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It seems Len Brown's recent out-polling of John Banks has spurred National's smear machine into action. After all if you can't beat the arguments then you need to attack the man. And they've started by digging around in his credit card details and then handing…
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The Herald notes that Pete Hodgson, MP for Dunedin North, is stepping down at the next election. There's much more detail in the Otago Daily Times: Pete Hodgson, one of Dunedin's longest-serving MPs announced yesterday he will retire from politics at the next election. His…
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Tall poppy syndrome. It's one of those useful, mindless terms that comes up again and again in our political discourse. Like its cousin 'PC' it is used to delegitimise any criticism the behaviour of those with privilege and power towards others. It survives because it…
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Straight from the Guardian - I loved the range (and left-field nature of this selection) so decided to share it here! From Jemima Kiss' blog: Warning, limited overt NZ political content. There's the odd day when I think I might be bored of Lady Gaga…
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Climate change, let's recap. It's real, it's happening, people are dying. It's going to be hugely damaging to life in general and human agriculture and "civilisation" in particular. We know that there is a well funded corporate campaign to obfuscate and deny climate change science…
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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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On Wednesday, Jim Anderton asked John Key about two times when he explicitly ruled out ever selling Kiwibank and asked him how that meshed with his promise not to sell assets in the first term, with the clear implication that they will sell them in…
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Two Electoral Reform bills are currently accepting submissions, and each contain one particularly large flaw. Firstly, as I commented on the Electoral (Finance Reform and Advance Voting) Amendment Bill: getting rid of the 3 month election period is a very dangerous move. National have now…
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Read this story to understand why the real economy in New Zealand struggles to get ahead of a volatile currency driven by overseas speculators that devalues our exports. They also like to talk our interest rates go up. If you're in Christchurch, come to the…
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The latest Roy Morgan poll makes grim reading for the left: The latest New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll shows support for John Key's National-led Government has strengthen considerably to 57.5% (up 3.5%), comprising National Party 52.5% (up 4%), Maori Party 3.5% (up 1%), ACT NZ…
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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 Party Trade Minister Tim Groser is facing allegations he was behaving drunk and rowdy on a flight back from a trade meeting in Dubai. If true, this is completely unacceptable behaviour from a Minister of the Crown. TVNZ reports: A member of the public…
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From Red Alert:
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Today, Google launched a new set of tools to help political candidates and activist organisastions engage with constituents and citizens. From the Google Public Sector Blog: We want to do our part to make sure candidates and campaigns have the tools to stay close to voters,…
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Stuff is reporting that Michael Lhaws won't stand again as Mayor of Whanganui. Maybe the town can now move forward without being burdened by Laws' race politics. Whanganui will be a better place without the former National Party researcher.
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After the first shocking news, Israel took control of information about their act of high seas piracy. From jamming the airwaves to stop the media reporting from the boats shortly after they boarded them, to keeping the protesters detained, they ensured that their side was…
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Another Nat MP is in the gun for failing to declare financial interests in line with Parliament's rules. The Taranaki Daily News is reporting that local National MP Jonathan Young (Herald journalist Audrey Young's brother) did not declare his directorship in a company that holds…
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Reprinted with permission from No Right Turn. If you want to be truly nauseated go see the video of Key's repeated refusal, smirking like a schoolboy here. So, having tried to claim he has no interest in his own not-blind trust, John Key is now…
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The Internet is a modern wonder. However if you have to run servers on it, often the biggest wonder is that it works at all. There are so many things that can go wrong with the transport of data from one place to another. Yesterday,…
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Back last year when National was being stung over Bill 'Double Dipton' English and other ministers rorting the accommodation allowance and misuse of ministerial credit cards, National thought they would get a bite back at Labour by releasing the credit card records for Labour's terms…
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A couple of our readers mentioned it in different threads yesterday. Janice: This morning, once again, our glorious yellow, lily livered chicken PM has refused a request for an interview on NatRad. His 2IC also refused. They don't want to talk about their plans for…
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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 next Fabian seminar on the Resilient Economy will be held in Christchurch on next Tuesday, 8th June. Speakers are Rick Boven from the New Zealand Insitutue and John Walley from the Manufacturers and Exporters Association. The title for the seminar is "Reshaping the New…
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There's increasing rumbles in the country side about a Country Party breaking away from National. The roots of this are in the anti-ETS backlash, which National brought upon itself with its behaviour in opposition. It's kind of like the Republicans' Tea Party in the States.…
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Fresh from a stinging rebuke from the public over mining, Gerry must have hoped he was on to a winner this time: Global oil giant Petrobras to explore in NZ Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee today announced that one of the world's largest oil companies, Petrobras,…
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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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I am ruling out selling Kiwibank at any point in the future Asset sales are on the table for a second term We won't be raising GST We're raising GST Returning Urewera is 'complex but doable' Returning Urewera is not an option My trust is…
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Strictly speaking this isn't about politics - but it is about how the world works. A friend of mine alerted me to this fascinating interview by Kim Hill with Gillian Turner, Senior Lecturer in Physics and Geophysics at Victoria University, and author of North Pole,…
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In the May budget Key broke his pre-election promise not to raise GST. Today, in the House, Jim Anderton foreshadowed what looks like the next unequivocal commitment that's set for the chop. The video is embedded below. Key: "We won't be cutting essential services, we'll…
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Recent posts and comments on the Standard have suggested that National may call an early election in 2011 because the Rugby World Cup's halo effect will be more valuable to them before the tournament than after it's over. David Farrar on Kiwiblog has downplayed the…