Slightly redesigned in support of #CampbellLives. Daily review is also your post. This provides Standarnistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don't forget to be kind to each other.
Another excellent piece by Dita De Boni: Bottom line for mental health services The most vulnerable are likely to suffer with the introduction of ‘social bonds’ for the private sector. In the United States, about $2 billion each year is shaved off community mental healthcare…
It's not often that you'll catch Tova O'Brien holding the government to account, but when she does she doesn't mince words: National's health and safety backdown disgrace ...Mark Samoa was one of 100 New Zealanders killed at work every year. That is our national average.…
Aotearoa is heading towards banana republic status. Because every last capable progressive journalist we have is being dealt to. Last week we experienced the demise of Campbell Live, a doyen of left wing journalists who survived amongst corporate media because he was damned good. Apparently…
Rightly or wrongly, the foreshore and seabed issue was the beginning of the end for the last Labour government. Strange that National seem determined to follow in their footsteps: https://twitter.com/MaikiSherman/status/606290941561872384 Here's the longer version: Government will go to court over Auckland Crown land sales, John…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Slightly redesigned in support of #CampbellLives. Daily review is also your post. This provides Standarnistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don't forget to be kind to each other.
Remember dirty politics? Do you recall that even though there was no evidence that the left had ever smeared public servants, hacked computer systems, leaked information to bloggers who then attacked critics of the Government and facilitated the release of SIS information so that Phil Goff could be…
New Greens co-leader James Shaw made climate change his defining issue, and issued a challenge to John Key to discuss common ground and work towards climate change solutions. Naturally Key, who always puts politics ahead of the common good, declined with bad grace and worse…
Yesterday we covered National's blunder in not considering Treaty settlement obligations in its plans to free up state land for Auckland housing. Today you can read someone who actually knows what they're talking about on the issue, check out Professor Geddis' piece at Pundit: A…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HVogejKx_c Slightly redesigned in support of #CampbellLives. Daily review is also your post. This provides Standarnistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don't forget to be kind to each other.
A copy of what appears to be a draft of the NZ Labour Party's review of election 2014 has been publicised by the visual entertainment arm of Mediaworks. The review was compiled by a small committee convened by the vastly experienced Bryan Gould. It's a…
I/S at No Right Turn: Rubberstamping surveillance A couple of stories from overseas about what a poor job the courts are doing of overseeing surveillance. First, from the UK, where 93% of police requests to access phone and email records are granted, and police submit…
National rushed through some panicked policy for freeing up Auckland land for housing in time for the budget. As with most rushed policy, they have made a bit of a mess of it. The rough edges are showing: Housing Minister defends plan to free up…
“I expect high standards from my Ministers … if they don’t meet the standards I set then obviously I will take action if necessary”—John Key, November 2008 You have to wonder how Murry McCully is surviving the mess known as Sheepgate. With every further detail…
National standards are all about producing league tables. Never mind that league tables are a terrible idea, the data that the tables are based on are (still) nonsense. From RNZ this morning: National standards results 'lack dependability' The latest in a series commissioned by the…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
The National Party and the pervy PM have taken a bit of a hiding in the latest Reid Research poll. Down 3.4% in the party ratings and a whopping 4.6% in the preferred PM poll, National have some thinking to do. And Judith Collins has…
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standarnistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don't forget to be kind to each other.
How did we come to this? When did New Zealanders become convinced that the care of the most vulnerable in our society, and particularly of those suffering mental illness and disability, should be treated as an opportunity to make a profit rather than as a…
From The Herald summary: National's support fell one point to 48 per cent, while Labour remained on 31 per cent and Greens rose one point to 10 per cent. I'll cautiously call the previous Roy Morgan, which caused so much angst, an outlier. The poll…
Good interview with new Greens co-leader James Shaw on RNZ this morning. I don't have time to transcribe, but here's a summary: == Shaw's main focus will be climate change. He has issued a challenge John Key to find common cause on climate change, the…
In Tony Abbott's Australia there was a recent attempt to attack a fundamental human right, that of citizenship by granting the Minister of Immigration the right to withdraw an individual's Australian citizenship, even if it was the only citizenship the individual had. It was a…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
This is the sort of thing that only a Merchant Banker would think was a good idea. The Government is planning to issue "Social Bonds" to corporations and individuals investing in social services with the expectation that market forces will produce a superior result. One News has reported:…
https://twitter.com/BeeFaerie/status/605095511066963970 At the top of the list of Queens Birthday Honours recipients are Peter Gluckman, Jim McLay, Pita Sharples and Peter Tally. Can anyone see a pattern? And was Talley's philanthropy to the National Party which John Key thinks is a charity?
Get your written submission in before Wednesday! See fixourfuture for an easy to use web form, or here for general advice. The government has held a series of consultation meetings with we the public on "setting New Zealand’s post-2020 climate change target". I attended the…