We were told recently that ACC is broke. For this "reason" ACC levies" for motorbikes are to be massively hiked.

But wait a minute .... It wasn't very long ago that we were told that ACC had a surplus of $11 million, it wasn't very long age that we found out that ACC bureaucrats had "lost millions of dollars on the overseas stock market" and were never held accountable for this.

So a government department forcibly takes our money, massively, and an "over the top" amount for what it is claimed to "cover", and that same government department squanders it on gambling on the overseas stock market, renting lavish offices for their bureaucrats, paying massive bonuses to these same bureaucrats whether or not they actually do their "jobs" properly, and then they claim "we have lost all your money, we are going to have to steal more of it".

Is there something wrong with this picture?

The propaganda they come out with is amazing. They claim that motorcycle riders have some of the most expensive injuries, but statistics tell us that by far the most expensive injuries are as a result of extreme sports, and ordinary recreation sports (rugby players feature in ACC statistics disproportionately, but what is the ACC levy on rugby playing?)

Motorcyclists do not cause many accidents. Most accidents involving motorcycles also involve cars. Is this in the equation?

All this came to a head today (yesterday, sorry, I forgot it's Wednesday already) with the "bikoi" to parliament. Nick Smith apparently addressed the crowd, saying " he would ‘listen’ " but also saying that levy increases are CERTAIN.

I haven't been following this, so can't really comment with authority. But does anyone else know more?

Any ideas?

We run a business and we believe we pay far too much for ACC Levies as it is. On top of that are the Residual Levies ....... paying for stuff relating to injuries prior to 1992. Oh and now they are going to raise them a bit more, FANTASTIC!

Its just another Tax isn't it? Or perhaps its more like a lottery. We pay into this lottery and if we are lucky enough to have an accident ...... "you've won"

But i do agree that the motorcycle increases seem very hefty.

I think that sports (clubs) should be contributing to ACC also. I love playing sports, but we really do need to make it fair.

Government just loves to tell us "ACC is just like a private insurance company". They even like to compare their greedy public trough feeding ACC employees to private insurance company workers.

What private insurance company would do something like government and form another company (government department in this case) OSH with the purpose of dictating how you run your business?

I had a friend in Wellington about eight or nine years ago now, whose business was totally destroyed by the vindictiveness of an OSH employee. He ran an electrical wholesale business which was basically a dingy warehouse. He had one employee and they both virtually ran the entire business. Admittedly he did have warehouse shelving with very narrow ailses between. One day an OSH inspector came in - a very large woman with a "chip on her shoulder" about "obese people being discriminated in society". She saw the set up and started "ranting and raving" to my friend's employee that "how could someone my size move safely along these shelves?" To which he - perhaps stupidly - replied "that's OK, we don't employ morbidly obese people".

They were bankrupted as a result, and the employee was "left on the unemployment scrapheap" and his whole family suffered. Now whether or not you think the OSH woman was right or not to do this, the point is that a government department could do this. There is no way a private company could or would do something like that.

I know this is not entirely about ACC, but it is all tied in together.

Personally I think "registration" of all motor vehicles is nothing but a trick by government to get your money and ownership of that motor vehicle. You get nothing for "registration". I resent the fact that ACC levies are simply demanded, you have no choice whether or not to pay them at all, or pay the amount demanded. Government will destroy your business if you "buck" the system at all. What other insurer could do that? The worst they could do is to refuse to insure you.

Here is a good video that sums up my own opinion well.

Privatisation continues to be a kind of fetish for some areas of NZ politics, despite it's well-recognised disastrous consequences in the past. You'd think both parties would have learned from the mistakes of the 90's, with a redistribution of New Zealand's wealth to the very rich, and particularly to the very rich overseas, at the detriment of most kiwi's and our nation as a whole.

My friend set up an excellent and frequently updated Facebook group called Save ACC opposing National's plans for ACC, with a lot of links to articles on this issue. I highly recommend it.