MMP

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Key’s loose government

Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, November 16th, 2009 - 12 comments

Over the weekend r0b reckoned the shambles of the Key government would start to really hurt. I was sceptical. Winning the next election for the left is going to bloody hard. But Key’s cracks are showing. As the ever thoughtful Colin James noted in his Dom Post column this morning (currently offline): Too many distractions […]

Poll shows Kiwis prefer MMP

Written By: - Date published: 12:54 pm, November 12th, 2009 - 25 comments

NZPA reports on a new poll from UMR which shows Kiwis don’t want to dump MMP for a less proportional electoral system. The survey used the proposed wording of the referendum and found 48 percent in favour of keeping MMP and only 40 percent in favour of changing the system. Interestingly, when people were told […]

Why National really hates proportional electoral systems

Written By: - Date published: 2:22 pm, November 5th, 2009 - 25 comments

These data, taken from the Elections NZ site, show election results since National’s inception up until the last First Past the Post (FPP) election in 1993. I think they show fairly clearly why National is so keen to dump our proportional electoral system in favour of FPP or its drag cousin Supplementary Member (SM), which […]

MMP strengthening our democracy

Written By: - Date published: 2:39 pm, October 27th, 2009 - 25 comments

As the assorted rich, white old men behind Peter Shirtcliffe start their campaign to dump MMP, it’s worth remembering that the diversity we see in Parliament today hasn’t always been the case. The graph above, which comes via No Right Turn, was released today in the Social Report 2009. It shows a major increase in […]

Labour Grasps Nettle: Nettles Usually Sting

Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, September 15th, 2009 - 29 comments

By Rob Salmond It sounds like Phil G did a great job at Labour’s conference setting out where the party should go from here. Unfortunately, his KISS message didn’t get to all attendees. Labour apparently now wants to propose modifications to MMP, including more electorate MPs, fewer list MPs, a lower threshold, and getting rid […]

The emerging consensus to keep MMP

Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, September 14th, 2009 - 18 comments

Unexpectedly, a consensus is emerging to keep MMP. A search of the Herald, Stuff and other sites shows that most editorial pages and political commentators are against changing systems, citing MMP as fair and a check on the unbridled power the largest party enjoyed under First Past the Post*. The only notable exception is Fran […]

Why Supplementary Member sucks

Written By: - Date published: 7:08 pm, September 9th, 2009 - 64 comments

National and the business elite led by former Telecom chairman Peter Shirtcliffe (who led the pro-FPP campaign back in the 1990s) want to replace MMP with a voting system called Supplementary Member. SM is kind of a halfway house between FPP and MMP. Rather than the total number of seats a party has in Parliament […]

Fran lets the plan slip

Written By: - Date published: 2:40 pm, September 9th, 2009 - 22 comments

Fran O’Sullivan has rather given the game away on the MMP referendum. Frog has explained it so well, I can’t do better than repost it: Holding a referendum on MMP was discussed at cabinet on Monday 31 August 2009.  Yesterday Ms O’Sullivan informed Newstalk ZB drive time host Larry Williams of how this information was conveyed to […]

Thinking about a referendum on MMP

Written By: - Date published: 5:54 pm, May 10th, 2009 - 21 comments

There is an interesting paper by Mai Chen in NZ Lawyer Online about the pros and cons of the referendum on MMP that National has promised by 2011 – “Is the MMP referendum likely to result in electoral reform?” The current position is that MMP has managed to operate effectively in the NZ environment. Both […]

Russian oligarch urges dump MMP

Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, April 8th, 2009 - 43 comments

So, the Business Roundtable has resorted to calling in Russian oligarchs to aid their campaign against proportional represenation. Here’s what “Taranaki-born former Treasury economist-turned-Russian oligarch” Stephen Jennings had to say following last night’s Sir Ron Trotter address. MMP, he says, must go. We need political leaders who can lead and manage change. “They need to […]

Winner takes all (of us to the cleaners?)

Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, May 18th, 2008 - 120 comments

The Sunday Star Times reports National is keen to have a referendum on MMP. As you would expect Peter Shirtcliffe has been involved in lobbying the Nats for this policy. It’s just as AYB predicted. I’m sure the advertising agencies will be rubbing their hands together in glee. I would imagine we’ll hear a lot […]

An emerging threat to MMP?

Written By: - Date published: 5:36 pm, January 24th, 2008 - 100 comments

After Brash and the extreme right were exposed in The Hollow Men the Nats changed their leader hoping for a fresh start. What’s becoming apparent is that National’s shady backers haven’t changed. The policy and the cash are coming from the same people they always have – people like Peter Shirtcliffe who’s evidently now helping […]