The Standard

Daily Review – 02/05/2016

Written By:
Date published: 6:00 pm, May 2nd, 2016 - 32 comments

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 …

Maybe stop dropping it…

Written By:
Date published: 11:28 am, May 2nd, 2016 - 151 comments

…the hot potato – stop dropping it. Maybe grow the fuck up and react intelligently to the blindingly obvious.

Key chucks his “lawyer” under a bus

Written By:
Date published: 10:04 am, May 2nd, 2016 - 125 comments

Key has form on lying, you’d hope that his “lawyer” does not.

Budget month

Written By:
Date published: 9:36 am, May 2nd, 2016 - 14 comments

National’s budgets are boring affairs, but they will be hoping for some distraction from current events.

Tax haven questions for National

Written By:
Date published: 7:02 am, May 2nd, 2016 - 36 comments

The weekend saw the pressure stay on National over our tax haven status, and the role Key might have played in protecting it.

Open mike 02/05/2016

Written By:
Date published: 6:00 am, May 2nd, 2016 - 44 comments

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 …

Dunne concerned about “extremely damaging” tax haven label – years too late

Written By:
Date published: 3:35 pm, May 1st, 2016 - 52 comments

Peter Dunne is concerned about the ‘extremely damaging’ tax haven label. Guyon Espiner points out that he used to call it ‘legitimate tax avoidance’.

Garner – government “missing in action”

Written By:
Date published: 8:15 am, May 1st, 2016 - 47 comments

Duncan Garner reckons the government is “missing in action” on housing. Similar pieces could be written about poverty, pollution, the rising debt, carbon emissions, the use of NZ as a tax haven, etc.

Open mike 01/05/2016

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Date published: 6:00 am, May 1st, 2016 - 85 comments

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 …

Labour’s strong week – National and land sales to foreigners

Written By:
Date published: 9:05 am, April 30th, 2016 - 63 comments

Labour had a strong week this week with the disclosure of individuals behind a Mossack Fonseca related entity had criminal convictions for environmental damage forcing the OIO to review its original decision.   Grant Robertson has correctly called for a full inquiry into the circumstances relating to the Government stopping a review of the Foreign Trust regime.  And Phil Twyford has persuaded the OAG to rule that Housing New Zealand’s handling of parts of the housing sale process were sub standard.

Hilary Barry quits TV3 (for TVNZ?)

Written By:
Date published: 9:03 am, April 30th, 2016 - 23 comments

All the best to Hilary Barry in whatever she chooses next.

Who needs water anyway

Written By:
Date published: 8:09 am, April 30th, 2016 - 46 comments

Or waterways are starting to stink as much as our murky tax havens.

Open mike 30/04/2016

Written By:
Date published: 6:00 am, April 30th, 2016 - 63 comments

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 29/04/2016

Written By:
Date published: 6:00 pm, April 29th, 2016 - 11 comments

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 …

Key’s Blind Trust vs Our Blind Faith

Written By:
Date published: 4:19 pm, April 29th, 2016 - 29 comments

So Key’s lawyer reckons the PM directly requested that trust industry leaders lobby the Revenue Minister. On the other hand, PM DunnoKeyo reckons he did no such thing. That leaves some really big questions …

If you need a good laugh this morning

Written By:
Date published: 10:30 am, April 29th, 2016 - 71 comments

“Nick Smith reckons Akld housing’s more affordable now than before National came to power”

Grant Robertson: Full independent inquiry needed to save New Zealand’s reputation

Written By:
Date published: 10:17 am, April 29th, 2016 - 35 comments

Grant Robertson is calling for a full inquiry into circumstances surrounding the Government’s 2015 decision not to review the country’s foreign tax rules.

Mossack Fonseca bites National on the arse

Written By:
Date published: 7:19 am, April 29th, 2016 - 348 comments

John Key is facing some problems describing how a Mossack Fonseca company ended up owning a New Zealand farm and how after his lawyer asked the Government not to change the rules surrounding foreign trusts the Government moved to make sure that no rule change would occur.

Open mike 29/04/2016

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Date published: 6:00 am, April 29th, 2016 - 116 comments

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 …

Talleys Jump the Shark!

Written By:
Date published: 9:36 pm, April 28th, 2016 - 68 comments

The truly awful Talley’s group have just taken NZ employment relations back a century or two by trying to get the Employment Court to gag the Meat Workers Union. Talley’s regard freedom of speech as a breach of good faith. They also want the union’s Darien Fenton barred from doing her job. Is it too soon to take Sir Peter Talley’s knighthood away from him?

Daily Review 28/04/2016

Written By:
Date published: 6:00 pm, April 28th, 2016 - 26 comments

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 …

Little just visited NZ troops in Iraq

Written By:
Date published: 4:20 pm, April 28th, 2016 - 11 comments

“Opposition Leader Andrew Little has visited New Zealand troops at Camp Taji, Iraq. Mr Little also met with Iraqi Defence Minister Khaled Al-Obedih and senior military officials from the Coalition forces in Iraq. He now heads to Jordan to see the unfolding refugee crisis first hand.”

Trade deficit worst in seven years

Written By:
Date published: 11:49 am, April 28th, 2016 - 122 comments

Add it to our record debt, our record pollution, our record housing unaffordability, our rising inequality, our terrible carbon emissions…

Herald editorial nails Government over climate change inaction

Written By:
Date published: 7:49 am, April 28th, 2016 - 31 comments

The Herald castigated the Government over its inaction over climate change in an editorial released this morning.

Key’s land tax – too weak

Written By:
Date published: 7:11 am, April 28th, 2016 - 76 comments

Reaction to Key’s land tax has been luke warm at best, with strong calls for more effective action. Labour is promising “a ‘tidal wave’ of big housing reforms”…

Open mike 28/04/2016

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Date published: 6:00 am, April 28th, 2016 - 86 comments

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 27/04/2016

Written By:
Date published: 6:00 pm, April 27th, 2016 - 20 comments

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 …

RSNZ report – Transition to a low-carbon economy

Written By:
Date published: 11:43 am, April 27th, 2016 - 30 comments

Today the Royal Society of NZ released the second of two reports into climate change and the actions NZ should be taking. Great work. Now all we need is great action.

Emmerson on the land tax

Written By:
Date published: 8:27 am, April 27th, 2016 - 38 comments

Emmerson land tax

The poll shift and the flag fiasco

Written By:
Date published: 8:17 am, April 27th, 2016 - 37 comments

A straight 3.5% swap National to NZF looks to me like the impact of the flag fiasco.

Open mike 27/04/2016

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Date published: 6:00 am, April 27th, 2016 - 40 comments

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 …