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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…
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I'm still on Cloud 9 after the massive anti-mining march on Saturday - the biggest single protest march in NZ since 1938. By any measure this was a huge show of public opinion and strength. The left now has to play its cards carefully. For…
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A new report says that building the half a billion worth of new trains for Auckland in New Zealand would boost GDP by $250 million, improve our current account deficit by over $100 million, add $70 million to government revenue, and create 1200 skilled jobs.…
Economy jobs national public transport same old national Unions
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If the government's experts are to be believed, most of this country's mineral wealth is on private land ($80 billion of $194 billion is on the conservation estate). And there would be nothing like the public reaction to mining on private land that there is…
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Darien Fenton's Redundancy Protection Bill is before the House this week (provided National doesn't cancel Private Members' Day again). 80% of Kiwis (basically, the non-unionised ones) don't have any redundancy protection. If they lose their jobs, they're out on their arse with nothing. All other…
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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...