Author Archive
Mark Richardson wants to be a Nat MP
Written By: - Date published: 8:17 am, June 14th, 2019 - 102 comments
Mark Richardson thinks he may have a future career and will be able to transform from overpaid TV personality to overpaid public representative.
National keeps digging itself into a hole on budget leaks
Written By: - Date published: 9:57 am, June 12th, 2019 - 141 comments
National continues to attack the Government on its handling of the Treasury budget leak. But it still has not properly explained why its behaviour should be considered ethical.
National refuses to rule out coalition with Destiny
Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, June 11th, 2019 - 124 comments
On the day that Brian Tamaki engaged in some rabid right wing dog whistling and talked about a clash of cultures Simon Bridges has refused to rule out working with Destiny Church’s Coalition New Zealand party.
Three disturbingly different views on climate change
Written By: - Date published: 2:10 pm, June 10th, 2019 - 63 comments
In the same week that Donald Trump said that the American climate was the cleanest climate, Ian Dunlop, former chairman of the Australian Coal Association, has warned of massive social consequences ranging from increased religious fervour to outright chaos. And UK Chancellor Philip Hammond is questioning if remedial action is affordable.
Deranged Jacinda syndrome
Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, June 10th, 2019 - 105 comments
Mike Hosking has chosen to criticise Jacinda Ardern for touring the country and speaking to communities about the Wellbeing budget rather than flying across the world to take part in a photo opportunity.
Two polls out tonight
Written By: - Date published: 4:50 pm, June 9th, 2019 - 87 comments
The latest Colmar Brunton and Reid Research polls are out tonight and clearly they will be trying to measure what effect the Budget has had on public opinion. What will they show?
What is happening in Britain?
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, June 8th, 2019 - 22 comments
In the United Kingdom politics is becoming very unstable with the surge of the new Brexit Party, a Conservative Party that no longer knows what it stands for and Labour also shedding significant support to other parties with clearer positions on Brexit.
The Teachers’ strike
Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, June 6th, 2019 - 77 comments
Teaching is approaching a crisis point. Sure it has taken 9 years of the last Government’s rule to wreck the system. But this Government is expected to repair quickly the damage that the last Government caused.
Beltway news
Written By: - Date published: 2:37 pm, June 5th, 2019 - 121 comments
Simon Bridges has accused Labour of engaging in dirty politics and considered that he was acting appropriately in releasing budget information early, contrary to standards that his Government implemented in 2014.
Bene bashing
Written By: - Date published: 11:27 am, June 1st, 2019 - 101 comments
National has engaged in the most crass form of beneficiary bashing in opposing Government changes to the benefit system announced in the budget and passed under urgency.
Budget commentary
Written By: - Date published: 12:23 pm, May 31st, 2019 - 65 comments
Has New Zealand’s social media spent too much time on gocha politics and not enough on the substance of the wellbeing budget?
The Treasury website hack that wasn’t
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, May 30th, 2019 - 168 comments
The police has confirmed that a poorly secured website partially searchable through Treasury’s website’s search function was the cause of the release of sensitive budget information.
Who did the Treasury Hack?
Written By: - Date published: 8:22 am, May 29th, 2019 - 292 comments
New Zealand Treasury head Gabriel Makhlouf has said that Treasury’s website was attacked 2000 times in 48 hours.
The false left anti road narrative
Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, May 28th, 2019 - 26 comments
Shane Te Pou has claimed that the Government is anti road and pro bike lane and light rail. But a look at the Government’s spending priorities suggests that roads still dominate.
Will National do a deal with the Coalition NZ Party?
Written By: - Date published: 4:11 pm, May 27th, 2019 - 36 comments
Simon Bridges has refused to rule out doing a deal with Destiny Church’s Coalition New Zealand Party.
Bridges’ dodgy crime statistics
Written By: - Date published: 9:19 am, May 27th, 2019 - 26 comments
Simon Bridges is trumpeting some figures he has received from the Government as evidence that crime rates are increasing. But there is a slight problem. Police figures show that the number of reported offences is decreasing.
Mayhem in the UK
Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, May 25th, 2019 - 68 comments
Theresa May has announced that she is to stand down as UK Prime Minister.
Labour to relax fiscal responsibility rules
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, May 24th, 2019 - 72 comments
Grant Robertson has announced there will be a relaxing of the fiscal responsibility rules, although not until after the next election.
Run Brian Run
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, May 23rd, 2019 - 103 comments
Brian Tamaki is set to announce the launch of a new political party today.
Parliament’s culture
Written By: - Date published: 12:24 pm, May 22nd, 2019 - 128 comments
The report into Parliament’s workplace culture has described behaviour that is of major concern.
Death tax fake news
Written By: - Date published: 10:47 am, May 21st, 2019 - 62 comments
Social media was responsible for the repeated broadcasting of the claim that Labor in Australia intended to bring in a death tax. What should happen when claims that are clearly wrong are made?
Billionaire pledges to pay off class of 2019’s student loans
Written By: - Date published: 7:57 am, May 21st, 2019 - 50 comments
Billionaire investor Robert F. Smith was invited to give the graduation speech at Morehouse College, his old school, and stunned everyone when he deviated from prepared speech notes.
Will the Christian Conservatives rise again?
Written By: - Date published: 11:07 am, May 20th, 2019 - 78 comments
Simon Bridges has conceded that his claim that talk about Alfred Ngaro setting up a conservative party was “rumour and speculation” was not actually true. And Ngaro has gone on the offensive describing abortion as an unholy holocaust.
Aussie oi?
Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, May 19th, 2019 - 122 comments
Overnight in Australia there was meant to be a change to a Labor Government. But something happened …
In praise of Judith Collins
Written By: - Date published: 3:58 pm, May 17th, 2019 - 35 comments
In what is possibly a first ever occurrence the Standard is publishing a post in praise of Judith Collins for standing up for Green MP Golriz Ghahraman.
Is National thinking of a conservative puppet party?
Written By: - Date published: 9:12 am, May 17th, 2019 - 251 comments
The Herald has reported that National is considering allowing Alfred Ngaro to form another break away party this time with a definite christian conservative bent and also to take over the Botany electorate.
Jacinda achieves international commitment to social media change
Written By: - Date published: 8:09 am, May 16th, 2019 - 97 comments
Jacinda Ardern has shown true international leadership by achieving considerable international consensus to effecting change in the way that social media operates.
Why Labour’s student debt policy is a success
Written By: - Date published: 1:56 pm, May 15th, 2019 - 85 comments
National has claimed that Labour’s tertiary fees policy is failing because numbers applying for it have not increased. But National clearly has failed to understand that the policy is about reducing student loan totals or it is deliberately misinterpreting the reason for the policy.
Swarbrick 2 Bennett 0
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, May 14th, 2019 - 56 comments
Paula Bennett has declined to engage in a debate with Chloe Swarbrick on National TV.
I agree with DPF
Written By: - Date published: 7:51 am, May 14th, 2019 - 95 comments
David Farrar has written saying that National should not underestimate Jacinda Ardern and describes a recent performance at an InternetNZ meeting as highly impressive.
Is there a middle ground on climate change
Written By: - Date published: 9:11 am, May 11th, 2019 - 271 comments
It has been reported that US Presidential hopeful Joe Biden is hoping to craft a middle ground position between the extraordinarily strong scientific consensus suggesting we have a climate crisis and the industry supported anti scientific knee jerk opposition to doing anything.
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