Remember how early on during his reign as National leader John Key talked about the underclass and how they were a blight on New Zealand society? Well over the past year WINZ has been giving grants to homeless families to live in tents.
Mike Hosking reckons that an increase in the minimum wage will increase housing unaffordability and cause job losses and business closures.
or more accurately one. A failed vanity flag referendum.
Between the crisis facing Middlemore Hospital’s buildings and the farce surrounding the cost of repairs of repairs of the Canterbury rebuild, National’s claim that it is a party of strong economic management looks at least misguided.
Make of this what you will.
In the second stage of a false flag attack, facts go out the window and the sole issue becomes “are you for us or against us.” Our media and National Party politicians are well into this stage in the Skripal affair. But as questions mount and skeptics proliferate from all sides, Jacinda Ardern and Winston Peters may well be wiser than media advisers by not following blindly the western herd. 26 countries is not the whole world. Update: Porton Down unable to establish Novichok of Russian origin.
The past week has seen the Herald focus on issues concerning Clare Curran to the almost exclusion of anything else, including the perilous state of our Health system and Kim Dotcom’s successful appeal against the last Government’s breach of his rights of privacy.
Steven Joyce’s prediction of a $11.7 billion deficit in the Government’s finances may be true. But this is because the last Government has underfunded health and hidden problems.
The first big Kiwibuild announcement, 3 to 4,000 houses in Mt Albert has been made. And National has responded that it was all their idea and they did not want to announce it because it would be seen as pork barrelling.
Nick Smith has been caught out by Trevor Mallard telling a porkie in Parliament.
A whistleblower, Christopher Wyllie, has explained how Cambridge Analytica managed to secure the data of 50 million Americans and how it was used in the last US Presidential election.
Heather Du Plessis-Allan has suggested that there is a power struggle happening in the Labour Party. Without the benefit of things normally considered to be important elements of an argument, those things being facts.
is awarded this week to Lisa Prager who is convinced that construction of cycleways in Auckland is part of a global conspiracy to take away our rights and whose sledge hammering technique is not optimal.
Judith Collins thinks that no one cares that National oversaw the creation of a significant housing crisis.
Phil Twyford has the perfect response to National’s claim that Judith Collins’ appointment as Housing Spokesperson would cause him to lose sleep.
An occasional post where we celebrate the extremely banal or bad taste or idiotic behaviour in politics.
National’s constitutionally outrageous attempt to stifle the claims of family carers for compensation for discrimination should be repealed and a just settlement reached with the caregivers.
Matthew Hooton has been sacked as a contributor to the NBR and Steven Joyce has threatened to sue him and the NBR over claims that Joyce is not popular in caucus and should be sacked.
In this very important first week Simon Bridges has committed two major blunders. He has claimed he was environmentally friendly when any view of his Ministerial history would confirm that this is not the case. And he forgot his Government oversaw the stripping of democratic rights from all prisoners, and adjusted his position when his error was pointed out.
David Seymour has created history by being the first person to win two doofuses of the week awards for blatant misogyny and disrespecting young kiwis who this week won olympic medals.
The initial response from right wingers online to the news that National’s new leader is Simon Bridges is a big meh.
* in Australia.
Teachers in America have responded to Donald Trump’s proposal to arm teachers in response to the Parkland School massacre with a request that they be armed with anything but guns.
National’s leadership contest is one week old. The latest is a central edict that all candidates have to be nice to each other and a claim that candidates are not offering senior positions to MPs in exchange for their support.
A Back Judith Collins website has been established. And Collins is denying involvement.
Robert Mueller has laid an indictment alleging that thirteen Russians and three Russian entities illegally interfered with the 2016 American Election campaign.
Judith Collins has picked on the campaign term strong and decisive for behaviour better described as brutal and obdurate.
David Seymour has indicated his commitment to improving ACT’s plight by enrolling for Dancing with the Stars.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce’s future in politics is on the line as he responds to allegations of infidelity, hypocrisy and misuse of Government resources.
The disclosure of Chris Bishop’s snapchat engagement with young teenage females raises the question of who leaked the information to the media and why.
The Government is moving to stop the creation of new charter schools and require existing charter schools to integrate with the public system.
Doofus of the week is Bob Jones for spouting racist nonsense that would have been embarrassing in the 1960s let alone now.
Over in America Republican intellectual genius Paul Ryan tweeted how a School teacher who will receive $1.50 extra per week because of Republican tax cuts was grateful for the increase. But it did not go down well …
National is claiming some credit for the success of Waitangi day. But the things they claim credit for are because of decisions of others, not the National Government.
In the middle east a Palestinian teenager is detained for a minor assault and for protesting the occupation of her country. And three Israeli teenagers are apparently trying to sue two New Zealand residents for exercising their rights of free speech.
Bill English has criticised the Government for only offering an officer briefing on the day that legislation is due to be introduced into Parliament. But appears to have forgotten an offer made by Jacinda Ardern 48 days ago.
