Search Results

  1. NZMA position on health inequity

    Written By:  Ben Clark -  Date published: 2:54 pm, May 3rd, 2011 -  18 comments
    Categories: equality, health
    Tags: , , ,

    NZ’s doctor’s organisation is prescribing a healthier society: putting kids first, reduced income inequality (higher minimum income), investment in skills and education, and equity, not equality in our social services – helping most those with the greatest need. Take note Don, John.

  2. John Key’s shakey government

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 9:01 am, May 3rd, 2011 -  35 comments
    Categories: act, national
    Tags:

    The Nats have ‘soft-launched’ via Kiwiblog and Whaleoil that Rodney Hide and John Boscawen will both lose their portfolios and ACT will have no ministers. Farrar points out this will benefit ACT’s taxpayer funding to the tune of $130,000, which is somehow sweet while spending $500,000 on a by-election to get a mandate is a serious crime.

  3. Farrar in an act of pure vanity…

    Written By:  lprent -  Date published: 12:57 pm, May 1st, 2011 -  64 comments
    Categories: blogs, dpf
    Tags: , ,

    In an act of pure vanity, David Farrar is whining about the a by-election that will probably be held in July – less than three months before the House dissolves for the election. Farrar even points out the relevant law Parliament can only resolve not to have a by-election if the resignation occurs within six […]

  4. Don Brash, defender of the poor & downtrodden

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 12:00 pm, May 1st, 2011 -  8 comments
    Categories: don brash, humour
    Tags:

    Average Joe, tongue firmly in cheek, welcomes the resurrection of Don Brash: His promise to “raise the income levels of all New Zealanders” leaves us with only one logical conclusion… raising the pension, raising benefits and increasing the minimum wage.

  5. Armstrong on Brash+Key

    Written By:  r0b -  Date published: 9:57 am, April 30th, 2011 -  37 comments
    Categories: act, don brash, election 2011, john key, national
    Tags: ,

    John Armstrong doesn’t get much wrong in the assessment of the Brash take over.  Brash, with his Hollow Men legacy, anti-Maori posturing, and loony economic policies,  is very much Key’s problem now.

  6. An open letter to all unionists & fighters for equality & social justice in Aotearoa

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 12:29 pm, April 29th, 2011 -  216 comments
    Categories: notices
    Tags: ,

    Via Socialist Aotearoa, an open letter from union activist Mike Treen on Hone Harawira’s Mana Party, which is due to be launched this Saturday in Auckland. The outline of Mana’s manifesto presented in the letter suggests it will be economically bold and not exclusively Maori nationalist. It should be very popular.

  7. Brash new world

    Written By:  r0b -  Date published: 1:51 pm, April 28th, 2011 -  49 comments
    Categories: act, election 2011, leadership, rodney hide
    Tags: , ,

    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.

  8. Calvert switches support to Brash

    Written By:  the sprout -  Date published: 8:00 am, April 28th, 2011 -  77 comments
    Categories: act, leadership, rodney hide, roger douglas
    Tags: ,

    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

  9. Aug: Horizon Poll Easter 2011

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 11:30 am, April 27th, 2011 -  21 comments
    Categories: polls
    Tags: ,

    Aug in Hamilton is a great little blog and Aug has given us permission to reprint some of the posts. In this post, Aug looks at the controversial Horizon tracking poll. It’s an interesting analysis and not great news for the Left. Time to get back on track.

  10. The Mana Party & the Money Party

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 12:13 pm, April 25th, 2011 -  48 comments
    Categories: act, Left
    Tags: ,

    Hone Harawira is set to launch his Mana Party next weekend, possibly triggering a by-election in Te Tai Tokerau at the same time. At the other end of the spectrum, Don Brash’s haphazard to take over ACT may actually just be casus belli for him to establish a New Right Party.

  11. A broad church

    Written By:  r0b -  Date published: 10:39 am, April 17th, 2011 -  36 comments
    Categories: history, labour, Maori Issues
    Tags:

    Ratana elders are unhappy with Labour over its list rankings, and have called on supporters to abandon the Party. Phil Goff needs to work on the relationship with the Church immediately.  For Labour the only silver lining in this cloud, and the focus on its list in general, is the fact that it illustrates what a large and diverse group of people the Party has to represent.

  12. Skinheads in Suits

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 2:03 pm, April 14th, 2011 -  53 comments
    Categories: economy, making shit up, Media, Politics, radio
    Tags: , , ,

    ChrisH has been goaded to write this post by a couple of Jim Mora panels last week, which created a stronger than usual temptation to throw the radio out the window. Here he writes a scholarly polemic castigating the implied or explicit assumptions of the people involved in these panels.

  13. Little impact from Hughes affair, NZF on the rise

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 9:32 pm, April 8th, 2011 -  50 comments
    Categories: election 2011, labour, national, nz first, polls
    Tags: ,

    The latest Roy Morgan poll shows little impact from the Darren Hughes affair to date. We still don’t know how the investigation will play out but the poll suggests dithering leadership matters less than economic fundamentals. The big news, though, is that New Zealand First would be back under these numbers.

  14. Brownlee promises inflatable, plastic Christchurch

    Written By:  Zetetic -  Date published: 12:19 am, April 7th, 2011 -  20 comments
    Categories: Gerry Brownlee, Satire
    Tags: ,

    Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has unveiled plans for a giant inflatable plastic CBD and inflatable plastic suburbs to replace buildings damaged in the Christchurch earthquake. The inflatable CBD will include a number of office buildings and a bouncy castle. To save costs, the government has rejected making the buildings here and will buy them from China.

  15. Another foreshore hikoi

    Written By:  r0b -  Date published: 4:07 pm, March 22nd, 2011 -  13 comments
    Categories: foreshore and seabed, Maori Issues, maori party
    Tags: , , ,

    Around 300 hikoi marchers arrived at Parliament this afternoon to protest against the Nat / Maori Party rebranded version of the  foreshore and seabed bill.  The numbers weren’t huge, but the hikoi brought a powerful symbolic message.

  16. The racist party

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 12:57 pm, March 15th, 2011 -  93 comments
    Categories: act, racism
    Tags: ,

    3-time election loser Don Brash spoke at the ACT conference on the weekend. It was an attempt to revive the Owera days with an anti-Maori speech. When he made a ‘they don’t know how lucky they are’ reference to how Australians used to “shoot the natives”, a ACT member yelled “bring that back” and the audience laughed.

  17. Ruling out Hone

    Written By:  r0b -  Date published: 6:30 am, March 15th, 2011 -  77 comments
    Categories: election 2011, foreshore and seabed, labour, maori party, phil goff
    Tags: ,

    Labour leader Phil Goff has ruled out working with Hone Harawira even if Mr Harawira heads a party of several MPs.  I think it’s a foolish decision and I think the reasons don’t stack up.  Instead of ruling out Hariwria, Labour should rise to the challenge.

  18. Hone Harawira’s speech

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 3:22 pm, March 10th, 2011 -  20 comments
    Categories: foreshore and seabed, Maori Issues, maori party
    Tags: , ,

    Hone Hariwira’s speech on the second reading of the Marine and Coastal Area Bill.  Agree with him or not, there is no denying the passion.  The Maori Party may have made a huge mistake in pushing him out, thus leaving him free to speak his mind…

  19. Quake used as foreshore cover

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 9:14 am, March 8th, 2011 -  9 comments
    Categories: john key, national
    Tags:

    Today Parliament sits in full for the first time since the second earthquake. There’s lots to attend to: the government is required to explain the state of national emergency, change the census law, create a one-off provincial holiday, and alter the law on school zoning. But it looks like the Nats are more concerned with slipping through their foreshore and seabed bill.

  20. Everything is a lie

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 7:16 am, February 24th, 2011 -  158 comments
    Categories: benefits, welfare
    Tags:

    There’s a hard truth to NZ politics at the moment. It’s not one people like to think about.

    But it helps to be reminded every now and then: everything is a lie.

  21. Hone, MP split, no contest 2011

    Written By:  Bunji -  Date published: 3:21 pm, February 23rd, 2011 -  65 comments
    Categories: maori party
    Tags:

    Radio New Zealand are reporting that Hone Harawira and the Maori Party have decided to go their separate ways after the Maori Party disciplinary committee recommended he be thrown out. In a more peaceful resolution than the acrimony that has surrounded their dispute, they have decided that Hone can stick to Te Tai Tokerau, and […]

  22. Salvation Army: welfare proposals ‘defining moment’

    Written By:  Bunji -  Date published: 10:41 am, February 21st, 2011 -  26 comments
    Categories: welfare
    Tags: ,

    The Salvation Army has a Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit that comes out with some very well researched material. Their State of the Nation is compelling reading and their fear of the government’s welfare proposals coming out tomorrow speaks volumes.

  23. Trends good for Left, much work to do

    Written By:  Marty G -  Date published: 7:25 am, February 21st, 2011 -  80 comments
    Categories: election 2011, polls
    Tags: , ,

    It can be depressing to see a week of the government on the ropes and then polls showing National with an apparently commanding lead. But lets go beyond the shallow analysis offered by the talking heads and look at the trends. The Left has more than halved the Right’s lead since its peak. The question is: can the Left close the remaining gap in time?

  24. Business awakens to National’s undemocratic ways

    Written By:  Bunji -  Date published: 10:41 pm, February 20th, 2011 -  6 comments
    Categories: business, democracy under attack
    Tags: , ,

    On a day when I’ve heard of 3 smaller businesses shutting down due to National’s economy, Big Business too is waking up to the flaws in National’s ways. The push through, don’t consult, override the wishes of the people mentality even chafes the corporates when it’s not in their favour.

  25. Nats impose media ban on selves

    Written By:  Zetetic -  Date published: 9:15 am, February 18th, 2011 -  11 comments
    Categories: john key, Satire
    Tags: ,

    In a surprise move, John Key has announced the National Party is imposing a media ban on itself until the BMW limo affair dies down. “We got the idea from the Maori Party. Every time they open their mouths over Hone Harawira, things get worse. Shut their mouths and the issue goes away. Brilliant. There’s so much we can learn from our Maori friends”

  26. Minister vs Minister – deathmatch

    Written By:  Zetetic -  Date published: 2:37 pm, February 17th, 2011 -  18 comments
    Categories: national/act government, Satire
    Tags:

    Rodney Hide has accepted Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples’ challenge to a street race to settle the Supercity Maori Advisory Board dispute. Standing beside his customised Crown limo, the Kupapa II, Sharples said “we called on Rodney to resign as he promised but he won’t. So we’re taking this battle to the streets”.

  27. Nats bully bulldozer still running

    Written By:  r0b -  Date published: 9:15 am, February 11th, 2011 -  18 comments
    Categories: democracy under attack, foreshore and seabed, national, Parliament
    Tags: ,

    The Nats regard parliamentary process as an inconvenience to which they must pay lip service, but nothing more.  They started as soon as they took office, with repeated abuse of urgency.  The current disgraceful process over the foreshore & seabed legislation is just the latest instalment.

  28. National fiddles as NZ burns

    Written By:  Bunji -  Date published: 9:30 am, February 10th, 2011 -  8 comments
    Categories: bill english, john key, unemployment, wages
    Tags: ,

    8,000 more unemployed in Q4 2010, and 1,000 more on the dole in January; New Zealand headed to a douple-dip recession after a year of anaemic growth; an average wage rise in 2010 of 1.9% with inflation of 4%. And a government focussed on manipulating statistics instead of coming up with an economic plan.

  29. News round-up

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 8:46 am, February 10th, 2011 -  6 comments
    Categories: Economy, foreshore and seabed, jobs, privatisation, supercity
    Tags:

    *English vs English on assets sales, as business commentators come out against the flawed business case for privatisation. *Will Hide honour his word and resign over Supercity debacle? *Foreshore Bill to join CERRA as a constitutional outrage. *Economic woe keeps coming. *Is the ‘brighter future’ on its way or just more Key stunts?

  30. The opening exchanges

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 12:08 pm, February 9th, 2011 -  50 comments
    Categories: john key, Metiria Turei, Parliament, phil goff
    Tags:

    In this post, I’ve embedded the speeches from John Key, Phil Goff, and Metiria Turei during yesterday’s first day of Parliament. Key presents no new vision, just an agenda of cuts and false statistics couple with sheer delusion about his government’s record. Goff tears him apart. And Turei’s speech is simply breath-taking – incredibly moving.

  31. You can’t mix oil and water

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 12:14 pm, February 8th, 2011 -  46 comments
    Categories: maori party, national
    Tags: ,

    Every new party faces an inevitable conflict between the ‘realos’ and the ‘fundis’ over how much principle can be compromised to make some gains through coalitions. The Maori Party made it far worse by supporting a party that is anathema to everything it stands for. That big mistake is at the root of collapse we’re now witnessing.

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