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Remember National's broadband 'plan' that reads like it was drawn up on the back of a napkin? Notice how the only gains they can point to from this plan to borrow $1.5 billion are better video conferencing (when was the last time the average worker…
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Why is it that UnitedFuture is branded a centre party? We all know they're socially right wing, in bed with the Christian fundamentalists, and the tax plan Dunne announced on the weekend proves they're far-right economically too. They would blow the Budget with $4.6 billion cuts (no…
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Dreamticket or not?
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Wanting something that's great to be even better is no bad thing - but the Mercer 2008 Quality of Living survey our today shows we've quite a bit to be happy about. Auckland (#5 in the world) is the city in Asia Pacific with the…
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The amazing economic run we've experienced under the Labour-led governments is just down to international forces, so National would have us believe. Of course an economy is influenced by international conditions but it's not the whole story. Under centre-left governments New Zealand has outperformed other economies,…
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Today we're proud to present a guest post from Julie Fairey, often found posting at The Hand Mirror: I'm trying to see the High Court decision regarding our abortion laws as an opportunity. It could be a chance to change the law to reflect the…
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We're used to the importance of presentation in the world of politics, but no-one does it quite so blatently as the fashion world. We've seen it in the waif-like size of girl/women models, an acknowledged under-representation of ethnic diversity on the cat walk and now male…
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No sensible analysis could conclude that the Labour-led governments of the last 8 years have been anything but excellent for New Zealand. As you know, we've seen unemployment plummet to record lows, wages rise at record rates, more spending on public services, interest-free student loans,…
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Every now and then a ‘commentator' pops up who is so hilariously incompetent you don't know whether to ignore them or mock them. In Bernard Hickey's case, it's been the former because the man's work is so bad - his numbers don't add up half…
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A National line that is doing the rounds goes that if National wins more votes than Labour but can't govern alone it would be undemocratic for a Labour-led coalition to form the next government. After all, in this scenario, National has won more votes than…
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From the editorial in the ODT today we learn that Bill English is keen to dampen down concern within the party at the lack of policy, telling delegates at their southern conference: "We pick the timing [for policy release] - not Labour, not the media, not the…
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'Hardworking kiwis' is National's new 'mainstream New Zealanders'. Referenced by Key ad nauseam, it is the population at which National purports to target it's policies. As with 'mainstream New Zealanders', 'hardworking kiwis' has a inherently divisive implicit message: 'not everyone is a hardworking kiwi'. The…
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We regularly hear calls (not backed by any major party, including National) for the taxes on petrol to be lowered or removed because the prices are so high. After all, every time the price goes up, the government gets more revenue, doesn't it? No, it…
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On TV3 last night John Key was continuing to tell outright porkies about how advanced National is with its "policy" development compared with Labour in 1999. Key's figure of 14 policies is derisory - as John Armstrong wrote in the Herald on Saturday, some of…
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We got this in from the 'sod and we like it so here's the guest post we swore we'd never give him (taking the piss out of Ian Wishart didn't count). 'Sod, don't let it go to your head. Brand Key, or the cultural logic…
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Ever since Labour's budget was released, John Key has been talking cheese. I've been wondering why all his talk of blocks of cheese has been making him smile with such a big big grin. Well, a check of MPs' financial interests sheds some light. Slippery John is making a bundle…
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John Key's policy vacuum is such a joke that even the ad-men are using it for comic material. Have a listen. powered by ODEO lprent: There seems to be a problem At ODEO. Stored local in link below. John Key - Bubbles
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We just received a video of Michael Cullen's speech to Drinking Liberally on Wednesday from one of the attendees. It's well worth a look. Everyone who was there that I have spoken to since was hugely impressed because Cullen spoke from his roots, from his…
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Before you bag him, give it a go yourself, it's harder than it looks. It's a little known fact that Spock took years to perfect the Vulcan salute and sparked more than his fair share of diplomatic interplanetary incidents during that time.
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On John Key's visit to Waitara High School yesterday: Ms Gellen said Mr Key's visit had been excellent and the students had got a lot from it. "They are now more aware of who he (Mr Key) is. "Some said they weren't going to vote before,…
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In the final of our 'Interview the Leaders' series, we asked Winston Peters three questions submitted by readers. Damian Edwards from his office promptly replied that Peters would be answering no questions from political blogs. So instead we've provided answers to your questions in the…
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Here's an interesting piece from Otago University student magazine, Critic - "Who is the Listener listening to": Substance does not always equate to sales. [Editor] Stirling admits that during the 2005 election, their eight 'political covers' bombed. Yet there are perennial features that seem bigger sellers…
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We know that if you miss a couple of days of The Standard you can have 15 posts to read. Even though we try to keep posts pithy, it can be too much to catch up on. So, we're happy to introduce the Standard Week. On…
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A reader just alerted us to this. When John Key went missing in action on Sunrise what did the "Allstars" suggest he was up to? Watch to find out...
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Time has a special report on how Obama "become the first Democratic insurgent in a generation... to knock off the party's establishment front-runner". Obama's Chicago headquarters made technology its running mate from the start. That wasn't just for fund-raising: in state after state, the campaign turned…
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Hoyden About Town have just written to let us know that they're hosting the first edition of the Down Under Feminists Carnival. They're calling it a "spectacular buffet of feminist writing" and we're sure it will be. The Down Under Feminists' Carnival is open to feminist submissions…
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The Taranaki Daily News reports: National Party leader John Key was at Waitara High School, where he pushed his party's plan to spend $1 billion on "super fast broadband". This would allow pupils to access his Bebo and Facebook pages at a fraction of the…
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National's so-called policies are laughable. National says it has released '14 policies' (14! wow! anyone would think they were planning to run a scout troop not a country) but six are just to adopt the existing policy. And the others, well - * Setting national standards in…
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Drinking Liberally last night was another raging success. The crowd was about 80, lots of new faces and good fun had by all. Given an open brief, Michael Cullen went back to his roots. He talked about social democracy and what it stands for; what…
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The Reserve Bank has left the Official Cash Rate unchanged; no-one expected a rate cut this early. It's encouraging that Bollard has firmly signalled that interest rates will be coming down this year despite projected inflation reaching 4.7% in the September Quarter. There's no use…