Helen Clark Archive

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  Think our native forests were safe? Think again.

  
  
  
  “Agricultural intensification over the past 10 years has led to the highest rate of native vegetation loss since European colonisation.” Landcare Research Annual Report read more
  November 2, 2009 11:29 am - 18 Comments
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  Russel checking out the new digs

  
  
  
  read more
  May 16, 2009 6:57 pm - 12 Comments
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  Getting Personal: The Passing of the Cullen Clark Era

  
  
  
  Helen Clark and Michael Cullen have given their valedictory speeches and—after nine long years of running the show—have left the Parliamentary stage of power. Cullen’s parting words on sustainability all seemed to this frog a lesson learned too late to be of any consequence. I asked our Green MPs for their thoughts on the passing of [...] read more
  May 12, 2009 8:03 am - 1 Comment
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  No Refuge for Labour’s Record On Jailing Refugees

  
  
  
  It is great news to me that an Iranian Christian convert -  after much suffering in New Zealand has finally been given refuge.  Ali Panah, a man so concerned at being sent back to Iran after he converted from Islam to Christianity, starved for seven weeks in 2007 to bring attention to his and other Iranians’ [...] read more
  February 18, 2009 2:16 pm - 57 Comments
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  A ship leaving a sinking rat?

  
  
  
  Russel’s reiteration of the Greens long-standing position on the Winston Peters scandals – that the Greens would probably not be able to sit at a cabinet table with Peters unless everything was cleared up – seems to have got a lot more media coverage this time around than previously. And Helen Clark seems to have [...] read more
  November 4, 2008 10:11 am - 7 Comments
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  Clark’s poor advice

  
  
  
  Even if voters’ choice were simply a Labour-led government or a National-led government Helen Clark’s ‘advice‘ yesterday would be patently false given the Greens’ preference announcement last week: When she was asked at a meeting with Foodstuffs workers if they should vote strategically to ensure a Labour coalition, she said the best way was to vote [...] read more
  October 25, 2008 8:17 am - 13 Comments
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  Compare and contrast

  
  
  
  Helen Clark’s choice of transport, as covered in virtually every newspaper today, to get her to the Invercargill Working Men’s club yesterday was a Beechcraft Super King Air commandeered from the Air Force’s Ohakea base. Meanwhile, covered by just the one newspaper, the Gulf News (circulation 2,806), is Russel and the Greens’ Auckland Central Candidate Denise [...] read more
  October 8, 2008 1:02 pm - 7 Comments
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  Wherefore art thou?

  
  
  
  It’s amusing to see Helen Clark crooning under our Green Party balcony after a weekend of Green successes, including an improved poll result and a well received campaign launch. Russel’s response in the Herald was tidy: “Labour taught us the value of independence and we’ve learnt our lesson. [Helen Clark] gave us a good lesson in [...] read more
  October 7, 2008 10:20 am - 27 Comments
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  2 dimensional politics

  
  
  
  I read a book once about a two dimensional world – as though the entire world were drawn out as lines on a flat piece of paper (from memory the book might have been this one).  The characters had to climb under or over each other to get past rather, than being able to walk [...] read more
  October 1, 2008 2:01 pm - 2 Comments
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  Debating the wrong issue

  
  
  
  One of the many pieces of false logic in Clark’s assumption that we only need Helen Clark and John Key at the televised leaders debates is the assumption that all undecided voters are simply choosing between a Labour-led government and a National-led government. In fact there are also large numbers of voters who are deciding between [...] read more
  September 30, 2008 8:38 pm - 8 Comments