Search Results

  1. Treasury’s spin fail on electricity numbers

    Written By:  James Henderson -  Date published: 10:41 am, October 16th, 2012 -  2 comments
    Categories: energy, privatisation, spin
    Tags:

    Treasury is trying to tell us that private power companies don’t charge more than SOEs to justify privatisation. Of course, a moment’s thought tells you that private owners, with higher costs of capital, need larger profits than public ones. And private owners always complain the SOEs don’t charge enough. Moreover, Treasury’s spin is a complete fail.

  2. NRT: Imperial over-reach

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 10:55 am, October 15th, 2012 -  10 comments
    Categories: capitalism, copyright, International
    Tags: , , ,

    Should have reposted this last week – NRT on a bizarre and scary US legal opinion.  Thoughtcrime will be next…

  3. US Justice and Dotcom’s birthday

    Written By:  Mike Smith -  Date published: 1:20 am, October 15th, 2012 -  9 comments
    Categories: john key, Judith Collins, Spying, us politics
    Tags:

    Judith Collins is going to the US and isn’t going to raise the Dotcom case we are told. I’ll bet the US Justice Department is though. They knew for a year Dotcom was going to be arrested on his birthday.

  4. Labour leadership

    Written By:  Mike Smith -  Date published: 3:02 am, October 2nd, 2012 -  33 comments
    Categories: david shearer, john key, leadership, uk politics
    Tags:

    I’ll be in Manchester tomorrow to hear Ed Miliband speak at the UK Labour Party conference. Labour are ahead in the polls, and Miliband’s leadership is more secure than Cameron’s or Clegg’s. Ed Miliband has surprised those who thought Labour chose the wrong brother. Ed is receiving plenty of free advice about what he should say; I suspect he will continue to be himself. Interesting parallels to New Zealand; I’m looking forward to it.

  5. The cost of doing nothing

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 11:00 am, September 28th, 2012 -  34 comments
    Categories: climate change, disaster, ETS, national
    Tags: ,

    Another report confirms the findings of the 2006 Stern Report. The future economic costs of doing nothing far outweigh the current costs of taking action on climate change. But National is taking us backwards…

  6. The Press on Standards

    Written By:  Bunji -  Date published: 11:30 am, September 26th, 2012 -  34 comments
    Categories: newspapers, schools
    Tags: ,

    The Christchurch Press as part of Fairfax released National Standards data, but had a number of articles with a curiously sensible line on it: “…the standards’ main effects will be to impose on schools a crude, misleading and unhelpful form of accountability and to focus attention on learning targets that are inappropriate for many children.”

  7. If it is broke, then fix it

    Written By:  lprent -  Date published: 11:29 am, September 26th, 2012 -  71 comments
    Categories: Economy, political parties
    Tags:

    Colin James writes good political analysis. His ODT article from yesterday resonates with me. It is time to look for a new economic model as we watch “..central banks – supposed to epitomise the straight and narrow – print money like 17th century monarchs.” as they recirculate the stupidities of the past like any National government.

  8. Nat’s oppose transparency (again)

    Written By:  IrishBill -  Date published: 7:50 am, September 20th, 2012 -  29 comments
    Categories: accountability, democracy under attack
    Tags:

    Well it’s official. The government has no interest in allowing you to know how your money is being spent.

    That’s been made clear in their opposition to Darien Fenton’s port transparency bill – a bill designed simply to make publicly owned ports subject to the Official Information Act.

    When they talk about “accountability” and “responsibility” and “the social contract”, remember they’re talking about it for you. Not for them or their powerful mates.

  9. Planet Key, Planet Paula, and the War on the Poor

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 3:00 pm, September 19th, 2012 -  67 comments
    Categories: brand key, child welfare, Economy, jobs, john key, Metiria Turei, national, national/act government, paula bennett, same old national
    Tags:

    Over the last week, the government’s off-world set of distorted realities has come to the foreground: those of “Planet John Key” and “Planet Paula”. These worlds highlight the way Bennett’s latest welfare reforms wage war on the poor and undermine fairness and democracy.

  10. My 2 cents

    Written By:  Zetetic -  Date published: 9:37 am, September 17th, 2012 -  49 comments
    Categories: blogs, newspapers
    Tags:

    It must be pretty sweet when your full-time job is to write 4 500-word columns of opinion a week. It’s even sweeter when you can use those 500 words to have a whinge at your critics rather than write about things that your audience, you know, gives a crap about. The weird thing about Armstrong’s article is it first attempts to refute the critics and then provides excuses. But, in truth, it’s a personal tirade. And the place for that isn’t a national newspaper column: it’s a blog.

  11. CIR & the silience of the citirats

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 11:28 am, September 10th, 2012 -  6 comments
    Categories: local body elections, petition, referendum
    Tags:

    The Nats’ lines on the citizens-initiated referendum on asset sales are very weak: ‘we don’t care because we have a mandate’ and making up stories about invalid signatures. Those lines will only hold until the petition is certified by the Clerk of the House later this year. Then, they’ll have to grow up a little. Their first decision will be when to hold the referendum.

  12. Mine now, or later?

    Written By:  James Henderson -  Date published: 10:08 am, September 6th, 2012 -  27 comments
    Categories: Mining
    Tags:

    Something struck me as weird about the Spring Creek closure. Why have they stopped mining immediately even though the future of the mine hasn’t been decided and the miners are still being paid? Why did Solid Energy consider it more economic to pay the miners to leave the coal in the ground than dig it up? The answer has big implications for the government’s mining obsession.

  13. GM lobby can butt out

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 10:22 am, September 5th, 2012 -  53 comments
    Categories: farming, food, leadership, science
    Tags:

    There are perfectly good reasons that NZ as a country should remain GM free. And we should stand up and say so in the face of inept and blatant lobbying from the GM industry.

  14. MMP Review newsletter

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 3:46 pm, September 4th, 2012 -  Comments Off on MMP Review newsletter
    Categories: MMP
    Tags:

    We’re just days away from the end of public consultation on the MMP Review, and this week is your last chance make a submission on the Proposals Paper. You can make your submission online or via email to mmpreview@elections.govt.nz

  15. Will National think of the children?

    Written By:  Ben Clark -  Date published: 3:21 pm, September 4th, 2012 -  25 comments
    Categories: families, national, poverty
    Tags:

    The Herald has had a plethora of columns urging action on the 230,000-270,000 in Child Poverty this week.  There have been 3 weighty reports on Child Poverty out recently to spur them, but the even conservative ol’ Granny Herald seems to have got the message – will National?

  16. Frankly Speaking: “John Banks: condition deteriorating”

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 3:05 pm, August 15th, 2012 -  18 comments
    Categories: act, conservative party, dpf, election 2014, electoral commission, electoral systems, greens, john banks, mana, maori party, MMP, national, nz first, political parties, Politics, united future
    Tags:

    Frank Macskasy over at Frankly Speaking writes some very long posts that are often full of interesting information. This one does a good analysis of the recommendations from the Electoral Commission and various party positions on it. On the way through he has a good swipe at John Banks, who it would be safe to say, he considers to be political cabbage.

  17. Nats lied – power prices to rise

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 9:08 am, August 15th, 2012 -  36 comments
    Categories: bill english, class war, energy, Privatisation
    Tags: , , ,

    Minister after Minister denied it, but it turns out that common sense is right. Private power companies charge more. Privatisation surely means that prices will rise. Is it even news when this government lies these days?

  18. MMP review

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 10:00 am, August 13th, 2012 -  87 comments
    Categories: electoral systems, MMP
    Tags: , ,

    The first proposal paper from the Electoral Commission on the MMP review is due out soon.

    Updated with the early coverage.

  19. Key’s rock and hard place

    Written By:  Zetetic -  Date published: 7:15 am, July 31st, 2012 -  17 comments
    Categories: privatisation, treaty settlements, water
    Tags:

    Does Key respect the Waitangi Tribunal’s call for a temporary halt to asset sales and its likely call for a further delay when it presents its full findings in September? If he does, he looks weak, gives the Keep Our Assets petition more time. If he doesn’t, he picks a fight with Maori, resulting in court injunctions, again delaying the sales, hurting the sale price, making him look weak.

  20. Truck strike imminent!!!

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 1:58 pm, July 26th, 2012 -  38 comments
    Categories: national, transport
    Tags: ,

    Remember all the fuss in 2008 when the Labour government tried to make a 1% increase charges affecting truckies? What kind of catastrophic response will increases of up to 20% provoke?

  21. The nasty government

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 12:07 pm, July 26th, 2012 -  22 comments
    Categories: john key, national
    Tags: ,

    National is threatening to veto a Labour bill to extend paid parental leave, claiming it costs too much. At the same time, they’re trying to defend writing a blank cheque for looters’ bonuses. And they’re getting nasty about it. Maggie Barry attacked Jacinda Ardern for not having children yet while John Key had a hissy fit at anyone who questioned his looters’ bonuses.

  22. ImperatorFish: Treasury Report To Prime Minister On Meteorite Activities

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 2:41 pm, July 18th, 2012 -  4 comments
    Categories: treasury
    Tags:

    This report has been prepared for the purposes of verifying the Prime Minister’s statement on Tuesday 17 July 2012 that it was unlikely a meteorite would hit the earth that afternoon. Having comprehensively reviewed a number of economics journals that we agree with, we can find no evidence that a meteorite struck the Earth on the afternoon of Tuesday 17 July 2012.

  23. “Free” market? No: Tournament

    Written By:  Bunji -  Date published: 1:56 pm, July 18th, 2012 -  50 comments
    Categories: capitalism, workers' rights
    Tags: , ,

    Many modern companies are now operating markets of their own, but they’re not “free” as claimed. Rather there is only one possible purchaser of your labour, leading to a tournament of who is able to accept the lowest pay and conditions. This isn’t even capitalism, but we’re letting them get away with it.

  24. 100 academics opposed to league tables

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 11:15 am, July 17th, 2012 -  154 comments
    Categories: education, schools
    Tags: ,

    School league tables are harmful to education.  Tables based on “ropey data” are even worse.  In this open letter 100 academics speak out against league tables.

  25. Labor Right v Greens

    Written By:  Mike Smith -  Date published: 5:29 pm, July 13th, 2012 -  37 comments
    Categories: australian politics, greens, labour, Left
    Tags:

    This weekend the NSW ALP Conference and the New Zealand Labour Party Council will both debate and decide proposals for reform. Prospects look decidedly better on this side of the Tasman for internal reform as well as for relations with the Greens.

  26. Questions on Labour leadership selection reform

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 9:31 am, July 12th, 2012 -  13 comments
    Categories: labour
    Tags:

    Seeing coverage of the apparently unhurried steps towards Labour party members having a say in future leadership bids made me want to stop and ask some questions about whether they are telling the full story.

  27. Legitimate calls for inquiries

    Written By:  Zetetic -  Date published: 7:07 am, July 4th, 2012 -  33 comments
    Categories: greens, national
    Tags:

    Key has dismissed calls for an inquiry into the Police’s actions in the Dotcom affair. He says that the Greens call for inquiries every week. In fact, they’ve called for 19 in the past year and a half. Is that too many? Well, the Auditor-General didn’t think so: she responded positively to the Greens’ call for a investigation into Key’s dodgy SkyCity deal.

  28. What’s Bill smoking?

    Written By:  James Henderson -  Date published: 9:45 am, June 29th, 2012 -  40 comments
    Categories: benefits, bill english, class war, drugs, scoundrels
    Tags: ,

    We’re getting used to the Nats running bash the beneficiary /poor /Maori /unemployed /criminal /etc distractions but it’s getting pretty bad when Bill English gets in on the act. Weirdly his idea of drug-testing beneficiaries seems to have been picked up from a Daily Show piece on how it failed in Florida – costing money, not saving it, and proving beneficiaries use drugs less than the rest of the population.

  29. When spin backfires

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 7:46 am, June 28th, 2012 -  41 comments
    Categories: privatisation, spin
    Tags:

    John Key has this weird defence when challenged over the number of Kiwis who will buy and retain shares in his asset sales, given that shareholders in Contact have plummeted from 225,000 at point of listing to 78,000 now. He cites a single article by a single journalist that says Contact is widely-held. Yesterday, Key quoted at length from the year-old article. And walked straight into David Shearer’s trap.

  30. What’s in the TPPA?

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 12:15 pm, June 24th, 2012 -  44 comments
    Categories: accountability, capitalism, democracy under attack, economy, International, trade
    Tags: , , , ,

    While we the public distract ourselves with trivia like car crushing, and focus on other important matters like asset sales, the TPPA which is quietly unfolding in the background is actually the most important ongoing political issue.  It has potentially disastrous implications for our sovereignty and our future.

  31. Pike Road?

    Written By:  Mike Smith -  Date published: 10:27 pm, June 21st, 2012 -  10 comments
    Categories: animal welfare, farming, police, same old national, transport
    Tags:

    A strong safety warning today about sheeptruck disaster met Ministerial indifference from Associate Transport Minister Simon Bridges. He said Australian legislation to promote safety and fairness in the road transport industry was not needed here because “New Zealand already has a system of work time requirements to help manage the risk of fatigue”. More infamous last words from a National politician – but the police are really worried.

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