Abuse of power

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Making the Opposition the Enemy –

Written By: tracey - Date published: 1:00 am, November 13th, 2015 - 18 comments

It takes fortitude to admit you are wrong. That’s right, not weakness but, strength, courage, resilience, grit, determination, endurance, guts, and staying power. When you won’t admit you are wrong you end up having to justify wrong decisions. That takes time and energy (and money) away from what actually needs to be done for the greater good. John Key won’t admit he is wrong. Because of this he has to keep going down several paths of “wrongness”, and because he is Prime MInister, he is taking us all with him. Some people think he does admit he made mistakes. But when you examine the few instances closer (if you can find them), it looks like something else.

EPA to be gutted – for doing its job

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 10:40 am, November 12th, 2015 - 24 comments

Looks like National is planning to take over the Environmental Protection Agency.

International shame – again

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:34 am, November 12th, 2015 - 64 comments

Key and Carter have brought NZ international shame yet again. Males in a position of power using rape as a cheap political tactic and then punishing women for speaking up. Brighter Future.

New Zealand needs a new Speaker

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:00 pm, November 11th, 2015 - 85 comments

David Carter’s refusal to rule John Key’s “backing the rapists” comment out of order raises issues about his ability to properly do the job of speaker.

4 days Left to answer Ombudsmen Survey

Written By: tracey - Date published: 9:52 am, November 3rd, 2015 - 5 comments

People have just four days left to tell the Chief Ombudsman about their experiences of making requests to government agencies under the Official Information Act if they are to inform her enquiry into government agencies’ OIA practices.

Technology and the law – and going after Hager

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:12 am, October 29th, 2015 - 214 comments

A recent supreme court ruling that a “stored sequence of bytes” constitutes property is pretty bizarre – and it seems to be being used to go after Nicky Hager.

“A creeping authoritarianism from the current government”

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 4:17 pm, October 28th, 2015 - 37 comments

The reaction to Westpac handing over Nicky Hager’s data to police is still playing out. Rob Hosking observes “a creeping authoritarianism from the current government”.

Portugal

Written By: Bill - Date published: 12:15 pm, October 27th, 2015 - 38 comments

This is going to end well…

Angry at Westpac

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:54 am, October 26th, 2015 - 57 comments

Westpac passing over Nicky Hager’s details was probably illegal, and may turn out to have been a very bad move…

Jane Kelsey on Groser’s proven breach of duty

Written By: tracey - Date published: 9:34 am, October 16th, 2015 - 24 comments

“Throughout the TPPA negotiations Minister Groser sought to justify their obsessive secrecy with a mantra that ‘it’s always done this way’. That was parroted unquestioningly by every fellow travelling journo and politician, and others who were unwilling to challenge the Minister, despite being told that was untrue.

Groser changed his tune during the case, arguing that ‘every agreement is different’ and the TPPA is special. Why the shift?

Court’s decision on TPP OIA has both Nats and Ombudsman squirming

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:44 am, October 15th, 2015 - 23 comments

The High Court recently found that Government and Tim Groser improperly considered Prof. Jane Kelsey’s application for information concerning the TPPA negotiations. The Nats aren’t happy. The Ombudsman isn’t happy. Tough.

NRT: Dictatorship in Canterbury, dictatorship in Parliament

Written By: notices and features - 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.

Congratulations Jane Kelsey

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:39 pm, October 13th, 2015 - 61 comments

The High Court has upheld Jane Kelsey’s application for a declaration that the Government and Tim Groser improperly considered her application for information concerning the TPPA negotiations.

BSA: Hosking wrong on ponytail case

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 8:46 am, October 1st, 2015 - 23 comments

The echos of John Key’s ponytail pulling harassment of a waitress continue.

Paula Bennett’s loopy rules do not actually exist

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:30 am, September 23rd, 2015 - 26 comments

The Government has admitted that at least some of the loopy rules mentioned by Paula Bennett in support of the Loopy Rules review do not actually exist.

Bugger the Truth – Getting elected means fooling the poeple

Written By: tracey - Date published: 1:15 pm, September 19th, 2015 - 34 comments

So, its is not that the voters are idiots, as some suggest the Left are claiming, it is that the Right deliberately lie and mislead to get a vote, on false pretenses. It is the Right who constantly treats voters as gullible idiots, And a media, strangled by shrinking budgets and reduced personnel with less and less time to research rather than regurgitate. Couple that with an increase in non-journalists hogging the space set aside for reporting and elucidating news events… what chance the voter?

Border Force fiasco – how would NZ respond?

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:02 am, August 29th, 2015 - 128 comments

Yesterday Melbourne stood up for human rights. Would we in NZ have done the same?

Finlayson criticises Law Society but gets it wrong

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:39 am, August 28th, 2015 - 38 comments

Chris Finlayson has criticised the New Zealand Law Society for not being aware that a change to the Health and Safety Reform Bill affecting human rights introduced after submissions had been heard was itself being changed. But all this does is reinforce the Law Society’s criticisms that such provisions should have been part of the original bill.

NRT: We can no longer trust Bill English’s OIA responses

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 12:38 pm, August 26th, 2015 - 8 comments

I/S at No Right Turn writes on the latest abuse of the OIA process.

Forget worm farms the Health and Safety Reform Bill proposes secret trials

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:54 am, August 26th, 2015 - 23 comments

The Government has snuck into the Health and Safety Reform Bill a provision that allows for withholding from the parties to court proceedings of classified security information and for decisions affecting their rights to be made on the basis of information they have no access to. This was not in the original bill and you have to wonder why such a contentious provision has been introduced so late.

National Ltd™’s Shane Reti Caught Out In Another Lie

Written By: BLiP - Date published: 7:12 am, August 26th, 2015 - 32 comments

Shane Reti lied about the process of ratifying the TPP. In a Press Release to the Northern Advocate, Reti states “. . . the agreement comes before parliament and opposition parties and select committees for debate and modifications . . .”

Housing selloff – obsessive secrecy and power

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:35 am, August 19th, 2015 - 21 comments

National’s selloff of our state houses is yet another example of its two main obsessions, secrecy and unaccountable power.

Most allegations against Julian Assange dropped

Written By: Colonial Viper - Date published: 6:39 pm, August 18th, 2015 - 94 comments

Most of the allegations against Assange have been dropped but Swedish authorities still refuse to question him in London. And Assange still hasn’t been charged with a single crime.

Sheepgate inquiry

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 2:34 pm, August 18th, 2015 - 23 comments

The Auditor-General will hold an inquiry to be held into Saudi sheep deal

#Talleyban. Standard Exclusive: MWU Blacklisted by Boss

Written By: te reo putake - Date published: 10:07 am, August 10th, 2015 - 83 comments

Talleys has de-recognised the Meat Workers Union and refused to bargain with them. They have told the workers to set up a new, yellow union. Or else. Brighter Future? Not under National. This is what the recent changes in employment law were intended to achieve. It’s union busting in a brutal, thuggish form.

Dirty Politics: Police refuse to charge Slater

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:30 am, August 1st, 2015 - 197 comments

The police are refusing to even let the Courts rule on whether Cameron Slater and Jason Ede hacked Labour’s server despite there being a serious issue to be considered and despite the need for our justice system to be transparent.

Then they came for the Health Boards

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:26 am, July 27th, 2015 - 79 comments

It appears that the Government has a radical proposal to undermine democratic participation in our Health Boards. Although the Minister claims not to know about it.

National’s law ruled a violation of human rights

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:48 am, July 25th, 2015 - 16 comments

The High Court has ruled that a law passed by National in 2010 is a violation of the Bill of Rights Act. This is a first for NZ, and another “proud” item to add to National’s legacy.

An Open Letter to the Real Estate Whistleblower

Written By: te reo putake - Date published: 10:00 am, July 16th, 2015 - 375 comments

We don’t know who the real estate whistleblower is, but we do know they have done New Zealand a significant service. Courage takes many forms, but risking your career to alert your country to a hidden crisis should be recognised for the bravery it is. Thank you, you’ve done us proud.

Hager v Attorney General & Dirty Politics

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 11:02 am, July 13th, 2015 - 49 comments

Nicky Hager’s case against the Police is being heard in the Wellington High Court today. Jon Stephenson is live blogging (slightly delayed) proceedings and will tweet developments to #HagerCase.