Posts Tagged ‘national’
A photo finish
Written By: - Date published: 4:50 pm, December 21st, 2007 - 45 comments
I have glimpsed the future. I know how Election 08 will play out. It will be a thriller, going down to the wire. The election home straight, like that at Flemington in Melbourne, is a test of champions. In the end it is about class and staying ability. Helen Clark starts the year well off […]
National has worst behaved MPs
Written By: - Date published: 12:28 pm, December 20th, 2007 - 18 comments
Trevor Mallard’s had all the press but it’s the National Party MPs who have been battling it out all year for top spot on the “worst behaved MP list”. NZPA reports on Peter Dunne’s annual list: Mr Henare was thrown out of the house five times for his behaviour and had to withdraw and apologise […]
Billboard shambles
Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, December 20th, 2007 - 51 comments
Here’s some coverage from TV1 last night on what’s looking more and more like a PR disaster for National, Farrar and their wealthy backers. The PM, in good humour, commented: “You’ve got to laugh haven’t you. We have a country with the most amazing liberty and I will defend that to my last breathing moment… […]
DPF’s bloody good deal
Written By: - Date published: 4:34 pm, December 19th, 2007 - 94 comments
There’s plenty of comment about Davey’s/National’s Billboards here and at Blogblog so I’ll not bore you with my analysis of these dreadful things. ‘Cos as you know I’m a man who likes to know what things cost. And guess what? I’ve done quite a few billboards and if Dave’s getting them for $7000, then he’s […]
Two drunk backbenchers
Written By: - Date published: 12:57 pm, December 14th, 2007 - 48 comments
A mate of mine had a rather interesting run-in last night with a couple of drunken Tory backbenchers. Here’s what happened: Last night I was at the Malthouse in Courtenay Place having a few beers with some mates when who should walk into the bar but a couple of National Party backbenchers. We struck up […]
National reopens Selwyn race
Written By: - Date published: 11:53 am, December 14th, 2007 - 2 comments
Local Nats don’t want David Carter as their candidate for Selwyn. Looks like the threats, intimidation and bullying tactics used to get him the candidacy have backfired for him. Carter (himself a three time loser to Labour’s Ruth Dyson in Banks Peninsula) has a history of bagging other candidates within his party. He said of […]
No democracy for the Selwyn National Party?
Written By: - Date published: 5:20 pm, December 13th, 2007 - 15 comments
Colin Espiner has a story in yesterday’s Press saying that the heads of three National Party branches in the Canterbury district supported by 35 other party members have made a formal complaint to National President Judy Kirk alleging breaches of rules by the selection committee for the Selwyn candidate for National. List MP David Carter’s […]
Petty politicking and the Xinyao tragedy
Written By: - Date published: 5:21 pm, December 10th, 2007 - 81 comments
Reuters reports that the death toll from China’s Xinyao mine tragedy has now surpassed the 100 mark after 50 rescue workers were sent in without training and never resurfaced. According to Chinese media the cause of the tragedy was the mine management’s failure to install a gas detection system and its storage of explosives in […]
A decade since Shipley
Written By: - Date published: 4:26 pm, December 10th, 2007 - 34 comments
How remiss of us! Our pals over at Kiwiblogblog have just pointed out that we’ve just missed the 10 year anniversary since Jenny Shipley first took the reins on 8 December 1997. Some of my personal favorites from her time in the sun: The Code of Social and Family Responsibility. At the time the Wesley […]
2007 Trans-Tasman MP rankings
Written By: - Date published: 10:42 am, December 10th, 2007 - 76 comments
So DPF’s given his predictable take on this year’s Trans-Tasman MP rankings (PDF – 150K). Now averages are one thing but more interesting is a trend that DPF conveniently ignores – While many of National’s high profile MPs are static or slipping in the rankings, Labour’s heavy-hitters seem to be lifting their game. LABOUR Clark […]
National filibustering EFB
Written By: - Date published: 12:54 pm, December 6th, 2007 - 42 comments
So it’s official: National is filibustering the Electoral Finance Bill. This really is childish, and it’s directly at odds with what Bill English was telling the public on Morning Report on Tuesday. These were his exact words: “How long the debate takes will be largely up to the government. We don’t intend to filibuster…” It’s […]
National’s spin doesn’t stack up
Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, December 4th, 2007 - 103 comments
National’s attempt to spin its way out of John Key’s DVD debacle doesn’t stack up. Here’s the official line: National’s campaign manager Jo de Joux blamed the production company. “Obviously, National relied on the expertise of the production company that put together the video and its soundtrack,” Ms de Joux said. “We’ll take all available […]
Lord Keith of Kinloch
Written By: - Date published: 5:24 pm, December 3rd, 2007 - 17 comments
Am halfway through “Kiwi Keith”, Barry Gustafson’s portrait of our third-longest serving Prime Minister. He obviously had something, as he was picked out as a young man by Reform’s Coates and others as having leadership potential from his early days crop-farming in Motueka. As a young MP, after surviving the Reform-United Coalition defeat in 1935, […]
The accidental MPs
Written By: - Date published: 2:17 pm, December 3rd, 2007 - 24 comments
A short while back Bob Clarkson effectively admitted to having no idea what he was doing in Parliament. Now he’s thinking of standing again – for no other reason than to continue his personal feud with Winston Peters. MPs like Clarkson and fellow no-hopers like Mark Blumsky and Brian Connell demean the parliamentary process. One […]
Same song? You decide.
Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, December 2nd, 2007 - 119 comments
powered by ODEO National needs to come clean and stop misleading the public. The Herald reported yesterday that “National Party campaign manager Jo de Joux said the music was composed by “an Auckland artist” and paid for by the production company which produced the DVD [Production Shed.TV]”. I don’t think he’s telling the truth. National […]
Poetic justice?
Written By: - Date published: 1:12 pm, December 1st, 2007 - 117 comments
Remember when the National Party threatened the Standard with copyright infringement? Nothing ever came of it of course because we had the fair defence of satire. But at the time we figured it showed the Nats were tuned it to intellectual property rights and the misuse of others people’s material. How wrong we were. According […]
National HQ deleting YouTube comments?
Written By: - Date published: 10:25 am, November 28th, 2007 - 42 comments
Just received this from a “concerned reader”: Just wanted to know whether or not you have also been blocked by NZNats? This morning they have deleted all comments with a hint of an opposing view, with the exception of the ‘TaneStandard’ comment. It offends me that the National Party would post a video which endeavours […]
More hypocrisy from National
Written By: - Date published: 10:06 am, November 19th, 2007 - 53 comments
It’s interesting to see National is attacking Peter Davis, the PM’s husband, over a letter he wrote to the NZ Herald about the Electoral Finance Bill. Apparently Peter Davis – a respected university professor – is not entitled to views of his own and is merely parroting the lines of the ‘Clark household’. From Bill […]
Party like it’s 1999
Written By: - Date published: 3:19 pm, November 16th, 2007 - 64 comments
If we needed any more reason not to let National take us back to the 90s, I think this might be it. Via nznationalparty on flickr.
Tell the panel Don & I am not a liar
Written By: - Date published: 2:34 pm, November 16th, 2007 - 10 comments
Spotted yesterday in the Westin Hotel in Auckland’s Viaduct Basin by our orbiting surveillance satellite & Don Brash in a job interview line. Could it be he’s going for the now vacant National Party general manager’s job? Steven Joyce and Jo de Joux, also of Hollow Men fame, are back at National’s HQ & perhaps […]
Prats in the Nats on China’s miners
Written By: - Date published: 5:52 pm, November 15th, 2007 - 26 comments
How’s this for small-minded prejudice from National Party backbencher Kate Wilkinson in a press release today complaining about the $84,000 dollars for a Labour Dept to help provide health and safety training for Chinese coal miners: Ms Wilkinson says Kiwi taxpayers will clearly be surprised to learn that the New Zealand Government is effectively subsidising […]
Burqa Bob speaks out
Written By: - Date published: 1:01 pm, November 14th, 2007 - 19 comments
Bob Clarkson’s never been one of the sharper tacks on the National party backbench, his only contributions to the debate being his infamous ‘left testicle’ remark and his call for Muslims who wear the burqa to ‘go back to Islam’. According to Frogblog he’s now given up trying altogether: According to the wonderful TheyWorkForYou website […]
Jockeys change at National – Return of the Hollow Men
Written By: - Date published: 5:32 pm, November 8th, 2007 - 20 comments
Chris Simpson has suddenly gone as manager of the National Party, and Steven Joyce and Jo de Joux are back. According to The Hollow Men they are the team who ran the hidden campaigns with the Exclusive Brethren and the racing industry in the 2005 election. This is a strategic shift – it has McCully’s […]
Chaos at National
Written By: - Date published: 2:58 pm, November 8th, 2007 - 9 comments
It seems the suggestion of “Deutschland uber alles” as a campaign song has got National’s General Manager Chris Simpson the boot. I also hear that there’s no love lost between him and Judy and apparently it’s a matter of madness. One of them thinks the other is. Jo de Joux has been appointed Interim General […]
More confusion from National over bulk funding
Written By: - Date published: 5:02 pm, November 7th, 2007 - 39 comments
Some people just never learn. After National’s conflicting statements on bulk funding the other day you’d have thought they’d get their messages in order, if not their policies. But take a look at these comments from Alan Peachey in Parliament yesterday: Hon Marian Hobbs: Has the Minister seen any reports on alternative approaches to supporting […]
Brownlee dazed and confused over election spending
Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, November 7th, 2007 - 7 comments
Following on Tane’s post yesterday, it looks like Ger’s in trouble with his Nat bosses over his comments that National would back the law around Parliamentarly spending if Labour shortened the period under which parties come under the spending limits in the Electoral Finance Bill. This morning Gerry phoned Morning Report to say that he […]
National hollow on election funding
Written By: - Date published: 6:27 pm, November 6th, 2007 - 23 comments
It’s not often we’re wrong, but we’re right again. Gerry Brownlee dropped a clanger in Parliament today when he admitted that National’s opposition to electoral finance reform isn’t to do with the drafting problems, nor is it to do with anonymous donations. It’s about being able to buy their way onto the Treasury benches in […]
National doublespeak
Written By: - Date published: 12:46 pm, November 3rd, 2007 - 31 comments
It’s happened again. The Nelson Mail reports that: National MP and former principal Allan Peachey has broken ranks with front-bench colleague Katherine Rich over education policy, arguing in favour of the bulk-funding of teacher salaries… The Tamaki MP and associate education spokesman… publicly endorsed the controversial model of funding schools. This directly contradicted Ms Rich, […]
Labour recycling Ministers, says National
Written By: - Date published: 3:39 pm, October 31st, 2007 - 29 comments
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National still to scrap GP fee cap
Written By: - Date published: 3:18 pm, October 27th, 2007 - 17 comments
Peter Bradshaw, at the Guardian, reviews Michael Moore’s movie Sicko: Last week in this paper, Seumas Milne reported on the boa-constrictor-sized parasites of US private health insurance seeking to get their fangs into the British NHS. This magnificent new film from Michael Moore is a timely reminder of the grotesque mess that Americans have made […]
Turia weighs in
Written By: - Date published: 5:05 pm, October 26th, 2007 - 13 comments
So now Tariana is calling for a police probe into the Mallard/Henare incident. Mallard came clean yesteday about his role in the incident but we still haven’t heard much in the way of detail from Tau bar this kind of thing: “He just said to me ‘come outside’, and I went outside and, in the […]
- Many more men are dying on Australian roads than women. It’s time we addressed it
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Margaret Brown, Adjunct Research Fellow, UniSA Justice and Society, University of South Australia Shutterstock Men are killing themselves on the roads in large numbers. Currently, policymakers fail to recognise the different ways men and women use roads, and the resulting ways ...3 days ago - Holidays help us rest and recover. But Greeks and Romans weren’t always convinced
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, researching Greco-Roman antiquity, The University of Melbourne Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock The Greek philosopher Plutarch of Chaeronea (1st-2nd century AD) observed that our lives are divided between relaxation and exertion. For example, there are times when we ...3 days ago
- Shrinking wings, bigger beaks: birds are reshaping themselves in a warming world
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Ryding, Postdoctoral research fellow, Deakin University The Common Bronzewing is one of the birds that has increased beak size in response to climate change Ryan Barnaby. For wildlife, climate change is a bit like the “final boss” the protagonist faces in ...3 days ago
- You’ve just got your Year 12 results. What do you do now?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kellie Tobin, Lecturer in Education – Applied Learning, Deakin University Cottonbro Studio/Pexels, CC BY The wait is finally over. Year 12 students around Australia are receiving their Year 12 results. Victorian and Queensland students got their ATARs last week, with other ...3 days ago
- Being carers costs women more than $500,000 over a lifetime, leaving them with less in retirement th...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myra Hamilton, Associate Professor, gender, ageing and care, University of Sydney Pikselstock/Shutterstock This article is part of The Conversation’s “Retirement” series where experts examine issues including how much money we need to retire, retiring with debt, the psychological impact of retiring ...3 days ago
- NZ police officers’ China trip had all the hallmarks of foreign influence operation – ex...
The SIS has IDed China as the major source of foreign interference activities - and the police should take heed, Anne-Marie Brady says. ...3 days ago - What’s left on the parliament agenda for 2024?
Get ready for the pre-Christmas push, writes The Bulletin’s Stewart Sowman-Lund. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...3 days ago - Auckland foodbanks face closure, reducing services as funding to stop
"I'm worried. I know hundreds of thousands of Aucklanders rely on the mission for food," City Missioner Helen Robinson says. ...3 days ago
- Family violence funding review could see services lose out – critics
Labour and the Greens are concerned the government is "pulling away" from existing services, but minister says that's not the case. ...3 days ago
- Conservation staffer fired after tampering with jobs system
Details of a malicious privacy breach at the Department of Conservation have been released following the Ombudsman’s intervention The post Conservation staffer fired after tampering with jobs system appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago - Polytechnics losing foreign enrolments due to study visa wait times, Te Pūkenga warns
NZ is in a "global market" for international students, Te Pūkenga boss says, and those facing delays will often opt to go to other countries. ...3 days ago
- To all the TV news we lost in 2024
Bulletins and beloved current affairs programmes fell like flies in an agonising year for screen journalism. You don’t know what you don’t know. The great vanishing of news and current affairs from New Zealand television is a tragedy not simply, or even principally, because of the many hours of compelling ...3 days ago
- Carbon credits, fish poo and the push to discover the secrets of the sea floor
Shanti Mathias spends a day in the Hauraki Gulf with a group of British scientists investigating the links between carbon and biodiversity in the seafloor mud. The ocean swell is tilting the boat as the metal tube hovers above the water. “A-Frame out,” calls a marine scientist helping to operate ...3 days ago
- NZ swims against Pacific currents at global climate case
NZ’s arguments before the ‘World’s Court’ look progressive but ultimately align with polluters and developed nations, a law lecturer says The post NZ swims against Pacific currents at global climate case appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- Much at stake for a New Caledonia on the brink
The New Caledonian riots which began on May 13 this year, triggered by French President Emmanuel Macron’s attempt to change the New Caledonian provincial electoral roll, have left the French territory in economic despair. Around 800 businesses have been destroyed with the loss of more than 20,000 jobs. The economic ...3 days ago
- NZ forestry holds up as China’s property crisis drags on
Low prices and reliable supply has helped to weather the worst of China’s downturn for NZ forestry The post NZ forestry holds up as China’s property crisis drags on appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- As 2024 ends, central banks take victory lap as interest rate relief buoys sentiment
Inflation returns to within its target band faster than predicted but 2025 could see Trump’s import tariffs derail that The post As 2024 ends, central banks take victory lap as interest rate relief buoys sentiment appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- Somewhere along the line someone always pays
Opinion: Govt thinks if they stop funding something in favour of private provision, then the cost disappears The post Somewhere along the line someone always pays appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- Daily crossword, Monday 16 December
The post Daily crossword, Monday 16 December appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- Student allowance recipient numbers drop 40% in a decade
The number of people in tertiary study receiving the student allowance has dropped almost 40 percent since 2013 amid a freeze on eligibility income thresholds and falling enrolments. The allowance is available if your parents earn under a certain threshold or you’re at least 24 and have an eligible income. It ...3 days ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 16 December
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, Monday 16 December appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- Book of the Year: Delirious, by Damien Wilkins
The best novel of the year is also the best book of any kind of 2024, a moving story of a retired couple who downsize, reluctantly, to a retirement village somewhere or other on the Kāpiti Coast – Kāpiti Island looms and broods in the background of the book – just ...3 days ago
- More spending and weaker revenue hits budget bottom line in some years: Chalmers
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Wednesday’s mid-year budget update will downgrade company tax receipts by $8.5 billion over the four years to 2027-28, and show “slippage’ in the bottom line in some years of the forward estimates, Treasurer Jim Chalmers ...4 days ago
- Seven foreigners in Fiji suspected alcohol poisoning case now in Lautoka hospital
By Anish Chand in Lautoka Fiji’s Ministry of Health has confirmed all seven foreigners who had consumed a cocktail at the Warwick Resort on the Coral Coast and became sick have now been transferred to Lautoka hospital. The ministry said out of the seven, four were Australians, one American, and ...4 days ago
- Bali five return to Australia, and don’t have to serve more prison time
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The remaining five members of the Bali Nine – Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, and Michael Czugaj – arrived back in Australia from Indonesia on Sunday. Despite earlier suggestions, and ...4 days ago
- New Zealand Far-Right Government’s Anti-Democratic “Law And Order” Agenda
The legislation is part of the far-right government’s sweeping “law and order” agenda targeting the most alienated and vulnerable layers of society, including impoverished youth and welfare beneficiaries. Sooner rather than later, the crackdown will extend ...4 days ago - RNZ Mediawatch: Under the sinking lid from offshore tech companies
By Colin Peacock, RNZ Mediawatch presenter This week, Minister of Racing Winston Peters announced the end of greyhound racing in the interests of animal welfare. Soon after, a law to criminalise killing of redundant racing dogs was passed under urgency in Parliament. The next day, the minister introduced the Racing ...4 days ago
- Government launches new plan for reducing family and sexual violence
The second Te Aorerekura - the National Strategy to Eliminate Family Violence and Sexual Violence - has been launched. ...4 days ago
- Parliament on the home stretch, but first, a 30-hour sitting week
The bills ...4 days ago
- An Ode to .. Nicola Willis
The Horror! The Horror!“Now Captain,” says Admiraless Willis,Striding onto the bridgeOf the antique ferry Roi des BelgesAs it winds up the endless brown riverThrough a steaming jungle.“I expect you to follow my commandsTo the letter. Do you understand?”The Captain is silentAs he steers between treacherous sandbars.“We’ve entrusted you with this ...4 days ago
- Mental Health Bill: ‘No place for compulsory care’ in new law, academic says
The legislation is "completely inconsistent with expert advice and international law and best practice", associate professor says. ...4 days ago
- Why is Israel bombing Syria? – ‘because it can get away with it’, says Bishara
Asia Pacific Report Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, has condemned Israel’s extensive airstrikes on Syrian installations — reportedly 500 times in 72 hours, comparing them to historic Israeli actions justified as “security measures”. He criticised the hypocrisy of Israel’s security pretext endorsed by Western powers. Asked why Israel ...5 days ago
- Ōtaki highway tolls to reach vital services unfair – mayor
Ōtaki and surrounding communities could be split off from vital resources they depend on - or hit in the pocket - if a planned toll goes ahead on State Highway 1, a mayor says. ...5 days ago
- Damascus and Gaza prisoners: Syrians and Palestinians search for ‘disappeared’ loved ones
Democracy Now! AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in Syria, where tens of thousands of people gathered at the Great Mosque of Damascus for the first Friday prayers since longtime authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad was toppled by opposition fighters. DAMASCUS RESIDENT: [translated] Hopefully this Friday is the Friday of ...5 days ago
- This year’s sports superstars and triumphs – and who’ll be big in 2025
The Paris Olympics, a cricketing marvel, a shooting star in tennis and coaches who pulled off wonders: some of the LockerRoom highlights of a super year for NZ women’s sport.Best individual sports achievementKristy Havill: Lydia Ko’s Olympic gold followed quickly by her Women’s Open win at St Andrews a fortnight ...5 days ago
- The Secret Diary of .. Xmas songs
CHRIS HIPKINSIt was Christmas Eve, babeIn the Beehive bar.An old man said to me,“What’s your name, son?”And then he sank his glassOf cold clear Mountain Dew.I looked him in the eyeAnd sank a glass too.Had a quiet yearWithout a single care.I’ve got a feelingNext year’s much the same.So happy Christmas,Old ...5 days ago
- Our report to you – Newsroom in 2024
We want to thank you for the support you’ve given us to continue delivering groundbreaking, robust and independent journalism of public importance. That support is through your subscriptions and donations – and critically, it’s also through you sharing and championing our work to friends, family and colleagues. We’re grateful.We owe it to you to ...5 days ago
- The Treaty principles bill – bad execution of a good idea?
Comment: To anyone genuinely interested in resolving the role of the Treaty of Waitangi in modern New Zealand, the arrival of the Treaty principles bill must be deeply disappointing.Part circus, part political stunt. Part farce, part tragedy.A ‘phantom’ bill that will never be enacted, Act and Te Pāti Māori politicking ...5 days ago
- The Weekend: The phrase of the year is ‘gingle malt’
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. This is my final weekend editorial for the year and I was struggling to think of how I could sum up the year in a clever, succinct way. At our Spinoff Year in Review event in Auckland on Wednesday, host Anna Rawhiti-Connell ...5 days ago
- I see hundreds of ads for togs so why is it so hard to find a decent pair?
Togs, togs, everywhere and not a pair I want to wear. A few years ago, during another round of Cranium, my dad announced that as he only had a certain number of “good summers left”, he would not be spending them playing board games with his family. He has no ...5 days ago
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