Hollow politics at work
Brand Key on Waatea news: “A National government will be a lot more demanding about educational standards, a lot more demanding about under-performance […]
Steve Pierson
Nat response to C/T scandal right from C/T playbook
There’s a standard formula that Crosby/Textor has its clients use when damaging information comes out. a) refuse to engage. The most senior public […]
The cost of Crosby/Textor
So Crosby/Textor has been designing Brand Key from Day 1, isn’t this just what every party does? No, it isn’t – Crosby/Textor uses […]
Bait and switch
It strikes me there is a disconnect between what prospective National voters expect it to do in government and what it has actually promised it […]
March GDP figures
As expected, the economy contracted 0.3% in the March quarter. The drought brought activity in the agricultural sector down after a recent strong […]
Roy puts Police informants at risk
ACT is turning to increasingly desperate attempts to win media attention. Raising Roger Douglas from the dead didn’t work (he only got 6 […]
Standard Week: 20-27 June 2008
Three events this week epitomised the benefits of nine years of centre-left government: the continuing fall in benefit numbers, the Government’s moves to […]
Same thing?
In an attempt to cover for John Key’s ignorance of New Zealand history, National’s Gerry Brownlee has pulled out a quote from Michael […]
Key denies Land Wars
Mr Key on NewstalkZB: “We’re not a country that’s come about as a result of civil war or where there’s been a lot […]
Ministry advised against concurrent referendum/election
In line with Ministry of Justice advice, the Government has decided not to hold the child discipline referendum at the same time as […]
Calls for Police State ultimate admission of failure
Michael Laws has called for ‘draconian, central measures’ to fight gangs; he wants the army called out. He wants military force let loose […]
Johnny Key and the magic $500 million
Whenever John Key is asked to explain how he will fund some new spending or his still secret tax cuts, he says ‘we’ll […]
Lost highway
Petrol is over $2.10 a litre. The price will keep rising both with the ever upward march of the price of crude and […]
Helen, stop critiquing polls
Everyone in the know is aware that Colmar Brunton is the worst polling company in New Zealand and constantly over-rates National. We also […]
Free Zimbabwe
There is no longer any hope the union-led Movement for Democratic Change can remove Mugabe from power peacefully. Now, his thugs are killing […]
Bill to protect workers from labour-hire vultures
Labour, with the support of New Zealand First, has developed a bill based on Darien Fenton’s private members’ bill that will ensure tens […]
ToryAid: Wastewatch (3)
In response to the UMR poll that shows 60% of voters would not want tax cuts at the expense of public services, Bill […]
You call that policy? This is policy
National has released a brochure, laying out all its policies. They take up two A4 pages of double-spaced bullet points. That’s incredibly lightweight. […]
The grass isn’t greener across the ditch
The cornerstone of National’s ‘New Zealand sucks’ campaign is that Australia is much better (and we have to lower taxes and slash work […]
National breaking promises already
As you know, National promised to cap core public servant numbers at 36,000. That was going to deliver each of us a whopping 50 […]
Contrast
National has been going on about the number of comms staff at the Ministry of Social Development. Rather than ask ‘what do these […]
More bluster, still no policies
Every month, Stats releases migration figures. Each month, they show little change in the pattern from last month. And each month, National comes […]
The headline you didn’t see
‘Unemployment benefits at record low.’ The number of people receiving the unemployment benefit has fallen to just 17,465. That’s the lowest number since […]
The Standard Week – 13-20 June
Both major parties show-boated over getting tough on crime this week. The only difference being Labour actually had policy; National, just slogans. We generally steer […]
The definition of irony
When a band who sued after their work was famously plagiarised by a certain leader of the National Party is themselves sued for […]
ToryAid: Wastewatch (2)
Here’s the waste National has identified so far: 1) Embassy in Sweden – approx $3 million capital, $3 million operating 2) Badges about […]
Act now to protect workers’ wages
Times are going to get harder for workers in the next few years. Unemployment is set […]
EFA lets voters know who bankrolls parties
National has announced that John Key donated $30,000 to the party this month. That’s all well and good; Helen Clark donates a similar […]
Key promises productivity magic
Key reckons he could bring down inflation by targeting ‘low quality’ government spending. How? To counter inflation, you need to increase productivity. Inflation […]
Slippery John’s “after-tax incomes” line
You’ll have noticed that Key only ever talks about increasing ‘after-tax incomes’. Even when he’s asked about wages for government employees, like doctors, […]
Drinking Liberally email for the next event
“Hi all, Ok, we’re going to try to lock in a regular Drinking Liberally schedule now: first and third Thursdays of each month. […]
Not funny
Kiwiblog now has a cartoonist and it’s simply disgusting stuff. I’m not going to post the cartoon because I don’t want the image […]
Petrol price hits parties in the polls
A reader sent us this graph. It plots President Bush’s approval rating and the price of petrol. (the price of petrol is upside-down, […]
Facing up to peak oil
The Government’s independent report on petrol prices is bit of a sop to be the public, really. The world oil price is driving […]
Kremlinology: National on ACC
In most countries, accident insurance is big business. Insurers and lawyers make billions off premiums, claims, and court cases but many people don’t […]
Key’s slippery promises on waste
National has staked it all on delivering bigger tax cuts than Labour. To remain credible, they need to deliver $20 a week on […]