political parties

Shearer: Jobs that work for you

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 1:07 pm, October 18th, 2012 - 115 comments

This afternoon David Shearer gave a speech about jobs at the Hornby Workingman’s Club. It’s exactly the kind of speech I want to hear from the Labour leader, with plenty of substance to add weight to rhetoric.

Children of Men: money or our lives

Written By: karol - Date published: 11:30 am, October 18th, 2012 - 28 comments

Paid Parental Leave, Charter schools, compulsory early childhood education for beneficiaries: for NAct it’s all about money, and they use ‘shonky’ figures to justify their ‘shonkey’ policies and vetos. This is ostrich and patriarchal behaviour, ignoring the evidence of the wider benefits to communities and society of good quality child care, education and Paid Parental Leave.

Local Bodies: Our Vulnerable Less Safe Under National

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 1:25 pm, October 16th, 2012 - 7 comments

Dave Kennedy (bsprout) at Local Bodies writes on crime statistics and the vulnerable in our society.

Asset sales grind on

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 5:50 pm, October 15th, 2012 - 37 comments

Amidst all the current scandal and chaos, the Nats’ privatisation agenda grinds on.

‘What crisis?’ Rudderless ship, stormy seas

Written By: karol - Date published: 8:03 am, October 14th, 2012 - 133 comments

There is ample evidence of a deep and lasting crisis, but in the delusional world of Planet Key it doesn’t exist. The EPMU Job Crisis Summit opened a much needed conversation. Russel Norman likened the New Zealand economy to a rudderless sailing ship In Stormy Seas. Will the summit be the start of a sea change for NZ?

Shearer Says

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 10:45 am, October 13th, 2012 - 18 comments

David Shearer’s weekly e-newsletter, this week on Tiwai, jobs, and the manufacturing sector
We’re happy to post similar newsletters from other opposition leaders – our email is on our contact page.

Poverty Watch 7

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:23 am, October 13th, 2012 - 6 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, three good pieces on the recent Children’s Commisioner’s report, the Nats dither on food in schools, and much more…

Historic joint party Inquiry: Crisis in Manufacturing

Written By: karol - Date published: 3:07 pm, October 12th, 2012 - 43 comments

Today leaders of 3 opposition parties took part in an historic press conference. Winston Peters, David Shearer and Russel Norman jointly announced the launch of a parliamentary inquiry into the crisis in manufacturing. Update: Links to articles added. One News Video.

Time for change

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 10:02 am, October 12th, 2012 - 19 comments

Unions, businesses, and political parties will come together today to form a united front on the need for change to save manufacturing in New Zealand. If National want to stand isolated against the new consensus, that’s their problem.

Spreading privilege

Written By: Mike Smith - Date published: 8:27 am, October 12th, 2012 - 10 comments

This week I’ve been to see the surrealists at the Tate Modern in London, and read about the surrealists at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham. God knows what Cameron was talking about, with his line about spreading privilege – Knighthoods for all? Everybody off to Eton and Oxbridge?

The race to the bottom

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 11:45 am, October 11th, 2012 - 21 comments

Youth rates are an admission of economic failure.

Key’s snub to unions and workers

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 6:37 am, October 9th, 2012 - 99 comments

National promised us an “unrelenting focus on jobs” and delivered record highs in unemployment and emigration. Now Key is refusing to even attend a Union jobs summit, because on Planet Key everything is just fine. The unwillingness to admit that anything is wrong is just blind arrogance.

Greens call for new tools, QE to save jobs

Written By: James Henderson - Date published: 9:51 am, October 7th, 2012 - 328 comments

40,000 manufacturing jobs gone in four years. Manufactured exports in free-fall. Tourism revenue collapsing. If that’s not a crisis, what is? Why is the government going to do? Nothing. Nothing. On Q+A, Russel Norman put forward a solid proposal: lower the OCR, new tools to stop housing booms, and quantitative easing to pay for Christchurch […]

Poverty Watch 6

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:13 am, October 6th, 2012 - 7 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, immigrant Pacific Island families in poverty, and a thoughtful and challenging piece on the role of philanthropy in NZ.

Shearer Says

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 3:28 pm, October 5th, 2012 - 27 comments

David Shearer’s weekly e-newsletter, this week on trust, household incomes, and the brighter future.
We’re happy to post similar newsletters from other opposition leaders – our email is on our contact page.

Meanwhile back on Planet Earth

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:30 am, October 5th, 2012 - 18 comments

It’s now clear that National are unfit for office anywhere but Planet Key. Which is unfortunate, because here on Planet Earth, things aren’t going so well. We need new ideas, we need action, we need results. We aren’t going to get them from National.

Shane Jones: now pimping for Sealords

Written By: lprent - Date published: 11:34 am, October 3rd, 2012 - 26 comments

As Shane Jones makes a complete dick of himself in public yet again in a traditional display of Labour party backbench egotism. I’m left shaking my head at the apparent complete inability of the Labour caucus to settle down to the task of being an effective opposition.

Parata bungling inexcusable

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:36 am, October 3rd, 2012 - 74 comments

Parata is trying to close schools based on data that is (as even the Ministry now admits) massively incorrect. The attack on the social fabric of Christchurch was already inexcusable. This latest fiasco makes it even worse.

Polls get worse for National

Written By: James Henderson - Date published: 12:00 pm, October 1st, 2012 - 40 comments

The latest Roy Morgan poll has National at its lowest level of support since before the 2008 election

Roofpainter II: Son of the bride of the monster roof painter

Written By: QoT - Date published: 7:00 pm, September 30th, 2012 - 126 comments

David Shearer still doesn’t get why judging beneficiaries from across the road isn’t compatible with leading the Labour Party. QoT perseveres in trying to explain it to him, using short words.

‘Children of the Poor’ 1934 – 2012: Social Security for the Future?

Written By: karol - Date published: 11:04 am, September 30th, 2012 - 176 comments

Split Enz once sang, “History Never Repeats”… Or does it? Destructive prejudices separating ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor have been around a very long time. When the likes of Paula Bennett pander to such ill-informed vindictiveness with punitive social welfare reforms, they will damage large numbers of children – our future citizens.

Poverty Watch 5

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:20 am, September 29th, 2012 - 23 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, right wingers whine about the focus on poverty, 3 News and Kidscan try to do something about it.

Why the Left still needs feminism

Written By: QoT - Date published: 7:25 am, September 29th, 2012 - 280 comments

QoT has a shiny new author login and she’s not afraid to use it! And Labour? You definitely still need feminism.

Shearer Says

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 5:03 pm, September 28th, 2012 - 60 comments

David Shearer’s weekly e-newsletter, this week on privatisation, jobs, and Dotcom.
We’re happy to post similar newsletters from other opposition leaders – our email is on our contact page.

The cost of doing nothing

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 11:00 am, September 28th, 2012 - 34 comments

Another report confirms the findings of the 2006 Stern Report. The future economic costs of doing nothing far outweigh the current costs of taking action on climate change. But National is taking us backwards…

Ombudsman: Government secrecy “highly dangerous”

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:17 am, September 28th, 2012 - 31 comments

The Chief Ombudsmen has attacked the government’s moves to keep official information secret, calling them “highly dangerous”. The ongoing GCSB and John Banks scandals show just how important it is to be able to hold the government – at all levels – to account.

Implausible deniability

Written By: Mike Smith - Date published: 10:11 pm, September 26th, 2012 - 16 comments

There’s a lot of it about in right-wing parties at the moment. For John Key, John Banks and David Cameron it appears to be becoming the strategy of choice. It’s not working very well for any of them.

If it is broke, then fix it

Written By: lprent - Date published: 11:29 am, September 26th, 2012 - 71 comments

Colin James writes good political analysis. His ODT article from yesterday resonates with me. It is time to look for a new economic model as we watch “..central banks – supposed to epitomise the straight and narrow – print money like 17th century monarchs.” as they recirculate the stupidities of the past like any National government.

ImperatorFish: Blame Labour

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 12:30 pm, September 25th, 2012 - 11 comments

National has a plan to deal with their crisis of job losses, GCSB illegality and bad polls. Tomorrow will probably see another welfare crackdown, although with the number of groups left to target rapidly diminishing, could it be the turn of one-legged Dutchmen to feel Paula’s wrath?
But if that plan doesn’t work, National has another up its sleeve: blame Labour. Go on, sing along.

The losses keep coming

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 12:08 pm, September 24th, 2012 - 54 comments

Welcome to National’s economy: Kiwirail has just announced 158 infrastructure and engineering job losses, and this afternoon Solid Energy will probably announce the loss of 300 jobs at Spring Creek, and 200-250 elsewhere. This on top of the swathe of job losses in Huntly and Christchurch Solid Energy announced a month ago.