Known Knowns and All the Other Ones
We cannot know everything and our only option is to trust others who know stuff that we don’t.
trust
Are We Expecting Too Much Of Our Political Leaders?
Political leaders must have expert knowledge on many topics and near-perfect recall. No naps allowed and no room for error.
The NZ National Party is the Wizard of Oz
The National Party is a sad, confused, slightly dazed white old man behind the curtain.
English damaged by Barclay scandal – poll
The missing Newshub poll question has appeared at last, showing that Bill English has been damaged by his handling of the Barclay scandal. 56% of Kiwis (even 36% of Nats) have lost some trust in English. Updated: The texts have been “deleted”. English refusing to answer questions.
About that pay equity deal
More excellent reporting from Newsroom: “Long overdue pay rate increases affecting 55,000 New Zealand care and support workers kick in on July 1. But the Government’s failure to fully fund the changes is threatening to derail service providers”
Catching up with Key
You can only bungle and lie for so long before people get sick of it. Seems like it’s all starting to catch up with Key at last.
Hacked election
John Key says the election is in danger of being stolen by a hacker. What he is afraid of is that the election is going to be “stolen” by the truth.
Dotcom developments
The public trusts Kim Dotcom more than John Key (no surprise), and Journalist Selwyn Manning describes “some breaking news from Dotcom” on what Key knew, and when…
What does Key’s promise mean?
Key is already qualifying a promise he’s made on Maori water rights. Does the promise mean anything at all?
Lost respect and trust
I was wondering whether to write a post on the very odd things that outrage the tight little circle of right wing bloggers we have in this country. But MikeG in a comment at Dim Post made the point far far better than I could have.
Most and least trusted
A recent survey of most and least trusted individuals and professions in NZ makes for interesting reading. Politicians as a profession rank down with telemarketers and sex workers. The list of least trusted individuals contains some bad news for the government…
Clamping down on trusts
One of the most popular uses of trusts is to hide income for tax avoidance or evasion. So, I was happy to read about the IRD’s success in a recent court case against two surgeons. The court found these two very rich men had used trusts to avoid tax to the tune of $168,000. The case will have big ramifications, potentially shutting down one of the biggest tax rorts in the country.
Funnily enough, it really was about trust
I am ruling out selling Kiwibank at any point in the future/Asset sales are on the table for a second term
We won’t be raising GST/We’re raising GST
My trust is so blind I have no idea what’s in it/Owning a vineyard is great fun
Anyone else seeing a pattern?
Espiner: Key trust not blind
Colin Espiner sums up Highwater-gate very well: “Basically it comes down to this: [John Key] said he didn’t know he had shares in Highwater when he really did.” No-one’s alleging Key had conspiracy meetings in smokey rooms with alcohol magnates. That’s a ridiculous misdirection being run by Kevin Taylor. This is about the blind trust and how Key handled the conflicts of interest arising from his knowledge of his shareholdings.
Key needs to answer questions in Highwater-gate
The only question that matters in Highwater-gate is this: “is John Key’s trust really blind”? The answer seems to be “no”. I’m sorry, but the lawyer’s letter that John Key released yesterday just raises more questions about his not so blind trust. We’re still waiting for an explanation of how the trust is blind given that everyone can see into it.
Get it in writing
Watching the Maori Party get done over by National is getting painful. The MP thought they had a good faith dialogue on the […]
Key demands we publish full quote
John Key called us to task in his interview with Wammo today: “every leftwing blogger out there has a field-day going on and […]
Kiwis don’t trust Nats
According to the Colmar/Brunton poll, 50% of Kiwis don’t believe National is being open about its plans vs 37% who believe the Nats […]