Taxing choices
There are four options open to National regarding the tax expectations it will deliver large tax cuts ($20+ per person a week = […]
Politics
political parties
Would Nats introduce work-for-the-dole?
Judith Collins, who has made it her mission in life to attack benefits at every turn, has been meeting with Mission Australia, the […]
Culture of secrecy
It’s 4.45 on a Friday afternoon and National has just released its Outdoor Recreation policy. It’s another one page wonder, only this time […]
Nats unable to justify ACC policy
Unlike some of our counterparts, the Standardistas aren’t into vanity posts. So, in this clip from TVNZ7’s Back Benches on Wednesday, ignore who’s […]
Lightening the load
A universal student allowance of $350 isn’t going to happen. It’s too expensive and would bar major new spending in any other area. […]
Nats’ ACC policy all about ideology
National’s ACC privatisation policy is another of its one page wonders (this time with three page backgrounder skimming the history of ACC and […]
CTU rips Nats’ ACC policy
The Council of Trade Unions has put out a detailed, devastating critique of each of National’s arguments for privatising ACC. I’ve copied it […]
On the fourth estate
Francesca Mold on National’s ACC announcment: ‘What’s interesting is the way they’ve put this out under the radar, perhaps showing how sensitive they […]
ACC and the rhetoric of ‘choice’
National says its ACC policy will provide ‘choice’ on accident compensation, but choice for who? Employers will be able to choose between a […]
Spinbusting: NZF’s donations are Labour’s business
National is calling on Helen Clark to investigate alleged donations by Owen Glenn to New Zealand First (which, if they happened, were perfectly […]
Previewing the Nats’ work rights policy
The biggest protests during this term of Parliament were against National’s 90 Day Bill when it came up as a private members’ bill. […]
Nats’ ACC plan only good for insurance companies and lawyers
National has confirmed it intends to privatise the ACC scheme starting with opening the work account to private competition. This would see private […]
National adopts Labour’s arts policy
So National has adopted Labour’s arts, culture and heritage policy essentially unchanged. Good. The flourishing of New Zealand’s arts and culture we’ve seen […]
The same dream
Some people don’t seem to understand that being of the Left does not mean being soley allied to Labour or the Greens or […]
90 Day No Rights policy, why?
Why does National want to remove the right of workers to appeal against unjustifiable dismissal in the first 90 days of employment? The […]
National’s plan for TVNZ
So much for ambition
Yesterday on Agenda, SOE Minister Trevor Mallard said that the Government was undertaking an exploratory study to see whether the factory that currently […]
Bullies
Why is it that the right are so much more litigious than the left? The recent example of Crosby Textor threatening legal action […]
Contrary to Key, Govt does target waste
The idea that a government would purposely spend money in a wasteful manner is patently absurd. Voters want more government services and lower […]
Winnie and Glenn
It appears, as everyone suspected, that Owen Glenn did give a donation to New Zealand First. There is nothing illegal or immoral in […]
Remarkably unambitious ECE policy
Another one-page excuse for a policy from National, this one on early childhood education. After vehemently opposing 20Free, National would now keep it […]
“It’s not okay” today either
The other day Dancer made some good points about the campaign “It’s Not Okay” and the role that organisations like the Families Commission play, […]
National’s Bank
After reading Steve’s post this morning mocking ANZ National for putting out confused National Party talking points dressed up as research, a reader […]
Nats vs journos
Shane Ardern is now saying he was misquoted by the Te Awamutu Courier when he said ‘[Kiwisaver] needs adjusting from the employers’ contribution […]
Positive moves on housing
Housing has always been an important issue for Labour. The First Labour Government instituted a massive State house building project, freeing working class […]
The clean man
Has anyone else noticed John Key’s absence from the media in the last few days? I finally clicked to it while listening to […]
Silence those media lambs
Media bleating about Labour’s ‘personal attacks’ is getting tiresome. Some journalists seem to forget from one election to the next that an important […]
More anti-worker policy from the Nats
On Sunday, Bill English let slip that National still intends to take away the work rights of employees of small businesses for the […]
Hit and miss
Let’s look at some of the issues National has hit and run on. They were all you heard from the Nats for a […]
Blueprint for a Crosby/Textor campaign
While trying desperately to paint Crosby/Textor as ‘just ordinary consultants’ and argue that C/T does nothing that polling and research companies do, National […]
Nats spending your money to build “Brand Key”?
Looks like John Key might be a little less “self-made” and a little more “taxpayer-made” than he’d have us believe… click the image […]
Broadcasting policy broadly outlined
National’s Jonathan Coleman has announced a bullet-point excuse for a broadcasting policy. Essentially, it adopts the status quo but moves TVNZ charter funding […]
Sacked
In perhaps the most unsurprising announcement of the year, National has let slip it’s going to maintain its 90 day no rights policy, […]
Who are National’s moles?
The information being leaked to Nicky Hager is obviously coming from well-placed sources inside National The idea of hacking is farcical (Lyndon Hood […]
Democracy under attack
Ruth Laugesen’s got a piece in the SST today entitled “How National’s spin doctors operate“. She points out that Crosby/Textor’s methods, contrary to […]
National’s New Plymouth candidate quits
National Party’s New Plymouth candidate Clem Coxhead has reportedly wanted to be in politics since he was nine years old. Earlier this year […]