labour Archive

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  Skynet goes live - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Today the Copyright (Infringing File-Sharing) Act, or better know as the Skynet law goes live. From today copyright holders can detect people illegally sharing files like movies online and send notices through the infringers ISP with a ‘third-strike’ leading to up-to $15,000 fines and possible internet termination if enacted. The law was controversially passed under [...] read more
  September 1, 2011 4:05 pm - 3 Comments
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  State of the Planet speech 2011 - by frog

  
  
  
  Last Sunday Russel gave the annual State of the Planet speech to a packed and excited crowd at Te Mahurehure Marae in Auckland. It was a great and powerful speech that clearly defined the Green vision for Aotearoa. Russel also attacked National and Labour for bludging off our grandchildren and pulling the ladder of opportunity [...] read more
  February 3, 2011 9:22 am - 11 Comments
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  Will Labour really take action on child poverty? - by Metiria Turei

  
  
  
  Annette King’s speech to the Labour Party conference over the weekend was all about how Labour’s policy will focus on children and “put our children first”. It all sounds quite familiar, but, all cynicism aside, it is really good to hear Labour talking like this. The more political parties put children at the heart of [...] read more
  October 18, 2010 10:32 pm - 138 Comments
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  Labour and overseas ownership of land - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  I welcome Labour’s apparent change in intention about the sale of land into overseas ownership. But I do have a question about how different it really is. Phil Goff says that: ”No overseas person has the right to buy our land – it is a privilege.” Yep, and this is what the Overseas Investment Act currently states [...] read more
  October 17, 2010 5:22 pm - 54 Comments
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  An open letter to Phil Goff, on reading Friday’s Herald - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  Dear Phil, I am deeply disappointed you are letting Nick Smith’s electioneering define the Labour party, and apologising for that definition. It is hard to see how Labour will ever have an independent identity if it leaps to deny sensible policy whenever National attacks it. Even using their term, “nanny state” fails politics 101 – never repeat your opponent’s terms of abuse. read more
  September 12, 2009 5:17 pm - 180 Comments
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  Red Alert - by frog

  
  
  
  Well, it seems like Labour has finally come out of the closet and fronted, or rather backed, its very own blog. I approve heartily. It seems that kiwiblog approves too, and flatters us by saying that Labour and National should pattern themselves after frogblog. The lillypad blushes crimson. Further proof that conceptually, the Greens still [...] read more
  May 8, 2009 1:50 pm - 38 Comments
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  Declaration of Indigenous Rights Down Under - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  On Tuesday I got to ask my first proper Question in the House. Unsurprisingly Hone Harawira asked more or less the same question. Will the Government follow the lead of Australia and change their position to support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People? The Prime Minister did a good imitation of saying [...] read more
  April 2, 2009 7:00 am - 106 Comments
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  Hone stands up for his people. - by Metiria Turei

  
  
  
  Hone Harawira, in his regular column, Ae Marika talked about going to court with the two young men charged with assaulting John Key at Waitangi this year. Both Labour and the Maori Party co-leaders have responded badly, the first with too much hysteria to be taken seriously and the second in an attempt to distance [...] read more
  March 17, 2009 5:28 pm - 52 Comments
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  Labour needs to front up on S92A - by Metiria Turei

  
  
  
  Labour’s Clare Curran sought leave in the House today to introduce her members bill that would clarify the policy that ISP’s need to produce under the controversial section 92A of the Copyright Act.  The explanation to the bill says: We considered a variety of measures including delaying the enactment of the clause, however it is [...] read more
  February 19, 2009 3:55 pm - 1 Comment
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  Government tells those on minimum wage to tread water - by frog

  
  
  
  Very conveniently, at 4pm on the eve of parliament re-convening, the government has tried to quietly announce that they will raise the minimum wage by 50 cents, in line with inflation. It’s not good enough, given that the current minimum wage is not a living wage. Our lowest paid citizens, already up to their gunwales [...] read more
  February 9, 2009 4:48 pm - 104 Comments
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  The ideas are free and plentiful – you just need to ask - by frog

  
  
  
  An interesting discussion from the Otago Daily Times’ Dene Mackenzie – who was lunching with Jeanette and Australian Green Leader Bob Brown yesterday: Senator Brown said the injection of new ideas in politics around the world was coming from the Greens and there was never a time when the Greens were more needed than 2008 [...] read more
  November 6, 2008 9:26 pm - 9 Comments
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  Campaigning on waste - by frog

  
  
  
  For some reason Labour is saying on its campaign website that it is: putting forward a Waste Minimisation Bill which will encourage producers to develop better designs and cleaner production processes to improve a product’s sustainability. That seems an odd sort of thing to do given the Greens have already got a Waste Minimisation Act [...] read more
  October 14, 2008 9:53 am - 10 Comments
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  Disguised - by frog

  
  
  
  Did anyone hear Nick Smith on Morning Report talking about the spy who taped him?  Apparently Smith worked it out quite quickly the young person was a spy: Morning Report: Why did you think it was a spy? Nick Smith: Well, it was a young person, a person in their early 20s.  I’ve been around [...] read more
  August 7, 2008 9:44 am - 26 Comments
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  Labour takes 40 years to act on the 100 month challenge - by frog

  
  
  
  Yesterday No Right Turn pointed to the New Economics Foundation’s challenge that we only have 100 months left to avert potentially irreversible climate change: We calculate that 100 months from 1 August 2008, atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will begin to exceed a point whereby it is no longer likely we will be able to [...] read more
  August 6, 2008 2:13 pm - 3 Comments
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  I want to know what love is? - by frog

  
  
  
  08wire is getting impatient for the Greens to say before the election, as we have promised to do, which political parties we can and cannot work with after the election.  (08wire is not showing any impatience with Labour’s plan to not say who it will want to work with until after the election.) Anyway 08,  [...] read more
  July 29, 2008 11:36 am - 20 Comments
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  The end of a long working week - by frog

  
  
  
  NZPA reports today that: More than 150 years after a carpenter in Petone famously insisted on working an eight-hour day, one in three full-time workers are clocking up more than 50 hours a week. Meanwhile the Dominion Post reports: National  Party  plans to allow workers to cash in one week of annual leave will effectively [...] read more
  July 25, 2008 9:01 am - 94 Comments
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  A wire from Washington - by frog

  
  
  
  08wire is back at it’s condescending best, now not only presuming to tell the Green Party why we should go into coalition with Labour (because Helen Clark likes to say the word’s ‘sustainability’ and ‘carbon neutral’ on a regular basis) but also presuming to tell us what portfolios we can have after the election (synopsis [...] read more
  July 21, 2008 10:25 am - 18 Comments
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  Peak oil brings down governments - by frog

  
  
  
  I love this post over at the Standard, with graphs plotting the perfect relationship between the rising price of petrol and George Bush’s falling popularity as US president.  The more petrol prices rise the more Bush’s popularity falls.  Pierson then follows up with a similar graph showing that exactly the same thing is happening for [...] read more
  June 17, 2008 8:55 am - 78 Comments
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  Should the Emissions Trading Scheme fail? - by frog

  
  
  
  After reading this Dominion Post story the Standard is bombastically telling the Greens that they “must” not let the Emissions Trading Scheme fail.  The Standard’s ‘first past the post’ thinking goes like this: that any emissions trading scheme is better than no emissions trading scheme and the Greens’ choice is either yes or no, Labour [...] read more
  May 28, 2008 3:39 pm - 82 Comments
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  Fair redundancy - by frog

  
  
  
  The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) have just made an interesting proposal calling for government legislation to ensure redundancy payments for workers. I think the argument in favour of looking at this as part of Minister of Labour’s advisory group that has just been been set up to examine the adequacy of redundancy laws [...] read more
  May 18, 2008 1:41 pm - 11 Comments