The alt list of the most influential Aucklanders
And now for an alternative version of the Aucklanders most likely to make a difference to our city but who will not feature in the Herald’s spy column.
Social issues
Hickey on surpluses and Key’s bullshit
Bernard Hickey: “It is extraordinary for the Prime Minister to call the Treasury’s short and long term forecasts a “load of nonsense” and yet rely on the medium term ones to promise all manner of riches to voters on the eve of an election.”
Press editorial on failed state house sell-off
It’s more than a “dreary lack of ambition”, it’s a deliberate plan to underfund / rundown the stock to “justify” selling off, so that the Nats can indeed “wash their hands” of their obligations.
Fund the Police!
Judith Collins is letting organised criminals off the hook as she insists the Police make burglary a priority.
Around the House…
Labour-insider Key talks to the Herald while expressing no confidence in his candidate (the one standing at his shoulder); Leggett legs it; and National shoot down kiwi businesses, kiwi workers and kiwi tenants.
Not a bad day’s work.
Dire warnings of the bleeding obvious
Warnings from the government and the Reserve Bank that first home buyers are taking on too much debt. Prices are too high, wages are too low, interest rates are rising. These warnings are effectively telling the average first home buyer to give up.
Tolley needs to apologise
Kim Hill had an astounding and outstanding interview with Anne Tolley this morning on RNZ. The 7.30 news was delayed 12 minutes as […]
Massive education fail
Thanks National: “NZ kids worst at maths in English-speaking world”.
Housing “affordability” blowout
Andrew Little was on RNZ this morning talking housing affordability. “The amount people are having to borrow for their first home has increased 43 percent in the last two years.”
New Parliament buildings
A couple of reactions to the $100m Parliament building plans.
Child abuse and poverty – still with us
As topics like Trump and the quakes take the limelight, the slow tragedies unfolding in NZ carry on in the background.
NRT: “A stupid idea”
I/S at No Right Turn on Key’s statement that a gender-balanced cabinet is “a stupid idea”.
Key interview – facts don’t matter
Lisa Owen interviewed Key on The Nation yesterday. As usual Key spent half his time denying facts and figures – in this case from Treasury and from his own government sources.
Three strikes – seven years – for bottom pinching
The first application of “three strikes” is an example of exactly one of the main problems that opponents of the law raised. Remove discretion and you can get perverse outcomes.
National plans to sell Housing Corp home Key grew up in
John Key, the state house tenant turned good who has relied heavily on his humble upbringing is overseeing the sale of the state house he grew up in.
Sale of Key’s old house a powerful symbol
English admits that the government has done a poor job of maintaining state houses, and uses it as an excuse for privatisation – its by design. The attempted sale in Christchurch, incuding Key’s childhood home, is a powerful symbol of the way this government likes pulling up the ladder that they used behind them.
Daily Review 24/11/2016
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
To be fair they probably don’t have much experience with spades
RNZ on suppressed child abuse report
RNZ this morning describes a 2011 report by the Chief Human Rights Commissioner on historical child abuse in NZ. “It was never published because, she says, the Attorney General Chris Finlayson did not like its recommendations.”
Has Key abandoned Parmar in the Mt Roskill by election?
As National’s Mt Roskill by election campaign starts to implode John Key’s absence is becoming very noticeable.
What skills do we need in the age of fake news?
Revelations surrounding the role of fake news in the American election have been stunning. And the critical thinking skills that democracy needs to survive this trend are under attack in our education system.
Nat state house selloff in tatters
Another fail in National’s plan to sell off state houses is good news for those of us who believe that it is the government’s responsibility to take care of society’s most vulnerable.
QC describes Pike River mine as a ‘homicide scene’
On Checkpoint Nigel Hampton QC described the Pike River mine as a ‘crime scene’ and a ‘homicide scene’, and he questioned the motives of those rushing to seal the mine.
Netsafe finally gets its act together on the HDCA – sort of… and inadequately
Apparently today, Netsafe will start acting as the “Approved Agency” of the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015. This is an act that is meant to deal with some of the excessive online abuse and bullying. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear to me that Netsafe is currently capable of dealing with the task. Instead they look like incompetent monkeys.
Andrew Little: Promises to Pike families must be kept
Yesterday marked the sixth anniversary of the Pike River disaster. Here is a statement released by Andrew Little urging that the mine not be sealed and the deaths of the miners be investigated and their bodies brought home.
As politicians go…(II)
Two paths. One choice.
Trump and the NZ housing bubble
The bright orange trigger for a sharp rise in mortgage interest rates may have just arrived. Our over-indebted home owners are highly vulnerable.
In case you missed it: Nicky Hager awarded interim costs
Investigative journalist Nicky Hager has been awarded interim legal costs towards $475,082 spent suing police.
An interesting time for the Republicans
Trump is going to be a figurehead, not a president, leaving governance to an unfettered Republican machine. That machine is no friend of the disenfranchised, never was, never will be. How will Trump’s base react to being betrayed?
Remedy for Global Instability – a Public Lecture by Dr Helen Caldicott
“New Zealand now has a unique opportunity to revise its foreign policy and military spending,” says Dr Caldicott, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility.
Another postcard from the Brighter Future
In the midst of the cataclysmic big stories, we should not lose sight of the small personal ones.
Trump scooped up the white vote that Democrats abandoned
Trump laid siege to the Democrat’s “Blue Wall” and they didn’t respond to or recognise his strategem until far too late.
The media double standard
Andrea Vance has attacked Labour’s Ready to Work policy and claimed that the policy does not add up, despite being told how the figures had been arrived at.
There is no housing crisis
Paula Bennett has announced a new spend of $300 million to address the non existing housing crisis. But the announcement appears to be little more than a refinancing of Housing Corp and an admission that the Government should have stopped taking Housing Corp dividends years ago.
Rheumatic fever – treat the cause
Millions of dollars are being poured into reducing rheumatic fever in NZ. However rates of the disease in Auckland are at least double the target level – and rising.
Hooray Henry!
Paul Henry is to leave TV3. Did two pairs of tits lead to him getting the arse?