Author Archive

When you smile….

Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, August 8th, 2008 - 8 comments

Hitting the email circuit is a video on the leaks within the National party over the Hollow Men.

Gordon Campbell on the ethics of taping politicians

Written By: - Date published: 2:07 pm, August 7th, 2008 - 48 comments

You’d be hard pressed to have missed the story on what some National MPs have been caught saying behind closed doors. We’ve seen discussions over the content, questions on the law. Now Gordon Campbell asks: …is it more unethical for a delegate to tape someone speaking candidly or a for a political party to dedicate its campaign efforts to […]

A quick Brethren reference

Written By: - Date published: 10:56 pm, August 2nd, 2008 - 121 comments

At last an upfront acknowledgement of the Exclusive Brethren’s support for National during the 2005 election campaign. According to Colin Espiner: Day One of National’s annual conference is nearly over and so far the biggest clanger has been departing Tauranga MP Bob Clarkson’s thank-you to the Exclusive Brethren during his departing remarks to delegates. There was […]

90 Day no rights makes no sense

Written By: - Date published: 10:21 am, July 31st, 2008 - 18 comments

The National party may prefer not to have their policy examined in great detail, but in today’s Herald Nigel Haworth, professor of human resource development at Auckland University’s Business School, provides some interesting observations about their 90 no-rights plans. Nigel Haworth suggests that: “National’s intention to introduce, if elected, a 90-day probationary employment period, possibly in the small business […]

Kiwi style to walk the world stage

Written By: - Date published: 5:03 pm, July 30th, 2008 - 7 comments

So US Secretary of State Condolezza Rice has left our shores. She inspired protest. She met the PM and said “New Zealand is now a friend and an ally.” She provided timely distraction for Mr Peters, travelling to meet with the Pacific Island forum. But the item that stirred my Kiwi pride was reading that […]

So National DO have a policy, errr sorry…

Written By: - Date published: 3:29 pm, July 30th, 2008 - 9 comments

So the news went out! National DID have some policy said Colin James: …in behind the bland one-pagers lies quite a lot of study, consultation with outsiders and internal shadow cabinet debate. A 34-page paper backed the workplace relations one-pager. Law and order policy was well footnoted… But no, Colin James seems to have got […]

What was it about that Herald poll?

Written By: - Date published: 5:24 pm, July 29th, 2008 - 20 comments

Should Labour be worried about today’s poll in the Herald which contrary to other recent polls showed the gap between the parties rising? Colin Espiner doesn’t seem to think so, suggesting: I wouldn’t take much notice of the Herald DigiPoll. This one’s even worse than the last one. It was taken over THREE WEEKS and interviewed […]

Does anyone care about the gender wage gap?

Written By: - Date published: 3:22 pm, July 29th, 2008 - 38 comments

I recently caught a story on the radio about the gender wage gap of new graduates – and in the failed search to locate it came across some other related stories. As we head into an election campaign with political parties offering up their solutions for the future I had to ask myself – does anyone […]

Oram’s Ides of March

Written By: - Date published: 5:32 pm, July 20th, 2008 - 53 comments

Rod Oram can nearly always be relied upon for insightful analysis that takes debate a step further. In the SSTimes today he asks: “are we being realistic about the current state of the nation? Each person will have his or her own view. But if, as individuals and a society, we’re gloomier than the facts […]

So what is a subprime then?

Written By: - Date published: 10:26 pm, July 19th, 2008 - 23 comments

The phrase “subprime” seems to have become part of our universal vocabulary – reflecting global uncertainty, events beyond our control, and financial complexities. A subject of great importance and seriousness – until I saw this clip from Bird and Fortune…perfect Sunday viewing.

Painting a portrait of Mr Key

Written By: - Date published: 9:43 pm, July 19th, 2008 - 47 comments

I read with interest the NZ Herald’s “In Search of John Key“. I know at least some commentors on this blog have questioned our continued examination of the National party leader – so it was reassuring to see the Herald statement that “he remains relatively unknown. Who really is John Key? Where did he come […]

It’s not ok

Written By: - Date published: 12:13 pm, July 9th, 2008 - 56 comments

Is it a sign of a successful campaign regarding family violence – that “it’s not ok” – which sees broadcaster Tony Veitch taking time away from his television and radio shows in the wake of revelations that he allegedly assaulted his former partner? It certainly seems to have generated quite a bit of discussion amongst […]

The making of some (commercial) magic

Written By: - Date published: 8:36 pm, July 5th, 2008 - Comments Off on The making of some (commercial) magic

As usual we’ve been running the hot political stories this week but I, for one, need a breather. And what better way to relax than to watch people create an amazing scene of fluffy white stuff floating around? It’s not the snow and wintry weather that’s covering the country. This is the Making of Foam […]

Buying trains gets noticed in Britain

Written By: - Date published: 1:44 pm, July 4th, 2008 - 16 comments

The buy back of rail has been put in a British context in this article from the Guardian. Here are some excerpts: “New Zealand has long had a record of being ahead of the political game. It was the first country in the world to accept women’s right to vote, in 1893. In the 1930s, […]

Mr Key’s real concerns

Written By: - Date published: 12:49 pm, July 1st, 2008 - 37 comments

While more questions will no doubt be asked about Mr Key’s choice of hiring infamous Aussie spin-stars, Crosby/Textor, (no doubt some more of them will feature here) I thought this point raised by Barry Soper yesterday was a good one: There’s clearly a concern how this information is yet again leaking from the National Party office. I mean, […]

Leadership: What’s nice got to do with it?

Written By: - Date published: 5:03 pm, June 25th, 2008 - 18 comments

An interesting article in the Washington Post poses the question: “You thought our presidential candidates were nice guys, regular guys, guys with whom you’d like to sit down and have a beer? Guess what, lots of people are now telling me: They aren’t. But why on Earth should anyone expect them to be? In its […]

Lovin’ our corner of the world

Written By: - Date published: 10:47 am, June 11th, 2008 - 23 comments

Wanting something that’s great to be even better is no bad thing – but the Mercer 2008 Quality of Living survey our today shows we’ve quite a bit to be happy about. Auckland (#5 in the world) is the city in Asia Pacific with the best quality of living, followed by Sydney (#10) and Wellington […]

Body image gone bad

Written By: - Date published: 5:51 pm, June 10th, 2008 - 7 comments

We’re used to the importance of presentation in the world of politics, but no-one does it quite so blatently as the fashion world. We’ve seen it in the waif-like size of girl/women models, an acknowledged under-representation of ethnic diversity on the cat walk and now male models are also under pressure to down-size. In the Melbourne […]

Advice for future aides

Written By: - Date published: 3:22 pm, June 3rd, 2008 - 3 comments

Those interested in the political situation in the States will be wanting to read the new book written by Scott McClellan (former White House press secretary), with potentially some lessons for operators in NZ. This piece in the Washington Post suggests that the people who should read it the most are the people least likely to take the time to […]

The status of KiwiSaver

Written By: - Date published: 3:03 pm, May 27th, 2008 - 34 comments

Tracy Watkins reports: “National has been forced into an embarrassing u-turn on KiwiSaver after its industrial relations spokeswoman Kate Wilkinson appeared to put the kibosh on a major component of the scheme. Ms Wilkinson was forced to retract comments made earlier today suggesting National would do away with the compulsory employer contribution.” On his blog Vernon […]

Predictions on Parliament

Written By: - Date published: 10:29 pm, May 26th, 2008 - 9 comments

We’ve seen many of the commentators suggest that National is coming up short on policy proposals after the Budget last week. What I’ll be looking for is whether Mr Key takes his attack to the PM and Michael Cullen in the House tomorrow. The hints continue to be that tax cuts will be larger and […]

Hidden costs of private hospitals

Written By: - Date published: 2:39 pm, May 26th, 2008 - 13 comments

If you’re paying for your health care you’d expect good service wouldn’t you? The release of four health commissioner decisions over the weekend and covered by the Sunday Star Times, focused attention on private hospitals and the potential for catastrophic outcomes from relatively minor operations. According the report, Health Commissioner Ron Paterson says the cluster of cases […]

Feeling mean? Which Disney villain are you?

Written By: - Date published: 10:52 pm, May 21st, 2008 - 12 comments

Get “scientific” with this poll and determine “which Disney villain are you”?    

National – more women-friendly?

Written By: - Date published: 4:52 pm, May 20th, 2008 - 52 comments

Colin Espiner pointed it out the other week, National “needs more women. Never over-represented in National at the best of times, the party is looking increasingly estrogen-lite.” So there would have been a sigh of relief in National circles that they can now distance themselves from comments such as these from declared departee Bob Clarkson: […]

California lifts gay marriage ban

Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, May 17th, 2008 - 41 comments

California’s top court has ruled that a state law banning marriage between same-sex couples is unconstitutional, accrording to a BBC report. The state’s Supreme Court said the “right to form a family relationship” applied to all Californians regardless of sexuality. I wonder if this ruling will re-ignite debate on the status of relationships here in […]

Two stories on crime in Christchurch

Written By: - Date published: 11:54 am, May 15th, 2008 - 8 comments

Christchurch hosted a public meeting on crime within the city last week. But the thing that caught my eye, despite the very laudable aim, was how National MP, Nicky Wagner, managed to present two contrasting opinions on the state of crime in the Garden City, in close succession: I do think the statistics are sometimes […]

Workers be careful, says Aussie Unionist

Written By: - Date published: 10:13 pm, May 7th, 2008 - 158 comments

Sharan Burrow (President of Australian Council of Trade Unions) talked to Morning Report about the union experiences in Australia under a conservative government, and their hope for the future with Kevin Rudd. She also had some words of warning for NZ workers: “We say to your workers here, be very careful, you don’t want to […]

Petrol prices score political points

Written By: - Date published: 4:15 pm, May 6th, 2008 - 1 comment

It seems that NZers are not the only ones interested in petrol prices. From The Guardian: Barack Obama, facing increasingly close primary contests today in Indiana and North Carolina, fought off a populist push by Hillary Clinton to capitalise on American unease at rising petrol prices. The BBC has this on the unrelenting politics: To […]

Would Key scrap GST on food?

Written By: - Date published: 3:12 pm, May 5th, 2008 - 5 comments

With hints that regional fuel tax could be put on the “go slow” list, along with parts of the emissions trading scheme, it seems like we shouldn’t take any policy on taxes for granted. For example, there’s a belief that National and Labour have consensus on not removing GST on food. A couple of comments […]

A broadband world

Written By: - Date published: 2:24 pm, April 23rd, 2008 - 6 comments

So John Key has announced that a National-led government would spend “up to” $1.5 billion on fibre optic cable to the home. Well that’s a good thing right? Even I can appreciate the importance of Kiwi homes and businesses getting access to high speed broadband (even if it is solely for the use of my children’s […]

A ring of truth in the Hollow Men

Written By: - Date published: 11:33 pm, April 17th, 2008 - 18 comments

Congratulations to Dr Brash for fronting up and going to see the play The Hollow Men at the Maidment Theatre in Auckland (that’s based on Nicky Hager’s book of the same name). Dr Brash admitted some parts of The Hollow Men were spot on. I wish I knew which bits weren’t! The Hollow Men is […]