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Why is our agriculture minister spending as much as the Prime Minister on international travel? David Carter has spent $72,000 on international travel in nine months Peter Dunne, Minister of Revenue, has spent $76,000 Judith Collins, $70K. Anne Tolley $79,000. 70-80K each - we're talking…
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With all the noise around Obama you don't hear much about this guy now. He was politically naive but knowingly and willingly acted as a front for much more machiavellian minds. He came to politics with lots of money and was promoted very quickly, but…
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A few months ago, a couple of us worked out that Cameron Slater, following his little spin in the media where he gloated about receiving income insurance for depression, had been kicked off his payments by the insurance company. The angry post asking for a…
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The campaign for a $15 an hour minimum wage is gathering pace. Initially, Unite kind of set out on their own on this one but I understand they've got other unions on boards now. They need a bit over 300,000 signatures to force the government…
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If you thought TVNZ's promo ad for its Plain English series looked like an ad for the National Party you're not alone. Seems the ad is so faithful to the political advertising genre that it even had a political marketing expert fooled. Here's Dr Clare…
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Ever since the Greens were elected into Parliament for the first time, Sue Bradford has been one the MPs I have admired the most. She stood by strong principles, for the right kind of change, and always represented those who lacked a voice and political…
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I hadn't seen the Bill English ad until now. I guess I had kind of assumed it couldn't be that bad - surely it would be a promo for the show with a few stock clips of English because he'll be appearing. Nope: It's just an…
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Bill English stands condemned. Only in part by the Auditor General. Her report is ambiguous: The result was that the Crown was renting a property for Mr English from a trust in which he had an interest, and the arrangement was explicitly based on a…
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We're trying a daily "Open mike". This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and for any discussion following up on the comments. Over to you...
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One of the Right's silly myths, never backed up by any facts, is that not privatising ACC leads to more injuries. The logic (and it's a logic only the money-obsessed could come up with) is that private workplace insurers would charge higher premiums for dangerous…
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Why on earth is Labour supporting this police state bullshit? The article says Labour MPs were concerned about the extent of powers being given to the police, and Charles Chauvel tried to amend the bill so a judicial warrant would be needed. Amendment was voted…
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Over at Kiwiblog, David Farrar is doing his usual apologetics for National by trying to spin its removal of guaranteed rest and meal breaks. It's the usual mix of falsehoods and recycled spin, but one comment stuck out in particular: And you know, despite no…
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As we endure the 6th consecutive week of National putting Parliament into urgency, new stats show that this government is abusing urgency to an unprecedented extent. Here's the % of sitting time under urgency in recent Parliaments (the current one is the 49th): In it's…
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Here's what Double-Dipper Bill English had to say about taxpayer-funded advertising before the last election. National has raised fresh concerns about Labour cashing in on government departments pushing key policies in the run-up to the election, after a $2 million jump in public sector advertising.…
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The reprieve from the rain may have been the only thing worth celebrating this Labour Day. Probably pissed that there isn't a holiday celebrating big business, Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson chose to shift the focus away from celebrating workers' rights to removing them. While previously…
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You'll have seen in the paper that National is going to legislate, most likely under urgency, to let employers deny workers the right to take smoko and lunch breaks. It's a pretty basic work right, and a Kiwi tradition going right back to Blackball. To…
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I haven't seen a better description of John Key after a year in office than Pete Hodgson's latest post. When he does one day stop being a prime minister he will talk, not of what he strived for, but of what he saw and how…
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This memo was sent by the Insurance Council to its members in 2005 but it may as well have been sent this week. Because as sure as National was keeping its agenda secret and having clandestine talks with the insurers about privatising ACC in 2005…
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John 'in your guts you know he's nuts' Banks has isolated himself out to the right of Rodney Hide when it comes to the activities of local government. Yesterday Rodney Hide started to backtrack on his promise to restrict local government to providing 'core services'…
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We're trying a daily "Open mike". This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and for any discussion following up on the comments. Over to you...
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Having previously led the charge on the Labour polling story, John Key has gone very quiet on the issue now that a former National supporter has blown the whistle on National doing the exact same thing. Thanks to this former supporter we know that under Bill…
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As the assorted rich, white old men behind Peter Shirtcliffe start their campaign to dump MMP, it's worth remembering that the diversity we see in Parliament today hasn't always been the case. The graph above, which comes via No Right Turn, was released today in…
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Have a listen to Sean Plunket's interview this morning with Fed Farmer's economic spokesperson Philip York. Fed Farmers is calling on the government to cut spending to rein in the rising NZ dollar. FF: Well there's going to have to be some tough decisions made.…
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Scientists say that 350 parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere is the safe limit for humanity. We're above that limit and we're climbing fast. 350 Aotearoa is the New Zealand arm of 350.org, an international campaign dedicated to creating an equitable global climate treaty…
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Norightturn reports that taxpayers are footing the bill for Rodney Hide's fundraising trip to Christchurch: Thanks to some clever scheduling, we're effectively footing the bill for Hide's attendance at his little fundraiser. And we simply shouldn't be. The Ministerial travel budget is to pay for…
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I've heard the State Services Commission are investigating their own demise, by looking into whether its functions should fold into the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Has anyone heard anything similar? If true, it would be an incredible power shift in favour of the…
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What a shame that the Reserve Bank has backed down on new the prudential liquidity rules that require the banks to raise a higher percentage of their money from longer term deposits. The rules were to come in at the start of next year, but the banks complained…
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Bill English knows a thing or two about screwing every possible cent out of the system. He gets his generous $276,000 salary. For years he received his unjustified Wellington accommodation allowance. The rules were changed so he could get an even bigger Wellington allowance as…
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We're trying a daily "Open mike". This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and for any discussion following up on the comments. Over to you...