Social issues

The state is MY servant

Written By: lprent
Date published: - 25 comments

Why in the hell should I carry a passport or a birth certificate for the benefit of the state? There is no reason that I can see, but at least one DHB thinks that I should because it makes their life easier. If they want proof of citizenship or resident status then they should be prepared to pay for it themselves rather than throwing the onus to prove status onto us. If the government wants to introduce a requirement to carry identity papers then they should debate this in the political arena rather than trying to sneak it in through the back door.

Locking in the narrative

Written By: Eddie
Date published: - 61 comments

Having a read of Fairfax’s 2011 political predictions, and their self-grading of their 2010 predictions, two things jumped out. The first is that Fairfax’s political staff have now wedded their reputations as political analysts to a National victory. The second is that they ignore the impact of the economy, and petrol prices in particular, on politics.

Visiting the City that Rocks

Written By: lprent
Date published: - 9 comments

The slow round of extended family xmas locations has this year located Lyn and I in Christchurch. Which has made for an interesting […]

Last poll of the year

Written By: IrishBill
Date published: - 87 comments

With only a couple of days left in 2010 the Herald has released its latest digipoll showing a slight closing of the gap between National and Labour. But that’s not the interesting part…

Unsuppressed: Urewera 18 to be denied jury trial

Written By: notices and features
Date published: - 71 comments

No Right Turn says:-

Two weeks ago, I vented my spleen about a suppression order in a major upcoming criminal case of significant public interest. The suppression order has now been varied, so I am allowed to report on the outcome of the judgement: that the accused in the Urewera “terrorism” case will be denied a jury trial, and tried before a judge alone.

Key, Brownlee & McCully have questions to answer

Written By: Eddie
Date published: - 45 comments

It seems we don’t have a government at the moment. John Key is incommunicado in Hawaii. The Acting PM, Bill English, and Key’s press people refuse to speak for him. Someone needs to front up because serious questions are emerging about the honesty of statements Gerry Brownlee and Murray McCully made in Parliament and to the New Zealand people.

Student freedom

Written By: r0b
Date published: - 109 comments

National and Act are attacking student unions.  The cover story is freedom of association, but it’s bollocks, freedom of association is already protected.  Without the unions students will still have to pay.  But they will lose the rich social and cultural heritage of the unions, lose the learning experiences that the unions provide, and lose their independence.  Hey students – does that sound like a good deal to you?

Richlister calls for huge benefit increase

Written By: Zetetic
Date published: - 25 comments

Mark Hotchin is expected to become a campaigner for beneficiaries if cleared of serious fraud allegations. His assets frozen, the SFO has given him a 1K a week allowance. Not enough for the basics: private school, hire car, mortgage on mansion. A family of 7 needs 360K a year, he says. Not being a hypocrite, he’ll be wanting more for beneficiary families too – eh?

The real target of DB Export campaign

Written By: Eddie
Date published: - 61 comments

There’s an ad campaign at the moment about how DB Export was supposedly created in reaction to the Black Budget. It’s full of lies and a lot of people see it as a slur on Arnold Nordmeyer and Labour in general. In fact, this odd campaign under the slogan ‘how to lose an election’ isn’t about Labour. It’s a warning to National.

NIWA vs the nutters

Written By: lprent
Date published: - 19 comments

NIWA has had some of their data, methodology, and results checked by the aussies. As expected by anyone who knows something about the subject, they came back with substantially the same result. For the others like the nutters at the CSC and their political allies – well I can just see another conspiracy theory arising…

Phil Twyford for Te Atatu candidate

Written By: lprent
Date published: - 25 comments

Phil Twyford is selected as the new Labour candidate for Te Atatu from a strong field.

Phil Twyford is a formidable campaigner, as I know from past experience. I almost pity whatever sacrificial lamb that National put up in that electorate.

Christmas gifts

Written By: r0b
Date published: - 5 comments

Perhaps, like me, you have left your Christmas shopping to the last minute.   Fear not – help is at hand!  Here’s a roundup of some real gifts that you might give this Christmas.

The new economy: Govt as an economic actor

Written By: Marty G
Date published: - 42 comments

Three government investment decisions in the last couple of weeks have shown the deficiencies in the neoliberal way of doing things. SOE Solid Energy’s lignite-to-liquids obsession, Kiwirail buying trains in China rather than making them itself and Steven Joyce decision to re-create Telecom’s monopoly by giving it 70-84% of the broadband contracts.

The “Choice” Mantra

Written By: Bunji
Date published: - 37 comments

The Right often espouses the mantra of “choice”.  How we do better if we leave things up to the private sector, so we can all get what we want, instead of forcing us into the same solution.

Choice is great for ice-cream, but I don’t think it’s great for government services.

Another Minister going…

Written By: Bunji
Date published: - 31 comments

Wayne Mapp to retire “for personal and family reasons” at the 2011 election. Who’s going to be flown in to replace him?

Nats’ ideology: outsourcing NZ

Written By: Zetetic
Date published: - 29 comments

3 under the radar stories yesterday. All linked by ideology. Kiwirail to buy 300 wagons from China because its cheaper than building them here. Not allowed to consider wider economic gains. Collins outsources her new prison to a multi-national with a history of prisoner abuse. English wants more ‘value’ from public assets. Value for whom? The likes of Serco?

Children in poverty

Written By: r0b
Date published: - 207 comments

Child poverty is on the rise again.  My question to the National government is simple.  What are you going to do to reverse this trend and lift children out of poverty?  It’s your watch.  What are you going to do?

Desperate hypocritical muckraking

Written By: r0b
Date published: - 16 comments

Key has been very busy defending sacked Minister Pansy Wong.  He has been desperately ignoring the calls for an Auditor General’s investigation as the cracks in the whitewash report on her illegal spending continue to grow.  But Key is very quick to call for the Auditor General to investigate a single solitary billboard.

National Attacks Vulnerable Children

Written By: Bunji
Date published: - 22 comments

National are consistently attacking the vulnerable in society – those who cannot fight back and complain. This is where a lot of their cuts are aimed at – those who need it most. Be it in health, education or welfare.

And in several recent health and education National cuts have hurt the most vulnerable – our children.  Not just the massive ECE cuts of Tolley, but cuts hurting those at the bottom even more.

Spending Brown

Written By: Bunji
Date published: - 49 comments

ACT, through Rodney (who’s so careful with the taxpayer’s money) and Jami-Lee Ross, are trying to make an issue with Len Brown’s spending.  I’m shocked…

Naff off Key

Written By: Bunji
Date published: - 51 comments

So John Key predicts an unhappy New Year for Phil Goff who is at risk of being rolled…  Because the ShonKey DonKey knows so much about the Labour Party and the extra-secret hidden leadership battles that are certain to be going on, according to his own imagination.

Get on with running the country John, and get us out of a double-dip recession before you start speculating on things you know nothing about.

Guest post: Beware Food Police!

Written By: Zetetic
Date published: - 51 comments

To arms! To arms! The Food Police are coming! Remember how I led you in the battle to get junk food back into schools? It was a near-run thing. If we hadn’t acted, the days of the 12 year-old who can’t climb a flight of stairs without wheezing and going red in the face might have been numbered. Now, National has hypocritically betrayed us.

Wastewatch: Heatley spends $500K for nothing

Written By: Marty G
Date published: - 9 comments

The sum Phil Heatley has so far spent trying to get three women and their families evicted from their state houses, an effort to look tough, is the equivalent to the cost of building two new state houses. Over half a million spent on an ultimately pointless exercise – one that’s far from finished.

Standards don’t make the grade

Written By: Marty G
Date published: - 20 comments

Yesterday, the OECD released its annual comparison of educational achievement in different countries. This study compares half a million kids’ aptitude in reading, maths, and science. Kiwi kids come out pretty damn well: 7th in reading, 13th in maths, 8th in science. And, guess what, we beat countries with National Standards hands down.

Abomination becomes law

Written By: Eddie
Date published: - 45 comments

Paul Quinn’s appalling Electoral (Disqualification of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Act passed last night with the support of just two parties – ACT and National. We’ve talked about why this law is so bad in the past. The Attorney-General agreed it is an unjustified breach of our human rights. Why did ACT, the supposed ‘Liberal Party’ vote for it?

Collins to Police: keep on killing

Written By: Zetetic
Date published: - 40 comments

19 dead in Police chases in 12 months. You’re more likely to be killed in a police chase than by being shot. Most of the dead were being chased for minor traffic offences. What a waste of life. Collins’ response: harsher sentences. Cause tougher sentences has brought down crime so far, eh? Nats have no ideas. The death toll mounts.

A smart speech from Goff

Written By: r0b
Date published: - 87 comments

Goff has given several excellent policy speeches this year, and the last one was no exception.  Squarely targeted at a middle New Zealand that saw little of National’s tax cuts and far more of their job losses and rising prices.  Pointing out the obvious, that National has failed to deliver on the economy, and has no viable plan to do so.  In short, a great platform for election year.

Tales from front-lines of the class war

Written By: Eddie
Date published: - 17 comments

This collection of articles from recent days illustrate the class war going on within this country. In a time of economic, environmental, and social crisis, either the established elite can be reined in or it will use its power to cement its position and take a greater share of the wealth. Because we’re letting them, the elite are winning the class war.

NZF poll is wrong

Written By: r0b
Date published: - 77 comments

Great excitement in the Sunday papers over Winston Peters / NZF.  “Poll puts NZ First back in contention”!  “Peters the kingmaker again”!  Don’t believe a word of it.

When I’m 64

Written By: r0b
Date published: - 14 comments

There seems to have been a reasonable breakthrough in research to reverse ageing.  Is it a good thing?  If you think the world has resource and environmental problems now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.  If you think we have social injustice and insane inequities in wealth now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

The spirit of Peterloo

Written By: Eddie
Date published: - 30 comments

David Cameron made the commendable decision to create a national happiness index to compliment GDP but there’s a lot of unhappiness in Merry Old England under his rule. To avert fiscal disaster, while allowing bankers and the elite to keep their wealth, Cameron is making savage cuts to public services. And the Police are going old school on the resulting protests.

Garagin Way tickets

Written By: notices and features
Date published: - 8 comments

We have four pairs of tickets to give away for the Garagin Way play in Auckland at 181 Hobson St on the nights of Sunday the 5th or Monday the 6th. As the competition we ran was a bit of a fizzer, we’ll just give them to the first four emails we get at thestandardnz (at) gmail dot com – give us your name to pick up the tickets at the door.

Useless laws won’t solve drug problem

Written By: Marty G
Date published: - 33 comments

Lawmaking is serious business. It is how we as a community, through our elected representatives, set the bounds and frameworks for our behaviour, allowing our community to function. Laws shouldn’t be made, things shouldn’t be banned, for the hell of it. So why is Parliament passing a law that everyone, including the PM, thinks is pointless?