Written By: - Date published: 11:49 am, February 10th, 2012 - 2 comments
New Zealand schools achieve excellent results and are very cost effective. The Nats are determined to break this great system via the introduction of national standards. They’re ignoring the advice of their own experts, and all the international evidence. But will they be able to ignore the now self-evident failure of standards based testing in America, as Obama pulls the plug on No Child Left Behind?
Written By: - Date published: 11:02 am, February 9th, 2012 - 9 comments
I/S at NoRightTurn writes – Fresh from his attempt to censor programmes likely to embarrass the government during the election, National’s hack on the NZ on Air board, Stephen McElrea, is now actually selecting the topics of political documentaries to receive NZ on Air funding. Its amazing how the topics chosen all just happen to align with the government’s political agenda.
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, February 9th, 2012 - 7 comments
Steven Joyce’s piece on Tuesday was a transparent and hypocritical attempt to frame political opponents negatively, and soften us up for more asset sales, mining, deep sea drilling and the like. Thing is, it’s the Nats with their misguided austerity cuts who are the real nay-sayers holding the country back.
Written By: - Date published: 10:32 am, February 6th, 2012 - 38 comments
The superannuation problem isn’t going away. The Nats will be fuming that Treasury have just dropped in their laps again.
Written By: - Date published: 6:24 am, February 6th, 2012 - 171 comments
While Key was away on his 4-week holiday in Hawaii, the world economy deteriorated, reports on the dire state of poverty in our country came out, and access to strategic resources became a pressing issue – both with our farmland being bought and Iran threatening to close off the globe’s oil supply. But Key was working on a plan – to stoke up racial dissent at home.
Written By: - Date published: 7:42 am, February 1st, 2012 - 76 comments
The Maori Party is threatening to leave the government over the asset sales legislation removing the companies’ Treaty obligations. Key knows their threat is hollow. He just got away for 3 years of insulting Maori and worsening Maori statistics. Why would Sharples and Turia take a pay cut and lose their limos for their last few months working before retirement?
Written By: - Date published: 2:25 pm, January 26th, 2012 - 122 comments
The Teapot Tapes have leaked on to the internet.
You can torrent it and listen past all of the noise.
Written By: - Date published: 11:41 am, January 25th, 2012 - 11 comments
Headline – PM to Ratana: National has made a difference
Are Maori looking forward to another three years of Key’s ‘difference’?
Written By: - Date published: 12:26 pm, January 24th, 2012 - 23 comments
It was great to hear the familiar Morning Report tune this morning, signalling the end of the holiday season and, with it, an end to the popcorn journalism that Radio NZ has dished up since Christmas Eve. I don’t have any problem with National Radio’s summer line-up (in fact, Matinee Idle is radio gold), but …
Written By: - Date published: 8:38 am, January 16th, 2012 - 120 comments
Some have compared the Port of Auckland dispute to the 1890 waterfront dispute, 1913 general strike, and 1951 lockout. They want Labour and the Greens to get involved. Actually, this is no 1951 redux. The POA fight is just about one company trying to undercut another. The net effect on New Zealand is zero. The last thing the workers need is Labour creating an excuse for National to attack them.
Written By: - Date published: 9:52 pm, December 30th, 2011 - 1 comment
Scott at ImperatorFish is worried. A National Party MP’s colleagues have become increasingly concerned about his wellbeing, after he failed for two consecutive days to make a fool of himself on Twitter. Concerns were raised when colleagues of Tau Henare realised that they had not noticed a single social media brainfart from the list MP for over 48 hours.
Written By: - Date published: 9:17 am, December 28th, 2011 - 126 comments
Under cover of Christmas, the Nats are following in their long tradition of intimidating journalists, by going after the teapot tape reporter for “costs”.
Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, December 22nd, 2011 - 59 comments
“Once in office, you’ve got to do something. That is why having a plan matters.” – Simon Power, 2011, valedictory speech to parliament
Written By: - Date published: 10:47 am, December 16th, 2011 - 16 comments
Brian Fellow wrote a piece in the Herald yesterday on how NZ has too many ministers. Hard not to agree. 28 ministers. Nearly half of the governing parties’ MPs. 90+ portfolios. Ministerial warrants are clearly being used to keep backbenchers and minor parties in line. Too many do nothing ministers on big salaries while the rest of us have to cut back.
Written By: - Date published: 2:19 pm, December 13th, 2011 - 11 comments
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here
The King of the Gods, Zeus, yesterday announced a reshuffle of his pantheon, in an effort to freshen up his front bench. Getting the pantheon lineup right was always going to be one of the trickier tasks facing the Father of Gods and Men, and he will have had to manage some bruised egos during the process…
Written By: - Date published: 1:47 pm, December 12th, 2011 - 69 comments
The new cabinet is out, and the Biggest Loser is Anne Tolley.
Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, December 9th, 2011 - 89 comments
To add insult to the injury of another wasted year on climate change, the government has taken the opportunity of the Durban conference not to make progress, but to disgrace us yet again.
Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, December 8th, 2011 - 28 comments
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here
David Farrar applies some wonky logic in order to blame everything bad the Nats do on the left. If any group of voters is to blame for the National/ACT deal, it’s those voters who gave National their party vote and/or John Banks their electorate vote.
Written By: - Date published: 7:28 am, December 8th, 2011 - 51 comments
Is the John Key Party actively trying to trash New Zealand’s fragile “100% Pure” brand?
Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, December 6th, 2011 - 112 comments
Once again, under National, we get to repeat an experiment that failed 20 years ago. All cooked up on the back of an envelope in a coalition deal. Education deserves much better.
Written By: - Date published: 2:34 pm, December 5th, 2011 - 75 comments
Coalition agreements are expected to be signed today, with Ministerial roles expected for both Dunne and Banks. But it is the details of the policy gains that will tell us the mettle of these two. Did they achieve anything significant with their negotiating power?
Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, December 3rd, 2011 - 103 comments
Quite apart from the broken promise, isn’t it the job of a “Conservation” Minister to, you know, conserve? Instead of leading the mining charge?
Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, December 1st, 2011 - 120 comments
Ubiquitous Tory blonde #5 (Jo Goodhew?) was on Backbenches last night. At the factory where Nat backbenchers are stamped out, they’re programmed to say ‘John Key’ whenever possible. It went wrong, though, when Goodhew said she was proud to be a reelected member of the John Key Party. It was a slip that told the truth: National, and the Right, is now completely dependent on one man.
Written By: - Date published: 5:02 pm, November 29th, 2011 - 68 comments
In what must be a record for broken promises, National have on Day 1 of government delivered a letter to Forest and Bird that they will renege on their promise of public consultation before allowing mining on public conservation land. Denniston will be mined, without the public having a say.
Written By: - Date published: 10:06 am, November 25th, 2011 - 16 comments
This post originally appeared on the Hand Mirror and we reproduce it with their permission. It is an account of a National Party meeting in the Wairarapa, and a stark reminder of the dark heart of the Right that hates and fears anything different, which wants a New Zealand built for a rich, Pakeha, male, straight business-owning elite.
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.
Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, November 24th, 2011 - 39 comments
Last election we had a choice between competent economic management and a bunch of hollow promises. We made a poor choice then, and the record shows that we have wasted three years as a result. Coming up to this election we don’t need more tired Nat excuses, we need solutions. Bring back Labour!
Written By: - Date published: 7:20 am, November 23rd, 2011 - 81 comments
John Key is really showing the strain of campaigning, he’s not bearing up under the stress of it at all well. Clearly the National Show Pony was not built for endurance.
Written By: - Date published: 7:07 am, November 23rd, 2011 - 53 comments
Last night TV1 revealed National’s lies on the explosive topic of asset sales. The Nats have no official advice to back up their asset sales claims, and information is being withheld from the public. Not good enough – vote them out.
Comments