Transtasman Political Letter – 19 March Digest

Friday, 21 March 2008, 11:52 am
Column: Trans Tasman

Transtasman Political Letter – 19 March Digest

Transtasman is a subscriber newsletter published weekly and read widely in New Zealand and abroad. The following is a summary of this week's edition. To subscribe and read the full newsletter see.. http://Transtasman.co.nz

19th March 2008
Renewed carnage on global financial markets sends shudders through NZ economy...
Govt holds firm on its “prudent” fiscal line...
Bean counters in IRD have a bad day, but it’s $600m of good news for Michael Cullen...
Health Board inquiry a vindication says Cunliffe, a whitewash say former board members...
Miners could rescue economy teetering on recession...
And Peter Dunne begins to distance himself from Labour.

Carnage On Global Markets - Will The Pain Deepen Here?

Renewed carnage in global financial markets sent a shudder through the local share market, raising fresh fears NZ is heading into a slump of the kind which followed the 1987 share market crash.

Consumer Confidence Haemorrhaging

The Govt may have gained a degree of confidence from the latest Colmar Brunton poll which shows the gap between National and its own ranking has closed by four points.

IRD’s $600m Cock-Up

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In what appears to be the cock-up of the year, Inland Revenue has confessed to a $600m error in reporting January tax revenue.

Health Board Inquiry A Pointless Exercise?

The inquiry into management of conflicts of interest in the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board has left Health Minister David Cunliffe asserting he’s been vindicated, and the sacked Board claiming the inquiry was a “whitewash.”

CAPITAL TALK

Speculation Helen Clark might aim for the post of Director-General of the International Labour Office is way off.

Play Of The Week: Tibetan Tightrope

When the Soviets marched into Afghanistan in 1979 NZ’s protest was somewhat muted. As satirist Tom Scott acerbically noted at the time, there were a number of Russian troops wearing uniforms containing NZ wool, and quite a few of them would have been chowing down on lamb chops raised in the McKenzie Country.

Transtasman is a subscriber newsletter published weekly and read widely in New Zealand and abroad. The above is a summary of this week's edition. To subscribe and read the full newsletter see.. http://Transtasman.co.nz

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COMMENT

Jim Mikoz: Look Out Rocks … Oops Too Late

We live in a country surrounded by reefs and rocks. In recent years 3 large ships have hit rocks in our territorial waters: the MS Mikhail Lermontov, MV Rena, & now the NZ Navy warship the HMNZS Manawanui. The common denominator to all three of these sinkings is the error ridden LINZ NZ Marine Charts.

Peter Dunne: Dunne’s Weekly - National And Labour Combine To Shut Out Greens

It is probably just a coincidence that National’s and Labour’s broad agreement was announced just a week after the Wellington tunnels decision and the Green Party’s response, but it does change the political component quite considerably.

Ramzy Baroud: Voting Against Genocide - How Gaza Defeated The Democratic Establishment

It is time to build on the existing solidarity among all American groups that voted against genocide in the latest elections.

Alastair Thompson: Google's Support For Democracy And Media In NZ | Part 2

On the Digital Bargaining Bill, the villains are not Google, but NZME and Stuff, who have pushed for this bill...

Eugene Doyle: BBC Goes Full Goebbels In Support Of Israeli Soccer Hooligans

The BBC has proven itself to be an outrageously false & misleading outlet, peddling anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian propaganda dressed up as concern over anti-semitism. It has desecrated the memory of real victims – and most importantly it has shredded its credibility as a gold standard of reporting. Goebbels would be impressed.

Binoy Kampmark: They Were There First - Election Denialism, The Democratic Way

Instead of vanishing as aberrant over the Biden years, Trumpism has come home to roost in winning, not only the Electoral College but the majority vote by convincing margins.

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