Author Archive

A kick in the guts for savers

Written By: - Date published: 12:08 pm, May 22nd, 2010 - 54 comments

My wife and I are retired. We worked hard, we lived frugally, and we have a nest egg to get us through. Now John’s mob have come along and taken part of that nest egg away from us. 5.9% inflation will eat up our savings. The same will happen to the nest eggs of retired people or young people saving to buy a house up and down this country. How does that reward saving?

Grateful poor to thank rich for trickle down wealth

Written By: - Date published: 1:09 pm, May 19th, 2010 - 29 comments

It is befitting that the 27st of May – just one week after the Budget – marks Thank The Rich Day, which sees poor people the length of the country gearing up to offer their gratitude to the rich for their contribution to the welfare of the poor through making themselves richer. Thank The Rich Day is, in fact, the brainchild of grocery packer Joe Brown…

The Supercity & neoliberalism

Written By: - Date published: 12:23 pm, May 17th, 2010 - 8 comments

A passage from Matt McCarten’s article in the Sunday Herald summed up for me not only the approach of Rodney Hide in setting up his Super City but also the neo-liberal project that has been in vogue for the past quarter century. Democracy under the neo-liberal model is, as far as possible, to be a financial transaction.

International Year of Biodiversity but not in NZ

Written By: - Date published: 2:26 pm, May 15th, 2010 - 9 comments

The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. They have stated ‘It is a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives.’ National has taken up the cause wholeheartedly in a variety of weird ways. They seem hell bent on enacting policies that will do nothing but destroy biodiversity in the name of the economic growth.

Shirtcliffe can’t tell his electoral systems apart

Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, May 14th, 2010 - 13 comments

No Right Turn on the ignorance of the main campaigner wanting a change to our electoral system. You’d think that if you’re campaigning for something that you’d at least know what you are campaigning for. But apparently not.

Plans to mine a schedule-4 protected wetland

Written By: - Date published: 9:06 pm, May 13th, 2010 - 9 comments

Yesterday, No Right Turn wrote this post pointing out a case where L&M Lignite has a exploration license on schedule 4 conservation land granted back in 2003 before a schedule 4 site was expanded.. The legislation for putting land into schedule 4 needs to be amended to remove such licenses when land is moved into a protected status.

Schedule 4 back-down won’t solve the problem

Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, May 10th, 2010 - 11 comments

If, as seems increasingly likely, the Government drops its plans to desecrate the best of schedule 4 land, will it be cause for celebration? In a word, no. Kathy at Greenpeace weblog examines Brownlee and his wet dreams

The future for oil…

Written By: - Date published: 9:50 am, April 30th, 2010 - 48 comments

jarbury

The US Department of Energy shows a comparison between the world’s likely demand for liquid fuels (including oil) over the next 20 years and the various components that will make up the supply of liquid fuels over that time. The emerging gap is alarming, as “Unidentified Projects” would actually be more accurately described as “unfulfilled demand” – meaning quite literally a demand for oil that will not be able to be met.

Forget wondering when peak oil might happen in the future – the answer to that question is: it’s already happened.

More Muldoonism

Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, April 29th, 2010 - 15 comments

The government announced a package of measures for the aquaculture industry – including a power for Ministers “to amend regional coastal plans in exceptional circumstances where it is in significant regional or national interest”. The Minister can unilaterally decide what is in a region’s interests, irrespective of what the people of that region may say to the contrary.

This continues this authoritarian government’s assaults on voters ability to choose the own representation.

Climate change deniers wallets threatened

Written By: - Date published: 5:07 pm, April 28th, 2010 - 37 comments

Apparently climate scientist Michael Mann has threatened legal action* against Minnesotans for Global Warming (M4GW) over their video “Hide the Decline.” This used the comment from the “climategate” emails to portray a dishonest and slanderous picture of Mann. The video has been heavily promoted by climate change deniers and conservative groups, news outlets and blogs internationally. Several conservative NZ bloggers promoted the video.

Looks like the loony CCDs have exhausted the toleration of some climate scientists.

Octagon Mine Plans Announced

Written By: - Date published: 11:58 am, April 22nd, 2010 - 12 comments

The Great National Mining Corporation has chosen Earth Day to announce its plans to seek government approval to mine in Dunedin’s Octagon. Commenting on the irony of the timing of the release of their plans, GNMC spokesman Doug de Houlle said “What better day than Earth Day? The government wants mining and we can move the earth to do it.”

More on Crosby-Textor, mining, and the Nats

Written By: - Date published: 6:53 am, April 22nd, 2010 - 18 comments

We all know that long before John Key got into the gold and uranium mining industry, Crosby Textor Chairman, Robert J Champion de Crespigny was pushing the mining industry’s cause in New Zealand. So, who is this CT man who has been called Australia’s ‘Mr Gold’, a “mining magnate”, a “resource-sector heavyweight” and “a legend”?

Battlers vs billion dollar banks

Written By: - Date published: 11:56 pm, April 21st, 2010 - 33 comments

Finsec’s Andrew Campbell introduces the union’s Better Banking, a trans-Tasman campaign they’re running with their Aussie counterparts to get a better deal for bank workers and bank customers. Campbell notes the banks’ $1 billion profit in the last 3 months alone and asks “Have your fees gone down? Has your mortgage payment become more manageable?”

Who Said That?

Written By: - Date published: 7:53 am, April 13th, 2010 - 17 comments

Who suggested that the mining industry in New Zealand needed to be reinvigorated and should put more emphasis on marketing its fundamentally strong geological resource, telling the NZ Herald that gold mining prospects in New Zealand were at least as good as anywhere in the world, a fact that needed to be exploited?

Jones and CRU exonerated by parliamentary inquiry

Written By: - Date published: 12:07 pm, April 11th, 2010 - 31 comments

Big Ben British Parliament

We were off-air last weekend, so this story got missed.

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee report into the disclosure of climate data by the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia has just been released.

Turns out that ‘climategate’ was just a pile of hot air and selective story telling by the denialist industry. Wasn’t that unexpected? Yeah right.

DPF doesn’t care about democracy

Written By: - Date published: 12:23 pm, March 31st, 2010 - 4 comments

Norightturn writes DPF went apeshit about the then-Labour government’s Electoral Finance Act. He vented online, raised funds, even launched billboards. You’d think that with plans to sack an elected council and strip 560,000 people of their vote in regional council elections for four years, as a “defender of democracy”, he’d be similarly outraged.

The Canterbury dictatorship bill

Written By: - Date published: 7:41 am, March 31st, 2010 - 39 comments

There are significant risks associated with the Review Group’s recommendation to temporarily suspend planned triennial elections for regional councillors (scheduled for October 2010) and to transfer the functions and responsibilities of Environment Canterbury’s (ECan) elected councillors to government-appointed commissioners until elections in 2013 at the latest. Elections are a right and privilege of any citizen in New Zealand. The suspension of such a right should only be considered in exceptional circumstances.

Beneficiary bashing – an inglorious National sport

Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, March 30th, 2010 - 30 comments

Lifted from comments for wider reading by commentator acclaim.. Beneficiary bashing in this country is definitely becoming uglier by the day. It seems that Paula Bennett’s attacks on beneficiaries seemingly condoned by the Prime Minister has given prejudice free reign in the country. It is now permissible to demonize a vulnerable group in society based […]

Coromandel mine claims rubbished

Written By: - Date published: 12:49 am, March 25th, 2010 - 16 comments

Denis Tegg of Coromandel Watchdog writes that National is vastly over-estimating the mining potential of the Coromandel. It would take hundreds of mines and tens of millions of tonnes of toxic tailings to get the billions promised. The people of Waihi know that despite the wealth dug up from underneath them, their town is mired in poverty and permanently threatened by tailings leaking.

Stand up against ACT attack on students’ associations

Written By: - Date published: 1:43 pm, March 24th, 2010 - 66 comments

Andrew Campbell reports that Roger Douglas and the ACT party want to change the law so that student associations will be unable to provide the important services and representation that they currently offer by making their membership voluntary. This will put the clubs and services that many universities offer at risk.

The PM’s private spy agency

Written By: - Date published: 7:33 pm, March 22nd, 2010 - 5 comments

While the public has been focusing on the acquittal of the Waihopai Three, there’s been a quiet revolution in our intelligence community. The Prime Minister has got himself a private spy agency.

As well as looking at foreigners, it will also be “assessing”, and advising the government on, the beliefs, actions, and plans of New Zealanders.

The problem is compounded by the lack of oversight.

Tolley losing the plot?

Written By: - Date published: 12:37 pm, March 16th, 2010 - 14 comments

Anne Tolley put out an odd media statement on Friday. She reckons Trevor Mallard, opposition spokesperson for Education, dominated two public meetings in Auckland on her Government’s unpopular national standards policy. Which begs the question, was she actually all there at either meeting?

Don Brash, Rogernomics, and Huljich

Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, March 16th, 2010 - 20 comments

The New Zealand economic reforms of the 1980s and 1990s were largely a failure.  This can be seen from the large negative divergence post 1984 in New Zealand’s real output per capita in comparison to Australia, our usual benchmark. New Zealand’s comparative position vis-à-vis unemployment also worsened. Poverty and social inequality increased. Australia undertook various […]

The scars of Tui Mine

Written By: - Date published: 11:56 pm, March 15th, 2010 - 18 comments

My Granddad grew up in Te Aroha near Tui Mine. The mining ruined a large swathe of the land and toxic tailings were left behind which polluted the river and turned a large patch of bush into a desert – it is a scar on the face of my Granddad’s mountain which looks over his grave. As I write this I can hear him reciting this poem:

Lorraine Kerr, National Standards & Schools Money

Written By: - Date published: 12:22 pm, March 15th, 2010 - 19 comments

Lorraine Kerr, head of the NZ School Trustees Association is one of National’s few supporters on National Standards. She says a survey of boards of trustees gives her a mandate for this position, with only four boards opposing the Standards. Now, she has been forced to admit that only 14 schools were included in the survey result.

Auckland Super City and the American Revolution

Written By: - Date published: 8:56 am, March 15th, 2010 - 6 comments

Much of the power in the new Super City will be held by council controlled organisations. These organisations will be responsible for approximately 75% of Auckland services and their unelected directors will have free rein to make important city decisions. The organisations will have no obligation to consult and no responsibility to the public if things go wrong.

Nats resort to plants to help Tolley

Written By: - Date published: 11:54 pm, March 11th, 2010 - 57 comments

Let’s face facts. Anne Tolley is a dangerous minister. She is undermining the education system at every turn and the damage will last lifetime. But is National doing the responsible thing and removing her from the portfolio? No. In fact, a guest poster reports they’re so desperate to help her out that they’ve got plants in her audiences to ask patsy questions.

National’s vision: employment without dignity

Written By: - Date published: 3:23 pm, March 3rd, 2010 - 52 comments

National’s latest proposals to strip away workers’ protections against unfair dismissal must surely put to bed any idea that this is a moderate, centrist government.

The proposals are a breach of National’s election promises and go further than even the ECA. They are a charter for employment without dignity.

Tolley’s road tour

Written By: - Date published: 12:54 pm, March 2nd, 2010 - 22 comments

A guest contributor reports that if you want your chance to quiz Anne Tolley and you live in West Auckland your chance is on Thursday but it sounds like the Nats would rather you didn’t come. Another guest contributor pans Tolley’s meeting last night.

Re:Cycle (re-run)

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, February 27th, 2010 - 18 comments

We received this guest post about half an hour after John Key announced his cycleway. At the time, the very sensible criticisms it raises were ignored by an enamoured media.

How prescient it looks now, on the anniversary of the Prime Minister’s Jobs Summit.

BLiP View: Crusher missing in action

Written By: - Date published: 8:18 am, February 23rd, 2010 - 29 comments

BLiP puts his distinctive view on why the police have been losing “the respect of the community” with one of his locally famous lists. He attributes it to ‘Crusher’ Collins and wonders why John Key is cluessly fronting PR wanting stronger sentences for disrespecting police.

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