Tax cuts, one-off payment, or something better?
Budget papers just released reveal that Treasury recommended a package of measures to reduce debt including an 8-year suspension of the Cullen fund […]
Politics
political parties
Labour’s labours lost
I remember just over a year ago, Helen Clark announcing that the number of people on the unemployment benefit had fallen below 18,000 […]
So, what are you going to do?
Over at the Labour MPs’ blog, Red Alert, Brendon Burns has written a piece criticising Agriculture Minister David Carter on the welfare of […]
Don’t just stand there
John Key’s government has reacted to the thousands of job losses occurring each week in this country in much the same way a […]
Sell-outs
Tariana Turia has put out a press release today having a bit of a cry that Labour MPs have been calling ‘sell-out’ when […]
A Rankin headache
There must be an automatic recoil on the Government benches when Christine Rankin’s name is mentioned. Even Bill Ralston has noticed the difficulty […]
National’s growing silence explained
Judy Callingham (partner of Brian Edwards) has a new post, one of a series of media tips they write on. The latest tip […]
Rhetoric & Reality 4: Tertiary Education
National sure does talk a good game before an election. This time we’re looking at their rhetoric on education, especially tertiary education: Key: […]
I call bullshit
I’d prefer not to wade into the David Garrett sexual harrassment fiasco, but having seen his pathetic blame-shifting in the media I’ve got […]
Lessons unlearnt
Matt McCarten, who has managed more than a few election campaigns, does a good post facto analysis of where National went wrong in […]
My two cents on Garrett
It’s a good outcome of the Worth scandal that these things are now being dealt with. Worth was known as a man women […]
Roger Douglas on Key and English
Commenting on Key’s policy to force the Guardians of the Super Fund to invest 40% of funds in New Zealand, ACT’s Roger Douglas […]
Unedifying
The Herald reports Pita Sharples has backed down on his demand to ‘open’ the universities to Maori. Now he says: “he wants Maori […]
National still hate women
Despite women being 51% of the population, and it being women who won National the last election, they are still showing their contempt […]
Chauvel on loan sharks
No Right Turn has published an excellent guest post from Labour MP Charles Chauvel about his private member’s bill to stamp out loan […]
Key’s female trouble
Key is obviously lying about having an unavoidable commitment in Taupo keeping him from Melissa Lee’s election night do. He would tell us […]
F*ck tha police…
…that seems to be National’s plan as it moves to cut 10% of the police vehicle fleet (why are so many of National’s […]
Nice touch
Stolen from the Grassroots Labour site.
Hooton’s bizarro world strikes again
I think it’s fair to say that David Shearer’s thumping victory in Mt Albert has been widely viewed as securing Phil Goff’s leadership […]
A bribe is not a plan
As recently posted here, there is a vast gulf between National’s rhetoric and the reality on tax cuts. Before the election National sold […]
A disgrace
I’m stunned by National. Their leader didn’t support his Mt Albert candidate by turning up tonight and now nobody will talk to the […]
Back to basics
Radio NZ is playing John Key saying that, following the letter from the woman in the sexual harassment saga, he has “washed his […]
National: targeting the victim
So National’s latest tactic in the Richard Worth affair appears to have been to leak the identity of the first complainant against Richard […]
Crosby – Posturing with little substance
Lynton Crosby of the political spinners Crosby/Textor, who ‘advised’ both John Key and Don Brash, has finally given up on trying to pursue […]
Kneecapped
Until now, Melissa Lee’s only remaining selling point in this train wreck of a campaign has been that the party she’s standing for […]
It’s called sovereignty, stupid!
The Minister of Agriculture David Carter really outdid himself in the house last week. First he completely dodged and didn’t address the question […]
Key endorses Banks
As if denying Aucklanders the chance to have their say on the super city wasn’t enough National now seems determined to tell them […]
Rhetoric & Reality 3: Crime
One of the most tedious and predictable right wing electoral tactics is to try and whip up a frenzy of fear about crime, […]
Brains Trust
Whaleoil, John Key, and Melissa Lee. National’s policy wonks discuss transport modalities in an oil- and carbon-constrained future.
Wait, didn’t he say ‘women’?
There’s still a lot of confusion on the Right, in particular, about the sequence of events in the Worth saga, so I’ve tried […]
Iz satisfard
hattip: Maia, Anthony Karinski
Nat discovers the virtues of listening
Here’s an exert from Nick Smith’s speech to the 2009 New Zealand Planning Institute Conference: I acknowledge, that while the bulk of submissions […]
If you’re gonna cut, make it clean
How titillating. Worth has resigned and he won’t say why. ‘Personal reasons’ eh? Heard that one before. Key’s not talking either. He describes […]
Transparency
Strange isn’t it that Key can support transparency yesterday but not today. Political expediency at its worst.
Worth’s gone
Link on Stuff. UPDATE: The “personal reasons” we know about so far: He personally profited from his trip to India to discuss aviation training. […]
Tip of the spear
You’ve done your job as a spin doctor when journalists start repeating your spin sub-consciously. The credit downgrade ‘issue’ is a great example. […]