Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, July 8th, 2010 - 71 comments
Pete Bethune has had his sentence for bogus charges laid by Japanese whaling interests suspended. My warm congratulations to Pete and his family. They’ve suffered a lot of distress over the past few months as Japanese extremists called for Bethune’s execution – all because he dared to hold Japanese whalers to account for illegally killing …
Written By: - Date published: 1:28 pm, July 4th, 2010 - 5 comments
John Key’s government has had many “aspirational goals”. One of them was a secret plan to end whaling. With the recent collapse of the international whaling negotiations in Morocco that plan, if it ever really existed, has failed. In response, Foreign Minister Murray McCully takes the politics of aspiration to a whole new, some would say absurd, level.
Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, April 23rd, 2010 - 9 comments
A deal to re-introduce commercial whaling is about to be announced. Anti-whaling groups are organising a snap protest at Parliament, today at 12. Be there. Japan has agreed to lower its ‘quotas’. But since it never kills its full quotas this will not save a single whale. Key will proclaim himself saviour of the whales. The reality is he is legitimising the slaughter and saving nothing.
Written By: - Date published: 8:35 am, April 18th, 2010 - 94 comments
Pete Bethune is one of New Zealand’s heroes. He’s been a successful entrepreneur and gone on to use his wealth to fight the big guys on the grounds of principle. As skipper of the New Zealand flagged hi-tech boat Earthrace, his circumnavigation attempts showcased kiwi ingenuity to the world and demonstrated the value of bio-fuels to …
Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, April 14th, 2010 - 2 comments
Have you heard of Cyanide and Happiness? A web-comic that walks the line of funny and too far. They have an annual ‘depressing comics’ week. No punch lines. Given our Prime Minister’s aim to restore commercial whaling and the anti-whalers’ success in blocking the Japs from half their target of kills, thought this one would be appropriate [full comic]
Written By: - Date published: 12:29 pm, April 13th, 2010 - 27 comments
We know John Key made up his commercial whaling policy off the cuff. His recklessness has left our allies aghast. Now things are really getting out of control. Korea has said that they want in on commercial whaling too. Key’s declared open season on whales. This is what you get from a government that has no vision, no plan, and no understanding of complex issues.
Written By: - Date published: 9:18 pm, March 18th, 2010 - 14 comments
In Kaikoura, John Key said commercial whaling “might be acceptable if it was acceptable to others”. You gotta love the leadership there. But you’ve also got to question what kind of two-faced game the Nats are playing because in the House, Murray McCully said precisely the opposite – that the Government opposes commercial whaling.
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, March 10th, 2010 - 64 comments
John Armstrong has chucked John Key’s promise to end whaling down the memory hole and, instead, comes out swinging against those who don’t want to give up the commercial whaling ban: “the plan [will] allow commercial whaling for a 10-year period, but with big cuts in the numbers killed each year. This plan would buy …
Written By: - Date published: 12:05 pm, March 8th, 2010 - 43 comments
You’ve really got to hand it to the Greens and Labour. They have completely defied expectations on the whaling issue. See the simple option that most political parties would go for would be to be seen to stand by their principles – loud and proud. But the Greens and Labour are too clever for that. Instead, they’ve cunningly said next to nothing!
Written By: - Date published: 8:42 am, March 8th, 2010 - 53 comments
The Key Government has, without public consultation or mandate, thrown decades of political consensus in the trash. They are proposing the reintroduction commercial whaling. The Nats say this will reduce the number of whales killed but no-one is buying that. When did the commercialisation of a resource ever lead to a reduction in its use?
Written By: - Date published: 12:23 pm, March 6th, 2010 - 46 comments
In January, we were told that John Key had some secret plan to end whaling. Now, we learn that Key wants to let commercial whaling resume. Since 1986, commercial whaling has been banned by international law. Japan carries out its whaling under the guise of scientific research. Key promised that he was working on ending …
Written By: - Date published: 1:15 pm, February 22nd, 2010 - 15 comments
No chance some gang f#ckwits would be deterred by longer sentences.
What happened to that plan of Key’s to end whaling?
How do we get a high wage economy when National opposes each and every wage rise?
Written By: - Date published: 11:06 am, February 8th, 2010 - 33 comments
It’s obvious to anyone with a brain that a government that spends half its time on holiday and the rest on PR stunts is never going to get New Zealand to catch Australia by 2025 but having the Reserve Bank Governor say its impossible, that’s hugely embarrassing. Of course, Key is refusing to acknowledge the …
Written By: - Date published: 10:01 am, January 14th, 2010 - 46 comments
Govt drafts deal to end whaling in Antarctica – Herald Key plan to end Southern Ocean whaling – Stuff That sounds like a real break-through, I thought. What could this deal/plan be? I watched the full press conference here: “New Zealand has been working very hard to try and find [please, people, the phrase is …
Written By: - Date published: 2:37 pm, January 13th, 2010 - 24 comments
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