Money doesn't just talk. In the case of outfits the size of Warner Bros, it yells.
The obvious relief that the two Hobbit movies will be made in New Zealand will be tempered by the fact that the Government has increased tax write-offs for large budget films, potentially benefiting Warner Bros by up to $34 million.
Far more unseemly, however, is the Government's kowtowing to the film company and agreeing to put legislation before Parliament as soon as today to clarify the distinction between "independent contractors" and "employees" as it relates to the local film industry.
Not only that.
The legislation will be pushed through without select committee scrutiny.
What kind of a country sells its democratic soul for 50 pieces of silver? The answer is a small one.
And one where the economy shows little immediate sign of recovery.
Warner Bros apparently also wanted a lot more in terms of tax relief.
But it was a secondary matter for them.
The Government has made the right decision for the film industry.
It has made the right decision for the wider economy.
With Warner Bros holding a gun at the Government's head, what other decision could it have made?
Such high-stakes bring out the money-trader best in Prime Minister John Key.
He may have sacrificed a small piece of New Zealand's sovereignty, but putting laws through Parliament does not cost any extra cold hard cash.
It is important, however, that this fiasco does not set a precedent for a further flexing of industrial muscle - the commercial sort, not the trade union kind.
