National’s fruit flies
Brook Sabin pulls no punches laying the blame for the fruit fly outbreak at National’s feet. Key’s attempted denial is some of his worst work ever.
Politics
political parties
National hypocrisy about the gay pride parade
National engages in Auckland’s Gay Pride parade by sending two MPs who voted against marriage equality and an Auckland Councillor who on Facebook calls a young man who pointed this out as a “little c*ck”. Way to blow relations with the gay and lesbian community. Update: And Linda Cooper has apologised, sort of …
The Save Invermay Campaign
National is letting the regions wither. None more so than (Labour voting) Dunedin, with the closure of the Hillside Workshop, the underfunding of Dunedin Hospital, and the planned closure of the agricultural research center at near-by Invermay. Check out Dunedin North MP David Clark’s video update on Invermay.
The more complete Donghua Liu timeline
Yesterday’s Herald revealed that Donghua Liu made a second donation to National in 2013 which was repaid to him after last year’s election. A brief timeline was provided but in the interests of greater understanding I thought a fuller timeline would be helpful.
Charter schools mess – what a surprise
One of National’s first five charter schools is a failure, and applications for new charter schools have been cancelled. Who could have predicted such a mess? Just about everybody…
Local Bodies: The Greens and Labour
Politics involves competition, opposition and robust debate as parties jostle to capture media time and to promote their policies and points of difference. But Andrew Little has recently mismanaged his relationship with the Green Party. There is an acceptable line between promoting the interests of ones own party and maintaining a working relationship with future coalition partners.
Bain’s compensation claim
Amy Adams announced yesterday that $600,000 worth of legal reports about the Bain claim for compensation were going to be junked. Judith Collins has some explaining to do.
Nats bungle Bain process
A new review of compensation for David Bain. Another fine mess courtesy of Collins/Slater and National.
Stand by Your Man
Sometime in the next few days, Winston Peters will announce whether or not he will stand in the Northland by-election. He should run unchallenged by the left and Labour and the Greens should endorse him for the greater good.
Novopay cost us $45 million
It was announced yesterday that Novopay has cost the country $45 million more than intended. The Ministry of Education has accepted some responsibility but in terms of ultimate responsibility the Ministers involved, English, Parata and Foss should be held to blame.
SkyCity Insider trading?
SkyCity’s share price went up just before the recent Government announcement of the deal with SkyCity. Winston Peters wonders if some insider trading was involved.
SkySore broken by design
So the Nats spent $250,000 working out that an Auckland convention center needed 3500 seats to break even, and are now about to be delivered a center wtih 3000 seats.
Labour’s Betrayal Continues
It might well be in Labour’s best interests to cut the crap now and go into coalition with the National Ltd™ Cult of John Key. It would be the honest thing to do. Kiwis will then know where the boundaries lie and who actually is working to oppose the implementation of the wider neo-liberal ideology.
The right to strike
Celebrate International Right to Strike Day on 18 February by sending a message to Kiwi employers: stop undermining our right to strike!
Free houses?
That may be what it takes to interest charities in becoming “social housing” providers.
Principled stands from Little
It’s looking more and more like Labour has found the right leader at last.
The house always wins
The flaws in the process whereby SkyCity promised a free convention centre in consideration of legislative changes are now clear to see. Through an act of brinkmanship SkyCity has embarassed the Government and caused it political damage. And it has achieved a return for investors, the legislative changes will be the same despite there now being a smaller cheaper convention centre.
Paula Bennett and beneficiaries should be given the benefit of the doubt
A staffer in Paula Bennett’s ministerial office has apparently mistakenly withdrawn cash from the Ministerial credit card. The money has been paid back and no harm caused and no further action should be necessary. If only Bennett extended to beneficiaries the same tolerance of predictable mistakes.
Key is in reverse gear about Sky City
The focus group results are in and John Key is backing off from the Government injecting further money into the SkyCity convention centre.
Labour takes a stand against zero-hour contracts
Zero-hour contracts are the perfect illustration of when “flexibility” in employment relations goes all one way.
If only Key was as passionate about climate change
John Key gave a somewhat rousing speech about how New Zealand would not stand back when dealing with the ISIS tyranny. It made me wonder why he is not passionate about dealing with a problem that has the potential of wrecking much of the world’s environment and making much of it it uninhabitable.
Say NO to the $140m SkyCity bailout
The Labour Party is organising a petition against the $140 million bailout SkyCity is demanding – and John Key is insisting we have to pay to prevent getting an “eyesore” of a convention centr
Sky City’s playing us for suckers
Sky City crying too poor to build a bigger casino – give us a break, please! Casino expert Sudhir Kale estimated the extra pokies gained by Sky to be worth $35million over figures used by government. That’s for year upon year to 2048. It could cover any casino upgrade in four years. Either Joyce and Key are being played for suckers, or they are playing the rest of us for suckers. The deal stinks.
The SkyCity Deal
Eighteen months ago Stephen Joyce said about the Sky City Convention Centre deal that anything not written down was not happening. It appears that he was wrong as John Key softens us up for more public money being spent on a private convention centre.
The Sallies do not like Government’s housing policy
The Salvation Army has all but ruled out being involved in the Government’s Social Housing unless it is provided with capital. And if divestment occurs it considers that tenants should have a role in governance of the houses they live in.
The War Club Family
There’s a fascinating article in the latest New Statesman titled “An Empire that speaks English: the right’s dream of a new world order.” Suddenly UK Foreign Minister Philip Hammond’s recent visit here makes sense. So does John Key’s references to sending troops to Iraq on behalf of the “club” or the “family” – he’s at the heart of the Empire.
Tino Rangatiratanga
It has been claimed that Andrew Little has advocated for Maori to have law making powers. What he has done is reflect on a recent Waitangi Tribunal decision which concluded that Maori never ceded sovereignty to the Crown and properly concluded that this is an issue that needs to be considered.
Local Leadership
The Labour Local Government Council ran a hui last Friday in Wellington. I went along and it was one of the better Labour events I have been to in a long time – community-based organisers sharing and discussing what works. Crosby/Textor is onto it too.
Andrew Little – principled politician
Issues surrounding Mike Sabin highlight the handling of the matter by Andrew Little. With commendable restraint he chose to privately notify the Prime Minister’s office that one of his MPs faced problems. And his recollection of matters is clearly better than Key’s recollection.
The Sabin issue timeline
An analysis of the timeline and a reading of Cameron Slater’s comments concerning Mike Sabin raises real questions about the veracity of what Key has been saying to the media. Update: It appears that David Garrett and Rodney Hide have expressed views wondering if Key’s statement about when he was told is actually correct. Update: And Matthew Hooton suggests that the Police may have advised the Government of the invesigation.
How do the Greens grow their base?
Following on from yesterday’s discussion of the future for Labour – what next for the Greens?
What did Key know about Sabin’s issues?
Now that Mike Sabin has resigned attention is on what John Key knew and when.
How does Labour keep the momentum?
Labour have bounced back well from the disastrous election result. But how do they keep up the momentum?
The Northland by-election
A by-election is imminent – so how does Labour win in a safe National seat?