Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, August 6th, 2011 - 79 comments
The global financial system, which has never properly recovered from the recession, is poised on the brink of a second crash. The headlines are a parade of bad news…
Update: US credit rating downgraded from AAA to AA+ with negative outlook (same as NZ). Announcement was made after close of markets. It’s gonna hit the fan on Monday.
Written By: - Date published: 2:26 pm, August 5th, 2011 - 90 comments
About 600 Otago students turned out this morning to meet John Key in protest to the VSM bill. Good to see a strong show of support for student unions!
Written By: - Date published: 7:20 am, August 5th, 2011 - 57 comments
It isn’t often that I find myself in agreement with Garth George. But he’s written a scorching indictment of right-wing greed that feels right at home here on The Standard…
Written By: - Date published: 7:14 am, August 4th, 2011 - 39 comments
Good to see the government considering a move that would significantly boost KiwiSaver uptake – even if it does highlight their ideological inconsistency!
Written By: - Date published: 10:43 pm, August 3rd, 2011 - 34 comments
What does Colin Craig’s new Conservative Party expect to accomplish, other than to siphon off and waste a tiny percentage of right wing vote?
Written By: - Date published: 9:43 am, August 3rd, 2011 - 52 comments
The “free market” exists to make profit. It does have some advantages when everything is running smoothly. But the free market is hopeless in tough times. It never wants to pay out or clean up the mess.
Written By: - Date published: 5:49 pm, August 2nd, 2011 - 129 comments
Key has refused to include the leaders of minor parties in TV3 debates, and Goff has agreed to debate one on one. Another step towards “presidential” style politics that does not serve our country well.
Written By: - Date published: 7:16 am, August 2nd, 2011 - 70 comments
There’s been a lot of coverage of Winston Peters lately. Most of his announcements have been perfectly predictable, but for me there have been two real surprises.
Written By: - Date published: 12:44 pm, August 1st, 2011 - 40 comments
It is one of the failures of our society that far too many young people are politically disengaged or apathetic. Many – but not all! Meet Generation Zero. Please go visit their website, join up, or spread the word…
Written By: - Date published: 9:07 am, August 1st, 2011 - 76 comments
A typical shock horror headline on Stuff in the weekend – “Pre-teens dream of kids and dole”. So what’s going on here, and is it an argument for “welfare reform”?
Written By: - Date published: 7:28 am, July 31st, 2011 - 49 comments
Many other countries have cleared beggars from the streets in advance of big international sporting events. Such a thing would never be needed in New Zealand though. Would it?
Written By: - Date published: 7:51 am, July 30th, 2011 - 167 comments
On paper Labour is doing everything right, but they are not yet getting traction in the polls. Labour needs to get voters’ attention again, and then their trust. So how to “reconnect with the public”? What should Labour be doing differently?
Written By: - Date published: 7:13 am, July 29th, 2011 - 15 comments
Two pieces of news have recently linked Anders Breivik’s Utoya island massacre of members of Young Labour and New Zealand.
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, July 28th, 2011 - 160 comments
Much ado in the commentariat about the latest Farifax poll, another poor result for Labour. But some of these commentators could do to brush up on their history…
Written By: - Date published: 7:13 am, July 27th, 2011 - 180 comments
Making sure that children don’t go hungry is not the responsibility of charity, it is the responsibility of all of us, of society. It is the responsibility of government. The National government is failing.
Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, July 26th, 2011 - 69 comments
Why has the government delayed the second phase of Christchurch’s heating programme for two months? Could the timing be any worse?
Written By: - Date published: 8:08 am, July 25th, 2011 - 71 comments
The tragic events in Norway raise many questions, and there are no easy answers.
Written By: - Date published: 10:21 am, July 24th, 2011 - 34 comments
I think our exploration of space is effectively over. The end of the shuttle programme is the end of that era.
Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, July 23rd, 2011 - 84 comments
Over the last couple of months two potential crises have been unfolding in two very different countries. Greece and America both looked to be in danger of defaulting on their huge debts and triggering a cascade of disastrous consequences. The situation is still unfolding…
Written By: - Date published: 7:25 am, July 22nd, 2011 - 65 comments
What to make of Epsom? I haven’t so far had a strong opinion on the topic, but I’m starting to come down on the side of “if you can’t beat them, join them”.
Written By: - Date published: 8:37 am, July 21st, 2011 - 56 comments
Were a group of Israeli spies operating in Christchurch? The question has emerged as a result of the death or an Israeli national and the events that followed in the aftermath of the February quake. In the name of “national security” we’ll probably never be told the truth.
Written By: - Date published: 7:29 am, July 20th, 2011 - 90 comments
According to a recent report, disadvantaged NZ youth are at the “bottom of OECD league”. The report recommends various interventions in schools. The recommendations completely miss the point, because the problem is not in the schools, the problem is in society.
Written By: - Date published: 8:50 am, July 19th, 2011 - 30 comments
Back in October 2010 the Nats were quick to claim credit for low inflation. No doubt they will be just as quick now to accept the blame for inflation at a 21 year high.
Written By: - Date published: 6:29 am, July 18th, 2011 - 138 comments
The latest ONE News / Colmar Brunton poll is bad for Labour, and not great for the Left. But it isn’t a verdict on Labour’s CGT proposal – the polling period finished before the policy was announced.
Apparently the undecided in this poll was 14%. I wonder why that was missed out of the reporting?
Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, July 17th, 2011 - 74 comments
Local climate change deniers want to organise a debate featuring visiting “celebrity” Christopher Monckton. I’m all for scientific debate of course. But you can’t have such a debate with Monckton, because he’s a serial liar.
Written By: - Date published: 10:40 am, July 16th, 2011 - 47 comments
DPF thinks that comparing Lockwood Smith to a KKK member is “a pretty disgusting smear”. Could this be the same DPF who ran a billboard campaign comparing Labour government politicians to brutal dictators?
Written By: - Date published: 7:54 am, July 16th, 2011 - 30 comments
I’ve been impressed with Labour on both sides of the ditch lately. Here of course Phil Goff’s Labour party has moved very boldly on the CGT. But across the ditch in Oz, Labor leader and PM Julia Gillard is fighting an even tougher battle on carbon pricing. Go Gillard!
Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, July 15th, 2011 - 84 comments
In response to Labour’s tax proposals the Right is trotting out their favourite mindless catch phrase – “the politics of envy”. Should the Left fight fire with fire, and get stuck in to “the politics of greed”?
Written By: - Date published: 7:28 am, July 14th, 2011 - 36 comments
A former chief inspector of coal mines yesterday told the Pike River inquiry that the underlying cause of the disaster was the weakening of mining regulations in the 1990s. Yet another example of the frequent and costly failures of deregulation. RIP the Pike River miners.
Written By: - Date published: 7:06 am, July 13th, 2011 - 98 comments
Key used to get away with spouting whatever kind of nonsense he liked. Not any more. His hysterical scaremongering on the subject of capital gains tax seems to have been a step too far. The teflon is long gone, and Key has cried wolf too often.
Written By: - Date published: 7:23 am, July 12th, 2011 - 50 comments
Police have launched a criminal investigation in to TVNZ’s Sunday piece on Christchurch “looter” Arie Smith. Why?
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