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Well that didn't take long. Paul Henry, chucked off the telly here in NZ, left for a new TV presenting role in Australia in March. Predictably: Paul Henry slammed for asylum seeker comments Australian TV viewers and media critics have slammed Paul Henry for "sick"…
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Not content with selling your assets off, National has put aside $120,000,000 of your money to tell you that you should like it. And, just to add more salt to the wound, Bill English has described the cost as "low by market standards". That's right,…
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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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Minister for Talking Big and Not Delivering, Steven Joyce, had his second opinion piece in the Herald of the year (the Herald doesn't usually run politicians' opinion pieces) and, naturally, it bore no relation to the 'vision' in the previous one, or any of the…
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Another poll to add to current mix. Not a big shift, but in the right direction, and getting the right kinds of headline: National support slips further - poll Support for John Key's National Party has fallen 2.5 per cent in the latest Roy Morgan…
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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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Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here. New Red Wiggle, Trevor Mallard Labour MP Trevor Mallard has confirmed rumours that he will be the new Red Wiggle from 2013. The legendary band announced…
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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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Underneath the 'common-sense' exterior, and all that hair, Peter Dunne is an angry man. He lashed out that those who pointed out he's voting for asset sales he never told his electorate he would support. He screamed at losing TVNZ7 - Backbenches is his one…
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Highways and fiscal responsibility This week the government is pre-announcing the Budget, softening us up for higher prescription charges, fewer teachers, and a further assault on beneficiaries. Meanwhile, they're spending billions on "Roads of National Significance" that do not meet basic cost-benefit tests, to service…
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A good article in the Guardian yesterday - by Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson, authors of The Spirit Level. They argue that despite the UK government saying that tackling social mobility as its guiding purpose, the fact that "tackling the financial deficit is the coalition's most…
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You have to take your hat off to National's spin doctors, coming up with the plausible-sounding nonsense line that low interest rates mean affordable housing isn't needed. But it led to this on RNZ this morning (no links yet)- Phil Heatley: "we're pleased that we're…
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Across the country, the number of party votes National received fell in 2011, except for in Christchurch. Given turn-out fell 10%, the fact more people voted National was a sobering moment for critics of how the rebuild is being handled. Or perhaps not. Now, 87%…
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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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John Key is doing his best to keep poor people from coming to his electorate. Whilst it's not like he visits there often himself, he's still aiming to keep poor people committing the "economic vandalism" of living in a nice suburb - where apparently only…
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No Right Turn on the latest case of Banks failing to declare donations. Will Parliament hold its own to account? Parliament is less than six months old, and already we've had the first case of an MP falsifying their pecuniary interest declaration, with John Banks failing…
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Brilliant Emmerson cartoon in The Herald (if you're missing the reference, see this controversial Time front page):
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In a surprising pre-Budget u-turn, Prime Minister John Key has announced the Government will drop its policy of incrementally introducing performance pay for teachers and, instead, introduce it for ministers. "Listening to Hekia Parata fluff her way through her spin lines on the teacher cuts,…
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The characteristic signature of a Talley's Group company spin that I've observed over the last five years on this site has to do with their worker relationships. They lie, prevaricate, and fracture the truth whenever it comes to the welfare of their workers. They appear to be…
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Judith Collins has finally filed defamation action against Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little. She's waited until close to the Budget so that the story would be quickly overshadowed and then forgotten. You see, Collins had foolishly got herself between a rock and a hard place.…
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If there was any doubt that National has an anti-teacher, anti-education agenda, it's gone. Increasing class sizes will 'save' $43m a year by reducing the number of teachers that would otherwise be required by 500. National standards will be used for performance pay. It's a…
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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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The Jackal raised the question of corruption in relation to John Banks in a comment on Eddie's "met or meet" post, and has written more about it on his blog. It was based on Dave Fisher's revelations in today's Herald. DotCom's bodyguard reported that in July…
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There are 72 days to the Olympics, which is what many people are counting down to - but the planet will be much more interested in the Rio+20 conference in 36 days. This is the chance for world leaders to put global society on a…
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TVNZ7, in its current form, will stop broadcasting on the 30th of June and will be changed to a plus one channel along the same lines as TV3 Plus One. Now I don’t know about you, but I could live without seeing another repeat of…
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John Key will be regretting his moan about the media yesterday. His reward has been to be shown to be lying in the banks.com affair. Key has previously claimed he first heard of Dotcom (a flamboyant multi-millionaire living in the most expensive house in the…
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His policies (such that they are) aren't working, his government is now being questioned, his economy is stuck in the doldrums, so naturally Key is looking for someone to blame: Key: Media 'aggressive and hostile' toward Govt Mr Key on Newstalk ZB this morning responded…
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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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Rebekah and Charlie Brooks have been charged with perverting the course of justice in relation to the News International phone-hacking affair. Others to be charged are Mrs Brooks's former PA Cheryl Carter, the company's head of security Mark Hanna, News International chauffeur Paul Edwards and…
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So, Cunliffe was invited on The Nation. He said, yup but not if leadership nonsense is raised. Garner agreed. Then the leader office said it should be Parker as Finance spokesperson this close to the Budget. Cunliffe agreed. And this is meant to be some…