Yesterday more planks in the NAct raft of small changes, were before the House. These small changes add up to major changes that whittle away the rights of individuals, undermine democracy, and increase hardship and insecurity for those on low incomes. Meanwhile the government is…
So, the GCSB has been systemically breaking its own law by assisting the SIS and Police to spy on New Zealanders - a clear violation of the GCSB Act and, potentially, the Crimes Act. Key leaked the report revealing this while he was overseas so…
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So, here's the play. Key's been caught asleep at the wheel of our spies. 88 people illegally spied on. Key knew last July, but didn't act until the Dotcom case brought things out in September. The Nats' goal is to deflect blame from Key (and…
Following the leaking of the Kitteridge GCSB report to the media (who had copies? who leaked?) and ructions in Parliament's question time today, the report has been released early. It is available here (or direct link to pdf). The timing is awfully convenient for the…
David SHEARER Labour Leader 09 April 2013 MEDIA STATEMENT Labour pays respect to Margaret Thatcher Labour is today paying its respects to the family, friends and colleagues of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who passed away overnight. “Baroness Thatcher was a passionate and formidable…
All sorts of ructions as a Danish politician described the powhiri she experienced in NZ as "uncivilised" and "grotesque". (Oddly enough she's from a right-wing party, who would have guessed?) So much so "ignorance as usual", but then up cropped Colin Craig, leader our very…
Any day now the Government will announce more changes to the Employment Relations Act. These changes will drive down wages and undermine the conditions of all workers. They will also remove the small amount of protection most cleaners and hospitality workers get when the business…
As I'm sure that many of you are aware, we had an outage commencing at about 2205 NZST last night and finally getting fixed at about 0825 this morning. I got notified about 10 minutes into the outage by my various ping systems that the…
... for her major contribution to my political education. I lived in London during the entire time Thatcher was prime minister. It was a time of major change; of intensive, collective anti-Thatcher political action; of street riots; of international conflicts; of turmoil; of increasing divisions; of…
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North Korea is playing nuclear brinksmanship at the moment. Its leadership probably doesn't want war but the constant threat of war is how it get concessions from the West, gains mana, and keeps its people in line. The West is trying to defuse this situation…
Having escaped his local disasters for some quiet time in China, John Key has been dabbling in international diplomacy and the dangerous situation surrounding the posturing of North Korea. After initial tough talk of war, Key has been backpedalling... Key plays down North Korea war…
Key's 'knucklehead' outburst has been interpreted by the more sycophantic parts of the press as a clever 'wedging' of the media from the public. The supposed logic, which a few journos surprisingly buy, is that the media is much less popular than him, so attacking…
Bill English has just admitted to Breakfast (good questioning by Nadine Chalmers-Ross) that the looters' bonus on Mighty River Power will cost around $40m. You and I can think of many valuable things this government could be doing with $40m, rather than giving it to…
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