If National wins ...

[Daytr]

Murray McCully finally caught out completely on Saudi Sheepgate .
How many times has McCullybeen caught out in dodgy deals during his career?
Did he lie to parliament re the threat of legal action by the Saudi billionaire?
It appears so.

Was it a bribe hidden in a government contract for services?

Key blames Labour of course. What a joke !

Did anyone see Key interviewed this morning on the Nation re housing.
He was like a worm on a hook, squirming from one diversion to another.
He didn't look comfortable at all. Nor should he.

[RGR367]

Yeah, when your threshold for shame like McCully is as thick as a pachyderm it will take you forever to resign. He's an embarrasment to National.

[jonu]

McCully perhaps? It looks as though the grammar/language change distraction has taken root.

[winner69]

Turnball learns that the electorate is turning against the rich elitist leaders - even Australia not immune

I reckon Key is taking note and will stand down later this year and not run again.

[Sgt Pepper]

Turnball learns that the electorate is turning against the rich elitist leaders - even Australia not immune

I reckon Key is taking note and will stand down later this year and not run again.

I note that almost all of john Keys friends tat when overseas he likes to be photographed with have lost, or about go out of office
1. Stephen Harper Canadian PM - out
2. David Cameron . leaves in October
3. Barack Obama: finishes January 2017
4> Malcolm Turnbull ??
Poor old John, must be quite lonely

[fungus pudding]

I note that almost all of john Keys friends tat when overseas he likes to be photographed with have lost, or about go out of office
1. Stephen Harper Canadian PM - out
2. David Cameron . leaves in October
3. Barack Obama: finishes January 2017
4> Malcolm Turnbull ??
Poor old John, must be quite lonely

It's a tough game. They all have their day. However Key is very convivial and is very likely to form close friendships with Trudeau and Theresa May, if she makes it. He's tactful enough to tolerate Hillary Clinton. No others count.

[Daytr]

There's no housing crisis according to National and yet allocates $1bln of borrowing to build more roads etc.
They cannot afford to turn down immigration, as its their only economic growth model and building roads.
So NZ sacrifices quality of life for John Key's ambition.
No planning, complete disregard for the environment and the social & economic pressure on the most vulnerable New Zealanders.

[fungus pudding]

There's no housing crisis according to National and yet allocates $1bln of borrowing to build more roads etc.
They cannot afford to turn down immigration, as its their only economic growth model and building roads.
So NZ sacrifices quality of life for John Key's ambition.
No planning, complete disregard for the environment and the social & economic pressure on the most vulnerable New Zealanders.

Tough life Eh! You might be able to find a spot in Cuba to live. No immigration problems there.

[elZorro]

There's no housing crisis according to National and yet allocates $1bln of borrowing to build more roads etc.
They cannot afford to turn down immigration, as its their only economic growth model and building roads.
So NZ sacrifices quality of life for John Key's ambition.
No planning, complete disregard for the environment and the social & economic pressure on the most vulnerable New Zealanders.

Yet again National has to concede that there is something useful in Labour's policies that it can flog, since they are bereft of ideas themselves. The market doesn't appear to be acting as fast as net immigration is - and why should it - by being a bit slower the developers make more money from each sale.

The government can use its borrowing power to borrow at 2.5% or so, the big difference between this ad hoc policy and Labour's is that there is no bulk buying of components, no trade training provided, no concerted effort to build cheaper houses, no effort to force down the price of sections, just a helping hand to councils to reduce their borrowing costs for public works. The $1bill fund will be accessed by councils, who have to state their case, to get on the list of approved projects. So the govt will be interfering a bit in the market anyway, but only with councils, not the builders and developers. It's similar to the way they've handled R&D for businesses. Only the big businesses need to apply, for the rest of us, the paperwork is often too onerous for the small amount on offer in the way of part-grants.

Again this year, just 200 undergrad 400hr positions for science/tech projects over the summer holidays coming up. The applications were open for about 2 weeks, the spec has been tightened, just the 200 positions for thousands of undergrads who could have been employed in a good training area. Again, most of those few grants nationwide would go to the bigger firms, and firms with public listings, wealthy overseas investors, established firms.

Steven Joyce still spouting off about the R&D tax credits not having worked overseas (they get rorted?), he just forgets to mention that Labour's were audited tax credits.

[Daytr]

More constructive commentary from Fungus...
Actually it has become very tough for many Kiwis as the cost of living has exploded under this Key led government.

Tough life Eh! You might be able to find a spot in Cuba to live. No immigration problems there.