Labour on MMP “consultation”
According to Labour: “Judith Collins has claimed that she ‘consulted’ with political parties but was unable to reach consensus. There was absolutely no consultation.”
Politics
politicans
GCSB is watching you? Won’t ‘confirm or deny’
The GCSB won’t “confirm or deny” if they spied on individual Kiwis. Concerned citizens might contact the Privacy Commissioner or start a class action. John Key’s rushed GCSB Bill won’t prevent mission creep, surveillance to support international corporate interests or inadequate oversight of the GCSB. [Update]: link to Waitakere News
Budget: corporate “charity” not the solution to Feeding the Kids
Thursday’s budget is likely to make businesses central to blunting the edge of child poverty. Campbell Live is concerned about the marginalisation of skilled community organisations. Harawira has delayed the reading of his Feed the Kids Bill & argues for the state to play a stronger role.
Judith Collins, MMP, “consensus” & democracy
Holly Walker dragged out of Judith Collins that the government will not implement the Electoral Commission’s recommendations for MMP. Collins argues there is no “consensus” between all political parties on possible changes. The Greens say National has not kept the promise of changes, out of self interest.
This is what corporate dictatorship looks like
The compensation part of Joyce’s and Key’s dirty, undemocratic SkyCity deal, could legally be over-turned by a future government, as proposed by the Greens. However, the TPPA could weaken NZ’s parliamentary sovereignty and open the government to claims by secret private offshore tribunals. Opposition needs to step up!
Key’s no-shows – protecting Brand Key
Who was missing from the Mighty River and SkyCity launches? Being seen at the front of positive government stories is a big part of the PM’s job, unless concerns over protecting Brand Key override that. The fact Key has been a no-show at these two announcements of central planks of National’s agenda tells you a lot about what the Nats’ polling says about them.
Sky City, pokies and corruption
Key and Joyce made sure Gilmore was out of the way before they announced their dubious Sky City for (more) pokies deal. The pokies system in NZ is rife with dubious goings on. It’s bad for low income families, communities and their children. [update: responses]
The King stay the King … the pawns, in the game, they get capped quick
So, Key wants Gilmore gone. Gilmore lied to Key about the whether he threatened the waiter with the wrath of the PM’s office. Bringing Key’s office itself was bad enough but Key accepted Gilmore’s lie. When that lie was exposed, Key knew his authority as leader had been trifled with. Gilmore now has to go. But Key can’t boot him. So, out is coming the dirt.
Pot and Kettle
Key on Gilmore on front page of today’s DomPost: “In the end, to make a contribution, you have to have integrity, and to have integrity there has to be a directness and fullness in your answers.” That’s why Key has no integrity about GCSB – there was no directness and fulness in his answers about it, either in Parliament or to the “knucklehead” media.
John Key’s disaster capitalism
The latest Household Labour Force Employment statistics are out, and on the surface, look good for John and Bill. But this is driven by improved employment in Canterbury over the last quarter. Grant Robertson says, “Disaster recovery is not a plan for jobs”.
MRP sale fail numbers
Here are the numbers that sum up the MRP sale fail – foremost among them the $1,000 that the government has spent per Kiwi investor attracted.
What if Gilmore quits?
Stuff is reporting that John Key is signalling for Aaron Gilmore to stand down. What are the possible implications? [update: information about Claudette Hauiti, next National’s list]
GCSB Bill: & Dotcom versus FBI, “NZ Intelligence Community” et al
John Key is using “urgency” to push through his anti-democratic Big brother GCSB surveillance Bill. Dotcom’s lawyers have released a 39 page white paper making a range of allegations against the FBI, Obama & NZ authorities. Peters is keeping his cards close to his chest. Update: Peters’ calls government “bully boy” & will vote against the Bill.
Gilmore’s position now untenable
From a text exchange leaked to Newstalk ZB it seems that Aaron Gilmore has lied to the PM. The ball is in Key’s court now…
The cost of a US Harvard education: global land exploitation
US universities’ budgets partly rely on endowment funds. Harvard University investment activities in poor countries exploit people and lax regulations, damaging communities, the environment & economies. They are one of the biggest foreign owners of NZ land.
The oxymoronic “responsible Minister”
Spying on Kiwis is ok if “the responsible Minister” says so – this was how the Herald described today’s announcement from John Key regarding the GCSB clean-up Bill. Responsible Minister? Yeah right -that’s an oxymoron when applied to John Key.
John Key’s NZ: the nasty side of the “brighter future”
John Key promised a “brighter future” – “wave good-bye to higher taxes not your loved ones”; a higher standard of his MPs, and honesty for the PM. John Key’s NZ is actually one of callous entitlement of the elite, and dis-entitlement and Struggle Street for battling Kiwis.
Networks of influence: Key & Anadarko Petroleum
John Key’s networks of influence include the bosses and directors of Anadarko Petroleum, which is doing some oil exploration in NZ. Gordon Campbell’s excellent piece of investigative journalism shows Anadarko and it’s bosses are not to be trusted.
Key goes negative
John Key has gone hard negative, with his rants about North Korea and communism, and now an attack on the Greens. Negative is where you go when you don’t have a positive story to tell the electorate. I wonder if the Nats’ internal polling has got Key spooked…
Networks of influence: (dis)Advantage NZ
An Advantage New Zealand conference at SkyCity is the centre of major PR for John Key-backed, big oil exploration in NZ. While promoting and backing each others’ destructive profiteering, and endangering NZ’s environment, they are nurturing their networks of influence over expensive dinners and on the golf course.
It’s not us: it’s the big banks
MSM articles show the big Aussie banks are making record profits, Kiwis can save, and Adam Smith worshiping think tanks are not to be trusted. Cunliffe & Norman said it a while back – NAct policies and government spending cuts are not the answer.
We would love to see wages drop
Key said “we would love to see wages drop”. Sure enough National’s anti-worker employment Bill is designed to have that effect, as stated in a Cabinet briefing paper.
Meanwhile: US, intellectual property, GCSB
In his meetings with Ian Fletcher, Key’s main aims and activities are hidden in plain sight. They connect with US-led initiatives around digital copyright, intellectual property and commerce. Recently there have been some worrying developments in the bigger picture: GCSB, ACTA, TPPA, SOPA, CISPA.
‘That politician got amnesia again’
Today’s anonymous Dominion Post editorial points to the beginning of John Key’s fall from grace. It centres on Key’s personal qualities, continues to support the MSM’s support of personality politics, glosses over the serious issues masked by Key’s (alleged) amnesia, and uses a false equivalence with Helen Clark.
Fletcher-Key meetings: networks of influence
There were a number of meetings between Key and Ian Fletcher prior to Fletcher’s appointment as GCSB boss. Key tried to cover up his cronyism, and preoccupation with undemocratic shifts in the government’s control of the GCSB, and its focus on intellectual property & commerce.
Axe-grinders of the world unite…
Brokers and analysts, you’ve nothing to lose but your fees. (although there’s already been $200million from the taxpayer). Now Steven Joyce has turned to the axe-grinders for support. There couldn’t be a clearer indication that Joyce and National are on the side of investors with money to burn, while Labour and the Greens with are on the side of the consumers who worry about turning on the heater.
Power profits and the consumer
New Zealand’s energy pricing over the last twenty years was thoroughly canvassed by Dr Geoff Bertram last year in a paper presented to the Fabian Society as part of its “Light-handed Regulation” series. In the light of the Labour/Greens’ announcement last week about NZ Power his paper is well worth a read.
When they’re laughing at you…
You know it’s getting near time to go.
In Saturday’s DomPost, Chelsie Preston Crayford shows what she thinks of John Key and asset sales.
ImperatorFish: Joyce catches Labour leader buying coffee
Energy Minister Steven Joyce has condemned the “socialist lunacy” of both Labour and the Greens, after Labour Party leader David Shearer was spotted buying coffee for two fellow MPs.
An honest man?
John Key has promised live on television to never lie and to always do his best. Now, four-and-a-half years later we know that was his first lie, and it certainly wasn’t going to be his last. And these are only the ones we know about. In fact, as the litany of lies still spills from John Key, it must be asked: is the litany orchestrated? – BLiP’s extraordinary list of Key’s lies.
The “socialist” vs capitalist PR war: NZ Power
The Key government and its allies are playing the “red scare” gambit, the Greens get to the heart of the reason for NZ Power, Parker goes Third Way, while Bernard Hickey and Matt McCarten weigh in to support the (alleged) “socialist” NZ Power policy. Bomber Bradbury adds some words of caution. [updated title]
Do the lights ever go out on Planet Key?
John Key says that the Labour-Green Power policy is “barking mad” and will take people back to the power cuts of the 1970s. Another John Key brainfade, or just being “clueless”? I look at power cuts and fuel poverty since the 1990s.
ImperatorFish: Yes, Steven, this is just like North Korea
Scott earnestly compares Labour & the Greens’ NZ Power to the North Korean model.
The buck stops with the directors: Pike River
Pike River found guilty of breaches of health and safety, leading to the death of of 29 miners. The CTU is calling for law changes to make company directors responsible for their company’s negligence. And the NZ MSM coverage of the catastrophe immediately after it happened?
NZ Power
At noon today Labour and the Greens jointly announced new energy policies. “NZ Power” is big and it’s bold. It will completely restructure the way the electricity sector is run, and result in lower power prices for both domestic and business consumers.
Mini “W”
George “W” Bush’s history (a fake WMD scare and legislation to intrusively monitor his own citizens) was arguably repeated as tragedy (in Tony Blair’s Britain) and is now, as predicted, being repeated as farce. John Key is morphing into Mini “W” before our eyes.