Clueless forgot to pay the bill?
I regret to inform the world that John Keys domain has run out of money and is in the process of expiring (much […]
Politics
Posts on government and governence at national and local level, political parties,politicians, and political participation
Nat kneejerk over Waihopai 3
Key is talking ‘toughening’ the law in the wake of the Waihopai 3 acquittals. He clearly doesn’t understand that a jury decision, let alone one in a district court, has no precedent effect. Others Nats are muttering about canning jury trials. It’s scary the way the Nats resort to heavyhanded tactics so quickly. They never work either, just ask the boyracers in their uncrushed cars.
Banks’ brand is buggered
How much is the Huljich Kiwisaver figure-fudging scandal hurting John “the dodgy-director†Banks’ mayoral chances? Answer: a lot.O’Sullivan then explicitly writes off Banks – saying he’ll lose to Len Brown – and joins the long list of commentators criticizing the Huljich rip-off and noting it has damaged Banks’ chances. Think this story is only getting play in the business pages? It’s not.
Sex & the Supercity
What a cynical and politically-driven process this whole Supercity process has been. It is undemocratic to its core. It is not about ‘growth’ or creating a better city. It is about securing power (and, thereby, wealth) for the city’s right-wing elite. Now their plans are falling apart around them. A female candidate to replace Banks is their last gasp attempt to stop Len Brown winning.
Hysteria in the government over mining
The Herald has a editorial lambasting John Key about claiming this week that they were ‘hysterical’ writing about the plans to mine the conservation lands, and that there were no such plans. Later in the week, the government launched a probe to find out who leaked cabinet documents about mining the conservation lands. The irony of the two actions appears to have escaped John Key who appears more clueless than ever.
Another big empty promise
Education Minister Anne Tolley has made an extraordinary promise: “New Zealand elected a Government that promised to introduce national standards so that every single child could read, write, and do maths when they left school. That is what the country voted for.” We would all love to see National deliver, but they can’t, and they know that they can’t. It’s an empty promise.
Nats favour Turia, screw Sharples
Seats on the supercity, 3 strikes, tertiary cuts, national standards, RWC TV, ETS, foreshore and seabed (soon enough). The list of issues that the Maori Party has been shafted by National on keeps growing. Yet Tariana Turia’s ill-defined ‘Whanua Ora’ policy, which looks like nothing so much as privisation by stealth, gets carte blanche. What’s going on here?
Voting ban for prisoners irrational
Paul Quinn’s Electoral (Disqualification of Convicted Prisoners) Amendment Bill appears to be unjustifiably inconsistent with the electoral rights affirmed by s 12 of the Bill of Rights Act.
That’s the view of Attorney General Chris Finlayson, whose National Party is supporting the bill to select committee regardless.
‘Front-line’ needs ‘back-office’
The head of the nurses’ union, Geoff Annals, has given a vivid analogy for why his ‘front-line’ nurses oppose ‘back-office’ staff cuts: “I’ve flown very often but I’ve never seen many staff essential to the safety of my flights. I’ve never seen an air traffic controller for example. Does that mean that air traffic controllers should be dispensed with?”
Nats all at sea on whaling
In Kaikoura, John Key said commercial whaling “might be acceptable if it was acceptable to others”. You gotta love the leadership there. But you’ve also got to question what kind of two-faced game the Nats are playing because in the House, Murray McCully said precisely the opposite – that the Government opposes commercial whaling.
Fabian seminar gets big tick
The first Fabian Society seminar in Auckland last weekend attracted a good crowd watch an participate as some of New Zealand’s top economic thinkers debated how to get the economy working for us. It has been judged a huge success. The next seminars will be in Wellington on Sunday 28 March and in Christchurch on 18 April.
Waihopai victory
The not guilty verdicts in the Waihopai spy base case is a victory for the peace movement and proof of the value of the jury system. A jury of the activists peers were able to decide that it would not be just to convict them. Strict legalism could not beat society’s innate sense of justice. Unfortunately, National is moving to restrict our right to trial by jury.
Rumblings in Nats’ base
There’s a danger in being a government that does nothing except pay of its rich mates, and that’s losing faith with the conservative base. Garth George is the slightly mad, always irritable voice of this demographic, so it’s worth watching as his initial love for John Key wears off to be replaced by despair (and rising anger) at Key’s failure to deliver the brighter future he promised.
Why English lies
As you’ll be aware, I’ve been pretty flabbergasted by the way day after day Bill English is getting up in the House and telling out and out lies about Labour’s record on the economy only for Labour to sit there and take it. Well, I’ve been thinking about this a little more and I think I get it now. He can’t talk up his own performance – there’s nothing to skite about and it’s against his political strategy even if there were some successes to point to
Lee, Joyce and Hide’s Super City “pig’s arse”
In a letter to the Herald today, responding to Mike Lee’s op-ed of yesterday, Steven Joyce says:
“Contrary to what Mike Lee says, the Auckland Council will be able to appoint or dismiss any member of the Auckland Transport Board at any time.”
Problem is, Mike Lee didn’t actually say what Joyce says he did.
Hysterical media coverage
More lies from English, Key in lala-land
Bill English can’t defend his economic record, 2.2% fall in GDP, still rising unemployment, falling wages, GDP per capita still falling and not expected to return to pre-recession levels until 2012, so he’s telling more lies about Labour’s record instead. Meanwhile, the Do Nothing Prime Minister is still daydreaming about his cycleway, which he now says will create “a lot more” than 4,000 jobs.
Minister flees from journos
We’re used to Key and his ministers hiding from their duties. Now one of them has taken it to a new level. Journos wanted to ask Pacific Affairs Minister Georgina Te Heuheu about the rumours her ministry is getting the chop. At the sight of them, Te Heuheu ran away. Fran Mold reportedly said she’d never seen anything like it.
Don Brash, Rogernomics, and Huljich
The New Zealand economic reforms of the 1980s and 1990s were largely a failure. This can be seen from the large negative divergence […]
Andrew Little eyes New Plymouth
I didn’t actually realise that the fact that Andrew Little is considering standing for Labour in New Plymouth in 2011 was news to anyone. I would think that New Plymouth is a natural seat for him.
Farrar’s analysis makes the old mistake of looking at the party votes instead of the candidate votes.
Prenderghastly
First it was the Wellywood sign, now it’s a statue of a guy standing in a giant pile of manure while holding aloft a golden testicle.
And you thought the only Mayor who delighted it making their constituency look stupid was Tim Shadbolt.
Wage gap is the John Key credibility gap
There’s a nickname for John Key that’s picking up currency from both Left and Right around the blogosphere: ‘smile and wave’. The one thing Key can be depended on is to turn up grinning in some cheesy photo op. All his promises fall by the wayside. Meanwhile, 276,000 Kiwis are jobless, the wage gap with Australia keeps widening, and so does Key’s credibility gap.
Make that man a minister
British American Tabacco’s Graeme Amey has the brazen lie down pat. The guy quit smoking himself but wants Kiwis to keep smoking and […]
Radicals are a pain
Looking at the leaders for the Fabians seminar on Sunday, it looks to me like it is going to be quite interesting because it is likely to focus more on incremental rather than radical methods. One of the major issues to me with the existing ‘debate’ on economic matters has been the level at which it is ideologically driven rather than based on the actual economy. The main problem with the ‘debate’ are impatient radicals from all sides.
Save Radio NZ dethrones Key
Who would have thought that a Facebook group advocating to keep Radio NZ funded and commercial-free would overtake Prime Minister John Key’s fan […]
The cruelest cuts
Cuts to prisoner rehabilitation, night classes, and the Super Gold Card aren’t about saving money. The government is only too happy to sign blank cheques for stupid projects like Transmission Gully and the Holiday Highway on the vaguest cost estimates. No, these successful policies are having the financial life bled out of them because they contradict National’s ideology.
Nats resort to plants to help Tolley
Let’s face facts. Anne Tolley is a dangerous minister. She is undermining the education system at every turn and the damage will last lifetime. But is National doing the responsible thing and removing her from the portfolio? No. In fact, a guest poster reports they’re so desperate to help her out that they’ve got plants in her audiences to ask patsy questions.
Education cuts good for kids in bizarro Tolley world
Have a listen to Education Minister Anne Tolley on Morning Report today trying to explain the $25 million cut to the education budget.
It really was a shocker, even for her.
ACT gerrymanders Auckland for the rich
The Local Government Commission released its final ward boundaries for Auckland today and the result is a city gerrymandered by ACT to favour the interests of the rich.
That’s the verdict from No Right Turn, who’s crunched the numbers and discovered a systematic bias for the Right.
Race and the law
The light sentences handed down to most of the group that killed Navtej Singh have caused consternation within the NZ Indian community. With the Human Rights Commission today releasing a statement on worrying trends of racism in NZ, now is a terrible time for the legal system to be sending all the wrong messages.
High unemployment helps Nats keep wages down
While other countries have used their strong public sectors to steady the private sector and keep unemployment down during the economic downturn, our government is compounding unemployment by cutting the public sector, throwing people out of jobs and feeding worker insecurity.
A sign of how corporates think
The more I think about the ‘Wellywood’ sign the angrier I get. Who does Wellington Airport think they are imposing this monstrosity on the people of Wellington without any consultation? It’s just another example of the corporate mentality in this country – a subtle blend of arrogance and idiocy.
Some friendly advice for Labour
The latest Roy Morgan poll is out and Labour isn’t moving. And while only a political noob would expect them to be making major gains this early in the first term of a new government they’re still not laying the groundwork they should be. So what should they be doing?
But how much did the bus cost?
“Tolley finds ally in school mum” screams the headline of Audrey Young’s piece today.
When National runs a bus tour the Herald is desperate in its attempts to drum up support, when it’s Labour all they want to talk about is how much the bus is costing the taxpayer.