political parties

NRT: Catherine Isaac’s crony appointment

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 9:58 am, April 30th, 2012 - 6 comments

The indefatigable Idiot/Savant at NRT has been looking at the appointment of Isacc to head the Charter School Working Group. It seems to have been conducted with all the professionalism and integrity that we have come to expect of ACT.

Policy for Money?

Written By: Mike Smith - Date published: 9:50 pm, April 29th, 2012 - 13 comments

Party donations for the 2011 general election will be published on Tuesday . One new provision in the Act provides for the declaration of the number of donations in two bands; $1500 to $5,000, and up to $15,000. It will be very interesting to see the number of upper level donations in National and ACT particularly. They could hide Banks-type split donations from asset-sale backers.

Rumours just the usual mischief

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 1:08 pm, April 28th, 2012 - 38 comments

It’s understandable that the right wingers, feeling a bit punch drunk from the factional succession squabble going on in National, would try and distract attention by spreading some mischievous rumors. Good to see them officially laid to rest.

Collins’ in pokies for convention centre deal – in 2001

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 6:55 am, April 26th, 2012 - 11 comments

The Herald’s revealed that, in 2001, Judith Collins, as chair of the Casino Control Authority, rubber-stamped a ‘pokies for convention centre’ deal with SkyCity. This triggered the then Labour Government limit the number of pokies by statute. Now, the Nats are doing another dirty deal with the cancer in Auckland’s heart but, thanks to Labour, they can’t do it on the quiet.

ImperatorFish: Booze-busting Banks Divides ACT

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 2:42 pm, April 24th, 2012 - 3 comments

Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here.
A bitter fight has erupted within the ACT Party over the decision by leader John Banks to vote against keeping the alcohol purchasing age at 18.

Key ignored advice to hike SkyCity levy

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 8:43 am, April 24th, 2012 - 27 comments

Since 2004, the government has collected a problem gambling levy from all types of licenced gambling. The levy on SkyCity’s casinos is half what it is on pokies in pubs. In 2010, officials recommended a rebalancing – more on TAB, Lotto, and casinos, less on pub pokies. The Nats picked up the recommendations with one exception – SkyCity’s levy didn’t increase.

Gaming industry whistleblower

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:21 am, April 23rd, 2012 - 8 comments

Very interesting article on Stuff yesterday, about ex cop Martin Legge and the information that he has on the practices of the gaming industry in NZ. Someone is trying to sweep this case under the carpet. They shouldn’t get away with it.

SkyCity’s convention centre would need $10m+ subsidies – MED

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 12:06 am, April 22nd, 2012 - 46 comments

Key’s selling our gambling law to SkyCity in return for a convention centre with no government capital contribution. But, MED says, we would be subsidising that convention centre with $10m for starters. Plus marketing costs. And, then, ongoing subsidies both if convention numbers fall short and as a kickback when it does host conventions.

Sold out

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 11:58 am, April 20th, 2012 - 107 comments

As expected, the Nats kept on pushing until they got the answer that they wanted on the Crafar farms. A bit more of NZ has been sold out…

Key should resign over ‘faith-based’ government

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 10:38 am, April 20th, 2012 - 30 comments

Key’s reasoning for not calling a halt to the business case study for an international convention centre was that he had already decided it was a good idea. Therefore, there was no need for a business case to determine whether it was a good idea. What is this? Faith-based government? The truth is Key’ intervention was all about doing favours for mates.

Ideological blindness on education

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:33 am, April 18th, 2012 - 49 comments

The Nats are determined to ignore the evidence on the harm caused by charter schools, just as they are ignoring evidence on the damage done by national standards. This willingness to harm kids, as incidental pawns in their ideological games, really pisses me off.

SkyCity’s incoherent excuses

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:21 am, April 18th, 2012 - 82 comments

Yesterday we were treated to a bizarrely incoherent media blurt from SkyCity. I guess trying to defend the indefensible is taking its toll.

Brain drain getting younger

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:24 am, April 15th, 2012 - 82 comments

Oh great. Now we’re losing Kiwis overseas straight out of high school…

Another asset sale lie

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:10 am, April 14th, 2012 - 99 comments

The Nats promised to sell no more than 49% of any given state owned assert. Now they’re trying to get cute with semantics and effectively remove all limits.

Unfortunately for them their previous promises are on record and very clear. Hey Peter Dunne – are you going to vote for this latest lie?

Nash to depart

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 11:49 am, April 13th, 2012 - 115 comments

Looks like Stuart Nash is going to quit as Shearer’s chief of staff and return to Napier. He has 2 solid reasons to do so: his 3 month old and beating Tremain in 2014. What worries me is the machinations behind this show some in Labour are more focused on internal politics than improving Labour’s performance against National. Put it another way, I think the odds of our first gay PM just grew.

A(nother) bad day for the dynamic duo

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:05 am, April 13th, 2012 - 40 comments

It was a bad day yesterday for the ‘heavy hitters’ of the Collins faction, Slater and Lusk. First, Ports of Auckland admitted supplying them with a workers’ private details. Then, the smear on the Meatworkers that they had orchestrated with Talley’s was shot down by the SFO in record time. Finally, Michelle Boag gave them a public serve on RNZ, fueling civil war talk.

Choices, choices: Farrar seeks parental leave funding

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 7:27 am, April 13th, 2012 - 42 comments

Last week, David Farrar demanded to know where the government is getting $62m for youth mental health services… Actually he didn’t (they’re stealing it from other health funding) but he is demanding Labour explains where it would get $125m a year for extending paid parental leave. I guess he just really wants to make sure it’s feasible. Lets help him out with some options

Consultancy blowout

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:16 am, April 12th, 2012 - 34 comments

In opposition the Nats were critical of Labour’s spending on consultants. Thanks to Keith Ng we now have some figures on sending under the Nat government. Guess what…

Vetoing democracy

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 8:19 am, April 12th, 2012 - 47 comments

Parliament is supposed to be the sovereign body in our government. So, how come the Executive has an unchallengeable power to veto any legislation it chooses? As I/S explains, the roots of the financial veto go back to when Parliament was a servant of the Crown, but its legislative justification has been repealed. Time to drop the archaic, undemocratic financial veto.

Choices, choices: parental leave too expensive?

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 6:40 am, April 11th, 2012 - 190 comments

The Rightwhingers are saying extending parental leave is too expensive. We’re talking about a tiny sliver of government spending – 0.2% to be precise. And a tiny fraction of what the government is borrowing. If money is really so tight, there’s plenty of poor quality decisions that National could reverse first.

Grubby politics

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:32 am, April 10th, 2012 - 8 comments

Cronyism. The politicisation of the public service. Internal power struggles. It’s all just grubby Nat politics as usual. Why do we put up with it?

Nat Civil War: The perils of monolithism

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 7:15 am, April 10th, 2012 - 63 comments

Despite losing nearly 1 in 4 of its supporters, 300,000 voters, in a little over 6 months according to the Roy Morgans, National’s 44% still looks superficially impressive. Until you realise they need to be able to form a majority more or less alone. The Right’s monolithism doesn’t just place extraordinary demands on National’s leader, it’s the root of the current civil war.

Both sides of Joyce’s dirty deal bad for NZ

Written By: James Henderson - Date published: 4:50 pm, April 8th, 2012 - 89 comments

We know that giving SkyCity more pokie machines will mean more problem gamblers, more crime. The Right says it’s worth it for the convention centre. But the official numbers show that’s a dog and we would pay for it in the long-run. It’s not one side of this equation that is bad for New Zealand, it’s both.

Will the Greens lead the next government?

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:20 am, April 8th, 2012 - 195 comments

Two recent pieces in The Herald draw opposite conclusions from recent polls (one of them, alas, is drivel). Matt McCarten asks if National’s free fall, and the rise of the Greens, foreshadows a Green led government in 2014…

Nat Civil War: Collins faction turns on Key

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 1:04 pm, April 7th, 2012 - 119 comments

There’s series of posts from Simon Lusk on Whaleoil showing the Collins faction taking a distinctly anti-Key line for the first time. Key’s signaled he won’t go easily and he screwed Collins on the defamation suits.. And the polls show he won’t win a third term.

NRT: Voting against democracy

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 9:30 am, April 7th, 2012 - 14 comments

No Right Turn on another sad chapter for democracy in NZ.

Another “Zero budget”

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:34 am, April 6th, 2012 - 72 comments

Another “Zero budget” has been signaled. Some commentators think it’s a bold move. I beg to differ.

The Green Party mining our future community tour

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 12:29 pm, April 5th, 2012 - 77 comments

Green Party MPs Catherine Delahunty and Gareth Hughes invite you to a series of hui to discuss the Government’s broad “drill it, mine it” agenda for Aotearoa – what’s happening, what does it mean to our environment and communities and how do we stop it.

The lie of the “fiscally neutral” tax cuts

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 3:50 pm, April 4th, 2012 - 46 comments

The “fiscally neutral” tax cuts never were neutral at all, and a lower than expected tax take is hitting the government’s books. But Key is still out there repeating the lie.

Collins’ last stand

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 6:55 pm, April 2nd, 2012 - 46 comments

It looks like Collin’s has got herself into a bind with her defamation case and Key’s not gonna get her out.

And why would he? Her flailing offers an excellent distraction from the real PR damage of this dispute – the fact his government is only interested in looking after its mates.