February
Cartoon depicts a field of maize up north growing high and a small boy: "Wow amaizing!"( sic ). A farmer reading a newspaper with headlines 'Drought' 'Floods' commenting "This year it looks like we're in for a bumper crop..." "...of puns?" asks a female farmer. Refers to previous season of floods from cyclone Gabrielle, but uninterrupted in 2023-4 growth.
Cartoon depicts an urban-rural health services van stopped at a broken bridge, washed away by Cyclone Gabrielle the year before and not yet repaired.. Title: . "Widening gap between rural and urban health-news'. A female medical worker leans out the window calling to a woman paddling across. "Can we borrow your canoe?". Refers to news story of a head nurse who still has to take her own canoe to travel to her workplace at a rural hospital.
Cartoon depicts a dog watching another dog running past dragging his exhausted owner by the lead "I'm his personal trainer." 2011
Cartoon: The title reads 'Hell's Nannies'. ( A counter to the term 'Nanny State' used by conservatives to attack State services & benefits ) Prime Minister John Key and Minister of Social Development Paula Bennett and many other National MPs are dressed as 'nannies' in hats, pearls and big boots. Two young people are being stomped on by John Key and Paula Bennett. Context: The government plans to introduce a welfare payment card as part of its benefit reforms. Social Development Minister Paula Bennett is refusing to rule out extending the Government's newly proposed welfare payment card to adult beneficiaries. The payment cards to about 2600 young beneficiaries are intended to ensure their benefits are spent on essentials. 22 August 2011
Cartoon - CT leader Rodney Hide stands alone in the middle of a blasted plain that was once the 'Christchurch CBD' and says 'A level playing field, excellent. Now we can leave the rest to the market'. Context - Christchurch after the earthquakes of 4 September 2010 and 22 February 2011. ACT explicitly promotes a free market philosophy - a (literal) level playing field in the Christchurch CBD sounds like an excellent opportunity to test the powers of the free market. 21 March 201
Acting Minister of Energy and Resources, Hekia Parata drives a wondrously rickety drilling machine on which are painted the words 'Fossil Fuel "Shitty - Shitty Bang! Bang!"' Minister for Energy and Resources Gerry Brownlee puts his considerable weight behind the machine and Hekia Parata shouts 'Gerry I love our magic car that turns carbon into dolphins'. Context - The government is determined to continue exploring the environment for fossil fuels. Hekia Parata has expressed her disappointment at the action of Greenpeace protestors who disrupted the research programme being undertaken by Petrobras off the East Cape today (10 April). "Petrobras has been awarded a five year permit to explore what, if any, oil or gas prospects exist off the coast,'' Ms Parata says. (Beehive 10 April 2011)
Prime Minister John Key visits Google and asks 'Can you search for a "plan to get us out of this mess?"' Context: Key's government seem to have few plans to grow the economy beyond bike ways and tax breaks for the wealthy. Larry Page, chief executive of Google, mounted a strong defence of the internet search company's controversial investment priorities as it reported earnings for the second quarter that revealed an unexpected surge in revenues. The company disclosed robust growth in its core search business in the three months to the end of June. Its shares jumped 12 per cent on the news in after-market trading, adding some $20bn to its stock market value.
Cartoon: Leader of the Labour Party Phil Goff stands before an array of bottles and containers of various potions like 'Vitalise Polling Cream', 'Anti-aging Mid life crisis milk', 'Rogernome make up remover', 'Career Rejuvinate juice', 'Gaffe mouth-wash', and 'MP Remover - fast-acting'. He holds a bottle of 'Goldie Locks hair colour' and says 'Thanks Darren, you cost me another whole bottle!' Context - Phil Goff is doing badly in the polls and now Darren Hughes, who was a rising star has been forced to resign as Labour's chief whip after a sexual misconduct accusation. 4 April 2011
Cartoon- Prime Minister John Key sits on top of a bag of money labelled 'tax cuts for the rich' which rests in the battlements of a tall tower. He yells through a loud hailer at Leader of the Labour opposition Phil Goff saying 'You're living in a fantasy land!' On the ground below is Phil Goff holding a placard that reads 'Cut taxes to the workers!' In the background is a rainbow. Context - In his 'state of the nation' speech to kick off Labour's 2011 election campaign Goff said Labour would rebalance the tax system so that everyone pays their fair share. Under Labour New Zealanders will not pay tax on their first $5000 of income and the party will introduce a new top rate of tax for six-figure earners. John Key said "It's fiscally irresponsible, we live in New Zealand not fantasyland". (TVNZ 25 January 2011) Published in the Listener 29 January 2011
Cartoon depicts a smirking PM John Key having his ear tugged by Act's leader John Banks. "Go hard right, John. You know you want to." 6/12/2011
Cartoon depicts a road side 'Garage sale' run by kids selling off their parent's things. Sign says: 'FARM TITLE', 'SOE'
Bill English: "WE SELL OFF NANNY'S OLD STUFF THEN BUY ALL THE TREATS YOU WANT. "
John key: " "Woo-Hoo! SUGAR HIGH."
Refers to sales of farms & state assets to foreign investors. 1/11/2011
Cartoon shows Prime Minister, John Key, standing sweating at a table in a casino as he tries to make a decision about where money should be spent. The options on the table are the 'Rugby World Cup', a 'cycle way', 'GST', 'asset sales', 'mining in parks', the 'casino', 'Jackson films', 'cuts' to various budgets, 'oil drilling', and 'financial hub'. An observer whispers to his companion 'Problem gambler'.
Context - The government's attempts to balance the budget and try to manage debt during the economic downturn and specifically a decision by the government that Sky City in Auckland be allowed to put more gambling machines in the new conference centre in spite of a growing awareness of the dangers of gambling adictions.
2011
Prime Minister John Key grins cheerfully as he sets fire to a bonfire made of banknotes that represent 'tax-cuts'; he yells 'Fire! Fire!' and in the next breath says 'Sell some assets!' On the other side of the fire is Finance Minister Bill English who is forking more banknotes onto it. Context - The parlous state of the economy; tax cuts were made in the last budget but then cancelled out by raising GST thus creating a general rise in the cost of living. John Key is now considering selling state owned assets - selling off the family silver.
Prime Minister John Key and Stephen Joyce sit on top of a huge sack that represents 'Tax cut$ for top 10% with glasses of champagne in their hands. The sack is being borne on the backs of dozens of workers. Down below Leader of the Labour Party Phil Goff wields a pair of scissors and threatens to cut the sack so that there can be a 'minimum wage increase' of '$2'. Don Brash squeeks 'EEEEEEK!' and John Key says 'That's an enormungous burden on the economy'. Context - Leader of the Labour opposition, Phil Goff, says the PM is spending $2.5 billion a year on tax cuts for the country's top earners but is only prepared to raise the minimum wage up 50 cents to $12.50 an hour. Phil Goff promises a $2 rise in the minimum wage if Labour is elected to parliament in the November election. 27 May 2011
Prime Minister John Key drives a tractor to which is attached a crane and a huge demolition ball in the shape of MP Gerry Brownlee's head; the ball smashes against a historic building bringing stone pediments down. Context - Gerry Brownlee, who is Earthquake Recovery Minister, has caused a stir by suggesting that if he had his way some of Christchurch's older buildings would be "down tomorrow". He also said the price of saving some historic buildings badly damaged in the February 22 earthquake was too high. 2011
Cartoon depicts Act leader Don Brash floating along high on a large joint labelled 'Libertarian Beliefs". Refers to his calls for the decriminalisation of cannabis. He said prohibition of the drug hasn't worked, and policing it costs millions of tax payer dollars and clogs up the court system. Same is better applied to most monetarist libertarian policies.
Context: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/don-brash-calls-for-decriminalisation-of-cannabis/XGOMALO4MD23T6IFILAX7Q2OXE/ 2011
Former National Party leader Don Brash rises as a vampire from his tomb and grabs ACT leader Rodney Hide by the throat. The headstone for the tomb features a statue of Roger Douglas and bears the words 'Lest we forget - Rogernomics'. Don Brash says 'ACT needs fresh blood and I need fresh brains...' Context - Don Brash has ousted Rodney Hide from the leadership of the ACT Party and taken over the role himself. Roger Douglas is now an ACT MP but is famous (or infamous, depending on you point of view) for his monetarist market forces economic reforms, dubbed Rogernomics, when he was Minister of Finance in David Lange's Labour government in 1984. Don Brash is very committed to similar thinking on economics policies.
Alexander Turnbull Library
Illustration depicts Māori performer Billy T James on stage while behind the curtains money is blowing around. 2011
Cartoon depicts a scene wintry inspired by A Christmas Carol, is a novella by Charles Dickens. National finance minister Bill English is dressed as Scrooge. Pita Sharples & Tariana Turia are cap in hand, as two wild and ragged children begging : "Please head our committee to end poverty, Mister Ebenezer English, sir." 2011
A policeman stops a queue of politicians at a checkpoint in Christchurch saying 'Sorry, no politics past this point'. In the queue are Prime Minister John Key, Minister of Finance Bill English carrying a ledger, leader of ACT Rodney Hide wearing his yellow jacket and carrying an axe and a saw and lastly leader of the Labour Party Phil Goff. Context - the Christchurch earthquake of 22 February 2011 and the danger of political point-scoring rather than serious co-operative work to rebuild Christchurch. 4 March 2011
Cartoon depicts a view from a corporate boardroom with two businessmen drinking champagne looking down to protestors far below. "don't worry about protestors. We corporations occupy the beehive. Refers to #occupywallstreet protests while PM John Key had a reputation for involvement in international corporate banking finance. 2011
Cartoon depicts In the stern of a rapidly sinking boat sits a large grinning businessman with a glass of champagne in one hand and a bottle in the other. PM John Key flings buckets of money overboard and says 'Never fear, matey. We've got plenty of buckets for bailing you out'. In the prow of the boat sits Minister of Finance Bill English surrounded by empty buckets and gloomily watching as his hopes for any kind of sweetening in the May budget recede even further. The fourth man in the boat is ? who is happily tipping money into the sea also. Context - the bail-out of AMI. it appears the Crown will underwrite any loss from the failure of a large enterprise. BNZ (twice), Air New Zealand, finance firms, leaky homes, AMI. Sir Roger Douglas called for the AMI support package to be conditional on the Government declaring that this will be the final such act of largesse. But if the Government were to make such a declaration it would have the credibility of a chronic drunk swearing off the booze. Repeated bailouts have created an environment where poor decisions are not punished but rewarded. The AMI board and management need to account for their performance, and prudent insurers should benefit from an influx of customers. This is what is meant to happen in a capitalist economy. (Damien Grant - AMI bail out rewards poor business practice in NZ Herald 24 April 2011)
Cartoon depicts John Key feeding Don Brash from a baby's milk bottle labelled 'Epsom'. Brash is dresssed in a baby's daipers. Key" "One day you'll be big enough to feed yourself". Refers ro the cup of tea deal made where National concedes an electorate to Act in order to subvert the 5% vote threshold for an MMP. 2011