Accused Labour Party Staffer Resigns
A second resignation has swiftly followed that of Labour Party President Nigel Haworth. The person from the Labour Party Parliamentary team accused of sexual assault has today quit his job.
Parliament
Anger and compassion
It seems that a man set himself on fire in parliament grounds today.
What the National Party president and board knew
Newsroom has another investigative piece on the Barclay debacle. This is not only about a single MP and a lying Prime Minister. It’s also about the governing structure of the political party in charge of running the country, and who was involved in the coverup and dishonesty.
So English lied to Parliament too
Labour and Peters have both made complaints over English’s lie to Parliament. Peters is calling on English to step down. That’s going to make any post-election NZF/Nat coalition a bit tricky.
NRT: A constitutional change
I/S at No Right Turn writes: “The Court has ruled that the High Court was right to declare that National’s 2010 prisoner voting restrictions (the ones which were so shabby and shoddily passed that they brought Parliament into disrepute) were inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act“
Climate change, political heroes, political culture
How ironic that Parliament is to debate climate change today, as the latest in a torrent of warming-fueled extreme weather events bears down on the country, and as the government charges Russel Norman and the other heroes trying to end oil exploration in NZ waters.
New Parliament buildings
A couple of reactions to the $100m Parliament building plans.
A timely reminder
It Feels Kinda Half Baked.
Maybe you didn’t hear that this week is NZ sign language week…
Fixed Term Parliaments
An argument in favour of New Zealand adopting Fixed Term Parliaments Act legislation.
NRT: So much for Parliamentary oversight
When Parliament in its select committee oversight role asks the GCSB about whether it is obeying the Public Finance Act, or whether it has formal NSA moles in its organisation, then suddenly its an “operational matter” which they can’t answer. The natural conclusion: they do and there are – because if either allegation was false, they’d just deny it. Looks like John Key’s assurances about greater parliamentary oversight over the GCSB are a lie.
Who’d be an MP?
Who’d be an MP? In many ways it’s a dog of a job, and the prospect of really “making a difference” seems remote. Politics seems to bring out the worst in people, and too many politicians have earned the low esteem in which they are held by the public. But despite all this, some people are drawn to politics for all the right reasons. Good on you all. It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.
Put it on the kids’ tab
Some may have noted an odd series of questions in Parliament and press releases from Bill English around government borrowing over the last […]