The Key-Dunne spying Bill has met with overwhelming opposition. More people believe Kim Dotcom than John Key. The Fonterra scandal has trashed our "100% pure" brand internationally. Unemployment is rising again. Merridian float in trouble despite $30 Million handout. The new Nat housing policy sank…
As Karol reported last night John Key thinks that Kiwis are more concerned about the amount of snapper that they can catch then they are about their rights of privacy. Over the past few months many kiwis have repeatedly expressed concern about the GCSB and the…
National's "housing policy" - the centerpiece of their weekend conference - is a dog. All it does is reverse their previous cuts and tinker with the limits on loans in a way which only benefits a few -- as Eddie described it yesterday "by giving…
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I really don't think I need to add anything much to this video of John Key on tonight's Campbell Live. Asked about the GCSB Bill by a CL reporter, Rebecca Wright, Key doesn't want to talk about it, because he says New Zealanders are more interested…
Good piece by David Fisher on selling your privacy. Don't worry citizens consumers, it's nothing personal. It's just business: Spy access to NZ used as bargaining tool The ability for US intelligence agencies to access internet data was used as a bargaining tool by a…
The op ed pieces by columnists who most often are cheerleaders for John Key's government, are telling. They indicates where national is heading for their 2014 election campaign. This is not democracy. ... As argued by John Armstrong, and in some ways supported by Audrey Young,…
Crime is always "news", and this unfortunate case has had a lot of recent coverage: Police urge killer: 'Give yourself up' Convicted killer Phillip Layton Edwards, 33, is still on the run after allegedly kidnapping 2-year-old Gabriel Donnelly from the child's house in Panmure about…
With the Australian election just around the corner the interest in Australian blogs will ramp up. Can I recommend to everyone the Failed Estate Website. It is a blog run by experienced journalist Jim Parker who will be recognised as the voice that we hear…
So, let me see if I have this right: National's big announcement on affordable housing was the increase the income and house price limits for getting the Kiwisaver First Home Deposit Subsidy. In other words, pour more money into the over-heated housing market. And do…
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The Fonterra fiasco is turning into a genuine crisis and a huge risk to our economy. The latest this morning: Fonterra powder recalled in Sri Lanka Fonterra has been forced to defend its brand once again amid fresh claims milk powder from the company, being…
Following a successful application to access a sacked employee's bank statements, Air New Zealand has had its right to insert a prima nocta clause into all of its employment agreements backed by the Employment Relations Authority. The clause, which gives Air New Zealand senior management…
National is utterly predictable. Bash beneficiaries, weaken employee protection, attack the trade unions, and trash the environment represents for it business as usual. Yesterday it announced its proposal for further changes to the Resource Management Act. Most of the changes are technical and it will…
A Sunday feature - each week a random section scanned from a copy of The Standard, September 15th, 1938. Find out more here. Click on the image for a bigger version.
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...
My colleague Eddie had a go at Phil Goff this morning for dickish remarks, and fair enough too. But in the interests of keeping things in perspective, just a reminder as to which is the sexist party here. In National's cabinet just 1 of the…
Labour has an open and active policy process - with all its democratic advantages and political risks. National is run by money from the top down. It makes National conferences dull affairs. Here's The Herald's Armstrong on National's current Conference in the context of a…
It doesn't suit the Labour Party narrative - and indeed it's not their espoused philosophy - but every now and then National can't help but be "hands on". We've had the South Canterbury Finances in the past (won't somebody think of the shareholders!), but this…
The stupidity of Phil Goff's misogynist taunting of Chris Finlayson has been compounded by his refusal to apologise. Unfortunately Phil has a track record for this kind of transparent and disingenuous rationalising of his bad calls. Having notoriously tried to claimed he accepted SkyCity corporate…
Last week the Child poverty action group released, in two parts, a report into the links between poverty and child abuse (Part 1 pdf, Part 2 pdf). The media were (quite rightly) busy chasing the various spying scandals, so the reports didn't get the attention that…
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...
John Key is a bully who uses the powers of his office inappropriately. Every now and then someone calls him on it - Mike Joy, Jon Stephenson, Andrea Vance and Bradley Ambrose being examples. Now it is the turn of Law Society member Rodney Harrison…
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?
The Governments attack on workers pay seems even more nasty given the stats released this week that show wages stagnating as prices increase especially those prices that workers spend their money on - housing, power, food etc. But the changes to the ERA going through…
Very early on in the Fonterra scandal there was speculation as to whether the cause of the contamination would be shown to be a product of deregulation. Sure enough, Stuff's Pattrick Smellie makes a good case: Is this a Pike River moment for food safety?…
Yesterday John Key gave $30 Million of tax payer's money to Rio Tinto in order to prop up its electricity deal with Meridian - and thus to prop up his privatisation ideology. (I note in passing that Rio Tinto just posted a 6 monthly profit…