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As part of the Buy NZ Made programme that was part of the Government's abstention deal with the Greens, the Get NZ Made website has been launched. It works like a normal online shopping site and lists thousands of New Zealand-made products - everything from…
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Gordon Campbell spends some time examining Key's likeability factor: "That's why Key's gamble over Winston Peters is so interesting because it could help to unravel that image. If Peters can ultimately provide sufficient satisfactory evidence of where the money has gone, Key will have been…
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Perhaps I've overestimated the National Party's PR machine. I mean I've seen them run their C/T strategy pretty well and, as much as I hate to admit it, Ansell's billboards were pretty bloody good last time. But then I opened the PDF with their latest…
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"I'm a bit like (Barack) Obama," - Key Of course, National has been trying to link Key to Obama because Obama is probably going to win and Key hopes to piggy-back on that. But, as we've seen before, they really have nothing in common: Turns…
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'Let's hear it for New Zealand' exclaims the New York Times editorial. Why? Because New Zealand is leading a group of countries that opposes a Bush Administration plan to supply nuclear technology to India. Supply of nuclear technology to India is banned because it used…
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Because National has abandoned its wastewatch website, we keep track of the 'waste' National has promised to cut to pay for those magical, mysterious, cure-all tax cuts. Here's what they've said they will cut: 1) Embassy in Sweden - approx $3 million capital, $3 million…
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The TV channel in Lebanon that relays Fox News is called ADD. I...I just think it's funny.
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John Key tells us that National hasn't decided yet what it would spend its extra borrowing on, what projects would be PPPs, what roads would be tolled under National. How, then, to explain this from last week's Agenda? RAWDON Give me an example of a…
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After I was part of the 'Great NZ Sell-off' skit protest outside the National Party conference at the start of the month, I did a wee interview with a journo from NewstalkZB and he, knowing I've got something to do with this interweb thing, asked…
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Sometimes, the throw-away comments a person makes are the most revealing - for example, Bill English's attitude towards the "punters" and towards John Key, both made as side comments in the secret agenda tapes, are in some ways more revealing than his substantive comments on…
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Comment soon but for now here's their full list (PDF link). Scoop's got their presser up. [lprent: Handmirror: A Woman's Place: The Labour Party List. No Right Turn: Labour's list: looks like New Zealand. Granny Herald: Surprise picks in Labour party list. Salient: The Labour…
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We're used to hearing opposition parties talk about people rushing to Australia. But let's remember we're attractive to Australia too - where could that lead? Here's an alternative view! In case you are wondering there's a series of these on different topics from the Gruen…
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A series of graphs from the Social Report. First off, the unemployment rate When the unemployment goes up or down, the practical effect is a decrease or increase in household incomes as the country got poorer under National, unemployment rose, incomes fell, and and the…
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Peters has stood down. Clark has taken over his portfolios. It's good that Peters appears to have accepted that this is a necessity and hasn't turned on the Government. Clever of Clark to take the portfolios herself too. [we nearly had the scoop on this…
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After a fair summary of the facts as they stand, the Herald enters the realm of the right-wing blogger, always ready to paint its opponent with the worst possible spin, and then build on that as if on fact: 'That version of events avoids, as…
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Hundreds of Australian journalists walked off the job yesterday in protest at Fairfax's 550 planned job cuts. Here in NZ journos employed by Fairfax and facing 160 job losses joined their Aussie counterparts in a wild cat strike. Nah. They didn't. However, they did issue…
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Here's National's Wellington Central candidate Stephen Franks giving his view on Civil Unions. I'm not even really sure what to say about it. It might just be best to let Stephen Franks speak for himself...
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It's all been on this week. Maurice Williamson promising $50 tolls and more before being forced to retract, a poll showing more Kiwis believe National has a secret agenda than don't, a report showing incomes continue to rise and living conditions are improving, especially for…
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Who would have expected to read this from Brian Connell upon his departure from Parliament? In a backhander against his own party, he praised Prime Minister Helen Clark, her deputy Michael Cullen, and front-bench Labour MPs Phil Goff and Annette King. Cullen was "a pretty…
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For the third time, National's attempt to get a legal decision to block the EPMU and its sister unions from participating in the election campaign as registered third parties as failed. So pathetic were National's arguments that they lost their last case even though the…
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I'm not going to spend a lot of time on Peters because its not the kind of issue that affects Kiwis lives (its messy but its not like secretly planning to sell public assets). I'd rather use my post-writing time taking a deeper look at the…
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Winston Peters' stories around the Owen Glenn donation to his legal fund are dangerously convoluted and have stretched everyone's credulity but without real evidence either way it has been impossible to fairly condemn him. Glenn's letter yesterday provided strong evidence and left Peters 'hanging by a thread',…
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MSD released its Social Report today, an annual publication that collates a wide variety of standard of living measures, and produces this awesome graph. The circle represents the status quo in 1995-97 each spoke represents a different measure (income, crimes per capita etc). If the spoke is…
crime culture economy education election 2008 families health housing human rights Social issues wages welfare
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Today's Herald-Digi poll is the first to be released that was taken after the secret agenda tape scandal had fully emerged and had some time to sit in voters' minds. Which makes it worrying reading for National. They have lost 5.4% support (54.4% to 50%) and…
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6000 workers turned out in Manukau yesterday for the EPMU's Wages Drive rally. With 25 events nation-wide over this month, which have attracted crowds from several hundred in little old Blenhiem to thousands in each of the cities, this is the largest series of political…
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Exam question 65 If you were a highly-paid media interviewer and John Key said to you that he was absolutely certain that Helen Clark knew of Owen Glenn's claims, would you: a) accept it without any challenge or questioning? b) ask for proof, some sort…
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70 years ago (more or less) and The Standard was correctly predicting a Labour victory as the 'Nationalists' ramped up a hollow election campaign. In true Standard-style, there's even some stats. Click on the image for the full article.
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Say what you will about his politics, you can't beat Cullen for wit. Here he is on the similarities between Labour and National following Williamson's enthusiastic statements of National policy: The full clip is here. Listen to Key plead to his caucus, and listen what he's pleading for…
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Spotted in the Waikato Times: Cambridge High School students did their best to get a policy out of him, but National leader John Key stayed tight-lipped on his party's student allowance stance yesterday: Of National's policy, Mr Key said: "We haven't announced it yet, but…
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Owen Glenn's letter to the Privileges Committee contradicts Winston Peters' previous statements to the media, the Privileges Committee, and, presumably, the PM. Glenn says that Peters did personally approach him for a donation, contrary to what Peters has said. It's important to remember that there's nothing…