Chances are pretty high that you would have heard National party MPs claim that there will be an extra 220,000 jobs over the next few years. Turns out that the net figure is closer to 30,000 and relies on population growth.
The most interesting thing so far about Hagers’ Dirty Work book has been revelation of the extent that the Tobacco industry funds the Taxpayers Union and the people operating it. It appears that the organisation should be regarded as an organisation dedicated to killing citizens with tobacco products.
This Tuesday Nicky Hager is releasing a new book. And there are some indications it may be about the role of astroturf organisations in Aotearoa and how they are funded.
Why does our media allow potentially foreign funded polls that are out of kilter with other polling results to affect local political discourse?
If the farming sector is the ‘backbone of the economy’ then why is it that we are struggling to stand upright economically at the moment? Is it because agriculture is a economic drain on the rest of NZ. It provides 85% of our export revenue. But contributes just 5% of GDP, 5% of the workforce, and 1-3% of tax revenue – which effectively measures the profit to NZ.
When it is a right wing astroturfing front.
Christopher Luxon has implied that a junior staffer met major polluters and received submissions urging him to sink Mike Smith’s bid to hold them to account which were then hidden. But it was his Chief Policy Advisor.
Briefing papers from two of the corporates being sued by Mike Smith for damaging the environment urging the Government to change the law to stop the case were received but allegedly lost by Luxon’s office.
The Government’s plans to retrospectively change the law to stop a case seeking damages for climate damage caused by heavy emitters is a constitutional outrage and shows not only contempt for the rule of law but also contempt for any action taken by a citizen against climate change.
Shane Jones has been making a song and dance about how the previous Labour Government was responsible for the closure of the Marsden Point Refinery. But a perusal of the cabinet paper he cites in support shows that this clearly is not the case.
Winston Peters has been in this scenario before. The brutal replacement of Jim Bolger as PM in 1997 eventually saw Peters walk away from the coalition. What will happen this time around?
A prime minister who does not understand how vulnerable New Zealand’s economy is to a Middle Eastern war as we have now, is a Prime Minister who should be removed from office.
Donald Trump invited Christopher Luxon to join a new organisation to oversee the redevelopment of Gaza and eventually the replacement of the United Nations. How should Luxon respond?
The competing social media takes based on video that clearly shows that the shooting of Minnesota woman Renee Good was totally unjustified shows how dominant social discord is now considered to be more important than truth.
The real affordability crisis lies in the systematic extraction of income from households.
The Taxpayer’s Union campaign against Nicola Willis’s Socialist handling of the economy, complete with novelty fudge has crashed unceremoniously. The sponsors have clearly spoken.
The usual voices have publicly attacked Labour’s proposed Capital Gains Tax using arguments that do not stack up.
Christopher Luxon is sticking to his lines that the proposed changes to the Electoral Law will speed up the result even though this will disenfranchise an estimated 55,000 kiwis and even though the Chief Electoral Officer has said that if properly resourced the changes will make no difference.
‘Shared values,’ ‘like-minded partners,’ the ‘rules-based order,’ and the ‘Indo-Pacific’ have become the Five Eyes nations’ favourite rhetorical weapons in their contest with declared adversaries.
Yesterday Christopher Luxon broke an embargo, claimed credit for an announcement that was made in 2021 and gave cover to an American corporate backtracking on an earlier promise to construct new data centres.
For some time now National has been crowing about how they have solved the emergency housing problem in Aotearoa. But a recent report suggests that their policies have cause a surge in the number of homeless kiwis.
National Party Ministers have been goading Labour to share policies for a while now. Why?
* according to Seymour when it comes to International and Domestic condemnation of his Regulatory Standards Bill.
Christopher Luxon has engaged in a classic example of bumper sticker politics by blaming Labour for excessive power prices, not the structure of the power sector. And he has completely ignored the imperitave action that climate change demands the country takes.
Reality Check Radio has on the eve of the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s hearings into the Government’s Covid response released a petition suggesting that Jacinda Ardern and others have been put on trial.
After David Seymour’s claim that 99.5% of submissions against his Regulatory Standards Bill were generated by AI bots it is relevant to review the time that he was implicated in the purchase of Russian sex bots to bolster his Instagram following.
Christopher Luxon yesterday tried to claim that budgetary considerations were not the reason for repealing the Pay Equity Legislation even though David Seymour had said that the monetary savings from the bill would save the Budget.
It is time to reflect on what happened with the Atlas Network and the Treaty Principles Bill.
Nick Mowbray, who has supported and promoted a number of right wing causes, finds himself losing out big time because of Donald Trump’s tariffs. And is complaining.
Recent events in the US involving the use of Signal to discuss top secret military news and accidentally including a reporter in the chat suggests that the US of A is currently resembling a dark satirical cross between Monty Python and The Thick of It.
Health officials advised the Government “significantly” more lives could be saved if it lowered the bowel cancer screening age for Māori and Pasifika further than the rest of the population. But it refused to accept this advice. Why?
Luxon’s team have delivered zero deals out of the multibillionaire conference on infrastructure. This is a fail.
Simeon Brown has appointed John Carnegie to the EECA even though Carnegie has some decidedly anti energy conservation ideas.
This morning on Radio New Zealand there was sharp questioning of Christopher Luxon by Ingrid Hipkiss and sharp analysis by Jo Moir. But they allowed Brigette Morten air time to spin the issue in a National friendly way.
Karen Chhor has made two recent claims, that youth crime is at an all time high, and that serious and persistent offending has increased dramatically to justify her boot camps policy. Neither claim appears to be true.
Chris from Marketing’s latest gimic to lead us to economic nirvana is to use money that is meant to be used for environmental enhancement to run a campaign in Australia with a slogan that is awkward and negative.
