Written By: - Date published: 11:21 am, November 19th, 2009 - 18 comments
Classic, I was just saying yesterday that Key is probably concerned about focus testing turning up ‘do-nothing’, ‘weak’ and ‘visionless’ memes and today he’s got a little puff piece in the Dominion Post that purports to lay out his “vision”. Of course like every other missive from the great leader this one says exactly nothing. […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:41 am, November 19th, 2009 - 33 comments
It’s great news that Phil Goff is urging a rethink of the way monetary policy is conducted in New Zealand. For too long interest rates (and hence inflation, unemployment, and house prices) have been the blunt tools of monetary policy. And for too long workers, householders, and exporters have borne the brunt. Labour leader Phil […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, November 18th, 2009 - 24 comments
Nice Mr Key may be feeling the strain a bit. He’s starting to sound quite snippy: Meanwhile, Key has also slammed Treasury predictions that the proposed changes to the ETS would add $50 billion to the price tag of the scheme. “The numbers from Treasury are nonsense. Treasury can’t tell us what the deficit is […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:59 am, November 18th, 2009 - 29 comments
If you had told me a year ago that, just a third of a way through its term, this government would have lost a minister in secret circumstances, had a minister openly acknowledge that the Prime Minister “doesn’t do anything”, muddled its way through legislative debacle after debacle of policies that over-promise and under-deliver, and […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, November 17th, 2009 - 23 comments
The next Auckland Drinking Liberally features Labour Party leader Phil Goff discussing his political values and the challenges facing the Sixth Labour Government He’ll discuss what drives him as a politician and what values underpin his political beliefs. Phil will also talk about what challenges the Sixth Labour Government will tackle and what New Zealand […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:38 am, November 17th, 2009 - 33 comments
John Key’s residency for the rich scheme has attracted the interest of 12,000 people thus far. Yes, NZ residency is for sale at the measly investment of NZ$500,000 and a few low-paid jobs. The Herald notes: Thousands of wealthy foreigners are lining up to move here, just weeks out from the introduction of business migration […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:06 pm, November 16th, 2009 - 2 comments
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has released its report on John Key’s Emissions Trading Scheme. ACT, Labour, and the Greens refused to support the changes which will see taxpayers subsidising big business. We were unable to reach agreement on whether to recommend that the Climate Change Response (Moderated Emissions Trading) Amendment Bill be passed, because of members’ […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, November 16th, 2009 - 12 comments
Over the weekend r0b reckoned the shambles of the Key government would start to really hurt. I was sceptical. Winning the next election for the left is going to bloody hard. But Key’s cracks are showing. As the ever thoughtful Colin James noted in his Dom Post column this morning (currently offline): Too many distractions […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:56 am, November 16th, 2009 - 21 comments
We’ve been in the tunnel of love too long. (You youngsters can go look it up.) The media’s affair with our personable but apparently useless PM has been a trying time for we lefties. But I think there are glimmers of light at the end of the tunnel. Those glimmers come in the form of several […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:38 pm, November 14th, 2009 - 12 comments
Here is one excellent article from Tracey Barnett in the Weekend Herald … Admit it: John Key’s most memorable moment in one year of office was seeing him on the stage of The David Letterman Show, smiling like somebody’s brother-in-law you’d forgotten you went to school with. … It’s as if we ordered a competent […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:50 pm, November 12th, 2009 - 13 comments
Our government is stupid. Sorry, it’s the only conclusion I can draw. Our government is made up of confused, muddled thinkers incapable of planning further ahead than lunchtime. It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic. National have decided to “scrap the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy and stop work on vehicle fuel efficiency […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, November 11th, 2009 - 17 comments
There were only really two ministers in the race for the first Grabby. Rodney Hide betrayed his own supposed principles by using his MP’s travel allowance to fly his girlfriend overseas. He also, with John Key’s consent, used that allowance to bypass Key’s ban on ministers taking their partners flying overseas with taxpayer money. Of […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, November 11th, 2009 - 30 comments
I don’t know if the two are related but this is my theory du jour. John Key keeps washing his hands of both his own ministers and MPs and his coalition partners’ MPs. It seems like no misbehaviour, from rorts to racism can make a dent in Mr Easy Going. Meanwhile, Phil Goff is having […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, November 11th, 2009 - 38 comments
Another day, another minister breaking the rules. On the Dental Artistry website, Rodney Hide has written: ‘Thanks for the fantastic job! I was so sick of having my teeth break and wear away, and with the job I’m in it’s important to look presentable. I didn’t do this lightly, but it’s the best thing I’ve […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:49 pm, November 8th, 2009 - 27 comments
If you think that John Key gets a lot of soft coverage, John Armstrong explained why yesterday: Key’s soaring popularity has made him virtually untouchable Now, you and I might see a certain circularity to that logic – after all, anyone given constantly positive coverage is going to be popular. Thankfully, some journalists choose to […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:30 pm, November 8th, 2009 - 18 comments
I’m not against Prime Ministers making limited use of Airforce aircraft when necessary – when commercial flights or (better) surface travel aren’t practical. It’s cheaper and more efficient than having dedicated aircraft that would hardly ever be used. But Key using two Iroquois, each flying for eight hours, just so he could get from Blenheim to Kiakoura […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:52 pm, November 7th, 2009 - 33 comments
Some pretty damning pieces on on Hide today from John Armstrong, Tracy Watkins, and Fran O’Sullivan. They compare him to Winston Peters and say he ought to apologise to various groups for his troughing and his comments that John Key “doesn’t do anything”. What I find fascinating, though, is that a senior and powerful minister gave his […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:50 am, November 7th, 2009 - 82 comments
The Dom Post reports that Hone Harawira is considering leaving the Maori Party. Hone told the Dom this before Hone’s offensive email hit the media later in the week. Firebrand Maori Party MP Hone Harawira under attack for an explosive email says he could quit at the next election over his party’s support for National. […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:36 am, November 6th, 2009 - 12 comments
We were offered two very different views of John Key PM yesterday. The first by a pair of love-struck journalists. We’ll start with them. Let’s have a big hand for Garth George folks! Garth George: We should all salute our wonderful PM It comes as no surprise that John Key and National remain top of […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, November 6th, 2009 - 5 comments
If there’s been a motto of this government, it’s the one above. We’ve been promised the world – tax cuts, better public services, higher wages, more growth, less regulation, lower crime, better education, lower carbon emissions – and none of it has been delivered or looks likely to be delivered at any time by this […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, November 5th, 2009 - 100 comments
Let me start by saying I understand that Key is loved for his laid-back common touch, I don’t think it makes for good governance but I realise it makes for a good political product. However there’s a big difference between laid-back and weak and letting Rodney Hide spit on him in public only to claim […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, November 5th, 2009 - 45 comments
It took a few cocktails to loosen Bill English’s tongue when he thought he was among friends. Rodney Hide just needed his coco pops. At his highly dubious ministerial function/ACT fundraiser breakfast*, Hide told his table that John Key “doesn’t do anything”. The only ‘achievement’ by Key that Hide could identify was the cycleway, which, […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:32 pm, November 3rd, 2009 - 16 comments
John Key is a weak leader. Currently popular (he’s such a “nice guy” you know) – but weak. Like a school teacher who has lost the respect of their pupils, Key has lost control over his MPs. And like naughty kids, Key’s MPs are starting to run wild. The problem is a lack of accountability. […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:23 am, November 3rd, 2009 - 21 comments
Yesterday, John Key cleverly tried to reframe his ministers’ failure to obey his standards on use of perks: “You don’t want 120 Members of Parliament who have the financial independence to be able to make the financial decisions that I make. “It wouldn’t be the House of Representatives, we need people from all walks of […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, October 30th, 2009 - 9 comments
Bill English claims (echoes of another Bill!) that he did not have pecuniary relations with his family trust: “I didn’t have a pecuniary interest in the trust, I never have had, I don’t now and I don’t have any other interests in it.” According to both common sense and the Auditor General he was wrong […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, October 30th, 2009 - 26 comments
I’m sure you noticed Hide’s latest shenanigans – getting his partner taxpayer subsidised international flights despite Key’s directive not to. Key (surprise, surprise) is ‘comfortable’ with this because Hide used Parliamentary not Ministerial funds. Hide was taking a jaunt around London and Toronto to see other ‘Supercities’ close-up (unfortunately, he ignored the lessons). It was a ministerial trip but we paid […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:34 am, October 30th, 2009 - 21 comments
Check out the invite we got to ‘Plain English’. Incredible. I didn’t even know until watching the Campbell Live story that David Cunliffe and Roger Douglas will be in the debate too. They’re not even mentioned in the invite. But English is and there’s a picture of him. In fact, he’s portrayed alongside Guyon in the same […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:09 pm, October 29th, 2009 - 4 comments
Now TVNZ is pulling the Bill English ad, I notice the web ad is also gone. In it’s place is something so vapid that I pray it was knocked together by a new minted marketing grad in ten minutes (‘Do you feel guilty looking for another job when you’ve already got one?’ No, why would I? but maybe you ought […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, October 29th, 2009 - 9 comments
If you thought TVNZ’s promo ad for its Plain English series looked like an ad for the National Party you’re not alone. Seems the ad is so faithful to the political advertising genre that it even had a political marketing expert fooled. Here’s Dr Clare Robinson on her reaction to seeing the ad: “When I […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, October 29th, 2009 - 77 comments
I hadn’t seen the Bill English ad until now. I guess I had kind of assumed it couldn’t be that bad – surely it would be a promo for the show with a few stock clips of English because he’ll be appearing. Nope: It’s just an ad for English. In fact, I’ve got no idea what […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, October 29th, 2009 - 30 comments
Bill English stands condemned. Only in part by the Auditor General. Her report is ambiguous: The result was that the Crown was renting a property for Mr English from a trust in which he had an interest, and the arrangement was explicitly based on a view that he did not have an interest. Clearly, this […]
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