What a balls-up
Competent government’s a bit like oil in your car’s engine. It’s easy to take it for granted – until it’s not there. Look […]
Politics
national/act government
March against ACC cuts
From October 27th, survivors of sexual violence will only be eligible for ACC funded counselling if they are first diagnosed with a mental […]
National’s subsidies for polluters to cost $73 billion
A newly released government paper shows that by 2050 government debt will be $54-$73 billion higher than it otherwise would be due to […]
Fool me once…
They say pattern recognition is a vital part of healthy cognitive function. I wonder it Sharples sees this one: Every time an issue […]
Beyond parody
I was joking when I said all we need now is for Sharples to up the ante in the government vs government bidding […]
Beyond belief
So, let me get this straight. Pita Sharples, treating his ministry’s budget like a personal slush fund, decided that TPK would give Maori […]
We still pay, ACC or no ACC
Labour’s David Parker has been a bit slow reacting to National’s latest attack on ACC but now he’s in play he has a […]
Lee’s fingers in the till covered up by Coleman
A leak has revealed that Melissa Lee is under investigation for pilfering taxpayers’ money. Before the Mt Albert by-election she was cleared of a […]
Nick pulls a Bill
Nick Smith has taken a leaf out of the Double Dipton school of politics, calling journalists and swearing at them when the coverage […]
Put away the champagne, Paula
Paula Bennett: “The number of people needing an Unemployment Benefit has slowed significantly over the last month, says the Minister for Social Development […]
The walking dead
Fran O’Sullivan has laid out the business elite’s preferred successors to Bill English: At this stage English is not mortally wounded. But his […]
Corruption must never be tolerated
I have to disagree with my comrade Zetetic’s post arguing that it’s best if Bill English stays in office. Yes, this scandal has […]
Crime leaps along with unemployment
The Police statistics out today show the crime rate continues to follow the unemployment rate. With unemployment on the rise, so is crime. […]
The Cindy effect
National in opposition irresponsibly fanned the flames of all kinds of unrest, from the divisive Iwi / Kiwi campaign, to the nanny state […]
Carter, do your job
One area where I agree with Fran O’Sullivan is the dairy industry. Today she covers the Crafars: CraFarms’ bankers should do the decent […]
McGovernment
This increasingly ramshackle government continues to astound. They’ve basically done nothing in a year when the country has been dealing with the worst […]
The miracle of the fishes
First they increase the number of endangered Hooker Sea Lions that can be killed as bycatch, then they voted down legislation to protect […]
Who would replace Bill?
There’s a grim irony to Bill English’s career. Despite being regarded as competent and having a Cullen-like role as the heavy-lifter in this […]
Power’s electoral finance reform proposals out
Justice Minister Simon Power has released the Government’s proposals for reform of electoral finance law. Remember, Labour’s reforms of electoral finance law were […]
Pay freeze would cause long-term damage
While filling his own pockets with our money, Bill ‘Double Dipton’ English is threatening public sevants with a five-year pay freeze – with […]
Nats to subsidise big polluters by $2 billion a year
Last night, non-government parties finally got a peak at the new emissions trading bill. Nick Smith still didn’t have it finished, it was […]
John and Bill cost us $7 million in two months
You’ll remember that in the Budget National decided to suspend payments to the Cullen Fund, which is designed to help fund the future […]
Double standards for Double Dipton?
Our readers pointed out some interesting quotes in yesterday’s thread on Bill English’s attempt to bully journalists into silence over his housing allowance rort. […]
Nats’ ETS a polluters’ charter
Rod Oram, as usual, has set the standard in commentary with his piece on the National-Maori Party ETS. The full article is here […]
Breaking English
Bill English is not holding up well to the persistent questions put to him in Parliament about shuffling around his financial appearance to […]
Contempt for democracy
Gerry Brownlee in Question Time yesterday. He’s asked a question, just sits there and refuses to answer. Doesn’t even open his mouth, just […]
Lockout at Bridgeman Concrete
Last week I wrote: We’re seeing a new pattern in work relations emerging. The big employers, emboldened by having their party in power […]
Kaupapa for sale
A few important passages from the special select committee report on the Emissions Trading Scheme: In the long term, price caps stand in […]
Says it all
From the firefighters’ protest against John Key’s pay freeze: Really highlights the double standard in a government that tolerates Bill English’s rorts then […]
No good faith from Nats
Finance Minister Bill English has told doctors, teachers, and other public servants that they will not be getting pay-raises when their collective contracts […]
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 […]
Fran lets the plan slip
Fran O’Sullivan has rather given the game away on the MMP referendum. Frog has explained it so well, I can’t do better than […]
Abuse of process
National put Parliament back into urgency yesterday. It is ramming through the extension to the retail deposit guarantee, the RMA amendments, changes to […]
Look what I found
Does anyone really believe a Treasury official just happened to accidentally drop a notebook full of secrets on The Terrace then one of […]
Key’s lies on housing rort exposed
As I alluded to yesterday, the claims from John Key that he has slashed hundreds of thousands of dollars from the cost of […]
Who is Kate Wilkinson taking aim at?
By John Ryall, SFWU National Secretary While The Standard readers know that the air traffic controllers were the excuse that Kate Wilkinson used […]