Abuse of power

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Is NZF positioning itself for a 4th term National government?

Written By: - Date published: 12:08 pm, September 12th, 2017 - 34 comments

It’s a timely reminder that 12 days before the election Winston Peters has just reaffirmed the door is very much open to a coalition or Confidence and Supply agreement between National and NZF. If you want to change the government, a vote for NZF is a risk.

This is how you change the Government – electorate vote Goldsmith if you are on the Epsom roll

Written By: - Date published: 1:05 pm, September 11th, 2017 - 32 comments

For progressive Epsom voters the best way to change the Government may be to give your electorate vote to Paul Goldsmith.

National plays the lauranorda card

Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, September 4th, 2017 - 42 comments

National is panicking and Paula Bennett has gone full dog whistle in claiming that gang members should have less rights than others.

Is Justice Binnie vindicated by the Teina Pora decision?

Written By: - Date published: 4:48 pm, August 30th, 2017 - 53 comments

What we can learn about Collins, Adams and the national Cabinet from Teina Pora’s Judicial review win.

“All I can do … is tell the Truth”

Written By: - Date published: 2:47 pm, August 30th, 2017 - 50 comments

“Our integrity and our role as Ministers in holding confidential information is absolutely pivotal to our role”  Bennett 2017

National does u turn on paid parental leave

Written By: - Date published: 12:16 pm, August 29th, 2017 - 16 comments

National has announced a policy of increasing paid parental leave after complaining last year that it was unaffordable.

WINZ and Super Scandals

Written By: - Date published: 11:40 am, August 28th, 2017 - 138 comments

Here’s the scandal.

Bomber Bradbury wins privacy complaint against Police

Written By: - Date published: 9:32 am, August 28th, 2017 - 47 comments

Bomber Bradbury has succeeded in getting the Privacy Commissioner to rule that Police accessing his bank records without a search warrant was illegal.

Hager: Dirty Politics three years on

Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, August 17th, 2017 - 26 comments

In an excellent piece on The Spinoff, Nicky Hager reflects on three years after Dirty Politics.

Time now to sweep the party of these disgusting tactics out of office and #ChangeTheGovernment.

Race Relations Commissioner calls on UN to to support inquiry into the abuse of children in state care

Written By: - Date published: 9:53 am, August 16th, 2017 - 14 comments

Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy has called on the UN to tell the government to hold an independent inquiry into the abuse of children and people with disabilities in state care. (Some of us were wrong about Devoy!)

What are our SAS up to? An easy to digest guide!

Written By: - Date published: 2:18 pm, August 15th, 2017 - 8 comments

A short video looking at the major issues in the Hager/Stephenson book ‘Hit and Run’

Corbyn-esque NZ

Written By: - Date published: 6:17 pm, August 9th, 2017 - 13 comments

This post was written and ready to go and then news of Metiria Turei stepping down hit. Some of it might read a little strangely because of that. I’ve changed some of the tenses used.

NACT

Written By: - Date published: 9:43 am, August 9th, 2017 - 5 comments

“Here’s a new idea for the Tories: Why not ask a simple question every time you propose a course of action: Is this morally just?”

Breaking: calls for Paddy Gower’s resignation as MSM slips in its own bullshit

Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, August 9th, 2017 - 24 comments

Last night all the excitement finally caught up with them, leading to calls for Paddy Gower to resign and for MSM organisations to delete their social media accounts.

Digitally shaping the election

Written By: - Date published: 10:49 am, July 30th, 2017 - 22 comments

Social media offers a rich tool for profiling voters and targeting election advertising or informal messaging. There’s a good piece on RNZ today looking at the issue. How long before we see the methods used by Brexit and Trump campaigns employed in NZ?

National will distort MMP for its own benefit, again

Written By: - Date published: 12:02 pm, July 26th, 2017 - 80 comments

Without a cup of tea in sight National has announced that it will asking supporters to vote for Act leader David Seymour in Epsom and United Future leader Peter Dunne in Ohariu.

Did English break the law during Dotcom debacle?

Written By: - Date published: 11:15 am, July 26th, 2017 - 44 comments

David Fisher on the Dotcom spying debacle: “But the legal action which disclosed the extended spying also targets English specifically, saying he acted “unlawfully” when he signed a ministerial certificate intended to bury the spying operation forever.”

How much is Mike Hosking paid by TVNZ?

Written By: - Date published: 9:29 am, July 25th, 2017 - 107 comments

Mike Hosking does not want there to be a debate on how much he earns from TVNZ and thinks that there would be an adverse irrational response from the public if the information was released. This is the best reason yet why disclosure should occur.

Why be a public servant?

Written By: - Date published: 1:16 pm, July 20th, 2017 - 28 comments

Today thousands of IRD workers face the prospect of losing their jobs while two MOT workers who lost their jobs for whistle blowing are vindicated.  Who would be a public servant?

Nats default to bully mode over Barclay scandal

Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, July 17th, 2017 - 26 comments

The ongoing Barclay scandal has taking a familiar turn, with the PM’s office trying dirty tactics on journalists. Meanwhile the pressure builds on English over Barclay’s taxpayer funded disappearing act.

Why there should be work and drug test obligations for National MPs

Written By: - Date published: 8:55 am, July 16th, 2017 - 52 comments

Todd Barclay has not been seen at work lately but has been seen at a Queenstown pub.  And is still being paid $3,000 a week to represent the people of Clutha Southland.

NRT: National’s new Muldoonism

Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, July 13th, 2017 - 7 comments

I/S at No Right Turn: “at its core, the National Party is an anti-environment party, dedicated to destroying our natural heritage and impoverishing future generations for the profit of their cronies”.

National’s plans for mining and development of conservation land

Written By: - Date published: 6:30 am, July 12th, 2017 - 52 comments

Forest and Bird: ““The Government is seeking to give themselves the powers to push through controversial and damaging projects that would otherwise fail because they breach environmental limits.”

The Government is misrepresenting the effect of the Ruataniwha Dam decision

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, July 9th, 2017 - 21 comments

The Government has responded to the Supreme Court decision which puts a halt on the Ruataniwha Dam by claiming wrongly that the protected land was of low quality and by stating that a law change, possibly retrospective, will occur.

What happened to the Newshub article about Nick Smith and the Pike River film?

Written By: - Date published: 9:56 am, July 8th, 2017 - 41 comments

A Newshub article where Nick Smith contradicts the Police and Solid Energy about the existence of video showing a body in Pike River has disappeared …

Citizenship – one law for the rich

Written By: - Date published: 9:01 am, July 3rd, 2017 - 185 comments

As other citizenship cases are compared to Peter Thiel, it starkly highlights our “one law for the rich” approach.

Thiel shows commitment to New Zealand by spending 12 days in it

Written By: - Date published: 12:52 pm, June 29th, 2017 - 49 comments

Following an intervention by the Ombudsman the Government has been obliged to disclose the number of days that Peter Thiel spent in New Zealand in the five years leading up to his grant of citizenship.  The answer is very few.

New information on Glenda Hughes?

Written By: - Date published: 8:12 pm, June 28th, 2017 - 43 comments

On 20 June  after Melanie Read’s Newsroom interview Andrew Geddis blogged about possible obstruction of justice by a National Party Board member. That was based on new information in the Barclay case, and may be why the Police have since re-interviewed Glenys Dickson.

Eleven questions about National, English and the Barclay affair.

Written By: - Date published: 6:15 am, June 28th, 2017 - 22 comments

Julie Fairey raises a plethora of unanswered issues.

Debarclay gets sordid

Written By: - Date published: 1:47 pm, June 27th, 2017 - 82 comments

Newsroom with more revelations: “Intercepted discussions in the Clutha-Southland MP’s electorate office included talk of “sex and drugs”, a source tells Newsroom”. How dismally predictable. Eeeew.

Police have reopened the Barclay investigation

Written By: - Date published: 11:16 am, June 27th, 2017 - 129 comments

Police has commenced a re-investigation of allegations that the private communications of an individual were intercepted by Mr Todd Barclay MP.