The Standard 2.02

Two more examples of senior Nats hiding their conflicts of interest, in violation of Parliament’s rules, were revealed on The Standard this week. This time, however, the Nats were smart enough to have the issue fronted by chief spin-doctor Kevin Taylor and Gerry Brownlee, who knew that a robust response was the way to satisfy the media, whose attention would be move on in the swirl of the campaign before anyone thought to check whether their denials made sense. By not fronting with Key, they avoided a repeat of those ‘Tranzrail eyes’. This was also the week everyone got excited about the H-fee story, which turned out to be an absolute fizzer. Not one of Labour’s best plays by far, and an important lesson in what not to do in a campaign. It’s time to move back to policy, the one thing National really doesn’t want. For this final week, the Left must make the choice clear - continuing stable, inclusive government, that grows wealth while making sure people get a fair share, we invest in the future, and protect the environment, or a slash and burn right-wing government that would privatise ACC, gut Kiwisaver, cut work rights, weaken environmental protections, and let wages drop. Here are our favourite posts of the week:

More redunancy protection
we’re starting to see from Labour a pretty solid plan to provide security for workers and their families as the economy starts to deteriorate…[more]

Prisons for profit
Like the rest of their programme, National’s corrections policy is the same old ideological formula: remove control from the public sphere so the private sector can profit…[more]

Standard Scoop: Key exposed again on secret shares and Tranzrail
When the Tranzrail shares came to light, Key was asked whether he had any other undisclosed shares entailing a conflict of interest. He said he didn’t. That was not true…[more]

Standard scoop: Another senior Nat failed to disclose conflicts
[Gerry] seems a little upset about the drop in Contact’s share price, doesn’t he? Well he might, because Gerry Brownlee was a Contact shareholder; he had a financial interest in Contact’s performance and share price… [more]

On moral mandates
Key and the Herald can cry all they want, the fact remains: the legitimate and moral government is the one constituting the largest alliance of parties, whether or not it includes the single largest party…[more]

Don’t forget to check out our Standard lines series.

If you want to receive this weekly post by email, just flick us an email at thestandardnz@gmail.com to go on the Standardista list. On becoming a Standardista, you will receive your Standardista cloth cap, ‘how-to’ guide for living a PC life, class consciousness, and Notional Party yo-yo that swings from the right to the centre and back again every three years.*

*you won’t actually get these things, except the class consciousness

The polls are closing, National dropped 7% and 4% in the Roy Morgan and TV3 polls, respectively, as the full impact of Key’s lies on Tranzrail was felt. Word is that National’s internal numbers are turning a few more hairs grey, while Labour’s are renewing optimism in their camp. Colmar Brunton hasn’t followed the trend but the story round the traps is that has more to do with, um,exceptionally close relations between McCully and Colmar than anything else. Remember, those poll numbers all came before what has turned into a week from hell for National. Labour’s use of its launch to announce a major economic stimulus programme and protection of bank deposits showed that it was reacting to changing economic conditions, which left Key looking out of touch as he drummed out another rendition of his stump speech at National’s launch just down the road. Even a points victory in the debate on Tuesday has come back to hurt Key as it has become apparent he has been making promises in private to the Maori Party that contradict what he’s telling the public. National will be bracing for another couple of rounds of bad polls as first the negative reaction to the tax cut/Kiwisaver cut policy and then this latest dishonesty flows through over the coming weeks. They will be eyeing that crucial 44-46% level, below which they will not be able to govern, with increasing concern. Here are our favourite posts of the week:

Pita falls for the lines - but not for long
His predilection for telling people what they want to hear is becoming something of an ongoing issue…[more]

Wrong time for short-term thinking
Now, more than ever, I don’t think New Zealand can afford to be run by a party that refuses to make long-term investments in the future….[more]

A real economic plan
I don’t give Labour praise lightly but I think today Clark showed that they have the best answer for the hard times to come. National has only the failed policies of the past….[more]

Labour chickens out on $15 minimum wage
a lost opportunity politically, a let down for workers, and a reminder that if you want a truly left-wing Labour-led Government you need to party vote Green….[more]

The Standard line
check out this series of posts which will aim to cover issues as they arise and present the left-wing arguments and counter-arguments in bit-size form, allowing you to impress friend and foe alike with your mastery of political debate [more]

If you want to receive this weekly post by email, just flick us an email at thestandardnz@gmail.com to go on the Standardista list. On becoming a Standardista, you will receive your Standardista cloth cap, ‘how-to’ guide for living a PC life, class consciousness, and Notional Party yo-yo that swings from the right to the centre and back again every three years.*

*you won’t actually get these things, except the class consciousness

So, there’s no articles on Key in this edition of the Standard Week. I know! Hardly believable. But there’s a reason for that. After his dodgy Tranzrail dealings came to light last week, Key has been trying to keep himself out of the media except for the most soft-news photo ops (item: ‘Key feels sorry for sick child’, item: ‘Key cooks breakfast’). In fact, pretty much the entire National frontbench is lying as low as possible these days - every time they show up people are reminded of damaging revelations. Crime continues to fall - the only increase was reported family violence due to increased public recognition that it really isn’t OK. The first round of tax cuts came in. Now, the attention turns to National’s tax package announcement next week. Word is, they’ve brought it forward because they fear it will be a PR disaster. Fingers crossed. Here are our favourite posts of the week:

Attack on democracy
…I’d also like to know what kind of electoral law they envisage replacing the EFA because I have a bad feeling it won’t involve transparency and the removal of anonymous donations…[more]

Nats’ ‘NZ sucks’ campaign vs the facts
National knows that its claims are untrue. The Tories lie to you because they hope people will vote against the Government if they can create dissatisfaction with the state of the country, albeit based on falsehoods …[more]

Crime falls, again
it makes sense that crime would be falling. When unemployment is low, people who might otherwise commit crimes have a constructive way to occupy their time and make a living. High unemployment leads to poverty and alienation - a recipe for crime …[more]

Trivialising the electoral process
… the Herald’s latest election gimmick, which begins today by asking readers “Which of these politicians would be most likely to help an old lady across the road?” FFS. I guess “How will these politicians’ policies affect you and your family?” is too much to hope for in election year…[more]

Great expectations
National has spent 9 years building expectations of the tax cuts it will offer.  Next week, they will finally have to deliver…[more]

If you want to receive this weekly post by email, just flick us an email at thestandardnz@gmail.com to go on the Standardista list. On becoming a Standardista, you will receive your Standardista cloth cap, ‘how-to’ guide for living a PC life, class consciousness, and Notional Party yo-yo that swings from the right to the centre and back again every three years.*

*you won’t actually get these things, except the class consciousness

Work rights and judgement look to be central issues in the campaign. The Greens set the standard by putting forward a fantastic work rights policy in counter to National’s continued attacks on our rights. Key’s judgement in fiercely advocating Kiwi involvement in the invasion of Iraq raises serious questions over whether we can trust him not to lead us into future quagmires. Here are our favourite posts of the week:

Disappointing
when talkback radio suggests The Standard was tipped off on the election date that is an issue worth following up with the PM. But when John Key is quoted in a newspaper saying “we would love to see wages drop” we don’t have a single article on TV or in a major paper directly on point… [more]

Key on scrapping four weeks annual leave
National’s anti-worker employment policy, their record of opposing every extension to workers’ rights and their history of letting the minimum wage be eaten by inflation show a clear and consistent body of belief opposed to workers’ rights… [more]

Key still wishes we had invaded Iraq
John Key said “the claim of 60 dead is hysterical and desperate”. I can’t help noticing that Key isn’t denying that if he had his way we would be in Iraq and soldiers would have died….[more]

ACT’s fifth candidate?
If Garrett is announced as fifth on ACT’s list then there need to be some serious questions asked about the connections between the SST and ACT and about the extent these “anti-crime” groups are involved in party political campaigning for ACT while refusing to register with the electoral commission …[more]

Greens good for workers
Work rights should be a big issue this election. National is proposing to strip workers of their rights to undermine wage increases. The Greens’ work rights policy, on the other hand, rocks…[more]

Unacceptable
the question is: will Key now show some leadership and punish those people who are making his promise of a clean campaign a lie? Will he force Hayes to resign for this unconscionable attack?…[more]

If you want to receive this weekly post by email, just flick us an email at thestandardnz@gmail.com to go on the Standardista list. On becoming a Standardista, you will receive your Standardista cloth cap, ‘how-to’ guide for living a PC life, class consciousness, and Notional Party yo-yo that swings from the right to the centre and back again every three years.*

*you won’t actually get these things, except the class consciousness

As expected, the polls out last weekend did not show National being hit by the secret agenda tapes scandal because they were conducted before the story had fully emerged. We will have to wait for the next round of polls to see what effect there has been - although sources say both National and Labour’s internal polling shows the gap narrowing by 4-5% already. A Colmar Brunton poll, also conducted before the secret agenda tapes had fully emerged, showed voters do not believe National is being open about its plans and do not support its borrowing for tax cuts policy. Other than the polls, there was a grab-bag of smaller issues, but look forward to fireworks when Parliament resumes next week for the last session before the election. Here are our favourite posts of the week:

Ambitious for transport
Why are we spending $1 billion on Transmission Gully when by the time it is finished the price of petrol will be up to $10 a litre according to a study by the Australian CSIRO?..[more]

Did you say “wages”, John?
That’s nice to hear but given National’s policy is to reduce work rights and make it harder for working Kiwis to negotiate a better deal it seems a bit rich….I guess it’s this kind of credibility gap between what National says and what it does that makes it so hard for voters to trust them….[more]

Reviewing the weekend polls
As I said last week, the polls that came out this weekend can not reflect any impact of the secret agenda tapes…Labour will be heartened to have moved up in 2 of the polls (including an 8% gain in the last two Colmar Brunton polls) and recorded no change in the third. The Greens polled under 5% in two of the three polls, but nobody seriously expects that they won’t win 5% on election day… [more]

Greens call for public input on ETS
The Greens should vote for the ETS not because it is perfect but because it is good, because it has been improved by negotiations between Labour and the Greens, and because the alternative is much worse…[more]

Nats: some of us look like youse
you’ve got a woman at 7, another at 10, yet more at 17 and 20 - you’re talking up to four women in a National Cabinet! And two of them aren’t even Pakeha!…good on National for joining the twentieth century. I look forward to the day they move beyond tokenism but I won’t be holding my breath…[more]

If you want to receive this weekly post by email, just flick us an email at thestandardnz@gmail.com to go on the Standardista list. On becoming a Standardista, you will receive your Standardista cloth cap, ‘how-to’ guide for living a PC life, class consciousness, and Notional Party yo-yo that swings from the right to the centre and back again every three years.*

*you won’t actually get these things, except the class consciousness

What a week. National has been in meltdown over the secret recordings. Bill English’s incredible initial reaction seemed like the launch of a coup - he repeatedly refused to voice confidence in Key and his basic understanding of working for families. But something obviously happened on Tuesday morning, perhaps the numbers were run and English came up short, because English appeared before media, under Key’s gaze, to say he used ‘loose language’, a laughable excuse - how can voicing an agenda directly contradictory to public policy be ‘loose language’?

Just as National thought they had the situation closed down, recordings of Lockwood and Nick Smith also talking about a secret agenda and the use of Crosby/Textor were released. Now, we know this was no one-off. If a single recorder at a single National function caught three senior Nats confirming a secret agenda it must be just a drop in the ocean. In desperation, National tried to turn attention to the source of the recordings, as if it matters. They even resorted to an obviously staged photo of rubbish outside Key’s electorate office that had supposedly been rummaged through - if that’s the best Crosby/Textor can come up with, our taxpayer funds really are being wasted on them. Here are our favourite posts of the week:

Meltdown
…the Key-English leadership team can no longer credibly survive. The only questions are: which of them is going to go? And how quickly?…[more]

English calls for own resignation
National Party deputy leader Bill English said Mr Williams should resign or be sacked. “Mike Williams has been caught red-handed saying one thing behind closed doors and another thing to the public,” [more]

Rubbish
…what kind of chumps does Key take us for? Any fool knows paperwork would be recycled and any sensitive documents would go through the shredder..[more]

Cui bono?
… when we ask ‘cui bono - for whose good?’ regarding National’s borrowing plan, it’s clear that it’s not the people of New Zealand, it’s National’s mates - the money men… [more]

A quick Brethern reference
…departing Tauranga MP Bob Clarkson’s thank-you to the Exclusive Brethren during his departing remarks to delegates. There was some shocked silence and a few laughs but the look on president Judy Kirk’s face was priceless…[more]

If you want to receive this weekly post by email, just flick us an email at thestandardnz@gmail.com to go on the Standardista list. On becoming a Standardista, you will receive your Standardista cloth cap, ‘how-to’ guide for living a PC life, class consciousness, and Notional Party yo-yo that swings from the right to the centre and back again every three years.*

*you won’t actually get these things, except the class consciousness

The big story of the week is National’s work rights policy that does nothing to further workers’ rights and actually undermines them in a number of subtle ways. There is no policy for increasing wages, none at all. In fact, the policies are likely to cut wages by taking bargaining power away from workers. Turns out John Key really meant it when he said “we would love to see wages drop“. A week and a half of pretty petty attacks on Winston Peters suddenly became much more serious when it emerged that Bob Jones had made a donation to a secret trust that was meant to go NZF but was either never passed on or never declared. These secret trusts are now illegal thanks to the Electoral Finance Act but it’s clear that parties who have used them need to open up their books so Kiwis can now who has been making large donations and be sure the trusts haven’t been used to circumvent spending limits.

Between the lines: Nats’ work rights policy
On its surface, National’s ‘workplace’ policy seems fairly mild but, when you look at what it actually means in practise it’s classic National: anti-worker, anti-rights, anti-wage rises…[more]

Take the money and run
The government will be providing New Zealand manufacturers with a tax incentive to outsource their production….[more]

Would Nats introduce work-for-the-dole?
 Work-for-the-dole is a nice sounding slogan but it doesn’t work in practice. As with ACC and the 90 Day No Rights policy, National is following ideology, rather than doing what makes sense….[more]

The war on P
So here we have again, John Key and National saying one thing to voters and another thing to big business – in this case the insurance industry….[more]

Culture of secrecy
It’s 4.45 on a Friday afternoon and National has just released its Outdoor Recreation policy…if you’re trying to kill media coverage of a policy and avoid any awkward questions then just before 5pm on a Friday is the perfect time to do it…[more]

Open up the trusts
The only way to clear all this up now is for all parties to open the books of their secret trusts so that Kiwis can finally be certain of who has been donating to parties and that the money has been used as donors intended…[more]

If you want to receive this weekly post by email, just flick us an email at thestandardnz@gmail.com to go on the Standardista list. On becoming a Standardista, you will receive your Standardista cloth cap, ‘how-to’ guide for living a PC life, class consciousness, and Notional Party yo-yo that swings from the right to the centre and back again every three years.*

*you won’t actually get these things, except the class consciousness

Every time Bill English goes on Agenda, he lets a bit of National policy slip (anyone who thinks it’s an accident probably also thinks Nicky Hager’s some kind of super-hacker). On Sunday, English told us National will be running on a platform of removing your rights at work in the first 90 days of employment - which was met with anger from workers’ rights groups, glee from Labour, ‘thanks but no thanks’ from Business NZ, and a lone ‘yay’ from the Herald. It also became clear that National will remove elements of your employer’s contribution to your Kiwisaver. The Government signalled it will embark on major investment in affordable housing and its Immigration Bill came in for well-deserved criticism. Revelations continued around National’s use of Crosby/Textor to present a nice, appealling facade of John key to the world.

Sacked
…while all you hear from National these days is criticisms about how hard it is for average Kiwis to buy cheese and pay for petrol, the one workplace policy they’ve come out with would make it harder for workers to improve their pay … [more]

More anti-worker policy from the Nats
These are regressive, reactionary policies from National that strike at the heart of our work conditions. No wonder they are trying to keep them as quiet as possible… [more]

Positive moves on housing
Done right, Labour’s housing policy can deliver for the people, the economy, and the environment… [more]

Nats spending your money to build “Brand Key”?
Looks like John Key might be a little less “self-made” and a little more “taxpayer-made” than he’d have us believe…[more]

It’s not OK
Should we be concerned that Mr Key has raised questions over the future of the Families Commission, who are one of the main sponsors of the anti-Family violence campaign?…[more]

If you want to receive this weekly post by email, just flick us an email at thestandardnz@gmail.comto go on the Standardista list. On becoming a Standardista, you will receive your Standardista cloth cap, ‘how-to’ guide for living a PC life, class consciousness, and Notional Party yo-yo that swings from the right to the centre and back again every three years.*

*you won’t actually get these things, except the class consciousness

Three events this week epitomised the benefits of nine years of centre-left government: the continuing fall in benefit numbers, the Government’s moves to protect workers from being ripped off by labour-hire companies, and the ‘Treelord’ Treaty settlements. If the anti-Maori, anti-worker National party had won power in 2005, we would not have seen these achievements this week. Key, meanwhile, showed why he is regarded as the least qualified potential Prime Minister in living memory with his ignorant comments on New Zealand history. Here are our favourite posts of the week:

The headline you didn’t see
The number of people receiving the unemployment benefit has fallen to just 17,465…benefit numbers have dropped by 120,000 since National was booted out of office.. [more]

PSA broadens tax debate
It’s good to see the PSA broadening the public debate on tax cuts with a UMR poll showing the majority of Kiwis don’t want bigger tax cuts if they come at the expense of public services…[more]

Bill to protect workers from labour-hire vultures
Business New Zealand, always a friend of the ordinary Kiwi, is complaining that these provisions to ensure workers get their basic rights will put the labour hire companies out of business. Good. The labour hire companies are scum. They take advantage of desperate workers and undermine workers’ rights…[more]

Key denies Land Wars
I don’t care how nice your smile is; if you don’t know the first thing about New Zealand history, you’re not in a position to be running this country.… [more]

Protecting Brand Key
For the first second third time, National is trying to shut down the reporting of things they feel don’t cast them in the glowing light they’d prefer…When your image is all you’ve got I guess this shouldn’t come as a surprise… [more]

Drinking Liberally - Auckland
Drinking Liberally brings together people from across the left-leaning wing of the political spectrum for discussion, debate and, well, drinking. The first Auckland event will take place from 7.30pm Wednesday 2 July in the London Bar… [more]

If you want to receive this weekly post by email, just flick us an email at thestandardnz@gmail.com to go on the Standardista list. On becoming a Standardista, you will receive your Standardista cloth cap, ‘how-to’ guide for living a PC life, class consciousness, and Notional Party yo-yo that swings from the right to the centre and back again every three years.*

*you won’t actually get these things, except the class consciousness