Upper Hutt residents mobilise to fight State House sell-off

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June 5, 2016

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Upper Hutt, NZ, 4 June – Residents in a State housing community in Upper Hutt are continuing to mobilise to strengthen opposition to planned sell-off of Housing NZ vacant land, and planned further demolition of so-called “un-safe, earthquake-prone” State houses.

Following from previous meetings organised by local community worker and activist, Teresa Homan (pictured on right);

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– read out a petition to Bill English that has been launched calling on the withdraw of public-owned land in Trentham, Upper Hutt, from sale to private developers.

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[A full copy of the petition form can be downloaded here]

Ms Homan said she had already been gathering signatures and was “pleasantly surprised” that only a few people had refused to sign it.

Ms Homan represents the St Joseph Parish Justice, Peace, and Development Group. She said that the vacant land they were standing on had recently been filled with State housing that were homes to several families. She said some of families may have been relocated to other State houses further away in Timberlea, or private rentals elsewhere, up-rooting children from their local schools and disrupting their established education and local connections to the community.

Transience is a well-recognised problem for low-income families, as they do not have guaranteed security-of-tenure. A 2010 Ministry of Justice “working document” referred to hardship for vulnerable families, including transience;

Barriers to engagement in services by “hard-to-reach” groups include service level or structural barriers (e.g. location, hours of operation, cost, lack of awareness about availability, lack of cultural responsiveness, and poor coordination between services), and barriers specific to families and their situations (e.g. transience, low literacy, physical or mental health issues, domestic violence, lack of transport, low income, negative perceptions of services, and generally chaotic lives).

There is good evidence about how policy-makers and service providers can address these barriers and improve engagement by those who are hard-to-reach.

Ms Homan said the buildings had been torn down, ostensibly because they were “earthquake prone”. She added that that bulldozers and other wrecking machinary had had difficulty in tearing down the structures.

The land was now for sale to private developers. There is no guarantee that social housing will be built on the site. Ms Homan said she was fearful that Housing NZ would be moving fast to sell the land. She said,

“This is about this local community, but it’s also about land that we own as the public of New Zealand. So, once it’s [public land] sold, it’s gone. And it’s not about not allowing people to have private ownership of land, but this land’s owned by the New Zealand public.

…I think we need to hold onto the land we have for those families that can’t afford private [rental] homes.”

Ms Homan said she had been in contact with Housing NZ and when asked if they had claimed the demolished houses were the “wrong size, wrong place”, she agreed that statement had been used. She said she had lodged an Official Information Act (OIA) request seeking an explanation why the houses had been deemed “wrong size, wrong place”.

[See related story: State houses – “wrong place, wrong size”?]

One State house tenant, Wayne (pictured below, in wheelchair) has been waiting for a new state house for four and a half years that is better suited to his disability and use of a wheelchair;

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Wayne said that whilst he had ramped access to his home, and a wet-area in the bathroom, that the rooms in his house and doorways were too small to accomodate his frame and wheelchair. He said he was waiting for an appointment with Upper Hutt mayor, Wayne Guppy, to discuss his case.

About twenty people from the local community turned up for the petition launch;

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Their signs publicised the concerns they felt at how Housing NZ and the National government were impacting on their lives;

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One particular sign, bearing three simple words, was hammered into the ground – a symbolic statement from the community to the National government and Housing NZ;

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The size of the now-vacant land is considerable;

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– especially when seen in conjunction with near-by properties;

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Contrasting National Minister Paula Bennett’s recent announcement offering State house tenants $5,000 to leave Auckland, with the steady decline of state houses in the Hutt Valley, Rimutaka’s Labour MP, Chris Hipkins voiced his exasperation,

“So while the number of state houses in the Hutt Valley is shrinking, and people are being bumped off waiting lists because there aren’t enough houses available, the government have a genius idea to increase demand even further. This is just nuts.”

At a time of rising homelessness and on-going sell-off of Housing NZ homes and land, there is no indication that the National government is changing it’s policy-course. This is despite a recent public opinion poll which condemned National’s inaction of the worsening housing crisis;

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Upper Hutt is just another community enjoying National’s “Brighter Future”.

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References

Fairfax media: Answer to school transience needed

Ministry of Justice: Who is vulnerable or hard-to-reach in the provision of maternity, Well Child, and early parenting support services?

Radio NZ: $5000 moving grant ‘laughable’ without work

Upper Hutt Leader: HNZ land sell-off resisted

TV3 News: Government gets thumbs down on housing

Websites

Facebook: Upper Hutt State Houses 4 U

Facebook: Housing NZ Tenants Forum

Previous related blogposts

Government Minister sees history repeat – responsible for death

Housing Minister Paula Bennett continues National’s spin on rundown State Houses

Letter to the Editor – How many more children must die, Mr Key?!

National under attack – defaults to Deflection #1

Another ‘Claytons’ Solution to our Housing Problem? When will NZers ever learn?

National’s blatant lies on Housing NZ dividends – The truth uncovered!

National recycles Housing Policy and produces good manure!

Our growing housing problem

National Housing propaganda – McGehan Close Revisited

Housing; broken promises, families in cars, and ideological idiocy (Part Tahi)

Housing; broken promises, families in cars, and ideological idiocy (Part Rua)

Housing; broken promises, families in cars, and ideological idiocy (Part Toru)

National’s Food In Schools programme reveals depth of child poverty in New Zealand

Letter to Radio NZ – Homelessness, Poverty, and the Final Solution

State houses – “wrong place, wrong size”?

State house sell-off in Tauranga unravelling?

Other blogs

TangataWhenua.com: Veteran Activist hospitalised during removal of state houses (2012)

Copyright (c) Notice

All images stamped ‘fmacskasy.wordpress.com’ are freely available to be used, with following provisos,

» Use must be for non-commercial purposes.
» Where purpose of use is commercial, a donation to Child Poverty Action Group is requested.
» At all times, images must be used only in context, and not to denigrate individuals or groups.
» Acknowledgement of source is requested.

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Rest in Power – Muhammad Ali – No Viet Cong Called Me Nigger

By

Martyn Bradbury

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June 4, 2016

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He was an incredible man with an incredible vision for justice – his death is a loss for humanity

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Patrick Gower Plays Fantasy Cabinet Football. Loses. – A Response From An NZ First Perspective

By

Curwen Ares Rolinson

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June 4, 2016

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Way back towards the start of the year, when questions about what role NZ First might potentially play in and around government post-2017 started to be asked internally, I proposed to my comrades the idea of playing what we termed ‘fantasy Cabinet football’ to try and work out what the shape of an NZ First party in Government might look like.

We batted around a few ideas, but ultimately put the notion on the backburner, as it appeared a hugely complex piece of prognostication whose accuracy would be contingent upon so many factors (including the likely shape of NZF’s 2017 Parliamentary List) which were simply unknowable or hadn’t been decided yet.

In other words, we chose wisdom over speculation and restraint over rampant excitability.

Predictably, however, Newshub’s Patrick Gower shares neither of those virtues; and has generated his own exercise in fantasy Cabinet football ministerial portfolio allocations for a hypothetical NZ First-Labour-Greens government.

Upon first setting eyes on his list, I had but two questions:

First, who on EARTH did he “interview” to get this information – and second, how over the top and absurdist was their sense of humour.

Because seriously. The list he’s prepared is, in many ways, a joke – with the inclusion of Shane Jones, let alone Shane Jones rather above Ron Mark as one of its multifarious misfiring punchlines.

We were all (perhaps somewhat irrationally) expecting better from Gower’s noted correspondent and inside source, Mr M.Y. Keyboard. Less charitable interpretations might suggest the misinformation in question flowed forth from his close relationship with Mr M.Yass.

But while it’s easy to criticize and castigate (fun, too!), it’s inestimably harder to actually construct something of worth and value. Particularly in the fraught and effervescent field of political analysis.

So in a spirit of showing Gower where he went wrong, here’s a cursory critique and reworking of his Fantasy Cabinet Football team.

The first point of forehead-vein-twitching is whom he’s included in the team-pool. Obviously, there are no major issues with Winston, Ron Mark, or Fletcher Tabuteau being listed as prime candidates for Cabinet Ministerial positions. Each are hugely competent MPs in complete command of their portfolios and demonstrably positive records in both Parliament and the Parliamentary legislative process. Two of this number – Winston and Ron – have even been Ministers before, while Fletcher’s strong private members’ bills this term have shown a clear strength at identifying issues in his portfolio areas – before they become issues – and coming up with creative, innovative solutions with which to tackle them.

As much as I might have crossed swords (and an array of other, slightly more painful implements of dentistry) with Tracey Martin over the last two years, she is also an arguably competent inclusion at the Ministerial level – and has seriously positive relationships with many of the sector and interest groups within her portfolio areas. Her wide array of positive relationships with non-NZF MPs are also a plus, and nobody doubts her often absolutely frenetic work-ethic. When I was working under her for Parliamentary Services during the last Parliamentary term, I was continually impressed by her command of both policy and legislative detail as well as elements of vision in her portfolio areas. There are clearly many worse choices one could make for a spot in Cabinet.

As applies Clayton Mitchell, due to his private sector background there is a logical role for him as a Minister for Small Business. His personal interests and aptitudes might also make him a good fit for Minister for Sport and Recreation.

And now, for the others whom Gower’s occasionally inexplicably listed.

First up, what on earth is Shane Jones doing there. He’s not part of our Party, and as far as I can tell, rumours of his return have been several shades of conspiracy from various different largely self-interested sources attempting to plant ‘words in your ear’ with pliant and pliable media mouthpieces. While I can’t with iron-clad assurance say “it’s not going to happen” … I *can* say that there’s no verifiable information out there which would have allowed Gower to make such an incendiary prediction with any shred of objectively factual basis. This is even leaving aside whether you’d WANT such a proverbial ‘loose cannon’ as Jones running the arguably rather delicate Foreign Affairs portfolio in the first place.

About the nicest thing I can possibly say about this “prediction” is that it’s a pretty passable troll-attempt from Gower to suggest that the TPPA-promoting Jones ought to be included not only in our Party – but at its highest echelons, and a few notches up from our evident leadership heir apparent, Ron Mark. Certainly got MY choler rising, at any rate.

Second, Stuart Nash. While there have been some rumours around Nash’s defection as an attempt to go from ‘in the red’ to ‘in the black’ previously, I’m unsure how concrete any of the information behind them might actually be. Certainly, in some areas the occasionally somewhat outspoken Nash does align towards NZF over the direction of the previous five years of Labour – but smaller scale disagreements of policy and emphasis of direction do not a defection make. Gower doesn’t seem to be particularly sure either – hence why he’s posted a “watch this space’ next to Nash’s party membership in this whole contrivance.

Third, Ria Bond. By all accounts, she’s improved rather markedly over her year or so in Parliament – although while meaning no disrespect to her, I would question whether somebody who’d have been an MP for a mere two years by the time this hypothetical 2017 Government got off the ground, would truly be ready for the weighty responsibilities of a Ministerial role. Then again, several of the NZF MPs cited in both Gower’s and my own projections have only been in Parliament for a year longer – so perhaps I am being unduly harsh. It would be considerably easier to adjudge her suitability or otherwise if Gower had thought to include *which* Ministerial portfolio she was supposed to be taking up outside of Cabinet. But he hasn’t, so I have to wonder whether Gower’s sighted future talent in Ria – or whether he’s merely indulged in plucking names at random out of a hat to make up numbers.

What was outright curious, however, were some of the omissions.

Darroch Ball has been an absolutely stellar performer in the Social Development portfolio already this term – with visionary legislative proposals, and such an adroit command of the detail in his area that he’s managed to force Minister of Social Development Anne Tolley to apologize to the House for misleading with misinformation on quite a number of occasions. Darroch has also recognized and made use of the natural synergies between the Social Development and Youth Affairs portfolios to deliver strong policy for change inestimably superior to pretty much anything the actual Minister’s come out with. He is somebody whom I’d absolutely back to the hilt for a Ministerial warrant and Cabinet position, and his lack of inclusion on a list of NZ First ministerial prospects is absolutely criminal.

Another thing which leaped out at me about Gower’s Fantasy Cabinet Football lineup was just how … white-and-Maori it was. With the sole exception of Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni (whom Gower’s tipped for Pasifika Affairs), there was nobody in there with a migrant-community background. Instead, Tracey Martin was put forward for the Ethnic Affairs role. And while Tracey’s work with the Shakti Trust has been admirable and shows an ability to interface with communities and backgrounds not her own … there seemed to be another, far more obvious candidate in the form of NZ First’s Mahesh Bindra. Who, apart from meeting the minimum standard of actually being from one of the communities covered by the portfolio (and therefore better able to relate to and represent the concerns of same), is also – as applies the Indian community at least – in a word, ubiquitous. Seriously. Every Mandir [Hindu Temple] I go to, they know Mahesh. If you follow him on social media, you’ll see that literally all his spare time outside of Parliament is taken up with engaging with this community, occasionally clocking up four or five or more events per day. He is quite simply the hardest-working MP outside of Parliament in this area I think I’ve ever seen. His pre-Parliamentary background in Corrections gives him a strong insight into that portfolio as well, and would make him a natural pick for an (Associate) Minister role there too.

Ultimately, there are many NZ First MPs whose competencies have been ignored in Gower’s piece – and I only have space to directly address a few of them.

But the other major issue with this list of hypothetical ministerial allocations are some of the … curious mismatches of talents and aptitudes with portfolios.

Several of Gower’s picks are half decent. Winston Peters’ staked Ministerial responsibilities make decent sense, allowing him to build upon career-defining strengths in regional development, immigration, racing, senior citizens, foreign affairs and Pacific relations. Ron Mark is a natural fit for Defence, and given his strong record against Amalgamation as well as direct experience in the area as Mayor of Carterton – could also pick up Local Government (although I’m left scratching my head slightly about him running the Christchurch Regeneration portfolio – it’s not that Ron can’t do it … if he can build things in Oman, then Canterbury should present no trouble. I just find it a little inexplicable that a Christchurch-based MP like Labour’s Megan Woods wouldn’t be given the role).

And, in a hypothetical, totally imaginary world wherein Shane Jones becomes an NZ First MP and Minister, I could well see the logic of handing him a Fisheries portfolio. Tracey Martin’s ardent feminism – while a bit of an acquired taste in some circles – would certainly contribute to a strong Minister for Women’s Affairs; although some might question whether a single term as a Local Board Member is the best qualification for a position overseeing the Local Government portfolio – particularly when NZ First’s Denis O’Rourke has fifteen years’ experience as a Christchurch City Councillor to draw upon.

Matters arguably worsen when we see whom Gower’s plonked in Primary Industries – Fletcher Tabuteau.

While nobody denies that Primary Industries is an important portfolio for New Zealand’s present and future export growth and development, the plain fact of the matter is that it would be a questionable use of Fletcher’s considerable talents as both an MP and a former academic/economist. A position such as Trade would be a much more logical fit, particularly considering the excellent private members’ bills he’s put forward in this area. His strong background and longstanding involvement in both tourism and education (secondary and tertiary) would also suggest potential Ministerial competencies in those areas.

All in all, Gower’s attempt at playing Fantasy Cabinet Football is … not even an especially competently written fantasy. The level of seriousness with which it ought to be taken is clearly elucidated by the fact it’s littered with obvious attempted-witticisms like referring to David Cunliffe as “Under-Secretary to the Co-Vice-Deputy Prime Ministers on miscellaneous issues”.

And yet, whether born out of ignorance, laziness, or actual malevolence, the greatest jokes in the piece appear to be the arguably unintentional ones. Things like omitting some of NZ First’s best and brightest new MPs in favour of making a stirring troll-point by including Shane Jones on a pedestal.

Some might argue that such an obviously highly speculative if not outright onanistic piece of pay-by-the-word political “journalism” hardly merits a response.

And yet going off the numerous ranks of my friends and associates on social media and elsewhere who’ve either taken this piece at face value as a potential shape for a hypothetical post-2017 NZF/Greens/Labour government … or who, despite recognizing its shortcomings, still believe there’s a few grains of truth in it here and there … we are left with little choice other than to seek in some small way to correct its more manifestly misaimed assertions.

The trouble with vacuums, in both nature as in politics (which can often be decidedly unnatural), is that they have a nasty habit of being filled. Whether you want them to be or not.

By refusing – thus far, at any rate – to put forward any serious speculation or projections as to who might do what in a Black/Red/Green alliance, we have thus consciously invited figures such as Patrick Gower to cast their own stones and assertions into the void and play some level of role in shaping the public’s perceptions of what this prospective future government might look like and function.

About the only positive to be said for Gower’s piece (other than the fact that it will help boost name-recognition for some of our MPs and get people used to thinking of them rightly as Ministerial-caliber), is that it has kicked off dozens of discussions on a more serious level about who and what might actually do the heavy lifting in a three-way coalition partnership.

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Andrew Little’s Speech to Green Party AGM – one of his best ever

By

The Daily Blog

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June 4, 2016

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Thank you very much.

I have accepted the invitation to speak to your conference out of a profound sense of responsibility.

I am here because I believe those on the progressive side of politics owe it to New Zealanders to offer the hope that change is possible.

We must show that there is a real alternative. A credible alternative.

An alternative government that can transform our economy, end our housing crisis and restore a sense of hope and optimism to Kiwis who have been struggling.

One that will ensure all New Zealanders get a fair reward for the work that they do and that no one is left out or left behind.

An alternative government built on a new politics of inclusion, ambition and optimism.

One that builds on the things we are proudest of about our country, and that removes the barriers which stop us living up to our potential.

I want to sincerely thank you, and the leadership of the Green Party for this invitation.

I want to particularly acknowledge your co-leaders Metiria Turei and James Shaw. I have to say I have learned a lot from working with them.

I have learned from James the importance of matching your tie to your political colours. He really does have every shade of green in that wardrobe.

And from Metiria, that you can live in a castle and still be a republican!

In all seriousness, I have thoroughly enjoyed working together. As members of the Green Party you can be genuinely proud of two talented and dedicated leaders, backed by a hardworking Caucus.

After eight years, the current government has lost touch.

With an economy tilted in favour of those at the top, with rising unemployment and declining real wages, it’s time for a change.

With a deep housing crisis, plummeting homeownership and children forced to sleep in cars, it’s time for a change.

With a health system stretched to breaking point and an education system going backwards, it’s well past time for a change.

We owe it to the young couples worried they’ll never be able to buy a home because our housing market is out of control.

We owe it to the elderly who’ve paid taxes all their lives only to be told they can’t have the surgery they need because there’s not enough money in the health system for them.

We owe it to our kids – I owe it to my son – to do our part in the fight against climate change – because they don’t have a future if our planet doesn’t have a future.

And here in Canterbury, we owe it to the thousands of people who this government has let down.

People like Loretta Te Paa who I met on a visit here a few months ago.

When the earthquake struck, Loretta and her family were living in Woolston. Their home was ruined so they had to move into a cold, tiny flat in the Linwood temporary village.

They were told they’d be there for 26 weeks.

They were stuck there for three and a half years.

People like Loretta and her family, they deserve better.

They need a government that will back them and stand up for them.

They won’t get that from the current government.

We saw this clearly just last week – they produced a budget that did nothing to solve our housing crisis.

That cut money from health in real terms while freezing spending in our education system.

It’s a budget that actually forecast falling wages in the years ahead.

And look at the way they’ve slashed the social safety net and thrown people on the scrap heap.

They sell off state housing and say community providers can do the job instead – and then they cut the funding to those providers.

They say their social investment approach will target programmes at people most in need, and then they underfund those programs.

They say it isn’t economic to provide emergency housing – so instead they pay hundreds of dollars a night to put some of our most vulnerable people in motels – and then give them the bill.

Just look at the issue of rising homelessness we are now confronted with.

More than 40,000 people sleeping in cars, in garages, in severely overcrowded houses. Sleeping on the street.

Children as young as 11 living under bushes in South Auckland.

That’s not New Zealand. That’s not the country we are proud of.

And the Government’s only response, when not blaming others, is blaming homeless people themselves.

So this week they say the homeless don’t want to be helped, they quite like being homeless.

And this from a Government eight years in office.

When did we decide that was the kind of country we wanted to be?

When did this kind of poverty become ok?

Because we all know it’s wrong.

We’re a wealthy country.

This kind of thing doesn’t have to happen.

It happens as the result of political choices.

Well we can choose a better way.

We can choose to lift people out of homelessness.

And together that’s exactly what we’ll do.

So here’s my message to the Prime Minister: You’ve had eight years. Take some responsibility. Act like a grown up and stop blaming others.

But this isn’t the only issue they’re failing New Zealanders on.

Take their absolute lack of ambition on climate change.

On protecting our environment.

On standing up for our neighbours in the Pacific.

Look at the way this government ducks any moral responsibility on the world stage, from the refugee crisis to the treatment of Kiwis on Christmas Island.

Look at all they’ve done in the last eight years and think about the all the damage they could do if we give them another three.

We can’t let that happen.

We can’t be a successful country when more and more of the gains from our economy go only to the few at the very top.

We can’t be a successful country when the dream of homeownership is slipping away.

After eight years, it is very clear, if we want New Zealand to succeed, we have to change the government.

More and more New Zealanders are telling me there needs to be a change.

But they are cautious about the alternative.

New Zealanders might have real concerns about the current government, but they aren’t going to blindly vote for a change without reason to believe they are trading up.

And if we are serious about being that change, then we’ve got to earn it.

We can take nothing for granted.

We have to be disciplined and focussed as well as bold and courageous.

New Zealanders won’t trust us with the responsibilities of government unless we show them we are ready.

18 months ago, I made the decision to run for the leadership of my party because I could see that things had to change.

I saw a country in which more and more of the nation’s wealth was going to those at the very top, and those who worked for a living were struggling to get a fair share and struggling to get ahead.

That’s not the New Zealand I want to be part of. It’s not the kind of country I want to leave to my son. We’ve got to change it.

In the last 18 months, Labour’s made great progress.

Our caucus is working well together.

We’re reforming our party.

And we’re building a policy platform that can serve as the core of the next progressive government’s agenda.

But in an MMP environment, that alone isn’t enough.

In our country, under our system, governments must be built on lasting, mature relationships between different parties that share a common vision for the future.

That’s why we’ve been strengthening our relationship and cooperation with the Greens.

We’ve worked closely on issues like our Manufacturing Inquiry and the future of our education system.

We’ve worked together to get the government to agree to devolve more power over the Canterbury recovery to smart local people on the ground.

And we attended the Paris Climate Conference jointly as opposition members of the official delegation.

It’s against that background that this week Annette King and I signed the memorandum of understanding with the Green Party.

We are building a stronger relationship because that’s what the future demands. That’s what New Zealand needs.

This won’t always be easy.

We won’t agree on every issue.

We are different parties and we come from different movements, each with our own approach and our own traditions and our own way of seeing the world.

There will be points of real difference and debate and disagreement.

But we can deal with them respectfully and maturely.

I know this because I know that together, we share a vision for a stronger, fairer New Zealand.

It’s a much more hopeful and optimistic vision for our future than the one the current government is pursuing.

The leadership I bring to the next progressive government will deliver a better future for our country.

The government I lead will operate under the principle that the economy is not an end in itself, but a means to the end of delivering a good and decent life to our people.

For us in Labour, at the core of our political tradition, at the core of my own beliefs, lies the dignity of work. The ability to earn so you can stand on your own two feet and chase your dreams and ambitions.

That’s what we stand for. Every New Zealander having that chance.

We stand for a responsible state which ensures no citizen is denied the basics that allow them to participate in our society and reach their potential.

What are those basics?

A warm, dry, safe home. A quality education. Healthcare that’s there for you when you need it. And a safe and secure community.

We know that wealth must be created before it can be shared.

We support an economy that creates the next generation of jobs, which adds to the nation’s wealth, which modernises our economy and improves our standard of living.

And we know that development that contaminates the air we breathe, that chokes our lakes and waterways, or that damages our planet doesn’t serve our people and that we can and must do better.

Those principles will guide the Government I lead and they will guide me as Prime Minister.

We will reform our economy so it works for everyone, not just the few at the very top.

That means more good jobs, higher incomes and everyone getting a fair reward for their effort.

It means fixing this housing crisis.

After eight years we will do what this government has just never been able to get the hang of:

Build. More. Homes.

We will restore the Kiwi dream of homeownership.

We will address the housing crisis and we will build state houses so that every Kiwi can have a roof over their head.

Under the government I lead, older people won’t need to wait for years in pain.

We will end the cuts in health and make sure Kiwis get the care they need.

And we will recommit our country to the principle of free education.

We will put money back into our struggling public school system and we’ll stop shovelling money into charter schools that are more interested in making money off kids than teaching them.

And we will deliver three years free post-school training and education. Because lifelong education is the path to a better future.

The government I lead will make our country a leader in the fight against climate change.

And the next government will stand up for people in Christchurch that this government has forgotten about.

We’ll get cracking with the central city development, and we will sort out the mess at Southern Response and EQC.

People have waited too long. They deserve better.

And let me be very clear on one more thing: the government I lead will make fighting child poverty a top priority.

We will not accept children going to school hungry or going to sleep in bedrooms that make them sick.

We’ll feed hungry kids in schools and we will bring in proper rental standards so that every child in New Zealand grows up in a home that is warm and safe and dry.

We won’t listen to the cynics who say the problem is too big or too hard. Who say that poverty is just a fact of life.

We won’t give up on lifting every child out of poverty.

I won’t give up. It’s not who I am.

Next year, New Zealanders will have a clear choice.

On one hand a tired, out of touch government that is increasingly looking after only the few at the very top, and that has presided over a stalling economy, growing inequality, and an endless housing crisis.

Or they can choose a new, progressive government – our government – with a better plan for the future.

Our government will back people to get ahead, and reward their effort and ambition.

Our government will deliver a better, fairer New Zealand.

In the next 18 months, let’s send a simple message to New Zealanders:

There is a real alternative.

It’s time for a change.

Together let’s change this country.

Let’s build a better New Zealand.

Let’s do this.

And we can do this together.

Thank you.

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435 lies by John Key

By

The Daily Blog

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June 4, 2016

27

1.I promise to always be honest
2.I will not be hiring Crosby/Textor
3.The Government I lead will be a Government of good standards.
4.we are not going to sack public servants, the attrition rate will reduce costs
5.we are not going to cut working for families
6.I firmly believe in climate change and always have
7.We seek a 50% reduction in New Zealand’s carbon-equivalent net emissions, as compared to 1990 levels, by 2050. 50 by 50. We will write the target into law.
8.National Ltd™ will provide a consistent incentive for both biofuel and biodiesel by exempting them from excise tax or road user charges
9.National Ltd™ will increase the number of front line police officers by 600 before the end of 2011
10.there is no truth in Nicky Hager’s book “The Hollowmen”
11.I didn’t know about The Bretheren election tactics
12.If they came to us now with that proposal [re trans-Tasman Therapeutic Goods regime], we will sign it
13.I can’t remember my position on the 1981 Springbok Tour
14. Tranzrail shares
15.I did not mislead the House (1)
16. Lord Ashcroft
17.National Ltd™ would not have sent troops into Iraq
18.Standard & Poors credit downgrade
19.the double-down grade doesn’t really matter and its only about private sector debt
20.I did not mislead the House (2)
21.I didn’t say I want wages to drop
22.I can’t remember why I voted against increasing the minimum wage
23.lifting the minimum wage to $15 an hour will increase unemployment
24.the real rate of inflation is 3.3 percent.
25.the tourism sector has not lost 7,000 jobs
26.no I have never heard of Whitechapel
27.I won’t raise GST
28.people who are on the average wage and have a child are $48 a week better off after the rise in GST
29.the purchase of farmland, by overseas buyers will be limited to ten farms per purchase
30.the Pike River Mine was consented to under a Labour Government
31.no promises were made to get the remains of the miners out of the Pike River mine
32.I did not provide a view on the safety of the Pike River coalmine
33.I did not mislead the House (3)
34.capping, not cutting the public service
35.raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour will cost 6000 jobs
36.north of $50 a week
37.privatisation won’t significantly help the economy
38.wave goodbye to higher taxes, not your loved ones
39.I never offered Brash a diplomatic job in London
40.Tariana Turia is “totally fine” with the Tuhoe Treaty Claim deal
41.Kiwisaver
42.National Ltd™ is not going to radically reorganise the structure of the public sector
43.tax cuts won’t require additional borrowing
44.New Zealand does not have a debt problem
45.New Zealand troops in Afghanistan will only be involved in training, not fighting
46.the wage gap between New Zealand and Australia has closed under my National Ltd™ government
47.It took 9 years for Labour to make a complete and utter mess of the economy
48.National Ltd™ has changed the Overseas Investment Act to include 19 different criteria
49.the price of goods and services has risen by 6 percent since the last election, while the after-tax average wage has actually gone up by 16 percent
50.no, although its a week ago and here I am being interviewed on television about them, I havn’t seen Gerry Brownlee’s comments regarding demolitions in Christchurch and which caused such outrage, but I can talk all about them
51.our SAS soldiers were not involved in the Kabul Hotel gunfight
52.the use of the Vela brother’s helicopter was required so I could attend meetings relating to national/international security concerns
53.the DPS makes the decision about accompanying the Prime Minister or not, I had no choice but to take them on holiday to Hawaii
54.I did not mislead the House (4)
55.oh, maybe our SAS soldiers were in the Kabul hotel gun fight but they weren’t wounded by friendly fire
56.New Zealand has lost $12 billion from GDP due to the Christchurch earthquake . . . oh, it might actually be around $15 billion from GDP due to the Christchurch earthquake . . . Blinglish said what?
57.10,000 houses will have to be demolished in Christchurch due to the earthquake
58.14,000 new apprentices will start training over the next five years, over and above the number previously forecast
59.our amendments to the ETS ensure we will continue to do our fair share internationally
60.we are committed to honouring our Kyoto Protocol obligations
61.any changes to the ETS will be fiscally neutral
62.New Zealand has grown for eight of the last nine quarters”
63.National Ltd™ will tender out the government banking contract
64.we will be back in surplus by 2014-15
65.Nicky Hager’s book “Other People’s Wars” is a work of fiction
66.unemployment is starting to fall
67.we have created 60,000 jobs
68.we have created 45,000 jobs
69.the 2011 Budget will create in the order of 170,000 jobs
70.I don’t know if I own a vineyard
71.no, I did not mislead the House (5)
72.the Isreali spy killed in the Christchurch quake had “only one” passport
73.the Police will not need to make savings by losing jobs
74.I voted to keep the drinking age at 20
75.New Zealand is 100% Pure
76.I’ve been prime minister for four years, and it’s really 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year
77.baseball in New Zealand is attracting more government support
78.the decision to buy brand new BMWs was made by the Department of Internal Affairs without reference either to their minister or to me
79.I didn’t have a clue that Ministerial Services, which I am in charge of, was going to buy brand new BMWs
80.even though four of my ministers knew all about it, I didn’t have a clue that brand new BMWs were being bought.
81.even though my Chief of Staff met with officials to discuss purchase of the the brand new BMWs, I didn’t have a clue
82.even though I personally signed papers discussing the matter, I still didn’t have a clue
83.Labour forced us into buying the brand new BMWs, its their fault
84.ummm, look, sorry about that BMW thing , it was because I was so upset
85.I did not describe David Beckam as thick as batshit
86.I did not mislead the House (6)
87.the public demanded that we change the labour laws for The Hobbit
88.“The Hobbit” created 3000 new jobs
89.we have delivered 800 extra doctors in the public service
90.I did not mislead the House (7)
91.I wasn’t working at Elders when the sham foreign exchange deals took place
92.I was starting School Certificate exams in 1978
93.I don’t know who arrived on the CIA jet to visit the spies I am responsible for
94.reducing barriers to property developers will increase the availability of affordable housing
95.Labour left the economy in poor shape
96.forecasts show unemployment will fall
97.we have closed the wage gap with Australia by $27
98.Ngati Porou and Whanau Apanui are not opposed to mining
99.I have not had any meetings with Media Works
100.our [NZ’s] terms of trade remain high
101.the TPPA is an example of democracy
102.the TPPA will still have to be ratified by Parliament
103.National Ltd™ will use the proceeds of state asset sales to invest in other public assets, like schools and hospitals
104.New Zealand troops will be out of Afghanistan by April 2013
105.overseas investment in New Zealand adds to what New Zealanders can invest on their own
106.overseas investment in New Zealand creates jobs, boosts incomes, and helps the economy grow
107.National Ltd™ will build 2000 houses over the next two years
108.there are only 4 New Zealand SAS soldiers in Bamiyan and all working in the area of logistics and planning only
109.selling state assets will give cash equity to those companies
110.the Sky City deal will provide 1000 construction jobs and 800 casino jobs
111.all five bidders for the convention centre were treated equally
112.my office has had no correspondence, no discussions, no involvement with the Sky City deal
113.I did not mislead the House (8)
114.I can’t remember what was discussed at my meeting with the SkyCity Chief Executive on 14 May 2009
115.I have no record of the 12 November 2009 email from Treasury advising that the SkyCity deal was dodgy and needed to be referred to the Auditor General
116.there was nothing improper about the Sky City deal
117.SkyCity will only get “a few more” pokie machines at the margins
118.any changes to gambling regulations will be subject to a full public submission process
119.Sky City has approached TVNZ about the purchase/use of government-owned land
120.I did not mislead the House (9)
121.this government has been very transparent about all its dealings with SkyCity
122.I did not mislead the House (10)
123.the Auditor General has fully vindicated National over the Sky City deal
124.I did not mislead the House (11)
125.the Deputy Auditor General supports the view that there was nothing inappropriate about the Sky City deal
126.I did not mislead the House (12)
127.I did not breach the confidentiality of the Auditor General’s Report into the Sky City deal
128.the Labour Government did exactly the same sort of deal back in 2001
129.Labour has promised to not revoke the Sky City legislation
130.the construction of the new SkyCity convention centre will not cost taxpayers or ratepayers a cent with SkyCity meeting the full project costs in return for some concessions from the Government
131.there’s a 50/50 chance the Hobbit is going off shore unless we do something
132.David Shearer has signed up for the purchase of shares in Mighty River
133.Solid Energy asked the government for a $1 billion capital investment
134.National will not be using $100 million from the sale of Mighty River Power shares to bail out Solid Energy
135.fracking has been going safely on in Taranaki for the past 30 years without any issues
136.no frontline positions will be lost at DOC
137.Iain Rennie came to me and recommended Fletcher for the GCSB job
138.I told Cabinet that I knew Ian Fletcher
139.I forgot that after I scrapped the shortlist for GCSB job I phoned a life-long friend to tell him to apply for the position
140.I told Iain Rennie I would contact Fletcher
141.I haven’t seen Ian Fletcher in a long time.
142.I did not mislead the House (13)
143.I have no reason to doubt at this stage that Peter Dunne did not leak the GCSB report
144.I called directory service to get Ian Fletcher’s number
145.the new legislation narrows the scope of the GCSB
146.the GCSB has been prevented from carrying out its functions because of the law governing its functions
147.because the opposition is opposed the GCSB law amendments, parliamentary urgency is required
148.the increasing number of cyber intrusions which I can’t detail or discuss prove that the GCSB laws need to be extended to protect private enterprise
149.it was always the intent of the GCSB Act to be able to spy on New Zealanders on behalf of the SIS and police
150.National Ltd™ is not explanding the activities of the GCSB with this new law
151.cyber terrorists have attempted to gain access to information about weapons of mass destruction held on New Zealand computers
152.the law which says the GCSB cannot spy on New Zealanders is not clear
153.it totally incorrect that the Government effectively through GCSB will be able to wholesale spy on New Zealanders
154.we self identified that there was a problem with the GCSB spying on Kim Dotcom
155.the illegal spying on Kim Dotcom was an isolated incident
156.The advice I have had in 4 years as a Minister is that in no way ever has there been an indication of unlawful spying
157.the Ministerial Warrant signed by Bill English did not cover anything up
158.I wasn’t briefed about the raid on Kim Dotcom’s home.
159.first I heard I heard about Kim Dotcom was on 19 January 2012
160.first I heard about the illegal spying on Kim Dotcom was in 17 September 2012
161.I did not mislead the House (14)
162.I won’t be discussing Kim Dotcom during my Hollywood visit.
163.The Human Rights Commission couldn’t get its submission on the GCSB legislation in on time.
164.it would cost too much to for the police and SIS to carry out the spying on New Zealanders that this new legislation will permit
165.critics of the GCSB legislation, including the Law Society, the Human Rights Commission, and the Privacy Commission, are all uninformed
166.no, I did not mislead the House (15)
167.I do not know how Mr Henry is conducting the Inquiry
168.no, I did not mislead the House (16)
169.the Henry Inquiry had permission to view Ministers’ emails
170.no, I did not mislead the House (??)
171.we do not spy on journalists
172.the passing of phone records to the Henry Inquiry was an error on the part of a contractor
173.I wasn’t aware that my own Chief of Staff was instructing Parliamentary Services to hand over information concerning journalist Andrea Vance
174.National Ltd™ has never tried to impinge on the role of the media
175.I had nothing to do with information on a journalist being handed over to the inquiry into the leaking of the GCSB report
176.the terms of the inquiry made it clear to everyone that it was only the phone records of parliamentary staff and ministers that were to be provided
177.I have the utmost respect for the media and the role it plays in New Zealand’s democracy
178.the Henry Inquiry did not access a journalist’s building-access records
179.the Henry Inquiry did not ask for phone and email records
180.no, I did not mislead the House (17)
181.the Greens are opposed to the GCSB and the SIS even existing
182.the GCSB needs to spy on New Zealanders because there are al-Qaeda terrorists in New Zealand
183.the GCSB is not sharing meta-data with the NSA
184.John Minto is in the Green Party
185.the GCSB needs to spy on New Zealanders because of the terrorist threat, even though official reports released over my signature say there is no risk and the SIS has the matter in hand
186.the GCSB Bill does not give the GCSB the power to look at the content of communications as part of its cyber-security functions
187.no, I did not mislead the House (18)
188.Edward Snowden hacked into the NSA data base to obtain the documents which show details of the GCSB setting up a mass surveillance system
189.I will release documents which show that an operation to provide mass surveillance data only ever made it to the business plan stage.
190.Ummm . . . now that people are paying attention, the programme got underway but I stopped in in March 2013 or, askshully, it might have been September 2013.
191.Kim Dotcom is paying Glenn Greenwald to come to New Zealand
192.There’s no ambiguity. No middle ground. I’m right and Glenn Greenwald is wrong,
193.I’ll resign if the GCSB conducts mass surveillance
194.there never has been any mass surveillance and New Zealand has not gathered mass information and provided it to international agencies.
195.The GCSB does not have the physical capability to carry out mass surveillance
196.New Zealand has not gathered mass information and provided it to international agencies.”
197.there will be no mining on Conservation land in the Corromandel
198.no, I did not say we would follow the US and Australia into a war against North Korea
199.New Zealand has an arrangement to have asylum seekers processed in Australian detention camps
200.I did not mislead the house (19)
201.I paid for that lunch and I’ve got the credit card bill to prove it
202.I am honest and upfront
203.the only way net new jobs can be created is by private investors putting their money into businesses in New Zealand
204.you can’t hide if yuu’re Prime Minister
205.an increase in the number of people looking for work indicates that confidence is returning to the economy
206.the 10 percent of taxpayers in New Zealand who are the top earners pay 76 percent of all net personal tax.
207.I did not mislead the House (20)
208.Aaron Gilmour was one of a number of people in a group who were badly behaved
209.the substantial wage growth under Labour was eroded by inflation
210.National Ltd™’s 2010 tax changes were fiscally neutral
211.I did not mislead the House (21)
212.the bulk of New Zealanders earn between $45,000 and $75,000 a year
213.Pike River Coal did not put profits and its production ahead of the safety and lives of those 29 workers.
214.Radio Live had sought advice from the Electoral Commission about my show just before the election
215.it is because of National Ltd™’s policies that the price of fresh fruit and vegetables has dropped.
216.the length-of-the-country cycleway will create 4000 jobs.
217.police training for next year has not been cancelled
218.National Ltd™ has only cut back-office jobs in the health service
219.The Crown’s dividend stream from the Meridians, the Mighty Rivers of the world is large and there is no motivation to sell assets; actually we’re about creating assets not selling assets.”
220.National believes employment law should treat all parties fairly. It should . . . Protect employees and employers.
221.I am not trying to tackle such issues in a “fearful” way ahead of the next election
222.Wellington City is dying.
223.National Ltd™ has been working on a number of things with New Zealand First on a number of things one of which has a financial component but I can’t talk about it
224.the best way to get growth in the economy is to reduce public debt
225.New Zealand mum and dad investors will be our number one priority in the allocation of Mighty River shares
226.we won’t let “cowboy” oil exploration companies operate here in New Zealand
227.the Green Party is racist by not allowing Chinese residents in New Zealand to buy a house
228.the Labour Party is promising a four-bedroom house in Auckland for $300,000
229.the food in schools programme is in the 2013 budget
230.the meat exports are being held up in China because of issues in relation to the Chinese looking to trace counterfeit meat
231.its notoriously difficult to win three elections in a row
232.I am deeply concerned about every child in New Zealand who is in poverty
233.there is no manufacturing crisis in New Zealand
234.the government’s exposure to MediaWorks’ going into receivership is reasonably limited
235.the money from the sale of state assets will not be used to prop up Solid Energy
236.I don’t see a place for a Winston Peters-led New Zealand First in a government that I lead. It’s not a matter of political convenience, it’s a matter of political principle.
237.The vast majority of the buildings in Christchurch came through the earthquakes in good shape
238.the commemoration of New Zealand’s involvement in the Korean War will not be used to bolster trade talks
239.third generation Chinese New Zealanders will be required to present their passport before buying a house under the Labour government
240.the Labour housing policy is an attempt by David Shearer to save his leadership
241.the Labour housing policy is in breach of free trade agreements
242.only 2% of the proceeds of the sale of Mighty River will be spent on the sales process
243.David Cunliffe is lying to you
244.Labour wants to nationalise the super market industry
245.The government will engage in no further negotiations with Rio Tinto
246.Without a government subsidy of hundreds of millions of dollars Chorus will go broke
247.No, I did not mislead the House (??)
248.the justice system is already adequate for handling situations involving new evidence
249.my Minister Nick Smith was not aware of the content of the leaked draft submission on the Ruataniwha situation until 17 September
250.New Zealand First will nationalise a host of industries and businesses
251.I have no responsibility for the statements I make
252.Mark Mitchell was just gossiping at a cocktail party when he tipped Webster off about Len Brown’s affair
253.it was a lack of external analysis and accountability which put Solid Energy into its debt crisis
254.the Commerce Commission misinterpreted the law when deciding the price for access to the Chorus copper infrastructure
255.no analyist predicted that the cost of access to the copper infrastructure would go down
256.there has been only one problem with oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico
257.If it was my vote, it would be no pay increases for Mps
258.Greenpeace are just scare mongering about any oil leaks off the New Zealand coast
259.For every election for the last five elections , we have had royal visitors to New Zealand.
260.No decision has been made on the timing of the sale of Air New Zealand shares
261.its not true that in New Zealand the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer
262.This summer is the most active season ever for oil and gas exploration, with the industry spending up to $750 million. At the same time, the Government is strengthening the regulations that govern drilling, particularly in deep water.
263.Labour is trying to mislead people about eligibility for Best Start because they don’t get the payment while they also get paid parental leave.
264.A mountain of evidence shows that the quality of teaching – inside the classroom – is the biggest influence on kids’ achievement
265.Governor General Jerry Mateparae has been jostled while walking onto Te Tii Marae at Waitangi .
266.Cameron Slater, who I speak to regularly and who told me about Winston meeting Kim Dot Com, has got absolutely nothing to do with the National Party.
267.Cameron Slater rang me
268.What I do know is that when this Government came in, there were predictions that unemployment would rise to over 10 percent.
269.The Cabinet Office had cleared Judith Collins of a conflict of interest
270.The golf tournament in which I played the chairman of Oravida was for charity.
271.The Cabinet Office has cleared Collins of a conflict of interest after it translated comments on Oravida’s website which stated that she had praised its products
272.My Justice Minister, Judith Collins, didn’t lie to Parliament, she just didn’t understand the question.
273.The [MFAT] paperwork shows right through this that not only did the Minister have a very busy programme, all on judicial and justice issues, but, secondly, all the way through it talks about a private dinner.
274.No, I did not mislead parliament. (??)
275.No, I did not mislead the House(??)
276.The Unions decide the leadership of the Labour Party and picked David Cunliffe
277.Unions give the Labour Party millions of dollars a year
278.The economic mess inherited by the Abbott government in Australia can be likened to the economic mess inherited by National Ltd™ when it came into office in 2008.
279.National Ltd™ inherited an economic mess from Labour
280.National Ltd™ inherited an economic mess from Labour in 2008
281.No, I did not mislead the House(??)
282.Twelve percent of New Zealand households pay 76 percent of all net tax in New Zealand
283.Natinal Ltd™ ignored the plight of babies living in the poorest famililies because there is other assistance available
284.the Malaysian government declined to waive diplomatic immunity for the man charged with burglary and attempted rape
285.the UN officials visiting down south are focussing on sustainable agriculture
286.I would apologise to the woman if I knew who she was
287.My government has led the charge on the transperancy of MPs’ spending
288.Only 1 percent of New Zealand farm land is in foreign ownership
289.Internet Mana put together the video depicting a burning effigy of me.
290.Under National Ltd™ the prison population has gone down.
291.National Ltd™ has been nowwhere near the Labour party computer system
292.The OIA request to the SIS about Phil Goff’s briefing on the Isreali spies had nothing to do with my office.
293.National Ltd™ talks to the blogs exactly the same way we talk to the MSM
294.The allegations in Nicky Hager’s book are all wrong.
295.Nicky Hager has got nothing to prove any of the allegations.
296.All this stuff in “Dirty Politics” is coming from the left.
297.National Ltd™ is not using blogs as attack sites any more than anyone would do
298.The release of “Dirty Politics” is part of a coordinated attack from the left because it is unable to win the discussion on the issues that matter.
299.Very little of the book “Diry Politics” is about me.
300.Most of the assumptions and allegations made by Nicky Hager in “Dirty Politics” are dissolving before his eyes.
301.All of Nicky Hager’s allegations are unravelling.
302.Nicky Hager didn’t check the facts before publishing “Dirty Politics
303.When National came into office the economy was in tatters.
304.Over the last year an extra 84,000 jobs were created.
305.In our party we believe in supporting families.
306.The Greens have two co-leaders who want to be co-deputy-prime ministers in some kind of bizarre job-sharing experiment.
307.“Internet-Mana put the burning efigy video together
308.No one other than Cameron Slater asked for the SIS document confirming that Phil Goff had been breifed on the Israeli spies in Christchurch.
309.I wasn’t informed that the SIS was going to release the information about the Israeli spies in Christchurch to Cameron Slater.
310.Under Labour, family homes held in a trust will attract the Capital Gains Trust
311.More than 300,000 New Zealanders have their homes held in a trust
312.New Zealand already has a Capital Gains Tax
313.2014 Election
314.There will be no New Zealand military intervention in Iraq, barring an unlikely United Nations Security Council mission
315.There will be no more asset sales
316.David Seymour did not ask for a Ministerial position with the National Party
317.The New Zealand military personnel are just attending a regular ordinary meeting in the United States (x 13 times)
318.New Zealand is not involved in any coalition to fight in the Middle East
319.It is not currently illegal for someone to fight overseas for a terrorist group
320.When it comes to requests for official information, my ministers always act within the law.
321.I have never called or texted Cameron Slater in my capacity as Prime Minister
322.No, I did not mislead the House. (??)
323.I did not admit to having abused the OIA process.
324.I did not mislead the House(??)
325.The Gwynn Report into the handling of OIA requests by the SIS completely exonerated me
326.Its not true that the process I put in place for the SIS reporting to me was politicised
327.The review into Judith Collins has got nothing to do with the release of information to Cameron Slater
328.My office had nothing to do with the release of information to Cameron Slater
329.No, I did not mislead the House (??)
330.I can’t remember all the phone texts I exchanged except when I say I can
331.I did not engage in an exchange of text messages with Cameron Slater, I just acknowledged one unsolicited message from him
332.The DPMC head attended the Roger Sutton PR conference because his department is taking over Cera next year.
333.New Zealand was one of the very few countries in the world that were settled peacefully.
334.I was being asked a specific question about the Chisholm report when I said I had had not contact with Cameron Slater
335.No, I did not mislead the House
336.When the particular question was asked there was quite a lot of noise in the house and so I only heard the first bit.
337.I have not been in contact with Cameron Slater ahead of the release of Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Cheryl Gwyn’s report into the SIS’s role in Slater’s 2011 political attack on former Labour Leader Phil Goff.
338.No, I did not mislead the House (??)
339.The number of children in those low decile schools which I have visited who actually require lunch is the odd one or two
340.The Greens are responsible for the rise in income equality within New Zealand
341.I don’t want to overly concern or frighten people about the threat of a terrorist action in New Zealand.
342.Labour is promoting a separatist approach to dealing with the Treaty of Waitangi which could result in Northland becoming an independent republic
343.The owner of Oravida, Stone Shi, won a round of golf with me after he placed the winning bid at a charity auction
344.I didn’t know until late January 2015 that Mike Sabin was facing family issues which may lead to his resignation
345.My meeting with Donghua Liu was not a Cabinet Club meeting, oh, hang on, yes it was, oh, maybe it wasn’t
346.Labour did not seek a Parliamentary vote when sending SAS troops into Afghanistan on a combat mission and didn’t even tell New Zealand they were going
347.When I said “the price of The Club” I meant “The Club” was all the 62 nations in the US-led coalition of troops to fight in Iraq
348.New Zealanders gave National Ltd™ a two year mandate to send troops into Iraq as part of the US-led coalition
349.News about repairing bridges in Northland is just the standard release of policy
350.Nicky Hager and Kim Dotcom prevented National Ltd™ from announcing the decision to upgrade ten bridges in Northland.
351.New Zealand gas emissions have not increased since I became Prime Minister
352.If you think about iTunes, if you download a song and it’s $1.29, there’s no reason the GST shouldn’t apply to that. In reality, GST would be 2 cents
353.The timing of the release of information about GCSB spying on Tim Grocer’s WTO rivals was deliberate and all part of a particular agenda by Nicky Hager and some others
354.Major roading projects and the free trade deal with Korea will be at risk if Winston Peters wins the Northland election
355.It was my office, not the police, which was the first to be told about the 1080 infant formula blackmail threat.
356.There is no housing crisis in Auckland
357.I promise that “metadata” will be defined in legislation
358.You are allowed to use the resources of the officials during an election in terms of what would be Government policy
359.No, I did not mislead the House (??)
360.As long as Simon Bridges didn’t get any policy advice from his officials about developing the “10 bridges for your vote!” bribe, then there’s no possible problem under the Cabinet Manual.
361.Labour did the same thing as Bridges when it used “officials actually in my opinion actually” to get policy advice as they did in the 2008 campaign with deposit guarantees, but they actually maybe they shouldn’t have done it”
362.I assumed that all ten bridges up for double-laning in Northland were justified on a cost benefit analysis
363.Claims the GCSB was planning to hack into a data link run by the Chinese embassy are unproven.
364.When it comes to the GCSB you’ve got a bunch of people who’ve been out there propagating information that’s actually been proven to be incorrect.
365.When I gave her the two bottles of wine, the cafe worker thanked me for that and said ‘that’s all fine, no drama’”.
366.At the Hip Group’s coffee shop we have lots of fun and games, there’s always lots of practical jokes and things.
367.I will talk to the King of Saudi Arabia about women’s rights including the right to vote
368.House prices rose faster under Labour
369.The $1,000 kick-start for new KiwiSaver members will remain as it is now
370.There will be no new taxes
371.Over the next two years we are going to create 150,000 new jobs
372.The average wage will move from $55,000 to $62,000
373.We spent $11.5 million for a Saudi Arabian to set up a farm in order to avoid potential legal claims
374.Andrew Little has been set up by Annette King and Phil Goff
375.The problem requiring the $11.5 million bribe was caused by Labour’s previous Minister of Trade, Phil Goff
376.No, I did not mislead the House (???)
377.I was not aware of any potential legal action by the Saudis involved in the live sheep trade.
378.Labour was looking to make the same sort of deal with the Saudis and knew all about the possibility of legal action.
379.Details in cabinet papers confirming what I’ve said about Labour have been redacted by officials.
380.Signifcantly reducing New Zealand’s green-house gas emissions would be disastrous for the economy
381.We don’t have to give iwi first right of refusal on the Auckland land the government intends for private housing development
382.No decisions have yet been made about future housing developments on specific pieces of land
383.Nick Smith Smith was helpfully providing journalists with a “conceptual” view of the amount of vacant land in Auckland, not necessarily places where houses might be built.
384.Between 3000 and 4000 refugees were welcomed into New Zealand every year once the family reunification scheme was taken into account.
385.New Zealand is sixth in the world when it comes to accepting in UNHCR refugees.
386.Australia takes in 20,000 refugees a year and has been doing so for a long time.(2)
387.Milk is more expensive in the UK than it is in New Zealand
388.Milk powder prices won’t stay down for long
389.Formal advice from the Inland Revenue Department states that the removal of the $1,000 kickstart contribution will not make a blind bit of difference to the number of people who join KiwiSaver
390.No, I did not mislead the House (??)
391.I never said that a whole month of Maori language would make people bored.
392.I would never give an answer with “an intention to embarrass someone or make someone upset”
393.Yes, my team of crack ministers are going to give Mr Al-Khalaf $11 million or whatever it is, but he’s putting in $80 million
394.National Ltd™ has been way more transparent than any other Government that’s been around
395.Treasury was consulted about the details of the Saudi sheep farm deal
396.the Saudi sheep farm deal was for the purchase of services, intellectual property, and a network of contacts
397.When asked by Radio New Zealand about what exact services, intellectual property, and contacts New Zealand gained from the deal I answered the questions absolutely but Susie Fergusson didn’t want to hear that the whole issue was Labour’s fault
398.The problem which led up to the Saudi sheep farm deal was caused by Labour.
399.The Saudi sheep farm deal was never about compensation even though I said earlier it was because Labour left the government liable for a claim for compensation
400.Labour misled the Saudi investors about the live sheep trade
401.No, I did not mislead the House. (??)
402.There was no suggestion made to a Saudi businessman that he could sue the New Zealand Government
403.Protesters against TPPA are misinformed and only about one-third of them are genuine
404.There isn’t a single Canadian on this planet who would want to change their flag back to the old one
405.Changing the flag will deliver billions of dollars to the New Zealand economy
406.Maurice Williamson wasn’t acting in his capacity as a member of parliament when he made his series of disgusting jokes
407.My government’s target of reducing 100% Pure Clean Green New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions to 11 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 is not inadequate.
408.New Zealand cannot take any more refugees until we have sorted out the process and had a look at housing stock.
409.National will set up two recreational fishing parks, one in the Haukraki and another in Marlborough sounds
410.If the “Red Peak” design does not get on the ballot paper the sole person responsible for that is Andrew Little
411.New Zealand doesn’t need a policy on dealing with climate change refugees because that’s not an issue we are going to need to deal with in the next year or two
412.“To accept any other flag … we would have to change the law, and we’re not going back to Parliament to change the law.” John Key Sep 7.
413.Assets bought out of the Future Investment Fund will be long-lived, here in New Zealand, and owned by the Crown on behalf of all taxpayers
414.I promise to spend $1 billion on health, $1 billion on schools and $400 million on irrigation from the proceeds of asset sales.
415.As the personal who signs off on sending troops to Iraq I feel very intimately involved with this operation. I take personal responsibility.
416.I did not know about the report into the conditions at Taji prior to my arrival there even though the report was released on 30 September
417.It was the Overseas Investment Office which refused permission for Shanghai Pengxin to buy Lochinver Station
418.My office and I both obey the word and the spirit of the OIA law
419.Labour prefers to protect the interests of rapists and child molesters rather than those of ordinary New Zealanders
420.New Zealand citizens detained on Christmas Island are there voluntarily
421.New Zealanders held on Christmas Island include murderers and rapists
422.“The question about broader detainees.”
423.Australia and New Zealand share common values, including a strong commitment to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
424.Labour wants to fly the Christmas Island detainees back to NZ’
425.I’ve never been asked to apologise for saying the opposition supports rapists and murderers
426.I’m making sure New Zealanders are protected’
427.With regard to emission from agriculture and our high level of renewable electricity generation, New Zealand faces unique domestic challenges in reducing its emissions,”
428.Judith Collins was completely cleared by an independent inquiry
429.A major contributor to the fact that there are so many children living in poverty is because their parents are using drugs
430.The reason there is poverty in New Zealand is due to people not working
431.The science around climate change predictions is doubtful
432.The TPP has to go through our Parliament has to be ratified by our Parliament and has to bear scrutiny
433.Not a single part of TPP cuts across the Treaty of Waitangi

434. Key tells country that there is no housing crisis

435: Key tells country Salvation Army helped his homeless flying squads – turns out that’s a lie.

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Political Caption Competition

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The Daily Blog

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June 4, 2016

6

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The Daily Blog Open Mic – Saturday – 4th June 2016

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The Daily Blog

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June 4, 2016

2

Announce protest actions, general chit chat or give your opinion on issues we haven’t covered for the day.

Moderation rules are more lenient for this section, but try and play nicely.

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Waatea 5th Estate – The infamous Friday Night Political Wrap Show

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The Daily Blog

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June 4, 2016

10

Joining us tonight for our infamous Friday night political wrap of the week…

Former Labour Party Leader, current MP for New Lynn and people’s hero – David Cunliffe

Winner of best columnist at the Canon media awards – the brilliant Rachel Stewart

The best MP in the NZ First Party – Tracy Martin

Political commentator, blogger and author – Comrade Chris Trotter

And NZ First bad boy – blogger and commentator – Curwen Rolinson

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Skulduggery at Green Party Conference

By

Martyn Bradbury

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June 4, 2016

19

The inhumane haste at which the Labour Party and Greens announced their Memorandum of Understanding last week has been stripped bare by a power struggle that has quietly been occurring behind the scenes within the Greens.

I’ve flown down to Christchurch to cover the Green AGM and Andrew Little’s speech to the Greens for Waatea News and the machinations that are occurring give insight as to why Labour and the Greens rushed out their MoU.

It suggests the left factions of the Greens and Labour Party have struck first to ensure what was being cooked up by the blue-greens and the Identitarians hasn’t been allowed to bear fruit.

I’ll be reporting for Waatea News later today with the details.

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Key just lies about the Salvation Army helping the homeless for him – media ask him if he’d shoot a gorilla

By

Martyn Bradbury

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June 3, 2016

14

So when Key claimed his Ministry Officials and Salvation Army advocates went out to ‘help’ the homeless, it turns out he was lying…

Andrew Little: Prime Minister John Key ‘patently lied’ about homeless comments

Labour leader Andrew Little has accused the Prime Minister John Key of lying in comments he made about homeless people.

“I can’t think of a time when the Prime Minister and another minister [have] patently lied about something that … hasn’t actually happened,” Mr Little told reporters at Parliament this afternoon.

The Labour leader made the allegation after Salvation Army contradicted a claim by Mr Key that Government officials had visited homeless in an Auckland park this week and had their offers of help declined.

…what has caught the media’s attention however? Paddy Gower screaming the Labour-Green deal is a crime against democracy and the rest asking questions if Key would have shot a bloody gorilla.

Let’s remember that the ‘help’ being offered by these none existent visits are to ask the Homeless if they want to move into a shitty motel and pay $50000 in debt for the privilege. It’s bad enough that the ‘help’ is completely unhelpful, but to just lie about the whole thing is a Government scrambling to pretend they give a fuck.

If you voted National, you should feel pretty ashamed.

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Rachel Glucina scalped by Scout

By

Martyn Bradbury

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June 3, 2016

15

It’s good night from him and good night for her.

The female Whaleoil, Rachel Glucina, has been politely removed from Scout. One of Mark Welden’s dumbest moves was to give this terrible journalist any space at all. After the despicable way this woman treated Amanda Bailey by deceiving her that she was a PR person sent to help rather than a Journalist who was writing a story with an agenda, why Welden wanted those journalistic ‘standards’ is as incomprehensible as killing off Campbell Live to replace it with the shit awful ‘Story’.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

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Four Limericks For The Queen’s Birthday

By

Chris Trotter

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June 3, 2016

16

1.

When the Red Party courted the Green
There was little romance to be seen.
With just one memorandum,
They were at it in tandem
In ways some considered obscene.

2.

Dr Smith promised his N-P-S
Would fix Auckland’s huge housing mess.
With a wave of his hand
He would conjure up land –
Then ask Auckland to do all the rest.

3.

Have you heard what has happened to Scout?
It’s all anyone’s talking about.
No, not talk – more a titter –
On Facebook and Twitter
That Rachel is over and out.

4.

Though London will vote to “Remain”,
And in Scotland the feeling’s the same,
In the counties and shires
Merry England conspires
To vote “Leave” – or so the polls claim.

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Ireland Rising 1916 to 2016

By

Mike Treen

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June 3, 2016

4

I have just returned from an overseas trip that took me to Ireland, the UK, and US.

It became what could be called a “working holiday” as unionists in all three countries were keen to hear how we defeated zero-hour contracts in New Zealand and in earlier years organised fast food workers into a union – a task they are at only the beginning stages.

This trip confirmed to me that there is deep radicalisation happening across the world that is affecting broad sectors of the population – but especially the young and in working class communities.

I arrived in Ireland on April 21, just in time for the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis or annual conference. About 3,000 delegates attended the conference, which was held on the weekend of the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising.

Sinn Féin has become the de facto main opposition party since the February election gave them 14% of the vote and 23 seats. The two traditional government parties Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil got 25 and 24 percent respectively. Both parties have been servants of the wealthy elites who have dominated Irish politics since independence was won for most of Ireland in 1922. Sinn Féin is also one of the largest parties in the North of Ireland that remains under British rule.

The election result was a humiliating defeat for the outgoing coalition government between Fine Gael and the Labour Party which lost 27 and 30 seats respectively. Labour, in particular, was punished for helping preside over a right-wing austerity programme and has been reduced to the status of a minor party with seven seats.

Fianna Fáil, which is traditionally been seen as more sympathetic to the plight of working people and in the past was responsible for elements of the welfare state that exists, recovered somewhat but remained far from its previous heights. In power more often than not since 1932, it went from over 40% of the vote to just 17.5% in the 2011 election after the world capitalist crisis engulfed that country in 2008. Its recovery this year was modest.

Because neither major party commanded a majority on their own Fianna Fáil have decided to prop up a Fine Gael led government for at least a few years to protect capitalist stability.

Opposition to the austerity programme being imposed on working people in Ireland has focussed on opposition to water charges being imposed on all households. This erupted into a mass movement involving huge demonstrations in every city and town as well as widespread civil disobedience, including refusing to pay water charges and stopping the installation of water meters.

More radical left forces have taken the lead in these protests and were rewarded with the election of at least ten MPs. Two activist anti-austerity groups – Anti-Austerity Alliance (AAA) and People Before Profit (PBP) won three seats each. AAA is led by the Socialist Party and PBP by the Socialist Workers Party. Both parties seem to be working hard to root themselves in working class communities and struggles and seem to be trying to break out of the sectarian shibboleths that have prevented radical left forces achieving mass support in the past.

In the Republic of Ireland, Sinn Féin also situates itself on the anti-austerity left. The conference I attended emphasised the unfinished character of the 1916 Rising and often referred to the Irish socialist and union leader James Connelly who was among the 16 people executed by the British following the bloody suppression of the revolt.

Statue of James Connelly in Dublin

A major feature of the conference was the ongoing housing crisis and massive growth in homelessness.

Ireland in the 1990s and 2000s underwent a boom associated with foreign investment and a massive extension of credit for businesses and homes that fed into a speculative property bubble. The 2008 world financial crisis burst the bubble and the entire banking system virtually collapsed overnight. A savage austerity programme was imposed on working people to pay to “rescue” the banks and pay back hundreds of billions of dollars owed to foreign investors and lenders. A recession was turned into a depression for working people with official unemployment rates hitting 15% in 2012.

Thousands of people lost their homes. Thousands of bankrupt properties were taken over by the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) who are now selling off these properties at bargain basement prices to speculators and international vulture funds who then evict tenants and jack up prices as soon as a recovery began. People who have lived in properties for years and never missed a payment are just being told they must leave.

The anger in the Republic of Ireland is palpable. Tens of thousands participated in the celebrations of the 1916 rising and more than one person was happy to volunteer that a new rising was needed to fulfil the dreams of the Republics founders. James Connolly’s great-grandson was the featured speaker at the Sunday celebration of the rising outside the CPO in Dublin and delivered a powerful indictment of the current misleaders of the republic and the need to return to the teachings of his forbear. A similar speech from earlier this year can be watched here.

Unite Union and its “End Zero Hours” banner got to be present on May Day marches in Dublin and Belfast as one was held on Saturday, April 30 and the other on May 1 itself. We received a warm welcome from participants and organisers.

Unite present on May Day in Dublin

A group of unionists in Dublin also organised a meeting where I was able to speak along with my travelling companion Irish socialist and Unite Union organiser Joe Carolan. Prominent Irish union leader Brendan Ogle chaired the meeting. Irish workers involved in struggle in the retail sector made it clear that the scourge of zero hour contracts was alive and well in that country and needed to be fought.

Last week Joe Carolan was invited to the parliament in the Republic of Ireland to talk about how we defeated zero hour contracts in New Zealand.

But there have been similar exciting developments in the North of Ireland. As a consequence of the 1998 peace accord bringing an end to open armed conflict between republican forces and the British occupation forces and their “loyalist” allies, there has been a multi-party government in the Northern Ireland Assembly between the previous mortal enemies Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Failure to agree led to an almost 5-year suspension of the assembly from 2002 to 2007.

Because the Assembly budget largely depends on the UK government it is effectively imposing an austerity regime on the people of Northern Ireland. Sinn Féin argues that they have fought to moderate the cuts and have preserved free health care and free prescriptions for example. They also believe that the coalition government has effectively ended the viciously sectarian ant-catholic state that had existed for decades earlier. Sinn Féin leader Martin McGuinness acts as deputy first minister of the North of Ireland government.

But in working class communities in the majority Catholic areas of West Belfast and Derry there has been a rise of a left opposition force centred on the People before Profit alliance that won two seats in the May 5 election held while Joe Carolan and I were visiting the North.

The North uses a multi-seat transferable vote system like is used in the Republic of Ireland. In the North, each of the 18 electorates has six seats. To be elected you need the votes that equal the number of people who voted in the electorate divided by seven plus one. If you have surplus votes these are then distributed to others according to the preferences indicated on the ballot. Bottom-placed candidates are eliminated until six candidates have the required votes.

West Belfast has been a Sinn Fein stronghold since the hunger striker Bobby Sands stood and won the British parliamentary seat for the area in 1981. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams also won the seat after Sands’ death. Adams is now a member of the Republic’s parliament for Dundalk and the party leader for all of Ireland. Martin McGuinness was also a member of the Northern Ireland assembly for West Belfast before shifting to Foyle for this year’s election.

Veteran civil rights campaigner and socialist Eamonn McCann won a seat in Foyle with the support of Bernadette Devlin McAliskey as his campaign manager. It was a great pleasure to meet Bernadette out campaigning because she was one of my heroes in my younger days after she won election to the British parliament in 1969 as a 21-year old and then punched Reginald Maulding the British Home Secretary in the face when he abused the civil rights protestors murdered by British forces in Derry in 1972.

McCann and Devlin feature strongly in movies chronicling the Irish civil rights struggle from the late 1960s, including the dramatisation Bloody Sunday. Devlin McAlisky and her husband were shot in front of their children in 1981. Bernadette was hit 14 times! It is a fantastic testament to their courage and determination that they remain leaders today.

Alongside the 73-year-old McCann People Before Profit’s Gerry Carroll won a seat in West Belfast.

The 28-year old community anti-austerity activist topped the poll by a huge margin.

From left: Gerry Carroll (PBP MP in North), Joe Carolan, Brid Smith (PBP MP in Republic), Bernadette Devlin McAliskey.

The establishment was shocked. While only taking two seats it was an electoral earthquake because it directly challenged the entire sectarian framework of politics in the North. The election message was “Neither Green nor Orange but up for the fight”. The socialist candidates consciously sought to take their message to workers in communities other than those considered “Catholic” or “Nationalist”. On taking their seats in the Assembly they also refused to designate themselves by the old sectarian divides and asked to be designated as “Other”.

The Irish are rising again in their millions. Their country is very similar to New Zealand both in population and economic structure. Unfortunately, like Ireland, it looks like the ruling rich of this country are preparing us for a renewed crisis of the system when the property bubble collapses and takes our banks with them. We must be prepared to fight the inevitable attempts to force a new round of austerity on us to save their system from their own crises.

We have been through this once before in the late 1980s and early 1990s. We don’t need to go through the defeats of that period again before we get up off our knees and learn to fight.

Here we can learn from Ireland. That country’s revolutionary heritage is being reborn.
It has filled me with inspiration and I hope that we can learn from and emulate their spirit here.

(Mike will continue his journey next week)

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Of course the homeless turned down ‘help’ from WINZ and Housing NZ!

By

Martyn Bradbury

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June 3, 2016

22

Paula Henry and his right wing panel were shocked this morning on the Paul Henry Morning Insult Show because the ‘flying squads’ sent in by Paula and John Key to offer ‘help’ to the homeless living in cars were rejected.

This has launched a chorus of ‘they are choosing to stay homeless’.

Such thinking is beneath contempt and only highlights how far up their own arse the right wing mainstream media really are.

Please explain how being offered a cheap and nasty motel where the homeless have to pay back the cost helps the homeless? How does getting a $50 000 debt a solution? We know this is what bloody WINZ and Housing NZ do, they are putting the homeless into dirty motels and charging the homeless for the pleasure, of course the homeless told these flying squads to go jump. Yet the mainstream media can’t comprehend that.

A one way ticket out of Auckland with $5000 is not a solution, building more state houses rather than selling them is.

We have a homeless problem and an empathy problem in this country.

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Waatea 5th Estate – Left Wing Jedi Council debate the Labour-Green MoU

By

The Daily Blog

-

June 3, 2016

7

Joining us tonight to discuss the Labour Green Civil Union and what it actually means for the 2017 election, the Left Wing Jedi Council comprising of…

In studio, former Green Party Campaign Strategist, former Alliance Party MP, former Internet Party leader and current owner of ethical and living wage seafood restaurant – Laila Harre

One of The most respected voices in NZ unionism – the General Secretary of First Union – the legendary Robert Reid

Former Alliance Party candidate, political media blogger and lecturer at AUT School of Communication – Dr Wayne Hope

Former Green Party MP and human rights activist – Keith Locke

And on Skype – one of the best political commentators in NZ – Otago University Politics guru – Bryce Edwards

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The Daily Blog

Upper Hutt residents mobilise to fight State House sell-off

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Rest in Power – Muhammad Ali – No Viet Cong Called Me Nigger

Patrick Gower Plays Fantasy Cabinet Football. Loses. – A Response From An NZ First Perspective

Andrew Little’s Speech to Green Party AGM – one of his best ever

435 lies by John Key

Political Caption Competition

The Daily Blog Open Mic – Saturday – 4th June 2016

Waatea 5th Estate – The infamous Friday Night Political Wrap Show

Joining us tonight for our infamous Friday night political wrap of the week…

Skulduggery at Green Party Conference

Key just lies about the Salvation Army helping the homeless for him – media ask him if he’d shoot a gorilla

Rachel Glucina scalped by Scout

Four Limericks For The Queen’s Birthday

Ireland Rising 1916 to 2016

Of course the homeless turned down ‘help’ from WINZ and Housing NZ!

Waatea 5th Estate – Left Wing Jedi Council debate the Labour-Green MoU

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Joining us tonight for our infamous Friday night political wrap of the week…

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Foreign policy + Intel + Security Subscribe | Follow | Bookmarkand join Buchanan & Manning LIVE Thursdays @ midday MIL Public Webcast Service

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