Author Archive
Gosche to retire
Written By: - Date published: 3:15 pm, May 29th, 2008 - 19 comments
Mark Gosche has announced he will retire from politics at the election. Gosche has represented the people of Maungakiekie for 12 years and, in 1999, became the first minister of Pacific Island descent. You will be aware of the family tragedies that led him first to step down from Cabinet and now to retire. Here’s […]
Why didn’t Kate know Nats’ Kiwisaver policy?
Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, May 29th, 2008 - 34 comments
The most surprising thing to come of the National’s Kiwisaver fiasco is not that they want to undermine the scheme and get employers out of paying their part (this is the party of big business, after all). No, the real shock is to learn that Kate Wilkinson, National’s Industrial Relations spokesperson, is not involved in […]
Key: Vietnam War was “right thing to do”
Written By: - Date published: 11:12 am, May 29th, 2008 - 115 comments
Yesterday, the leaders of the parliamentary parties apologised to the veterans of the Vietnam War for the treatment they received both while fighting and on their return home. It was not these soldiers’ fault that their government deployed them in a disastrous and unjust war. Except, now John Key is saying the war and New […]
Greens must not let ETS fail
Written By: - Date published: 2:20 pm, May 28th, 2008 - 45 comments
The Dompost reports that the Greens will not vote for the Emissions Trading Scheme if the introduction of transport fuels into the scheme and the end of free allocation of credits are delayed. Without the Greens, the Bill will probably not pass. I have a lot of sympathy for the Greens’ position. The ETS is […]
Nats to journos: say what we want or shut up
Written By: - Date published: 12:59 pm, May 28th, 2008 - 19 comments
Here’s Barry Soper on ZB on the ‘Kate-gate‘ Kiwisaver debacle: What I found interesting was the way it was handled. I was the only person this time yesterday at this particular breakfast and it was a question from the floor. Kate Wilkinson quite clearly said that employer contributions to KiwiSaver was not going to be compulsory. Now, […]
Clydesdale report rubbished
Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, May 28th, 2008 - 29 comments
Greg Clydesdale’s report that labelled Pacific Islanders a ‘drain on the economy’ has been rubbished as a lazy, intellectually dishonest piece of work by fellow academics. The report concludes that Pacific Islanders make no net contribution to the economy but the substance of the report does not justify that conclusion in the slightest. Moreover, it […]
Interview the Leaders IX – Questions for Peters
Written By: - Date published: 8:44 pm, May 27th, 2008 - 2 comments
We’ve chosen the questions for Winston Peters in the final installment of our ‘Interview the Leaders’ series. The first question remains the same, as for all leaders: Of which of your achievements in politics are you most proud? For the others we’ve gone with Robinsod’s question: Last election you stated you would go with the […]
ToryAid: The Standard resurrects Wastewatch
Written By: - Date published: 1:35 pm, May 27th, 2008 - 66 comments
Remember wastewatch.co.nz? It’s National’s site listing all the ‘government waste’. From six years of Labour government it managed to find a grand total of $1 billion in waste (0.32% of Government spending or a 10 cent a week tax cut) and most of that wasn’t ‘waste’ it included the entire $400 million for the new […]
Back in the real world
Written By: - Date published: 6:41 am, May 27th, 2008 - 40 comments
Let’s have another look at our friend, the distribution of income graph. The red circle is what most people earn. The blue circle is where you would think most people earn given the commentariat’s fixation with the 39% bracket. No prizes for guessing which circle editors and opinion writers fall into, eh? You’ll also note […]
Kremlinology: Nats’ tax plans
Written By: - Date published: 3:24 pm, May 26th, 2008 - 11 comments
National is still refusing to give us any detail on its tax cut plan, indicating it doesn’t have one. But let’s do a bit of Kremlinology to work out what we might expect from them when they eventually get their act together. The size of Labour’s tax cuts has spooked National. Key’s speech in reply […]
Even Granny’s patience can wear thin
Written By: - Date published: 9:47 am, May 26th, 2008 - 42 comments
With a loving smack that would have brought a smile to Bob McCoskrie’s face, the Herald‘s editorial today rebukes John Key in the strongest terms it can. Now that the Budget is behind us, the National Party has less excuse for indecision on most of the important economic issues facing the country at the coming […]
Asking the second question
Written By: - Date published: 11:24 am, May 24th, 2008 - 62 comments
Key’s best trick is to answer questions with impressive or technical sounding assertions that stop the line of questioning but don’t actually tell us anything. When he does that, interviewers need to push him to explain himself. Here’s a few paraphrased examples from the last couple of week: Q. ‘What don’t you like about the […]
Cumulative Effect
Written By: - Date published: 1:51 pm, May 23rd, 2008 - 60 comments
The Press (Budget Doesn’t Impress Family) looks at the effect of the tax cuts on an average family with a combined income of $78,000 and two kids under 12 . They will have $42 more a week from tax cuts and boosted Working for Families tax credits come October 1. That’s like getting paid for […]
Tax cut graphs and full calculator
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 pm, May 22nd, 2008 - 15 comments
Here are graphs of the portion of income going on tax and the portion of reduction in tax for Kiwis under the Budget’s cuts, with the population in each $10,000 bracket. As you can see, the biggest percent reductions go to the bulk of the population. And everyone is paying at least 10% less tax […]
Drinking Liberally liberally attended
Written By: - Date published: 6:19 pm, May 22nd, 2008 - 18 comments
The launch of Drinking Liberally at the Southern Cross last night was a blast. The organisers had been hoping for 20 plus people to make it the first time, so it was really impressive to see over 50 people there. Nandor spoke well and had a chance to speak on a big picture level regarding […]
Budget 2008: Analysis
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, May 22nd, 2008 - 69 comments
The tax cuts are smaller up front than Labour had been hoping to deliver but the economic position at present means there is simply not the money in the coffers to give huge cuts right now. Labour is bringing forward the cuts and the boost to Working for Families to October 1, instead of April […]
Budget 2008: Spending
Written By: - Date published: 2:58 pm, May 22nd, 2008 - 8 comments
The tax cuts are the cornerstone of this budget but there is also important new spending. New Spending in the Budget: $172.3 million for improving DHB efficiency $2 billion for DHBS $164.2 million for HPV immunisation $160 million for more elective surgery $60 million to improve the health workforce $79 million for child and youth […]
Budget 2008: Tax cuts
Written By: - Date published: 2:55 pm, May 22nd, 2008 - 27 comments
Labour has announced a three year tax cut package worth $10.6 billion. Here’s a table showing the changes: Current 15.00% 21.00% 33.00% 39.00% Up to $9,500.00 $38,000.00 $60,000.00 $60 K New 12.50% 21.00% 33.00% 39.00% 01/10/08 $14,000.00 $40,000.00 $70,000.00 $70K plus 01/04/10 $17,500.00 $40,000.00 $75,000.00 $75K plus 01/04/11 $20,000.00 $42,500.00 $80,000.00 $80K plus What does […]
Telling porkies
Written By: - Date published: 9:50 am, May 22nd, 2008 - 44 comments
The Herald and National have started attacking every piece of government spending as pork-barrelling. Here’s some of what they’re calling ‘wasteful, needless spending’: $750 million of new health spending ($160 million for elective services) -Pork $700 million for Fast Forward Fund, food and pastoral sector research -Pork $665 million to buy the national rail operations […]
Water, water everywhere, why not stop to think?
Written By: - Date published: 7:11 am, May 22nd, 2008 - 18 comments
From the MP who tried to ban water comes ‘don’t use crash statistics to work out which roads are dangerous’. Writing in the Oamaru Mail about a dangerous stretch of road, National MP Jacqui Dean says: “Transit New Zealand often places too great an emphasis on the crash statistics it receives from Land Transport New […]
Lazy academic calls Pacific Island workers lazy
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, May 21st, 2008 - 74 comments
Economist Greg Clydesdale has released a report in which he says Pacific Islanders are a drain on the New Zealand economy (exhibiting “significant and enduring under-achievement” and “that can contribute little to economic growth” in his words). I accept Clydesdale’s cry that he is not a racist. No, he is just a fool who is […]
Let political animals run free
Written By: - Date published: 11:43 am, May 21st, 2008 - 11 comments
Good on Breakfast for following our lead by playing the full clip of Goff’s AltTv interview this morning and saying ‘make up your own mind’. Bit of a change that, asking people to judge for themselves. Most political reporting treats politics as if it’s some mystical art or complicated science that must be analysed by […]
Kremlinology: National on work rights
Written By: - Date published: 1:56 pm, May 20th, 2008 - 24 comments
National’s refusal to say what it stands for is becoming so ridiculous we have resorted to the Cold War art of Kremlinology. Today, we look at work rights. On Agenda, Bill English said he is concerned about new ‘entitlements’ for workers. ‘Entitlements’ is an anti-worker way of saying work rights – it implies that they […]
On the distribution of income
Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, May 20th, 2008 - 62 comments
See that line that says minimum wage? Nearly half of kiwis earn less than that. Seven months ago, that was me. I was working removing asbestos contaminated glue from the floor of an office building along with half a dozen other guys. Now, asbestos is pretty dangerous stuff, inhaling a single thread of it can […]
National: we’ll borrow for tax cuts for the rich
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, May 19th, 2008 - 77 comments
Discovering National’s policy is a bit like the old art of Kremlinology, when Western intelligence agencies would attempt to discover the inner workings of Soviet politics by looking at who stood next to whom in pictures, and what hand politburo members carried their briefcases in. The latest subtle signs from National regarding its tax policy […]
Key’s green mask slips
Written By: - Date published: 9:46 am, May 19th, 2008 - 33 comments
Last year John Key announced National’s ‘Blue-Green’ Strategy. It contained the first shadow of acknowledgment from National that climate change is a serious issue: a target to reduce greenhouse gas emission to 50% of 1990 levels by 2050. Of course, setting a target for a time when most of your MPs will be dead is […]
Media policy
Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, May 17th, 2008 - 47 comments
As The Standard has grown, we’ve started to receive inquires from the media and requests for a comment or interview. We’ve been a bit hesitant about what to do in this regard. On the one hand, like most bloggers, we blog under pseudonyms and we believe what’s important is the writing and the arguments, not […]
Time to let interest rates fall
Written By: - Date published: 1:59 pm, May 16th, 2008 - 23 comments
The economy is clearly slowing. Fundamentally, it remains strong with high employment, good wages rises, and strong prices for our exports but employment and retail spending both declined in the first quarter of this year, the housing market is flat, and there is a danger that if the Reserve Bank keeps its foot on our […]
Get your questions in for Peters
Written By: - Date published: 1:37 pm, May 16th, 2008 - 10 comments
We’ll be selecting the questions for Winston as the final interview in the ‘Interview the Leaders’ series on Sunday. So, get them in while you can here. It’s been enjoyable having this series and great to give readers the chance to question leaders in a public forum. If you’ve got any ideas for future series […]
If I were UnitedFuture’s Campaign Strategist
Written By: - Date published: 11:09 am, May 16th, 2008 - 15 comments
Last in our ‘campaign strategist’ series is UnitedFuture, perhaps the least inspiring party in Parliament. UnitedFuture (ie. Peter Dunne) should play the same strategy as was used in 2002. Keep your head down, shore up support in Dunne’s safe seat of Ohariu/Belmont and wait for a chance to present itself to make a splash. That […]
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