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Politics

Posts on government and governence at national and local level, political parties,politicians, and political participation

Categories under Politics

What New Zealanders are thinking about climate change

Written By: - Date published: 9:13 am, August 3rd, 2022 - 25 comments

A new Ipsos poll has some good news.

Chris Bishop supports AND opposes vaccine mandates

Written By: - Date published: 8:28 am, August 3rd, 2022 - 45 comments

Remember when National’s Chris Bishop thought that Labour was not being staunch enough of mandates?  He now thinks that Labour is being too staunch.

Why stick more fingers in the donations dyke?

Written By: - Date published: 9:50 pm, August 1st, 2022 - 13 comments

The latest attempt to construct a sensible political donations regime will likely again prove to be full of holes. Going back to basics would be much better. The good news is that the basics were comprehensively assessed 36 years ago by the 1986 Royal Commission on Electoral Reform. It recommended state funding.

Political donations law needs reform

Written By: - Date published: 2:44 pm, August 1st, 2022 - 6 comments

Judge Jagose’s decision to acquit two persons linked to New Zealand First charged with obtaining control over $750,000 has opened up rather large holes in the obligations of political parties to report donations.

Poverty is a political choice, why are Labour choosing it?

Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, August 1st, 2022 - 48 comments

Labour announced earlier in the year that it would give a $350 cash transfer to all New Zealanders earning less than $70,000.

Except beneficiaries.

Why is the UK’s only youth gender identity clinic closing, and what does this mean for New Zealand?

Written By: - Date published: 1:13 pm, July 29th, 2022 - 62 comments

The NHS is shutting down its gender identity clinic for children after a damning review found that it failed vulnerable under-18s.

Emeritus Professor Jane Kelsey Valedictory Lecture

Written By: - Date published: 10:36 am, July 29th, 2022 - 12 comments

Academic activism and speaking truth to power.

Best yet in National Party splatter series in production

Written By: - Date published: 1:31 pm, July 28th, 2022 - 44 comments

The kicker in Andrea Vance’s Blue Blood, her insider’s view of the splatter-movie that has been the National Party since John Key stepped down, is that the best yet is in production. She chronicles treachery that has become the modus operandi of the vacuous vipers inhabiting the caucus. Details of the dirty work induce you to turn the page for more. It doesn’t look like Luxon is the redeemer.

Ardern’s Leadership Generates Pacific Results

Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, July 28th, 2022 - 9 comments

New Zealand has been overdue to show strong results in the Pacific Islands. Not a moment too soon, this is what Prime Minister Ardern delivered.

Luxon goes to Te Puke Hawaii

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, July 27th, 2022 - 58 comments

The question of what has happened to Christopher Luxon was answered yesterday in a shambolic messy way that must have National operatives in despair.

Really bad takes on the Green’s leadership issue

Written By: - Date published: 9:55 am, July 26th, 2022 - 60 comments

There have been some spectacularly bad takes on Green Party leadership issues by voices on the right and academia which were all shown to be spectacularly wrong after Chloe Swarbrick announced that she was not seeking the Green Party leadership.

The inside story of National’s civil war

Written By: - Date published: 12:24 pm, July 25th, 2022 - 16 comments

Andrea Vance’s book Blood Bath provides an insider’s view of the carnage that erupted in the National Party from 2017 to 2021.  And while things have calmed down under Christopher Luxon’s his weaknesses, including his glossing over the importance of policy detail and his tendency to bag businesses has been noted.

James Shaw and the Green Party co-leadership

Written By: - Date published: 11:38 am, July 24th, 2022 - 189 comments

The tension in the Green Party is between pragmatism and the need for urgent system change.

For the public, there’s no need to panic. Dissent is valuable and healthy in politics. It sits alongside trusting that the Greens know how to manage their internal processes even if the public at large doesn’t understand them well.

 

Brian Tamaki really annoys Auckland by adding to traffic congestion

Written By: - Date published: 10:21 am, July 24th, 2022 - 53 comments

Brian Tamaki and Vision New Zealand supporters sought to improve levels of support by causing significant congestion in Auckland city yesterday.

Unthinkable Renationalisation

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, July 21st, 2022 - 57 comments

Europe is leading the global fight against climate change by rapidly shifting away from fossil fuels. This now includes fully renationalising energy companies and forced decreases in gas use. What could New Zealand learn?

Chinese Capital in the Pacific

Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, July 19th, 2022 - 26 comments

It would be tidy for New Zealand and Australian leaders to blame China’s debt within Sri Lanka for its collapse, so that they could scare Pacific Island nations back into the fold. It would be wrong.

Another partial privatisation that has failed

Written By: - Date published: 10:32 am, July 18th, 2022 - 37 comments

I watched the Rugby test on Saturday night.  One side played with passion and vigour.  Their forward pack dominated and the defensive effort from the backs was superb.  The other side was the All Blacks who displayed all the passion and vigour of a National Party conference.

Wear your #$%^& mask properly

Written By: - Date published: 10:38 am, July 16th, 2022 - 90 comments

Although we still compare favourably to the vast majority of Western nations in terms of our Covid response our performance has been eclipsed by Japan and Singapore, two nations which strong mask mandates and cultural norms supporting the wearing of masks.

Luxon is still struggling to understand Mask rules

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, July 14th, 2022 - 28 comments

During January of this year Christopher Luxon described the traffic light system as confusing.  This week he described it as “very, very confusing”.  It is of concern that he appears not to have learned about what the rules require in the meantime.

Complaint about RNZ use of Bryce Edwards article upheld

Written By: - Date published: 1:58 pm, July 11th, 2022 - 33 comments

The Media Council has upheld a complaint against a Bryce Edwards article published on RNZ’s website that incorrectly stated that Labour went into the 2020 election promising to break up the supermarket duopoly and bring down the cost of food and that the policy was essentially dead when the policy only promised to conduct a market study using the Commerce Commission.

Luxon goes to London to get campaign ideas

Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, July 8th, 2022 - 19 comments

At the very time that the United Kingdom Conservative Government is imploding National leader Chris Luxon is visiting to get new ideas on how to run a country.

Boris Johnson has agreed to resign

Written By: - Date published: 6:03 am, July 8th, 2022 - 41 comments

…

How Can Labour Win in 2023?

Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, July 7th, 2022 - 213 comments

Right now Labour is preparing the ground for its run at 2023’s election with new policy. New policy must be wildly popular. What could make Labour popular enough to them back leading a third term in government?

The $11 billion man strikes again

Written By: - Date published: 8:41 am, July 7th, 2022 - 22 comments

Remember Steven Joyce who claimed there was a $11.7 billion dollar hole in Labour’s alternative budget? Another example of his negotiation prowess has recently received media attention and the only conclusion that can be drawn is that his ability to analyse crown accounts is matched by his ability to negotiate.

Anarchy in the UK

Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, July 6th, 2022 - 41 comments

In the United Kingdom Boris Johnson’s government has been brought to its knees because of a sex scandal, surprisingly not one involving himself.

Covid – time for red?

Written By: - Date published: 9:23 am, July 5th, 2022 - 68 comments

Covid death rate July 2022

With a second wave of Covid infections starting and with new potentially more serious variants emerging it may be time for the Government to consider a return to the Covid red setting.

The benefits of Ardern’s recent overseas trips

Written By: - Date published: 12:34 pm, July 4th, 2022 - 69 comments

Jacinda Ardern has just completed three overseas trips.  The cumulative benefits for the country are extraordinary and I have never witnessed anything similar from another New Zealand leader. But local responses from sectors of the media have been muted.  Why is this?

Ardern significantly improves EU Free Trade deal

Written By: - Date published: 11:13 am, July 2nd, 2022 - 26 comments

Before her involvement in the European Union Free Trade Agreement negotiations Jacinda Ardern was accused of “scattering stardust” in a vain attempt to get an agreement over the line.  If this is an example of Jacinda scattering stardust then long may she continue to do so.

Jacinda’s comments to NATO

Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, July 1st, 2022 - 38 comments

Yesterday Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gave a speech/comments to NATO outlining our position on NATO, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, multilateral diplomacy, our region, and nuclear proliferation. Plus of course she helped to finally get the EU trade treaty over the line. Her ‘comments’ are worth reading and commenting on because I suspect that they align pretty well to our societies general position.

Nonsense Auckland Council PR

Written By: - Date published: 12:34 pm, June 30th, 2022 - 19 comments

Sometimes the egregious spin gets too much.  And when developers who want a compact urban form are telling Auckland Council that its plans are not working you know Auckland Council has a problem.

Mansplaining Luxon

Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, June 30th, 2022 - 14 comments

Fresh from his attempt to alienate the female vote by being equivocal on if a National Government would move to restrict access to abortions yesterday Christopher Luxon compounded things by purporting to speak for all women.

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