Search Results

1. 

   Polity: Reductio…

   Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 2:56 pm, June 22nd, 2015 -  29 comments
   Categories: labour, national, spin
   Tags: polity, spin

   Rob Salmond at Polity: DPF and Chris Bishop have conspired to come up with a new canard-of-distraction de jour. Today’s trope: “Labour are the conversatives, National the progressives, and Labour is the party of No.”

2. 

   A partial list of current scandals

   Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 9:01 am, June 18th, 2015 -  64 comments
   Categories: accountability, national
   Tags: brighter future, cusp of something special, list, scandals

   For those of you who are keeping score at home.

3. 

   Heartless government

   Written By:  Stephanie Rodgers -  Date published: 3:00 pm, June 13th, 2015 -  123 comments
   Categories: bill english, child welfare, health, housing, national, workers' rights
   Tags: Housing NZ, nick smith, peter talley, talleys

   A few stories of recent weeks which show exactly what kind of government we have.

4. 

   Geddis on Auckland housing land

   Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 8:25 am, June 4th, 2015 -  54 comments
   Categories: housing, law
   Tags: andrew geddis, auckland, housing, treaty issues

   Yesterday we covered National’s blunder in not considering Treaty settlement obligations in its plans to free up state land for Auckland housing. Today you can read someone who actually knows what they’re talking about on the issue, check out Professor Geddis’ piece at Pundit.

5. 

   Voices of the people on emissions targets and climate change

   Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 7:17 am, June 1st, 2015 -  37 comments
   Categories: activism, climate change, democratic participation, global warming, sustainability
   Tags: dunedin, emissions targets, lost causes, paris talks, we the people

   A record of the Dunedin consultation meeting on NZ’s emission targets. It was an extraordinary evening. So many people spoke with concern, with intelligence, with anger, with compassion, with emotion. Some spoke with hope, some without.

   Please – make a written submission before Wednesday.

6. 

   National’s innumeracy and Auckland’s Housing crisis

   Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 10:19 am, May 11th, 2015 -  23 comments
   Categories: Media, national, national/act government, Politics, radio, same old national, the praiseworthy and the pitiful
   Tags: nick smith, radio new zealand, simon bridges, todd niall

   Radio New Zealand’s Todd Niall has investigated figures recently advanced by Simon Bridges and Nick Smith used to attack Auckland Council and has discovered that the figures are somewhat rubbery.

7. 

   Hosking wants Auckland Council deposed

   Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 11:00 am, May 8th, 2015 -  45 comments
   Categories: auckland supercity, democracy under attack, national, public transport, same old national, supercity, sustainability, transport
   Tags: mike hosking, nick smith, penny hulse

   From the I kid you not files Mike Hosking believes that Auckland Council is to blame for the housing crisis, not immigration, not favourable tax conditions for landlords, not the global financial crisis and not the lack of restrictions on home ownership.  And he believes that Nick Smith should step in and Roll Auckland Council.

8. 

   #milifandom! Labour are going to win the UK Election. Fact!

   Written By:  te reo putake -  Date published: 10:21 am, May 7th, 2015 -  243 comments
   Categories: elections, labour, social media lolz, uk politics
   Tags: ed miliband, UK election

   Ed Miliband is dominating social media in the UK on the eve of the election. #milifandom is the meme of the day!

   UPDATE: Exit Poll suggests Tory win, Lib Dem’s smashed. SNP dominate in Scotland, Greens may win 2 seats. UKIP stuffed, Farage to lose in his seat. Labour still a possibility to govern.

   UPDATE 2:  Rumours that both Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg will resign in the morning. George Galloway loses his seat, UKIP have flopped and it appears Nigel Farage will not be an MP. However, Tory win not yet confirmed.

    

9. 

   Housing and capital gains tax

   Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 10:02 am, April 18th, 2015 -  91 comments
   Categories: capital gains, economy, housing, national, uncategorized
   Tags: auckland, bubble, housing

   This week the Reserve Bank recommended adopting the Labour / Green capital gains tax, the National party denied and dithered, and Don Brash explained the truth about the property bubble.

   (Image credit Foxy.)

10. 

    Two views on Titirangi’s Kauri

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 12:24 pm, March 15th, 2015 -  24 comments
    Categories: Conservation, david cunliffe, Environment, national, same old national
    Tags: #saveourkauri, nick smith, trees

    Rodney Hide has published a column about the ancient Titirangi Kauri which predictably argues that land owners should do what they want. But John Roughan has argued to the contrary in an article that will make you wonder if he is actually a greenie at heart.

11. 

    Polity: Key deluded on housing progress

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 1:29 pm, January 28th, 2015 -  28 comments
    Categories: housing, john key
    Tags: dodgy statistics, housing, polity, speeches

    Rob Salmond at Polity on Key – “Is he deluded, or is he being deliberately misleading?”…

12. 

    RMA reforms … be very afraid

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 9:00 am, January 20th, 2015 -  97 comments
    Categories: act, Environment, greens, housing, labour, national, national/act government, peter dunne, sustainability
    Tags: amy adams, Eugene Sage, maryan street, nick smith

    Nick Smith today announced proposed changes to the Resource Management Act. It is likely he will resuscitate the reforms that were stalled after Peter Dunne refused to support them last year. ACT’s David Seymour has said he will support the changes even though he did not know what they are. Treasury are to release a paper with proposals for change. Updated lprent – yep National stupidity reprised.

13. 

    Armstrong: Key’s Cynical Politics

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 7:50 am, November 26th, 2014 -  29 comments
    Categories: john key
    Tags: #dirtypolitics, john armstrong

    Herald: The Key administration has plumbed new depths of arrogance and contempt for the notion of politicians being accountable for their actions, writes John Armstrong. Also: Andrea Vance

14. 

    NRT: National’s failure on housing

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 1:54 pm, October 21st, 2014 -  25 comments
    Categories: housing, national, same old national, spin, you couldn't make this shit up
    Tags: nick smith, no right turn

    A year ago National rammed through special housing areas promising 9000 homes consented in the first year under it. Over the last year they have managed to build 5 and consented 294. Nick Smith fails maths yet again. This year 13,000 – yeah right!

15. 

    Careering to the right

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 2:23 pm, August 27th, 2014 -  65 comments
    Categories: national
    Tags: andrea vance, andrew bayly, bill english, cameron slater, carrick graham, chris bishop, chris tremain, colin king, jamie-lee ross, kate wilkinson, louise upston, mark mitchell, nicky hager, nicky wagner, phil heatley, sam johnson, sam lotu-liga, scott simpson, simon lusk, stuart nash, stuart smith, Te Whare Whero, Todd Barclay, whaleoil

    “Dirty Politics” and “The Hollow Men” have revealed the extent of the National party’s nasty internal war over the past decade. Cameron Slater is merely one of the noisier but dumber sock puppet weapons in use against National’s centre and moderates. Looking at the actions of Simon Lusk using his sock puppet is more revealing…

16. 

    Timeline: Key responsible for SIS release

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 8:16 am, August 25th, 2014 -  30 comments
    Categories: uncategorized
    Tags:

    [Reposted] Key is responsible for the release of SIS briefing notes to Cameron Slater – one of the main issues summarised in Dirty Politics. Here’s the timeline in detail.

    Update: Hooton and Williams on Nine to Noon – Key not credible

17. 

    Timeline: Key responsible for SIS release

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 9:54 am, August 23rd, 2014 -  73 comments
    Categories: accountability, john key, Media
    Tags: #dirtypolitics, dirty politics, john key, nicky hager, sis

    Key is responsible for the release of SIS briefing notes to Cameron Slater – one of the main issues summarised in Dirty Politics. Here’s the timeline in detail.

18. 

    Judith Collins must go

    Written By:  redfed -  Date published: 9:00 am, August 19th, 2014 -  67 comments
    Categories: john key, Judith Collins, national, national/act government
    Tags:

    Five months ago John Key gave Judith Collins a final warning regarding her Ministerial Career after misleading him and the media about Oravida.  Following the release of Nicky Hager’s book Dirty Politics and the allegations, backed up by emails, that Hager has made against Collins her last chance must have now been used up.

19. 

    ImperatorFish: I did not order this – again

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 10:30 am, July 29th, 2014 -  3 comments
    Categories: Satire
    Tags: nick smith

    Scott reposts this Nick Smith classic.

20. 

    Still an honest man?

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 10:14 am, May 26th, 2014 -  31 comments
    Categories: john key
    Tags: BLip

    BLip has been maintaining for quite a while, a little list of Honest John’s statements that aren’t exactly true. One iteration of this list “An Honest Man” is still one of the most popular posts here with many page views on a daily basis – more than a year after it was posted. Looks like someone has made a video of a few of the times when some of these were made. There is also a more recent BLip list of the words of our favourite lying politician.

21. 

    Phil Twyford – Budget Ignores Housing Crisis

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 3:30 pm, May 16th, 2014 -  90 comments
    Categories: uncategorized
    Tags:

    If New Zealanders needed any more proof of the National Government’s total failure on housing, this Budget has given them all they need to know. The Budget does nothing to address New Zealand’s acute housing crisis. There is nothing here for first home buyers. Nothing to build a single new home. Nothing to make rentals […]

22. 

    The selective empathy of Key’s callous government

    Written By:  karol -  Date published: 9:54 am, May 12th, 2014 -  21 comments
    Categories: class war, greens, housing, labour, mana-party, same old national
    Tags:

    John Key’s government is cutting back on state housing, uprooting families from their homes. Large numbers of state houses are empty, while many are left to move from caravan park to sleeping in cars or outdoors. Weasel words from Paula Bennett and Nick Smith.

23. 

    Moving Collins on

    Written By:  geoff -  Date published: 10:54 am, May 9th, 2014 -  89 comments
    Categories: Judith Collins
    Tags: realpolitik

    As Judith Collins enters her second day of lying low it’s instructive to look at how the establishment Nats are slowly and strategically removing Collins’ influence so they can ditch her.

24. 

    Glen Innes ‘war zone’

    Written By:  karol -  Date published: 9:08 am, March 6th, 2014 -  52 comments
    Categories: activism, assets, class war, housing, poverty, same old national
    Tags:

    A  photo/video documentary project in March Metro Magazine shows Glen Innes as a war zone.  The National Government’s war on the poor continues with the sales and removal of state housing.  Protest this evening at Glen Innes.

25. 

    The many and varied problems with the Ruataniwha Dam proposal

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 11:39 am, October 6th, 2013 -  26 comments
    Categories: Conservation, Environment, water
    Tags: nick smith, Ruataniwha dam

    The Ruataniwha Dam issue raises a number of issues, from a Board of Inquiry without scientific expertise being selected, a DOC submission inviting the Board to get more information and seek a peer review being dumped, submitters not being able to access the site, a model which NIWA is refusing to allow to be analysed, and a GNS Science contract being terminated because the scientists wanted a disclaimer inserted into their report.  There is something fishy going on here.

26. 

    ImperatorFish: I did not order this

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 8:09 am, September 25th, 2013 -  11 comments
    Categories: Conservation, national, politicans
    Tags: nick smith

    Just to be clear: Nick Smith did not order the Big Brunch Fry-up, no matter what he might have said.

27. 

    Water under pressure

    Written By:  karol -  Date published: 8:12 am, June 15th, 2013 -  38 comments
    Categories: capitalism, climate change, Conservation, democracy under attack, greens, john key, labour, local government, Mining, sustainability, water
    Tags: eugenie sage, maryan street, nick smith

    Water is becoming a precious resource, under threat from pollution, over use, population growth, & commercial profiteering. The Green & Labour Parties are very critical of Key’s government weakening the RMA in favour of commercial gains, while over-riding local government plans.

28. 

    Green Party for democracy

    Written By:  karol -  Date published: 9:30 am, May 31st, 2013 -  34 comments
    Categories: accountability, capitalism, democracy under attack, democratic participation, greens, john key, local government, Mining, national/act government, russel norman, social democracy, sustainability
    Tags: holly walker, nick smith, peta sam lotu-liga

    Yesterday in Question Time, Green MP Holly Walker challenged to government’s  anti-democratic rush to enable the government to over-ride local councils on housing.  Today Russel Norman challenges the Key government’s anti-democratic processes. This weekend there is a democratic Green Party conference.

29. 

    Cynical

    Written By:  karol -  Date published: 11:37 am, May 23rd, 2013 -  82 comments
    Categories: accountability, capitalism, Conservation, democracy under attack, Mining, same old national, sustainability
    Tags: nick smith

    It looks like Nick Smith will today grant access to West Coast conservation land for mining.  This looks like a cynical attempt to enforce the government’s anti-conservation agenda by avoiding the legal and democratic requirement for public consultation. When will the NZ Herald headline: “Democracy Under Attack!”? [updated]

30. 

    Nats’ environmental record

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 12:25 pm, May 21st, 2013 -  40 comments
    Categories: disaster, Environment, national
    Tags:

    Long time commenter BLiP on the National government’s environmental record.

31. 

    Nats sign up for KiwiBuild?

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 6:16 pm, May 10th, 2013 -  26 comments
    Categories: auckland supercity, housing, len brown, local government, national
    Tags: auckland, housing, KiwiBuild, unitary plan

    KiwiBuild has already been a success, scaring the Nats in to producing, in conjunction with Len Brown’s Auckland, a more significant housing policy. The “Unitary Plan” is woefully short on detail, but it concedes that KiwiBuild’s target of 10,000 new homes a year is easily achievable (I guess it’s only impossible when Labour propose it).