Not my Leaders
Hide and Banks do not strike me as the kind of men you feel safe about having too much power. They never have […]
political parties
national
Oh dear.
A while back we heard a rumour that National had already printed its billboards for the Mt Albert campaign – with Melissa Lee […]
Greens go grey
I see Russel Norman is now describing Labour’s Mt Albert Candidate, David Shearer, as the “grey” man. Now I haven’t been around as […]
The interesting selection
The National selection in Mount Albert will be going down to the wire with the inevitable split between the locals and the regional/national […]
Entrenchment back on the agenda
Good to see Labour pursuing a private member’s bill to entrench the Maori seats. Mita Ririnui, who’s lodging the bill, says it “will […]
About time
It’s good that Labour has rejoined good leftwing principles over the foreshore and seabed. Labour was spooked by the popularity of National’s race […]
Has National changed its policy on the super-city?
Yesterday I pointed out that the Local Government Act requires referenda on boundary changes such as are envisaged for Auckland. To not do […]
Govt still refuses to act on youth smoking
A couple of months ago you may remember Tony Ryall rejecting a health select committee recommendation that cigarettes and tobacco be kept out […]
One of these things is not like the other III
One of these things is not like the other… One of these things is not quite the same. Can you guess which one […]
Higher education
Turns out Richard Worth’s not the only one with a passion for flying. Tertiary Education Minister Anne Tolley has been joyriding in helicopters […]
Out of touch
Vernon Small suggests that a further 60,000 workers may lose their jobs by next year. So it comes as a shock to read […]
Why won’t Key sack his Minister?
The Herald is now reporting that John Key won’t sack Richard Worth, despite new information coming to light that an associated company to […]
Still stuck in the slow lane
In the Dom Post today Tom Pullar-Strecker calls Steven Joyce’s recently announced broadband fibre plans: old wine in new bottles – a backdown […]
Messy play at Playcentre
Playcentre was founded during the second world war as a way for families (mainly mothers) to support each other while providing quality child-centred […]
Who’s zooming who?
The Herald reports: Last week John Key used poor United States sales of the new BMW 7-series – 10 were sold in February, […]
Regurgitating rubbish
On his blog Colin Espiner rejects the argument that National’s tax cuts are “unfair because they give more to those who earn more” saying “I’m afraid […]
Happy tax cut day?
The tax cuts that National are implementing today are more generous to high income earners, and less generous to low income earners, than […]
Mayday Mayday, Worth’s bought it and I’m losing altitude – Groser out
Richard Worth, OBE, is now in very serious trouble having been snared in what looks like untruths about using his Ministerial portfolio to […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
90 axed at TVNZ
In what’s turning out to be the gift that just keeps on giving for National, the Recession Bogeyman is now being blamed for […]
A bunch of clowns
Poor old Nick Smith. Not only is he stuck peddling long-disproved lies about ACC but now it seems he can’t even get a […]
National to increase foreign ownership
Newstalk ZB reports: The Prime Minister is keen to open the door to foreign investors. In a speech to the Act Party conference […]
See no evil
I’ve been meaning to write something about the private prisons bill for a couple of days as it’s a recipe for barbarity. But […]
The guy’s tired already
If there’s one thing that strikes you about John Key’s post-cabinet press conference this week, it isn’t the scintillating prose or erudite diction. […]
Espiner nails it
In his blog today Colin Espiner points out how National has quickly moved a lot further to the right than they portrayed themselves […]
Ye olde royal titles
Brian Rudman has a good piece this morning on the Earl of Auckland’s backwards-looking decision to reinstate a “ridiculous regime of titles dating […]
Crusher Collins
Private prisons and the ‘tough on crime’ lobby
One of the features of a privatised prison system is the potential for corruption of the political process by the commercial interests of […]
The Wall Street Journal gets it
Despite all the claims of “centrist” and “centre-right” none other than the the Wall Street Journal has pointed out that John Key’s government […]
No free trade deal
The Obama administration has halted free trade talks with New Zealand. On one hand free trade is simply increased freedom of capital and […]