I'd nearly forgotten until I read this that the Nats forgot to pay slithered out of paying their GST for their broadcasting at the last election. Under the supposedly economically literate Don Brash, the Nats, you'll remember were allocated $900,000 inclusive of GST by the…
The Herald ran an article yesterday detailing the Nat's refusal to support legislation that would strengthen the Auditor-General's powers to investigate MP's lists of assets and interests. Cosgrove and Cullen both point out that this is a last minute u-turn, the Nats having supported the…
That's why we've just installed "Share This" - a blog plugin that should make it easier for you to share our tasty content with your friends (and the world). As soon as we put up a contact form you'll be able to tell us if…
The Tory blogworld went apoplectic over Tane's comment that it was no surprise Bell Gully lawyers opposed the Electoral Finance Bill because the National Party got $62,000 from the Bell Gully Trust Account in 2005. National Party insider David Farrar gave us a down-the-nose lecture…
John Key's swallowed a lot of rats to make National look electable: nuclear free, war in Iraq, fighter jets, paid parental leave, climate change etc,etc. But you can always trust a Tory to stay true to type over the one thing that they care about…
People the country over were puzzled by the odd choice of Key's entrance music to the National Party annual conference last month. Originally we were told that Key was holding a competition to choose the song. Next it seemed that Kevin Taylor might be the…
Hi. Mike Moore here. Today I'm in Uzbekistan adding value to their goat herd. I woke early and checked the nasty emails from home. I went back to sleep, woke up, cried, went back to sleep, woke again, cried, had a wank and a fag,…
The National Distribution Union's put a together a bit of a clip showing some of the struggles its members have been through over the past year. And what a year it's been. Faced with a month-long supermarket lockout, an attempt by National to strip them…
The depth of National's talent is a constant source of amusement. Jackie Blue, allegedly one of National's slightly-brighter-than-average young things (speaking of, has anyone heard a Chris Tremain speech recently? Truly mindboggling), has decided to attack the Ministry of Women's Affairs over the success of…
Jordan Carter at Just Left injects some sense into the debate on the Electoral Finance Bill running at Kiwiblog: In 2005 National tried to steal the general election. It did so by hiding its links with a shadowy sect, the Exclusive Brethren, with whom it…
From bFM yesterday - Mickey Havoc interviews John Key... Mickey Havoc: "But you wouldn't compare her to Muldoon? That's what I'm asking..." John Key: "No" Mickey Havoc: "Alright" powered by ODEO
The Press ran a story today in which they claim that: Labour polling conducted by UMR Insight, excerpts of which were leaked to The Press, show that while National was ahead by a healthy margin, voters were increasingly critical of Key. Labour's poll, which asked…
That clipping's from the Herald on the 23rd of this month. Yesterday on RNZ John Armstrong appeared to backtrack over whether Labour holding John Key to account for his numerous inconsistencies really is a "personal attack": Kevin: People have talked a lot about personal attacks…
I was having a look at David Farrar's National Party blog this morning and I came across an interesting comment from one of Farrar's regulars about why National might be so keen to knock over the Electoral Finance Bill. I'll make it quite clear right…
Item on Stuff yesterday interviewing Barry Gustafson, the author of His Way, a biography of Robert Muldoon (Auckland University Press, 2000): Professor of politics Barry Gustafson said Miss Clark seldom indulged in personal politics and the attack was a bit unfair. "If anyone has been…
National Party blogger David Farrar writes: "The poll had Key leading Clark by 2:1 consistently all of Tuesday. Then a huge splurt of votes today with 85% of them being for Clark. The Herald should publish the IP addresses of any mass multiple voting." What's…
There's been a bit of excitement round the traps today over this picture from Stuff.co.nz, which tries to merge Helen Clark's face into Rob Muldoon's. Naturally, National Party blogger David Farrar has been wallowing like a pig in shit over Mike Moore's comments in the…
Yet another policy inoculation today from the Nats, this time on paid parental leave. Judith Collins is now "generally not against it" and in typically decisive fasion John Key "thinks" he's for it. What's really astounding about this u-turn is how many of their MPs…
Presenter: "Where. do you see it [the NZ dollar]?" John Key: "Hard to pick actually at these levels. um, yeah there's just so much volatility in there and I'm really, I'm really [sic] not as sure as I was a while ago when I thought…
Russell Brown writes in Hard News: "It was always odds-on that Judith Collins MP would top her previous efforts at public nastiness - and already, she's come though for the punters. 3 News ran a story on Friday night claiming controversy over the hiring of…
From Morning Report (full audio) earlier today: Sean Plunket: Final question when do we get to see your party's ah local government policy? John Key: Well we've, we've already ah, you know, made quite a lot of things clear. We're going to release um a…
Just got these photos in from the picket line at the Airport Gateway Hotel in Auckland, where a dozen low-paid staff have now been locked out for nearly a month for wanting a collective agreement. As you can see from the photos they're still in…
This morning Air New Zealand announced an annual profit of $268 million. The New Zealand public owns 80% of the national carrier, which means a good chunk of that profit is ours to spend on things like health, education and family tax credits rather than…
The National Party have been complaining about the increasing scrutiny on John Key's business dealings. First, his association with the "Earl of Auckland" property development firm that's attempting to go into liquidation to avoid leaky building costs and second the nature of his involvement at…
As the National Party concentrated on its own political health with yet another policy u-turn inoculation, this time on the need for an airforce combat wing, Health Minister Pete Hodgson had some good news for the health of under-sixes.
Headline in today's Dompost "Labour blamed for edgy market". Yes, the perpetually grumpy business community are blaming Labour for the unsettling volatility of the economy, interest rate rises and the drop in the dollar. Seeing as Michael Cullen has been personally liable for the horrifically…
Hone Harawira hits the nail on the head in this interview on 'Sunday': "Well, you know, the strange this is that everybody calls her Auntie Helen but I can't see anybody calling that fella Uncle John. He's a smiling snake. That's how I see John…
In the Weekend Herald today, Fran O'Sullivan opines: "By drawing out his opponents before they even noticed Key was using the type of classic defensive move that would be natural to a high stakes foreign exchange trader". If she's right she may have identified a…