Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 9:08 am, November 9th, 2011 - 65 comments
There’s a line in, I believe, a Terry Pratchett book that goes ‘a leader has to get up very early in the morning and work hard all day long to make a society go backwards’. I was reminded of that when Key said “I work 19 hours a day, seven days a week to try and make New Zealand a better country”. Given the country’s going backwards, what does Key get up to in those 133 hour weeks? Let’s see.
Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 12:38 pm, October 24th, 2011 - 66 comments
Act president Chris Simmons on Don Brash’s sudden trip to Europe: Brash’s skills were in economic management, not in “glad-handing rugby players and tickertape parades” which he would happily leave to Prime Minister John Key.
John Banks: “I’m going to do the photo opportunity with Richie McCaw,” he laughed. “I need the votes more than Dr Brash.”
Written By: Eddie - Date published: 6:21 am, May 13th, 2011 - 24 comments
The second plank of John Key’s economic plan for New Zealand has fallen through. First, the ‘national cycleway’ became a scattered assortment of cycle paths that were already under construction. Now, the pandas Key was going to rent so we could get rich buying tickets to see them won’t be coming and we have revealing emails to share.
Written By: Eddie - Date published: 2:08 pm, May 7th, 2011 - 28 comments
“We see you on TV a lot. What else do you do?” – schoolkid to John Key at yet another photo-op.
In other news, Key was lying when he said he doesn’t have any choice over his DPS entourage. Helen Clark dismissed her DPS cover for at least 73 days when on private holidays. Key spent $30K of our money taking the DPS to Hawaii.
Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:00 am, April 28th, 2011 - 19 comments
In the past year and a half John Key has clocked up nearly a full week of flights on RNZAF aircraft. The bill for the more than 125 hours of flights extends into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Apart from a few flights to Christchurch, it appears the main reason Key has been using our air force as his private taxi service is to get to photo-ops.
Written By: Guest post - Date published: 9:00 am, April 26th, 2011 - 28 comments
Over at Red Alert, Chris Hipkins asks what other photo-ops John Key has been flying to using Air Force helicopters. As well as the V8/Golf club dinner photo ops, Key has used the choppers three times in the past three weeks. Maybe he buzzed into his important photo-op at a Timaru skateboard park or the ‘cameo’ at the NZ Shearing Champs.
Written By: notices and features - Date published: 10:31 am, April 19th, 2011 - 50 comments
Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 12:05 am, March 14th, 2011 - 83 comments
Stung by Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee’s admission that the eastern suburbs were neglected after the Christchurch Earthquake, John Key is redoubling his efforts: “For the first few days, I stuck my head down and got on with designing the emergency benefit policy but, winter’s approaching, so the people need me to return to my strengths.”
Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:51 am, November 13th, 2010 - 32 comments
John Key has been on holiday in Japan for the last few days ahead of APEC while the real international leaders are in Korea for the G20. Key is keen to have a ‘pull-aside’ with Obama but, now, disaster: the US has limited the number of Kiwi media that can cover the smiling and waving. Key has leaped into action.
Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 9:02 am, March 25th, 2010 - 29 comments
That time of the cycle again. Unpopular policy. Crappy week in the House. Nats gotta switch the mood. Photo op. Something stupid for the papers to run. Something for the journos to say ‘your ministers are a bunch of incompetents, lairs, and thieves. All your important promises have been broken. And you keep lying to us. But damn you’re cute’. What will it be? I’ve got an inside hint. You can have a look. But don’t tell anyone.
Written By: Eddie - Date published: 10:38 am, March 17th, 2010 - 24 comments
Just a quick question: Why is John Key giving $300,000 to the All Whites’ World Cup campaign when they’re already making a $6 million profit from the $10 million they get for qualifying? Why is there money for that while elder care and other value for money programmes are getting cuts? Looks like we’re paying for some more John Key photo ops.
The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...
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