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Yesterday, John Armstrong talked about the Auditor-General's 2001 report into eligibility for a Wellington accommodation allowance: the then Auditor-General David MacDonald scrutinised allowances after two ministers - Labour's Marian Hobbs and the Alliance's Phillida Bunkle - got into serious strife for claiming out-of-Wellington expenses when…
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Frank Macskasy The recent witch-hunt against solo-mums would have done the old Salem village-elders proud. The fires, though, could have been stoked just a bit harder and higher. But as a first attempt at demonising a minority in our community, it wasn't a bad effort…
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If you're interested in the software that runs this site and many others, there is a wordcamp in Wellington this weekend about the open-source wonder WordPress. WordCamp is a conference that focuses on everything WordPress. WordCamps are informal, community-organized events that are put together by…
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John explains how what he said was taken out of context, and he outlines his views on climate change.
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In my opinion Pundit is one of the treasures of the NZ news/blog space. The posts are frequently excellent, in a world where quality journalism is increasingly rare. A recent piece by one of the founders, Tim Watkin, is a case in point. After a…
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There is $4 billion in overdue tax owing. Every dollar of that means someone is pocketing cash that should be paying for schools, hospitals, superannuation etc, leaving those of us who pay our tax to pick up the tab. Tax cheats are criminals free-riding on…
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As you know, when Natasha Fuller and Jennifer Johnston spoke up against the Key government's cancelling of the Training Incentive Allowance, Paula Bennett tried to silence them by releasing their private information to the media. That was a flagrant breach of her fiduciary duties as…
activism democracy under attack democratic participation human rights
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The Ministry of Justice has released a summary of the submissions it got on its Electoral Finance Issues Document. They got 79. The Ministry gives out some figures about some figures on how many submitters were for or against certain ideas. Of course many submissions…
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Who said this? "if we continue with National's policies over the next three years we will be able to create another 115,000 jobs and bring unemployment under 6%. These are realistic targets...Labour's claim that it can bring the unemployment rate down to 3% is also…
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So there I was, just a walking down the street, and $47,000 just fell out of the sky in tax free readies, bam, right in to my lap! Like I was Bill English or something! What - that never happened to you? Me neither. We…
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According to the Speaker, Bill English MP's "primary place of residence" is in Dipton because Bill has told him it is. But according to the Registrar of companies, Bill the shareholder of Resolution Farms' "full residential address" is in Wellington because Bill has told them…
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Allowances for MPs accommodation are made according to the Speaker's determinations. An MP's "primary place of residence" is where the Speaker says it is. Page 18 of the determination gives the definition: primary place of residence,— (a) in relation to a member, means the place…
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Darien Fenton's minimum redundancy bill has been drawn from the ballot and is likely to go before the house in the next two weeks. In my opinion implementing a minimum redundancy is one of the most significant ways we can reduce the effects of the…
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Shh. Hear that sound? It's National's mud throwing machine gearing up again. Inevitably, they've released Labour's ministers' spending. No evidence of any rort but the big numbers work into the media narrative. It's all about taking the focus off ministers ripping us off by taking allowances…
democracy under attack democratic participation education national
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Over at Red Alert, Trevor Mallard has posted a form that all MPs wanting an out-of-town allowance must fill out. It asks MPs to list their residential address, and asks "Is this residence the place you would normally go to when you are not on…
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Stats NZ has just released the unemployment figures for the June Quarter. Unemployment has hit 6%. That's 138,000 people out of work. We're going to need more than a cycleway to get ourselves out of this one.
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John Key has recently acted like a jerk to a young mother worried about what climate change is going to mean for her future and that of her child. Essentially he said that she should stick to what she knew. Bearing in mind the complete…
climate change humour john key national/act government video youtube
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The Greens have presented a sensible and feasible plan to reduce our greenhouse emissions to 40% less than 1990 levels by 2020. Contrary to Nick Smith's scaremongering, it won't break the bank. In fact, at current carbon credit prices, they will save us money. phase…
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Hot Topic has very interesting post up about how Act took a sudden interest in climate change denial after they received $100k from prominent climate change denier Alan Gibbs. As Gareth at HT points out: Hide's repositioning coincided with a major donation to ACT by…
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English, now known by the moniker Double Dipton, has decided to give back half the amount to has rorted so far from the taxpayer. Rather than claim the full ministers' allowance, he'll pocket 'only' $24,000 a year for living in his own family home, thank you very…
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Today the Household Labour Force Survey, which includes the official measure of unemployment, will be out. The headline number is expected to be around 5.6%, up from record lows below 4% just nine months ago. The HLFS has a few limitations though. It only measures the percentage…
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Seems John Key's been name-dropping Kiwi film stars to business leaders in Brizzie. In today's NZ Herald Key is quoted slamming actress Keisha Castle-Hughes for speaking out on climate change, saying that she should 'stick to the acting'. Remember it's just a matter of days…
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According to the Companies Office, Bill English lives at an address in Karori in Wellington. This address is publicly available on the Companies Office website as he is registered as a shareholder in Resolution Farms Limited, whose shareholders are Simon William English and Mary Agnes…
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The Drinking Liberally empire keeps on growing. Tomorrow there's an event in Wellington, and Dannevirke, the newest chapter, has its first event on Saturday. I'm not sure if the people in Dannevirke have hooked into the DL Facebook organisation but it's great they've got it…
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Are you? a disgraced former minister who resigned from Parliament in shame? a National MP who rents from a National minister (Judith Collins or Anne Tolley for example), claiming that expense back from the taxpayer while the minister simultaneously rents another place, again on the…
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Key admits his ministers are rorting the system - exploiting the allowance not for need but just because it gives them a chance for a bit of free cash: "In some instances you've got ministers moving out of homes where they might otherwise stay there…
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By telling Keisha Castle-Hughes she should "stick to acting" and keep out of the climate change debate, Prime Minister John Key is signalling to young New Zealanders everywhere keep out of politics. I guess he doesn't want us to "join the conversation" after all. Speak…
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Read this: Hon Phil Goff: What analysis did Treasury do on the cost-effectiveness of the national cycleway scheme in producing jobs, and is he prepared to provide the Treasury analysis, oral and written, to members of this Parliament; if not, why not? Hon JOHN KEY:…
corruption democracy under attack john key national/act government Parliament
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Drinking Liberally is on again in Wellington this Thursday (that's tomorrow), with guest speaker David Cunliffe on the opposition's inquiry into bank profiteering. When: 17:30, Thursday, August 6 Where: Southern Cross, Abel Smith St, Wellington [Hat tip: No Right Turn]