Budget to push the “P” button?
The tone of the Budget is almost as important as its content, and while everyone – for good reason – is expecting a grim Budget […]
Articles
On the power company rip-offs
Spot the difference. A Rotorua couple get $10 million overpaid by Westpac into their bank account and hive off with it, with Interpol and the […]
The need to control loan sharks
As jobs vanish and incomes shrink during the recession, loan sharks can be expected to prey more avidly on poor and vulnerable communities. After all, […]
Campbell on the Christine Rankin appointment
For all his considerable media skills, Prime Minister John Key has a tendency to wing it on the details in ways that must be terrifying […]
The Melissa Lee Factor
Click to enlarge Melissa Lee’s emergence as the poster child of the Key government is so apt, it makes the process of politics seem karmically […]
On Auckland's Recession
Is the recession something that is mainly happening to Aucklanders? Last Thursday’s Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) contained evidence to support that notion. Nationally, the […]
On Auckland’s Recession
Is the recession something that is mainly happening to Aucklanders? Last Thursday’s Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) contained evidence to support that notion. Nationally, the […]
McCully’s oversell of changes to our foreign aid programme
The belated release yesterday of the April 23 Cabinet papers on the changes to New Zealand’s aid programme suggest that Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully […]
The Labour re-shuffle (And Mt Albert)
The Labour re-shuffle of its front bench and shadow portfolio areas is an understandable move. Six months into a new leadership, senior figures such as […]
The risks of cutting wages during this recession
Obviously, the jobs situation in New Zealand is deteriorating. On current trends, unemployment is now expected to reach 8 per cent before this recession is […]
Russel Norman, and our SAS in Afghanistan
So David Shearer is to be the Labour candidate in Mt Albert. The claims by Greens Co-Leader Russel Norman on Morning Report that this leaves […]
Gordon Campbell on the swine flu epidemic
Interesting that John Key began his press conference on Monday by covering off the politics of the swine flu epidemic first. No false modesty from […]
The Greens' deal with National
Click to enlarge The decision by Greens Co-Leader Russel Norman to stand in the Mt Albert by-election on June 13 is the latest example of […]
The Greens’ deal with National
Click to enlarge The decision by Greens Co-Leader Russel Norman to stand in the Mt Albert by-election on June 13 is the latest example of […]
Selling our defence bases to property speculators
The proposal to sell our defence bases and lease them back to the armed forces from their new, private sector landlords is a pretty good […]
The plans to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities
Click to enlarge During the election campaign last year, Joe Biden caused a mini-flap by suggesting that within his first six months in office, Presaident […]
The plans to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities
Click to enlarge During the election campaign last year, Joe Biden caused a mini-flap by suggesting that within his first six months in office, Presaident […]
On Fiji And Its Critics
Oh dear. In the black and white universe in which the likes of No Right Turn reside, I’m now allegedly a supporter of despotism for […]
Events in Fiji
Chris Trotter is well able to look after himself, but the recent criticism on him by No Right Turn over the Fiji situation is worth […]
WINZ and food banks, and Fiji
[For Fiji click here] A few months ago, Scoop asked Paula Bennett at John Key’s post-Cabinet press conference whether she saw a pressing need – […]
The pre-ordained demise of Auckland
Barely five months into the Key administration, the centre right is plainly making far more effective use of its ideological bedmates than Labour ever did […]
The G20 rescue package and McCully’s Washington trip
Barack Obama came to London seeking a fresh spending package to revive the global economy and – despite European objections that tighter regulation and not […]
Obama’s debut on the world stage , more Auckland
This week will be dominated by coverage of Barack Obama’s first foray on the world stage, as President. Today and tomorrow he will be in […]
The rush to impose the ‘Super City’ proposal on Auckland
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 […]
The Helen Clark appointment
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 […]
Parliament’s willingness to scrutinise the SIS
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, […]
The Goverment’s rash of PR debacles, & Bob Marley
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 […]
The Goverment’s rash of PR debacles, & Bob Marley
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 […]
The Forces Foreclosing Barack Obama’s Foreign Policy Options
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 […]
Spies in Parliament, the Rugby World Cup and the privatization of TVNZ
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, […]