Steven Joyce has two big jobs, lead minister for the Rena disaster and National’s campaign manager, but can realistically only do one. Leaving him with both tasks means Key isn’t taking Rena seriously. So, does Key sub him out and look like the election is more important to him than the spill, or leave him in charge, muddling along and building public anger?
This press release from the CTU deserves wide discussion.
Thanks also to the volunteers who are turning up in their hundreds for the Rena cleanup effort. We’re lucky to live in a country with such a generous and active volunteer tradition.
Caption contest.
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
* Tupperwaka: $200K per day
* Specialist environmental response vessel: Dunno, didn’t bother buying it.
* Leaving scene of shipwreck/oil disaster to open fake boat made from oil products: valueless
Just me or is he developing a severe list? Could be in danger of breaking up.
It’s the one week anniversary of Bomber Bradbury’s appearance on RNZ’s the Panel, and his subsequent shameful banning from same. The usual media commentators have been conspicuous for their silence.
Check out ACT’s policy page. It’s the most sense that they’ve ever made.
Update: They’ve fixed it. So it’s back to their usual nonsense now.
The Rena disaster has put the spotlight on the environmental risks of National’s deepsea oil drilling plans. Yes, they’re not the same thing. In fact, an oil spill from a drilling platform or one of the ships serving it is more likely than from a freighter plowing into a well-known reef.* And there’s a hell of a lot more oil involved.
Perhaps Mr Key’s staff might like to explain to him what the implications of this development, in conjunction with the recent UN Report […]
We’d been missing the Dimpost lately but it seems there was good reason for Danyl abandoning his blog – as of Sunday he’s a […]
Key says an anonymous emailer told him that S&P said a Labour Government would make a downgrade more likely (more likely than ‘actually, already happened?’). S&P categorically denies saying any such thing. We can now reveal the identity of the anonymous emailer.
One of the turning points of Bush’s presidency was the failed non-response to Hurricane Katrina. It’s starting to look now very much as if the wreck of the Rena is John Key’s Katrina moment.
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Trenchant criticism of the beleaguered PM today from an unusual source. Well worth clicking through to read the whole post, here’s the main points…
In a depressingly familiar pattern, National is more interested in avoiding responsibility than fixing the Rena disaster. They left it to Maritime NZ. Who left it to the shipping company. Now, the oil’s coming ashore. The promised soldiers didn’t show up yesterday. All the Nats can do is criticise locals for acting on their own.
When an armed force takes prisoners in a war, they have a responsibility to ensure that the prisoners are treated according to international law – eg they aren’t tortured. Are the prisoners our SAS takes being tortured? The Defence Minister says ‘dunno’. Not good enough. If our soldiers are delivering prisoners to torturers, that’s a war-crime.
We’re witnessing, once again, the results of a government whose disaster management is focused on keeping blame off itself, rather than acting. It bears remarkable resemblance to their approach to economic management. National didn’t cause the natural and economic disasters it faces but its handling of them has inevitably made them worse.
There was some great fun on twitter yesterday with the hashtag #keylines. Here’s some samples.
Remember when New Zealand used to lead the world on the environment? Yeah, well not under the Key Government. Now, New Zealand is preparing to veto making the Ross Sea a marine protected area. Why are we alone in blocking this last pristine sea from protection? For the sake of a $18m fishery, probably fished by slave ships.
3News has him caught out lying, The Standard has his office caught lying, and his government’s failed to act on the worst environmental disaster New Zealand has had.
Not to mention the crisis at first five-eighth.
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Key’s staff spun to media that his Radio Live show was ok if he didn’t discuss politics, saying the station had received advice from the Electoral Commission that “political content’ could breach rules. That didn’t sound right to me, so I asked the Commission what they actually said.
Mana has proposed lowering the voting age. I’m in favour.
Dr. Don Brash has pulled out of a debate on Treaty issues to be held on TV3’s ‘The Nation’. Which is curious considering Act’s ‘one law for all’ policy is directly concerned with treaty issues. Average Joe points out his take on why Act isn’t there. Plaudits to The Nation for having the debate, brickbats to Act for avoiding the debate – at least send along the person who knows the policy….
Can we afford 3 more years of falling real wages under Key?
No wonder politicians get such a bad rep.
The threat of invoking defamation is a standard tactic to intimidate those who can’t afford the legals bills to shut their mouths. Such […]
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
John Key’s economic credibility was shattered by the double downgrade. Now, his personal credibility has been lost after he claimed that Standard & Poor’s said a Labour government would lead to another downgrade. S&P could not have been more blunt: “At no stage have we said that a rating downgrade was more likely if there were a change of Government”.
The lies keep flowing as National desperately tries to limit the damage from the double downgrade. First, it was ‘doesn’t matter’ – Treasury says it does. Then, “hey, it’s just private debt” – the agencies’ reports say otherwise. Then it was just an international problem – less 1/4 of the OECD has been downgraded. Then, somehow, it was all Labour’s fault and would be worse under Labour – S&P says they’re lying on that too.
Buried in Friday’s Herald’s media section was a big political story. After John “Moonbeam” Key had his hour of talking about his cat while the country was being downgraded, Radio Live responded to the complaints of this blatant and illegal political favouritism by offering to host a Leaders’ debate. It was canned, though, when Moonbeam was to afraid to front up.
Martyn “Bomber” Bradbury has been banned from appearing on RNZ after strongly criticising Key’s behaviour in the throat slitting incident (video). Rumour now has it that Key is intending to sue Bradbury for defamation. Listen to the audio and judge for yourselves.
Looks like John Key has been caught in yet another lie.
Who said this on the double downgrade: “We have this ongoing challenge of a negative investment balance – the profits and dividends that go back to the foreign owners of New Zealand assets. We need to generate the kind of savings that will help New Zealand buy back those assets. A good example would be the Z petrol stations that were bought off Shell (by The Cullen Fund and Infratil).”?
