Written By: - Date published: 10:49 am, April 27th, 2012 - 16 comments
Didn’t take much clairvoyance to see that National would fail to meet its promise of a Budget surplus by 2014/15. You’ve never seen a Finance Minister have his forecasts cut so often and look so happy about it. His failure against his own artificial target gives him an excuse to cut. His party’s ineptness to blame but we pay. Students look to be his target this round.
Written By: - Date published: 2:36 pm, April 26th, 2012 - 41 comments
Ignoring public opposition, attacking the media, “advising himself” to do whatever he wants, it doesn’t add up tp a very pretty picture.
Written By: - Date published: 6:33 am, April 26th, 2012 - 17 comments
Tax increases on working people: GST hike, replaced Labour’s cuts with cuts for the rich, put tax on your employer Kiwisaver contributions, cut WfF tax credits. Record emigration to Australia: 53,237 last year, 1000+ per week.
Written By: - Date published: 8:43 am, April 24th, 2012 - 27 comments
Since 2004, the government has collected a problem gambling levy from all types of licenced gambling. The levy on SkyCity’s casinos is half what it is on pokies in pubs. In 2010, officials recommended a rebalancing – more on TAB, Lotto, and casinos, less on pub pokies. The Nats picked up the recommendations with one exception – SkyCity’s levy didn’t increase.
Written By: - Date published: 9:10 am, April 23rd, 2012 - 57 comments
John Key likes to trade on his experience as a, well, trader. You know, he’s the deal maker. The one to steer us through tough economic times, to get our exports growing. He understands the markets and that knowledge will benefit New Zealand. But, how well has he really done? Let’s start this series close to home for Key: the exchange rate.
Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, April 22nd, 2012 - 41 comments
Behold the economic genius of John Key.
Written By: - Date published: 3:25 pm, April 20th, 2012 - 11 comments
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here.
Scott organises a guest column from JK about the fabulous deal with award winning entertainment venue Sky City.
Written By: - Date published: 7:50 am, April 20th, 2012 - 62 comments
It’s a bit rich for Key to claim that there were no credible alternatives to the back-room deal with SkyCity when he shut down one alternative proposal and ignored four others. But now the facts are coming out. Key has “advised himself” into his worst public relations fiasco yet.
Written By: - Date published: 2:13 pm, April 19th, 2012 - Comments Off
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here.
National leads the way when it comes to generating ideas that will grow corporate profits at the expense of the community and, ultimately, the taxpayer. So here’s some more ideas…
Written By: - Date published: 1:46 pm, April 18th, 2012 - 44 comments
David Shearer’s created an easy way to send John Key a message about selling the law to SkyCity. Here’s your chance to tell John his plan to inflict harm on the community to increase the profit of SkyCity is stupid.
Written By: - Date published: 6:40 am, April 16th, 2012 - 40 comments
Key is on another holiday trade mission to Indonesia, starting with a round of golf followed by a BBQ. While researching this, I learned something: You know how Key and Boag were both at the same golf tournament when the Nat Civil War blew open? Turns out you and I paid the $500K prize for that tournament. On an unrelated note, we definitely can’t afford to extend paid parental leave.
Written By: - Date published: 8:10 am, April 14th, 2012 - 99 comments
The Nats promised to sell no more than 49% of any given state owned assert. Now they’re trying to get cute with semantics and effectively remove all limits.
Unfortunately for them their previous promises are on record and very clear. Hey Peter Dunne - are you going to vote for this latest lie?
Written By: - Date published: 2:06 pm, April 12th, 2012 - 26 comments
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here.
Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, April 10th, 2012 - 63 comments
Despite losing nearly 1 in 4 of its supporters, 300,000 voters, in a little over 6 months according to the Roy Morgans, National’s 44% still looks superficially impressive. Until you realise they need to be able to form a majority more or less alone. The Right’s monolithism doesn’t just place extraordinary demands on National’s leader, it’s the root of the current civil war.
Written By: - Date published: 1:04 pm, April 7th, 2012 - 119 comments
There’s series of posts from Simon Lusk on Whaleoil showing the Collins faction taking a distinctly anti-Key line for the first time. Key’s signaled he won’t go easily and he screwed Collins on the defamation suits.. And the polls show he won’t win a third term.
Written By: - Date published: 8:59 am, April 5th, 2012 - 30 comments
On Monday, Key said his tax cuts have been “literally fiscally neutral”. In Parliament yesterday, Russel Norman showed Treasury documents showing the 2010 tax changes were to forecast to cost $1.1b in 4 years, actually cost $1.1b in 9 months, and the cost has grown since. Key didn’t want to hear the Treasury numbers, instead waving some ‘billshit’ put together by the Finance Minister.
Written By: - Date published: 7:20 am, April 5th, 2012 - 83 comments
“Prime Minister John Key says hundreds of extra pokies at Sky City Casino will not increase gambling addiction”. Key is lying and he knows it. That’s why the Nats won’t release the official advice they have received on this topic…
Written By: - Date published: 3:50 pm, April 4th, 2012 - 45 comments
The “fiscally neutral” tax cuts never were neutral at all, and a lower than expected tax take is hitting the government’s books. But Key is still out there repeating the lie.
Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, April 4th, 2012 - 116 comments
Key says Defamation Act requires a plaintiff to sue within five working days. That makes today Crushed Collins’ last day to sue. What will she do? Drop it and look like a blustering fool unfit to be Justice Minister let alone PM or pursue it, open up all her secrets during discovery, lose, and pay costs? Oh yes, Key suckerpunched her good.
Written By: - Date published: 10:36 am, April 3rd, 2012 - 51 comments
John Key just taught Judith Collins not to mess with the Boag faction. The Cabinet Manual required her to consult with him before announcing the defamation suits. He expressed support. Said Cabinet would decide on the funding. Then, at the last minute, word came Cabinet wouldn’t back her. Humiliatingly, she was forced to withdraw her bid but she can’t drop the suits.
Written By: - Date published: 11:35 am, April 2nd, 2012 - 54 comments
John Key gave one of his least sure and most defensive interviews in five years on Q+A on the weekend. His goal was clearly to protect his personal brand and close the issue down. He failed. He failed because he refused to criticise Pullar and Boag, and refused to back Collins’ law suits. That puts him at odds with the Collins faction and onside with Boag’s.
Written By: - Date published: 6:34 am, April 2nd, 2012 - 273 comments
Bernard Hickey has a great piece in the Herald on Sunday that you shouldn’t miss.
Written By: - Date published: 9:17 am, April 1st, 2012 - 10 comments
The police have announced that they will not be laying charges over John Key’s pre-election radio show. Their reason? “Insufficient evidence”.
Written By: - Date published: 4:03 pm, March 31st, 2012 - 77 comments
The ever-growing list of letters, emails, and leaks in the National Party Civil War, that started off as an apparently apolitical privacy breach by ACC, is getting hard to follow. Here’s a summary of the various documents and their ramifications – so far.
Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, March 30th, 2012 - 36 comments
Judith Collins’ behaviour might strike some as strangely aggressive. Some might even suppose she wouldn’t behave like this unless she was in the right. But let’s put ourselves in her shoes. She wants to be leader. She is now embroiled in a scandal that could end her career. If she could put an end to it without resigning, she would nip it in the bud. Clearly, she can’t.
Written By: - Date published: 7:22 pm, March 29th, 2012 - 153 comments
Close Up tonight led with the allegation, based on a leaked document, that John Key (and other prominent Nats) were listed as supporting a $14 million dollar insurance claim by Bronwyn Pullar.
Written By: - Date published: 9:35 pm, March 27th, 2012 - 22 comments
“Crusher Collins up close” headlines a two-page article by Andrea Vance in the Saturday March 10 DomPost. It’s not on the Stuff website but deserves a wider audience. John Key might have been unwise to have stayed away on holiday this week – he should remember what happened to Jim Bolger.
Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, March 27th, 2012 - 55 comments
When a government figure says someone broke a law when there has been no conviction they are effectively imposing an extra-judicial punishment by defaming them. Key and the Police cannot be allowed to serve up extra-judicial punishments to whomever they choose by branding them a criminal and then not taking them to court to prove it.
Written By: - Date published: 4:56 pm, March 26th, 2012 - 13 comments
It appears there is something irresistible about travelling with the PM. While the fact that only 2 news organisations can send a journalist to cover our leader’s involvement in a 54 nation conference is disappointing, so is the fact that being part of that cosy group travelling with JK makes everyone a bit too matey.
Written By: - Date published: 3:37 pm, March 26th, 2012 - 42 comments
Throughout the teatapes affair Key has received special treatment. Huge police resources have been wasted. Today’s announcement of no charges is even timed for when Key is overseas. Key claims to be vindicated but no court has ruled Ambrose broke the law. The ruse of the warning and the letter of regret is clearly intended to allow Key to save face. Key literally asks us to “move on” but he must answer for the resources he had wasted and the chilling effect on the media of his strong arm tactics.
Written By: - Date published: 2:39 pm, March 22nd, 2012 - 14 comments
John Key was busy last night working for the causes of Aussie miner Bathurst, “officiating” at the opening of their lobbying office, and pressuring DoC to give them concessions to the Denniston plateau and help them destroy a unique ecosystem. How much more of him can NZ’s “clean, green” image take?
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