John Key’s excuse for the planned veto of the extension of paid parental leave is that it would put the 2014/15 surplus at risk. There’s several reasons that’s bullshit, the main one being: why is going just under or just over some arbitrary line in the Crown’s books the Nats’ one aim for the economy? The truth is, Key’s using the surplus as an excuse for not doing the right thing.
John Key promised a “brighter future” – “wave good-bye to higher taxes not your loved ones”; a higher standard of his MPs, and honesty for the PM. John Key’s NZ is actually one of callous entitlement of the elite, and dis-entitlement and Struggle Street for battling Kiwis.
Supporters of the sale of the powercos, portray the Labour-Green NZ Power policy in terms of political strategy and game-play. They focus on the “market”, risk, profits & “fat cat hatred”. They avoid dealing with the guts of the issue: fuel poverty, income inequality & damaged lives.
John Banks is in court to answer allegations over his Dotcom donations and electoral returns. If convicted he loses his seat. How would an Epsom by election play out?
John Key’s networks of influence include the bosses and directors of Anadarko Petroleum, which is doing some oil exploration in NZ. Gordon Campbell’s excellent piece of investigative journalism shows Anadarko and it’s bosses are not to be trusted.
John Key has gone hard negative, with his rants about North Korea and communism, and now an attack on the Greens. Negative is where you go when you don’t have a positive story to tell the electorate. I wonder if the Nats’ internal polling has got Key spooked…
To the Herald the Fourth Estate must be a greenfield development on the outer margins of Auckland: a Dickensian space, hiding the poor from the upper middle-classes. The Herald lacks critical balance & equal weighting for diverse views: it scaremongers about the Akl Unitary Plan & undermines public transport.
I/S at No Right Turn on the difference between what was promised of the “3 strikes” law and the way it is being used in practice.
An Advantage New Zealand conference at SkyCity is the centre of major PR for John Key-backed, big oil exploration in NZ. While promoting and backing each others’ destructive profiteering, and endangering NZ’s environment, they are nurturing their networks of influence over expensive dinners and on the golf course.
Geoff Bertram states in today’s DomPost that he advised the Select Committee on the Mighty River Power sale that power companies’ excessive profits were potentially subject to regulatory interest by any government that placed consumer interest ahead of the companies’ interests, and that this would significantly affect their values. The Government and the companies cannot say they were not warned.
Parekura Horomia died this afternoon following a short illness. He was a great Totara in the Labour forest and will be greatly missed.
Updated: NZLP Tangi arrangements
MSM articles show the big Aussie banks are making record profits, Kiwis can save, and Adam Smith worshiping think tanks are not to be trusted. Cunliffe & Norman said it a while back – NAct policies and government spending cuts are not the answer.
Former banker Bruce Wills and current head of Federated Farmers has joined the chorus attacking NZPower. Given the tired old arguments he raises, it would be interesting to know if his farmer members would rather have lower power prices, or banker Bruce as their spokesman.
In his meetings with Ian Fletcher, Key’s main aims and activities are hidden in plain sight. They connect with US-led initiatives around digital copyright, intellectual property and commerce. Recently there have been some worrying developments in the bigger picture: GCSB, ACTA, TPPA, SOPA, CISPA.
I/S at No Right Turn on the strange disappearance of the Electoral Commission recommendations on MMP. Soon it will be too late to have changes in place for 2014…
Today’s anonymous Dominion Post editorial points to the beginning of John Key’s fall from grace. It centres on Key’s personal qualities, continues to support the MSM’s support of personality politics, glosses over the serious issues masked by Key’s (alleged) amnesia, and uses a false equivalence with Helen Clark.
There were a number of meetings between Key and Ian Fletcher prior to Fletcher’s appointment as GCSB boss. Key tried to cover up his cronyism, and preoccupation with undemocratic shifts in the government’s control of the GCSB, and its focus on intellectual property & commerce.
Brokers and analysts, you’ve nothing to lose but your fees. (although there’s already been $200million from the taxpayer). Now Steven Joyce has turned to the axe-grinders for support. There couldn’t be a clearer indication that Joyce and National are on the side of investors with money to burn, while Labour and the Greens with are on the side of the consumers who worry about turning on the heater.
The film, Housing in New Zealand (1945) on youtube, shows how the Public Works Department built state houses for all who needed them. The authorities seemed Brit-defined, supply of resources & land seemed unlimited. But can we fulfill 21st century needs with similar political will?!
An Otago University academic and expert on computer security speaks out about the proposed new spy laws: “Surveilling the innocent – is that what we do to protect anyone or is that what we do in totalitarian society?”…
So, John Key, Bill English, and Steven Joyce are now devoting all their energy into trying to stop the asset sales programme collapsing after the Greens and Labour gave notice the excessive profits are going to end, and National confirmed they’re for real by suspending the sale. While the government’s wasting its effort on that, real families are suffering.
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
New Zealand’s energy pricing over the last twenty years was thoroughly canvassed by Dr Geoff Bertram last year in a paper presented to the Fabian Society as part of its “Light-handed Regulation” series. In the light of the Labour/Greens’ announcement last week about NZ Power his paper is well worth a read.
You know it’s getting near time to go.
In Saturday’s DomPost, Chelsie Preston Crayford shows what she thinks of John Key and asset sales.
The draft Auckland Unitary Plan is massive and complex. The Auckland Transport Blog helps in untangling issues around intensification vs sprawl. The government & some right wing councillors want sprawl & to delay implementation. The Akl Council website has some cool videos visualising the planned developments. And social housing?
The Sensible Sentencing Trust does not support vigilantism. From a certain point of view.
Some commenters on PowerCo have said Labour/Greens will once again be devastated by ad’s like National’s famous “dancing cossacks.” I don’t think so. That ad attacked 1975 Labour’s compulsory superannuation plan. If voters hadn’t been seduced by Muldoon then we would now have a sovereign wealth fund that would be in advance of Australia’s. Key and Joyce are like Muldoon – shysters.
John Key says that the Labour-Green Power policy is “barking mad” and will take people back to the power cuts of the 1970s. Another John Key brainfade, or just being “clueless”? I look at power cuts and fuel poverty since the 1990s.
Pike River found guilty of breaches of health and safety, leading to the death of of 29 miners. The CTU is calling for law changes to make company directors responsible for their company’s negligence. And the NZ MSM coverage of the catastrophe immediately after it happened?
Here is a link to the CTU Workers Memorial Day event in Auckland on 28 April. We will be bringing together families that […]
Peter Dunne is concerned about the use of unqualified teachers in charter schools. As well he should be – the Ministry of Education has issued a detailed warning against this daft policy.
I don’t think this is a rogue poll – and it came before the Powerco announcement! The trend line is certainly clear now and should reassure Eddie. John Key better get his knighthood sorted.
The current direction of Key’s government, and the challenging circumstances of the 21st century create a need for urgent attention to the form of a new left politics; one that embraces the working class, trade union solidarity, gender, diversity & the emerging “precariat”.
At noon today Labour and the Greens jointly announced new energy policies. “NZ Power” is big and it’s bold. It will completely restructure the way the electricity sector is run, and result in lower power prices for both domestic and business consumers.
The marriage equality law will pass it’s final reading in the House tonight. It is a measure of how things have changed. The passing of the law will not bring an end to all prejudices, inequalities and debilitating practices. But, today is a day for celebrating. [Update: Louisa Wall’s speech added.]
Finally, John Key comes clean. Watch this!
