Pinch me
A cyclist and Standard reader writes: Pinch me. Maybe I’ll wake up in a world where a cycleway isn’t the government’s flagship idea […]
Politics
national/act government
Stunning
This is just stunning: Mr Key was yesterday questioned about an employment situation where a person was offered a job paying $40,000 a […]
Gustafson on National’s strategy
Not many people know more about the National Party than Barry Gustafson, so I found it interesting to read his take on the […]
Three strikes and you’re garrotted
The Toad’s ‘interview’ with ACT’s David Garrett is so good we had to steal it. Like all good parody, it’s easy to believe […]
More on the Commerce Commission
On Thursday I linked to a piece in the NBR that suggested Simon Power’s appointment of Dr Mark Berry to replace Paula Rebstock […]
Redistributing the wealth
In a speech to the International Fiscal Association Conference today, Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said the Government’s goal over the next 18 months […]
Out of her depth
Paula Bennett’s performance on Morning Report today didn’t just bring home how completely out of her depth she is as a Minister, it […]
Four wheels good, two wheels bad
The Government is taking nearly half a billion dollars out of public transport, cycling, walking, road maintance, and traffic policing to pay for […]
Fox in the henhouse
The National Business Review has an interesting article online that suggests Simon Power’s recommendation of Dr Mark Berry to take over from Paula […]
Key on wages
Key’s speech to the CTU today showed an interesting inight into how he thinks you lift wages. NZPA reports: He said it was […]
National’s cargo cult mentality
Over the weekend I pointed out that National’s plans to review the Overseas Investment Act would lead to even more foreign control of […]
Jonathan Coleman on TVNZ
Jonathan Coleman on TVNZ. Parliament, 10 May 2007. Dr Jonathan Coleman When the Minister says that the Government is committed to the core […]
Starving the beast
Before the election National promised that the public service would be capped, not cut. That promise was betrayed a long time ago, but […]
Espiner on National’s use of the crisis
Sadly, I couldn’t find Colin Espiner’s excellent piece in The Press today online. It’s good. Colin’s thoughtful observations derail the government’s PR spin […]
National’s blitzkrieg
The government’s first hundred days are up and they’ve decided that this signals the start to a multi-pronged political offensive. They are now […]
A fairer 9 day fortnight
National’s 9-day fortnight will save only 2-3% of the jobs that are expected to be lost in the recession. It’s a trifling investment […]
National to increase foreign ownership
Newstalk ZB reports: The Prime Minister is keen to open the door to foreign investors. In a speech to the Act Party conference […]
Campbell on the nine day fortnight
Gordon Campbell’s pretty scathing of Key’s nine day fortnight scheme in his latest article at Scoop, describing the announcement as a sign workers […]
Doubleplusungood II
A leak reveals more words banned by National/ACT : strategy blueprint engagement socialisation collaboration co-ordination We’re destroying words – scores of them, hundreds […]
Friday quiz
Question 1. Which of these are ‘front-line’ staff and which are ‘back office’? a) the extra staff members for National and Maori Party […]
Cutting through the spin on ACC
We’ve heard a lot of panicky comments in the last few weeks about a ‘cost blowout’ at ACC. We’re told there is $22 […]
Daily show vs CNBC
Last week, Jon Stewart poked fun at the media who cheer-led the housing and stockmarket bubbles and are now blaming the people who […]
Experts: National lying over ACC
The wheels are starting to come off National’s PR campaign to undermine ACC as more and more people notice the gap between their […]
Bennett’s lame excuse
Morning Report asked Paula Bennett why the public sector had been cut out of the 9 day fortnight scheme this morning and her […]
Shafted
This is good. Here’s what ACC’s ads might look like once National’s had its way with it: [Hat tip: Clarke in the comments]
Doubleplusungood
Sources tell us that National/ACT government (Nactgov) has ordered more words to be removed from official documents. We already knew they had banned […]
Environment Ministry cut
The National/ACT Government’s axe has fallen on the Environment Ministry today, with staff being flown to Wellington to discover a raft of environmental […]
Fail
So, ‘Crusher’ Collins has failed in her high profile campaign to have Barry Matthews sacked. How embarrassing, what with her staking her entire […]
Stop McCully’s cull of NZAID
The Standard hasn’t commented on what’s happening with NZAID yet, and people can be forgiven for not knowing what’s going on. But chances […]
Gordon Campbell states the obvious
Gordon Campbell has been having fun pointing the finger at Treasury in “How Treasury put us on the hook to finance companies“. Essentially […]
Reminder: Pay Equity Faxathon
Quick reminder – today’s Pay Equity Faxathon Day, your chance to have a go at State Services Minister Tony Ryall for his decision […]
665 jobs lost since Jobs Summit
If you believe the Government’s spin, protecting jobs in this recession is their number one priority. They even held a big fancy Jobs […]
The Jobs Summit as propaganda
So, the ideas suck but the jobs summit was never meant to produce recession-busting ideas. The fact is this was a propaganda stunt. […]
Worrying about the big stuff
In the age of the media politician, where catch-phrases are given more attention than laws and good politics is awarded more points by […]
NRT on National’s ACC antics
I’ve been meaning to write something about National’s attempts to beat up ACC’s costs in order to soften the ground for privatisation (see […]
Govt set to deny low-paid workers basic rights
The National government couldn’t hold off democracy forever, so today we are graced with the first members’ day of the new term. And […]