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The polls are now closed in Mana and the results should start following in soon. Hopefully, various writers will be able to give updates as the night goes on. If you voted today or you were on the ground getting out the vote today, we'd…
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The news coming out from the Pike River mine disaster is not sounding good. A short time ago The Herald was reporting: Twenty-two hours on from an explosion at the West Coast's Pike River mine and the message for families of the 29 trapped miners…
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John Armstrong's straight-faced piss-take of John Key's holiday very important diplomatic mission to Japan last week is very very funny. Without a hint of irony, Armstrong reveals how Key achieved nothing, talked big only to be put in his place by the big boys, and…
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I knew Rod Donald through Trade Aid, many years before he was a politician. He and fellow Green leader Jeanette Fitzsimons will always be, for me, among the very small number of politicians for whom I have the utmost respect. I can only wonder how…
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It has been a year since the CRU emails were stolen and the "climategate" "scandal" broke. There's an interesting summary (ht Joe90) at the ClimateSight blog here: The Real Story of Climategate A year ago today, an unidentified hacker published a zipped folder in several…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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I've just heard about the disaster at Pike River coal mine on the West Coast. [Updated] 29 miners are trapped about 1500m below ground by a massive explosion. Five have made it out with moderate injuries. Obviously, there's big concern for the lives of the…
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Annemarie Thorby, 15 November 2010. New Zealand's justice system is going through another major change this week. ... [Under the new laws] police can seize a person's assets on suspicion of a crime. No criminal activity has to be proven in a court. The onus…
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National Bank has joined NZIER in estimating the economy shrank 0.2% in the September Quarter and all the projections say it'll go backwards this quarter too. Bill English now admits John Key's 'rapid recovery' isn't happening. But he insists it's coming - tomorrow, no, the…
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Minister for Minorities (Womens, Pacific, Ethnic and Assoc Maori Affairs - when she's not busy with Courts or Disarmament) Georgina te Heuheu was caught out badly in parliament yesterday when reminded that she had previously called for her new portfolio of Women's Affairs to be…
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Labour picked up on the statistics I revealed yesterday that show the median income of Maori has fallen 11.5% under National and the Pacific Island median income is down an astounding 19%. Kris Fa'afoi and Annette King put out press releases. Then King took the…
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I understand the anger that drove some leftie activists to confront John Key in Mana yesterday (though I think that anything that looks like direct aggression against a politician is always a tactical mistake). But Key's response triggered one of my pet peeves: Prime Minister…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Mana locals rallied loudly against Key and Parata today. Key says "we treat them with respect even if they don't treat us with respect". Nah. McCarten talking to a guy who opposes him was respectful. Key could've shown respect by taking time to defend his…
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The NSW Parliament has just passed passed the Election Funding and Disclosures Amendment Bill 2010. Details are here. It includes donations capped at $5,000 for parties and $2,000 for candidates and third parties, all donations over $1,000 declared, caps on expenditure for parties, candidates and…
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Bill English is always busy trying to put lipstick on the pig of our moribund economy. We've told him off before for fiddling his figures. But now he's transcended mere lying with numbers. Now he's invented a whole new economic theory: English: Savings-Based Recovery Set…
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Democracy is quietly dying in NZ but you'd never know it by the media's response. The government is rushing through a slew* of legislation under urgency and it doesn't even rate a mention in either the Herald or the DomPost (the DP devotes half a…
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by Frank Macskasy Last year, over 13,000 New Zealanders got some measure of satisfaction from ANZ's part-owned ING in New Zealand. For over a year, half a billion dollars in investors' funds had been locked up, during a nasty dispute between ING/ANZ and their investors.…
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They say that those who can frame the argument 'win the argument'. Connor English the Chief Executive of Federated Farmers is trying to frame the argument in a right wing way that benefits the rich and privileged, to the detriment of working people and the…
capitalism class war democratic participation farming Mining workers' rights
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Following my last guest post which received over 100 comments, here's an update with proof that Hon Anne Tolley has made complaints about what amounts to child-abuse disappear to avoid obeying the Human Rights Act and legislating for children's welfare in this sector. With a…
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What is Whanau Ora? No one quite knows, but it has been allocated $134 million to distribute to community providers over the next 4 years. Will these providers be accountable for the funding that they receive? Back in April Marty G raised a red flag:…
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Here's a little something that Kris Fa'afoi and his team might like to being to the attention of Mana voters as they prepare to go to the polls. On National's watch, the median Maori income has fallen 11.5%. For Pacific Islanders the fall's 19%. Pakeha…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Who would have thought that while Hone was talking up Matt McCarten in Mana the other day he was getting ready to vote with National and Act to undermine Kiwi workers' annual leave and sick leave rights?
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I know it's in National's DNA to fight regulation where ever they find it but it looks like the meat industry and government 'watch dog' MAF's Food Safety Authority may have bitten off more than they can chew with their proposal to do away with independent meat inspectors in…
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Plumedekiwi has revived his disturbingly good John Key impression in a new vid. This time, John is explaining the importance of national standards. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLGnE7Ga7z8
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With Pansy Wong in hiding on John Key's orders, rort-buster Pete Hodgson laid the blame her corruption and all the other rorts squarely on Key yesterday. In question after question, Key couldn't make a serious defence of his record. Then, he made an extraordinary admission:…
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What little we know of Whanau Ora is that it is essentially the privatisation of government delivery of social services to private groups. Rather than deliver services themselves, government departments entrust taxpayer funds to small groups that often have little or no track record to…
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The latest revelation in the Pansy Wong saga is a Chinese newspaper article where she, as Minister, endorses her husband's company's product. John Key says that it would be a sacking offence were she a minister but its up to her if she resigns from…
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Is the interminable tangled mess of the foreshore and seabed issue getting to Chris Finlayson? Something certainly is, because he's clearly losing it: Minister tells Maori protesters: 'Go to hell' Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Chris Finlayson has told a Maori protest group in…