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I guess the title says it all. The latest Roy Morgan has National at 47.5% (up 3.5%), Labour 30.5% (down 4%), Greens 12.5%, and NZ First at 3%. I'm not really in the mood to piss around with analysis tonight. You've heard me moan about…
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Regular readers of this site will have been noticing my relative absence over the last few months. That was because we have been finishing off a project at work. Well this morning the final release of the code (revision 6085) got stamped on to the…
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John Key was unexpectedly forthright today as he said that the high dollar was good - for him. Look, it keeps my petrol prices down, so I can keep the old gas-guzzler turning over. And you should see how many HD TVs I can get…
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There is a lot of call in the comments here for Labour to come out and say they will buy National-sold assets back (at sale or market price, whichever lower) - or indeed take them back. An announcement will render the assets unsellable. The view we've…
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I caught the end of another excellent Cunlife speech last night on my TV. He was speaking to the Child Support Amendment Bill (Committee Stage Schedule 2). Cunliffe was on fire, with some very pertinent points, highlighting the government's callous disregard of child poverty and single/separated (usually…
child welfare class david cunliffe families greens labour same old national
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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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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=X4eex99cxzk Labour has lost a fine legal mind. Good luck Charles, you've done good, and hopefully David Shearer will heed your advice.
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Unanimous decision by the 5 judges to dismiss the Maori Council's appeal. The sale of Mighty River Power will proceed - John Key said that if the decision was this month then they would have it floated by the end of June. Bill English is…
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Good news, as Louisa Wall's Marriage Equality Bill progresses through select committee. Here's THe Herald coverage: A Parliamentary Select Committee has recommended that a bill to legalise same-sex marriage be passed into law. The Government Administration Committee said the private member's bill should progress, but…
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The minimum wage should be at least $15 per hour (as Labour MP David Clark's bill proposed). A living wage is estimated at $18.40 per hour. So what have the Nats done? Raised the minimum wage by $0.25 per hour to $13.75. It's a derisory…
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What are we as citizens to do when a government deliberately and shamelessly lies to us? Because it's now clear that that is what the Nats have done, as even The Herald reports: The Hobbit documents released: Govt knew union ban lifted The Government was…
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The average CEO got a 10% pay rise last year. The average worker got 2.6%. Minimum wage workers will get 1.9% - a 25 cent an hour token gesture. And 30,000 fewer of us have jobs than a year ago and are not earning at…
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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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John Key is keen that the ACT party is "regenerating". Apparently a weekend bash at super-rich Alan Gibb's Randian paradise means they can now put baby-name stealing, Brash takeovers, internecine coups, Banksian donations and memory failures behind them. That's if a party that registered 0%,…
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The government has released the Hobbit documents. The Ombudsman ordered them to. The full release is available at stuff and what stands out (apart from the insistent and narcissistic tone of every film industry correspondent) is the fact that Peter Jackson himself noted the "do…
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Yesterday's appalling accident with a woman in a wheelchair being caught in the tracks at Morningside rail crossing, highlights several problems with the hierarchies operating in our transportation systems. In the end, all the rescuers could do was tip the chair on its side and…
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I'm starting to feel sorry for Hekia Parata. In his column yesterday Armstrong referred to her as "something of a pariah figure" in the education portfolio. Her colleagues clearly don't take her seriously any more - her decisions are now being "rolled by her cabinet…
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The Auditor General's report on Key's dodgy dealings with Sky City provoked a real storm of commentary. I covered John Armstrong, but at the time I missed this strong piece by Vernon Small: SkyCity stench demands restart No corruption but a corrupted process. And because…
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John Key is under real pressure over the Solid Energy debacle. Smile and wave doesn't cut it any more - so he's got out his six-shooter. He dug out a speech by Trevor Mallard to try to blame Labour for Solid Energy's woes. Trouble is…
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I think the Labour reshuffle is quite clever in how it signals the portfolios that its willing to give to the Greens and encourages them to set about being lead opposition spokespeople on those topics. Sure, the reshuffle has some weird stuff in it -…
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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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Eddie was right about Sio, Street, and Mahuta. There are no Cunliffe people on the front bench. It's not a very unifying move. Trevor has the speaker's job sewn up if they win so I don't take his "demotion" very seriously at all. If anything…
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Annette King, Phil Twyford, David Clark and Shane Jones to the front bench. Moroney and Little promoted and given added responsibilities. Mallard sent to the backbenches, where Cunliffe stays (although now with portfolios). Hipkins to Education full-time. They're already in order here (although only first…
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I'm a big fan of the Living Wage campaign. And I really liked the Herald's series covering the launch week. But part of that coverage highlighted a big problem that I don't think the Living Wage campaign will reach. There are a number of proposed…
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(the Herald poll is italicised because it's much older than the others) So, what can we say about this data? First, it's nearly impossible for all those pre-election polls to have arisen from proper random samples of the population that gave National 47.3% of the…
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Claire Trevett is picking Annette King to take health in a Labour party reshuffle.
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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...