Author Archive

Spare a thought for poor Nick Mowbray

Written By: - Date published: 11:26 pm, April 16th, 2025 - 10 comments

Nick Mowbray, who has supported and promoted a number of right wing causes, finds himself losing out big time because of Donald Trump’s tariffs. And is complaining.

And now, the end is near …

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 pm, April 14th, 2025 - 82 comments

It looks like the three way marriage made in hell is on the rocks.

The Empire strikes back

Written By: - Date published: 5:40 pm, April 13th, 2025 - 7 comments

A recent run on US Government bonds showing possible coordination between different countries may have been the reason that Donald Trump walked back the worst of his tariff changes. And he has also realised the US can’t make cheap IPhones.

All they are saying is give War a chance

Written By: - Date published: 7:25 am, April 8th, 2025 - 78 comments

At a time when the need for increased spending in health, education and the environment is so pressing the Government wants to spend a further $12 billion over the next four years on rearming.

Aotearoa take a bow

Written By: - Date published: 8:14 am, April 5th, 2025 - 27 comments

The Justice Select Committee has returned Act’s odious Treaty Principles Bill to Parliament. And in its report it has noted that the overwhelming majority of submitters opposed the bill.

But her emails

Written By: - Date published: 8:04 am, March 28th, 2025 - 17 comments

Recent events in the US involving the use of Signal to discuss top secret military news and accidentally including a reporter in the chat suggests that the US of A is currently resembling a dark satirical cross between Monty Python and The Thick of It.

The Draft Electoral Boundaries

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, March 27th, 2025 - 11 comments

The Representation Commission’s draft boundaries for the next election have been released. And despite right wing claims to the contrary at least in Auckland the boundaries appear to favour the left.

Winston’s war on wokeness

Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, March 25th, 2025 - 41 comments

In what looked like an early election campaign launch Winston Peters has done his old man shaking his fist at the sky tirade against everything woke.

Then they came for the Doctors

Written By: - Date published: 10:38 am, March 22nd, 2025 - 45 comments

It seems that the National Act Government is looking at what is happening in the US of A and thinking that the rolling out of fascist restrictions of freedom of speech is a good thing. And they are starting with health professionals.

The Libelle liquidation

Written By: - Date published: 12:20 pm, March 20th, 2025 - 20 comments

The first liquidator’s report on Libelle Group Limited suggests the company was hopelessly incapable of performing its role in providing the National-Act Government’s version of school lunches.

Does the Government not like Māori and Pasifika?

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, March 15th, 2025 - 17 comments

Health officials advised the Government “significantly” more lives could be saved if it lowered the bowel cancer screening age for Māori and Pasifika further than the rest of the population. But it refused to accept this advice. Why?

Going for poverty: National’s new procurement rules

Written By: - Date published: 6:51 am, March 13th, 2025 - 35 comments

Nicola Willis is picking a fight with unions and environmental groups by proposing changes to Government procurement rules that would do away with environmentally beneficial policies and the requirement to pay the living wage.

Playing politics with peoples lives

Written By: - Date published: 2:23 pm, March 10th, 2025 - 25 comments

Simeon Brown’s gutting of funding for earlier bowel cancer screening of Maori and Pacifica will increase health disparity.

Climate change?

Written By: - Date published: 8:43 am, March 10th, 2025 - 101 comments

Chris Hipkins has released his priorities should he be Prime Minister. They do not include addressing climate change.

Fox in a henhouse

Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, March 6th, 2025 - 9 comments

Simeon Brown has appointed John Carnegie to the EECA even though Carnegie has some decidedly anti energy conservation ideas.

Blink twice if you are being held hostage

Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, March 5th, 2025 - 27 comments

Vladimir Zelensky has apologised to Donald Trump for being the receipient of Trump’s appalling behaviour recently. And Trump has sparked a full on trade war with some of America’s closest allies.

Helen Clark’s nuanced take on world events

Written By: - Date published: 10:40 am, March 3rd, 2025 - 57 comments

In a recent interview Helen Clark managed to neatly summarise current world problems and express a desire for New Zealand to maintain its independent foreign policy.

The new world order

Written By: - Date published: 10:32 am, March 2nd, 2025 - 130 comments

Yesterday’s press conference involving Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky suggests that the United States is now solidly aligned with Russia against the Western World and Western values.

Looks like rail enabled ferries may be back

Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, March 1st, 2025 - 36 comments

You have to hand it to Winston and New Zealand First. On the issue of rail enabled ferries they have performed outstanding work. That good that what looked like a foregone conclusion, the dismantling of the Cook Strait Rail Link, may not happen after all.

Its the end of the Media as we know it …

Written By: - Date published: 10:42 am, February 28th, 2025 - 42 comments

Two recent media related stories made me wonder if there was now formal acknowledgement that the concept that media should fearlessly and impartially report the news is now dead.

Some more thoughts about National’s vigilante justice policy

Written By: - Date published: 8:44 am, February 28th, 2025 - 16 comments

National’s forary into supporting vigilante justice raises some thorny legal issues it appears National has not thught about.

Vigilante justice is apparently our birth right

Written By: - Date published: 9:26 am, February 26th, 2025 - 147 comments

Amongst the most dangerous, extreme and downright stupid policies the Government has come up with is the decision to be announced today to allow citizen’s arrests of shoplifters

Radio NZ’s bizarre handling of the Bayly fiasco

Written By: - Date published: 4:08 pm, February 25th, 2025 - 42 comments

This morning on Radio New Zealand there was sharp questioning of Christopher Luxon by Ingrid Hipkiss and sharp analysis by Jo Moir. But they allowed Brigette Morten air time to spin the issue in a National friendly way.

Bayly goneburger

Written By: - Date published: 12:01 pm, February 24th, 2025 - 23 comments

In breaking news Andrew Bayley has resigned as a minister after entering into an animated discussion with a staff member and “placing a hand on their upper arm”.

Seymour is wrecking the school lunch program

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, February 24th, 2025 - 26 comments

David Seymour’s handling of changes to free school lunches has been an unmitigated disaster. Is the plan to make the scheme that bad it can then be cancelled?

When will Luxon be rolled?

Written By: - Date published: 10:32 am, February 23rd, 2025 - 32 comments

Christopher Luxon’s time as Prime Minister appear to be numbered.

About Karen Chhour’s youth offending claims

Written By: - Date published: 11:53 am, February 19th, 2025 - 11 comments

Karen Chhor has made two recent claims, that youth crime is at an all time high, and that serious and persistent offending has increased dramatically to justify her boot camps policy. Neither claim appears to be true.

Everyone must go

Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, February 17th, 2025 - 28 comments

Chris from Marketing’s latest gimic to lead us to economic nirvana is to use money that is meant to be used for environmental enhancement to run a campaign in Australia with a slogan that is awkward and negative.

Happy Pride weekend everyone – except to you Brian Tamaki

Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, February 16th, 2025 - 40 comments

Yesterday Destiny Church followers terrorised some children in Te Atatu library watching a children’s science show hosted by drag artist Hugo Grrrl and then disrupted Auckland’s Pride parade in a misconceived attempt to prove their manliness.

State of the Nation – dire

Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, February 12th, 2025 - 18 comments

Remember National’s promise to get us back on track? Salvation Army’s latest state of the nation report suggests that for ordinary people things are getting much worse.

The latest polls suggest a change in Government

Written By: - Date published: 8:39 pm, February 11th, 2025 - 15 comments

Two recent polls both predict a one term National Government.