Smash Left populism, get Right populism
That’s Starmer’s achievement, as the local elections show. He always was a muppet puppet; his string-pullers are much more sinister.
Politics
corruption
Should job hiring be fair and transparent?
Honi soit qui mal y pense.
Fast Track law fails at the first big hurdle
Environmental groups have cheered the draft Panel’s decision refusing to allow Taranaki’s continental shelf from being smashed up to extract rare earth minerals. But how will the Government respond?
Is Shane Jones really to blame?
NZ First is openly allegiant to commercial fishers, mining (fossil fuels) and tobacco companies, but is it really their fault?
Iran in the vortex – what’s really going on?
To understand what’s going on in Iran, abandon what the Persians invented centuries ago: Manichaeism, black-and-white, political framing.
The Fast Track law is being made worse
Just over a year ago the Government passed a constitutional abomination of a law and is now trying to make it worse and do this quickly. What is going on?
Foreign Buyers Ban Will Be Lifted Under Urgency
PM Luxon has said he wants the repeal completed by the end of the year
Can we trust Shane Jones?
Using a really shoddy parliamentary procedure Shane Jones has introduced an amendment to a bill that will potentially reduce oil industry liability for clean up costs.
NZ Government is Captured
Winston Peters’ recent “sausage” insults distract From Regulatory Capture in our government. Opinion/analysis by Mountain Tui
Labour loses confidence in the Speaker
Gerry Brownlee has performed linguistic summersaults to conclude that private entities having their pet projects listed for preferential treatment in the Fast Track Approvals Bill do not constitute a private benefit.
A Heavy Day
This short excerpt represents a respite from the US election. Christopher Luxon apologises to Opposition leader Chris Hipkins and more. TPM ask Luxon about using force in boot camps. Plus a quick reminder on what we shouldn’t forget here in NZ either.
Tobacco product investigation is requested and warranted
Welcome news from yesterday was the request to the Auditor General under the Public Audit Act on the arbitrary and unsupported by evidence decisions on tobacco products by the Customs Minister Casey Costello. As the request stated, Labour’s health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall had reached the limits of the information that she could seek using the Official Information Act.
When will Costello be sacked?
Casey Costello’s decision to give Phillip Morris a $216 million tax cut was based on alternative advice that she has received but which she is not disclosing. And Christopher Luxon is comfortable with this.
How can you forget $178,394 in campaign donations?
This is going to take some explaining. The police have decided to take no action against National MP David MacLeod for failing to declare $178,394 in electoral donations. No this is not an Onion headline.
What Happened in the House (Videos)
NZ Parliament sitting where Labour’s Kieran McAnulty implores the Coalition government to stop deceiving Kiwis, and Winston Peters and Louise Upton both get fired up. Meanwhile, Casey Costello still doesn’t know who wrote her tobacco Ministerial papers.
Is Casey Costello Corrupt?
Casey Costello and the Coalition government have already halved tobacco excise at a cost of up to $216mn. Today RNZ reports there remain more questions on who wrote her Ministerial papers begging for tobacco industry benefits.
Mountain Tui: ‘Corruption First’ Strikes Again – Is the National, ACT, and New Zealand Government in tobacco’s pocket?
A track record of deception and pro tobacco industry policies is becoming evident in the Coalition. Casey Costello is at it again, this time quietly halving excise tax for some tobacco products. This is the first time in NZ’s history to have reduced excise on tobacco. We should all ask ‘Why now?’
Mountain Tui: Trump’s shooting reveals a hidden danger for New Zealand too
Trump’s shooting has left the world shocked and bewildered. But what, if anything, does it mean for us here in New Zealand?
Mountain Tui: New Zealand deserves better than marketing
Last week the Coalition Govt said they were doing away with the name “fast-track.” This is a Govt of professional lobbyists so I am not surprised by their attunement to marketing. “Fast-track” became bad for business. The name had to go. They have also weakened regarding fast-track because of opposition.
March for Nature
Be there, bring your whanau, bring friends. Make it noisy and passionate and make it count.
The QE2 covenant, the Mining Company and the donation to NZ First
Radio New Zealand has broken the jaw dropping and astounding story that shows why the Fast Track Projects Bill is potentially so corrupting to the body politic and why there has to be electoral law reform to stop corporations from buying influence.
What is that word that starts with “C” and ends with “orruption”?
The past fortnight has seen a number of breaking stories each of which raises concerns about the motivations and goals of this Government. It makes you wonder whether the pursuit of self interest is an embedded feature as opposed to a bug.
National MP *forgets* to declare $178,000 in donations
In breaking news New Plymouth National MP David MacLeod apparently *forgot* to declare $178,000 in declarations to the Electoral Commission.
This is fine
There is absolutely nothing to worry about if the Fast-track Approvals Bill gets passed into law and Shane Jones gets extraordinary powers to decide on consent applications which normally would be subject to enormous rigour and oversight.
The list
Making a major infrastructure deal happen takes years of planning, exceptionally qualified people on all sides, and in New Zealand it takes about ten years of your life. Until now.
Towards Banana Republic Status
There is a bill before Parliament right now that has the potential of blowing a rather big hole in our reputation as an open and transparent democracy.
Goodbye Gladys
Mike Hosking’s go to female Politician Gladys Berejiklian has resigned in disgrace after the Independent Commission against Corruption announced a formal inquiry into her involvement in preferential grants given to organisations in her former boyfriend’s seat from which it is alleged he attempted to receive a commission.
Everybody gets a pardon
Donald Trump’s final decision as President may be to pardon a number of people. There is speculation that the exercise of the Presidential prerogative of mercy may have a price attached …
Walkergate: MP Quits
Privacy breaching MP Hamish Walker has announced he will step down at the next election. But who else should go?
Update: Muller tries to divert attention by announcing that National still want a 4 lane highway from Chch to Ashburton. Problem solved!
Transmission Gully PPP
I’d agree with what No Right Turn says..
“The entire project looks to be an expensive failure. Rather than transferring risk to the private sector, it turns out to be the usual scam of privatising profits and socialising losses.”
Corrupt US
That’s not a request by the way. This post is a kind of “confessions of a cynic who allowed optimism to creep up and have a hand in thought processes” post.
A Welcome Change Coming.
There’s an increasing number of progressive and conservatives who are rediscovering their moral compass in these, the final days of unfettered liberalism.
To Kill Democracy…
If major Democratic Party donors and ‘big business’ lobbyists wanted to monkeywrench democracy in the US, then here’s how they could go about it.
‘Donations’ or bribes
It has been ironic at our media frenzy on political ‘donations’. I suspect that our legal structure has been setup for bribing politicians with ‘donations’. Let us just make all politicians and donors guilty until proven innocent of false reporting of ‘donations’. It’d be more interesting than the current farce. Start with Simon Bridges – currently still under investigation by the SFO.
Maybe Nancy was right
There is a very good chance that the upcoming impeachment trial of
President Donald Trump will turn into one massive campaign launch –
one which significantly increases his chances of winning a second
term.
Elizabeth Warren on Facebook and the US presidential election
“They’re allowing Trump to spend over $1 million a week right now for ads on their platform—including ones that air the same lies that TV stations won’t.”