Who is behind the New Zealand Initiative?
The New Zealand Initiative has produced a research paper attacking the proposal for a sugar tax. But who is it and who is it speaking on behalf of?
Media
the praiseworthy and the pitiful
Opinion pieces on Labour
Two opinion pieces on Labour this weekend offer a full spectrum from insight to inanity.
A big thank you to IDG from thestandard.nz
Why we all, readers and authors, should praise IDG Communications for the generous gift of shortening this sites domain name.
Return of the living dead
Don Brash has been resuscitated and is complaining about privilege and preferential treatment. Not of rich old white people like himself but because Maori rights to Taonga may be recognised.
Which National Party muppet appointed Peter Boshier to be Chief Ombudsman?
One of the few things the Nats normally excel at, is selecting a suitably unqualified flunkey to ensure an office they have no […]
The sock puppets, the media and the UBI
Labour’s discussion of a possible UBI is still generating debate.
The media treatment of Labour’s UBI discussion paper
John Key and an array of National sock puppets have misrepresented Labour’s UBI proposal as party policy and as being very expensive when it is not party policy and when a variety of different potential forms have been raised for discussion.
Taxpayers Union is relaxed about Multinationals not paying tax
The Taxpayers Union has chosen not to criticise multinational corporation tax avoidance even though it increases the tax obligations of New Zealanders.
Imperator Fish: On that restaurant guy’s bid for mayor
Imperator Fish analyses the implications of that restaurant guy’s announcement that he will also seek to become Auckland super city’s next mayor.
Fuster and Cluck ride again?
John Palino has all but announced that he will also stand for the super city Mayoralty and there is a rumour that Simon Lusk will be his campaign manager.
David Seymour thinks ACT is the environmental party
David Seymour will at ACT’s conference today outline why ACT and not the Greens is the real environmental party.
Old rich white man complains about another group receiving privilege
In an apparent irony free statement Don Brash is complaining that young Maori woman Josie Butler may be the recipient of some privilege.
Christchurch, keyisms and this state we’re in.
There was a gathering in Cathedral Square in Christchurch on Sunday the 21st of February.
A one and a half hour recording of the event was put on youtube. Speaking begins at around 13min.
The flag change campaign’s last throw of the dice
The pro change Flag Campaign has been launched on Social Media using themes that will appeal to progressives about the need for change. The problem is what they want it to be changed to.
The responses to the Bain report leak
A review of some commentary about the leak of information from the Bain compensation claim report includes a comment from David Seymour which is surprisingly good.
Glucina Key #ponygate text revealed
Rachel Glucina’s text to John Key sent just after interviewing Amanda Bailey has been revealed.
Shock Horror media bias exists in New Zealand
Claire Robinson has analysed press use of photos during the 2014 general election campaign and has concluded that the major newspapers exhibited substantial bias in favour of Prime Minister John Key.
Bob McCoskrie confuses correlation with causation
Family First’s Bob McCoskrie has released a research paper that essentially concludes that the anti smacking bill and not child poverty is responsible for the plight of children deteriorating over the past decade.
The battle over climate change continues
Two recent international incidents show that the resistance to meaningful action on climate change has not given up. In the USA Barak Obama’s climate change policies are under attack in the Supreme Court. And in Australia CSIRO has decided to get rid of all of its climate change scientists.
Leave Josie Butler alone
Stuff is asking the employer of Josie Butler, thrower of the fake sex toy at Steven Joyce, if it will take disciplinary action against her for protest activity taken while she was not at work.
The Whitehead Report does not exonerate Murray McCully
The Whitehead report into the circumstances surrounding the failed waiver of diplomatic immunity for the Malaysian attache charged with sexual assault charges has been released and blames the incident on an inadvertently worded email. But questions remain about why Murray McCully only took active steps after media broke the story and the effects his reorganisation of MFAT has had on its ability to do its job.
New Zealand drops down World corruption free index
New Zealand used to be rated as the least corrupt country in the world. Over the past couple of years we have dropped to second and now to fourth. The cynical way that the Government handles OIA requests is the main reason for this occurring.
Robin Grieve does not understand the IPCC report
The Herald has printed an opinion piece by ex ACT candidate Robin Grieve Robin Grieve which claims that the IPCC has said we have nothing to worry about climate change when a cursory reading of the report suggests otherwise. What is it with the quality of Herald opinion pieces presented by former ACT candidates?
Really David Farrar?
David Farrar has criticised AUSA for refusing to publicly endorse a Pro Life Auckland offer of assistance to solo mother students and thereby stopping assistance occurring. There is one problem though, AUSA did nothing of the sort.
Well this is awkward
Jamie Whyte yesterday wrote an article for the Herald claiming that child poverty does not exist in New Zealand. But he wrote essentially the same article in 2005 about child poverty in Great Britain.
Film review: The New Star Wars movie
And now for something completely different for the Standard, a film review.
The difference between a terrorist and a good old boy
In the US of A the armed invasion of a State Building by a group determined to hold onto the building has been met with no response from the police.
The myth of drug dependancy and poverty
New research from Morgan Foundation suggests that poverty can be alleviated by increasing incomes and that the beneficiaries will be children of poor families not vendors of alcohol and cigarettes.
Sir Lynton Crosby and Dame Paula Rebstock
The British Conservative Government and the New Zealand National Government have both rewarded their friends with titles.
The Standard’s ten most popular blog posts of 2015
The ten most popular Standard posts of 2015 based on page views.
The media in 2015
Some random musings on what happened in New Zealand’s media this year.
Apparently solar panels suck up all the sun’s energy and cause cancer
Elected representatives in Woodland North Carolina were persuaded by arguments that solar panels were sucking up all of the sun’s energy, were preventing plants from photosynthesising and were causing cancer to ban a proposed solar panel farm.
New Zealand wins fossil of the day award – again
For a small country New Zealand is certainly punching above its weight. It has been awarded a second fossil of the day award by the Climate Action Network.
Donald Trump does not like muslims
Donald J Trump may have reached peak craziness or peak political opportunism with his call to ban all Muslims from entering America.
Duncan Garner and the great Christmas beatup
In which Duncan Garner goes trolling with a great Christmas beatup, and gets taken to task for it.
Towards banana republic status
National has passed legislation with retrospective effect under urgency to change previous legislation also passed under urgency so that the law says what it thinks the law should have said, despite the existing law being abundantly clear.