Labour’s Kiwibuild is popular
More good news for the political left in the fine print of yesterday’s Newshub-Reid Research poll.
Politics
political parties
John Key’s Lies Since the 2014 Election (UPDATED)
There is one item on the list concerning whether John Key knew about the brewing trade squabble with China regarding the dumping of cheap steel on the local market.
Newshub Poll: Key Stuffed
The latest Reid Research poll is grim reading for the Nats. Labour and the Greens are closing fast.
Wahine toa
Nanaia Mahuta will tomorrow become the first woman MP to wear the moko in Parliament.
Nats contradicting each other on panicked infrastructure policy
From Newshub:
A timely reminder
Fewer police, more crime
The number of police (per head of population) is falling, and crime figures are rising. But no doubt National will play the “tough on crime” card again next year.
Labour plans to crack down on negative gearing
Labour has announced that it will review tax exemptions for landlords achieved through negative gearing.
Kiwi Treason
Vegemite and marmite taste the same, rugby is naff, John Clarke’s an Australian. What?
Government puts 15% tax on foreign house buyers
No, not our government. Though as the average NZ house price just hit $600,000, and Auckland just short of $1m, they really should.
Guest post: Eva Hartshorn-Sanders for Senior Vice President
The Standard’s authors have offered candidates for the upcoming Labour Party internal elections the chance to guest post about why they’re running. Eva Hartshorn-Sanders has been nominated for the position of Senior Vice President. Here’s her vision for the role and the party.
Trade retaliation
The Nats are in a difficult spot here, no doubt about it. The weak steel is a serious issue and it should be investigated. But their usual tactics of deny and lie have been caught out yet again.
Listen to Nick Smith trying to defend fudged foreign ownership data
Anyone who believes the Nats’ figures needs to listen to yesterday’s interview – Why won’t Nick Smith answer this one simple question? Excellent work from Garner.
The EU thinks that our tax system’s clean bill of health is not so clean
The European Union is considering sanctions against New Zealand for operating as a tax haven and the proposed reforms by John Sherwin may not be enough.
The Unitary Plan will not solve the Housing Crisis
The Unitary Plan has been described as a panacea for the housing crisis by the Government. But will it actually address this most acute of issues?
Who will be to blame if a bridge collapses?
Who will be to blame if untested, undetected, weak steel causes the collapse of a structure?
The future of work
The Herald (Liam Dann) had a Terminator themed piece on the future of work yesterday. If only there was a party that was thinking about these long term issues!
Unitary Plan – affordability requirements removed
What are the Nats doing removing a proposed requirement for affordable housing – exactly the housing that Auckland desperately needs!?
The Greens take a stand on the housing bubble
“I want to be very clear that we are talking about a responsible, carefully managed reduction in house prices over a period of time like 10 to 15 years.”
Metiria Turei
Metiria speaks the unspeakable – house prices should fall
Not often you’ll catch Metiria Turei and Don Brash in agreement!
CYF massively underfunded
National pays electoral homage to our vulnerable children. They talk a big game about putting “the needs of our most vulnerable children and families at the centre of decisions”. Their actions tell a different story – of under-funding at CYF and falling numbers of social workers.
Todd McClay gets thrown under a bus
John Key has thrown Todd McClay under a bus and blamed him for dancing on the head of a pin and for no one telling Key that our second major trading nation wanted to dump sub standard steel on the local market.
Predator free a fantastic goal – but…
Feel-good promises for 2050 are easy. Add this one to the list with a cycleway the length of NZ, a secret plan to end Japanese whaling, the War on P, our emissions reduction (hah!) targets, plans to be a “financial hub”, the promise of pandas, and so on and so on.
NRT: Charter schools are corrupt
I/S at No Right Turn: “ACT appears to be using charter schools to channel public money to government donors and cronies”…
The phantom phantom hospital waiting lists
According to Health Minister Jonathan Coleman he is right, everyone else is wrong and there is no elective surgery hidden list in New Zealand.
Who could build social housing?
The plan to have the private sector build social housing appears to be a flop. We need a large, well resourced organisation to take on the task of building these desperately needed houses. Wherever will we find one?
Oram – seven warning signs for the economy
Rod Oram’s Sunday Star-Times, reprinted on Facebook here, adds yet another voice to the chorous of economic warnings: “Our Road Runner economy is zooming towards the cliff-edge”…
NZ wins nuclear war
Nothing like a good clickbait headline eh!
WINZ sends families to live in garages
The government is demolishing and selling state house while WINZ sends families to live in garages. This is New Zealand in the Eighth Year of the Brighter Future.
Submit to the Cross-Party Homelessness Inquiry
How to wreck a busway
The Government’s proposal to allow hybrid vehicles to use bus lanes is not only crazy but they did not talk to local authorities before doing so.
Auckland without workers
The unaffordability of Auckland housing is now seriously impacting even moderately well paid professions. As these trends continue, how is Auckland going to cope without without workers?
O’Sullivan and Watkins – warnings to the Nats
Even National’s fans are worried for them these days. The “third termitis” meme is becoming well established.
More bold intervention needed
National Labour and the Greens are all proposing to intervene in the market to do something about the housing crisis. What other policy areas are there where the parties can agree on active state intervention?
A target we can celebrate missing
Anne Tolley has conceeded that the Nats will not meet their objective of getting 65,000 people off the benefit in the next two years. Good. It is the wrong goal.
The times they are a changing
Dedicated to the latest UMR poll that Bomber reports has Labour on 33%, the Greens on 12% and National on 41% …