Didn’t it make you sick to your stomach when smug Tories getting fat on quarter of a million dollar taxpayer-funded salaries get up in the House and make jokes to deflect from the dire jobs situation?* Well, I know 410,000 Kiwis who are looking for work and aren’t laughing when Key and co make jokes about it.
John Key doesn’t want NZ to be a leader in the fight against climate change. Much better to be a lemming (sorry – a “fast follower”) and follow all the other lemmings off the cliff.
No Right Turn on this week’s offering from the Nat roulette wheel of political distractions…
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, another doctor warns us about poverty and disease in NZ, Peter Dunne betrays his pledge to back measures that reduce poverty, and inequality in New York exposed by hurricane Sandy.
Among the many failures of human cognition, we’re very poor at taking account of warnings of future risk and consequence. We’ve seen two particularly clear and strong examples of ignoring the warnings in NZ politics in the last two weeks. There are many other cases ongoing…
The Electoral Commission’s report is out. Now we need to make sure that the Government follow-thru on what an independent board have decided having listened to ordinary New Zealanders’ submissions.
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 sad links between poverty and suicide, and Key’s response…
No Right Turn on the overthrow of local democracy in Canterbury…
Bugger the environment – who needs it? That’s the message from National, both domestically and internationally.
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, a party that wants to help, and a party that doesn’t.
Cuts have consequences.
Combine that with a culture where ministers are never held accountable for anything, and you have a recipe for bungling incompetence.
This National government is a very small government indeed.
The government is vulnerable around Sue Moroney’s Paid Parental Leave Bill. The Nats don’t want it to pass, but they risk losing support from women. A government veto of an entire Bill is on experimental ground, and Bill English has shifted his reasons for not supporting the Bill. Updates: BusinessNZ submission
A Victoria University study shows that tax evasion is costing the country at least 25 times what welfare fraud is costing, while welfare fraud is punished more harshly in court.
Questions were again raised about the leadership of David Shearer today, after a giant robot army descended from the skies and laid waste to most of the North Island. As the horde of killer machines spread fire and death in all directions, there was no news from the Labour Party leader about how he would deal with the crisis. Critics of Labour say that Shearer’s inaction is further evidence that he is unfit to lead the party.
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, “International Eradication of Poverty Day”, and the tragic link between poverty and child abuse.
Foss has effectively challenged the PM’s stance on ruling out changes to the age of eligibility for NZ Super. A minor rebellion? A faint flickering of independent and rational thought form within the National caucus?
Dave Kennedy (bsprout) at Local Bodies writes on crime statistics and the vulnerable in our society.
Amidst all the current scandal and chaos, the Nats’ privatisation agenda grinds on.
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, three good pieces on the recent Children’s Commisioner’s report, the Nats dither on food in schools, and much more…
Unions, businesses, and political parties will come together today to form a united front on the need for change to save manufacturing in New Zealand. If National want to stand isolated against the new consensus, that’s their problem.
This week I’ve been to see the surrealists at the Tate Modern in London, and read about the surrealists at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham. God knows what Cameron was talking about, with his line about spreading privilege – Knighthoods for all? Everybody off to Eton and Oxbridge?
Youth rates are an admission of economic failure.
National promised us an “unrelenting focus on jobs” and delivered record highs in unemployment and emigration. Now Key is refusing to even attend a Union jobs summit, because on Planet Key everything is just fine. The unwillingness to admit that anything is wrong is just blind arrogance.
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, immigrant Pacific Island families in poverty, and a thoughtful and challenging piece on the role of philanthropy in NZ.
It’s now clear that National are unfit for office anywhere but Planet Key. Which is unfortunate, because here on Planet Earth, things aren’t going so well. We need new ideas, we need action, we need results. We aren’t going to get them from National.
Parata is trying to close schools based on data that is (as even the Ministry now admits) massively incorrect. The attack on the social fabric of Christchurch was already inexcusable. This latest fiasco makes it even worse.
The latest Roy Morgan poll has National at its lowest level of support since before the 2008 election
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, right wingers whine about the focus on poverty, 3 News and Kidscan try to do something about it.
Another report confirms the findings of the 2006 Stern Report. The future economic costs of doing nothing far outweigh the current costs of taking action on climate change. But National is taking us backwards…
The Chief Ombudsmen has attacked the government’s moves to keep official information secret, calling them “highly dangerous”. The ongoing GCSB and John Banks scandals show just how important it is to be able to hold the government – at all levels – to account.
There’s a lot of it about in right-wing parties at the moment. For John Key, John Banks and David Cameron it appears to be becoming the strategy of choice. It’s not working very well for any of them.
National has a plan to deal with their crisis of job losses, GCSB illegality and bad polls. Tomorrow will probably see another welfare crackdown, although with the number of groups left to target rapidly diminishing, could it be the turn of one-legged Dutchmen to feel Paula’s wrath?
But if that plan doesn’t work, National has another up its sleeve: blame Labour. Go on, sing along.
Welcome to National’s economy: Kiwirail has just announced 158 infrastructure and engineering job losses, and this afternoon Solid Energy will probably announce the loss of 300 jobs at Spring Creek, and 200-250 elsewhere. This on top of the swathe of job losses in Huntly and Christchurch Solid Energy announced a month ago.
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, a new Labour Bill, an Otago University study, and Live Below the Line.
John Key is one kind of Wizard all right – a Wizard of Oz. He can make people disappear there. Duncan Garner rips in to him.
