Category Archives: op-ed

“..Postgraduate students are working long, minimum-wage hours – selling their cars and moving in with their parents to complete degrees – after losing $240 a week in student allowance. The Government’s scrapping of the postgraduate student allowance at the beginning … Continue reading →

“..Building momentum is the title the Government has given its latest budget. There’s only one problem: after 2015 there isn’t any. Our economy will slow to a crawl even as our trading partners are accelerating. But of course the Government … Continue reading →

ed:..could the economics reporter on tvone breakfast be more rightwing/an apologist for this fuck-the-poor govt..? ..it is almost skin-crawling..her efforts to prove to the powers that be that she will be an obedient gate-keeper for them.. ..and i am still … Continue reading →

ed:..i dunno about you..but colour me confused.. ..how can bill english be boasting about being in surplus by 2014-15.. ..and yet i carried news reports the other day about how our current-account-deficit is the worst in the oecd.. ..how the … Continue reading →

“.,Two people who illegally chopped off puppies’ tails with a knife have escaped a criminal conviction. Rebecca Douglas (28) an aspiring vet technician – and publican Malcolm West (43) were found guilty of causing three-day-old puppies unnecessary or unreasonable pain … Continue reading →

(ed:..i will post a commentary at the close of proceedings..) Questions to Ministers (edit:..the speaker tells ministers they can no longer give the glib-reply to written questions that ‘it is an operational matter’..) 1)..TODD McCLAY to the Minister of Finance: … Continue reading →

(ed:..i will post a commentary at the close of proceedings..) Questions to Ministers 1)..DAVID SHEARER to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his statements? ..shearer on key tying future govts into 35 yr contract.. ..calls on key to … Continue reading →

(ed:..i predict the speech from gilmore this afternoon will be naught but a whiney-rant against the media.. ..he both lacks the testicular-fortitude to do little else..plus save for that tory/neo-lib/randite/fuck-the-poor! clutch of nasty/bad ideas..he dosen’t really believe in much.. ..so … Continue reading →

ed:..gilmore has totally wimped out on any idea of seeing out his term as an independant..and has resigned.. ..by resigning gilmore lost his chance to enter the history books with an exclamation-mark next to his name.. ..now he just has … Continue reading →

ed:..i’ve said it before..and i’ll say it again… ..aaron gilmore should not buckle under the pressure from key et. al.. ..he should see out his term as a true independant mp… ..if he caucuses with the other party-pariah brendon horan…(what … Continue reading →

“..Shell out $265,000 and collect more than $10 million. It’s one of several nice little high-country earners. That’s the mark-up that one South Island runholder couple made from subdividing some of their land freeholded through the tenure review process. Lincoln … Continue reading →

“..When private sector demand is weak – that’s the time the Government should step up its spending. As we await another miserly Budget from Bill English we are entitled to wonder whether the Government is overdoing the fiscal discipline. Has … Continue reading →

“..Animal welfare advocates outraged at the possibility of party pills and synthetic cannabis being tested on rats and dogs have been “gagged” by politicians – a Labour MP says. Hundreds of submissions objecting to animals being given lethal doses of … Continue reading →

(ed:..i will post a commentary at the close of proceedings..) Questions to Ministers 1)..JACQUI DEAN to the Minister of Finance: What progress is the Government making with its share offer programme? norman is ripping into english..pointing out that treasury told … Continue reading →