Author Archive

By-elections are FPP

Written By: - Date published: 10:38 pm, March 28th, 2015 - 25 comments

Paddy Gower and Duncan Garner don’t understand our electoral system: “that’s MMP”. By-elections are pure First Past the Post – and that’s why Andrew Little didn’t need to do a deal, and Northland doesn’t stink like Epsom.

Better to Jaw Jaw than War War

Written By: - Date published: 5:36 pm, February 5th, 2015 - 112 comments

Perhaps John Key should consider a Churchillian thought before he rushes to send our young to die in Iraq.

Is Haron Monis a terrorist?

Written By: - Date published: 12:51 pm, December 16th, 2014 - 187 comments

Would John Key be making reference to terror attacks if Haron Monis was not from the Middle East? Our PM has a track record of jumping the gun on sensitive international issues…

Textses

Written By: - Date published: 8:53 am, November 27th, 2014 - 35 comments

rOb somewhat scooped me, but here’s my twitter round-up of the reaction to the PM’s office releasing the texts last night.

Scope

Written By: - Date published: 4:59 pm, November 26th, 2014 - 5 comments

Yesterday’s 2 reports are even worse for what they managed to conclude inside their scope. What was outside their scope shows things even more interesting.

Honourable

Written By: - Date published: 10:20 am, November 26th, 2014 - 17 comments

A list of things that are apparently now Honourable, even if you didn’t undermine your SFO boss.

Key: I’m Lazy, Incompetent

Written By: - Date published: 8:16 pm, November 25th, 2014 - 9 comments

Q&A with our fearless leader on his many reports.

#JohnKeyHistory

Written By: - Date published: 12:47 pm, November 20th, 2014 - 99 comments

Apparently the New Zealand Wars were just another Rugby analogy to John Key.

Country divided: Key can’t rule

Written By: - Date published: 11:25 pm, November 18th, 2014 - 43 comments

Election 2014 result coverage reprised…

They’re lying to you

Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, November 18th, 2014 - 37 comments

Lies, damn lies, and statistics

Islamic Extremism: not a threat

Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, November 17th, 2014 - 112 comments

Not to NZ at any rate.

Friday Fun: Thatcher and Scooby Doo Jungle Ropebridges

Written By: - Date published: 2:17 pm, November 14th, 2014 - 6 comments

Thatcher didn’t care about the Jungle Canyon Rope Bridges, did she?  The Tories, under Thatcher, let them fall apart…

Also: Mr Men.

National losing the middle?

Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, October 28th, 2014 - 133 comments

In its first term, National was very careful to be incremental – Key hung to the middle, chipping away carefully at workers’ rights without doing anything dramatic. Having gained the public’s trust by continuing (outside the House) to be a clown they’d like to have a drink with, they went with one big hit with […]

Sherman Cunliffe

Written By: - Date published: 8:50 pm, October 17th, 2014 - 308 comments

Surely this should put Paddy Gower and co to bed once and for all. With great grace despite Shearer’s baiting, and with great clarity, Cunliffe has declared he will never seek the Labour leadership again. It was Shermanesque. Now surely he can get on with using his great talent for Labour and not have him […]

OIA: Rotten

Written By: - Date published: 5:42 pm, October 16th, 2014 - 70 comments

As story after story comes out, it shows how much contempt for transparency and the law this government has, and how little  it intends to be held to account.

Dishonourable Judith Collins

Written By: - Date published: 6:25 pm, October 14th, 2014 - 62 comments

Even John Key can’t bring himself to call Judith “Honourable”

National education

Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, September 27th, 2014 - 10 comments

So National will continue their rorts by giving ministries to their tame poodles, Rimmer and the Hair.  Despite each making the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party look like it has a serious electoral mandate.  I guess it makes it look like National has friends, and Act and UF appreciate the extra cash. But Seymour will probably […]

Where’s the Whip?

Written By: - Date published: 1:23 pm, September 23rd, 2014 - 146 comments

Our Labour MPs seem to be in disarray.  Somehow the party that teaches solidarity keeps on being fractured, while the party that teaches individualism is a strong union.

Why are they talking to each other through the media instead of picking up the phone?

Slip, slip, slip

Written By: - Date published: 1:48 pm, September 16th, 2014 - 82 comments

John Key will no doubt – like with Dirty Politics – keep saying that “most of it is proven false” about the Snowden revelations… while slowly admitting most of the charges against him.

Authenticity

Written By: - Date published: 7:39 am, September 13th, 2014 - 34 comments

Is Cunliffe inauthentic? Does Key get to have his own facts? And when will we get proper (ie not game) analysis from our pundits? (spoiler warning: praise for Josie Pagani)

Donghua Liu Letter: More Dirty Politics

Written By: - Date published: 7:06 am, September 12th, 2014 - 55 comments

Frank Macskasy at the Daily Blog has produced a timeline on the 11 year old David Cunliffe – Donghua Liu letter that shows some more seriously dodgy Dirty Politics

There is no plan

Written By: - Date published: 7:50 am, September 7th, 2014 - 69 comments

Name one new thing you’d do in the next 3 years in government.  Bill English: “-“

TolleyOil?

Written By: - Date published: 12:13 pm, September 4th, 2014 - 34 comments

NetworkOnNet posts about the Ministry of Education under Tolley bullying good principals though WhaleOil. And also in Education news: this week all 4-7 year olds will be eligible for a free hot school lunch… in the UK.

More Nat lies

Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, September 4th, 2014 - 20 comments

National’s been lying about increased teacher numbers, and the state of the economy – and now they’re promising unaffordable tax cuts.

Blogging isn’t the problem Mr Key

Written By: - Date published: 1:49 pm, September 3rd, 2014 - 26 comments

John Key has been pushing the “they blog on the left too” line, but he’s deliberately missing the point.

It’s ethics that matter.

lprent: I add my little bit at the end about pseudonyms

Nothing to hide, nothing to fear

Written By: - Date published: 7:18 am, September 3rd, 2014 - 37 comments

If John Key has nothing to hide, sure he has nothing to fear from a full government inquiry into Dirty Politics?

Score draw?

Written By: - Date published: 9:45 pm, September 2nd, 2014 - 181 comments

Cunliffe started best, Key got in a zinger and put him off his stride, Cunliffe dominated the second half.

Puddleglum: We no longer have a Prime Minister

Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, September 2nd, 2014 - 34 comments

There’s an excellent post at The Political Scientist I want to highlight, plus a few other of today’s Dirty Politics reads…

Crusher crushed

Written By: - Date published: 12:39 pm, August 30th, 2014 - 228 comments

Press conference is running late, but Judith’s statement is out – resigning as Minister, but not as MP.

New allegations of her undermining SFO head Adam Feeley have finally been too much.

Update: email attached to post

Key can’t work with the Greens because…

Written By: - Date published: 4:37 pm, August 29th, 2014 - 85 comments

They care about Child Poverty (and presumably he doesn’t)

Does Key want it?

Written By: - Date published: 12:07 pm, August 29th, 2014 - 66 comments

Last night there was one participant in the debate who looked disinterested and unhappy to be there: John Key. Has he had enough?

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