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NRT: “Too hard”

Written By: - Date published: 2:05 pm, March 20th, 2017 - 54 comments

No Right Turn: “The real barrier to National … acting on this is because that “no-one owns water, first come, first served” policy disproportionately benefits one group and allows them to profiteer from a public resource while destroying its value to others. That group is farmers – and they donate to the National Party.”

Nats’ attack on Ardern – Day 3

Written By: - Date published: 9:51 am, March 18th, 2017 - 68 comments

They were still digging themselves deeper yesterday. The latest attack tells us more about National than it does about Ardern.

Nats’ attack on Ardern backfires

Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, March 17th, 2017 - 34 comments

National’s nasty, obvious, hamfisted attack on Jacinda Ardern has backfired on them big time.

Andrew Little’s speech on housing

Written By: - Date published: 8:40 pm, March 16th, 2017 - 47 comments

Excellent speech from Andrew Little in Parliament yesterday, on the government’s willful blindness to the housing crisis.

Parata overrules Bennett – consent not taught in schools

Written By: - Date published: 12:38 pm, March 16th, 2017 - 33 comments

In the followup to the rape culture protests, Hekia Parata has overruled Paula Bennett, and consent will not be taught in schools.

Breitbart Bill

Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, March 16th, 2017 - 18 comments

Who has been feeding Bill English the latest alt-right attack language?

“All show and no substance”

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, March 16th, 2017 - 147 comments

The attack on Ardern as “all show and no substance” is a curious one for a party that was led for so many years by John Key.

Bye John!

Written By: - Date published: 12:23 pm, March 15th, 2017 - 78 comments

Key’s act was was well and truly blown, and he’s moving on without, I suspect, a backward glance, at a job that his heart was never really in.

National’s flawed RMA ripoff still failing

Written By: - Date published: 7:22 am, March 15th, 2017 - 13 comments

Maori Party Co-Leader, Marama Fox, is playing hardball over Nick Smith latest attempts to weasel out of commitments on the deeply flawed RMA changes that National has spent the last few years trying to find any support for in Parliament. The bill is crap. The Maori party should just drop it regardless how many baubles they think they will get from it.

Cat Among the Pigeons

Written By: - Date published: 9:56 am, March 14th, 2017 - 94 comments

Nicolas Sturgeon to seek the authority of the Scottish Parliament to agree the details of a Section 30 Order that will allow the Scottish Parliament to legislate for an independence referendum.

Marwick on dirty politics, leaks and the OIA

Written By: - Date published: 2:01 pm, March 13th, 2017 - 31 comments

Marwick: “The other thing you can deduce from a three year battle over access to correspondence is that the most senior politician in the land probably had something to hide.”

English flogging National’s one-trick pony

Written By: - Date published: 9:50 am, March 13th, 2017 - 73 comments

Never mind the record debt, the dropped contributions to the Cullen fund, the housing crisis, rising poverty, the deteriorating health system, the costs of quake rebuilds, the filthy water, the need to prepare for climate change – never mind all that, have an election bribe!

Andrew Little on The Nation

Written By: - Date published: 1:16 pm, March 11th, 2017 - 84 comments

A good interview with Andrew Little on The Nation. Among the many topics covered, Little stated that all pledges can be funded without raising taxes.

What should Labour and the Greens do in Ilam?

Written By: - Date published: 9:32 am, March 11th, 2017 - 48 comments

Christchurch Councillor Raf Manji has announced that he will be standing as an independent against Gerry Brownlee for the Ilam seat in Christchurch.

Who will Bill English attack next?

Written By: - Date published: 8:22 am, March 9th, 2017 - 38 comments

Fresh from insulting voters, English has now taken to insulting political parties. Perhaps he doesn’t want to be in government any more? Or is he just losing it completely?

Dick of the year

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, March 9th, 2017 - 71 comments

Yesterday, on International Women’s day David Seymour chose to attack Metiria Turei for what she was wearing.

The gender pay gap – grandstanding but no action

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, March 8th, 2017 - 73 comments

A new report has some really interesting findings on the gender pay gap. Paula Bennett engaged in a bit of grandstanding, but it rings completely hollow given National’s history on the issue.

Happy International Women’s Day.

Congratulations Jacinda Ardern!

Written By: - Date published: 10:47 am, March 7th, 2017 - 21 comments

Will Collins make a move?

Written By: - Date published: 9:52 am, March 7th, 2017 - 40 comments

The crisis around English’s amateur-hour handling of the super announcement is an opportunity for Judith Collins.

English a shambles

Written By: - Date published: 7:52 am, March 7th, 2017 - 43 comments

English isn’t going to be very happy when he opens the papers this morning.

English proposes raising age of super to 67 (eventually)

Written By: - Date published: 4:08 pm, March 6th, 2017 - 123 comments

In what seems to have been a panicked reaction to a disastrous series of interviews, English has just announced that the age of eligibility for super will rise from 65 to 67, phased in from 2037.

Bowron on English’s ‘useless druggies’ smear

Written By: - Date published: 11:54 am, March 6th, 2017 - 33 comments

Bowron: “Prime Minister Bill English’s reputation as a safe pair of blands taking the reins after the mysterious disappearance of John Key took a dive last week when he ruthlessly and cynically turned on Kiwi youth.”

National accuses John Key of shying away from the hard issues

Written By: - Date published: 8:35 am, March 6th, 2017 - 61 comments

Shambolic scenes as Bill English’s twitter account tweets criticism of John Key not taking the hard decisions regarding superannuation eligibility, then the tweet gets deleted. And Bill did not know the tweet had been sent out.

White Man Behind a Desk – Indigenous Rights

Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, March 6th, 2017 - 6 comments

We no longer need the Waitangi Tribunal because everything’s fine now. Right?

Future state abuse victims

Written By: - Date published: 1:18 pm, March 5th, 2017 - 9 comments

What to do with the helpless anger generated by such a statement?

Social investment meets the surveillance state

Written By: - Date published: 11:14 pm, March 4th, 2017 - 47 comments

First they came for the budgeting services. Now we know that every social service agency  has to provide clients’ private personal data to the Ministry of Social Development or get no funding. Apparently it’s  essential to Bill English’s much-touted and little understood “social investment” strategy, which is sounding more like something out of Orwell’s 1984. […]

English puts super back on the line

Written By: - Date published: 1:41 pm, March 4th, 2017 - 93 comments

In what was apparently a pretty dire interview on The Nation this morning, Bill English dropped one bombshell, possible changes in superannuation. For the record I think English is right on this. For a change.

A social media primer for progressive candidates

Written By: - Date published: 8:36 am, March 4th, 2017 - 15 comments

Labour Party General Secretary Andrew Kirton recently sent out a message to Labour Candidates which of itself was a lesson on all things social media …

Thanks Annette

Written By: - Date published: 11:38 am, March 3rd, 2017 - 9 comments

I well remember going to see new Minister of Employment Annette King in 1989 to ask for support for group apprenticeship in the motor industry. “Seems like a good idea, we’ll put up $50,000.” she said. I nearly fell off my chair. It was not the usual response from Ministers in those days, but is Annette King to a T – positive, decisive, and supportive.

Coalition building – deft politics from Little

Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, March 3rd, 2017 - 87 comments

Helen Clark wrote the book on MMP coalition government, shoring up alliances on the left and the right. Looks like Andrew Little has read the book. Labour + Green + NZF = government.

Labour: Greens are the first cab off the rank

Written By: - Date published: 7:38 am, March 3rd, 2017 - 19 comments

Andrew Little has confirmed that the Green Party will be first party Labour looks to for a coalition deal after the election.