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I/S at No Right Turn had several good posts up yesterday, here's one of them: Numbers out of his arse Remember when the opposition challenged the government on its plans to bribe the rich with taxpayers' money via an asset sales "bonus scheme"? And remember when John Key slapped…
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It makes no sense to sell the assets National want to sell. But the particular economic cases just keeps getting worse. This week it appears things went disastrous. Bill English had to admit that Solid Energy is unlikely to sell. It's having to review its…
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Sunday, 19 August 2012, 7:00 pm Press Release: Green Party Joint Statement on Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, Australian Greens, Green Party of Canada) As the Green parliamentary political parties of three nations whose governments are currently in the process of…
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The Nats are admitting the wheels are coming of their asset sales programme. Solid Energy's revenue is in free-fall. So is AirNZ's. Nobody can predict the impact the water rights issue will have on the power companies. And Meridian is playing chicken with its main…
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You have to remember sometimes that Steven Joyce's introduction to politics was as a campaign strategist. That explains why he is still obsessed with style over substance. He's released the second of six glossy publications from his new Mobie super-ministry. Like the previous one -…
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Z has set a new record for petrol prices with 91 up to $2.23. The others are expected to follow. We are in a new oil shock due to peak oil. The once unimaginable $2 a litre is now the low price. Ironically, the high…
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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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Interesting piece on Stuff this morning: ERO drops decile ratings from reports The decile rating of schools has been scrapped from Education Review Office reports. ERO chief review officer Dr Graham Stoop made the surprise announcement yesterday in an effort to "correct the stereotype that…
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So, a pre-planned trip to watch a son's baseball and a week's holiday in the States is more important than attending 2 soldiers' funerals. But attending 3 soldiers' funerals outranks attending the Pacific Island Forum attended by the region's leaders. A question for the reader:…
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It was standing room only in Auckland last night to hear David Parker, introduced by David Shearer, on Labour's economic policy. Over 200 people packed the Polish society clubrooms in Morningside, and gave Parker's ideas a warm reception, with plenty of good questions and answers…
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Compare the latest figures on CEO pay to the median income of New Zealanders and to the minimum wage. It isn't a pretty picture. The average CEO gets 10 times the pay of a full-time minimum wage worker or the income of the typical Kiwi.…
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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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There are just short of 630,000 people aged 20-29. A net 33,000 of them have left for Australia under National - 13,000 in the last year. That's twice the rate of emigration under Labour. There's also twice as many unemployed in this age group -…
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Reprinted with permission from Dave Kennedy (bsprout) at Local Bodies: 15 Ethical "Fails" Under National! What is ethical behaviour? Answer Ethical behaviour is characterized by honesty, fairness and equity in interpersonal, professional and academic relationships and in research and scholarly activities. Ethical behaviour respects the…
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Structural discrimination is alive and well in NZ. It makes nonsense of all the right-wing "one law for all" and beneficiary bashing rhetoric, but anyone with two honest brain cells in their head knows that it's true. A new report from the Human Rights Commission…
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3 New Zealand soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. 5 dead in a fortnight. That's a big cost. All in the same area of Bamiyan Province. John Key has used American chickenhawk language saying "we won't cut and run". Actually, we're…
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The media is reporting that three more Kiwi soldiers have been killed in a bomb attack in Afghanistan. Our hearts go out to their family and friends.
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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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One of the most depressing aspects of the whole Kim Dotcom fiasco (so far) has been the way NZ has operated as a pawn of America. Under guidance from the FBI we merrily launched an illegal and allegedly unnecessarily violent raid on Dotcom and his…
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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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This week our MPs have been back in Parliament, holding National to account on the issues that matter to New Zealanders. Education is top of our agenda. National is running down our public education system. They’re not ruling out increasing class sizes in future. And…
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From my view in the cheap seats it seems that there's been plenty of tension in the last couple of weeks between two different “visions" for Labour and its policy direction. Option one, coming up from the grassroots, is moving to the left. More actively…
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When he was Don Brash's campaign manager, Steven Joyce used to talk about the 'optics' being what matters. Well, let's consider the optics of a fat, bald old man personally insulting three good-looking young journalists every time they ask him sensible questions. If I were…
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Whaleoil misunderstands Colonial Fleet Uniform Code of Justice By Colonial Viper On August 17, the impartial political journalist extraordinaire Whaleoil wildly accused me of venting “death threats” against the Pagani family The Standard and Death Threats | Whale Oil Beef Hooked | A blog by…
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Mighty River, when its water use rights are in doubt? Meridian, when its deal with its largest customer is in question? Solid Energy, when it is reviewing all its operations due to the high dollar? Genesis, when Meridian could flood the market with cheap power…
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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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I could hardly believe my ears this morning when I heard about Paula Bennett's plan to drug test beneficiaries and cut their benefits if they fail. Yeah that's the problem that's preventing people from finding work. Drugs. Not the 6.8 percent unemployment rate (and it's…
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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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You can't really understand and fix a problem unless you have some reference points to measure progress against. So, when Paula Bennett's Green Paper on poverty said that 20% of children live in poverty, people said 'wow, what are you policies to reduce this and…
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The Greens' successful call for an Auditor General's probe into the Government's pokies-for-convention-centre deal with SkyCity has stalled the negiotations - despite the Nats' claims it wouldn't derail their attempt to sell our gambling law. No meetings have been held since the A-G's investigation began…