On the government’s latest handout to agri-business
Illustration by Tim Denee – www.timdenee.com Given the bumper earnings from commodity prices, you might think agriculture would be the last sector in need of […]
Treasury
On legal aid, and the definitive account of the Hobbit saga
For a party that made the Nanny State such a big part of its 2008 election campaign, today’s cutbacks to legal aid are merely National’s […]
On Bill English’s attempt to politicize the earthquake response, plus the Rugby World Cup
Images: People Gather at Parliament for Moment of Silence Much of the inspirational rhetoric surrounding the Christchurch earthquake has had a genuine “We’re all in […]
Ten Myths About Welfare
The politics behind the government’s welfare reform process
Treasury Enters, Stage Right
Treasury, not trade unions, poses the biggest threat to film industry jobs
Gordon Campbell on the government’s war with itself
Article – Gordon Campbell All hands in the crew steering the good ship NZ Inc are supposed to be (a) pulling their own weight and […]
On the fiasco in overseas aid funding and the latest evidence that watching Fox News really does make you more stupid
The personal vendetta being waged by Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully against aid sector NGOs has now reached its inevitable, illogical conclusion – half of […]
On faster (pricier) broadband, and our ongoing Afghan delusions
As the government gradually releases the detail of its ultrafast broadband package, it is becoming clear that this initiative will not be the boon for […]
On Treasury’s ideological hostility to film tax breaks
Treasury’s religious objection to tax breaks and the left wing’s objection to paying subsidies to US multinationals like Warners have converged in their joint hostility […]
On the US midterms
[Image amoeck, via The 100 Best Signs At The Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear] On the eve of the inevitable catastrophe for the Democrats […]
On The Hobbit finale
Great. The Hobbit stays here. Everyone’s happy about that – you, me, John Key, Robyn Malcolm…we’re all so very happy, at least until we look […]
On the Latest stage of The Hobbit drama
So, according to Sir Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens all that Warners are asking for in an uncertain world is certainty. A surety that no […]
Gordon Campbell on The Hobbit countdown to D-Day
At his post Cabinet press conference last week, Prime Minister John Key was asked (by me) whether the government-convened talks to keep The Hobbit in […]
On the South Canterbury Finance bailout
Like the war in Iraq, there doesn’t seem to have been an exit strategy for the Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme – and the extension of […]
On the ideology behind state spending cuts, and the Bethune aftermath
Clearly, the cuts to government spending are being driven by ideology and not by the state of the economy. Yesterday’s figures revealed a government deficit […]
On The Jackson Film Commission review
So the long awaited, year-in-the-making blockbuster review of the Film Commission has finally been delivered by Sir Peter Jackson and David Court, and is now […]
On the plans to sell state assets
At yesterday’s post-Cabinet press conference Prime Minister John Key said that work ‘had not yet begun’ on deciding which state assets – if any – […]
On the trade-offs in the Budget
Audio + Images: Budget Lockup Press Conference Raising the level of GST – which will hit those on low incomes the hardest – and offering […]
On John Key’s shifting rationales for tax cuts (& leaky homes)
[Leaky homes below] See: PM’s Presser Audio & Report – Leaky Home Loan Scheme When asked by Scoop at yesterday’s post-Cabinet press conference to name […]
On Sir Peter Gluckman, and the government’s science package for business
So far, at least two isotopes of the government’s chief science advisor Sir Peter Gluckman have been isolated, and identified. The commonly observed variant – […]
On RWC fever, and Obama’s Supreme Court choice
RNZ this morning carried the news that “new research” now shows that the Rugby World Cup would add an estimated $535 million to the nation’s […]
On Paula Bennett’s decidedly strange welfare panel
Last week when Social Development Minister Paula Bennett named the working group on welfare reform, she also cited in a footnote two experts that the […]
On getting a fair deal for our oil and mining resources
As the deadline approaches for public submissions on the government’s plans to open up sensitive conservation areas to mining, the likely economic returns to New […]
Gordon Campbell On Welfare Insurance
The new working group on welfare reform to be headed by former Commerce Commission head Paula Rebstock will be looking at schemes of unemployment insurance […]
On the problems in making the tax cuts equation stack up
Would scrapping the depreciation rules on rental residential property really deliver the $1.6 billion promised? That $1.6 billion sits on one side of the ledger […]
On John Key’s agenda for the nation
Compensate is such a slippery word. If you set out to make the elite squad in team A immensely better off with money taken from […]
Gordon Campbell on the government's tolerance of white collar crime
This government takes a crush ’em and crate ’em approach to crime – unless that is, the offender happens to be wearing a tie. In […]
The Treasury Update, And Calls for Austerity
Any future built on Treasury forecasts is on shaky ground, but lets assume the relative optimism expressed by Treasury in yesterday’s half yearly fiscal update […]
Gordon Campbell: Risk Free Tax!
On current indications the Buckle Tax review will provide the final draft of their recommendations to the government just before Christmas – to enable it […]
Public funding for a Rugby World Cup that few can afford to attend
In any other industry, the taxpayer/ratepayer subsidies being offered to the professional rugby industry for its World Cup event in 2011 would be being slagged […]