Author Archive
Lord Keith of Kinloch
Written By: - Date published: 5:24 pm, December 3rd, 2007 - 17 comments
Am halfway through “Kiwi Keith”, Barry Gustafson’s portrait of our third-longest serving Prime Minister. He obviously had something, as he was picked out as a young man by Reform’s Coates and others as having leadership potential from his early days crop-farming in Motueka. As a young MP, after surviving the Reform-United Coalition defeat in 1935, […]
Libs’ dirty tricks in Oz
Written By: - Date published: 3:11 pm, November 22nd, 2007 - 19 comments
The husband of retiring Liberal MP Jackie Kelly and a state Liberal official have been caught distributing fake pamphlets in Western Sydney. The bogus pamphlets purport to come from a militant Islamic group – praising the ALP’s supposed support for the Bali bombers. The pamphlets have been referred to the Australian Electoral Commission by the ALP. […]
Free Speech Coalition – defending their right to hide
Written By: - Date published: 10:03 am, November 20th, 2007 - 96 comments
The reason for National Party Kiwiblogger David Farrar’s obsession with megaphones is now clear. It’s about electioneering speech, and the logic goes like this. The Electoral Finance Bill prohibits election advertising “in any form of words” unless published with a name and address. So if you are on the other end of a megaphone, you […]
Electoral Finance – Apoplexy at Kiwiblog
Written By: - Date published: 2:23 pm, November 19th, 2007 - 84 comments
Now we know why Kiwiblog wants the Electoral Finance Bill killed – it could cost Farrar money! Kiwiblog “has some significant advertising lined up” which may be “at serious risk”. Certainly, Kiwiblog is a dyed-in-blue-wool National Party supporter. Kiwiblog also goes on a rave about other straw men, such as placards in demos having to […]
Granny’s blue woolly slippers
Written By: - Date published: 5:02 pm, November 17th, 2007 - 21 comments
Granny’s campaign against the Electoral Finance Bill started with a bang and ended with a whimper. On Monday there was a banner headline “Democracy under attack”, complete with a front page editorial, a fuzzy picture of a masked woman, and a serpent cartoon. By Friday our crusading heroes had reduced the protection of democracy to […]
Prats in the Nats on China’s miners
Written By: - Date published: 5:52 pm, November 15th, 2007 - 26 comments
How’s this for small-minded prejudice from National Party backbencher Kate Wilkinson in a press release today complaining about the $84,000 dollars for a Labour Dept to help provide health and safety training for Chinese coal miners: Ms Wilkinson says Kiwi taxpayers will clearly be surprised to learn that the New Zealand Government is effectively subsidising […]
Granny gulled by National and Brethren spin
Written By: - Date published: 4:32 pm, November 15th, 2007 - 58 comments
Granny Herald wants to run a campaign against the Electoral Finance Bill when it doesn’t understand the Electoral Act. Worse, because it doesn’t understand the Act it makes assertions that are neither true to the law or in line with the facts. So it keeps repeating National and Brethren spin. One example is in yesterday’s […]
Take the blinkers off Granny
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, November 15th, 2007 - 32 comments
Granny Herald tries to defend itself against National Party bias by saying it ran a headline “I am not a liar” over Brash after he admitted on bFM knowing that the Brethren were going to issue pamphlets attacking labour, three days after saying he knew absolutely nothing about them. Brash’s exact words were “I knew […]
Tell the full story Audrey
Written By: - Date published: 6:40 pm, November 12th, 2007 - 3 comments
Grannywriter Audrey Young’s story headlined “Exclusive Brethren’s email sets stage for Electoral Finance Bill” is more National Party spin. The Brethren’s email to Chief Electoral Officer Henry on 8 June 2005 followed their letter to Don Brash and John Key on 24 May 2005 in which they wrote of a meeting the previous week with […]
Jockeys change at National – Return of the Hollow Men
Written By: - Date published: 5:32 pm, November 8th, 2007 - 20 comments
Chris Simpson has suddenly gone as manager of the National Party, and Steven Joyce and Jo de Joux are back. According to The Hollow Men they are the team who ran the hidden campaigns with the Exclusive Brethren and the racing industry in the 2005 election. This is a strategic shift – it has McCully’s […]
Roy Morgan
Written By: - Date published: 6:25 pm, October 26th, 2007 - 36 comments
There’s a new Roy Morgan out today. It covers the date range 1-14 October 2007. Gary Morgan said of the result: As was suggested in the previous New Zealand Morgan Poll, National Leader John Key’s recent policy gaffes have handed Helen Clark and her Labour Government a golden opportunity to make up some ground. In […]
Wish we’d had the Silver Bodgie in 1984
Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, October 26th, 2007 - 2 comments
Bob Hawke still tells it like it is; watch his devastating rebuttal of the Liberals’ attempts to demonise unions here. He points out how the union movement was crucial to Australia’s successful economic transformation in the 1980’s. Labour in Australia in 1983 and New Zealand in 1984 both faced the need to modernise their economies […]
Union bogey blunder backfires
Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, October 25th, 2007 - 7 comments
Liberal Party advertising in the Australian election looks desperate, and judging by the polls is ineffective. Witness this effort, using the old demon-union-official smear. It’s a Tory hoary, and while it might have worked for Muldoon in 1975 with the dancing cossacks, it looks dreadfully out of date in the 21st century. Aussie voters are […]
More lies from National and their Brethren
Written By: - Date published: 5:24 pm, October 19th, 2007 - 8 comments
Last year Gerry Brownlee told TVNZ that there was “no formal connection” between National and the Brethren. Last week John Key told a meeting on London that “there were no alliances between National and the Brethren”. Yet Andrew Simmons has just told the ABC that telephone canvassing done for National during the campaign was done […]
Cash in envelopes and the Brethren in politics
Written By: - Date published: 10:44 am, October 17th, 2007 - 3 comments
A fascinating piece from the ABC programme Four Corners details exactly how the Brethren funded ads in support of the Liberals in Australia. After an initial whitewash from the Austrlian Electoral Commission, the source of the money paid in cash into a front company called Willmac enterprises is now under police investigation. This company paid […]
National’s trusty donors
Written By: - Date published: 4:36 pm, September 5th, 2007 - 4 comments
The Tory blogworld went apoplectic over Tane’s comment that it was no surprise Bell Gully lawyers opposed the Electoral Finance Bill because the National Party got $62,000 from the Bell Gully Trust Account in 2005. National Party insider David Farrar gave us a down-the-nose lecture on his kiwiblog on how trust accounts work, saying that […]
Key on economic management
Written By: - Date published: 5:40 pm, August 29th, 2007 - Comments Off on Key on economic management
Presenter: “Where. do you see it [the NZ dollar]?” John Key: “Hard to pick actually at these levels. um, yeah there’s just so much volatility in there and I’m really, I’m really [sic] not as sure as I was a while ago when I thought it was going a lot higher, Um and I think […]
One law for the National Party
Written By: - Date published: 1:29 pm, August 23rd, 2007 - Comments Off on One law for the National Party
John can’t seem to get his story straight (again). Since he claims to support the concept of ‘one law for all’ let’s start with that. Under the Electoral Act you can reside in one place only. Under the Companies Act you cannot make a statement that is knowingly false or misleading. In October 2002 Key […]
- ‘Enforcement action taken’ hours after gang patch ban comes into effect
The Police Minister says gang members in the Hawke's Bay came out at midnight to challenge the law. ...3 days ago - ‘The deal sucks’: MPs question Tauranga marine precinct sale
Two MPs in Tauranga are calling for the Auditor-General to investigate the sale of the city's marine precinct, which one believes is a "really bad deal for Tauranga". ...3 days ago
- Will banning gang patches actually make New Zealand safer?
Gang members say it will create more problems, but the government argues it’s about improving public safety, explains Stewart Sowman-Lund for The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...3 days ago - Gang patch ban: ‘Subtle adaptations’ of insignia already being seen
Gang members are already changing their insignia to get around the law that came into effect overnight. ...3 days ago
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- It’s not too late to halt the death spiral of New Zealand’s public health system
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- The gang patch ban is now in force. What’s going to happen?
From today, police can enforce new gang legislation, including a ban on insignia being displayed in public. Here’s what you need to know. Why are we talking about this again? I thought it came in ages ago. The Gangs Act 2024 and Sentencing Amendment Act 2024 did indeed become law ...4 days ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 21 November
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 21 November appeared first on Newsroom. ...4 days ago
- National desperately needs to nullify Act’s Treaty bill
The Prime Minister cannot afford to be seen getting bogged down and taken over by Act on the Treaty Principles Bill The post National desperately needs to nullify Act’s Treaty bill appeared first on Newsroom. ...4 days ago
- Daily crossword, Thursday 21 November
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- Urban fringe precincts give city centres a run for their money
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- The case for juries
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New Zealand has dropped seven places to 41st in the global Climate Change Performance Index, which ranks countries based on their emissions, deployment of renewable electricity, overall energy use and climate policy.The announcement of the latest update to the index, which has been running since 2005 and is considered an ...4 days ago
- Police research adds to evidence against gang patch ban
As Te Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti gathered at Wellington’s Waitangi Park on the waterfront on Tuesday morning, the MC welcomed “brothers of the patched world and sisters of the patched world”.He told the Māori members of the crowd that their whakapapa – carried through tā moko – survived on the ...4 days ago
- Young families are leaving many large US cities − here’s why that matters
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government has rewritten the mandate of the Future Fund – the nation’s sovereign wealth fund – to urge it to direct investment into the “national priorities” of housing, the energy transition and infrastructure, ...4 days ago
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- The hīkoi and Parliament: A photo essay
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- Why NZ is protesting over colonial-era treaty bill – a global perspective
An overview for our international readers of Asia Pacific Report. BACKGROUNDER: By Sarah Shamim A fight for Māori indigenous rights drew more than 50,000 protesters to the New Zealand Parliament in the capital Wellington yesterday. A nine-day-long Hīkoi, or peaceful march — a Māori tradition — was undertaken in protest ...4 days ago
- The NT and ACT might have small populations but their economies are growing faster than the bigger s...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra sweettoiletpaper/Shutterstock The Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory have won bragging rights for having the fastest growing economies within Australia. Their growth was highlighted in annual data ...4 days ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Next month’s federal budget update is expected to revise down company tax receipts for the first time since 2020, amid continued low economic growth in the near term. In his Wednesday ministerial statement on ...4 days ago
- Schoolies means more drink spiking warnings. Why is the burden still on women to stay safe?
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- Speaker’s handling of hīkoi ‘overkill’ – Te Paati Māori
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- Government designates Hezbollah as terrorist entity
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Trivess Moore, Associate Professor, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University Metropolitan Fire Brigade, CC BY Ten years ago, a late-night cigarette started a fire that spread rapidly up 13 storeys on the Lacrosse apartment building in Melbourne. The ...4 days ago
- What is premenstrual dysphoric disorder? And how is it different to PMS?
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- Bill would ‘render the treaty worthless’ – world reacts to national Hīkoi
RNZ News International media coverage of Aotearoa New Zealand’s national Hīkoi to Parliament has largely focused on the historic size of the turnout in Wellington yesterday and the wider contention between Māori and the Crown. Some, including The New York Times, have also pointed out the recent swing right with ...4 days ago
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