Explore the archive
Find articles and conversations by date, subject or search expression.
Searching: posts Sorted by: newest Results: 1–30 of 36
Post
I was just checking out the blogs and discovered this little gem on Kiwiblog: # Stephen Franks Says: February 16th, 2008 at 7:18 pm Britain's had an independent enquiry into Blair/Labour's 'Cash for Honours' scandal. Anyone want a bet on the chances of getting anything…
Post
It's been a few days now since the announcement of Katherine Rich's decision to stand down from politics, but articles such as in today's NZ Herald continue to try and explain "why". Perhaps they also have that sense that her departure could be a turning…
Post
Only days after trying to eat a plate, in yet another freak (can I call him that?) accident, National Party blogger David Farrar has glued his hand to his face. Bystanders (standing by too close by if you want my opinion) were powerless to help.…
Post
Had to laugh at this in The Herald on Rich's retirement: She has told all her caucus colleagues only that morning that she's retiring. One of them - Simon Power, who entered Parliament on the same date in 1999 - is quietly sitting beside her…
Post
Stuff reports the stolen military medals have been returned. I had expected they would never be seen again but when I think about it nearly every high-profile theft of art or artifact I can remember has resulted a successful return. Kudos to the police for…
Post
Fran O'Sullivan's continuing her ongoing philosophical project of interrogating the notion of truth in her latest repetition of Kiwiblog talking points Herald column. In it she picks up on the Owen Glenn interview and from a few disparate facts weaves a story of intrigue and…
Post
Well, I think it's funny.
Post
Colin Espiner reckons that Rich's departure will hurt the Nats. "She represented", he says, "precisely the sort of social liberal, moderate, youthful face that the party needs to counter the tougher, drier, and more conservative side of National. The one that the public is still,…
Post
Helen Clark has just announced a range of measures aimed at cutting down on graffiti vandalism. Presumably the initiative will be supported by the Nats. Who knows about the Free Speech Coalition though - their position on free speech seems remarkably dependent on who's doing…
Post
Vernon Small reports today that National party blogger David Farrar has taken out a complaint against the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union's registration as a third party under the Electoral Finance Act. Now aside from the fact that the founder of the Free Speech Coalition…
Post
The Herald covers it pretty well: 'He begins poetically - a narrator hooking an audience - with "furrowed brows in the dusty roads of countryside New Zealand, in the cowsheds, and woolshed and shearing sheds and the export works". When even the Prime Minister has…
Post
Affordable housing is the topic de jour. The foundation of affordable housing in New Zealand and other developed nations has long been houses built by the government and rented cheaply: state housing. Since the construction of the first state house in 1937, it has been…
Post
Post
I never really understood how National planned to make wages grow because every time our man John Key is asked about our wage-gap with Australia he starts talking about cutting taxes. Here's a recent example from Morning Report: Key: Firstly we will raise wages. I…
Post
Michael Shermer of the LA Times asks: "Would you rather earn $50,000 a year while other people make $25,000, or would you rather earn $100,000 a year while other people get $250,000?" Somewhat surprisingly you might think, it turns out that most people chose the…
Post
Not in my back yard. Alright, maybe in my back yard but only if the state isn't involved. UPDATE: No Right Turn has an interesting post on Key's privatisation plans.
Post
Just spotted this statement from Maryan Street up on Scoop which suggests at least one reason why Mr Key would like the issue of housing afforability to go away. Hobsonville is turning into an embarassment for him: In June 2006 he said on National Radio:…
Post
Is tax really the answer to housing affordability? The editorial in the NZ Herald today motivated a reader to send us these observations: 'It has long been a dream for New Zealanders to own their own home and it is not a dream that we…
Post
Via Bureau of Communication.
Post
Howard couldn't bring himself to do it, instead expressing "regret". Today, Labor's Kevin Rudd said sorry in a formal statement to the stolen generations of Aboriginal people of Australia. For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families…
Post
Jenny Russel of the Guardian writes, "As the middle classes feel the pain of comparison with the super-rich, we lose all enthusiasm for the common good". The rise of the super-rich, and their capacity to outbid others in the competition for houses, schools, space and…
Post
Both the Labour-led government and National have promised income tax cuts to follow the government's family and business tax cuts. Neither has given any details except there will be multi-year programmes of cuts. The point of difference is that Labour has four conditions that their cuts will satisfy…
Post
Katherine Rich was one of only 2 women on National's front bench and its last moderate MP. The only surprise in her resignation is that she resisted the National hierarchy's pressure to leave for so long. National's all-male inner circle never had any time for…
Post
The Press reports that "Senior National front-bencher Katherine Rich has resigned her education portfolio and will quit politics altogether at the election..." Rich ran the "compassionate conservative" line hard during her time in parliament. She was the more acceptable face of the the Nats on…
Post
The latest in a long line of failed protests on the Electoral Finance Act has ended badly with Steven Franks taking legal action against 3M, the maker of Packfast packing tape. The Dominion Post reports today that: "Aspiring Wellington Central MP Stephen Franks was one…
Post
You'll probably know about the rumour around the traps that blogger David Farrar is running his polling company Curia out of National Party HQ. This information first came up when Newzblog blogger James Sleep posted on a conversation he had with a young Nat in…
Post
I've just listened to Key's reply to the PM's speech. I'm underwhelmed. Instead of using it to promote any sort of policy platform it was a rehash of tired old phrases from the National Party linebook. You'd think that having had the PM's copy for…
Post
In her speech today, the Prime Minister announced a slate of government plans on housing affordability. New land will be freed up for housing but it will not a National-style free-for-all where land would be gobbled up by wealthy individuals and private developers for over-priced,…
Post
Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan has announced that he intends to lift the target for the budget surplus, so that fiscal policy can help ease upward pressure on interest rates. He will proceed with tax cuts announced in the election campaign, but according to The Australian…
Post
John Key tells us that he would cut ‘wasteful government spending' to pay for upper-bracket tax cuts bigger than Labour's cuts. But do the facts match the rhetoric? Remember National's wastewatch website? It listed $900 million in ‘waste' since 1999 only 0.2% of government spending,…