Archive for September, 2008

Between the lines: Nats’ RMA free-for-all

Written By: - Date published: 4:55 pm, September 30th, 2008 - 24 comments

The RMA is a quick and cheap process in the vast majority of cases, and it is regarded as a world-leading piece of legislation. Few consent applications are refused or appealed. Reforms of the RMA over the years have made it more efficient. The studies show that the delays that do happen in consents being […]

Nats: Pay cuts for you, tax cuts for the rich

Written By: - Date published: 3:07 pm, September 30th, 2008 - 15 comments

Bill English has put out a press release whingeing about Helen Clark’s promise to lift wages for low-paid school support staff, and fearmongering that it might mean Michael Cullen will cancel his tax cuts. Presumably, English’s statement means National would cancel the planned pay increase to help fund its tax cuts for the rich. These […]

When did lying become OK?

Written By: - Date published: 2:40 pm, September 30th, 2008 - 43 comments

On Breakfast this morning, failed National party candidate Paul Henry and Guyon Espiner discussed the possibility of the Maori Party and National working together in a government. Henry: Do you get the feeling National would do anything for power, they would cut almost any deal at all with the Maori Party to get in? Espiner: […]

Fun: Whack a poll

Written By: - Date published: 2:03 pm, September 30th, 2008 - 2 comments

Need a little respite from election madness? Utilise your keyboard to reach your desired poll result with Whack a Poll…

The Kingmaker but only one potential King

Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, September 30th, 2008 - 51 comments

Let’s get serious about the idea of the Maori Party working with National. Yes, they want to play up the possibility to enhance their bargaining position, just as the Greens were last month, but it’s not going to happen. National and the Maori Party voted together in only a third of votes in the last […]

Nice

Written By: - Date published: 9:08 am, September 30th, 2008 - 45 comments

Ashcroft dealings under spotlight again

Written By: - Date published: 4:58 pm, September 29th, 2008 - 19 comments

We’ve seen Mr Key look evasive on the topic of Lord Ashcroft, so when his name popped up in the British media over the weekend I had a closer look. It made me wonder exactly what Key and Ashcroft talked about recently – and whether there were any plans for companies to be set up in […]

More posters and leaflets on the Hub

Written By: - Date published: 4:15 pm, September 29th, 2008 - 10 comments

We’ve got a range new posters and leaflets up on the Campaign Hub and we’re keen to see more. Some people are printing off two different designs and making doubled-sided leaflets, which is a really good way to get two messages distributed in one go. Best to only do that with designs authorised by the same […]

Gordon Campbell at Drinking Liberally, Wlgtn

Written By: - Date published: 1:59 pm, September 29th, 2008 - Comments Off on Gordon Campbell at Drinking Liberally, Wlgtn

You probably already read him on Scoop Election ’08 and he’s a former Listener journalist too. The topic of his talk is: ‘Covering the issues – how to escape from the who’s winning, who’s losing style of election coverage’. His recent article Horse race political journalism might give you a taste of what to expect. […]

Going over to the dark side?

Written By: - Date published: 1:25 pm, September 29th, 2008 - 19 comments

Going into business with Farrar was one thing but has Scoop now cast its lot in with National? How else to explain the ‘Hollow N’ National party logo that now appears when you load the site in Internet Explorer?

Take on Key

Written By: - Date published: 11:20 am, September 29th, 2008 - 6 comments

Greeenwoman has done it again, another brilliant video on Key using a classic music video:  

What will you do with your tax cut?

Written By: - Date published: 9:46 am, September 29th, 2008 - 46 comments

If your annual income is over $14,000, your tax will decrease by $12 to $28 a week from Wednesday. That’s a reduction of up to 26% on the income tax you pay. By 2011, people will be paying up to 31% less income tax (graphs here). With boosts to Working for Families, many people with […]

Still nothing personal

Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, September 29th, 2008 - 15 comments

National desperately wants to portray any criticism of John Key as a personal attack. Don’t be taken in. Look, PM is a powerful job. We need to have a thorough examination of anyone contesting for that role. As I’ve always said there are three legitimate questions that need to be answered what are their policies? […]

Attack on democracy

Written By: - Date published: 5:02 pm, September 28th, 2008 - 53 comments

National have quietly released their policy on electoral law and have promised to abolish the Maori seats once treaty claims are finished, repeal the Electoral Finance Act and run a referendum on MMP. These all represent substantial changes to the way our democracy operates. I’ll be very interested to see what the Maori Party make […]

Expect the unexpected

Written By: - Date published: 2:36 pm, September 28th, 2008 - 44 comments

I’m probably going to be at odds with my fellow Standardistas in this but I support having debates featuring just Clark and Key. One of these two people will lead the country after the election and we deserve to see to them in a forum where they go head to head against each other, rather […]

Nats desperate to silence grassroots activists

Written By: - Date published: 1:53 pm, September 28th, 2008 - 33 comments

An email from a reader: “A friend and I were putting up some Vote with Both Eyes Open posters on Lambton Quay the other night. We had just put some up around the intersection by Parliament and crossed the road when a senior National advisor came up to us with one of our recently pasted banners […]

Easy to clear up the question

Written By: - Date published: 9:56 am, September 28th, 2008 - 9 comments

An article in yesterday’s Herald raised some more questions over how Key has handled the management of his share portfolio. However it looks like it would be easy enough for him to clear up. According to Paula Oliver: Eyebrows were raised around Parliament this week when Mr Key said Mr Leggat could buy shares with […]

The Standard Week: 19-26 September

Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, September 27th, 2008 - 20 comments

Slippery John does it again. Asked a clear question by a reporter, he lied to her face. It was only when Fran Mold revealed to Key that she knew he had owned another packet of Tranz Rail shares (purchased and sold while he was asking questions about Tranz Rail in his position as MP) that he […]

Obama wipes the floor with McCain

Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, September 27th, 2008 - 33 comments

There’s not much more that needs to be said about the first presidental debate.  McCain was stiff and boring. His framing was awful: he and Obama both said essentially the same thing on a number of issues but the reaction meter consistently showed that people reacted more positively to Obama than McCain. Post-debate polls show […]

That meeting

Written By: - Date published: 9:46 am, September 27th, 2008 - 50 comments

The more I think about it the more it seems to me that John Key’s meeting with Rail America needs some more explaining. For a start these kinds of meetings don’t just happen of their own accord. Rail America is based, somewhat unsurprisingly, in America. John Key is based in New Zealand. That means someone […]

Friday fun

Written By: - Date published: 3:48 pm, September 26th, 2008 - 12 comments

A friend just sent me this Christian ska band performing “Jesus is my friend.” I think it goes without saying: Once I tried to run I tried to run and hide But Jesus came and found me And he touched me down inside He is like a Mountie He always gets his man And he’ll […]

Sarah Palin on CBS News

Written By: - Date published: 1:51 pm, September 26th, 2008 - 35 comments

Apologies for the ad on the start of this but what follows is worth seeing. (Hat-tip: Boing Boing) [lprent: removed cbs clip because it seems to be trying to install something on client machines. Replaced with a youtube video. She is an foreign policy idiot.]

Shallow recession this year but the future looks tough

Written By: - Date published: 12:03 pm, September 26th, 2008 - 42 comments

We all knew New Zealand was in recession in the first six months of this year. The official figures have confirmed this. The surprise though is on the upside. The consensus had been that the economy had shrunk 0.5% in the quarter. In fact, it was 0.2%. Remember that this figure occurred during the height of […]

Nats’ ‘NZ sucks’ campaign continues

Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, September 26th, 2008 - 39 comments

I remember the first time I met Simon Power, when he had just come into Parliament. He struck me as a man who would be a future leader of National and an excellent one at that – articulate, informed, and moderate. Oh, what he has let himself become over 9 years in opposition – just […]

Murky

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, September 26th, 2008 - 75 comments

We know John Key bought shares in Tranzrail on May 7 2003. We know he then met with Rail America as a representative of New Zealand’s parliament on May 20, 2003. We know those shares were then sold by June 10, 2003 for a massive profit. It appears the sale of Tranzrail was discussed during […]

Mastering the understatement

Written By: - Date published: 6:06 am, September 26th, 2008 - 1 comment

“This may be unfair, but Key can sometimes give the impression he is being less than honest”*

Lockout lifted

Written By: - Date published: 5:47 pm, September 25th, 2008 - 27 comments

News just in: GO Wellington has lifted the lockout of its 300 bus drivers. The drivers say they are pleased the lockout is over and that they can go back to work but their campaign for a living wage will continue. This is a major backdown from GO Wellington, and confirms my suspicion that they’d […]

GO Wellington lockout: Day One

Written By: - Date published: 5:21 pm, September 25th, 2008 - 19 comments

A reader sent in this photo from the Wellington bus drivers’ picket line at the Kilbirnie bus depot. The workers are said to be staunch in their claims and are refusing to be intimidated by the company locking them out without pay. The Council of Trade Unions and the International Transport Workers’ Federation have now […]

What a shame

Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, September 25th, 2008 - 58 comments

Bob Clarkson chose not to speak during his valedictory speech. Instead, he just held up a sign saying ‘bye bye’ (in the same font as Peter’s famous ‘no’ sign). An opportunity for both hilarity and embarrassing revelations missed. After all, this was the man who thanked the Exclusive Brethren for all their help in winning […]

The hoax revealed?

Written By: - Date published: 9:16 am, September 25th, 2008 - 23 comments

Incredibly, leading rightwingers including John Key, Maurice Williamson, Lockwood Smith, Rodney Hide, and Roger Kerr still don’t accept the overwhelming evidence for climate change. A cynic would say that’s just because it’s in their interests to engage in this wishful thinking. But maybe that’s too harsh, maybe they’ve just been suckered in by sophisicated marketing, like this: [hattip […]

Why National won’t win

Written By: - Date published: 6:43 am, September 25th, 2008 - 138 comments

National has four fatal problems that will prevent it from winning the election. Or, rather, it has two problems, both with two parts. – A large majority of New Zealanders don’t like the policies National wants to implement – they reject privatisation and cutting government spending. – People were sucked in by the shallow, vague […]