Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, January 27th, 2016 - 79 comments
How many more lies will John Key tell today in his so-called State of the Nation address? Virtual chocolate fish to whomever guesses the closest number.
Written By: - Date published: 9:10 am, December 14th, 2015 - 214 comments
Over the past decade we have seen sophisticated attacks against academics and NGOs who challenge government or industry. These attacks often appear organic in nature, but many times are in fact concerted efforts by the powerful.
Written By: - Date published: 5:58 pm, December 4th, 2015 - 112 comments
Reeling from tough produce sanctions, Russia will pursue a strategy as the world’s largest supplier of ‘ecologically clean’ food. And where is NZ?
Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, November 25th, 2015 - 26 comments
John Key has stated that within three to four years New Zealand’s scientists will have a solution for agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. If this is correct why has the Government just released a discussion paper on the ETS ruling out agricultural emissions because there are no practical technologies available to reduce them?
Written By: - Date published: 9:21 am, October 14th, 2015 - 9 comments
I/S at No Right Turn writes on the continued suspension of democracy in Canterbury.
Written By: - Date published: 8:02 pm, October 13th, 2015 - 287 comments
Today, Labour showed the commercial world that its non-negotiable “bottom lines” are actually very negotiable, and even disposable.
Written By: - Date published: 8:56 am, September 22nd, 2015 - 32 comments
Yesterday Key listed, among the “achievements” of his government for this term: “investing in … research and development”. Was this an example of what he had in mind?
Written By: - Date published: 7:48 am, September 2nd, 2015 - 6 comments
If you still wonder WHY anyone would want to join a union, the fact that union members are 2.1 x more likely to get a pay rise might make you wade through the anti-union propaganda. Some unions escape scorn, like the Police Union which is referred to as an Association. It’s probably an oversight though, not anything deliberate…
Written By: - Date published: 10:01 am, August 28th, 2015 - 23 comments
Last night the Nats passed their widely ridiculed health and safety legislation. This morning a Waikato farm worker died in a workplace accident. Sincere condolences to his family and friends.
Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, August 25th, 2015 - 31 comments
… up to 45% of current jobs will cease to exist.
Written By: - Date published: 2:22 pm, August 22nd, 2015 - 55 comments
Solid Energy was this month placed in Voluntary Administration following its financial collapse. Landcorp may not be in quite the same pit as the coal miner, but negative cash-flow and rising debt likely mean it has breached banking covenants. It may be forced to sell good assets at the bottom of the market. Simon Louisson questions why?
Written By: - Date published: 2:34 pm, August 18th, 2015 - 23 comments
The Auditor-General will hold an inquiry to be held into Saudi sheep deal
Written By: - Date published: 7:57 am, August 12th, 2015 - 96 comments
The war of metaphor requires the continuous repetition of a simple statement in the hope it becomes the accepted truth. Most of the time it works. But with #sheepgate it is starting to unravel.
Written By: - Date published: 3:39 pm, August 7th, 2015 - 97 comments
As milk prices plunge and Fonterra’s expected payout is cut to a level that will cause most farms to run at a loss John Key’s promised brighter future is disappearing fast.
Written By: - Date published: 11:11 am, July 17th, 2015 - 40 comments
Terrible news for the 523 Fonterra workers who are losing their jobs – we wish you well.
Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, July 6th, 2015 - 45 comments
Bill English is a strange denizen of National’s Wellington groundhog set. He keeps repeating the wet dreams that have been tried three times now and come up as failures each time. On Q&A yesterday he played with some silly numbers about dairy, ignoring the damage that it and National’s obsessive focus on the past has done on the resilience of our export economy.
Written By: - Date published: 8:36 am, June 24th, 2015 - 42 comments
It seems crazy but it appears that National may have asked the Saudi sheep farmer to sue New Zealand. And John Key seems to be relaxed about facilitation payments aka bribes.
Written By: - Date published: 1:51 pm, June 11th, 2015 - 48 comments
National is appearing to be changing tack and trying to now blame a junior official rather than the Labour Party for the failure to complete the Gulf Free Trade Agreement. And the promised release of the relevant cabinet papers proving it was all Labour’s fault has still not occurred.
Written By: - Date published: 8:36 am, May 29th, 2015 - 38 comments
The legal suit offered as part justification for the Government paying $11 million to a Saudi businessman was apparently “off the table” at the time that Cabinet agreed to the payment. So why was the payment made? And why didn’t Murray McCully tell this to Cabinet or to Parliament earlier?
Written By: - Date published: 12:27 pm, May 28th, 2015 - 157 comments
This government has been artificiality buoyed by a diary boom, now the bust leaves us highly exposed.
Written By: - Date published: 8:54 am, May 28th, 2015 - 103 comments
It has emerged that the New Zealand Government has paid money to a Saudi businessman allegedly to settle a legal dispute that does not exist but more probably to persuade the Saudi Government to enter into a free trade agreement. Update – and maybe there was a threat of legal action but because of the actions of National, not Labour.
Written By: - Date published: 2:05 pm, April 28th, 2015 - 18 comments
New Zealand’s policy on climate change has been one of inaction. A key plank in this is our emissions profile. Roughly 50% of our greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. We couldn’t do anything about them. Instead farmers increase emissions and turn our lakes and streams into toxic sewers. But AgResearch scientists now have a solution for the emissions.
Written By: - 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 …
Written By: - Date published: 3:43 pm, March 10th, 2015 - 155 comments
3 News is advertising a special announcement of “national significance” at 3:45. Will update post…
It’s a 1080 threat to the dairy industry – that has been known since last November. Look – over there!
Written By: - Date published: 7:43 am, February 13th, 2015 - 37 comments
Drought has been declared for a huge region of the South Island. Weather extremes are going to be the new normal – why aren’t we adapting?
Written By: - Date published: 8:54 am, January 10th, 2015 - 62 comments
bsprout on the Local Bodies blog, provides a case study, specific to Southland. At the same time, it outlines a more general pattern that can be seen in many places, each with their own local circumstances.
Written By: - Date published: 8:44 am, January 5th, 2015 - 94 comments
I was astonished by an anonymous NZ Herald editorial on New Years day – “NZ economy is in a good place and thriving”. Obviously an inferior intellect was slow cooked in the warm holiday weather. It turned to mush and regurgitated one of Bill English’s wet dreams. Dairy prices are unlikely to rebound any time soon.
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, December 17th, 2014 - 20 comments
The Meatworkers Union today launch a campaign for Jobs That Count – to try to get better conditions for these marginalised workers who face it all – seasonal work, dangerous jobs, casual and zero hours contracts and anti-union pressure.
Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, December 2nd, 2014 - 26 comments
The economic news is depressing for NZ at present. After riding a dairy commodity boom for the last few years, the payout for farmers looks like it will drop from a high of $8.50/kg last season to $4.85/kg this coming season. Meanwhile National has neglected our most sustainable resource – people. So expect a busted economy for the next few years.
Written By: - Date published: 4:00 pm, October 2nd, 2014 - 139 comments
The early election has meant that National has avoided the bad news of the collapse in international milk prices during the campaign period. And the Reserve Bank has finally taken action to drive down the value of New Zealand’s currency. It may be that the brighter future promised by National is not going to be so bright.
Written By: - Date published: 7:51 am, August 9th, 2014 - 132 comments
Just over six weeks to go until the next election and we have our first major campaign issue. Not what some young people said about John Key but foreign ownership of our land.
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