"Even the 10,000 who have completed FarmSafe courses and gone back to their farms with better, safer work practices, still get stung for the full, extortionate rate."

Mr Adams said that a MAF survey of farmers revealed that ACC levies are the biggest single compliance cost they face.

"Many farmers believe they could obtain private insurance cover for about half the cost of their ACC premium and they should be able to - particularly when we see ACC coining it hand-over-fist," United Future's ACC spokesman said.

The issue goes beyond farming, Mr Adams said, taking Ms Dyson to task for not having a levy discount programme in place for small business in general, while extending discounts to medium-sized and larger employers.

"The Government clearly needs reminding that 90 percent of all businesses in New Zealand are small businesses," he said.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>