zzero use

Categories under zzero use

“A Tale of two countries” – NZ/Aotearoa

Written By: - Date published: 8:11 am, November 3rd, 2013 - 81 comments

Yesterday David Cunliffe told a Tale of Two New Zealands.  Today 2 NZ Herald articles show where NZ has gone wrong with its fractured and increasingly unequal society: our ailing state supported TVNZ; a high-living property-buying elite.  Will Cunliffe talk about state housing today?

David Cunliffe Speech to 2013 Labour Party Conference – Building a future for all

Written By: - Date published: 2:57 pm, November 2nd, 2013 - 142 comments

David Cunliffe’s speech notes for his speech to today’s Labour Party Conference

John Armstrong is labouring under a reality delusion

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, November 2nd, 2013 - 91 comments

John Armstrong’s column in this morning’s Herald is an interesting collection of ideas.  Apparently David Cunliffe is too left yet too wishy-washy, a remit that was voted down is offered as evidence that the party is “lurching” to the left, and the party is too boring.  And he decries the lack of new material before David Cunliffe has given his keynote speech.  Don’t you think you should wait for the speech first John?

Shedding the deadwood

Written By: - Date published: 9:50 am, November 1st, 2013 - 48 comments

The resignation announcements of National MPs are coming thick and fast. It shows that National knows that it’s going to have fewer MPs are the next election. If it doesn’t want all its seats clogged with MPs that are going nowhere, they need to retire at the election. For the Left, it’s good confirmation that National knows its losing. It’s smart politics from National, though, and something Labour could emulate.

The test

Written By: - Date published: 7:46 am, November 1st, 2013 - 114 comments

Fairfax has decided to go a bit mental on Labour and Cunliffe. An endless stream of stories trying to tweak Cunliffe’s nose over every little thing. Part of this is covering the embarrassment of their own rogue poll. More importantly, it’s a test that all new leaders get. The wave of hypercritical stories don’t mean much in themselves, how Cunliffe’s Labour responds does.

Good news me, bad news you

Written By: - Date published: 2:20 pm, October 31st, 2013 - 14 comments

Clare Trevett details in today’s Herald how Key has taken to bringing Ministers with good news to his Monday news conferences “to lambast the media with good news about the progress being made in a certain area.” Sources tell me that the good news goes well beyond the Monday presser. Ministerial staff run a filter across all portfolio announcements: if it’s  good news, the Minister gets to make the announcement. If its not such good news, the job goes to the Departmental head.

Serious question: Treasury?

Written By: - Date published: 7:46 am, October 31st, 2013 - 86 comments

Why is Treasury providing the government with advice on spinning and disguising widespread changes to Education? In this way, NZ’s democracy is undermined, and changes are continually made that benefit the few and make life more difficult for the many. Government MO or renegade Treasury?

The Cunliffe bounce

Written By: - Date published: 9:43 am, October 30th, 2013 - 26 comments

Fairfax suffered the double indignity of first having its poll contradicted by One News’ hours later and then Key himself mocking the idea that National is on 50%. Still rogue polls happen. That’s statistics. We can look through the variation in single polls by comparing the 6 After David polls to their 6 Before Cunliffe predecessors to see if there really has been a Cunliffe bounce.

BLip: The swearing of the Auckland council

Written By: - Date published: 9:11 am, October 30th, 2013 - 18 comments

BLip is well known on this site for his ever-growing linked lists of the lies of John Key. But it appears he has been branching out into the role of reporter in this hilarious account of the swearing of the Auckland council last night that was picked out of Open Mike.

Outsourcing poverty: Paula Bennett’s shame

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, October 29th, 2013 - 51 comments

A charity is taking on the funding of the essential work on monitoring poverty, in the face of Paula Bennett, Bill English and John Key et al failing to do their job: a return to Dickensian & Edwardian times.

NSA: ‘full spectrum dominance’

Written By: - Date published: 9:39 am, October 28th, 2013 - 23 comments

Latest revelations about the NSA’s international surveillance show it is about “full spectrum dominance” of military, economic, business and political activities. The TICS Bill is the latest part of Key’s changes to NZ’s surveillance agencies, further enabling the US government dominance via NSA, especially in business & politics.

What’s in a glance?

Written By: - Date published: 3:37 pm, October 26th, 2013 - 50 comments

David Jones QC argues Banks could not have signed a false declaration of election donations because he did not read it. But  Banks’ campaign manager’s evidence was that Banks  “glanced at it before signing it.” The Oxford dictionary defines “glance” as “take a quick or hurried look;” “read quickly or cursorily.” So Banks did read the donations return. It would have been hard to miss the $15,690 recorded as both a radio expense and an anonymous donation which he had personally solicited.

Two-term panic gripping the rightwing punditry

Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, October 26th, 2013 - 102 comments

John Armstrong, Tracy Watkins, and Fran O’Sullivan all write today about National’s plunging polls and the growing likelihood that this will be the first two-term National government. They take different approaches – Armstrong: there’s nothing for Key to worry about, Watkins: there was a problem but the tide’s turning back, O’Sullivan: yeah, Key’s fucked.

Asset sales: Key’s scorched earth tactics will backfire

Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, October 25th, 2013 - 60 comments

Granny supported little Johnny’s plan to go off to market and sell the family’s cash cow. But even she’s furious that what he’s come back with amounts to nothing more than a hill of beans. As Granny Herald notes, the Nats’ determination to push ahead with the remaining sales regardless is all about ideology, and the knowledge that they’re going to lose the next election.

Quote of the day: “Atlas shrugs off climate change”

Written By: - Date published: 10:59 am, October 23rd, 2013 - 37 comments

Kennedy Graham’s post on NZ’s appalling record on climate change:  ‘Atlas shrugs off climate change – a New Zealand policy failure of monumental proportions‘, includes a great quote about Key shrugging in the face of his (and “neoliberalism”) failures.  So apt.

Fight you bastards fight

Written By: - Date published: 9:26 am, October 23rd, 2013 - 49 comments

At least one MP if not the whole of National’s caucus knew that the news concerning Len Brown and Bevan Chuang would break soon eight days before it did.  Slater’s and Palino’s claims are becoming more and more difficult to believe.  And in a comment yesterday Bad12 sums up why this is such bad news for National.

None so blind as those who invent their own reality

Written By: - Date published: 7:12 am, October 23rd, 2013 - 93 comments

my little pony friendship is magic haters gonna hate

Is the Prime Minister John Key who claims to know what Labour has supposedly said in secret talks with SkyCity (talks that Cunliffe denies have happened) because it’s ‘all over town’ the same Prime Minister John Key who couldn’t be bothered to read a police report on one of his ministers who is now going to be tried for the offences investigated in said report? Asking for a friend.

Because it’s all about “me”

Written By: - Date published: 6:24 pm, October 22nd, 2013 - 22 comments

Cunliffe talked of moving from a “from a cost-based to a values-based” strategy. We need a new narrative: valuing all, including children of those on benefits; about long term benefits for all of less inequality & poverty, and more affordable housing & better public transport, & more.

KiwiFund: nationalisation or competition?

Written By: - Date published: 8:05 pm, October 21st, 2013 - 61 comments

Winston Peters’ KiwiFund proposal would nationalise KiwiSaver.  Russel Norman supports it, but in competition with private schemes.  Cunliffe is open to negotiation.  Key is dismissive, but says Peters is so untrustworthy he is likely to back down & form an alliance with National anyway.

The red tide rising

Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, October 20th, 2013 - 40 comments

National led the combined Labour+Green vote for 76 successive Roy Morgan polls. But how times have changed. The Left’s led 10 of the last 14 polls, and all the last five. With solid vision, policies, and a credible candidate for PM, the Left finally has the goods to win. Watch for the cracks to appear in the Nats as they position for a post-Key future.

Playing dirty: The politics of contradiction

Written By: - Date published: 8:03 pm, October 19th, 2013 - 169 comments

Slater’s track record speaks for itself. As the Brown-Chuang-Wewege-Palino story unfolds, his angle on the story shifts, and the contradictions abound. On The Nation this morning,  Slater lays it out: politics is a dirty game, and that’s the game he’s playing.

The “cabbage boat” defence.

Written By: - Date published: 4:30 pm, October 18th, 2013 - 33 comments

It’s starting to look pretty shredded. Increasingly, it seems that John Banks has “got nothing to hide” – behind. The key question is what Banks knew when he signed a declaration recording known donations as anonymous. Paul Holmes did put the question directly to Banks on Q+A last year. He didn’t get a straight answer; Banks tried the cabbage boat defence.

Roy Morgan – easy win for Labour/Greens?

Written By: - Date published: 6:54 pm, October 17th, 2013 - 104 comments

The latest Roy Morgan poll has Labour 37%, Green 12.5%, and National down to 41.5%. As Roy Morgan says, this is the closest Labour has been since 2008.  Morgan’s comment: “If a National Election were held now the latest New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll shows that a Labour/ Greens alliance would win easily.” The Conservatives have dropped from 2% to 0.5% – no help there.

The two legs of Banks’ defence trip each other

Written By: - Date published: 8:17 am, October 17th, 2013 - 28 comments

John Banks is to stand trial for knowingly submitting a false electoral expenses return. He’s charged, thanks to the private prosecution after the Police failed to act, with breaching s134(1) of the Local Electoral Act. Let’s take a look at the two lines of defence Banks has argued, and how they contradict each other.

The fish rots from the head

Written By: - Date published: 8:12 pm, October 16th, 2013 - 91 comments

Today’s decision that John Banks will stand trial for signing a false donations return signals the beginning of the end of the Key government. Increasingly it resembles the last days of the Shipley government only worse, as corruption replaces shambles. The decision also puts the famous tea party conversation between Key and Banks, where they stitched up the deal to provide the present Government’s majority, into new perspective.

Making sense of the census: regional decline

Written By: - Date published: 12:33 pm, October 16th, 2013 - 30 comments

Yesterday John Key, some MSM journos and a few Standard commentators were gloating that recently released Census 2013 data showed David Cunliffe was wrong in his concern with regional decline.  The evidence shows Cunliffe is correct.

What’s the play?

Written By: - Date published: 12:10 pm, October 16th, 2013 - 108 comments

No-one’s happy with the revelations about Len Brown’s private life, apart from Slater (himself also an adulterer) who is wallowing in all the details that Chuang seems only too happy to provide. But what’s interesting is that this is clearly a political play. Who’s behind it and what do they have to gain? The players: Slater, Slater snr, Chuang, and Palino.

Dotcom on what Banks knew

Written By: - Date published: 12:59 pm, October 15th, 2013 - 27 comments

The District Court is hearing evidence today as to whether John Banks should stand trial for signing a donations return that he knew to be false. Kim Dotcom has given evidence – the Herald reports that when he agreed to give Banks a donation of $50,000, Banks asked for it to be split and to be made anonymous., so that if Banks helped DotCom in the future it would not be known that he had donated to him.

This is how it’s done

Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, October 15th, 2013 - 37 comments

This morning Cunliffe shows how to front the media on current issues, and respond to journalists questions clearly and decisively while being informed on the issues.  Questions about Kōhanga Reo National Trust, US government debt crisis, affordable housing, need better skills training, Euthanasia Bill.

Angry Simon implodes on Campbell Live

Written By: - Date published: 8:32 pm, October 14th, 2013 - 239 comments

This must be one of the worst “interviews” given by an NZ cabinet minster tonight on Campbell Live.  Simon Bridges all bluster, anger, spin and diversions, and fails to answer the real questions about the dangers of the deep sea drilling off NZ’s coast.  The ugly face of John Key’s government. [Update: Youtube video of the interview]

From “Cost-based to Value-based”

Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, October 10th, 2013 - 8 comments

Cunliffe’s CTU speech is significant, rousing and inspiring, laying out a shift “from a cost-based to a value-based” strategy- for an inclusive society and one that provides a good life for “all” Kiwis, with opportunities for all. Video of the speech is a must see. And social security? [Update: Gordon Campbell] & Turei’s speech