Author Archive

Can’t Simon Bridges prove a double negative

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:40 am, October 30th, 2019 - 33 comments

Simon Bridges has announced new National Party policy to take benefits off gang members and their families if they can’t prove they don’t have illegal income or assets.

Unapologetic populism?

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:51 am, October 29th, 2019 - 44 comments

A Wall Street broker has accused Democratic nominee Elizabeth Warren of unapologetic populism in her desire to help workers, the environment, those with lower incomes, and women and minorities as if these are bad things.

Truth, boomer memes and the next election campaign

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:05 am, October 26th, 2019 - 54 comments

Thanks to Facebook’s lax attitude to fact checking it appears that the next election campaign is going to be a rough one.

Dog whistling Housing Corp tenants

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:35 pm, October 25th, 2019 - 29 comments

National has announced that it will put an end to a “state house for life” if it gets into power next year. But its rationale is not only cruel but based on a faulty understanding of the local reality.

Sneaky Simon somersaults on support for Terrorism Bill

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:30 am, October 23rd, 2019 - 24 comments

National has welched on a promise to support the Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill so that it can play politics with law and order issues.

Zero Carbon Bill reported back

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:08 am, October 22nd, 2019 - 18 comments

The Zero Carbon Bill has been reported back largely unchanged. But National has a series of talking points that suggest it will not cooperate with the passage of the bill into law.

NZ First Youth drags party screaming and kicking into 20th century

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:08 am, October 21st, 2019 - 24 comments

At New Zealand First’s weekend conference the party’s youth wing has forced the party to rethink its ultra conservative view on pill testing services being offered at festivals.

Australia gets tough on climate change activists

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:42 am, October 17th, 2019 - 22 comments

Following on from Weka’s post yesterday concerning attacks on the right to protest in the United Kingdom, Australia has also shown a concerning tendency to attack and undermine that most important of rights.

Burning down the house

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 5:03 pm, October 15th, 2019 - 28 comments

Why is it that conservative politicians throughout the world engage in rhetorical attacks on laws that in many situations actually serve important purposes?

Later climate change deniers

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:01 pm, October 15th, 2019 - 73 comments

The recent local government elections resulted in a number of people committed to addressing climate change being elected. And an apparent thinning of those who think that it is a hoax.

John Key 2.0

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:00 am, October 11th, 2019 - 120 comments

Chris Luxon has announced he will be seeking National’s nomination for the Botany seat next year. john Key is pleased. But Jami Lee-Ross is not … Update: Nor is Matthew Hooton …

National’s extreme gang rhetoric

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:44 am, October 10th, 2019 - 39 comments

National has engaged in some extreme rhetoric concerning gangs which is not reality based.

About the $7.5 billion surplus

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:43 am, October 9th, 2019 - 37 comments

The announcement of a $7.5 billion surplus for the last fiscal year combined with a $5.5 billion surplus the year before proves once and for all that Steven Joyce’s claim of a $11.5 billion deficit in Labour’s costings was bollocks.

Will online voting solve the turnout problem

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:52 pm, October 8th, 2019 - 38 comments

Auckland Council voting returns are very low. But is the problem voter apathy or is our postal system not up to scratch? And will digital voting be a panacea?

National’s plans to torment poor people leaked

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:08 am, October 4th, 2019 - 110 comments

National’s plans to torment poor people for political gain have been leaked.

C&R candidate says something really offensive and stupid

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 2:08 pm, October 3rd, 2019 - 21 comments

A Whau Community and Resident Local Board candidate has apologised for using racist slurs against a minority group and accusing them of engaging in widespread fraud. But despite his apology an C&R spokesperson has doubled down on his original statements.

National’s faux outrage

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:35 am, September 27th, 2019 - 33 comments

The National Party has described as “censorship at the extreme” a rule in Parliament’s standing orders the latest version of which was enacted under the last National Government. Updated with Simon Bridges opposing the relaxation of the rule in 2017

Unrelentingly negative

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:19 am, September 26th, 2019 - 29 comments

National has chosen to attack Jacinda Ardern on her trip to New York for doing too much and not enough at the same time. It seems to be a pattern.

Fairy tales of eternal economic growth

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:13 am, September 24th, 2019 - 67 comments

Greta Thunberg has spoken at the UN Climate Change summit and has warned the world that it is stealing the dreams and hopes of young people through its failure to address climate change.

National’s rhetoric problem

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:48 am, September 21st, 2019 - 19 comments

National has displayed a concerning level of rhetoric this week involving a misrepresentation of the GDP figures and the attacking of a board appointee who cannot respond.

Every day New Zealanders

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:37 pm, September 18th, 2019 - 20 comments

Simon Bridges thinks that Jacinda Ardern’s international campaign to change the way that social media handles hate speech and terrorism a big talkfest that will achieve nothing, even though Facebook has as a result announced significant changes to its platform.