Author Archive

Back on Track?

Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, April 7th, 2024 - 71 comments

National campaigned on the promise of getting the country back on track. How is it going?

Israel’s latest atrocities

Written By: - Date published: 10:15 am, April 6th, 2024 - 60 comments

In the past week it has been disclosed that Israel’s Artificial Intelligence driven security system was responsible for the killing of seven international aid workers. And there are reports that Israel directed a missile attack on the Iraqi embassy in Syria.

The Government thinks that Local Government should determine what works best for them*

Written By: - Date published: 9:07 am, April 5th, 2024 - 22 comments

* unless they want to set up Maori wards.

The future of UK Labour and what it means for Aotearoa

Written By: - Date published: 10:09 am, April 2nd, 2024 - 55 comments

It appears almost inevitable that Keir Starmer will be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. But his taking the party to the right and an active drive to rid the party of left wingers raises the spectre that his Goverment would be a pale immitation of its predecessors.

The Culture War Coalition

Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, March 29th, 2024 - 53 comments

We have just had yet another week of the Government manufacturing culture wars and picking fights while ignoring the big issues. Like dealing with climate change, child poverty and homelessness.

The GCSB revelations

Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, March 24th, 2024 - 24 comments

RNZ has reported that a foreign agency collected signals intelligence out of the GCSB for years without ministers knowing. And the collection only stopped after the equipment broke down.

Hoatu he tumanako ki a rātou

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, March 21st, 2024 - 20 comments

Grant Robertson has given his valedictory speech in Parliament.

This is what happens when you give landlords a big tax cut #1

Written By: - Date published: 3:34 pm, March 20th, 2024 - 57 comments

No funds to continue to give families of disabled people

Peters gets knocked down but may not get up again

Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, March 20th, 2024 - 54 comments

Chumbawamba have threatened legal action against Winston Peters for NZ First’s use of their song “I get knocked down” and have described him as having divisive, small-minded, and bigoted policies.

Amateur hour

Written By: - Date published: 10:24 am, March 16th, 2024 - 11 comments

Government members of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee have managed to vote to support a Labour amendment that would make electric vehicles more attractive but submit a report to Parliament that suggested that the amendment had been lost.

National’s Overseas Gambling Levy policy figures are not rock solid

Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, March 15th, 2024 - 4 comments

The IRD has estimated that National’s proposed Overseas Gambling Levy Policy will bring in $500 million less than it promised during the election campaign.

Rock Solid Financial Geniuses

Written By: - Date published: 2:55 pm, March 13th, 2024 - 45 comments

The right has this belief that they are economic geniuses. Occasionally this belief is shown to be faulty. Like this week when National’s costings for tax cuts to Landlords was $800 million more than previously estimated.

Tax cuts for landlords will not reduce rents

Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, March 11th, 2024 - 127 comments

Recently the Government has been working out how to cut funding for school lunches for poor kids while at the same time it has also announced that it will restore interest deductibility for landlords.

Luxon crashes in latest Curia poll

Written By: - Date published: 8:52 pm, March 8th, 2024 - 39 comments

The Atlas aligned Taxpayer’s Union has released its latest Curia poll results. And the results are bad news for Christopher Luxon.

Let them eat cake

Written By: - Date published: 8:51 am, March 5th, 2024 - 73 comments

David Seymour has stated that funding for free school lunches will be cut by up to half.

Where is Melissa Lee?

Written By: - Date published: 1:22 pm, March 4th, 2024 - 44 comments

The New Zealand media sector has been in turmoil during the past week. But Broadcasting Minister has refused to publicly discuss what is happening or what her government proposes to do about it.

Who is treating taxpayers as an ATM?

Written By: - Date published: 12:16 pm, March 1st, 2024 - 51 comments

It has been revealed that Christopher Luxon receives $52,000 a year from the taxpayer to pay for him staying in his own apartment. Update within the space of an hour he has said that it was his entitlement but then said that he will pay the money back.

What does the Government have against Maori health?

Written By: - Date published: 11:25 am, February 29th, 2024 - 12 comments

National spent much of yesterday ramming through under urgency and without a select committee process two measures which will have detrimental effects on Māori health.

Guns and gangs

Written By: - Date published: 12:32 pm, February 28th, 2024 - 63 comments

The Government has announced yet another tough on gangs policy involving a severe restriction on the rights of freedom of expression at the same time that gun ownership laws will be liberalised.

About the promoters electoral returns

Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, February 25th, 2024 - 8 comments

The Electoral Commission has released the major promoters’ electoral returns. These show significant amounts of money being spent on getting Labour unelected but give no detail about how the campaigns were funded.

The problem with corporate money in electorate campaigns

Written By: - Date published: 10:44 am, February 24th, 2024 - 34 comments

Patrick Phelps campaign expense return

The 2023 candidate election returns have released and it has emerged that Bathurst Resources Ltd contributed $32,600 to Patrick Phelps, who ran a spoiler campaign against Damian O’Connor in West Coast Tasman.

RIP Efeso Collins

Written By: - Date published: 4:49 pm, February 21st, 2024 - 17 comments

Very sad news today with news of Fa’anana Efeso Collins’ untimely death.

Go well Grant Robertson

Written By: - Date published: 8:56 am, February 21st, 2024 - 72 comments

Yesterday it was announced that Grant Robertson was leaving politics.

Bene bashing 6.0

Written By: - Date published: 10:06 am, February 20th, 2024 - 102 comments

So what does National do when its minor support party tries to steal media attention with dog whistling racism? It reverts to some good old beneficiary bashing.

About the One News Poll

Written By: - Date published: 9:06 pm, February 19th, 2024 - 43 comments

The latest One News Verian poll suggests that there has been absolutely no honeymoon for the Government.

Get ready for your water to be privatised

Written By: - Date published: 10:39 am, February 17th, 2024 - 124 comments

The National Government’s repeal of the Three Waters Legislation and its pursuit of “new forms of infrastructure funding and financing” suggests that privatisation of water is on the drawing board.

Who are the four lobbyists with Parliamentary swipe cards?

Written By: - Date published: 12:23 pm, February 12th, 2024 - 23 comments

National has trashed its comment last terms that lobbyists should not have special access rights by handing out four swipe cards to lobbyists and refusing to say who they are.

Should America elect a well intentioned but hapless President or an evil and dangerous President?

Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, February 11th, 2024 - 30 comments

Robert Hur, the Republican prosecutor investigating President Biden’s retention of classified documents has concluded he should not face trial because he was “well-intentioned, but sometimes hapless and forgetful”.

Simeon Brown works to make transport system less sustainable

Written By: - Date published: 2:10 pm, February 10th, 2024 - 6 comments

This week we have seen National confirm it will cancel the Auckland Regional Fuel Tax and this will cause the cancellation or suspension of many projects designed to address congestion. And it has been confirmed that axing the clean car discount has seen sales of electric vehicles plummet. And that electric vehicles will shortly pay more to use the road than petrol vehicles.

Laura Norda strikes again

Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, February 8th, 2024 - 78 comments

National has announced the cancellation of funding for Cultural Reports because of the cost and the abandonment of Labour’s plan to decrease the muster despite the cost.

Toitu te Tiriti

Written By: - Date published: 12:20 pm, February 7th, 2024 - 68 comments

Recent events have shown overwhelming support for the treaty among Iwi, the willingness for David Seymour to create chaos for political advantage, and that Christopher Luxton is not in control of the Government.