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Shocking the people into submission

Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, May 29th, 2013 - 24 comments

Last night The Shock Doctrine (2009) aired on Maori TV.  John Key, and his cheerleaders have followed their latest series of shock-inducing attacks on democratic processes and (low income) people’s rights, with positive forecasts for our future. Meanwhile, the gap between the haves & have-nots has grown.

Nats split on food in schools?

Written By: - Date published: 6:40 am, May 29th, 2013 - 87 comments

Does food in schools show up a split in National between the hardline conservatives who would leave kids hungry in the name of parental responsibility, and pragmatists who will swallow a dead rat every now and again in an attempt to stay popular?

Note to John Key and David Shearer

Written By: - Date published: 7:29 am, May 28th, 2013 - 89 comments

John Key and David Shearer have made similar (inaccurate) statements about who has  ultimate responsibility for feeding the kids.

Caption contest

Written By: - Date published: 3:40 pm, May 27th, 2013 - 109 comments

key-wine300

Back to the future: John Key’s Dickensian values

Written By: - Date published: 9:13 am, May 27th, 2013 - 161 comments

John Key has been shamed by Hone Harawira’s “feed the kids” private members Bill.  Key’s approach to child hunger is a sly use of Dickensian-type PPPs & charities to absolve the government of responsibility, while falsely presenting a caring face.

How far right is John Key’s “centre”?

Written By: - Date published: 10:17 pm, May 26th, 2013 - 69 comments

Once again the MSM reports John Key’s assessment of his party’s place on the political spectrum without any critique.   The NZ Herald has repeated Key’s line about his government being “centre right” and the Greens being “far left”.  Key’s government’s continuing abuse of democracy is a long way from the centre of  the “right”.

Banana republic

Written By: - Date published: 11:41 am, May 24th, 2013 - 78 comments

People are starting to notice that the Nats are taking us into banana republic territory.

The shameless Nick Smith

Written By: - Date published: 10:43 am, May 24th, 2013 - 31 comments

Nick Smith has a long history of slippery dealings.  He apologises but accepts no blame, then is resurrected: contempt of court, a defamation case, the Pullar-ACC “conflict of interest”, bad faith negotiations with Auckland Council, the Denniston Plateau deal. Yesterday on RNZ, Smith exposed the government’s agenda on mining conservation land.

Anatomy of another Key lie

Written By: - Date published: 9:32 am, May 22nd, 2013 - 37 comments

John Key has been caught in yet another lie, over his claim that Solid Energy asked for a $1 billion injection of taxpayer’s money.

Then why don’t you release the advice John?

Written By: - Date published: 6:49 am, May 21st, 2013 - 151 comments

A legal expert has raised the alarm over the Nats’ latest outbreak of constitutional arrogance. So too has the Attorney General, and the media. Key says it’s all OK (of course), but why should anyone believe him when his government won’t release the advice that it has received?

Key’s “Devil Beast” speech

Written By: - Date published: 9:47 am, May 17th, 2013 - 82 comments

A video of John Key’s “Labour is the Devil Beast” budget speech.

GCSB is watching you? Won’t ‘confirm or deny’

Written By: - Date published: 10:46 am, May 15th, 2013 - 37 comments

The GCSB won’t “confirm or deny” if they spied on individual Kiwis. Concerned citizens might contact the Privacy Commissioner or start a class action. John Key’s rushed GCSB Bill won’t prevent mission creep, surveillance to support international corporate interests or inadequate oversight of the GCSB. [Update]: link to Waitakere News

Judith Collins, MMP, “consensus” & democracy

Written By: - Date published: 6:33 pm, May 14th, 2013 - 69 comments

Holly Walker dragged out of Judith Collins that the government will not  implement the Electoral Commission’s recommendations for MMP.   Collins argues there is no “consensus” between all political parties on possible changes.  The Greens say National has not kept the promise of changes, out of self interest.

This is what corporate dictatorship looks like

Written By: - Date published: 12:45 pm, May 14th, 2013 - 32 comments

The compensation part of Joyce’s and Key’s dirty, undemocratic SkyCity deal, could legally be over-turned by a future government, as proposed by the Greens.   However, the TPPA could weaken NZ’s parliamentary sovereignty and open the government to claims by secret private offshore tribunals. Opposition needs to step up!

Key’s no-shows – protecting Brand Key

Written By: - Date published: 10:45 am, May 13th, 2013 - 15 comments

Who was missing from the Mighty River and SkyCity launches? Being seen at the front of positive government stories is a big part of the PM’s job, unless concerns over protecting Brand Key override that. The fact Key has been a no-show at these two announcements of central planks of National’s agenda tells you a lot about what the Nats’ polling says about them.

Sky City, pokies and corruption

Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, May 13th, 2013 - 51 comments

Key and Joyce made sure Gilmore was out of the way before they announced their dubious Sky City for (more) pokies deal.  The pokies system in NZ is rife with dubious goings on. It’s bad for low income families, communities and their children. [update: responses]

The King stay the King … the pawns, in the game, they get capped quick

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, May 11th, 2013 - 113 comments

So, Key wants Gilmore gone. Gilmore lied to Key about the whether he threatened the waiter with the wrath of the PM’s office. Bringing Key’s office itself was bad enough but Key accepted Gilmore’s lie. When that lie was exposed, Key knew his authority as leader had been trifled with. Gilmore now has to go. But Key can’t boot him. So, out is coming the dirt.

Pot and Kettle

Written By: - Date published: 11:36 am, May 10th, 2013 - 60 comments

Key on Gilmore on front page of today’s DomPost: “In the end, to make a contribution, you have to have integrity, and to have integrity there has to be a directness and fullness in your answers.” That’s why Key has no integrity about GCSB – there was no directness and fulness in his answers about it, either in Parliament or to the “knucklehead” media.

John Key’s disaster capitalism

Written By: - Date published: 1:07 pm, May 9th, 2013 - 31 comments

The latest Household Labour Force Employment statistics are out, and on the surface, look good for John and Bill.  But this is driven by improved employment in Canterbury over the last quarter.  Grant Robertson says, “Disaster recovery is not a plan for jobs”.

MRP sale fail numbers

Written By: - Date published: 6:03 am, May 9th, 2013 - 194 comments

Here are the numbers that sum up the MRP sale fail – foremost among them the $1,000 that the government has spent per Kiwi investor attracted.

What if Gilmore quits?

Written By: - Date published: 2:25 pm, May 8th, 2013 - 105 comments

Stuff is reporting that John Key is signalling for Aaron Gilmore to stand down.  What are the possible implications? [update: information about Claudette Hauiti, next National’s list]

GCSB Bill: & Dotcom versus FBI, “NZ Intelligence Community” et al

Written By: - Date published: 10:21 am, May 8th, 2013 - 47 comments

John Key is using “urgency” to push through his anti-democratic Big brother GCSB surveillance Bill.  Dotcom’s lawyers have released a 39 page white paper making a range of allegations against the FBI, Obama & NZ authorities. Peters is keeping his cards close to his chest. Update: Peters’ calls government “bully boy” & will vote against the Bill.

Gilmore’s position now untenable

Written By: - Date published: 9:39 am, May 8th, 2013 - 72 comments

From a text exchange leaked to Newstalk ZB it seems that Aaron Gilmore has lied to the PM. The ball is in Key’s court now…

The oxymoronic “responsible Minister”

Written By: - Date published: 6:43 pm, May 6th, 2013 - 19 comments

Spying on Kiwis is ok if “the responsible Minister” says so – this was how the Herald described today’s announcement from John Key regarding the GCSB clean-up Bill. Responsible Minister? Yeah right -that’s an oxymoron when applied to John Key.

John Key’s NZ: the nasty side of the “brighter future”

Written By: - Date published: 8:25 am, May 5th, 2013 - 45 comments

John Key promised a “brighter future” – “wave good-bye to higher taxes not your loved ones”; a higher standard of his MPs, and honesty for the PM. John Key’s NZ is actually one of callous entitlement of the elite, and dis-entitlement and Struggle Street for battling Kiwis.

Networks of influence: Key & Anadarko Petroleum

Written By: - Date published: 12:25 pm, May 2nd, 2013 - 18 comments

John Key’s networks of influence include the bosses and directors of Anadarko Petroleum, which is doing some oil exploration in NZ. Gordon Campbell’s excellent piece of investigative journalism shows Anadarko and it’s bosses are not to be trusted.

Key goes negative

Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, May 2nd, 2013 - 156 comments

John Key has gone hard negative, with his rants about North Korea and communism, and now an attack on the Greens. Negative is where you go when you don’t have a positive story to tell the electorate. I wonder if the Nats’ internal polling has got Key spooked…

Networks of influence: (dis)Advantage NZ

Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, April 30th, 2013 - 21 comments

An Advantage New Zealand conference at SkyCity is the centre of major PR for John Key-backed, big oil exploration in NZ. While promoting and backing each others’ destructive profiteering, and endangering NZ’s environment, they are nurturing their networks of influence over expensive dinners and on the golf course.

We would love to see wages drop

Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, April 27th, 2013 - 5 comments

Key said “we would love to see wages drop”. Sure enough National’s anti-worker employment Bill is designed to have that effect, as stated in a Cabinet briefing paper.

Meanwhile: US, intellectual property, GCSB

Written By: - Date published: 11:29 am, April 26th, 2013 - 18 comments

In his meetings with Ian Fletcher, Key’s main aims and activities are hidden in plain sight. They connect with US-led initiatives around digital copyright, intellectual property and commerce.  Recently there have been some worrying developments in the bigger picture: GCSB, ACTA, TPPA, SOPA, CISPA.

‘That politician got amnesia again’

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, April 26th, 2013 - 21 comments

Today’s anonymous Dominion Post editorial points to the beginning of John Key’s fall from grace.  It centres on Key’s personal qualities, continues to support the MSM’s support of personality politics, glosses over the serious issues masked by Key’s (alleged) amnesia, and uses a false equivalence with Helen Clark.

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