The debacle that was the awarding of the Football World Cup to Qatar is once again back in focus with the start of the tournament.

But make no mistake there's been controversy ever since the awarding of the tournament back in 2010.

The appointment turned heads.  The smallest country to ever host the cup, the first Arab country. The first country to host the cup that had never qualified for the cup.  A country with little football history.  But a country with a lot of petro dollars

The appointment came as 2 FIFA officials were suspended due to allegations of corruption and money laundering. And the appointment process has been tainted ever since even though there is now concrete allegation as yet.

Immediately there was concern about human rights of the country's construction workers because they don't have any of their own.

Arab countries have long imported their labour from South East Asia, paying them little and taking their passports causing allegations of modern day slavery.

Meanwhile 10 years ago, the Guardian estimated that 4000 construction workers could die because Qatar's lax safety and employment history.  As it turns out they under-estimated the number to die and to date it's closer to 6500.

So all this was predicted but the beginning of the tournament has still been fraught.  Ambassadors for the cup have expressed religous disgust for the LGBTQ community. Journalists have been stopped and threatened. At the 11th hour beer was banned from the stadiums upsetting major sponsor Budweiser. At today’s game the Ecudorean fans started chanting WE WANT BEER. The entire Australian squad has signed an open letter criticising Qatar. Rod Stewart told us he turned down 2 million bucks to croon a tune.  David Beckham has been shamed for taking the oil dollar. Tent camps have sprung up for the fans at 175 pounds a night to sweat it out under canvas in 40 degree heat. Others fly in jets to nearby Oman to find hotel beds in the middle of a climate crisis.

The whole thing is a mess and not an advertisement for the so called "Beautiful Game"

It's caused some people to say teams should boycott the tournament and that fans should not watch the games.  Which is all too little too late.  Where were you when this was all so obvious 12 years ago.

My hope is that Qatar hears the criticism and joins the 21st Century.  Their money has taken their humanity. And FIFA’s. Football is a rich game enjoyed by the poor and all. Remember your roots.

The debacle that was the awarding of the Football World Cup to Qatar is once again back in focus with the start of the tournament.
But make no mistake there's been controversy ever since the awarding of the tournament back in 2010.
The appointment turned heads.  The smallest country to ever host the cup, the first Arab country. The first country to host the cup that had never qualified for the cup.  A country with little football history.  But a country with a lot of petro dollars
The appointment came as 2 FIFA officials were suspended due to allegations of corruption and money laundering. And the appointment process has been tainted ever since even though there is now concrete allegation as yet.
Immediately there was concern about human rights of the country's construction workers because they don't have any of their own.
Arab countries have long imported their labour from South East Asia, paying them little and taking their passports causing allegations of modern day slavery.
Meanwhile 10 years ago, the Guardian estimated that 4000 construction workers could die because Qatar's lax safety and employment history.  As it turns out they under-estimated the number to die and to date it's closer to 6500.
So all this was predicted but the beginning of the tournament has still been fraught.  Ambassadors for the cup have expressed religous disgust for the LGBTQ community. Journalists have been stopped and threatened. At the 11th hour beer was banned from the stadiums upsetting major sponsor Budweiser. At today’s game the Ecudorean fans started chanting WE WANT BEER. The entire Australian squad has signed an open letter criticising Qatar. Rod Stewart told us he turned down 2 million bucks to croon a tune.  David Beckham has been shamed for taking the oil dollar. Tent camps have sprung up for the fans at 175 pounds a night to sweat it out under canvas in 40 degree heat. Others fly in jets to nearby Oman to find hotel beds in the middle of a climate crisis.
The whole thing is a mess and not an advertisement for the so called "Beautiful Game"
It's caused some people to say teams should boycott the tournament and that fans should not watch the games.  Which is all too little too late.  Where were you when this was all so obvious 12 years ago.
My hope is that Qatar hears the criticism and joins the 21st Century.  Their money has taken their humanity. And FIFA’s. Football is a rich game enjoyed by the poor and all. Remember your roots.

With decades of broadcasting experience behind him, Andrew Dickens has worked around the world across multiple radio genres. His bold, sharp and energetic show on Newstalk ZB is always informative and entertaining.

Andrew Dickens Afternoons

Andrew Dickens: Qatar's money has taken their humanity

New Zealand seems to be waking up to an issue I thought would have caused more concern.

As part of the bonfire of the public service, the Government seems to be eyeing cuts to our public research and development sector.

Principally that means the Callaghan Institute, the Crown agency that employs about 300 people and has been the target of attack, particularly from David Seymour.

He sees the agency's work as being a form of corporate welfare, a bugbear of ACT's.

Other ministries and departments conduct significant research funded by the taxpayer. The Department of Conservation has developed major techniques and processes that have been adopted around the world.

The Primary Industries ministry also funds valuable research, including work into climate change mitigation.

It's feared that all this work will be affected as the Government saves costs in the backroom.

Last week, Stats NZ revealed that private industry is starting to put their money where their mouth is.

The New Zealand business sector has shown a robust increase in research and development (R&D) spending, reaching a new high of $3.7 billion in 2023.

That's $540 million increase, or 17 percent, from the previous year, marking the largest annual growth since annual data collection began in 2018.

There's value in research spending. So it would be short-sighted to reduce Governmental spending on it

R&D funding cuts could mean we will lose our best and brightest scientists, like those at Callaghan, to overseas countries who are investing in science.

As we enter a regime determined to cut spending I think it's good to remember a famous quote by Oscar Wilde.

He said - " a fool is a person who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing".

The worry is that the Government goes too far and starts to cut things of value.

LISTEN ABOVE

New Zealand seems to be waking up to an issue I thought would have caused more concern.
As part of the bonfire of the public service, the Government seems to be eyeing cuts to our public research and development sector.
Principally that means the Callaghan Institute, the Crown agency that employs about 300 people and has been the target of attack, particularly from David Seymour.
He sees the agency's work as being a form of corporate welfare, a bugbear of ACT's.
Other ministries and departments conduct significant research funded by the taxpayer. The Department of Conservation has developed major techniques and processes that have been adopted around the world.
The Primary Industries ministry also funds valuable research, including work into climate change mitigation.
It's feared that all this work will be affected as the Government saves costs in the backroom.
Last week, Stats NZ revealed that private industry is starting to put their money where their mouth is.
The New Zealand business sector has shown a robust increase in research and development (R&amp;D) spending, reaching a new high of $3.7 billion in 2023.
That's $540 million increase, or 17 percent, from the previous year, marking the largest annual growth since annual data collection began in 2018.
There's value in research spending. So it would be short-sighted to reduce Governmental spending on it
R&amp;D funding cuts could mean we will lose our best and brightest scientists, like those at Callaghan, to overseas countries who are investing in science.
As we enter a regime determined to cut spending I think it's good to remember a famous quote by Oscar Wilde.
He said - " a fool is a person who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing".
The worry is that the Government goes too far and starts to cut things of value.
LISTEN ABOVE

Andrew Dickens: There's worry the Government cuts will go too far

It is fair to say the country is not in a good place right now.

Job cuts dominate the headlines. A double-dip recession came true. Inflation is robbing us of our purchasing power.

Last week an IPSOS poll found that 60 percent of us think that New Zealand is in decline and 65 percent believe that the economy is rigged to benefit the rich and the powerful.

And when people bemoan our situation and wonder how we got here a common response is to blame the Labour Government and the Reserve Bank.

A common refrain is Robertson blew all the money so we can't afford to do anything now, even something as important as paying our police more so they don't quit or leave the country. You also hear that Labour caused a debt so large our children and their children will be paying for it for decades to come.

So I pricked up my ears last week when Mike Hosking talked to ASB economist Nick Tuffley about inflation and the economy in general.

Mike asked him how bad was our economy and he said pretty bad but still nowhere near what happened after the GFC.

To remind you, the GFC ended early in 2009 and John Key's government was in charge. To remedy the situation we borrowed, we opened up immigration and we went through austerity to a far greater degree than we're doing now. And it worked.

Need I remind you that within 5 years we were described as having a rock-star economy.

This is not to diminish the situation that we're in right now but it is to put a perspective on things.

But Nick was also asked why inflation and bad economic tidings were still happening here when other economies like the States, the UK and Australia are bouncing back. Economies with far greater debt and spending.

Tuffley essentially blamed our static productivity. He says considering we imported nearly 3 percent more population over the past 2 years our GDP should have raised, but it didn't.

We seem incapable of making more money per person year on year. And it's a problem that we've had ever since Ruth Richardson's Mother of all Budgets early in the 90s. And it's a problem that exists no matter the colour of the government.

It's something we need to look to ourselves for not something we can blame on the government.

And it relates to the comments that Christopher Luxon made overseas that angered some when he boasted that New Zealand is now open for business.

We've always been open for business. The real question is how much business are we open for?

It is fair to say the country is not in a good place right now.
Job cuts dominate the headlines. A double-dip recession came true. Inflation is robbing us of our purchasing power.
Last week an IPSOS poll found that 60 percent of us think that New Zealand is in decline and 65 percent believe that the economy is rigged to benefit the rich and the powerful.
And when people bemoan our situation and wonder how we got here a common response is to blame the Labour Government and the Reserve Bank.
A common refrain is Robertson blew all the money so we can't afford to do anything now, even something as important as paying our police more so they don't quit or leave the country. You also hear that Labour caused a debt so large our children and their children will be paying for it for decades to come.
So I pricked up my ears last week when Mike Hosking talked to ASB economist Nick Tuffley about inflation and the economy in general.
Mike asked him how bad was our economy and he said pretty bad but still nowhere near what happened after the GFC.
To remind you, the GFC ended early in 2009 and John Key's government was in charge. To remedy the situation we borrowed, we opened up immigration and we went through austerity to a far greater degree than we're doing now. And it worked.
Need I remind you that within 5 years we were described as having a rock-star economy.
This is not to diminish the situation that we're in right now but it is to put a perspective on things.
But Nick was also asked why inflation and bad economic tidings were still happening here when other economies like the States, the UK and Australia are bouncing back. Economies with far greater debt and spending.
Tuffley essentially blamed our static productivity. He says considering we imported nearly 3 percent more population over the past 2 years our GDP should have raised, but it didn't.
We seem incapable of making more money per person year on year. And it's a problem that we've had ever since Ruth Richardson's Mother of all Budgets early in the 90s. And it's a problem that exists no matter the colour of the government.
It's something we need to look to ourselves for not something we can blame on the government.
And it relates to the comments that Christopher Luxon made overseas that angered some when he boasted that New Zealand is now open for business.
We've always been open for business. The real question is how much business are we open for?

Andrew Dickens: We need to put perspective on the current state of our economy

Since we were last together, the collapse of television news and current affairs has continued.

And with it, we have been subjected to a lot of highfalutin thinking about the metaphysical and cultural reasons why linear TV is dying.

You know - go woke go broke. Or- this is because nobody trusts you, because you're all raving lefties.

Meanwhile, Melissa Lee has been asked what she is going to do about it, when it's obvious that there's very little she can do.

These are commercial entities that are suffering at the hands of market forces that have been long predicted to hit.

Commercial broadcasting and journalism is an easy business model. Inventory control and labour costs. In other words, you can't employ any more people than the money you make from the advertising.

Hearing that more than 300 were employed by Newshub was pretty revealing. That's a lot of salaries.

For some perspective, NZME employs just over 200 for it's papers and radio and digital content. And the lid has been sinking steadily for a years now.

That's because digital players are siphoning off $100 million a year in advertising content

Despite the 6 o'clock news having the highest spot rates, they were unable to make the budget balance

Faced with this environment I was confused after Warner took over 3 that they added to the news output with full-service late-night shows and more. They increased their costs at a time when revenue was going down.

It seemed to me that no matter how woke or unwoke or how biased or unbiased, Newshub was increasingly modelled to lose money without a huge recalibration.

Meanwhile, despite warning bells sounding about the theft of revenue by digital companies, our TV operators seemed timid to adapt.

Facebook and Google sell clicks. They gain news content and then clicks when punters repost links. Yet the links from so many news operators continue to be free.

There's a reason the Herald is now behind a paywall, so at least we can clip the ticket. When we did it the industry thought we were audacious. It's beginning to look very smart.

Furthermore, TVNZ in particular has made a foray into the digital world with TVNZ+. But it's free to air and the ad inventory is so low it's better to watch it online with time shifting, thereby missing out on the ads that pay for the whole shebang.

The model is broken not because of politics or bias but because of fear.

LISTEN ABOVE

Since we were last together, the collapse of television news and current affairs has continued.
And with it, we have been subjected to a lot of highfalutin thinking about the metaphysical and cultural reasons why linear TV is dying.
You know - go woke go broke. Or- this is because nobody trusts you, because you're all raving lefties.
Meanwhile, Melissa Lee has been asked what she is going to do about it, when it's obvious that there's very little she can do.
These are commercial entities that are suffering at the hands of market forces that have been long predicted to hit.
Commercial broadcasting and journalism is an easy business model. Inventory control and labour costs. In other words, you can't employ any more people than the money you make from the advertising.
Hearing that more than 300 were employed by Newshub was pretty revealing. That's a lot of salaries.
For some perspective, NZME employs just over 200 for it's papers and radio and digital content. And the lid has been sinking steadily for a years now.
That's because digital players are siphoning off $100 million a year in advertising content
Despite the 6 o'clock news having the highest spot rates, they were unable to make the budget balance
Faced with this environment I was confused after Warner took over 3 that they added to the news output with full-service late-night shows and more. They increased their costs at a time when revenue was going down.
It seemed to me that no matter how woke or unwoke or how biased or unbiased, Newshub was increasingly modelled to lose money without a huge recalibration.
Meanwhile, despite warning bells sounding about the theft of revenue by digital companies, our TV operators seemed timid to adapt.
Facebook and Google sell clicks. They gain news content and then clicks when punters repost links. Yet the links from so many news operators continue to be free.
There's a reason the Herald is now behind a paywall, so at least we can clip the ticket. When we did it the industry thought we were audacious. It's beginning to look very smart.
Furthermore, TVNZ in particular has made a foray into the digital world with TVNZ+. But it's free to air and the ad inventory is so low it's better to watch it online with time shifting, thereby missing out on the ads that pay for the whole shebang.
The model is broken not because of politics or bias but because of fear.
LISTEN ABOVE

Andrew Dickens: Qatar's money has taken their humanity

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