Posts on government and governence at national and local level, political parties,politicians, and political participation
One of the claims made by Edward Snowden was that there were no effective channels in the NSA to whistle blow to. This claim appears to have been spectacularly validated thursday with a POGO report that the NSA’s Inspector General, its final whistleblower protector, has been suspended for retaliating against another whistleblower.
Apparently it’s “getting homeless people into homes”. Given the ongoing explosion of homelessness, just think how much scope she has to make herself proud next year…
A scapegoat for the failure of the Nats’ first “social bonds” programme has been found. Turns out it was the fault of government officials! Shocker!
Andrew Little has undertaken a minor reshuffle of the Labour caucus.
Current governance structures for our cities that rely on corporate management are proving to be ineffective and are not delivering the sort of result our democracy needs.
The English honeymoon came to an abrupt end yesterday as the new PM copped an earful in Kaikoura. And bad goes to worse as Brownlee loses his rag (again). Key would have handled it better.
Murray McCully has announced that he too is standing down from politics at the next election and his removal as a Minister this week appears almost inevitable.
3 stories from Checkpoint yesterday that add up to a picture of National’s response to housing: waste on unacceptable temporary housing; empty state houses where they’re needed most; and vilify anyone who dares complain.
In March the Nats were still rejecting the idea of a crackdown on multinational companies’ tax avoidance. But there has been – in large part due to the work of Matt Nippert in The Herald – a partial back-down. Another Labour policy adopted!
Jay Kuten writing in the Wanganui Chronicle: “Most of these folks couldn’t reliably run a bath.”
NoRightTurn: The police’s illegal raid on Nicky Hager’s home has got even more expensive
Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga has announced that he will stand down from Parliament at the end of the current term. He will be a loss to National.
Andrew Little talks about what a Bill English leadership may look like. John Key promised to lift up the underclass, to fix the housing crisis, and to close the wage gap with Australia but failed. Will English be the same?
The 2016 Child Poverty Monitor Technical Report is out today. As usual it paints a bleak picture. What will Bill English’s government do about poverty – evasions, words, or actions? Update: Bill fails.
Bill English tells the families he’ll meet them “later”. They’ve waited for justice for six years. It’s always “later”.
English is not making the same stupid pledge as Key, to let superannuation consume the future. Time for a cross party accord. Take it off the table as a political football and solve the damn problem.
Bye John, out with the old. And in with the old. Shortly the Nats will anoint the chosen one, Bill English. A pre-failed leader. Mr 21%. The greedy double dipper. The boring, conservative choice for a boring conservative party.
Tax cuts – the Nats are continuing to rule them both in and out for the election. Incoherence or deliberate strategy? Either way – Key got away with this kind of bullshit for 8 long years – are we going to let it continue?
Puddleglum has perhaps the most accurate description of the Key years and equates it as the equivalent of a Big Mac, perfectly engineered but ultimately deeply dissatisfying.
Josie Pagani has criticised her friend Nick Leggett for switching to National and not sticking to his principles.
Charter schools are fiddling their results. Just another example of the way that education for profit is all about profit, with education hardly getting a look in. All of National’s ideological interventions in education are failures.
Video of left wingers responding to the news that Bill English will be National’s next leader.
Judith Collins has withdrawn from the leadership race and pledged support for Bill English.
The Herald has reported that David Shearer is expected to resign, forcing a by election in the new year.
In the spirit of bi partisanship the Standard wishes to offer the candidates for leadership of the National caucus guest post slots and the ability to answer readers’ questions.
The policy wonk, the ambitious change-maker, or the no-bullshit bullshitter – the contenders for National Party Prime Minister set out their stalls yesterday with John Campbell. Just like the Kaikoura quake, their pitches exposed some complex fault-lines. It’ll be a long week in politics.
Now that we are entering the post Key era the Barbecue season presents the perfect time for all good progressives to talk to everyone about the importance of politics.
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Key has been so dominant for so long that Nat MPs have become invisible. But now, for one glorious week, they enjoy a brief window of relevance. And the infighting has begun.
What is John Key’s legacy? Rampant Crown debt, child poverty, homelessness, climate change, dirty politics …
Key has long craved a “historic” 4th term. Interviewed on 24 September he was still saying he wanted it, he now claims he had already decided to quit. While rumours are hard to believe, something doesn’t add up here.
Following the shock resignation of John Key as Prime Minister the question will be asked. Who will the next leader of the National Party be?
