national/act government

McGovernment

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 5:06 am, September 30th, 2009 - 12 comments

This increasingly ramshackle government continues to astound. They’ve basically done nothing in a year when the country has been dealing with the worst economic crisis in decades. When they have tried to tackle big issues, the result has been incompetent policy produced entirely for political reasons – framed as moderate while paying off big business. Take Treasury’s view of […]

Who would replace Bill?

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 11:49 am, September 29th, 2009 - 35 comments

There’s a grim irony to Bill English’s career. Despite being regarded as competent and having a Cullen-like role as the heavy-lifter in this government, he has also been at the centre of the worst National screw-ups of the last decade. As Minister of Revenue, he was heavily involved in the sale of Wellington Airport, which […]

Pay freeze would cause long-term damage

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 5:38 am, September 28th, 2009 - 27 comments

While filling his own pockets with our money, Bill ‘Double Dipton’ English is threatening public sevants with a five-year pay freeze – with inflation, that’s a 10% pay cut. The government can afford to give its workers small cost of living adjustments – the cost is relatively trivial. Parliament workers recently rejected an offer that […]

John and Bill cost us $7 million in two months

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 12:00 pm, September 23rd, 2009 - 47 comments

You’ll remember that in the Budget National decided to suspend payments to the Cullen Fund, which is designed to help fund the future cost of superannuation. At the time, John Key and Bill English said we were losing money on the Fund and we couldn’t afford to borrow to put money into it. They compared […]

Nats’ ETS a polluters’ charter

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 9:26 am, September 21st, 2009 - 6 comments

Rod Oram, as usual, has set the standard in commentary with his piece on the National-Maori Party ETS. The full article is here but I’ll lift the core points: Oram argues a climate change policy package needs three things: Put a price on emissions to incentivise change. We chose an ETS as the most effective […]

Contempt for democracy

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 5:30 am, September 17th, 2009 - 46 comments

Gerry Brownlee in Question Time yesterday. He’s asked a question, just sits there and refuses to answer. Doesn’t even open his mouth, just sits there with a smug look on his face. Lockwood, out of his depth like always, just ignores the rules to cover Brownlee’s arse. Only ten months in and this Government is abusing or […]

Kaupapa for sale

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:08 am, September 15th, 2009 - 6 comments

A few important passages from the special select committee report on the Emissions Trading Scheme: In the long term, price caps stand in the way of market development and shield business from the real price of carbon to the economy…[National and United Future] recommend to the Government that if a short-term price cap is introduced, […]

No good faith from Nats

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 8:30 pm, September 13th, 2009 - 25 comments

Finance Minister Bill English has told doctors, teachers, and other public servants that they will not be getting pay-raises when their collective contracts come up for renewal. That is constitutionally outrageous and a big political mistake. Ministers are not allowed to direct public sector pay negotiations. It is clearly against the rules of the State Sector […]

Fran lets the plan slip

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 2:40 pm, September 9th, 2009 - 22 comments

Fran O’Sullivan has rather given the game away on the MMP referendum. Frog has explained it so well, I can’t do better than repost it: Holding a referendum on MMP was discussed at cabinet on Monday 31 August 2009.  Yesterday Ms O’Sullivan informed Newstalk ZB drive time host Larry Williams of how this information was conveyed to […]

Look what I found

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 9:00 am, September 9th, 2009 - 25 comments

Does anyone really believe a Treasury official just happened to accidentally drop a notebook full of secrets on The Terrace then one of only a couple of dozen political reporters in the country, Julian Robins from Radio New Zealand, just happened to pick it up, read it, and realise what he had found? Pull the other one.  I […]

Who is Kate Wilkinson taking aim at?

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 11:20 am, September 8th, 2009 - 20 comments

By John Ryall, SFWU National Secretary While The Standard readers know that the air traffic controllers were the excuse that Kate Wilkinson used to signal a repeal of parts of the 2008 Employment Relations Act (Breaks and Infant Feeding) Amendment Act, they are probably not aware of who is really going to be affected by […]

Rest-breaks under attack

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:47 pm, September 3rd, 2009 - 18 comments

In 1908, the miners at Blackball took a famous strike over the right to take rest breaks at work. For most of the rest of the century this was enshrined in law and in our culture as a basic right of all working New Zealanders. That is, of course, until the National Government of the […]

Always an excuse to do nothing

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 9:20 am, September 2nd, 2009 - 64 comments

Remember FART (Farmers Against Ridiculous Taxes)? Shane Arden driving Myrtle the Tractor up the steps of Parliament? Bill English with his poster carrying the sexist attack on Helen Clark: “the mad cow shouldn’t have signed”? (actually, it was Jenny Shipley who signed us on to Kyoto)    All that wailing and gnashing of teeth, all […]

10-20% Pure New Zealand

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 2:00 pm, August 28th, 2009 - 21 comments