Search Results » eco maori
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3 time loser wins
In a surprise to no-one, John Key has appointed 3 time election loser Hekia Parata to replace the latest of his corrupt ministers to walk the plank – Pansy Wong. I’m hoping Parata will be less of a disgrace than Wong. It wouldn’t be hard, she would just have to actually try to answer questions in the House and actually do something about the wage gaps.
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What would a National win mean in 2011?
In my final post I look at the possible influence coalition partners could have on a future National government. Even if Labour loses in 2011, an outright win for right-wing economic doctrine is not necessarily on the cards.
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NZF poll is wrong
Great excitement in the Sunday papers over Winston Peters / NZF. “Poll puts NZ First back in contention”! “Peters the kingmaker again”! Don’t believe a word of it.
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ECE costs to skyrocket
The Nats’ stupid slash and burn approach to early childhood education (ECE) is about to hammer families. And once again Anne Tolley is in complete denial about it.
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Sickening attempts at political-point scoring
It’s dismaying to see a few rightwing commentators using the Pike River disaster to attack restrictions on mining in national parks. The claims are baseless and crassly opportunistic. One expects the like of Matthew Hooton, Whaleoil, and Paul Holmes to try to score political points off tragedy but I thought better of Fran O’Sullivan.
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Unravelling at both ends
The new foreshore and seabed deal is going sour for the government at both ends. The Maori Party is in a state of virtual civil war with the fundi faction led by Hone Harawira gaining support against Tariana Turia’s sell-out faction. Meanwhile, National is feeling the heat as ACT targets its redneck vote.
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Assessing Labour’s Mana result
Labour can be reasonably pleased with the Mana result. The majority is small but that does not mean anything for the wider party. To win Labour had to overcome 1) a weak candidate 2) a ferocious Key-centred National campaign 3) a threat to its left 4) a media narrative that damned it thrice over, and 5) a very low turn-out.
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English: excuses but no solutions on plummeting incomes
Labour picked up on the statistics I revealed yesterday that show the median income of Maori has fallen 11.5% under National and the Pacific Island median income is down an astounding 19%. Kris Fa’afoi and Annette King put out press releases. Then King took the battle to Bill English in the House, who it seems is also a reader.
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NZ media asleep at the wheel
Democracy is quietly dying in NZ but you’d never know it by the media’s response. The government is rushing through a slew* of […]
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$1mil Whanau Ora funding for Parata supporters
What little we know of Whanau Ora is that it is essentially the privatisation of government delivery of social services to private groups. Rather than deliver services themselves, government departments entrust taxpayer funds to small groups that often have little or no track record to do the job instead. It’s an invitation for corruption.
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Poppy day in Beijing
It’s diplomacy time in the Asia-Pacific region. While Secretary Clinton came to New Zealand and Australia and President Obama to India and Indonesia, […]
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New Left Party?
The rumour mill has been buzzing since a couple of commenters here let slip about Matt McCarten’s run in the Mana by-election. Word around the traps is the campaign will be used to launch a new Left Party with McCarten, Hone Harawira, Sue Bradford and others. It’s an exciting possibility.
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Media Matters
A pot-pourri of a few things that have come up in the media of late, and thoughts on other media matters…
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A smoke-free NZ by 2025
The Maori Affairs select committee has released its report on smoking. It’s great to see politicians setting a really ambitious goal coupled with policies to achieve it. Labour and the Greens are on board, what about National? Well our Do Nothing PM, John ‘ambitious for New Zealand’ Key says it’s too hard. Guess we need a government with some balls.
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Charging for the foreshore
I don’t know about you, but I have certainly been confused about ACT’s move to insert a last-minute clause into the new Marine and Coastal Areas (Takutai Moana) Bill (proposed replacement for the Foreshore and Seabed Act). Canterbury legal academic David Round sets out some of the issues involved. With deep divisions within Maoridom, and a growing conservative backlash, this mess isn’t going away any time soon…
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National’s Broken Promises
National are a land of broken promises – from GST rises and tax cuts to falling wages and attacks on education. Here’s my list – help me with any I’ve forgotten.
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Happy birthday Auckland
Happy Birthday Auckland! The new Supercity is now in effect, with Mayor Len Brown at the helm. How is the tension between a left wing mayor representing a third of the country, and a right wing central government, going to play out? The Nats can’t afford to let Auckland fail…
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On the foreshore
Seems like the Maori Party conference is off to a rocky start. Likely to get even rockier as they move on to the main event today, the vexed issue of the foreshore and seabed. The differences between the existing Act and the proposed replacement Bill are mostly symbolic. Is a symbolic change enough for the Maori Party?
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Rolling back transparency
Last year MPs’ spending was opened up to public scrutiny, and many hailed a “new era” of openness. Well it didn’t last long. Now MPs’ travel costs are to become secret again. We won’t get to know about cases like Rodney Hide and Chris Carter. This will prevent incidents like the Carter witch-hunt. But on balance I have to come down on the side of transparency. This move to start rolling it back is a mistake.
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Harawira off foreshore committee
Select committees are very important. They take Bills after first reading, hear submissions, and recommend alterations. Ministers do not (usually) sit on them and they are not meant to be mere rubber stamps for the government. But Harawira’s removal from the foreshore committee shows this government doesn’t care about good lawmaking.
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I’ve had a gut’s full too, Hone
I get Hone Harawira’s anger over National’s pandering to rednecks over the Foreshore and Seabed new legislation. That was the same anger that led to the Maori Party being formed in the first place (ironic that they’re voting for the new law). But I can’t abide by the racist language and actions he resorts to.
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Child friendly
The Labour conference this weekend is expected to release new “policy directions”. One of them is out already — and it’s good. What could make more sense than putting children first?
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A PM but not a leader
New Zealand is small country, far from anywhere, always on the edge of irrelevance. To continue our proud heritage of principled and effective international contributions, to hold our heads up high on the world stage, New Zealand needs a leader. But all we have is a PM.
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Little Mr Key, the spider & the sunny day
Had a crack at writing my kid a story. What do you reckon?
Once upon a time there was a little man called John Key. He told everyone that if they trusted him he would lead them to a brighter future. Some of the people said he was lying to get power. More people said that they liked that nice man, Mr Key, and wanted the brighter future he promised…
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“We’re all shades of sheep” – the Calvert interview
Check out Hilary Calvert’s interview in the ODT. It’s, um, extraordinary and hilarious. Calvert can’t remember whether she was ever a member of a different political party, when she first stood for ACT, or whether she has any convictions.
More evidence of the depth of talent in ACT these days.
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Over promise under deliver
“I also want to pay a special acknowledgement to my friend and deputy, Bill English. What a great job he is doing as Finance Minister. He’s delivered two Budgets that have steered New Zealand out of recession and put the economy firmly back on track to grow and create jobs”. Or has he?…
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Stable government
John Key and the Nats are failing to provide the stable government that New Zealanders require – and vote for. His coalition partners are both self destructing. Interesting times.
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Some thoughts on ACT
One way or another ACT’s troubles are going to ripple through the entire political discourse.
So what’s likely to happen with Garrett?
And what does it mean for everyone else?
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Amongst the rubble: a look at the Christchurch earthquake from the bottom up
First posted on the excellent Beyond Resistance blog: While the dust settles and Christchurch recovers from the 7.1 earthquake, people have begun to pick up the pieces and get on with their lives. But for many working class people this is not so easy. Those most affected by ‘natural disasters’ are those already on the margins of despair.
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Crown ownership by any other name would smell as bad
Unnoticed amongst all the earthquake coverage was a small article in the Weekend Dompost on the foreshore and seabed deal. Apparently, ‘public domain’ will no longer appear in the new legislation. Instead, we’ll have a new name, possibly ‘takutaimoana’, Te Reo for ‘seabed’. That sound you can hear Winston Peters is rubbing his hands with glee.
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Another broken Supercity promise
Yet another broken promise on the Auckland Supercity, as ministers fail to consult on the directors of council-controlled organisations. Will The Herald stand by its earlier thundering editorial?
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How to be a lazy politician
accountability, bill english, democracy under attack, Economy, john key, national/act government, Politics, same old nationalWhen John Steinbeck said “No one wants advice – only corroboration†he could well have been describing the numerous working groups the Government has established in many areas of significant economic and social policy. Too lazy to spend its nine years in opposition developing a detailed policy prescription, National now picks groups to tell it what it wants to hear.
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Child murder or protecting gangs?
The legacy of the Maori Party should not be waving the seabed and foreshore legislation in the air like Neville Chamberlain and rejoicing at the sop given by the Machiavellian elite – not while another child lies dying of a brain injury. The Minister for Maori Affairs should not be working to save illegal buildings on a gang HQ when Maori children are being abused at a sickening rate.
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Another poll
For the poll junkies – yes there’s been another poll. It’s headed “Labour make gains”, but it’s margin of error stuff, so don’t get too excited.
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Unemployment rises to 6.8%
Statistics NZ has just released the Household Labour Force Survey for June 2010 and it’s grim reading, with an astonishing increase in the unemployment rate from 6.0% to 6.8%.
Maori unemployment is now up to 16.4%, Pacific unemployment is at 14.1% and there’s been a 70% increase in long-term unemployment to 37,600.
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Victory within reach, if they’ll grab for it
Labour has, to date, failed to give the people who voted for it 3 of the last 4 elections a reason to come back. But that doesn’t mean all is lost. The Left is not just Labour. A 5% shift in the polls, the same scale as the shift that has already happened this past year, would be all it takes to get those numbers even and make the Maori Party – or maybe Winston – kingmaker.
