Open mike 31/07/2015
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Daily Review 30/07/2015
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
John Key – Snake Oil Salesman
John Key has tried to suggest that we have nothing to worry about planned changes to Pharmac caused by TPP. But a recent further release by Wikileaks on the effects of the Trans Pacific Partnership on State Owned Enterprises makes you wonder if the implications of TPP on Pharmac are as limited as he says.
We can do better on health and safety
Labour is proposing a set of amendments to fix the Health and Safety Reform Bill. They need the support of Peter Dunne and the Māori Party. Will they do the right thing?
What’s a charter school gotta do?
What exactly does a charter school have to do in order to be held accountable?
We’re going to sign a rubbish deal
We’re not making progress on dairy in the TPP negotiations, but the smart money reckons we’re going to sign anyway.
Update: Read what a real journalist has to say on the current state of negotiations.
Open mike 30/07/2015
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Daily Review 29/07/2015
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.
Craig suing Slater – bring popcorn
Colin Craig is suing Cameron Slater and Jordan Williams in defamation.
Updated with booklet.
left wing leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn well ahead
Hard lefty Jeremy Corbyn has a 22 pt lead in the UK Labour leadership race. The Labour Party Blairites are definitely not happy.
Breathless children
Tim Groser has some advice for us on the TPP – “We need adults to do this, not breathless children to run off at the mouth when the deal is not actually finished.”
Jumped tripped or fell
Giving away the shop for nothing
We are giving away the shop and we don’t know what if anything we will get in terms of dairy access yet. Our negotiators have signaled that they are weak. And even if we get what we want it is probably worth bugger all anyway.
Kia kaha New Zealand First
Winston Peters was thrown out of Parliament yesterday and New Zealand First MPs walked out in sympathy for raising points of order following a personal explanation from Anne Tolley where she corrected an answer to a parliamentary question that was clearly wrong.
Open mike 29/07/2015
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Daily Review 28/07/2015
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.
The great Chinese sharemarket selldown
The Chinese Stock market sell off has started again a couple of weeks after rather desperate measure were put in place. The question has to be what will the Government do now?
What will National give away?
Labour has set out its bottom lines for supporting the TPP. My question to National and its supporters – which of Labour’s bottom lines are you prepared to give away, and why?
Update: We can cross off point 1, Key sells out Pharmac.
Internal polling apparently good
It’s not a good idea in general to comment on internal polling. But since they were discussed on other blogs yesterday – Labour’s current numbers are looking good.
Open mike 28/07/2015
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Daily Review 27/07/2015
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.
Oram on the regions
Rod Oram looks at the way the regions are stifled in his Sunday Star Times piece.
20 years of preferred PM
Then they came for the Health Boards
It appears that the Government has a radical proposal to undermine democratic participation in our Health Boards. Although the Minister claims not to know about it.
National’s lightweight conference
National had a conference in the weekend. They used it to re-announce some Labour policy, but otherwise if you noticed it was probably because of the protest outside.
Open mike 27/07/2015
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Voters want foreign buyer ban – but LAB doesn’t benefit
Most Kiwis back a ban on foreign property buyers but this hasn’t translated into a boost for Labour. Critically, Key’s popularity drops under 40%.
3News Poll: National Lose Lead
The latest 3News/Reid Research poll continues the trend of bad results for National. On these numbers, National are knackered. And, surprise, surprise, Kiwis don’t want non-residents buying up our houses. Not a great way to finish a conference weekend, is it?
291 workers dead since Pike River: where’s the law we were promised?
National Party delegates were greeted at their conference today by a sea of crosses representing the 291 workers who have died on the job since the Pike River disaster.
National’s week from hell
This was the week from hell for National when they experienced the Serco fiasco, news that they responded to a suggestion they close a failing Charter School by giving it more money, the Judicial spanking of their undermining of the Problem Gambling Foundation and the ruling that their legislation removing the rights of some prisoners to vote was a breach of the country’s human rights.
Paula Bennett feeds raw meat to the base about Social Housing waiting lists
Paula Bennett wants us to believe that people on Housing Corporation’s waiting lists are choosy.
Open mike 26/07/2015
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It’s not just Serco, it’s state operated prisons
Recent focus has been on the tragedy and incompetence of a Serco run private prison. But problems extend further than that, into the entire way NZ views its prison system. We need fundamental penal reform.
Admitting failure on private prisons
The Nats have been forced to call in the good old-fashioned state to clear up Serco’s mess.
National’s law ruled a violation of human rights
The High Court has ruled that a law passed by National in 2010 is a violation of the Bill of Rights Act. This is a first for NZ, and another “proud” item to add to National’s legacy.
Open mike 25/07/2015
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