What’s Labour got up its sleeve?
When you were perusing yesterday’s Hansard (don’t lie, you were) did you notice this question from Pete Hodgson to Richard Worth amongst the […]
Politics
Posts on government and governence at national and local level, political parties,politicians, and political participation
National dumps worker reps from ACC board
Nick Smith announced National’s changes to the ACC board this afternoon. As expected they’ve kicked Wayne Butson and Ross Wilson off the board, […]
Cold.
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Sean Plunket, “interviewer”
I’ve just listened to Sean Plunket interview Goff this morning. It was actually less of an interview and more an exercise in running […]
Worth’s story unravels
Despite getting a “bollocking” from John Key, Richard Worth last night denied that he had been acting as a minister when he went […]
Time for Fyfe to go
It’s time for Bill English, as shareholding minister in Air New Zealand, to tell the AirNZ board that either they fire CEO Robert […]
“Corrupt!”
National rode to power off the back of years of rhetoric accusing the last Labour government of corruption. Who can forget the screams […]
A healthy dose of reality on prisons
Peter Williams QC was on Breakfast this morning giving a refreshingly frank assessment of the problems with our prison and justice systems – […]
Paul Henry defends his right to act like a child
Anna at The Handmirror has written a good post on Paul Henry and his obnoxious glee in denigrating someone for their appearance. I’m […]
SSTimes Editorial: Clark’s UN job great for NZ but…
I haven’t spotted an on-line version of this yet (SStimes Editorial, 29 Mar 2009) but wanted to pull a couple of quotes out […]
Tax cuts for some
The Weekend Herald’s front page proclaims ‘$2 billion more in the pocket“. The article goes on to say “the average worker will get […]
Sack Henry Now.
When I first saw this clip of Paul Henry publicly ridiculing Greenpeace’s Stephanie Mills for (in his view) having a moustache I decided […]
Take responsibility or take the blame
As Minister of Works responding to a disaster in his portfolio, Bob Semple famously said ‘I am responsible but not to blame’. That […]
Blindly cutting away
One of the most cavalier and foolish actions of the National led government during its first 100 day blitz of legislation (in itself […]
Mission-On off
If the definition of PC is doing things because they fit an ideology, not because they make sense, then it’s clear National and […]
Wgtn/Chch DL double
Drinking Liberally is meeting this evening in both Wellington and Christchurch. DL Wellington has Andrew Little speaking at the Southern Cross Bar on […]
Sinking shipping is stupid
Toad’s post on coastal shipping deserves re-posting: Coastal shipping is the most energy efficient means of moving freight. A ship consumes 75 – […]
Stink line
Now “PC gone mad” has been used to the point where even people who think mimicking Tui’s “yeah right” slogan is cutting edge […]
Lord Ashcroft woz here
Boing Boing reports that: The London police have bested their own impressive record for insane and stupid anti-terrorism posters with a new range […]
Douglas gets it
Roger Douglas in a press release today: National’s goal of a top personal, company and trustee tax rate of 30 cents in the […]
Trans-Tasman says Clark to head UNDP
From The Herald: Former Prime Minister Helen Clark will be named today as head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a report […]
Righties rise in revolution re: retrospective law
No, wait, they didn’t. Idiot/Savant from No Right Turn explains: Back in 2006, the (then-Labour) government passed the Appropriation (Parliamentary Expenditure Validation) Bill, […]
The government gets a headline, we get potholes
No Right Turn puts the farce of the governments spin into perspective in Public relations replaces policy II. I’m just going to quote […]
Disgraceful
A Standard reader emails: Today at the beginning of question time a minute silence was observed for Mary Bachelor former MP for Avon […]
Oh Johnkey Donkey!
We’ve been outed! By none other than Thelma (or was it Louise?) A promotional video for climate action, voiced by Susan Sarandon for […]
National gives animal rights the chop
Looks like National has more than workers’ rights on the chopping block. Animal rights activists are up in arms at Agriculture Minister David […]
Pinch me
A cyclist and Standard reader writes: Pinch me. Maybe I’ll wake up in a world where a cycleway isn’t the government’s flagship idea […]
Stunning
This is just stunning: Mr Key was yesterday questioned about an employment situation where a person was offered a job paying $40,000 a […]
Clawback
That’s John Key speaking about Labour’s new fourth week of leave legislation back when the Nats thought they were going to win in […]
Gustafson on National’s strategy
Not many people know more about the National Party than Barry Gustafson, so I found it interesting to read his take on the […]
Three strikes and you’re garrotted
The Toad’s ‘interview’ with ACT’s David Garrett is so good we had to steal it. Like all good parody, it’s easy to believe […]
The tiniest rolling maul in the world
So the pressure is building for National to get specific about it’s plans for fighting the recession. Therese Arseneau complained on Q+A today […]
Where would you get that idea?
John Armstrong March 21 2009 – “So the National Government is variously inching, shifting, drifting, veering or lurching to the right, depending on […]
More on the Commerce Commission
On Thursday I linked to a piece in the NBR that suggested Simon Power’s appointment of Dr Mark Berry to replace Paula Rebstock […]
Redistributing the wealth
In a speech to the International Fiscal Association Conference today, Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said the Government’s goal over the next 18 months […]
Out of her depth
Paula Bennett’s performance on Morning Report today didn’t just bring home how completely out of her depth she is as a Minister, it […]