Greenpeace, 350 Aotearoa and the Coal Action Network have jointly urged John Key not to send Tim Groser to Paris for the climate change talks. They have also started an online campaign using the hashtag #Groserdontgo. Following is the text of their press release which…
Gordon Campbell (one of the last known practitioners of the dying art of journalism) claims that the TPP dairy deal is already done. Gordon Campbell on New Zealand’s TPP done deal on dairy, and on investor-state disputes For five years, the public has been denied…
The Government is busily trying to blame Child Youth and Family for its inability to handle the tsunami of social problems caused by child poverty. It clearly wants to make dramatic change to the Service and then claim that it has done something. Earlier…
SATAN'S CHOICE By Bonita Wagner Yesterday Phil Goff addressed Judith Collin's interesting diatribe about Corbyn by accusing her of beginning her move against John Key (and therefore Steven Joyce). Phil Goff is not, as some of you may…
Judith Collins probably felt pretty pleased with her Sunday opinion piece: Judith Collins: Centre voters just the core, the action is on the fringes Thanks to Jeremy Corbyn's staggering rise to the top of the ranks in the British Labour Party, all I am hearing…
In the news this weekend: State may try to stop some families having more children Some families who have come to the attention of authorities may be stopped from having more children by the Government. ... Tolley acknowledged it would be a "huge step" for…
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 New Zealand Herald has always been essentially a cheerleader for the right. Its right wing dominated pages were however subject to the occasional burst of clearness and light provided by the likes of Brian Rudman and Dita di Boni. It also had writers capable…
Recent events have shown an unfortunate variation in the way that the Government handles issues concerning wildlife. During this month it has expressed willingness to house a couple of pandas at great cost while at the same time it has shown disregard for the future…
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 …
Bunnings staff are striking today after rejecting unfair contracts: Bunnings staff striking at New Zealand stores About 70 Bunnings workers delivered a strike notice at the company's head office on Thursday. First Union Retail and finance secretary Maxine Gay said Bunnings was proposing a collective…
How crap is it that we have come to this: Key told not to attend Paris and to pull NZ delegation Friday, 25 September 2015, 10:01 am Press Release: Greenpeace A coalition of environmental organisations (1), is calling for John Key not to attend the…
Pope Francis is a breath of fresh air. While I have some pretty fundamental issues with aspects of Catholicism, there's no denying that Francis is saying many things that need to be said. He's given two important speeches recently, the first (full text) to 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 …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas 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.
There are two critical things to understand about the Greens in this matter. One is that they use the term ‘work with’ to mean work on policy. They don’t mean it to support formation of government (either via coalition or Confidence and Supply). The other…
The AgResearch job cuts are terrible news. Bad for science (why would any young person choose science as a career?), bad for agriculture, bad for the economy. What could possibly make it worse? I know! - Cutting research on greenhouse gases: Research 'abandoned' in AgResearch…
German car manufacturer Volkswagen have gamed pollution tests. Turns out their ‘clean green’ diesels are anything but. The Guardian reckons that the nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from the diesel cars produced by just this one company could equate to the cumulative emissions of NOx from…
Don't get me wrong. Some of my best friends are Green and if I did not have so much Labour DNA in me I would probably have joined the Greens. But I wonder if their deal with National this week over Red Peak was a…
It is great to see Dita de Boni back online, now writing for TVNZ: https://twitter.com/KeepingMum/status/646459543560392704 Good stuff: We can splash the cash on pandas but we can't keep NZ scientists in jobs ... This week, despite the fact the Government pooh-poohed it every time someone…
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 …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas 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.
We have the documents leading up to the what can only be described as a dreadful piece of law legalising employment agreements which tie workers to an employer without any of the reciprocity of guaranteed hours of work. It all started with the spectacular Unite campaign…
The first candidate has announced that he is seeking the super city Mayoralty. It is right winger Mark Thomas. He is well known as National's candidate in Wellington Central in 1996 who could have won the seat but was undermined by Jim Bolger's endorsement of Richard…
Key won power in 2008 on a diet of dead rats ("communism by stealth" anyone?). Since then, his government has been fanatically poll / focus group driven, and Key has racked up an impressive range of flip flops / U-turns. It has worked in terms…
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 …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas 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.
Gareth Morgan pulls no punches on the flag fiasco: Gareth Morgan: Mangled flag process has lost the public ... When the flag change campaign was first announced the number were 88 per cent against change. As the public discussion and debate progressed over subsequent months…
The Government yesterday released the Loopy Rules Report. I had a bit of a read of it and it looks like a state subsidised bitch session rather than a serious attempt to analyse and propose reforms for central and local government processes. The report is…
The Government's rules reduction taskforce has come up with the daft idea of letting 'some' builders self-certify. Like similar "experts" back in the 1990's, who similarly thought that removing council oversight of building practices would improve productivity, they are safely away from the downstream carnage and…