The police are refusing to even let the Courts rule on whether Cameron Slater and Jason Ede hacked Labour’s server despite there being a serious issue to be considered and despite the need for our justice system to be transparent.
John Key has tried to suggest that we have nothing to worry about planned changes to Pharmac caused by TPP. But a recent further release by Wikileaks on the effects of the Trans Pacific Partnership on State Owned Enterprises makes you wonder if the implications of TPP on Pharmac are as limited as he says.
Most Kiwis back a ban on foreign property buyers but this hasn’t translated into a boost for Labour. Critically, Key’s popularity drops under 40%.
The latest 3News/Reid Research poll continues the trend of bad results for National. On these numbers, National are knackered. And, surprise, surprise, Kiwis don’t want non-residents buying up our houses. Not a great way to finish a conference weekend, is it?
John Key on the death at a Serco run prison. Words fail me.
The “rags to riches” narrative is changing to “out of touch”.
Both Key and English now on record as being “concerned” about rising inequality. So why are they acting to increase it?
Treasure has indicated that the sell off of State housing should occur in minimum lots of a hundred houses. Only large wealthy organisations need apply and claims that the sale was about the building of capacity amongst local social service providers cannot be reconciled with this.
No need to worry about low levels of home ownership, National is here to lead. They understand the fundamental issues, and they have a plan…
National need to act now to end the housing crisis. The market has failed and doing nothing is going to blight the future of Kiwis. The answer is easy. End speculation, build houses. But do National have the guts to do the right thing?
Key is now “standing by” a statement which a lie about a statement which is factually incorrect. No wonder his fans are so proud of him.
The treasury release of budget policy advice suggests that John Key’s claim that changes to Kiwisaver would not have any effect on participation numbers was, ahem, erroneous.
The Press Council has ruled that Rachel Glucina and the Herald breached the requirement of independence contained in the Press Council’s principles.
Keep it seemly.
John Key’s interview on Morning Report this morning suggests that National does not know what it is doing with its social housing policy. Are we approaching a situation where profits from New Zealand social housing is going to underwrite the cost of Australian social housing?
Every day with the release of more information there are more and more questions arising over sheepgate. Update: and none of the questions were answered today in Parliament. At least not properly. Video is inserted.
Key: “The removal of the $1,000 kick-start contribution will not make a blind bit of difference to the number of people who join KiwiSaver.” Wrong. Completely and utterly wrong.
It seems crazy but it appears that National may have asked the Saudi sheep farmer to sue New Zealand. And John Key seems to be relaxed about facilitation payments aka bribes.
You have to ask why Rachael Glucina departed the NZ Herald for National’s beneficary and friend Mediaworks. No Right Turn has been trying to find out how much contact John Key or his office had with Glucina when she did the dirty and unprofessional interview with the victim of John Keys ponytail pulling. Why he still illegally trying to cover those contacts up?
I/S at No Right Turn. The un-redacted Cabinet papers show that Key flat out lied when he tried to implicate Labour in the Saudi sheep scandal.
Donald Trump has attracted adverse comment for using Neil Young’s song “keep on rocking in the free world” during his campaign launch. There are a number of other examples, both local and in the US, where right wing candidates have misappropriated progressive musicians’ music for campaign purposes.
The Sheepgate cabinet papers have now been released and show no sign of a legal dispute between the Saudi Sheep farmer and the Government, let alone one that required a payment of $4 million dollars. And there are concerning reports that three quarters of the ewes on the “model farm” have died.
The Herald has reported that, contrary to John Key’s assurances that the Government did not have to do so, one of the pieces of land set aside for the Government’s affordable housing partnership with private developers has already been offered to iwi under right of first refusal.
It is looking likely that the Australian Government has broken its own laws and international treaties by paying off people smugglers. Did John Key know? Did he approve of what may be criminal activity?
National is appearing to be changing tack and trying to now blame a junior official rather than the Labour Party for the failure to complete the Gulf Free Trade Agreement. And the promised release of the relevant cabinet papers proving it was all Labour’s fault has still not occurred.
Relationships Aotearoa is closing its doors today, as a result of ineptitude and indifference on the part of the Government. Claimed safeguards are looking incredibly shaky. Only three of the five organisations touted to take up the work are prepared to do so. And MSD has caused upset to the Privacy Commissioner by misrepresenting his views.
John Key yesterday went on the attack and implied that Labour did something about Sheepgate in 2007. What it was he did not say but the implication was that Labour did it too. A brief review of dirty politics shows that this is alway’s National’s desperate last line of defence. Update: Labour tried to table in Parliament the Cabinet Paper that John Key talked about yesterday and National refused leave …
The media have joined opposition demands that Murray McCully’s actions in relation to sheepgate are investigated. If John Key really expects high standards from his ministers this is the least that should be done. Update: And a claimed “independent audit” of the tender process was conducted by none other than MFAT.
One News has reported that the Government is on the verge of introducing Social Bonds whereby investors in social services will be rewarded if targets are met.
The Queens Birthday Honours List has been announced with Peter Talley’s contribution to philanthropy being rewarded with appointment as a Knights Companion.
So why was Maurice dancing with ACT? Why was Borrows bullshitting about bikes? Does Judith Collins sleep with a copy of the Art of War under her pillow? I don’t know, but I think we should be told.
The legal suit offered as part justification for the Government paying $11 million to a Saudi businessman was apparently “off the table” at the time that Cabinet agreed to the payment. So why was the payment made? And why didn’t Murray McCully tell this to Cabinet or to Parliament earlier?
Hardly a comprehensive take, but in the interest of stating some obvious stuff…
Sky City has managed to persuade the Government to allow it to build a cheaper building while retaining the same valuable gambling regulatory concessions. Update: and the Government appears to have made further contractual concessions to Sky City.
National has again refused to consider doing anything about the future of Superannuation. Yet its policies of increasing Crown debt, stopping contributions to the Cullen Fund and attacking Kiwisaver have made a discussion about the future of superannuation more important than ever.
