Archive for March, 2009
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
So, as John Key explained at his press conference yesterday, Cabinet will have reached a decision by April 6th about the Royal Commission’s Auckland “Super City” proposal – because, according to Key, that’s the timeframe that needs to be followed in order to get the new city framework in place ...
Posted in Articles | 14 Comments »
Friday, March 27th, 2009
While Helen Clark’s appointment to a four year term as administrator of the United Nations Development Plan is a major personal achievement, let's not lose our heads about this. Her predecessor, Kemal Dervis was the former finance minister of Turkey and is a household name only in his own household. ...
Posted in Articles | 11 Comments »
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
This evening the new members of Parliament’s committee on the security and intelligence will meet for the first time. John Key, Rodney Hide, Tariana Turia, Phil Goff and Russel Norman have a rare chance to transform one of Parliament’s most embarrassing pieces of tokenism into a oversight committee that is ...
Posted in Articles | 1 Comment »
Monday, March 23rd, 2009
Plainly, the wheels are now falling off the government’s attempts to govern by tokenism and PR gimmicks – the nine day working fortnight, the national cycle way etc etc. Only two firms, as Prime Minister John Key conceded on the weekend, are currently lined up to participate in the ...
Posted in Articles | 5 Comments »
Friday, March 20th, 2009
Image: The White House. See... President Bush Welcomes President-Elect Obama
While Barack Obama’s attention has been focused almost entirely on the plight of the US economy, the election outcomes in three key foreign countries will be shaping his foreign policy options this year - once he gets time to consider ...
Posted in Articles | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
So, as Scoop recommended six weeks ago, the SIS is to be told to close its files on sitting MPs.
Paul Neazor, the SIS Inspector-General, picked up this suggestion in his report yesterday to Prime Minister John Key, in the wake of revelations that the SIS has been spying on ...
Posted in Articles | 10 Comments »
Monday, March 16th, 2009
Obviously, any Minister will try to dodge getting involved in a no win situation if they can help it, and the old ‘that’s an operational matter’ excuse is a useful tool of avoidance. It even carries an aura of virtue as well. It suggests ‘I would if could get involved’ ...
Posted in Articles | No Comments »
Thursday, March 12th, 2009
Plainly, workers are going to be the first people over the side of the lifeboat during this recession. The main policy idea to emerge from the recent jobs summit turns out to be a recipe to cut wages, since the training aspect of the initial idea has now been ...
Posted in Articles | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
Can a subsidy to our own national airline really qualify as foreign aid to the Pacific ? Apparently it can. As Scoop reported on Monday, the government is subsidizing various Air New Zealand routes between Los Angeles, Samoa Tonga, the Cook Islands and Auckland. Hasn’t Pacific Blue, which is trying ...
Posted in Articles | 3 Comments »
Monday, March 9th, 2009
These days, much of our foreign aid should be being directed into providing a safety net for the poor. If you count the oil price rise in 2007 and the large hike in world food prices, the current financial meltdown is the third crisis in a row to ...
Posted in Articles | 6 Comments »
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