I posted previously on an apparent anomoly where the reported number of domestic violence offences had decreased significantly even though the number of investigations into domestic violence incidents had increased. This morning the Herald on Sunday is reporting on another anomaly where South Auckland police…
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Tomorrow Today the Green Party is launching launched the first of it's election priorities in Hamilton at 11. 00 am. The focus is on building a cleaner, fairer, smarter New Zealand. Green Party Facebook pages have this notice: With 10 weeks until the election on September 20th,…
Some of Labour's Pasifika and Maori candidates. Reposted from the Daily Blog. John Key and National have recently been claiming that Pasifika are leaving Labour en masse and are heading towards National. I am sorry John but there is no chance of this happening. But…
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If you ever wanted an entertaining, succinct, yet devastating critique of the media handling of Climate Change then John Oliver's recent attempt from his Last Week Tonight show should be compulsory viewing. Here it is ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjuGCJJUGsg&feature=kp
Reposted from Polity. Here is Vernon Small this morning: The Government rejected plans to include beneficiaries in a package to help families with newborn babies, despite official advice they were the most vulnerable. Budget papers show that last November, Treasury, Inland Revenue and Social Development…
I was chuffed to see this in this morning's Stuff "Today in politics" Journalist Jon Stephenson’s defamation claim against the Defence Force and its former chief, Lieutenant-General Rhys Jones, can go intact to a second jury, a judge has ruled. Stephenson sued because of a…
Reposted from Polity. As fellow anoraks will know, there is a bit of debate around about the political leanings of the people who voted in 2008 but not in 2011. Are they right-leaning sympathisers, kept at home in 2011 by complacency? Or are they ex-Labour…
This morning Labour will be announcing it's Digital Economic Upgrade (ICT policy). "Streamed live to the world" at 8am at the link above. As a dedicated member of the programming fraternity and often aghast at the stupidity of the how the government treats the digital…
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(This was originally posted at Boots Theory yesterday when The Standard was down.) It’s headline news: Labour supports re-starting a Law Commission review initiated by Simon Power to investigate possible changes in our judicial system including the option of adopting an inquisitorial approach in cases of sexual violence.…
Reposted from Polity. Even the government's own advisors think the "net tax" figures have been brandishing in recent years are a crock. Here's an exact from page 20 of MSD's Household Incomes Report out yesterday: For half of households with dependent children the amount received…
The next time the Herald or any other organisation is contemplating a New Zealander of the year award they should have Tania Billingsley at the top of their list. She is the complainant in the Malaysian Diplomat assault with intent to rape case. She has…
Tania Billingsley has waived her right to name suppression in the case against the Malaysian diplomat accused of attempted rape - and a Minister of Foreign Affairs who wants the finger pointed at anyone but him. In an interview and statement (pdf) to 3rd Degree she's laid…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike ...
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike ...
Kiwi voters are going to be offered clear election choices across a wide range of policies that matter. This is clear from Labour's mini-Manifesto, released at the weekend Congress. As promised, Labour's offerings are positive and forward-looking. Besides education, there are policies on work, economy,…
Reposted from No Right Turn. Back in May, National promised to balance the books next year. Now it looks like that won't be happening: The Budget deficit was tracking $332 million worse than forecast for the 11 months to the end of May, throwing doubt on…
It was an interesting weekend for me. Since 2012 I've been going to Labour conferences as "media" rather than as a delegate. This is in large part because I have been avoiding the hurly burly of being involved in Labour party campaigning. I've had less time…
If the aims of National/ACT's education policy were, genuinely, to to improve the learning, education and career choices for our children, including the ones that are failing at present, they would not be following policies which have signally failed to achieve any of these goals,…
Reposted from Polity. Here are some excerpts from an excellent Tracy Watkins piece on Stuff today: Prime Minister John Key and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe may sound like they are speaking the same language on trade, even if they remain miles apart on the other hot…
National has for some time trumpeted a reduction in crime rates as being a vindication of its policies. This is despite a reduction being a world wide trend linked to reduced lead levels in petrol. But recent news suggests that there may be a more local reason.…
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This issue has already had comment by Karol and Rob Salmond but it is so important that I thought it deserved more discussion. I spent the weekend at the Labour 2014 Congress. The event was very well run and very enjoyable. David Cunliffe’s speech was superb,…
Reposted from Polity, with a minor correction in the title. At my briefing to Labour's Congress over the weekend, I made a point about National's performance in recent campaigns, which was later picked up in David Cunliffe's speech. National has dropped six percent each time. For…
Reposted from Polity. One of the most prominent battlegrounds in this election campaign will be education. Both large parties know our kids deserve better than the two-tier education system we currently have. Both have clear, costed plans they think can help. And now the public…
Reposted from Imperator Fish. It was put up there on Sunday evening. It looks like Hekia Parata was following Scott's script today. :) #486988589 / gettyimages.com Politician: Quick! Find some studies that show smaller class sizes don’t make any difference to learning. And hurry! Minion: Just a…
Remember when you said this: h/t Jerome Mika on twitter, who tweeted: Smaller classes should be for all our Kiwi children, not just #TeamKey. #ForABetterNZ#labour2014#papakuramatters And now, Mr Key, with your support, Hekia Parata says this: "Labour’s ‘back to the future’ idea of reducing class sizes at…
Reposted from Polity. Labour's Congress meeting over this past weekend was inspiring, and hugely energising. This post is going to be a bit more evangelical than most on Polity, but that's how I feel this morning. We heard a superb set of politics emerge about…