Written By: - Date published: 11:43 am, August 15th, 2015 - 12 comments
The Herald is reporting this morning that the TPPA may not actually improve access for New Zealand’s Dairy exports to overseas markets.
Written By: - Date published: 2:53 pm, August 14th, 2015 - 44 comments
Two breaking news stories as Jordan Williams gets in first and sues Colin Craig and Martyn Bradbury is spoken to by police about a blog post advocating civil disobedience.
Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, August 13th, 2015 - 48 comments
Recent analysis of different Governments’ greenhouse gas reduction pledges for the Paris Conference suggests that New Zealand’s is behind that of Windmill hating Tony Abbott’s Australia.
Written By: - Date published: 10:46 am, August 12th, 2015 - 191 comments
Diversion alert. The Government considers that urgency should be given to changing the law to allow more beer to be drunk when the All Blacks are playing during the Rugby World Cup.
Written By: - Date published: 7:57 am, August 12th, 2015 - 96 comments
The war of metaphor requires the continuous repetition of a simple statement in the hope it becomes the accepted truth. Most of the time it works. But with #sheepgate it is starting to unravel.
Written By: - Date published: 4:32 pm, August 10th, 2015 - 43 comments
John Stringer has accused Colin Craig of filing a false electoral return. But even now it looks like the complaint may be doomed to failure.
Written By: - Date published: 10:20 am, August 9th, 2015 - 114 comments
A brief analysis of a number of deals that National has negotiated suggests that its reputation as a supposedly tough dealmaker is misplaced.
Written By: - Date published: 11:12 am, August 8th, 2015 - 19 comments
Amy Adams has congratulated Chris Finlayson’s commitment to equality in Judicial appointments for the first all female Court of Appeal sitting. However each of the Judges had been appointed to the Judiciary by the last Labour Government. And Finlayson’s history of judicial appointments still favours male appointments.
Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, August 7th, 2015 - 62 comments
John Armstrong thinks that National has bested Labour over #sheepgate because Key keeps saying it is all Labour’s fault. And Hosking thinks the payment has a good business case despite the payment having not achieved the result that was being sought,
Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, August 5th, 2015 - 97 comments
The sheepgate papers have been dumped and despite John Key’s claims to the contrary the only evidence of a change in position on live sheep exports is that of the National Government, not the previous Labour Government.
Written By: - Date published: 10:15 am, August 4th, 2015 - 37 comments
There has been some discussion about the reasons why Solid Energy is facing liquidation. A brief review of its history suggests that this Government’s incompetence is a major factor.
Written By: - Date published: 8:06 am, August 2nd, 2015 - 146 comments
John Key has managed to insult an idealistic young woman and Maori at the same time by saying that her suggestion that Maori Language week should be extended was boring.
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, August 1st, 2015 - 197 comments
The police are refusing to even let the Courts rule on whether Cameron Slater and Jason Ede hacked Labour’s server despite there being a serious issue to be considered and despite the need for our justice system to be transparent.
Written By: - Date published: 12:33 pm, July 30th, 2015 - 42 comments
John Key has tried to suggest that we have nothing to worry about planned changes to Pharmac caused by TPP. But a recent further release by Wikileaks on the effects of the Trans Pacific Partnership on State Owned Enterprises makes you wonder if the implications of TPP on Pharmac are as limited as he says.
Written By: - Date published: 3:36 pm, July 29th, 2015 - 138 comments
Colin Craig is suing Cameron Slater and Jordan Williams in defamation.
Updated with booklet.
Written By: - Date published: 9:28 am, July 29th, 2015 - 88 comments
Winston Peters was thrown out of Parliament yesterday and New Zealand First MPs walked out in sympathy for raising points of order following a personal explanation from Anne Tolley where she corrected an answer to a parliamentary question that was clearly wrong.
Written By: - Date published: 11:48 am, July 28th, 2015 - 70 comments
The Chinese Stock market sell off has started again a couple of weeks after rather desperate measure were put in place. The question has to be what will the Government do now?
Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, July 27th, 2015 - 79 comments
It appears that the Government has a radical proposal to undermine democratic participation in our Health Boards. Although the Minister claims not to know about it.
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, July 26th, 2015 - 43 comments
This was the week from hell for National when they experienced the Serco fiasco, news that they responded to a suggestion they close a failing Charter School by giving it more money, the Judicial spanking of their undermining of the Problem Gambling Foundation and the ruling that their legislation removing the rights of some prisoners to vote was a breach of the country’s human rights.
Written By: - Date published: 1:33 pm, July 24th, 2015 - 33 comments
The Friday afternoon bad news dump is on with news that Education Minister was recommended to close a poorly performing charter school. She has elected not to do so and to instead give the school extra money.
Written By: - Date published: 7:23 am, July 24th, 2015 - 180 comments
Andrew Little has outlined five bottom lines that have to be met before Labour will support the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement. These include protecting Pharmac, no investor state dispute resolution procedure, New Zealand retains the right to restrict land sales to overseas entities, the Treaty of Waitangi is upheld and there are meaningful gains for farmers in tariff reductions and market access.
Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, July 23rd, 2015 - 69 comments
Nick Evans was alleged to have been dropped from a height while being supervised in a Serco run prison. He was transferred to another prison and shortly after this died from injuries apparently inflicted from the dropping. Yet there is no police investigation and Minister in charge Lotu-Iiga says the allegations are “unproven” without making the most basic of inquiries.
Written By: - Date published: 8:16 am, July 22nd, 2015 - 49 comments
With support from Labour, the Greens and the Maori Party NZ First is promoting the Fighting Foreign Corporate Control Bill. The support of one more MP will be sufficient to sent the Bill to select committee for consideration.
Written By: - Date published: 12:19 pm, July 21st, 2015 - 10 comments
Treasure has indicated that the sell off of State housing should occur in minimum lots of a hundred houses. Only large wealthy organisations need apply and claims that the sale was about the building of capacity amongst local social service providers cannot be reconciled with this.
Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, July 21st, 2015 - 41 comments
For entertainment purposes we could do no better than having Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for the US presidential election.
Written By: - Date published: 12:09 pm, July 19th, 2015 - 18 comments
In Mhairi Black’s maiden speech she talked about signpost politicians whose principles are clear and weathercock politicians whose principles shift with the breeze.
Written By: - Date published: 10:23 am, July 18th, 2015 - 139 comments
Jack Tame on Newstalk ZB has recently brought refreshingly realistic commentary on climate change. Meanwhile in the Herald climate change is thought to be a good thing because summers become warmer.
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, July 17th, 2015 - 36 comments
What can be done to reduce Auckland’s residential rates take to make Auckland City a fairer, more sustainable and more affordable city?
Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, July 15th, 2015 - 301 comments
Although the issue, the unfettered flow of overseas money into Auckland’s housing market, is important Labour’s current handling of this issue is not optimal and needs to be reconsidered.
Written By: - Date published: 10:08 am, July 14th, 2015 - 137 comments
Twitter has responded to the savage terms of the deal that Greece has signed with other EU countries by the mass use of the hashtag #ThisIsACoup.
Written By: - Date published: 11:08 am, July 12th, 2015 - 177 comments
Phil Twyford’s recent announcement on Auckland’s housing crisis raises important issues concerning the inflow of overseas capital into our housing market. But should it have depersonalised the argument?
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