Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, September 30th, 2010 - 39 comments
“The Cabinet Manual clearly states that Ministers are responsible to me for their ethical behaviour, not for their judgment.” “Mr Hide has carried out his affairs in a personal and private capacity to a high ethical standard.” John Key, 22 Sep 2010
Written By: - Date published: 8:22 am, September 24th, 2010 - 22 comments
“I also want to pay a special acknowledgement to my friend and deputy, Bill English. What a great job he is doing as Finance Minister. He’s delivered two Budgets that have steered New Zealand out of recession and put the economy firmly back on track to grow and create jobs”. Or has he?…
Written By: - Date published: 11:48 am, September 23rd, 2010 - 31 comments
“All I can say is that in the 22 months that Mr Hide has been a minister in my Government he’s shown very good judgement and he has my full support.” John Key, 17 Sep 2010
Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, September 23rd, 2010 - 36 comments
What is John Key thinking? Why would he tie himself so firmly to the mast of the sinking ship that is Rodney Hide and ACT?
Written By: - Date published: 12:47 pm, September 20th, 2010 - 31 comments
John Key doesn’t want to touch the Garrett fiasco with a barge-pole. He wants to keep his brand clean. But here he is backing Rodney Hide, the shyster who kept Garrett’s secrets from the public, as one of his ministers. In the fight to keep his government together, all Key’s supposed principles go out the window.
Written By: - Date published: 9:59 am, September 20th, 2010 - 31 comments
John Key says he supports the teachers and junior doctors’ claims for a pay rise ‘but we simply don’t have the money’. Yet Key who is borrowing half a billion dollars this year for tax cuts for the wealthiest 9%. It isn’t a question of what the government can afford. It’s who matters to National – the rich do, teachers and doctors don’t.
Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, September 17th, 2010 - 18 comments
Thanks to all the other writers for excellent pieces on the serious issues. Time for a lighter subject. Fortunately, when you’ve got a clown for PM, there’s always a laugh to be had. Couldn’t help wondering why Key’s sitting in the middle row here. Made way for Brownlee Maximus perhaps?
Written By: - Date published: 10:54 am, September 16th, 2010 - 22 comments
Under National & Act’s power-sharing agreement there is a ‘No Surprises’ clause. So Rodney Hide should have told John Key about David Garrett’s assault conviction and dead baby identity stealing, as well as his own drunk and disorderly conviction in 2008.
Did he?
Written By: - Date published: 11:20 am, September 14th, 2010 - 52 comments
Stuff is reporting that Hone Harawira will not vote for the Nats’ foreshore and seabed legislation. And John Key is clearly upset. Sounds like someone needs the whambulance. Key’s just lost the ability to claim that he has genuinely circled the square, giving Pakeha and Maori both what they want. All he has really done is bought off the Maori Party leadership.
Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, September 10th, 2010 - 15 comments
It’s been interesting to watch the Nats’ smear machine switch focus from Len Brown to Andrew Williams in recent days. I guess that’s what you get for letting Cameron Slater become your de facto chief strategist. Maybe the Nats have worked out that they’re not going to beat Brown. This article in the Herald certainly won’t help Banks one iota.
Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, September 9th, 2010 - 62 comments
John Key promised higher standards of government. Another lie. The list of rorts, incompetences, and abuses of power goes on and on. So, it’s hardly any surprise that Key doesn’t have a problem with Maurice Williamson’s racist comments. Make no mistake – it is Key’s decision that Williamson and the rest are ministers in our government
Written By: - Date published: 6:28 pm, September 7th, 2010 - 41 comments
Yesterday Mr Key said he would leave for London to visit the Queen, only if he “could be confident Christchurch’s recovery was on track”, and appointed Big Jezza to oversee the Government’s Christchurch earthquake response. Today Key announced he won’t be leaving any time soon.
Written By: - Date published: 12:33 pm, September 1st, 2010 - 14 comments
Key says his personal relationship with Obama (met the guy twice) means he can call him. Don’t think it’s your winning grin mate. Think it’s because you’re PM of New Zealand. Anyway, this ain’t a game of collecting phone numbers, John. You’ve got to deliver something concrete. How’s that free trade deal coming?
Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, September 1st, 2010 - 34 comments
Bill English came pretty close to admitting that the Nats are “relaxed” about our current high unemployment. Phil Goff came out swinging…
Written By: - Date published: 11:07 am, August 26th, 2010 - 22 comments
Yesterday, Key was boasting that his goverment had brought down robberies and burglaries in Manukau. But it’s just more numbers games. In reality, the crime rate in Counties Manukau rose 6.9% in 2009. That’s twice the already awful 3.5% nationwide increase. I’m not against the government saying it has brought down crime. I just wish that it was true.
Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, August 26th, 2010 - 43 comments
It is time we got away from Mr Key’s focus on individual greed and got back to a focus on better hospital, schools and care for those who are struggling. David Clark argues that Key’s tax cuts are going to actually drive away our high-achievers while Mr Key is telling us it’s going to bring them home.
Written By: - Date published: 9:21 am, August 25th, 2010 - 7 comments
Prime Minister John Key has credited his government’s economic policies for the price of fruit and vegetables falling by 6.5%. It’s clearly because of all those fruit and vegetable price reduction policies the government has introduced. In fact, the fruit price index is really only down 3.9% since November 2008 and vegetables are actually up 14.4%. But who are you going to believe?
Written By: - Date published: 2:28 pm, August 24th, 2010 - 17 comments
Contrary to the sunny prognostications of Nice Mr Key, job queues are getting longer. How much more great economic management from John and Bill can the country stand?
Written By: - Date published: 7:52 am, August 24th, 2010 - 17 comments
There have been a lot of complaints that Murray McCully is useless as our offshore representative and shows a complete lack of vision. Stop complaining.
John Black shows you what the alternatives could be…
Written By: - Date published: 10:27 am, August 22nd, 2010 - 11 comments
John Black cartoons John Keys success from childhood to Prime Minister. It has been good for him. It is not so good for anyone else.
Written By: - Date published: 1:08 pm, August 20th, 2010 - 11 comments
Registrar of Pecuniary Interests Margaret Bazley, the country’s busiest pensioner, has presented recommendations for improving the transparency of MPs’ financial interests. It seems like good stuff, but it ignores the elephant in the room – the ability of MPs to use trusts to hide their shareholdings, and their conflicts of interest, from the public.
Written By: - Date published: 1:08 pm, August 19th, 2010 - 5 comments
Prime Minister John Key today outlined a plan to close the gap with Australia using his skills as a money trader and a stockpile of ex-Soviet nukes.
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, August 19th, 2010 - 24 comments
John Key allowed one of the ministers he appointed to be bullied out of her job and replaced by a man chosen by Rodney Hide, and he didn’t even ask Hide why. As more details emerge, it looks like Hide is the one in the wrong. Will Key now discipline Hide and invite Roy, who has been acclaimed as a good minister in a bad bunch, back on board? Not likely. The guy’s barely awake these days.
Written By: - Date published: 7:52 am, August 19th, 2010 - 28 comments
John Key said yesterday: “the gap with Australia is definitely closing … If [Phil Goff] wants to pop up for a coffee I will take him through the numbers, and I can take him through a few others.” I say go for it, Phil. I’m dying to see what numbers Key is talking about. Because the reality is that we are falling behind Australia on every measure, while Key just smiles and waves.
Written By: - Date published: 2:52 pm, August 18th, 2010 - 14 comments
So Rodney can’t keep 4 other people on side. The liberal and authoritarian split in Act has had its blood-letting and the authoritarians have won. Where will the neo-liberal idealogues go? And how will Epsom react to this change in philosophy in a year’s time?
Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, August 18th, 2010 - 31 comments
We’re in a depressingly familiar position under this Key government: We don’t know why one of our government’s ministers was forced to resign yesterday. It’s not good enough in this age of supposedly open and transparent government. The really scary thing this time is it appears the Prime Minister doesn’t know either.
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, August 17th, 2010 - 9 comments
When John Steinbeck said “No one wants advice – only corroboration†he could well have been describing the numerous working groups the Government has established in many areas of significant economic and social policy. Too lazy to spend its nine years in opposition developing a detailed policy prescription, National now picks groups to tell it what it wants to hear.
Written By: - Date published: 7:09 am, August 13th, 2010 - 144 comments
John Key challenged the unions to “put up or shut up”. So they’re going to put up. The CTU has launched a campaign to name and shame businesses that are abusing the fire at will (90 day probation) bill. It’s a campaign based around personal stories. Heather Smith tells the first of many…
Written By: - Date published: 10:25 am, August 10th, 2010 - 30 comments
Rapturous crowds of workers from the People’s Information Services spontaneously gathered in the Beehive theatrette yesterday to praise Beloved Leader of People’s Constitutional Monarchy of New Zealand, Honourable John Key, on the anniversary of his birth. “Comrades! I thank you!” said Honourable Key to the sighs of the crowd. One young cadre presented Beloved Leader with a birthday card.
Written By: - Date published: 11:39 am, August 5th, 2010 - 13 comments
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.
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, August 4th, 2010 - 58 comments
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.
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