The Sustainability Council has reported that passing the TPPA may result in corporate claims for compensation against sovereign states that adopt policies to address climate change. And details how references to climate change were washed out of the text of the TPPA during the negotiation process.
Labour Leader Andrew Little has announced that the next Labour led Government will defy the TPPA’s attack on our sovereignty. Good on Labour – that’s the leadership we need.
Justice Clifford’s decision that the police raid of Nicky Hager’s home was illegal raises serious questions about what political pressure was applied on the police.
At the heart of the project is the tension between national interests and individual rights. Questions about how to balance these interests are not new, but they have been brought into sharp focus by recent international events.
About time the Police got around to becoming a “very evidence based” service. Building great relationships with academia is a sensible way to start.
National has passed legislation with retrospective effect under urgency to change previous legislation also passed under urgency so that the law says what it thinks the law should have said, despite the existing law being abundantly clear.
Spinoff has the story.
The Herald has withdrawn a story that reported on Government pressure on the ERO to rewrite a report after what appears to be pressure from the Government to do so.
Scoop has released a second collection of documents from the Hager v Attorney General case. Among them is comment by a former Police Commissioner expressing surprise at the amount of resources put into the case and the involvement of a senior member of the Police Executive.
Saturday November 14 is a national day of action against the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement. Details of all protests are set out in the post.
Looks like National is planning to take over the Environmental Protection Agency.
Anarchism, past and present.
This is going to end well…
I/S at No Right Turn writes on the continued suspension of democracy in Canterbury.
The High Court has upheld Jane Kelsey’s application for a declaration that the Government and Tim Groser improperly considered her application for information concerning the TPPA negotiations.
So, its is not that the voters are idiots, as some suggest the Left are claiming, it is that the Right deliberately lie and mislead to get a vote, on false pretenses. It is the Right who constantly treats voters as gullible idiots, And a media, strangled by shrinking budgets and reduced personnel with less and less time to research rather than regurgitate. Couple that with an increase in non-journalists hogging the space set aside for reporting and elucidating news events… what chance the voter?
Josie Pagani yesterday chose as a left wing commentator to condemn Jeremy Corbyn’s politics as being based on narcissism where hard decisions never need to be made, and the unpopularity of a policy was evidence not of its failure but of its virtue. She should have analysed his history before making these claims. And in the interests of balance the media really needs to choose left wing commentators who will proudly stand up and support progressive ideals rather than repeat right wing attack lines.
A very interesting post in The Herald yesterday by Grant McLachlan (former Parliamentary researcher and a Nat campaign director) detailing National’s well resourced and well organised spin machine.
National are trying to evade even the simplest questions on the TPP – because the truth is profoundly undemocratic. As usual Groser and Key turn to insults instead of engaging with people’s legitimate concerns.
Shane Reti lied about the process of ratifying the TPP. In a Press Release to the Northern Advocate, Reti states “. . . the agreement comes before parliament and opposition parties and select committees for debate and modifications . . .”
Most of the allegations against Assange have been dropped but Swedish authorities still refuse to question him in London. And Assange still hasn’t been charged with a single crime.
Talleys has de-recognised the Meat Workers Union and refused to bargain with them. They have told the workers to set up a new, yellow union. Or else. Brighter Future? Not under National. This is what the recent changes in employment law were intended to achieve. It’s union busting in a brutal, thuggish form.
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.
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.
The High Court has ruled that a law passed by National in 2010 is a violation of the Bill of Rights Act. This is a first for NZ, and another “proud” item to add to National’s legacy.
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.
Nicky Hager’s case against the Police is being heard in the Wellington High Court today. Jon Stephenson is live blogging (slightly delayed) proceedings and will tweet developments to #HagerCase.
I/S at No Right Turn on the continued suspension of democracy in Canterbury, and the Nats’ dump of their proposed “transition plan” under cover of the ABvSamoa game yesterday.
Twenty eight legal academics have written an open letter to Murray McCully expressing their concern at the worsening rule of law situation in Nauru.
The cyber bullying legislation is a cynical piece of law which allows National to claim that it has left dirty politics behind.
A respectful open letter to Andrew Little with suggestions for how to win the next election!
Rachel Stewart’s piece should be required reading for anyone who cares about New Zealand.
John Banks has been acquitted of electoral fraud and his re-trial has been abandoned. Kim Dotcom has once again failed to follow through. Banks vs Goff in next year’s mayoralty race?
Giovanni Tiso has discovered that Cactus Kate’s blog is slowly disappearing from the Internet.
From the I kid you not files Mike Hosking believes that Auckland Council is to blame for the housing crisis, not immigration, not favourable tax conditions for landlords, not the global financial crisis and not the lack of restrictions on home ownership. And he believes that Nick Smith should step in and Roll Auckland Council.
