political parties

The worst advice in the world

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:09 am, July 27th, 2013 - 113 comments

Well known Labour supporters John Armstrong and Fran O’Sullivan are bursting with advice for David Shearer. I’m sure they have the Left’s best interests at heart. O’Sullivan says Shearer must be more pro-capitalist. Armstrong says he needs to pick fights with the Greens. This is based on a premise that flies against the polling evidence that Labour is seen as too Left or too close to the Greens

GCSB Bill opposition heats up

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 10:21 am, July 26th, 2013 - 123 comments

The stop the GCSB Bill meeting in Auckland last night was well attended and had a series of high quality presentations made.  A series of protests are planned for this weekend.  Momentum is building …

A king is born: Long Live Inequality!

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:54 am, July 25th, 2013 - 87 comments

UK children born on the same day as the new prince will get a silver penny: but their lives will be vastly different.  Left foot Forward spells out the inequalities between these new born.  John Key gushes over the new prince, while his government slashes, burns and fuels inequalities.

Labour stands by 6A

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:12 am, July 25th, 2013 - 97 comments

The Employment Relations Act Part 6A ensures that jobs are transferred to a new contractor, on the same terms, if a firm is restructured. Naturally the Nats plan to abolish it.

Big Brother comes to Kindy

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 2:10 pm, July 22nd, 2013 - 36 comments

The Nats used to make a career out of faux “nanny state” hysteria. Now they want to ID number and track beneficiaries’ kids in pre-school. Paul Little warns of “the surveillance state that we are becoming”.

Poverty Watch 40

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:09 am, July 20th, 2013 - 10 comments

Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. This week, poverty and educational outcomes.

No free speech at convention centre

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:30 am, July 19th, 2013 - 51 comments

National’s dirty deal with Sky City includes the right for the government to ban groups it doesn’t like from booking the convention centre.

Free speech. Use it or lose it.

Sick bastards

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:07 am, July 18th, 2013 - 69 comments

The Nats resent every cent spent on welfare. They want our consent to keep “culling” people off it as fast as they can. They hope that they can get our consent by re-framing New Zealand’s social safety-net as – quite literally – a dangerous addiction. It is a ludicrous framing, equivalent to blaming the bandage for the wound.

Bridges can’t even lie straight in bed

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 8:51 pm, July 17th, 2013 - 60 comments

They say you can tell a pathological liar by the fact they’re no longer just lying about the big stuff, but start telling petty, irrelevant lies that hardly even seem worth it.

A tale of two housing policies

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:42 am, July 17th, 2013 - 48 comments

Houses are seriously unaffordable, especially for first-time buyers. Labour’s policy settings will help first-time buyers, the Reserve Bank under the current government is proposing tougher requirements that will make matters worse for them. Parties of the Left need to take this issue and run hard!

Dropping the pretense: Whanau Ora privatisation

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 7:34 am, July 17th, 2013 - 44 comments

So, Tariana Turia is finally dropping the pretense that Whanau Ora is anything but a scheme to privatise social assistance and put it in the hands of unaccountable private groups. Not content with funding family reunions and other bollocks, Turia is now handing the funding decisions to three private groups. Oh, and she doesn’t want them to be covered by the OIA.

Defending democracy – then and now

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:32 am, July 15th, 2013 - 17 comments

There have been strong and compelling criticisms of the Nats’ spying Bill, similar to the situation that occurred under the previous government with electoral finance. But the responses of the two governments are very different – and very revealing. Where Labour revised its errant Bill to address the criticisms, John Key has threatened the HRC with funding cuts. Predictably, the response of The Herald to the two cases has been very different too…

Truth no longer matters

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:15 am, July 14th, 2013 - 168 comments

A significant proportion of the media is now heavily invested in the narrative that David Shearer is about to be rolled as Labour leader. As Matt McCarten puts it today “Truth no longer matters” and “civil society is poorer for it”.

Knuckleheads – nothing to fear?

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:12 am, July 12th, 2013 - 51 comments

The knuckleheads (tm John Key) in the parliamentary press gallery are concerned about their privacy. Are they concerned about ours too?

GCSB – independent inquiry needed

Written By: karol - Date published: 12:35 pm, July 10th, 2013 - 32 comments

A full, independent inquiry of the GCSB is needed , as argued by the Green & Labour Parties, and politics lecturer Damien Rogers.  NZ First & Dunne – don’t support Key’s dodgy law changes! Key is masking political motives with spin and secrecy. [update]  Campbell Live tonight – must see viewing.