Posts Tagged ‘john key’
DPMC: The “Key” to increasing the PM’s power
Written By: - Date published: 9:28 am, February 3rd, 2010 - 14 comments
Last October I posted on National’s plan to fold the State Services Commission into the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Yesterday, Labour’s Grant Robertson revived the rumour. And since then Government pollster David Farrar has spent much of his energy reserves vigorously defending any transfer of power that may occur. But we should watch closely to […]
Key aids English’s latest rort
Written By: - Date published: 4:42 pm, December 8th, 2009 - 18 comments
Ministers are given self-drive taxpayer-funded cars for official business in their electorates (in Wellington they have crown limos at their disposal for official business). Pretty logically, the cars were always based at the ministers’ primary place of residence because that’s where they would need it. But that presented a problem for Bill ‘Double Dipton’ English. […]
So, where’s the plan?
Written By: - Date published: 12:42 pm, December 7th, 2009 - 34 comments
The Brash Report was supposed to tell us how to catch up to Aussie, as per Key’s promise. It was just the same old ideas. No real analysis. A radical plan with no evidence it would work. It became, perhaps as always intended, just a PR exercise for National: ‘Look what crazy old Brash wants […]
Hone back but Maori Party divisions laid bare
Written By: - Date published: 3:33 pm, December 3rd, 2009 - 8 comments
So Hone Harawira has been readmitted into the fold of the Maori Party. It’s hard to see how excluding him from Parliament until the end of the year is a punishment, given that he has repeatedly said he detests the place (and who can blame him?). It seems more like political convenience for the Maori […]
Key must bite the bullet over Copenhagen
Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, November 27th, 2009 - 6 comments
Another instalment of “John Key’s” video diary from talented impersonator PlumedeKiwi; this time taking a comedic stab at the PM’s refusal to attend the UN climate talks in Copenhagen. Key has come under an increasing amount of pressure in recent weeks over the summit, widely dubbed one of the most important meetings in history. It’s […]
Another Key foot in mouth
Written By: - Date published: 7:17 am, November 23rd, 2009 - 39 comments
John Key sure is a class act. Not. Latest example*: Stadium funds: We’re not Indian-givers, says Key Prime Minister John Key yesterday said the Government was unlikely to ask for its $15 million back if the Forsyth Barr Stadium is not finished in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. … The issue of whether […]
Rodney Hide caught in a lie
Written By: - Date published: 5:28 pm, November 5th, 2009 - 40 comments
Interesting comment from ‘gobsmacked’ on Rodney Hide’s statement that John Key “doesn’t do anything” and how he as a minister can ram pretty much anything he likes through cabinet: There’s a bigger story here, incidentally. Rodney Hide has been caught out in a lie. The whole ‘fundraiser’ row was all about whether Hide was acting […]
Key & English lose us $21mil in 3 months
Written By: - Date published: 3:23 pm, November 4th, 2009 - 40 comments
Back in February, former currency speculator John Key and former Treasury adviser Bill English started talking about suspending contributions to the Cullen Fund, which was set up to help fund superannuation. ‘It’s losing so much money’, they wailed. Some people pointed out that the markets were already recovering, that investments could now be bought at […]
Brash’s mea culpa
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, November 2nd, 2009 - 17 comments
Strange mea culpa from Don Brash on the foreshore and seabed in today’s Dom. He doesn’t go as far as to apologise for National’s cynical and deliberate attempt to ignite racial conflict in the leadup to the 2005 election, but he does admit that National “got it wrong” on the foreshore and seabed. Wonder what […]
Reflections on the ERA
Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, October 22nd, 2009 - 4 comments
There’s been a fair bit of coverage of John Key’s use of the CTU conference to divide and rule over wages and announce he’ll be making it even easier for employers to sack people without going through the proper process, but it was this statement that really caught my attention: … the National Party’s election […]
Lockout at Bridgeman Concrete
Written By: - Date published: 10:45 am, September 16th, 2009 - 14 comments
Last week I wrote: We’re seeing a new pattern in work relations emerging. The big employers, emboldened by having their party in power and using the recession as an excuse, are attacking workers’ pay and conditions. Now, on the same day Talley and National-linked Open Country Cheese begins shutting out its workers and illegally using […]
National-linked dairy company threatens six week lockout
Written By: - Date published: 12:26 pm, September 11th, 2009 - 31 comments
There’s a nasty dispute brewing at Open Country Cheese involving a six week lockout threat, some highly aggressive anti-union PR, calls for the Government to gut labour laws and major links between the company and senior National Party figures. It’s early days yet, but this could be a big one. Open Country Cheese was founded […]
Holding Bennett to account
Written By: - Date published: 2:18 pm, August 11th, 2009 - 59 comments
NZPA reports: Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff has confirmed she will investigate Social Development Minister Paula Bennett after the release of details of two mothers’ income. Good. John Key has made it clear he won’t hold his ministers to account for abusing their power, now it’s up to the Privacy Commisioner to do his job for […]
Padding pockets, not houses
Written By: - Date published: 12:45 pm, August 11th, 2009 - 45 comments
Just a month into the Government’s housing insulation programme and John Key has had to launch an inquiry into rorting by contractors who are taking the subsidy but also increasing their prices, and so pocketing a good part of the subsidy themselves rather than passing it on to the consumer as intended. That’s a bad […]
More cycleway spin
Written By: - Date published: 10:35 am, July 27th, 2009 - 19 comments
[At the outset of this, let me restate, once again, I’m all for cycleways. Indeed, I wish the Key government hadn’t cut millions from urban cycling in the Budget. What I object to is the overhyping of a few possible cycleways as if they constitute some kind of economic recovery plan] Key has identified seven […]
Plenty of pixie dust for the cycleway
Written By: - Date published: 12:11 pm, July 21st, 2009 - 39 comments
John Key says there are “no pixies printing cash” to help Kiwis who’ve lost their jobs under his government’s watch. Funny, because there’s plenty of pixie dust for Key’s cycleway. Pixie dust is in no short supply to subsidise Key’s rich mates who want to send their kids to elitist private schools. And there’s buckets […]
“Creeping communism” a success
Written By: - Date published: 3:07 pm, July 20th, 2009 - 6 comments
Missed this from a couple of days ago: For the first time in 25 years, the incomes of those in lower brackets grew more quickly than those on higher incomes, the Household Income Survey by the Social Development Ministry found. It credits Working for Families with the turnaround and says it also helped avert a […]
The Salesman
Written By: - Date published: 2:20 pm, July 20th, 2009 - 12 comments
One of the stories from John Key’s days as a currency trader is that he was always more of a salesman than an analyst. He wasn’t good at picking markets and investments; he was good at getting people to trust him with their money. He got New Zealanders to put their trust in him too […]
Key grins blankly, shrugs shoulders
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, July 15th, 2009 - 42 comments
I was going to do a fisking of Key’s ‘major speech‘ today. But there’s nothing to fisk, no substance, no ideas, no vision. There’s just endless recycling of the same old Crosby-Textor lines and waffle. In fact, there’s one section that is just a bunch of rehashed lines – one after the other. You get […]
We can haz vision?
Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, July 14th, 2009 - 31 comments
According to NZPA John Key is going to deliver a big speech tomorrow in which he will “detail the problems and solutions for New Zealand’s economy”. I’m not holding my breath. As I said two weeks ago when he indicated he would announce a plan to stop job losses (he still hasn’t, perhaps this will […]
Good news for care workers
Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, July 10th, 2009 - 8 comments
It’s good news that carers for people with intellectual disabilities are getting more recognition. A court decision has found that sleep-over shifts are work and, so, workers need to be paid at least the minimum wage for the whole shift, not just when they have to get up to assist the person. Apparently, that will […]
Seriously, there are better uses for $10 mil
Written By: - Date published: 11:18 am, July 10th, 2009 - 35 comments
Why are we giving $10 million a year in aid to Niue with a population of 1600? It’s $6250 per person each bloody year. About half their GDP (most of the rest is remittances). We finance their whole government. We’ve given them an extra $20 million (ie one whole year’s GDP) over the last five […]
Privatising the high country
Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, July 8th, 2009 - 29 comments
According to Forest and Bird, John Key’s government has found a nice quiet way of hocking off New Zealand’s most prized assets to wealthy private interests. National has indicated radical changes to tenure review – that’s the process South Island high country leaseholders can use to privatise parts of the farm in exchange for returning […]
Cowardice, bigotry and saying whatever it takes
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, July 2nd, 2009 - 77 comments
I’ll be glad to see the back of the Foreshore & Seabed Act. For many on the Left, including myself, its been a monument to Labour’s failure of nerve in the face of a campaign by National to exploit the underlying racism of Pakeha New Zealand for electoral gain. Yes, there was a certain electoral […]
Don’t just stand there
Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, June 25th, 2009 - 20 comments
John Key’s government has reacted to the thousands of job losses occurring each week in this country in much the same way a possum crossing a road reacts to headlights. Since over-promising and under-delivering with the Jobs Summit, they’ve been exposed as completely out of ideas. The dole queue is growing by 1100 each week, […]
McJobs
Written By: - Date published: 11:13 am, June 25th, 2009 - 83 comments
John Key, 20 May 2007: My legacy will be a strong New Zealand economy with higher wages, lower taxes and greater competitiveness. My legacy will be a country that young New Zealanders want to stay and work in. The Press, 25 June 2009: Thousands of beneficiaries could soon be flipping burgers under a deal between […]
Roger Douglas on Key and English
Written By: - Date published: 11:54 am, June 21st, 2009 - 19 comments
Commenting on Key’s policy to force the Guardians of the Super Fund to invest 40% of funds in New Zealand, ACT’s Roger Douglas notices a pattern we’ve posted on here at The Standard before: “This only enforces the emerging trend we have seen between Mr Key and Mr English. Mr Key announces a stupid idea […]
Know when to fold ’em
Written By: - Date published: 2:11 pm, June 15th, 2009 - 40 comments
A string of high-profile stuff-ups. You were too smug and incompetent to deal with them. A disappointment to your boss. Key put a lot of faith in you. He defended you at first before cutting you loose to protect his brand. A devastating public humiliation. After which it is clear you have no political future. […]
Kneecapped
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, June 9th, 2009 - 11 comments
Until now, Melissa Lee’s only remaining selling point in this train wreck of a campaign has been that the party she’s standing for is currently in Government. As she said in her press release yesterday: ‘I am the only candidate that Mt Albert voters can vote for that will be inside John Key’s Government.’ Unfortunate […]
Pigs
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, May 27th, 2009 - 15 comments
It’s good to see Green MP Sue Kedgley calling on John Key to personally fix the abuse of pigs in sow crates. The chair of Nawac appears incapable of seeing that there’s even a problem, and the Minister of Agriculture has already been caught misleading the public on national television to defend the industry. It’s […]
- Will banning gang patches actually make New Zealand safer?
Gang members say it will create more problems, but the government argues it’s about improving public safety, explains Stewart Sowman-Lund for The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...7 days ago - Bootcamp bill to have first reading before verdict on 10-boy pilot project
The Govt’s bootcamp bill will have its first reading on Thursday, ahead of a final evaluation of the controversial pilot programme. The post Bootcamp bill to have first reading before verdict on 10-boy pilot project appeared first on Newsroom. ...7 days ago - Where to find $1.3 trillion for climate finance
Fossil fuel subsidies, solidarity levies and wealth taxes have all been proposed as sources of the trillions of dollars of climate finance needed The post Where to find $1.3 trillion for climate finance appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- It’s not too late to halt the death spiral of New Zealand’s public health system
It’s a shambles of our own making, but it’s still one we can turn around, argues health sector expert Dr David Galler. Trust and confidence in the public health system is at an all-time low. Not a day goes by without another story highlighting its alleged failings, eroding what little ...1 week ago
- The gang patch ban is now in force. What’s going to happen?
From today, police can enforce new gang legislation, including a ban on insignia being displayed in public. Here’s what you need to know. Why are we talking about this again? I thought it came in ages ago. The Gangs Act 2024 and Sentencing Amendment Act 2024 did indeed become law ...1 week ago
- The case for juries
New Zealand will find out early next year if the Government will decrease the number of jury trials in a bid to speed up the court system.Currently, defendants can choose to face a jury – rather than a judge alone – when charged with a criminal offence carrying a maximum ...1 week ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 21 November
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 21 November appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- National desperately needs to nullify Act’s Treaty bill
The Prime Minister cannot afford to be seen getting bogged down and taken over by Act on the Treaty Principles Bill The post National desperately needs to nullify Act’s Treaty bill appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- Daily crossword, Thursday 21 November
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- Urban fringe precincts give city centres a run for their money
Making way for future growth doesn’t have to – and likely won’t – take place in existing city centres, says a company developing significant office space on Auckland’s Southern Corridor.Unlisted commercial property fund manager Oyster Property Group and global investment firm KKR purchased the Central Park office park in Auckland’s ...1 week ago
- Book of the Week: How to honour te Tiriti
The newly published Te Tiriti o Waitangi Relationships: People, Politics and Law is the third of a Bridget Williams Books series which started with a 2004 volume on the Waitangi Tribunal, and was followed by a collection on Treaty settlements in 2012. Its intention is to present what “leading scholars ...1 week ago
- Kinleith Mill’s troubles highlight industry’s ‘long slow burn’
Commodity manufacturers are at risk when their products can be made cheaper overseas The post Kinleith Mill’s troubles highlight industry’s ‘long slow burn’ appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- NZ downgraded in global climate rankings
New Zealand has dropped seven places to 41st in the global Climate Change Performance Index, which ranks countries based on their emissions, deployment of renewable electricity, overall energy use and climate policy.The announcement of the latest update to the index, which has been running since 2005 and is considered an ...1 week ago
- Police research adds to evidence against gang patch ban
As Te Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti gathered at Wellington’s Waitangi Park on the waterfront on Tuesday morning, the MC welcomed “brothers of the patched world and sisters of the patched world”.He told the Māori members of the crowd that their whakapapa – carried through tā moko – survived on the ...1 week ago
- Young families are leaving many large US cities − here’s why that matters
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Biswa Das, Associate Professor of Community and Regional Planning and Extension Economist, Iowa State University Parents and educators rally at Boston City Hall demanding urgent action to improve the city’s public schools. Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images Young families ...1 week ago - Australia’s $230 billion Future Fund encouraged to invest in housing, energy transition, infrastru...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government has rewritten the mandate of the Future Fund – the nation’s sovereign wealth fund – to urge it to direct investment into the “national priorities” of housing, the energy transition and infrastructure, ...1 week ago
- Third Reading Of Samoa Citizenship Bill In New Zealand Parliament Today
Explainer - New Zealand's Parliament will, on Wednesday, hear the third and final reading of a bill that will, if passed, restore a pathway for citizenship to a group of Samoans stripped of it decades ago. ...1 week ago - Christopher Luxon Says ‘No Need To Meet’ With Hīkoi At Parliament
The Prime Minister says organisers were "closely aligned" with Te Pāti Māori, but acknowledged it was "a significant day". ...1 week ago
- What is methanol? How does it get into drinks and cause harm?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide cdrin/Shutterstock Two Australian teenagers are severely ill in hospital in Thailand after experiencing suspected methanol poisoning while they were travelling in Laos. The pair are reportedly among several foreign nationals to become ...1 week ago
- Politics with Michelle Grattan: Special Minister of State Don Farrell on getting ‘big money’ out...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The government says it will take “big money” out of election campaigns – or, more realistically, curb it – with its legislation imposing donation and spending caps and real-time disclosure. But crossbenchers and other ...1 week ago
- Why NZ is protesting over colonial-era treaty bill – a global perspective
An overview for our international readers of Asia Pacific Report. BACKGROUNDER: By Sarah Shamim A fight for Māori indigenous rights drew more than 50,000 protesters to the New Zealand Parliament in the capital Wellington yesterday. A nine-day-long Hīkoi, or peaceful march — a Māori tradition — was undertaken in protest ...1 week ago
- The NT and ACT might have small populations but their economies are growing faster than the bigger s...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra sweettoiletpaper/Shutterstock The Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory have won bragging rights for having the fastest growing economies within Australia. Their growth was highlighted in annual data ...1 week ago
- New law gives up to 3,480 Samoan elders back their right to NZ citizenship
The Citizenship (Western Samoa Restoration) Amendment Bill has passed its third and final reading. The bill’s author reflects on what it means for the Samoan community. It’s rare for MPs across the political spectrum to unite behind a piece of legislation. Rarer still is for an opposition MP’s bill to ...1 week ago
- Budget update will revise down company tax receipts but treasurer Chalmers welcomes economy’s ‘s...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Next month’s federal budget update is expected to revise down company tax receipts for the first time since 2020, amid continued low economic growth in the near term. In his Wednesday ministerial statement on ...1 week ago
- Schoolies means more drink spiking warnings. Why is the burden still on women to stay safe?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Ison, Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director, Reducing Gender-Based Violence Research Group, La Trobe University, La Trobe University Christian Bertrand/Shutterstock Schoolies season is here – and with it, warnings about staying safe while partying. For girls and women, this often means ...1 week ago
- 10 years after the Lacrosse building cladding fire, the defects and disasters continue
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Trivess Moore, Associate Professor, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University Metropolitan Fire Brigade, CC BY Ten years ago, a late-night cigarette started a fire that spread rapidly up 13 storeys on the Lacrosse apartment building in Melbourne. The ...1 week ago
- PPTA Urges Government To Act For Children In War Zones
Children are our future and have the right to access education wherever they live. We must do everything we can to uphold this fundamental human right. ...1 week ago
- ‘I’ll try any synonym under the sun’: Jacqueline Bublitz’s crimes against language
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: Jacqueline Bublitz, author of new crime novel Leave the Girls Behind. The book I wish I’d written I was so impressed by the big reveal in All the Colours ...1 week ago
- COP29 Ends In Promise To Send More Taxpayer Money Overseas
This decision proves how out-of-touch this tax more, spend more, ship more overseas Government is with New Zealand taxpayers. Fix your house first before you go fixing the neighbourhood. ...1 week ago
- A beginner’s guide to yum cha
Let Jean Teng show you how to do yum cha right. All photos by Jin Fellet. Yum cha is ritualistic. Being absorbed into the cacophony of Sunday morning chaos at a Cantonese restaurant pretty much always feels the same, no matter which one it is. There’s the same families ...1 week ago
- Taxpayer-funded Hīkoi Organiser Shows Parliament’s Budget A Political Slush Fund
Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said “Taxpayers’ money is not a political slush fund. MPs shouldn’t be able to hide how they’re wasting our money, and it’s long-past time their budgets were covered by the OIA.” ...1 week ago
- Public Comments By Auckland CCO Bosses Demonstrate Need For Duty Of Political Neutrality
"Dean Kimpton is the poster child of what an undemocratic CCO model has led to," says Jordan Williams, a Spokesman for the Ratepayers' Alliance. ...1 week ago
- Luxon didn’t meet the hīkoi, but he won’t be able to hide from what comes next
An undeniable show of opposition to the coalition painted the streets of Wellington red, white and black, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund for The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...1 week ago
- Was the hīkoi New Zealand’s largest-ever protest?
Media estimates of the crowd size ranged from 17,000 to 100,000+, but one thing we can say for sure — it was bloody massive. Thirty-five thousand people. That’s the crowd size police initially estimated for the final leg of the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, the nine-day march in protest of ...1 week ago
- How has Luxon’s position on the Treaty Principles Bill changed over time?
The prime minister has never supported David Seymour’s bill in principle, or beyond first reading in practice, but his language has certainly changed. The National Party has spent a large amount of time in this parliamentary term talking about a bill it doesn’t like. Which is not much fun. In ...1 week ago
- Has Netflix forgotten about New Zealand?
Following the opening of the Netflix ANZ office in Sydney and lacklustre commissioning of New Zealand content, the local industry has been left wondering where we fit in. Here at the bottom of the globe, we’re used to being overlooked. New Zealand has been left off the world map so ...1 week ago
- Three generations: the court queens of Kāhu
At seven months old, little Holitopa won’t yet comprehend she’s part of basketball history. But her mother, grandmother and aunties hope that one day, she will follow in their shoes.“I hope she’s taller and longer than all of us,” says her mum, Krystal Leger-Walker. “There are a lot of basketball ...1 week ago
- Wellington intervention looks like a first resort, not the last
Opinion: This looks like ‘punching down’, in the mayor’s words The post Wellington intervention looks like a first resort, not the last appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- Homeowners move house sooner than you think: Why the average stay is shrinking
It turns out that the so called ‘seven year itch’ is more like five these days. The latest data from realestate.co.nz shows how long people hold onto their homes before they sell. And it’s shorter than you’d think.Kiwis keep their homes for an average of just five and a half ...1 week ago
- Country calendar: woolsheds
Milking sheds, I know intimately; the headlights of a farmbike illuminating mysterious valleys in the darkness before dawn, herding the old moos, working the pumps, tuning the transistor to the Concert Programme to soothe yourself and the beasts, the whole place reeking of wet pooh and spilt milk; but of ...1 week ago
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