Solitary man
Gerry Brownlee has been caught playing solitaire during Question Time in Parliament.
Politics
Posts on government and governence at national and local level, political parties,politicians, and political participation
Nats indignant that Twyford is not fixing their housing crisis quickly enough
Judith Collins has criticised Phi Twyford because after eight months as Minister he has not fixed a crisis that took nine years to create.
Kiwis trust in Government surges
At the same time that business confidence is in negative territory overall trust in the Government has surged. Why is this?
Liberalism Uber Alles
If the political class think liberalism has failed, then why is it that the process of killing off NZ Post is approaching completion?
This is a China Play
What was the game plan behind the Trump-Kim Jong Un meeting in Singapore yesterday?
New World Disorder.
Liberalism was meant to be the New World Order and even (so the briefly celebrated Fukiyama reckoned anyway) an End to History. Big stuff then. But it seems the placid and complacent consensus is fraying round the edges.
Police agree to apologise to Nicky Hager and pay substantial damages
Text of a statement issued by Nicky Hager indicating that police have settled his claim for a breach of his rights by payment of costs and significant damages and the issuing of an apology.
Winston sues
Winston Peters has commenced legal proceedings against Anne Tolley and Paula Bennett because of the leaking during last year’s election campaign of private information about a superannuation overpayment he received.
Donald Trump’s unusual diplomatic behaviour
Donald Trump has chosen to insult Canadian leader Justin Trudeau and buddy up to North Korean leader Kim Jon Un all in the same week.
Who gives a hooton about climate change?
Matthew Hooton and Fran O’Sullivan have claimed that the Government’s decision to ban off shore petroleum exploration is “Orwellian”, part of an attempt to divert attention from other issues, bad for the environment and bad for jobs. Are they right?
Sonic Attack
What follows isn’t satire or parody. Apparently.
Hoax video of Paul Goldsmith starts circulating on the Internet
Surely it cannot be real …
The Carbon Zero Legislation
If you have useful thoughts on how we should deal with climate change, now is the time not to have defeatist or pessimistic thoughts. Now is the time to put pen to paper and get your thoughts straight to James Shaw and help shape this legislation before the first draft hits Parliament.
Collins keeps Housing Corp P debacle in news cycle
Judith Collins has managed to keep the Housing Corp methamphetamine story alive for another news cycle by attacking poor people who take drugs.
Dud advice
The methamphetamine debacle continues with questions raised about if the Auckland District Health Board provided confidential information to Housing New Zealand about its tenants. And Simon Bridges directly contradicts Bill English by claiming that the last Government had no idea the guidelines were not fit for purpose.
Who needs strategy?
Perhaps the idea that it’s necessary to have national objectives and realistic plans to achieve them, is overrated. Seems to be working for Trump.
Forward to the 70s
National thinks that getting back to full employment, having wages and conditions sufficient to allow a working family to live in decency on one full time wage, and home ownership rates of about 70% are a bad thing.
Boilover in Northcote?
With five days to go the Northcote by election result is far from settled. And a surprise may be on the cards.
Were Etu union delegates threatened at a select committee?
National MP Parmjeet Parmar has been accused of threatening to tell the employers of submitters to a Select Committee what they had said in evidence if they did not withdraw their statements.
Doofus of the week – June 3, 2018
Finalists this week are David Farrar for recklessly misrepresenting Labour’s view on the three strikes repeal proposal, Judith Collins for thinking a two year old photo used on the Standard was a current photo and evidence of the police being politicised and Paula Bennett for at the same time not knowing and knowing but being unable to do anything about the terrorising of state house tenants. And the winner is …
Steaming cow poo.
Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth according to a Guardian headline.
Yeah. No it’s not.
Simon Bridges, the three strikes law and the Bill of Rights
National obviously desperately want to divert attention away from the Housing Corp methamphetamine fiasco. After five days of continuous bad news who can blame them.
Labour does not want to let them all out
Andrew Little has proposed the repeal of the irrational three strikes law. But signs are that National will not engage in a reasoned debate about what the law should be.
Reclaiming the Mountain
Central and local Government have announced new funding for projects to preserve and enhance the natural environment in Taranaki.
National tags parody account in Northcote by election tweet
The difference between running a professional well organised campaign and a chaotic shambles can be slight.
National’s strategy on the Housing Corp P fiasco
National is all over the place in its response to Peter Gluckman’s Housing Corp methamphetamine report with three different justifications being provided by three different senior MPs.
Where the f*ck is Simon Bridges?
An ongoing series where we try to work out what social media strategy Simon Bridges is following.
Strange Democracy.
Quietly mulling on the difference between foreign interference (malign) and influence (benign).
Gluckman: Methamphetamine policy was a crock
The Prime Minister’s chief science adviser Peter Gluckman has described the previous Government’s policy on methamphetamine in Housing Corp houses as hysterical and concluded that there has never been a documented case of someone getting sick from third-hand exposure to methamphetamine.
Where the f*ck is Simon Bridges?
An ongoing series.
Pollwatch: Colmar Brunton 28/5/2018
Hot on the heels of Reid Research, TVNZ has also been doing post-budget polling, and this one paints a bit of a different picture.
Comrade Simon supports Nurses Strike
For the first time possibly ever a National leader has supported the right of the rank and file to engage in industrial action to improve their living conditions.
Bridges copies Bill Clinton on abortion
Simon Bridges has appropriated phrasing used by Bill Clinton in describing his position on abortion but made his personal view even more restrictive.
Where the f*ck is Simon Bridges?
An ongoing series.
Pollwatch: Reid Research, 27/05/2018
The latest Newshub/Reid Research poll is out, and it continues to be less than stellar news for the opposition, but also for New Zealand First.
Autonomy.
So women in ‘half’ of an island have bodily autonomy.