john key

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National losing the middle?

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 8:23 am, October 28th, 2014 - 133 comments

In its first term, National was very careful to be incremental – Key hung to the middle, chipping away carefully at workers’ rights without doing anything dramatic. Having gained the public’s trust by continuing (outside the House) to be a clown they’d like to have a drink with, they went with one big hit with […]

Is the Prime Minister in the House?

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 8:24 pm, October 25th, 2014 - 14 comments

Or is the leader of the National Party? Or a husband? Or a ‘private citizen’? Or a…

Five headed monster

Written By: Natwatch - Date published: 9:30 am, October 24th, 2014 - 56 comments

With all due respect to the five-headed monster, I think it’s time for a new version…

Question time this year

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 2:44 pm, October 22nd, 2014 - 68 comments

Question time this year isn’t going to be much fun for Dirty John. Here’s today’s Question 3 as told by Twitter.

Let them go to war

Written By: lprent - Date published: 12:06 am, October 19th, 2014 - 35 comments

Back when I was a teenager, a mate of mine decided that he was going to give up on school and would get in some combat. So he worked his way into the Rhodesian Light Infantry. A few years later I heard that he’d been killed in action. Other young men going overseas with similar excitement issues have came back a lot less interested in excitement. Sounds safer to me than letting them have a car.

OIA: Rotten

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 5:42 pm, October 16th, 2014 - 70 comments

As story after story comes out, it shows how much contempt for transparency and the law this government has, and how little it intends to be held to account.

Kim Jong Key Is Missing

Written By: Bryan Gould - Date published: 11:45 am, October 16th, 2014 - 45 comments

The Latest News Bulletin from CNN “Concern is mounting in New Zealand over the whereabouts of the country’s leader, Kim Jong Key. The Great Leader has not been seen on television or heard on radio for over two hours. Observers say that his disappearance for such a long period is unprecedented. Speculation is rife […]

Off to war

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:00 am, October 16th, 2014 - 70 comments

Broken promise. Lies. War. The Herald willing to believe anything to defend Brand Key. Just another day in NZ politics.

Dishonourable Judith Collins

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 6:25 pm, October 14th, 2014 - 62 comments

Even John Key can’t bring himself to call Judith “Honourable”

Even the police sense the hypocrisy

Written By: lprent - Date published: 4:20 pm, October 9th, 2014 - 89 comments

It looks like even the police can sense the rank smell coming off their theft of Nicky Hager’s systems and documents. They ignored a complaint about Cameron Slater two years ago. But the police are still on a holiday. This looks like a limp PR exercise by the police to prove that they aren’t John Key’s poodles. Updated.

The terrorism card

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:35 am, October 9th, 2014 - 46 comments

Terrorism is whatever John Key wants it to be.

NRT: We don’t need new laws to fight terrorism

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 2:14 pm, October 8th, 2014 - 10 comments

John Key has been busy lying about the need for yet more ‘anti-terrorism’ laws. How many do the police and security forces need? As NRT points out, are they just too lazy to use the ones they already have? Or is this just because John Key wants to get his own plastic sword? Surely we pay him enough to buy his own?

John Key’s police poodles

Written By: lprent - Date published: 8:41 am, October 8th, 2014 - 194 comments

The search of Nicky Hager in response to a complaint by Cameron Slater contrasts strongly with the lackadaisical investigation of a similar complaint by Matthew Blomfield against Cameron Slater. I guess the police take things seriously if you are a friend of John Key, just as they did in 2011 with the teapot tape saga. How far has John Key corrupted the police?

NRT: A surprise policy

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 7:12 pm, October 7th, 2014 - 32 comments

Remember National’s social housing policy? The one they campaigned on? The one that talked about how much money they were spending and was all about upgrading and investing in state houses? Somehow, post-election, its transmogrified into selling off a third of the state housing stock. John Key lying to voters as usual eh?

Two tier strategy on spying

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:54 am, October 7th, 2014 - 30 comments

Key ditching responsibility for the GCSB and SIS, and adopting the newly created title of Minister for National Security and Intelligence, is another example of the dirty politics two tier strategy.

About those other police complaints …

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 6:51 pm, October 6th, 2014 - 52 comments

Police action in obtaining a warrant to search Nicky Hager’s home in politically charged circumstances raises issues why in other politically charged incidents no similar action has been undertaken.

Polity: National’s new ministry: Key fires himself!

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 12:53 pm, October 6th, 2014 - 36 comments

Key has basically fired himself from most of his Security and Intelligence responsibilities. This is a big change.

First they sold Auckland, then the rest of NZ…?

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:00 am, October 3rd, 2014 - 28 comments

A quiet shift in a dodgy Key govt-SkyCity deal: TVNZ land, sold to SkyCity for its convention centre, is to be used for a new hotel. Plus: non-mandated deal between Auckland Transport Authority & a US corporate – intense surveillance of Aucklanders’ diverse activities.

New Zealand’s brighter future

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 4:00 pm, October 2nd, 2014 - 139 comments

The early election has meant that National has avoided the bad news of the collapse in international milk prices during the campaign period. And the Reserve Bank has finally taken action to drive down the value of New Zealand’s currency. It may be that the brighter future promised by National is not going to be so bright.

The politics of poverty

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:34 am, October 2nd, 2014 - 86 comments

Every election Key is confronted with the issue of poverty. His response is always pure politics with no effective action, and this election has been no different. We will be here again in 2017.

NZ troops to Iraq?

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:41 am, October 1st, 2014 - 109 comments

Key’s public position on sending troops to Iraq has (surprise!) changed since the election. His private position on the topic probably hasn’t changed since 2003.

Key rorts system

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:48 am, September 26th, 2014 - 52 comments

There is a rort being negotiated in Parliament that will cost the thick edge of $1 million a year. Where is the Taxpayer’s union on this?

WANTED: new ideas on child poverty

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 1:00 pm, September 24th, 2014 - 88 comments

It’s great to see John Key taking a sudden interest in addressing child poverty in New Zealand. But why the change of heart?

Clean it up

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:00 am, September 23rd, 2014 - 70 comments

Action Station has a full page ad in today’s NZ Herald, asking to clean up dirty politics. Dirty Politics is not any isolated attack politics or criticism of those in power. It is a relentless two track strategy, an orchestrated smear machine, aimed at moving politics rightwards & disengaging (left wing) voters. Update: Hager comments on the election.

The lurch to the right begins

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 9:20 am, September 22nd, 2014 - 129 comments

Expect to see a lot of drastic rightwing policies this term as John Key redefines the term “centre ground.”

Looking Ahead

Written By: Bryan Gould - Date published: 12:26 pm, September 21st, 2014 - 145 comments

Win or lose, there are never any final battles in politics. A defeat simply means the firing of the starting gun for the next round in a never-ending struggle. And, especially for the left, it is the struggle that matters. Without that struggle and the effort that has gone into it, the values of fairness, […]

Three final polls

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:15 am, September 19th, 2014 - 98 comments

Three last polls and National’s support is declining, Labour’s improving and the Greens are stable. Things are getting very close with Winston Peters looking more and more likely to hold the balance of power. This election will be decided vote by vote.