Ah ok thanks. That's pretty stupid.

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They should get rid of the coat-tailing rule but put the threshold down to 3% I think.

Under MMP in Germany you have to win 3 electorates to get your list allocation (although they have 300 electorates).

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^^^what an intelligent comment.

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Yeah but under that rule the Greens with over 10% of the vote would get no seats.

I reckon you get the votes you get the seats.

Sorry, that's 3 seats if under the 5% threshold.

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^^^what an intelligent comment.

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So a student that I know walks straight out of the uni year and into a weekly 'Student Unemployment Hardship' allowance of $245 without having to give basically any information except that they are a student without a job. Biggest load of bullshit ever.

Not only that, but when you ring government departments that dish out these kind of payments, it almost seems like they go out of their way to find more ways to give you money. 'Oh you might also qualify for such-and-such allowance' etc.

I really hope if National do come through again that they start cracking down on this type of shit.

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They've likely got all that information on their file anyway.

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^^^what an intelligent comment.

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I'm not talking about personal information like address and crap like that, I'm talking about all you having to do to qualify for this allowance is be a student and not have job.

No accountability for anything else, no request or proof needed that they have even previously attempted to get a job or have to try to in the near future, nothing.

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VOTE LABOUR! MORE MONEY - LESS QUESTIONS!

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When i got the Student Hardship allowance (which i didn't need, but hey......free money!) you had to check in with Student Job Search every week and have meetings etc with like "case managers".
The thing is the SJS people got so sick of dealing with the BS people threw at them as they were basically saying "i don't want that job for this and that reason, but really because i just want money till i can get my allowance/loan again" that they changed the system to look at the job board and sign your name on the sheet of paper each week.
This was sweet, but then the next year i got it they had changed back to the old system of making it more "awkward" for people, i endured it for a while but got really sick of dealing with the case managers and their just ridiculous questions when i knew i was going back to studying the next year anyway, so i was about to pack it in.
Then i found out that most people just did nothing about signing in and meeting with their "case manager" and still got paid etc, so i just bagged going as well thinking well if they take me off it i won't care and tadaaaaa i still got every cent.
Although it wasn't anywhere near as much money for me, was like $115 or something.....still, ship it!

It really was/is ridiculous though.

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Yeah i don't know who you friend is but those things are typically quite hard to get, like the student allowance as opposed to the living costs that you have to pay back. Also they would have that stuff on file as you need to declare quite a lot when you first go for student loan/living costs (or even more if its a student allowance).

So apparently Key said police now had a birpt of spare time on their hands since the crime rate is down to investigate this. Seriously Key? I always knew you were a bumbling doofus who doesn't understand anything outside the markets but this has really exposed your smug dickheadedness.

What the fuck? He thought it was better to say that than, for example, nothing? He really is a birpt of a tool.

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Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do

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#1 Peep - I've been here too f**king long....

Source? I'd have to see it to believe that he said something that stupid.

Just like I needed to see Don Brash argue that farmers should be exempted from carbon tax because the carbon emissions are caused by cows eating grass, and the grass already exists so it's really a zero-sum equation (ignoring the primary school-level fact that plants ABSORB carbon, not emit it) . I would never have believed any of our political leaders could say something so stupid if I didn't hear it with my own ears. At least Russell Norman called him on it. American politicians say stupid crap like that all the time and hardly ever get questioned.

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"This a world where good men are murdered in their prime, while mediocre hacks thrive and proliferate." - Bill Hicks (1961-1994)

From http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politic ... a-to-court



This whole cuppa tea thing is, however, has so far had no traction in the polls, and I doubt it will - I think it'll mostly just entrench people in what they already think, though it might allow Peters to grab enough percentage points from National to get above 5% and get himself into coalition government after the election.

(And, yes, I know Winston's said "we won't support either Labour or National, we'll stay in opposition" but back in 1996 he also swore he wouldn't back a National government but did so. He'll go into coalition, he values the baubles of power too highly, I think).

Labour and Greens are getting no traction from this issue at all I think.

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Are there aliens? There better be aliens.

F**k off, Brock, f**k off.

Yeah Labour is still going backwards. The issue doesn't involve them, so they get no coverage.

The media need to be careful now, they're doing their best to make the election closer by dragging this issue out ( for what looks to be little gain) and it could backfire in people getting behind National who may have been undecided/not bothered to vote. People are over the whole thing, I think.

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The polls are ridiculous anyway one has NZFirst on 2.2%, one on around 3% and another on 4.9% which when it comes to the 5% threshold is a pretty major difference, all probably with a margin of error of about 3%.

And I think theres still like 12% undecided...so yeah...pointless.

Although Labour might be concerned that the Greens are polling about half of what they're getting. The rise of the Greens is the real story of the whole election for me. See what happens when you're not bat shit insane activists?

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The Herald's poll takes in the minor party debate as well.

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^^^what an intelligent comment.

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This. Urbane and urban, talking serious policy not the loony froot loop stuff has built them so well over the last three years. The key thing is for them to run a Get Out And Vote campaign now; too often their support disappears in a cloud of pot smoke or sunny Saturday afternoon beers, this time they've got to turn this polling into votes.



Yeah, Winston owned that debate, where due to the questions, the ad breaks and the number of participants it was left to the best sound-bite to take the debates. And, my god, he had sound-bites and quick witticisms. That was his 'Peter Dunne' moment, strange as that may sound. It'll get him, alongside his smart play of the teatape saga, back into Parliament.

And into coalition with National. David Farrar was running the full monty trying to scare NZF voters back to National on his blog on the Herald website today, but it won't work. Winnies already bolted, and he's going to be in government, unless ACT somehow manages to win Epsom. Which they won't.

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Are there aliens? There better be aliens.

F**k off, Brock, f**k off.

If Winston goes with Key, it would be a brilliant result for the left. Given how adamant Key's been about not working with him, it would completely shatter brand Key and set up a resounding Lab/Green win in 2014.

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^^^what an intelligent comment.

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Standing on Broadway waiting for a bus and in 2 minutes I had both John Banks and Don Brash walk past me....

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Wikipedia that shit

97.9% of Zack Ryder's fans started liking him when he made Z! True Long Island Story, put this in your signature if you're one of the 2.1% who saw his talent before that.

...I'm not so sure. Winston going with National, despite all his pre-election promises, won't really surprise anyone, given what he's already done in both 1996 and 2005. And National voters will see appreciate the pragmatism of working with NZF if that's the only choice.

But, finally, yes while the John Key's honeymoon with the media is over, you only need to think about 2002. Helen Clark was the media darling then until Corngate, and just like Key has done now attacking the media saw them turn against Clark. Labour was still able to form the government after the next two elections regardless of Clark's personal popularity fading quite quickly.

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Are there aliens? There better be aliens.

F**k off, Brock, f**k off.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/polls/5998662/Massey-poll-survey-gives-interesting-reading

Found this interesting, even says it in the URL.

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^^^what an intelligent comment.

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