political parties

If Wong stays an MP will she be welcome in National?

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 8:40 am, November 17th, 2010 - 79 comments

The latest revelation in the Pansy Wong saga is a Chinese newspaper article where she, as Minister, endorses her husband’s company’s product. John Key says that it would be a sacking offence were she a minister but its up to her if she resigns from Parliament. Here’s a question then: is he going to let this corrupt MP remain in his party’s caucus?

Finlayson losing it

Written By: r0b - Date published: 7:08 am, November 17th, 2010 - 92 comments

Is the interminable tangled mess of the foreshore and seabed issue getting to Chris Finlayson? Something certainly is, because he’s clearly losing it. For the Treaty Negotiations Minister to tell a group of Maori protesters to “go to hell” is about as idiotic as it gets.

Criminal procedure bill

Written By: r0b - Date published: 7:32 am, November 16th, 2010 - 65 comments

Simon Power yesterday introduced the new “Criminal Procedure (Reform and Modernisation) Bill” to Parliament, touting it as “the biggest change to the criminal justice system in 50 years”. It certainly is that. It proposes doing away with trial by jury for a significant range of offences. It proposes allowing a trial to go ahead without the defendant present. In other words, it looks like yet another attack on fundamental rights…

Worse than I imagined

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 8:31 pm, November 15th, 2010 - 98 comments

We learn from rort-buster Pete Hodgson that Pansy Wong and her husband have been running private companies out of her taxpayer-funded electorate office. I don’t see how she can remain in Parliament now. Who set and enforced the standards that have seen so many ministers involved in rorts? There’s only one person to point the finger at: Key

Hard core drunk drivers

Written By: r0b - Date published: 9:01 am, November 15th, 2010 - 32 comments

The Key government doesn’t want to act on advice that would reduce deaths due to drunk drivers. The latest tactic is an attempt to divert attention to the worst “hard core” offenders. This is “ambulance at the bottom of the cliff” foolishness. Why wait until we have problem drunk drivers and then try and pick up the pieces? Wouldn’t it be better to try and prevent people from becoming problem drivers in the first place?

What was that squeak?

Written By: Michael Foxglove - Date published: 12:05 pm, November 14th, 2010 - 31 comments

According to Radio NZ “Mr Dunne criticised the Labour Party’s approach to MMP politics and its relationship with the Green Party.”

I’m sure Labour are shaking in their boots from Mr Dunne’s criticism.

Perhaps “Mr 0.87%” should draw some focus here. He was marginally ahead of a joke last election. Literally. The Bill and Ben Party was polled just behind Mr Dunne. Let’s hope someone steps on that Tory squeek next election.

Government cuts bite back

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 6:42 am, November 13th, 2010 - 26 comments

So our kiwifruit industry is in peril. PSA may be here to stay, vines may start being burnt today, and a $1.36 billion industry is in trouble. Last year National sacked 54 front-line biosecurity staff, and slashed the budgets by millions. The PSA (Public Service Association) warned at the time that inevitably disease and pests […]

David Suzuki and the Paradigm of Growth

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 10:50 pm, November 12th, 2010 - 27 comments

Dr David Suzuki has given the keynote speech at the Green Party Conference on Sustainable Economics. Here is a fantastic presentation of his, about why our obsession with economic growth is suicidal. Watch it – it’s pretty powerful stuff.

Captain Potty Mouth

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 12:06 pm, November 11th, 2010 - 27 comments

The PM’s Chief Press Secretary Kevin Taylor thinks he’s above those who are actually elected. So much so he feels free to tell journalists that an elected Member, who represents the people of New Zealand who voted for him, is a “fuckwit” and that they can “quote him”. Or perhaps “Captain Panic Pants” will claim that it’s just the pressure getting to him.

Nats bullying schools again

Written By: r0b - Date published: 11:08 am, November 11th, 2010 - 61 comments

The latest Nat campaign to stifle those who speak out against them is in full swing. A report that a “Third of rebel schools appear to soften stance on standards” goes on to note the bullying tactics being used against schools to achieve this “compliance”. These tactics have already caused a senior Ministry official in the Auckland region to refuse to participate in the harassment of schools in protest.

The other great tax lie

Written By: r0b - Date published: 8:47 am, November 10th, 2010 - 11 comments

The Budget 2010 tax cuts for the rich were supposed to be paid for by magical extra growth. But the growth isn’t happening and the government now has a $2.2 billion shortfall in income. So the tax cuts aren’t “broadly neutral” at all. We’re paying for them with borrowing. Is that “Ambitious for New Zealand”?

National – No Friend to Women

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 2:44 pm, November 9th, 2010 - 45 comments

The gender pay gap is increasing by about 1 percentage point each year under Pansy Wong’s watch – it’s now 13%. And a new report out shows women’s level of participation in key leadership areas is static or falling. Female unemployment had passed 7 percent for the first time in 12 years. National’s policies equate to an attack on women.

Brave whistleblower in Ministry of Education

Written By: r0b - Date published: 1:54 pm, November 9th, 2010 - 73 comments

An education blog reports a revolt in the Ministry of Education, with a senior official in the Auckland region refusing to bully schools over national standards. That is well and bravely done. So much easier to keep your head down and “just follow orders”. But these orders are very very wrong.

Children bigger than politics

Written By: r0b - Date published: 7:21 am, November 8th, 2010 - 35 comments

Shame on those who put politics above the well-being of children. Pity those who wallow so intensively in the mud of politics that they are unable to see any issue in other than political terms. Shame and pity on those, like National’s pet blogger DPF, who are prepared to advocate a system likely to damage children because all they can see is politics. They can’t see the evidence. They can’t see the children. Only the game.

New Left Party?

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:20 am, November 7th, 2010 - 209 comments

The rumour mill has been buzzing since a couple of commenters here let slip about Matt McCarten’s run in the Mana by-election. Word around the traps is the campaign will be used to launch a new Left Party with McCarten, Hone Harawira, Sue Bradford and others. It’s an exciting possibility.

The Google poll

Written By: r0b - Date published: 7:43 am, November 7th, 2010 - 23 comments

It seems that in American elections there is an almost perfect correspondence between some candidates’ opinion polling and their current search volume on Google. Can we do away with political opinion polls? Sounds interesting doesn’t it. A quick check shows that the relative frequency of searches for “National party” and “Labour party” predicted the result of the 2008 election. What other tricks can we try?

Neoliberal dominoes

Written By: r0b - Date published: 9:55 am, November 6th, 2010 - 51 comments

According to some, the very definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. In economic terms the world, and NZ, have been doing the same neoliberal economic agenda over and over for the last 30 years. It hasn’t worked. It’s time for a change…

Game over Tolley

Written By: r0b - Date published: 7:03 am, November 5th, 2010 - 161 comments

Anne Tolley has lost the debate on national standards. The boycott looks set to gather strength, and even The Herald has come out against them. The empirical evidence, academic consensus and weight of professional opinion has always been against standards. The only ones still defending them are hacks and shills pushing a political agenda.

National’s Privatisation Agenda Continues

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 9:17 am, November 4th, 2010 - 25 comments

National are continuing their privatisation by stealth. Hospitals services and a new prison are the current targets. Tony Ryall, Judith Collins and Bill English are the ministers currently pushing their ideology in their respective areas.

Labour and Greens lead on transparency

Written By: r0b - Date published: 7:30 am, November 3rd, 2010 - 12 comments

Last week Speaker Lockwood Smith rolled back transparency on MPs expenses, by making travel spending secret again. John Key came out “against” the move. Yesterday Labour and the Greens called his bluff by releasing their details. Over to you John, once again you’re too late to lead, but you can still follow…

Charging for the foreshore

Written By: r0b - Date published: 1:32 pm, November 2nd, 2010 - 9 comments

I don’t know about you, but I have certainly been confused about ACT’s move to insert a last-minute clause into the new Marine and Coastal Areas (Takutai Moana) Bill (proposed replacement for the Foreshore and Seabed Act). Canterbury legal academic David Round sets out some of the issues involved. With deep divisions within Maoridom, and a growing conservative backlash, this mess isn’t going away any time soon…

Broadband deal illegal?

Written By: r0b - Date published: 7:08 pm, November 1st, 2010 - 10 comments

Are Joyce’s plans for a regulatory holiday on the proposed ultra-fast fibre broadband network a violation of international legal commitments? InternetNZ says yes. Joyce says no. Labour’s Clare Curren accuses the Nats of “disregard for NZ law, legal trade obligations and public scrutiny”.

Turia vs the Maori Party Left

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 12:00 pm, November 1st, 2010 - 41 comments

The problem with any identity-based political movement is it pre-supposes that the common identity of its members surpasses their conflicting class interests. This has been brought to the head at the Maori Party national conference as Tariana Turia angrily denounced criticism of the Maori elite from the Left faction.

National’s Broken Promises

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 8:34 am, November 1st, 2010 - 18 comments

National are a land of broken promises – from GST rises and tax cuts to falling wages and attacks on education. Here’s my list – help me with any I’ve forgotten.

On the foreshore

Written By: r0b - Date published: 3:21 pm, October 30th, 2010 - 11 comments

Seems like the Maori Party conference is off to a rocky start. Likely to get even rockier as they move on to the main event today, the vexed issue of the foreshore and seabed. The differences between the existing Act and the proposed replacement Bill are mostly symbolic. Is a symbolic change enough for the Maori Party?

Going backwards with National

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 11:59 am, October 29th, 2010 - 34 comments

It takes a lot to screw up a great country like New Zealand. It can’t be done overnight. But if you’re really negligent, anti-worker, and focused on hand outs to the rich, you can start to make things worse pretty quickly. Let’s look at the key measures of National’s performance, according to their own criteria:

Tolley twisting on education

Written By: r0b - Date published: 8:02 am, October 29th, 2010 - 26 comments

According to a recent piece in The Herald: “Education Minister Anne Tolley said a recognition that New Zealand’s education was the best in the world did not rule out reform.” Reform may not be ruled out. But charging ahead with untested, unwanted, and probably damaging national standards certainly is. Where is the case for them, if our education system is so good?

The best country money can buy

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 12:35 pm, October 28th, 2010 - 97 comments

Today, the Hobbit Enabling Act will be slammed through Parliament by National removing the right of employees working in the film industry to get employment rights if their contract calls them a contractor. It’s the latest in a series of anti-democratic laws that show National is the party of big business, not democracy and ordinary Kiwis.

Harawira off foreshore committee

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:06 am, October 28th, 2010 - 7 comments

Select committees are very important. They take Bills after first reading, hear submissions, and recommend alterations. Ministers do not (usually) sit on them and they are not meant to be mere rubber stamps for the government. But Harawira’s removal from the foreshore committee shows this government doesn’t care about good lawmaking.

Matt McCarten standing in Mana

Written By: r0b - Date published: 2:07 pm, October 27th, 2010 - 96 comments

Matt McCarten is chucking his hat into the ring for the Mana by election. This is a typically gutsy move by McCarten, but a third candidate on the left simply isn’t going to find the space for a win. My guess is that he will split the Green vote. But with Key quietly campaigning in Mana, Labour needs to stay on top of their game. Labour activists — with greetings and thanks to you all — get out there and give it all you have!…

Tax Cuts or High Wages?

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 9:00 am, October 27th, 2010 - 17 comments

At the last election we chose tax cuts and unemployment instead of stimulus and stability – which was the more ambitious, high wage way to go?

National are not fulfilling their government’s core reason for existence: closing the wage gap with Australia. No, we’re fast going backwards on that score, and it’s predictable: high unemployment causes low wages.