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The recent death in Afghanistan of Lieutenant Timothy O'Donnell was a tragedy for his family and a blow to his army colleagues. It was also a missed opportunity, a chance to debate why our Government continues to send troops to a violent and intractable war,…
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The ACT Party's in-fighting continues: Act member Peter Tashkoff has announced he will contest party leader Rodney Hide for the right to stand for Act in the seat of Epsom. Newstalk ZB reported that Mr Tashkoff - number seven on Act's party list - had…
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Some great news on the Fairness at Work campaign. Heather Smith, the pharmacy worker who was sacked unfairly under the 90 day fire at will law and featured in a recent advert for the campaign has won a CTU-backed case against her employer in the…
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Question number 3 today in Question Time will be: AARON GILMORE to the Minister of Finance: Have New Zealand's after-tax wages been rising faster than prices? English is going to reply 'yes' and point to the same silly numbers that he and Key have been…
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Woe betide those who attribute a single opinion to The Standard, I thought I'd offer a contrasting opinion with Marty. I had to use his image though - I think the Dr Who look is priceless. I like Income Splitting as a principle, but, as…
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I see Kris Faafoi's been given the nod from the Goffice to have a crack at Mana. He's always struck me as a decent and hardworking bloke, so I wouldn't want anyone to take this as an attack on him personally, but isn't it a…
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This morning we've been treated to the sight of the media celebrating one rich white guy (double murderer John Barlow) getting out of jail and another rich white guy (former National Minister Roger McClay) escape a prison sentence for stealing tens of thousands of dollars.…
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Prime Minister John Key has credited his government's economic policies for the price of fruit and vegetables falling by 6.5%. Some 'experts' have argued that if prices have fallen it's probably because the strong dollar relative to our trading partners has seen the world price…
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Make no mistake: National is working on a programme of asset sales by stealth, where they force SOEs to pay the government special dividends (which it will probably use on tax cuts) and the SOEs pay for it by issuing bonds. The value of the…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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According to TVNZ, Rodney Hide was questioning today whether his dumped deputy Heather Roy would be able to cope staying on as an MP - signaling she'll find it extremely difficult. That's a contrast with last week when the line was that she'd be welcomed…
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In his recent speech to the National Party Conference, John Key was smiling and waving as usual: I also want to pay a special acknowledgement to my friend and deputy, Bill English. What a great job he is doing as Finance Minister. He's delivered two…
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Average number of people on the dole in the 21 months before Paula Bennett came to office - 22600 Average number of people on the dole in the 21 months since Paula Bennett came to office - 52200 Fiscal cost of these extra people on…
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The government's alcohol reforms are so typical of this government: criminalise someone to be seen to be doing something, while ignoring the root causes of the problem. The centrepiece of the reforms is making it illegal for an adult to supply alcohol to a minor…
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It was only at the protest on the weekend that I learned about the Nats' plan to make us get sick notes if we take a day off work for ourselves or to look after a sick family member. Basically, the Nats think you and…
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lprent: Encourage John Black - give some feedback and a few suggestions
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Yesterday, Eddie wrote about the OIA papers we (eventually) managed to get from Treasury about the Nats privatisation agenda, where bond issues are to be used in place of outright asset sales. The papers go on to describe two debt issues that have already taken…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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National Standards have been slated by all of the education and assessment experts in New Zealand as being fundamentally flawed. Anne Tolley's recent admission that she has failed to find a way to ensure that League Tables (the most educationally damaging aspect of the National…
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We are told that no one is exempt from the law. We are told that everyone is equal before the law. But it isn't really true is it. The law in general has a built in perspective, a structural bias, which is to do with…
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For the last few months, the Standard has been politely asking Treasury for their papers on the sale of Crown assets. To say they weren't keen to share would be an understatement. After several OIAs and numerous deadline extensions we've managed to get a few…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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We've heard stories about the, to quote the Herald, "depth" of Heather Roy's relationship with her former senior advisor Dr Simon Ewing-Jarvie for some time. But this isn't Whaleoil and adults' personal lives are their own. What's surprising is that the Right have decided to…
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The National Party's official blogger-- He who compared Helen Clark to Mugabe and Fiji Frank-- makes a characteristic sophisticated response to the distinguished waipiro (alcohol) expert Professor Doug Sellman. 'The arrogance of some of these experts is best characterised by this quote from Professor Doug…
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Australia is about to enter a new era in politics. They appear to have a hung parliament this morning according to the Sydney Morning Herald. With three-quarters of the vote counted, Labor, which began the night with a notional 88 seats, had lost a confirmed…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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In glorious Wellington weather around 2,000 people turned out to protest National's plans to put new employees on 90-day Fire at Will periods, let employers bar workers' union officials from the worksite, and let employers demand a doctors' note for just one day's sick leave…
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Our cousins on the West Island are winding up their election day soon, culminating a dramatic couple of months for Australian politics. What a roller-coaster. From the heady days of the seemingly unassailable Kevin Rudd to Julia Gillard's dramatic coup. Last night the polls put…
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Reading about Act ritualistically disemboweling themselves this week has been interesting, and has quite a few implications for the political landscape at the next election. The factor that has been attracting my attention was highlighted by Fran O'Sullivan this morning - where did those defense…