Finlayson says that paying compo to women abused by cops would “open the floodgates”. In other words, he reckons all the other claims that would come out of the woodwork would cost too much. What’s right is right. No matter the cost. ‘Floodgates’ is just an admission that the hundreds have been harmed. This government doesn’t have the guts to do right by them.
In his own surreal and ultra-privileged way Paul Holmes has discovered the recession. And it seems to have shaken him up a bit. Paul cuts loose with some Holmes truths about the useless Nat government. But in claiming that there is no alternative Holmes reveals nothing but his own lack of vision…
It just gets worse: “The Government has rejected a secret forum’s recommendation that 10 women who alleged sexual misconduct by police officers get reparation.” Sadly, I think this is just the Nats being cheap and unwilling to face their responsibilities. They don’t care about the victims of police abuse, they care about saving a few dollars to pay for tax cuts.
After half a government term of insisting that NACT had an economic plan, it has been ‘misplaced’. The full plan, said by informed sources to have been found in a brief case (along with a pie and a men’s magazine) and written on the back of an old rental expenses claim form, reveals that the government expects significant economic development will be lead by the construction of a single national transport infrastructure, namely a National Cycleway.
This guest post quotes the statement attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller in Germany after World War II about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power. The comparison to NACT policies towards the education sector is striking.
When National rammed through the first version of the 90 day fire at will law it claimed the period would be a ‘choice’ negotiated fairly between employees and employers.
Now employers are advertising it as a precondition in job ads, with the Minister backing them all the way.
Pita Sharples wants Maori flag to fly over prisons to raise prisoners’ morale. What a bizarre and useless suggestion. Instead, how about alleviating the poverty that is the main driver of crime?
Labour has rightly challenged National on its failure to make any progress on its core promise to “close the gap” with Australia. And rather than responding with action, National has responded with spin and bullshit. And that is very telling indeed.
Last night National and ACT voted down Grant Robertson’s ethical investment bill on the basis that “the market” would somehow solve the problem.
You can imagine what these people would have said about slavery at the time of the Civil War.
Why in hell are John Banks and the irresponsible Citizens and Ratepayers dominated Auckland City Council giving me (as a ratepayer) the risks of rebuilding Eden Park. They (and I) already have more than enough risks to handle in the massive costs of the leaky building liabilities.
Key hasn’t ruled out working with Winston after 2011. This seems like a huge miscalculation. Not only has he added legitimacy to the re-animation of this political zombie, but he has also cut the legs out from under the right’s “Winston is the devil” campaign. That giant sucking sound you hear? That’s DPF’s head imploding.
John Key trotted out a huge lie in Parliament last week: “It took 9 years for Labour to make a complete and utter mess of the economy; it might take a bit longer than that for us to sort it out”. Let’s compare National and Labour’s economic records shall we.
Chris Carter’s bumbling attempt at a coup has pushed the question onto the tip of everyone’s tongue – can Labour win the 2011 election? And can Phil Goff be the one to lead them to victory? But 24 hours can be a long time in politics, and a year is a very long time indeed. The biggest mistake Labour could make now would be to get into leadership battles.
Chris Carter is wrong. Labour can win the next election led by Phil Goff. The objective conditions make it possible, and there is […]
A recent poll in New Hampshire showed that being endorsed by Sarah Palin was an immediate turnoff to moderate voters. Similarly the RWNJ’s of the ‘tea party’ have managed to succeed in getting ideologically ‘pure’ but politically lower quality candidates selected where the GOP has undemocratic systems in place. Is this the beginning of the end for the RWNJ’s in the US as voters reject their candidates? Now if only WhaleOil would endorse candidates here…
It sounds like Chris Carter has shot himself in the foot, or rather in the handwriting.
Phil Goff and the caucus look like they have taken the required quick and decisive action.
The Nats lied and promised their way in to an election win in 2008. That was always going to make it difficult for them as the honeymoon glow wore off. Now Key is lying about the failure on one of their biggest empty promises of all.
John Key’s description of student debt as ‘dangerous’ is just the latest broadside from National against interest-free student loans.
But the real problem here isn’t who pays off the interest on student debt, it’s that we have a system that causes such debt to be created in the first place.
Must admit my heart sank this morning when I read that “Winston Peters and his former adviser Michael Laws are to team up again as part of a “relaunch†of the party this year”…
Closing the wage gap with Australia was one of National’s key promises in the leadup to the 2008 election, but the Dom Post reports today that the wage gap has grown by another $40 a week under National’s watch.
Can we stop pretending now that National ever really had a plan to close the wage gap?
During the election the National Party packaged up its policies so as not to scare voters. The 90 day probationary period was for two specific reasons. It was targeted toward people on the margins of the employment market and only applicable to small businesses. Either the original justifications still hold true, hence undermining any argument to extend the scheme, or the original justifications were rubbish from the very start.
National have been undemocratically shutting down the avenues to amend their ideologically stupid legislation. They ignore submissions to select committees and abuse the parliamentary process of urgency. The only effective means of diverting them from pushing through unworkable legislation is proving to be protests and direct action. Consequently you can expect to see a lot more of it.
Disgraceful to see that National and Act have voted down Carol Beaumont’s moderate and sensible bill to take action against loan sharks.
All we got from National was weak spin and misdirection, while they sat there and committed to doing nothing. The result will be more Kiwis getting ripped off and abused.
National’s promises aren’t worth the paper that they’re printed on. They’ve broken plenty and downgraded most of the rest to “aspirational goals”. Now John Key’s current anti-worker employment policies add a whole new chapter to the list of broken election promises.
It became increasingly clear this year that National’s longer-term economic plan, such as they had one, could be summed up as “tax cuts and miningâ€.
With mining in national parks now out of the picture, just what is National’s plan to grow the economy and lift our wages to Australian levels?
Good to see John Key’s lies over the 90 day fire at will law are starting to catch up with him. An employment specialist has come out contradicting Key’s smug assurances that even though his fire at will law will explicitly remove our right to even be given a reason why we’re getting the sack, somehow good faith provisions would still require the employer the give one.
No Right Turn has a good post pointing out that John Key’s petty fascism on sick leave is already covered by the law. An employer can demand a worker provide a medical certificate after one day’s sick leave. All Key’s law change will do is remove the requirement for our employers to behave reasonably when we’re sick.
Well done Kiwis! A rousing show of solidarity and strength has forced the Nats to back down from their plans to mine Schedule 4 land. We have preserved some of the most precious places in our country for future generations. This is a straight craven backdown driven by Key’s relentless need to remain Mr Popular. But whatever the reason – its the right result!
I was talking to an old friend last night. She’s been a Labour voter/supporter/activist nearly all her adult life. She lives in Rotorua. […]
The Maori Party’s support has been a vital element of the sheep’s clothing this rightwing government has worn until now. It has been the fig leaf behind which the true nature of the rightwing agenda of the National Party has hidden. Key’s speech shows, National will no longer be willing to compromise to gain its support and does not particularly want it.
Fran O’Sullivan calls John Key ‘Cheerleader-in-Chief’ today. I still prefer rodeo clown. But she’s on the money, for the most part, in her description of National as a party afraid of the public and afraid of its base, and most afraid of what would happen if the public ever found out about its base’s ideological plans for our country. National has become completely stage-managed and has chosen a clown for a leader precisely because a clown is distracting.
At the National Party conference in Auckland this weekend, John Key is expected to announce drastic attacks on workers’ rights.
You can stand up and fight back against this madness by joining the protest at 10am on Sunday at Sky City Hotel in Auckland.
New Zealand hero Pete Bethune isn’t one for mincing his words – now that he’s free to speak them. He’s described the New […]
The ODT has obtained a report from the Crown Law Office via the OIA, which rather diplomatically suggests there will need to be some […]
For some time now National has been quietly making plans to subsume Archives New Zealand and the National Library within the Department of […]
Labour’s lineup for the next election is emerging, the usual balance between continuity and new talent. There will be some interesting electorate selections coming up. Such personality politics is always very popular of course, but more important than the people is the policy…
