Posts on government and governence at national and local level, political parties,politicians, and political participation
Before the last election John Key promised the public service would be capped, because that’s what Kiwis wanted. That promise is now lying in tatters as jobs in education and health are to be slashed. With mining, privatisation, and now this, Mr Key shouldn’t act surprised if he suffers from the Rudd effect. This government is getting more and more out of touch.
John Key and the Nats are an anti-education government. Everywhere you look education is under attack. The Nats seem incapable of grasping the basic facts – trained, skilled committed teachers are the best way of creating good educational outcomes, and good educational outcomes are the best way of lifting society and the economy.
This week, the Government slammed through the Policing (Involvement in Local Authority Elections) Amendment Bill. It lets Police stand for local elections under the same rules as other public servants. It’s an issue that deserves to be debated. Instead, it was rushed through by this government in yet another shameful act of disregard for transparent government and active democracy.
With the supercity campaign of their handpicked man, John Banks, in tatters, the Nats have desperately tried to smear Len Brown. Now, the Auditor-General has found there is nothing to warrant investigation. I doubt we’ll be waiting long until the next smear will be from the Nats, because they sure as hell don’t have any other shot at winning.
The point of an ETS isn’t to just blindly pay more, it is to change our behaviour so that we don’t have to. National don’t get it, so they have brought us the worst of all possible ETS schemes. Badly designed and devoid of vision. An ETS with all of the costs and none of the benefits.
Well, this is pretty embarrassing for the Attorney-General Chris Finlayson. He’s the (big g) Government’s top lawyer, and he’s just been taken to school by one of those former teachers in Labour’s ranks that National is always mocking. It’s a little bit hard to be confident in the guy’s ability to be Attorney-General when he can’t understand a simple rule and signs false documents.
A government whose raison d’etre is furthering corporate interests can be pretty damned incompetent and still do okay, because corporate msm do the […]
A very strange statement from Timaru financier Allan Hubbard in this story from the Herald after his company had been put into statutory […]
The most disturbing aspect of the handling of the Chinese security guard’s assault on Russel Norman is the way that the Nats are going to use it as an excuse to further restrict free speech. Don’t let them set us on the path to America’s notorious “free speech zones”.
It is good to cast light on ministers putting personal spending on the taxpayer but the media is attacking legitimate spending too. As a result, MPs are being prevented from doing their jobs properly for fear of appearing profligate. Is this the desired effect of the chill wind blowing from the media on our representatives’ expenses, that even John Key warned about?
Why should we care about five dead rich mining executives? Makes me feel pretty sick thinking about the warped coverage these stories get. Deaths of poor dark-skinned people by the hundred are so routinely ignored. And anyone ask what they were mining there? Foreign mining interests in that part of the world triggered the Great War of Africa. But who cares, eh?
After many months the Privacy Commissioner has ruled on the Paula Bennett case, referring it on to the Director of Proceedings. Will Key now take action? Of course not – there don’t seem to be any consequences for any kind of illegal or unethical behaviour in Key’s government.
John Banks’ supercity mayor campaign is failing. A month of smears hasn’t worked. The rot is so deep competition from the Right is emerging. The guy who spent $100 per marcher on on the anti-smacking march, Colin Craig, looks set to run. I’ve obtained a copy of the transcript of Banks’ call to Craig when he heard the news.
It appears Attorney-General Chris Finlayson has been failing to declare his interest in a company for years. David Parker stood down as Attorney-General when he thought he had signed a false declaration. Will Finlayson? Will John Key match Phil Goff’s standards? [Update: Finlayson says he has no pecuniary interest. Irrelevant. All directorships must be declared. The A-G should be able to read the rules]
I’m not sorry about Russel Norman standing up to Chinese imperialism, I’m proud that he did. While I don’t personally have a lot of […]
Once again the government is employing the power of the state against someone who has embarrassed them.
Perhaps when Key talks warmly about Singapore it’s the authoritarianism he likes.
The post-Budget bump for National in the Roy Morgan polls was there but was small and it’s already evaporating. Fundamentally, National’s policies just aren’t popular,as the poll showing 80% opposition to asset sales proves. National is still pursuing privatisation by stealth (whanua ora, PEDA, water etc), giving the Left an opportunity make public assets the big issue of 2011.
Two polls: Roy Morgan who say “The latest New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll shows support for John Key’s National-led Government has weakened to 55.5% (down 2%)” and TV3 “National are up 3.2 percent to 55.3 percent, Labour are down 3.3 percent to 30.5 percent and the Greens are down to 7.7 percent.” Wish I was a pollster…
The Environmental Risk Management Authority has given approval for shipments of uranium to pass through New Zealand on the way to the United States. This seems to violate the principles of the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987.
Tim Groser and Murray McCully charged thousands of dollars to his ministerial credit card when it’s clearly against the rules on Travel, Accommodation, Attendance, and Communication Services Available to Members of the Executive: 2. Examples of goods and services that will generally not be paid for:… (i) Alcohol unless it relates to a portfolio/ministerial function. They’ve got to go.
Georgina Te Heuheu and Bill English have been saying the money allocated in the Budget to PEDA might go to some other organisation. That would be a huge abuse of the Budget process, whereby the Government asks Parliament for permission to spend money on specific activities. Of course, really the Nats are just trying to muddy the water as questions on PEDA continue.
Good interview on RNZ this morning with the author of a book on the early life of Nelson Mandela. Reminded me that I have been meaning for a while now to try a Sunday occasional post series on heroes. Heroes, past and present, of democracy, the labour movement, or the environment.
The police won’t lay charges against the security guard who assaulted Russel Norman. Fair enough I guess. They’re out of here today. Probably too minor to justify a prosecution. That doesn’t make what happened OK. A thug for a foreign power violated the rights of one of our MPs on the grounds of our Parliament. A display of contempt for our sovereignty. And our democracy.
My new poll shows Len Brown will get 90% of the vote. Even though the survey is unscientific and consisted of a self-selected group most of whom think like me, it provides an interesting take on the two weeks of intense political and media scrutiny of Mr Brown’s credit card expenses.
We know that the foreshore and seabed deal does not do what the Maori Party was established to achieve but, almost paradoxically, it gives iwi the veto and mineral rights that will be seen by businesses wanting to undertake activities like aquaculture, tourism, and undersea mining as imposing an unknown and possibly very large tax from an unaccountable power.
A security guard for Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping attacked Green MP Russel Norman today while Norman was protesting at the Chinese delegation’s arrival, and holding a Tibetan flag. Our Government needs to make a formal protest to China over this incident.
Someone has been trying to shut down investigations into the PEDA slush fund. But the damage is already done, Nats are abandoning the sinking ship. Bill English is first overboard, leaving Gerogina te Heuheu stranded.
The Herald will be disappointed. Over the last two weeks it has been a willing soldier in John Bank’s smear campaign against Len Brown. It’s a desperate last ditch strategy by the right as it faces defeat. And it’s not working. Even the Herald’s on online poll still has Brown beating Banks.
Speaker Lockwood Smith has removed 22 free carparks at Parliament from TV One and TV3 as punishment for their disgraceful behaviour in chasing Chris Carter around the House the other day. Good. There are a few, non-onerous, rules about where and when the media can go and take its cameras. They completely ignored those rules for the sake of tabloid journalism.
Solid Energy chairman John Palmer has suggested that a partial sale of the SOE could be on the cards. John Key has backed down on every time when he has been challenged on whether he would ever sell a specific asset. We now have permanent promises that Kiwibank and NZPost will never be sold, in full or in part. Someone should ask him if he’s ever going to sell Solid Energy.
Currently the “hunt” is on for whistleblowers in cases both within NZ, and internationally. When a whistleblower takes on a big organisation over a matter of genuine public significance they are taking a risk, in some cases a huge risk. Let’s hope that there will always be people who are brave enough to make sure that we the people know the truth.
So, you’re the mayor of a council with nearly a billion dollars of debt. Your council is about to be abolished and you’re running to be the mayor of the new supercity. Your attack dogs are fixed on your opponent, who has been beating you hands-down in the race. Now what? How about getting your soon-to-be former council pay $120,000 for a book saying how great you are?
More information is emerging about PEDA director Anthony Joseph Pereira (aka. JR Pereira). His connections with National, especially English, are deep and go back to before the last election. The Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs warned of “risks for ministers” in dealing with PEDA. The government’s refusal to give straight answers is just making the situation worse.
The media has concluded that John Key’s trust isn’t blind. It owns an investment company that is in business with Wyatt Creech in dairying. Creech was getting briefings from National on its water policy long before it appointed him to conduct an ‘independent’ review of Ecan, which resulted in the abolition of the democratically-elected council to advance the interests of dairy.
Since the fall of Canterbury to the newly installed dictatorial regime, a few of the deposed representatives have escaped the closing net and set up a local government in exile. Vowing to “continue to serve you in your region”, this ragged band will fight to keep the flame of democracy alive.
Of the political parties in Parliament, only the Greens are likely to oppose the ‘new’ foreshore and seabed law. So, the Greens will be the only place for disaffected Maori Party voters to turn to. And why not? Their values are very similar. I expect that the Greens will make a strong play for the party votes in the Maori seats, winning over a lot of people who feel betrayed by the Maori Party.
