Author Archive

The biggest fraud

Written By: - Date published: 7:58 am, December 8th, 2011 - 99 comments

In its final days, South Canterbury Finance quietly loaned $300m to related-parties. Breach of the deposit guarantee scheme’s rules. Nats did nothing. When SCF collapsed the related parties got off scot-free – if they owned SCF bonds, the Nats even paid them $350m voluntarily. Now, the Serious Fraud Office has laid the biggest fraud charges in history over SCF. What’s the bet it’s over those related-party loans and bonds? And where’s our fucken money?

Primary importance

Written By: - Date published: 7:41 am, December 5th, 2011 - 43 comments

Labour’s leadership primary was a great idea. Labour has an open, honest, and respectful debate about itself.  Candidates tested in public. Can stumble without damaging the party like a failed leader does. Labour frames the political news with enthralling debates. If there was no primary, Parker would be leader now and NZ would be reaching for the remote.

Choosing our next PM

Written By: - Date published: 8:43 am, November 29th, 2011 - 172 comments

Looks like Labour will have a proper leadership comp with Goff as caretaker till early next year. Good. Let’s get to know the options. Labour needs to get this right. Because the next Labour leader needs to be the next PM in 2014. Needs to be able to win. The poor people of NZ can’t afford another lost 3 years being squeezed and ripped off by the Tories.

Key’s lies on Police training

Written By: - Date published: 9:40 am, November 25th, 2011 - 8 comments

Key and Collins say police training next year hasn’t been cancelled. They say fewer new cops are needed because fewer are leaving. All lies. The attrition rate is rising, not falling. There is 1 training wing booked next year, not 4. Cause is cuts. 5% nominal to the training college, 15% nominal to Police HQ. Meanwhile, Key is wasting Police time over the tea tapes.

Nats resort to robo-calling

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, November 25th, 2011 - 25 comments

We’ve been getting emails and comments from people getting robo-calls from John Key. These pre-recorded calls are notoriously bad campaign tools. Invite lots of backlash. Odd National is introducing them (they used them last election but only on election day as a get out the vote tool, not to campaign). Shows they know this election is tighter than it looks.

Only chumps tick Tory

Written By: - Date published: 11:43 am, November 24th, 2011 - 128 comments

The old timers say never trust a Tory. Can see why. Exclusive Brethren. Hollow Men. Tranzrail shares. Secret agenda tapes. Teapot tapes. Suppressed asset sales advice. Climate change ‘hocus pocus’. Police hiring freeze. We keep on discovering their secret agendas. If you care about integrity, if you’ve got enough pride not to put up with being lied to, you won’t be voting National. Only chumps tick Tory.

Key to lay police complaint against debate worm

Written By: - Date published: 7:20 am, November 22nd, 2011 - 104 comments

The 2nd TV debate was a 2nd win for Goff. He was human and humane, visionary and realistic. Key made excuses for his poor record, tried to hide in detail, and cast a sullen eye to the future. The worm told the story. So did the Right’s reaction. But, next debate, ditch the ‘expert’ panelists. […]

3rd World New Zealand

Written By: - Date published: 12:22 pm, November 21st, 2011 - 37 comments

25K Kiwi kids get infections like rheumatic fever and scabies each year. Disease sthey haven’t seen in Sweden since the 70s.We treat our kids like an expense, not an investment. Then we wonder why we have unhealthy, uneducated, unskilled adults and our country gets left behind. We’re becoming a 3rd world country. It’s 3rd world thinking that’s getting us there.

New Goldsmith signs go up

Written By: - Date published: 6:44 am, November 20th, 2011 - 35 comments

Apparently, Paul Goldsmith is not even handing out his business card in Epsom any more. And Imperator Fish reports on the extreme lengths he is going to in an effort to lose. But his popularity cannot be quelled. #hipstersforgoldsmith is big on Twitter. And new, completely legal, campaign posters are sprouting up. Can’t wait for Goldsmith’s victory party.

In memoriam

Written By: - Date published: 3:23 pm, November 19th, 2011 - 8 comments

It’s a year since the explosion at Pike River killed 29 men. Just people like you and me doing their job. It seems some semblance of justice may be delivered to those who let this disaster happen. But the lasting legacy must be a change of culture and regulations to put people’s lives before companies’ profits. So no more suffer the fate of the Pike River 29.

Small target

Written By: - Date published: 1:45 pm, November 18th, 2011 - 26 comments

Outraging families of suicide victims. Insulting the Police as layabouts. Declaring war on the media. Negative teapot stories  every day, now spreading to over coverage. The Nats are spinning this was planned; that they decided to go nuclear on the media as a vote winner. What a joke. They were successfully running a small target campaign until a week ago.

Spare time

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, November 18th, 2011 - 21 comments

John Key says that it’s OK for the Police to waste time trying to intimidate the media on his behalf because they have “spare time” with the drop in crime. There were 220,000 unsolved crimes last year including 8 homicides. The cops solved 15,000 fewer crimes than the previous year. Don’t tell me they’re sitting around waiting to do the PM’s bidding.

Key declares war on the media

Written By: - Date published: 12:33 pm, November 17th, 2011 - 67 comments

This headline speaks for itself.  Tea tape: TVNZ, RNZ to be searched – “Four media outlets, including Radio New Zealand and TVNZ, are to be searched for any material they might have in their possession that relates to the tea pot tapes”.  Outrageous.

A matter of integrity

Written By: - Date published: 6:29 am, November 17th, 2011 - 120 comments

The Right’s crying we should be talking about policy, not certain tapes. Funny, until recently they were mocking Labour for putting out so much policy. Fact is, we don’t elect policy implementing automatons. We elect leaders for their policies and because we trust them to act with integrity on our behalf. The tea tapes matter because they go to Key’s integrity.

Key & Banks chatted about rolling Brash?

Written By: - Date published: 8:44 pm, November 14th, 2011 - 102 comments

The tea tape didn’t interest me at first. Nats’ reaction seemed over the top but would Key and Banks be so stupid to discuss anything sensitive in a public cafe metres from the press mob? But then Key went to the cops. This said the Nats were really worried. It can only be something that cuts to the heart of Brand Key’s greatest weakness: Key’s honesty.

Democracy in action

Written By: - Date published: 1:22 pm, November 11th, 2011 - 20 comments

All the 1s

Written By: - Date published: 11:11 am, November 11th, 2011 - 34 comments

Eleven seconds after this goes up, it will be 11:11.11 11/11/11. Arbitrary but still pretty cool I guess. Once in a century event, having all the same numeral. Interesting to reflect on how much has changed since 11:11.11 11/11/1911. And how little. Wonder what it will be like at 11:11.11 11/11/2111. Better – is all we can hope.

Jobs for the boys, and girls

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, November 10th, 2011 - 37 comments

Where does he find the time

Written By: - Date published: 9:08 am, November 9th, 2011 - 65 comments

There’s a line in, I believe, a Terry Pratchett book that goes ‘a leader has to get up very early in the morning and work hard all day long to make a society go backwards’. I was reminded of that when Key said “I work 19 hours a day, seven days a week to try and make New Zealand a better country”. Given the country’s going backwards, what does Key get up to in those 133 hour weeks? Let’s see.

Show me the jobs

Written By: - Date published: 11:36 am, November 5th, 2011 - 46 comments

Unemployment up again. Key had bet on some kind of economic boost from the RWC. It didn’t happen. 3,000 more jobs lost in the last quarter. There’s 59,000 more people out of work since the Nats won power. It’s like a whole city the size of Hamilton has gone out of work under National. This government has the worst economic record in generations.

Greek democracy

Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, November 3rd, 2011 - 82 comments

So, a government says that the people will have the say on its budget, and global markets plunge. Was there ever a clearer sign that the interests of the capitalist elite and the people are at odds, and the capitalists know it? It’s interesting that Papandreou has chosen to force a crisis and headed off a coup. Around the world, ordinary people want radical change.

National’s welfare policy

Written By: - Date published: 8:21 am, November 1st, 2011 - 48 comments

National’s got 60,000 more on benefits after 3 years. Nats’ plan: get 46,000 off in 4 years (only 11,000 into work, the rest?)
So, National’s welfare plan = 14,000 more on benefits 7 years after coming to power. Ambitious for New Zealand?
Where’s National plan to reduce corporate welfare? Like the $400m free irrigation they want to give farmers and keeping them out of the ETS.

It’s not lying, it’s ‘dinnamic’

Written By: - Date published: 7:07 am, November 1st, 2011 - 94 comments

According to John Key in the Leader’s Debate, it’s OK to break your promises because the world is “dinnamic”. I’ll have to try that next time I’m out late on the piss:

‘Sorry, I’m late love, yeah sorry I didn’t cook dinner like I promised. I went out with the boys and things got dinnamic … Whadaya mean I have to sleep on the couch?’

Unlucky Banks

Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, October 30th, 2011 - 28 comments

Jeez some people just can’t catch a break. Not only is John Banks coming second in an election race to a guy specifically chosen to lose to him but now the word is some scoundrel’s stolen his Harley Davidson.

Nek minnit

Written By: - Date published: 11:31 am, October 28th, 2011 - 52 comments

Net benefit of hosting the Rugby World Cup $280m over 7 weeks ($780m tourist spending minus $500m investment and operating losses). Cost of an 8cm welding crack in the Maui pipeline: $350m after 2 days. Guess it pays to mind the small stuff. Least it didn’t happen during the Cup when Auckland was chocka with tourists.

Nats want to cut wages

Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, October 28th, 2011 - 25 comments

The Nats want to extend the new entrants wage from 200hrs/3 months to 6 months. Won’t create jobs. Most businesses don’t bother with the new entrants wage anyway. word is, though, that the NE wage is a red herring. The guts of the policy will be a broad-spectrum on the rights of workers to organise and bargain designed to drive down wages

A campaign launch for the times

Written By: - Date published: 6:56 am, October 27th, 2011 - 135 comments

Labour’s cleverly wrong-footed Brand Key with a policy-based campaign launch. Key will look out of touch playing messiah at his campaign launch while the economy burns. Labour’s ads are great. The Tories are in panic mode: they don’t feature Goff enough moans Key; they feature Goff too much cries Clare Robinson; the lighting’s wrong whines Hoots. They’re afraid to take on the message.

Undesirables for Banks

Written By: - Date published: 2:11 pm, October 25th, 2011 - 102 comments

Pamphlets are circling highlighting past comments made by Mr Banks, including anti-homosexuality and racist ideas. Right-wing bloggers say it’s all part of nasty campaign tactics by Labour. “waa, waa, waa” said Farrar and Slater “it’s mean to quote a man’s words when he’s trying to keep his true views secret from the voters”.

Friends like these

Written By: - Date published: 12:38 pm, October 24th, 2011 - 66 comments

Act president Chris Simmons on Don Brash’s sudden trip to Europe: Brash’s skills were in economic management, not in “glad-handing rugby players and tickertape parades” which he would happily leave to Prime Minister John Key.
John Banks: “I’m going to do the photo opportunity with Richie McCaw,” he laughed. “I need the votes more than Dr Brash.”

Death cab for Banksie

Written By: - Date published: 9:43 pm, October 20th, 2011 - 170 comments

Another Epsom poll has ACT’ stuffed. Goldsmith: 37%; Banks: 24%; Parker: 17%. However, it also says the blue-rinsers will obediently tick Banks if Key explicitly tells them to. But will he? Will the chance of saving 2% ACT be worth the nationwide loss of votes from linking Key’s brand to that mess of a party? His equivocating suggests the Nats haven’t decided.

Another broken promise

Written By: - Date published: 2:01 pm, October 20th, 2011 - 43 comments

Remember how John Key was busy on the day of the double downgrade. Hosting his *wink* not election ad *wink* on RadioLive? Remember how he promised to “talk to someone important” to stop Coro St being moved to 5:30? Yeah. Another broken promise. Can’t even keep his lame promises now. Let alone the important ones.

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