What do the partners in the City law firms earn in NZ? Reputedly incomes way over a million dollars a year. A bunch of them took the wage subsidy, even though business boomed for many of their firms during the lock-downs as they were called upon to sort out disputes, like who should pay the rent on commercial buildings. They never disclosed their incomes, since partnerships don't have to disclose their accounts publicly. They hid behind a wall of silence. Most only returned the subsidy after Sir Roger Douglas and myself called them out in the Media. You can read the story here. Many repaid the day after we put them on the front page news - not before. Lawyers dominate our boardrooms, even though most have no industry specific knowledge - whether its the Big Banks, Kiwi Rail, or Fletchers. You name a monopoly in NZ and you will likely find the boardroom stacked with lawyers. Its a proper old boys & old girls club. Chapman Tripp threatened Auckland University with defamation unless it took down an article written by a colleague of mine about Foodstuff's monopoly powers. Lawyers, more than any other group, are putting up the cost of living in NZ.
Now the Kings Counsels have written a letter saying that much of the Constitution of this country is only entitled to be written by judges - no-one else is allowed to tell us what are the "principles" behind the Treaty - even though most Kiwis don't believe such principles even exist. Forget Māori having a say in the matter. Forget Parliament. Let alone plumbers, shop-keepers, doctors, nurses, builders, teachers, or engineers. None of us count for anything. Why has the letter that 44 Kings Counsels wrote to the PM, quoted in Parliament by MP Willie Jackson, just gone & wrecked the Kiwi economy? Because it has put into chaos the security & clarity of our property rights. As this year's Economics Nobel Prize reminded us, that is what determines long run productivity growth. My advice to any investor, domestic or foreign, is .. don't invest in NZ. Why? Since a bunch of self-interested lawyers and their judge mates have told us that it is them who now run the show. Just wait until the big law firms bleed the Iwi Trusts dry, since those firms thrive on disputes & now have huge departments set up to "advise" the Trusts. Its the legal profession that is busily writing NZ's constitutional principles which now govern the economic incentives faced by us all - that affect the opportunities of our children. How hard to work as a student is now dictated by NZ's law profession - since university places and jobs are now decided on how well applicants align with "principles" that our judges and lawyers have decided upon.
New Zealand's legal profession has got too big for its expensive boots. The Kings Counsels who wrote the letter to PM Luxon should disclose their total incomes, since they have fully entered the political arena, and in that arena you must disclose your assets & earnings so people can work out your conflicts on interest. What did you earn during Covid when the rest of the country suffered? How much are you siphoning off the Māori economy? Go on, tell us. Of course you wont. You will just go and slink back into the darkness & leave none of us not knowing where you are coming from.