Author Archive
Funny because it’s true
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, March 2nd, 2009 - 18 comments
This has to be the funniest political cartoon I’ve seen in some time, and it’s true too. The innovation we need has to be government-led. A Green New Deal. Not only to boost the economy by constructing new infrastructure but constructing useful infrastructure. Forget cycleways no-one will use, we need to build a greener infrastructure based on renewable energy, […]
The Mad Hatter’s Job Summit
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, March 2nd, 2009 - 15 comments
There was a conference going on in the south of the city, and the Prime Minister, the Cheshire Fat Cat, and his cronies were busy creating jobs. The conference was a large one, but they were all crowded together in one corner of it: ‘No room! No room for the unemployed!’ they cried out when […]
Spot the odd one out
Written By: - Date published: 3:32 pm, February 27th, 2009 - 39 comments
I grabbed the stills from this Herald video of the Jobs Summit – can you see her? Worth watching the first 10 seconds of the vid too for Key’s sleepytimes moment. Poor dear, this running the country thing must be exhausting. Play more Jobs Summit spot the odd one out below:
Now comes the hard part
Written By: - Date published: 12:14 pm, February 26th, 2009 - 25 comments
I get why the government is riding so high in the polls. John Key looks confident amd relaxed albeit a little goofy sometimes but lord knows that can be a nice change after the grim sternness of Helen. His Ministers seem pragmatic and sensible. You can almost hear the swish swish of 350 percale cotton […]
Brian Easton’s DL talk now online
Written By: - Date published: 1:27 pm, February 25th, 2009 - 33 comments
For those of you who missed Brian Easton’s recent talk on the recession at Drinking Liberally Wgtn (or just couldn’t hear over the rain) the papers are now up online. It’s fascinating reading, if a little frightening. Part I on the world economy is here, and Part II on the New Zealand economy is here. […]
Nat Minister unhappy, leaks Key email
Written By: - Date published: 9:29 am, February 18th, 2009 - 53 comments
Well, that didn’t take long. In the first 100 days of the new National government we’ve seen a clamp-down on workers’ rights, tax cuts for the rich, and now tying everything up nicely in a big bow, we have the first leaked National Party email of the term. Another day, another leak in the National […]
Splits and divisions on minimum wage
Written By: - Date published: 3:53 pm, February 2nd, 2009 - 28 comments
So Cabinet has deferred its decision on the minimum with John Key simply promising “it won’t be very far away at all”. Now that’s just shoddy. In tough economic times we need strong government leadership. Now is the time for certainty and action, it’s not the time to dither and umm and ahh. But we […]
Obama makes world safer, already
Written By: - Date published: 2:10 pm, January 29th, 2009 - 31 comments
In response to U.S. President Barack Obama’s review of the proposed U.S. missile defence system in Eastern Europe, Russia is scrapping plans to deploy nuclear capable Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, just north of Poland. The Guardian reports: Obama has not yet decided whether to press ahead with the scheme or to abandon it, although indications […]
BastardWatch
Written By: - Date published: 2:28 pm, January 26th, 2009 - 54 comments
After losing their last four seats in the Senate after Australia’s 2007 election, the Australian Democrats are trying hard to stay relevant and in the public eye. They see their fortunes resting on the party’s founding mantra to “keep the bastards honest”. So they’ve translated that term coined in 1980 by then leader Don Chip […]
Helen Clark greatest living NZer – Herald
Written By: - Date published: 6:04 am, January 24th, 2009 - 54 comments
I wonder if someone at the Herald is going to get sack for letting this happen? The NZ Herald’s week long poll to find out who the greatest living New Zealander is, has yielded Helen Clark as the victor (with Willie Apiata coming in second). And that despite Helen Clark not even being included on […]
We would love to see wages drop – Key
Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, January 23rd, 2009 - 18 comments
Staying with today’s wages theme, The Herald is reporting: “Mr Key would not rule out pay cuts for public servants in the next three years”. So will Mr Key be ringing the Herald’s editor, demanding a retraction and threatening Audrey Young for writing the article? This is after all what Key did last year when […]
What does President Obama mean for you?
Written By: - Date published: 2:19 pm, January 21st, 2009 - 46 comments
If you’re living in New Zealand, President Obama isn’t going to change your life. Remember, you voted for John Key. You’ll have to wait for that ray of hope to shine. But President Obama won’t go un-noticed here, because his presidency means at least four things for New Zealanders. First: President Obama means you can […]
Merry Christmas from National
Written By: - Date published: 3:17 pm, December 17th, 2008 - 28 comments
National’s decides to hit workers in the pocket: ACC Minister Nick Smith yesterday said levies would increase from $1.40 to $1.70 for every $100 earned from next April. The employer and self-employed levy would rise from $1.26 to $1.31. Recommendations by officials to increase motor vehicles levies and lift registration fees by $50 would not […]
Govt’s ACC spin working
Written By: - Date published: 2:15 pm, December 5th, 2008 - 32 comments
We’ve covered the National/ACT government’s latest ACC beat-up extensively already. IB spelled out rather well here the techniques being used by the government to undermine ACC in order to create a sense of crisis and soften up the public for privatisation. And it pains me to say it, but it’s working. And it’s working well. […]
Treasury – Labour left us in good shape
Written By: - Date published: 12:23 pm, December 5th, 2008 - 17 comments
Treasury’s briefing to Bill English as the new Minister of Finance must’ve pissed him off big time. Aside from the expected ideological burp (already covered in depth by No Right Turn) it reads like a long list of Labour achievements and calls on National is reign in its irresponsible promises. Here’s a taste of some […]
A smoke-screen for the privatisation brigade
Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, December 3rd, 2008 - 21 comments
Now that didn’t take long. Well rehearsed from the 1990s, National has already started using the privileged position of government to conjure up bogeymen to get their unpopular privatisation agenda past the public. John Key called an urgent press conference yesterday to beat-up a $1b shortfall in ACC funding. ‘OMG, this ACC thing is out […]
Down with literacy
Written By: - Date published: 9:31 am, October 14th, 2008 - 45 comments
A crusade on illiteracy, surely. Um, I’m not sure we want to entrust these guys with improving language skills. [Update: true to form, the people in the sector don’t know what the hell National is talking about. Teachers say National seems to be taking about some vague reporting system, not more resources to actually improve […]
Even your Granny doesn’t believe you anymore
Written By: - Date published: 11:37 am, October 10th, 2008 - 32 comments
The Herald editorial this morning lambastes National’s crime policy as “simply a more extreme version of a policy that has failed this country and others” but Granny Herald consoles herself: In all likelihood, this is not something that Mr Key will pursue if National wins the election. It is a policy calculated to strike a […]
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?
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”*
Booed on boot camps
Written By: - Date published: 4:53 pm, September 12th, 2008 - 56 comments
It’s not John Key’s week really. Winston disappears like magic off the front pages (I honestly thought I had time travelled somehow when I woke up as usual this morning to Moaning Report and there wasn’t a single item on Winston & Glenn), Labour keeps releasing leaked National policies, Bollard slashes interest rates the day […]
Right to strike
Written By: - Date published: 3:43 pm, August 29th, 2008 - 10 comments
Hundreds of Australian journalists walked off the job yesterday in protest at Fairfax’s 550 planned job cuts. Here in NZ journos employed by Fairfax and facing 160 job losses joined their Aussie counterparts in a wild cat strike. Nah. They didn’t. However, they did issue a press release via their union the EPMU. That must […]
Hilarious
Written By: - Date published: 11:20 am, August 4th, 2008 - 56 comments
Greens on National’s plan to borrow to build more roads: “Lonely dinosaur seeks white elephant“
The Ultimate Flip-Flop
Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, July 30th, 2008 - 6 comments
This straight from Public Address – Guest writer Simon Pound: John Key has announced the adoption of yet another flagship Labour policy having a female leader. In a one-page policy briefing released today he stated that under a National government he would undergo gender realignment to have what it takes to lead the Country. “I’ve […]
Like McDonalds, the same all over the world
Written By: - Date published: 12:41 pm, July 25th, 2008 - 16 comments
This is from 2005 in Britain but we saw the same script played out here last month: When SpinWatch asked Tory central press office to clarify the roles being played by Crosby and Textor the conversation was as follows: SpinWatch: ‘I was wondering if you could clarify the role that Lyndon Crosby and Mark Textor […]
The War on P
Written By: - Date published: 12:53 pm, July 22nd, 2008 - 9 comments
National Party strategist and Dominion Post columnist Richard Long declared war on “P” today. The “P’” word that is. Privatisation. Labour and the unions have attacked the proposed ACC changes by using the scare word “privatisation”, whereas the policy is actually aimed at providing choice in an area which is at present a monopoly.’ Actually […]
The same dream
Written By: - Date published: 11:17 am, July 16th, 2008 - 5 comments
Some people don’t seem to understand that being of the Left does not mean being soley allied to Labour or the Greens or the Progressives. It means fundamentally holding beliefs that are fundamentally also held by Labour, the Greens, and the Progressives, a common thread of principles that binds the Left. 08wire.org explains with the […]
National releases 3 more lines of policy – Scoop
Written By: - Date published: 6:24 am, July 2nd, 2008 - 17 comments
A classic headline that says it all. Here’s the three lines: ‘Give schools additional resources over time to ensure more students can take part in extra-curricula organised sport. Ensure more of the government’s sport spending gets through to the front line.’ Stop it, John. It’s great knowing exactly what you would do, how much it […]
Fairfax milks the cash cow
Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, July 1st, 2008 - 28 comments
It was bound to happen. The Herald did it about a year ago and now Fairfax is following suit. Getting rid of subeditors who actually live in the same town as the paper for which they write. In their place Fairfax is offering New Zealander newspaper readers Centres of Editorial Expertise. The trouble is that […]
Enlightening debate
Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, June 25th, 2008 - 69 comments
In Parliament yesterday: Anderton: “Has the Minister received any reports on how many National Party members it takes to change a light bulb?” Cullen: “None. Because they like to keep us in the dark.”
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