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There was no alternative. Either Banks could have sabotaged National's re-election prospects or he could resign. John Banks has done the decent thing for National and announced his resignation effective from this Friday. No doubt the platitudes will now start. But as far as I am…
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It's looking very likely that John Banks will be gone from parliament by Monday. Meanwhile, several mainstream journalists, head in sand, are going to bat for John Banks, claiming he hasn't really done anything wrong with respect to the verdict of guilty for filing a…
accountability crime election funding john banks newspapers spin
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Reposted from Imperator Fish where Scott Yorke likes to indulge in satire. At least we hope this is satire. It seems rather hard to tell when ex-police ministers are involved. As a senior member of the New Zealand Police, I would like to respond to…
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Nate Silver (The Signal and the Noise - the art and science of prediction) and website FiveThirtyEight uses an old idea to distinguish pundits as hedgehogs or foxes. Originating with Archilochus through Isaiah Berlin to it can be summed up as "the fox knows many…
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Reposted from here. Rob Salmond at Polity looks at the latest Roy Morgan poll. Earlier this week the latest Roy Morgan poll came out. It was not good news for the left, with National up well over 50% and the Labour/Greens combination languishing below 40%.…
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In August last year, the extensions to the GCSB law was passed by parliament, by just two votes. In November last year the TICS (Telecommunications Intercept Capability and Security Bill) passed into law (again by 2 votes; those of Peter Dunne and John Banks). The…
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My initial impression was that delaying John Banks' sentencing for filing a false electoral return to the day after Parliament had finished sitting was helpful to the Government. But on reflection this has created one big headache for ACT and for Key and National. All…
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The names of 20 short listed Internet Party candidates have been published. The list has a very fresh, diverse, youthful, talented and energetic feel to it. It's hard to say more from the thumbnail sketches included for each candidate. I would like to see them…
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There's a wee bit of irony in showing a program on inequality on expensive subscriber-only TV; but nonetheless there's an excellent new series on Face TV (Sky 83). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t_HDffwU9A It's a 6 part series and the first 4 parts are on Child Povery Action Groups'…
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In Kiwiblog this morning, David Farrar appeared to be running a 9th floor pre-pump for John Banks to resign. But I was rather incredulous when I read the following paragraph... I don’t think the Judge has actually helped the Government by delaying the decision on entering a…
blogs crime David Farrar education electoral systems john banks john key police political education you couldn't make this shit up
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The main NZ news outlets are reporting on the new digital speed cameras about to be progressively installed around the country. They report it as an improvement that will enable more accurate and efficient recording of people who drive above the speed limit. They fail…
accountability capitalism democracy under attack Spying sustainability telecommunications transport
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Meet Australia's President of the United States, Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the instigator of a wink-related scandal. He sometimes puts his foot in his mouth and other times chooses to say nothing at all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3IaKVmkXuk 665,777 page views. Reminds me of a time meeting Richard…
australian politics International uncategorized video youtube
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Reposted from here, No Right Turn looks at the Greens policy on abortion. http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-greens-support-abortion.html The Green Party has ratified a formal policy on abortion, making it the only party in Parliament to have one. It would legislate to decriminalise abortion and protect the right to…
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I see that Labour announced the restoration and increase of the Adult and Community Education (ACE) funding that National slashed back in 2009 and largely killed the programme throughout much of the country. Damn good idea. This used to be a vital step up for people and…
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Justice Wyllie's decision has been released and if you have ever worried about the independence of our Judiciary this decision should remover all concerns. He has drafted a simple yet comprehensive review of the evidence and his conclusion is IMHO logically faultless and damning of…
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It says a lot about the morals of this government that they're willing to continue to rely on the vote of a man who has been found guilty of electoral fraud. But Leader of the House Gerry Brownlee's happy with the outcome, with Banks not…
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It was standing room only at a packed Grand Hotel this evening for Hamish McDouall's campaign launch - "the biggest crowd they'd ever had at the Grand." One local told me of very good canvassing reports as well. Hamish gave a great speech - as…
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The decision is out and John Banks has been found guilty of electoral fraud. I will post a link to the judgment and some analysis later. Basically the Judge must have thought that Banks knew about the donations and engineered things so that the campaign treasurer…
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This afternoon Justice Wyllie in the High Court at Auckland is expected to announce his decision on the guilt or otherwise of John Banks of the charge of falsely declaring that donations from Kim Dotcom and Sky City were anonymous. This is a criminal trial…
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Earlier today David Farrar breathlessly announced that Labour had decided to remove the electoral coat tail rule. He declared this as being unconstitutional and said this: This is absolutely appalling. A Government that will ram through major electoral law changes under urgency, probably with no select committee hearings,…
blogs David Farrar election 2014 labour national same old national
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Rather predictably the media is starting to imply that the difference in policy between Labour and the Greens concerning which system is best to address climate change is a sign that they cannot work together. A recent Fairfax article titled "Labour opposes Green's Carbon Tax plan" contains…
climate change david cunliffe Environment ETS global warming greens labour
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The original of this post is here. Now that's she's done putting prisoners in containers and crushing boy-racer's cars, Judith Collins is trying to rob us of our free speech on the internet through the Harmful Digital Communications Bill. The bill would make hurting someone's feeling…
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Scott Yorke at Imperator Fish opines on electorate seats and inter-party relations. He generously allows us to repost. It’s all about the party vote. Electorate contests can be distracting, because in most cases they will be irrelevant to the result. A few electorate results will be…
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Rob Salmond nails it. Bomber is going a bit nuts and demonstrating his grasp of reality in politics. Last week's developments around Internet MANA have caused much conversation on the left in New Zealand. Some of that conversation has been constructive, strategic, and forward-thinking. And then…
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