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What does this Government have against the environment

Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, April 24th, 2024 - 5 comments

It is almost as if the environment was really cruel to senior members of the Government when they were kids. But whatever the reason this Government appears to be intent on wrecking the local environment with a degree of vengeance and stupidity not seen before.

The Liz Truss of the South Seas

Written By: - Date published: 9:43 am, April 21st, 2024 - 35 comments

Liz Truss’s short reign as UK Prime Minister foundered after her budget requiring borrowing to fund tax cuts was released. The budget tanked the UK economy and caused Truss’s resignation. This week amongst announcements of massive cuts it has emerged that the Government is also planning borrowing for tax cuts.

Forget this Trump trial

Written By: - Date published: 1:56 pm, April 16th, 2024 - 14 comments

In the Trump felony trial now underway, there’s a yawning gap between media attention paid to this and the actual scale of the crime and its potential punishment. Trump is not indicted for trial for electoral fraud. He’s not on trial for paying a porn star for services. He’s not on trial for adultery. He’s […]

Guest Post – I was wrong about rainbows

Written By: - Date published: 11:41 am, April 1st, 2024 - 13 comments

Brian Tamaki, recent victim of self/God?-inflicted burns. Don't be like Brian.

Guest post by Brian Tamaki where he shares his change of thinking about rainbows.

Tell Auckland Council don’t privatise the Port

Written By: - Date published: 12:13 pm, March 18th, 2024 - 12 comments

The Maritime Union of New Zealand has set up an online petition urging Auckland Council not to privatise Auckland Port and also a very helpful web page allowing people to make submissions on Auckland Council’s draft long term plan, where the privatisation proposal is being considered.

Vale, Magista

Written By: - Date published: 12:37 pm, March 10th, 2024 - 5 comments

Respects to the falling of the Rt Hon Jonathan Hunt.

“Deliberate nuclear use

Written By: - Date published: 10:38 am, March 9th, 2024 - 18 comments

in a war over Taiwan” is the title of an Atlantic Council paper produced last September. They mean nuclear weapons. These are serious people; Undersecretary Bonnie Jenkins addressed them last year about AUKUS.

What’s Left?

Written By: - Date published: 12:07 pm, February 25th, 2024 - 51 comments

From Election 2023’s result through to February 2024 there has been massive loss and damage to the Parliamentary capacity of Labour and Greens. Who still has the capacity to lead? What’s left?

RIP Efeso Collins

Written By: - Date published: 4:49 pm, February 21st, 2024 - 17 comments

Very sad news today with news of Fa’anana Efeso Collins’ untimely death.

Get ready for your water to be privatised

Written By: - Date published: 10:39 am, February 17th, 2024 - 124 comments

The National Government’s repeal of the Three Waters Legislation and its pursuit of “new forms of infrastructure funding and financing” suggests that privatisation of water is on the drawing board.

Which party are “we” bringing food to, Judith?

Written By: - Date published: 3:10 pm, February 2nd, 2024 - 27 comments

War with China? Or cocktails with the Colonels? I haven’t got the invitations, but I’m a no for both.

ACT’s performative FedFoke virtual signalling

Written By: - Date published: 4:00 pm, February 1st, 2024 - 11 comments

Take your dirty boots off at the door ya numpties.

Does the Western World really want to starve Palestine?

Written By: - Date published: 3:43 pm, January 30th, 2024 - 17 comments

Western Nations including New Zealand have suspended urgently needed aid for Palestine after revelations that a tiny minority of UNRHA workers may have been involved in Hamas raids and despite the UNHRA taking immediate action to address issues arising.

Economy improves dramatically thanks to Labour

Written By: - Date published: 9:32 am, January 27th, 2024 - 26 comments

This week there were two pieces of economic news showing a dramatic improvement credit for which should be given to the last Labour Government.

The Government is planning to cut tobacco excise duty

Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, January 25th, 2024 - 78 comments

Hot on the heels of the Government’s walk back from the previous Government’s smoke free policies is the disclosure that the Government is considering halting increases to excise duties on tobacco. And the Government tried to hide this.

Labour and the Democrats

Written By: - Date published: 9:34 am, January 20th, 2024 - 64 comments

Both the US Democrats and NZ Labour need to take hard looks at themselves. Failure is not inevitable. But there is now only one English-speaking centre-left democracy left in the world: that is the state of where we are now. 

Mood of the smokoroom – fearful

Written By: - Date published: 9:11 am, January 18th, 2024 - 53 comments

The Council of Trade Unions has completed its annual survey of workers and the mood is grim.

Dirty Politics 2024?

Written By: - Date published: 12:50 pm, January 11th, 2024 - 89 comments

Some of the usual suspects… how would we know what is really going on?

Darkness Towards Peace

Written By: - Date published: 10:51 am, January 5th, 2024 - 39 comments

Can Israel lose a moral battle in Gaza and yet still win?

The Useful Rich

Written By: - Date published: 9:03 am, December 31st, 2023 - 64 comments

New Zealand’s rich are endlessly fascinating, but as wealth concentrates ever tighter we are poorer.

Repealing the Tax Principles Reporting Act is performative nonsense

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, December 29th, 2023 - 29 comments

National’s 100 days of action is frankly performative nonsense. But it did not include the repeal of the Tax Principles Reporting Act which National smashed through under urgency in the last sitting day of Parliament. What was it trying to hide?

Wanaka Has No Crime

Written By: - Date published: 5:06 pm, December 28th, 2023 - 47 comments

The purpose of everyone in New Zealand is to keep Wanaka pure.

NZ policy is consistent about Russian invasion

Written By: - Date published: 10:18 pm, December 23rd, 2023 - 118 comments

Unlike Mike Smith and other noisy members of the imperialist cohort, I applaud that NZ foreign policy has remained consistent in upholding UN and ICC policies against invasions and forced annexations. Ardern, Hipkins and now Luxon have all said the same thing.Supporting the UN charter has massively reduced war casualties over the last 70 years. Clearly the Russian Federation finds this constraining.

National’s complete indifference to climate change

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 pm, December 18th, 2023 - 18 comments

This is the only possible explanation.  As well as celebrating all things car National has a pathological hatred of cycleways and walkways and public transport.

Who leaked the Fair Pay Cabinet Paper?

Written By: - Date published: 12:39 pm, December 7th, 2023 - 33 comments

My initial impression was that the person who leaked the Fair Pay Cabinet Paper to the media was probably a disgruntled Public Servant but was it?

The inspiring Pope Francis

Written By: - Date published: 5:36 pm, December 6th, 2023 - 18 comments

Pope Francis has been pope for a bit over 10 years. He’s made a difference.

Labour needs to open the military-political front

Written By: - Date published: 10:13 am, December 3rd, 2023 - 28 comments

The new National coalition cares little about defence. Defence is surprisingly a large and under-appreciated strength for Labour.

Just One Term

Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, December 2nd, 2023 - 74 comments

There is every reason to believe National will be chucked out in 2026.

Gangs rejoice as Pseudoephedrine is back

Written By: - Date published: 8:51 am, December 2nd, 2023 - 18 comments

For a Government that hates gangs you would think that they would be more circumspect with policies that may enrich gangs and increase illicit drug use.  But this is exactly what the current Government is planning.

Nigel Haworth – Back to the Future?

Written By: - Date published: 10:08 am, November 27th, 2023 - 22 comments

“Labour should be as focused on production as it is on distribution. Labour’s job is not simply to distribute such resources as accrue to the state; it is to promote production and trade that underpin fairer distribution, but under particular conditions.”

The Left Do Not Own Maori

Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, November 26th, 2023 - 52 comments

Labour, the Greens and liberal parts of the media have not adjusted to the fact that liberal and Maori are different things.

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