Written By: - Date published: 10:53 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 22 comments
Where-ever you sit on the spectrum of opinion on Key’s handling on the Tranzrail affair, it appears that the commentators are questioning his ability to handle the pressure (and by extension his ability to handle the PM-ship). From Paul Henry’s vigorous questioning this morning to discussions by commentators later in the day, the common theme […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:51 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 33 comments
[more great work from 08wire]
Written By: - Date published: 1:28 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 87 comments
Key’s three defences on the share scandal are ‘no-one asked how many shares I had’, ‘it didn’t matter how many shares I had’, and ‘Labour is spending all their time researching me’. It’s classic distraction stuff. Let’s break it down. ‘No-one asked me how many shares I had’ – Yes, Fran Mold did on Monday […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:17 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 2 comments
The second Drinking Liberally, Palmerston North is on this Friday. Peter Falloon, NZUSA co-President is the guest speaker. I’m going to try to get up there too and harangue people into getting more active. So, if you like beer, politics, and encouragement get along. What: Drinking Liberally, Palmerston North When: 7:30pm, 26th of September Where: Zoe’s […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:13 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 28 comments
I’m usually no fan of Paul Henry as an interviewer but I’m prepared to give credit where it’s due. He certainly didn’t let John Key off the hook this morning on Breakfast. Was tempted to edit it down a bit but it’s worth watching the full thing. HENRY: “Well it’s not going well is it? […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, September 24th, 2008 - 36 comments
The Vote with Both Eyes Open posters had a star turn yesterday when Annette King presented them as evidence that activism is alive and well in New Zealand despite attacks from National that the Electoral Finance Act is scaring people off. Bill English didn’t look at all comfortable as King read from the poster about […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, September 24th, 2008 - 115 comments
Wellington bus drivers are striking this morning and good on them. I was happy to find my own way to work today. The company, GO Wellington, is claiming the drivers claim of 12% is too much in “these economic times” But talk of percentages is nothing but a red herring when the basic truth is […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:38 am, September 24th, 2008 - 34 comments
Generally, when you buy capital and later sell it, there is no tax payable on any profit. Unless you buy with the propose of selling the capital for a profit. That being the case, your buying and selling of the capital is engaging in an activity to generate income and tax is payable. It is […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:35 pm, September 23rd, 2008 - 18 comments
All it takes is Youtube, some video editing software, and imagination to make great vids, as this video we have just been sent from ‘johnnyfivestrive’ shows:
Written By: - Date published: 4:09 pm, September 23rd, 2008 - 28 comments
At the height of the Peters affair when John Key was trying to make political capital out of the PM’s statement that she had known about the Glenn donation to NZ First since February, Paul Henry asked Key about his own honesty. Here’s the exchange: Henry: Do you promise you will never do that if […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:42 pm, September 23rd, 2008 - 4 comments
WHAT: Drinking Liberally Auckland City WHO: You and any of your left-leaning comrades WHEN: 7.30pm, Wed 24th September WHERE: London Bar, cnr Wellesley & Queen Sts (opposite Civic). The entrance to the bar is around on Wellesley St, you need to go up the stairs and we will probably be congregating at the far end […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, September 23rd, 2008 - 16 comments
In principle, a free trade deal between the US and the P4 countries (NZ, Chile, Singapore, and Brunei) is a good thing. If we want our world’s limited resources to be used efficiently, we should not place artificial barriers in the way of trade without good reason. But we must make sure that the FTA […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:40 pm, September 23rd, 2008 - 53 comments
Michael Cullen’s office has just released a damning exchange between John Key and Richard Prebble that shows John Key not only fully understood the requirement for him to disclose potential conflicts of interests such as his shareholding in Tranzrail, but even used ownership of Tranzrail shares as a hypothetical example of the need to disclose […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:53 pm, September 23rd, 2008 - 33 comments
The PSA’s campaign looks to get past National’s simplistic ‘tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts’ mantra and ask voters to consider what they would have to give up to get larger tax cuts. (full size) Great stuff. Hopefully, they won’t be limiting this campaign to internet and magazine ads. Every kiwi family should get this […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:58 am, September 23rd, 2008 - 51 comments
For those who missed it, here’s the video from last night’s One News investigation into John Key’s TranzRail dealings. The first clip details Key’s abuse of his positition as an MP for personal financial gain, and the second clip has him lying about his shareholding, then quickly correcting himself when he realises he’s been busted.
Written By: - Date published: 9:46 am, September 23rd, 2008 - 41 comments
Anyone remember back in July Key accused Clark of misleading the house over his involvement in Tranzrail and asked for an apology? Just in case you don’t here’s what John Key said to TV3 said at the time: “Can I assure her that neither I, nor my family trust, was an owner of shares in […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, September 23rd, 2008 - 28 comments
John Key on August 30 “The appointment of a minister to Cabinet has to be done on the basis that as Prime Minister I can look that person in the eye and have confidence that I can rely on their word.” Also, I know it’s small change to Key but to those of us who aren’t […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:11 am, September 23rd, 2008 - 38 comments
The Privileges Committee has reported back. Peters is censured for not declaring that he had made a pecuniary gain from his lawyer taking donations for Peters’ legal fund. A minority of the Committee, the Labour and NZF MPs, disagreed with this censure pointing out that the evidence given to the Committee was that, had Peters […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:30 pm, September 22nd, 2008 - 27 comments
National has released their statement about John Key’s shady dealings in Tranzrail shares and unsurprisingly it’s another attempt at misdirection. As I’ve said in the past, this is a tried and true Crosby Textor technique designed to take the heat out of a negative story by directing attention elsewhere until the story dies down. It […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:51 pm, September 22nd, 2008 - 189 comments
One News has just run the revelation that John Key lied to the public and to Parliament about the extent of his shareholding in Tranzrail while using his position to ask questions about the Government’s intentions for rail. More importantly, it seems he met with Rail America in his capacity as National’s transport spokesperson to […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:47 pm, September 22nd, 2008 - 85 comments
National’s candidate for Wellington Central, Stephen Franks, is having a wee cry on his blog today over Agenda’s decision to air that embarrassing Youtube clip where he complains about “grumpy Christians and whining gays” and compares civil unions to marrying your dog. Apparently he’s been “cited out of context” by “the militant gay media” and […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:47 pm, September 22nd, 2008 - 12 comments
Dirty politics and personal attacks. They’re two of the phrases of the campaign so far. The Sunday Star Times took the time to investigate what dirty tricks might mean. According to Wanganui mayor and former National MP Michael Laws: “A dirty trick is a covert act “that you would be embarrassed about if you were exposed”. When he was […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:22 pm, September 22nd, 2008 - 55 comments
I’ve had some interesting conversations with people recently that have me thinking we need to get back to some political basics to build up to the practical policy questions of today, otherwise many of us are talking past each other. Here are three founding principles, which I hope to build from in an occasional series […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:43 pm, September 22nd, 2008 - 47 comments
It’s really easy to present misleading statistics. David Farrar shows how it’s done with a post on migration today. Note how his figures only go back to 2003. Why is that? Well, it just so happens that 2003 was the last low point in the migration cycle. So, if you show just the last five […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, September 22nd, 2008 - 16 comments
We’re keen to help you get active this election campaign. That’s why we’ve launched Campaign Hub 2008 and its Facebook group to give you info, access to materials, and tips on campaigning. It’s great to see so many people have downloaded leaflets and posters from the Hub or clicked through to Vote With Both Eyes […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:48 pm, September 21st, 2008 - 43 comments
3 News tonight: “the Government wants less pupils per teacher..” Is TV3 employing National’s billboard genius to write the tele-prompter? Also, my inside sources reveal that Matthew Hooten has no inside sources. Think about it, who in the Beehive would talk to Hooten? If you did want to leak, wouldn’t you leak to someone credible? It’s […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:33 pm, September 21st, 2008 - 42 comments
The Business Roundtable held another in their series of forums on political issues targeted at young people on Thursday. The aim is obviously to get along the type of kid who goes to his (sorry for the gendering but they were 90% male) commerce classes in a suit that he can’t yet fill and give him an […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:24 am, September 21st, 2008 - 16 comments
Nats Golden Run – the headline accompanied by vivid graphic in the Dom Post yesterday would have had many on the left sighing into their morning long black. But upon looking at it more closely I discovered that the dramatic graph wasn’t the result of the Fairfax poll (which has the National/Labour gap closing one […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:49 pm, September 20th, 2008 - 34 comments
Newswire have a new poll “Is it a done deal? What the polls don’t tell us” which makes for some interesting reading. It was a limited poll done around Wellington on Monday using a true random polling technique. It also reported all of the figures including the numbers for which there was no answer. As […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:49 am, September 20th, 2008 - 33 comments
I’m on ‘holiday’ for the next few weeks to contribute some campaign work. However it will also give me some time to do the next set of upgrades to the site sometime during that period. I will be putting in the acculmulated upgrades for existing packages and testing them. Here is your opportunity to say […]
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