Written By: - Date published: 9:31 am, October 11th, 2024 - 35 comments
Radio New Zealand has reported that $500,000 in donations to National, Act and NZ First were made by entities associated to those who had their projects included in the recently released schedule to the Fast Track Projects Bill.
Written By: - Date published: 9:53 am, September 1st, 2024 - 16 comments
This is going to take some explaining. The police have decided to take no action against National MP David MacLeod for failing to declare $178,394 in electoral donations. No this is not an Onion headline.
Written By: - Date published: 4:57 pm, August 17th, 2024 - 79 comments
It is a painful experience, to have fought long and hard for something you knew was inadequate and to have even that taken away. The Labour Party has long urged activists to be ‘realistic’. Elliot Crossan argues that it will not return to be a socialist party of the working class.
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, June 5th, 2024 - 11 comments
When the fabric of lies unravels the gaslighting increases.
Written By: - Date published: 6:02 pm, June 3rd, 2024 - 9 comments
The National Party has created a new slogan: give New Zealanders a break … in promises!
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, June 1st, 2024 - 24 comments
National’s breaking of its election promise to fund 13 cancer treatments is cruel beyond words.
Written By: - Date published: 8:53 am, June 1st, 2024 - 18 comments
Radio New Zealand has broken the jaw dropping and astounding story that shows why the Fast Track Projects Bill is potentially so corrupting to the body politic and why there has to be electoral law reform to stop corporations from buying influence.
Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, May 21st, 2024 - 21 comments
In breaking news New Plymouth National MP David MacLeod apparently *forgot* to declare $178,000 in declarations to the Electoral Commission.
Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, March 15th, 2024 - 4 comments
The IRD has estimated that National’s proposed Overseas Gambling Levy Policy will bring in $500 million less than it promised during the election campaign.
Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, February 25th, 2024 - 8 comments
The Electoral Commission has released the major promoters’ electoral returns. These show significant amounts of money being spent on getting Labour unelected but give no detail about how the campaigns were funded.
Written By: - Date published: 10:44 am, February 24th, 2024 - 34 comments
The 2023 candidate election returns have released and it has emerged that Bathurst Resources Ltd contributed $32,600 to Patrick Phelps, who ran a spoiler campaign against Damian O’Connor in West Coast Tasman.
Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, January 19th, 2024 - 22 comments
The Independent Electoral Review Panel has recommended changes to the electoral system including the banning of any donations unless made by enrolled voters, a cap on the size of those donations and a requirement that third parties disclose all large donations that they receive.
Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, January 7th, 2024 - 115 comments
A George Monbiot article in the Guardian made me wonder what effect the Atlas Network is having on New Zealand politics through the Taxpayer’s Union. Publicly available information suggests considerable funding is being made available and that the current Government’s priorities are precisely those that the Atlas Network would approve of.
Written By: - Date published: 9:37 pm, December 14th, 2023 - 40 comments
A notably different approach to sequencing political comeback was on show at the VUW post-election seminar last week. Luxon put rebuilding the party first, Hipkins put it last. On policy Luxon was bottom-up and early, Hipkins was top-down and late.
Written By: - Date published: 8:13 am, December 6th, 2023 - 9 comments
The decision in 2021 to introduce the smoking ban was a courageous one. Smoking causes many deaths each year and places a strain on the country’s health system. Smoking is addictive and we should do all we can to discourage young people from taking up this habit. This being said, putting a total ban on tobacco sales of people born after 2009 is well-meaning, but would likely have unintended and profoundly negative consequences.
Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, November 23rd, 2023 - 102 comments
Today may be the day we have a new Government, that is as long as Act and NZ First can resolve their fight over who is to be Deputy Prime Minister.
Written By: - Date published: 10:49 am, November 22nd, 2023 - 93 comments
Now that the policy negotiations between Act National and NZ First have been concluded talks have progressed to the most sensitive and difficult area, who will get the baubles of office.
Written By: - Date published: 10:55 am, November 11th, 2023 - 45 comments
One of the most democratic changes that Labour made to the electoral system was to allow people to enroll and vote on election day. The right hate it. And may be planning to change it.
Written By: - Date published: 8:02 pm, November 7th, 2023 - 53 comments
It was never going to be anything else, but two positive emerged. All policy options are back on the table, including tax, and there is a realisation that the main task ahead is to rebuild a strong and progressive party.
Written By: - Date published: 10:18 am, November 5th, 2023 - 48 comments
The final results in the Māori electorates clearly indicate that there was a great deal of strategic voting taking place.
Written By: - Date published: 2:38 pm, November 3rd, 2023 - 166 comments
National loses 2 electorate seats to Labour. Te Pāti Māori picked up two electorate seats from Labour which means that parliament will have a 2 seat overhang. Greens gain a seat. Nact needs a coalition buddy. Now we’re looking at the coalition phase of the long wait. Time to pull out the popcorn.
Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, November 3rd, 2023 - 32 comments
Today we will get the final election counts. It will now include the estimated specials of 20.2% of the vote. This can change the precise balance in parliament. A NAct coalition will probably require a partner party to secure a reliable majority. Unfortunately past political history is going to make that awkward. The chaos will be great for a political blog of the left. Not so good for the country.
Written By: - Date published: 10:06 am, November 3rd, 2023 - 34 comments
Now that the dust is settling it is time for the Labour Party to think about its future.
Written By: - Date published: 4:43 pm, November 2nd, 2023 - 18 comments
In 2021, I voted against Labour’s conference proposal for midstream leadership change to be determined by Caucus alone, saying that it risked Labour becoming a cadre party for elites. A series of posts will start with why the Caucus should not rush to a leadership vote.
Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, October 23rd, 2023 - 87 comments
Labour day is a good day for all progressives to start getting organised for the next three years and working on the election of the next progressive Government.
Written By: - Date published: 8:18 am, October 17th, 2023 - 57 comments
Special vote counts may see Labour win back some important electorate seats and see the National/Act majority vanish.
Written By: - Date published: 6:03 am, October 17th, 2023 - 45 comments
In parliamentary politics, there are no final victories. After losing the 2023 election, Labour must now immediately focus on winning in 2026.
Written By: - Date published: 12:05 pm, October 15th, 2023 - 75 comments
The trad left/right spectrum people are wondering why the Greens are so happy. Didn’t the left just lose?
Written By: - Date published: 9:52 am, October 15th, 2023 - 129 comments
Last night was not a good night for the Labour Party …
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 pm, October 14th, 2023 - 237 comments
A post for election night discussion on the Standard (and links for where to watch).
Written By: - Date published: 8:12 pm, October 13th, 2023 - 8 comments
Last post before election day but the big mo is on and the election is getting closer and closer.
The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.
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