Written By: - Date published: 8:47 pm, September 29th, 2009 - 28 comments
RNZ’s Kathryn Ryan talks to Matthew Hooton and Andrew Campbell about the failures of Key’s trip to NYC, English’s terminal status and contenders to replace him, and Green leadership. Hooton’s dispirited ‘defences’ of Key and English speak volumes. From yesterday but still relevant for a while yet.
Written By: - Date published: 11:49 am, September 29th, 2009 - 35 comments
There’s a grim irony to Bill English’s career. Despite being regarded as competent and having a Cullen-like role as the heavy-lifter in this government, he has also been at the centre of the worst National screw-ups of the last decade. As Minister of Revenue, he was heavily involved in the sale of Wellington Airport, which […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:17 am, September 29th, 2009 - 47 comments
I was surprised to see this at the bottom of John Key’s press release on the English housing allowance scandal: “The PM is overseas and is not available for interview.” The Acting Prime Minister is going down in flames and the Prime Minister won’t be interviewed? What’s he up to? Turns out, Key’s doing something […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:43 am, September 29th, 2009 - 14 comments
Last night I posted on Bill English’s attempt to shift blame by claiming the system had failed him, and argued that he wasn’t at all sorry for rorting us, only that he got caught. Dude keeps digging in today’s Herald. Talking about the Colmar Brunton poll showing 2 to 1 public disapproval, English made it […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:54 am, September 29th, 2009 - 18 comments
A Colmar Brunton survey out yesterday showed that by a two to one margin Kiwis believe Bill English has acted wrongly and his credibility has been damaged by the housing scandal. English is becoming a drag on the government. That’s not going to change while there’s still no admission of wrongdoing, no enforcement of ministerial standards by […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:23 pm, September 28th, 2009 - 20 comments
Just noticed this comment from Bill English on the topic of his housing allowance scam: “At all times my decisions have been driven by my desire to keep my family together and provide them with as much stability as possible. It’s now clear that the system has struggled to deal with my circumstances.” The arrogance […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:58 pm, September 28th, 2009 - 27 comments
Bill English has now paid back all the money he rorted from the taxpayer via the ministerial housing allowance during this term of Parliament. Of course, he continues to plead innocence but his actions amount to an admission of culpability and all the other facts tell us he purposely set out to rip us off. […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:07 pm, September 28th, 2009 - 21 comments
The Standard, 12 June 1940 WELLINGTON Prime Ministerial candidate for the Nationalists, Mr John Key, today laid out his party’s policy regarding New Zealand’s participation in the current War. “Let me state clearly and unequivocally that, despite our past position, my Party now believes wholeheartedly that the War must be fought. It is undeniably a […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, September 28th, 2009 - 49 comments
Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, September 28th, 2009 - 66 comments
There’s an old lawyer joke: “When the facts are on your side, bang the facts. When the law’s on your side, bang the law. When you’ve got neither, bang the table”. National have a similar tactic, of banging on legal vs. moral tests as it suits them. When sacking Richard Worth, Key was at great […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:38 am, September 28th, 2009 - 27 comments
While filling his own pockets with our money, Bill ‘Double Dipton’ English is threatening public sevants with a five-year pay freeze – with inflation, that’s a 10% pay cut. The government can afford to give its workers small cost of living adjustments – the cost is relatively trivial. Parliament workers recently rejected an offer that […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, September 27th, 2009 - 19 comments
Trev on the money laundering bill. Has a go at a certain Bill who has been laundering a lot of our money. Very good:
Written By: - Date published: 2:22 pm, September 27th, 2009 - 2 comments
A hilarious send up of Key that pretty much everyone would have missed because it aired on Nightline on Friday.
Written By: - Date published: 8:04 am, September 27th, 2009 - 4 comments
Things must be getting decidedly trippy for Deputy PM Bill English about now, and not in a good way. While his glorious leader is off overseas playing the Jester Statesman, back home Bill’s future is looking gloomier by the day. With the Auditor General looking into English‘s Krishna-like claims of being able to exist in […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:19 pm, September 26th, 2009 - 5 comments
John Armstrong joins the list of commentators saying Bill English shouldn’t get a cent for his housing rort: The time has come for Bill “Double Dipton” English to end the charade. Now, being Armstrong, the reasons aren’t principled, it’s all about limiting the damage to National: The possibility of the watchdog of public spending investigating the Minister […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:41 pm, September 26th, 2009 - 14 comments
And so ends a great day’s trading under the erstwhile eye of Mr Key. Looks like they won’t be inviting John back to give the opening bell at the NYSE.
Written By: - Date published: 11:33 am, September 26th, 2009 - 81 comments
The more I think about it, the more Key’s Letterman approach is demeaning both to his office and New Zealand. Sure he did the stand up comedy competently but is that what we want our PM reduced to? A gag to be treated at best as a cute nobody, at worst dismissively, by some variety […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:05 pm, September 25th, 2009 - 33 comments
Sent in by a reader:
Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, September 25th, 2009 - 4 comments
It’s not just Bill English that’s twisting in the wind over the rearrangement of his affairs to provide a pecuniary benefit to his family. Here is a copy (PDF link) of the Parliamentary Services email tabled in the House by Pete Hodgson this week. It shows that: Parliamentary Services was requested to take a lease […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:16 am, September 25th, 2009 - 8 comments
Night classes – Adult and Community Education (ACE). An incredibly cost effective and valuable part of the NZ education sector for decades. The ACE budget has been eviscerated by National, cut from $16m to $3m. Effectively a death blow, most of the infrastructure and expertise will go. Right from the start reaction has been strong […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:20 pm, September 24th, 2009 - 30 comments
I wish that I got praise heaped on me at my job for exchanging a bit of small-talk with the popular dude. Don’t want to take away from Key’s achievement. I mean wow, he shook the Obama’s hand and didn’t muck it up. I’m looking forward to the gushing accolades when he manages to crack a […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, September 23rd, 2009 - 47 comments
You’ll remember that in the Budget National decided to suspend payments to the Cullen Fund, which is designed to help fund the future cost of superannuation. At the time, John Key and Bill English said we were losing money on the Fund and we couldn’t afford to borrow to put money into it. They compared […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, September 23rd, 2009 - 10 comments
In an extraordinary coincidence, the Attorney-General in the UK is about to lose her job for pretty much the same rort as Bill English has been pulling here: [Baroness Scotland] receives a £38,280-a-year “night subsistence allowance” widely understood to be for ministers whose primary home is outside London even though she owns a large house […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:30 am, September 23rd, 2009 - 39 comments
Our readers pointed out some interesting quotes in yesterday’s thread on Bill English’s attempt to bully journalists into silence over his housing allowance rort. Key on why he fired Richard Worth: “The test of whether someone enjoys my confidence is not a legal test and I have never argued that Dr Worth broke any legal test.’ […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:01 am, September 22nd, 2009 - 43 comments
On Wednesday last week, Labour released new information on Bill English’s housing allowance rort. Naturally, the media raised the issues with English. TVOne and TV3 ran stories that night. They weren’t particularly harsh stories. They didn’t really editorialise. They didn’t even say English should give the money back or resign. Later that night, in a fury […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:21 am, September 22nd, 2009 - 15 comments
National are up to their old tricks again – bullying the media to try and shut down critical comment. This time the culprit is Bill English, lashing out* at those who are covering the story of his ongoing hypocrisy and greed: Radio New Zealand’s political editor reports that Mr English rang journalists from TVNZ and […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:55 pm, September 21st, 2009 - 20 comments
It’s kind of funny how in a year we’ve gone from expecting a Prime Minister to be hugely competent and across the details to being used to having a dude who everyone knows is just an actor, playing the part. The other week, Henry told Key that his coming appearance on The Letterman Show is […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:27 am, September 21st, 2009 - 13 comments
I’ve posted before on “mainstream” media editorials, their variable quality and the paradox (in this world of blogging) of their anonymity. Every now and then it means that even The Herald can come up with a scorcher. And the Saturday Editorial on Bill English is certainly that. Usually I would try to “add value” (don’t […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, September 20th, 2009 - 39 comments
One of these things is not the other, One of these things is not quite the same… Can you guess which one is not like the other, Can you tell me before I finish the game?
Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, September 18th, 2009 - 13 comments
We told him here months ago – acknowledge what everybody knows: that he lives in Wellington with his family, and he should claim the out-of-town allowance when he visits Dipton. That would be the honest thing to do. Bill says there is a perception problem, and he’s right – but the problem is entirely his. […]
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