Author Archive

The lucky country

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 8:10 pm, February 21st, 2008 - 35 comments

I see the wage-gap is getting another airing on Stuff today, here’s the first few pars: While the gulf between New Zealand and Australian pay packets is narrowing slightly, it’s still a no-contest. Australian full-time workers earned an average of $A1162 ($NZ1350) per week in the year to November, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics […]

On the record

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 3:37 pm, February 21st, 2008 - 43 comments

There are some out there claiming Key’s statement that he “would love to see wages drop” is out of character. Now I’m always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and we know actions speak louder than words so I thought I’d have a look at Key’s actions. And what actions would speak […]

Doing the rounds

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 10:14 am, February 21st, 2008 - 17 comments

Looks like John Ansell’s finally got his mojo back. Hat tip: Ant.

John Key’s plan to cut your pay

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 10:46 am, February 20th, 2008 - 144 comments

“We would love to see wages drop”. You would think that given the simmering debate about our wage gap with Australia at the moment that would be the last thing you’d expect to hear from the leader of the National Party. Especially when he’d gone on record in the national media just a week ago […]

And the Nats want this man in parliament?

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 11:51 pm, February 16th, 2008 - 72 comments

I was just checking out the blogs and discovered this little gem on Kiwiblog: # Stephen Franks Says: February 16th, 2008 at 7:18 pm Britain’s had an independent enquiry into Blair/Labour’s ‘Cash for Honours’ scandal. Anyone want a bet on the chances of getting anything similarily cleansing here? One problem – Scotland Yard still has […]

Good news

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 4:05 pm, February 16th, 2008 - 16 comments

Stuff reports the stolen military medals have been returned. I had expected they would never be seen again but when I think about it nearly every high-profile theft of art or artifact I can remember has resulted a successful return. Kudos to the police for making sure we get to keep a part of our […]

“The literal truth”

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 10:49 am, February 16th, 2008 - 49 comments

Fran O’Sullivan’s continuing her ongoing philosophical project of interrogating the notion of truth in her latest repetition of Kiwiblog talking points Herald column. In it she picks up on the Owen Glenn interview and from a few disparate facts weaves a story of intrigue and mystery. Or rather provides us with an insight into the […]

Someone really needs to do this with Winston’s speech

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 6:31 pm, February 15th, 2008 - 4 comments

Well, I think it’s funny.

National seeks to stop free speech

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 8:56 am, February 15th, 2008 - 100 comments

Vernon Small reports today that National party blogger David Farrar has taken out a complaint against the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union’s registration as a third party under the Electoral Finance Act. Now aside from the fact that the founder of the Free Speech Coalition is trying to use the very legislation he has so […]

The Dummies’ Guide to National’s wage policy

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 12:35 pm, February 14th, 2008 - 68 comments

I never really understood how National planned to make wages grow because every time our man John Key is asked about our wage-gap with Australia he starts talking about cutting taxes. Here’s a recent example from Morning Report: Key: Firstly we will raise wages. I mean, after-tax wages will be rising under a National government. […]

Curia-ser and Curia-ser

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 9:01 pm, February 12th, 2008 - 61 comments

You’ll probably know about the rumour around the traps that blogger David Farrar is running his polling company Curia out of National Party HQ. This information first came up when Newzblog blogger James Sleep posted on a conversation he had with a young Nat in which the lad in question told him that he worked […]

Say chee$e

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 5:46 pm, February 10th, 2008 - 35 comments

At the supermarket earlier this week I was browsing the aisles and noticed the price of cheese. It seems now that for a kilo of this yellow gold (hold on isn’t gold kinda yellow anyway?) you’ll be paying $16. Now that’s a lot of money for what is pretty much a Kiwi staple but it’s […]

Dull

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 10:58 am, January 30th, 2008 - 78 comments

I haven’t had time to do a thorough analysis of Clark’s speech but from a quick once-over I can say with certainty that it is underwhelming. Let’s face it, this was her chance to take the front foot and show the government had a policy agenda fit for a new term. Instead her speech is […]

DPF takes the moral highground

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 1:19 am, January 27th, 2008 - 133 comments

As you will know National Party Blogger David Farrar gave us a wee razzing for publishing an out of date list of Bob Clarkson’s vast parliamentary achievements on Friday. Much high-horsing followed: [DPF: I now understand why you don’t post under your full name. You would be unemployable. No one would ever hire people whose […]

Same old faces, same old tactics

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 2:06 pm, January 23rd, 2008 - 251 comments

Well it looks like Free Speech Coalition founder Cameron Slater has taken a break from stalking John Minto and photoshopping underage bloggers’ faces onto porn and decided to finally publish the Coalition’s updated donors list (and only a month after he said he would). Interestingly, a “P Shirtcliffe” is listed as having donated $5000. Now […]

Spinning the spin.

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 2:11 pm, January 20th, 2008 - 279 comments

Ruth Laugeson has an article in the Sunday Star Times about the increased numbers of communications staff employed by ministries. Entitled “Spinning govt yarn costs $47m”, the article is in many ways a lovely piece of spin in its own right. The basis of the article is that the number of spindoctors employed by the […]

Shadbolt campaign funded by Hollow Men

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 7:02 pm, January 18th, 2008 - 96 comments

Remember how I asked who was funding Tim Shadbolt’s campaign to “bring down the government”? Turns out the Southland Times was interested too and they’ve found out his move to deliberately break electoral law is being propped up by the Talley brothers, who appear to have a bit of a history of that themselves. Now […]

Too far.

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 9:34 pm, January 16th, 2008 - 213 comments

People often ask us at The Standard why we don’t post under our real names. Tonight Whaleoil has provided a damn good answer to that question. He’s got a new creep who goes under the moniker “Steady Eddy” and he’s decided to show his chops by stalking John Minto. And when I say stalking I’m […]

Damned if you do…

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 11:10 am, January 16th, 2008 - 213 comments

The Herald has an interesting article about shift work posted today pointing out the impact shift work has on workers’ families. The article focuses on bus drivers – who have faced some of the biggest attacks on their conditions over the last 17 years. Auckland Bus driver Jim Kelly puts it thus: I see young […]

Interesting times…

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 8:20 pm, January 15th, 2008 - 22 comments

It seems the cats at newzblog have decided to bring our old mate Robinsod on board as a blogger and his first shot is at Farrar and Whale. I’ve spent more than a few nights on the booze with ‘Sod and the guy’s pretty smart and has definitely been around the traps but I’ve gotta […]

Follow the money

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 8:55 am, January 14th, 2008 - 78 comments

I see Shadbolt is back on the blackmail bandwagon again with today’s Herald claiming he’s aiming to break the Electoral Finance Act (though I’m still not entirely sure why as the last time I checked the EFA and the EFTS system shared nothing other than their first two letters). The thing is neither the Herald, […]

What’s National cooking up for 2008?

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 11:58 am, January 13th, 2008 - 195 comments

Well, I saw my first Farrar billboard in the real two days ago and I gotta tell you I laughed. I was with a companion who is politically aware and has a pretty good idea about the EFB and when I pointed it out to her she was baffled. When I told her the story […]

DPF’s bloody good deal

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 4:34 pm, December 19th, 2007 - 94 comments

There’s plenty of comment about Davey’s/National’s Billboards here and at Blogblog so I’ll not bore you with my analysis of these dreadful things. ‘Cos as you know I’m a man who likes to know what things cost. And guess what? I’ve done quite a few billboards and if Dave’s getting them for $7000, then he’s […]

Nats ruin the party

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 9:54 am, December 13th, 2007 - 3 comments

Well I might be drawing a long bow there but last night’s press gallery party was the worst I’ve ever been to and I suspect the Nats’ filibustering of the EFB might have to take the blame. Last year the do was a raucous good time with loads of drinking, gossip and chaos. This year […]

Rules of the game

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 9:59 pm, December 3rd, 2007 - 55 comments

Just had a read of Colin Espiner’s latest opinion piece. He certainly doesn’t pull any punches. Here’s what he has to say about the EFB: But despite attempts by Labour to patch up the worst of the bill’s flaws, it remains a shoddy piece of legislation that should be consigned to the dustbin. And, in […]

Poetic justice?

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 1:12 pm, December 1st, 2007 - 117 comments

Remember when the National Party threatened the Standard with copyright infringement? Nothing ever came of it of course because we had the fair defence of satire. But at the time we figured it showed the Nats were tuned it to intellectual property rights and the misuse of others people’s material. How wrong we were. According […]

John Key’s $50,000 anniversary present

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 4:33 pm, November 27th, 2007 - 132 comments

Just in case you don’t know, today is John Key’s first anniversary as National Party leader and his backers have given him the gift that keeps on giving & well over $50,000 worth of boring propaganda. Others including our good mates at blogblog have done the analysis of the spin behind this one so I […]

Ask not what your country can do for you, DPF…

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 1:02 pm, November 14th, 2007 - 63 comments

Interesting to see National Party blogger David Farrar is inciting his readers to start a political party to bypass/oppose the Electoral Finance Bill. Even more interesting is the fact that his rabid hoard are already calling for him to be its leader. Here at The Standard we couldn’t agree more – if anyone has the […]

History repeats, part II

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 10:43 am, November 13th, 2007 - 13 comments

There’s a famous line from Joyce’s Ulysses in which the main protagonist Stephen Dedalus states “history is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake” and when I opened the Herald this morning I suddenly understood what that can mean: Now look at this one from a little ways back: Spot the difference. It […]

2008’s big issue?

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 12:47 pm, November 2nd, 2007 - 41 comments

An interesting piece in yesterday’s Molesworth and Featherston (off line): Labour will pick a fight over workplace law reform. Trevor Mallard is in there to promote a message of ‘higher wages through better industrial law’ along with a scare campaign that says National will cut pay and conditions. Now we’ve been saying work rights are […]

Pryde of the South

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 2:33 pm, October 30th, 2007 - 22 comments

Interesting to see EPMU President Don Pryde has thrown his hat in the ring for the Dunedin South seat and has the full backing of his union. Having met Don at a conference a few years ago I’ve got to say I was taken by his level-headedness and the way he’d think before passing comment […]