Labour where art thou?
I’m not going to repeat the list of all the things that are starting to make people angry and scared or catalogue the […]
Campbell on political ‘management’
With the absolute dearth of informed political commentary in this country it’s a breath of fresh air to have Gordon Campbell back from […]
Big bucks for Aussie insurers in ACC privatisation
It seems certain National will begin the privatisation of ACC starting with opening the work account to private competition. As happened in 1998, […]
Another broken promise
Before the election National made promises about extra resources to tackle problems in schools: Schools Policy Strengthening the Ladder of Opportunity National is […]
Open mike 20/10/09
We’re trying a daily “Open mike”. This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and […]
Aroha is love, you can give it away…
“You can get away with anything, as long as you’re respectful about it” – former Maori Party strategist Matt McCarten on National’s dealing […]
Talk about politics
On RNZ’s Nine to Noon today Andrew Campbell rips the shit out of National‘s grotesque mismanagement of the Rugby World Cup fiasco and […]
Images of the ’00’s
Pausing for a moment from the steamroller of local politics – here we have some of the significant moments of the last nine […]
ACC protests send clear message to NACT
Today hundreds of people around the country marched against the cuts to sexual abuse counselling due to be implemented by ACC next week. […]
DL Wellington – Celia Wade-Brown
Wellington’s Drinking Liberally speaker is Celia Wade-Brown. Celia is a sitting Green member of the Wellington City Council, and one of the first announced […]
Told you so: Right pushes ACC privatisation
Last Thursday, Colin Espiner was mocking all of us who said that National and other rightwing groups were trying to create a sense […]
Smith still lying with numbers
Last week, David Parker asked Nick Smith what the “whole-of-life cost to ACC of all new claims” for the last year were. Smith’s […]
Woodhouse: ACC not in crisis
A fascinating interview with the Sir Owen Woodhouse in the Herald today. Sir Owen has led an amazing life – after helping supply Yugoslav partisans […]
National’s repeated abuse of democratic process
The current National led government clearly regards the processes of democracy is an inconvenience to which it must pay lip service, but nothing […]
Open mike 19/10/09
We’re trying a daily “Open mike”. This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and […]
It will happen, not today, not tomorrow but…
As I scanned the stuff website I came across the latest TV3 poll results. Scarcely what I’d regard as cheerful Sunday night reading […]
Kicking the tyres at ACC
The Sunday Star-Times details hitherto secret proposals from the John Judge-chaired ACC to cut back entitlements and increase user-pays. The hidden agenda: Introduce […]
Reflections on Aisling
Two readers offer their reflections on our collective reaction to the Aisling Symes tragedy: The Best of Us, The Worst of Us, revealed […]
Yeah, but who are the criminals?
I think I might have joined the dots in what it is that is causing me such unease about the arrival of Crime […]
Banks panic
Len Brown seems to have the Right in a bit of panic. Remuera Mayor John ‘in your guts you know he’s nuts’ Banks […]
Protests against cuts to sexual abuse cover
[Pulling the following comment from Toad in Open Mike up to the front page.] If you are in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch or Dunedin […]
Intergenerational theft
I had a free education. Most of the politicians in this and recent parliaments had a free education. More recent students have not […]
Open mike 18/10/09
We’re trying a daily “Open mike”. This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and […]
Afghanistan election result crisis
The Guardian reports today under the headline “Crisis looms in Kabul over Karzai election results:” Frantic diplomacy under way as report looks set […]
Sharples a scapegoat for Nats’ bumbling schemers
If we’re to believe National’s version of events, Pita Sharples kept secret from his colleagues that he was going to take $3 million from […]
O’Sullivan: Key a poor manager, Smith needs to go
Fran O’Sullivan’s piece today tries to resurrect the ‘Key=Obama’ line for some reason. She even refers to Obama as Key’s ‘alter ego’. I’m […]
Ned Flanders without the moustache
Last night on TV3’s 7 Days panelist Jeremy Elwood described John Key as “New Zealand’s very own Ned Flanders without a moustache.” Ned’s […]
Key lashes out at random
Key looks like a PM under pressure. He’s started lashing out at random – never a good sign. It happened while discussing Melissa […]
Open mike 17/10/09
We’re trying a daily “Open mike”. This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and […]
Crimestoppers!
I’ve been meaning to post on the emergence of Crimestoppers in New Zealand for a few days now. While some might say it’s […]
Hospital workers protest National’s wage freeze
Hundreds of hospitals workers from all over the country took protest action against National’s wage freeze today. Here’s a photo from the picket […]
Smith out-does Tolley as most incompetent minister
While we’re all aghast over Nick Smith’s shambolic handling of ACC and his ‘people are killing themselves for cash’ comments, let’s not forget […]
Something fishy in Bakshi case
Police have ended their investigation in National MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi’s immigration scam after the principal accuser left the country in mysterious circumstances. […]
Don’t let State Houses become private slums
The other day on Red Alert, Chris Hipkins related an interesting story about how National’s last round of State House sales went awry: […]
Nick Smith and “Patsy” Goudie
The Herald posts this clip from Parliament entitled “Nick Smith under fire for ACC bungling”. Nice catch from Darren Hughes at the end. […]
ACC a good investor
The other day, John Key said “ACC’s investment portfolio had not been working well”. Now, if there’s one golden rule regarding people with […]