Archive for June, 2009

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  General Debate June 8, 2009 - by frog

  
  
  
  So much news swirling around for a Monday. Poll results in Mt Albert show Russel is giving the Nats a run for their money. Bain plays golf. The NACT government continues to steamroll over Auckland democracy. What do ya think? read more
  June 8, 2009 9:36 am - 20 Comments
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  Dear Diary, should I Think Big or Forward? - by frog

  
  
  
  My Kiwidiary today remembers this blast from the past: [On this day] Derek Quigley, at the Young Nationals Conference, speaks against the ‘Think Big’ programme, 1982. Muldoon announced Think Big in 1979, aiming to develop heavy industry. It carries the industrial era’s unsustainable style which wreaked eco-havoc, but also produced a legendary new skate park [...] read more
  June 7, 2009 10:44 pm - 18 Comments
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  Bain case highlights need for Criminal Review Office - by frog

  
  
  
  I’ve been hopping along for much of the day trying to keep up with the Waterview-Mt Roskill motorway protest march.  I think I’ve only ever been on one longer march in my life, and that was 15 years ago, when I was a much fitter frog than I am today. Anyway, I’m sorry that I [...] read more
  June 6, 2009 8:06 pm - 34 Comments
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  General Debate, June 6, 2009 - by frog

  
  
  
  It’s 65 years since D-Day, not that I’m counting. read more
  June 6, 2009 7:13 am - 51 Comments
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  MP travel: offsetting the carbon cost - by frog

  
  
  
  A frog reader suggested we remind readers of the Green MPs carbon offsetting arrangements. Yesterday, they declared their travel spending since the beginning of the year, and committed to do it annually. Parliament is considering standardising such disclosure – great! In 2006 the MPs measured their emissions from air travel to create a baseline. Air [...] read more
  June 5, 2009 5:00 pm - 45 Comments
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  FREEZE! - by frog

  
  
  
  It is World Environment Day. Action on climate change is a big part of what the Green Party does every day, but to mark June 5, Sue Kedgley will be at the Freeze in Wellington and Metiria Turei will be Freezing in Dunedin…and yes that isn’t hard to do in the Deep South. The Freeze [...] read more
  June 5, 2009 5:39 am - 11 Comments
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  Good ol’ honest politics - by frog

  
  
  
  So, dear readers, our story so far… MPs in Britain make pigs of themselves at the trough of public funding which prompts NZ media to ask about MP expenses in Aotearoa. The Green Party, always a fan of honest politics, agrees to go public with Parliamentary travel and accommodation expenses. National and Labour talk about [...] read more
  June 4, 2009 5:06 pm - 57 Comments
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  Minister operates with no confidence - by frog

  
  
  
    In a similar way to Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now – minus the green war paint and war crimes – it turns out disgraced former Minister Dr Richard Worth was out in the jungle of the Beehive operating without any direct control late last week.     Prime Minister John Key claims to have lost [...] read more
  June 4, 2009 5:00 pm - 5 Comments
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  Enviroschools and the Budget – Sabotaging Success - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Two weeks I went to a hui of environmental educators working with the Enviroschools programme throughout the country. They were so vibrant and so excited about their ever expanding programmes throughout kura kaupapa and many other schools throughout Aotaeraoa. They were also focused on their “regeneration” project which involves students who have left school but [...] read more
  June 4, 2009 2:36 pm - 55 Comments
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  Our New Leadership Team - by frog

  
  
  
  Just because I like the photo Metiria Turei and Russel Norman read more
  June 4, 2009 2:20 pm - 34 Comments
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  Bradford’s Truth – Section 59 and the Mason verdict - by Sue Bradford

  
  
  
  My column in the New Zealand Truth this week focuses on the section 59 law change and the Jimmy Mason assault verdict. A couple of weeks ago a jury found Christchurch man Jimmy Mason guilty of assaulting one of his sons by yanking his ear and punching him in the face. Normally a case like [...] read more
  June 4, 2009 10:13 am - 58 Comments
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  General Debate, June 4, 2009 - by frog

  
  
  
  Serious allegations swirl around the head of a fallen National Party Minister. The healthy food in schools debate runs hot, but civil on a highjacked thread. Oil hovers in the mid-sixties, a harbinger, if my earlier predictions were correct, of the beginning of an economic recovery, at least as the growth-worshippers measure it. Your thoughts [...] read more
  June 4, 2009 9:22 am - 21 Comments
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  No New HIV “Predator” Laws Required - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Okay, I think I have something to add to this debate. And can I preface my remarks by saying I’m pretty uncomfortable by the “HIV Predator” term. Certainly the sexual behaviour alleged sounds pretty predatory, but the term carries a risk of association, suggesting that people living with HIV are more likely to be seen [...] read more
  June 4, 2009 8:20 am - 8 Comments
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  Weaving and Moroccan Cooking Are Not Useful? - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  The Minister of Education has seen fit to cut money in the Budget for adult and community education funding except for courses related to literacy and numeracy. Programmes offered through secondary schools are set to disappear after an 80% cut. She picked out weaving, salsa dancing and Moroccan courses provided by community education programmes as [...] read more
  June 3, 2009 3:06 pm - 57 Comments
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  Two Reasons to Vote Green - by frog

  
  
  
  Except for the funny accent and that fact that we’re not part of the EU, this could just as easily be a video to support our very own Green New Deal and Green Stimulus Package right here in New Zealand. If I were Irish, I know how I’d be voting this year! read more
  June 3, 2009 10:54 am - 60 Comments
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  General Debate, 2 June, 2009 - by frog

  
  
  
  Happy birthday Russel! read more
  June 2, 2009 7:34 am - 86 Comments