Hunger and malnutrition are stalking New Zealand families. Hundreds of thousands are just one shock – whether an illness, or a large bill – from not being able to afford basic food. This is not good enough in our land of plenty. Multi-millionaire John Key doesn’t empathise. To him poverty is a moral failing but he’s seriously out of touch.
Our PM in the company of his peers?
In a surprise move, John Key has announced the National Party is imposing a media ban on itself until the BMW limo affair dies down. “We got the idea from the Maori Party. Every time they open their mouths over Hone Harawira, things get worse. Shut their mouths and the issue goes away. Brilliant. There’s so much we can learn from our Maori friends”
John Key and his government have told us a series of lies over the new BMW fleet. One by one they have been disproven. As the truth slowly closed in Key clung to one last deception, that he himself didn’t know about the impending replacement until last week. Now that lie has been busted too.
Even the most optimistic lefty can’t deny that National are continuing to dominate the opinion polls. That must be quite a source of […]
John Key says if you’re having trouble getting by on your income it’s due to your ‘lifestyle choices‘. Key has given himself at least $23,000 in tax cuts and had a $7,500 rise with our borrowed money. He has the worst economic record of any PM in 80 years: 86,000 more jobless Kiwis, falling incomes. And this bastard blames Kiwi families for their poverty.
Key says he didn’t know about the BMW purchase. Funny cause on Tuesday, English was taking responsibility: “we could go out and buy second-hand cars but one way or another cars need to be maintained”. The Nats try to blame Labour but the contract Labour signed says replacing the cars was optional without penalty.
Key ignored all the experts with his boot camp policy. But it turns out that the experts were right. Reoffending rates are 50% within the first year, and likely reach 65 – 70% two years after course completion. Add boot camps to the ever growing list of Key’s failures.
“I’m leaving it until my book. I know the answer, but just wait until my book,” Mr Key said.
What? I thought it was normal to leave office before you started writing and promoting your memoirs? I’ve not heard of someone becoming prime-minister to promote book-sales before.
John Key’s support for Mubarak arose from the American far-right’s fear of Egyptian democracy. We laugh at Glenn Beck’s crazy conspiracy theories and the hypocrites who invaded Iraq to ‘spread democracy’ yet oppose free elections in Egypt because of who might get elected but there’s a deeper story here: the end of the American Empire.
The contrast between Phil Goff and John Key at the Big Gay Out could not have been greater. Key swanned in late, told the crowd the best they could hope for from National was no regressive moves and refused to endorse civil unions. Goff and his posse re-affirmed Labour’s stance against discrimination and committed to progressive leadership.
John Key wants to take credit for Allan Bollard’s good work. The Reserve Bank is having to step outside its remit to save our economy from a National government and this is the thanks he gets…
John Key, celebrity, has got PM on his CV. He’s met Obama and Peter Jackson, hung with Richie McCaw, the All Whites and David Letterman. And now sounds a bit bored with the gig. Is that what we need in someone who’s supposed to be leading the country to a brighter future?
Key: So, Gillard’s coming. Are we talking about a single economic zone?
Groser: Umm. No. Mobile roaming charges.
Key: Christ, Tim. We’re really racking up wins for Kiwi exporters here, aren’t we?
Captain Panicpants: Your numbers with women are down over Hurley. They say you sounded disloyal and they empathise with Bronagh.
Key: Shit now that’s serious. Call the missus. We’ll do something cutsie and distracting.
Key proved he’s bereft of ideas in his speech on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he showed he’s out of touch. As you know, Key has voted himself $23,000 of tax cuts on his PM salary alone. Labour estimates another $24,000 on his investments – over $1000 a week. Key argues his tax cut is ‘only’ $15,000.
8,000 more unemployed in Q4 2010, and 1,000 more on the dole in January; New Zealand headed to a douple-dip recession after a year of anaemic growth; an average wage rise in 2010 of 1.9% with inflation of 4%. And a government focussed on manipulating statistics instead of coming up with an economic plan.
By every significant measure our economy is a mess. Bill English is finance minister for what is looking increasingly like the most useless do-nothing NZ government in living memory. So is he working on a plan to put things right? Is he rolling out the big ideas that will get New Zealand moving again? No – he’s lashing out at public servants. Pathetic.
John Key has taken a swing at Kiwi workers who have lost their jobs thanks to the bankers’ recession and his economic mis-management. Key claims people are choosing to be long-term beneficiaries “even though work is available to them”. But the jobs aren’t there and that has caused long-term unemployment to explode under his watch.
In this post, I’ve embedded the speeches from John Key, Phil Goff, and Metiria Turei during yesterday’s first day of Parliament. Key presents no new vision, just an agenda of cuts and false statistics couple with sheer delusion about his government’s record. Goff tears him apart. And Turei’s speech is simply breath-taking – incredibly moving.
The PM has obviously been stung by the surge of negative publicity generated by the TV3 piece on the residents of McGehan Close. The revival of this particular piece of exploitative hypocrisy risks tarnishing the sacred Key brand. Can’t have that. So Key is trying to convince us that the Nats have done “as much as possible” for the underclass…
In his speech yesterday, John Key made the extraordinary claim that the real average wage has risen 10% under his rule. That figure is wrong and the measure is the wrong one to use. But there’s a more fundamental check: look around you, is the average family 10% better off than 2 years ago? Who are you going to believe? Key or your own eyes?
So John Key thinks that a 1.9% increase in pay will cover 4% inflation, and that’s all minimum wage workers are going to get. That 25c/hour won’t add up to a litre of milk at the end of the day, let along a block of cheese at the end of the week. A person on minimum wage will now get $437.24/week after tax, whilst JK gave himself over $1000 extra per week in tax cut.
Tomorrow is the first day of Parliament for the year, so I’m picking we’ll see John Key’s annual passing mention of the ‘underclass’. You remember Key’s promise to make lifting the underclass his priority, eh? Well, Key doesn’t. He has abandoned Aroha Nathan after using her for PR and now says he can’t do anything for the poor.
A personal perspective on the Waitangi celebrations. Where John Key went wrong, how Hone was out and proud, and the left’s reception. Also: an enjoyment of Maori burgers over kai moana this year.
Bernard Hickey looks at the tax bludgers. Labour’s plans to introduce a higher new top tax rate would raise needed tax from those who can most afford it. But it would also foster more tax bludging by the rich. Rather than throw the baby out with the bathwater by abolishing the top rate, we need to eliminate the avenues for bludging.
PM Key says we shouldn’t lose confidence despite rising unemployment. Pledging to go ‘on the pull for jobs’, Key said he will prostitute NZ to any multi-national corporation and Kiwis should be willing to work for free. The PM was last seen smiling at himself in a mirror, muttering ‘Hey baby, wanna come back to my place and clean it for $12.75 an hour?’
One of John Key’s excuses for selling our SOEs is that we need the cash to buy $33 billion of new assets over the next 5 years. Sounds like a lot, eh? It turns out the Crown spent $42 billion on new assets* over the last 5 years without selling our SOEs and even with that $33 billion of new capital spending the deficit will be gone in 4 years … I wonder what Key’s next line will be.
It’s almost Big Gay Out time again which also means it’s time for some new images of John Key dancing with drag queens and cuddling up to lines of shirtless hunks. I know I’m supposed to admire the fact that a National party PM would take time out of his busy schedule to be seen with us homos but it’s all PR. Key’s record is true blue anti-gay.
So John Key has flip flopped and decided to rule out working with Winston Peters again. He’s trying to portray that as a principled decision, about running an “aspirational” government. So why did he need to spend so many months working out what his principles are? No, it’s a political decision. Key thinks he can squeeze a little more milage out of flogging the dead horse that is Winston Peters.
The PM has called a surprise press conference for 12:45 today, and is tipped to announce a November 26th election date. A further “major announcement” is also expected.
Update: Election date November 26 confirmed.
December 2007, John Key, speaking to Carolyne Brooks-Quan said: “We would love to see wages drop“. Key tried several conflicting excuses, including that he was talking about Australian wages (which became a mini-meme). But actions speak louder than words. Yesterday, we had more confirmation that wages have dropped under Key, except for union members.
Like many of you, I stopped watching Breakfast after Paul Henry left* but an alert reader sent me this interview with John Key on the show yesterday. Before he makes his weak excuses for not Mondayising public holidays but he says something truly amazing: he thinks Mubarak should stay in power in Egypt just because he recognises Israel.
John Key says he needs ‘advice’ on Mondayising ANZAC Day and Waitangi Day. The fact is the move would be right and popular but his business mates are too cheap to pay an extra 4 days every 7 years. Key’s just playing for time.
Russel Norman followed Phil Goff and John Key’s state of the nation speeches with the annual Greens state of the planet address. The capital gains tax initiative grabbed headlines but there’s a lot more going on beneath the surface. As we face myriad economic and environmental problems, the Greens have the real answers.
We face a stark choice this year: a Labour-led government, which will create fairer tax and invest in jobs and innovation, or National-led government, which will govern for the kleptocracy, giving them tax cuts, then selling our assets and slashing our public services to pay for them. So why is the Goffice doing such a bad job making the case?
