"Socially and economically liberal" is an old saw now but it's one that has described the Labour party quite accurately for the last 25 years. After all they are the party that introduced Rogernomics in the same breath as legalising homosexuality, who built the arts…
Lost in all the fuss this week, this interesting press release: Labour policy is Maori Party policy Press Release: The Maori Party Last weekend’s Labour Party policy announcements sounded so familiar that for a spilt second I thought a Maori Party conference was taking place…
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It was not until last night that we received confirmation of the retraction from SAG, NZ Equity and AFTRA through press reports. Warner Brothers Entertainment spokesperson lprent updated: The above is incorrect - it was New Line Cinemas who said that, not Warners.
The Herald is reporting that Warner brothers and SAG had settled the Hobbit dispute on Monday (US time): ...a series of emails between Warner Bros and the Screen Actors' Guild (SAG), sighted by NZPA, showed the two parties were discussing the wording of a press…
Vernon Small had an atypically disappointing piece in the Dom the other day that basically concluded everyone must be happy in New Zealand because the 20,000 protesters who turned out on October 20th did so peacefully and legally, whereas in France there is rioting in…
When Justice Bill Wilson failed to recuse himself from a case involving his business partner whom he owed quarter of a million dollars, Attorney-General Chris Finlayson didn't want to investigate telling fellow National MP Colin King “Justice Wilson is a mate of mine and there’s…
I don’t believe that the ‘crisis’ over the Hobbit has all been a set up from the start but Peter Jackson and Warner Bros have clearly used the situation to their advantage. This has been a troubled project for years and the producers' are keen…
Every time I think John Key can't get any more cynical and hypocritical in his messaging, he manages to take it to a new level: Key: Pay hike 'noose around students' necks' There is no new money to offer teachers a bigger pay increase unless…
I mentioned this in an earlier post but I think it's worth repeating: If Peter Jackson needs stable industrial relations on the Hobbit all he needs to do is employ his workers as employees (probably a mix of full-time, fixed-term and casual). Preferably on a…
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Things are quickly turning to custard for National. The economy is going south fast and Key's Teflon-coating is so damaged the mainstream media is openly saying we deserve better than a 'smile and wave' PM. The Nats' strategy - try to convince us nothing is…
One of my biggest disappointments of the Hobitt dispute has been watching the way in which Russell Brown has been so quick to take sides against the actors union. Today he was at it again and, as much as I dislike cut and paste posts,…
National's bully-boy tactics continue. Young people are trying to voice their concern to the select committee that is looking at the extension of the Fire at Will law to all workers. The Nats on the committee don't want to listen so they're bullying submitters and…
The poll numbers - Labour + Green equals 44.5% vs National + ACT at 50% according to the latest Roy Morgan. A year ago that was LG = 34.5% and NACT= 59%. Those numbers suggest that 240,000 voters have shifted from Right to Left in…
10,000 protesters against National/ACT’s undemocratic Supercity 50,000 protesters against the mining of Schedule 4 land 22,000 protesters yesterday nationwide against National’s attacks on work rights and wages 150 protesters in Levin when Key came to town against his cuts to health services 200 protesters in…
Over the last couple of weeks Actors Equity has been quietly negotiating for a minimum standards contract for the Hobbit. Things were looking good. So good in fact that the union had agreed to withdraw advice to their members that they don't sign. They even…
In three short years John Key and National have gone from economic bravado, to failure, to lies, excuses and whining. The Nats are desperately trying to spin excuses for their failure. How did we get here? Let's take a stroll down memory lane. The recession…
Most of the text of an excellent piece by Gordon Campbell on central government's reaction to the local government elections. -- r0b Central vs Local Government The Key government now seems to feel it has a vested interest in the failure of both Len Brown…
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I'm generally a fan of Gareth Morgan, but boy his facts are wrong in yesterday's Herald column, and those false premises lead him to really bad conclusions. Basically, Morgan is trying to argue that we have to let foreigners buy our assets because if we…
Thousands of workers are now leaving their work places to attend one of the 27 protests taking place today from Kaiatia to the Bluff against National's draconian anti-worker policies. This one could be big. This is the day that Kiwi workers stand up and say…
Policy - In contrast to National's policy vacuum on the economy, Labour has been focusing its policy work on a major change in direction. It's obvious that the hands-off approach introduced in the 1980s has failed, leading to mal-investment in housing with an economy stripped…
Trying to get my head around the economic arguments going on. Hearing contradictory things. Who's telling the truth? ls Labour's new overseas investment policy Stalinism that will ruin the economy, as Key claimed on Monday and Tuesday? Or is the same as the existing law,…
I get Hone Harawira's anger over National's pandering to rednecks over the Foreshore and Seabed new legislation. That was the same anger that led to the Maori Party being formed in the first place (ironic that they're voting for the new law). But I can't…
Keith Ng's recent post at Public Address is so good I have to reproduce the whole thing here. Keith - tried to get in touch via your contact web form, hope it is OK, if not let us know, thanks. -- r0b Did you know…
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No, this post isn't about how National is cutting education at every level, which will damage our country for decades to come. Nor is it about how they're cutting cost-efficient preventative medicine to fund 'sexy' elective surgery. It's not even about how they're pouring billions…
John Key says that if we don't let overseas buyers snap up our farmland then land prices will decrease and some over-leveraged farmers will go underwater. And that's supposedly a bad thing. Key wants us to believe that foreigners putting our farmland out of the…
The Nats are trying to take credit for the fact that annual inflation in the year to September was the lowest since 2004. What exactly did they do? Dig into the numbers and the cause of the lower inflation is a weak global economy, not…