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As if any more evidence was needed that National's Paula Bennett is completely out of her depth as Minister of Social Development, it appears Work and Income is turning away the hungry while Paula can't even get her lines straight: Despite a high court ruling…
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Last week, John Key was bouncing on a new cloud. The Australian Government had teamed up with banks to help stop homeowners defaulting on their mortgages. Key publicly mused that 'his' government could do the same here. We said it was only a matter of…
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Indymedia reports that the lockout at research company Synovate has been lifted and a settlement has been reached: Late last night, union and company negotiators reached a settlement at the Department of Labour. Pay rises will be 50c now and 50c in 6 months. People…
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In 1773, a group of Bostonians who objected to being forced to pay a tax on tea by the British Parliament, which they didn't get to elect, boarded a ship carrying tea and threw the cargo into Boston harbour. The Boston Tea Party became an…
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I've just stumbled across this killer graph from the PSA on public service numbers under Labour and National. It helpfully puts in graphical form what we've known all along - that for all the bleating we've heard from National and its sycophants about how Labour's…
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The Maori Party MPs always read from pre-prepared speeches in the House. Here's one they might like to read on Budget Day: We refuse to vote for more money to lock up poor Maori and poor Pakeha. We voted against National's reactionary crime laws, now…
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Restaurant Association chairman Mike Egan on how to treat your staff during a recession: "if some of our employees cannot adapt fast enough we will drag them out of the cave and leave them to the sabre-tooth tigers and find staff who can and will…
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Forwarded to us from Indymedia: Call centre workers at Synovate in South Auckland were today locked out by their employer. The workers had been negotiating for secure hours and a pay rise of a dollar when they received word by text last night that they…
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For the last two election campaigns we had to put up with National, aided and abetted by many commentators, dominating the agenda with its incessant calls for tax cuts. Last year they promised "meaningful cuts", "North of $50", a promise repeated even in the face…
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Remember the oil spike? Over the course of the last 4-5 years, oil kept on breaking records, culminating in a massive spike to reach $150 last June. Why did that happen? Some people want to dismiss it as just a speculative bubble but they forget…
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Back during the election campaign, the Standard writers wrote a lot about the need for Labour's leaders to talk more from their values, values that they quite happily talk about in private. Well, Phil Goff did exactly that on Q+A yesterday (video here). Here's the…
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The capitalist doctrine sure has taken a beating lately. Not only have its raw excesses created a global crash which shows no signs of abating, not only has it been bailed out and propped up everywhere by nationalisation and trillion dollar taxpayer funded handouts, but…
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Usually I'm working, so I don't get to see Sunday on TVOne. Lucky me. I flicked over for the very end tonight, just in time to see whathisname with the moustache reading our viewers' comments. There was a comment from Mary that went something like…
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Russel Brown at Media7 doing a light-hearted take on how pathetic Paul Henry has been over time. You really have to ask if this Henry has left early adolescence yet after watching this video. But he does have his supporters with similar attitudes. hat-tip: Brian…
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The Herald's article this morning on how to 'Future-proof your job in the recession' tells Kiwi workers to bend over for your boss and take it; cause that's the only way you're gonna keep your job. No. Workers are in danger of losing their jobs…
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We've all been subjected to mainstream journalists gushing over Key's 'strong leadership' but now it's being put to the test and we're seeing weakness, not strength. Look at how he has dealt with Richard Worth compared to how Clark dealt with ministers. When Helen Clark…
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It wasn't so long ago that National's covert attack organ, the Free Speech Coalition, were squealing about how anti-democratic the last Labour government was, with plenty of snappy billboards like this one. Well now that the tragedy of Fiji's dictatorship is going from bad to…
flip-flop history International john key national/act government
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Trevor Mallard reminded us in comments of another story that illustrates Anne "Chopper" Tolley's great intellect. Soon after she became minister, Tolley had a meeting with the Vice-Chancellors of various universities. She turned to her staff and asked something along the lines of 'how come…
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You might have noticed that there was none of the traditional beat-up over crime when the crime statistics came out last week even though reported crime was up 1.2%. The reason is pretty obvious. The right is on power now, so National, the Sensible Sentencing…
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Rob Fyfe, CEO of Air New Zealand has seen a pay rise of 93%. The Herald reports that before his pay was frozen in July, Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe nearly doubled his pay - his package rising from $1.61 million to $3.1 million. With…
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It appears that John Key and Rodney Hide are participating in an old political action in Auckland - the gerrymander. From a general desire from politically aware Aucklanders to get a more coherent local government for the city, they have constructed a political system for…
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Nassim Nicholas Taleb is one of those rare thinkers who has the priceless ability to express complex ideas in ways that are immediately accessible and concrete. I'm going to shamelessly quote and derive from a very recent article he's written in the Financial Times. It's…
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Today, The Herald relaunched it's 'Democracy under attack' campaign with a front page editorial. The editorial is damning of National/ACT's plan for an Auckland super-council. Here are the main points: "everyone, regardless of their political hue must oppose the removal of representation without consent" "the…
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Yet another twist in the Worthless saga. It turns out that he used his diplomatic passport on the trip to India - which was a 'private' trip. John Key in his usual spineless way has issued another limp 'warning''. It appears that even Worth does…
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One of these things is not like the other... One of these things is not quite the same. Can you guess which one is not like the other... Can you tell me before I finish the game?
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If you're not fleeing the city for the long weekend like every other sane person, Drinking Liberally Wellington is on at the Southern Cross tonight with guest Metiria Turei. What: Drinking Liberally Wgtn When: Tonight, April 9, 2009, from 5.30pm. Where: The Southern Cross, Abel…
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Time: 14 days Jobs created: 0 Built (km): 0 out of 1500 Cost thus far: $0 Govt estimated cost: Not $50m this year, next year, or the year after that. Country status: In recession
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There goes the best leader we've had in a life-time. Was she perfect? No, far from it. There are many things she might have done differently but she led governments that made New Zealand a better place in so many ways. We've heard her government's achievements so many…
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As regular readers will know I've been an active Green supporter since the Alliance left parliament. I've not agreed with all of their policies and over the years I've had serious issues with the more amateur aspects of their campaigns but they have been the…