The Government must be crazy
Come one, came all to National’s fire sale! See how fast we can flog off your assets! Low prices, great returns to foreign investors!
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Child Support (Almost) Amendment Bill: Cunliffe speech
Another excellent Cunlife speech last night, speaking to the Child Support Amendment Bill (Committee Stage Schedule 2). An “almost” Bill showing the government’s callous disregard of child poverty and single/separated (usually women) parents.
Derisory minimum wage
The minimum wage should be at least $15 per hour. A living wage is estimated at $18.40 per hour. So what have the Nats done? Raised the minimum wage by $0.25 per hour to $13.75. It’s a derisory increase. Even their own supporters think so.
Lies and sanctions
The Nats lied over the hobbit movie. What are we as citizens to do when a government deliberately and shamelessly lies to us? How can we stop this kind of barefaced lying from happening again?
Back to basics
Looks like we’re in for another round of nonsense in mathematics education from a bunch of politicians who know more about their own prejudices than they do about teaching and learning.
What have the Nats got right?
The list of National’s failures is long – and getting longer. So what have the Nats got right in their 4 years in office? What have they accomplished? Genuine questions, Nat supporters, I’m interested to know what you think Key and co. have achieved.
NRT: Climate change – Locked out
I/S from No Right Turn describes another brick in National’s wall of stupid. “New Zealand will be locked out of the international carbon market in retaliation for our refusal to sign up for Kyoto’s Second Commitment period.”
Poverty Watch 20
Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. This week, more from the Children’s Social Health Monitor 2012 Update Report, and poverty in Christchurch…
Save the Trees!
The Government is currently attempting for a second time to remove blanket tree protection from Auckland’s district plan. Submissions close on February 28, 2013 – Greg Presland tells us why and how you can have your say.
Body on Mighty River
Forgotten Christchurch
Today is the second anniversary of the most destructive of the Christchurch earthquakes. Condolences to the friends and families of the dead. Greetings to all who lived through it and remember. Commiserations to those who have been forgotten by this government…
Key implicated not vindicated
As John Armstrong puts it the AG’s report on the Sky City bid was “deeply disturbing” and “verging on banana republic kind of stuff without the bananas”. One of the competing bidders is talking about a refund of costs “wasted on a bid that was never seriously considered”. And why wouldn’t they?
Christchurch kids as political pawns
Looks like Parata has been shafted by Key – her written promises to Christchurch schools will not be honoured. Instead it seems that Christchurch kids are being used as pawns in National’s electoral maneuverings.
NRT: 2,000 new homes? Yeah, right
In last year’s budget Key promised his government would build 2,000 new homes. They delivered (wait for it) … 68. I/S at No Right Turn (happy birthday by the way!) takes them to task…
Parata and the Christchurch schools
As widely reported, Chirstchurch schools find out their fate today. The damaged Hekia Parata was the wrong person to front this process…
Poverty Watch 19
Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. This week, more from the Children’s Social Health Monitor 2012 Update Report, the government gets a ‘D’ on child poverty from the Salvation Army, instead of acting the Nats are keen to bury such evidence…
Happy Gilmore returns
So Aaron Gilmore returns as ex-speaker Lockwood Smith heads to London. His Prime Ministerial ambitions can finally continue…
NRT: Unconstitutional and dangerous
I/S at No Right turn writes on the Ombudsman’s report which finds some of the Nats’ plans for charter schools to be unconstitutional and dangerous.
The failure of economic austerity
As one writer sums it up – “no austerity has helped any economy”. So why do we carry on with this failed ideology? Perhaps because, while it does nothing for the vast majority of people, it helps make the super-rich even richer…
To intervene or not to intervene, that is the question…
Frank Macskasy at Frankly Speaking looks at who does get generous government assistance – and who doesn’t. “This isn’t governance. This is economic decline by a thousand cuts.”
Poverty Watch 18
Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. This week, further in to the Children’s Social Health Monitor 2012 Update Report.
Nats’ low wage economy hollowing us out
The Nats were elected on a promise of a high wage economy. When it became clear that they were achieving the opposite, they tried to spin a disaster into a “competitive advantage”. And so in the real world the exodus to Australia continues. Now it’s affecting even our naval capability.
Another one bites the dust
Another day, another company that couldn’t make it in National’s stagnant economy. But this company, Mainzeal, is a particularly significant case, our third largest construction company. There will be significant flow on effects to other parts of the sector.
Beneficiary bashing – mission accomplished
National’s constant beneficiary bashing has borne predictable fruit – beneficiaries are now perceived as the most discriminated against group in the country.
Key failure
I wonder how the polls would look if the sampling included Kiwis who have fled the country?
One of the biggest failures of the Key government is the continuing massive exodus to Australia. This was an issue that Key made a core focus of the 2008 election. Remember the Westpac Stadium clip?…
Conflicted decisions
Another day, another example of some unseemly looking stuff from the Nats. This time it’s Judith Collins choosing Robert Kee – a friend of her husband – for a $200,000 a year taxpayer funded job.
Poverty Watch 17
Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. This week, the Children’s Social Health Monitor 2012 Update Report, and will the Maori Party act on their words?
Where were you Granny?
Granny Herald: “Some policies aimed at quenching what politicians perceive to be a public appetite for fairness are recycled regularly even when they have been shown to be deeply flawed.” Discuss…
The fiscal hole
David Parker has drawn attention to a steadily growing $1 Billion hole in projected tax income. That gap, and the stalled economy which underlies the problem, are not going to be fixed by John Key acting like an angry chimp in parliament, flinging insults out of his cage.
Opposition speeches & ‘Roads of Madness’
Debates on the PM’s statement to the House show that this do-nothing government needs to go. Plenty of good ideas from opposition MPs. An excellent speech by Genter against Joyce’s ‘Roads of Madness’ & for public transport.
ImperatorFish: Is National Really Hands-Off Then?
Scott examines National’s line that they aren’t “hands-off”, and finds them, if not entirely neo-liberal, still pretty dedicated to their worship of the invisible hand of the (private) market.
ImperatorFish: John Key’s Reshuffle Analysed
The biggest winner is Dr Nick Smith. He returns to Cabinet after his fall from grace last year, and is appointed as Minister for Creating a Perception of Crisis in Order to Justify Savage Cutbacks in Entitlements.
The biggest losers are Kate Wilkinson and Phil Heatley, who have been dropped from Cabinet altogether. Both have failed to perform, and their inability to communicate with the smoothness of someone like Hekia Parata will have counted against them.
Jobs(.govt.nz) to Australia
Danyl at Dimpost has discovered that National is so serious about (enhancing) the drain of jobs and Kiwis to Australia that they’ve actually […]
NZ economic forecast “deteriorating”
According to an international credit reporting agency our economic “risk profile” is “deteriorating”, due in part to rising unemployment. Good work National.
Hello everybody! Hi Dr Nick!
So Nick Smith is to be returned to cabinet after spending nearly a year on the bench for his ethical flaws. Presumably 10 months on the back benches heals all those desires to abuse your powers to try to help your friends get money.
Bugger the environment
The Greens have learned (via OIA) that National ignored its own official advice in canceling the standard five-yearly State of the Environment Report.