Bennett floundering over Saunders
Apparently Paula Bennet is not aware quite who she has appointed to advise the Welfare Working Group…
Rising education costs undermine our future
You might say that National’s new $50 a year graduate fee is a small thing. But it’s another discouragement for a young person who is looking at either going straight into low-skill, low-pay work or borrowing thousands to get some skills. The last thing we need to be doing is discouraging more people from going on to polytech or uni.
Collins has no answers on murder increase law
This is a crime bill that is not expected to deter or reduce crime and may increase murders. That’s not acceptable. It’s not even really a crime bill, it’s a stupid PR stunt that puts lives at risk. No responsible government would pass it. But this is not a responsible government. It is willing to cause more murders for the sake of appearing tough on crime.
Key’s ministers still at the trough
You’ll remember how Bill ‘Double Dipton’ English was caught claiming the out of town allowance for living in his family home in Wellington. As a half-arsed solution, out of town ministers are now limited to claiming $37,500 a year for their Wellington accommodation. So, how come eight ministers are still claiming far more than that?
Key “short-sighted, irresponsible”
Today’s Herald has a front page piece criticizing Key’s abandonment of his Middle East trade mission to return home for the funerals of […]
Open mike 05/05/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Out of fashion
You’d think Gerry Brownlee would be embarrassed after the week he’s had – yet I doubt it. We’ve ceased to have such expectations of our politicians. But is there more to it than that? Perhaps. According to Christine Rossen, we are facing ‘the death of embarrassment’, with a potential social cost.
Aussies build trains “for a living” – that’s why their standard is better than ours
Steven Joyce has virtually ruled out Kiwirail building its new trains here in New Zealand. The Aussies have a completely different view about government purchasing, as I learnt from my years on the Industrial Supplies Office management committee in the 1990’s. They believe in Australian jobs for Australian money.
Straw clutching on mining
In 2000, Labour gave permission for two companies to carry out traditional gold-panning for tourism purposes on Schedule 4 land. National seems to think this is a great scandal. As if zero-impact gold-panning in rivers is comparable to gold cast mines and massive tailings lakes. They’re really getting desperate, aren’t they?
Not even miners will dig Gerry out
When you’re that far on the backfoot, it’s not hard to teeter further. The CTU has today come out against the Government’s mining […]
From bad to worse for workers
While John’s off playing soldiers, things are getting worse and worse for Kiwi workers. Wages are falling for the first time in a decade. The average hourly wage was $25.80 when National came to power. Now, it’s $25.30. I had hoped unemployment would start falling about now but the signs are discouraging. Only unionised workers able to protect themselves from the storm.
Tipping point
We’ve passed “the honeymoon”, we’ve passed “the honeymoon is over”, and we’re now on to discussions of “the tipping point” for the National government. Not before time.
Backlash over media favouritism
Tracey Watkins is less than chuffed over the way the media were used on John Key’s ‘secret’ Afghanistan trip:…Equally troubling was the control exerted by the Prime Minister’s Office over access – Key refused to make room for journalists from the country’s two biggest media companies, Fairfax and APN. Even state broadcaster Radio New Zealand was left in the cold.
My cellphone isn’t made of gold
The Nats and miners have this weird freeloader argument. ‘Those protesters are hypocrites. Their cell phones and ipods and cars all use mined products. They should support us mining’. They won’t be mining needed industrial minerals. But what’s under Paparoa? Dirty coal. What’s under Coromandel and Barrier? Gold. which is nearly all used for jewellery and ‘investment’.
Open mike 04/05/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Govt agencies should look at the big picture
Government bodies should base their actions on what’s in the best interests of New Zealand as a whole, even if its not necessarily best for that government body. I would have thought that was unarguable. But, oddly, the Right doesn’t agree. There’s no economic justification for their position. It seems more like a cultural cringe, a lack of faith in New Zealand.
Not a time for mixed messages
This is not a time for mixed messages. Phil Goff is quoted today as saying: “They [the Government] have got to back down from both Great Barrier Island and the Coromandel”. No! Labour’s position, and the position of the biggest single protest march since 1938, is no mining in any Schedule 4 land! Don’t dilute the message…
So much for ‘ambitious for New Zealand’
A new report says that building the half a billion worth of new rail rolling stock for Auckland in New Zealand would boost GDP by $250 million, improve our current account deficit by over $100 million, add $70 million to government revenue, and create 1200 skilled jobs. But the Government just want the cheapest price for the rail cars, and that means going overseas.
Why the miners are so keen on public land
Most of this country’s mineral wealth lies under private land, according to the government’s own figures. So, why are the Nats so determined to override public opinion and let their mining allies dig up our precious protected lands? Simple: mining on private land means paying a lease to the owner. Mining on public land is cheaper: we’re played like chumps for bigger profits.
Protection for workers in hard times
Darien Fenton’s Redundancy Protection Bill is before the House this week (provided National doesn’t cancel Private Members’ Day again). The Bill will give all working Kiwis some income protection if they lose their jobs, like people get in other developed countries. You can help make it happen.
Open mike 03/05/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Key under attack from Left & Right
50,000 New Zealanders march against the mining plans of this government. For many, the mining agenda is yet another black mark against this government that has done nothing positive about the issues that matter – jobs, wages, health, education, the environment. But the capitalist elite who so desperately wanted their party in power are getting pretty pissed off too.
Collins: All talk, no crush
We all know that Police and Corrections Minister Judith Collins has, for all her tough talk, failed to bring down crime, and suppressed the official advice that her 3 strikes law may increase murders. But what about the policy that got her the nickname that she revels in? How many cars has ‘Crusher’ crushed? The answer may surprise you.
On GEO group, conservative politicians, lobbyist groups, and prisons
In Florida, a legislative plan to close as many as five state prisons and ship inmates to a private prison run by GEO Group was scaled back last month.
The feds may be searching to see if former state House Speaker Sansom received any kickbacks from the company. The GEO group are also contenders for running private prisons here.
Understanding and trust
Nat MP Michael Woodhouse was speaking on the amendment bill weakening workers’ rights to a break and said “I was heard it said that political discourse requites two things: trust and understanding. And it’s certainly true here. Labour don’t trust us and we sure as hell don’t understand them”. I think it’s very enlightening that he chose to put it that way.
Open mike 02/05/2010
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Massive public outrage in North & South
Wow! An incredible 50,000 people have turned out in Auckland this May Day to protest the Government’s plan to open protected land to mining. I can’t think of another demonstration in New Zealand on this scale. If this isn’t the final nail in the coffin of the mining plan, then the Key Government has a serious death wish.
Armstrong: Brownlee’s big idea turning to custard
Herald chief political commentator John Armstrong writes “Gerry Brownlee’s search for El Dorado in this country’s supposedly mineral-ridden national parks has so far been more akin to King Midas in reverse. The only gold to be seen is the colour of the custard to which the whole exercise has rapidly been turning.”
Don’t undermine NZ – march today!
Today, May the first, is the day to march for NZ. Very literally, for the hills and mountains, the bush and the wildlife, for the sustainable future, and the clean green image of our country. March to oppose mining in the most precious regions of our National Parks
Open mike 01/05/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Power pulls a swifty on electoral finance
The Electoral Finance (Reform) Bill contains a major change from what had been previously indicated. The regulated period for limiting election expenditure could be as little as six weeks. This is effectively a 50% increase in the expenditure cap.
It looks like a swifty by Simon Power tilting the election playing field.
John, it’s time for Paula to go
[Update: TV3 now admits its ’emails’ were a Facebook exchange between Fuller and a friend and Fuller says she made up the money offer. For fuck’s sake, TV3, you can’t run a story based on someone’s Facebook comments. Still, Bennett should not have been meeting with a complainant just before the report is due out. It’s clear she is looking to avoid an embarrassment]
Maori Party turns against beneficiaries
The Nat/ACT/Maori Party government has seen 55,000 more people go on benefits. They want to work. There aren’t enough jobs. How to make […]
Maori Party turns against workers
Labour’s Darien Fenton is a gutsy, tireless advocate for working Kiwis. She was left gobsmacked by the Maori Party’s decision to vote for weakening Kiwis’ rights to work breaks. Maybe there’s a cunning plan that the Maori Party’s backing of a party that wants higher unemployment, weaker work rights, and lower wages will see more Maori in better paid jobs with improved conditions.
The future for oil…
The US Department of Energy shows a comparison between the world’s likely demand for liquid fuels (including oil) over the next 20 years and the various components that will make up the supply of liquid fuels over that time. The emerging gap is alarming, as “Unidentified Projects†would actually be more accurately described as “unfulfilled demand†– meaning quite literally a demand for oil that will not be able to be met.
Forget wondering when peak oil might happen in the future – the answer to that question is: it’s already happened.
Open government – Open Labour
It’s fantastic to see Labour working on an Open Government policy as a major plank for the next election. And taking an open approach to the policy development is a stroke of genius. Politically, Labour has an incredible opportunity to position itself in contrast to the secretive and undemocratic National party. More than that, this stuff matters.