national
Categories under national
- same old national (1,617)
Nats now threatening Northland
Written By: - Date published: 10:42 am, March 13th, 2015 - 81 comments
The Nats are now threatening Northland voters with the loss of roading projects and more. Classy.
NRT: Legislate in haste, repent before you’ve even started
Written By: - Date published: 1:10 pm, March 12th, 2015 - 8 comments
I/S at No Right Turn on the latest Nat omnishambles – these financial “geniuses” can’t even calculate their own pay rates correctly.
National’s Epsom branch to back National in Northland
Written By: - Date published: 9:38 am, March 12th, 2015 - 15 comments
No need for Mr Gower to get all hot and bothered over this “dirty deal”, it’s just National’s Epsom branch backing the National candidate.
Key crosses a bridge too far
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, March 12th, 2015 - 127 comments
I kid you not but John Key thinks that Dotcom and Hager prevented him from announcing the Northland bridge decaboondoggle. And Sabin is having no effect on the by election campaign.
Save the Paturoa Kauri
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, March 12th, 2015 - 63 comments
A message from the team at #saveourkauri who are attempting to preserve a 500 year old Titirangi Kauri facing the chop. Update: Auckland Council has narrowly voted against supporting the Waitakere Ranges Local Board’s opposition to the felling of the tree.
Northland’s decaboondoggle bridge building programme
Written By: - Date published: 7:10 pm, March 10th, 2015 - 37 comments
National’s proposal to double lane ten Northland bridges has some unusual aspects. Seven of them were not in the region’s Regional Land Transport Program such was their priority in the scale of things. And one is apparently right next to National candidate Mark Osborne’s home …
John Key’s weird “gotcha” moment on ACC
Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, March 10th, 2015 - 41 comments
John Key and his MPs were acting like they’d scored a real hit on Andrew Little in Question Time. The reality is … not so impressive.
Polity: Pork bridges
Written By: - Date published: 3:28 pm, March 9th, 2015 - 40 comments
A sudden enthusiasm for local infrastructure projects on the eve of a tight by-election. What a remarkable coincidence! I wonder whether the cost/benefit ratios on these bridges are up to scratch? Last year National bribed people in the general election. OIA time
Little: ACC levies need to come down
Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, March 8th, 2015 - 30 comments
A National government which loves to cut taxs + workers and business being overcharged ACC levies = levy cuts, right? Wrong!
Key’s credibility and the Snowden leaks
Written By: - Date published: 9:03 am, March 8th, 2015 - 71 comments
The Sunday Star Times has reported on the set up and reach of the Waihopai Spy Base. Key’s statement that the GCSB does not have the physical capability to conduct mass surveillance appears to be not true.
Gender pay gap still growing – of course
Written By: - Date published: 12:18 pm, March 7th, 2015 - 42 comments
Tomorrow is International Women’s Day. In New Zealand the gender pay gap is growing – perhaps because National abolished the Department of Labour’s Pay and Employment Equity Unit.
Northland Polls; Horrorshow for National
Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, March 6th, 2015 - 204 comments
The first polls in the Northland by-election are grim reading for National. It looks likely that Winston will win and National will lose their Parliamentary majority. Have the Tories snatched defeat from the jaws of victory?
Is mass surveillance of Kiwis occurring?
Written By: - Date published: 8:49 am, March 6th, 2015 - 112 comments
The latest Snowden revelations that New Zealand has been collecting bulk data from various Pacific Islands and handing it to the NSA suggests that mass surveillance of New Zealanders is happening, despite promises to the contrary.
Expect more zero-hours crisis cases
Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, March 5th, 2015 - 8 comments
Today is not a good day for workers. Employment law changes that take effect today weaken workers’ rights and will result in more cases of zero-hour contract “excesses”. Labour’s Iain Lees-Galloway has been doing good work on this issue (sign the petition). In contrast National’s position now appears confused, with Workplace Relations & Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse acknowledging problems even as today’s changes make matters worse.
NZ spies on its Pacific neighbours
Written By: - Date published: 6:29 am, March 5th, 2015 - 170 comments
Nicky Hager and the Herald have reported that the GCSB has been collecting data en masse from New Zealand’s pacific neighbours and handed it over to the Americans for inclusion in xkeystore.
On Northland
Written By: - Date published: 1:44 pm, March 4th, 2015 - 117 comments
I’ve been getting tired of the fantasy elections that some political commentators seem to enjoy playing. Currently the fantasises is in Northland, with the same old tiresome lines. It is a pity that most of those playing this game don’t ever seem to think about the behaviours of real voters, real candidates, and real parties.
Nats getting squeamish on zero hour contracts
Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, March 4th, 2015 - 61 comments
Zero hour contracts are the logical end point of National’s agenda for employment legislation. But last night Workplace Relations & Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse promised legislation to “prohibit the worst excesses”. “Excesses” in the free market – who would have thought?
Why are we going to war?
Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, March 4th, 2015 - 125 comments
National’s justification for going to war against ISIS suffers from two fundamental problems, it is supporting an Iraqi regime that is corrupt and working against the best interests of all of its people, and there is no plan to convert Iraq into a sustainable state.
Local Bodies: A Luddite Led National Government
Written By: - Date published: 4:01 pm, March 3rd, 2015 - 25 comments
The development of new knowledge and technology is growing at a faster rate than ever before and successful businesses generally have to remain at the cutting edge of their industries to survive. But National likes the obsolete extractive industries from early last century.
Political donations and conflicts of interest
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, March 2nd, 2015 - 53 comments
Whether it’s about election donations or portfolios, some people do seem to think MPs should always get the benefit of the doubt.
Nats laundering donations (as ever)
Written By: - Date published: 10:09 am, February 28th, 2015 - 28 comments
National have found new ways to launder their donations. Makes you wonder what they’re hiding.
Politician salary rises and the minimum wage increase
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, February 27th, 2015 - 106 comments
John Key has yet again asked the Remuneration Authority to limit the increase in MPs pay. And yet again they have said that the law required them to make the decision they did. So MPs get a hefty raise at the same time that the minimum wage is raised slightly. And the media report Key’s comments sympathetically. He is the Prime Minister. If anyone can change the law he is the person best placed.
John Key channels Clarke and Dawe
Written By: - Date published: 7:16 pm, February 26th, 2015 - 27 comments
David Parker recaps Key’s bluster on his Donghua Liu dinner, and it’s pure comedy.
NRT: John Key on MP’s pay rises
Written By: - Date published: 3:26 pm, February 26th, 2015 - 36 comments
John Key has said today that he has urged the Remuneration Authority not to give MPs a salary increase. Get that feeling of deja vu? Idiot Savant at No Right Turn explains why.
Polity: Excluded middle
Written By: - Date published: 2:59 pm, February 25th, 2015 - 24 comments
National counterattack line on Iraq is now out and about, courtesy of National’s tester and parrot of lines – National pollster David Farrar at Kiwiblog. It consists of two contradictory lines about Labour. Also neither line is true. But they are just there for the ‘journalists’ to mindlessly repeat in the evening news.
National’s electoral returns and the Donghua Liu donation
Written By: - Date published: 11:22 am, February 25th, 2015 - 41 comments
The Electoral Commission has now released individual returns of donations and electoral expenses. And the Donghua Liu donation appears in Jamie-Lee Ross’s return. But the vast majority of electorate campaigns recorded head office donations and the overwhelming impression is that cabinet club donations are collected centrally and then distributed. So what happened with the Liu donation?
The price of the club?
Written By: - Date published: 4:15 pm, February 24th, 2015 - 105 comments
Back in 2003, John Key had an interesting take on whether it was appropriate to send troops to Iraq.
National’s fruit flies
Written By: - Date published: 7:13 am, February 24th, 2015 - 73 comments
Brook Sabin pulls no punches laying the blame for the fruit fly outbreak at National’s feet. Key’s attempted denial is some of his worst work ever.
National hypocrisy about the gay pride parade
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, February 23rd, 2015 - 86 comments
National engages in Auckland’s Gay Pride parade by sending two MPs who voted against marriage equality and an Auckland Councillor who on Facebook calls a young man who pointed this out as a “little c*ck”. Way to blow relations with the gay and lesbian community. Update: And Linda Cooper has apologised, sort of …
The Save Invermay Campaign
Written By: - Date published: 10:24 am, February 23rd, 2015 - 8 comments
National is letting the regions wither. None more so than (Labour voting) Dunedin, with the closure of the Hillside Workshop, the underfunding of Dunedin Hospital, and the planned closure of the agricultural research center at near-by Invermay. Check out Dunedin North MP David Clark’s video update on Invermay.
Recent Comments