Treasury has confirmed that National’s plan to sell public assets would need foreigners to buy a lot of the shares because domestic demand would be too small for the government to make as much money as it is counting on. Forget ‘mum and dad investors’, the big buyers would be foreign sovereign wealth funds.
No Right Turn on the Nats’ appointing “nakedly partisan hacks to run our major state broadcasters”.
The quality of children’s ECE care clearly influences their later development, and therefore helps to shape their entire lives. It’s probably the best investment any country can make, and the Nats are taking us backwards.
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For anyone who had any faint remaining doubt, confirmation that Don Brash has completely lost it.
Two years ago, this government sparked the biggest protests in a generation when it tried to open up the most precious parts of our conservation estate to mining. The policy got canned but the agenda has continued below the surface. Now, 100 DoC staff have been sacked while the MED unit for oil drilling and mining will nearly double its staff.
Yesterday, Dakta Green was sentenced to 8 months prison on drugs charges arising from The Daktory cannabis ‘dispensary’ that operated openly for 2 years in West Auckland. But what harm was caused to justify denying a man his freedom at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars to the taxpayer? More harm than other small vices?
National thinks more roads will fix the economy. Problem is: traffic volumes are falling. It’s called Peak Oil. Means they can’t come up with any projects that make sense. Puhoi to Wellsford would cost $1 for every 80 cents of benefit. The next 4 National wants to add to the build list will be even more worthless. Their solution? Weaken the rules.
New Zealand Defence Force staff are not covered by employment law. Hundreds of them are being sacked, so as to get “more work out of fewer people”. If they’re “lucky” some of those cast aside might get civilian versions of their old jobs back, with huge pay cuts as a sweetener. Welcome to the epitome of National’s flexible labour market.
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Good piece in today’s Herald by John Armstrong focussing on Vote for Change declaring that they are not in favour of any particular form of electoral system at this stage. He doesn’t find it believable, and nor do I. His take is that “Vote for Change looks very much like the National Party Preservation Society in drag.” I agree. I think they have a classic bait and switch strategy, it involves Key, and we should not take it lightly.
Times that the Government had the support of the majority of voters under FPP from formation of Reform (beginning on multi-party system) in 1911: 7 out of 27 (26%)
Times that the Government has had the support of the majority of voters under MMP: 4 out of 5 (80%)
Some uni political hacks arguing, calling each other names, on Facebook is nothing new. The Actoid telling the Greenie to “get raped” was beyond the Pale. Don’t think we’ve ever had to delete a comment that bad here. But the response from ACT on Campus’s leadership has made it worse. Confirms the far Right’s fundamental misogyny.
According to Audrey Young: “National and Act, the parties that kicked up a stink in Opposition about Labour’s taxpayer-funded election advertising, are engaging in their own taxpayer-funded binge this month”…
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By its own admission, Vote for Change is anti MMP. Its website homepage has “More Accountability” as its first principle. It is also an Incorporated Society. So I had a look at its rules – you can find them on the Societies website. It seems more like the Politburo to me. Not a good look for a group supposedly promoting better democracy.
Why is it the Australians are getting better coverage of Pike River than we are?
The Australian, for example, ran a story yesterday asking some hard-hitting questions about safety at the mine including the lack of remote gas measurement and a second escape route.
The latest anti-MMP outfit is already unraveling with Pundit’s Rob Salmond uncovering the fact it’s basically the Peter Shirtcliffe club.
It’s a surprisingly clumsy effort. Especially given David Farrar provided strategic advice.
I guess he’s not learned any lessons from his previous PR fiascos…
Just a reminder (because I’d forgotten) that the InternetNZ et al NetHui starts tomorrow in Auckland and runs until Friday. There are some interesting sessions that I’m going to have to fit around the coding that has to be done. So my question is (and one that should be highlighted on their otherwise excellent website) – is there WiFi available?
No Right Turn on the Nats’ cynical plans. “And its here that National’s true goal becomes apparent: they’re planning to effectively gut the state housing system…”
Peter Shirtcliffe’s latest attempt to destroy MMP has finally launched. The man who spent a million dollars in 1993 is a shadow of his former self. Now, he and his cronies are so despised he can’t front the organisation himself, he’s got some kid doing it. And FPP/SM is so despised they won’t actually campaign for it overtly.
Labour shouldn’t get distracted trying to stop a few votes going to Mana. (or racing benefit rorting bloggers, for that matter). If the worse thing post-election is needing Mana’s support to govern, Labour would be ecstatic. Concentrate on the real fight: getting back the 100K voters who voted Labour 3 times out of the last 4.
John Key was elected promising to stop the exodus to Australia. He has failed. More and more Kiwis, especially the young, are leaving. And is it any wonder?
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Brownlee has known for months about the fishhooks in the red-zone buyout plan. Incredibly, he has done nothing to address them. The rules of the bailout package aren’t even written. It was rushed out unfinished for political reasons. How can it take so long to write these simple rules? Only explanation is a lazy, useless, incompetent minister.
Employers and Manufacturers Association head Alasdair Thompson’s sexist outbursts have drawn near universal condemnation, and are likely to cost him his job. But while we’re about the business of punishing sexist dinosaurs, we should set our sights a little higher than Thompson.
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According to our Prime Minister democracy is simply an expensive waste of time. Not surprising as democracy isn’t exactly something this bully government gives a lot of thought to.
A victory for Mana or a victory for Labour? Actually, it was a win for both, and a win for the Left. The losers in Te Tai Tokerau were the true enemies of the Left – the kupapa Maori Party and National. Turia put up a weak candidate hoping to concentrate the anti-Hone vote behind Davis. Now, the Maori Party faces a three-way fight it can’t win.
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Hone Harawira has won the by-election for Te Tai Tokerau, despite the best efforts of the msm, John Key’s endorsement of Kelvin Davis, dirty tricks from the Maori Party, and despite Labour’s typically ill-considered, hamfisted attempts to wipe out Mana at its first election.
The best man won.
Te Tai Tokerau includes the North Shore, so there’s been a by-election in my patch today. But now: we just have to sit back and wait. What will happen to Hone’s 6,308 majority?
[99% booths in: Hone 5372 Kelvin 4582 Solomon 1003]
The weaknesses in govt’s Christchurch buyout plan were pretty obvious. Option 1: GV for land & property, would not be enough to buy replacement for most. Option 2: GV for land – activate replacement clause in insurance contract for house, would only work if insurer agreed house was a complete write-off. Option 2 failing already.
The snows haven’t come and the ski industry is in trouble. Is it a “cruel blow” from mother nature?
The spotlight was on Christchurch last week, and will be on Te Tai Tokerau over the weekend. Lots of stories are slipping by under the radar. But here are a couple of pieces that deserve further comment.
