Roads of National Party Significance Continue…
Transmission Gully: A road that makes no economic sense, that will now be forced through extra fast, with reduced consultation.
nick smith
Nats try ‘thinking green’ on for size
It’s taken me a few days to post on this opinon piece from Pattrick Smellie but it’s still worth reading! There are signs that Nick Smith is trying hard to improve the Nats environmental credentials, Gerry Brownlee notwithstanding. But Pattrick Smellie suggests it is not that simple:
The ETS is a price signal
The point of an ETS isn’t to just blindly pay more, it is to change our behaviour so that we don’t have to. National don’t get it, so they have brought us the worst of all possible ETS schemes. Badly designed and devoid of vision. An ETS with all of the costs and none of the benefits.
Our Water Our Vote
Sunday saw another big protest against the government. An estimated 3000 people turned out in Christchurch for the “Our Water Our Vote” rally to protest National’s attacks on Canterbury’s democracy and environment.
Nats plan to subsidise greenhouse polluters
National is predictably planning to put the cost of polluters’ actions on to the rest of us by canning the major parts of the ETS. This stupid game of pass the buck is played out all over the world – polluters refuse to accept their responsibilities, governments refuse to act – as more greenhouse gases are pumped into the atmosphere, locking us in to economic and ecological devastation.
Canterbury’s dictators
No Right Turn’s typically forthright take on the sacking of the ECan councillors and the makeup of the government’s appointed directors.
RNZ reveals ACC privatisation agenda
National’s hysteria around ACC last year was focused on creating an air of crisis. Now they’re going to ‘do something’. That something is privatisation of ACC. It won’t work, it won’t save money. The costs of injuries will still exist. Privatisation will put more of that cost on the injured. Added ligation and profits will mean worse cover for more cost.
Help a brother out
Nick Smith’s brother, Tim Smith, was up on 21 charges from Environment Canterbury at the same time as Smith was ramming through the abolishment of the democratically-elected council. Smith should have told us of this apparent conflict of interest. I guess when you’re part of a government that’s hiding the fact its 3 strikes law will encourage murders, this seemed like a small thing.
Paying MPs’ court costs
I don’t have a problem with MPs being able to get public funding for court cases arising from their professional activities. You wouldn’t expect private sector employees who are taken to court over their actions in their job to be forced to pay their own way. But what a sense of entitlement Gerry Brownlee has.
‘Dig & hope’ – Nats’ great plan
National’s mining policy is ‘dig and hope’. That’s the only conclusion one can draw after Gerry Brownlee and Nick Smith admitted National has no idea of the value of the minerals supposedly under the protected lands they want to dig up. Remember, this is National’s lynch-pin economic policy. They are we have dig up these protected lands for the sake of the economy but have no idea of what’s there.
ACC levy hikes another step to privatisation
As expected, Nick Smith has imposed substantial ACC levy hikes on families. For a worker on $40,000 with a car, you’re looking at […]
Public rage at govt policies and lies
On Nightline just now there was coverage of a meeting held by Nick Smith in St Heliers. Two interesting things: 1) there was […]
Armstrong on Calamity Nick
Wrapped in a bit of fluff, John Armstrong has some pretty damning things to say about Nick Smith today: He can be headstrong. […]
Give the snip snap to the zip zap plastic fantastic? Yeah right!
Brian Fallow has a great post over at Granny Herald this morning. “Emitters on bludger’s end of deal” deals with the way that […]
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 […]
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 […]
Nick Smith plays dumb
Answering the question you wish you were asked rather than the one you were is a common PR tactic (to a point) when […]
Oldest trick in the book
How do you get someone to change their mind about something they like? Simple, find one negative element to it (nothing is perfect) […]
Toad asks: Who paid for what, Nick?
Following my post yesterday, toad on g.blog raises some questions about Nick Smith’s expense claims: In the Dompost article, Nick Smith said “I had […]
Nick pulls a Bill
Nick Smith has taken a leaf out of the Double Dipton school of politics, calling journalists and swearing at them when the coverage […]
Nats to subsidise big polluters by $2 billion a year
Last night, non-government parties finally got a peak at the new emissions trading bill. Nick Smith still didn’t have it finished, it was […]
Nick Smith’s dirty dealing
Labour’s Charles Chauvel has released the paper records of Labour’s attempts to agree a bi-partisan ETS with National. In total, Labour presented three […]
John Key ‘may’ be able to understand it?
John Key has recently acted like a jerk to a young mother worried about what climate change is going to mean for her […]
Nick Smith lying with numbers.
Nick Smith is the front-man for this government on climate change, and it appears that he knows absolutely nothing about the numbers. The […]
Political violence
A Nelson man attempted to buy a gun to shoot Nick Smith. Details are scant. What could have been a nasty situation looks […]
Privileges complaints laid
A number of poor performing ministers like Paula Bennett, Kate Wilkinson, Anne Tolley, Pita Sharples, Tariana Turia, Rodney Hide, Pansy Wong, and Key himself, […]
Headline fail
This is a classic. Media are reporting that National MP Nick Smith has had an assault complaint lodged against him by a Nelson […]
Nat discovers the virtues of listening
Here’s an exert from Nick Smith’s speech to the 2009 New Zealand Planning Institute Conference: I acknowledge, that while the bulk of submissions […]
NZ’s debt in perspective
Remember when John Key used to say “New Zealand has a growth problem, not a debt problem”? He doesn’t say that anymore, which […]
National dumps worker reps from ACC board
Nick Smith announced National’s changes to the ACC board this afternoon. As expected they’ve kicked Wayne Butson and Ross Wilson off the board, […]
Caption contest
Out of her depth
Paula Bennett’s performance on Morning Report today didn’t just bring home how completely out of her depth she is as a Minister, it […]
CTU busts ACC spin
Over the last week or so the Government, and Nick Smith in particular, have run a dishonest PR campaign to undermine ACC and […]
Experts: National lying over ACC
The wheels are starting to come off National’s PR campaign to undermine ACC as more and more people notice the gap between their […]
NRT on National’s ACC antics
I’ve been meaning to write something about National’s attempts to beat up ACC’s costs in order to soften the ground for privatisation (see […]
Nick Smith stays mum
The Sunday-Star Times has an article on National’s proposed RMA changes. Unfortunately, it’s just Nick Smith describing the changes. And, surprise, he doesn’t mention […]