Archive for October, 2008

Labour’s labour policy good for labourers

Written By: - Date published: 7:50 pm, October 27th, 2008 - 19 comments

Labour has unveiled its work rights policy, and it’s a good one: – minimum wage increases at least at the rate of inflation or the average wage increase, whichever is higher. That would bring it to nearly $15 a year by 2011. Why they didn’t just commit to $15 like the rest of the Left, […]

Key – Undisclosed conflict of interest

Written By: - Date published: 1:40 pm, October 27th, 2008 - 31 comments

National’s response to my revelation on The Standard that John Key owned shares had undisclosed conflicts of interest with Fletcher Challenge Forests is to deny the conflict. Let me restate the core conflict suscinctly: John Key owned shares in Fletcher Challenge Forests. Fletcher Challenge Forests was a major user of Tranzrail, it depended on Tranzrail […]

Election dreams

Written By: - Date published: 12:56 pm, October 27th, 2008 - 5 comments

We received this by email and it’s so kafkaesque we just had to post it: I had a dream last night. I had, for some reason, been roped into going door to door in small town New Zealand delivering National Party pamphlets. I found myself knocking on the door of a grimy bedsit, and talking […]

Standard Scoop: Key exposed again on secret shares and Tranzrail

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 pm, October 26th, 2008 - 145 comments

When the Tranzrail shares came to light, Key was asked whether he had any other undisclosed shares entailing a conflict of interest. He said he didn’t. That was not true. National Party Leader John Key failed to disclose his conflict of interest arising from his share holding in Fletcher Challenge Forests while using his privileges […]

Polling Biases

Written By: - Date published: 6:47 pm, October 26th, 2008 - 26 comments

This is from the discussion area of the wikipedia page on opinion polls. It is an analysis of biases between the polling companies by trewa. I know how much our own commentators are interested in the biases of different polls, so this will give some kind of basis for comparison. Personally I think that land-line […]

Video: National muppets

Written By: - Date published: 9:51 am, October 26th, 2008 - 11 comments

Warning – this song will stick in your head!

On moral mandates

Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, October 26th, 2008 - 69 comments

So, let me get this straight. The Right says that the minor parties have to support a National-led government if National gets more votes than Labour. Even if a National government would go against everything a party stands for, even if it is a complete betrayal of the people who voted for them, minor parties […]

Here be dragons

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 pm, October 25th, 2008 - 20 comments

So, we can all make up dumb pictures and say ‘beware of many-headed monsters’. Let’s, instead, ask if National’s attack makes sense. First, any new government is going to need support from a number of parties. A Labour-led government is likely to be dependent on Labour, the Progressives, Greens, and the Maori Party (four parties). […]

It’s official – Key wants Rogernomics!

Written By: - Date published: 12:01 pm, October 25th, 2008 - 18 comments

The Earl of Auckland wants New Zealanders to choose National with a “small number of other parties going in the same direction”. That means National/ACT, and ACT means Roger Douglas. Someone recently called him a blast from the past – more like a croak from the past. Certainly not a fresh new face, and certainly […]

Poll Trends – National is soft

Written By: - Date published: 7:55 am, October 25th, 2008 - 43 comments

Rather than argue about individual polls, it is more interesting to look at the overall trends. A number of people have put an excellent summary of the polls up on wikipedia. What is noticeable to me about this chart is that the National support looks very soft. Coming up towards an election with the less […]

Fact checkin’ – five-headed monsters

Written By: - Date published: 3:48 pm, October 24th, 2008 - 114 comments

The New Zealand Herald is, as usual, uncritically repeating John Key’s latest lines on the front page of its website. This time Key’s scaremongering that a Labour-led government would be a “five-headed monster”. Much better to go with a simple, straight-forward National government, says Key. It’s a pity we don’t have the resources for basic […]

Roy Morgan poll

Written By: - Date published: 2:49 pm, October 24th, 2008 - 86 comments

And the polls keep coming. Today’s Roy Morgan poll has Labour down 5.5% and National up slightly, while the Greens rise to an astonishing 11.5% – that’s 15 MPs. NZ First drops just below the threshold to 4.5%. Under this scenario an LPG+M arrangement is possible, but only just, with 61 seats out of 121 […]

The Standard Week: 17-24 October

Written By: - Date published: 2:01 pm, October 24th, 2008 - 13 comments

National’s MPs might be considering spending the next two weeks in bed, dreaming of victory. Because it seems every day they go out, one of them accidentally speaks their mind, which is costing votes. They’ve managed to alienate an impressive range of demographics in the last month: 830,000 Kiwisavers, a half a million low income […]

The Standard line: Kiwisaver

Written By: - Date published: 11:37 am, October 24th, 2008 - 26 comments

So, you’re talking with someone about politics and they say something really dumb and wrong and you know it’s wrong but you don’t have the arguments and facts at your fingertips to make a decisive point. That’s where our election series, The Standard line, comes in. The info you need in bite-size form. Today: Kiwisaver Points […]

The Standard line: Photoshop

Written By: - Date published: 10:03 am, October 24th, 2008 - 132 comments

So, you’re talking with someone about politics and they say something really dumb and wrong and you know it’s wrong but you don’t have the arguments and facts at your fingertips to make a decisive point. That’s where our election series, The Standard line, comes in. The info you need in bite-size form. Today: photoshop Points: […]

Video: Election coverage 23rd Oct

Written By: - Date published: 9:18 am, October 24th, 2008 - 1 comment

If you missed Ali Ikram’s view of the day (from yesterday)

Herald Digipoll

Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, October 24th, 2008 - 72 comments

The latest Herald Digipoll presents quite a different picture to last night’s 3 News poll. While TV3 had the Left and Right blocs neck-and-neck with the Maori Party as kingmaker, the Herald has National still able to govern alone at 50.4% and 63 seats. You can argue all you like over whether this result is […]

Caught in the ACT

Written By: - Date published: 7:43 am, October 24th, 2008 - 48 comments

The Dom Post reports that ACT will have to file amended returns after failing to declare $20,000 of donated office space. Luckily for ACT nobody found out until they got past the time-limit for prosecution. Rodney Hide is, of course, not embarrassed. I’m reminded of that proverb about glass-houses.

3 News poll

Written By: - Date published: 8:53 pm, October 23rd, 2008 - 47 comments

Tonight’s 3 News poll has the election wide open with two weeks to go, putting the Left on 59 seats to the Right’s 60. 3 News says that with the Maori Party in the kingmaker position it’s too close to call, but when Colin Espiner is promising to print out his blog and eat it […]

Don’t dream, it’s over

Written By: - Date published: 3:58 pm, October 23rd, 2008 - 76 comments

I’ve always regarded the possibility of a National-Maori Party governing arrangement as absurd, even grotesque. The interests of the Maori people, who are predominantly working-class, are clearly best represented by the Left. Under National in the 1990s, Maori unemployment reached 25% and incomes plummeted. Today it is 7.7%, and Maori incomes are rising as fast […]

Lockwood vs Lockwood

Written By: - Date published: 2:42 pm, October 23rd, 2008 - 5 comments

A different ‘story of two National party guys’ from 08wire:

A missing NZ Herald poll?

Written By: - Date published: 1:54 pm, October 23rd, 2008 - 23 comments

Now I’m not one to gossip (well, not too much) but in the last few days I’ve heard from several people that the NZ Herald has held back an opinion poll. Why might they do this? Well perhaps it’s related to NZ First apparently polling over 5%. That could really set the cat amongst the […]

Ramshackle PR fiasco

Written By: - Date published: 1:35 pm, October 23rd, 2008 - 27 comments

It seems DPF, Cameron Slater and John Ansell have pooled their collective genius and come up with a new campaign. Apparently they had some money left over from their earlier ramshackle PR fiasco so they’re putting up more anti-Labour billboards as the Free Speech Coalition: I have some advice for them: 1. Pick an issue […]

Google “In Quotes”

Written By: - Date published: 12:34 pm, October 23rd, 2008 - 1 comment

This is clever from Google labs – In Quotes. It allows you to compare people’s quotes on a variety of issues, having pulled them from online news. The default “speakers” are McCain and Obama but you can change them. I tried with Clark and Key but there isn’t really enough data by the looks of […]

Debtmonster

Written By: - Date published: 11:06 am, October 23rd, 2008 - 30 comments

UPDATE: The Pink Batts original is youtubed here.

National’s ‘redneck element’

Written By: - Date published: 10:06 am, October 23rd, 2008 - 117 comments

In the heat of the Lockwood Smith controversy yesterday, some of our right-wing readers had a go at John A for posting a link to National’s racist 1975 election ad with the comment that “underneath they haven’t changed”. In light of this, I thought the comments in the Herald today from National’s first Pacific Island […]

Reserve Bank drops OCR 1%

Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, October 23rd, 2008 - 30 comments

The OCR is down from 7.5% to 6.5%. That’s an unprecendented cut in one go and further confirmation that we are entering tough economic times. Inflation has been high but the Reserve Bank thinks the increasingly likely global recession will remove inflationary pressure. Keeping the economy going will be the challenge.

Green laffs

Written By: - Date published: 8:46 am, October 23rd, 2008 - 7 comments

Russel Norman at Drinking Liberally – Auckland last night on Lockwood Smith: Lockwood may think all Asians have small hands but what we really learned today is that Lockwood’s feet are so small he can fit them in his mouth Classic.

CTU YouTube vid

Written By: - Date published: 10:38 pm, October 22nd, 2008 - 25 comments

Yep, that’s a pusy Roger Douglas zombie eye staring at you. Ew.

Video: Election campaign, 22 Oct

Written By: - Date published: 5:34 pm, October 22nd, 2008 - 19 comments

Observations of the campaign trails from TV3’s Ali Ikram…. Not sure what I think of those “bleeps” on the John Key excerpt…

Wait, what’s the RSE?

Written By: - Date published: 3:46 pm, October 22nd, 2008 - 38 comments

OK, we’ve reported on, given historical context to, and mocked Lockwood Smith’s racist comments about seasonal migrant workers. Now, to the substance of what Smith as saying, ie that fewer permits issued under the Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme (RSE) should be allocated to people from the Pacific Islands (because, he says, other people are smaller […]