Written By: - Date published: 12:38 pm, September 20th, 2007 - 1 comment
A reliable Wellington source tells me he had the pleasure of dining at a table next to Bill English and family a few weeks back. Once the kids were out of the way Bill dished up a smörgÃÂ¥sbord of tasty gossip, both personal and political. Apparently English made no bones about it, his leadership ambitions […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:11 pm, September 20th, 2007 - 2 comments
Garth George weighs in on the gold card today in the Herald. While the debate rages about the merits of Winston’s senior card and whether cheaper rinses and jetboat rides are worth all the fuss, I’m tempted to tell my gran what she’s been telling me for years: don’t look a gift-horse in the mouth […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:39 pm, September 19th, 2007 - 5 comments
Another of New Zealand’s proud firsts: we were the first to give women the vote in national elections. Clearly as a society we’ve made huge progress in the last 114 years – New Zealand’s even now got a Ministry dedicated to furthering Women’s issues to help ensure that they stay on the agenda. It’s a […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:22 pm, September 18th, 2007 - 3 comments
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the opening of the Labour Government’s first state house by Michael Joseph Savage. The aim in 1937 was to build 5000 new homes a year in an effort to rid New Zealand of sub-standard housing. No mention of any of this over at Kiwiblog, where National Party blogger and […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:31 pm, September 18th, 2007 - 2 comments
National’s ad campaign in 2005 was assisted by the creative wit of John Ansell a self-described “wordplaying loon”. Nicky Hager’s ‘The Hollow Men & a study in the politics of deception’ drew attention to Ansell when it described in some detail his cozying up to Don Brash to get the chance at a hatchet job […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:48 pm, September 14th, 2007 - 11 comments
One of John Key’s first rebranding exercises after he took over the National Party was to dump Wayne Mapp from his position as PC Eradicator and try to distance the party from some of the more reactionary rhetoric that had become its stock-in-trade under Don Brash. This makes a lot of sense from National’s perspective, […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:25 pm, September 13th, 2007 - 4 comments
In her defense, I don’t remember there being a chemistry component to Play School.
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, September 11th, 2007 - 8 comments
I dropped into the National Party’s Kiwiblog again last week and I must say it looks like party insider David Farrar may well be losing his “mojo”. I mean really? He’s been comparing Helen Clark’s policies to “gassing the Jews”? and running lines like: “the Government only thinks that if you question them you are […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:14 pm, September 6th, 2007 - 6 comments
Last night’s debate on the Youth Minimum Wage Bill was (as noted earlier) a triumph for progressive politics and for young people. It was not such a triumph for David Bennett, who apparently is National’s MP for Hamilton East. His speech (mp3 – 2MB) during the debate takes incoherence to hitherto unknown heights. Most of […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:20 pm, September 6th, 2007 - 14 comments
Greenpeace seems strangely surprised at John Key’s statement that George Bush and John Howard are “going in the right direction” on climate change and his refusal to criticise them for not signing up to Kyoto. Here’s Greenpeace executive director Bunny McDiarmid: John Key’s support for John Howard and George Bush’s stance on climate change is […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:43 am, September 6th, 2007 - 1 comment
The Herald ran an article yesterday detailing the Nat’s refusal to support legislation that would strengthen the Auditor-General’s powers to investigate MP’s lists of assets and interests. Cosgrove and Cullen both point out that this is a last minute u-turn, the Nats having supported the ammendment up until this final stage. This certainly shows their […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:26 pm, September 3rd, 2007 - 4 comments
The depth of National’s talent is a constant source of amusement. Jackie Blue, allegedly one of National’s slightly-brighter-than-average young things (speaking of, has anyone heard a Chris Tremain speech recently? Truly mindboggling), has decided to attack the Ministry of Women’s Affairs over the success of the Labour-led government in getting women on to boards. As […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:31 pm, August 31st, 2007 - 2 comments
I was having a look at David Farrar’s National Party blog this morning and I came across an interesting comment from one of Farrar’s regulars about why National might be so keen to knock over the Electoral Finance Bill. I’ll make it quite clear right now I’ve got my issues with the bill but I […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:02 pm, August 29th, 2007 - 3 comments
Yet another policy inoculation today from the Nats, this time on paid parental leave. Judith Collins is now “generally not against it” and in typically decisive fasion John Key “thinks” he’s for it. What’s really astounding about this u-turn is how many of their MPs are on record as having vehemently opposed it since day […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:53 pm, August 29th, 2007 - 1 comment
Russell Brown writes in Hard News: “It was always odds-on that Judith Collins MP would top her previous efforts at public nastiness – and already, she’s come though for the punters. 3 News ran a story on Friday night claiming controversy over the hiring of “prominent drag queen” Buckwheat, aka Edward Cowley, as a motivational […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:37 pm, August 28th, 2007 - 1 comment
This morning Air New Zealand announced an annual profit of $268 million. The New Zealand public owns 80% of the national carrier, which means a good chunk of that profit is ours to spend on things like health, education and family tax credits rather than filling the pockets of some overseas shareholder. So why then […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:31 pm, August 27th, 2007 - 1 comment
As the National Party concentrated on its own political health with yet another policy u-turn inoculation, this time on the need for an airforce combat wing, Health Minister Pete Hodgson had some good news for the health of under-sixes.
Written By: - Date published: 9:28 pm, August 25th, 2007 - 5 comments
Well surprise, surprise, National Party blogger David Farrar has joined in the disgraceful right-wing smear campaign currently being conducted against AUT’s curriculum leader for journalism, Dr Martin Hirst. You’ll have to forgive me if I find this all a little ironic given Farrar’s carefully scripted outrage just this morning over Labour’s supposed smears against John […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:29 pm, August 23rd, 2007 - Comments Off on One law for the National Party
John can’t seem to get his story straight (again). Since he claims to support the concept of ‘one law for all’ let’s start with that. Under the Electoral Act you can reside in one place only. Under the Companies Act you cannot make a statement that is knowingly false or misleading. In October 2002 Key […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:06 pm, August 22nd, 2007 - Comments Off on Phones in prisons
Contrary to what the National Party would have us believe, restricting inmates’ use of phones in prisons has always been a bit of a problem. Presumably the rise in the availability of mobile phones coupled with their shrinking size has made the job of controlling their use even more difficult for corrections staff. Check out […]
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