john key
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MPs respond to Key’s wage drop wish
Written By: - Date published: 12:41 pm, February 22nd, 2008 - 30 comments
Following revelations that John Key told a business audience “we would love to see wages drop“, I sent an email to all 91 MPs whose emails addresses are listed on their bio page on the Parliament website. The email read: “John Key is quoted in the Bay Report, 20/12/07, saying “we would love to see […]
On the record
Written By: - Date published: 3:37 pm, February 21st, 2008 - 43 comments
There are some out there claiming Key’s statement that he “would love to see wages drop” is out of character. Now I’m always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and we know actions speak louder than words so I thought I’d have a look at Key’s actions. And what actions would speak […]
Key: pay cuts for you, backhanders for my mates
Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, February 21st, 2008 - 32 comments
Even as he flounders from one excuse to the next over his ‘we would love to see wages drop’ statement, it has emerged that John Key is offering hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to his big business mates. Key promised a $200 million suspensory loan to a new merger of Southland meat exporters. Not […]
Doing the rounds
Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, February 21st, 2008 - 17 comments
Looks like John Ansell’s finally got his mojo back. Hat tip: Ant.
Key resorts to “memory lapse” defense
Written By: - Date published: 8:59 am, February 21st, 2008 - 43 comments
So without Bill to run interference like he did in the House yesterday, John Key has resorted to the age-old “memory lapse” (aka “Don Brash”) defense regarding his statement to Kerikeri Business Association that “we would love to see wages drop”. Key’s use of the memory lapse defense places him in the illustrious company of […]
Key squirms under scrutiny in the House
Written By: - Date published: 3:18 pm, February 20th, 2008 - 60 comments
Key’s comment that “we would love to see wages drop” to a group of business-people last year has come under increasing scrutiny in the House today. Rather than defend his statement himself, Key sat squirming as English attempted to deflect Cullen’s attack – hardly a good look for the leader of the opposition, getting someone […]
John Key’s plan to cut your pay
Written By: - Date published: 10:46 am, February 20th, 2008 - 144 comments
“We would love to see wages drop”. You would think that given the simmering debate about our wage gap with Australia at the moment that would be the last thing you’d expect to hear from the leader of the National Party. Especially when he’d gone on record in the national media just a week ago […]
The Emperor’s New Clothes
Written By: - Date published: 9:54 pm, February 18th, 2008 - 11 comments
Many, many years ago lived an emperor, who thought so much of new clothes that he spent all his money in order to obtain them; his only ambition was to be always well dressed. He did not care for his soldiers, and the theatre did not amuse him; the only thing, in fact, he thought […]
National’s lack of ambition
Written By: - Date published: 12:14 pm, February 18th, 2008 - 27 comments
A bang and a fizz and another sort of a bang, and then it was gone. Does anyone know the whereabouts of John Key’s “Ambitious” DVD online? It’s mysteriously disappeared both from their site and from YouTube. They’ve even gone as far as to delete all reference to its release on the 28th of November […]
Katherine’s tangible policy presence
Written By: - Date published: 10:05 pm, February 16th, 2008 - 11 comments
It’s been a few days now since the announcement of Katherine Rich’s decision to stand down from politics, but articles such as in today’s NZ Herald continue to try and explain “why”. Perhaps they also have that sense that her departure could be a turning point, the significance eluding us until we’re further down the […]
The Dummies’ Guide to National’s wage policy
Written By: - Date published: 12:35 pm, February 14th, 2008 - 68 comments
I never really understood how National planned to make wages grow because every time our man John Key is asked about our wage-gap with Australia he starts talking about cutting taxes. Here’s a recent example from Morning Report: Key: Firstly we will raise wages. I mean, after-tax wages will be rising under a National government. […]
Affordable housing
Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, February 14th, 2008 - 5 comments
Not in my back yard. Alright, maybe in my back yard but only if the state isn’t involved. UPDATE: No Right Turn has an interesting post on Key’s privatisation plans.
Key hopping on Hobsonville
Written By: - Date published: 9:39 pm, February 13th, 2008 - 40 comments
Just spotted this statement from Maryan Street up on Scoop which suggests at least one reason why Mr Key would like the issue of housing afforability to go away. Hobsonville is turning into an embarassment for him: In June 2006 he said on National Radio: “So you’re talking about very expensive land. I mean, I […]
Key disappoints
Written By: - Date published: 4:42 pm, February 12th, 2008 - 42 comments
I’ve just listened to Key’s reply to the PM’s speech. I’m underwhelmed. Instead of using it to promote any sort of policy platform it was a rehash of tired old phrases from the National Party linebook. You’d think that having had the PM’s copy for over four hours that they’d be able to produce something […]
Key conjures up cuts
Written By: - Date published: 11:53 am, February 12th, 2008 - 10 comments
John Key tells us that he would cut ‘wasteful government spending’ to pay for upper-bracket tax cuts bigger than Labour’s cuts. But do the facts match the rhetoric? Remember National’s wastewatch website? It listed $900 million in ‘waste’ since 1999 only 0.2% of government spending, which won’t pay for many tax cuts. And most of […]
Media and our National Day
Written By: - Date published: 7:56 pm, February 10th, 2008 - 17 comments
The decision of TVNZ’s CloseUp to pay to assist Tame Iti to travel to Waitangi this year was the focus of Media Watch this morning. Ever ready to offer an opinion the PM stepped in with her view that: “I think it is a waste of public money.” (Dom Post, 7 Feb 2008) And the […]
KiwiSaver – what if…
Written By: - Date published: 4:56 pm, February 7th, 2008 - 25 comments
Kiwis are showing their canny side in the way we’ve been flocking to sign up to KiwiSaver – now over 400,000 strong and still growing. It’s another dead rat that John Key has swallowed to make National an electable brand but let’s not forget that in 1975 National abolished Labour’s universal superannuation scheme. Bryan Gaynor […]
Key not competent to lead New Zealand
Written By: - Date published: 11:24 am, February 7th, 2008 - 76 comments
The Sunday Star-Times had an article titled ‘Who Is John Key?’. It’s remarkable that we’re still asking this question a year after Key became National’s leader. Even more remarkable is this long article on his history provides no answers. Who is John Key as a politician, what does he stand for, what is his vision […]
Spot the difference
Written By: - Date published: 2:50 pm, February 5th, 2008 - 30 comments
I’ve just had a chance to read Key’s speech properly. Call me a nit-picker but I don’t reckon it was a “state of the nation” speech at all. Of 4788 words, 3185 were on youth issues – and of these, 2012 words were about youth crime and focussed almost exclusively on a subset of “1000 […]
An expert opinion
Written By: - Date published: 3:22 pm, January 17th, 2008 - 41 comments
A reader just sent in this scan from the letters section of Today’s Herald.
Key and crabs
Written By: - Date published: 9:46 am, January 16th, 2008 - 52 comments
Now I know many of us are still in holiday mode for awhile longer but did it strike anyone else as a little odd to see Mr Key speak out against someone earning their living (presumably) – wanting crab pots banned at his exclusive beach resort? “Mr Key said residents approached him late last month […]
With all the charm of Slough
Written By: - Date published: 10:53 am, January 15th, 2008 - 62 comments
Paul from The Fundy Post has done a rather humorous review of John Key’s holiday home in Success Court, Omaha Beach, as featured in the Herald on Sunday. Suffice to say he’s not impressed: It is difficult to know where to begin. Here is a house (described somewhat disingenuously by the Herald as a “bach”) […]
John Key hearts Canada
Written By: - Date published: 12:41 pm, December 21st, 2007 - 4 comments
Move over Australia, John Key has a new heart-felt love: Canada. On his recent ‘heartland’ tour to discover what country folk thought, Key said he wanted to hear to the concerns of locals, and let them know who John Key was. Never mind the only ones he could find on his 25 minute stop in […]
John Key DVD – Director’s cut
Written By: - Date published: 5:45 pm, December 13th, 2007 - 17 comments
John Key is the epitome of “style over substance” and his DVD showed us just how desperately he wants to be everything to everyone. This Production Shed.TV user-submitted video explores the man behind the mask.
Key pledges to sack prison and parole staff
Written By: - Date published: 2:29 pm, December 10th, 2007 - 53 comments
I’ve just listened to John Key’s interview on Radio Dunedin last week: powered by ODEO “I also think we need to get a lot of the bureaucracy and red tape out of the way. I don’t know if you noticed but on Tuesday a story came out saying that the core bureaucrats in Wellington [WRONG] […]
John’s dead seal
Written By: - Date published: 2:40 pm, December 7th, 2007 - 128 comments
Um, why does John Key have a picture of a dead seal on his flickr page?
Ever wonder why people call John Key “slippery”?
Written By: - Date published: 7:37 pm, December 6th, 2007 - 77 comments
Here he is being interviewed by Paul Henry on Breakfast earlier today. Key tries to slip out of answering a direct question not once, not twice, but SIX times. Notice that Key tries his pre-rehearsed “precious” line twice to start with. When it’s rejected, the slipperiness really begins in earnest. PRESENTER: Um, alright and very […]
Personal responsibility
Written By: - Date published: 11:36 am, December 6th, 2007 - 35 comments
It seems John Key’s lack of judgment isn’t restricted to matters of policy. Twice in the last few days he’s made nasty digs at senior Labour MPs’ personal lives – something National has previously been very sensitive about – and when challenged his response has been to try and duck responsibility. It began on Tuesday […]
A bird in the hand is worth two in the provinces
Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, December 3rd, 2007 - 18 comments
Fran O’Sullivan is not known as a critic of our pollies from the right. So imagine my surprise when catching up on my weekend reading I spotted these somewhat acerbic comments. On Thursday night, the man who wants to be our next prime minister was nowhere to be seen. he was off touring New Zealand […]
Key DVD canned over Clocks fiasco
Written By: - Date published: 2:46 pm, December 3rd, 2007 - 95 comments
Just spotted on Scoop: A scheduled gathering of the media in Auckland this afternoon to meet National Party leader John Key to view his DVD ‘Ambitious for New Zealand’ has been cancelled reportedly owing to copyright concerns. Meanwhile, hectic preparations are underway to give a makeover to the DVD for National leader John Key to […]
Clocking up the royalties
Written By: - Date published: 5:32 pm, November 29th, 2007 - 190 comments
John Key’s new DVD doesn’t tell us much about what National would do in Government, but as we’ve noted before, his choice of Coldplay’s “Clocks” as the theme tune is more revealing than he may have intended. Here are some of the lyrics: Lights go out and I can’t be saved Tides that I tried […]
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