Written By: - Date published: 9:42 am, February 8th, 2013 - 32 comments
Yesterday the New Plymouth District court sentenced eight Greenpeace activists for their actions last year, in a protest against Arctic oil exploration. I think we all owe these activists a vote of thanks (and I think the Court’s judgement was pretty reasonable on this occasion).
Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, February 8th, 2013 - 42 comments
The Nats were elected on a promise of a high wage economy. When it became clear that they were achieving the opposite, they tried to spin a disaster into a “competitive advantage”. And so in the real world the exodus to Australia continues. Now it’s affecting even our naval capability.
Written By: - Date published: 10:01 am, February 7th, 2013 - 103 comments
Mr Fixit Steven Joyce has been handed the Novopay fiasco, and the first pay round under his watch is the worst yet. Teachers are currently owed almost $12 Million in missing wages. Is this a conspiracy, or just a good old fashioned cock up?
Written By: - Date published: 9:25 am, February 7th, 2013 - 109 comments
Another day, another company that couldn’t make it in National’s stagnant economy. But this company, Mainzeal, is a particularly significant case, our third largest construction company. There will be significant flow on effects to other parts of the sector.
Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, February 6th, 2013 - 9 comments
After a fascinating debate in Britain, their gay marriage bill has passed it’s first hurdle with a huge majority. This bodes well…
Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, February 6th, 2013 - 172 comments
National’s constant beneficiary bashing has borne predictable fruit – beneficiaries are now perceived as the most discriminated against group in the country.
Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, February 5th, 2013 - 42 comments
I wonder how the polls would look if the sampling included Kiwis who have fled the country?
One of the biggest failures of the Key government is the continuing massive exodus to Australia. This was an issue that Key made a core focus of the 2008 election. Remember the Westpac Stadium clip?…
Written By: - Date published: 6:49 am, February 5th, 2013 - 279 comments
At the moment the Left and Right political blocs are poised more or less evenly in the polls. So how do we grow the Left vote to win in 2014?
Written By: - Date published: 8:08 am, February 2nd, 2013 - 7 comments
Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. This week, the Children’s Social Health Monitor 2012 Update Report, and will the Maori Party act on their words?
Written By: - Date published: 10:21 am, February 1st, 2013 - 23 comments
Granny Herald: “Some policies aimed at quenching what politicians perceive to be a public appetite for fairness are recycled regularly even when they have been shown to be deeply flawed.” Discuss…
Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, January 31st, 2013 - 47 comments
David Parker has drawn attention to a steadily growing $1 Billion hole in projected tax income. That gap, and the stalled economy which underlies the problem, are not going to be fixed by John Key acting like an angry chimp in parliament, flinging insults out of his cage.
Written By: - Date published: 7:15 pm, January 28th, 2013 - 52 comments
Steven Joyce is about to severely tarnish his Mr Fixit reputation by making the wrong decision about Novopay.
Written By: - Date published: 4:23 pm, January 28th, 2013 - 58 comments
Over the next few decades more and more countries are going to be facing a difficult question. At what point do repeated extreme weather events make previously settled regions untenable?
Written By: - Date published: 9:16 am, January 28th, 2013 - 339 comments
It was a slightly risky speech for Shearer, but the media reception has been decent. Labour will be pleased with the coverage, and especially so when compared (source by source) with John Key’s hapless effort last week.
Written By: - Date published: 1:58 pm, January 27th, 2013 - 78 comments
David Shearer has just made his opening speech of the year at the Labour Party Summer School.
Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, January 26th, 2013 - 36 comments
Key’s opening speech for the year is a dreary, dishonest, and vacuous affair, completely bereft of vision. I haven’t seen an enthustastic response reported anywhere yet.
Written By: - Date published: 9:42 am, January 25th, 2013 - 81 comments
Tucked away on the One News site last night was a report that David Cunliffe has ruled out challenging for the Labour leadership.
Written By: - Date published: 9:19 am, January 24th, 2013 - 10 comments
Pita Sharples should step down as a leader of the Maori Party and let someone else have a go. A merger with Mana seems to offer the most viable way forward, but the possibility has prompted a hysterical reaction from the outgoing Turia.
Written By: - Date published: 9:18 am, January 23rd, 2013 - 51 comments
According to an international credit reporting agency our economic “risk profile” is “deteriorating”, due in part to rising unemployment. Good work National.
Written By: - Date published: 6:42 am, January 22nd, 2013 - 41 comments
The Greens have learned (via OIA) that National ignored its own official advice in canceling the standard five-yearly State of the Environment Report.
Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, January 21st, 2013 - 76 comments
News from Australia reports an increase in numbers turning to sex work following cuts to welfare benefits. Here in NZ as a similar cost-saving measure we have benefit purges underway – at a time of rising unemployment…
Written By: - Date published: 8:51 am, January 19th, 2013 - 12 comments
The Antarctic Ocean Alliance is hoping that Key’s experience in Antarctica will move him to join the effort to create a marine reserve there. Seems unlikely to me – but I hope that Key proves me wrong…
Written By: - Date published: 7:14 am, January 18th, 2013 - 42 comments
Protecting the incompetent Parata is a further sign that Key’s government is well in to sclerotic middle age.
Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, January 17th, 2013 - 220 comments
Cat beats stockbrokers at playing the market. Bottom line, we are all at the mercy of a financial system that we don’t and probably can’t understand.
Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, January 16th, 2013 - 41 comments
With a 10% increase in the median house price last year, we’re firmly back on a damaging house price binge. Labour has policies that address the issue. Where is National?
Written By: - Date published: 3:58 pm, January 15th, 2013 - 27 comments
The Nats want to cut the budget for surgery to install grommets, a technique for treating persistent ear infection (especially in children). Naturally those most effected by this ill-considered move will be children from poor families.
Written By: - Date published: 10:21 am, January 14th, 2013 - 96 comments
What is the role of blogs in the run up to the next election? What can the community here at The Standard accomplish in that time?
Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, December 20th, 2012 - 38 comments
An anonymous editorial in The Herald yesterday suggested that the government raise revenue by cutting the “sacred cow” of interest free student loans. For some strange reason the sacred cow of National’s tax cut bribe for the rich was not similarly offered up for sacrifice. I wonder why that might be.
Written By: - Date published: 12:18 pm, December 19th, 2012 - 56 comments
Can’t say that I blame Longstone for bailing, she was working for a Minister who is clearly well out of her depth. Another fail for Hekia Parata, she’s the one that should be going.
Written By: - Date published: 5:17 pm, December 18th, 2012 - 57 comments
Trying to distract attention from the increased taxes required to maybe balance the budget one day, Key was pushing supposedly good news on health. Instead he scored a social media own goal. Ooops.
Written By: - Date published: 9:32 am, December 18th, 2012 - 18 comments
Recent pieces by Bernard Hickey and John Armstrong both highlighted the problem of our aging population and the unsustainability of super – in Hickey’s memorable words we are “consuming our future”. Armstrong tries to balme MMP, but that won’t wash, it’s just the usual short-sighted Nat stupidity…
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