Leadership D.O.A.
As we approach the half-time oranges for his government, I thought I’d give Mr Luxon some feedback and a few suggestions on how he might turn things around – if becoming a real leader interests him.
Media
spin
Why get upset with solar power?
You have to hand it to the right. They have succeeded in making ordinary people oppose the most beneficial projects imaginable. Like a group of residents in North Canterbury that is opposing construction of a solar farm.
David Farrar’s Curia Market Research Woes
What happened to the Curia Market Research suspension? David Farrar responded after RANZ hired an independent sub-committee to investigate complaints about polling integrity
America would never happen here!
Why corporate fascism may no longer be a distant dream – and how it’s closer than you might think
The Los Angeles fires – could they happen here?
With large parts of Los Angeles burning and the right still trying to divert attention and blame the question arises, could the same thing happen here?
Who funds the Taxpayer’s Union?
Six months late and in the middle of the Holiday Period the Tax Payers Union has filed its election year accounts suggesting that it received $2,628,721 in donations that year. And there is no indication of who from.
Much ado about nothing
There has been recent controversy because a District Court Judge and a renowned surgeon in a private setting chose to criticise NZ First policies.
The unusual feature of Taxpayers Union’s latest Curia poll
Unlike two other recent polls the latest Taxpayer’s Union poll reports a surge to Act happening during the time the Treaty Principles Bill was introduced.
Atlas Network in New Zealand
The similarities between the Atlas Network modus operandi and our government’s policies appear strident and unsettling.
The great gaslighter
In the gaslight to end gaslights David Seymour is suggesting that anyone opposed to his Treaty Principles Bill is also opposed to fundamental human rights.
An Appeal To The Left: On Purity And The Media
The media landscape in Aotearoa NZ continues to weaken. In the same week TVNZ announced massive job cuts and further firings to come, Paul Goldsmith rewarded TVNZ Directors.
But can the left learn to avoid the trap of rapid fire – we need the journalists and newsrooms we have left.
The Treaty of Waitangi Principles Bill gets slammed
The Treaty of Waitangi Principles Bill has now been released and it appears that the provisions take away more rights from Māori than originally proposed.
Tobacco product investigation is requested and warranted
Welcome news from yesterday was the request to the Auditor General under the Public Audit Act on the arbitrary and unsupported by evidence decisions on tobacco products by the Customs Minister Casey Costello. As the request stated, Labour’s health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall had reached the limits of the information that she could seek using the Official Information Act.
He is wealthy and he is sorted
“You just fake it until you make it. I have spent a whole career doing that” – Christopher Luxon.
The Hospital Dunedin needs?
The question has to be asked, can we trust National to do anything that it has promised?
Luxon loses his cool when asked about doctoring gang membership statistics
On the same day that National had Parliament pass onerous anti gang laws to address allegedly dramatically increasing numbers of gang members Christopher Luxon lost his cool when it was pointed out to him that the Government is purging the list to reduce the numbers.
Under National crime is out of control
Christopher Luxon yesterday celebrated a 22% reduction in crime in Downtown Auckland even though crime in the Auckland region went up by 7% during the same time. And later that day had to explain how the number of victims of violent crime had increased by 30,000.
Gormless Government releases confidential legal advice on Charter School law
The Government has mistakenly released confidential legal advice confirming that the Charter School legislation breaches ILO conventions, free trade agreements and potentially the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.
Is Casey Costello Corrupt?
Casey Costello and the Coalition government have already halved tobacco excise at a cost of up to $216mn. Today RNZ reports there remain more questions on who wrote her Ministerial papers begging for tobacco industry benefits.
Government contributes to developing homeless crisis
There is increasing concern that recently introduced policy changes by National have made housing for the most needy amongst us more tenuous.
Curia Market Research Found In Breach Of Professional Standards
It appears that Curia Research has resigned from the professional standards group Research Association of NZ (RANZ).
Luxon is numerically illiterate
National has been caught out yet again using dubious analysis of data to justify policy.
Mountain Tui: ‘Corruption First’ Strikes Again – Is the National, ACT, and New Zealand Government in tobacco’s pocket?
A track record of deception and pro tobacco industry policies is becoming evident in the Coalition. Casey Costello is at it again, this time quietly halving excise tax for some tobacco products. This is the first time in NZ’s history to have reduced excise on tobacco. We should all ask ‘Why now?’
Mountain Tui: Trump’s shooting reveals a hidden danger for New Zealand too
Trump’s shooting has left the world shocked and bewildered. But what, if anything, does it mean for us here in New Zealand?
The best carbon capture device is a tree
The Government is hoping that Carbon Capture and Sequestration will reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emission levels. But it is refusing to protect forests and trees, which are the best Carbon Capture and Sequestration devices going.
Quality of candidates – start with “are they human?”
With all of the issues about Green party MPs, who have been having issues recently, I was intrigued to run across the article in the Guardian “Reform UK under pressure to prove all its candidates were real people” after the recent election in the UK.
C Listers and tag alongs
Christopher Luxon has accused senior business leaders who travelled with a trade delegation with Chris Hipkins of being “C listers and tag alongs”.
Celebrating the ending of a policy that no longer exists
As part of its coalition agreement NZ First is wanting to end a policy that has already ended. And the Government is struggling to work out what to do.
Court of Appeal rules against Chhour
The Court of Appeal has ruled that the summons issued to Children’s Minister Karen Chhour was valid but decline to enforce it as the date has passed. And the Government has hastily introduced the bill to stop any further action being taken by the Tribunal.
National’s Overseas Gambling Levy policy figures are not rock solid
The IRD has estimated that National’s proposed Overseas Gambling Levy Policy will bring in $500 million less than it promised during the election campaign.
Rock Solid Financial Geniuses
The right has this belief that they are economic geniuses. Occasionally this belief is shown to be faulty. Like this week when National’s costings for tax cuts to Landlords was $800 million more than previously estimated.
About the promoters electoral returns
The Electoral Commission has released the major promoters’ electoral returns. These show significant amounts of money being spent on getting Labour unelected but give no detail about how the campaigns were funded.
A sad lament from the serial left
Attacking leftists attempts to expose the Atlas Network of right-wing think tanks, Chris Trotter offers this gem “Morally speaking, is taking money from oil companies really all that distinguishable from giving money to oil companies every time we fill up our petrol tank?”
Who are the four lobbyists with Parliamentary swipe cards?
National has trashed its comment last terms that lobbyists should not have special access rights by handing out four swipe cards to lobbyists and refusing to say who they are.
The apparatus behind the curtain – Part 2: The mainline
In a guest post Seddonville Miner explores links between the Atlas Network and the Taxpayer’s Union.
It has been a long week for Casey Costello
Recent disclosure of the actions of associate Minister of Health Casey Costello raises the extraordinary possibility that British American Tobacco may be having an undue influence on the setting of the Government’s smoking policies.