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In the process of saving capitalism (again) from itself, governments around the world have taken on huge amounts of debt and some are running large deficits. Sovereign debt crises are popping up among countries that were being managed as if the good times would never…
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We're in the middle of another slowly unfolding oil disaster. On April 20 the "Deepwater Horizon", a British Petroleum oil rig, exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and starting what is fast becoming the the largest oil spill in history.…
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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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Press release, New Zealand Government Prime Minister John Key explained today that there are two Paula Bennetts and he is unsure which one is Minister of Social Development. The two are easily confused. The first Paula Bennett is a solo mum who relied on the…
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The budget for Whanau Ora, which has been billed as a magical, ineffable revolution in social welfare will be just $33 million a year. What a joke. Whanau Ora's budget will be less than twice that of that other great fizzer, the John Key Memorial…
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The unemployment rate has fallen to 6%, that is something to celebrate. It really is great news for all those Kiwi workers who have gotten back into a job, their families, and their communities. Manufacturing has led the way, another positive. But it's not time…
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I'm glad to see Labour is stealing a march on the lazy Nats and building an alternative economic vision ahead of the Budget. It looks to be just the vision New Zealand needs, built on the twin planks of economic sovereignty and a fairer distribution…
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Short fix for those following the British election - just updated from the Guardian: The Conservatives appear to be on the brink of regaining power at the end of one of the most tumultuous and tightly fought general election campaigns since the second world war.…
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"This is a question of basic fairness, and it's the Kiwi way is to treat people fairly, particularly when they're vulnerable" - Darien Fenton Yesterday, Fenton's Redundancy Protection Bill was voted down by National and ACT. National showed its utter contempt for workers by having…
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The March quarter unemployment rate is out today. It should be back down below 7% from the appalling 7.3% that National let it rise to. My hope is to see it fall to at most 6.8%, that'll represent 10,000 Kiwis back into work. But there's…
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I don't read Kiwiblog often. DPF is capable of interesting political commentary or detailed policy wonkery on occasion, but most of the time it is editorial cut and paste jobs, troll farming, or postcards from his latest holiday. Ho hummm. Even a casual reader such…
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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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So, Paula Bennett appointed this guy Peter Saunders to her Welfare Working Group. He's an English guy living in Aussie and tied in with the extreme Right Centre for Independent Studies. A wannabe fiction author, he penned a xenophobic book called The Versailles Memorandum set…
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[ This comment from gobsmacked needs to be posted! -- r0b ] [Update - frog has more details] Question Time was just hilarious today. Or it would be, if these clowns weren't running the country. There was Wayne Mapp floundering, and Gerry Brownlee ... well,…
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The Right is all about short-term thinking. That's why National has never understood the value of education. The First National Government, when faced with budget troubles responded by cutting the education budget and raising the school age to 6. This latest National Government is attacking…
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It was particularly telling that both Justice Minister Simon Power and Attorney-General Chris Finlayson failed to front to speak for the 3 strikes Bill when its second reading was debated last night. But ahead of that debate, Labour's Rick Barker took Judith Collins to task:…
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I'm not too worried about Judith Collins' petrol bill for her self-drive car. I mean, sure it's $476 a month, nearly twice that of any other minister and, sure, it's pretty obvious that Collins is letting family members make extensive use of it - that…
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Today's Herald has a front page piece criticizing Key's abandonment of his Middle East trade mission to return home for the funerals of the three airmen who crashed on their way to an ANZAC Day parade. Trade delegate Dr John Langley said the decision was not…
business International john key leadership military national/act government
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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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Embarrassment - children and politicans seldom suffer from it, yet it's part of the social rule book most of us live by. What happens if we change the rules? That's the question Christine Rossen asks in her interesting opinion piece, saying: Many people see the…
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I was struck by the similar comments from Steven Joyce and Jim Quinn, Kiwirail CEO, that we should buy trains off somebody who "does these things for a living", made in trying to justify the lack of any attempt by Kiwirail to tender for local…
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In 2000, Labour gave permission for two companies to carry out traditional gold-panning for tourism purposes on Schedule 4 land. This isn't mining and is specifically allowed for under the legislation that created Schedule 4. Section 61(1A) of the Crown Minerals Act allows mining permits…
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When you're that far on the backfoot, it's not hard to teeter further. The CTU has today come out against the Government's mining plans; a position even Brownlee admits is "a bit of a surprise" given the union's membership includes miners. What's the score now?…
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While John's off playing soldiers, things are getting worse and worse for Kiwi workers. The Labour Cost Index shows wages and salaries rose just 1.5% between march 2009 and March 2010, the lowest increase in a decade and below inflation. The Quarterly Employment Survey, also…
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To me the National government reached its tipping point the day it was elected. Other commentators are a bit slower to catch up! Here's Colin Espiner today: In the life cyle of every administration, there's a stage where it "tips'' - where its popularity starts…
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Tracey Watkins is less than chuffed over the way the media were used on John Key's 'secret' Afghanistan trip*: Forget the confidentiality agreements and "need to know" rules of engagement, John Key's trip to Afghanistan was the worst-kept secret in town. Rarely has a prime…
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The Nats and miners have this weird freeloader argument. 'Those protesters are hypocrites. Their cell phones and ipods and cars all use mined products. They should support us mining'. Yup. My cell phone has metals in it. Yup. Our tech base is made of mined…
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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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When making decisions, government bodies should act on what's in the best interests of New Zealand as a whole, even if its not necessarily best for that government body. I would have thought that was unarguable. I mean, you expect your hand to work in…