john key
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Two faced too far
Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, April 27th, 2010 - 47 comments
John Key is a two faced politician. He frequently says different things to different audiences. In the case of the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Key may have taken this duplicitous tactic too far, setting two large bodies of public opinion on a collision course…
Weeding out low quality
Written By: - Date published: 8:02 am, April 24th, 2010 - 58 comments
The Nats are looking to cut $1.8 billion in spending over four years. Where from? What and who will be deemed to be “low quality” in need of “weeding out”? The answers are going to tell us a lot about the National Party’s values…
Remember, John, you promised no asset sales
Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, April 20th, 2010 - 29 comments
In 2008 John Key made this crystal clear promise: “That in the first term of the National government there will be no state assets that will be sold either partially or fully.” Now, Land Information New Zealand is proposing the sale of seven high country stations as part of the tenure review process. Key must keep his promise not to sell state assets and turn down this proposal immediately.
3 strikes law could increase murders – Nats’ secret official advice
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 am, April 20th, 2010 - 159 comments
The Government has received advice from the Ministry of Justice on its ‘three strikes’ legislation. It reveals such a horrendous risk of passing the law that any government should have abandoned it immediately. Instead, Simon Power was shuffled out of the way, Justice was muzzled, & the advice was suppressed. Until now.
NZ hero still prisoner of the Japanese State
Written By: - Date published: 8:35 am, April 18th, 2010 - 100 comments
Pete Bethune is one of New Zealand’s heroes. He’s been a successful entrepreneur and gone on to use his wealth to fight the big guys on the grounds of principle. As skipper of the New Zealand flagged hi-tech boat Earthrace, his circumnavigation attempts showcased kiwi ingenuity to the world and demonstrated the value of bio-fuels to […]
How much is $50,000,000?
Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, April 17th, 2010 - 94 comments
From time to time you hear mention of John Key’s personal fortune of $50M. If you say fiftymilliondollars quickly enough it doesn’t sound that much, especially in the context of politics where most budgets come in factors of millions anyway. But as a personal fortune, that amount of money needs some context to really appreciate […]
When did telling the truth become a mistake?
Written By: - Date published: 1:09 pm, April 15th, 2010 - 71 comments
Phil Goff is being attacked by John Key’s apologists because he won’t pledge to reverse National’s GST hike given he can’t yet know the state of the government’s books when he becomes PM. How ironic to see the Right, who supposedly want accountable government, pillory a politician for being straight up with the public, rather than telling them what they want to hear.
Mr Key’s exciting Washington adventure
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 14th, 2010 - 19 comments
Following this masterpiece from Rabid Fire on Key’s F#ck Everybody policy, here’s a lovely summary of Mr Key’s exciting Washington adventure.
… the PM soon brightened, opening the Prime Ministerial lunchbox to show the press gallery his special lunch. “Look! Look! Bronagh’s made me special aeroplane shaped sandwiches for when I go on the aeroplane!”
Confidence in Key govt falls off a cliff
Written By: - Date published: 12:42 am, April 12th, 2010 - 20 comments
Smile and wave is easy enough in the first year, people are willing to give you a chance. But at some point, the public expects a government to get to work tackling the big problems. National displays no will or ability to do so. In just two months, 1 in 8 Kiwis has switched from thinking the country is heading in the right direction under Key to thinking things are getting worse.
Sticking it to the underclass
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, April 7th, 2010 - 39 comments
Remember “the underclass”? They were briefly fashionable in National circles in 2007. Now that they are the government National’s policies for the underclass seem to involve a good deal of beneficiary bashing. Invalids are being thrown off their benefit before the new legislation is even in effect. Election promises are being broken to remove the carrot and wield the stick. How will this help the underclass?
Key’s promises on crime
Written By: - Date published: 6:53 am, April 5th, 2010 - 58 comments
John Key makes big promises and he doesn’t deliver. Tax cuts North of $50? Jobs summit? Close the gap with Australia? His rhetoric on crime is another example. Key promised to tackle violent crime. Key promised a war on P. Well, the first report card is in, and it isn’t good.
A day of flip-flops
Written By: - Date published: 1:40 pm, March 31st, 2010 - 3 comments
You can say this much for the Key Government – they’re idiots but half the time they’re also cowards. If an issue generates too much public disquiet they’ll flip-flop. It’s easy when they don’t have a real plan or real principles.
Beneficiary bashing – an inglorious National sport
Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, March 30th, 2010 - 30 comments
Lifted from comments for wider reading by commentator acclaim.. Beneficiary bashing in this country is definitely becoming uglier by the day. It seems that Paula Bennett’s attacks on beneficiaries seemingly condoned by the Prime Minister has given prejudice free reign in the country. It is now permissible to demonize a vulnerable group in society based […]
John Key heckled in Levin
Written By: - Date published: 1:29 pm, March 26th, 2010 - 14 comments
The smile is wearing off. John Key visited Levin today to open a new district court. The visit didn’t go to plan as he was heckled by 150 locals over health cuts – which will see the region lose 24 beds.
Wait till the mining issue heats up.
About time for another Key photo op
Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, March 25th, 2010 - 29 comments
That time of the cycle again. Unpopular policy. Crappy week in the House. Nats gotta switch the mood. Photo op. Something stupid for the papers to run. Something for the journos to say ‘your ministers are a bunch of incompetents, lairs, and thieves. All your important promises have been broken. And you keep lying to us. But damn you’re cute’. What will it be? I’ve got an inside hint. You can have a look. But don’t tell anyone.
Key’s mining plan a pay-back for Crosby/Textor?
Written By: - Date published: 12:02 am, March 24th, 2010 - 43 comments
John Key is pushing ahead with his mining plan despite the backlash and the poor economics for NZ. Why?
Is it simply pay-back time for Key’s spin doctors in Crosby/Textor whose clients have significant mining interests? Either way Key must unveil the shroud of secrecy that surrounds his relationship with the company.
The PM’s private spy agency
Written By: - Date published: 7:33 pm, March 22nd, 2010 - 5 comments
While the public has been focusing on the acquittal of the Waihopai Three, there’s been a quiet revolution in our intelligence community. The Prime Minister has got himself a private spy agency.
As well as looking at foreigners, it will also be “assessing”, and advising the government on, the beliefs, actions, and plans of New Zealanders.
The problem is compounded by the lack of oversight.
Clueless forgot to pay the bill?
Written By: - Date published: 2:05 pm, March 22nd, 2010 - 15 comments
I regret to inform the world that John Keys domain has run out of money and is in the process of expiring (much like this government will eventually do). This is a pity as http://johnkey.co.nz has probably has the highest hit rate of any of the National party websites.This is because there has been a […]
Nat kneejerk over Waihopai 3
Written By: - Date published: 12:52 pm, March 22nd, 2010 - 17 comments
Key is talking ‘toughening’ the law in the wake of the Waihopai 3 acquittals. He clearly doesn’t understand that a jury decision, let alone one in a district court, has no precedent effect. Others Nats are muttering about canning jury trials. It’s scary the way the Nats resort to heavyhanded tactics so quickly. They never work either, just ask the boyracers in their uncrushed cars.
Hysteria in the government over mining
Written By: - Date published: 11:29 am, March 20th, 2010 - 3 comments
The Herald has a editorial lambasting John Key about claiming this week that they were ‘hysterical’ writing about the plans to mine the conservation lands, and that there were no such plans. Later in the week, the government launched a probe to find out who leaked cabinet documents about mining the conservation lands. The irony of the two actions appears to have escaped John Key who appears more clueless than ever.
Nats all at sea on whaling
Written By: - Date published: 9:18 pm, March 18th, 2010 - 14 comments
In Kaikoura, John Key said commercial whaling “might be acceptable if it was acceptable to others”. You gotta love the leadership there. But you’ve also got to question what kind of two-faced game the Nats are playing because in the House, Murray McCully said precisely the opposite – that the Government opposes commercial whaling.
Rumblings in Nats’ base
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, March 18th, 2010 - 20 comments
There’s a danger in being a government that does nothing except pay of its rich mates, and that’s losing faith with the conservative base. Garth George is the slightly mad, always irritable voice of this demographic, so it’s worth watching as his initial love for John Key wears off to be replaced by despair (and rising anger) at Key’s failure to deliver the brighter future he promised.
Hysterical media coverage
Written By: - Date published: 2:45 pm, March 17th, 2010 - 26 comments
Suddenly John Key is all over the place complaining about “hysterical” media coverage of National’s plans to turn large chunks of our National Parks into smouldering slag. John seems to have forgotten what “hysterical” politics really looks like. Let’s take a trip down memory lane…
More lies from English, Key in lala-land
Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, March 17th, 2010 - 15 comments
Bill English can’t defend his economic record, 2.2% fall in GDP, still rising unemployment, falling wages, GDP per capita still falling and not expected to return to pre-recession levels until 2012, so he’s telling more lies about Labour’s record instead. Meanwhile, the Do Nothing Prime Minister is still daydreaming about his cycleway, which he now says will create “a lot more” than 4,000 jobs.
Wage gap is the John Key credibility gap
Written By: - Date published: 10:34 am, March 13th, 2010 - 46 comments
There’s a nickname for John Key that’s picking up currency from both Left and Right around the blogosphere: ‘smile and wave’. The one thing Key can be depended on is to turn up grinning in some cheesy photo op. All his promises fall by the wayside. Meanwhile, 276,000 Kiwis are jobless, the wage gap with Australia keeps widening, and so does Key’s credibility gap.
Who were the Nat leakers?
Written By: - Date published: 2:09 pm, March 9th, 2010 - 40 comments
Michael is dead right. The most important thing about the Hollow Men is not how Nicky Hager got the information but what the information is. It reveals National’s modern politics in all its unprincipled ugliness. Nonetheless, which Nats gave Hager the information is a subject of legitimate interest. I have some theories.
Who needs evidence?
Written By: - Date published: 1:04 pm, March 9th, 2010 - 12 comments
John Key doesn’t need evidence. He just knows stuff. John Key just knows that Don Brash’s emails were stolen by a mysterious hacker, despite having no evidence at all. The same “reasoning” underpins most of National’s flagship policies. Key just knows they’ll work, even when the evidence says otherwise…
Aussie wages outstripping NZ
Written By: - Date published: 7:40 am, March 9th, 2010 - 19 comments
In NZ, the average FTE wage rose 2.86% after inflation – $891 to $934 – over the past year. In Aussie, it was 3.6% above inflation – $1159 to $1226. When will John Key admit that he sold us a lie? When will the media call on him to resign if no progress is made on the one substantial promise of a ‘brighter future’ at he made?
John Key lies about “surgical” mining
Written By: - Date published: 9:01 am, March 6th, 2010 - 25 comments
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee is refusing to rule out landscape-scarring mining on our most precious conservation land. This makes a liar of John Key who promised the government was considering “surgical mining”.
Camels, Eyes, Needles
Written By: - Date published: 11:38 am, March 3rd, 2010 - 24 comments
If you agree that money is power, and that power corrupts, then it follows having a lot of money may be a corrupting influence. So imagine the compounding effects of having a lot of money and being like, a Bishop, or a PM. Self-proclaimed Bishop Brian Tamaki is having a few problems at the moment […]
Ex leaders
Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, March 3rd, 2010 - 27 comments
Comparing the post-leadership careers of Clark and Brash is quite a study in contrasts. Clark’s has been stellar, Brash’s an embarrassment. But the world of difference between these two leaders is much clearer with the perfect hindsight of 2010 than it was when they were locked in a tight electoral battle in 2005.
How will history look back at the leadership of John Key?
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