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According to Stuff Andrew Little has confirmed his candidacy for the New Plymouth seat. I'd say he stands a very good chance of winning and will be a real thorn in the side of the National Party. It would seem that David Farrar does too:…
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We all remember the excuses National used when it first rammed through the fire at will legislation for workplaces with 20 or fewer staff. It would benefit marginal workers included the likes of the immigrants and former convicts. A risk free period of employment would…
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Good to see John Key's lies over the 90 day fire at will law are starting to catch up with him. Following yesterday's exchange in the House, the Herald has picked up on Key's smug assurances that even though his law will explicitly remove our…
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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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No Right Turn has a good post pointing out that John Key's petty fascism on sick leave is already covered by the law. An employer can demand a worker provide a medical certificate after one day's sick leave - so long as they have reasonable…
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Beware of a Finance Minister who is selective in the use of statistics. This was Bill English's answer to a patsy question in Parliament about National and the economy: It is the comprehensive economic package that the Government is pursuing, and if I can draw…
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Well done Kiwis! A rousing show of solidarity and strength has forced the Nats to back down from their plans to mine Schedule 4 land. We have preserved some of the most precious places in our country for future generations (or at least until the…
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There is a great review of Briar March and Lyn's documentary "There Once Was An Island: Te Henua E Noho" at Reading the Maps called "A preliminary report on the end of the world" I won't repeat the review part here, but it is well…
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Watching an article on the shipping breaking industry in Bangladesh got me thinking about trade. The textbooks tell us that free trade is good because it means a more efficient use of resources. We export timber to Samoa and import coconut products because our natural…
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I was talking to an old friend last night. She's been a Labour voter/supporter/activist nearly all her adult life. She lives in Rotorua. She said she might have to vote Green next year because she doesn't think she'll be able to support Steve Chadwick and…
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According to the NZ Herald: The Government has scrapped plans to mine conservation land in the face of furious public protest, NZPA has confirmed. Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee will announced the Cabinet's decision after National's MPs have been told about it at a caucus meeting...…
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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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The ETS-waste regulations currently being consulted on by the Government include a loophole that will actually increase greenhouse gas production in order to save polluters money. This isn't surprising given that the regulations were prepared for the Government by a company that will be best…
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Over at Kiwipolitico, Pablo has a very good post on the ancestry of the new law National has proposed to lock unions out of workplaces. With the 90-day extensions taking all the headlines I've not got around to making much comment on this law but…
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Here's John Key announcing his broad-based attack on the rights to fairness and justice that you and I currently enjoy in our jobs: 'In advancing this package, I would especially like to acknowledge the involvement and assistance of the Act Party, who will be working…
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Finally after weeks of delay, we are to hear what Cabinet is deciding over the mining of our precious Schedule 4 conservation land. According to RNZ: Three areas, Great Barrier Island, the Coromandel, and Paparoa National Park on the West Coast, are under consideration. The…
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Marty wrote this morning about the economic downsides of National's Fire at Will policy and attacking workers' rights and wages generally. I've got a question of my own. Does John Key have any evidence or official advice to back up his claim that taking away…
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Extending Fire at Will and attacking union access to worksites undermines workers' rights and is simply economic vandalism. Weaker work rights will tend to lead to lower wages (already falling under John Key's watch), low wages lead to underinvestment and poor economic performance, and lack…
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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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With the reaction to laws attacking workers John Key has tried to misdirect by claiming unions have no example of abuse of the 90 day law. A couple of points John: 1) It's up to you to provide evidence the law needs to be changed,…
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Today has been a busy day. Lyn and Briar have the NZ premiere of their documentary shortly, which limited what I could do today. But I stopped off at the protest outside of the National party conference and met The Rat. The speakers were right…
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Word is numbers at the protest are up to 500. Not bad for a protest organised in a couple of days. According to the Herald an EPMU flag-waving Sue Bradford and forty protesters broke through security. The changes have been officially announced. As well as…
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The 24 hour news cycle. The 20 second slot. The soundbite. The pithy headline. We have short attention spans. Today's tragedy is yesterday's dim memory. I am usually as guilty as most, and this article in The Guardian was a sharp reminder: Haiti earthquake: six…
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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 a pretty shameful piece of political pandering, the Department of Labour has released a study on the 90 Day Fire at Will legislation just ahead of John Key's announcement to extend it to all working Kiwis. When Fire at Will was introduced, the Minister…
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Radio New Zealand Political Editor Brent Edwards is reporting that National is denying it has donation problems and is pointing to the fact that it's already raised more this year than it did in 2008 (sorry - no link for the 2008 comparison, I heard…
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The recent global recession represented a spectacular failure of unfettered capitalism. We never felt the full force and completeness of that failure because the worst was averted - or rather just delayed - by vast injections of Government bailout money. Capitalism was rescued by good…
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I'm on holiday in the UK at the moment, which means I end up catching the politics here: Lord Mandelson's new book dishing the dirt on his Labour colleagues a good few weeks after they lost power; crowdsourcing the deficit (by far the most popular…
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Right now John Key is in a bind, perhaps the biggest bind of his term thus far. He wants to get through to his second term but according to National Party insider, Cameron Slater, the business donations he needs to do it are not forthcoming.…