political parties

Inequality Aspiration Envy

Written By: r0b - Date published: 11:04 am, May 19th, 2010 - 71 comments

Inequality is terribly damaging to society. National want to increase inequality by transferring wealth from the poor to the rich. They argue that this provides “incentives” for the vast majority of the rest of us to “get ahead”. But this aspirational argument is both incoherent and absurd.

Nats set the places for their own tea party

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 10:01 pm, May 18th, 2010 - 27 comments

The US Republican Party faces destruction at the hands of the Teabaggers, a reactionary movement based on ignorance and fear that the Republican leadership purposely created. National faces a similar risk. It cynically fed its members anti-climate change conspiracy theorist nonsense. Now the Nats have to govern but their knuckle-draggers are fighting back.

More dim bulbs

Written By: r0b - Date published: 1:22 pm, May 18th, 2010 - 11 comments

Yesterday I posted on John Key being named “Dim bulb of the week” by the San Francisco Examiner. Continuing with a dim bulb theme – let’s talk about Edison Hour, as it is explained to us by a budding genius from ACT…

Green alternative budget

Written By: r0b - Date published: 9:12 am, May 18th, 2010 - 53 comments

The Greens have released their alternative budget, â€œMind the Gap”. It focuses on the inequality between rich and poor in NZ (rightly called â€œthe scourge of modern societiesâ€). It’s great to see the Greens tackling this issue head on.

Hooten has “loose lips” syndrome as well

Written By: lprent - Date published: 5:27 pm, May 17th, 2010 - 26 comments

It is always amusing listening to Matthew Hooten being a spinster on politics. But it was rather ironic for him to be in a conversation about John Key’s “loose lips” on NatRad this morning. He talked about this site posting conspiracy theories, but he was talking about a post at Tumeke and attributing to us.

“Loose lips” appear to be rife amongst the right-wing politicians and political commentators these days.

Key a dim bulb

Written By: r0b - Date published: 3:22 pm, May 17th, 2010 - 42 comments

Our PM is now an international laughing stock, having been nominated by the San Francisco Examiner as “Dim bulb of the week” for his cannibal joke. Nor are Key’s most recent comments on the Tuhoe deal likely to help matters…

The New Zealand Herald: “Coalition is shakier by the day”

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 12:23 pm, May 16th, 2010 - 24 comments

The headline for the Herald’s editorial today says a lot about where the media are at with National at the moment. The Government and its actions have been savaged by a range of msm outlets this week in New Zealand – and internationally, which in turn became another source of yet more negative domestic coverage. This week […]

Shed some sunlight on a limp response

Written By: lprent - Date published: 7:32 pm, May 15th, 2010 - 33 comments

David Farrar has finally made a comment on my “Hey Chubby…” post. It raises more questions than it answers. So I ask some of the obvious questions, and conclude that he has forsaken the principles of “free speech” that he so enthusiastically espoused only a few years ago.

International Year of Biodiversity but not in NZ

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 2:26 pm, May 15th, 2010 - 9 comments

The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. They have stated ‘It is a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives.’ National has taken up the cause wholeheartedly in a variety of weird ways. They seem hell bent on enacting policies that will do nothing but destroy biodiversity in the name of the economic growth.

PM’s idiocy goes global

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 7:41 am, May 14th, 2010 - 64 comments

Hey thanks John, you’ve really helped put New Zealand in the international spotlight yet again. First it was your clown act on Letterman, more recently your cringe-worthy fawning over Biden and attempts to be seen as another Obama, your valiant pro-whaling pandering while leaving a New Zealand hero to languish in a Japanese jail, then your eagerness to mine […]

Joke? Or deliberate insult?

Written By: lprent - Date published: 12:07 pm, May 13th, 2010 - 158 comments

There appears to have been a recent and sudden shift in the attitude of John Key and the National party towards Maori. Marty Mars has drawn my attention with a ballistic comment to the latest insulting and distasteful ‘joke’ by John Key about the Tuhoe.

Update: His ‘joke’ has now gone international. Our clueless Tourism Minister has just ‘lifted’ our profile abroad. Thanks John…

Goff speech on Labour’s vision

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 1:47 pm, May 12th, 2010 - 72 comments

Phil Goff has delivered his speech on Labour’s economic vision ahead of the Budget. It’s a good one, filled with core Labour values and ideas that will get New Zealand moving ahead. Goff talks about fairer tax rather than tax cuts for the rich, better monetary policy, and investing in New Zealand’s future.

One more straw & the final one’s about to come

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:26 pm, May 11th, 2010 - 56 comments

You can’t mix oil and water. You can swirl things about for a while and it may appear you’ve mixed them but there is an essential difference that can’t be crossed. Likewise, there is an illusion that John Key, like some alchemist of old, has magically transcended fundamental political facts to make a National/Maori Party relationship work. But illusions can’t last forever.

Maxim scores own-goal, embarrasses National

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 3:03 pm, May 11th, 2010 - 15 comments

A recently released UMR poll commissioned by right-wing think tank the Maxim Institute shows strong support for the policies of the last Labour Government and little taste for the reforms National is trying to push through. It seems that if you ask Kiwis what kind of policies they want, the answer is ‘make mine a […]

The brains deficit

Written By: r0b - Date published: 10:57 am, May 11th, 2010 - 4 comments

A headline on Newsroom caught my eye a couple of days back: “Deficit Falls Further”. Good news, so, well done the Nats? Turns out no, not so much…

Stab in the back for Tuhoe

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 10:15 am, May 11th, 2010 - 68 comments

Tuhoe had settled their compensation deal with the Crown. It was to go to Cabinet for sign off and the deal would be announced at a hui on Friday.But then John Key was confronted by the Nat’s pissed off hick base at the regional conference. What was he to do? The right thing by a people whose land was stolen from them? Or the thing that would best help his poll ratings? Guess.

Apologise

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 6:10 am, May 10th, 2010 - 46 comments

Congratulations John on your latest speech. We especially like the line “Let me be clear: there is no room for separatism in New Zealand.” Very masterly, clear and unequivocal. I know you meant what you said and weren’t just dog-whistling to the racist red-necks in the audience who’re feeling spooked by us signing up to […]

English: do what we need to do to win

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 3:17 pm, May 8th, 2010 - 23 comments

Bill English is trying to assuage National Party member who are concerned that the Party is betraying its principles (ha!) and giving too much to the Maori Party saying “all those decisions are being made in the context of the longer-term view, reaching our objectives over the next four or five years” – winning a second term trumps principle. It’s about power for its own sake.

Whanau Ora fizzer

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 1:36 pm, May 6th, 2010 - 25 comments

The budget for Whanau Ora, which has been billed as a magical, ineffable revolution in social welfare will be just $33 million a year. What a joke. Whanau Ora’s budget will be less than twice that of that other great fizzer, the John Key Memorial Cycleway. I predict it will have about twice the effect as well.

Bold economic leadership… from the Opposition

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 12:45 pm, May 6th, 2010 - 61 comments

I’m glad to see Labour is stealing a march on the lazy Nats and building an alternative economic vision ahead of the Budget. It looks to be just the vision New Zealand needs, built on the twin planks of economic sovereignty and a fairer distribution of wealth.

Bennett floundering over Saunders

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 5:34 pm, May 5th, 2010 - 42 comments

Apparently Paula Bennet is not aware quite who she has appointed to advise the Welfare Working Group…

Straw clutching on mining

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 3:27 pm, May 4th, 2010 - 28 comments

In 2000, Labour gave permission for two companies to carry out traditional gold-panning for tourism purposes on Schedule 4 land. National seems to think this is a great scandal. As if zero-impact gold-panning in rivers is comparable to gold cast mines and massive tailings lakes. They’re really getting desperate, aren’t they?

Tipping point

Written By: r0b - Date published: 1:02 pm, May 4th, 2010 - 12 comments

We’ve passed “the honeymoon”, we’ve passed “the honeymoon is over”, and we’re now on to discussions of “the tipping point” for the National government. Not before time.

Not a time for mixed messages

Written By: r0b - Date published: 1:34 pm, May 3rd, 2010 - 26 comments

This is not a time for mixed messages. Phil Goff is quoted today as saying: “They [the Government] have got to back down from both Great Barrier Island and the Coromandel”. No! Labour’s position, and the position of the biggest single protest march since 1938, is no mining in any Schedule 4 land! Don’t dilute the message…

So much for ‘ambitious for New Zealand’

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 12:35 pm, May 3rd, 2010 - 161 comments

A new report says that building the half a billion worth of new rail rolling stock for Auckland in New Zealand would boost GDP by $250 million, improve our current account deficit by over $100 million, add $70 million to government revenue, and create 1200 skilled jobs. But the Government just want the cheapest price for the rail cars, and that means going overseas.

Why the miners are so keen on public land

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 10:19 am, May 3rd, 2010 - 36 comments

Most of this country’s mineral wealth lies under private land, according to the government’s own figures. So, why are the Nats so determined to override public opinion and let their mining allies dig up our precious protected lands? Simple: mining on private land means paying a lease to the owner. Mining on public land is cheaper: we’re played like chumps for bigger profits.

Key under attack from Left & Right

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 10:25 pm, May 2nd, 2010 - 48 comments

50,000 New Zealanders march against the mining plans of this government. For many, the mining agenda is yet another black mark against this government that has done nothing positive about the issues that matter – jobs, wages, health, education, the environment. But the capitalist elite who so desperately wanted their party in power are getting pretty pissed off too.

Maori Party turns against beneficiaries

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 12:16 pm, April 30th, 2010 - 24 comments

The Nat/ACT/Maori Party government has seen 55,000 more people go on benefits. They want to work. There aren’t enough jobs. How to make life worse for families fallen on hard times? How about cut their benefits? Benefits are meant to go up with inflation. CPI. The tobacco hike puts up CPI. Government should put up […]

Maori Party turns against workers

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 11:30 am, April 30th, 2010 - 5 comments

Labour’s Darien Fenton is a gutsy, tireless advocate for working Kiwis. She was left gobsmacked by the Maori Party’s decision to vote for weakening Kiwis’ rights to work breaks. Maybe there’s a cunning plan that the Maori Party’s backing of a party that wants higher unemployment, weaker work rights, and lower wages will see more Maori in better paid jobs with improved conditions.

Open government – Open Labour

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 8:50 am, April 30th, 2010 - 25 comments

It’s fantastic to see Labour working on an Open Government policy as a major plank for the next election. And taking an open approach to the policy development is a stroke of genius. Politically, Labour has an incredible opportunity to position itself in contrast to the secretive and undemocratic National party. More than that, this stuff matters.

Choices are becoming clear

Written By: r0b - Date published: 3:00 pm, April 29th, 2010 - 39 comments

The choices between Labour and National are becoming clearer by the day. Next election the public is going to be offered two very different futures for New Zealand. Not between Labour and a dissembling “Labour Lite”, but between Labour and the true National agenda exposed.