The resignation announcements of National MPs are coming thick and fast. It shows that National knows that it’s going to have fewer MPs are the next election. If it doesn’t want all its seats clogged with MPs that are going nowhere, they need to retire at the election. For the Left, it’s good confirmation that National knows its losing. It’s smart politics from National, though, and something Labour could emulate.
Well known mum and dad investor the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation has accumulated 8% 4% of Meridian Energy’s shares. And the Dominion Post editor has described the Government’s asset sales programme as “an unmitigated disaster – so disastrous it borders on economic vandalism”. Who feels a whole lot of “told you so” coming up?
Why is Treasury providing the government with advice on spinning and disguising widespread changes to Education? In this way, NZ’s democracy is undermined, and changes are continually made that benefit the few and make life more difficult for the many. Government MO or renegade Treasury?
John Key has just admitted that Ministerial and Treasury oversight of Solid Energy was not up to scratch but suggests that external analysis would have provided a lot more accountability. Oddly enough I had always thought that it was the job of the relevant Ministers and their advisors to provide oversight. And he has hinted at the privatisation of TVNZ and NZ Post …
A charity is taking on the funding of the essential work on monitoring poverty, in the face of Paula Bennett, Bill English and John Key et al failing to do their job: a return to Dickensian & Edwardian times.
Latest revelations about the NSA’s international surveillance show it is about “full spectrum dominance” of military, economic, business and political activities. The TICS Bill is the latest part of Key’s changes to NZ’s surveillance agencies, further enabling the US government dominance via NSA, especially in business & politics.
Matthew Hooton said this week that Cameron Slater should put up or shut up. Slater then promised explosive new revelations in the SST and the Herald today. As detailed by Karol in her post The Blame Game the revelations were, but I suspect not in the way that Slater had hoped for. Because he has succeeded beyond what I thought would be possible in converting a story about a a philandering mayor into a story of how forces on the right tried to usurp the democratic choice of Aucklanders.
David Jones QC argues Banks could not have signed a false declaration of election donations because he did not read it. But Banks’ campaign manager’s evidence was that Banks “glanced at it before signing it.” The Oxford dictionary defines “glance” as “take a quick or hurried look;” “read quickly or cursorily.” So Banks did read the donations return. It would have been hard to miss the $15,690 recorded as both a radio expense and an anonymous donation which he had personally solicited.
The Maori Party has accepted an invitation extended by the Mana Party to enter into discussions on how they can work together on a kaupapa by kaupapa basis. Is this a further threat to National’s parliamentary majority?
NZ needs government legislation & financial support to maintain local screen productions. Steven Joyce makes some hollow noises about prioritising NZ-focused productions, while allowing the Auckland industry to decline. Lucy Lawless blames Joyce for NZ Film tax rebates & prioritising BIG Oil.
The Government has announced the results of the Meridian Share float and the results are all bad. The country will receive up to $1.1 billion less than the shares were worth in 2011 and overseas entities will own 13% of the shares. Remind me why we are selling the shares ?
It raised a few eyebrows when the Catholic Church appeared to back the SkyCity deal. Seamus Donegan appeared before the select committee for the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, saying they couldn’t find a link between pokies and problem gambling. Turns out that Donegan’s submission was the opposite of the Commission’s real position, and he’s National MP Sam Lotu-Iiga’s electorate chair.
At least one MP if not the whole of National’s caucus knew that the news concerning Len Brown and Bevan Chuang would break soon eight days before it did. Slater’s and Palino’s claims are becoming more and more difficult to believe. And in a comment yesterday Bad12 sums up why this is such bad news for National.
Winston Peters’ KiwiFund proposal would nationalise KiwiSaver. Russel Norman supports it, but in competition with private schemes. Cunliffe is open to negotiation. Key is dismissive, but says Peters is so untrustworthy he is likely to back down & form an alliance with National anyway.
It is clear that there is significant concern within the National Party with the behaviour of Cameron Slater and there is worry that a New Zealand version of the Tea party is forming. There is an interesting battle developing between the civilised cautious wing of the Party and the Tea Party take no prisoners approach of Slater and Lusk. The future of the National Party is at stake …
It’s starting to look pretty shredded. Increasingly, it seems that John Banks has “got nothing to hide” – behind. The key question is what Banks knew when he signed a declaration recording known donations as anonymous. Paul Holmes did put the question directly to Banks on Q+A last year. He didn’t get a straight answer; Banks tried the cabbage boat defence.
The Speaker’s ability to do his job is being questioned strongly after Metiria Turei was thrown out of the debating Chamber after calling the SkyCity deal “sleazy”. How can John Banks provide an impartial vote on the SkyCity Bill? It should be delayed! [Update: Video]
Today’s decision that John Banks will stand trial for signing a false donations return signals the beginning of the end of the Key government. Increasingly it resembles the last days of the Shipley government only worse, as corruption replaces shambles. The decision also puts the famous tea party conversation between Key and Banks, where they stitched up the deal to provide the present Government’s majority, into new perspective.
The District Court is hearing evidence today as to whether John Banks should stand trial for signing a donations return that he knew to be false. Kim Dotcom has given evidence – the Herald reports that when he agreed to give Banks a donation of $50,000, Banks asked for it to be split and to be made anonymous., so that if Banks helped DotCom in the future it would not be known that he had donated to him.
This must be one of the worst “interviews” given by an NZ cabinet minster tonight on Campbell Live. Simon Bridges all bluster, anger, spin and diversions, and fails to answer the real questions about the dangers of the deep sea drilling off NZ’s coast. The ugly face of John Key’s government. [Update: Youtube video of the interview]
The Chair of the Environmental Defence Society has heavily criticised the Ruataniwha Dam process for requiring the voluntary sector to test the scientific evidence, for requiring the analysis of highly technical scientific evidence within a very short time period, and for not including a freshwater expert on the Board of Inquiry. He has described the process as being fundamentally flawed and has stated that the process appears to be designed to facilitate the granting of consents. There is something wrong going on here.
For the second time in less than 12 months the High Court has ruled a decision of Hekia Parata’s to be invalid. The latest decision to be invalidated was the decision to close Phillipstown School in Christchurch. It is clear that either Parata needs better advisors or John Key needs a new Minister of Education.
An article in today’s UK Guardian highlights the role of Key’s, US-supporting, government in the GCSB, Dotcom, surveillance saga (and TPP). It is chilling & shows why we need to continue to campaign against NZ’s surveillance state legislation and for TPPA transparency.
In Christchurch East National is up and running in the by election, well sort of. A contributor points out that the National candidate, Matthew Doocey has not referred to the most pressing issues for the residents of Christchurch East, dealing with the EQC and the Insurance companies and the cost of housing.
In the wake of the astounding victory of the NZ team in San Diego, Scott at Imperator Fish offers these words of sage advice to those on the left looking at recent polling. For those of you convinced by the current winning trend, some of us hope that you will take his advice (so the rest of us can carry on with the work that needs to be done).
There’s a way of giving people bad news called in PR circles a shit sandwich – basically you give people something happy and fluffy, then the bad news, then something happy and fluffy so you can brush on past it.
Central Auckland, gated city candidates get cosy about their grass verges. The west has a crisis in affordable rents & homelessness. Labour & Nats housing policies bow to the middle class home ownership agenda. Greens & Mana look to state & council housing.
Simon Bridges has been keeping a low profile lately but he’s in the news again today, and onceagain he’s been caught being somewhat less than honest.
It turns out he’s been caught trying to bury a report showing a huge quarterly jump in electricity prices.
The latest Roy Morgan is out and there has been a surge of support to Labour. The Labour/National gap is now 5%, the smallest gap in many years. The next election is going to be very interesting …
“I just utter one fear…”
Remember that?
The Axe the Copper Tax campaign has stepped up a notch with the release of a peer review of the original analysis that the tax would cost Kiwis $600 million. The review states that the original methodology was sound and the findings conservative. The issue itself has galvanised opposition from some of the Government’s most staunchest friends. This is probably the first Standard Post ever to rely on comments from the Herald, the NBR, David Farrar and Matthew Hooton to justify a claim that this Government is engaged in the most basic form of Crony Capitalism. Yes things are that bad for the Government.
Te Reo Putake starts speculating on when, how, and by whom John Key will be knifed in the back by. The question of if it is before or after the losing the next election. So far only Keith Holyoake has managed to retire as a leader of National, so after Labour’s tidy leadership changes we’re all looking forward to the political splatterfest that only National can provide.
With Cunliffe’s Labour in the ascendance, NAct and/supporters pull out their bag of dirty and deceptively manipulative, Hollow Men, tricks. Adviser to John Key & Boris Johnson, Mark Textor, will most likely be used again: ruthless attack politics, playing on fears & prejudices.
Two very good speeches in the General Debate in the House from opposition leaders. They highlight Nick Smith’s dodgy record, & why he should be stood down as a Minister in Key’s “Dark, dirty & heartless” government. [Update: Key – on (dis)honesty]
As Irish predicted, the Nats continued their desperate smear campaign today with the revelation that David Cunliffe doesn’t actually have a qualification he never actually claimed to have. Honestly, you couldn’t make this shit up.
Just to be clear: Nick Smith did not order the Big Brunch Fry-up, no matter what he might have said.
