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Let's have a good turn out. Incidentally, with 1,700 workers at Justice joining 140 of their Parliamentary Service comrades in industrial action as they try to win a meager cost of living pay adjustment, and more departments soon to join them, Parliament's front lawn could…
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The Herald can be bad, but it's not yet a patch on Fox News. From The Guardian: "What a bunch of warmongers we have in the White House. America is fighting the war in Iraq, they're fighting in Afghanistan, Osama Bin Laden, al-Qaida, the Taliban.…
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Day 7 of the bus strike by Infratil The idiotic employers at NZ Bus owned by Infratil have dragged their lockout into a 7th day of disrupting Auckland's commuters. Yesterday they repackaged some of their old proposals and tried to make it look like something…
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A newly released government paper shows that by 2050 government debt will be $54-$73 billion higher than it otherwise would be due to National's subsidies for carbon polluters. According to the paper: Treasury has modelled these costs [the free allocations to polluters] and, while the…
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Farrar's published what he calls an 'internal union email' about the PSA and the SFWU's decision not to amalgamate. Considering it was sent out to 70,000 people more than a week ago I wouldn't get too excited. The amalgamation talks always struck me as an…
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They say pattern recognition is a vital part of healthy cognitive function. I wonder it Sharples sees this one: Every time an issue the Maori Party cares deeply about comes up, Key makes soothing noises. Promises they'll get what they want. Then when crunch time…
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We're trying a daily "Open mike". This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and for any discussion following up on the comments. Over to you...
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How do you get someone to change their mind about something they like? Simple, find one negative element to it (nothing is perfect) and blow it into a major issue. Nick Smith knows how to do this, he's built a career on it. Now, he's…
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The front page leads on Herald and Stuff report: NZ Bus will lift its lockout notice and resume services on Thursday morning "as a gesture of good will", if the unions stop strike action and agree to reach a settlement, the company says. I do despair…
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I was joking when I said all we need now is for Sharples to up the ante in the government vs government bidding war, but this government is truly beyond parody. "Just before heading into the House today Mr Sharples talked to reporters, and was…
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Day 6 of Infratil's strike Brian Rudman had a column yesterday that clearly articulated how Aucklanders view the bus strike by Infratil management at NZ Bus. Only a few days ago, my bus had to take an unscheduled stop outside the public toilets in Victoria…
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Labour's pathetic response to Treasury's flat tax proposal has come in for some well deserved criticism over at No Right Turn, and I have to agree it's a pretty basic failure on Labour's part. Faced with a reactionary and regressive proposal that amounts to a…
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One of the snippets announced while John Key was over performing for Letterman recently was a call for action on research into emissions: NZ pushes for Global Alliance on agricultural emissions Prime Minister John Key says the New Zealand Government is pushing for a Global…
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Predictably, the ideological vanguardists at Treasury are rolling out the flat tax argument again. For some unknown reason Radio NZ hasn't published the Treasury papers they obtained under the OIA but the idea this time seems to be to use the money raised from higher…
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So, let me get this straight. Pita Sharples, treating his ministry's budget like a personal slush fund, decided that TPK would give Maori TV $3 million to add to its bid for free-to-air TV rights for the Rugby World Cup. That extra $3 mil made…
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Following my post yesterday, toad on g.blog raises some questions about Nick Smith's expense claims: In the Dompost article, Nick Smith said "I had to spend $152,000 to make [his electoral office, which he owns] usable I don't dispute that. But who paid the $152,000? Was it Smith…
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Labour's David Parker has been a bit slow reacting to National's latest attack on ACC but now he's in play he has a killer point to make: if ACC cover is cut, the costs of what was paid for by ACC will still have to…
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You would have seen that Westpac was found to have undertaken the largest theft of tax money in New Zealand history. From 1998 to 2002, they hid $586 million in tax due to our government. Add about 6% interest a year and the total they…
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We're trying a daily "Open mike". This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and for any discussion following up on the comments. Over to you...
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Just two hours after TV3 revealed that Melissa Lee had stolen $100,000 from NZ on Air, Lee announced she will pay the money back. Just a few hours earlier she had been insisting it was her money, just a confusion over accounting. Her tune has…
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Do any health insurance companies fully fund long-term claims in the way ACC is being asked to?
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A leak has revealed that Melissa Lee is under investigation for pilfering taxpayers' money. Before the Mt Albert by-election she was cleared of a different rip-off, but it turns out that NZ on Air was still investigating her for keeping $100,000 of contingency funds that should…
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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…
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Nick Smith has taken a leaf out of the Double Dipton school of politics, calling journalists and swearing at them when the coverage isn't to his liking. Now, to be fair to Smith, he's got a point about the story the Dom published on Saturday.…
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So, in the week to October 2, 1950 people signed up to the dole and 2040 went off it. Time to celebrate according to Paula Bennett - unemployment's going down! But one thing we know about Bennett is she doesn't have a good grasp of…
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ARC chairman Mike Lee has delivered a blunt ultimatum to NZ Bus as its lockout of drivers reaches day five. "We have had enough. Auckland will not be held to ransom. If you can't deliver the services that the people of Auckland rely on, then…
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I missed this one a few weeks ago but it's worth pointing out. National spent $300,000 hiring half a dozen supposed business geniuses for $2,000 a day to find places to cut costs in the public sector. Called them 'purchase advisers'. They ought to be…
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The first thing you need to understand is ACC is not spending more money than it is taking in through levies. It is not going bust. It is not 'making a loss' despite what Nick Smith writes and the media faithfully repeats, but, then, they…
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Did John Key pick up a pair of cowboy boots on his latest trip? Because he's come back talking like some kind of macho macho man: My message to the gangs is clear. This Government is coming after your business and we will use every…