A press release by ACT yesterday applauding Labour’s neoliberal public /private “user pays” solution to paying for the water and sewerage infrastructure at the Millbrook housing development announced by Minister Phil Tywford, tells you that Right wing neoliberal economic thinking is still alive and well in our coalition government.
Despite the minister’s airy references to ‘experts’ it is the worrying lack of expert contestable advice that is his scheme’s greatest weakness. Remarkable too is the lack of any ministerial interest or curiosity about Melbourne which has the biggest light rail system in the world and which is now building a heavy rail connection to Melbourne International Airport.
The big red truck with “Home Direct” on the side comes down my street quite frequently, and indeed I think the owner lives somewhere nearby. It represents one facet of the predatory high-cost lending market for those with few assets.
The commercial media market in NZ is at saturation point with right wing pundits and Radio Live never offered an alternative to that and ended up trying to compete for ZB listeners using bait that was not as right wing as ZB could produce.
Dear Teachers
Let’s be honest shall we?
How on earth in 2018 NZ could anyone hosting a public parade not sense that blackface on white people is as offensive as a cross burning festival?
If Jacinda’s politics of kindness is to mean anything it must demand justice at its heart and that means she is going to have to stand up to MFAT by cut diplomatic ties to Saudi Arabia.
When you consider the state housing meth hysteria, the abuse of power by the police, GCSB and SIS, the horrific manner the mentally ill are treated with, the abuse of prisoners etc etc etc, the public service want to limit any whistle blower protections as much as possible and it shows in their spineless recommendations.
Whether it’s the Greens in Government, or Jacinda’s pragmatic idealism, our politicians are manifest oxymorons. Despite our hope and best wishes for a Labour-Green coalition, this political landscape is not the world we thought we knew. We’re strangers in a familiar land, or maybe we’re familiar, but the world is a strange one. The grief and disappointment despite the nicey nice hopeful and kindness stuff, (and some genuine wins), is real.
…maybe we should, you know, get back to that whole China influencing our politics thing in light of new allegations that the Academic who is outing this assault on our democracy may have had her car sabotaged…
