national

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Why no inquiry into abuse in state care?

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, July 7th, 2017 - 14 comments

As we celebrate Parliament’s apology for historical convictions for homosexuality, it surely raises the question of why the government is so hardheartedly against an inquiry into historical abuse.

Labour and National government spending

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, July 6th, 2017 - 3 comments

The magical disappearing Foreign Trust industry

Written By: - Date published: 9:03 am, July 6th, 2017 - 22 comments

National’s original claims that New Zealand was not a tax haven are in tatters as the Sherwan rule changes have resulted in the mass exodus of Foreign Trusts from New Zealand.

The great Auckland housing crash of 2017

Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, July 6th, 2017 - 79 comments

Two indicators both agree that the Auckland property market has started trending downwards. Over leveraged buyers are going to get burned, and first time buyers are still shut out. Perfect.

We paid for the Barclay lawyers too

Written By: - Date published: 11:32 am, July 5th, 2017 - 20 comments

Turns out that in the Barclay scandal we the taxpayer paid for not only the hush money payout, but also the lawyers fees.

Bill English reckons that landlords can’t raise rents

Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, July 5th, 2017 - 51 comments

The last budget raised accommodation supplement – against the advice of Treasury who said that landlords would capture the cash. Not to fear though, because Bill English reckons that landlords can’t raise rents…

Government’s cruelty on Christchurch’s mental health

Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, July 5th, 2017 - 16 comments

Christchurch’s mental health services are overwhelmed and verging on collapse. Canterbury has the most suicides in NZ. And yet the government has just declined a request for further funding. National – delivering misery for Canterbury.

NRT: National’s failure on rheumatic fever

Written By: - Date published: 10:46 am, July 4th, 2017 - 22 comments

I/S at No Right Turn writes: “Five years ago, National set itself a target as part of its “Better Public Services” targets to reduce the incidence of rheumatic fever by two-thirds. They failed.”

Special Housing Area provisions are failing but Nick Smith thinks everything is fine

Written By: - Date published: 9:50 am, July 4th, 2017 - 25 comments

Nick Smith is attempting to rewrite history by claiming that the Government never thought the special housing area affordable housing provisions would work and that the housing crisis is improving.

Official complaint over police handling of Barclay case

Written By: - Date published: 10:49 am, July 3rd, 2017 - 28 comments

With so much evidence available, why was the first police investigation into the Todd Barclay scandal dropped so quickly? This is now the subject of a complaint to the Independent Police Conduct Authority.

About that pay equity deal

Written By: - Date published: 10:26 am, July 1st, 2017 - 15 comments

More excellent reporting from Newsroom: “Long overdue pay rate increases affecting 55,000 New Zealand care and support workers kick in on July 1. But the Government’s failure to fully fund the changes is threatening to derail service providers”

He’s baaaack

Written By: - Date published: 1:28 pm, June 30th, 2017 - 153 comments

Shane Jones will seek to reenter Parliament and has been selected as the candidate for the Whangarei seat.  But for New Zealand First.

The MP that Clutha-Southland could have had

Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, June 30th, 2017 - 33 comments

The debarclay rumbles on. The Nat’s deploy the Game of Hats gambit. The vultures circle over the remains of Todd B in Clutha-Southland while his zombie vote is exploited to squeak through legislation. It could all have been so very different if the electorate had chosen the best candidate in 2014. Their loss is Invercargill’s gain – Liz Craig in 2017!

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.

Brighter Future Delivering the Cusp of Something Special for New Zealanders

Written By: - Date published: 11:41 am, June 28th, 2017 - 8 comments

That’s a mish-mash of Nat soundbites past and present. For the reality underlying it all, check out the excellent RNZ series “Is this the Brighter Future?”

National’s Dirty Politics Machine Attacks Complainant

Written By: - Date published: 6:43 am, June 28th, 2017 - 85 comments

Upon what basis do they feel confident in suggesting to the public that Barclay’s – alleged – victim had been so unprofessional and out-of-control as to be accusing Barclay of being a drug dealer?

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.

Gower is correct – police must reopen Barclay case

Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, June 27th, 2017 - 32 comments

English is trying, many days too late, to shut up about the scandal in his old electorate and hope that it will blow over. It won’t – too many loose ends. In particular, Patrick Gower is right, the police must now re-open the Barclay investigation.

Jesse Mulligan owned Bill English on national television

Written By: - Date published: 6:45 am, June 27th, 2017 - 48 comments

Getting very bloody angry and speaking truth to power.

The Todd Barclay debacle enters the sixth day of the news cycle

Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, June 26th, 2017 - 61 comments

Through his never ending changing of the description of what happened in the Todd Barclay issue Bill English has kept the story prominently placed for six days in a row.

What the National Party president and board knew

Written By: - Date published: 6:40 am, June 26th, 2017 - 21 comments

Newsroom has another investigative piece on the Barclay debacle. This is not only about a single MP and a lying Prime Minister. It’s also about the governing structure of the political party in charge of running the country, and who was involved in the coverup and dishonesty.

National’s conference – no policy – drowns in Billshit

Written By: - Date published: 12:47 am, June 26th, 2017 - 21 comments

National’s conference was supposed to be a tour de force, setting them up for the home stretch to the election. Instead it was empty of policy or vision, and coverage was drowned in a rising tide of Billshit.

HDPA on the rot that goes to the top

Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, June 25th, 2017 - 30 comments

Heather du Plessis-Allan asks why Barclay is taking the fall alone, when – just as with dirty politics – the rot goes to the top of the National Party.

Over egging the scandal soufflee

Written By: - Date published: 9:09 am, June 24th, 2017 - 97 comments

Team Nat were desperate to try and divert some attention from their floundering leader, and to a certain extent they succeeded. But compare and contrast Labour and National’s handling of the issues, front up and fix vs lie harder.

English still digging

Written By: - Date published: 8:03 am, June 24th, 2017 - 44 comments

Burying the last shred of his credibility in a deep hole forever, Bill claims that nobody realised Todd Barclay recording of secretary might be a crime. It’s like the events of 2008 and 2011 never happened.

Creative uses for Brash’s “Hobson’s pledge” pamphlets

Written By: - Date published: 12:20 pm, June 23rd, 2017 - 48 comments

Ex Nat leader Don Brash, of racist Orewa speech and Iwi/Kiwi fame, is still out there fanning the flames of division in NZ.

So English lied to Parliament too

Written By: - Date published: 6:40 am, June 23rd, 2017 - 23 comments

Labour and Peters have both made complaints over English’s lie to Parliament. Peters is calling on English to step down. That’s going to make any post-election NZF/Nat coalition a bit tricky.

Follow the money

Written By: - Date published: 10:39 pm, June 22nd, 2017 - 49 comments

Bill English’s texted electorate chair Stuart Davie on 21st February 2016 saying Glenys Dickson was given an extra payout from the Leader’s fund “to avoid potential legal action.” It was the only source available for an extra payout for confidentiality. English said today no-one in February knew there was any issue of illegality. Then what legal action and why an extra payment?