Author Archive

Blue on the polls

Written By: - Date published: 12:04 pm, September 14th, 2014 - 62 comments

Landline polls are a traditional gripe for lefties. But this election polls look seriously out of whack with reality.  Is National at 55%, 50%, 48% or 46%? But it’s always far too large for a party at National’s current stage in the political cycle. Just unbelievable and highly unlikely.

Tories! Scared of Internet/Mana? I have the solution …

Written By: - Date published: 7:19 am, September 5th, 2014 - 64 comments

Labour are going to lead the next Government. So what’s a Tory voter to do to keep the damge to a minimum? If the possibility of Hone Harawira and Laila Harre being Ministers in the Cunliffe administration is keeping you up at night, then Te Reo Putake has the answer.

Careering to the right

Written By: - Date published: 2:23 pm, August 27th, 2014 - 65 comments

“Dirty Politics” and “The Hollow Men” have revealed the extent of the National party’s nasty internal war over the past decade. Cameron Slater is merely one of the noisier but dumber sock puppet weapons in use against National’s centre and moderates. Looking at the actions of Simon Lusk using his sock puppet is more revealing…

Aaron Bhatnagar – I barely know the guy

Written By: - Date published: 8:46 am, August 19th, 2014 - 26 comments

BLip has a look at Aaron Bhatnagar and his role in the disgusting events documented in “Dirty Tricks”. In particular the way that Judith Collins seems to have rewarded her crony Cameron Slater’s mate on the taxpayers purse.

Rob Gilchrist On Nicky Hager

Written By: - Date published: 12:24 pm, August 17th, 2014 - 88 comments

Unmasked by Hager, former activist and police spy Rob Gilchrist says “It may come as a surprise but I have the utmost respect for Mr Hager, He doesn’t write ’baseless allegations’, ’what-ifs and fanciful speculation’ Mr Hager is also not a ‘conspiracy theorist‘, he’s just extremely good at finding conspiracies.”

The Credibility Stakes: John Key vs Nicky Hager

Written By: - Date published: 2:12 pm, August 15th, 2014 - 58 comments

BLip comments on John Armstrong’s article yesterday. Then he updates his “Honest Man” list about John Key and his limited understanding of the truth.

New Zealand women, first to vote

Written By: - Date published: 4:00 pm, August 14th, 2014 - 3 comments

New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote – and this year all New Zealand women have an opportunity to honour that achievement by voting in the general election.

Guest post – Democracy and debate in the suburbs

Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, August 13th, 2014 - 25 comments

A guest post by Old Irascible on recent local experience when a Labour candidate tried to reach out to his local Rotary Club.

Our Friends in the North

Written By: - Date published: 6:31 pm, August 6th, 2014 - 225 comments

It’s been an interesting few days in the battle for Te Tai Tokerau. Never mind the bollocks, people. The question for Labour isn’t should we stand aside for Hone in the north or Mana/IP anywhere else. The question is ‘do we need ’em?’. The answer is looking more and more like no.

Guest Post: Tracey – Blinglish single handedly reduces teenage pregnancies

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, August 5th, 2014 - 42 comments

Tracey has submitted a series of OIA’s in order to get information about the stats Bill English referred to in relation to the government having reduced the numbers of single mothers. So far…. nothing helpful.

Dancing on the grave of Hollywood and the reformation of the music industry

Written By: - Date published: 7:57 pm, August 3rd, 2014 - 144 comments

During every revolution there will be winners and losers, change can mean pain for some, especially for the bloodsucking leaches & parasites, that have entrenched their positions, after years of mediocrity. Yes the death of Hollywood and current Music industry would cause financial pain for some, including some of the arguably overpaid actors and performers […]

The view from Russia

Written By: - Date published: 1:21 pm, August 2nd, 2014 - 123 comments

Long time commenter, grumpy, has had this post from a russian friend explaining his view on what has been happening in the Ukraine. As this event has excited considerable comment over the last few months, this will probably be a good discussion post.

Guest post – Gaza

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, August 2nd, 2014 - 124 comments

A guest post by Puddleglum on Gaza featuring a calm dismantling of Israel’s illogical defence of genocide.

90 Minutes, Extra Time, Then Penalties.

Written By: - Date published: 1:26 pm, July 17th, 2014 - 51 comments

If there is evidence that Key lied about when he first heard of Dotcom, then that strengthens Dotcom’s defence against extradition. He can then rightly say he has not had a fair go; that the parties trying to send him to the States to stand trial do not have clean hands. The potential personal gain for Kim Dotcom is obvious. The effect on the election may not be quite as positive.

Labour Party Policy on Sexual Violence – A Closer Look

Written By: - Date published: 12:32 pm, July 14th, 2014 - 71 comments

This past week has seen both mainstream media and political blogs of all persuasions, opine with fact-free ranting on the reversal of the burden of proof in sexual offence cases.

A bit of a plea . Sexual Violence is a sensitive issue. The least that ought be done, by those releasing policy around it; the media reporting it; the bloggers opining on it; and us, the individual’s commenting on it; the least we can do is try and make sure we have our facts in order first. Please?

Blame the Officials

Written By: - Date published: 9:59 am, July 5th, 2014 - 7 comments

Murray McCully doesn’t accept his responsibilities. He appears to see no need to do more than to blame his officials. Yet his job, under our system of parliamentary government, is to be accountable to parliament for the performance – and failures – of his department.  The McCully doctrine appears to be to suppress public discussion on difficult issues and to limit any adverse fallout for their party. Public officials are convenient sacrificial lambs if things go wrong. This is a bad idea.

Pig Farming Expose – A personal perspective

Written By: - Date published: 6:30 am, June 30th, 2014 - 161 comments

Last night the Sunday show screened an expose of a Christchurch pig farm using footage provided by Farmwatch New Zealand. I was part of the investigation which resulted in this show and thought I would provide a more personal perspective on this story. I will also do my best to respond to comments on this […]

David Cunliffe Q+A

Written By: - Date published: 3:09 pm, June 29th, 2014 - 190 comments

David Cunliffe’s question and answer.

Remember this will be fully moderated. Keep your comments short, intelligent, and broadly on topic. David will be here at about 4pm. It’d be good to have your starting comments up by then.

Reverse ferret bites PM on arse.

Written By: - Date published: 2:46 pm, June 24th, 2014 - 83 comments

PM John Key has performed a backflip by now suggesting Donghua Liu should front up with evidence to support the NZ Herald’s unsubstantiated claim that he donated substantial sums to Labour. This is a world away from his previous position that it was up to Labour to show that no donation was made. It’s increasingly looking like it simply not true and the Herald has been played like a fiddle. And two, the fiddle planter is Cameron Slater, the PM’s bestie from way back.

Turn out and vote National out

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, June 21st, 2014 - 110 comments

At the last election, the high non-vote spoke to one important truth – many voters saw no reason to turn out. The media had told them that National would win by a landslide and they either didn’t mind or thought that one vote wouldn’t make any difference. This election is radically different. It is rapidly becoming clear that we are losing control of our country.  Vote on September 20, and vote against this Government.

Real Monetary Reform

Written By: - Date published: 10:45 am, June 16th, 2014 - 142 comments

The most important thing that needs to be learned is that money is nothing. Or, to be more precise, money is a tool that can be used to distribute the resources available to a society. In and of itself it has no value nor does it have a physical representation. Specifically, money is not a medium of exchange but a symbol of exchange and because of this the cost of money, usually presented as interest, should be zero.

Poto Williams – Forestry Safety

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, June 14th, 2014 - 23 comments

A guest post from Poto Williams, Labour’s MP for Christchurch East concerning her recent attendance at the Independent Forestry Safety Review consultation and her thoughts on what is happening in relation to safety in the sector.

 

Phil Twyford – Budget Ignores Housing Crisis

Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, May 16th, 2014 - 90 comments

If New Zealanders needed any more proof of the National Government’s total failure on housing, this Budget has given them all they need to know. The Budget does nothing to address New Zealand’s acute housing crisis. There is nothing here for first home buyers. Nothing to build a single new home. Nothing to make rentals […]

National’s proposed public spending to GDP ratio – the election’s clear blue line

Written By: - Date published: 9:22 am, May 15th, 2014 - 72 comments

The real story of the coming election is what was revealed in Bill English’s reported pre-budget speech to the National Party’s Southern Region conference at the weekend. He signalled an intention to reduce the proportion of government spending to 26% of GDP over the next 6 to 7 years. The current level at 30% already places NZ in the lowest quartile of OECD countries, having fallen from 35% of GDP in 2008. Most developed nations spend a significantly higher proportion of GDP on government goods and services.

David Cunliffe on The Standard

Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, May 13th, 2014 - 160 comments

The guest post from David Cunliffe outlining where he sees a Labour-led government heading.

What do you want to know about it.

David Cunliffe will be online after 5:30pm today to clarify any points people care to raise. The comments will be fully moderated. Check the rules about comments before making any.

Clutha- Southland and the stark contrast in NZ politics

Written By: - Date published: 4:08 pm, April 30th, 2014 - 79 comments

Guest post by Ad about the Clutha Southland where Labour’s Liz Craig, a Doctor and Public Health researcher, is standing against Todd Barclay, a former National Parliamentary staffer and ex Philip Morris lobbyist.

What do we do about synthetic cannabis?

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, April 5th, 2014 - 254 comments

A guest post from Shane Henderson, Labour elected representative to the Henderson Massey Local Board about synthetic cannabis, one of those issues that is becoming more and more important.  What do we do?

There are protests occurring today for folk who are interested.

National preparing for November election?

Written By: - Date published: 10:01 am, April 4th, 2014 - 36 comments

A guest post concerning apparent confusion on the part of the National Party about when this year’s election is. Stand by for breathless denunciation of the party by Farrar, Slater and the Young Nats for its inability to organise a piss up in a brewery.

The Politics of Small Green Fences

Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, April 1st, 2014 - 43 comments

I arrived at the TPPA protest march in Wellington the intent of making my voice heard. The protest started well – enlightening speakers, a funny MC and raucous chanting. However, when we got to parliament, the march was confronted by a waist-high green fence blocking our way up seven stairs to the main courtyard in front of the parliament. How we dealt with this seemingly insignificant obstacle does not bode well for the political left in New Zealand.

Warm, dry homes – let’s just do it

Written By: - Date published: 4:50 pm, March 20th, 2014 - 100 comments

Making sure every rental property is a warm, dry home should be a no-brainer in the 21st century.  Parliament will shortly get the chance to vote on my Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill.  The vote will sort the parties for whom this is a genuine belief from those who just pay it lip service.

Guest Post – What is Shane Jones doing?

Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, March 15th, 2014 - 149 comments

A guest post on Shane Jones and what effect his recent behaviour is having on Labour’s election chances.