political parties

Privacy Commissioner refers Bennett complaint

Written By: r0b - Date published: 8:30 am, June 23rd, 2010 - 47 comments

After many months the Privacy Commissioner has ruled on the Paula Bennett case, referring it on to the Director of Proceedings. Will Key now take action? Of course not – there don’t seem to be any consequences for any kind of illegal or unethical behaviour in Key’s government.

I’m not sorry

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 8:23 am, June 22nd, 2010 - 48 comments

I’m not sorry about Russel Norman standing up to Chinese imperialism, I’m proud that he did. While I don’t personally have a lot of time for Norman, I very much respect his willingness to behave like an actual representative of the New Zealand people and voice his opposition to the immoral Chinese occupation and subjugation of […]

Uranium on the breeze

Written By: r0b - Date published: 4:45 pm, June 21st, 2010 - 30 comments

The Environmental Risk Management Authority has given approval for shipments of uranium to pass through New Zealand on the way to the United States. This seems to violate the principles of the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987.

Chinese security attack MP

Written By: r0b - Date published: 1:22 pm, June 18th, 2010 - 162 comments

A security guard for Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping attacked Green MP Russel Norman today while Norman was protesting at the Chinese delegation’s arrival, and holding a Tibetan flag. Our Government needs to make a formal protest to China over this incident.

PEDA divisions in government

Written By: r0b - Date published: 12:51 pm, June 18th, 2010 - 15 comments

Someone has been trying to shut down investigations into the PEDA slush fund. But the damage is already done, Nats are abandoning the sinking ship. Bill English is first overboard, leaving Gerogina te Heuheu stranded.

Maori Party sell-out opens opportunity for Greens

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 10:50 am, June 16th, 2010 - 78 comments

Of the political parties in Parliament, only the Greens are likely to oppose the ‘new’ foreshore and seabed law. So, the Greens will be the only place for disaffected Maori Party voters to turn to. And why not? Their values are very similar. I expect that the Greens will make a strong play for the party votes in the Maori seats, winning over a lot of people who feel betrayed by the Maori Party.

Foreshore ends with a whimper

Written By: r0b - Date published: 10:58 am, June 15th, 2010 - 49 comments

If that is the foreshore and seabed debate effectively resolved we should all take a moment to celebrate. It will be good to have the issue behind us as a country and move on. Given the agreement between National and the Maori Party it looks like the whole debate was mostly about semantics. Meanwhile in practical terms iwi say they want the kind of rights that Ngati Porou secured – under the current Act.

Maori Party caves on foreshore & seabed

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 12:44 am, June 15th, 2010 - 39 comments

A foreshore and seabed DEAL that amounts to little more than a symbolic rearranging of the deck chairs is not what the Maori Party was elected to achieve. The deal the Maori Party makes now is the one Maori are stuck with. That’s why the Iwi Leadership Forum is so unexcited about it. The winner here is Key, he played the Maori Party into a corner. The hagiographies will be going to print as I write.

Maori Party going to cave?

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 3:22 pm, June 14th, 2010 - 50 comments

The signals are that the Maori Party is going to cave on the foreshore and seabed. National has offered a symbolic repeal of the Foreshore and Seabed Act while leaving the actual law essentially unchanged. If they cave in, they will have abandoned their primary policy for the sake of power. Let’s hope they don’t. [Updated – it seems an agreement of some kind has been reached]

Accountability then and nowâ€¦

Written By: r0b - Date published: 3:13 pm, June 14th, 2010 - 22 comments

Labour holds it’s MPs to higher standards than National. This post from the archives looks at some examples. If Key doesn’t act on his profligate MPs it will be time to add another chapter.

Our Water Our Vote

Written By: r0b - Date published: 6:47 am, June 14th, 2010 - 31 comments

Sunday saw another big protest against the government. An estimated 3000 people turned out in Christchurch for the “Our Water Our Vote” rally to protest National’s attacks on Canterbury’s democracy and environment.

Maori Party won’t take Key’s F&S deal

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 1:34 am, June 12th, 2010 - 42 comments

â€˜We don’t know if we can support this’.
It’s a very delicate title for the Maori Party’s press release on National’s foreshore and seabed offer but it reveals much. On the one hand, they know they can’t accept a deal that doesn’t give title to iwi. On the other hand, the co-leaders really don’t want to leave government.

Credit card records released

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 9:10 am, June 10th, 2010 - 179 comments

The credit card records of the ex-Labour ministers are out. Phil Goff has made it clear that any money claimed outside the rules must be repaid and some wrongful claims were paid back at the time. The test the Auditor-General set after Phil Heatley’s bizarre resignation over $70 worth of wine is whether claims intentionally breach the rules.

High noon on the foreshore

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 8:40 am, June 10th, 2010 - 36 comments

Take it or leave it, says John Key to the Maori Party over the foreshore and seabed. So much for consultation and collective decision making with their government partner. Like the trader he is, Key’s made his offer – symbolic change and nothing more. If the Maori Party don’t want to buy, he doesn’t care. Key doesn’t need to make the deal. The Maori Party does.

Mondayise Anzac, Waitangi (& Matariki)

Written By: Michael Foxglove - Date published: 12:01 pm, June 8th, 2010 - 51 comments

The dearth of long weekends this year has made me feel cheated. And now with Queen’s Birthday over it’s a long wait till Labour weekend in October. That’s not fair dammit. It’s time to give Matariki its due and celebrate with a Monday off in July.

The company they keep

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 1:00 pm, June 7th, 2010 - 36 comments

Wayne Eagleson isn’t doing anything wrong by going on holiday with rightwing lobbyists but there are parallels with John Key’s Highwater-gate. Eagleson doesn’t have the apparent conflicts of interest that Key has (more on that later) but both incidents give us an insight into the company that National keeps and the interests they really represent.

Trouble ahead foreshore

Written By: r0b - Date published: 8:05 am, June 7th, 2010 - 67 comments

At a recent meeting about 100 Iwi leaders rejected the Government’s proposed reform for the Foreshore and Seabed Act. That means the issue remains a ticking time bomb for Key. He is going to have to enrage either the Maori Party or his core Iwi/Kiwi constituency. Either way there’s trouble ahead.

Pete Hodgson stepping down

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 6:08 pm, June 6th, 2010 - 15 comments

Long serving MP for Dunedin North, Pete Hodgson, will step down at the next election. Nominations for the next candidate will open on July 1, and Labour’s Council has said that it is leaving the selection up to the local electorate.

Dancing on a head of a pin on asset sales

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 8:36 am, June 5th, 2010 - 59 comments

National really, really wants to sell assets – it’ll be worth a fortune to their rich mates who can’t seem to generate any success on their own without a government hand out. But the public is firmly against asset sales. It would be an election losing campaign issue. So, National will play a game of ambiguous promises and confusing financial moves to sell without appearing to sell.

Labour’s credit card records out today

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 8:28 am, June 4th, 2010 - 21 comments

Back last year when National was being stung over Bill ‘Double Dipton’ English and other ministers rorting the accommodation allowance and misuse of ministerial credit cards, National thought they would get a bite back at Labour by releasing the credit card records for Labour’s terms in office too. Word around the traps is they’re going to drop it later today.

A Country Party?

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:39 am, June 3rd, 2010 - 34 comments

There’s increasing rumbles in the country side about a Country Party breaking away from National, on the back of the anti-ETS backlash, which National brought upon itself with its behaviour in opposition. A Country Party would be electorally viable. The Left has already splintered into natural fragments now that MMP makes it possible. The Right might be about to do the same.

It could never happen here

Written By: r0b - Date published: 7:47 am, June 3rd, 2010 - 39 comments

Fresh from a stinging rebuke from the public over mining, Gerry must have hoped he was on to a winner with the announcement of offshore oil exploration. But of course the timing could hardly be worse, with an environmental catastrophe unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. The Greens are right to call for a moratorium until the industry proves that it has the ability to rapidly and effectively deal with leaks.

Climate change deaths

Written By: r0b - Date published: 7:34 am, June 2nd, 2010 - 26 comments

Worldwide it is the hottest Jan-Feb-March-April on record. Heat waves have already killed tens of thousands in the last few years. In India 2010 is believed to be the hottest summer in the country since records began in the late 1800s, and hundreds are dead. While ACT and Federated Farmers bitch and moan about the costs of the ETS, the deaths will keep coming.

One of these things is not like the other X

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 2:45 pm, May 31st, 2010 - 18 comments

One of these things is not like the other, One of these things is not quite the same Can you guess which one is not like the other, Can you tell me before I finish the game?

Happy Birthday Jim?

Written By: Tammy Gordon - Date published: 1:58 pm, May 31st, 2010 - 18 comments

Jim Bolger’s mates have got together and put a half page ad (including a list of who they all are) in today’s DomPost to wish him a happy birthday and to thank him for his many years of public service.

Haden stays, McCully seeking 7ft carpet

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 10:02 am, May 31st, 2010 - 25 comments

It seems former All Black Andy Haden will keep his job as Rugby World Cup Ambassador after having apologized and withdrawn his allegations that the Canterbury Crusaders have a limit on the number of Polynesian players they recruit. Fair enough, perhaps. But Murray McCully’s decision to not “shoot” Hayden on the grounds that if he […]

Nats not trustworthy

Written By: r0b - Date published: 9:30 am, May 29th, 2010 - 47 comments

Key’s assets are supposed to be blind to him. Before the 3 News report he claimed that they were blind. Now he is claiming something much much narrower (no “beneficial interest”). Why? We’ve been here before. Bill English claimed no “pecuniary interest” in his accommodation rort trust. The Auditor General found otherwise. Key’s case should go to the Auditor General too.

National’s ETS chickens home to roost

Written By: r0b - Date published: 8:24 am, May 27th, 2010 - 23 comments

National is under extraordinary pressure on its ETS, and it seems to be starting to panic. While I can commend them for sticking to their guns (better a gutted ETS than none at all), I don’t have any sympathy over the backlash they are facing. They bought it on themselves.

Leaky homes

Written By: r0b - Date published: 1:10 pm, May 26th, 2010 - 44 comments

While it rains, thousands of homes are rotting, a legacy of the stupid deregulation of the building industry by National in the 1990s. The current government is proposing that huge costs be passed on to ratepayers, and tonight Wellington City Council votes on the plan. There are no good solutions to this mess.

NZ Sharemarket plummeting

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 12:52 pm, May 21st, 2010 - 9 comments

John Key’s “Don’t Be Jealous” Budget has done little to stop the European contagion from ravaging our sharemarket – at time of writing down 2.4% and still falling. The NZX company itself has dropped more than 5%, leading other significant losses by Fletcher Building, Sky City, and Contact Energy. Telecom is now down to an historic […]

The courage of his convictions

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 10:18 am, May 20th, 2010 - 56 comments

Hone Harawira does not want to vote for the ‘don’t be jealous’ budget and he doesn’t think the Maori Party will be standing true to its principles or supporters if it does. Harawira sought permission to vote against the Budget. Tariana Turia, who is awfully comfortable in the back of her Crown limo, refused. Let’s hope Harawira has the courage cross the floor anyway.