What is up with National?
National appears to be rattled and introverted right now. Is the continuing saga involving Jami-Lee Ross the cause?
andrew geddis
Givealittle legal fund set up for Renae Maihi for defence against Bob Jones’ claim
Bob Jones has threatened Renae Maihi with a defamation lawsuit for seeking to have his knighthood taken off him. Laura O’Connell Rapira of Action Station has responded by starting a givealittle page to cover Renae’s legal costs.
Justice for the family carer claimants
National’s constitutionally outrageous attempt to stifle the claims of family carers for compensation for discrimination should be repealed and a just settlement reached with the caregivers.
Geddis on TPP11
Geddis: “So either Bill English was lying to Susie Ferguson on the radio, or his advisors lied to him about what TPP11 will require, or the Crown’s lawyers are lying to the Waitangi Tribunal.”
Land of the long white wash
In ruling out an inquiry Bill English insults both our intelligence and our integrity. Next stop the International Criminal Court? (Alas the title is not mine, take a bow Finlay MacDonald.)
Hit and Run – time for an inquiry
Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson’s book Hit and Run makes a compelling case for the Government to conduct a full inquiry to see if New Zealand forces were complicit in the killing of innocent men and women and if there was a cover up.
Racist campaigns and attack ads
A couple of racist groups seem to be hawking their wares recently. Unfortunately this may herald the start of a dirty election, dragged down by well funded and unaccountable pressure groups.
The responses to the Bain report leak
A review of some commentary about the leak of information from the Bain compensation claim report includes a comment from David Seymour which is surprisingly good.
Court’s decision on TPP OIA has both Nats and Ombudsman squirming
The High Court recently found that Government and Tim Groser improperly considered Prof. Jane Kelsey’s application for information concerning the TPPA negotiations. The Nats aren’t happy. The Ombudsman isn’t happy. Tough.
Geddis on Key’s guts
Andrew Geddis on Key’s bravado when it comes to sending other people to fight in a war, and his prevarication when it comes to helping war’s victims.
National’s law ruled a violation of human rights
The High Court has ruled that a law passed by National in 2010 is a violation of the Bill of Rights Act. This is a first for NZ, and another “proud” item to add to National’s legacy.
Geddis on Auckland housing land
Yesterday we covered National’s blunder in not considering Treaty settlement obligations in its plans to free up state land for Auckland housing. Today you can read someone who actually knows what they’re talking about on the issue, check out Professor Geddis’ piece at Pundit.
Dirty politics in Dunedin
No. Not Pete George. Instead Andrew Geddis appears to be up to his neck in the mire of organising “Debating ‘Dirty Politics’: Media, Politics and Law”, at a ‘scholarly’ debate on Friday from 1pm-4pm. It is a long-winded scholarly debate inside work hours. But it will be streamed on youtube and hopefully not only live.
David Farrar badly needs night school
In Kiwiblog this morning, David Farrar appeared to be running a 9th floor pre-pump for John Banks to resign. But I was rather incredulous when I read this “I don’t think the Judge has actually helped the Government by delaying the decision on entering a conviction. Now that it is the Judge’s role to care about the impact on the Government.”. Huh? DPF badly needs to go back to do some adult education. Perhaps to night school?
Man ban – Geddis on DPF
Labour is proposing female-only candidate selection in some cases. Andrew Geddis has indecent fun as he schools DPF on his “man ban” spin. Extracts below but go read the whole thing on Pundit.
Then why don’t you release the advice John?
A legal expert has raised the alarm over the Nats’ latest outbreak of constitutional arrogance. So too has the Attorney General, and the media. Key says it’s all OK (of course), but why should anyone believe him when his government won’t release the advice that it has received?
A Sunday treat for everyone except Fran O’Sullivan
Parasitic blogger takes on Very Important Columnist who does Real Journalism Work to bring to her readers Informed and Insightful Commentary on The Issues That Really Matter.
Geddis: Is someone trying to game the MMP review?
The excellent Andrew Geddis at Pundit has an interesting post up this morning. You should head on over there and check it out. Here are a couple of extracts to get you started…
Democracy Under Attack!!!
I couldn’t let the last of the year slip away without a fond farewell to the good old Electoral Finance Act. Last week the government passed its replacement legislation. It tweaks some thresholds, but retains the principles and much of the substance of Labour’s EFA. But this time there is no “Democracy Under Attack” campaign. I wonder why…
An indelible stain on parliamentary lawmaking
Andrew Geddis (Associate Professor of Law at Otago and writer at Pundit) is an expert on democratic theory. He has become required reading for politics junkies. His latest piece — a brutally honest analysis of the recent work of the Law and Order select committee — should be required reading for everybody.
Fixing the election date
Pundit writer and legal academic Andrew Geddis has been doing some important work on electoral law, including contributions to the select committee that is looking at the 2011 referendum on MMP and the reform of campaign funding practices. You should head on over to Pundit and have a look.