Will there be Mana in the House...

There will be MANA in the house ? At long last!

"Something very important happened on Saturday night. For the first time in nearly a century, a revolutionary was elected to the New Zealand Parliament." - Chris Trotter, 28 June 2011



At 2pm on Thursday 14 July 2011, Hone Harawira will be called back into the house where he will be sworn in and take his seat as the leader of MANA, Movement of the People.



Following his swearing in, Hone will give his first speech as MANA leader and its first MP. All supporters of MANA are invited to join with his whanau from the Tai Tokerau to celebrate this wonderful occasion

Voxy NZ

KR says:

Well, thats the opinion of Voxy, but I'm waiting for the general elections. A good win there for Mr Mana could well see a change in the political system here in NZ. A wonderful occasion? I think that is a little premature. The great political redeemer, champion of the poor? I remember Hone as the rascist big-mouth Maori seperatist son of Titiiwhai the rabid female rabble-rouser with a doubtful past . Does a leopard change its spots? Bullshit and jellybeans, perhaps!

The Alliance Party condemns Attorney General's intervention in sleepover court case...

Alliance condemns Attorney General’s intervention in sleepover pay court case



The Alliance Party believes that the Attorney General’s decision to apply to the Supreme Court for permission to intervene yet again in the IHC sleep over case shows how little regard the government has for low paid workers and for disabled people.

The Alliance believes that the Government would be better advised to spend the money it is using to fight the case on helping to pay sleepover workers a decent pay rate instead, says Alliance Disability Issues Spokesperson Chris Ford.

“With or without the Attorney General, the Supreme Court will rule against them, as has the Employment Court and the Court of Appeal. Therefore, the whole exercise is a blatant waste of taxpayer’s money.”

“What exactly is wrong with paying disability support workers a decent wage and paying them for all of the hours they work? Nobody should have to work 16 hours for eight hours wages, especially not at the miserly hourly rates support workers are paid. This would not be tolerated in any other sector.”

The government can afford to increase funding to IHC and other disability support providers to enable them to pay their workers adequately for the very valuable work that they do.

But they choose not to because they don’t consider the disability sector important enough. They prefer to spend taxpayer’s money on such things as tax cuts for the wealthy, rugby tournaments, stadiums, cycle tracks, and BMWs for MPs.

“The Alliance Party believes it is time to reprioritize and spend money where it really matters, so that all New Zealanders earn a liveable wage and that those in need of support receive the assistance they require to live a decent life,” says Mr. Ford.

The Alliance fully supports the SFWU in their fight for justice for support workers and disabled people and calls on all other political parties to do the same.

KR says: Good question. Why is the government doing this? For the same reason they won't raise the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour.

Three stikes for serious crimes only...

Three strikes and you are out? Yeah right! Just more of that watered down legislation we have come to expect from this watered down government. Just get John Key to give one of his dopey grins and evrything should be alright.

It now applies only to capital type crimes of murder, rapes, serious assaults etc. If it had applied across the board as suggested by right wing election campaigners, new prisons would have to be built to accomodate such criminals.

Helen clark spending her holiday in NZ...

Helen Clark spending holiday in NZ...

Former prime minister Helen Clark is spending her holiday back home in New Zealand.

She says she is enjoying time out from her busy job as head of the United Nations Development Programme.

Helen Clark will spend time at the beach and in the countryside, and hopes to do some hiking as well before returning to New York City in the new year.

Come back Helen - your country needs you. A smiling political lightweight just doesn't do it for me. The key doesn't fit the lock, either!

Acknowledgements: - NEWSTALK ZB

Somebody moved some rocks...

Somebody moved some rocks and something horrible wriggled out from underneath.

Something that has lain dormant for a few years - the souls of the 1980's and the 1990's - something horrible and yellow, just like Rodney Hide's jacket. The stench was unbearable - those rotten New Right policies that nearly disembowelled New Zealand society - that P word! Not methamphetamine but almost as bad for New Zealand and its people.

Privatisation!!! Yes, you may shout!!! But privatisation of the welfare system. The target would be massive reductions in welfare benefits with massive incentives too!

With unemployment at 50,000 and rising just like the 1990's and expected to climb to 90,000 in a year.

Well Johnnie Key, people are often judged by those they associate with. In your case the politically naieve Maori Party and the well discredited ACT Party.