Police nurture a unwise form of direct democracy
The Economist has an fascinating article “Rioters of the world unite“. It is partially about the demonstrations, protests, and outright riots in Athens […]
Politics
Posts on government and governence at national and local level, political parties,politicians, and political participation
Pillow talk
I’ve been thinking about the concurrent crises we face – peak oil, climate change, and tightening food supply – how the limits to […]
ETS submissions open
Submissions for the review of the Emissions Trading Scheme have opened but will close on the 13th of February. Given the time of […]
Payback?
National’s decision to allow a 40% increase in endangered Sea Lion kill-quota for the squid fishing industry is old news but I haven’t […]
Madoff, transparency, and electoral regulation
Reading about Madorf and the filching of USD 33 billion in a pyramid scheme from his select group of customers makes for interesting […]
Evolution and Crime
The Economist is one of the few main stream media that seem to be flourishing in the days of decline for most media […]
Homegrown
At the end of my post a couple of days ago I touched on the notion of a new Zealand identity and a […]
A real alternative
One of Bruce Jesson’s constant bugbears during the New Right revolution of the 80’s and 90’s was that the Left allowed itself to […]
The recession, graphically
OK, one last graph for the year. The latest GDP data isn’t pretty, a 0.4% contraction of the economy in the September quarter. […]
Labour’s maiden speeches
Rather than decorating their tree, some committed Labour Party staffer seems still to be hard at work posting maiden speeches to YouTube. The […]
What National’s Kiwisaver cuts mean for you
The Council of Trade Unions has done some research showing a worker with a Kiwisaver account will stand to lose as much as […]
Animal right activists, farming and the police
On ABC last night there was a excellent video “Animal rights campaigner spreads message“. It is worth watching for people who (unlike me) […]
Have the police been inciting?
There is a slowly emerging twist in police spy scandal. The question of incitement and provocation from an agent of the police. Bearing […]
Howard Broad: Incompetent, dishonest or about to fire some people?
Let us assume, for a while, that Broad didn’t know the detail of SIG’s activities with Gilchrist If his staff were doing their […]
Key delivers a Christmas kicking for workers
We always said that a National/ACT government would be anti-worker but I’m surprised by how blatant they are being about it. In a […]
Prison tucker
When I saw this photo of Pita Sharples tucking into a prison meal in today’s Dom Post I was hopeful it was a […]
Partial credit
Yay, more infrastructure spending during a recession. That’s the right thing to do – stimulate the economy and spend while the price of […]
Thoughts arising from the press gallery drinks
I had some good conversations with journos at the press gallery drinks. We’re often critical of the media, and sometimes specific journos, and […]
Good one Bill II
It’s good to see Bill English acknowledge the last government has left New Zealand in a good position to face the economic crisis. […]
Police spied on Unite Union too
Matt McCarten, head of the Unite Union, has just released emails showing police informant Rob Gilchrist gave the police spy unit details about […]
Bill Ralston on police spying
Bill Ralston usually gets stirred by posters at The Standard for what he says. I’ve generally liked him after seeing him give some […]
The final cut
Good one Bill
Bill English has stopped the sale of BlueScope’s Taharoa ironsands business to a Chinese investor based on the fact that it won’t bring […]
Gratitude
I haven’t commented on the maiden speeches yet (we’re doing some analysis later) but I can’t let this stand. Aaron Gilmore, the bottom-ranked National […]
Somewhat suspicious
Gerry ‘sexy coal’ Brownlee has spent today ripping apart more anti-climate change laws. Today, under urgency and without the opportunity for the public […]
Merry Christmas from National
National’s decides to hit workers in the pocket: ACC Minister Nick Smith yesterday said levies would increase from $1.40 to $1.70 for every […]
Who else are they spying on?
Gordon Campbell raises a good question in his latest Scoop column – are the Police also using paid informants to spy on mosques? […]
Time to reconsider Hobsonville
After initially saying they would cap the number of state houses, National/ACT’s Housing Minister Phil Heatley actually got informed. Despite the good work […]
Impressions of the House
First question time – the teams square off. Let the games commence. So what was the vibe? Well both sides kept getting their […]
The limits to tolerance of the police
On discovering that her boyfriend had been spying on her and her friends for the police, and the consequent violations of her expectation […]
Be pragmatic
A fundamental of social democratic politics is full employment. It is sometimes said that work is the best form of welfare. When people […]
Howard – some advice on what questions to ask
Yesterday, Howard Broad made statements about the targets of the SIG (Special Investigation Group) to National Radio. Interview with Howard Broad on his […]
A bad start, don’t expect improvement
We’ve seen a plethora of commentators criticising the National/ACT’s performance thus far. Colin James sums it up well: Key’s past week was mixed […]
No ReStart for Fire at Will even if unfair
So much for all National’s fine words about probation periods and job creation. Today’s Dominion reports that ReStart will not be available for […]
Shameful
And so the Maori Party’s sell-out of its own people continues. Hot on the heels of the party’s vote to take money out […]
Making a mockery
Shock news as Key’s media trainer praises Key Bill Ralston thinks Key is doing just super, which is perhaps to be expected since […]