Author Archive

I disagree

Written By: - Date published: 1:53 pm, September 26th, 2014 - 112 comments

With Lynn, which according to the trolls should see me banned 😈

I think the Labour results show voters understand MMP, not that Labour doesn’t.

Child Poverty March

Written By: - Date published: 8:32 pm, September 6th, 2014 - 14 comments

There was a great protest up Queen St today, as 1000-odd people (including me!) marched against child poverty, and government and societal inaction over it.

 

From Twitter

Written By: - Date published: 8:18 pm, August 31st, 2014 - 34 comments

All your trashing the SFO connections. h/t DebsHancock

Look over there! Tax cuts!

Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, August 26th, 2014 - 7 comments

So National are both so out of ideas and so desperate to take the spotlight off their Dirty Politics that they’re now promising tax cuts. Tax cuts straight after we have a panel of our most prominent economists warning that the ‘rock star’ economy is going to hit the rocks.

Policy Free Zone?

Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, August 21st, 2014 - 26 comments

Cut Your Hair has some great analysis of who is the “policy free zone” that Key is claiming the left is…

Child Poverty in Aotearoa: Tackling Inequality

Written By: - Date published: 6:30 pm, June 6th, 2014 - 10 comments

There’s a wee bit of irony in showing a program on inequality on expensive subscriber-only TV; but nonetheless there’s an excellent new series on Face TV (Sky 83).

John Banks must resign

Written By: - Date published: 10:31 pm, June 5th, 2014 - 105 comments

It is untenable for someone to remain as an MP after being found guilty of electoral fraud. For the integrity of Parliament, John Banks must go: now.

Save the Poisons Helpline!

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, May 23rd, 2014 - 29 comments

National are planning to merge a bunch of health helplines to save money. The 0800 POISON number could be scrapped leaving additional seconds or minutes until help is received in those most urgent of moments.

Labour membership greatest in 30 years

Written By: - Date published: 2:17 pm, May 14th, 2014 - 11 comments

Moira Coatsworth recently announced that last year’s party membership was the greatest in 30 years – ie, it is higher than even before the 4th Labour Government did such damage to membership numbers. This is a sign of rude health. And it shows in the quality of new candidates being selected.

Save Invermay

Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, May 7th, 2014 - 17 comments

We still don’t know why Joyce is pushing on with the move to shut Invermay, Dunedin’s impressive AgResearch centre, but it’s still not too late to stop him and the AgResearch board. Last week, one of the biggest breeds of sheep, Texel breeders voted no confidence in the AgResearch board.  The petition continues to grow.  Dunedin is […]

Piketty: inequality & capitalism’s flaw

Written By: - Date published: 8:56 am, April 30th, 2014 - 50 comments

There is a major new economics tome out this year that’s sending waves through the economics community like none since Friedman in the 70s. It’s Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century.
It points out that under capitalism, we’re doomed to inequality.

Politics bruises even Shane Jones

Written By: - Date published: 4:06 pm, April 24th, 2014 - 108 comments

While I know many on here aren’t sad to see Shane go, I think he’s a lost voice for Labour – and we’ll need others to step up into his place. I also think we might be a little less visceral and personal in our attacks on politicians if we were a little quicker to realise they are human.
Also: Shane Jones Media Watch

Upper Harbour exists.

Written By: - Date published: 7:12 pm, April 17th, 2014 - 18 comments

The new electorate boundaries are out.

Some noticeable changes around Port Hills, but mainly only tinkering from the previous proposals.

Tim Watkin is wrong

Written By: - Date published: 10:22 am, April 8th, 2014 - 21 comments

Tim Watkin recently had a post over at Pundit, saying about why a 15% gap between Labour and National matters. His crux point is that in no MMP election has a party led by 15% and not formed the government. Unfortunately for Tim, this is demonstrably wrong.

Where ‘welfare reform’ ends

Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, March 10th, 2014 - 25 comments

Sheila Holt, in the UK, is in a coma for 2 months. She has also just been invited to “intensive job-focused activity” by the Dept of Work & Pensions.

Invermay: Meddling Joyce Ignores the Evidence

Written By: - Date published: 9:39 am, March 10th, 2014 - 8 comments

My brother has posted across at Red Alert on Steven Joyce’s bungling oversight of AgResearch’s current $100 million restructure. The Crown Research Institute is New Zealand’s largest, and a recipient of generous Government support. Andy West, the former head of AgResearch stands to gain as head of Lincoln University from a plan that independent review […]

Pinning hopes on China

Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, March 9th, 2014 - 33 comments

Our export-led economy is a rock-star according to those on the right. Australia kept us going, and now, despite the EU still spluttering, we can fly because China will buy all our milk powder. But there’s a potential flaw in putting all your eggs in one China basket, as a number of BBC stories have been revealing.

Inequality for all

Written By: - Date published: 11:08 am, February 11th, 2014 - 14 comments

  There’s been an excellent Insight on Radio NZ on Sunday / Monday, looking at the income gap and the consequences for our society – the loss of social mobility, the loss of health (mental & physical) for all, the increased incarceration, drug use etc etc. There’s also been recently PBS coverage in the US, […]

Foreign exchange fixing “as bad” as Libor

Written By: - Date published: 1:24 pm, February 10th, 2014 - 7 comments

Something that doesn’t seem to have hit the newspapers here, but may turn out to have been significantly affecting little ol’ NZ is a growing forex scandal, mainly in the UK (as the centre of forex trading). The boss of the UK’s financial regulator has said the the allegations of rate-fixing are “every bit as […]

The value of Sick Leave

Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, December 6th, 2013 - 109 comments

Business NZ says sick leave costs us $1.26 billion per year.  Some might say that illness costs us more than that, and that’s business paying their share, to look after their employees which will benefit the business in the long run.

Asset sale disaster

Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, December 5th, 2013 - 30 comments

The Government are lowering their lowest estimate for how much they’ll raise from asset sales. They’ve done a terrible job implementing a stupid policy – if you’re going to put your ideological blinkers on and do it, at least do it right. Now it must stop.

21st Century Leadership Election

Written By: - Date published: 1:43 pm, September 3rd, 2013 - 12 comments

As part of the Labour Leadership Election there is to be a ‘virtual hustings’ – an online forum for Q&A organised by Labour.  Scoop have agreed to facilitate, and are now harvesting the questions.

Key’s earthquake ‘fun’

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, August 29th, 2013 - 76 comments

The government suffered a major court ruling against it over their ungenerous Christchurch earthquake pay-outs – their 50% offer for uninsured red-zoned land was ruled ‘not in accordance with the law’. Brownlee promises to appeal and bury the Outcasts in debt; John Key threatens to withdraw even their 50% offer with the throwaway: ‘it’s been a lot of fun. If you don’t want to take the offer, that’s where it’s at’. Heartless.

Congrats to Kristine Bartlett & SFWU

Written By: - Date published: 2:42 pm, August 23rd, 2013 - 20 comments

The Employment Court has issued a preliminary ruling on caregivers pay – saying that their pay should be compared to what it would be if their profession was male-dominated, not 92% women. Kristine Bartlett is the test case with more than 20 years’ experience and skills bringing her a $14.32/hr wage.  The Service and Food […]

More Beneficiary Bashing

Written By: - Date published: 8:21 am, August 14th, 2013 - 31 comments

The IRD writes of penalties and interest on tax debt almost as standard – along with a chunk of the actual tax. MSD will pursue you beyond the grave to get back loans because you can’t cover your living expenses. Why are we treating people and debt so differently?

Where our Assets have gone

Written By: - Date published: 3:24 pm, August 13th, 2013 - 133 comments

Labour have OIA’d a Treasury list of where the money from Asset Sales has gone.  Hint: it’s mostly not schools, hospitals, or paying down debt like National said.

UK: Zero Hour Contracts

Written By: - Date published: 8:56 am, August 7th, 2013 - 9 comments

There’s a Guardian-led campaign in the UK at the moment over “zero-hour contracts” – contracts that guarantee an employee no hours, and often leave them on-call at a moment’s notice to fulfil the employers whim. They’re common here, but I don’t expect a major newspaper to run with it…

Government still doesn’t care about climate change

Written By: - Date published: 3:23 pm, July 8th, 2013 - 146 comments

We have very good climate scientists in New Zealand, but the government isn’t exactly promoting them.

So I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that they’re planning on more than halving the climate research budget from $10 million/year to $4.5 million.

What’s the holdup?

Written By: - Date published: 2:21 pm, July 1st, 2013 - 82 comments

Generation Zero are a youth-led organisation who see climate change as their problem. They see zero fossil fuel use as 100% Possible in a sustainable Aotearoa. So they’re holding a nationwide speaking tour about it – asking “What’s the holdup?” on climate change action.

For Solar

Written By: - Date published: 12:05 pm, June 25th, 2013 - 48 comments

There’s an issue for solar power about to hit: Standards NZ’s new proposed standard requires the use of a particular, untested, inverter which is not expected to even exist until July 2014.  The current 2005 standard on solar power production allows electricity lines companies to enforce their own set of standards onto independent solar power installers.

An unjust government

Written By: - Date published: 7:11 pm, June 24th, 2013 - 18 comments

So the Ministry of Health has relented to some caregivers and is paying them something… but not others. Margaret Spencer has given up her life to look after her adult son, but gets no compensation for it. If she gave her son over to strangers to look after, not only would the MoH have to […]

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