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As I indicated would happen in my post this morning on the Labour reshuffle, Mallard made a run for speaker today.* He and the Labour leadership tried to keep the fact he was running secret right to the last moment. Why not run an honest,…
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The latest Roy Morgan poll has National on 46%, Labour 31.5%, the Greens on 13.5%, and NZ First on 5.5%. It just amazes me the government can still poll close to 50% after stuff up, after stuff up. Were this reflected in an election then…
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While Labour flounders around talking about 4 bedroom houses for $485,000, Metiria Turei cut to the quick in a question to Key yesterday: "has he never visited his own electorate and taken a look at homes such as those on Hobsonville Road, Cyril Crescent, and…
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Today's announcement from the Reserve Bank states that inflation is still below its target band of 1-3%. It says: “Inflation remains subdued and is currently just below the bottom of the Reserve Bank’s inflation target range. This mainly reflects the impact of the overvalued New…
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Quietly in the background, David Parker is doing good work. In August last year he produced "National's Economic Road Test", an accessible 30 page summary of the mess that the Nats are making of the economy. He's now released an updated version which can be…
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Word is that Shearer's team has taken a cue from the media response from Key's reshuffle and is looking to bolster his new tough image by dropping some of the old hands in his own reshuffle (which will, of course, come after the caucus vote…
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One of the many big problems National is failing to resolve is the lack of jobs, as they provide a 14-year high in unemployment - even after exporting 180,000 Kiwis to Australia under this government. Indeed if we added them in, the unemployment rate would…
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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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David Bain has filed a claim against Judith Collins. Here's The Herald's / APNZ quick announcement: David Bain has filed a High Court claim against Justice Minister Judith Collins seeking a judicial review of her actions since she received the Justice Binnie report last August.…
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Yesterday, the PM's speech, as Zetetic says, was a "do nothing" speech as the country drowns. Actually Key sounded like a drunken sailor doing an after dinner speech in a stand-up comedy mode. However, there were some more significant, sober, coherent and well articulated speeches in…
assets class war Environment greens hone harawira housing mana Maori Issues Metiria Turei nz first poverty public transport same old national winston peters
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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. 7:13 am The days when I have to travel to Wellington are always the longest ones. I have to get up well before dawn and…
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The macho posturing we’ve seen from David Shearer since conference never quite gelled with the Shearer I knew. I’d always thought of him as a nice guy out of his depth, so the public defaming of David Cunliffe and the ‘I’m in charge’ theatrics always…
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More work in prisons, fewer mail deliveries, fewer WoF checks. I won't say these are bad policies - done right there's some merits. But I will point out this: 2,000 job losses from fewer WoF checks,up to 3,000 jobs gone with three day a week…
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Media Release: Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union New Zealand needs a national manufacturing strategy to drive economic growth and provide secure, well-paid jobs for New Zealand workers, the EPMU told the Parliamentary Inquiry into Manufacturing [on Monday]. EPMU national secretary Bill Newson told the inquiry…
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Now I don't know if there will be a leadership vote in the next couple of weeks or not, but if there is, and you're a Labour supporter, then you really want to be a Labour Party member beforehand so you can have your say.…
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Despair. That's what I felt, watching Key's speech yesterday. Others said he was boring. Some complained of his screeching. I just felt despair. This guy is running the country. Our country. And he has nothing. Nothing for us. Nothing for you. Nothing for me. Nothing…
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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. In David Shearer's speech on Sunday he made much of National's "hands-off" approach to governing the country, comparing it to Labour's preference for a more interventionist "hands-on"…
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Reprinted with permission, from Dave Kennedy (bsprout) at Local Bodies. The Feral Rich Are Destroying Our Civilised Society The latest New Internationlist has published statistics regarding the world's wealthy and the increasing divide between rich and poor. They refer to the "Feral Rich" and ask, "what can…
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To change the dominant political and media landscape and move away from the "neoliberal consensus", it is necessary to apply pressure from below. Political parties will always be channeled towards a narrow centrist position by the political, corporate and wealthy elites, and the commercialised, corporate-dominated MSM. At the weekend,…
child welfare class war Environment greens human rights poverty privatisation public transport sustainability trade workers' rights
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Some people who don't really understand economics think it's all about confidence - if business would be more confident, they would then invest more and hire more people. In truth, confidence is merely an indicator that the fundamentals for growth are right. So, when Joyce…
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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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New Zealand's remaining world-class manufacturers are saying today they are sick of being told by politicians that they need to work harder when they have been doing that for years, but face a huge headwind from an over-valued dollar. Not a good time for Minister…
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Steven Joyce, as one of the few apparently competent Nats, is called by some "Mr Fixit". He's about to severely tarnish that reputation by making the wrong decision about Novopay: Joyce: Novopay likely to stay Teachers and school staff look likely to be stuck with…
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As widely reported, Queensland is getting hammered again by bad flooding: Three dead as record-breaking rain falls Three people are dead as wild weather continues to batter south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales, authorities say. The region is struggling with an unfolding weather disaster…
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David Shearer's opening speech for the year has received good media coverage. From One News: Fired up Shearer outlines party agenda Job creation and housing were big issues in David Shearer's state of the nation address at a rugby club in Wainuiomata today. ... With…
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Because of the scale, it's hard to tell, but the $145m cuts to trades training are 12 times larger than the extra 'Reboot' money.
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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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Metiria Turei and David Shearer have today given their State of the Planet and State of the Nation speeches respectively. There's a lot of commonality, which is good. A critique of the government is solidifying and it's centred on jobs, housing, and the environment. The…
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David Shearer has just made his opening speech of the year at the Labour Party Summer School. There's no new policy to give the speech real heft, but (given the significant policies already out there, the stage of the electoral cycle, and the lack of…