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From The Herald: The Auckland City Council has scrapped its plan to build affordable housing. The last council signed a contract with the New Zealand housing Trust to build 100 homes for lower income families. The contract was worth $9 million. Mayor John Banks says…
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Here's a clip that aired last night on TV3. It shows NZ leading the world in our response to climate change in Bali. To quote the reporter, New Zealand is "...putting words into action... [announcing] ambitious plans to go carbon neutral". National on the other…
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John Key is the epitome of "style over substance" and his DVD showed us just how desperately he wants to be everything to everyone. This Production Shed.TV user-submitted video explores the man behind the mask.
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Colin Espiner has a story in yesterday's Press saying that the heads of three National Party branches in the Canterbury district supported by 35 other party members have made a formal complaint to National President Judy Kirk alleging breaches of rules by the selection committee…
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I see National's complaining about the wage gap between New Zealand and Australia again. As usual they have no answers on what to do about it other than to blindly hope that tax cuts for the rich will lead to economic growth and somehow it'll…
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Listen up guys and campers, there are some disturbing bits of info coming back from our 'plants' in the media world, including David F. I realise that the Labour govt are stuffing up to such big-time that I understand a little over-confidence is creeping in…
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In a continuation of Key's "style over substance" policy approach, his consultants have found him a new buzzword - "infrastructure". "Australia's been more productive because they've invested in infrastructure... they've made sure they've got private sector capital going in there as well as the public…
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Well I might be drawing a long bow there but last night's press gallery party was the worst I've ever been to and I suspect the Nats' filibustering of the EFB might have to take the blame. Last year the do was a raucous good…
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Here's an article from the ODT. It's by Simon Cunliffe, "a senior Otago Daily Times journalist". I'm loathe to reprint it in full but the ODT doesn't provide full online access to articles. Perhaps the best I can do is to encourage you to subscribe…
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Al Gore has just accepted his Nobel Peace Prize for advocacy for action on climate change. In his speech he's lauded Kevin Rudd's immediate commitment to ratifying the Kyoto Protocol on climate change - he did it only days after assuming office. The move to…
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Winston Peters just stood up in the house. Everyone expected he was going to announce he'd paid back the $160k. Instead, he announced he'd donated the money to charity and written to Kevin Brady to tell him he was wrong. Whatever you think of the…
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Oprah is a global brand, so when she went public with her campaign to support Barack Obama it was part of our news cycle. But we haven't seen much follow-up on what it means for the Democrats and impact on the African American vote as…
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Talking Points Memo have put together a great compilation of Republican presidential candidates' campaign ads stripped back to nothing but key lines. It's certainly a time-saver to have all the bullshit taken out for you. Top marks go to Tom Tancredo for managing to come…
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We've been writing about Jenny Shipley and Helen Clark (btw - yesterday was the 8th anniversary of signing Ministerial warrants for the first term Labour ministers). Now Argentina has an interesting twist - Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the first woman to be elected president in…
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It was once a matter of personal preference. Now it's part of the sustainability story. Do you prefer the uniform shape, colour, ease of the plastic fantastic, or was the distinctive aroma of pine sap and rustle of pine needles a defining characteristic of your…
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From the Beehive site: Social Development Minister Ruth Dyson said that in December 1999, when Labour came to power, there were 161,000 people receiving an unemployment benefit. "Over 141,000 have come off this benefit since then, with just over 20,000 people receiving it now," she…
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There's a new taxi fleet servicing Wellington and (in three days time) Auckland. The vehicles are all Toyota Prius hybrids and the company, Greencabs, also offsets the residual emissions making it, they claim, the country's first carbon neutral taxi company. They tell me they're also…
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Somehow I missed this when it was originally posted. In case you did too...
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Reuters reports that the death toll from China's Xinyao mine tragedy has now surpassed the 100 mark after 50 rescue workers were sent in without training and never resurfaced. According to Chinese media the cause of the tragedy was the mine management's failure to install…
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I wonder if the Nats still want to bin it? Remember it was only last May that John Key told Morning Report "Oh, no. No guarantees over KiwiSaver Mark II." Here's the press release.
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How remiss of us! Our pals over at Kiwiblogblog have just pointed out that we've just missed the 10 year anniversary since Jenny Shipley first took the reins on 8 December 1997. Some of my personal favorites from her time in the sun: The Code…
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From frogblog: The New Zealand Herald has censored part of a 200 word article that the Greens were asked to submit on campaign finance reform for yesterday's edition. It deleted the opening paragraph that was critical of the Herald's coverage of the issue, and replaced…
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I've just listened to John Key's interview on Radio Dunedin last week: powered by ODEO "I also think we need to get a lot of the bureaucracy and red tape out of the way. I don't know if you noticed but on Tuesday a story…
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So DPF's given his predictable take on this year's Trans-Tasman MP rankings (PDF - 150K). Now averages are one thing but more interesting is a trend that DPF conveniently ignores - While many of National's high profile MPs are static or slipping in the rankings,…
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From Scoop: "Clark first in Rudd queue" Kevin Rudd has pledged to broaden relations with New Zealand after a flying visit by Helen Clark to put "Kiwi issues" on the new Australian prime minister's radar. In a sign of the importance placed on relations with…
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Two more electorates have confirmed Labour candidates. Rimutaka was on Saturday - Chris Hipkins was selected. Christchurch Central was today - Brendon Burns was selected. I'll post some biographical details tomorrow. UPDATE: Here's a story from The Press on Brendon Burns. Here's Chris Hipkins' blog…
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Check out this fantastic karaoke clip from Ali Ikram on Sunrise this morning. Lyrics below: I know this song might sound like "Clocks" But I assure you that it's not Just a bunch of random notes we composed to attract your votes Sent 10,000 DVDs…
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Um, why does John Key have a picture of a dead seal on his flickr page?
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In my work as a constituent MP, I have often been emotionally shocked at the dilemmas that some constituents get trapped in. However, none have matched the trauma and plight of a young married couple in my electorate who have been fighting for over two…
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The PM has launched a new website, sustainability.govt.nz challenging citizens to commit to doing one thing to help contribute to a "sustainable nation".