Post
Show-pony
Y'know, as John Key tries to get stuck into Phil Goff, I think it's time for a quick recall of recent history. Key is a man who lied directly to the New Zealand people about his Tranz Rail shares. Key is a man who hid…
Explore the archive
Search · 2009-01-01 to 2009-12-31 · Page 39
Find articles and conversations by date, subject or search expression.
Searching: posts Sorted by: newest Results: 1,141–1,170 of 2,252
Post
Provoking change
Good interview with Labour's Justice spokesperson, Lianne Dalziel this morning on her private members Bill in the ballot that would remove the defence of provocation (audio on the rnz site, including an mp3 version). It looks like there is a real momentum for change with 'the Crimes…
Post
Closing the gap
I take it all back. Key really is a genius! I didn't think he could do it, but I underestimated him. Under his leadership, the country has closed the gap with Australia. By 30 centimetres. "Massive New Zealand quake moves country West" -- r0b
Post
UMR has Len Brown ahead of Banks
UMR's just released a poll showing Manukau mayor Len Brown as the preferred mayor of the Auckland Super City, slightly ahead of John Banks. The poll shows Brown on 35%, Banks on 34%, and 31% undecided. They've also done a matchup between Banks and Auckland…
Post
Back to the future
Post
Winston rising
Like some bad horror movie, from beyond the political grave, it stirs again. Christine Rankin? Unbelievably - yes. Don Brash? Well yes, him too (fresh new thinking from National!). But these are but side shows to the main event. Winston Peters is back. Ironically it…
Post
Phil, get your shit together
Phil Goff. Please get your shit together. This latest fiasco of running up a guy who owns several properties as a case of a Kiwi hurt by the recession is just inexcusable. I don't doubt the dude's having cashflow problems. But using him as your…
Post
Justice, provocation, and the media
Provocation is a partial defence to a charge of murder. It reduces murder to manslaughter if the jury accepts that actions of the victim would have caused a 'reasonable person' to lose self-control. The problem is that it is clearly being abused in some circumstances, like…
Post
Those who don’t learn from history…
Supposedly, we need Don Brash and a gang of his right-wing cohorts to tell us how to close the wealth gap with Australia. Brash and his merry gang are the same old faces from the neoliberal revolution of the late 80s and early 90s. Back…
Post
New union blog
Public Sector Eye. A new blog from the PSA written by the union's two national secretaries, Brenda Pilott and Richard Wagstaff. Finsec's been running the gossip for a few years now, but this will be the first blog written by union national secretaries on issues…
Post
Says it all really
You pricks decided what you were going to do and you're not listening to me or anybody else. . . You people are not even interested in the people who are going to be living within the environment of a privatised prison. I actually hold…
Post
Same old failed ideas
The Government's 2025 'productivity' taskforce led by Don Brash will almost certainly come up with all the same old failed ideas that got us here in the first place. Expect a variation on the following themes: Scrap the minimum wage Privatise public assets Cut taxes…
Post
Matariki Public Holiday?
The Maori Party's Matariki Day Bill was pulled in the ballot. Man, a public holiday in the middle of winter. Currently it's one long drag from Queens Birthday to Labour Weekend. Will the Tories vote against a public holiday in the middle of winter and,…
Post
Gordon Campbell on Treasury and the resurrection of Brash
Gordon Campbell has a great piece over at Scoop about Treasury's latest ideological outburst and the resurrection of Don Brash. He points out the futility of choosing a man who played a large role in creating our wage gap with Australia in the first place…
Post
It’s not fair, get over it, get it right
The ludicrous attacks by the media on Goff over the dole scheme show that this is not an even playing field. Key is allowed to lie again and again. Ministers are allowed to shirk their responsibilities. The fact that 1300 more people on the dole…
Post
Talking shite
Right wing rhetoric can be absurdly stupid at times. IrishBill recently reminded us how crazy things were getting near the last election: One of my favourites was Hooton arguing that a fourth term Labour government would abolish the free press! Then there's the pet attack…
Post
No more excuses, time to act
Greenpeace and others are campaigning for the Government to agree to a target of 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020. Where did they get that number from? From the science. The scientific consensus is that if we let carbon dioxide rise…
Post
DL Wgtn this Thursday
Short notice, but just got this in from the Drinking Liberally Wellington crew: This week Drinking Liberally is hosting Geoff Keey from Greenpeace. Geoff has been attending the recent climate change negotiations in Bonn and will reflect upon them, and Greenpeace's "Sign On" campaign. The…
Post
OpenLeft
Launched last weekend in the UK: OpenLeft. Open Left is about rediscovering the Left's idealism, pluralism and appetite for radical ideas. It starts from a belief that the future of the Left requires a new openness for a new era of open politics: Idealism: open…
Post
Flag it, more important things to do
I'm just trying to understand this Maori flag thing. The Crown (in the guise of Minister Pita Sharples) has decided that Maori will only get to choose from four designs - the United Tribes (or Busby) flag, the Tino Ringatiratanga flag, the New Zealand Ensign,…
Post
It’s Brash
The government has just confirmed Don Brash will head the "productivity" group. Expect a lot of talk about "labour market flexibility" and the like. We've been here once and it was shit. Now we're going back for more.
Post
Plenty of pixie dust for the cycleway
John Key says there are "no pixies printing cash" to help Kiwis who've lost their jobs under his government's watch. Funny, because there's plenty of pixie dust for Key's cycleway. Pixie dust is in no short supply to subsidise Key's rich mates who want to…
Post
Wee gripes: private=efficient
Can Treasury Secretary John Whitehead explain how paying profit-making companies to do what is already being done by non-profit-making departments will save money? Of course not. If there are efficiencies to be made by all means make them. Doesn't need some company sucking off profit…
Post
Good jab, now land some punches
It was excellent to see Phil Goff laying down the gauntlet to Key yesterday. He announced Labour's policy to temporarily relax partner means testing for the dole and promised a recession response package. On the same day, Key's big achievement was noting the Hillary family…
economy employment public services unemployment wages welfare
Post
Fighting the dittoheads
One of the great strengths of the Right is that the rank and file supporters are such slavish followers of their leaders. It comes from the whole 'triumph of the will' mentality - 'that dude's rich and powerful, ipso facto, I must respect him and if I'm gonna…
Post
Recession’s ‘rough edges’ hit families – no help from govt
Labour leader Phil Goff has called for a temporary relaxation of the rules for getting the dole. Too many Kiwis on low and middle incomes are losing their jobs but are not able to get any assistance from the Government (despite having paid taxes for…
benefits families labour national/act government unemployment
Post
“Creeping communism” a success
Missed this from a couple of days ago: For the first time in 25 years, the incomes of those in lower brackets grew more quickly than those on higher incomes, the Household Income Survey by the Social Development Ministry found. It credits Working for Families…
Post
The Salesman
One of the stories from John Key's days as a currency trader is that he was always more of a salesman than an analyst. He wasn't good at picking markets and investments; he was good at getting people to trust him with their money. He…
Post
Roundtable dog-waggers come back!
Roger Kerr, official spokesman for the ACT-National-Roundtable government, today announced the formation of a Productivity Commission to be headed by Don Brash, a close associate and admirer of former National Finance Minister Ruth Richardson. The announcement was made in an article supplied to the DomPost…
Post
Keith Locke on tasers
Green MP Keith Locke investigates the claims of safety for tasers, and finds that other countries are concerned that the devices are not as safe as we have been told.