Played like a fiddle
Yesterday, when the inquiry came back on whether the shortfall in ACC funding should have been disclosed in the PREFU, Bill English quickly […]
Politics
national/act government
What is to be done?
Kudos to the Maori Party’s Rahui Katene for using her position to highlight the situation at Sealord in Parliament today. But it’s Paula […]
Key writes off Sealord jobs
Despite making sound profits Sealord are laying off 180 workers in Nelson. They claim the move is part of restructuring and that there […]
National’s real rolling maul
You know what we haven’t heard Key talk about in a long time? Closing the wage gap with Australia. Now he’s in power, is […]
What it’s about
One of the most disappointing things about the debate over National’s fire at will law is how little its supporters understand the basic […]
You’ve got to know to understand (and be able to talk about it)
In the greatest economic crisis in a lifetime, we remain the only country in the world whose government has done nothing to try […]
It’s raining men
A reader just sent us this one minute montage of photos from John Key’s jobs summit. Enjoy.
Airbrushing at will
Via Farrar’s site I’ve come across this a lovely piece of Government spin. It’s a PDF document checking off everything National’s done in […]
Judith Collins – nascent Minister of Embarrassment?
Should have seen it coming Judith Collins has been vying politically with Rodney Hide to become the NACT’s Minister of Embarrassment (and Comedy). […]
Standing up for landlordism
So, National has decided to scrap a raft of tenant protections proposed by the last Labour Government and tilt the deck back in […]
Tories bulldoze human rights, your rights
The Attorney-General, National’s Chris Finalyson, has declared that the ‘3 strikes and you’re out’ Bill that National/ACT (and Finlayson himself) are about to vote […]
Nat Minister unhappy, leaks Key email
Well, that didn’t take long. In the first 100 days of the new National government we’ve seen a clamp-down on workers’ rights, tax […]
Ryall sacks DHB Chair
Health Minister Tony Ryall’s decision to sack Richard Thompson as Chairman of the Otago District Health Board on the grounds of historical fraud […]
So much for democracy
The Greens have released advice from the Ministry of Justice confirming that the Government’s rushed RMA changes will prevent legitimate cases going to […]
“We are all socialists now”
“We are all socialists now”, or so says the cover of the latest Newsweek. And to be fair, you’ve got to start wondering […]
Boots and all
Tracey Watkins reports that National has announced details of its Boot Camps policy: “The military-style camp programme would target the 40 most serious […]
Sold out
According to the Dom Post Judith Collins is preparing legislation to reintroduce private prisons into New Zealand’s corrections system. The arguments against privatisation […]
Sugar rush
John Key and Tracey Watkins have both (completely by coincidence) said we must avoid responding to the recession with a ‘sugar rush’ of […]
What we should be doing
As IrishBill has said, National’s so-called ‘kick-start’ is pretty underwhelming – bringing forward a few more roads and a bigger bridge so that […]
Minimum wage rise a small but important victory for the Left
Great, through concerted pressure the Left managed to force a 9-cent an hour real increase in the minimum wage from National/ACT. A 9 cent an […]
On the minimum wage referendum
The Unite Union has reacted to the Government’s miserly adjustment to the minimum wage by initiating a referendum on tying the minimum wage […]
More than words
I see the Maori Party has come out saying the increase in the minimum wage to $12.50 an hour isn’t enough, and that […]
Control group
I’ve got to admit there are days I wonder whether the National Party really have swung leftward. I mean I know they are […]
Labour calls for $13 minimum wage
Phil Goff has come out strongly in anticipation of today’s minimum wage announcement from the Government with a call for an immediate increase […]
Who cares if it’s just PR?
There is a rumour in the Dom Post and the Herald that the minimum wage will be announced today and the Nats are […]
Govt to sell your kids junk food
Education Minister Anne Tolley has just put out a press release announcing the following: ‘As part of the National Government’s commitment to reducing […]
Clown incites lawbreaking.
Clown Rodney Hide is the Minister of Local Government. He is also the lead clown of the long-time opposition circus that is the […]
Better than nothing
I’ve just had a read of John Key’s speech today announcing measures to help small and medium businesses through the recession. And my […]
Does that make sense?
I know when I write a post that if two statements in the post seem to disagree someone will quickly point out the […]
Does raising the minimum wage really hurt employment?
National’s excuse for illegally* failing to complete the annual review of the minimum wage is that it wants to ensure any increase doesn’t […]
Splits and divisions on minimum wage
So Cabinet has deferred its decision on the minimum with John Key simply promising “it won’t be very far away at all”. Now […]
No room for Roger
Roger Kerr from the Business Roundtable is full of advice for the Government’s upcoming jobs summit in today’s Dom Post. Which is unfortunate […]
Nick Smith stays mum
The Sunday-Star Times has an article on National’s proposed RMA changes. Unfortunately, it’s just Nick Smith describing the changes. And, surprise, he doesn’t mention […]
The Standard wager
Today, Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson will be presenting a paper to her Cabinet colleagues regarding the minimum wage. The Department of Labour recommended […]
A key birdshit shortage
Our economy depends on other key resources apart from oil. For instance our farming sector still depends heavily on using phosphates to increase […]
Thank God somebody’s awake at Granny Herald
Surprise, surprise, it’s Garth George. “The economic situation is without a doubt the most urgent of predicaments to be dealt with, but so […]