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National's going to cut access to the student allowance - which most self-supporting students can't get and isn't enough to live on - and up the repayment rate on student loans, which is basically a hike on your graduate tax. These measures won't save much…
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A very interesting article on the BBC - the financial formula that ruined the world. Well, that's a bit sensationalist, but it's a formula that allowed intuition to be taken out of "options" trading and computers to move in. And with the "understanding" of the…
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Baby boomers strike again. In 1989, University fees for domestic students in New Zealand were less than $300. Moreover, for many students, 90% of that cost was met by the government through a fees grant. NZUSA has a very good history of fees in New Zealand. But I…
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OK. I'm officially confused. Is National plummeting or holding? Is Labour gaining or falling? Are the Greens becoming the second party or slipping back? 5 polls: 5 different answers. The best poll is Left 48% vs Right 44.5%. The worst: 41% vs 52%. Either the…
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For the first time under this National government, average wages and salaries actually rose (2%) faster than inflation (1.6%), so in the last year people are ever so slightly better off - I think congratulations are in order! Of course the rise doesn't remotely match…
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For the first time in 3.5 years, Lockwood Smith didn't preside over question time yesterday. The hapless National backbencher Eric Roy took his place resulting an awfully convenient farce. Key refused to answer questions, going so far as to say he wasn't responsible for who…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here. The Government has introduced into Parliament a series of amendments to the Immigration Act, in an effort to keep out illegal immigrants. John Key announced…
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David Cameron was livid over being called back from a campaign by former Conservative Speaker John Bercow to explain why he has not referred Culture Minister Jeremy Hunt to the official appointed to deal with breaches of the Ministerial code. Cameron has expressed confidence in…
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A by-election in Epsom. If ACT or National win, the Right retains 61 votes. But, between resignation and swearing in typically takes 3 months during which the Right would have 60 v 60. Legislation fails on draws. Asset sales, SkyCity, welfare cuts, even the Budget…
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Voluntary euthanasia is a debate that keeps coming back. Authors here have touched on it several times (e.g. here, here, here). There are strong arguments on either side (for the record I am strongly in favour of legalising euthanasia). The latest round of debate has…
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According to 3 News, Kim Dotcom paid two cheques of $25,000 each into John Banks' campaign account in a bank in Queenstown. Duncan Garner says this would show up on Banks' bank records as "anonymous". So how did Kim Dotcom get TeamBanksie's account number? Two…
accountability act brand key elections national privatisation
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Rhetoric: on donations to Winston Peters, John Key 2008: "It is no longer acceptable or credible for Helen Clark to assert a facade of confidence in her Foreign Affairs Minister and to fail to ask the plain questions of him that she has a duty…
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John Key has refused to sack John Banks saying "The test is, did he breach the law or not? If he hasn't, then he's not guilty". That has never been the standard ministers are held to. Ministers are required to uphold "the highest ethical standards".…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Campbell Live showed us pictures of the cheques by which Kim Dotcom's company Megastuff made donations to Team Banksie 2010. How can John Banks argue that the two donations of $25,000 from Kim Dotcom's company Megastuff Limited are anonymous when the company name is on…
accountability act corruption election funding leadership national privatisation you couldn't make this shit up
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David Cameron's defence of embattled Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has been called a "firewall" that's failing to hold. As the stench of corruption around the Murdoch empire grows by the day, Cameron needs Hunt to stay or else Cameron is the next to go. It…
act election 2011 election funding Ethics john banks john key national privatisation uk politics
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Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here. On Sunday morning I made it clear to Paul Holmes on TVNZ's Q&A current affairs show that I didn't come up the river on a cabbage…
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In Open Mike yesterday there was reference to this article: Claim cops are 'decriminalising dope by stealth' Police have been accused of "decriminalisation by stealth" after a study showed cannabis possession arrests have halved in the last 18 years. A Massey University research centre report…
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United Future are polling the public about their support for partial privatisations, here. .... the only reason for our existence is to represent the voice of the people in our parliament. We believe that any party that is not constantly in touch with the views…
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What your ruling party got up to at its South Island Regional Conference. Michael Woddhouse, list MP and failed candidate for Dunedin South, speaking at a podium behind a toilet seat with Dunedin South MP Clare Curran's face attached. It's witty, too. That's what I…
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The indefatigable Idiot/Savant at NRT has been looking at the appointment of Isacc to head the Charter School Working Group. It seems to have been conducted with all the professionalism and integrity that we have come to expect of ACT. Catherine Isaac's crony appointment Last…
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The case for the Puhoi to Wellsford Holiday Highway just got even worse. Before, officials reckoned it would return net benefits worth ten cents for every dollar spent. Now, the cost will equal the benefits - if traffic volumes double in 15 years. Problem is,…
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David Cunliffe delivered a solid speech yesterday in New Lynn laying out some good thoughts on the state of New Zealand. In it he's been very clear on what's happened to New Zealand. in the last thirty years. You hear the National government talking about…
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Another secret taping, another political scandal. A recording of Pullar and Boag's meeting with ACC by Pullar appears to show that Pullar did not "blackmail" ACC as alleged. This raises serious questions about how Pullar's name got into the public arena. And why hasn't Collins…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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One interesting sidelight in the John Banks donations affair is his alleged request to split Kim Dotcom's $50,000 donation into two lots of $25,000 "so it could be declared anonymously." Banks apparently was not aware that the limit above which donations in local body elections…
accountability act election funding john banks john key national Privatisation privatisation
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Well all tend to see what we want to see, to confirm our biases, to select our facts to suit our purposes. Political right wingers seem to be particularly prone to constructing their own reality in this way. Take John Armstrong on the subject of…
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Key should go because of his dirty deal with SkyCity. Joyce too. Collins should go over the ACC leaks. Brownlee for sheer incompetence* in every portfolio he has. English for shit-eating grin every time he fails to meet his own growth forecasts and announces more…
bill english Gerry Brownlee john banks john key Judith Collins Steven Joyce
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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