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Weren't Bill 'Double Dipton' English and other ministers caught rorting the housing allowance system last year? Didn't the Government revamp the system by giving ministers capped allowances, supposedly to save money and stop rorts? Why then are we, as I predicted, paying more than ever…
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As predicted, the US midterms have not gone well for the Democrats, as they have lost control of the House of Representatives. But they retain a majority in the Senate, so some are predicting that the most likely outcome is a repeat of the gridlock…
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* The Shonkey Donkey has suddenly started to be heard on Morning Report in the last 2 weeks. Is it because he's suddenly realised that Sean Plunket has left and he'll get a soft pre-record with Geoff, who last asked a harsh question back in…
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In both the 2009 and 2010 Budgets this Government has slashed funding for early childhood education, taking over $600M out of the sector. The cuts are deep, and they are real, and the biggest ones so far took effect on Monday November 1st. All around…
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Q. So how exactly did NZ taxpayers end up handing over tens of millions of dollars to Warner Brothers? A. After the actor's dispute had been settled, but not publicly announced, Sir Peter Jackson put out a press release claiming that Warner Brothers were going…
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The Maori Affairs select committee has released its report on smoking. Most of its recommendations have been proposed here and elsewhere before: - forcing tobacco companies to reveal the ingredients and chemicals in their products, cracking down on covert sponsorship by tobacco companies - taking…
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I went to see Made in Dagenham last night. The parallels between the dispute, that began when female workers at a Ford plant in the UK struck for better pay, and then equal pay with men, and the Hobbit fiasco were striking. But it's the…
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Back in June I wrote about the news of the first few schools standing up for the education of their children, and refusing to participate in National's flawed, damaging "national standards" process. That post finished: "It's good to see teachers putting the welfare of the…
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National is finding new exploitative ways to try save their by-election campaign in Mana. Last week, Parliament's Leader of the House Gerry Brownlee announced that the House will go into Urgency between 16 and 18 November. Urgency is the government's way of speeding up legislation…
by-election john key national/act government Parliament Politics
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Last week I wrote about Speaker Lockwood Smith rolling back transparency on MPs expenses, by making travel spending secret again. John Key came out against the move -- which looked like easy image grooming on his part, taking the popular position safe in the knowledge…
accountability greens john key labour national parliamentary spending phil goff
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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 been meaning to write about this for a while now, but what with Paul Henry and The Hobbit there hasn't seemed like room. Now international news is likely to be dominated by the fallout from the American mid-term elections for a bit, so now…
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I don't know about you, but I have certainly been confused about ACT's move to insert a last-minute clause into the new Marine and Coastal Areas (Takutai Moana) Bill (proposed replacement for the Foreshore and Seabed Act). The purpose of the clause is to make…
act foreshore and seabed Maori Issues maori party national/act government
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We know that poverty is the root of a good deal of society's problems from crime, to poor educational outcomes, to poor health. Just the direct economic costs of these problems are in the billions per year, and we can't forget the loss of human…
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Anne Tolley's Education Amendment Bill 2, due out of Select Committee next week, ignores the recommendations of the Law Commission to introduce "light-handed" legislation to deal with 100 year old gaps that leave children at private schools in a legal vacuum regarding their welfare. …
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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 saw Labour's press release yesterday about the latest Treasury monthly statements. Basically, Treasury says 'the economy's a whole lot worse than we expected but we stand by our growth forecasts in the Budget'. Odd, because the Budget forecast 1.6% growth so far this year…
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Interesting snippet in The Herald today: Web body says fibre deal may be illegal The Government risks riding roughshod over international obligations with plans to give investors in its ultra-fast fibre broadband network a 10-year regulatory holiday, according to an internet users advocacy group. InternetNZ…
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Q+A held a debate between the Mana by-election candidates yesterday. Felix has done a very nice summary of how the candidates came across: 1) Hekia Parata is a nasty piece of work who gets angry when challenged. Her entire platform is “I ♥ John Key.…
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The problem with any identity-based political movement is it pre-supposes that the common identity of its members surpasses their conflicting class interests. This has been brought to a head at the Maori Party national conference as Tariana Turia angrily denounced criticism of the Maori elite…
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The latest drink-drive crash has reignited the debate over the legal blood/alcohol level. It's clear from John Key's excuse-making on Breakfast this morning that the Nats have no intention of reducing the limit from 0.8 to 0.5. The argument against a reduction is that most…
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Sometimes National are predictable, like when they can instantly rustle up $1.7 billion for a finance company's shareholders, but can't find $400 million for poor IHC carers or to pay our teachers properly. Or when they can find $80 million to hang with a pair…
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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is on her way to New Zealand this week, bringing the customary promises of good will and better relations between our two countries. The big question however is, will Clinton be bringing the overdue White House invite for our…
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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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Happy Birthday Auckland! The new Supercity is now in effect, with Mayor Len Brown at the helm. The Supercity was conceived by Labour and a Royal Commission. The incoming National government set out to remake it in its own image, trampling all over democracy, the…