Democracy under attack
Ruth Laugesen’s got a piece in the SST today entitled “How National’s spin doctors operate“. She points out that Crosby/Textor’s methods, contrary to […]
political parties
national
National’s New Plymouth candidate quits
National Party’s New Plymouth candidate Clem Coxhead has reportedly wanted to be in politics since he was nine years old. Earlier this year […]
Report shows incomes up, inequality down
The MSD’s Incomes Report provides a wealth of information. For instance, here’s how the mean and median household incomes have moved since 1982. […]
Government slashes ‘waste’
The Government’s new core benefit will see all beneficiaries given the same treatment and the same assistance to get into work if they […]
Who’s driving the ‘truck strike’?
So, let’s get this straight the Government has increased road user charges for diesel vehicles by half the amount recommended by the Ministry […]
Time to front up on ACC
Some excellent journalism by Vernon Small has revealed that Australian insurers expect National to privatise the ACC scheme and they see $200 million […]
Greens discover Nats full of hot air
A classic ‘cake and eat it’ from Crosby/Textor National has been their approach to climate change – stating they support tackling this issue […]
Merrill Lynch: Nats will privatise ACC
It’s refreshing to see some proper investigative journalism in this morning’s Dominion Post, with a revelation from Vernon Small that while National continues […]
National releases 3 more lines of policy – Scoop
A classic headline that says it all. Here’s the three lines: ‘Give schools additional resources over time to ensure more students can take […]
Mr Key’s real concerns
While more questions will no doubt be asked about Mr Key’s choice of hiring infamous Aussie spin-stars, Crosby/Textor, (no doubt some more of them will […]
Same old National. Same old spin.
Former National Party MP Marilyn Waring wrote in the introduction to The Hollow Men: I must admit to a sense of anticipated despair […]
John does a Don
Remember Noelle McCarthy’s 95bFM interview with Brash in which she got him to admit to knowledge of the Brethren pamphlets? Student radio has done it […]
Busted
Nicky Hager’s piece in today’s Sunday Star Times has confirmed what we all suspected: Crosby Textor are the creators of Brand Key. For […]
Bait and switch
It strikes me there is a disconnect between what prospective National voters expect it to do in government and what it has actually promised it […]
Misdirection
There’s a technique that sits at the heart of conjuring tricks called misdirection the act of drawing attention away from the trick itself. […]
Protecting ‘brand Key’
For the first second third time, National is trying to shut down the reporting of things they feel don’t cast them in the […]
No consistency needed
Colin Espiner’s just posted an entry headed “National’s position on smacking confusing”. It is – but only if you’re expecting philosophical consistency. Key’s […]
Cake and eat it
I’ve noticed a new trend in the right’s spin lately (apart from their wholesale theft of campaign scripts) – the ‘have your cake […]
ToryAid: Wastewatch (3)
In response to the UMR poll that shows 60% of voters would not want tax cuts at the expense of public services, Bill […]
You call that policy? This is policy
National has released a brochure, laying out all its policies. They take up two A4 pages of double-spaced bullet points. That’s incredibly lightweight. […]
A foolish promise
Simon Power promises a new prison in a National government’s first term. What a glib and foolish statement. Had he paused to reflect […]
National breaking promises already
As you know, National promised to cap core public servant numbers at 36,000. That was going to deliver each of us a whopping 50 […]
Hollow Men film to premiere next month
The Unionist reports Nicky Hager’s book The Hollow Men has been made into a film and will be screening as part of this […]
More bluster, still no policies
Every month, Stats releases migration figures. Each month, they show little change in the pattern from last month. And each month, National comes […]
ToryAid: Wastewatch (2)
Here’s the waste National has identified so far: 1) Embassy in Sweden – approx $3 million capital, $3 million operating 2) Badges about […]
Key promises productivity magic
Key reckons he could bring down inflation by targeting ‘low quality’ government spending. How? To counter inflation, you need to increase productivity. Inflation […]
Slippery John’s “after-tax incomes” line
You’ll have noticed that Key only ever talks about increasing ‘after-tax incomes’. Even when he’s asked about wages for government employees, like doctors, […]
Hit and Run
I put a comment on one of Steve’s posts a few days ago and he suggested I put it up as a post […]
What went on at the ‘horn?
Reports have been circulating around Wellington for several weeks about a night on the town for John Key with a couple of senior […]
Keeping it in the family
The ODT reports that Bill English’s brother, Conor English, has been picked as the new CEO of Federated Farmers. Once the press secretary […]
National ‘bereft of compassion’
That is the reported view of the secretary of the Sikh Council of New Zealand in response to some attention grabbing behaviour from […]
Facing up to peak oil
The Government’s independent report on petrol prices is bit of a sop to be the public, really. The world oil price is driving […]
He would say that wouldn’t he
Stuff reports that National Party energy spokesman Gerry Brownlee has labelled the government’s inquiry into petrol pricing a cynical move that would not make […]
Kremlinology: National on ACC
In most countries, accident insurance is big business. Insurers and lawyers make billions off premiums, claims, and court cases but many people don’t […]
Key’s slippery promises on waste
National has staked it all on delivering bigger tax cuts than Labour. To remain credible, they need to deliver $20 a week on […]
The dark side of the Right
Trotter is on the money today: …[A]ll of you young, confident women of the 21st century urgently need to pause and reflect upon […]