Murders out west

Four alleged murders out west in the past month have caused a great deal of soul searching.  What is going wrong?  What can we do to prevent any further tragic loss of life?

Key Govt asset stripping state housing

Phil Twyford has exposed the government’s asset-stripping approach to running down state housing, while  favouring of private & overseas entities.  The Greens & Mana have strong policies for increasing the amount of state housing. Still waiting for a commitment from Labour.

Public transport vs private transport. Don’t waste money on fasttracking motorways

Ok, I know this image has a lot of issues. It is a 256 color animated gif. Dithered to hell. Bad colour balance, tilt and even a moving focus point. But it certainly makes its point about what kind of road space we’re paying for to inefficiently fill with cars? Have the idiots at NZTA and in this incompetent National government not read their own statistics? Roads aren’t filling up. Public transport does.

The Kiwibuilt announcement

David Cunliffe has announced further proposals regarding Housing with a Christchurch flavour.  The temporary use of red zone houses that are otherwise habitable, the proposed construction of 10,000 houses over four years and the recreation of New Brighton into a vibrant and modern beachside community are amongst the announcements.

Vulnerable Children: The big picture

Yesterday Paula Bennett introduced the First Reading of the Vulnerable Children Bill.  Nat MPs separated child abuse from issues of poverty and income inequality.  Opposition MPs from Mana, Labour & The Greens called the Nats on it, arguing for the bigger picture.

The Battle of Auckland

“The Auckland that never was” in my view is the most interesting chapter in Chris Trotter’s “NO LEFT TURN”. It details the Ministry of Works’ post-war plan  outlined in a document The Shape of Things to Come that was scrapped by the Sid Holland National party. Now we see history repeating itself. In what Labour accurately describes as a “War on Auckland” Key, Joyce and Brownlie are following in the footsteps of the much unloved Sid Holland.