Judith Collins had her debut as a columnist in the Sunday Star Times today. Her article was not contentious and raised issues of importance. She also revealed that she never liked the name “Crusher” and Hager’s description of her was false in many ways.
The Coal Action Network is planning a series of protests this Sunday to highlight how this Government has its head planted firmly in the sand when it comes to addressing climate change.
Tim Groser and National have a plan to solve global warming so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel.
How is it that Katherine Rich can be the head of the Food and Grocery Council and look after the interests of suppliers yet at the same time be on the Health Promotion Agency and not have a conflict?
John Key has been advertising us in parliament. But he has a problem distinguishing how his right puppet blogs operate compared to the volunteer blogs of the left. It says more about how John Key thinks than it does about us. Key prefers sites that recruit prostitutes in order to blackmail reporters.
So despite the vast amount more funding (5x more per pupil) to charter schools, 1 of the 5 first, Te Kura Hourua ki Whangaruru, is failing abysmally.
The Government has previously said that all their problems were fixed, or being fixed – but they clearly aren’t.
In the House today Megan Woods embarrassed John Key with some very simple yet direct questions about Jason Ede. Key’s attempts to joke away the issue was met with silence from his side of the house. Dirty Politics is clearly having an effect.
The second annual Child Poverty Monitor was released today. bsprout on Local Bodies on poverty and inequalities in Invercargill, “provides a good snapshot of New Zealand society”.
The Countering Terrorist Fighters Legislation Bill is set to return to Parliament today with some changes likely to be recommended by the select committee. And John Key is sounding conciliatory by promising to wind some powers back while at the same time promising an increase in powers next year even though a review of the Intelligence agencies has not been completed.
bsprout on the Local Bodies blog departs from his more usual style and makes some parallels with popular culture. One of John Key’s many hats?
The past week has been a terrific one for Andrew Little and a very bad one for John Key, thanks to Cameron Slater. Key failing to cut contact with Slater is bizarre. It makes you wonder what Slater has on Key.
Kevin Hague says, the government’s plan to replace state housing with “social housing” will make the affordable housing crisis worse & is “economically reckless”. The Labour Party have circulated a petition to save state houses from being sold by the NZ government.
The Greens have released information that shows National having 77% of their donations in the last 3 years ($3.375 million) funnelled to them in non-public quite large donations. What are they providing for that? Well amongst other things it pays for sleazeballs like Jason Ede. But what legislation?
Yesterday’s 2 reports are even worse for what they managed to conclude inside their scope. What was outside their scope shows things even more interesting.
There’s a lot of smash flying around concerning the SIS, the PM’s office, OIA requests, Judith Collin’s and what not. So here’s a simple, stripped back, breakdown
John Key thinks that the finding by Cheryl Gwyn that his office helped Cameron Slater with his OIA request is “contested”. Who should we believe? Updated: Key will be asked this question this afternoon in Parliament.
The Gwyn report finds that the SIS failed to maintain political neutrality.
What did Key know and when did he know it?
John Key has apologised to Cameron Slater for releasing an email which details a campaign against a senior Public Servant.
What did Key know and when did he know it?
Public transport traffic in Auckland keeps growing by large 7.7% per year. Car traffic despite all of the motorway and roading improvements grew by just 2.3% in the whole period of 2006 and 2013 amongst commuters. But our current idiotic National transport minister wants more roads? And won’t let Aucklanders decide what they should do despite them voting with their AT Hop cards.
John Key’s election as chair of the International Democratic Union is significant. Key succeeds John Howard who has led the IDU for the past 12 years. Key’s acceptance signals that like four-time winner Howard, Key plans a long career as Prime Minister of New Zealand. This news should be a wake-up call for the Labour Party’s review of its election organisation and party structure.
Yesterday a report from the NZ Super Fund (the Cullen fund) provided further evidence of National’s economic “genius”. We could have used the $4.8 billion that they just chucked away.
Community groups have a vital role in New Zealand. They speak on social problems such as poverty, mental illness and addiction. They also often have a direct role in fixing them via government funding. The tension between those two roles is one that National is ruthlessly exploiting to stifle dissent.
Gerry Brownlee has admitted and been fined for entering a security area at Christchurch Airport. But there is an issue about whether he had a defence to the charge that he actually faced. And despite John Key’s and the CAA’s indication the report into the incident would be released it is now being withheld.
Momentum is building for action on climate change – but Key reckons it’s all just too hard for little old NZ. If only the Nats hadn’t killed of funding for research into the reduction of agricultural emissions…
Jason Wilson in the Guardian has asked a very relevant question. Why is the right currently dominant in the English speaking Western World and what does the left have to do to change this?
The Waitangi Tribunal has released an important decision stating its opinion that chiefs never intended to cede Maori sovereignty when signing the Te Reo version of the Treaty of Waitangi.
On Monday Bill English reckoned that pressures in the property market were “easing”. Yesterday’s headline “Spring house price surge in October”…
Megan Woods has discovered that three OIA requests processed within the same day by Judith Collins’ office for Cameron Slater were not entered in a log of successful OIA requests recently released by Amy Adams.
The Phillip Smith story is going to hurt National. It was warned two years ago about the relationship between passports and multiple identities yet nothing seems to have been done.
The first repercussion of the election result is the almost inevitable defeat of Sue Moroney’s Paid Parental Leave private member’s bill. The Government is clearly determined to prevent her from getting credit for raising and highlighting an issue of importance to Kiwi families.
Chief executive remuneration packages in the privatised power companies have surged post float.
National’s sale of state housing assets and other aspects of housing policy is stupid at all levels. Which is probably why they are confused themselves about it.
The IPCC has released a further report refining previous research and announcing with practical certainty that climate change is happening because of the production of greenhouse gasses. It proposes that we stop burning fossil fuels, and change the electricity generation system so that by 2050 the vast bulk of the world’s power is produced by renewable means. The diagnosis is clear as are the remedies. And meanwhile Tim Groser thinks the Greens are to blame for the recent drop in the milk price …
Paula Bennett thinks that selling off much of the country’s housing stock is exciting and sexy and that the market and a group of charities will be able to resolve the country’s housing issues.
A recently published UNICEF report on levels of child poverty amongst developed economies suggests that despite our rockstar economy and our brighter future child poverty levels in New Zealand have stagnated since 2008 while in Australia meaningful changes have been made.
