Written By: - Date published: 3:10 pm, January 28th, 2009 - 7 comments
“It’s important that I get an Australian perspective on the unfolding international economic situation, particularly the impact of a slowdown in China and Asia,” Mr English said. It’s a little concerning that this is the man charged with avoiding redundancies.
Written By: - Date published: 6:04 am, January 24th, 2009 - 54 comments
I wonder if someone at the Herald is going to get sack for letting this happen? The NZ Herald’s week long poll to find out who the greatest living New Zealander is, has yielded Helen Clark as the victor (with Willie Apiata coming in second). And that despite Helen Clark not even being included on […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:04 am, January 23rd, 2009 - Comments Off on Obama implements pay freeze for some aides
President Obama has announced his intention to institute a pay freeze on the salaries of senior White House aides earning over $US100,000. He says “public service is a privilege, it’s not about advancing yourself”. I think it is significant that he has implemented this for those at the upper end of the payscale, rather than across […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 am, January 23rd, 2009 - 52 comments
John Key has written to the Remuneration Board imploring them not to increase wages for MPs and judges in the annual review later this year. Now, I’ve stated my view on this issue – on National Radio the other week and last year in this post. I reckon MPs’ wages, along with the minimum wage and […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:44 pm, January 22nd, 2009 - 9 comments
Under the full warmth of the summer sun those clouds that keep gathering on the horizon seem to have been quickly dismissed by many, with the hope that the new National-led government will sort it out. What are the signs of action so far? Not a lot of concrete ideas are to be found (as suggested here) but we gain […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:22 am, January 22nd, 2009 - 11 comments
After three years of solid growth, the latest stats show international tourist numbers collapsing 8% last November compared to November 2007 due to the global recession. Goldman Sachs forecasts a drop of over 5% this year and more in 2010. Like all economic projections since the world tipped into recession, these numbers are likely to be revised down […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:31 am, January 15th, 2009 - 24 comments
John Key in person is extremely amiable; talking to him face to face, it’s hard not to like the bugger. I guess that he hasn’t lost any of that magic on his holiday. How else could one explain John Armstrong’s piece in the Herald today? The guy sounds like he’s in love. All it takes […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:42 am, January 10th, 2009 - 3 comments
Via SwissMiss: CrashTheInauguration.com, an online Inauguration guide created by AirBedAndBreakfast.com, is connecting last minute travelers with accommodations in Washington DC. Individuals or groups can easily rent an airbed, couch, private bedroom, or entire place for as little as $45/night. Already visitors from throughout the United States, and even European countries, are booking Inauguration accommodations directly online […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:05 pm, January 9th, 2009 - 11 comments
Yesterday, Labour leader Phil Goff challenged National to present its plan for getting the economy through the global downturn. Halfway through National/ACT’s much-hyped first 100 days and, Goff pointed out, while Obama and the UK are pushing ahead with a ‘Green New Deal’ we’ve seen nothing from National/ACT except the cancelation of the one Green […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:09 pm, December 26th, 2008 - 11 comments
At the end of my post a couple of days ago I touched on the notion of a new Zealand identity and a Left nationalism. Since then I’ve been thinking about the value of the last government’s moves to foster national identity and their remarkable success in doing so and concluded that this is quite […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, December 19th, 2008 - 35 comments
It’s good to see Bill English acknowledge the last government has left New Zealand in a good position to face the economic crisis. The only shame is that he’s using that position to throw money at people who are more likely to pay down debt and increase savings than engage in stimulatory spending.
Written By: - Date published: 10:59 am, December 18th, 2008 - 20 comments
Bill English has stopped the sale of BlueScope’s Taharoa ironsands business to a Chinese investor based on the fact that it won’t bring any value to New Zealand. Good on him. If we aren’t going to profit from investment then why should we allow it? Of course there is the small issue of hypocrisy given […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:34 am, December 17th, 2008 - 29 comments
After initially saying they would cap the number of state houses, National/ACT’s Housing Minister Phil Heatley actually got informed. Despite the good work that Labour did increasing the number of state houses and their quality, the problem has not been completely solved – there are thousands of families still in need of affordable housing. Now, Heatley says, there […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:08 pm, December 12th, 2008 - 117 comments
Taken a matter of minutes ago, the Workers Party protest outside John Key’s multimillion dollar Parnell mansion. Just to remind you that we’ve just seen a man worth tens of millions of dollars take work rights off a whole bunch of people who earn minimum wage. In case you’re wondering what they’re holding up, it’s […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:59 am, December 8th, 2008 - 4 comments
If someone sent me this to put up as a guest post on The Standard, I would probably reject it as too childish. But seeing as the Dompost printed it and it is pretty funny, here is Bob Jones’ The Secret Diary of Prime Minister John Key aged 47 1/3:
Written By: - Date published: 5:56 pm, December 7th, 2008 - 10 comments
Well, if that was the best they could manage for the final Agenda then we haven’t lost much. There was one decent question in an hour. That was from the business editor of the Press asking Rodney Hide why if people wanted their councils owning local assets and bringing in a profit that wasn’t a […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:49 am, December 3rd, 2008 - 10 comments
Armstrong’s a little more charitable in relation to National’s dithering on the evacuation of Kiwis from Bangkok than I would have been. Yes, Key got there in the end but we had to endure yet more of the painful “there are a range of options that we’re considering” BS he’s so prone to. I’m sure […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:56 pm, December 2nd, 2008 - 68 comments
John Key’s first test as Prime Minister in a crisis is turning into a bloody fiasco, with the leader of the opposition having to tell him how to do his job through the media. Read the linked article, it’s extraordinary. For the sake of the hundreds of Kiwis stranded in Thailand, can’t John just spare […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, December 2nd, 2008 - 18 comments
The journos don’t seem to have been very impressed by Key now that he has returned to take up the reins of government. Several journos criticised his performance at his first post-Cabinet press conference. There is growing criticism of Key’s response to the situation in Thailand. Certainly both both his lack of urgency and his […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:54 am, December 2nd, 2008 - 41 comments
John Key said yesterday that he expects growth in “the next financial year to be pretty close to zero”. That means he’s anticipating a serious recession. That’s our national wealth shrinking for two years, even as the population continues to grow – a smaller pie for more people to share. Here’s hoping we will see an […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, November 27th, 2008 - 35 comments
That’s Finance Minister Bill English’s message to Kiwis. So, that would be why he is cutting our Kiwisaver nesteggs in half to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, eh?
Written By: - Date published: 10:47 am, November 27th, 2008 - 92 comments
Don’t let Key go abroad representing us again until he has had some diplomacy training. I can’t believe, I literally can’t believe, the comments he has made in the UK. In addition to the comments yesterday, where he called the new carbon-offset airport departure tax “protectionism” and said it will lead to a “contagion effect”, […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, November 26th, 2008 - 56 comments
The UK has announced plans to increase departure tax from its airports for flights outside Europe to pay for offsetting their carbon emissions. This is part of the worldwide response to climate change – countries are making emitters pay and even aviation, which is excluded from Kyoto, is now being targeted (quite rightly too, it […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, November 25th, 2008 - 37 comments
Before our new Prime Minister went to APEC I wrote “it’s not an opportunity to get some names in your autograph book”. I feared he would view this meeting of the world’s most powerful people merely as an opportunity to get his picture snapped with some famous faces to impress the folks back home, rather […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:34 pm, November 22nd, 2008 - 44 comments
Well, John Key took my advice and gave a speech at APEC different from the pro forma MFAT-written speech that might have been expected. Unfortunately, it’s still all style and no substance, all bark but no bite. Key is scathing of his fellow money-men for taking on more and more risk; he accuses them of […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:55 am, November 21st, 2008 - 60 comments
Psst, Bill. Hey, Bill. Sitting in the big chair is pretty cool, eh? Bet you never thought you would get your chance after Brash rolled you. And we all know who cast the crucial vote in that coup, which smiling assassin betrayed you. Speaking of which, what a pity John will be back from APEC […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:19 pm, November 20th, 2008 - 7 comments
Some jokers have given new lyrics to the Dr. Dre and Eminem classic. Hilarious. My favourite part is Hide’s cameo. Hattip: Dolla$Trada
Written By: - Date published: 3:16 pm, November 19th, 2008 - 54 comments
John Key’s off on his first trip as PM tomorrow – APEC in Peru. When I saw him interviewed about this he seemed to think it would be ‘a good chance to meet other world leaders’ which, as former member of the dip corp, made me groan. You’re not a world leader just because you […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:40 pm, November 19th, 2008 - 96 comments
A crowd several hundred strong turned out this morning to farewell Helen Clark as she left Parliament as Prime Minister for the last time to present her Government’s official resignation to the Governor-General. Even though I’m a Greenie, I always find Labour events amazingly heart-warming – such a huge variety of people young and old […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, November 18th, 2008 - 28 comments
There’s a lot of talk about Helen Clark leaving Parliament in a year or so to head for an international role. While Clark would obviously be more than capable of performing well at that level, I would prefer to see her do something completely different. Labour needs to build its membership and its connections with […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:05 pm, November 17th, 2008 - 2 comments
No, not the one the Herald’s organising. Over at Scoop Lyndon Hood’s unveiled his own victory parade for John Key and I gotta say, it’s his best effort yet. Go over and have a look.
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