Police actions unlawful
The report on the Urewera raids from the Independent Police Complaints Authority is (unlike some other reports we could mention) certainly no whitewash.
Social issues
‘Cleared’
So, Neazor’s written his report into the 88 New Zealanders that the GCSB spied on. In the spirit of open government, National’s suppressing it. But we’re told it find that the GCSB ‘arguably’ didn’t break the law. That’s coming from the guy who excused them in the Dotcom case, too, remember. And, it’s hardly ‘clearing’ the GCSB as the Nats claims.
Then why don’t you release the advice John?
A legal expert has raised the alarm over the Nats’ latest outbreak of constitutional arrogance. So too has the Attorney General, and the media. Key says it’s all OK (of course), but why should anyone believe him when his government won’t release the advice that it has received?
NRT: National’s “innovation” agenda
No Right Turn on National’s science funding scam. Read it in conjunction with this piece in Stuff today on falling numbers of senior students following National’s axing of the postgrad student allowance. Welcome to the Brighter Future.
1938 1
A new Sunday feature – each week a random section scanned from a copy of The Standard, September 15th, 1938.
Poverty Watch 31
Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. This week – reaction to the budget’s lack of significant action on poverty, and CPAG’s court case on the In Work Tax Credit.
When an “accord” is not
Yesterday’s budget is a sop to affordable housing & aims to privatise state housing. Penny Hulse says the government’s related “housing accord” Bill is at odds with the agreement her council has not yet ratified. It overrides local democracy & endangers the AKL “agreement”. [Update] Waitakere News analysis
Key’s “Devil Beast” speech
A video of John Key’s “Labour is the Devil Beast” budget speech.
Budget summary
Nothing on poverty. Nothing on affordable housing. House prices forecast to keep rising. Attacks on local democracy. More fear into the lives of the poor (reviewable tenancies). Stealth privatisation of state housing, sorry, ‘social housing’. A ‘surplus’ of 0.03% of GDP. Weak growth outlook. $200b national debt. And a promise of 171,000 more jobs that’s just as credible as the last one.
Budget roundup
Budget links and reaction (updates to come).
Four years of misguided austerity have delayed any recovery.
Despite the advance publicity there is nothing significant here for families in poverty.
Caption competition
‘That’s what the fuss is all about’
Hone Harawira challenged the Maori Party for its support of charter schools, at the expense of Maori and public education. He challenged Sharples to resign if today’s budget fails to adequately support kura kaupapa and the Manaaki Tauira programme.
Labour on MMP “consultation”
According to Labour: “Judith Collins has claimed that she ‘consulted’ with political parties but was unable to reach consensus. There was absolutely no consultation.”
City Rail Link in the Budget?
A reader sent us a comment from another blog by someone who was polled a couple of weeks back. The questions are very interesting, especially once you realise that it’s clearly being done for National and the Right in Auckland (one of the questions gives it away). Have a read, then I’ll tell you why I reckon the Nats are going to fund the City Rail Link in the Budget.
Budget: corporate “charity” not the solution to Feeding the Kids
Thursday’s budget is likely to make businesses central to blunting the edge of child poverty. Campbell Live is concerned about the marginalisation of skilled community organisations. Harawira has delayed the reading of his Feed the Kids Bill & argues for the state to play a stronger role.
Stealth privatisation of state housing in budget
There’s more than one way to fleece the public of our assets. While attention is the energy companies, there’s also privatisation in the form of public organisations selling of their operations (eg Orcon), and opening public funding to for-profit companies (eg. charter schools). More seems on the cards for our state housing as National offers to give over control to private organisations.
This is what corporate dictatorship looks like
The compensation part of Joyce’s and Key’s dirty, undemocratic SkyCity deal, could legally be over-turned by a future government, as proposed by the Greens. However, the TPPA could weaken NZ’s parliamentary sovereignty and open the government to claims by secret private offshore tribunals. Opposition needs to step up!
CO2 400 ppm and climbing
We have passed the dangerous and depressing milestone of 400ppm atmospheric CO2. 350.org are calling for a “relentless rise in activism” to match the “relentless rise in carbon”. After Copenhagen I no longer think that’s going to happen.
Dim-Post on two comparisons
Danyl at Dim-Post on the strangely muted media response to the GCSB spying legislation, the witch-hunt against NZ Power, and more. Plus – check out Danyl’s (first) book – looks like a treat in store…
Banks to stand again
John Banks has announced that he will stand in Epsom again at the next election. That is, of course, always assuming that he doesn’t get chucked out of Parliament first.
Sky City, pokies and corruption
Key and Joyce made sure Gilmore was out of the way before they announced their dubious Sky City for (more) pokies deal. The pokies system in NZ is rife with dubious goings on. It’s bad for low income families, communities and their children. [update: responses]
Open mike 13/05/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
The Australian Dream for Forestry Workers
There is an award for forestry workers in Australia. It has a whole range of terms and conditions including hours of work and […]
The neoliberalisation of Universities
An article in today’s Sunday Star Times, provides evidence of an organised business in providing students with assignments for their tertiary education courses. The focus is on Chinese ethnicity. Ultimately, the blame for such rorts lies with the neoliberalisation of universities: the undermining of the critical endeavour of education.
Please, please educate the fuckwits
The story this morning of a hotelier in Whangarei causing a lesbian couple to seek another place to sleep. That she was worried about them doing “sodomy” under her roof might be amusing. However the coprolalia syndrome that it displays has been tiresomely endemic amongst the self-ordained fuckwits in recent months. When will they take time to educate themselves so they don’t look like they just have brain defects?
Nats sign up for KiwiBuild?
KiwiBuild has already been a success, scaring the Nats in to producing, in conjunction with Len Brown’s Auckland, a more significant housing policy. The “Unitary Plan” is woefully short on detail, but it concedes that KiwiBuild’s target of 10,000 new homes a year is easily achievable (I guess it’s only impossible when Labour propose it).
Pot and Kettle
Key on Gilmore on front page of today’s DomPost: “In the end, to make a contribution, you have to have integrity, and to have integrity there has to be a directness and fullness in your answers.” That’s why Key has no integrity about GCSB – there was no directness and fulness in his answers about it, either in Parliament or to the “knucklehead” media.
John Key’s disaster capitalism
The latest Household Labour Force Employment statistics are out, and on the surface, look good for John and Bill. But this is driven by improved employment in Canterbury over the last quarter. Grant Robertson says, “Disaster recovery is not a plan for jobs”.
Because things aren’t quite tough enough
Because things aren’t quite tough enough for first-time home buyers yet.
Review: Fighting to Choose by Alison McCulloch
Abortion has a long and dramatic history in NZ, but it’s not a history we talk about, or remember. And remembering that history is vital to our continuing push for reproductive rights today. That’s where Alison McCulloch comes in, with a new, brilliant, history of the struggle so far.
Key cheated of his rightful victory!
We don’t often take Key’s side here at The Standard, but I think that most of us here would agree that on this occasion John Key has been cheated out of a victory that was rightfully his.
What if Gilmore quits?
Stuff is reporting that John Key is signalling for Aaron Gilmore to stand down. What are the possible implications? [update: information about Claudette Hauiti, next National’s list]
Shearer’s pre budget speech
This morning David Shearer gave Labour’s “pre budget” speech. No new policy, but plenty of good one-liners and a strong statement of Labour’s position.
GCSB Bill: & Dotcom versus FBI, “NZ Intelligence Community” et al
John Key is using “urgency” to push through his anti-democratic Big brother GCSB surveillance Bill. Dotcom’s lawyers have released a 39 page white paper making a range of allegations against the FBI, Obama & NZ authorities. Peters is keeping his cards close to his chest. Update: Peters’ calls government “bully boy” & will vote against the Bill.
NRT: The spy bill
The new GCSB spy bill is out. For the short version, as @lyndonhood commented: “Admittedly it will be easier for the GCSB to act within their legal boundaries if they don’t have any”. For the long version see the excellent I/S at No Right Turn…
Family first deregistered
Family First have been deregistered as a charity, and they are pushing the line that it is because of their “traditional view of marriage”.