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In honour of Tony Blair and Sam Cam's attempt at an affectionate greeting at Tuesday's lunch at No 10, The Guardian has amassed a small but disgusting collection of political leaders essaying similar tasks. Warning: not for the squeamish or fainthearted. The Guardian cannot be…
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Eddie got there before me, but yesterday seemed to be a day of nasty attacks, not just by Maggie Barry. (Incidentally, check out #maggiebarrystandingorders on Twitter for some laughs - apparently you need 3 stars on Trade Me to talk about Asset Sales...) Tau Henare…
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Remember all the fuss in 2008 when the Labour government tried to make a 1% increase in road user charges affecting truckies? Remember the "truck strike"? A "blockade of major centres", with commuters advised to stay at home. Quelle horreur! Well brace yourselves, because: Truckies…
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Police were unable to establish that Mr Banks had the necessary knowledge that the donation had been recorded as anonymous in the return before he signed and submitted it. As No Right Turn puts it: So basically they're letting him off because he didn't read…
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National is threatening to veto a Labour bill to extend paid parental leave, claiming it costs too much (they've been exaggerating the cost). At the same time, they're trying to defend writing a blank cheque for looters' bonuses. And they're getting nasty about it. Maggie…
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In Britain the Tory government's austerity measures are working so well that they have created the worst double-dip recession in 50 years: Shock 0.7% fall in UK GDP deepens double-dip recession Britain's economic output collapsed by 0.7% in the second quarter of 2012 as the…
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What are the "asset loyalty" schemes going to cost? $350 Million? $1.3 Billion? Nothing? $200 Million? I don't know, and neither does John Key. But whatever it costs, he'll find the money. Because handouts to the rich are important. Unlike, say, parental leave: Govt still…
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Last month on The Nation (or Q+A?) Groser mentioned how the much hyped, but actually insignificant, free trade deal with Russia had hit a mysterious wall. Groser couldn't even get to see the current minister and had "tough" talks with the ex-minister instead, while Key's…
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John Key's grasp of his own asset sales policy is being revealed to be shakier by the day. He doesn't know how it would hurt the government books. He flips his position on water rights each day. He doesn't know how much a looters' bonus…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Labour and the Greens are producing great infographics that succinctly, and often wittily, explain what the government's doing wrong on issues of the day and bust National's myths. They chuck them up on Facebook and Twitter and they spread like wildfire. They're a really effective…
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When the Nats created CERA - the Gerry Brownlee Enabling Act - they tried to make it so no-one could challenge his decisions under the Act in court. The Courts hate such 'ouster clauses' and react by allowing cases on whether a decision was made…
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It’s been 16 years since Susan Snively’s ground-breaking report [doc] on the economic cost of domestic violence in New Zealand. In 1996 the prevalence rate of domestic violence was estimated at 1 in 7 people – 301,691, including 129,556 children – with an economic cost…
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There's been some talk around the 'sphere about a speech where David Parker made comments that some (*cough* Chris 'the Right's favourite Leftie' Trotter *cough*) thought meant he supported asset sales. That obviously caused confusion because Parker and Labour are clearly against asset sales. Now,…
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The biggest petition to Parliament in 3 years was presented yesterday with Greenpeace's 140,000 signature call for the Government to halt subsidisation of fossil fuels and invest in a clean energy future instead. 140,000 signatures is a remarkable achievement. Predictably, it got a nasty response…
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There are 2 great bills coming before parliament today. Both the Government is opposing, but Labour have the numbers - barring a last minute tangi. The first I have a familial bias towards - it's my brother's Mondayising Holiday Bill. Quite why the government oppose…
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In the cartoon Calvin and Hobbes, they play a game called Calvinball. "The only consistent rule states that Calvinball may never be played with the same rules twice". It's a bit like that trying to call this government to account. One day they have legal…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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So far... Looter's Bonus Loyalty Scheme $250,000,000-$500,000,000: Treasury Best guess: $360,000,000: Finance and Expenditure Select Committee Could be: up to $1,000,000,000 No idea: John Key Brokerage fees $90,000,000: $7 million this year, $66 million next, $17 million in 2014 $1,100,000: spent so far Won't say:…
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National's internal polling is telling it people are losing faith in the brighter future, and want to hear about how it plans to get there. According to No 1 cheerleader John Armstrong in the Herald: National believes - or rather its polling is telling it…
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Ha ha ha! Wasn't it funny when Judith Collins brandished a TASER at the National Party conference and said she wanted to use it on Trevor Mallard. I guess it's alright for me to whip out an airgun or a knife next time I'm at…
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The usual National Party cheerleaders in the media are trying to make out the modest size of the protests at the Nat's conference in the weekend means that opposition to National is weak. John Armstrong writes: National’s annual conference was not short of protests. But…
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John Key doesn't want to go ahead with plain packaging of cigarettes. The cancer sellers would sue. It could cost a few million to beat them in the international courts (me, I would just create a law of corporate homicide and nationalise their NZ assets).…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here. I see that Bill English has been talking about Planet Labour. It sounds like a terrible place. Imagine a place with a stagnant…
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Two headlines almost side by side in The Herald this morning. Bennett increases pursuit of welfare 'rorts' Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says more work is under way to detect beneficiary households, where multiple members are being paid the accommodation supplement. She said it was…
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Another example of cronyism from disgraced former minister Nick Smith has emerged. He overrode officials at the Ministry for the Environment, who had declined an application for $200,000 for meetings to resolve disputes between farmers and environmentalists in the Mackenzie Basin and Waitaki Valley, so…
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIaPIssKNRw
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I did posts on submitting against National's Local Government Bill a while ago, but the end date for submissions is on the 26th, so here's a reminder. The government's bill will further move power to Wellington. We are already a very centralised country, politically speaking,…
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One of the things that makes politicians lives easier is that we all have a tendency to believe what we want to believe, and thus to hear what we want to hear. Some politicians play on this tendency by telling different groups different things -…