Written By: - Date published: 8:32 pm, June 25th, 2014 - 6 comments
Categories: you couldn't make this shit up
Tags: nz herald
The Herald needs to explain why they think they can print anti-democratic lies and get away with it.
Make them answer. Make a complaint.
Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, June 25th, 2014 - 17 comments
I’m a glass half-full kind of a guy, so I want to start by emphasising the parts of Labour’s just-released fiscal plan that I like. The good: commitment to paying off government debt during economic good times, tax rate changes are welcome, and targeting tax avoidance by large multinationals. Bad: the top tax rate is still too low, and no need to signal second term tax cuts. Overall I would give this package a B+.
Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, June 25th, 2014 - 85 comments
Labour has announced details of its alternative budget with the headline a change in the top tax rate to 36 cents in the dollar for the top 2% of taxpayers.
Written By: - Date published: 12:56 pm, June 25th, 2014 - 6 comments
Labour’s Fiscal Plan shows a clear and positive difference from National. Those who earn over over 150,000 will pay more tax and applying tax to trusts to combat tax avoidance, are welcome steps to reducing inequality and the unfairness of the tax system. It’s a relief to see more effort in stopping the billions of dollars of tax evasion. Labour’s commitment to funding the real costs of Health and Education, taking account of rising costs and the changing population, forces National to front up and say what it is going to do to prevent our public services from deteriorating further.
Written By: - Date published: 12:41 pm, June 25th, 2014 - 9 comments
On Monday, an alliance of environmental organisations launched the Climate Voter campaign. The aim is to get people to signal their intention to vote on the basis of climate change policy, in the hope of driving parties to compete for that bloc of support. I think this is a good thing. At the same time, it needs to get a lot more people to sign up for it to have the sort of impact it wants. These mass-signalling exercises can work. So, if you care about the climate, sign up.
Written By: - Date published: 12:19 pm, June 25th, 2014 - 106 comments
The Herald has now published details of a further statement from Donghua Liu which directly contradicts previous claims. So what did it do to ensure the accuracy of the original claims and why did it print those allegations without verification? And who is the mysterious person who prepared a statement that with the benefit of hindsight was clearly inaccurate?
Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, June 25th, 2014 - 34 comments
I’ll be in Wellington from the 4th to the 7th for the Labour party congress on the 5-6th. I’ll be on a media pass again which will relieve me of the duties that I have usually had to undergo as a delegate, like having to think too much. This will be the first congress I have attended as media. I’m expecting to have a lazy time watching others work. If you’re around Wellington, come and see David Cunliffe’s speech on Sunday. He is promising a big speech about what he and Labour will be taking to the voters this year.
Written By: - Date published: 11:24 am, June 25th, 2014 - 98 comments
Nick Smith is proposing to introduce under urgency legislation which will allow the removal of felled trees from conservation areas on the West Coast. The sense of cynical politics involved in this measure is strong …
Written By: - Date published: 9:59 am, June 25th, 2014 - 107 comments
The underbelly of John Key’s “rockstar economy” is mostly kept in the shadows, but every so often more tales emerge from the growing numbers of homeless. Vote left & vote the bastards out, this election!
Written By: - Date published: 6:56 am, June 25th, 2014 - 137 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Written By: - Date published: 2:46 pm, June 24th, 2014 - 81 comments
PM John Key has performed a backflip by now suggesting Donghua Liu should front up with evidence to support the NZ Herald’s unsubstantiated claim that he donated substantial sums to Labour. This is a world away from his previous position that it was up to Labour to show that no donation was made. It’s increasingly looking like it simply not true and the Herald has been played like a fiddle. And two, the fiddle planter is Cameron Slater, the PM’s bestie from way back.
Written By: - Date published: 11:53 am, June 24th, 2014 - 44 comments
When I first heard of this appointment, I commented that if McCully had offered Jones a briefcase full of cash rather than a specially-created high-paying job to resign, we’d call it what it is: Corruption and bribery of member of Parliament. From what I’ve seen in this release, I stand by that.
Updated: It looks like this appointment either violated the Cabinet Manual or is in violation of the State Sector Act. Whatever way you look at this, the appointment appears to broken some laws. Perhaps some journos would like to look up from bullshit from National’s dirty tricks blogger and care to investigate a real story?
Written By: - Date published: 11:41 am, June 24th, 2014 - 9 comments
John Key is abandoning hope of a TPP deal. As it stands at present there is nothing in it for New Zealand. Of course the usual ugly swamp that is US internal politics is making the deal descend into a mire.
Expect nothing to happen for another year or two, and maybe the damn thing will never happen.
Written By: - Date published: 10:32 am, June 24th, 2014 - 50 comments
Jan Logie’s post: “Work and Income – stories from hidden people” is a must read: stories from a divisive society, under a callous government that benefits the few at the expense of too many. We can do much better than that. Vote for change this election!
Written By: - Date published: 9:03 am, June 24th, 2014 - 254 comments
The media seem to be mesmerized by John Key. He can start a media beat up by talking publicly about a rumour then get a sympathetic headline when stating that Donghua Liu should reveal his evidence, even though it was Key who made the claim publicly. Yet after a week of bad press for Labour over a claim for which there is no real proof Key’s role is not scrutinised and he seems to get away with it.
Written By: - Date published: 6:30 am, June 24th, 2014 - 240 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 pm, June 23rd, 2014 - 36 comments
Before we get too carried away patting those Labour MPs on the back for withdrawing from the list process in order to ‘give way’ to fresh talent, someone should take a closer look at clause 356 of the Labour Party constitution.
Written By: - Date published: 6:25 pm, June 23rd, 2014 - 43 comments
In previous elections, the major parties have submitted lists heavily dominated by men, and this passes without comment. This year, Labour has submitted one with a slight imbalance (53:47) towards women. The reaction is sadly predictable. Misogynist reporting. Also incorrect, there is no gender rule. Not mentioned: Labour’s list is gender-balanced up to position 40; that slight imbalance comes from the bottom, unelectable end of the list and will not translate into caucus places.
Written By: - Date published: 2:08 pm, June 23rd, 2014 - 19 comments
Some things are so predicable that Imperator Fish can write about them years ahead. Like the typical reactions to the Labour list. Let us observe the predictability of the right and others to it today. Marks for any bit of originality, but don’t be surprised if there aren’t any.
Written By: - Date published: 2:06 pm, June 23rd, 2014 - 189 comments
The Labour list for 2014 has been announced.
Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, June 23rd, 2014 - 27 comments
This morning’s news from the Fairfax/Ipsos poll is that 81% of New Zealanders hate coat-tailing and want it gone. I agree with them. So does Labour. So do the Greens. So do Internet MANA. National, of course, relishes coat-tailing. So – to the 81% – if you want 2014 to be the last election with any coat-tailing, vote for a change of government. In the meantime of course, we have Crazy Colin Craig who thinks that Key’s job is to give just him a seat, entirely of his own accord, with no “insipid” discussions about the quid pro quo. Good luck with that.
Written By: - Date published: 9:08 am, June 23rd, 2014 - 34 comments
John Key claimed he didn’t know about the big shift in the US-NZ surveillance relationship in 2009. Now he claims he always likes to be fully briefed on intelligence matters. Robert David Steele points the way from such anti-democratic governance & misinformation, to an open source everything revolution.
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, June 23rd, 2014 - 8 comments
I had a conversation at our farmer’s market this morning about how my election campaign was going and the person I was speaking to had the view that all politicians don’t actually do much, apart from talking. I find that this thinking is actually fairly common, many people talk about the nonsense that goes on in Parliament and how all politicians are as bad as each other, “It doesn’t matter who you vote for, nothing really changes.” I find this view really frustrating, but at the same time I can see why people may feel this way.
Written By: - Date published: 6:55 am, June 23rd, 2014 - 282 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Written By: - Date published: 5:12 pm, June 22nd, 2014 - 219 comments
Ok, so according to the NZ Herald Donhua Liu is alleging that a fund raiser was held on Sunday 3rd of June 2007.
That is the Sunday in the middle of Queens birthday weekend. To say that is hardly credible is an understatement. No-one schedules fund-raisers on Sunday. They certainly don’t do it in a long weekend. And can’t the journalists at the Herald read a calendar?
Updated: This mornings Herald story looks like being more about face saving than accuracy, and the interview on Morning Report make the journalistic process at the Herald look even more dodgy.
Written By: - Date published: 5:05 pm, June 22nd, 2014 - 24 comments
Scott Yorke makes some excellent arguments in favour of a full police investigation into the Liu saga.
Written By: - Date published: 3:18 pm, June 22nd, 2014 - 46 comments
In a speech today Colin Craig has confirmed that he will be standing in Murray McCully’s seat of East Coast Bays.
Written By: - Date published: 2:55 pm, June 22nd, 2014 - 45 comments
The Whaleoil blog is in court on Monday. There is a full day session in the High Court in Auckland looking at the appeal by Cameron Slater against Judge Blackie’s decision in the District Court that the blog is not a news medium. Therefore Slater was not a journalist, and was therefore not able to protect his sources who provided stolen material to allow him to apparently defame Matthew Blomfield. The decision will probably provide case law about the status of blogs in the law and the responsibilities of news mediums.
Written By: - Date published: 2:20 pm, June 22nd, 2014 - 112 comments
I’ve been around the Labour party campaigners for a long time. I’d have expected to hear of auction sales of near to $100,000 by rumour if nothing else. It is possible that I didn’t. But then so is time travel. Quite simply the NZ Heralds reporting of Liu’s letter without any corroboration or details about where and when isn’t what I expect from journalists. It is what I expect from Whaleoil – a simple smear. I hadn’t realised that the Herald was that desperate.
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, June 22nd, 2014 - 322 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Written By: - Date published: 9:40 pm, June 21st, 2014 - 7 comments
Bryan Gould writes on this in the latest post on the AUT Briefing Papers website. Gould quotes from Senator Elizabeth Warren’s classic speech “Nobody got rich on their own. Nobody.” Gould’s conclusion – A renewed debate about the purpose of government is well overdue – amen to that.
Recent Comments