political parties

Gilmore’s fake CV

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:12 am, October 8th, 2010 - 49 comments

Aaron Gilmore became an MP in 2008 by a hair’s breadth. Something like 40 more votes to Labour and his list seat would have gone to them. His Parliamentary career has been as undistinguished as the manner in which he got in. Now, it appears his CV isn’t as impressive as he would like us to believe either.

Key loves to see wages drop

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 1:01 pm, October 7th, 2010 - 36 comments

The just released Income Survey is more evidence of the Key Government’s failure to deliver for working Kiwis. After inflation, this is the third successive year in which the median income of New Zealanders has fallen. It’s now nearly 5% lower than when National came to power. This year alone, the median income fell 3.5%.

Why are the National ministers so afraid of each other?

Written By: Campbell - Date published: 8:16 am, October 6th, 2010 - 10 comments

Ministerial staffers who have worked under the National and Labour governments of recent years have begun commenting on some of the differences between each.

Apparently, one key difference has been that National ministers refuse to hire staff from other ministerial offices to avoid being labelled by their ministerial colleagues as staff-poachers.

The leadership vacuum

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 1:32 pm, October 5th, 2010 - 41 comments

Paul Henry has a racist rant to the Prime Minister and what does John Key do? He laughs along and tries to make a joke. A PM that is afraid to be a leader. A Leader of the Opposition who is afraid of ticking off racists. A Green Party that is afraid of making a claim for the Left vote when Labour fails. Come back, Helen, all is forgiven.

Carter’s piss-poor blackmail & careerism

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 11:20 pm, October 3rd, 2010 - 89 comments

So, Chris Carter is threatening a ‘tell-all’ book on the Fifth Labour Government published at the next election. But he says he won’t publish it if he gets to stay in Labour. It’s blackmail, a further act of treachery for which he deserves to be evicted from the party. Carter’s rot is the corruption of all MPs who forget who they were elected to serve.

Ryall: Our Only Plan Is Cuts

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 7:41 am, October 2nd, 2010 - 12 comments

Treasury in their first year under National tripled their expenditure on contractors whilst forcing all other departments into cuts. Bill English decided against having any public accountability, and left Tony Ryall talking rubbish trying to explain it.

GST is going up today

Written By: lprent - Date published: 1:23 pm, October 1st, 2010 - 62 comments

Remember how John Key used to talk about GST? Here is a video reminding everyone of the past before he did his usual flip-flop to favour the rich while increasing costs on most people. The GST increase and the consequent inflation will make almost everyone worse off unless they are wealthy enough to bribe the NACT’s.

Caption Contest

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 10:58 am, September 30th, 2010 - 39 comments

“The Cabinet Manual clearly states that Ministers are responsible to me for their ethical behaviour, not for their judgment.” “Mr Hide has carried out his affairs in a personal and private capacity to a high ethical standard.” John Key, 22 Sep 2010

Tax Swindle Graph

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 8:34 am, September 30th, 2010 - 30 comments

Danyl over at DimPost has produced an excellent graph of the gains from National’s Tax Swindle. It uses the Government’s figures, it is generous in showing average rather than median incomes…

And it doesn’t look good for average kiwis.

Anne Tolley is a fool

Written By: r0b - Date published: 12:00 am, September 29th, 2010 - 67 comments

Anne Tolley, Minister for wrecking primary education, doesn’t have the first or faintest idea of what “national standards” are actually going to mean in practice. She is “appalled” at the idea of labelling children as failures. But that is exactly what the standards are designed to do.

Nats’ shortsighted penny-pinching will cost us big in the end

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 12:28 pm, September 28th, 2010 - 52 comments

While the cat’s away the mice will play. And while the clown’s sunning himself in Hawaii the ideologues in his Cabinet will launch vitriolic attacks on public service workers. As teachers are forced to endure another day of the country’s most powerful figures attack them, lets consider the consequences of undermining vital public services.

Solo parent bashing

Written By: r0b - Date published: 8:34 am, September 28th, 2010 - 101 comments

Life isn’t hard enough already for solo parents, according to the Nats. So they’re going to make it harder.

No Right Turn on GST policy changes.

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 4:18 pm, September 27th, 2010 - 113 comments

No Right Turn has covered todays announcement about policy changes for GST on fruit and vegetables. Since it is pretty comprehensive we will reproduce the two posts here.

RWNJs worried msm may awaken

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 6:14 pm, September 26th, 2010 - 19 comments

I guess we shouldn’t really mock such unfortunates but this latest missive from the Bog is too hard to resist. Farrar and his merry band of ignorant loons are furious that the ODT, one of New Zealand’s better newspapers, is daring to ask pertinent questions of ACTs replacement for David Garrett. It seems pretty fair […]

Dunedin North – David Clark

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 8:19 pm, September 25th, 2010 - 20 comments

Long serving Dunedin North MP Pete Hodgson is stepping down at the next election. The local Labour party today selected their next candidate, the Rev Dr David Clark.

“We’re all shades of sheep” – the Calvert interview

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 1:28 pm, September 25th, 2010 - 49 comments

Check out Hilary Calvert’s interview in the ODT. It’s, um, extraordinary and hilarious. Calvert can’t remember whether she was ever a member of a different political party, when she first stood for ACT, or whether she has any convictions.

More evidence of the depth of talent in ACT these days.

“My foolish actions 26 years ago”

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 3:03 pm, September 24th, 2010 - 35 comments

Rodney Hide and David Garrett would have us believe that Garrett’s downfall is about youthful indiscretions and skeletons in closets. Let’s nip this in the bud straight away. It wasn’t Garrett’s “foolish actions 26 years ago” that sealed his fate, it was the confirmation that even to this day he is still a liar, a criminal and the worst kind of hypocrite.

Re: Chauvel on CERRA

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 1:44 pm, September 24th, 2010 - 18 comments

A few days ago Charles Chauvel wrote a piece on Red Alert on why Labour voted for CERRA. I have two big problems with it. 1) Labour may have won concessions that improved CERRA but they didn’t get the key one. 2) There’s a dangerous mindset in the position that Labour had to vote for dictatorship or get pilloried in the media and lose votes.

Over promise under deliver

Written By: r0b - Date published: 8:22 am, September 24th, 2010 - 22 comments

“I also want to pay a special acknowledgement to my friend and deputy, Bill English. What a great job he is doing as Finance Minister. He’s delivered two Budgets that have steered New Zealand out of recession and put the economy firmly back on track to grow and create jobs”. Or has he?…

Caption Contest

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 11:48 am, September 23rd, 2010 - 31 comments

“All I can say is that in the 22 months that Mr Hide has been a minister in my Government he’s shown very good judgement and he has my full support.” John Key, 17 Sep 2010

Key ties himself to Hide

Written By: r0b - Date published: 8:34 am, September 23rd, 2010 - 36 comments

What is John Key thinking? Why would he tie himself so firmly to the mast of the sinking ship that is Rodney Hide and ACT?

Cosgrove slams McVicar’s role in Garrett affair

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 7:00 am, September 23rd, 2010 - 10 comments

Great video of Clayton Cosgrove getting right stuck into the Sensible Sentencing Trust’s Garth McVicar over his hypocrisy on David Garrett. Cosgrove’s certainly no bleeding heart liberal so I’d say McVicar’s credibility on law in order is now pretty much shot.

The next ACT

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 1:04 pm, September 22nd, 2010 - 52 comments

Key is strongly backing Hide.

That might be because he doesn’t want to deal with the ideologues who would replace him. Or it might be because Hide knows where the skeletons are buried.

Either way Key’s going to find it harder and harder to distance himself from the mess.

Govt ignored advice to save lives with lower drink-drive limit

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 12:22 pm, September 21st, 2010 - 29 comments

The government was told that lowering the drink-drive limit would save 33 lives and $238 million a year. They ignored it. Why? I reckon the only money they were worried about was donations from the booze barons. These idiots don’t bother with basic cost vs benefit analyses. It’s all about pay-offs for their mates. And donation kickbacks.

Garrett and McVicar partners in crime

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:15 am, September 21st, 2010 - 36 comments

Garth McVicar is head of ‘tough on crime’ lobby group the Sensible Sentencing Trust. David Garrett is a serial offender who now faces further criminal charges for perjury.

So naturally McVicar is backing Garrett to head up a new hard-line law and order party.

An indelible stain on parliamentary lawmaking

Written By: r0b - Date published: 2:50 pm, September 20th, 2010 - 11 comments

Andrew Geddis (Associate Professor of Law at Otago and writer at Pundit) is an expert on democratic theory. He has become required reading for politics junkies. His latest piece — a brutally honest analysis of the recent work of the Law and Order select committee — should be required reading for everybody.

Key’s crocodile tears for teachers & doctors

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 9:59 am, September 20th, 2010 - 31 comments

John Key says he supports the teachers and junior doctors’ claims for a pay rise ‘but we simply don’t have the money’. Yet Key who is borrowing half a billion dollars this year for tax cuts for the wealthiest 9%. It isn’t a question of what the government can afford. It’s who matters to National – the rich do, teachers and doctors don’t.

Stable government

Written By: r0b - Date published: 8:08 am, September 20th, 2010 - 44 comments

John Key and the Nats are failing to provide the stable government that New Zealanders require – and vote for. His coalition partners are both self destructing. Interesting times.

Awatere-Huata & Garrett, what’s the difference?

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:24 pm, September 19th, 2010 - 75 comments

ACT’s lost two List MPs. When Donna Awatere-Huata was booted out, Rodney Hide took her to court to force her out of Parliament. Now, David Garrett is forced to resign and Hide says he won’t push him to leave Parliament. Why the kid-gloves for Garrett? Because Hide’s leadership matters more to him than the future of his party.

Fa’afoi for Mana

Written By: Mike Smith - Date published: 6:30 pm, September 18th, 2010 - 75 comments

Kris Fa’afoi will be Labour’s candidate for Mana. There were four candidates – all very high quality -all spoke well and the selection panel would not have had an easy choice to make. There was a very large turnout and plenty of support for Kris in the hall; he was impressive and will do well. […]