Caption competition
A banquet for the elite, crumbs for the poor
“When National is not selling something like Mighty River Power, it is busy selling out to the likes of SkyCity” – John Armstrong. He could have added ‘or defending the elite’s rentier profits’. To fudge the fact that National works for the elite, there”ll be crumbs for the poor in this budget. Something’s better than nothing but, unless it matches the $2b tax cuts for the rich, it’s just window-dressing.
‘That’s what the fuss is all about’
Hone Harawira challenged the Maori Party for its support of charter schools, at the expense of Maori and public education. He challenged Sharples to resign if today’s budget fails to adequately support kura kaupapa and the Manaaki Tauira programme.
Labour on MMP “consultation”
According to Labour: “Judith Collins has claimed that she ‘consulted’ with political parties but was unable to reach consensus. There was absolutely no consultation.”
Strong support for NZ Power
The Right unleashed the most brutal campaign in living memory against an opposition policy when the Greens and Labour announced the NZ Power plan to bring down power prices. They (rightly) saw it as a challenge to the whole rentier class that has been bleeding NZ dry for quarter of a century. It’s heartening, then, that the Right hasn’t managed to fool people.
Open mike 16/05/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Something about foxes and henhouses…
So anyway, John Armstong’s just won this press award and the Herald’s had a bit of a boast.
City Rail Link in the Budget?
A reader sent us a comment from another blog by someone who was polled a couple of weeks back. The questions are very interesting, especially once you realise that it’s clearly being done for National and the Right in Auckland (one of the questions gives it away). Have a read, then I’ll tell you why I reckon the Nats are going to fund the City Rail Link in the Budget.
The budget’s flawed premise
The whole austerity driven focus of the budget and National’s economic policy is based on a premise which is in turn based on a spreadsheet error.
GCSB is watching you? Won’t ‘confirm or deny’
The GCSB won’t “confirm or deny” if they spied on individual Kiwis. Concerned citizens might contact the Privacy Commissioner or start a class action. John Key’s rushed GCSB Bill won’t prevent mission creep, surveillance to support international corporate interests or inadequate oversight of the GCSB. [Update]: link to Waitakere News
Stopping Key’s dirty deal with SkyCity
National’s trying to do something unprecendented – they want to give a private company a 35 year indemnity against costs arising from law changes. No-one else gets this. You don’t get money from the government when they make a law that costs you. Nor does any other business. Just SkyCity as part of their dirty deal with Key. Sign the petition to stop it here.
Budget: corporate “charity” not the solution to Feeding the Kids
Thursday’s budget is likely to make businesses central to blunting the edge of child poverty. Campbell Live is concerned about the marginalisation of skilled community organisations. Harawira has delayed the reading of his Feed the Kids Bill & argues for the state to play a stronger role.
Stealth privatisation of state housing in budget
There’s more than one way to fleece the public of our assets. While attention is the energy companies, there’s also privatisation in the form of public organisations selling of their operations (eg Orcon), and opening public funding to for-profit companies (eg. charter schools). More seems on the cards for our state housing as National offers to give over control to private organisations.
Open mike 15/05/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Judith Collins, MMP, “consensus” & democracy
Holly Walker dragged out of Judith Collins that the government will not implement the Electoral Commission’s recommendations for MMP. Collins argues there is no “consensus” between all political parties on possible changes. The Greens say National has not kept the promise of changes, out of self interest.
This is what corporate dictatorship looks like
The compensation part of Joyce’s and Key’s dirty, undemocratic SkyCity deal, could legally be over-turned by a future government, as proposed by the Greens. However, the TPPA could weaken NZ’s parliamentary sovereignty and open the government to claims by secret private offshore tribunals. Opposition needs to step up!
The meaning of utu
Aaron Gilmore has promised ‘utu’, or reciprocation, against a select band of National insiders. What’s going on behind the scenes?
CO2 400 ppm and climbing
We have passed the dangerous and depressing milestone of 400ppm atmospheric CO2. 350.org are calling for a “relentless rise in activism” to match the “relentless rise in carbon”. After Copenhagen I no longer think that’s going to happen.
Open mike 14/05/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Prwoperty rwights!
Over at Kiwiblog David Farrar’s having a big cry about the Greens indicating they’d legislate against the dodgy contract this government has struck with Sky city. To David, the property rights conveyed by contract law are paramount above all other rights. Including the rights of the people of a sovereign nation to direct a government to exercise their will.
And in Good News
Research published today in the journal Nature Climate Change looked at 50,000 globally widespread and common species and found that more than one half of the plants and one third of the animals will lose more than half of their climatic range by 2080 if nothing is done to reduce the amount of global warming and slow it down.
Claudette Hauiti
After a brutal smear-campaign from Key, Gilmore is gone. Nothing he did made him unfit to be an MP ,* but lying to Key meant Key had to get him out of the caucus or look weak. And the only safe way to do that was have him resign. That done, we get Claudette Hauiti. Who’s she? Well, here’s a measure of her calibre. In a 2010 Auckland local board competition, she came 10th out of 12.
Key’s no-shows – protecting Brand Key
Who was missing from the Mighty River and SkyCity launches? Being seen at the front of positive government stories is a big part of the PM’s job, unless concerns over protecting Brand Key override that. The fact Key has been a no-show at these two announcements of central planks of National’s agenda tells you a lot about what the Nats’ polling says about them.
Dim-Post on two comparisons
Danyl at Dim-Post on the strangely muted media response to the GCSB spying legislation, the witch-hunt against NZ Power, and more. Plus – check out Danyl’s (first) book – looks like a treat in store…
Banks to stand again
John Banks has announced that he will stand in Epsom again at the next election. That is, of course, always assuming that he doesn’t get chucked out of Parliament first.
What’s done can be undone
SkyCity will get more pokies and cashless gambling in return for building the convention centre that it always wanted to build. (…excuse me, I’m just trying not to puke watching Len Brown on Breakfast as he shrugs off the problem gambling increase from this deal…) The convention centre will be a white elephant. SkyCity should know that what’s done can be undone.
Update: Anyone buying in to the Nats’ “Labour did it too” line should read Russell Brown’s demolition of that lie.
Sky City, pokies and corruption
Key and Joyce made sure Gilmore was out of the way before they announced their dubious Sky City for (more) pokies deal. The pokies system in NZ is rife with dubious goings on. It’s bad for low income families, communities and their children. [update: responses]
Open mike 13/05/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Gilmore Goes
Aaron Gilmore has given into pressure from his National “mates” and resigned.
The Australian Dream for Forestry Workers
There is an award for forestry workers in Australia. It has a whole range of terms and conditions including hours of work and […]
Sunday Reading
My semi-regular Sunday piece of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere. This week: Dhaka t-shirts, twitter exclusives, the politics of principle and missing white woman syndrome.
Governing for their rich mates (again)
Rob Stock at the Sunday Star Times reports that National plans to dump state housing on NGOs and flog land to developers.
National are governing for their rich mates again.
The neoliberalisation of Universities
An article in today’s Sunday Star Times, provides evidence of an organised business in providing students with assignments for their tertiary education courses. The focus is on Chinese ethnicity. Ultimately, the blame for such rorts lies with the neoliberalisation of universities: the undermining of the critical endeavour of education.
Open mike 12/05/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Please, please educate the fuckwits
The story this morning of a hotelier in Whangarei causing a lesbian couple to seek another place to sleep. That she was worried about them doing “sodomy” under her roof might be amusing. However the coprolalia syndrome that it displays has been tiresomely endemic amongst the self-ordained fuckwits in recent months. When will they take time to educate themselves so they don’t look like they just have brain defects?
Poverty Watch 30
Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. This week we continue with the 2012 report from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, and “sympathise” with those poor Herald readers who are just sick to death of all those beggars on Queen St…