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A good week for the opposition

Written By: - Date published: 10:20 am, July 27th, 2012 - 52 comments

3 opposition private members’ Bills passed – extended paid parental leave, Mondayisation, and lobbying disclosure – on Wednesday (moving a ban on land sales to foreigners up the list). Then, all 5 drawn from the ballot on Thursday opposition bills too: marriage equality, $15hr minimum wage, super-majority/referendum protection for asset sales, charging government agencies that pay access to info, and controlling water pollution.

Member’s Day

Written By: - Date published: 8:21 am, July 25th, 2012 - 19 comments

2 great Member’s Bills are before the House today.  National oppose both the Mondayising of Holidays and Paid Parental Leave, but they should have the numbers to get through their first readings.

Patsy of the year

Written By: - Date published: 3:03 pm, June 29th, 2012 - 19 comments

Such is the abundance of talent in the National Party that they can’t even ask a patsy question right…

Abbott does a runner

Written By: - Date published: 7:41 pm, June 1st, 2012 - 7 comments

Tony Abbott fled from the Australian Parliament on Wednesday. He was trying to avoid his vote being recorded if newly independent Craig Thompson supported the Coalition on a closure motion. Running away won’t help Abbott whose numbers are at record lows as Labor improves. Instead of a leadership spill in Labor we could see one in the Coalition.

Ounce of prevention, pound of cure etc etc

Written By: - Date published: 9:11 am, April 12th, 2012 - 43 comments

Vetoing extra paid parental leave doesn’t make social sense and it doesn’t make economic sense either.

Which is why National have said they’ll do it.

Meeting a need

Written By: - Date published: 10:05 am, March 9th, 2012 - 25 comments

Can anyone tell me why the Nats are spending $300m to build and $36m pa to run a 960-bed PPP prison when there are 2000 spare beds in the system and prisoner numbers are projected to fall? Or why Joyce is cutting a dirty ‘convention centre for pokies’ deal when international convention numbers are falling? Or why they’re spending $1b a year on low BCR highways when vehicle numbers are falling?

NRT: Foss lied to Parliament

Written By: - Date published: 7:58 am, March 1st, 2012 - 48 comments

2 weeks ago, Labour’s Clare Curran asked Broadcasting Minister Craig Foss whether he had received any advice or reports about Stephen McElrea’s potential conflict of interest between his role as John Key’s electorate chair and his role as a board member of New Zealand on Air. Foss replied with a single word: “None”. Yesterday, we found out that that was incorrect.

NRT: The nuclear option

Written By: - Date published: 9:53 am, February 15th, 2012 - 27 comments

Lockwood ‘small hands’ Smith is digging himself deeper into a hole that is going to destroy his legacy as Speaker over the Mojo Mathers’ right to participate in Parliamentary debate. The Minister for Disabilities, Tariana Turia, is missing in action (probably off granting more of your money to her mates). Key wants nothing to do with it. So, I/S at NoRightTurn has proposed the ‘nuclear option’.

We want our Mojo

Written By: - Date published: 4:57 pm, February 14th, 2012 - 91 comments

Making Mojo Mathers pay for the tech she needs to participate in debate is bad enough. She is a democratically elected member and the people who put her there deserve effective representation. Saying that deaf people don’t count as ‘disabled’ is outrageous. More bigotry from Lockwood ‘small hands’ Smith.

New Labour MPs first speeches

Written By: - Date published: 1:01 pm, February 14th, 2012 - 9 comments

The four new Labour MPs make their first (“maiden”) speeches today in Parliament, starting at 5pm. I’d expect to hear some thoughtful and moving speeches.

Opposition parties hammer Key on asset sales

Written By: - Date published: 12:11 pm, February 9th, 2012 - 32 comments

Yesterday, the opposition parties worked together to hammer John Key on asset sales. He faced questions from four parties during one question; the breadth of opposition showed, and Key was stumbling. Some say Shearer should be taking a more leading role but, for mine, this was far more effective than Goff uselessly slogging out a primary and half a dozen sups without landing a blow. How’s that anti-asset sales coalition coming?

Absolutely damning

Written By: - Date published: 6:04 pm, December 30th, 2011 - 25 comments

We have a government department which has acted deliberately to thwart judicial and Ombudsman oversight, for reasons of its own convenience, apparently in violation of New Zealand law. The question is whether the Minister will act – or whether he will effectively endorse this situation with his silence.

3 more years of this

Written By: - Date published: 2:08 pm, December 12th, 2011 - 37 comments

On Breakfast this morning, John Key said that losing a confidence vote “by definition, constitutionally means a snap election”. No. If a government loses the House’s support, then another one can be formed that does have Parliament’s support. Only if that cannot happen is there an election. Key has been PM for 3 years. He should know the basics.

The Herald ban

Written By: - Date published: 3:22 pm, October 7th, 2011 - 27 comments

Speaker Lookwood Smith is getting a lot of flak for his decision to punish The Herald for publishing a photo (taken in violation of Standing Orders) by banning their reporters from Parliament for ten days.

The mask slips

Written By: - Date published: 10:34 am, October 7th, 2011 - 80 comments

Here is Key making the throat-cutting gesture to Labour after a man tried to jump into the Debating Chamber. He displays a total lack of concern for the man and anyone else. Key to Labour: “you should be ashamed of yourselves”. King: “What! What? we should be ashamed of ourselves?!”. Key makes gesture. King, Chadwick, “you scumbag”.

Wishing Chris Carter well

Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, September 8th, 2011 - 23 comments

Chris Carter’s egocentric valedictory earlier this week didn’t exactly cover him in glory. Whether it should ever have gotten to this point is another matter. It’s interesting to review the evolving views of Standard authors on the issue. Did Carter do this to himself or did mismanagement from the leadership escalate the situation?This guest post takes the second view.

Boscawen’s brilliant own goal

Written By: - Date published: 9:13 am, August 18th, 2011 - 95 comments

John Boscawen thought he was on to a winner yesterday. In an unprecedented move, he asked Parliament’s permission to ask a question of Phil Goff on the youth minimum wage. He got it, and the result was Goff at his very finest. He looked and sounded like a Prime Minister – like a real one, that is, not like Key. Let’s have more questions, Boscawen!

NRT: More secret government laws

Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, August 17th, 2011 - 88 comments

I/S at No Right Turn writes about the government’s continued abuse of Urgency. This week, they’re going to slam 11 laws through the House, ignoring basic democratic steps like the select committee stage that let the public have a say. The worst part though, is a Bill that they are refusing to name and plan to rush through all stages in a couple of days.

Hone’s right

Written By: - Date published: 11:19 pm, July 14th, 2011 - 124 comments

You’ve gotta love Hone Harawira’s style. By refusing to use the right words in his oath, Hone exposed the ridiculousness of our representatives swearing allegiance to a Queen on the far side of the world and calling on the aid of a deity that only 50% of us believe in. Lockwood Smith had no choice. The oath is law. It’s the law that needs to change.

Drunk in charge of the country?

Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, July 7th, 2011 - 74 comments

An alert reader sent us this video of Wayne Mapp swaying, slurring and rambling his way through Question Time.

No Right Turn now has a post with some information saying that Mapp is not in the state what he appears to be in. Instead he is just being inept. We don’t know. Check it out yourself and make up your own mind.

Nat websites publicly-funded

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, June 16th, 2011 - 30 comments

Ianupnorth does ‘the Whale’ and has a dig around the National Party websites. It turns out they are registered and run by Parliamentary staffers. In fact, National and ACT’s MPs’ sites are all publicly-funded, while other parties’ MPs’ are not. Is NACT breaking the rules? No doubt everyone’s least favourite cetacean will be on to it.

Leader repays chopper flights

Written By: - Date published: 8:42 am, June 3rd, 2011 - 13 comments

After intense criticism for using government-owned helicopters for personal trips, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has reimbursed the state for the cost of the flights. I look forward to John Key following Christie’s lead and repaying us for his flights to watch the V8s in Hamilton.

Parata’s conflict of interest

Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, May 18th, 2011 - 7 comments

Hekia Parata is our Minister of Energy. She is also a shareholder in Contact Energy. Whether the shareholding is large or small, it’s a conflict of interest. Her decisions can affect the value of her shareholding. The slackness displayed by Key’s ministers towards these shareholding conflicts, starting with his own Tranzrail shares, is not good enough.

Saying a lot while saying very little

Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, May 6th, 2011 - 13 comments

The out of touchness, she burns! In a few short replies, the Nats said so much this week. The stories of perk abuse have been rolling out almost too fast, in fact. Each needs following up, each minister needs to be hounded, but there are so many targets. The galling thing is in a fortnight the Nats will tell us ‘everyone has to tighten their belts’.

Editing away idiocy

Written By: - Date published: 2:36 pm, April 28th, 2011 - 18 comments

An interesting post from Political Dumpground looks at how MPs are allowed to edit the Hansard record of what they say. Putting the transcript of what Katrina Shanks actually said during the recent debate on the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill beside the Hansard shows how MPs can amend the record to hide their stupidity.

Good-bye rule of law

Written By: - Date published: 10:05 am, April 15th, 2011 - 10 comments

I was going to write about how ludicrous it is that National is abandoning the idea of a warranty or bond system for builders in the new Building Act designed to stop a repeat of the leaky homes debacle, given that we’re about to embark on the largest rebuilding programme in the country’s history. But then I realised it no longer matters what laws say.

Labour exposes planless Key

Written By: - Date published: 12:04 am, March 16th, 2011 - 128 comments

There’s been increasing concern over the past week or two that not only has the government failed to communicate its plan for the Christchurch recovery, it doesn’t actually have one, and isn’t particularly worried about getting one. Yesterday in the House, Labour took Key to task on this important issue. And he was found terribly wanting.

Greens right on Gillard

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, February 15th, 2011 - 147 comments

It seems odd at first, blocking our closest friend’s leader from speaking in our Parliament, but the Greens were right to look at the higher principle. The debating chamber is where our sovereign assembly meets, it is not a place for foreigners to come, at the government of the day’s invitation, and lecture our elected representatives. I think the NBR put it best..

Nats bully bulldozer still running

Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, February 11th, 2011 - 18 comments

The Nats regard parliamentary process as an inconvenience to which they must pay lip service, but nothing more.  They started as soon as they took office, with repeated abuse of urgency.  The current disgraceful process over the foreshore & seabed legislation is just the latest instalment.

The opening exchanges

Written By: - Date published: 12:08 pm, February 9th, 2011 - 50 comments

In this post, I’ve embedded the speeches from John Key, Phil Goff, and Metiria Turei during yesterday’s first day of Parliament. Key presents no new vision, just an agenda of cuts and false statistics couple with sheer delusion about his government’s record. Goff tears him apart. And Turei’s speech is simply breath-taking – incredibly moving.

Brownlee in gun for misleading the House

Written By: - Date published: 1:45 pm, January 20th, 2011 - 15 comments

Mallard has laid a Privileges complaint over Brownlee’s Hobbit lies. Good. Brownlee and Key deserved to be hammered for their part in the Warners/Jackson shake-down that cost just $34m and work rights. Lockwood won’t uphold the complaint though. He hates Brownlee. Not enough to severely embarrass his party in election year though.

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