political parties

Key & Banks chatted about rolling Brash?

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 8:44 pm, November 14th, 2011 - 102 comments

The tea tape didn’t interest me at first. Nats’ reaction seemed over the top but would Key and Banks be so stupid to discuss anything sensitive in a public cafe metres from the press mob? But then Key went to the cops. This said the Nats were really worried. It can only be something that cuts to the heart of Brand Key’s greatest weakness: Key’s honesty.

InvisiNats: Bill English

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 1:02 pm, November 14th, 2011 - 17 comments

Key is avoiding the hard questions, but his photo-op face is everywhere. The rest of the Nats are working hard at being invisible. Let’s bring a little sunlight into that darkness!

Today’s InvisiNat is Bill English.

Oram on the Nats’ ‘plan’

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:17 am, November 14th, 2011 - 39 comments

New Zealand has drifted under National for 3 years. They came to power with a plan they developed years earlier at the peak of the good times: cut taxes, sell assets, build roads. They haven’t altered that plan despite the weakest ‘recovery’ in history, no jobs, record borrowing, and the dark clouds on the economic horizon. Rod Oram fillets them

Labour moves on slave fishing

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:42 am, November 14th, 2011 - 15 comments

Labour’s fisheries policy will phase-in a requirement for fishing vessels to be at least 50% Kiwi-crewed and at least 50% of processing would have to occur here. Good start. It’s our fish – it should be harvested sustainably to create Kiwi jobs with fair pay and adequate conditions. The shame of slave fishing has to be ended.

Epsom: spit or swallow?

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 8:59 am, November 14th, 2011 - 66 comments

Oh to be an Epsom voter – what an enviable menu of options you have. A National candidate who cares so much about the electorate that he goes to extraordinary lengths to discourage people from voting for him, or a racist former National politician soundly rejected by all of Auckland after a dismal ‘Supercity’ mayoralty who’s actively campaigning to undermine his own racist former National politician party leader.

What a shonkey farce!

Three lies in one

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 7:38 am, November 14th, 2011 - 4 comments

Wave goodbye to higher taxes. Not your loved ones.

Choose a Brighter Future. Derp de derp.

This is what John Key was promising last election – before he came to power, raised GST, and record numbers of kiwis left New Zealand permanently for a brighter future in Australia.

Nats fail own asset sales tests

Written By: James Henderson - Date published: 6:29 am, November 14th, 2011 - 67 comments

Labour’s David Cunliffe put out a press release judging National’s proposed asset sales programme by the 5 tests that Key laid down in an effort to reassure us that sales would only go ahead if they made sense and were good for the country. Cunliffe’s analysis shows asset sales clearly fail the Nats’ own tests. The only reason to go ahead is blind ideology.

Creating opportunities

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:14 am, November 13th, 2011 - 16 comments

The Nats admit that they’ve failed to close the gap between rich and poor. In fact, of course, it’s getting worse. Bill English says they’ve “created opportunities”, which is Tory speak for doing nothing at all.

State house evictions

Written By: Mike Smith - Date published: 5:50 pm, November 12th, 2011 - 54 comments

In 2005 Labour wrote to State House tenants with a warning “Don’t let National sell your house.” We were criticised for scaring people. Now Tamaki residents have got the real letters. And the boot. Same old National.

A cold cup of tea

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 1:23 pm, November 12th, 2011 - 15 comments

Well, that was a let down. The much-hyped ‘cup of tea’ climaxed in Key saying that he would be voting for Goldsmith but he “wouldn’t be unhappy” if other Epsom voters back Banks. A double negative? Hardly a ringing endorsement. I think it’s too little, too late, for a man and a party that are too unpopular. All Key has done is tie his brand to extremists.

Those nice men in suits

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 8:18 am, November 12th, 2011 - 16 comments

Banks & Peters

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 4:34 pm, November 11th, 2011 - 46 comments

So the meeting has taken place, and Epsom has been asked to hold its nose and vote for failed Nat retread John Banks, and with him on his coat tails failed Nat retread Don Brash. Nice one. In other news, Winston Peters is riding a boost in the polls all the way to the televised minor parties leaders’ debate. The Nats will be spitting.

Democracy in action

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 1:22 pm, November 11th, 2011 - 20 comments

A cup of tea and a lie down

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 8:00 am, November 11th, 2011 - 34 comments

hattip: the jackal

Two headlines to ponder

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 4:18 pm, November 10th, 2011 - 60 comments

IEA: World is hurtling toward irreversible climate change

Government shifts to ETS go-slow

Discuss…

Jobs for the boys, and girls

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 12:06 pm, November 10th, 2011 - 37 comments

The greatest threat to Banks: Brash (& that story)

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 10:50 am, November 10th, 2011 - 39 comments

John Banks says the brand he is campaigning for in Epsom is ‘Brand Key’, not ACT. Epsomites don’t want three-time loser Don Brash but it’s unavoidably true that a vote for Banks is a vote for Brash. This is leading to a further unattractive debacle as Banks tries to distance himself from his leader, who he’s trying to get into parliament.

200,000 children abandoned so already rich can get richer

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 7:31 am, November 10th, 2011 - 52 comments

How many children is 200,000 in the context of New Zealand’s population? Statistics New Zealand says between June 2008-2011 around 62-64,000 children were born each year. So 200,000 amounts to every single child born in this country since National came to power three years ago, plus another 10,000 or so.

John Key’s mirror trust

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 8:19 am, November 9th, 2011 - 76 comments

All these things operate underground. There are two near identical pairs. But only one of these things is really not like the other. Let’s not forget John Key’s mirror trust that let’s him keep an eye on the investments that are supposed to be held in a blind trust while he’s PM.

Are we a caring country?

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:02 am, November 9th, 2011 - 125 comments

Nothing separates the political Right and Left like their attitude to welfare. The difference is very starkly highlighted in the recent policies from National and Labour. Which approach better serves the children of New Zealand? How much do we care?

John Key’s Top Ten

Written By: Ben Clark - Date published: 5:01 pm, November 8th, 2011 - 79 comments

Not as much fun as a Letterman Top Ten, but here’s John Key’s vital statistics – his record to be judged on. (h/t Phil Goff…)

“Stable” ACT

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 1:37 pm, November 8th, 2011 - 39 comments

Key seems to want ACT to beg even more for his endorsement in Epsom. No wonder their hard working supporter is getting a bit tetchy. But as for ACT being “very stable” – WTF?

Labour on the environment

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 10:59 am, November 8th, 2011 - 38 comments

I was going to write about the release of Labour’s environmental policy – and the resounding silence from National – but NRT has done a great job aleady.

Penguin: Key lies to help us

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 8:40 am, November 8th, 2011 - 30 comments

Yes, that’s an actual quote [sans ‘serfs’] from David Farrar lying about his master John Key’s lies about not raising GST.

hattip: frank macskasy

Economic credibility – mote and beam

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:11 am, November 8th, 2011 - 20 comments

The focus of attention has moved on to costing the policies, promises and projections of the major parties. The Nats’ are desperate to have the media focus stay on the mote in Labour’s eye, and ignore the beam in their own. In the interests of informed choice, let’s hear both sides of the story…

Show me the policy

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 12:05 pm, November 7th, 2011 - 51 comments

We’re three weeks out from the election, and there’s something funny going on. National has hardly any policy out. Parties typically go into an election with a pretty comprehensive lineup of policy covering a very wide range of issues. Do the Nats really not have any plans, or are they just keeping them quiet to win a second term?

Greens go red, Labour goes green

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 10:08 am, November 7th, 2011 - 67 comments

We live in a time of inter-related crises of the environment and the capitalist economic system. So, I guess it’s not surprising to see Labour becoming more environmentally aware at the same time as the Greens propose economic policies that would normally be out of Labour’s playbook. Don’t worry about them becoming too alike, welcome the solid platform for a new government.

John Key puts truth on 90 day term deposit

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 7:50 am, November 7th, 2011 - 46 comments

hattip William Joyce

A footnote to history

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 3:06 pm, November 6th, 2011 - 30 comments

In which which Winston Peters rules out working with any possible government. Not that it matters, but, way to make your party irrelevant Winston.

Nats’ $11b budget hole

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 10:52 am, November 6th, 2011 - 160 comments

Last year and the year before, the portions of the assets National wants to sell paid over $400 million in dividends. Labour estimates lost dividends from those assets would total $11 billion by 2026. That’s an $11 billion hole in National’s budgets they haven’t accounted for. When will National front up and show us the money?