It was National's best budget. Which means there are only three critical areas of failure. The first is health. Craig Hoyle at Stuff: Frustration, disappointment over health funding in Budget 2017 Patients and healthcare workers say they have been left frustrated and disappointed by "inadequate"…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Andrew Little calls it the 'The One Dollar Bill Budget', a $1 tax cut for cleaner on minimum wage. As usual it is the already well off who do the best out of National's election year tax cut bribe. Scoop has the best roundup of…
Today is budget day. This afternoon the Government will with much fanfare release the 2017 budget. Budget day is probably the most important day of the year for the Government. It is the day that they are able to spread the love around aka announce…
A useful piece from Keith Ng (an extract from a new PSA booklet on topics in tax policy and practice): Four tax myths that might pop up this year Myth 1: "40% of households pay no 'net taxes'" ... The problem with "net taxes" is…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Manchester Arena is the latest in a very long list of terrorist attacks, most of which we have little or no awareness of. So, what's the idea after Manchester? Well, I guess we could sit back and endure those who have quaffed on cocktails of fear and…
Nat MP Alfred Ngaro gave the country a reminder of Nat tactics when he threatened Labour list candidate Willie Jackson with losing Government support for his Manukau Urban Māori Authority interest in a charter school and Whānau Ora contract. Being quite so open about it…
I'm glad to see that Paula Bennett's call for more tipping in NZ ("mandatory" tipping?) has generated a very strong response - in opposition. Brian Rudman: Forget tipping, pay fair wages instead Sorry Paula, tipping sucks and we definitely should not bring it to New…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Terrible news from Manchester where it appears an explosion may have killed at least 19 people and injured many more. The Guardian's live feed is here. The assailants or their motivation are not known. This post will be updated as more news comes in. Update:…
Richard Harman at Politik on core points of the budget: Exclusive: What will be in Joyce's Budget A “Families’ Income Package” is likely to be at the core of this week’s Budget. Sources close to the Government have "leaked" details of the Budget to POLITIK.…
Stuff is running an online survey - Is New Zealand on the right track?. Online surveys are not accurate measures of public opinion, but it only takes 5 min if you fancy having your say.
The indispensable Professor Andrew Geddis (via Pundit) writes on the process required to ratify TPP11: Why the TPP11 will have to go back before Parliament by Andrew Geddis ... We might expect that if and when the TPP11 parties come to an agreement, our elected…
We've had the Brighter Future (it sucks). We've had The Cusp of Something Special (it wasn't). What will National's soundbite slogan be this time? I'm guessing "Strong and stable government" or similar, strong and steady, strong and safe, along these lines. We will be warned…
Great piece by Isobel Ewing on Newshub yesterday: New Zealand to spend $14 billion to meet Paris Agreement targets Newshub can reveal the cost to the New Zealand economy to meet Paris Agreement targets will be $1 billion every year for a decade But that…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
We often hear from this government that they are "doing all they can", on emergency housing, on families in financial distress, on the impact of high interest rates, on the mess in Christchurch, on closing tax loopholes, on water quality, and so on. "All they…
Water is an issue that has been hurting this Government. From its expansion of dairying and the destruction of so many of our waterways, to the use of the fast forward fund to provide extra irrigation for Canterbury farmers, to the financial support supplied by…
A very useful visualisation from Peter Ellis at Peter's Stats Stuff (go see the post for interactive version, plenty more, and also the provisos that relate to this data). One of the main takeaways is that only half of the "did not vote" block is…
Climate change and our increasing numbers of cows means that New Zealand needs to plant trees, lots of trees. And Christchurch has a major issue with land in the red zone that that is not suitable for building on and needs to have some use…
A major policy announcement from The Greens over the weekend: Budget for All Mothers The Green Party wants to help parents when they need it the most, by ensuring they have time and money to focus on raising happy, healthy kids Too many parents in…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Mensch and Taylor report that: Judiciary Committee considering Articles of Impeachment "Multiple sources close to the intelligence, justice and law enforcement communities say that the House Judiciary Committee is considering Articles of Impeachment against the President of the United States." Sources further say that the…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiEs34TNY6w Over in England things are getting interesting. The unloseable election called at a time when Labour was at its weakest and most messiest was meant to be a cake walk for the tories. An increased majority was a foregone conclusion and the future of…