Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, October 6th, 2008 - 48 comments
Fearing a PR disaster over their tax-cut package announcement later this week, National has reverted to type, shedding the moderate facade and proposing a good old fashioned ‘get tough’ crime policy. National would abolish parole for people convicted of murder who have previously been convicted of a serious violent crime. In the last six years, […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:49 pm, October 5th, 2008 - 9 comments
Tomorrow the government’s books will be opened up. It is not expected to be a pretty picture. Oil prices and the credit crunch have forced the economy into recession. The debt to GDP ratio will be higher than was modelled in the Budget for three reasons (at this point, I just want to remind our excitable righties that […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:16 am, October 5th, 2008 - 34 comments
There are two core strains to left-wing thought. Both of them can be seen as rooted in the evolution of the scientific method during the 18th and 19th centuries, although the essential ideas, of course, existed long before. The first is liberalism. Liberalism holds that we must always keep an element of self-doubt and criticism […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:20 pm, October 3rd, 2008 - 4 comments
The Council of Trade Unions has done a lot of work on why wages are low for many workers in New Zealand and how they can be increased to close the wage gap with Australia. They offer six proposals: Increase the minimum wage to at least $15 per/hour We know from the painful experience of […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:48 pm, October 3rd, 2008 - 29 comments
I don’t have a lot of time for Winston Peters’ politics or his dodgy electoral practices, but sometimes the man just hits the nail on the head: Rt Hon Winston Peters has accused a number of media outlets of trivialising general election coverage to the point of mindless banality. This follows a request from a […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:15 pm, October 3rd, 2008 - 3 comments
We’ve seen the work of Declare Yourself before. Their message is aimed at voters in the US but the call to engage and get involved resonates just as strongly for us here. This time some big names are promoting the message to get involved including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Aniston and Ellen DeGeneres (others whose faces […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:05 pm, October 3rd, 2008 - 36 comments
As The Standard first reported on April 1 and Radio New Zealand picked up today, Treasury figures show that the wage gap between Australia and New Zealand increased 50% under National in the 1990s and has decreased moderately under Labour since then. Now, a lot of our readers simply won’t want to believe that […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:38 am, October 3rd, 2008 - 49 comments
Yesterday, I printed and cut 6500 A6 leaflets from the designs on the Campaign Hub and took them along to Drinking Liberally. They were all gone in minutes. The Right wins and keeps power by dis-empowering and disenfranchising, by taking away our voice. So, it was great to see so many people take it on themselves […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:55 pm, October 2nd, 2008 - 25 comments
With expectations about National’s tax cuts justifably very high (thanks to National talking them up for nine years), National is suddenly trying to change course. John Key, who has promoted tax cuts as the solution to doctors’ strikes, the wage gap, and petrol prices along with every other issue facing this country, is now saying […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:53 pm, October 2nd, 2008 - 1 comment
Just a wee reminder for anyone in Wellington. Scoop.co.nz political editor and former Listener journo Gordon Campbell is at Drinking Liberally tonight to talk about ‘Covering the issues – how to escape from the who’s winning, who’s losing style of election coverage’. Gordon Campbell is one of the best journalists in the country and has […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:29 am, October 2nd, 2008 - 33 comments
Don’t take it from me. Certainly don’t take it from a National hack, who despite being a professional statistician, is too dishonest to even adjust his stats for population growth. No, listen to the Assistant Police Commissioner explain (in a measured and charmingly earnest tone) the details and meaning of the latest crime stats here.
Written By: - Date published: 1:54 pm, October 1st, 2008 - 25 comments
John Key is being pretty evasive on his tax cut plan. He won’t say whether the famous ‘$50 a week for the average worker’ (note that’s not every worker, your income has to be $47K plus) is additional to Labour’s cuts, the first round of which came into effect today. Given the evasiveness, it’s safe to […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:45 am, October 1st, 2008 - 69 comments
08wire produces some of the most well-thought out and best argued pieces on the blogosphere, as well as great videos. Well, I know what to do when I see gold – thief it. From 08wires’ post, here’s a table of arguments that comprise National’s ‘New Zealand sucks’ campaign and how they stack up against the facts: (sources) I […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:55 pm, September 30th, 2008 - 24 comments
The RMA is a quick and cheap process in the vast majority of cases, and it is regarded as a world-leading piece of legislation. Few consent applications are refused or appealed. Reforms of the RMA over the years have made it more efficient. The studies show that the delays that do happen in consents being […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:40 pm, September 30th, 2008 - 43 comments
On Breakfast this morning, failed National party candidate Paul Henry and Guyon Espiner discussed the possibility of the Maori Party and National working together in a government. Henry: Do you get the feeling National would do anything for power, they would cut almost any deal at all with the Maori Party to get in? Espiner: […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, September 30th, 2008 - 51 comments
Let’s get serious about the idea of the Maori Party working with National. Yes, they want to play up the possibility to enhance their bargaining position, just as the Greens were last month, but it’s not going to happen. National and the Maori Party voted together in only a third of votes in the last […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:15 pm, September 29th, 2008 - 10 comments
We’ve got a range new posters and leaflets up on the Campaign Hub and we’re keen to see more. Some people are printing off two different designs and making doubled-sided leaflets, which is a really good way to get two messages distributed in one go. Best to only do that with designs authorised by the same […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:59 pm, September 29th, 2008 - Comments Off on Gordon Campbell at Drinking Liberally, Wlgtn
You probably already read him on Scoop Election ’08 and he’s a former Listener journalist too. The topic of his talk is: ‘Covering the issues – how to escape from the who’s winning, who’s losing style of election coverage’. His recent article Horse race political journalism might give you a taste of what to expect. […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:20 am, September 29th, 2008 - 6 comments
Greeenwoman has done it again, another brilliant video on Key using a classic music video:
Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, September 29th, 2008 - 15 comments
National desperately wants to portray any criticism of John Key as a personal attack. Don’t be taken in. Look, PM is a powerful job. We need to have a thorough examination of anyone contesting for that role. As I’ve always said there are three legitimate questions that need to be answered what are their policies? […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:02 pm, September 28th, 2008 - 53 comments
National have quietly released their policy on electoral law and have promised to abolish the Maori seats once treaty claims are finished, repeal the Electoral Finance Act and run a referendum on MMP. These all represent substantial changes to the way our democracy operates. I’ll be very interested to see what the Maori Party make […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:36 pm, September 28th, 2008 - 44 comments
I’m probably going to be at odds with my fellow Standardistas in this but I support having debates featuring just Clark and Key. One of these two people will lead the country after the election and we deserve to see to them in a forum where they go head to head against each other, rather […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:53 pm, September 28th, 2008 - 33 comments
An email from a reader: “A friend and I were putting up some Vote with Both Eyes Open posters on Lambton Quay the other night. We had just put some up around the intersection by Parliament and crossed the road when a senior National advisor came up to us with one of our recently pasted banners […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:56 am, September 28th, 2008 - 9 comments
An article in yesterday’s Herald raised some more questions over how Key has handled the management of his share portfolio. However it looks like it would be easy enough for him to clear up. According to Paula Oliver: Eyebrows were raised around Parliament this week when Mr Key said Mr Leggat could buy shares with […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:43 am, September 25th, 2008 - 138 comments
National has four fatal problems that will prevent it from winning the election. Or, rather, it has two problems, both with two parts. – A large majority of New Zealanders don’t like the policies National wants to implement – they reject privatisation and cutting government spending. – People were sucked in by the shallow, vague […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:53 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 22 comments
Where-ever you sit on the spectrum of opinion on Key’s handling on the Tranzrail affair, it appears that the commentators are questioning his ability to handle the pressure (and by extension his ability to handle the PM-ship). From Paul Henry’s vigorous questioning this morning to discussions by commentators later in the day, the common theme […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:28 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 87 comments
Key’s three defences on the share scandal are ‘no-one asked how many shares I had’, ‘it didn’t matter how many shares I had’, and ‘Labour is spending all their time researching me’. It’s classic distraction stuff. Let’s break it down. ‘No-one asked me how many shares I had’ – Yes, Fran Mold did on Monday […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:17 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 2 comments
The second Drinking Liberally, Palmerston North is on this Friday. Peter Falloon, NZUSA co-President is the guest speaker. I’m going to try to get up there too and harangue people into getting more active. So, if you like beer, politics, and encouragement get along. What: Drinking Liberally, Palmerston North When: 7:30pm, 26th of September Where: Zoe’s […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:13 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 28 comments
I’m usually no fan of Paul Henry as an interviewer but I’m prepared to give credit where it’s due. He certainly didn’t let John Key off the hook this morning on Breakfast. Was tempted to edit it down a bit but it’s worth watching the full thing. HENRY: “Well it’s not going well is it? […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, September 24th, 2008 - 36 comments
The Vote with Both Eyes Open posters had a star turn yesterday when Annette King presented them as evidence that activism is alive and well in New Zealand despite attacks from National that the Electoral Finance Act is scaring people off. Bill English didn’t look at all comfortable as King read from the poster about […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:42 pm, September 23rd, 2008 - 4 comments
WHAT: Drinking Liberally Auckland City WHO: You and any of your left-leaning comrades WHEN: 7.30pm, Wed 24th September WHERE: London Bar, cnr Wellesley & Queen Sts (opposite Civic). The entrance to the bar is around on Wellesley St, you need to go up the stairs and we will probably be congregating at the far end […]
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