Politics

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

Categories under Politics

Attorney General’s constitutional advice on Treaty Principles bill will be interesting

Written By: - Date published: 10:13 am, September 12th, 2024 - 46 comments

Judith Collins - Attorney General

David Seymour finally released some hard information about Act’s coalition bone – Treaty Principles bill. The regulatory impact statement is damning and points to the status quo as being preferable. It will provide an interesting scope for Judith Collins in her non-partisan role as Attorney-General.

Towards the abyss

Written By: - Date published: 12:34 pm, September 10th, 2024 - 37 comments

Yesterday it was confirmed that Act’s Treaty Principles Bill had been approved by Cabinet for drafting and introduction into Parliament in November this year. Get ready for the circus to start.

A new Labour electricity policy

Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, September 9th, 2024 - 70 comments

Proposed policy for the Labour Party. New Zealand’s power system should empower the people in their lives and systems, secure electricity use and production for New Zealand in perpetuity, and make the electricity system serve New Zealand not the other way round. How do we achieve this?

Gormless Government releases confidential legal advice on Charter School law

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, September 6th, 2024 - 31 comments

The Government has mistakenly released confidential legal advice confirming that the Charter School legislation breaches ILO conventions, free trade agreements and potentially the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.

Guess who needs help with his literacy and numeracy?

Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, September 5th, 2024 - 76 comments

Remember when Christopher Luxon told the National Party that we had a maths teaching crisis? Experts have concluded that the statement is misleading. And an OIA dump suggests that behind the scenes there is an attempt to radically rewrite the existing curriculum.

Shane Jones is obsessed with communists

Written By: - Date published: 1:50 pm, September 4th, 2024 - 20 comments

Shane Jones has been getting into the news recently after his comment that High Court Judge Cheryl Gwyn was a communist made at a private meeting was revealed in the media. He has been called out by Judith Collins and Winston Peters but surprisingly not by Christopher Luxon.

Willis’s Bungling of the Kiwirail Interislander Cancellation

Written By: - Date published: 9:23 am, September 4th, 2024 - 26 comments

Nicola Willis’s bungling of the Kiwirail Interislander project cancellation has so far cost Kiwis $1bn, but that’s not all. Today RNZ’s reporting reveals the government may have also undermined NZ’s relationship with South Korea.

National’s eternal road obsession

Written By: - Date published: 8:58 am, September 3rd, 2024 - 39 comments

The year is 2035 and after the McAnaulty-Sepuloni Government is removed from power new National Prime Minister Simeon Brown makes his first new announcement. Guess what it is?

How can you forget $178,394 in campaign donations?

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.

In memory of Norm Kirk

Written By: - Date published: 4:11 pm, August 31st, 2024 - 16 comments

Today marks the day 50 years ago when former Labour Prime Minister Norm Kirk died.

About David Parker’s and Labour’s debate about taxation

Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, August 31st, 2024 - 69 comments

Guest post by Nigel Haworth discussing recent publicity given to the Labour Party’s debate around tax reform.

Local Councils Defy Central Government Agenda

Written By: - Date published: 4:16 pm, August 30th, 2024 - 38 comments

94% of councils that have voted vote to retain Maori wards. Many of them are National background Councillors and previously urged Central Government to not push ahead with the legislation. The forced local referendums are now expected to cost ratepayers and take away from Council workloads

What Happened in the House (Videos)

Written By: - Date published: 12:24 pm, August 30th, 2024 - 8 comments

NZ Parliament sitting where Labour’s Kieran McAnulty implores the Coalition government to stop deceiving Kiwis, and Winston Peters and Louise Upton both get fired up. Meanwhile, Casey Costello still doesn’t know who wrote her tobacco Ministerial papers.

National’s solution to the housing crisis

Written By: - Date published: 9:21 am, August 29th, 2024 - 14 comments

Dan Bidois has unwittingly exposed that National has a list of well honed talking points that are used and repeated ad mauseum. Normally within context, sometimes not.

King Luxon Isn’t Wearing Any Clothes

Written By: - Date published: 10:45 am, August 28th, 2024 - 26 comments

While Luxon and Brown hand it to the Councils, a grassroots campaign is taking effect and the power is with the people. Warning: article contains satire.

Power and Speed

Written By: - Date published: 10:22 am, August 27th, 2024 - 17 comments

We are in a power crisis and the government has had to respond, but will their response make any difference?

Simeon Brown peddling porkies about gas shortage

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, August 27th, 2024 - 43 comments

Energy Minister Simeon Brown is peddling lies about a gas shortage. The country exports around 40 percent of its annual gas production as methanol. More is used to make synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, a nasty greenhouse emission source, for our farms. We don’t need expensive LNG distribution facilities while exporting the bulk of our own gas.

Is Casey Costello Corrupt?

Written By: - Date published: 3:15 pm, August 26th, 2024 - 27 comments

Casey Costello and the Coalition government have already halved tobacco excise at a cost of up to $216mn. Today RNZ reports there remain more questions on who wrote her Ministerial papers begging for tobacco industry benefits.

Where Does Labour Rebuild? 

Written By: - Date published: 9:01 am, August 26th, 2024 - 48 comments

It won’t come from the working class. But we know where it will come from.

Government contributes to developing homeless crisis

Written By: - Date published: 1:23 pm, August 25th, 2024 - 3 comments

There is increasing concern that recently introduced policy changes by National have made housing for the most needy amongst us more tenuous.

Roger Douglas Has a Lesson for the Left

Written By: - Date published: 12:33 pm, August 25th, 2024 - 28 comments

Roger Douglas, the most revolutionary minister in the postwar history of Aotearoa, knew how to exert change in three years. Rogernomics transformed the economy with dizzying speed, from protectionist welfare state to a neoliberal free market. Elliot Crossan argues that the left needs to take the same approach to end the era of neoliberalism.

Culture wars are a diversion from addressing class struggles

Written By: - Date published: 2:03 pm, August 24th, 2024 - 25 comments

Ditch the NZ culture wars if we really want challenge status quo.

David Seymour’s Ministry of Regulation costs $80mn

Written By: - Date published: 12:38 pm, August 22nd, 2024 - 17 comments

David Seymour’s new Ministry has 91 staff, including 3 Deputy CEOs who earn up to $348K each – more than Ministers. Seymour wants to use it as a vehicle to change how NZ makes laws and invokes Ruth Richardson in his vision.

So much for Localism and Devolution

Written By: - Date published: 10:08 am, August 22nd, 2024 - 18 comments

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced that the Government will do away with Local Government’s obligations to consider the social, cultural and environmental implications of their decisions.

Is the Treaty Principles Bill dead or has it just suffered a flesh wound?

Written By: - Date published: 12:31 pm, August 20th, 2024 - 21 comments

Even though National and NZ First have ruled out supporting Act’s Treaty Principles Bill beyond the first reading David Seymour thinks that the Bill has a chance of succeeding and wishes to proceed with introduction of the bill.

Lester Levy Asks Kiwis To Pray For Him – Again

Written By: - Date published: 6:52 pm, August 18th, 2024 - 33 comments

Lester Levy again asks Kiwis to pray for him. But who will pray for us, Dr Levy?

Luxon’s Support for AUKUS 2 is Against Our Interests

Written By: - Date published: 9:29 am, August 18th, 2024 - 21 comments

Three NZ prime ministers talking to Zelensky

It is well time the Prime Minister set out how it is in our interests to move against China by buying into AUKUS.

Is a Transformational Left-Wing Leadership of the NZ Labour Party Possible?

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.

Waitangi Tribunal slams Treaty Principles Bill

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, August 17th, 2024 - 15 comments

The Waitangi Tribunal has in a scathing interim report slammed Act’s Treaty Principles Bill. And Christopher Luxon has underlined his weakness by refusing to halt the bill.

Chhour needs to go

Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, August 16th, 2024 - 24 comments

It is a shame that Ipredict is not still around. Otherwise I would be putting money on Chhour being the first to go.

Lester Levy: “Significant, Not Painless” Changes Needed

Written By: - Date published: 10:08 am, August 16th, 2024 - 14 comments

Lester Levy gave a keynote address this weak signalling painful, strong medicine is needed for Health NZ. But his claims contradict frontline staff and experts.