By Salient | 8 Sep, 2008
Peters’ shit might not stink!
After two months of constant media coverage it turns out that Winston Peters’/New Zealand First’s financial woes were just a big fuck up. Late last week Winnie stood down from his ministerial roles but is still playing with his baubles. He is set to appear in front of the privileges committee again, as is Owen Glenn. More
By Salient | 1 Sep, 2008
Tasers are back in
The Government has decided to arm the police around the country with taser stun guns. This was against strong opposition from the Greens – who don’t want to get zapped at radical anti-America or Tuhoe Eight protests. More
By Michael Oliver | 11 Aug, 2008
Sometimes when the night time sky isn’t besieged by cloud and the moon is in its seventh phase with Jupiter aligning with Mars, the gentle sweep of a shooting star across the rim of the horizon heralds the rising of a peculiar looking constellation. More
By Salient |
The main story of the week was National fucking up, well actually it was a multiple fuckup fail fest. Firstly outgoing MP for Tauranga, Bob Clarkson thanked the 150 or so brethren that aided his campaign, this is after vehemently denying their assistance during the 2005 election. More
By Salient | 4 Aug, 2008
How did you become involved in politics?
I came back to New Zealand at the end of 2001 and I looked at New Zealand, and I saw that we were really falling behind relative to a lot of the countries we like to compare ourselves to. I looked at the state of some of our things, like the hospital system, the resources we have for our public services, and looked at where our economy was going. More
By Salient |
Condoleezza Rice came to New Zealand. Auckland University Students’ Association offered a reward for her arrest. She met with Winston, Helen and some other people. At a press conference Duncan Garner made a fool of himself and made New Zealand look like Hicksville, and questioned Winston More
By Salient | 28 Jul, 2008
This week nothing actually happened in New Zealand politics. Media coverage about the going ons of our politicians has focused on Winston Peters getting money, spending money and not declaring money. Salient says, who cares! We don’t. More
By James Wood | 14 Jul, 2008
A maiden speech is much more than the first speech a Member of Parliament delivers to the House of Representatives. It is a mission statement, an introduction and a generally a tribute to the people from their electorate and to past Members who have held the seat they now sit in. More
By Jackson and Conrad |
Looks like we got ourselves a convoy
This week truckies around the country took to their rigs to protest a $200 increase in their road user charges, the second since 1989. Truckies indiscriminately burnt over $200 of precious diesel fuel in protest driving around main centres clogging the streets, tooting their fucking horns and making me late for brunch and Conrad angry (He wants a free ride too). More
By Conrad Reyners |
Political Reporter Conrad Reyners sat down with Labour Party hopeful Jordan Carter. They discussed economics, homosexual politics, blogging, and other interesting things. For the full interview see www.Salient.org.nz/blog
More
By Jackson Wood | 7 Jul, 2008
The group are sitting in Pravda cafe, inner city Wellington. Mr. Blonde, Mr. Blue, Mr. Brown, Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink, Mr. White, Joe Cabot and his son, “Nice Guy” Eddie are gathered around a table.
Mr. Brown discusses his comparative analysis on Kelis’ “Milkshake” being all about the dick. More
By Matthew Cunningham |
Evil global corporations. Trashy tabloid magazines. The dreaded ‘McJob’. These are just some of the many responses I have heard lately to the question of the American signature on the modern world. And what do they all have in common? Well, unless you enjoy reading about the latest scandalous exploits of Lindsay Lohan and the Hilton gang, they all paint the United States in an unwaveringly negative light. This ‘negative light’ represents a very distinct trend in popular opinion these days – a trend that paints America as the evil big brother of the global community. More
By Jackson Wood |
ACC = Australian Cash Cow
This week National revealed one of their post-election plans to open up workplace accident insurance to private competition. Merrill Lynch, a company Key used to work for, released a report that suggests around about $200 million would go to Australian insurance companies if this happened. Key says they have no plans to privatise ACC, to which Helen Clark said that his promise is “not worth the paper it is written on.” More
By Matthew Proctor | 26 May, 2008
On 16 May, Finance Minister Michael Cullen declared that lower interest rates would be of greater help to families than tax cuts. This column was going to be called “No, Dr Cullen, you’re wrong”. I stand by that; tax cuts mean more cash in pocket than a slight reduction in interest rates. More
By Jackson Wood |
My eyes glaze over as the treasury official hands me about two KG’s of paper thick with numbers, pie charts and line graphs. I am informed that the budget is embargoed till 2:45pm and that the Cullenator will be talking at 12ish. More
By Emma Daken |
When did you first become interested in politics, and was there someone, or something that inspired you?
“I was brought up in a family that has always argued, and debated politics, and been involved in the fringes of the parties. So I was always very conscience of politics, but hadn’t been an active participant, or an active party member. Farming politics to a large extent, and then general politics. My father comes from a big family, mostly farming but with a number of Labour supporters, but dad was a National party supporter, so it was just good healthy, political debate.”
What has been your most memorable moment as a Member of Parliament so far?
“Being able to negotiate with my colleagues, through the difficult period of the end to indigenous logging on the West Coast. To be able to negotiate a package that has been hugely beneficial to the region and then encourage them to get on and make use of the opportunities in front of them.”
What is the hardest part about being a politician?
“I think it is trying to get 25 hours work into 24 hours of the day. There is so much to do, and so many great things that you can get involved with and influence. Prioritisation is always an ongoing challenge. Making sure that you don’t dwell on mistakes, just get on and look at the next challenge, rather than procrastinate, or reflect on some sort of bad decisions.”
In your opinion, what is the biggest issue currently facing tertiary students?
“I think it is ensuring that the New Zealand that they look to participate in, in the future, is one that they have control over, in terms of ownership, and direction. One that they are enthusiastic about, so that they can commit to a career, in the knowledge that they will get reward, satisfaction, and not end up being frustrated – either from a career perspective, from a family perspective, or general community. We have to build a nation that shares in basic values, that retains as much ownership in key strategic assets, a community that knows it has a real say over its future direction. Students have to know that the skills they are acquiring, have a place within New Zealand”.
Do you think the Government should play a role in solving the problem of student debt?
“It has participated by providing the opportunities for education, for providing opportunities to acquire the debt. But shared responsibility, shared efforts, are probably the best way to do that. A whole lot more people now have acquired tertiary education because of the structure that has been laid down and it is very hard to turn that around over night. We have to make sure that students don’t acquire a debt that they see as insurmountable, and that it suppresses their… I guess enthusiasm, for their career choice”.
What do you see yourself doing upon exiting politics?
“It’s hard for most people to consider life beyond politics while you are in it. When you are on the very interesting and fascinating merry-go-round, no one wants to step off, and stand still. So I think there are a number of areas that I would see as very challenging. I guess I would have to find something as challenging, as stimulating.
What is the best advice you have ever been given, and who gave it to you?
“My father has always told me, that you can always get on, and do whatever you want. You’ve just got to be determined to set your mind on something. I have never been very good at organised planning, and strategic planning, but in the back of my mind I always set goals, that usually I never express, but they are there, and I have usually got there maybe through good luck, but probably through determination.”
Who are 3 people you would most like to meet?
“Bill Clinton: I think he has achieved some amazing Mana within international politics and it would be interesting to try and analyze. Michael Schumacher; as someone who is an incredibly talented athlete, and I guess from a petrol heads perspective, someone who has achieved incredible outcomes. I meet so many interesting people, and they come in all shapes and sizes. I picked up a hitchhiker the other day who was from the Czech Republic – he was about 50, he is a professional musician, he has gone through the changes in the Czech Republic from East to Western Europe. Been allowed to escape. Been to New Zealand 8 times, is just in love with the country. He has a fascinating history, in terms of his determination to get on, he is still a professional musician. People like that are so inspiring.
Week on the Blogs
This week Jackson bogged about Joel’s t-shirt antics and like totally dominated all the weasels that tried to drag his personal life into their argument. The record was broken for comments on the website with the post hitting 147 comments in five days.
Conrad wrote about the latest polls and posted a hilarious vid of the family party.
Comment of the Week
No one was actually funny enough to get it this week and I self indulged last week by giving it to myself, so this week no one get it. Sukkas.
By Emma Daken | 19 May, 2008
You have been a main proponent of the anti Electoral Finance Act. How would you change the Electoral Finance Act?
The most important change would be to shrink the regulated period, to about 3 months before the election. That has worked for the last 50 or 60 years. More
By Jackson Wood |
Dear [EXPLETIVE DELETED] people,
[EXPLETIVE DELETED] you. I’m sick and tired of you and your [EXPLETIVE DELETED] [EXPLETIVE DELETED]. Seriously. New Zealand is a [EXPLETIVE DELETED] infuriating place. More
By Conrad Reyners |
Someone really fucked off god over the last two weeks. Showing a childish, immature and misanthropic nature he/ she/it wrecked havoc upon two incredibly heavily populated regions of the world. Both areas happened to be in Asia. What a racist. More
