THE GAME Archive

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  Why Sir Paul Callaghan needs to reconsider clean technology - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Sir Paul Callaghan’s opinion piece in the Herald critiques our economic plan to create 100,000 new green jobs. His paper raises some important points about the record of previous governments and their attempts to pick winners in the research and development (R&D) field. A key element of our Green Jobs initiative launched on September 21 [...] read more
  October 11, 2011 1:00 pm - 16 Comments
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  Protest photo punishment too harsh? - by Sue Kedgley

  
  
  
  What was the Speaker thinking about when he came down so heavily on the NZ Herald, just before the election, for publishing a photo on its website of a highly unusual event in Parliament. I wonder whether he had thought through the implications for democracy of preventing one of the major newspapers in New Zealand [...] read more
  October 10, 2011 11:16 am - 6 Comments
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  Cycling for Habitat - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  Last Saturday I went to Botany for what I thought would be a ‘routine’ event, speaking to members of the public and saying some nice things about Habitat for Humanity.  I’m always happy to support this group, who do great work helping people into decent affordable homes. They managed to build about 50 homes for [...] read more
  October 5, 2011 4:45 pm - No Comments
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  Paddy Gower: The Mash Up - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Yesterday we had TV3’s Patrick Gower come into our caucus meeting and sing us the star spangled banner. No offense to Paddy, but he’s not the best singer. So I thought I’d put it out to you creative geniuses out there to remix and mash up Patrick. You could animate the scene, cut in Taylor [...] read more
  October 5, 2011 9:54 am - 2 Comments
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  Sue and Keith’s valedictory speeches - by frog

  
  
  
  Sue Kedgley and Keith Locke — two of the original seven Green MPs who came into Parliament in 1999 — are standing down from Parliament at this election. The House grants outgoing MPs a chance to reflect on their time in Parliament with a valedictory speech. You can watch Sue and Keith reflect on their [...] read more
  September 29, 2011 2:20 pm - 6 Comments
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  Frack No! Sign the Petition - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  A lot of New Zealanders  have not yet heard about hydraulic fracturing (fracking), but many of those who do know something about it are worried, and rightly so! The technique is used to extract ‘unconventional’ oil and gas – that’s industry speak for sources of hydrocarbons that until recently were deemed too expensive or difficult to [...] read more
  September 29, 2011 11:01 am - 16 Comments
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  Steven Joyce: defiler of democracy - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Just like it did with Auckland’s waterfront, the Government is intruding into university and polytech operations by proposing stringent regulations limiting what can and can’t be done to support students. Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce has taken it upon himself to draft a list (see page 3939) that dictates what institutions can spend their student [...] read more
  September 14, 2011 10:33 am - 14 Comments
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  Dropping the ball on Auckland transport - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Friday was a pretty important night for the country. It’s great that the opening ceremony was a success and that the All Blacks won against Tonga, but the ball was dropped getting people to and from the venues. It’s unacceptable that 2,000 ticket-holders missed kick-off and thousands of others were seriously inconvenienced by the over-sold [...] read more
  September 12, 2011 2:52 pm - 62 Comments
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  Why won’t National listen to Auckland on CBD rail link? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  I was astonished that a few weeks back Auckland MPs voted against inviting the Auckland Council to submit on the CBD rail link debate. I can only talk about it now because the report containing my minority report was tabled in Parliament today. The Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee was discussing my petition to [...] read more
  September 8, 2011 4:52 pm - 11 Comments
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  The nose that knows - by frog

  
  
  
  Frogblog readers may have read that Green MP Gareth Hughes broke his nose playing for the Parliamentary Rugby XV last week. The good news for Gareth is that he has now had surgery to straighten his nose, and it is on the mend. The bad news is that he has to wear a rather annoying [...] read more
  September 3, 2011 8:12 am - 5 Comments
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  Riding the first of the on-road Cycle Trails - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  This weekend, I got to ride big parts of the 180km route from Taumarunui to New Plymouth. The ride was a celebration of the opening of the first on-road component of Nga Haerenga, the New Zealand Cycle Trail. The weekend had a bit of everything: gorgeous scenery, local hospitality, wide-eyed children, even local political drama. [...] read more
  August 24, 2011 10:50 am - 11 Comments
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  Democracy, secrecy, and good process. - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  On Thursday, Keith Locke and I spent a good part of the day in the House going to bat against the government’s ‘secret squirrel’ bill to amend the Police Act that Frog blogged on earlier .  Our objections to the bill were matters both of process and substance.  I want to comment here just on the process, which was appalling, [...] read more
  August 19, 2011 12:24 pm - 5 Comments
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  Labour’s adoption approach underwhelming at best - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Labour MP (and perhaps crucially candidate for Auckland Central) Jacinda Ardern announced last week that she will seek to introduce a Member’s Bill to require the Law Commission to update its previous advice on adoption law and draft a bill to overhaul the current law in this light. Readers may well have heard me talk previously [...] read more
  August 2, 2011 8:18 pm - 12 Comments
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  Ohariu: deal or no deal? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  There’s been a lot of talk lately on electorate deals and I’d like to put myself on the record as the Green Party candidate standing in Ōhariu. read more
  July 24, 2011 7:51 pm - 15 Comments
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  Israeli SAR leader had worked in intelligence - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  One bit of information that hasn’t come out yet is that Hilik Magnus, who led the private Israeli search and rescue team which arrived in Christchurch shortly after the February 22 quake had previously worked for Israeli intelligence. read more
  July 22, 2011 10:22 am - 13 Comments
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  Never mind the facts, give us an opinion! - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  It seems the Far-From-Sensible Sentencing Trust is getting set to launch into another round of tub-thumping about how we are all too soft on crime; let’s lock ‘em up and throw away the key before we’re all murdered in our beds; it’s a jungle out there; etc, etc. Apparently they commissioned some research in May “…on [...] read more
  July 13, 2011 9:18 am - 7 Comments
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  Donald Brash, racism, and political advantage - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  I almost feel sorry for ordinary members and supporters of the Act party.  Most of them base their support on a shared belief in laissez faire free market capitalism; a preference for a small, ‘non-interventionist’ state; and a form of social liberalism that gives primacy to the rights of the individual. That’s not a worldview [...] read more
  July 9, 2011 8:45 am - 56 Comments
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  What are the Police doing about bike safety? - by frog

  
  
  
  Many of us love to ride bikes. It’s a great way to get around, keep fit, beat the traffic, and save the planet. But it’s not as safe as it should be. Green Party Active Transport spokesperson and champion of all people who ride bikes, Kevin Hague, recently discovered that Police do very little with [...] read more
  July 4, 2011 1:14 pm - 10 Comments
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  Master banking contract unearthed - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  New Zealand’s biggest banking contract has been a tightly-guarded secret for 21 years. The Government first signed the master banking contract with Westpac back in 1989 when David Lange was Prime Minister. There has never been a single competitive tender since. The Green Party was the first to highlight this cosy banking relationship last year [...] read more
  June 23, 2011 4:17 pm - 32 Comments
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  Podcast: The Green Plan for our SOEs - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Green Co-leader, Dr Russel Norman, last week outlined his plan for a sustainable and prosperous economy at the Party’s AGM. One of his most talked-about initiatives was how our state-owned enterprises could be leveraged to lift our country’s economic performance in partnership with the private sector. He proposed this as an alternative to John Key’s [...] read more
  June 20, 2011 11:31 am - 13 Comments