Author Archive

Glorifying ignorance (and why the death of the MSM won’t be all bad)

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:02 am, June 2nd, 2016 - 80 comments

Hey Mike Hosking – how many dead and deformed babies is the precious Olympic schedule worth to you anyway?

Progress on plain packaging

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:57 am, June 1st, 2016 - 48 comments

Yesterday’s announcement of likely new regulations on the “plain packaging” of tobacco products is a good move.

Waking up to the realities of neoliberalism and austerity

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:04 am, June 1st, 2016 - 159 comments

Even the IMF now acknowledges that neoliberal economics and government austerity policies have failed. Look around at New Zealand – you can see the effects.

Labour Green announcement – working together to change the government

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 3:10 pm, May 31st, 2016 - 291 comments

Excellent! A memorandum of understanding – Labour and Greens to work together to change the government.

Labour builds the houses (yet another Key lie)

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 2:49 pm, May 31st, 2016 - 19 comments

Good work fact-checking by Geoff Simmons at the Morgan Foundation. Contrary to Key’s lie, Labour builds more houses than National.

Fine for fox to guard henhouse – says fox

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:31 am, May 31st, 2016 - 26 comments

The Nats are happy for the fishing industry to effectively self-monitor, despite the fact that this has already been shown to be massively ineffective. In other news: John Key questioned on National’s closeness to fishing industry.

Housing should not depend on charity – but this is an emergency

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:15 am, May 30th, 2016 - 45 comments

Bravo to Te Puea Marae and their supporters – you are doing what needs to be done – and you are putting the government to shame.

More Panama papers and other dirty money

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 6:38 am, May 30th, 2016 - 143 comments

Both One News and The Herald have pieces this morning highlighting different cases of dirty money being “filtered” through NZ. Panama papers, National donors, SkyCity and more…

Screw democracy – Auckland to get the Canterbury treatment

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:24 am, May 28th, 2016 - 172 comments

It’s naked panic now. In response to the crisis that isn’t a crisis Key is going to overrule the council that his government created and screw over Auckland democracy just like he screwed over Canterbury. What do you think of that Aucklanders?

Key’s powerful speech on the urgent housing crisis

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:12 am, May 27th, 2016 - 41 comments

John Key has given a powerful speech on NZ’s housing crisis: “This is an issue that should concern all New Zealanders. It threatens a fundamental part of our culture, it threatens our communities and, ultimately, it threatens our economy.”

Budget 2016 – F for Fail

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:15 am, May 27th, 2016 - 31 comments

budget-quote
— Deborah Russell

Pre-budget reading

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:52 am, May 26th, 2016 - 20 comments

Budget day! Here’s a little light reading to get us started. Write your own line for the budget!

Paid parental leave bill progress towards anti-democratic veto

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:01 am, May 26th, 2016 - 49 comments

Sue Moroney’s bill to extend paid parental leave passed its second reading last night – bravo to all those who supported it! The Nats’ threat to veto is profoundly anti-democratic, overriding the will of Parliament.

Bennett’s housing “announcement” is a re-announcement and a lie

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 3:27 pm, May 25th, 2016 - 140 comments

Paula Bennett’s “big” housing “announcement” today is a re-announcement with a twist of lie.

Newshub poll – Key’s government has failed on housing

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 3:10 pm, May 25th, 2016 - 48 comments

Quite apart from falling to his lowest level ever as preferred PM, the Newshub poll had more bad news for King John.

Trump overtakes Clinton on average of polls

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 11:44 am, May 23rd, 2016 - 62 comments

For the first time Trump has overtaken Clinton on the average of polls. But don’t panic just yet.

Little’s $50 a week message getting through

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:03 am, May 23rd, 2016 - 116 comments

A great reception for Little’s speech, and a take-home message that resonates well.

Structural injustice

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:32 am, May 22nd, 2016 - 54 comments

Structural injustice alive and well in NZ.

Greenhouse emissions taskforce

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:20 am, May 22nd, 2016 - 115 comments

With news that NZ’s greenhouse emissions are at a 25 year high the announcement of a new taskforce “to provide advice and ways in which we can drive down our emissions” is as welcome as it is overdue.

All aboard the charter schools gravy train

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:34 am, May 21st, 2016 - 32 comments

Charter schools are pretty nice work if you can get it, no wonder groups are lining up. But there’s no evidence that they are good for education.

Incoherent, unfair and unaccountable

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:01 am, May 20th, 2016 - 48 comments

That is how officials from the Ministry of Social Development described the emergency housing system to Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett – a year ago. What has Bennett done in the year since?

Vernon Small on Key’s fiscal Tardis

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:22 am, May 19th, 2016 - 21 comments

Small: “Only this week Prime Minister John Key managed to spend one, save it and outline a plan to give it back to taxpayers all at the same time.”

Glib words and false hope aren’t going to cut it

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:02 am, May 19th, 2016 - 151 comments

This is a massive market and moral failure. The problem isn’t going to go away, it’s going to get worse, and the media are going to stay on the case. Time for National to borrow some more Labour / Green policy thinking.

A message for our anti-science government

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 3:00 pm, May 18th, 2016 - 37 comments

Here’s some more science for the government to hate on: “Paris climate agreement cannot be met without emissions reduction target for agriculture”.

Homeless coverage goes international

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 2:52 pm, May 17th, 2016 - 97 comments

Coverage of Auckland’s homeless goes international. The working poor are now the working homeless.

Tax cuts! No! Yes! Maybe! Look over there!

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:02 am, May 17th, 2016 - 90 comments

English is right, Key is lying and he knows it. But Key would rather we were talking about the mirage of tax cuts (again) than current events like the protection of corrupt tax havens or our homeless living in cars.

The hidden homeless and the speculators

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:06 am, May 16th, 2016 - 44 comments

Speculators keep buying houses while families live in garages and cars. This is a moral failure, a leadership failure, a market failure – it is every kind of failure.

TV3 – The Hui – Special report on poverty

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 11:13 am, May 15th, 2016 - 43 comments

TV3’s excellent current affairs show, The Hui (Mihingarangi Forbes) just screened a special report on poverty. What happens to people who are kicked off a benefit?