No charge
Darren Hughes will not be charged. “After this careful consideration, the allegations do not reach the evidential threshold required to bring charges. As […]
Chart o’ the day: maybe we should buy back our shit
So, borrowing to save makes sense afterall…
Do you remember back in the day when Bill English didn’t want to put any money into the Cullen Fund? Remember how we were smugly told that borrowing to save was foolish? Well, since then the Cullen Fund has made a fortune and, we know learn, the government has been borrowing to build up savings for the Christchurch rebuild.
Key’s destiny
I don’t have a problem with MPs going to a Destiny Church conference to chase some votes. Attending a group’s function isn’t an endorsement of its views, although there’s obviously a line (eg. neo-Nazi groups). John Key, however, is endorsing of Destiny’s politics saying: “National’s policies align much more closely with their beliefs than Labour.”
Bradford and the Greens
Is it just me, or is Sue Bradford working harder, and getting more media coverage than all of the Greens put together? She’s not just campaigning for beneficiaries. Yesterday Bradford came out with a strongly worded attack on the Greens’ positioning for the November election.
Open mike 08/06/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Fabian seminar
Another Fabian seminar in Auckland: Ian Pool & Natalie Jackson – Our Demographic Dividend Wasted. Thursday 9th June, 7.00pm, in the Ellen Melville Hall, Freyberg Place.
Saleh gone?
The Arab Spring has become an increasingly bloody Arab Summer as dictators unleash their security forces to try to stop the wave of protests and revolutions sweeping the Arab world. Yemen’s dictator, wounded in the fighting, left for treatment in Saudi Arabia and seems unlikely to return.
No future in English & Brash’s neoliberal plans
Don Brash has attacked Bill English’s budget which he says fails to lay out a plan for New Zealand. The reality, I think, is that both have plan however there is little or no future in either plan. Neither Brash nor English have laid out a plan which deals with the present and quite near problems we will face.
Nats testing the waters on eugenics
John Key “thinks” that parents on the DPB are “breeding for a business”. Now his government is testing the waters for a eugenics program, to single out these undesirables and forcibly control their fertility.
Drug reform: makes a hell of a lot of cents
I’ve been thinking about the budget. Its economic vacuousness: borrowing and crossing fingers for strong growth, while keeping tax cuts for the rich. The bare-faced cheek of counting the asset sales in its projections and passing Kiwisaver cuts without getting a mandate. But also, the cuts to vital public services without a more imaginative and sensible solution: drug reform.
Open mike 07/06/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Chart o’ the day: the Savings Budget
Net International Investment Position is how much New Zealand owes foreigners and foreigners own of New Zealand assets minus the reverse.
Time for a cross party consensus on crime
All of a sudden National and ACT are sounding vaguely sensible on crime and prisons. There seems to be a golden opportunity to reach a cross party consensus, and get some evidence driven policy and practice in this area. Who is going to make the first move?
Open mike 06/06/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Welcome molesworthst
A warm welcome to molesworthst – a new political blog recommended by Morgan over at his own must read blog, Maui Street.
Chart of the day: peak oil squeeze
Celebrity PM withdraws endorsement
Following the news that “Celebrities who make false statements while endorsing finance companies could now face jail or fines up to $1 million”, we at The Standard have received the following important document, leaked by an internal National Party source…
Open mike 05/06/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Two great columns
John Armstrong says NZers are like frogs in ever hotter water, not realising the incrementally more radical agenda of National.
Tracy Watkins looks at the rise of lobbyists and their lack of accountability.
Brownlee’s savage attack on Chch business owners
Christchurch business owners, unable to even get to their premises in the red-zone, have asked for some help to stop going under. Gerry Brownlee’s arrogant response: “If they are such clever, gifted, and forward-looking entrepreneurs it’s pretty sad that their first port of call has to be to Government looking for a bailout”. What an arsehole.
Hansen on climate change
Visionary climate change scientist James Hansen recently toured New Zealand, giving several public lectures. Here’s a quick summary, and a link to the podcast of the talk he gave at the University of Otago. As expected, it’s an excellent talk, with some fascinating suggestions about what we the people need to do. Interesting also to get Hansen’s take on Nick Smith…
Open mike 04/06/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Better economic info
The CTU’s Economic Bulletin: The 2011 Budget was a victory of story-line over needs… The Budget has no plan to put right New Zealand’s social and economic imbalances, and does little to start cutting back the overseas private debt… The Budget of a thousand cuts put debt and deficits ahead of people’s needs and a plan for the future.
Weekend social 03/06/2011
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no […]
Govt bans perks, but not for themselves
Just after we discover that National ministers and staffers have been accepting gifts from a bank wanting the government’s business and John Key says ministers shouldn’t take ‘too many’ Rugby World Cup freebies, we learn that civil servants are sternly banned from accepting any gifts. Do as I say, not as I do, eh?
A simple tertiary education budget
TEU President Sandra Grey writes: When all the unders and overs are calculated, the maths for tertiary education is a lot simpler than all the commentary from the government would have us believe. For the next four years, the minister, Steven Joyce, will be putting less money into tertiary education. That is a political choice.
Treasury says own forecasts too rosy
Oh dear. Only two weeks after its Budget 2011 economic forecasts were released, Treasury is already warning they are too optimistic. In their defence, they say the forecasts were settled in April and growth prospects have got worse since then. Well, you’re not much of a forecaster if you can’t see that happening in the middle of an oil shock.
Leader repays chopper flights
After intense criticism for using government-owned helicopters for personal trips, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has reimbursed the state for the cost of the flights. I look forward to John Key following Christie’s lead and repaying us for his flights to watch the V8s in Hamilton.
How close is too close?
How close should corporate interests be allowed to cuddle up to the government? When is a gift not a gift? If it isn’t influence what is it?
The Greens have raised important questions surrounding Westpac and the Nats.
Open mike 03/06/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Caption contest
On supporting the Rugby World Cup
In my sleep deprived state I have to confess that I don’t like rugby supporters, especially drunken ones who argue about teams at 2am in the morning on the street. I suspect that will be the enduring memory I will carry away from this years Rugby World Cup. But I do like Dead Cat Bounce’s video about rugby.
ECE Taskforce report
It’s great to have North Shore candidate Ben Clark writing for us here at The Standard. This is a Guest Post from brother and Dunedin North candidate David Clark (a dynamic duo indeed!). David writes about the just released government report on the early childhood education sector…
ACC privatisation plans announced
National has announced plans to privatise ACC’s work account. Currently, they don’t have the numbers to get it through the House. ACT won’t vote for it because its not completely rabid and the Maori Party won’t vote for privatisation. So, this becomes another election issue: another bloody good reason to vote National out.
Tell Key to keep Pharmac
Like the ACC, Pharmac is a Kiwi institution that delivers benefits to everyone at a lower cost than other countries. National has got ACC on the butcher’s block. We must make sure that Pharmac doesn’t follow.