Failed Conference
Luxon’s team have delivered zero deals out of the multibillionaire conference on infrastructure. This is a fail.
Politics
Posts on government and governence at national and local level, political parties,politicians, and political participation
NZ Science is in Big Trouble
Science and tertiary education are being ignored in NZ, which is just dumb.
Going for poverty: National’s new procurement rules
Nicola Willis is picking a fight with unions and environmental groups by proposing changes to Government procurement rules that would do away with environmentally beneficial policies and the requirement to pay the living wage.
Where Is the Resistance to Privatisation and Austerity?
As the Coalition moves to partially privatise our healthcare system, and Seymour fatally undermines the free school lunch programme, it is time for us to take to the streets and fight back, writes Elliot Crossan.
Deloitte’s Health NZ Review Falls Short
This week Simeon Brown used a Deloitte report to criticise Health NZ and accelerate his privatisation message. But, writes Mountain Tui, the Deloitte report appears to reveal a lot more from what it omitted, than what it covered.
Playing politics with peoples lives
Simeon Brown’s gutting of funding for earlier bowel cancer screening of Maori and Pacifica will increase health disparity.
Climate change?
Chris Hipkins has released his priorities should he be Prime Minister. They do not include addressing climate change.
Labour to campaign on tax reform
1News: The party leader told Q+A that Labour would be announcing its tax policy later this year, ahead of the 2026 election. He […]
Great America
The United States of America is in full territorial expansion mode and there is little that anyone can do about it.
Another blow against decency and truth: the flourishing of evil.
I am an ordinary citizen of Aotearoa. I am deeply angered at and ashamed of the actions of Winston Peters in dismissing Phil Goff as our High Commissioner in London. It is a deplorable decision.
Luxon’s Untenable Grasp
Last year I predicted Luxon would be replaced within the term. But by linking his credibility to Seymour’s preservative laden, scalding, burning and burnt school lunch program this week, Luxon has accelerated his political demise.
Fox in a henhouse
Simeon Brown has appointed John Carnegie to the EECA even though Carnegie has some decidedly anti energy conservation ideas.
Blink twice if you are being held hostage
Vladimir Zelensky has apologised to Donald Trump for being the receipient of Trump’s appalling behaviour recently. And Trump has sparked a full on trade war with some of America’s closest allies.
Canadian billionaire linked to right wing websites buys a near 10% of NZME shares
James “Jim” Grenon spends almost $10 million to buy a ~10% stake in the publisher of NZ Herald and owner of Newstalk ZB.
Helen Clark’s nuanced take on world events
In a recent interview Helen Clark managed to neatly summarise current world problems and express a desire for New Zealand to maintain its independent foreign policy.
The new world order
Yesterday’s press conference involving Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky suggests that the United States is now solidly aligned with Russia against the Western World and Western values.
The Chinese Shadowboxing Show at Sea
The World is at war and the level of mind-control is mind-blowing.
Looks like rail enabled ferries may be back
You have to hand it to Winston and New Zealand First. On the issue of rail enabled ferries they have performed outstanding work. That good that what looked like a foregone conclusion, the dismantling of the Cook Strait Rail Link, may not happen after all.
Its the end of the Media as we know it …
Two recent media related stories made me wonder if there was now formal acknowledgement that the concept that media should fearlessly and impartially report the news is now dead.
Some more thoughts about National’s vigilante justice policy
National’s forary into supporting vigilante justice raises some thorny legal issues it appears National has not thught about.
The Greens plan for a Green Budget
The Green Party co-leaders gave their annual State of the Planet speech yesterday.
USA – unreliable, undemocratic, and its citizens are not free compared to me
Read an amusing quora reply that rather crystallised my thinking on the US compared to here. It started as a click-bait clearly written by the usual American fool blinded by propaganda glare from their border mirrors. A Canadian responded with with and accuracy. But on a more serious note, if US intentions have skewed towards supporting annexations, we need to improve our military capabilities.
Vigilante justice is apparently our birth right
Amongst the most dangerous, extreme and downright stupid policies the Government has come up with is the decision to be announced today to allow citizen’s arrests of shoplifters
Radio NZ’s bizarre handling of the Bayly fiasco
This morning on Radio New Zealand there was sharp questioning of Christopher Luxon by Ingrid Hipkiss and sharp analysis by Jo Moir. But they allowed Brigette Morten air time to spin the issue in a National friendly way.
Repaired RSS feed highlights minister’s failing portfolios
Last week, I pointed out that Internal Affairs under Act Minister Brooke van Velden, had managed to lose RSS communications from the Beehive to the world. It’d been offline for about three weeks at that point. That was just sloppy and incompetent for the DIA who amongst other things are responsible for overseeing government technology services.
Come Rich Foreigners – New Zealand Is For Sale
Long signaled, all right wing parties are opening the doors for wealthy foreigners to easily acquire our significant assets and lands.
New school lunches waste appears to exceed 70% as David Seymour’s incompetence and PR reliance rises to the fore
The Associate Education Minister has defended the new school lunch program even as the government says it is not collecting any official feedback. Meanwhile no word from National’s Education Minister Erica Stanford.
Bayly goneburger
In breaking news Andrew Bayley has resigned as a minister after entering into an animated discussion with a staff member and “placing a hand on their upper arm”.
Seymour is wrecking the school lunch program
David Seymour’s handling of changes to free school lunches has been an unmitigated disaster. Is the plan to make the scheme that bad it can then be cancelled?
When will Luxon be rolled?
Christopher Luxon’s time as Prime Minister appear to be numbered.
Good as gold
A fascinating expose from Michael Hudson on the causes and implications of the recent rise in the price of gold. When Nixon took the US dollar off the standard in 1971 you could get an ounce for $35. Not now; Hudson explains why.
A Commercial Peace Agreement?
Trump’s opening bid for peace towards Ukraine was that the United States would gain access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals.
About Karen Chhour’s youth offending claims
Karen Chhor has made two recent claims, that youth crime is at an all time high, and that serious and persistent offending has increased dramatically to justify her boot camps policy. Neither claim appears to be true.
Let me nitpick on the government RSS feeds
Earlier today I sent a missive off to point out a little flaw in a new and updated Beehive page. Like all things from this current government, it was long on flashiness and extremely light on the functional details. It also doesn’t appear to have been picked up that for 3 weeks that the government’s messaging was self-limited. Pretty typical of this sloppy and incompetent government.
Everyone must go
Chris from Marketing’s latest gimic to lead us to economic nirvana is to use money that is meant to be used for environmental enhancement to run a campaign in Australia with a slogan that is awkward and negative.
“As long as it takes”
Well it didn’t take that long: from one SecDef to another in a matter of a month. It’s time for a rethink on Ukraine and much else.
Update: Hegseth’s speech video