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Local Bodies: Teaching Profession Rejects Parata’s Plans
Written By: - Date published: 4:00 pm, June 11th, 2014 - 78 comments
Classroom teachers, the New Zealand Educational Institute, the New Zealand Principal’s Federation and education academics have all strongly rejected the Government’s proposed $359 million Investment into Education Success (IES). All believe that this substantial amount of money will not produce the results that the Education Minister claims and would be better spent elsewhere.
Paula Bennett now believes in education for solo parents
Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, June 11th, 2014 - 70 comments
Five years after making cuts to the training incentive allowance for solo parents wanting to educate themselves National is moving to provide some support and now realises that it makes long term sense to invest in education for solo parents. Could it be there is an election around the corner and National realises that it is vulnerable on issues relating to poverty and inequality?
Humourless Key pours scorn on Civilian
Written By: - Date published: 11:58 am, June 10th, 2014 - 44 comments
John Key has been making a joke of the electoral system in recent days with his support of criminal MPs and his veiled attempts to foist the crazy Conservatives on various electorates. But he was quick to pour scorn on a very popular micro-party who were less likely to become a pliant tool of the National party. Clearly he hasn’t realised who the Civilians are satirising and why so many taxpayers support them. Updated with Occasionally erudite’s analysis.
National’s mating dance with the Conservatives
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, June 10th, 2014 - 160 comments
National is clearly getting ready to throw one of its North Shore MPs under a bus in the hope that the Conservative Party can coat tail people with extreme views into Parliament.
Paul Goldsmith and the bag of flour
Written By: - Date published: 1:34 pm, June 9th, 2014 - 34 comments
Yesterday TV3 on the Nation hosted a debate between the candidates for the Epsom seat. Unbelievably National’s Paul Goldsmith did not show up. Labour’s Michael Wood produced a bag of wholemeal flour and has promised to take this bag to every public event and to put it where Goldsmith should be every time he does not show up. I suspect we are going to see this particular bag of flour a lot …
NRT: Good riddance to John Banks
Written By: - Date published: 12:56 pm, June 9th, 2014 - 62 comments
The government has been stripped of its legislative majority and its policy programme, especially employment relations “reform”, is now in tatters. Now that Banks has going, we are seeing an extensive rewriting of history by the National government. Kind of pathetic really.
John Banks announces his resignation
Written By: - Date published: 6:23 pm, June 8th, 2014 - 108 comments
John Banks has announced his resignation from Parliament effective from this Friday …
Dotcom 2 Banks 0
Written By: - Date published: 8:06 am, June 6th, 2014 - 88 comments
Justice Wyllie’s written decision in the John Banks case makes compelling and damning reading. Banks has been found guilty because he engineered a situation where a false return was produced and he signed it knowing of this defect. His continued presence in Parliament must be untenable.
D Day for John Banks
Written By: - Date published: 7:58 am, June 5th, 2014 - 99 comments
D Day for John Banks is today. Is he guilty of making a false declaration of his electoral expenses? Will he be convicted? And what are the political repercussions?
Farrar, TV3, coat tails and MMP
Written By: - Date published: 8:53 pm, June 4th, 2014 - 196 comments
David Farrar and then TV3 today get their analysis of Labour’s position on electoral law reform horribly wrong. Are we going to have to put up with this during election year?
Labour’s Mana Internet Party dilemma
Written By: - Date published: 1:02 pm, May 30th, 2014 - 234 comments
So what does Labour do? Gift Te Tai Tokerau and be open to allegations of manipulating the system (even though National has made an art form of this particular type of activity) or campaign hard and risk the loss of 3 – 4 % points of party vote if Hone loses his seat?
So what happened here? PPL vote
Written By: - Date published: 10:38 pm, May 28th, 2014 - 32 comments
There has been some questioning of the vote for the second reading of the Paid Parental Bill tonight. Sue Moroney claims the Maori Party were planning to vote for it. The Nat whip cast the Maori Party votes AGAINST the Bill. [Update: One News; NZ Herald]
Of polls and elections
Written By: - Date published: 11:07 am, May 26th, 2014 - 116 comments
Two new polls are out and the Government has enjoyed a post budget bounce. But when the post budget glow wears off and the inevitable seepage of support starts what will National do then?
The political beliefs of political reporters
Written By: - Date published: 1:57 pm, May 25th, 2014 - 61 comments
Television New Zealand is requiring political reporters to divulge political affiliation, membership and other political party activity. And John Key attacks TV3’s Linda Clark for allegedly helping the Labour Party. Yet Mike Hosking and Paul Henry are free to trumpet right wing spin lines. See the problem?
Tony Astle does not want progressive customers
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, May 24th, 2014 - 100 comments
Tony Astle apparently wants to ban some left wing politicians from his restaurant Antoines. He should get a life. Because the idea is stupid and reinforces the impression that National is a party insisting on the retention of privilege for the few.
Save the Poisons Helpline!
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, May 23rd, 2014 - 29 comments
National are planning to merge a bunch of health helplines to save money. The 0800 POISON number could be scrapped leaving additional seconds or minutes until help is received in those most urgent of moments.
Death by remote drone
Written By: - Date published: 1:32 pm, May 22nd, 2014 - 202 comments
John Key has not received any advice about the legality of drone killing and is totally comfortable with the extra judicial killing of civilians by remote drone.
The Woodhouse Family
Written By: - Date published: 3:35 pm, May 21st, 2014 - 32 comments
Veterans Affairs Minister Michael Woodhouse dropped a clanger deciding he was related to a Gallipoli hero, and offending the Trooper’s real relatives. Twitter is as Twitter does, so they’ve dug up a few more family relatives…
The smoke & mirrors of the surveillance-military-economic-complex
Written By: - Date published: 2:22 pm, May 21st, 2014 - 29 comments
There are a range of issues, which are part of a GCSB-intelligence-surveillance-military-complex. Some significant elements seem to be posing as diversions from other parts of the complex, and the way all parts hang together. What will he offer Obama to advance NZ’s position in the TPPA?
Polity: The young ones
Written By: - Date published: 7:27 am, May 21st, 2014 - 7 comments
Rob Salmond at Polity looks at what our young have to look forward to in 2019 with National’s hands-off housing screwup. How an average family would fare under National’s do-nothing approach to the housing crisis then?
Polity: Madness: Our house
Written By: - Date published: 1:18 pm, May 20th, 2014 - 24 comments
How an average family would fare under National’s do-nothing approach to the housing crisis? Not very well. Even at the Treasury forecasts in the budget (which seem highly optimistic), this median New Zealand family, is projected by Treasury to have their disposable income go backwards over the next five “rock star” years. That is a disgrace
National don’t know and don’t want to know about foreign ownership of housing
Written By: - Date published: 1:09 pm, May 20th, 2014 - 43 comments
National’s pandering to foreign money is disturbing their supporters
Penny Hulse and the decriminalisation of cannabis
Written By: - Date published: 8:21 am, May 18th, 2014 - 52 comments
Auckland Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse this week called for there to be a rational debate on whether organic cannabis should be decriminalised. Her reasoning is sound. The natural kind is better than the synthetic kind and prohibition is not working.
The Budget and the Christchurch rebuild
Written By: - Date published: 9:39 am, May 17th, 2014 - 44 comments
In the pursuit of a balanced budget it appears that the Government has cut funding from a number of areas of Government activity, the Christchurch rebuild included. And Gerry Brownlee is refusing to accept that flooding has been exacerbated by the earthquakes and trying to undermine the suggestion that costs estimates are overly optimistic.
National tacks left with its fudge it budget
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, May 16th, 2014 - 174 comments
National must be worried about its prospects in this year’s election. Because its budget did not have the normal hard right policies that we have come to expect of it and it is trying to lessen the attraction of some of Labour’s announced policies.
Polity: Budget 2014: Over-promise. Under-deliver.
Written By: - Date published: 3:18 pm, May 15th, 2014 - 40 comments
Earlier this week I predicted the Budget would be Labour-lite. I was right, but only in part. By far the biggest disappointment is in housing. The government signalled help for home buyers would be a highlight in the Budget. A few pathetic morsels isn’t a highlight. This will make next to no difference to the housing affordability crisis. First home buyers aren’t $3,500 short of a house. They are hundreds of thousands short, because there aren’t nearly enough homes.
How stupid can you get?
Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, May 15th, 2014 - 24 comments
Despite recent controversy about MPs employing their partners as staff Claudette Hauiti has employed her partner as an issues assistant and says that she did not know about the rule. How likely is that?
National’s proposed public spending to GDP ratio – the election’s clear blue line
Written By: - Date published: 9:22 am, May 15th, 2014 - 72 comments
The real story of the coming election is what was revealed in Bill English’s reported pre-budget speech to the National Party’s Southern Region conference at the weekend. He signalled an intention to reduce the proportion of government spending to 26% of GDP over the next 6 to 7 years. The current level at 30% already places NZ in the lowest quartile of OECD countries, having fallen from 35% of GDP in 2008. Most developed nations spend a significantly higher proportion of GDP on government goods and services.
Tax cuts for all!
Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, May 15th, 2014 - 227 comments
Despite having never presided over a budget surplus and despite the nearly tripling of core crown gross debt John Key is talking about the possibility of future tax cuts.
John Key’s bullshit about rising inequality
Written By: - Date published: 2:41 pm, May 14th, 2014 - 86 comments
In Question Time today. John Key has rejected evidence such census statistics, as reported on RNZ, that the inequality gap in Auckland is growing. He crowed about his government’s record & launched diversionary attacks on the opposition. Update: Question One video; Transcript links – Transcripts & other links updated. #realbudgetnumbers
Polity: Key – “Meh. Maybe I lied to Parliament.”
Written By: - Date published: 11:38 am, May 14th, 2014 - 39 comments
Misleading parliament is serious. If it happens, MPs are supposed to make a stand-alone statement to the House about what they said, why it was wrong, and what they should have said instead. Key didn’t do that at all. He just inserted a pathetic “meh” concession into an answer to a question. And the speaker diminished parliament by letting him get away with it.
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