Just out from the police: An allegation has been made against a sitting member of Parliament. Wellington police are conducting a preliminary investigation into this matter. UPDATE: Key has just confirmed at his press conference that Worth has quit because of a "criminal matter".
Richard Worth has stood down for "personal reasons". Of course he will have been pushed. My guess is that the PM will say some nice things about him on the record while off the record Kevin Taylor will be making it very clear this is…
Link on Stuff. UPDATE: The "personal reasons" we know about so far: He personally profited from his trip to India to discuss aviation training. He personally visited the victim of an attack involving the son of a mate of his. He's been personally summonsed to give evidence in…
I've had a crack at working out how much we lose by cancelling the Cullen Fund contributions according to the Treasury's figures in the Budget. I come out with a loss of $7.5 billion by 2023. That's a little lower than the figures Guyon Espiner…
Over at No Right Turn, Idiot/Savant writes:- The Auckland Governance Committee has called for submissions on the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill. Two copies, by Friday, 26 June 2009, to: Auckland Governance Committee Secretariat Parliament Buildings Wellington The bill contains the details of the government's…
The principle of liberalism is that there should be no restriction on the freedoms of the individual except to realise a greater benefit for others (and, sometimes, the individual themselves). Society (or its tool the State) should do no harm to individuals unless to create…
DPF writes on the cost of cancelling contributions to the Cullen Fund: First of all, it is true that under the 11 year contributions holiday, the Super Fund in 2030 will be worth only $81 billion instead of $118 billion - a $37 billion difference....Over…
You've done your job as a spin doctor when journalists start repeating your spin sub-consciously. The credit downgrade 'issue' is a great example. There was never any threat of a downgrade, as long as the tax cuts were dropped. The journalists all acted like there…
Tax cuts are the right wing's favourite answer to every question. Before the election, National were promising us that tax cuts were the key to economic growth: Key: "National will deliver an ongoing programme of personal tax cuts. Fundamentally, National believes in the growth-enhancing power…
This part of Vernon Small's article today deserves an extended quote: "The numbers are stark. If full payments resume in 2020, contributions will have to be more than $1b a year higher than if we continued as normal now. Even then, from 2020 till 2030…
A few weeks back, in the best traditions of tabloid TV, Q+A took time to mention Lockwood's ride, the macho muscle car Ford Falcon Cobra - a car that screams red-blooded heterosexuality. It got me wondering. I heard Helen Clark used to drive a Mitsi when…