I was listening to John Key on Parliament TV last night on the budget and he is bloody lazy when speaking. I had to watch his lips before I could figure out what he was saying. This morning there is a video of his remedial vocal work that illustrates this problem..
It’s only taken two and a half years of mismanagement and reckless tax cuts from to run the country into a mountain of debt. How bad have they let things get, who will they make pay for their mistakes, and how rosy will the forecasts their plans hang on be? Rolling coverage through the day.
Updates: Plans for privatisation are set out. Families hit harder than expected.
An anonymous Sunday Star Times editorial last weekend (not on line) reads like a postcard from the future…
So, today is Budget day. The big stuff has all been pretty well signposted, tinkering with KiwiSaver, Working for Families, and student loan eligibility. The devil will be in the details of all the cuts that get made to try and limit the damage in health and education.
This rolling post is intended to be a record of the lies, misrepresentations, and misdirections the National government and its allies try to foist on us. It’s a ‘facts only’ post.
Today’s topic: borrowing for tax cuts
John Key at a press conference yesterday made some claims about wages, inflation and Treasury predictions that really need looking at a bit more closely.
Reading Don Brash’s letter to John Key and watching Roger Douglas on Q+A, I wonder if the Nats behind the takeover of ACT realised what they were unleashing. I’ve heard some talk that ACT won’t vote for Key’s Budget. Where would that leave Rodney Hide? Where would that leave the Maori Party? Could we see a snap election?
What is going to happen to the “old” BMW limos when the government gets rid of them? The franchise that just donated $50,000 to the Nats has said it wants its share of the “honey pot”. I wonder if the Nats will oblige?
This letter is getting more media attention than it deserves, because its basically Brash regurgitating his 2025 task force stuff. Key and the Nats have, quite rightly, ignored it once, and they’ll ignore it this time too.
When confronted with the scientific evidence on the hollowness of our “100% Pure” slogan John Key, as usual, tried to attack the credibility of the source. Key said “He’s one academic and, like lawyers, I could provide you others who would give a counter view”. Now the source (Dr Mike Joy) has called the PM on his clueless claim.
The second plank of John Key’s economic plan for New Zealand has fallen through. First, the ‘national cycleway’ became a scattered assortment of cycle paths that were already under construction. Now, the pandas Key was going to rent so we could get rich buying tickets to see them won’t be coming and we have revealing emails to share.
PM John Key attacked journalist Jon Stephenson, calling him not credible over his claims on SAS links to the torture of prisoners in Afghanistan. Now Stephenson has replied to his critics, in detail.
John Key has announced National’s third reform of Kiwisaver in 3 years, saying the government’s contribution will be cut and made up with higher minimum contributions from members and their employers. It’s an embarrassing flip-flop from the government that cut default contribution rates and shows no plan for the future.
A $50,000 donation from a BMW franchise to National?
This latest twist to the BMW saga has a real stench about it.
Hone has done what he said he would and resigned, effective May 20. There will be a by-election in Te Tai Tokerau.
Key’s pre-budget speech was hugely uninspiring and mis-leading.
Cunliffe rips his claims apart.
John Key didn’t much like being confronted with the facts on our dirty water. He tried to pretend that everything is just fine, when it isn’t. No surprise to find this attitude mimicked in National’s policy on water. They are trying to pretend that they’re doing something when they aren’t.
Is the power of CERA going to Brownlee’s head a bit? Seems he’s using it to intimidate Christchurch building owners.
Patrick Gower has more on the helicopter flight that John Key took in 2009 after opening a walkway that Key says was necessary because of mystery meetings that were supposedly arranged that afternoon. The flight cost us $2,000 when Key learned the helicopter was owned by the Velas.
News this morning that (as predicted) the Maori Party will be standing a candidate against Hone Harawira if he forces a by election in Te Tai Tokerau.
An Australian report sets out some common myths about beneficiaries, and the facts that disprove them. I have no doubt that a similar pattern of unjustified myths would be found here. Starting with our PM.
Gordon Campbell demolishes the Nats’ hasty excuse that the blowout in Key’s diplomatic protection costs is due to a particular threat. He also takes Judith Collins to task for her argument that the police should have an unlimited and unaccountable protection budget , or lives could be put at risk…
Judith Collins has joined the long list of National MPs with their hands buried up to the elbows in the taxpayer’s pockets. She claims it was all within the rules. That doesn’t make it right.
The Nats are obviously worried about public reaction to the recent revelations on the role of the SAS in Afghanistan. And as is usually the case when they feel threatened by a story, the Nats are striking out, trying to discredit or intimidate the source.
Here’s an interesting Wikileaks cable on the ‘objectivity’ of the New Zealand msm, particularly the Herald. The cable relates to the period leading […]
With his RNZAF jaunts to photo-ops, John Key has set an example his ministers seem keen to follow. Having seen Key use Air […]
Now if the sight of that headline made you feel a bit sick for a moment, you might want to ask yourself ‘How […]
If Don Brash is the answer, what’s the question?
