Only a quarter of the world's workers have permanent jobs. A worldwide trend away from secure jobs risked “perpetuating a vicious circle of weak global demand and slow job creation” that has dogged many countries since the crisis, the UN agency said. You can read the…
Bill English tells us that the promise that they won the election on - that they're the only Masters of Finance who could balance the government books (because that's all that's important... not child poverty, or housing, or climate change, or the current account deficit...)…
Sometimes for "fairness" and "balance" on a particularly bad day for the Government the media will try to gotcha Labour MPs into providing a sound bite or a headline which can then be spun into a story of disunity. Yesterday was one of those days.…
Two posts from Rob at Polity yesterday on National and Housing: Auckland house prices First, here's John Key talking in a speech about a housing crisis in early 2008: Well, I've got a challenge for the Prime Minister. Before she asks for another three years,…
The Nats are currently "consulting" we the people on NZ's carbon emissions target. As covered yesterday, the consultation document is largely a vehicle for Nat spin and evasion, focusing on the costs of action to reduce our emissions. The costs of inaction are ignored. But…
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 …
We haven't cut their funding, there's just been a change in their contract = We've cut their funding $4.8 million These contract changes happen all the time, they should learn to cope with it = You should be able to cope on a budget of…
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standarnistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don't forget to be kind to each other.
Disgraced former National MP, ACT leader and Auckland Mayor John Banks has had his appeal against conviction for electoral fraud upheld and his conviction quashed. He has been formally acquitted and there will be no second trial. The Court of Appeal has accepted that Kim…
' Creepy Key has dodged questions from the Green Party about any contact he may have had with the New Zealand Fox News Herald in the lead-up to Rachel Glucina's hit job on the cafe worker who's ponytail he pulled. The Green Party asked a…
There is an old saying that in politics it is wrong to be right too soon. Brand new ideas may be too terrifying or unsettling for the electorate to be popular. They are also easy targets for a calculating opponent wanting to exploit ordinary voter's…
The government is "consulting" we the people on New Zealand’s climate change target: Consultation on setting New Zealand’s post-2020 climate change target The Government is seeking views on New Zealand’s post-2020 climate change contribution under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This…
When Labour presented its capital gains tax policy it spent months in development. It consulted widely and presented a robust policy that won the media battle (despite National's usual hysterics). In contrast, The Nats have rushed and bungled the process (all the while assuring us…
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 …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standarnistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don't forget to be kind to each other.
John Key is now arguing that black is white - that a Tax on Capital Gains isn't a Capital Gains Tax. "Typical politician" many will say - and that shows how far John Key's skills have fallen. When he first arrived on the scene he…
The neoliberal reforms of the 80's and 90's left this country with sharp increases in poverty and inequality. The last Labour government improved matters a little, mainly via Working For Families (which John Key called "communism by stealth"). The current National government is making things…
The National Party has announced a new tax on the sale of properties. It will apply to all residential rental properties bought after 1 October 2015. If you buy a residential rental property on or after 1 October, and then you sell it again within…
So ... Remember all the attacks that Labour sustained because it proposed a Capital Gains Tax so that something could be done about addressing spiralling house price speculation and the lack of investment in Aotearoa's productive sector? Remember back in 2012 when John Key said that…
' The video featured at The Standard on Saturday which showed Fox News abusing poor people was shocking. Will we see the same thing happening here? Well, the local MSM does love putting the boot into beneficiaries on behalf of National Ltd™, and there's certainly…
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 …