Author Archive

Nats laundering donations (as ever)

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:09 am, February 28th, 2015 - 28 comments

National have found new ways to launder their donations. Makes you wonder what they’re hiding.

Public support for the Iraq deployment (In which the insightful and knowledgable Mike Hosking springs to the defence of the embattled PM!)

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:11 am, February 27th, 2015 - 89 comments

Despite the best efforts of Mike Hosking, the poll numbers tell us that Kiwis have lost their historical appetite for this kind of misadventure.

Obama vetos Keystone pipeline

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:42 am, February 26th, 2015 - 8 comments

Too little, too late, but a victory the environment (and for sanity) none the less.

National’s fruit flies

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:13 am, February 24th, 2015 - 73 comments

Brook Sabin pulls no punches laying the blame for the fruit fly outbreak at National’s feet. Key’s attempted denial is some of his worst work ever.

The Save Invermay Campaign

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:24 am, February 23rd, 2015 - 8 comments

National is letting the regions wither. None more so than (Labour voting) Dunedin, with the closure of the Hillside Workshop, the underfunding of Dunedin Hospital, and the planned closure of the agricultural research center at near-by Invermay. Check out Dunedin North MP David Clark’s video update on Invermay.

Three polls is a trend

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:05 am, February 23rd, 2015 - 79 comments

That’s the third poll this year to have Labour well up to 30% range.

Christchurch four years on

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 12:41 pm, February 22nd, 2015 - 42 comments

It will soon be four years to the minute since the most destructive and deadly Canterbury / Christchurch earthquake. Condolences to the friends and families of the dead. Greetings to all who lived through it and remember.

Charter schools mess – what a surprise

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:35 am, February 21st, 2015 - 193 comments

One of National’s first five charter schools is a failure, and applications for new charter schools have been cancelled. Who could have predicted such a mess? Just about everybody…

Another Roy Morgan

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:20 am, February 21st, 2015 - 79 comments

Another Roy Morgan poll out late last night makes decent reading for Little, Labour and the left.

The Telegraph scandal

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:17 am, February 20th, 2015 - 21 comments

Recent events at The Telegraph in the UK are symptomatic of the slow death of journalism.

Calling Mr Gower – more late payments!

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:49 am, February 19th, 2015 - 203 comments

Apparently Mr Gower worked himself up into an unseemly state of excitement with a chance to stick it to Andrew Little on the telly last night. Here are some more cases of late payments he might be interested in looking in to…

Free houses?

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:22 am, February 17th, 2015 - 188 comments

That may be what it takes to interest charities in becoming “social housing” providers.

Principled stands from Little

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:06 am, February 17th, 2015 - 153 comments

It’s looking more and more like Labour has found the right leader at last.

Hide vs anonymous editorial on Sabin

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 12:44 pm, February 16th, 2015 - 51 comments

Rodney Hide vs The Herald’s anonymous apologist on National’s mishandling of Sabin, and what it means for our democracy.

The truth about The Standard

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:50 am, February 15th, 2015 - 258 comments

There are some persistent lies and a lot of nonsense written about this blog. The truth is really simple…

The drought

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:43 am, February 13th, 2015 - 37 comments

Drought has been declared for a huge region of the South Island. Weather extremes are going to be the new normal – why aren’t we adapting?

Another week another banking scandal

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:33 am, February 12th, 2015 - 91 comments

Another big tax evasion scandal with links to NZ. Don’t expect the government to spend any time looking in to this.

Salvation Army – State of the Nation

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:42 am, February 11th, 2015 - 18 comments

This morning the Salvation Army released their state of the nation report – A Mountain All Can Climb. It is mixed news, and most coverage has focused on the impact of the housing crisis.

Locking in housing inequality

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 3:20 pm, February 9th, 2015 - 37 comments

We are in the process of locking in inequality through the intergenerational ownership of housing, thus squeezing more and more mobility out of society.

Hide vs Armstrong on Sabin

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:11 am, February 9th, 2015 - 114 comments

In which Rodney Hide writes the column that The Herald’s senior political reporter should have written…

Unemployment up

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 2:27 pm, February 4th, 2015 - 40 comments

We need a much better analysis of what kinds of jobs and conditions are out there in NZ, crude figures are not telling us enough.

Abbot in trouble

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:11 am, February 3rd, 2015 - 22 comments

Seems like Australian PM Tony Abbot might be facing a leadership challenge.

How do the Greens grow their base?

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:34 am, February 3rd, 2015 - 105 comments

Following on from yesterday’s discussion of the future for Labour – what next for the Greens?

How does Labour keep the momentum?

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:11 am, February 2nd, 2015 - 216 comments

Labour have bounced back well from the disastrous election result. But how do they keep up the momentum?

Little’s leadership

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 11:09 am, February 1st, 2015 - 97 comments

Two positive pieces in The Herald today on Andrew Little’s leadership.

PM’s science award winners on the sell-off

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 11:51 am, January 31st, 2015 - 27 comments

“The Government’s continuing attempts to divest itself of state housing overlook the enormous benefits to society which these homes produce in alleviating severe housing shortages. They were built up by successive generations of New Zealanders, and to “sell them off” under the pretence of efficiency is a disservice to all of us, whether we’re homeowners or renters.”