There is one thing that shines through in the coverage of the biography of John Key today. It is by a veteran arselicker of the right - John Roughan, veteran editorial writer and columnist for the NZ Herald. He is someone that I have no…
I think that this poster from the Greens about the debate on the maui dolphin says it all about the shallowness of National and its leader. The guy is simpleminded fool and generally a dickhead. Rather than understanding an issue and dealing it, he prefers…
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The Herald's behaviour though the fake donations scandal has been appalling. Frankly the journalist who has led the coverage, Jared Savage, deserves to be sacked. And Herald editor, Tim Murphy, who had the audacity to claim on RNZ that he wouldn't release the statement because…
Reposted from Polity. I'm a glass half-full kind of a guy, so I want to start by emphasising the parts of Labour's just-released fiscal plan that I like. First, the commitment to paying off government debt during economic good times is laudable. In the past, some…
PRESS RELEASE A Labour Government will run surpluses while investing in health and education, and paying off National's record debt, Labour Leader David Cunliffe says. “Our Economic Upgrade will transform the New Zealand economy to higher value and higher incomes through higher investment, innovation and…
Labour’s Fiscal Plan shows a clear and positive difference from National. “Those who earn over over 150,000 will pay more tax and applying tax to trusts to combat tax avoidance, are welcome steps to reducing inequality and the unfairness of the tax system. It’s a…
Reposted from No Right Turn. On Monday, an alliance of environmental organisations launched the Climate Voter campaign. The aim is to get people to signal their intention to vote on the basis of climate change policy, in the hope of driving parties to compete for that…
After a sustained week of media attacks on the Labour Party it now transpires that the NZ Herald and John Key claims about Donghua Liu's donations to the party are, shall we say, inaccurate. This has just been published on the Herald website: Controversial businessman Donghua…
I'll be in Wellington from the 4th to the 7th for the Labour party congress on the 5-6th. I'll be on a media pass again which will relieve me of the duties that I have usually had to undergo as a delegate, like having to think too…
National is to introduce urgent legislation possibly today. The use of urgency is often controversial and should normally only be permitted where the measure has budgetary implications, where there is a discovered defect in legislation which needs to be corrected or where there is otherwise…
How has it come this? 6 years under John Key's watch, and the underbelly of the "rockstar economy" still remains in the shadows: too far from the front and centre of media and the government's attention. Too many stories of homelessness are still surfacing. From…
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PM John Key has performed a backflip by now suggesting businessman Donghua Liu should front up with evidence to support the NZ Herald's unsubstantiated claim that he donated substantial sums to Labour. This is a world away from his previous position that it was up…
Reposted from No Right Turn Back in April, Shane Jones announced that he would be quitting Parliament to take up a position as a "Pacific Economic Ambassador", which the Herald noted had been "created by the National Government especially for him". Like many people I was curious about…
Reposted from Polity Just a couple of days after President Obama told John Key what he wanted to hear on trade, realism has reared up again: Hopes of hammering out a final deal on the 12-country Trans Pacific Partnership agreement this year appear to be fading,…
Jan Logie published a post on Frog Blog yesterday, that deserved to be read and re-read by anyone interested in the future of NZ society, and the current state of the country's governance. In "Work and Income - stories from hidden people", Logie reports on her meeting…
John Key is a phenomenally good politician. This is not a compliment in a conventional sense. A politician should aspire to being more than just successful. There ought to be a public benefit arising from their stewardship. Key is from a long line of brutal National…
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Before we get too carried away patting those Labour MPs on the back for withdrawing from the list process in order to 'give way' to fresh talent, someone should take a closer look at clause 356 of the Labour Party constitution: The Moderating Committee shall…
Reposted from No Right Turn. In previous elections, the major parties have submitted lists heavily dominated by men, and this passes without comment. This year, Labour has submitted one with a slight imbalance (53:47) towards women. The reaction is sadly predictable: Not mentioned: Labour's list…
Some things are so predicable that Imperator Fish can write about them years ahead. Like the typical reactions to the Labour list. Let us observe the predictability of the right and others to it today. The Labour Party is due to release its party list…
The Labour Party list has been announced. More details to follow! 1 David Cunliffe2 David Parker3 Grant Robertson4 Annette King5 Jacinda Ardern6 Nanaia Mahuta7 Phil Twyford8 Clayton Cosgrove9 Chris Hipkins10 Sue Moroney11 Andrew Little12 Louisa Wall13 David Shearer14 Su'a William Sio15 Maryan Street16 Phil Goff17…
Reposted from Polity. This morning's news from the Fairfax/Ipsos poll is that 81% of New Zealanders hate coat-tailing and want it gone. I agree with them. So does Labour. So do the Greens. So do Internet MANA. 1 National, of course, relishes coat-tailing. So - to the 81% -…
Remember when this was reported last week? The Stuff version: New Zealand was "reintegrated" into the controversial Five Eyes intelligence network only five years ago, America's top spy agency has revealed. [...] Prime Minister John Key said he could not recall any such change since…
Reposted from Local Bodies. I had a conversation at our farmer's market this morning about how my election campaign was going and the person I was speaking to had the view that all politicians don't actually do much, apart from talking. I find that this…
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Moira Coatsworth, Labour party president, has just put out a statement saying that one of the alleged fundraisers was: The Herald on Sunday have, however, disclosed to us that Donghua Liu’s statement claims the fundraiser was held on 3 June 2007. We have found no…
Reposted from Imperator Fish where Scott Yorke makes some excellent arguments in favour of a full police investigation. No-one has complained to the police. The cops can’t sit around forever waiting for someone to complain. There doesn’t seem to be much evidence of donations from Mr…
Well it is official. In the pursuit of continued power and political expediency it appears that National will sacrifice Murray McCully so that Colin Craig and the conservatives can be in Parliament. The particular form of sacrifice has not as yet been determined. From the…