Gutting the state housing system
No Right Turn on the Nats’ cynical plans. “And its here that National’s true goal becomes apparent: they’re planning to effectively gut the state housing system…”
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No future in NZ?
John Key was elected promising to stop the exodus to Australia. He has failed. More and more Kiwis, especially the young, are leaving. And is it any wonder?
Sexist dinosaur Nats
Employers and Manufacturers Association head Alasdair Thompson’s sexist outbursts have drawn near universal condemnation, and are likely to cost him his job. But while we’re about the business of punishing sexist dinosaurs, we should set our sights a little higher than Thompson.
River of Kiwis now flood to Oz
3300 Kiwis left for Australia last month, breaking a 32-year-old record. Remember when John Key promised to stop the flow of Kiwis across the Tasman? Well, now it’s a flood…
[and mostly it’s not from Christchurch either]
Squeezing the life out of the economy
Are we “roaring out of recession”? No. Is there an “aggressive recovery”? No. What’s going wrong? The problem is that the Nats are squeezing the life out of the economy.
Nats’ election strategy – all about Key
National’s election platform is pretty much out. It shows that National is very much dependent on Brand Key. They released the Budget and then the rest of their major policies in rapid-fire succession. This shows National doesn’t believe its policies are vote-winners. They want policy to take a backseat and all the focus on Key’s smile.
Nat websites publicly-funded
Ianupnorth does ‘the Whale’ and has a dig around the National Party websites. It turns out they are registered and run by Parliamentary staffers. In fact, National and ACT’s MPs’ sites are all publicly-funded, while other parties’ MPs’ are not. Is NACT breaking the rules? No doubt everyone’s least favourite cetacean will be on to it.
Scaremongering on credit cards
The Nats’ blogging poodles are still trying to spread disinformation about credit card details (we have the proof). Are they just stupid, or do they know they’re spreading lies? Either way it amounts to the same thing, they are deliberately trying to upset innocent members of the public. The usual scummy tactics.
The silence of the poodles
National’s first dirty tricks operation of the 2011 election campaign has ended in an embarrassing own goal. But they’ll be back with more of the same. Because the last thing National wants is an election campaign focused on the issues.
Blown up in National’s faces
National’s raid on Labour donor data was a grubby, amoral little operation, with no point except to intimidate innocent individuals.
Unfortunately for the Nats it has blown up in their faces.
Nats plan lower wages for workers
So you support Maori being paid less than Pakeha for the same work? What about men being paid less than women? No, that would be discrimination, eh? Same work, same pay. So, what about paying a 17 year old less than a 18 year old for the same work? That’s what National is planning if we are stupid enough to give them a second term.
Curiouser and curiouser
It looks like the Labour party site was breached from National HQ.
Does this mean National are still laundering their dirty tricks though their pet bloggers?
Nats steal Labour donor data
National knows that the public oppose its agenda of asset sales, lower wages, and service cuts. So they’re going to campaign dirty. They’re running this week’s muck-throwing via sickness beneficiary* Cameron Slater. The Nats breached the Labour Party website and stole a list of online donors. Hardly the stuff of scandal, just an attempt to intimidate.
You can’t make this stuff up
The Nats, a party which runs as a franchise of an Australian company (Crosby Textor), reckon that the presence of a mate from Australia at a regional Labour Party meeting shows that Labour is “subject to foreign influence”.
Encouraging savings the National way
Amongst the many vacuous claims made in relation to the last budget, the claim that cuts to KiwiSaver would encourage savings always struck me as the dumbest. Now the facts are in, and guess what…
Mining II: The Empire Strikes Back
A little over a year ago the biggest single protest march in this country since 1938 put the final nail in the coffin of the Nats’ amateur hour plans to mine our most precious conservation land. Or so we thought…
Drifting
The Nats haven’t got a clue how to run a successful country, and most of the things they do try just make matters worse. We’re drifting…
Nats testing the waters on eugenics
John Key “thinks” that parents on the DPB are “breeding for a business”. Now his government is testing the waters for a eugenics program, to single out these undesirables and forcibly control their fertility.
Two great columns
John Armstrong says NZers are like frogs in ever hotter water, not realising the incrementally more radical agenda of National.
Tracy Watkins looks at the rise of lobbyists and their lack of accountability.
How close is too close?
How close should corporate interests be allowed to cuddle up to the government? When is a gift not a gift? If it isn’t influence what is it?
The Greens have raised important questions surrounding Westpac and the Nats.
Campbell on welfare reforms
Good old fashioned benefit bashing. Another electoral battle line has been drawn – arm yourself with the facts!
The great debt myth
This government’s got a real talent for manufacturing crisis to suit them. The debt disaster is a classic – in order to get out of debt we have to cut public spending to the tune of almost $1billion and sell assets.
Simplest way to get 100K off the benefit
Elect a Labour-led government. Create 100K jobs.
A Right Jackup
So it appears that John Banks will get to face his mayoral campaign manager, Aaron Bhatnagar, as National candidate for Epsom. National will continue to ensure Act’s survival, as latest polls keep Act at about 2%.
Who has the ideas?
Last week we had National’s budget and Labour’s conference. A chance for both parties to set out their ideas for the future. National’s do-nothing budget went down like a lead balloon, while Labour started setting out promising new policy. Looks like the 2011 election campaign will be a contest between ideas and schoolboy mockery.
Lunatic prophecies
Cartoonist Guy Body in The Herald, with one of those pictures that is worth a thousand words…
The lazy unemployed
John Key reckons the unemployed need “a kick in the pants”. Paula Bennett reckons the Nats’ harsh reforms mean that “the dream is over” for beneficiaries. Meanwhile, back in the real world…
National vs Auckland
National are not acting in accordance with Auckland’s wishes. Aucklanders want public transport, and its Council wants a quality compact sustainable eco-city – National seem to be aiming to frustrate that. Aucklanders should submit their views to strengthen our voice against the government.
Stop me if you’ve already heard this one
As I think you can tell from the budget speech, that Bill English is quite a funny guy…
Beemer watch
What is going to happen to the “old” BMW limos when the government gets rid of them? The franchise that just donated $50,000 to the Nats has said it wants its share of the “honey pot”. I wonder if the Nats will oblige?
Choices choices
Watch Jacinda Ardern clean up Jamie-Lee Ross on Breakfast this morning. Nearly half of the National Government’s much-quoted borrowing of $300 million a week is to pay for their tax cuts. That was this government’s choice. Now their choice is that everyone else has to pay for it.
Maggie Barry
National have tonight chosen Mt Albert resident Maggie Barry as their North Shore candidate.
Cash for cars?
A $50,000 donation from a BMW franchise to National?
This latest twist to the BMW saga has a real stench about it.
Brownlee flexing his CERA muscle
Is the power of CERA going to Brownlee’s head a bit? Seems he’s using it to intimidate Christchurch building owners.
Caption Competition
Beyond the welfare stereotypes
An Australian report sets out some common myths about beneficiaries, and the facts that disprove them. I have no doubt that a similar pattern of unjustified myths would be found here. Starting with our PM.