Author Archive

Dirty politics vs accountability – you can’t be smeared with the truth

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:48 am, August 20th, 2014 - 50 comments

Accountability is not dirty politics. You can’t be smeared with the truth. John Key’s lines are as worthless as his promises of ministerial accountability.

Socioecomonic status and educational outcomes (and the ignorance of DPF)

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:50 am, January 25th, 2014 - 49 comments

It would suit the right-wing of politics to ignore the profound impact of poverty on education. Nat blogger DPF ran the line just yesterday. His bombastic and ignorant conclusion is based on a trivially superficial reading of Hattie’s work.

Bryce Edwards needs to find a clue

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 1:04 pm, September 13th, 2013 - 22 comments

Here’s a gem from his latest NZ Politics Daily.

Time out

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:55 am, August 25th, 2013 - 46 comments

I’ll probably be back at some point, hopefully next year, to see Labour under a new leader win the election.

Fukushima

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 2:37 pm, August 24th, 2013 - 103 comments

Meanwhile back in the real world, the nuclear disaster at Fukushima is creeping back in to the headlines, for all the wrong reasons.

Poverty Watch 45

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:14 am, August 24th, 2013 - 20 comments

Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. This week, Auckland’s beggar ban. What sort of country are we?

Losing your job

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 11:42 am, August 23rd, 2013 - 73 comments

David Shearer is not the only one to lose his job this month. It’s quite a list, when you add it up…

GCSB & TICS

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:13 am, August 23rd, 2013 - 52 comments

There will be plenty of coverage of the Labour leadership process here on The Standard, I don’t feel any need to contribute. There are too many other important matters that mustn’t fall under the radar. You thought the GCSB spying Bill was bad? The TICS bill is worse.

Shame!

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:45 pm, August 21st, 2013 - 136 comments

So the Key-Dunne spying Bill is now law. The privacy of your electronic communications now depends on the favour of an untrustworthy PM, and the best efforts of a legal system (much derided by said PM) in interpreting a confused mess of a law / Hansard record / letter to The Herald.

Shame shame shame on all those MPs who ignored the concerns of the people who elected them and passed this travesty.

RIP Groklaw

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 11:52 am, August 21st, 2013 - 28 comments

Groklaw has been an inspirational blog for many with an interest in geekery or the law. I read it daily during the years of the SCO trial. PJ and her team were and are amazing. But now it’s over. Killed by the death of privacy, and the world that the Key-Dunne spying bill is bringing ever closer to NZ.

When fear tactics backfire 2 – and GCSB roundup

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:20 am, August 21st, 2013 - 46 comments

John Key (the PM who has on multiple occasions overspent the budget on his own protection staff) really dug himself a hole when he accused opposition leaders of wanting to “run for the hills” in case of a terrorist attack. Not only did David Shearer get to remind him of the occasions that he has been under fire – and run to help – but now some other voices have chimed in too.

The voices of the GCSB protest

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 6:53 am, August 20th, 2013 - 66 comments

The Auckland Town Hall was full – nearly 2000 people – for the GCSB protest last night (with more people being turned away at the doors). Update – full video of the whole event (all speakers) is now up on YouTube. Meanwhile the Campbell Live poll had 89% of respondents opposed.

Roy Morgan bounces left

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 6:12 am, August 20th, 2013 - 76 comments

National 44 (down 7), Labour 34 (up 5), Greens 14 (up 4).

Poverty Watch 44

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:28 am, August 17th, 2013 - 3 comments

Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. Last week CPAG published a report on the links between poverty and child abuse, and why current government policy is misguided. So what did the second part of the report have to say?

Cheap and nasty

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:49 am, August 17th, 2013 - 36 comments

Having been burned by the cheapest tender and the leaky building fiasco, the Nats say that they have now worked out that the cheapest tender is not necessarily the best. (Brilliant eh?) If only it was true that they had really learned the lesson…

John Key – GCSB fool (or liar)

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:28 am, August 16th, 2013 - 142 comments

On Campbell Live, and on other occasions, John Key has claimed that critics of the GCSB spying bill were all wrong. The Human Rights Commission – wrong. The Law Society – wrong. The Privacy Commissioner – wrong. Dame Anne Salmond – wrong. Everyone else wrong – only he – John Key – and his secret advisors were right, and we the sheeple have nothing to fear.

Now in a stunning embarrassment it is Key that has had to admit that he was wrong. Or a liar.

It wasn’t a dirty pipe

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:27 am, August 15th, 2013 - 205 comments

It wasn’t a dirty pipe. That is the claim made by veterinarian and farm performance consultant Frank Rowson, as reported by Stuff yesterday. Rowson says “This disease originates in contaminated feed and animal manure”. Let the enquiries begin – we need to be honest about the problem and fix it.

Tech Liberty on GCSB Bill

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:19 am, August 15th, 2013 - 8 comments

Thomas Beagle at Tech Liberty has done a great job at presenting the technicalities of the Key-Dunne GCSB spying bill – see for example: “Does the new GCSB Bill give them the power to spy on New Zealanders?”. (Spoiler Alert! The answer is Yes.)

Another diversion – “suspected” abusers

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:42 am, August 13th, 2013 - 74 comments

Time for another law-and-order-tough-on-crime distraction! Look! Over there!!

Nat housing policy panned

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:07 am, August 13th, 2013 - 31 comments

Labour and The Greens are clearly setting the agenda with a strong focus on housing affordability. National are struggling to catch up. But their new policy has been met with a chorus of criticism. They are going to have to do a lot better than this.

Shearer slams Key on Edwards parole release (not)

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 11:25 am, August 12th, 2013 - 17 comments

That’s a headline that you won’t see. Because politicising the crimes committed by those released on parole is low politics indeed. Isn’t that right, Mr Key?

Key needs to get real on Fonterra crisis

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 12:11 pm, August 11th, 2013 - 128 comments

The Fonterra fiasco is turning into a genuine crisis and a huge risk to our economy. John Key needs to stop playing politics and get real. It’s urgent.

Sexism

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 2:51 pm, August 10th, 2013 - 68 comments

My colleague Eddie had a go at Phil Goff this morning for dickish remarks, and fair enough too. But in the interests of keeping things in perspective, just a reminder as to which is the sexist party here…

Armstrong on National’s conference

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 1:33 pm, August 10th, 2013 - 33 comments

The Herald’s John Armstrong on Key’s “outrageous pragmatism”, National’s “great leap backwards”, and their “over-choreographed” Conference…

Poverty Watch 43

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:32 am, August 10th, 2013 - 7 comments

Fonterra scandal and deregulation

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:15 am, August 9th, 2013 - 72 comments

Stuff’s Pattrick Smellie makes the case that the Fonterra scandal is a product of deregulation. The lesson here is that Mike Joy and other scientists are right. To protect its environment, its brand, its exports and its economy, NZ needs to strengthen regulatory protections and clean up its act.

Market not impressed with $30 Million payout

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:11 am, August 9th, 2013 - 89 comments

Yesterday John Key gave $30 Million of tax payer’s money to Rio Tinto in order to prop up its electricity deal with Meridian – and thus to prop up his privatisation ideology. Mighty River Power shares took a hit. Smart investors getting out?

Labour supports Plunket

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 12:47 pm, August 8th, 2013 - 61 comments

Another good policy announcement from David Shearer.

Bob Jones – National vs Labour on the economy

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:08 am, August 8th, 2013 - 84 comments

In an otherwise typically dull piece in The Herald recently, Bob Jones finished up with a typically blunt assessment of the impact of Labour and National governments on the economy. It seems that Jones can acknowledge the truth that most right-wingers try and deny.

Chorus of opposition to Key-Dunne spying Bill continues

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:45 am, August 7th, 2013 - 15 comments

Yesterday Opposition parties filibustered, and successfully delayed the passage of the Key-Dunne spying Bill. This buys more time to protest, and to put pressure on MPs.

We have never before seen in New Zealand such a broad and ongoing chorus of opposition to government legislation as we are seeing with this Bill. Just yesterday alone…

Law Society – GCSB Bill still flawed

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 6:13 pm, August 6th, 2013 - 23 comments

A timely press release from the Law Society. The revisions to the GCSB Bill “do not address the fundamental flaws in the bill and the legislation should not proceed”. Peter Dunne, your last fig-leaf is ripped away. Please do not vote for this travesty.