Keep it up, Chippie and co
Good on Chris Hipkins. The other day, he wrote: “National won the last election quite comfortably. Kiwis are fair minded people and will […]
Will National cave to threats from Hide?
An email leaked to 3News suggests that Rodney Hide is holding the government to ransom over denying guaranteed Supercity representation for Maori. The […]
Phil Goff speaking on the SAS deployment
Stupi-duty and Wisharts works of political fiction
Open Parachute has a post Evidence, not lawyers about that well-known writer of political fiction, Ian Wishart, issuing a press release saying that he […]
Brian Edwards on Key
Brian Edwards gives his take on our “Photo-op PM”. Demonising Key hasn’t and isn’t likely to work for Labour. It doesn’t accord at […]
The science: too amibitous for New Zealand
Key, Mr Ambitous when it comes to cycleways and Job Summits, says that reducing carbon emissions from developed countries like ours by 2020 to 40% […]
Goff’s speech on deploying the SAS
Apart from when it’s customary, at maiden speeches, valedictories, and the Budget, it’s a rare speech that warrants a standing ovation in Parliament. […]
More National sleeze
There’s been an attempt to force Peter Goodfellow, the brand new President of the National Party, to step down. The move came from […]
GST up? It depends
The Government’s Tax Working Group has proposed increasing GST to 15-20% to pay for cuts to income tax. I’m not automatically against GST […]
A question of trusts
Here is Bill English in the cocktail tapes talking about Working for Families: “the reality is if we had been the government, with […]
Subsidizing polluting industries costs taxpayers directly
An excellent post from Idiot Savant (reproduced with permission) on the cost to taxpayers of subsidizing polluting industries. I haven’t noticed the mainstream […]
DPB: it’s for the kids
A lot of right-wing beliefs can be traced back to a few core values. Two apply to the DPB debate: a penny-pinching self-centredness […]
Breeding for a business
In 2002, John Key (then a free-speaking backbencher) told the Sunday-Star Times: “We’ve seen enormous growth in the number of people on the […]
Punching below our weight
I’m proud to be a Kiwi, and I’ve always enjoyed celebrating the successes of our tiny country. It’s not often that I feel […]
A really crappy day
I hadn’t been to a protest in months. After everything I’ve been through, activist stuff tends to make me more than a little […]
Keep digging
Just noticed the interview with Garrett in the Sunday-Star Times: “Garrett, who “wore overalls and not a suit” while working as a roughneck […]
Smackathon planned
Anti-violence campaigners are urging Auckland parents to be especially vigilant in the wake of news that “Vote No” campaigner Larry Baldock is planning […]
On their coat-tails
Jon Stewart talks to Austan Goolsbee, Chief Economist for President Obama’s Economic Recovery Board: “when you’re looking in the face of the next […]
Still lying, Still spying
A media release yesterday from the Justice NOW collective! shows how both police and corporate spies are still taking a major interest in […]
Let the bashing begin
I see Paula Bennett has been busy dog-whistling on beneficiaries, firstly by releasing figures showing 307 beneficiaries receive more than $1000 a week […]
The cost of doing nothing
The climate change debate is over (apart from a few luntatics of course). The debate is now about what to do, and the […]
Not yours to sell
This video from Phil Twyford, Labour’s spokesperson on the campaign to make sure that Rodney Hide is prevented from buggering Auckland by selling […]
On cultural relativism
It’s a pretty rare thing for a conviction for manslaughter not to lead to some jail time. In the past 28 years, only […]
Nip it in the bud
Reading the Herald on Sunday piece about this senior political figure in the domestic violence dispute, I’m surprised his party hasn’t made him step down […]
On the scrap heap
Call me old fashioned if you will, but I like the idea that reforms of government activity should be concieved and implemented by […]
The great leader
Something about the title of this press release from Peter Dunne yesterday just made me laugh: Call for leadership, vision from pharmacy […]
Heart you too, John
In former journalist John Armstrong’s piece today, he also writes: “a frustration and impatience towards National still displayed by some of the shriller […]
Eventually but not yet
John Armstrong quotes a man who ran into Phil Goff during Labour’s reconnection tour last week: “Listen, mate. You know we voted these […]
Reverse Robin hood
John Key’s policy to get kids into sport turns out to be a transfer of dollars from low decile schools to high decile […]
Kohia te kai rangatira, ruia te taitea
For just a moment today, perhaps set aside a little time for reflection on, or to lift a glass and toast those New […]
It’s Labour’s fault it didn’t rain!
One of Bill English’s favourite lines is that New Zealand entered recession ahead of the rest of the world ‘due to Labour’s mismanagement […]
Malthusian merriment
In the wake of a rather nasty piece of ‘satire’ on another blog earlier this week, I’ve been thinking about over-population. It’s a […]
Editorials blogs and anonymity
What is the difference between a newspaper editorial and a post on a popular political blog? I was pondering this question because I […]
It’s not OK
You may have noticed the article on Stuff about a ‘senior political figure’ in court today. A woman is seeking a protection order […]
New Zealand’s global shame
Well, there goes our clean, green image. After Key announced the pathetic 10-20% emissions reduction target, we were declared ‘fossil of the day’ […]
Electrical storm
Breaking up the old Electricity Corporation into a bunch of artificially competing companies has been a 15-year failure. They’ve poured heaps of money […]