Retrograde NZ
I had the pleasure of meeting lauded climate activist and author Bill McKibben this morning. McKibben is in New Zealand as part of […]
Greens go grey
I see Russel Norman is now describing Labour’s Mt Albert Candidate, David Shearer, as the “grey” man. Now I haven’t been around as […]
Quarterly Employment Survey
The Quarterly Employment Survey out today shows that 46,700 jobs disappeared between December and March. That’s 2.6% of jobs gone in a single […]
Progressive?
It was deeply depressing to wake up this morning to the sound of Russel Norman running National Party attack lines on Radio NZ. […]
The super-con
Rodney Hide would have us believe that a supercity is the way of the future. He says “Auckland cannot become a world-class city […]
Coincidence?
Here’s the cover of Ian Wishart’s latest piece of scientifically illiterate climate change denialism, Air Con: And here’s the poster for World Fair Trade […]
Mt Albert candidate selected
David Shearer has been selected as the candidate for Labour. Congratulations to all of the candidates [updated: The vodem was a bit slow. […]
Book review of the insane
Robinsod is no longer here to do the book reviews of Wishart‘s latest insights into the world of the paranoid. As he said […]
The interesting selection
The National selection in Mount Albert will be going down to the wire with the inevitable split between the locals and the regional/national […]
The republic can wait
No Right Turn highlights Thursday’s Herald editorial calling for our political leaders to step up and take some leadership in the republic debate. […]
Say goodbye to Nanny State
Stepfather State’s taken over. Our new parent likes to keep his distance…he usually comes home after work at the office…but only for a […]
One of these things is not like the other IV
One of these things is not like the other… One of these things is not quite the same. Can you guess which one […]
Herald preaches class warfare
If you’d told me the Herald would use International Workers’ Day as an opportunity to preach class warfare I wouldn’t have believed you. […]
The RTF tries another RUC rort
Tony Friedlander of the trucking lobby and architect of the famous ‘truck strike’ (remember that? man that was weird when you think about […]
Politicising the public service
During the last Labour government the Kiwiblog Right used to call Wellington ‘Helengrad’, a play on Leningrad. Ironic then that, after the election […]
International Workers’ Day
If you’re in Auckland tonight get along for the annual May Day march up Queen Street. Poster below. More events, including for other […]
The real hustle
National introduced legislation yesterday that will create a 10% bonus for voluntary repayments of student loans. Repay $1,000 above your compulsory repayments, get […]
Farewell Michael
Well the other shoe has dropped, and Michael Cullen has now left parliament. His valedictory speech is classic Cullen – best line (re […]
Seriously good fun
Entrenchment back on the agenda
Good to see Labour pursuing a private member’s bill to entrench the Maori seats. Mita Ririnui, who’s lodging the bill, says it “will […]
The Obama of the South Seas
The bizarre project to try to portray John Key as the Obama of the South Seas continues. Garth George today writes: “The new […]
Lane Walker Rudkin
I see poor management and a bitter marital tiff have put the jobs of 470 workers at Lane Walker Rudkin on the line […]
Public holidays
If a Public Holiday falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, we should get the day off on the following Monday instead, like […]
Fox firing at will
From Finsec’s blog, …the gossip: Fox TV is taking television to a new low with a new show with the working title Someone’s […]
Israel and Gaza on a Summer Mind
I think I can safely credit Israeli foreign policy with ruining my summer. If you’re the empathetic type it’s hard to go to […]
When liberals become illiberal
Much as I disagree with those who oppose the freedom of same sex couples to marry, I also can’t stand those that attack […]
Jarring
Today Phil Goff’s question to Key is: “Does he agree with the statements in the House by his Minister of Finance on 16 […]
On that Trevett piece
Continuing with today’s media criticism theme, I’ve got to disagree with my comrade Eddie’s post this morning about the Claire Trevett piece in […]
We deserve better
Duncan Garner on TV3 News According to the poll, 52.6 percent of voters agree the cuts should be cancelled, 37.9 percent say they […]
As bad as it gets
Clare Trevett grow up. You write a piece congratulating Key on making diversionary statements when he is asked serious questions about the supercity? […]
It’s good enough for Wanganui
Rodney Hide refuses to give Aucklanders their referendum on the supercity and one of the excuses he offers is the cost: “The difficulty […]
Gordon Campbell on the MoU
Gordon Campbell’s latest Scoop column takes a very critical view of the Greens’ Memorandum of Understanding with National. While the Greens’ strategy is […]
Focused on what matters
So John Key has set his taxpayer paid researchers onto David Shearer. The best they can come up with is that 11 years ago […]
What a joke
This shows how meaningless tax cuts are. From last night’s TV3 poll: When you receive tax cuts this month [they began on April […]
Imagine.
Inspired by a forwarded e-mail about Obama’s speech to the NAS with this line in it Imagine Key committing to invest 3% of […]
The Backlash Begins
We’ve been warning that John Key faces a backlash in Auckland if he doesn’t rein in Rodney Hide and present a democratic supercity […]