Written By: - Date published: 11:19 am, January 4th, 2011 - 38 comments
Following Key’s ‘I’ll have a hissy fit and quit if you don’t re-elect me’ interview yesterday, the Herald has an interview with Phil Goff. The contrast is stark between smile and wave’s self-centred answers and Goff’s focus on delivering real results for NZ.
Written By: - Date published: 5:50 pm, January 3rd, 2011 - 67 comments
I’ve been traveling around for Christmas/New Year’s. It hadn’t hit me until I drove about 1000kms around NZ just how much more expensive petrol has become. The extra cost is a shock when you fill up and it hurts the economy. I got wondering what the political impact is. The numbers suggest it matters a lot.
Written By: - Date published: 10:51 am, January 3rd, 2011 - 162 comments
We’ve always said that John Key was only in politics for his personal reward. He just wants to have ‘PM of NZ’ on his CV. He just wants to go around smiling and waving at people who know who he is because of the office he holds. Now, he’s admitted as much by telling the Herald he’ll quit politics if we don’t re-elect him.
Written By: - Date published: 11:51 am, January 2nd, 2011 - 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.
Written By: - Date published: 4:44 pm, December 31st, 2010 - 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 boxing day with a certain amount of rocking that is not attributable to the results of the gorging the day before. I’ve been in earthquakes before. But never in quite the series […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, December 30th, 2010 - 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…
Written By: - Date published: 6:33 am, December 27th, 2010 - 32 comments
Back in 2008 it was clear what National wanted to do with wages and if Tane was still around he’d be able to say “I told you so” but instead we’ve resurrected one of his posts which does pretty much the same thing… The National Party are once again trying to make political capital over […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, December 22nd, 2010 - 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.
Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, December 19th, 2010 - 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…
Written By: - Date published: 6:01 pm, December 18th, 2010 - 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.
Written By: - Date published: 2:47 pm, December 16th, 2010 - 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.
Written By: - Date published: 2:02 pm, December 15th, 2010 - 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?
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, December 14th, 2010 - 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.
Written By: - Date published: 2:41 pm, December 13th, 2010 - 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…
Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, December 13th, 2010 - 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.
Written By: - Date published: 7:16 am, December 7th, 2010 - 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.
Written By: - Date published: 7:34 am, December 6th, 2010 - 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.
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, December 2nd, 2010 - 64 comments
The other week, Lynn and I made fun of John Key’s dream that New Zealand would become the Ireland of the South Seas. Does he still believe we should emulate the Irish? The answer is yes. Key wants to abandon proper process and speed up work on an international financial centre for New Zealand, just like the one that helped get Ireland where it is today.
Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, November 30th, 2010 - 38 comments
They’ve already been dubbed NZ’s David and Ed Milliband.
Brothers David and Ben Clark will both be standing for Labour in the 2011 general election. David is standing for the safe Dunedin North seat, while Ben will be taking on Wayne Mapp on the North Shore.
Both would do well as MPs.
Written By: - Date published: 12:29 pm, November 29th, 2010 - 100 comments
Matt McCarten is doing the dance of the seven veils on the issue of a new Left Party. He and the other players have been denying they have anything planned but, at the same time, have spoken of the need for such a party, as Labour paddles around in circles, and said they might join were such a party to eventuate. I say go for it.
Written By: - Date published: 2:28 pm, November 17th, 2010 - 11 comments
I know it’s in National’s DNA to fight regulation where ever they find it but it looks like the meat industry and government ‘watch dog’ MAF’s Food Safety Authority may have bitten off more than they can chew with their proposal to do away with independent meat inspectors in the country’s freezing works. Seems a 6 month trial to […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:33 pm, November 17th, 2010 - 25 comments
With Pansy Wong in hiding on John Key’s orders, rort-buster Pete Hodgson laid the blame her corruption and all the other rorts squarely on Key yesterday. In question after question, Key couldn’t make a serious defence of his record. Then, he made an extraordinary admission: his ministers will keep on rorting – it’s up to Labour to catch them.
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 pm, November 16th, 2010 - 24 comments
Judged by his own terms, what has John Key actually achieved on trade? He talked big about Japan’s trade barriers – no-one paid him any attention. Russian FTA talks were announced – it’ll be worth just $27 million. Key’s meeting with ‘good mate’ Obama – actually sitting “pretty much next to” him during a play. And still no White House invite.
Written By: - Date published: 3:10 pm, November 16th, 2010 - 8 comments
National’s handling of the Auckland SuperCity process was profoundly undemocratic in a multitude of ways. Thank goodness, and the common sense of Aucklanders, that a “Labour Mayor from South Auckland” was elected to sort out at least some of the resulting mess. Len Brown has pledged to hold talks on dedicated Maori seats on the Council. It’s great to see that Brown is open to correcting National’s injustice on this matter.
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, November 15th, 2010 - 30 comments
What’s so great about free trade negotiations with Russia? We export only $180 million a year to them, most of it butter. That’s 2% of our exports to the US and Japan and Key’s made no progress on their trade barriers. Rising oil costs will soon make our butter uncompetitive vs Russian dairy farmers. Key got his photo op – but not with Obama.
Written By: - Date published: 11:51 am, November 13th, 2010 - 32 comments
John Key has been on holiday in Japan for the last few days ahead of APEC while the real international leaders are in Korea for the G20. Key is keen to have a ‘pull-aside’ with Obama but, now, disaster: the US has limited the number of Kiwi media that can cover the smiling and waving. Key has leaped into action.
Written By: - Date published: 2:22 pm, November 12th, 2010 - 13 comments
John Key got to Japan for his Apec meeting a couple of days ago, and he’s been telling the Japanese they need to drop their tariffs, and the US he’d like to have a chat with Obama on the sidelines of a meeting, any meeting, please… But nobody else is there. They’re all still at the G20, across the ditch in Korea. What’s John Key doing?
Written By: - Date published: 7:22 am, November 11th, 2010 - 116 comments
Matt McCarten and his team took over a vacant state house in Mana to install a young couple who were previously living in a garage. Four supporters were soon arrested. The media are calling this action a “stunt”. To do so is to diminish the significance of the issue to which it was drawing attention. Call it a protest. People are living in squalor while state houses sit empty. Why?
Written By: - Date published: 11:38 am, November 10th, 2010 - 47 comments
The latest Roy Morgan poll shows confidence in government plummeted during the Hobbit debacle. It shows confidence in government falling to a new low for Key’s administration. At the beginning of the year, nearly three-quarters of the population agreed the country was heading in the right direction. Barely 50% do now.
Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, November 10th, 2010 - 11 comments
The Budget 2010 tax cuts for the rich were supposed to be paid for by magical extra growth. But the growth isn’t happening and the government now has a $2.2 billion shortfall in income. So the tax cuts aren’t “broadly neutral” at all. We’re paying for them with borrowing. Is that “Ambitious for New Zealand”?
Written By: - Date published: 8:42 pm, November 7th, 2010 - 23 comments
“Man for all Seasons” is the title of David Grant’s authorised biography of Ken Douglas ONZ. The choice of title puzzled me – “A Man for all Seasons” is the title of Robert Bolt’s award-winning play about Sir (later Saint) Thomas More, whose refusal to endorse Henry VIII’s divorce from Katherine of Aragon led him […]
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