rodney hide

Auckland Council IT Blowout; Guest Post

Written By: te reo putake - Date published: 6:26 pm, March 6th, 2016 - 62 comments

TS regular SaveNZ looks at the background to the massive cost overruns in the Auckland Council’s IT department. It’s not about the democratic processes of council; it’s because the Supercity was set up to fail.

Third termitis

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:44 am, February 15th, 2015 - 69 comments

The John Key led National Government is showing signs of third termitis.  Symptoms are a confusion of the national interest with National Party political interests, a willingness to sell state houses and pay the proceeds to large corporates when even your best friends are saying don’t, a staleness and inability to handle issues properly and being completely bereft of new ideas to improve the country.  The condition is almost inevitably terminal.

Jordan Williams: running the shell game

Written By: lprent - Date published: 6:28 pm, February 12th, 2014 - 40 comments

You have to look at the “taxpayers union” and ask how even the idiots who were behind ACT think that they can play the same trick to a new generation. But Jordan Williams seems to think that despite the law, Len Brown should pay for a Auckland council ordered audit of the mayoral office. Perhaps he should actually read the law about the supershitty that ACT foisted on Auckland ratepayers. Reading the law may prevent another legal failure from the lawyer who lost for Cameron Slater.

There is science, and then there are dickheads

Written By: lprent - Date published: 9:19 am, January 17th, 2014 - 153 comments

Over the last three centuries science has established a pretty robust technique for overturning consensus and examining the weirder areas of science. You have to publish. Waving an untestable vague idea of cause and effect around based on wordplay is something that is better left to politicians, con artists, and religionists. Waving his dick around like Rodney Hide did on Sunday merely proves that he doesn’t think with his brain.

Even David Cameron believes in climate change

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:05 pm, January 9th, 2014 - 255 comments

Some extreme weather events around the world are being cited as proof by the ill informed that global warming has ceased.  Rodney Hide, Donald Trump and the commentators at Fox News rank amongst the most sceptical.  But when even Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron concedes that these weather events may be linked to climate change then the failure to make fundamental change becomes even more puzzling.

ImperatorFish: New Wiggles Line-up Announced

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 3:46 pm, May 18th, 2012 - 8 comments

Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here.

Friday afternoon fun: Trevor Mallard becomes a Wiggle.

Hiding the costs from Auckland

Written By: r0b - Date published: 7:58 pm, June 1st, 2011 - 18 comments

Hide is trying to distance himself from his negligent costing of the Auckland merger, and the consequent $450 million blowout on IT systems alone.  Aucklanders won’t have the satisfaction of kicking him out at the election.  But they can still kick out the arrogant government that steamrollered all over the city, with no regard for good process or public opinion.

Dog eat dog on the extreme Right

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 12:57 pm, May 8th, 2011 - 46 comments

There’s a strange story in the Sunday Star-Times today. The premise is rumours that Don Brash has a love child but that seems to be baseless. The real point of the story is the Brash-ists trying to kill off Rodney Hide now, rather than wait until the election. I wouldn’t be surprised they’re behind the love-child story.

Rodney’s golden handshake

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 11:00 am, May 4th, 2011 - 18 comments

Don Brash was clear that he wanted Rodney Hide to lose his portfolios and leave parliament. Until yesterday. Now Hide will stay on as a lame duck minister with nothing to do for seven months. Will pocket an extra $35,000 salary for his trouble. I wonder what Hide secrets threatened Brash and Key with to get this taxpayer-funded golden handshake.

Brash new world

Written By: r0b - Date published: 1:51 pm, April 28th, 2011 - 49 comments

So, just as Irish predicted, Calvert was the swinging voter, and Brash has now achieved his hostile takeover of ACT.  Goodbye Rodney, and good riddance. What does this do to the political landscape?  Here are some preliminary thoughts.

Calvert switches support to Brash

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 8:00 am, April 28th, 2011 - 77 comments

ACT’s newest MP Hilary Calvert is reported to have changed her support from Hide to Brash. That means the leadership of New Zealand’s most rightwing party will transfer to someone who isn’t currently even a member of the ACT Party.

UPDATE: Hide expected to announce resignation at midday

Nowhere to Hide

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 4:54 pm, April 26th, 2011 - 22 comments

Rodney Hide’s only chance of staying as the leader of ACT is to keep Hilary Calvert and John “Lamington” Boscawen on side.

Like other commentors, I’m calling time on Hide.

Epsom a done deal

Written By: r0b - Date published: 2:57 pm, April 19th, 2011 - 43 comments

Recently Irish Bill wrote on the Nats’ dilemma in Epsom.  Looks the deal is now done, and predictably Key has decided that he needs ACT’s numbers (however small).

NIWA vs the nutters

Written By: lprent - Date published: 7:32 am, December 19th, 2010 - 19 comments

NIWA has had some of their data, methodology, and results checked by the aussies. As expected by anyone who knows something about the subject, they came back with substantially the same result. For the others like the nutters at the CSC and their political allies – well I can just see another conspiracy theory arising…