A leopard doesn’t change his spots
There is a very revealing quote from John Banks in the weekend’s Dominion Post where he talks about his campaign strategy: Uptown, Auckland […]
Politics
local government
Closing time for Banks
There is an astounding editorial in today’s business newspaper The Independent (not online) titled Foolish idea spirited away. Commenting on the recent 11pm […]
Banks bullshits on North Shore – shows up Bhatnager as a hypocrite
This week John Banks took his faltering super mayoralty campaign to the Takapuna Rotary Club on Auckland’s North Shore. Banks tried to butter […]
Lhaws: ‘look at me! I crave your attention’
Lhaws puts on his usual prima donna act over the H which is set to leave Whanganui an uninhabitable, post-apocalyptic wasteland: “I have […]
Whanganui
Here’s something to look forward to New Zealand. Another round of that trumped up little egotist stirring racist populism to get himself in […]
Nats attack democracy on two fronts
Again, National has put the House into urgency to slam through unpopular legislation. This time, it’s the Supercity legislation. National whinges that it […]
Those pesky boundaries for Auckland
There are a couple of things that I hadn’t realised about the rather strange changes to the Auckland super-city boundaries. They are just […]
Brash and Banks try to profit off vulnerable
Former National Party leader Dr Don Brash and Auckland Mayor John Banks love making the big bucks. And what better way to do […]
How big is an uprising?
There was an odd little piece in The Herald on Tuesday: Uprising would force Super City changes: PM Prime Minister John Key says […]
Owning Auckland
Last Friday the report of the Select Committee on Auckland was tabled in Parliament. The lack of media attention is a measure of […]
Angry sadsack still at it
Michael Laws: get on with your job and stop prancing around on the media stage. Laws has put out a second (yes, a […]
An angry little sadsack
I know a dude who went to law school. In one of his lecture theatres was this ‘old guy’ who was always whining […]
Why no referendum for Auckland
How come the Government says that the people of Auckland should decide whether they want Maori seats in a referendum after the supercity […]
Rodney and John roger Rodney
Maori seats? Who cares eh? If democratic process is ignored to override the Maori, who cares? But what if it’s some nice Pakeha? […]
If you believe in it, put something on the line
It’s a strange day when you’re praising Tau Henare. But at least he’s standing up for Maori seats, unlike the pathetic display from […]
The smiling snake bites
The Herald editorial is pretty scathing of Key’s Government for rejecting Maori seats on the super-council but I have to take issue with […]
Snake oil
I’m surprised that the Maori Party have rolled over so easily on the issue of Maori seats on the Auckland council. I will […]
Want local democracy? Too bad
Remember when John Key and Rodney Hide were saying that nothing was decided on the super-city, that the select committee would listen […]
Herald calls win for Hide
The Herald has an exclusive claiming that National will go with ACT and reject the Maori Party over the issue of Maori seats […]
Will Key go with Hide or Maori Party?
The issue of Maori seats on the supercity council has inevitably exposed the contradictions inherent in this government. The Maori party wants ’em. […]
Hide would go for principles, Sharples would stay for baubles
Rodney Hide has said that having Maori seats on the Auckland Supercity council would go completely against his party’s principles. So, he would […]
Will Key fold?
Interesting times for Key. Rodney is trying to wag the dog over Maori seats. He’s also trying it on over the “smacking referendum” […]
Will National cave to threats from Hide?
An email leaked to 3News suggests that Rodney Hide is holding the government to ransom over denying guaranteed Supercity representation for Maori. The […]
Not yours to sell
This video from Phil Twyford, Labour’s spokesperson on the campaign to make sure that Rodney Hide is prevented from buggering Auckland by selling […]
Left needs to unite in Supercity race
A UMR poll out yesterday suggests that Len Brown, currently mayor of Manukau, would be the Left candidate with the best chance of winning […]
UMR has Len Brown ahead of Banks
UMR’s just released a poll showing Manukau mayor Len Brown as the preferred mayor of the Auckland Super City, slightly ahead of John […]
Not Yours To Sell
Labour MP Phil Twyford is launching a campaign around his bill to protect Auckland’s community assets. www.notyourstosell.co.nz Phil Twyford’s private members bill, the […]
Private member’s ballot
The Left continues to have luck with the private member’s bill ballot, getting both of the bills drawn today just like a couple […]
‘Supercity’ Select Committee Submissions Workshop
The University of Auckland’s Political Studies Department is hosting a free public workshop presented by Rob Thomas to assist people interested in making submissions to […]
Key’s surprise for Aucklanders
Analysis by Rhema Vaithianathan, which hasn’t itself been critiqued but has seen her subjected to the typical vicious personal attacks from National, shows […]
Watercare – minons of the dictator
Rodney Hide, in his role of Minister for Local Government, has made himself the petty dictator of Auckland’s future. Therefore he is ultimately […]
Fight for Auckland’s local democracy
Red Alert, the Labour MPs’ blog, has a list of upcoming meetings on the supercity. Mt Albert – 5.30pm Tuesday 9 June, Owairaka […]
The Tory nose-dive roundup
I never seen a government crash so quickly, so hard. The Standard was saying before the election that Key was a two-faced facade […]
It’s called sovereignty, stupid!
The Minister of Agriculture David Carter really outdid himself in the house last week. First he completely dodged and didn’t address the question […]
More opposition than ever to supercity
While the mishandling of the Worth scandal grabs all the headlines, the mishandling of the supercity process is still grinding on. And Aucklanders […]
General Election in 2010?
National promised to do a lot of things in their first term such as: Not selling state assets. Keeping WFF and other entitlements […]