Author Archive
Charter schools fiddling their results
Written By: - Date published: 8:58 am, December 9th, 2016 - 110 comments
Charter schools are fiddling their results. Just another example of the way that education for profit is all about profit, with education hardly getting a look in. All of National’s ideological interventions in education are failures.
Nat MPs one week window of relevance
Written By: - Date published: 11:08 am, December 6th, 2016 - 48 comments
Key has been so dominant for so long that Nat MPs have become invisible. But now, for one glorious week, they enjoy a brief window of relevance. And the infighting has begun.
Key’s 4th term – something doesn’t add up
Written By: - Date published: 6:49 am, December 6th, 2016 - 145 comments
Key has long craved a “historic” 4th term. Interviewed on 24 September he was still saying he wanted it, he now claims he had already decided to quit. While rumours are hard to believe, something doesn’t add up here.
Key “concedes” Mt Roskill by election
Written By: - Date published: 6:39 am, December 2nd, 2016 - 21 comments
Key says he expects National to lose in Mt Roskill – under the bus for Parmjeet Parmar. He won’t be attending the wake either, and he spins another lie just for good measure.
Massive education fail
Written By: - Date published: 11:58 am, November 30th, 2016 - 45 comments
Thanks National: “NZ kids worst at maths in English-speaking world”.
Labour Green seat deals – about bloody time
Written By: - Date published: 12:36 pm, November 29th, 2016 - 69 comments
Reports that Labour and the Greens will cooperate in some seats. Watch Patrick Gower’s head explode! But this is no Epsom.
Three strikes – seven years – for bottom pinching
Written By: - Date published: 12:37 pm, November 25th, 2016 - 88 comments
The first application of “three strikes” is an example of exactly one of the main problems that opponents of the law raised. Remove discretion and you can get perverse outcomes.
Sale of Key’s old house a powerful symbol
Written By: - Date published: 7:57 am, November 25th, 2016 - 11 comments
English admits that the government has done a poor job of maintaining state houses, and uses it as an excuse for privatisation – its by design. The attempted sale in Christchurch, incuding Key’s childhood home, is a powerful symbol of the way this government likes pulling up the ladder that they used behind them.
Chester Borrows goes to trial, Barry Soper goes to pieces
Written By: - Date published: 7:26 am, November 22nd, 2016 - 208 comments
Nat MP Chester Borrows is to stand trial for injuring a protestor with his car. Barry Soper is outraged, because “elderly female, placard waving protesters” just don’t deserve the protection of the law.
Rewarding incompetence with a 4th term?
Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, November 20th, 2016 - 76 comments
Disaster response is about more than showing up for photos and cancelling a trip or two. National has made a mess of Christchurch and comprehensively failed to learn its lessons. They should in no way be rewarded with a 4th term.
Nats politicising earthquake response
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, November 18th, 2016 - 74 comments
Oh look, National are nakedly politicising government earthquake response.
Pike River Mine can be safely re-entered – but the Government says no
Written By: - Date published: 6:08 pm, November 17th, 2016 - 63 comments
Damien O’Connor and Denise Roche have taken it to Nick Smith in the House today over the government’s plan to seal Pike River mine forever.
Dirty politics past and present
Written By: - Date published: 12:42 pm, November 17th, 2016 - 63 comments
A couple of dirty politics related stories that slipped under the radar in the last hectic week.
Nat allegations about Michael Wood a pack of lies
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, November 12th, 2016 - 25 comments
I trust the truth will be reported by all the media that reported the lies.
Flogging the dead TPP horse
Written By: - Date published: 12:55 pm, November 11th, 2016 - 24 comments
The Nats are determined to keep flogging the TPP horse in Parliament. Someone should buy them a newspaper.
So sheepgate was Key’s fault
Written By: - Date published: 10:45 am, November 7th, 2016 - 66 comments
According to Fran O’Sullivan the cause of Sheepgate was Key’s decision to abandon leadership of a business mission in 2010. As to the subsequent scandal – Watkin and Hooton voice the anger we should all be feeling.
Conservative, honky males in suits
Written By: - Date published: 9:43 am, October 31st, 2016 - 23 comments
As a government National is no friend to women, and as a party National has structural problems with selecting and supporting women. Stacey Kirk in the SST writes on National’s lack of female depth.
Spinning Key’s India fail
Written By: - Date published: 11:02 am, October 28th, 2016 - 35 comments
Key’s India trip started off going nowhere fast, and ended up the same way. Gotta love the spin though.
Meth and housing
Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, October 27th, 2016 - 29 comments
Why has Housing NZ ignored repeated advice and misused meth tests to evict tenants? RNZ: “Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell said Housing New Zealand had caused a huge amount of harm by knowingly misusing the guidelines.”
Tory MP resigns on point of principle
Written By: - Date published: 9:26 am, October 26th, 2016 - 25 comments
No, not in NZ, of course. With bonus notes on a “grotesque folly”.
Time for another round of fear mongering
Written By: - Date published: 10:36 am, October 25th, 2016 - 49 comments
Latest fear mongering sounds like a rerun of the jihadi brides lie, which as an editorial summary put it – “raises serious questions about the accuracy of claims made by John Key, SIS boss Rebecca Kitteridge and Security Intelligence Minister Chris Finlayson.”
Workers, unions and the Labour party
Written By: - Date published: 9:16 am, October 23rd, 2016 - 198 comments
Convincing workers not to organise in their own best interests is one of the great successes of right-wing politics.
Take a lesson from the All Blacks
Written By: - Date published: 9:23 am, October 22nd, 2016 - 21 comments
The Japanese proved decades ago that shared ownership – involving workers in management – is a highly successful and productive model. Seems that it works for the All Blacks too.
Poverty is too difficult in Key’s New Zealand
Written By: - Date published: 8:59 am, October 17th, 2016 - 47 comments
Key is out of touch. But not so out of touch that he doesn’t know about the poverty crisis in NZ. The denial and evasions are deliberate.
TPP – Let it go John
Written By: - Date published: 7:23 am, September 21st, 2016 - 132 comments
So Key has been trying to explain the TPP to America. Apart from looking ridiculous, what did he think he was going to accomplish?
Complaint over Key’s prison rape stunt upheld
Written By: - Date published: 11:51 am, August 25th, 2016 - 65 comments
The Friday dump on Havelock North
Written By: - Date published: 9:17 am, August 20th, 2016 - 68 comments
What a surprise that the news that NZ’s worst ever waterborne disease outbreak is most likely caused by livestock should be the subject of a classic Friday 5pm news dump.
Clean up our water!
Shit in the water
Written By: - Date published: 3:15 pm, August 15th, 2016 - 92 comments
The damage so far in the Havelock North “gastro” outbreak is one possible death, two older people in intensive care, 18 hospitalised, 50 making their way to the emergency department, 280 notifications, and hundreds of kids staying away from school.
Saudi sheepgate coverup continues
Written By: - Date published: 9:08 am, August 12th, 2016 - 41 comments
What was the payment for, why did the Nats go ahead with it against all advice, and why won’t they release the letter?
Nats contradicting each other on panicked infrastructure policy
Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, August 8th, 2016 - 29 comments
From Newshub:
Listen to Nick Smith trying to defend fudged foreign ownership data
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, August 2nd, 2016 - 22 comments
Anyone who believes the Nats’ figures needs to listen to yesterday’s interview – Why won’t Nick Smith answer this one simple question? Excellent work from Garner.
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