act
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Sick
Written By: - Date published: 9:54 pm, March 10th, 2009 - 48 comments
ACT MP David Garrett is quickly becoming a sick joke. Asked today about the fact more prisoners will be assaulted or raped by their cellmates if the Government brings in double-bunking, he replied: “The fact is if you don’t want to be assaulted – or worse – by a cellmate, avoid prison by not committing […]
Private prisons and the ‘tough on crime’ lobby
Written By: - Date published: 10:25 am, March 10th, 2009 - 31 comments
One of the features of a privatised prison system is the potential for corruption of the political process by the commercial interests of private prison operators. Thanks to Tom in the comments it’s come to light that GEO Group, the company formerly known as Wackenhut and main contendor for National’s privatised prisons, has funded ‘tough […]
ACT’s dodgy backroom deals?
Written By: - Date published: 3:43 pm, March 5th, 2009 - 63 comments
This is interesting. From the Greens’ Metiria Turei: Last night on TVNZ7’s political show Backbenches, Rodney Hide commented that ACT had supported the Whanganui [Gang Insignia] Bill to “get Three Strikes through”. In 2006 Mr Hide was positively sneering at Chester Borrows attempt to ban gang patches. Now it seems ACT has done a backroom […]
Some cold day in hell
Written By: - Date published: 1:10 pm, March 5th, 2009 - 30 comments
Observant msm spectators may have noticed this gem from TV1 news last night: ‘A radical shake-up of the controversial Seabed and Foreshore Act is on the cards it could result in new powers for Maori to test their rights in court, but John Key is vowing no New Zealander will lose their access to the […]
Buyer’s remorse
Written By: - Date published: 12:37 pm, March 3rd, 2009 - 69 comments
It’s well known that David Garrett is only in Parliament as ACT’s payoff for their support from the Sensible Sentencing Trust. I’m guessing right about now they must be having some serious buyer’s remorse. The buffoon is in the Herald again today after the Attorney General found his three strikes bill to be at odds […]
Welcome to the real ACT party
Written By: - Date published: 12:34 pm, March 3rd, 2009 - 7 comments
This their slogan: “ACT – the liberal party” This is the reality: “We’ve got too hung up on people’s rights.”
Documenting Act
Written By: - Date published: 8:39 pm, March 2nd, 2009 - 15 comments
One of the things I’ve been following in the last few weeks and keep meaning to post about is Bryce Edwards’ series on the history of the Act party. I don’t know how he’s managed to do it (let alone why) but in a brave and foolish act Edwards has waded into the strange and […]
Act MP caught out
Written By: - Date published: 12:56 pm, February 25th, 2009 - 44 comments
Rethinking Crime and Punishment Director, Kim Workman, has caught Act MP David Garrett being less than honest about how many extra prisoners his draconian three strike law world create (the answer is about 14,000). In a particularly aggressive media release yesterday Garrett claimed Workman’s figures were false. Unfortunately for Garrett, Workman’s OIA request on the […]
On ACT’s three strikes policy
Written By: - Date published: 11:42 am, February 18th, 2009 - 14 comments
ACT’s infamous three-strikes-and-you’re-out policy will get a first airing in the House tomorrow when the Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill is introduced. Violent and sexual offenders will face harsher penalties each time they reoffend – a first “strike” will earn a warning, a second will get a no-parole jail term, and a third a life […]
Clown incites lawbreaking.
Written By: - Date published: 8:25 am, February 5th, 2009 - 56 comments
Clown Rodney Hide is the Minister of Local Government. He is also the lead clown of the long-time opposition circus that is the ACT party. It appears that he has the two roles confused. He is advocating that people ignore the law on gaining building permissions. Local governments enforce those building regulations. Those regulations are […]
No room for Roger
Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, February 2nd, 2009 - 8 comments
Roger Kerr from the Business Roundtable is full of advice for the Government’s upcoming jobs summit in today’s Dom Post. Which is unfortunate for Rog’, because according to my sources he won’t be getting an invite. Neither will Alasdair Thompson, the mildly unhinged chief executive of EMA Northern who famously lost his rag against Trevor […]
ACT snaps up Hollow Men star
Written By: - Date published: 1:50 pm, December 1st, 2008 - 5 comments
The Sunday Star Times reported yesterday that ACT had “snapped up” former Brash advisor Peter Keenan, one of the lead stars of Nicky Hager’s The Hollow Men. The Hollow Men revealed, among other things, that Mr Keenan counselled Dr Brash to campaign on populist issues such as law and order and the Treaty of Waitangi […]
Act lied and gets away with it
Written By: - Date published: 2:21 pm, November 30th, 2008 - 11 comments
At the Media Law Journal, Wellington based media lawyer Steven Price has been looking at the recent decisions of the Advertising Standards Complaint Board (a self-regulatory body) related to the election. There are a series of them and the decisions are weird. More importantly they are ineffectual in the great tradition of industry self-regulatory bodies. […]
Snouts in the trough
Written By: - Date published: 3:57 pm, November 16th, 2008 - 68 comments
No Right Turn blogs on the National/ACT coalition agreement. Of particular interest is the clause he’s pulled out that shows ACT will be funded by the taxpayer for consultants and research: To enable ACT to make a substantive contribution to the government’s programme, it will have adequate access to funding, in a bulk form or […]
National gives ACT consumer affairs
Written By: - Date published: 9:18 am, November 13th, 2008 - 37 comments
John Key’s got to be taking the piss with his decision to appoint ACT MP Heather Roy as Minister of Consumer Affairs in the new National/ACT government. I guess it could have been worse (say, ACT in charge of Labour or Social Development) but you do have to wonder how the Consumer Guarantees Act and […]
The distances between parties
Written By: - Date published: 12:53 pm, November 9th, 2008 - 5 comments
Just before the election They Work For You released some impressive work on the voting distances between parties based on:- There are 110 final bill reading votes included in the analysis. All the votes are from the 48th New Zealand Parliament which was in term between 7 November 2005 and 3 October 2008. The plot […]
Making the decision
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, November 7th, 2008 - 56 comments
Have you still not decided who you’ll vote for? The final poll shows the race between a National/ACT/United Future or a Labour/Green/Progressive/Maori government is neck and neck, so your choice matters. Here is some advice and tools that may help: When choosing who to vote for there are three things you should consider: policy – […]
How does ACT fit in?
Written By: - Date published: 10:54 am, November 3rd, 2008 - 10 comments
I have my doubts about the veracity of Meurant’s statements as he is well known for bigging himself up as a hard man and all of this “politicians in our pockets” stuff certainly fits that description. But the media is treating them as potentially damning and so are many rightwing commentators so I guess there […]
A clear choice on ACC
Written By: - Date published: 9:59 am, October 29th, 2008 - 48 comments
If you vote National, United Future, or ACT, you will be voting for the ACC system to be privatised. Consequences of this include: – $200 million in profits flowing offshore, according to John Key’s former employers Merril Lynch – higher levies on most workers, as private insurers cherry-pick the most profitable for themselves, leaving the […]
Here be dragons
Written By: - Date published: 10:02 pm, October 25th, 2008 - 20 comments
So, we can all make up dumb pictures and say ‘beware of many-headed monsters’. Let’s, instead, ask if National’s attack makes sense. First, any new government is going to need support from a number of parties. A Labour-led government is likely to be dependent on Labour, the Progressives, Greens, and the Maori Party (four parties). […]
Caught in the ACT
Written By: - Date published: 7:43 am, October 24th, 2008 - 48 comments
The Dom Post reports that ACT will have to file amended returns after failing to declare $20,000 of donated office space. Luckily for ACT nobody found out until they got past the time-limit for prosecution. Rodney Hide is, of course, not embarrassed. I’m reminded of that proverb about glass-houses.
Sensible Sentencing Trust in drag?
Written By: - Date published: 7:44 pm, October 19th, 2008 - 29 comments
Act have run an anti-crime protest outside of Mt Eden today and it was particularly theatrical by the sound of it with lots of coffin lids and whatnot. ACT have never done anything like this before. But the Sensible Sentencing Trust certainly has. I’ve asked before why the trust has refused to register as a […]
Party like you matter
Written By: - Date published: 8:17 pm, October 18th, 2008 - 55 comments
There’s so much to comment on about the policies and parties that matter that we hardly ever get to time to mention ACT. But I couldn’t resist this brochure from the zero tolerance liberals: (it says ‘not your typical party’ in the yellow box) Thoughts: – did ACT think they were the first to see […]
Compliments and questions
Written By: - Date published: 3:20 pm, September 18th, 2008 - 25 comments
First, it’s nice to be pleasantly surprised by a tory. Turns out Tony Friedlander’s Road Transport Trust is not just donating to National. As well as $30K to the Nats, Labour got $20K and other parties will get something as well to help the democratic process. Can’t help but notice National got the most though. […]
ACT’s fifth Candidate?
Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, September 18th, 2008 - 54 comments
The word around the traps is that ACT will be announcing the name of its mystery 5th list candidate at its Law and Order policy launch this weekend and it’s rumoured that the candidate will be David Garrett. Garrett is a Barrister and is also a legal advisor to the Sensible Sentencing Trust who drafted […]
Nothing to Hide? + more moaning
Written By: - Date published: 3:50 pm, September 15th, 2008 - 46 comments
Prime is running a series of interviews every Sunday until the election with the leader of each party in Parliament, starting with Rodney Hide last night. It was surprisingly good. Hosted by Bill Ralston with a panel of Barry Soper, Audrey Young, and Colin Espiner, some good questions were asked and Hide himself was good […]
The truth behind the Shawn Tan affair
Written By: - Date published: 1:27 pm, September 10th, 2008 - 43 comments
For the last several weeks the EPMU has had to weather an extraordinary series of attacks from ACT, ACT candidate and EPMU employee Shawn Tan, and right-wing activist/Herald journalist Lincoln Tan. The union has been accused of breaching Tan’s human rights and racism but it has had to respond to these attacks with one hand […]
ACT unauthorised
Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, September 5th, 2008 - 43 comments
ACT: the guts to do what’s right1 2 1. except when it comes to properly authorising our election advertisements 2. oh, and global warming
Guest Post: Herald like a blow-hard blogger on Tan
Written By: - Date published: 4:12 pm, August 29th, 2008 - 32 comments
After a fair summary of the facts as they stand, the Herald enters the realm of the right-wing blogger, always ready to paint its opponent with the worst possible spin, and then build on that as if on fact: ‘That version of events avoids, as it must, any hint of the suspension being politically motivated. […]
Reflections on Shawn Tan
Written By: - Date published: 7:46 pm, August 23rd, 2008 - 57 comments
There’s a lot of heat but not much light in the debate about the EPMU’s suspension of Shawn Tan. What we know from the media is that Tan was told he had to seek approval from the union’s national executive in line with his collective agreement and the rules of the union and then failed […]
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