90 axed at TVNZ
In what’s turning out to be the gift that just keeps on giving for National, the Recession Bogeyman is now being blamed for […]
Politics
assets
National to increase foreign ownership
Newstalk ZB reports: The Prime Minister is keen to open the door to foreign investors. In a speech to the Act Party conference […]
See no evil
I’ve been meaning to write something about the private prisons bill for a couple of days as it’s a recipe for barbarity. But […]
Cutting through the spin on ACC
We’ve heard a lot of panicky comments in the last few weeks about a ‘cost blowout’ at ACC. We’re told there is $22 […]
Experts: National lying over ACC
The wheels are starting to come off National’s PR campaign to undermine ACC as more and more people notice the gap between their […]
Sensible Sentencing Trust and GEO Group, a deafening silence
Yesterday Tane did an excellent post speculating on links between the Sensible Sentencing Trust and GEO Group. GEO Group derived from the notorious […]
Shafted
This is good. Here’s what ACC’s ads might look like once National’s had its way with it: [Hat tip: Clarke in the comments]
What they’re hiding
Interesting to see that the new ACC board chairman, John Judge, is an alumnus/affiliate member of the Business Roundtable. That’s the same Business […]
Private prisons and the ‘tough on crime’ lobby
One of the features of a privatised prison system is the potential for corruption of the political process by the commercial interests of […]
Centrist? Bullshit.
The Herald has the scoop that National is looking to privatise New Zealand’s prison system. Add David Garrett’s savage three strikes law and […]
NRT on National’s ACC antics
I’ve been meaning to write something about National’s attempts to beat up ACC’s costs in order to soften the ground for privatisation (see […]
Sold out
According to the Dom Post Judith Collins is preparing legislation to reintroduce private prisons into New Zealand’s corrections system. The arguments against privatisation […]
Left to the market
Two Pennsylvania Judges have been accused of taking bribes from private prison operators to ensure a reliable stream of prisoners. To quote Associated […]
The final cut
Merry Christmas from National
National’s decides to hit workers in the pocket: ACC Minister Nick Smith yesterday said levies would increase from $1.40 to $1.70 for every […]
Laying the foundations
Let’s not fool ourselves that what we’ve seen from National over the last 24 hours on to the shortfall in the ACC non-earners […]
A smoke-screen for the privatisation brigade
Now that didn’t take long. Well rehearsed from the 1990s, National has already started using the privileged position of government to conjure up […]
Prisons for profit
National’s announcement that it plans to privatise the prison system says a lot about the party’s underlying values. Say what you like about […]
Trickle-down
A few thoughts from today’s Agenda: Questioned about why National would introduce another tax rebate, having endlessly criticised Working for Families because of […]
Wait, what’s working?
ENGLISH: So we’re sitting here saying the punters are keen to keep it. They’re facing a recession. The last thing we want is […]
Sensitive about security
National activist/advisor Matthew Hooton on Nine to Noon: ‘the National Party leadership group is very sensitive about security. They look at the last […]
3 more points on the secret agenda tapes
1) A secret agenda is not something that people talk about in public or when they know the information will get to the […]
08wire on Nats’ Kiwibank secret agenda
08wire.org, your videos make me smile.
Did Lockwood mis-speak too?
It has been revealed that Bill English isn’t the only senior Nat who has been discussing a secret agenda behind closed doors. On […]
Sarcophagus
After a stunning attack on John Key last night, Bill English is now reverting to more standard National techniques for handling ‘accidental frankness’. […]
Meltdown
The English tape has exploded into a massive scandal. You’ll be familiar with the content of the recording: – English mocks voters as […]
Behind closed doors
The scandal over Bill English’s comments at the National Party conference has not only overshadowed Key’s purposely vague conference announcements, it has derailed […]
The War on P
National Party strategist and Dominion Post columnist Richard Long declared war on “P” today. The “P’” word that is. Privatisation. Labour and the […]
Kiwis love their rail
A poll on TV1 shows that Kiwis overwhelmingly support the Government move to bring rail back into public ownership. Despite a question that […]
Buying trains gets noticed in Britain
The buy back of rail has been put in a British context in this article from the Guardian. Here are some excerpts: “New […]
Taumarunui no longer on Main-trunk line, had Key had his way
A day into the renewed public ownership of our railway system and it has emerged that not only did John Key help sell […]
Merrill Lynch: Nats will privatise ACC
It’s refreshing to see some proper investigative journalism in this morning’s Dominion Post, with a revelation from Vernon Small that while National continues […]
What’s National’s real assets policy?
Isn’t this the one issue where we truly know what National will do? Didn’t John Key say ‘there will be no asset sales […]
Mythbusting: ‘Book value’ & ‘over the odds’
In an attempt to find a non-ideological ground to justify opposing the Government’s buyback of the rail system, John Key and others have […]
It’s alright when he does it
A reader sent us this letter to the Herald’s editor, which the Herald has refused to print. When the government moved to block […]
Prebble out of step with Mainfreight board
This morning on Breakfast Prebble called the government buy-back of trains and ferries “loony”. What’s alarming is that Prebble is on Mainfreight’s board […]