Archive for December, 2010

  • frog

    General debate, December 31, 2010 - by frog



    Another one bites the dust, people. Have a great, safe New Year’s Eve and see you in election year! read more
    December 31, 2010 11:20 am - 125 Comments
  • frog

    Must be the season… - by frog



    Merry Christmas, everyone! Have a good one!  Whatever you believe in. read more
    December 24, 2010 6:36 pm - 43 Comments
  • Gareth Hughes

    Before the holiday season ends send a submission on the Holiday Highway - by Gareth Hughes



    It’s almost Christmas time and I’m sure most of you are ready for a holiday. But before you go, if you live in Auckland, Rodney, Whangarei, or anywhere else and want smart transport decisions please take a few minutes to make a submission on the New Zealand Transport Agency’s latest proposal for the Holiday Highway – [...] read more
    December 22, 2010 1:45 pm - 2 Comments
  • frog

    ACC privatisation: Let the fightback begin - by frog



    I’ve run the “ACC: undermine, cut privatise” banner on a few posts on ACC over the last couple of years, and now we’re seeing the third leg of the trifecta emerging with the announcement yesterday that ACC’s work account is to be partially privatised. This may be good news for some employers, because in the [...] read more
    December 22, 2010 12:11 pm - 13 Comments
  • Keith Locke

    Why NZ sent army engineers to Iraq in 2003 - by Keith Locke



    There has been outrage from Helen Clark, Phil Goff and Jim Anderton over a claim by a US Embassy official (in the Wikileaks documents) that: “Senior MOD officials (strictly protect) tell us it was not until Finance Minister Michael Cullen pointed out in a subsequent Cabinet meeting that New Zealand’s absence from Iraq might cost [...] read more
    December 22, 2010 12:01 pm - 6 Comments
  • frog

    General debate, December 22, 2010 - by frog



    Happy summer solstice. read more
    December 22, 2010 8:16 am - 93 Comments
  • Gareth Hughes

    New Auckland motorway causes congestion - by Gareth Hughes



    The Herald has carried another story today about how building a motorway has made congestion worse in Auckland, not better. Suprised? The New Zealand Transport Agency has admitted that they seriously under-estimated how much traffic their upgrades of State Highway 16 (SH16) to form the Western Ring Route would create. Motorists are now experiencing delays of up [...] read more
    December 21, 2010 1:10 pm - 47 Comments
  • frog

    12 Days of Christmas wraps up - by frog



    Today is Day 12 of our mini ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ campaign. Each day, Metiria and Catherine have highlighted issues relating to inequality and child wellbeing, and presented Green solutions to those issues. Check it out day by day: Day 1 – Introduction Day 2 – Child poverty Day 3 – Disability Day 4 – [...] read more
    December 21, 2010 12:13 pm - 10 Comments
  • frog

    Keith Locke: Backbencher of the year - by frog



    The political staff at Fairfax Media rate politicians’ performances in various categories around this time of year.  Here’s what they have to say about our own Keith Locke: Green MP Keith Locke, who has plugged away for years on issues as diverse as human rights, spy agencies, republicanism, immigration, refugees, civil liberties and defence and [...] read more
    December 20, 2010 7:14 pm - 4 Comments
  • Gareth Hughes

    Northland: the front-lines of how we move people and freight around - by Gareth Hughes



    I went to Northland last Friday to visit a region which is on the front-lines of the government’s ideological attack on how we move people and freight around. The state of Northland transport right now epitomises the Government’s pro-truck ideology: more motorways and less rail. To investigate the impacts of the Government’s push for more [...] read more
    December 20, 2010 2:49 pm - 10 Comments
  • frog

    General debate, December 19, 2010 - by frog



    read more
    December 19, 2010 6:35 am - 145 Comments
  • frog

    Only one week left for submissions to Welfare Working Group - by frog



    There is just one week to go to make submissions on the Government’s Welfare Working Group’s Options Paper – submissions close on Christmas Eve, unless the Welfare Working Group heed Catherine Delahunty’s call for an extension of the submission date. It really is ridiculous that such a short time is provided for public submissions on [...] read more
    December 17, 2010 2:01 pm - 18 Comments
  • David Clendon

    Auckland Council staffing strife - by David Clendon



    There has been some trumpeting recently of the ‘success’ of the transition agency that led the amalgamation of eight councils into the one Auckland Council.  It’s is now very obvious that they got it very wrong in managing staff and employment issues during the transition phase, and the remedy for that is going to be [...] read more
    December 17, 2010 9:31 am - 1 Comment
  • Keith Locke

    What unpopular US intelligence targets did Clark authorise? - by Keith Locke



    David Keegan, the deputy US Ambassador in 2007, wrote in a cable that Helen Clark “has been willing to address [intelligence] targets of marginal benefit to New Zealand that could do her political harm if made public.” This is diclosed in a Michael Field article in this morning’s DomPost further analysing Wikileaks documents relating to [...] read more
    December 16, 2010 1:51 pm - 25 Comments
  • David Clendon

    Sprawling housing not really cheaper - by David Clendon



    As promised, some further thoughts  about the way Auckland should or could grow. One of Auckland’s biggest problems is housing affordability and any plan to grow the city must address this.  While housing affordability is a serious issue for all NZers, it’s particularly bad in Auckland. Recently I asked the Parliamentary library to do some research which [...] read more
    December 15, 2010 12:08 pm - 20 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    Cellphone towers, health and democracy - by Russel Norman



    Hataitai I went to a hastily organised public meeting up the hill from my house last night about a proposed cellphone tower in Hataitai, Wellington. Vodafone want to put a cellphone tower on top of a street light pole among a bunch of houses near the school. Vodafone only notified two local residents, and they in [...] read more
    December 14, 2010 8:47 pm - 126 Comments
  • frog

    Get out of Moeraki! - by frog



    It is over 35 years since Bob Seger released his classic Get Out of Denver (video below, although not his, for those who want to relive it or discover it for the first time). But it seems some things are difficult to change, and there will always be bigots who victimise people they perceive as [...] read more
    December 14, 2010 6:44 pm - 9 Comments
  • frog

    Pansy Wong resigns… - by frog



    And off she flies into the sunset on a lifetime entitlement of 75% business class airfares. read more
    December 14, 2010 1:13 pm - 12 Comments
  • frog

    If a Judge ordered… (this stinks) - by frog



    If a Judge in preliminary proceedings to  a criminal trial ordered: This judgement is not to be published (including any commentary, summary or description of it) in news media or on internet or other publicly accessible database or otherwise disseminated to the public until final disposition of trial or further order of the court. what [...] read more
    December 13, 2010 9:03 pm - 68 Comments
  • frog

    Deep cuts, deep wounds in UK’s student fees fracas - by frog



    Here’s eye-witness perspective on the student protests in London. The first from NZ academic Bronwyn Hayward who is currently in the UK. She asks: Where were the adults when Britain’s young people are finding their political voice? And this from Laurie Penny who writes for the New Statesman: I am genuinely afraid that I might be [...] read more
    December 13, 2010 2:40 pm - 14 Comments
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