Kia Kaha Canterbury
It seems almost inevitable that the recent fires in Canterbury and the Hawkes Bay are the result of climate change and the harbingers of things to come.
national
same old national
Government will not support victims of domestic violence
The Government is refusing to support Jan Logie’s bill aimed at helping the victims of domestic violence despite the bill receiving support from the ANZ and Business New Zealand supporting the bill going at least to select committee.
Bloomberg warns world of New Zealand’s toxic trusts
Bloomberg magazine has highlighted how foreign trusts are damaging New Zealand’s reputation and are being used for criminal activity.
Medicinal Cannabis law reform
The Government is finally moving to adopt Labour policy and loosen requirements for the use of medicinal cannabis.
The SOE sell down three years on
Some time in the next 12 months it is likely that the forgone dividend payments and loss in share value from the Power Company shares and Air NZ share sale will be greater than the amount received, only three years after the sale.
Smartest guy in the room
The Government signed a deal with Peter Thiel that socialised the losses and allowed him to privatise the gains of the joint venture fund that the parties entered into.
The Peter Thiel citizenship grant
The Peter Thiel paper dump raise more questions than they answer and hints at ongoing communication with National ministers and that John Key approached Thiel to make the donation subsequently made to Key’s earthquake fund.
Bill English thinks he was pro Springbok tour
Bill English says that he was probably for the 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand although has hinted that he has since changed his mind.
The end of ‘governing from the centre’?
And a return to the politics of division by Blinglish…
Refining that dog whistle
Bill English has used a proposal for timing of his Waitangi speech to wrongly claim that he is being silenced. And most of the media bought it.
The St Johns Industrial Dispute – #HealthyAmbosSaveLives
St Johns is one of the first organisations to use new Industrial powers brought in by the Government and is attempting to refuse to negotiate with First Union and is docking workers pay for wearing a campaign t-shirt.
Steven Joyce rewrites history
Steven Joyce believes that doing something is the same as not doing something.
McCully is going
Murray McCully has announced that he too is standing down from politics at the next election and his removal as a Minister this week appears almost inevitable.
Bill English to be elected as National Leader
Video of left wingers responding to the news that Bill English will be National’s next leader.
National plans to sell Housing Corp home Key grew up in
John Key, the state house tenant turned good who has relied heavily on his humble upbringing is overseeing the sale of the state house he grew up in.
Brownlee should stop vilifying scientists
Gerry Brownlee has attacked a public servant firstly for not approached the Government for increased Geonet monitoring and then for raising the issue but not telling him personally.
Brownlee bullies GNS staff
Gerry Brownlee has chosen to respond to the cautious words of a public servant by publicly attacking him.
Andrew Little: Promises to Pike families must be kept
Yesterday marked the sixth anniversary of the Pike River disaster. Here is a statement released by Andrew Little urging that the mine not be sealed and the deaths of the miners be investigated and their bodies brought home.
National tries to have it both ways
Despite the Kaikoura earthquakes, the damage to the Capital and the fact the EQC fund is now in deficit, the Government is still holding out the possibility of tax cuts in election year.
Nats politicising earthquake response
Oh look, National are nakedly politicising government earthquake response.
Dirty politics past and present
A couple of dirty politics related stories that slipped under the radar in the last hectic week.
Fear and loathing in Mt Roskill
Members of the National Party in Mount Roskill are trying to make a story out of Michael Wood after he responded directly to public insults made against his wife.
Andrew Little: Winning together
In advance of the Labour Party conference this weekend Andrew Little’s message is that the polls are neck and neck, that Labour is winning on many issues and that if we work together the left can win the next election.
Sheepgate: Government celebrates finding that McCully is not corrupt
The Auditor General’s report into Sheepgate has been released and there has to be questions about the accuracy of what Murray McCully has told Parliament and his ability to fullfil his role as a Minister.
Kiwibank is being privatised by stealth
Kiwibank is selling 47% of its shareholding to the New Zealand Super Fund and to the Accident Compensation Corporation. The Government gets a cheque for $200 million which will improve the appearance of its books. Financial sleight of hand?
Labour’s Auckland light rail announcement
National is criticising Labour for releasing policy during an election campaign.
Darren Watson 2 John Key 0
The Court of Appeal has ruled that Darren Watson’s Planet Key song should not have been banned during the 2014 election campaign.
One Billion Dollars
Treasury papers just released show National’s Housing Infrastructure Fund to be everything you expected it to be: a quickly cobbled together headline.
There goes the surplus
The media last week reported extensively an operating surplus of $1.8 billion dollars. But they missed the not so good news that the value of ACC’s assets took a $5.1 billion hit, the Super Fund lost $2 billion, the Crown’s liability under the ETS increased by $1.5 billion and net Crown debt increased by $1.3 billion.
‘Too busy’
National ministers have a habit of not wanting to turn up to the ‘hard’ questions, but Paula Bennett has been severely caught out by RNZ
Housing Corp is running out of money
Housing Corporation is forecast to run out of money by next February if urgent action is not taken.
I see a poverty of ideas and a poverty of Government responsibility
Judith Collins yesterday said that child poverty is the fault of parents and not the fault of her Government.
Government announces watered down version of Labour’s Kiwibuild policy
National is borrowing another Labour-Green policy and has announced a lite version of Labour’s Kiwibuild policy.
The crime spike
Who would have thought that a surge in homelessness would result in a spike in crime, and that a dramatic increase in the number of people with no or compromised housing situations would cause an increase in burglaries, robberies and assaults.
Racist Nats Attack Chinese Grannies Shock!
National have slammed the door shut on the parents of already settled migrants who wish to move to NZ to complete the family unit. Minister Michael Woodhouse accuses elderly Asians of bludging off the NZ taxpayer. You won’t believe the howls of outrage from the right!
The Chief Prison Inspector’s report on Serco and MECF
The Chief Prison Inspector’s report on Mount Eden Corrections Facility has now been released and has presented a damning judgment on Serco’s management of the prison.