N' PARTY PRESS RELEASE: Launch of Billboard

National Party Leader John Key today launched the first of a series of billboards highlighting the issues the party believes matter to New Zealanders.

The billboard, on taxation and migration, was launched in Auckland this afternoon. The same billboard is going up at sites in Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton, and Tauranga.

"Our first election billboard promotes our intention to introduce an ongoing programme of personal tax cuts. It will be a responsible and a transparent programme," says Mr Key.

"National will build on Labour's planned October tax cuts. We will treat those as the first tranche in our tax cut programme. There will be further tax reductions on 1 April 2009, and again on 1 April 2010.

"The billboard also highlights Labour's failure to stem the tide of people voting with their feet and leaving New Zealand. "The figures are sky-high. Recent statistics show that more people than ever are leaving. In the year to July, 80,872 people packed their bags and headed overseas for good.

"That's the highest loss for a year ended July since 1979, and the second highest loss ever. The figure equates to more than 1,500 people per week. "Half have left for Australia, where average after-tax wages are now one-third higher than in New Zealand. "Labour has done nothing after nine long years about this problem. National is not prepared to stand by and do nothing. I believe it is time for New Zealanders to choose a brighter future.

"National believes the public is ready for a fresh start from a new government," says Mr Key.

"Over the next two weeks we will be unveiling a number of other billboards on the core issues that a National government would want to make progress on after the election."

PDF of Billboard: http://national.org.nz/files/2008/wavegoodbye.pdf

Why the ETS Bill is fundamentally flawed

A recent post at The NZ Climate Science Coalition website spells out the massive financial cost and folly of Labour's religious zeal over passing the fraudulent Emissions Trading Bill.

It is well worth a read.

“There is something fascinating about science”, observed Mark Twain. “One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact”. His observation is still pertinent today as I will shortly demonstrate. But there is something equally fascinating about politics when far reaching and intrusive legislation can be built upon poorly conceived and flawed ideas. So imagine the impact on society then when a scientific hypothesis that is based on little more than conjecture is used to justify wide-ranging and economically damaging legislation. Everyone loses.

Continued

Related Political Animal reading

Kyoto critic comes to town
Global warming: Power to the people
Carbon Credit trading puts markets at extreme risk
Global Warning: Tax iceberg ahead
Unstoppable global warming
Earth Day: Turn on, tune out, buy some candles
TIME magazine slips inconvenient truth past its readers
The Great Global Warming Swindle
PRIME TV PRESENTS: The Great Global Warming Swindle
Kristen Byrnes-Ponder the Maunder
Helen Clark and Jeanette Fitzsimmons in conflict with business
Of tulip bulbs and tooth fairies

c Political Animal 2008

Clark: Cornered and Desperate

Yet more desperation from a cornered Helen Clark.

Clark could go before the Privileges Committee this Thursday, if called.

Clark would be asked how much more she knows about Winston Peters and the $100,000 he got from Owen Glenn.

Direct from the Winston Peters playbook called "Accuse when you are being attacked" Clark has come out with a bizarre and unsubstantiated claim that the Serious Fraud Office tipped off the National Party over their move on Peters.

Smearing the SFO for no good reason? well, Labour and Winston have been trying to get rid of the SFO for some time but simply making up stuff to deflect from the fact that you haven't been honest about what you knew about Peters and his wayward donations is clearly VERY desperate stuff.

Of course the accusation hold no water. The SFO and John Key have come out and put the record straight.

There was no tip off.

To accuse a Government department of corruption -that is what a real tip-off to a political party would be- is a very serious statement to make in isolation from the whole Glenn/Peters/Clark saga, but making it in conjunction with fact floating around her about a Prime Minister withholding information on a fellow Minister, who is under the cloud of corruption charges is a desperate move in the extreme.

It exemplifies the strain Ms Clark has put herself under by not being open and honest in the first place.

c Political Animal 2008

Help me Hone!

The Greens are today prevaricating over whether they should vote so Helen Clark has to give evidence at the Privileges Committee, due to meet this Thursday over the Winston/Glenn/Clark payola scandal.

Clark knew about the Glenn donations in February but chose last Thursday to make them public, after the heat from the Serious Fraud Office and written statements by Owen Glenn forced her hand and it is those statements from Glenn, and other evidence that the public might not be aware of that Ms Clark could be called to the Committee on.

From The NZ Herald:

National would need seven votes on the privileges committee to call Prime Minister Helen Clark to answer questions on the Owen Glenn affair.

It could count on votes from its four MPs (chairman Simon Power, Gerry Brownlee, Murray McCully and Wayne Mapp) and Act's Heather Roy.

Labour's four MPs (Michael Cullen, Lianne Dalziel, Paul Swain and Russell Fairbrother) and NZ First's Dail Jones would vote against, which would leave National chasing two of the last three votes.

Those deciding votes would come from Russel Norman (Greens), Peter Dunne (United Future) and Hone Harawira (Maori Party).

Russel Norman has come out today and cast doubt over whether he would force Clark to give evidence, so that just leaves professional racist Hone Harawira from the Maaoori Party as a deciding vote.

Hone came out yesterday in the media and slammed Labour's chances at the 2008 election.

The Labour-led government was "stale" and arrogant and it was time for a change of government. "They're suffering from the arrogance of being in power too long"

With this and Maori forestry land being devalued by 2 billion dollars through the impending Emissions Trading Law, it looks likely that Hone could be the first cab off the rank to get Ms Clark to appear at the Commission and tell the truth-for a change.


c Political Animal 2008