democracy under attack

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The moral low ground

Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, August 18th, 2014 - 45 comments

Revulsion. That’s what’s coming out from a range of people who have ploughed through the inner thoughts of Slater, Farrar, Ede, Collins, Lusk, Odgers, Jordan Williams – they’re all repulsive. It’s the strength of that gut feeling in response that will sink their plot. Despite all John Key’s efforts to move as quickly as possible to the end of the day, …it’s still not ok.  Key’s try at cover up is pathetic, and doomed to be futile. But what it shows is that he has chosen the moral low ground with the rest of them. TeamKey indeed.

Muddying the waters: transcript Key on RNZ

Written By: - Date published: 9:31 am, August 18th, 2014 - 81 comments

Guyon Espiner’s interview on Radio NZ today, exposes the moral failings of John Key’s leadership -as Key attempts to divert, & justify the dirty game that NZ politics has become under his watch.  Partial transcript of the interview: to be continued  Updated: Transcript completed

Helen Kelly on Vote Chat: Questions for PoA & Key?

Written By: - Date published: 1:35 pm, August 16th, 2014 - 17 comments

Helen Kelly is interviewed on Vote Chat.  Kelly raises questions about the Ports of Auckland & Key’s role in Dirty Politics. She has read some of Dirty Politics, & was axed from today’s the Nation Panel, then replaced by Josie Pagani.[Updated]

Shadow play: Key’s 2-track politics

Written By: - Date published: 11:31 am, August 16th, 2014 - 40 comments

Nicky Hager’s Dirty Politics tells of the “two track strategy” of John Key’s leadership of the National Party & the country: a smiley nice front, & vicious, covert black ops behind the scenes.  Key has overseen one of the darkest, nastiest periods in NZ politics. Vote Left for necessary, democratic change, for people-centred governance.

Dirty Politics: The Brestapo

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, August 14th, 2014 - 88 comments

I have foolishly never taken Cameron Slater very seriously except when his attacks have been obviously for the benefit of the National Party. I actually believed that the misinformed and bigoted viewpoints that prevail in his posts were his genuine opinions. It fits his character to drone on about “The Breastapo” “Sucking on the Taxpayers’ Tit”. To discover that such posts were actually written and paid for on behalf of Fonterra actually shocked me.

Bracing for the book

Written By: - Date published: 10:40 am, August 13th, 2014 - 104 comments

Nicky Hager has certainly got the attention of political circles in NZ, by announcing his (untitled) book launch today at 5.15pm. J[update: 3 news Livestream of book launch] Update: Title “Dirty Politics” – on attack politics – implicates John key & Slater]

Hager, fear & the surveillance state

Written By: - Date published: 12:55 pm, August 12th, 2014 - 82 comments

Nicky Hager’s latest book will be unveiled tomorrow. I look at his research interests, & his approach to investigative journalism; plus Hager’s speech on the GCSB Bill, & opposition party policies on state surveillance services.

Message from Christchurch: Send Help Now

Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, August 5th, 2014 - 36 comments

Power has been concentrated into the figure of one man – a man who has in recent weeks shown that he thinks he is above the rule of law. You might think your one vote doesn’t make much of a difference – but it is everything to us here. Another three years of National and Brownlee, and we might not have a vote at a local level at all.

TVNZ’s white male syndrome

Written By: - Date published: 10:46 am, July 26th, 2014 - 86 comments

The focus of criticism of Mike Hosking as moderator for the TVNZ Leaders has been on his blatant pro-Nat bias. Hosking’s also has a track record of sexism and put-downs of some of the least powerful people in society.  Are only white males eligible for the job?

IPCA review of the illegal spying on Kim Dotcom

Written By: - Date published: 12:36 pm, July 17th, 2014 - 6 comments

The IPCA has upheld the Police decision not to prosecute members of the GCSB for illegally spying on Kim Dotcom.

NRT: GCHQ’s bag of dirty tricks

Written By: - Date published: 11:48 am, July 16th, 2014 - 11 comments

John Key - spy vs lie

The UK intelligence agency GCHQ has developed sophisticated tools to manipulate online polls, spam targets with SMS messages, track people by impersonating spammers and monitor social media postings, according to newly-published documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Dear Greenpeace – difficult cases make bad law

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, July 15th, 2014 - 55 comments

Greenpeace has been told by the Electoral Commission that its Climate Voter Website requires third party authorisation and that a cap on the amount that can be spent applies.  There is an exception in the law if the site is a “news media” site which is paradoxically the same defence Cameron Slater is running in his case against Matt Blomfield justifying his refusal to disclose who his informant is.  The sense of irony is strong here …

NRT: Election 2014: A clear choice on clean rivers

Written By: - Date published: 11:37 am, July 15th, 2014 - 6 comments

The National government’s policy for economic growth has been simple: pump up dairy production, export more low-value milk powder, and keep low-value farmers as the “backbone of the economy”. To achieve this, they have dismantled the protections for and then defiled our fresh water on an industrial scale. The Greens want to reverse that and thereby ensure a long-term future for both our farming and peoples. Updated.

NRT: Overstretched

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, July 2nd, 2014 - 9 comments

The Office of the Ombudsman has budgeted to deal with 800 Official Information Act (OIA) complaints. Last year it got 1913. Other areas of its operations are also underfunded.  The Ombudsman is our watchdog against the government. If we want it to do that job effectively, it needs to be funded properly. Watching government departments drag out OIA requests may be fun for ministers, but it doesn’t help the transparency that our democracy needs.

A John Key. With assembly instructions.

Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, June 29th, 2014 - 11 comments

How to make your very own New Zealand Prime Minister. Even better looking than this vessel.

Dear John Armstrong

Written By: - Date published: 6:45 pm, June 26th, 2014 - 82 comments

A dear John letter to Herald Columnist John Armstrong.

Two worlds: banksters; NZ child poverty

Written By: - Date published: 7:41 am, June 15th, 2014 - 253 comments

Al Jazeera outlines the dubious ethics of Goldman Sachs and the oligarchy it supports.  They don’t give a shit about the lives they damage, or the resulting increases in inequality. The Nation interviews call for increasing public pressure on politicians to tackle NZ’s appalling child poverty.

No Right Turn: Electoral donations, corruption, and transparency

Written By: - Date published: 4:11 pm, June 11th, 2014 - 37 comments

Writing in the Herald, Fran O’Sullivan tells us what we all knew: that political donors have expectations, and want favours in exchange for their cash. She’s too polite (and Establishment) to call it corruption, but that’s what it is. Its time we forced parties to do so as well. Transparent public funding if required. If the choice is spending public money or permitting corruption, the choice is pretty clear.

Digital speed cameras & mass surveillance

Written By: - Date published: 12:49 pm, June 6th, 2014 - 30 comments

The main NZ news outlets are reporting on the new digital speed cameras about to be progressively installed around the country.  They fail to report on the potential of the cameras to be used for mass surveillance.

Spying on the left: 20th century “dirt files”

Written By: - Date published: 9:43 pm, June 1st, 2014 - 56 comments

Secret files have been released, that document the spying of Labour/left politicians in the early-to-mid 20th century: Savage, Fraser, Nash, Sutch, Sir Dove Meyer Robinson.  The NZ establishment has a long history of treating the left as a threat. [Update: “Dunne over” by spy review]

The political beliefs of political reporters

Written By: - Date published: 1:57 pm, May 25th, 2014 - 61 comments

Television New Zealand is requiring political reporters to divulge political affiliation, membership and other political party activity.  And John Key attacks TV3’s Linda Clark for allegedly helping the Labour Party.  Yet Mike Hosking and Paul Henry are free to trumpet right wing spin lines.  See the problem?

 

Key-Fletcher nexus: anti-democratic ‘Intelligence communities’

Written By: - Date published: 11:36 am, May 23rd, 2014 - 47 comments

Campbell Live pointed to a massive, integrated shift in NZ governance under John Key’s watch. This enhances the power of international trade and commerce, incorporating the GCSB the US, & 5 Eyes . At the centre of this shift, is the murky relationship between John Key & Ian Fletcher.

The smoke & mirrors of the surveillance-military-economic-complex

Written By: - Date published: 2:22 pm, May 21st, 2014 - 29 comments

There are a range of issues, which are part of a GCSB-intelligence-surveillance-military-complex. Some significant elements seem to be posing as diversions from other parts of the complex, and the way all parts hang together. What will he offer Obama to advance NZ’s position in the TPPA?

“Collect it all”, “exploit it all”: 5 Eyes economic surveillance

Written By: - Date published: 9:10 pm, May 15th, 2014 - 54 comments

Glenn Greenwald, interviewed on Democracy Now, outlines the extent of the NSA-led 5 Eyes surveillance systems. It is a leap from sci fi into our daily lives. Economic surveillance dominates.  John Key & Ian Fletcher have some questions to answer – have they misled us? [Update: documents link]

The politics of private dinners

Written By: - Date published: 12:10 pm, May 9th, 2014 - 225 comments

Whether it’s Judith Collins, Michael Woodhouse or the Cabinet Club/s, National Party fundraisers, target the wealthy base they represent.  In the process, boundaries are blurred between mainstream politics, exclusive private spaces & personal relationships.

The neoliberal power game: cities for sale

Written By: - Date published: 7:24 am, May 4th, 2014 - 27 comments

An NZ Herald article about Mai Chen’s book on Auckland Council, supports big power, big money, big competition, and economic activities focused on anything but the production of material needs and wants.  It ignores the struggling precariat living with housing, income, transport and energy poverty.

Judith Collins: fudging evidence

Written By: - Date published: 10:25 am, April 26th, 2014 - 32 comments

Judith Colllins & the PM are probably toasting Shane Jones (and Murray McCully) right now: the heat around the Oravida controversy has been pushed off the front pages.  Information and marginalised news don’t easily disappear off the web – or Wikipedia.  Collins quietly slipped out a press release on the delay of her decision on alcohol pricing – media shy suddenly?

NRT: Needlessly shitty

Written By: - Date published: 1:18 pm, April 17th, 2014 - 12 comments

No Right Turn points out here about a select committee filtering out submissions because they were not in an official NZ language. This seems needlessly shitty – not to mention undemocratic. Parliament is supposed to represent all New Zealanders, not just those who write their submissions in one of our official languages.

Outing Nats’ smear machine

Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, March 29th, 2014 - 275 comments

Standardista, andy (the other one) nails it: “Two days, two articles, two different media outlets admitting that they know National use Slater/Farrar to smear and dissemble.”  Trotter raises questions about sources.

Tony Benn 1925-2014

Written By: - Date published: 9:42 pm, March 14th, 2014 - 34 comments

Sorry to hear that Tony Benn has died today, at age 88.  He came from an aristocratic background, but became part of the UK Labour Party’s “radical” left.  He spoke for Unions, people power and democratic process, and against neoliberalism. [Update – Tony Benn quotes]

Five Eyes, One Network

Written By: - Date published: 12:32 pm, March 12th, 2014 - 60 comments

Edward Snowden revelations indicate that the US NSA pressured the NZ government to make last year’s hasty changes to the GCSB and TICS laws, to enable mass surveillance.  John Key sometimes denies he knows of visits to NZ by the NSA’s Gen Keith Alexander – but Key would have to approve the visits.

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