The Government’s offensive on public servants who express privately held strong views continues with Casey Costello attacking a public servant who alleged that her private research had come up with some papers that were “crap”.
National is scrambling to justify designated funding to the I am Hope charity after Mike King claimed alcohol was good for mental health and preventing suicide.
Mike King calls alcohol a solution to mental health anguish. But evidence shows alcohol is linked to a 94% increase in suicide and has links to family violence. So what is happening with King and the $24m this government handed him in a highly “irregular” contract process?
The Free Speech Union is wanting an extremist right wing shock jock who the Christchurch Killer described as the person who most influenced him the privilege of visiting New Zealand to host a fundraising event.
Enjoying your weekend? Thank a unionist!
David Seymour said the new school lunches are the best food he’s ever eaten – but how true is it? And what has he chosen for our tamariki in the school lunch program?
Welcome news from yesterday was the request to the Auditor General under the Public Audit Act on the arbitrary and unsupported by evidence decisions on tobacco products by the Customs Minister Casey Costello. As the request stated, Labour’s health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall had reached the limits of the information that she could seek using the Official Information Act.
The Goverment has bowed to pressure from the Sensible Sentencing Trust and made the Three Strikes Bill even more unworkable.
Elliot Crossan at System Change Aotearoa reviews the past year. Despite the tepid public support for this government’s problematic actions, he warns that ‘The Right Is United By Power — Don’t Underestimate Them’
Labour, Green Party and Te Pati Māori have been relatively quiet as the Coalition government move at breakneck speed to roll back laws and transfer wealth. Is it a matter of resources, media coverage, or will?
Radio New Zealand has reported that $500,000 in donations to National, Act and NZ First were made by entities associated to those who had their projects included in the recently released schedule to the Fast Track Projects Bill.
Join us to protest privatisation of health on the 23rd October. But can we have more oomph and co-ordination please?
It has been revealed that Casey Costello bypassed and second guessed official advice by an internet search and reading a collection of articles that do not way what she thought they said.
Yesterday a former Health NZ Chair said the government is intentionally manufacturing a crisis to privatise healthcare. However privatisation will not solve anything and will only lead to worse financial and health outcomes for all Kiwis as confirmed by Lancet Medical Journal and case studies around the world.
The National-ACT-NZ First government have signaled they want to privatise our health system. It’s a now or never moment.
Casey Costello’s decision to give Phillip Morris a $216 million tax cut was based on alternative advice that she has received but which she is not disclosing. And Christopher Luxon is comfortable with this.
The Government plans to smash through the reintroduction of off shore oil and gas drilling under some urgency and has given the people of New Zealand only five days to submit.
The question has to be asked, can we trust National to do anything that it has promised?
NZ has already spent $1bn on thin air (Kiwirail ferries), $70bn on roads, and $35bn on tax cuts so no to your hospitals and investments!
On the same day that National had Parliament pass onerous anti gang laws to address allegedly dramatically increasing numbers of gang members Christopher Luxon lost his cool when it was pointed out to him that the Government is purging the list to reduce the numbers.
Lester Levy claims he is working so hard it’s probably not good for his health. Meanwhile, he failed to bring financials to the Health Select Committee while explaining he was doing well on cutting costs – and would continue to do so.
A recently Tax Justice Aotearoa study suggests that the country could impse a capital gains tax or wealth tax and the wealthy would still be better off than they would be in similar countries.
The police’s recent successful operation against the Comanchero gang could concievably have been compromised by National’s proposed gang patch ban.
Christopher Luxon yesterday celebrated a 22% reduction in crime in Downtown Auckland even though crime in the Auckland region went up by 7% during the same time. And later that day had to explain how the number of victims of violent crime had increased by 30,000.
The government plans to put up to 2000 more Kiwis behind bars by 2034 at a potential cost of up to $1.2bn per budget in today’s money. Meanwhile crime, including violent crime is increasing across all of NZ.
This is what David Seymour was told. But he and the Government still chose to push through significant cuts to the scheme.
David Seymour finally released some hard information about Act’s coalition bone – Treaty Principles bill. The regulatory impact statement is damning and points to the status quo as being preferable. It will provide an interesting scope for Judith Collins in her non-partisan role as Attorney-General.
Yesterday it was confirmed that Act’s Treaty Principles Bill had been approved by Cabinet for drafting and introduction into Parliament in November this year. Get ready for the circus to start.
Remember when Christopher Luxon told the National Party that we had a maths teaching crisis? Experts have concluded that the statement is misleading. And an OIA dump suggests that behind the scenes there is an attempt to radically rewrite the existing curriculum.
Shane Jones has been getting into the news recently after his comment that High Court Judge Cheryl Gwyn was a communist made at a private meeting was revealed in the media. He has been called out by Judith Collins and Winston Peters but surprisingly not by Christopher Luxon.
Yes, Labour can restore its woeful tax position.
Guest post by Nigel Haworth discussing recent publicity given to the Labour Party’s debate around tax reform.
NZ Parliament sitting where Labour’s Kieran McAnulty implores the Coalition government to stop deceiving Kiwis, and Winston Peters and Louise Upton both get fired up. Meanwhile, Casey Costello still doesn’t know who wrote her tobacco Ministerial papers.
Dan Bidois has unwittingly exposed that National has a list of well honed talking points that are used and repeated ad mauseum. Normally within context, sometimes not.
Casey Costello and the Coalition government have already halved tobacco excise at a cost of up to $216mn. Today RNZ reports there remain more questions on who wrote her Ministerial papers begging for tobacco industry benefits.
There is increasing concern that recently introduced policy changes by National have made housing for the most needy amongst us more tenuous.
