‘Heroes’
A few musings on heroism.
Politics
Posts on government and governence at national and local level, political parties,politicians, and political participation
How To Get There 17/3/19
Welcome to TS’s Sunday think piece. It’s a blank sheet, a tabula rasa, waiting for your thoughts on the future and How To Get There.
Ardern backs students striking for climate change
Jacinda Ardern has publicly supported the School students strike about climate change and urged them not to underestimate the power of their voices.
James Shaw Assaulted
Green co-leader James Shaw has been assaulted near Parliament. The MP is in hospital and a man has been arrested.
More political interference on Huawei
Here’s another one for the select committee reviewing foreign interference. Visitor from Britain Charlie Parton of the Royal United Services Institute was on Morning Report this morning telling us to avoid Huawei because they are Chinese and different from us. At least he does us a favour by making it clear the matter is political not technical.
Cardinal Pell
Cardinal Pell has been given six years in jail for his crimes against children. But the Catholic Church has a range of other allegations to resolve.
Simon Bridges is distancing himself from Simon Bridges
Simon Bridges did the remarkable thing yesterday of distancing himself from his own party over events he had major involvement in.
Pretty Legal: SFO to Investigate Nat Donation
NZ Police have confirmed that the Serious Fraud Office is investigating donations received by the National Party.
Magicked-Up Weapons
I’m glad Anne-Marie Brady will get the chance to present her “Magic Weapons” paper to the select committee examining the last election. At long last it might get given some proper critical examination, of its content as well as it provenance. In my opinion it reads like a long list of the blindingly obvious, mixed with a large dose of conspiracy theory. It certainly doesn’t show much sign of the sort of critical thinking one might expect from an academic.
Landlord advocates threatening rent increases if Labour wins next election
A landlord has advocated that all landlords should threaten to increase tenant’s rentals if Labour wins the next election.
How To Get There 10/3/19
Welcome to TS’s Sunday think piece. It’s a blank sheet, a tabula rasa, waiting for your thoughts on the future and How To Get There.
Simon Bridges is rooting for the Greens*
Simon Bridges makes a passionate plea for the environment and for a mate.
The tax debate – Dogwhistle time
National has resorted to race baiting in its attempt to denigrate the Tax Working Group’s proposed capital gains tax.
Jihadi Justice
Should we let the ‘Bumbling Jihadi’ Mark Taylor back into NZ? What message do we send the world if we don’t?
Young people and climate change
School students are planning national protests against climate change on March 15, 2019. The response of some politicians to this news is less than optimal.
National’s Tax review strategy
The Government is not due to announce its response to the Tax Working Group’s recommendations for a few more weeks. It appears that National using outrageous assumptions will take the opportunity to raise horror stories in the media on how bad the tax could be.
Sage gets the money
Greens Minister Eugenie Sage deserves praise for securing some solid funding increases for her Conservation portfolio.
Venezuela, China and Russia
In the new world order of robber barons in which most states are collectively so weak that they no longer effective resistance against large corporations, we should start to view states as diplomatic fronts for corporations.
The Green’s electoral law reform petition
The Green Party’s launching of a petition to seek changes to the electoral system has met with some Trumpian style rhetoric from the right.
MAFS National Style*
National is grooming the voters for another dirty ACT.
Kim Hill eviscerates Chris Christie on National radio
Chris Christie agreed to be interviewed by Kim Hill about his recently released book. It seems like he did not know what he was letting himself in for.
National’s Maggie Barry problem
The Herald has reported that there has been concerns at Maggie Barry’s behaviour towards staff has been raised on three separate occasions. And Parliamentary Services is at the suggestion of the Auditor General investigating claims of misuse of Parliamentary Services resources.
How To Get There 3/3/19
Welcome to TS’s Sunday think piece. It’s a blank sheet, a tabula rasa, waiting for your thoughts on the future and How To Get There.
Lies damn lies and tax analysis
National’s claim that a capital gains tax would reduce the value of an average worker’s Kiwisaver account by $64,000 over a 45 year working life seems to be as valid as Steven Joyce’s claim there was an $11.5 billion dollar hole in Labour’s draft budget.
CGT as a Charitable Donation
Treat CGT like a semi-voluntary donation and give people a say in how it is spent.
Simon Bridges’ twitter game
Why is Simon Bridges’ twitter account liking and retweeting his own tweets?
Brownlee forced to withdraw ad with fake data
Gerry Brownlee has been obliged to withdraw a Facebook ad about tax bracket creep after it was discovered he had used grossly overinflated figures.
Cohen Testifies: LIVE
Live video coverage of Michael Cohen’s testimony to the House Oversight committee
From dirty politics to compassionate politics
Newshub has revealed that Jacinda Ardern instructed her ministers not tp publicly discuss National’s problems with Jami-Lee Ross.
Why New Zealand needs a capital gains tax
Expert comment suggests that a capital gains tax will redress inequality, improve the economy and make housing more affordable.
Cameron Slater slithers into bankruptcy
Yesterday Cameron Slater announced that he would be seeking bankruptcy. It is unlikely to help him to avoid the stress of dealing with the legal consequences. The three current defamation cases that he is defending so badly have very little to do with money and a lot to do with making sure neither he nor any other arsehole dares to use his vile tactics again.
‘Taxpayers union’ – too ‘stupid’ to understand tax?
There is a classic piece of waffle in the NZ Herald about when capital gains tax will apply to the family home. But the conditions when this applies are extremely simple and obvious. However professed experts on taxation like the so-called ‘taxpayers union’ can’t understand them. Probably because they are paid not to.
Brexit; Labour Finally Backs A Second Referendum
Events in recent days have forced UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn into backing a second Brexit referendum. Labour are now aligned with the majority of British voters, but is it too little too late?
Tamihere has some strange friends
John Tamihere has been endorsed by Jordan Williams for Auckland’s mayoralty. And his campaign has commissioned the Taxpayers Union to do a cost cutting exercise.
Spare a thought for our poor impoverished landlords
Spare a thought for poor landlords who are aghast at the thought that they should have to share capital gains on properties they have purchased with no intent of making a capital gain.
All hail our computer overlords
IBM has staged a debate between an IBM computer and the world debating champion. The human won but the debate suggests that it may be just a matter of time … and the computer had remarkable things to say about poverty.