Explore the archive
Find articles and conversations by date, subject or search expression.
Searching: posts Sorted by: newest Results: 1–30 of 35
Post
Chris Carter is wrong. Labour can win the next election led by Phil Goff. The objective conditions make it possible, and there is enough time. That's true even if Key calls an early election to gain the financial benefits of National's new electoral law, as…
Post
Kiwis are amongst the highest consumers of bananas per capita in the world but for decades the banana industry has had a record of significant exploitation of workers including slave labour practices, execution of trade union members and a homicidal disregard of basic heath and…
Post
The Economist has a great article looking at the American propensity to deprive their citizens of their liberty for trivial offenses. America is different from the rest of the world in lots of ways, many of them good. One of the bad ones is its…
Post
I know that The Herald likes to campaign for the Right, but surely this overdose of sucking up to "Banksie" sets new records? On the (online) version of The Herald's National news page, at time of writing, we have five count them five puff pieces…
Post
Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
Post
While there are some ministers who are pretty scared of fronting up for their portfolios, Kate Wilkinson is one of the worst. There is also this little gem about a Minister that is happy to be anywhere that Sean Plunket isn't. I guess this image…
Post
Reading on the always interesting Huffington Post, I ran across this - "Sarah Palin's Endorsement Of Kelly Ayotte May Have Hurt Senate Candidate's Campaign (POLL)". A new survey from Public Policy Polling finds that Ayotte has experienced diminished support from moderate voters since the ex-Alaska…
Post
I'm not one for cities, and I don't live in Auckland. But if I did I'd vote Brown for Mayor of the Supercity. He got me with his first big policy announcement. Bernard Orsman (who has been great on Auckland issues) reports: Brown's policy gives…
Post
Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
Post
It sounds like Chris Carter has shot himself in the foot, or rather in the handwriting. Phil Goff and the caucus look like they have taken the required quick and decisive action. MP Chris Carter has been suspended from the Labour Party after admitting to…
Post
It's taken me a few days to post on this opinon piece from Pattrick Smellie but it's still worth reading! There are signs that Nick Smith is trying hard to improve the Nats environmental credentials, Gerry Brownlee notwithstanding. But Pattrick Smellie suggests it is not…
Post
The Nats lied and promised their way in to an election win in 2008. That was always going to make it difficult for them as the honeymoon glow wore off. Now they're being squarely confronted with their failure on one of their biggest empty promises…
Post
Pity the National Party. Forced to swallow interest free student loans before the election as one of their infamous 'dead rats', they're now reduced in government to periodically whinging about it in the hope that the public will eventually let them have their way. But…
Post
As expected, the Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard has lifted the official cash rate from 2.75 to 3 per cent, arguing that although the outlook for economic growth has softened he still thought it was time to tighten the reins. That's questionable, but for me…
Post
Final of a series by Guest poster Blue. The boy who wanted to make a million dollars and be Prime Minister has got his wish. Now that he is top dog, how long will he want to retain that position? Several commentators have expressed the…
Post
How many dead canaries does it take? The warning indicators of an impending ecological collapse keep piling up. Forests get most of the headlines, but in many ways the oceans are the lungs of the planet. And they've been smoking 30 a day for too…
Post
Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
Post
Must admit my heart sank this morning when I read this from Vernon Small: Speculation is rife that NZ First leader Winston Peters and his former adviser Michael Laws are to team up again as part of a 'relaunch' of the party this year. Neither…
Post
Closing the wage gap with Australia was one of National's key promises in the leadup to the 2008 election. More than anything, National claimed, the 30% wage gap with Australia was proof that nine years of Labour government had failed New Zealanders. It didn't matter…
Post
Sixth of a series by Guest poster Blue. John Key is not always the affable everyman he appears to be. There's a solid streak of bully in him not uncommon in people who crave power. Back in 2002, before he rose up the ranks of…
Post
On the election campaign during 2008 the National Party carefully packaged up its policies in such a manner as not to scare voters. The policy excesses and falsehoods of the Brash years were to be avoided, and some ‘dead fish swallowed', for the sake of…
Post
National is making a total mess of industrial relations. Two different news items yesterday tell the same story. The unions are angry: PM broke his word to unions says Kelly A union leader has written a "Dear John" letter to Prime Minister John Key, effectively…
Post
Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
Post
John Key glibly admitted yesterday that the Supercity is "risky". We've been saying it all along and the evidence is all that the Supercity will be expensive, unrepresentative, and unresponsive to local needs. So, if it's so risky, why the hell is Key doing it?…
auckland supercity democracy under attack john key local body elections local government
Post
The Yes Men have become famous for impersonating people and organisations in an effort to make political points. They're now being sued by the US Department of Justice for one of their latest stunts. Unable to release the version of their latest movie containing the…
Post
So, National has failed to act on drink driving. The Director of the National Addiction Centre calls it "scandalous". While recidivist and youth drink drivers will, from early next year, be permitted to drive only if they have consumed no alcohol, the rest of the…
Post
British Deputy PM and leader of the Lib Dems, Nick Clegg, caused a bit of a sensation last week. Answering a question in Parliament, while standing in for the PM, he told the truth about Britain's involvement in the Iraq war. The Guardian reports: Nick…
Post
Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
Post
Fifth of a series by Guest poster Blue. It struck some as strange that Key refused to go on Morning Report after the Budget. A Prime Minister refusing to front their government's Budget is practically unheard of. The Budget is the cornerstone of a Government…
Post
The attack on our work rights looks a lot like the mining policy. Big promises: it'll boost growth, it'll cut costs, it'll create jobs. But where's the evidence? The other writers here and people all over have put up plenty of evidence that striping our…