Best Affair Blog, Cactus Kate
Best News Item, The Election Result
Best Dressed in Yellow, Rodney Hide
Best Person to Suffer a Hangover for, Cactus Kate
Best Airline First Class, Emirates
Best Electorate Result,
Best Rural Blog, Home Paddock
Best Newspaper, The Telegraph
Best Unmitigated Crap Blog, The Stranded
Best Experince, Upside Down in my Aircraft
Best Wine Drank, 04 Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc
Mr Hemmings' funeral yesterday was a very sad affair and he deserves recognition for paying the ultimate price for his bravery in helping a woman in need.
Watching Brief believes that he should be posthumously awarded the New Zealand Cross formerly known as the George Cross.
Stuff are reporting that "The Treasury opened the books for incoming prime minister John Key today, and he was not greatly concerned by what he saw.
After meeting Treasury secretary John Whitehead and senior officials, Mr Key told reporters the situation had deteriorated "a little bit" since the pre-election fiscal update.
"They are more pessimistic but I wouldn't describe it as Armageddon," he said."
All WB can say is what a relief that we finally have a PM that understands numbers in a fiscal sense rather than an ex PM who only saw numbers in terms of 'how many of the great unwashed that I need to convince (bribe) to keep me in power."
“I was terribly shy, because of the lack of contact with other children. There were no others in the area and when I went to primary school I developed a lot of psychosomatic illnesses from having to mix with other kids.
“I had a very narrow social experience. There are still [as of 1984] whole slices of New Zealand I’ve never been in contact with and don’t feel at ease with. Like the business community. I’ve never had much to do with middle class urban New Zealand.”
WB would suggest that in 2008 Clark has exactly the same unease as in 1984.Over at http://www.pundit.co.nz Nicky Hager says (in italics) the following, after which WB has added comments.
“A presidential-style focus on John Key, that serves to keep people's minds off the line-up of 1990s privatisers, deregulators and social service-cutters who would make up much of a National-ACT Cabinet. “
Very interesting. Is there not also a presidential-style focus by the left on Helen Clark?
The very same Helen Clark when she was Deputy PM in the Lange/Palmer Labour government personally signed off on the sale and privatization of more state assets than at any other time before or since such as Air New Zealand (1989), New Zealand Steel (1987), Petrocorp (1989), Postbank (1989), Telecom NZ (1990) and Works Corporation (1989).
The contrast with John Key could not be more stark, Helen Clark sold state assets, John Key has said he will not.
“ Not releasing policy, not answering questions and not debating policy except when it suits them; and now, mid-election campaign, releasing "policy" that is little more than publicity stunts and too late for proper scrutiny.”
WB notes that Labour are saying that following the election they will bring in a mini budget to address the economy……..but we have no idea of what it contains.
“An orchestrated campaign to knock Winston Peters and the New Zealand First Party out of the election, thereby (they hope) swinging the MMP balance in National's favour. (Remarkably, there has been almost no discussion about where this campaign came from, why it is happening now and who stands to benefit from it.) “
This Hager comment is the ultimate in irony given his comments “that the Electoral Finance Bill is the sort of legislation you would expect to see introduced by the Nazi party.” A piece of legislation that his beloved NZ First Part voted for.
Or are you so deluded Nicky that you think you can sell the idea of another work of fiction purporting to chronicle the vast conspiracy to demolish Winston Peters as opposed to the facts as reported by Phil Kitchin, an award winning journalist.
Nicky Hager you are not a journalist, you are unable to see the world through a neutral pair of eyes and then follow the evidence, you are simply just another foot soldier of the left, that is blinded by ideology, a person who in the the 1940’s would be known as Goebbels
The NZ Herald reports that Mr Peters yesterday put forward a radical proposal to float shares in Kiwibank, with their sale restricted to New Zealanders, and channel all the Government's $55 billion a year business through it.
But Mr
With Labour and the Greens both opposed to the sale of Kiwi Bank how on earth can the voting public expect that a coalition of the left including NZ First ever hope to form a cohesive government.
As an aside obviously Mr. Peters believes that a signed pledge to the Anderton Party is a another forgery.
In a press release dated 7 October 2008, Rick Barker said "Decorative birth certificates available now"
WB wonders if Rick Barker decided that because a recent immigrant seemed to have a number of "decorative documents" then all New Zealanders should have the same opportunity.
(1) A member of a statutory entity holds office for—
(a) 3 years or any shorter period stated in the notice of appointment, in the case of a member of a Crown agent or autonomous Crown entity; or
(b) 5 years or any shorter period stated in the notice of appointment, in the case of a member of an independent Crown entity.
Mr Hemmings' funeral yesterday was a very sad affair and he deserves recognition for paying the ultimate price for his bravery in helping a woman in need.
Watching Brief believes that he should be posthumously awarded the New Zealand Cross formerly known as the George Cross.
Helen Clark said "Hard Hats On" WB would suggest that Clark is advising her pinko left wing colleagues to put their hard hats on to protect themselves from her vomit inducing drivel from her comments as reported in http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10532691 saying
"Had National got into Government it would have sent troops to Iraq and on a pro-rata basis, considering 4000 US troops were killed, there would be 60 body bags coming home,"
This from a Prime Minister who was and is still prepared to have our SAS troops on the front line in Afghanistan, and whom as witnessed by Corporal Willie Apiata's, well deserved VC are actually fighting under her watch.
The hypocrisy of this cunning conniving women knows no bounds.
To draw our Defence Forces (which her Government has done their best to emasculate) into her self serving quest for another term in power, quite simply shows the depths of her shonky government.
A PM who has one rule for her own colleagues but another one for Winston Peters simply proves that she is not fit to be Prime Minister but moreover suggests that her hand ringing attendance at so many of our remembrance ceremonies were more designed for photo ops rather than any deep seated respect for those which our country put in harm's way.
“Given his background in Merrill Lynch, which has just gone belly up, I would have thought New Zealanders would come to the conclusion you wouldn’t put a man like that in charge of New Zealand’s economy,”
Or
Bank of America confirmed it will pay $29 a share to acquire Merrill, which is a 70% premium on its closing price of $17.05 on Friday
WB has had a look at Chris Trotter’s or is it Chris Trotsky’s latest blog (http://www.policy.net.nz/)
WB wonders if Chris Trotter would be more at home in a time shift back to the the days when the USSR pretended to be a voice from the left (as well as trying to extend its hegemony world wide), his blog is imbued with the grammar from Orwell’s Animal Farm with phrases and comments such as business-friendly neotribal (sic) capitalists, working class compatriots and pakeha ruling class.
Trotters closing comment seems to lament the time when The Listener was the left’s mouthpiece with the comment “It’s a tragedy that this once proud (my words left wing) publication has sunk to the intellectual level of this week’s editorial”
WB has taken an interest in DPF’s blog (http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2008/09/labour_never_learn.html) and quotes “Labour have learnt nothing from the Electoral Finance Act. It was a partisan attempt to skew the electoral laws in their favour. And they have done it again their announcement of an expert panel to review electoral administration and political party funding.”
So, WB decided to look at who exactly is on the panel;
First we have
Professor Stephen Levine who was the founding Head of the School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations at Victoria University of Wellington
Associate Professor Andrew Geddis of
WB notes that Peter Brown is saying that NZ First's not declaring the Spencer Trust donation of $50,000 was a genuine mistake http://www.stuff.co.nz/4678140a6160.html
The Maori Side Tour is the brainchild of TV presenter and musician, Kimo Winiata according to his own press release of 18 August, http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0808/S00309.htm
WB hopes that the supposedly non partisan NZ Electoral Commission will not be committing tax payer dollars to such a partisan undertaking
Fran O’Sullivan writes in the NZ Herald today (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10527921)
about the appointment of political cronies to government controlled entities she says that an incoming National Government will not be able to re balance appointments “until the next rollover period for SOE and crown company directorships in April 2009. Some 80-100 of these directorships become available each year. The real problem will be down at pygmy level: The myriad smaller jobs (some 140 in five weeks) into which Labour has stacked party favourites. This is where the pressure should go - unfortunately the rollover times will be years away.”
Watching Brief is of the view that National should pass legislation as soon as possible after the election that terminates without compensation all political appointments to government entities that were made in the previous Government’s term of office upon the appointee receiving a months notice from the appropriate Minister. This will enable any future incoming Government to “clear the decks” particularly of those overt political appointments such as Mike Williams and Dianne Yates.
Associate Health Ministers Damien O’Connor and Steve Chadwick last Friday gave their support to promote the breastfeeding ‘Big Latch On’ event, which aims to break the record for simultaneous breastfeeding and marks the beginning of World Breastfeeding Week.
Watching Brief has no doubt that O’Conner and Chadwick are enthusiastic about “latching on” after all their Party and fellow cohorts are the biggest suckers of the tax payers’ tit since records began.
Commerce Minister Lianne Dalziel yesterday announced the appointment of Donal Curtin as Deputy Chair of the Commerce Commission for a five-year term.
Watching Brief wonders if this is the same Donal Curtin who until last week was the chairman of troubled financial advisory group Vestar's investment committee.
News reports (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/index.cfm?c_id=3) say that forty-five Vestar clients are preparing a case against their former financial advisers, the directors of Vestar and its investment committee for giving them poor advice and ploughing millions into finance companies which have since hit trouble. Many were put into the same six finance companies - Bridgecorp, Capital + Merchant, OPI Pacific Finance, MFS Boston, St Laurence and Property Finance. OPI Pacific Finance and MFS Boston were owned by the same company that owned Vestar. The case is likely to include alleged breaches of the Fair Trading Act, which is monitored by the Commerce Commission.
