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Dirty politics past and present

Written By: Natwatch - Date published: 12:42 pm, November 17th, 2016 - 63 comments

A couple of dirty politics related stories that slipped under the radar in the last hectic week.

Fear and loathing in Mt Roskill

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 2:17 pm, November 12th, 2016 - 69 comments

Members of the National Party in Mount Roskill are trying to make a story out of Michael Wood after he responded directly to public insults made against his wife.

Andrew Little: Winning together

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 8:12 am, November 4th, 2016 - 167 comments

In advance of the Labour Party conference this weekend Andrew Little’s message is that the polls are neck and neck, that Labour is winning on many issues and that if we work together the left can win the next election.

Sheepgate: Government celebrates finding that McCully is not corrupt

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 6:01 pm, November 2nd, 2016 - 58 comments

The Auditor General’s report into Sheepgate has been released and there has to be questions about the accuracy of what Murray McCully has told Parliament and his ability to fullfil his role as a Minister.

Kiwibank is being privatised by stealth

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:37 am, November 2nd, 2016 - 31 comments

Kiwibank is selling 47% of its shareholding to the New Zealand Super Fund and to the Accident Compensation Corporation. The Government gets a cheque for $200 million which will improve the appearance of its books. Financial sleight of hand?

Labour’s Auckland light rail announcement

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:38 am, October 31st, 2016 - 87 comments

National is criticising Labour for releasing policy during an election campaign.

Darren Watson 2 John Key 0

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:03 am, October 21st, 2016 - 140 comments

The Court of Appeal has ruled that Darren Watson’s Planet Key song should not have been banned during the 2014 election campaign.

One Billion Dollars

Written By: Ben Clark - Date published: 1:57 pm, October 18th, 2016 - 6 comments

Treasury papers just released show National’s Housing Infrastructure Fund to be everything you expected it to be: a quickly cobbled together headline.

There goes the surplus

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:00 am, October 18th, 2016 - 58 comments

The media last week reported extensively an operating surplus of $1.8 billion dollars. But they missed the not so good news that the value of ACC’s assets took a $5.1 billion hit, the Super Fund lost $2 billion, the Crown’s liability under the ETS increased by $1.5 billion and net Crown debt increased by $1.3 billion.

‘Too busy’

Written By: Ben Clark - Date published: 12:16 pm, October 17th, 2016 - 61 comments

National ministers have a habit of not wanting to turn up to the ‘hard’ questions, but Paula Bennett has been severely caught out by RNZ

Housing Corp is running out of money

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:42 am, October 13th, 2016 - 38 comments

Housing Corporation is forecast to run out of money by next February if urgent action is not taken.

I see a poverty of ideas and a poverty of Government responsibility

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:35 am, October 13th, 2016 - 210 comments

Judith Collins yesterday said that child poverty is the fault of parents and not the fault of her Government.

Government announces watered down version of Labour’s Kiwibuild policy

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 10:04 am, October 12th, 2016 - 82 comments

National is borrowing another Labour-Green policy and has announced a lite version of Labour’s Kiwibuild policy.

The crime spike

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:30 am, October 12th, 2016 - 24 comments

Who would have thought that a surge in homelessness would result in a spike in crime, and that a dramatic increase in the number of people with no or compromised housing situations would cause an increase in burglaries, robberies and assaults.

Racist Nats Attack Chinese Grannies Shock!

Written By: te reo putake - Date published: 9:00 am, October 12th, 2016 - 67 comments

National have slammed the door shut on the parents of already settled migrants who wish to move to NZ to complete the family unit. Minister Michael Woodhouse accuses elderly Asians of bludging off the NZ taxpayer. You won’t believe the howls of outrage from the right!

The Chief Prison Inspector’s report on Serco and MECF

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:30 am, October 7th, 2016 - 46 comments

The Chief Prison Inspector’s report on Mount Eden Corrections Facility has now been released and has presented a damning judgment on Serco’s management of the prison.

Cronyism

Written By: Ben Clark - Date published: 9:51 am, September 29th, 2016 - 70 comments

So Paula Bennett has been giving a lolly scramble to her National mates with the Rules Reduction Taskforce.

Which is fine, because the Taskforce did great work in finding out that the ‘loopy’ rule of lolly scrambles being illegal wasn’t in fact true.

Ombudsman to investigate John Key’s dirty politics communications

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:42 am, September 27th, 2016 - 91 comments

The Ombudsman is to investigate John Key’s failure to disclose communications with David Farrar and Cameron Slater

Maori Party to make a stand?

Written By: Ben Clark - Date published: 2:45 pm, September 15th, 2016 - 113 comments

The Maori Party are threatening to pull out of their confidence & supply agreement with National. This would leave National with a Hair-thin majority in the House. The Kermadec Sanctuary, if handled with competence instead of arrogance, should have been a massive win for National.

New Zealand is a socialist nirvana *

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:45 am, September 13th, 2016 - 65 comments

* at least according to David Seymour.

Chloe King – John Key, I am a low waged worker, and neither “lazy” nor “drug addled”

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 2:39 pm, September 9th, 2016 - 254 comments

Blogger and social activist Chloe King, one of the hundreds of thousands of low waged workers in this country was devastated by John Key’s comments suggesting that she and others were lazy and had no work ethic. This is her response.

We’re Number 1!

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 1:30 pm, September 8th, 2016 - 16 comments

Already number 4 for housing unaffordability, we’re now number 1 for house price rises!

National loses control of Parliament

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:37 am, September 8th, 2016 - 111 comments

It may have been brief and passing but yesterday National lost control of Parliament. And it was all their own fault.

Government seeking to remove property buy back rights under urgency

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 4:38 pm, September 6th, 2016 - 13 comments

Nick Smith has introduced a bill into Parliament which he wants to be passed under urgency without select committee oversight. The bill takes away the right of any prior owner of land taken under the Public Works Act to have housing land offered back to them. To do this under urgency is banana republic stuff.

Only unsustainable net migration fuels “growth”

Written By: lprent - Date published: 10:22 am, September 2nd, 2016 - 107 comments

Our National dipshit ministers have decided to start a new growth industry. They importing low-skilled to extract their savings, using them to generate artificial heat in the service economy and to slow wage growth. On the way through they’re also screwing the housing market. Our current net permanent long-term migration is completely unsustainable. Perhaps it is time to vote NZ First?