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Clean green 100% pure New Zealand? Or the only nation in the world to vote against measures to stop the extinction of the world's rarest dolphins? The Hector's dolphins in the seas surrounding John Key's electorate are the world's rarest, and their close relatives the…
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John Key is one kind of Wizard all right - a Wizard of Oz. He can make people disappear there. Duncan Garner rips in to him: It's a long way from what John Key was saying in 2008 - when he stood in Wellington's 36,000…
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Weekend social is for non political chat. What's on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no aggro, why can't we all just get along?
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Grant Robertson, in the House speaking on Paula Bennett’s “Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill - First Reading”, gave an impassioned speech. He said many things that are similar to what I said here, about social obligations and a mutually beneficial social…
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From No Right Turn: Charter schools in the UK As everyone knows by now, thanks to ACT, our government is experimenting with charter schools, using the children of Christchurch and South Auckland as guinea pigs in their ideological experiment. That's bad, but it could be…
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The ever forward looking and even-handed Herald devotes its editorial to attacking Labour for supporting Winston Peters' Bill to make some small changes to the Reserve Banks' objectives to bring them more in line with Australia's. Leaving aside the fact that the Herald hasn't attacked…
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National is celebrating the creation of 1300 jobs (only 300 permanent) with a prison. How many more prisons would they have to build to reverse the increase in unemployment under their watch and create 65,000 permanent jobs? Only 217. And you know what the anthem…
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I'm puzzled by the timeline on the Banks scandal. The police report is dated 03 July 2012 (end of the Executive Summary, page 10 of the pdf). Details were available to the media on 26 July. On 31 July there was an interesting exchange in…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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So the Nats came up with this fabulous populist idea of boot camps for our kids. Evidence said it wouldn't work, but there's a lot of old National folk out there that would like to bring back conscription, put some discipline in our youth etc…
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Another great Tom Scott cartoon today:
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Anyone notice that the Right's arguments against ownership of water - apart from being a willful confusion of ownership in rights to water, which is what iwi are actually inserting and which are clearly enjoyed by a range of people under our law at present,…
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Does anyone have the number for John Key's supplier? Because when he answered a question in the House yesterday about poverty and low pay by saying that in his paradise, Planet Key, there would be no toilets and no jobs, my first thought was 'man,…
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David Clark's private member's Bill to increase the minimum wage to $15 / hour was voted down at its first reading in Parliament last night. The Nats are repeating the lie that increasing the minimum wage costs jobs - no it doesn't. The vote was…
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National says that opening up publicly-owned ports to the transparency that all our other publicly-owned organisations are subject to would be "taking New Zealand backwards". Accountability is "inefficient" (failed port management hiding behind the lack of OIA coverage isn't). Apparently, having to answer a few…
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Well it's official. The government has no interest in allowing you to know how your money is being spent. That's been made clear in their opposition to Darien Fenton's port transparency bill - a bill designed simply to make publicly owned ports subject to the…
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I think that Kim Dotcom is actually a very savvy operator. Turning up to Parliament on the second day of questions (not today, when Key won't be in the House) was inspired. It ensured another day of coverage. Then, his words: "It's a very fragile…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Over the last week, the government’s off-world set of distorted realities has come to the foreground: those of “Planet John Key” and “Planet Paula”. This is a reversal of National’s spin lines of attack against (so-called) “Planet Labour”, most noticeably in Question Time in Parliament.…
brand key child welfare Economy jobs john key Metiria Turei national national/act government paula bennett same old national
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h/t lolNats
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I saw this story on Friday saying about how the number of jobs available on seek.co.nz is up (no doubt a press release ensuring seek free advertising...). Paula Bennett and John Key regularly come up with stories about how many jobs there are out there…
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Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here. - Shane Taurima again interviews John Key Shane: Prime Minister John Key joins us now. Prime Minister, you've taken a lot of heat over your decision…
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Only 12 people turned up to Key's first sham talks with iwi. He might have gotten a better turnout if he had come with cupcakes or, you know, a genuine intention to negotiate in good faith. That turn-out - its Tainui's way of saying 'see…
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Notice how the only people who "believe" John Banks are the ones who haven't (and won't) read the police report? Key: But Prime Minister John Key is clinging onto Mr Banks – a crucial vote that keeps him in power. In fact, Mr Key refuses…
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In the House yesterday, Metiria Turei threw National's 'Planet Labour/Planet Green' line back at Key, asking if ordinary people get to break the law too or if that privilege is reserved for ministers on Planet Key. Like all little bullies, Key couldn't take it back.…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Paula Bennett's 143-page second welfare changes bill is out - with a nasty added sting in the tail. Anyone who refuses a 'suitable' job will be blocked from getting a benefit for 13 weeks. 'Suitable' means any work with 20-40 hours per week for the…
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How to lose an American election. Tell America that you don't care about 47% of them: [M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. Plenty of other gaffes in…
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Yesterday the 'sphere was all a-twitter with reaction to John Armstrong's rant at "parasitical bloggers". Edwards and Campbell, the targets of Armstrong's misguided spleen, have both replied, let's hope that's the end of the celebrity gossip angle. But Campbell, who is in my opinion the…