Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, November 10th, 2009 - 4 comments
Lord Mayor of Remuera John ‘barking mad’ Banks has (mis)fired the first shots of his campaign by producing some strip advertisements outlining the planned expansion of his duchy he claims he’s Mayor of Takanini! – and taking out a full page ad promising he will build the Sydney Opera House on Auckland’s waterfront. Welcome to […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, November 7th, 2009 - 10 comments
Hattip: tumeke
Written By: - Date published: 2:40 pm, November 6th, 2009 - 6 comments
Fresh from pulling the pin (then blaming others) on a Queen’s Wharf redesign competition he himself conceived, led and championed, Remuera mayor John ‘in your guts you know he’s nuts’ Banks has again flip-flopped on a policy proposal from his council. Yesterday the Banks’ and C&R led proposal for after-hours car parking charges for Auckland’s […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:49 pm, November 3rd, 2009 - 3 comments
Yesterday the Auckland Transition Agency (ATA) released its draft structure for the new Auckland council. Fortunately for the staff, and service levels in the new Auckland council, the ATA has a ‘commitment to maintaining or enhancing council service delivery.’ This means: ‘A prudent approach will be taken to staff reduction where services are reorganised to […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:23 am, November 3rd, 2009 - 21 comments
Yesterday, John Key cleverly tried to reframe his ministers’ failure to obey his standards on use of perks: “You don’t want 120 Members of Parliament who have the financial independence to be able to make the financial decisions that I make. “It wouldn’t be the House of Representatives, we need people from all walks of […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:45 pm, November 1st, 2009 - 30 comments
‘Lord Ashcroft of Belize’ facing eviction as country turns on him. This is the heading in an article in today’s Observer. It’s worth a read. Some excerpts: So extensive are his interests, and so arcane some of his methods, that many Belizeans believe Ashcroft owns businesses that he may not. “He uses so many shell […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:41 pm, November 1st, 2009 - 27 comments
Matt McCarten writes a fine opinion piece in today’s Herald. He hits four main points: 1. The neo-liberal dismantling of NZ’s egalitarian society ideal in the 80’s and 90’s. 2. The new subservience of the State to corporate interests. 3. Dramatic increases in productivity over the last 30 years that have been almost entirely captured […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, October 28th, 2009 - 10 comments
Here’s what Double-Dipper Bill English had to say about taxpayer-funded advertising before the last election. National has raised fresh concerns about Labour cashing in on government departments pushing key policies in the run-up to the election, after a $2 million jump in public sector advertising. Mr English said that Labour was piggy-backing on departmental spending […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 28th, 2009 - 2 comments
John ‘in your guts you know he’s nuts’ Banks has isolated himself out to the right of Rodney Hide when it comes to the activities of local government. Yesterday Rodney Hide started to backtrack on his promise to restrict local government to providing ‘core services’ (although I’ll reserve judgement until I see his final policy), which […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:56 am, October 24th, 2009 - Comments Off on Signs of Labour Weekend
Spotted in a shop window. Says it all really about what this weekend is for.
Written By: - Date published: 1:21 pm, October 23rd, 2009 - 9 comments
Last night C&R councillor and National Party MP Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga ended his double-dipping charade and quit the Auckland City Council. By way of background, Sam was elected as a councillor for Tamaki-Maungakiekie in the 2007 local body election. He used this position to leverage his way into parliament as a National MP at the […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:12 am, October 23rd, 2009 - 6 comments
I agree with David Farrar on the National Party’s proposed law combining the Electoral offices. These appointments are far too important to be decided by a Minister, who is only required to consult on the appointment. The Super-city showed us what little that means. David is worried about Labour, I’m worried about National.They have made […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 23rd, 2009 - 8 comments
John ‘barking mad’ Banks’ cheerleader WhaleOil has called for Rodney Hide to introduce the power of recall into the legislation for the new Auckland super-city. I wonder if that is such a wise call. Remember Cameron Slater is the son of Citrat president John Slater, so he should be well aware of Banks’ infamous track […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 pm, October 22nd, 2009 - 1 comment
I’ve thought for some time that some of the best political writing in the Herald is to be found on the business pages. Here is a taste of Brian Fallow on the Emissions Trading Bill, currently being rushed through Parliament with scant regard to submitters. Legislate in haste, repent at leisure. What we have right […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:38 pm, October 22nd, 2009 - 12 comments
Here we go again. July 1st 1999 and Prime Minister Jenny Shipley opens ACC to competition. I’d forgotten it was one of the last things they did, the effects on workers and the whole bullying culture of ACC seemed to go on and on… Modern day National, having just announced its opening ACC to competition […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:23 pm, October 21st, 2009 - 6 comments
Heard over the lunch time news that John Key was the keynote (oh how he must never tire of that) speaker at the CTU Biennial Conference this afternoon. A quick flick through the programme that had crossed my desk some weeks ago showed this to be the case and that Phil Goff is speaking tomorrow. […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, October 20th, 2009 - Comments Off on Reminder: Drinking Liberally – Auckland
Drinking Liberally is returning to the London Bar for a session with Greenpeace Executive Director Bunny McDiarmid. When: 7pm WEDNESDAY 21 October Where: The London Bar, upstairs cnr Queen and Wellesley Streets, Auckland CBD Who: You and like-minded left-wingers. All welcome. What: The climate change debate is heating up. World leaders will soon gather at […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, October 19th, 2009 - Comments Off on DL Wellington – Celia Wade-Brown
Wellington’s Drinking Liberally speaker is Celia Wade-Brown. Celia is a sitting Green member of the Wellington City Council, and one of the first announced candidates for the Wellington Mayoralty. With the recent changes to the local governance of Auckland, resulting into amalgamation into a “super-city” – there are many who think Wellington could be next. Celia […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:23 pm, October 18th, 2009 - 14 comments
The Sunday Star-Times details hitherto secret proposals from the John Judge-chaired ACC to cut back entitlements and increase user-pays. The hidden agenda: Introduce a $100 excess on every claim. Reduce income compensation from 80% to 70% after one year and 60% after two. Impose a two-year limit on compensation for soft tissue injuries, such as […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:34 pm, October 18th, 2009 - 13 comments
Two readers offer their reflections on our collective reaction to the Aisling Symes tragedy: The Best of Us, The Worst of Us, revealed in Aisling Symes Tragedy Sadly the body of Aisling Symes has been discovered and the means of her tragic death are understood. During this time of grief and outpouring of public support […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:02 pm, October 18th, 2009 - 9 comments
Len Brown seems to have the Right in a bit of panic. Remuera Mayor John ‘in your guts you know he’s nuts’ Banks is speculating that Brown’s already toted up $150-$200k of campaign spending. Banks has always been screwy but he seems to have just made this up. That hasn’t stopped acolytes like Farrer from […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:35 pm, October 17th, 2009 - 6 comments
The Guardian reports today under the headline “Crisis looms in Kabul over Karzai election results:” Frantic diplomacy under way as report looks set to give Afghan president less than 50% of the vote, forcing run-off. Karzai’s share of the vote is expected to drop to below 50% as a result of the inquiry, forcing a […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, October 16th, 2009 - 8 comments
The Herald posts this clip from Parliament entitled “Nick Smith under fire for ACC bungling”. Nice catch from Darren Hughes at the end. What a shambolic lot.
Written By: - Date published: 8:19 pm, October 15th, 2009 - 4 comments
Far from being a careful steward of ratepayers’ money and someone who takes pride in his city, Auckland mayor John Banks is allowing parts of the CBD to slide. Less than two years ago Banks’ council spent $1.5 million upgrading the central Auckland lane Swanson Street. Yet far from being some kind of urban oasis, […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:25 pm, October 15th, 2009 - 1 comment
Drinking Liberally is returning to the London Bar for a session with Greenpeace Executive Director Bunny McDiarmid. When: 7pm WEDNESDAY 21 October Where: The London Bar, upstairs cnr Queen and Wellesley Streets, Auckland CBD Who: You and like-minded left-wingers. All welcome. What: The climate change debate is heating up. World leaders will soon gather at […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:30 pm, October 14th, 2009 - 133 comments
Down in the comments long time contributor gobsmacked wrote: I have never seen a post on here saying ‘The left parties want the voters who switched to National last time. They aren’t idiots. But we lost them. Let’s find out why.’ That’s step one. I live in hope. Happy to oblige! Gentle reader, if you […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:08 pm, October 12th, 2009 - 5 comments
Philip Temple makes some good points in the Herald today: The Minister of Justice, Simon Power, indicated that he would soon present a paper to Cabinet on the proposed referendum on MMP. Presumably this will hold true to National’s election promise, that it will be held “without any further consideration”. Meaning no consultation with the […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:24 pm, October 11th, 2009 - 32 comments
Jenny Ruth has the best comment I’ve seen on Philip Field’s sentence in today’s Sunday Star-Times – not available on the paper’s website or on Stuff.co.nz. Taito Philip Field was a pompous twit over the Thai tilers’ affair, particularly in his inept attempts at a cover-up, but his six -year jail sentence is outrageous. Ruth […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:17 am, October 10th, 2009 - 40 comments
So President Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace prize: OSLO – President Barack Obama on Friday won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. “Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, October 8th, 2009 - 12 comments
The Standard would like to wish Mrs Mavis Lawson many happy returns on her 100th birthday yesterday. We also had a chuckle when we read this from today’s Herald: When Papatoetoe resident Mavis Lawson turned 100 on Tuesday she got the standard birthday card from the Queen but, rather puzzlingly, she also received a card […]
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