Written By: - Date published: 6:03 am, August 3rd, 2010 - 130 comments
John Key trotted out a huge lie in Parliament last week: “It took 9 years for Labour to make a complete and utter mess of the economy; it might take a bit longer than that for us to sort it out”. Let’s compare National and Labour’s economic records shall we.
Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, August 2nd, 2010 - 32 comments
I’m very pleased to report that Labour has leapt to a dramatic 12% lead in the opinion polls over National! It’s looking good for 2011! Bravo Phil Goff and the rest of the Labour team.
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, August 1st, 2010 - 82 comments
Chris Carter’s bumbling attempt at a coup has pushed the question onto the tip of everyone’s tongue – can Labour win the 2011 election? And can Phil Goff be the one to lead them to victory? But 24 hours can be a long time in politics, and a year is a very long time indeed. The biggest mistake Labour could make now would be to get into leadership battles.
Written By: - Date published: 5:46 pm, July 30th, 2010 - 11 comments
While there are some ministers who are pretty scared of fronting up for their portfolios, Kate Wilkinson is one of the worst.
There is also this little gem about a Minister that is happy to be anywhere that Sean Plunket isn’t. I guess this image will get a lot of use. Anyone got a good caption?
Written By: - Date published: 11:39 am, July 29th, 2010 - 27 comments
The Nats lied and promised their way in to an election win in 2008. That was always going to make it difficult for them as the honeymoon glow wore off. Now Key is lying about the failure on one of their biggest empty promises of all.
Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, July 29th, 2010 - 28 comments
Final of a series by Guest poster Blue.
The boy who wanted to make a million dollars and be Prime Minister has got his wish. The livelihoods of 4.3 million New Zealanders are on the line for his big gamble on New Zealand’s future.
Written By: - Date published: 10:49 am, July 28th, 2010 - 26 comments
Sixth of a series by Guest poster Blue.
John Key is not always the affable everyman he appears to be. There’s a solid streak of bully in him not uncommon in people who crave power.
Written By: - Date published: 7:34 am, July 28th, 2010 - 35 comments
National is making a total mess of industrial relations. Two different news items yesterday tell the same story: the unions are angry, and the PPTA teachers are angry. Nats beware. Nice Mr Key could so quickly become Dear John…
Written By: - Date published: 11:51 am, July 27th, 2010 - 53 comments
John Key glibly admitted yesterday that the Supercity is “risky”. We’ve been saying it all along and the evidence is all that the Supercity will be expensive, unrepresentative, and unresponsive to local needs.
So, if it’s so risky, why the hell is Key doing it?
Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, July 27th, 2010 - 13 comments
Deputy PM and leader of the Lib Dems, Nick Clegg, caused a bit of a sensation last week when he pronounced Britain’s involvement in the Iraq war illegal. And yesterday Wikileaks published a massive cache of American military files exposing the truth about the war in Afghanistan. Not a good week for warmongers.
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, July 26th, 2010 - 8 comments
Fifth of a series by Guest poster Blue.
A Prime Minister refusing to front their government’s Budget is practically unheard of. But John Key avoids being asked any hard questions, possibly because he doesn’t know how to handle them?
Written By: - Date published: 10:22 am, July 26th, 2010 - 14 comments
When is a promise not a promise? Clearly John Key has promises that he is afraid to break, promises that he tries to break (and backs down when caught), and promises that he feels he can break with impunity.
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, July 25th, 2010 - 7 comments
Fourth of a series by Guest poster Blue.
Honesty, transparency and trust were central planks of Key’s 2008 election bid. However the ‘Key wriggle’ was well on the way to becoming a signature dance move
Written By: - Date published: 1:40 pm, July 25th, 2010 - 8 comments
National have been undemocratically shutting down the avenues to amend their ideologically stupid legislation. They ignore submissions to select committees and abuse the parliamentary process of urgency. The only effective means of diverting them from pushing through unworkable legislation is proving to be protests and direct action. Consequently you can expect to see a lot more of it.
Written By: - Date published: 10:36 am, July 24th, 2010 - 18 comments
Third of a series by Guest poster Blue. Now looking at John Key – The Salesman.
An old post of Marty G’s on the Standard says “One of the stories from John Key’s days as a currency trader is that he was always more of a salesman than an analyst.
Written By: - Date published: 10:13 am, July 24th, 2010 - 21 comments
Second of a series by Guest poster Blue. Now looking at what drives John Key.
The biggest clue is how when he was younger, his aim in life was to ‘make a million dollars and be Prime Minister’.
Written By: - Date published: 9:56 am, July 24th, 2010 - 41 comments
This series by guest poster Blue has a look at John Key now that we know a bit more about him.
Our PM is a marvel of modern physics – with any issue he manages to appear to be on both sides of the fence at the same time.
Written By: - Date published: 11:34 am, July 23rd, 2010 - 6 comments
Another gem from Tom Scott.
Written By: - Date published: 7:18 am, July 23rd, 2010 - 20 comments
Brash’s call for a “flexible pension” is the thin end of the wedge leading to a rise in the age of eligibility for super. At the moment National are rejecting his call, as Key would be obliged to resign if the age is raised. But the problem remains. National have weakened Labour’s Cullen fund and KiwiSaver, and they seem to have no ideas of their own…
Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, July 22nd, 2010 - 29 comments
National’s promises aren’t worth the paper that they’re printed on. They’ve broken plenty and downgraded most of the rest to “aspirational goals”. Now John Key’s current anti-worker employment policies add a whole new chapter to the list of broken election promises.
Written By: - Date published: 7:12 am, July 21st, 2010 - 29 comments
Good to see John Key’s lies over the 90 day fire at will law are starting to catch up with him. An employment specialist has come out contradicting Key’s smug assurances that even though his fire at will law will explicitly remove our right to even be given a reason why we’re getting the sack, somehow good faith provisions would still require the employer the give one.
Written By: - Date published: 2:28 pm, July 20th, 2010 - 48 comments
Well done Kiwis! A rousing show of solidarity and strength has forced the Nats to back down from their plans to mine Schedule 4 land. We have preserved some of the most precious places in our country for future generations. This is a straight craven backdown driven by Key’s relentless need to remain Mr Popular. But whatever the reason – its the right result!
Written By: - Date published: 1:09 pm, July 19th, 2010 - 25 comments
The Maori Party’s support has been a vital element of the sheep’s clothing this rightwing government has worn until now. It has been the fig leaf behind which the true nature of the rightwing agenda of the National Party has hidden. Key’s speech shows, National will no longer be willing to compromise to gain its support and does not particularly want it.
Written By: - Date published: 8:06 am, July 17th, 2010 - 12 comments
Fran O’Sullivan calls John Key ‘Cheerleader-in-Chief’ today. I still prefer rodeo clown. But she’s on the money, for the most part, in her description of National as a party afraid of the public and afraid of its base, and most afraid of what would happen if the public ever found out about its base’s ideological plans for our country. National has become completely stage-managed and has chosen a clown for a leader precisely because a clown is distracting.
Written By: - Date published: 8:58 am, July 13th, 2010 - 123 comments
New Zealand hero Pete Bethune isn’t one for mincing his words – now that he’s free to speak them. He’s described the New Zealand Government as a “fat little lapdog” to Japan, eager to roll over and submit to the bullying of any power, no matter how unprincipled its actions, just as long as there’s a promise […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, July 11th, 2010 - 21 comments
“Why, if you are an international rugby fan, would you leave Eden Park and hop on a train, eschewing the delights of Kingsland’s cafes, going directly past the thriving night life of Ponsonby and taking a right on to a bleak windswept wharf instead of a left to the maelstrom that is the Viaduct?”
Indeed!
Written By: - Date published: 2:59 pm, July 9th, 2010 - 44 comments
It seems John Key is now belatedly wading in to look at whether it’s at last time to cut Andy Haden loose as a Rugby World Cup Ambassador. Apparently it was ok for Haden to talk about “darkie quotas” in the Crusaders and still remain a PR face of our nation, but now Haden has […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:52 am, July 9th, 2010 - 87 comments
Enough was written yesterday about the latest instalment of the slow motion train wreck that is John Key’s “Party Central”. So here’s Emmerson’s visual take.
Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, July 8th, 2010 - 29 comments
The Herald has a headline article on John Keys “Party Central”. But their cartoon really said it all. The question is:- How many ‘good’ ideas does it take before John Key manages to get one to actually work?
Written By: - Date published: 6:32 am, July 7th, 2010 - 17 comments
Key’s worried about us being even more bought out by foreigners. Key’s in South Korea about to sign a Free Trade Agreement. New Zealand already has nearly no tariffs. Everyone knows the sweetener for the other side in these deals is opening up investment in NZ. So, Key’s railing against foreign ownership while making it […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, July 3rd, 2010 - 9 comments
John Key had a busy day playing rodeo-clown yesterday. Before having the Air Force fly him to Ohakune for the opening of 16 whole kilometres of cycleway Key had photo-op with children. It’s is a John Key favourite. The perfect distraction from lying in the House, the weak economy, and Anne Tolley. But the clown show doesn’t always go off without a hitch 🙂
Recent Comments