The Standard

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Maori Party chooses oblivion

Written By: - Date published: 11:15 am, July 11th, 2011 - 18 comments

There were two ways that the Mana vs Maori Party confrontation could have gone.  Cooperation could have been could for both, competition will see both diminished.  Guess which option the Maori party has chosen…

Cheeky darkie Holmes at it again

Written By: - Date published: 9:31 am, July 10th, 2011 - 196 comments

In which racist Paul Holmes parades his prejudices.  Again.

The case for raising super age

Written By: - Date published: 8:22 am, July 9th, 2011 - 69 comments

We are going to have to have this debate some time.  Maybe it will be possible now that Labour has shown how to stare down supposed “electoral suicide”.

Cleaning up Kiwiblog

Written By: - Date published: 3:28 pm, July 8th, 2011 - 43 comments

It’s a tough job, but somebody has got to do it…

An outside view on CGT

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, July 8th, 2011 - 78 comments

Yesterday’s Morning Report interview with Sydney Morning Herald economics correspondent Peter Martin was a real gem.  The picture of capital gains tax that emerges is one of simplicity, fairness, and closing loopholes.  No wonder the Nats hate it.

Owning the agenda

Written By: - Date published: 6:03 am, July 7th, 2011 - 153 comments

Labour have started setting out a bold, fair and plausible policy framework for the election.  Rumours of their tax policy  have generated more interest and excitement than anything the National government has done in the last three wasted years.

$22 Billion minutiae

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 pm, July 6th, 2011 - 131 comments

There can’t be many Kiwis who don’t know about the severity of the leaky homes crisis.  Or can there?  Oh don’t worry, he’s only the PM after all…

lprent: pushed this up the page again now that the program has aired.

Nats block pay equity bill

Written By: - Date published: 2:33 pm, July 6th, 2011 - 11 comments

The Nats are all in favour of pay equity for women.  Or so they say.  But their actions speak louder than their words.

Anti-MMP group white supremacist link

Written By: - Date published: 8:39 am, July 4th, 2011 - 60 comments

A good piece of detective work at TUMEKE! has revealed that a founding member of the anti-MMP group “Vote for Change”, one Alex Fogerty, is a white supremacist.  Labour Party candidate for Dunedin North, David Clark, notes an interesting entry on Fogerty’s friend list…

Frack off

Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, July 3rd, 2011 - 41 comments

Bravo France, the first country in the world to ban fracking.  But for every step forward in this world, we seem to take two steps backwards…

Rebel schools

Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, July 2nd, 2011 - 63 comments

Yesterday was crunch day for schools who oppose the governments national standards, and a surprising number have made a very bold stand.  But according to Tolley: “Look, it’s election year, so anything goes”…

Happy ECE cuts day

Written By: - Date published: 8:35 am, July 1st, 2011 - 17 comments

The quality of children’s ECE care clearly influences their later development, and therefore helps to shape their entire lives.  It’s probably the best investment any country can make, and the Nats are taking us backwards.

Brash jumps the shark

Written By: - Date published: 6:58 pm, June 30th, 2011 - 54 comments

For anyone who had any faint remaining doubt, confirmation that Don Brash has completely lost it.

This is why we have employment law

Written By: - Date published: 7:36 am, June 30th, 2011 - 61 comments

New Zealand Defence Force staff are not covered by employment law.  Hundreds of them are being sacked, so as to get “more work out of fewer people”.  If they’re “lucky” some of those cast aside might get civilian versions of their old jobs back, with huge pay cuts as a sweetener.  Welcome to the epitome of National’s flexible labour market.

Electioneering on the public dime?

Written By: - Date published: 9:50 am, June 29th, 2011 - 48 comments

According to Audrey Young: “National and Act, the parties that kicked up a stink in Opposition about Labour’s taxpayer-funded election advertising, are engaging in their own taxpayer-funded binge this month”…

No future in NZ?

Written By: - Date published: 7:14 am, June 28th, 2011 - 205 comments

John Key was elected promising to stop the exodus to Australia. He has failed.  More and more Kiwis, especially the young, are leaving.  And is it any wonder?

Sexist dinosaur Nats

Written By: - Date published: 7:07 am, June 27th, 2011 - 59 comments

Employers and Manufacturers Association head Alasdair Thompson’s sexist outbursts have drawn near universal condemnation, and are likely to cost him his job.  But while we’re about the business of punishing sexist dinosaurs, we should set our sights a little higher than Thompson.

Mother Nature’s cruel blow?

Written By: - Date published: 11:21 am, June 25th, 2011 - 18 comments

The snows haven’t come and the ski industry is in trouble.  Is it a “cruel blow” from mother nature?

In other news

Written By: - Date published: 8:59 am, June 25th, 2011 - 14 comments

The spotlight was on Christchurch last week, and will be on Te Tai Tokerau over the weekend.  Lots of stories are slipping by under the radar.  But here are a couple of  pieces that deserve further comment.

Christchurch offer roundup

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, June 24th, 2011 - 70 comments

The buy out offer comes as a relief for many (but not all) of the red zone residents.  Twice as many are still in limbo.  The fate of the uninsured will be a major issue.  Is an uninsured resident of Avonside any less deserving of government help than an investor in a dodgy finance company?

Chart ‘o the day: Warming is over

Written By: - Date published: 9:51 am, June 23rd, 2011 - 77 comments

The Christchurch Solution – Part 1

Written By: - Date published: 6:15 am, June 23rd, 2011 - 57 comments

The main details of the government’s plan for the worst affected Christchurch suburbs have been release via TV3.  Partly good, partly bad, partly ugly.  While some families will be relieved and happy, others will be angry, and still more will remain in limbo.  This is only the start of what is going to be a hugely complicated process.

Turia on Te Tai Tokerau

Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, June 22nd, 2011 - 25 comments

Were Tariana Turia’s comments on her own candidate in the Te Tai Tokerau by-election some kind of cunning plan, or just a simple stuff-up?

Dunedin public meeting tomorrow

Written By: - Date published: 9:56 am, June 21st, 2011 - 63 comments

Up to forty jobs are at risk at Dunedin’s Hillside Railway Workshops, because the government would rather send money to China than invest in Kiwi jobs and industry.  It’s crazy.  Come along to the public meeting tomorrow Wednesday at 7pm.

Polls and people

Written By: - Date published: 7:25 am, June 21st, 2011 - 27 comments

The Roy Morgan Polls are all over the place, at the moment, and the latest one has the Left at the bottom of the roller coaster.  In other news, the Readers Digest survey of most trusted individuals, which this year is dominated by scientists!

Squeezing the life out of the economy

Written By: - Date published: 7:13 am, June 20th, 2011 - 41 comments

Are we “roaring out of recession”?  No.  Is there an “aggressive recovery”?  No.  What’s going wrong?  The problem is that the Nats are squeezing the life out of the economy.

Why I love polls

Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, June 19th, 2011 - 12 comments

“Consumer confidence ‘back to normal'”.  “Financial woes keep growing”.  Take your pick.

It’s begun

Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, June 19th, 2011 - 141 comments

Argue with the science if you must, but it’s pretty hard to argue with the world.  The effects of climate change are upon us..

Why blog?

Written By: - Date published: 12:04 pm, June 18th, 2011 - 59 comments

In which r0b ponders why he blogs, and decides to come out.  Very boring and predictable, I promise.