Nats’ backers tire of do-nothing Key
Reading Fran O’Sullivan is always interesting because she provides an insight into the thinking of the business elite who fund National, and who expect it […]
Politics
national/act government
Lockwood threatens the press
Lockwood Smith seems to be losing the plot. He’s now issuing open threats to the Press Gallery of all things: Parliament’s Speaker, Lockwood […]
Why was Worth fired?
The Police have announced they will not be laying any charges against Richard Worth over the incident involving him and a Korean woman […]
Shame on you
Never in the history of New Zealand politics has so much taxpayers’ money been hurled into the chasm with such contempt for the […]
Brash report tipped to be toxic
Jenni McManus reports in The Independent [offline]: The first report from the 2025 Taskforce is due on Monday and the word is its […]
Rolling maul of disasters
In case you’re just waking up to it, this government is a disaster zone. If it’s not one or the other of the […]
Armstrong on Calamity Nick
Wrapped in a bit of fluff, John Armstrong has some pretty damning things to say about Nick Smith today: He can be headstrong. […]
Employers ripping off job ops money
National has only come up with one employment policy to counter the recession. No, not the cycleway – ‘job ops‘. It works like […]
Lunch time quiz
1) National MP Paul Quinn is under investigation for breaching the State Services Act and the neutrality of the public service by holding […]
It’s not spin, the govt told me
The Dompost reports: “The number of places available on a programme to get young people off the dole will be increased after the […]
Harawira and Katene to cross the floor?
National wants to get its shambolic ETS through the House this week. It’s not quite clear what the hurry is; there’s no actual […]
Lunch time quiz
1) What the hell is John Key trying to say here? “Maori are not getting special preference, if you go back to those […]
It’s the seasons, stupid
Over the last week or so, I’ve heard John Key, Bill English, and Paula Bennett all make self-congratulatory references to the number of people […]
A whole lotta nothing
In a speech to National Party members yesterday John Key read out a list of everything the government has done in the last […]
NZ should follow Norway’s example on oil
National has released its petroleum strategy. It appears they plan to further lower our already low royalties to encourage foreign oil companies to […]
Bikoi
Just got away from the bikoi at Parliament. What a sight. At least 6,000 people they reckon. The lawn and half the forecourt […]
Urgent action needed on job creation
We’ve talked a lot about the negative effects of unemployment on the unemployed and their communities (depression, crime, family breakup, poor health, poor […]
Light at the end of the tunnel
We’ve been in the tunnel of love too long. (You youngsters can go look it up.) The media’s affair with our personable but apparently […]
Failures of leadership: English, Hide, and Harawira
I know this point/counterpoint series of posts on Hone Harawira maybe getting a bit tiresome but I have to disagree with the assertion […]
Greens greenwashing for anti-environment govt
The Greens have announced the collapse of the cornerstone of their Memorandum of Understanding with National. With Gerry Brownlee as Minister for Energy, National […]
Stupid stupid stupid
Our government is stupid. Sorry, it’s the only conclusion I can draw. Our government is made up of confused, muddled thinkers incapable of […]
The resistance
A very well-produced youtube vid on National’s distortions over ACC The clever thing National has done is set up ACC as the agent […]
And the winner is…
There were only really two ministers in the race for the first Grabby. Rodney Hide betrayed his own supposed principles by using his […]
Politicisation of ACC continues
Frogblog has another example of the continuing politicisation of the public service under National. I meant to post on this a while back, […]
Rules don’t apply to Key’s ministers
Another day, another minister breaking the rules. On the Dental Artistry website, Rodney Hide has written: ‘Thanks for the fantastic job! I was […]
To [insert region here] or not [insert region here]
Looks like Nicky Wagner’s having the same trouble* as Jackie Blue: …the National-led Government is committed to helping more children take part in organised […]
The Grabbies
Introducing ‘The Grabbies’, the prize for the minister who tops the field in corruption and/or abuse of taxpayer dollars. So, who win the […]
Half Key’s Cabinet at the trough
The Dompost reveals that more ministers have been using their MP’s privilege to work around the standard John Key claimed to have set […]
Hide repays, what about the others?
Earlier this year, John Key stated: “I’ve told [my ministers] if they want to take their partner, they can do it, but they pay for […]
Hide slammed for telling the truth on Key
Some pretty damning pieces on on Hide today from John Armstrong, Tracy Watkins, and Fran O’Sullivan. They compare him to Winston Peters and […]
Hone to leave Maori Party?
The Dom Post reports that Hone Harawira is considering leaving the Maori Party. Hone told the Dom this before Hone’s offensive email hit […]
Unbridled power
The government and the Police are spinning all the new security measures as a national security matter and a crack-down ONLY on the […]
OIA docs confirm English wrote propaganda ad script
Documents that the government was forced to release under the Official Information Act reveal that Bill English exercised extensive control and sign-off over […]
Government MPs’ travel woes
Not content with living in a fantasy world, Rodney Hide had to spend taxpayer money to visit Disney World as well. OK, actually […]
Over-promise, under-deliver
If there’s been a motto of this government, it’s the one above. We’ve been promised the world – tax cuts, better public services, […]
Herald scathing of Tolley
The Herald was just about as damning as they get of National on Tuesday, with Claire Trevett’s piece on Anne Tolley. Of course, […]