National's Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill will do significant damage to local democracy as they seek to restrict councils to "core" services, put in fiscal constraints, put power into fewer hands and override local concerns with amalgamations. Overall the legislation is shoddy. The Regulatory…
Now we learn that directors' fees are set to double after National sells our assets. Who pays for the fat-cats to get twice the cream for the same work? We do. Through higher power prices. It's just another cost of privatisation that we all pay…
"More than 20,000 unemployed people will be moved off the benefit within five years if the Government manages to meet its newly announced targets." Yes, but a target isn't a plan. Being out of work increases the risk of poverty, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett…
National's latest plan to save the country - make another list of targets! Targets that we won't know have been achieved or not until 2018 - National would need to be a 4 term government to ever be held accountable to these targets. Once again,…
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...
There - "Cameron announces Tory plan to slash benefits." Here - "The Government wants Work and Income to cut the number of long-term beneficiaries on a working-age benefit by 30 percent over five years, Prime Minister John Key has just announced." Probably what the posh…
You'll really want to know this - the queen has just updated the curtsy order. "Blood princesses" come first, so if William isn't there Kate has to curtsy to Anne, Alexandra, and even Beatrice and Eugenie!!! What is the world coming to, I hear you…
Everyone knows the "Nanny state" meme. If, heaven forbid, a government should try and reduce energy consumption (carbon emissions, people's power bills and the like) by mandating energy efficient lightbulbs, then a certain kind of political opponent can paint that as "Nanny state", too much…
This free Fabian Society seminar is on tomorrow Tuesday in Wellington at Connolly Hall in Guilford Street, starting at 5:30pm All welcome; you can register here. Will be interesting.
The Greens have discovered that National is having world heritage areas in Northland and the West Coast aerial surveyed for minerals. They're exploiting a loophole where some of the heritage areas haven't been included in Schedule 4 of the Conservation Act Crown Minerals Act. The…
The Right would have us believe that the election was a referendum on asset sales and nothing else. Well, let's take a closer look at the results of that 'referendum'. Yeah, there's no mandate there.
There is a sociopathic policy of the leadership at ACC, which sees staff financially incentivised to push long-term claimants off ACC leading to many of them going on the benefit rather than getting rehabilitation. Now, we have proof that this policy came right from the…
National's record on local government is horrific: the lack of consultation as they rammed through the Supercity; the canning of ECAN, and continued suspension of democracy in Canterbury; the pushing of asset sales on an unwilling Christchurch. And their latest attack - the Local Government…
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...