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Government cuts emergency dental loans for beneficiaries

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:00 am, May 5th, 2015 - 38 comments

Over the past few years the amount WINZ has lent to beneficiaries for emergency dental work has been slashed. Update: Seems to have been an error- OIA chaos in the Ministry of Social Development

A Friend first, and a Boss second, probably an Entertainer third.

Written By: te reo putake - Date published: 1:56 pm, April 26th, 2015 - 44 comments

“I’m a friendly guy that likes to interact with the public. I do like to have a bit of a laugh and I’m probably the most casual Prime Minister New Zealand has had.”

John Key’s week has turned from drama to farce. David Brent looks good next to this clown.

Welcome to Wealth Gap Tower

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 3:52 pm, April 24th, 2015 - 452 comments

A great illustration of the gap between money-rich and money-poor in NZ.

Deborah Russell: does New Zealand actually have a capital gains tax?

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 2:00 pm, April 17th, 2015 - 65 comments

A guest post by Deborah Russell responding to Government claims that we already have a capital gains tax on the sale of land.

National’s social housing policy in action

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 10:16 am, April 9th, 2015 - 14 comments

For those who are wondering how National’s “social housing” policy is going to work in practice, The Herald today has a piece that gives a pretty fair idea.

Restaurant Brands to end zero hour contracts

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:36 am, April 9th, 2015 - 15 comments

Unite has achieved a significant victory by persuading Restaurant Brands to do away with zero hour contracts and to guarantee minimum working hours for staff.

Dollar Parity

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:19 am, April 7th, 2015 - 309 comments

As New Zealand’s dollar approaches parity with Australia’s a responsible Government should be pondering the implications and acting in the country’s best interests. No such luck in Aotearoa …

Trends in America

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 8:45 am, April 6th, 2015 - 29 comments

Here’s some slow Monday reading to ponder, on political trends in America.

California drought

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 11:40 am, April 3rd, 2015 - 47 comments

The California drought gives us a case study in how the effects of climate change are going to play out.

Generous welfare makes people more likely to want to work

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:36 am, April 2nd, 2015 - 49 comments

Evidence on levels of welfare and willingness to work suggests that yet another nasty right-wing myth is wrong. Reality and its well known liberal bias strikes again.

The rich want to hide their wealth because of kidnap threats

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:30 am, March 22nd, 2015 - 173 comments

The Liberal National Party Coalition in Australia want to overturn a requirement for corporations with a turnover of $100 million to disclose tax information on the grounds that kidnapping will occur even though the rich’s ostentatiousness is plain to see without the information being published. And in America it has been estimated that Wall Street’s bonus pool is twice the amount paid to full time American employees living on the minimum wage.

Feed the Kids

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 4:16 pm, March 17th, 2015 - 45 comments

Harawira / Turei’s Feed the Kids bill is up ~~tomorrow~~ today in Parliament…

Are you saving to buy a house?

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:22 am, March 13th, 2015 - 164 comments

Are you saving to buy a house? Are you saving more than $1000 a week? If not, you are going backwards.

Anti TPPA Rallies this Saturday

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 3:00 pm, March 6th, 2015 - 11 comments

For details of protest action nearest to you check out the itsourfuture website.

Expect more zero-hours crisis cases

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:15 am, March 5th, 2015 - 8 comments

Today is not a good day for workers. Employment law changes that take effect today weaken workers’ rights and will result in more cases of zero-hour contract “excesses”. Labour’s Iain Lees-Galloway has been doing good work on this issue (sign the petition). In contrast National’s position now appears confused, with Workplace Relations & Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse acknowledging problems even as today’s changes make matters worse.

Nats getting squeamish on zero hour contracts

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:14 am, March 4th, 2015 - 61 comments

Zero hour contracts are the logical end point of National’s agenda for employment legislation. But last night Workplace Relations & Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse promised legislation to “prohibit the worst excesses”. “Excesses” in the free market – who would have thought?

Spock was a socialist

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:01 am, March 1st, 2015 - 23 comments

If you analyse the many things said by Spock you would come to the conclusion that he was a strong progressive.

Politician salary rises and the minimum wage increase

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:30 am, February 27th, 2015 - 106 comments

John Key has yet again asked the Remuneration Authority to limit the increase in MPs pay. And yet again they have said that the law required them to make the decision they did. So MPs get a hefty raise at the same time that the minimum wage is raised slightly. And the media report Key’s comments sympathetically. He is the Prime Minister. If anyone can change the law he is the person best placed.

NRT: John Key on MP’s pay rises

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 3:26 pm, February 26th, 2015 - 36 comments

John Key has said today that he has urged the Remuneration Authority not to give MPs a salary increase. Get that feeling of deja vu? Idiot Savant at No Right Turn explains why.

Key runs from poverty protestors

Written By: Natwatch - Date published: 10:19 am, February 16th, 2015 - 226 comments

The PM running from a yacht club when confronted with protestors against poverty. Pretty fair summary of where this country is at.

Another week another banking scandal

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:33 am, February 12th, 2015 - 91 comments

Another big tax evasion scandal with links to NZ. Don’t expect the government to spend any time looking in to this.

Salvation Army – State of the Nation

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:42 am, February 11th, 2015 - 18 comments

This morning the Salvation Army released their state of the nation report – A Mountain All Can Climb. It is mixed news, and most coverage has focused on the impact of the housing crisis.

The Sallies do not like Government’s housing policy

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:30 am, February 10th, 2015 - 61 comments

The Salvation Army has all but ruled out being involved in the Government’s Social Housing unless it is provided with capital. And if divestment occurs it considers that tenants should have a role in governance of the houses they live in.

Locking in housing inequality

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 3:20 pm, February 9th, 2015 - 37 comments

We are in the process of locking in inequality through the intergenerational ownership of housing, thus squeezing more and more mobility out of society.

A calculated feeding of the beasts within

Written By: mhager - Date published: 2:13 pm, February 5th, 2015 - 76 comments

The social democracy of my youth has radically collapsed into our current culture of individualism, privatisation and personal greed.

AFFCO Talley’s and Jobs That Count

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 7:21 am, February 5th, 2015 - 9 comments

Darien Fenton at Jobs That Count brings us the details of the fight for decent pay and conditions at Talley’s meat processing plants

Unemployment up

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 2:27 pm, February 4th, 2015 - 40 comments

We need a much better analysis of what kinds of jobs and conditions are out there in NZ, crude figures are not telling us enough.

Charity is illegal in Florida

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 11:21 am, February 1st, 2015 - 26 comments

florida-charity

Monbiot on state media and the corporate elite

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:29 am, January 26th, 2015 - 43 comments

George Monbiot wrote recently on how Canadian and United Kingdom public media reporting on corporate news are hopelessly pro business and lacking in any sort of balance. And how the volume of articles concerning environmental issues is declining. Is it the same in New Zealand?