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I've actually had time to start reading blogs again. As some people are probably aware (mostly the climate change deniers), my first degree was in science. Now while some people seem to think that business is what makes the world work, this isn't correct. It…
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Hilarious. Jon's got a serious point though. Newspapers worldwide are in trouble. Many predict they will soon have to be handed out free to commuters in an attempt to keep circulation high enough to run on advertising. Here in New Zealand, the major newspapers' circulation fell 4% in…
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Taken a matter of minutes ago, the Workers Party protest outside John Key's multimillion dollar Parnell mansion. Just to remind you that we've just seen a man worth tens of millions of dollars take work rights off a whole bunch of people who earn minimum…
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Imagine: you are a new MP. Tens of thousands of your fellow New Zealanders have shown a great faith in you; they have shown that they want you to be one of their select representatives in the most powerful body in the land - our…
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If you're feeling lost in the discussion around National's tax plans there's handy analysis from Keith Rankin who point out: ... persons earning between $14,000 and $24,000 will receive annual tax cuts of less than $100. They will receive nothing before 2011. This contrasts with Labour's already…
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I know I won't be alone in being disappointed in the results of the Unicef survey, which says that "New Zealand has an appalling child poverty rate, spends too little on early childhood services for which there is unequal access, and lags far behind other…
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National/ACT won the election, fair enough. They won the right to govern and attempt to pass their laws. What they did not win is the right to behave like an elected dictatorship - keeping their laws secret until the last minute then passing them in…
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If you're still wondering what the Fire at Will Bill (about to become law just over a day after it was first made pubic) is all about take a look at No Right Turn's analysis. It is a poorly-written and poorly thought-out law. It takes away your right, if you…
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It seems like only yesterday that we listened to arguments about how exams unfairly punished some students. The National Party initiated the NCEA in office, but now thinks that introducing a national standard testing system for five and six year olds is the way to…
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David Farrar, champion of democracy. We salute you for speaking truth to power, no matter who's in charge. [Original here]
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Here's Anne Tolley telling teachers before the election that they would not be covered by the fire at will legislation. Turns out she was lying. Teachers at at least 800 schools nationwide will now have no work rights in their first 90 days on the…
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Audrey Young writes on her blog that National would do well to heed the opinion of the Human Rights Commission who have today spoken out against National's decision to rush through a number of pieces of important legislation under urgency - denying them proper scrutiny. She…
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I was sent this by a comrade in the union movement. You can download the A3 poster here to do poster runs. There's already a bunch up in central Wellington this morning. Or why not grab the image on the left and send an email…
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Jafapete might be in LA, however that hasn't stopped him from raising some cogent points on the 90-day bill. His post Nats hurry to strip workers of rights points out some absurdities of the NACT excuses So, no opportunity to make submissions on these proposals.…
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On the first day of Parliament, Gerry Brownlee made a complete hash of his role as Leader of the House. Despite having repeatedly needed Michael Cullen's assistance to organise the order of business in the Business Committee, Brownlee mucked up procedures in the House, which…
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The tax bill has just been passed into law. The Maori Party voted for it. They also voted against the Cullen amendment that would have created a tax credit to cancel ou the tax increase on low income workers. Te Ururoa didn't show up to…
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Well, it's a relief to see that while the Maori Party might have voted to take money out of the pockets of the poor to pay for tax cuts for the rich, they've at least held the line on protecting our work rights by rejecting…
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Our new Attorney-General, National's Chris Finalyson, on the importance of select committees: Select Committees are the engine room of Parliament. They are also intended to provide a level of public and political scrutiny for the range of legislation some routine and some contentious promoted by…
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We Won't Pay for Their Crisis Public Meeting convened by Socialist Aotearoa with John Minto, Unite Union Catherine Delahunty, MP Green Party Frank Doleman, Socialist Aotearoa and a wide representation of Auckland's fighting left. 7pm Thursday Dec 11th Auckland Trades Hall, 147 GreatNorth Road Grey…
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We're told that every country in the OECD except New Zealand and Denmark has a probation period like National/ACT's Fire at Will law. Apart from being incorrect - we already have provision for probation periods like other countries do, difference is in those countries and…
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The National/ACT line in defending pushing through legislation like the Fire at Will Bill under urgency, without any select committee process, without any of the normal procedures for the proposed law to be publicly reviewed, even without tabling the Bill before it is to be…
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The Manawatu Standard has a good op-ed piece today on how National has squandered its honeymoon with its arrogant and out-of-touch behaviour on the fire at will bill. The National party rose to power on the back of, among other things, scathing accusations that a…
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This viral email from the Council of Trade Unions is doing the rounds. Make sure you click on through and tell John all we want for Christmas is fair work rights: On the twelfth day of Christmas, the Government gave to me... Just days into…
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Against the backdrop of tough new employment laws there're predictions that "35,000 jobs could be lost in the construction sector." No wonder that there are reports that Kiwis are worried about losing their jobs! A quarter of workers are afraid of losing their jobs, while more…
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This just in: the Human Rights Commission has called for the fire at will bill to be put to select committee: The Human Rights Commission has urgently requested the Government to reconsider its decision not to allow the 90-day bill to go to a select…
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So far, the Maori Party has refused to take its opportunities to contribute to the debate on the tax bill before Parliament. They have just sat meekly and voted for National/ACT's Bill. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see anything 'mana-enhancing' (to use a…
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No Right Turn points out in What's in the urgency motion? exactly how much of shambles the NACT government is. At present they are busy ramming through legislation that has no titles, that hasn't been drafted or presented to politicians to read, and they don't…
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This from Lew in the comments section of my last post: Shortly after the House resumed at 0900, Darren Hughes requested that the bills about to be debated be tabled so members could read them before debating them. Just before 1000 he asked what progress…
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Have you heard the sad news that the EU may be next to join the international communist nanny-state conspiracy against incandescent bulbs? It seems EU bureaucrats have published a "report" which calls for a ban on the freedom-loving inefficient bulbs which have kept our planet…