Written By: - Date published: 10:53 am, March 5th, 2015 - 30 comments
Fine work form David Fisher at The Herald. Does Key get to lie and deny his way through yet another crisis?
Written By: - Date published: 6:29 am, March 5th, 2015 - 170 comments
Nicky Hager and the Herald have reported that the GCSB has been collecting data en masse from New Zealand’s pacific neighbours and handed it over to the Americans for inclusion in xkeystore.
Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, March 4th, 2015 - 125 comments
National’s justification for going to war against ISIS suffers from two fundamental problems, it is supporting an Iraqi regime that is corrupt and working against the best interests of all of its people, and there is no plan to convert Iraq into a sustainable state.
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, March 2nd, 2015 - 53 comments
Whether it’s about election donations or portfolios, some people do seem to think MPs should always get the benefit of the doubt.
Written By: - Date published: 9:32 am, March 1st, 2015 - 20 comments
Andrea Vance on the Labour leader’s first 100 days in office.
Written By: - Date published: 1:29 pm, February 27th, 2015 - 376 comments
NZ First leader Winston Peters is to stand in the Northland by-election. A three way race between NZ First, Labour and National will make for an interesting campaign and factors outside of National’s control may determine the result.
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, February 27th, 2015 - 106 comments
John Key has yet again asked the Remuneration Authority to limit the increase in MPs pay. And yet again they have said that the law required them to make the decision they did. So MPs get a hefty raise at the same time that the minimum wage is raised slightly. And the media report Key’s comments sympathetically. He is the Prime Minister. If anyone can change the law he is the person best placed.
Written By: - Date published: 7:11 am, February 27th, 2015 - 89 comments
Despite the best efforts of Mike Hosking, the poll numbers tell us that Kiwis have lost their historical appetite for this kind of misadventure.
Written By: - Date published: 7:16 pm, February 26th, 2015 - 27 comments
David Parker recaps Key’s bluster on his Donghua Liu dinner, and it’s pure comedy.
Written By: - Date published: 3:26 pm, February 26th, 2015 - 36 comments
John Key has said today that he has urged the Remuneration Authority not to give MPs a salary increase. Get that feeling of deja vu? Idiot Savant at No Right Turn explains why.
Written By: - Date published: 1:19 pm, February 26th, 2015 - 64 comments
Its 100 days since the NZ Labour Party elected Andrew Little as its leader. What an inspired decision that has turned out to be! Little has galvanised the party, united the caucus and looks set to be the next PM. How has he turned Labour around?
Written By: - Date published: 8:11 am, February 26th, 2015 - 114 comments
After the formal speeches on the Iraq deployment John Key set off on an extraordinary spittle-flecked rant against Labour. His “get some guts line” is going to haunt him for the next 3 years.
Written By: - Date published: 6:48 pm, February 25th, 2015 - 231 comments
Carmel Sepuloni’s mother has had charges of benefit fraud being laid against her. Andrew Little has done the sensible thing and stood down her as its social development spokesperson. While I’m sure that we will still get the dribbling trolls, this is how potential conflicts of interest should be handled. Updated.
Written By: - Date published: 4:16 pm, February 25th, 2015 - 7 comments
Yesterday the families lost only a small bit of the battle for justice at Pike in an application to get some of the documentation on the Peter Whittall decision. It is clear from the decision that the process of filing itself caused MBIE to agree to release a number of the key documents.
Written By: - Date published: 11:22 am, February 25th, 2015 - 41 comments
The Electoral Commission has now released individual returns of donations and electoral expenses. And the Donghua Liu donation appears in Jamie-Lee Ross’s return. But the vast majority of electorate campaigns recorded head office donations and the overwhelming impression is that cabinet club donations are collected centrally and then distributed. So what happened with the Liu donation?
Written By: - Date published: 8:42 am, February 25th, 2015 - 109 comments
The first three speeches from yesterdays session in Parliament on sending troops to Iraq – John Key, Andrew Little, Russel Norman. Little’s speech is cogent, Norman’s is brilliant.
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 pm, February 24th, 2015 - 81 comments
John Key’s frothing exhortation to Andrew Little in Parliament to “get some guts” reminds one of opera’s famous Duke of Plazatoro “who led his regiment from behind, he found it less exciting.” Key’s not going to Iraq – our soldiers are the ones in danger.
Written By: - Date published: 4:15 pm, February 24th, 2015 - 105 comments
Back in 2003, John Key had an interesting take on whether it was appropriate to send troops to Iraq.
Written By: - Date published: 2:34 pm, February 22nd, 2015 - 90 comments
Yesterday’s Herald revealed that Donghua Liu made a second donation to National in 2013 which was repaid to him after last year’s election. A brief timeline was provided but in the interests of greater understanding I thought a fuller timeline would be helpful.
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 pm, February 21st, 2015 - 61 comments
The Herald announced today that Donghua Liu donated to National the sum of $25,000 in 2013. But the National return for donations in that year, signed on April 30, 2014, do not include this donation and Lee-Ross did not put it in his declaration of pecuniary interests. Maurice Williamson resigned on May 1 2014 for his attempting to affect a police prosecution of Donghua. But the story broke earlier.
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, February 20th, 2015 - 293 comments
Amy Adams announced yesterday that $600,000 worth of legal reports about the Bain claim for compensation were going to be junked. Judith Collins has some explaining to do.
Written By: - Date published: 6:30 pm, February 19th, 2015 - 52 comments
A new review of compensation for David Bain. Another fine mess courtesy of Collins/Slater and National.
Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, February 19th, 2015 - 107 comments
Sometime in the next few days, Winston Peters will announce whether or not he will stand in the Northland by-election. He should run unchallenged by the left and Labour and the Greens should endorse him for the greater good.
Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, February 19th, 2015 - 102 comments
It was announced yesterday that Novopay has cost the country $45 million more than intended. The Ministry of Education has accepted some responsibility but in terms of ultimate responsibility the Ministers involved, English, Parata and Foss should be held to blame.
Written By: - Date published: 2:36 pm, February 18th, 2015 - 24 comments
SkyCity’s share price went up just before the recent Government announcement of the deal with SkyCity. Winston Peters wonders if some insider trading was involved.
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, February 18th, 2015 - 14 comments
So the Nats spent $250,000 working out that an Auckland convention center needed 3500 seats to break even, and are now about to be delivered a center wtih 3000 seats.
Written By: - Date published: 6:35 am, February 18th, 2015 - 440 comments
It might well be in Labour’s best interests to cut the crap now and go into coalition with the National Ltd™ Cult of John Key. It would be the honest thing to do. Kiwis will then know where the boundaries lie and who actually is working to oppose the implementation of the wider neo-liberal ideology.
Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, February 17th, 2015 - 153 comments
It’s looking more and more like Labour has found the right leader at last.
Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, February 16th, 2015 - 23 comments
The flaws in the process whereby SkyCity promised a free convention centre in consideration of legislative changes are now clear to see. Through an act of brinkmanship SkyCity has embarassed the Government and caused it political damage. And it has achieved a return for investors, the legislative changes will be the same despite there now being a smaller cheaper convention centre.
Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, February 16th, 2015 - 226 comments
The PM running from a yacht club when confronted with protestors against poverty. Pretty fair summary of where this country is at.
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