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The Cabinet Manual details the basic expectations of ministerial conduct. It is not law but it would be highly irregular for a minister to breach the Manual and keep their job. And, unlike the law, just because something is not expressly banned does not mean it's OK.…
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John Shewan is a member of the Government's Tax Working Group. A decade ago he was advising Westpac what minimal amount of tax it should pay to avoid arousing IRD's suspicion as it perpetrated the single biggest tax rip off in New Zealand history. Here's…
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The ever industrious No Right Turn has turned up more dodgy fundraising practices by ACT. Last month, three ACT MPs held what was billed as "a forum" on "the hard questions - and some answers" at the plush Mecure Leisure Lodge in Dunedin. Three strikes,…
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John Key says that if school support staff want pay-rises then teachers should sacrifice the ones they bargained for. Tell him to get stuffed. I don't see him and his rich mates handing back the hundreds of dollars a week each in tax-cuts that National gave. I…
capitalism john key national/act government same old national Unions wages workers' rights
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Rodney Hide was always going to go one of two ways to try to excuse his corrupt abuse of office. Remember the facts: Hide is Local Government Minister. He will be speaking at a breakfast on Local Government issues. The breakfast is called 'The Future…
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We're trying a daily "Open mike". This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and for any discussion following up on the comments. Over to you...
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Night classes Adult and Community Education (ACE). An incredibly cost effective and valuable part of the NZ education sector for decades. The ACE budget has been eviscerated by National, cut from $16m to $3m. Effectively a death blow, most of the infrastructure and expertise will…
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Here's Tariana Turia on Q&A last Sunday, responding to a question from Guyon Espiner about National's plans for ACC: I'm very concerned and one of the reasons why I'm really concerned is that there's been a lot of talk about privatising the work account. Now…
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OK, so this might be only slightly more intellectual than the usual quality of political analysis in our msm, and obviously it could never match the informative value of asking which politician would help an old lady across the street, but a few days back…
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Heard over the lunch time news that John Key was the keynote (oh how he must never tire of that) speaker at the CTU Biennial Conference this afternoon. A quick flick through the programme that had crossed my desk some weeks ago showed this to…
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Next Monday, you have a paid day off. Do you know why? Because workers organised themselves into unions and fought for better pay and conditions, starting with an 8-hour day. Labour Day is both a product of those achievements and a chance to celebrate them. The…
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It's a pretty special situation where you get praise just for not cheating but John Armstrong heaps it on Simon Power today. Power has gone with the only acceptable structure for a vote on MMP. A two-stage decision where we first decide whether we want…
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It is a reflection of the schizophrenic nature of the Maori Party that one day they're professing to care about poor Maori who are apparently missing out on their ACC entitlements and the next day they're backing privatisation of ACC, which would lead to even…
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Click here for a PDF of Local Government Minister Rodney Hide's invitation to local government stakeholders to a breakfast speech titled "The Future of Local Government". This speech by the Minister to stakeholders is doubling as an ACT fundraiser. If you want to hear your Minister…
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Another government minister has been caught in corrupt behaviour, and this is arguably the worst of the lot. Rodney Hide is speaking at a breakfast in Christchurch next month. He will be speaking as minister and on his portfolio - Local Government. Local government officials…
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We're trying a daily "Open mike". This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and for any discussion following up on the comments. Over to you...
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When asked to explain why they want to start privatising a world-leading institution like ACC, National and ACT tend to fall back on the excuse that it will somehow lead to lower ACC premiums. Of course, the international experience and every independent report that's been…
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The Maori Party has decided it will support National's changes to ACC despite Tariana Turia just two days ago saying she was "very concerned" about those changes. Here's their explanation for their latest flip-flop: "We know that Maori have consistently had less access to ACC…
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Drinking Liberally is returning to the London Bar for a session with Greenpeace Executive Director Bunny McDiarmid. When: 7pm WEDNESDAY 21 October Where: The London Bar, upstairs cnr Queen and Wellesley Streets, Auckland CBD Who: You and like-minded left-wingers. All welcome. What: The climate change…
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Tim Hazledine, a professor of economics at the University of Auckland, has a nice piece in the Herald today that lays out just how absurd National's spin about the ACC "blowout" really is. Suppose you and your spouse are in charge of a family of,…
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John Dalley makes a good point in the comments section of our last ACC post: About now would be a good time for Labour to state publicly that they will do away with private insurers when next in government. I say absolutely right. It would…
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An interesting post from David Farrar calling for National to implement radical rightwing policies while it still has the support to get away with it: The long-term goal is lifting our economic growth. No. As we know, lifting GDP growth is not an end itself,…
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I'm not going to repeat the list of all the things that are starting to make people angry and scared or catalogue the broken promises (privatising ACC fast approaching in National's first term) or go over in fine detail the fact that National are anything…
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With the absolute dearth of informed political commentary in this country it's a breath of fresh air to have Gordon Campbell back from the US. In his latest column at Scoop he makes a good point about the state of our political media: Management. There…
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It seems certain National will begin the privatisation of ACC starting with opening the work account to private competition. As happened in 1998, private insurers will cream off large and low-risk employers with loss-leading special deals to gain market share, leaving the taxpayer to shoulder…
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Before the election National made promises about extra resources to tackle problems in schools: Schools Policy Strengthening the Ladder of Opportunity National is determined to ensure our school system helps every child climb the ladder of opportunity. We will bring New Zealand schools into the…
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We're trying a daily "Open mike". This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and for any discussion following up on the comments. Over to you...
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"You can get away with anything, as long as you're respectful about it" - former Maori Party strategist Matt McCarten on National's dealing with the Maori Party. So, another day, another little humilitation for the Maori Party. All that matters to the leaders is that…
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On RNZ's Nine to Noon today Andrew Campbell rips the shit out of National's grotesque mismanagement of the Rugby World Cup fiasco and laments the lack of talent in the PM's staff, all the while Matthew Hooton gently weeps. There's also talk about how despite…