Posts Tagged ‘democracy under attack’

NRT: Extended

Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, September 8th, 2012 - 25 comments

No Right Turn on the Nats’ continuing contempt for democracy in Canterbury.

What’s in the TPPA?

Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, June 24th, 2012 - 44 comments

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.

A permanent dictatorship in Canterbury

Written By: - Date published: 2:18 pm, June 12th, 2012 - 38 comments

NRT on the situation in Canterbury, and the Nats’ contempt for elected democracies.

NRT: Voting against democracy

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, April 7th, 2012 - 14 comments

No Right Turn on another sad chapter for democracy in NZ.

NRT: And so its come to this…

Written By: - Date published: 9:17 am, February 18th, 2012 - 16 comments

No Right Turn on the plight of democracy in Greece.

Unbridled power

Written By: - Date published: 11:40 am, November 18th, 2011 - 77 comments

Kazakhstan police have ordered four media organisations to hand over evidence of an alleged illegal recording of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The police said they would carry out searches to get the material. Opposition politicians have accused Mr Nazarbayev of trying to gag the media in the run-up to an election next weekend.

Key declares war on the media

Written By: - Date published: 12:33 pm, November 17th, 2011 - 67 comments

This headline speaks for itself.  Tea tape: TVNZ, RNZ to be searched – “Four media outlets, including Radio New Zealand and TVNZ, are to be searched for any material they might have in their possession that relates to the tea pot tapes”.  Outrageous.

An Occupation Occupied. What’s Next?

Written By: - Date published: 3:31 pm, October 22nd, 2011 - 72 comments

Last week, several occupations ‘popped up’ around New Zealand. Well, they didn’t exactly pop up, did they? They weren’t more or less spontaneous, as in numerous countries in the Middle East, N. Africa, Europe and more recently, in Wall Street.

In New Zealand, there was, and is, no general out-pouring of anger or frustration from across large sectors of society. In New Zealand, the Occupations are contrived…pre-planned and organised.

The Herald ban

Written By: - Date published: 3:22 pm, October 7th, 2011 - 27 comments

Speaker Lookwood Smith is getting a lot of flak for his decision to punish The Herald for publishing a photo (taken in violation of Standing Orders) by banning their reporters from Parliament for ten days.

Nats’ retrospective surveillance backdown

Written By: - Date published: 7:22 am, October 5th, 2011 - 27 comments

The Nats most recent attack on democracy – the Video Camera Surveillance (Temporary Measures) Bill –  was outrageous in many ways.  It was almost universally condemned, and now Labour has secured significant concessions.

Nats bully bulldozer still running

Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, February 11th, 2011 - 18 comments

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.

Democracy Under Attack!!!

Written By: - Date published: 10:15 am, December 21st, 2010 - 22 comments

I couldn’t let the last of the year slip away without a fond farewell to the good old Electoral Finance Act.  Last week the government passed its replacement legislation.  It tweaks some thresholds, but retains the principles and much of the substance of Labour’s EFA.  But this time there is no “Democracy Under Attack” campaign.  I wonder why…

Armstrong on the constitutional review

Written By: - Date published: 7:13 am, December 10th, 2010 - 41 comments

John Armstrong pulls no punches on the constitutional review, the second time in recent history that he has called the government a disgrace.  Add it to the ever growing list of outrageous behaviour from the Nats.  Is this the worst government for democracy in the history of NZ?

Pause For Thought # 1

Written By: - Date published: 7:25 am, September 24th, 2010 - 30 comments

The suspension of normal democratic processes in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake should be an occasion to pause for thought in the light of likely future events.

You can’t drink shit

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, June 11th, 2010 - 25 comments

On Wednesday night John key was in Christchurch. He was met by protesters, angry at the abolition of democracy in Canterbury, and the plans of the newly installed dictatorship to allow over-farming to poison the water and kill the rivers. How did TV news handle the coverage? I think it’s fair to say that it was up to their usual standards…

How Hyde is wasting my taxes on an uncosted project

Written By: - Date published: 5:09 pm, May 6th, 2009 - 20 comments

It appears that the propaganda campaign from Rodney Hide to push his proposal of the super-city has cost $533,000 in PR costs in the last 4 weeks. Phil Twyford (Labour’s Auckland issues spokesperson) comment is that:- It’s outrageous that the Government is prepared to spend an average of $133,000 a week on a publicity blitz, […]

No longer so critical?

Written By: - Date published: 10:12 am, December 11th, 2008 - 1 comment

Our new Attorney-General, National’s Chris Finalyson, on the importance of select committees: Select Committees are the engine room of Parliament. They are also intended to provide a level of public and political scrutiny for the range of legislation some routine and some contentious promoted by the government and by individual MPs. They are an important […]

On mandates

Written By: - Date published: 6:54 am, December 11th, 2008 - 16 comments

The National/ACT line in defending pushing through legislation like the Fire at Will Bill under urgency, without any select committee process, without any of the normal procedures for the proposed law to be publicly reviewed, even without tabling the Bill before it is to be voted on, is that the election gave them a mandate […]

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