Five years as a united Auckland
Auckland Council is delivering a publication to all Auckland households celebrating five years of Auckland super city. But is there any reason to celebrate?
Social issues
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We are paying for Key and Coleman to attend the World Cup
John Key and Jonathan Coleman are attending the World Cup on the taxpayer’s tab.
I LOVE these kinds of stories
““We had an 83-year-old man walking in here to vote for the first time in his life,” she said from near a polling station in Tsuut’ina Nation, near Calgary.”
Oh Canada oh Canada
It appears that Stephen Harper’s conservatives in Canada have been voted out of office.
#hereforHelen
Details of a social media campaign to celebrate Helen Kelly’s contribution to the Trade Union movement.
Christine Fletcher’s dear Phil letter
Christine Fletcher has penned an open letter to Phil Goff where she criticises in trenchant terms super city’s current performance and offers some thoughts on where improvement can be made.
Thanks Canterbury for the surplus
The Government books have hit surplus. But it looks like treatment of the financials for the Canterbury Earthquake may account for pretty well all of it. Update: Underspending on special education accounts for much of the “surplus”.
TPPA agreement reached
The TPPA has been agreed to. Dairy access improvement is minimal, there will be a cost hit on Pharmac and every industry but Tobacco will be able to access the investor state dispute resolution procedure.
TPPA deal close?
The TPPA is said to be close to being concluded with resistance to change in Pharmaceutical rules being provided by Australia, not New Zealand. And John Key says that the deal isn’t a very good deal for Dairy.
Left wing activism and the humdrum need to maintain jobs and careers
From the commentator formerly known as Ad is this post where he asks the question many of us face, how do we balance jobs and careers with the desire to be left wing activists?
Three minutes to midnight. John Key incoherent.
Same ole, same ole. Except, this time, US neoconservative imperalism might have a problem. Russia.
Key pinches Labour’s Kermadec Sanctuary Policy
National’s announced intention to create a marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands looks remarkably like Labour’s policy from the last election. And why did John Key not tell his caucus beforehand?
What other countries are doing about climate change
There is hope that the cumulative effect of all the international pledges for the Paris climate change conference may buy the world some time to prevent runaway global warming. Some countries are pledging to becoming carbon neutral. New Zealand’s pledge is pathetically weak in comparison.
Groser don’t go
Greenpeace, 350 Aotearoa and the Coal Action Network have jointly urged John Key not to send Tim Groser to Paris for the climate change talks because the Government’s policies and proposed response will embarrass New Zealand and damage its international reputation.
Goff: Collins planning her move
Goff: “Judith’s column this week is the opening shot in her campaign to succeed John Key as National’s leader.”
The political machinations of the flag debate
The Green’s agreement with National to allow for Red Peak to be a referendum candidate potentially helps John Key out of a major difficulty and raises issues about the state of the Labour-Green relationship.
Twelve long months
Twelve months on from the last election and that brighter future we were promised has not happened.
Economic doldrums
Two pieces this week on how National’s mismanagement of the economy has left us in the doldrums.
Nat insider condemns flag jack-up
Grant McLachlan (a former Parliamentary researcher and a Nat campaign director) calls National’s flag process “a jack up”, and says “Everything the National Party has done around the flag debate is dodgy”.
The strip mining of Housing Corp is accelerated
Not only is Housing Corp planning to pay a $118 million dividend to the Crown this year but hidden away in its accounts is the payment of a further capital contribution of $336 million. Talk about strip mining …
Paid leave for Victims of Domestic Violence
UPDATE You can read the non gender specific Bill here
Breaking: Abbott leadership challenge
Seems to be a leadership challenge against Abbott in Australia, a conference at 6pm our time…
Update: Abbott is gone, Turnbull won 54-44.
Does the left win by tacking to the centre or by being principled?
Jeremy Corbyn’s election provides a further opportunity to discuss if elections should be won by tacking to the centre or adopting a principled approach to politics.
Key and Abbott are prepared to sacrifice the Pacific
Climate change induced sea level increases poses a huge threat to most Pacific Islands. They are seeking support for a goal of limiting temperature increases to no more than 1.5 degrees. Australia and New Zealand are insisting on sticking to a goal of no more than 2 degrees even though this will likely mean that many Islands will disappear.
MPs are harmful to digital communications
As anticipated, what is the first complaint at this site under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015? Not from a kid cyber-bullied by the classmates. But by an adult trying to stifle legitimate criticism and analysis of what they wrote and distributed digitally. And they didn’t read what they were required to do under the act.
National’s refugee backdown
In both England and New Zealand conservative Prime Ministers are looking to urgently backtrack from recent refusals to do anything further for refugees.
Maurice Williamson super jerk
National MP Maurice Williamson was reported to have been so offensive in a recent presentation at SkyCity that attendees walked out of an awards dinner.
Is Syria the first failed state because of climate change?
A climate change induced drought from 2006 to 2009 appears to have sparked the instability that has caused the Syrian Civil war. The mass exodus of citizens that we are witnessing may be the first of many climate change induced events.
Daily Review 01/09/2015
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.
NRT: Meh
Today the government announced the four candidates for John Key’s vanity flag referendum: three ferns (one of them the logo of Immigration NZ and the Companies Office) and a koru. And really, all I can say is “meh”. So how about defining a good way of doing a informal or invalid vote on this stupid first referendum on selecting John Key’s underwear..
The politicisation of the All Blacks
All Black fan boy John Key opened up Parliament to allow the New Zealand Rugby Union announce this year’s world cup All Black squad on the weekend.
70 refugees dead in small truck on Austrian roadside
When European and NATO countries participate in destabilising and destroying nearby countries, the human tragedy doesn’t stay neatly confined to the other side of the border.
TPP – dooming our grandchildren to poverty
… up to 45% of current jobs will cease to exist.
The Centre of Attention
In a post on Public Address titled “In defence of the centre” Rob Salmond uses a Guardian article by George Monbiot to pose the question “whether the old political orthodoxy of ‘move to the middle’ is, long term, a death-knell for left-leaning parties.” It’s good that Salmond’s raised the question; it’s certainly a matter for debate.
Daily Review 20/08/2015
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.
Hosking, Henry and Media Bias
Yesterday a debate that has occurred on the Standard about how main stream media has a right wing bias became mainstream when Winston Peters accused Mike Hosking of being a National Party Stooge. An online poll provided overwhelming support for his statement. And recently Steven Joyce attacked Rod Oram because his analytical thoughtful analysis critical of the Government displayed evidence of left wing bias.