Labour nails TPPA colours to the mast just in time
Labour’s unequivocal opposition to the TPPA will please the rank-and-file of the party whose desire for autonomy and authenticity was so clearly evident at its conference last year.
Labour’s unequivocal opposition to the TPPA will please the rank-and-file of the party whose desire for autonomy and authenticity was so clearly evident at its conference last year.
Real Choice’s very public threats will also, very likely, have prompted the acquisition of interception warrants by the Security Intelligence Service (SIS) who will, doubtless, be liaising with their colleagues at the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) to set up comprehensive real-time surveillance of Real Choice’s members.
Usual dross served up with a thin promise of trains. Few media will even notice Key wants to expand more surveillance powers and headlines will focus on the window dressing.
Metiria Turei has just finished up the Greens state of the nation address and it was polished and safe.
The US political establishment is a little less cocky now that Bernie Sanders is surging in the polls. The latest polls show him ahead in the New Hampshire primary race and the Iowa caucuses.
A political panel will tell us why they oppose the signing of the TPPA: Grant Robertson, Labour; Metiria Turie, Greens; Marama Fox, Maori Party; and Fletcher Tabuteau, NZ First.
Some consideration should, nevertheless, be given to the problem created by the Police’s announcement that it has been engaged for some time in “Public Order Training” – a.k.a. Riot Control.
Despite a clear majority of the New Zealand public being opposed to the TPPA, John Key is set to sign the trade deal in Auckland on the 4th of February at SkyCity casino. This is an outrage, and a challenge.
It’s deeply disturbing to think that a full five years after the quakes vast swathes of the city centre remain in ruins.
You can’t ban gambling, but by God you should put a stranglehold around their expansion and limit their social damage. 20 years of SkyCity has seen nothing but weak legislation watered down further by crony relationships with the current Government.