“Field was stupid and disorganised. There was never any evidence presented of a overt, intentional pattern of bribery, no-one ever said “do this job for me and I’ll get you residency”.

http://www.thestandard.org.nz/keys-piggies-at-the-trough/#comment-168242

Hes already paid the price of one relationship….must he sacifice another to salve the sad souls of the bleating masses?

Wake up NZ….you owe this man big time.He is the best you have and you are too stupid to know it.Without him trying to halt the rampant expansive state you really have no one!

Colin Espiner thinks the Prime Minister should have his own plane.

I couldn’t help but thinking of Dick Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines.
Apologies to DD.
“Wake up Bill you’re dreaming again!
You’re not Robin Hood and you’re not Gunga Din! **
You’re not a Prime Mininster or a king who’s been crowned;
You’re just plain old Bill, the snickering hound!”

His post has 215 comments so far. Perhaps Luc could point us at anything he/she has ever written that has attracted comments that make it into double figures?

However. The size of the plan, as John Key’s salary, should be tied to our relative ranking with Australia. Performance bonus. The smaller our government becomes, the bigger a plane John gets to fly, and the more journos he can take. There, with one stroke I’ve created a favourable press for some very urgent reforms.

Because, for how long can this country let people earn 30% less than Australia. What happens when this becomes 50%? 100%?

And one for Rodney too please.

New Zealanders should be proud of our largely moderate and progressive attitude we have no matter what side of the spectrum ..

Andrew Bolt is so far detached from reality that he thinks it is justified to completely ignore the history of refugees in the modern world. Including the repeating of un-substantiated claims about “terrorists in the boat people” similar to the fear mongering that lead to the large scale turning away of the pre-holocaust Jewish refugees by the democratic world. It was the immediate post war marginalisation of such conspiracy ridden nonsense that led to the ‘United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees’ and the establishment of the UNHCR.

I live in Australia and there is definitely a debate to be had, and no one has currently worked out the mix of policies and international diplomacy to make it work better yet. But in no way should someone like Andrew Bolt be listened to as part of the debate. (and before the reply comes back about freedom of speech , I am not talking about gagging him. But would society consider the rantings of someone who raves about a Zionist conspiracies in a debate about Israel and Palestine ?).

Fortunately Australia as a country seems to have gained some maturity about this issue over the last 5 years and the tabloid and talk-back scare mongering he partakes in is not having the impact it did in the past. Australians are now far more willing to debate and think about the problem rather than demonising the refugees.

Now all it takes for politicians to also get some backbone and work out some sensible solutions instead of using such a horrible set of circumstances as political cannon fodder back and forth .

A few pearls for nostalgia…

WOBH: “There is that f**king “entitlements” word again… These people think that they are “entitled” to a lifestyle paid for by the state.

WOBH: “I suggest we find an extremely negative word to describe state welfare and start using that. Word like quittance or stipend or just plain dole.”

WOBH: “It makes zero money, cost more to run than it earns but it provides me an outlet.”

Does that mean WhaleOil will be propping up his blog with his ‘quittance’?
Will WhaleOil be New Zealand’s first taxpayer subsidised blog?

I am sure Banksie will sling in a few grand to keep such a slick little propaganda machine alive. LabTests should be good for a few bob too. Goodfellow on the other hand might be a little tight fisted with the Nats spare dosh.

Maybe get him something like Thunderbird 6.