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Sharma keeps digging

Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, August 30th, 2022 - 33 comments

Last night a 4,761 word rant was published on Gaurav Sharma’s facebook page.  In it he details information which on the face of it may have breached confidentiality requirements. And the overwhelming effect of the allegations is Meh.

What to do with Gaurav Sharma

Written By: - Date published: 1:59 pm, August 16th, 2022 - 184 comments

The Labour Caucus will meet this afternoon to discuss what to do about Gaurav Sharma.

Stuff’s Fire and Fury major investigation into the occupation of Parliament grounds

Written By: - Date published: 10:34 am, August 14th, 2022 - 71 comments

The Wellington occupation was supposed to be about ending the mandates, but a new Stuff Circuit documentary investigates those behind the protest and discovers they have far bigger and more dangerous goals.

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.

Kia kaha Louisa Wall

Written By: - Date published: 8:25 pm, March 31st, 2022 - 10 comments

Earlier this week Louisa Wall announced that she is retiring as a Member of Parliament.  History will confirm that she was one of our best Parliamentarians.

Why haven’t the police acted?

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, February 18th, 2022 - 474 comments

It is day 10 of the Anti vax protest on Parliament’s grounds.  More cars are being parked illegally and despite considerable disruption to Wellington’s roading network so far not one car has been towed by the police.

What does the right to protest actually mean?

Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, February 16th, 2022 - 62 comments

A primer on the “right to protest”.  Contrary to the views of some there is no right to protest.  Instead there are rights of assembly, movement and a right to freedom of speech.  And there is no absolute right to do these things at Parliament.

Is it time for the Greens to go their own way?

Written By: - Date published: 1:18 pm, January 11th, 2022 - 122 comments

Climate, ecology, welfare, housing – we are now at the point for the Greens to go ‘fuck it, time to go back to our radical roots’.

 

Clearing the decks

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, December 13th, 2021 - 14 comments

The draft report into Nick Smith’s treatment of a young staff member that eventually saw him leave Parliament has made its way into the public realm, just in time to be lost in the pre Christmas media wash up.

What National Needs To Do

Written By: - Date published: 9:04 am, November 27th, 2021 - 83 comments

Since the left are experts at internal knifing, National should learn from the left about how to recover.  What National needsto do to recover.

National’s next leader?

Written By: - Date published: 8:28 am, September 3rd, 2021 - 60 comments

As the damage caused by Judith Collins’ leadership of the National Party intensifies it is inevitable that there will be internal discussions about who should replace her, and soon.  And I think the best candidate is clear.

Judith’s very bad two days

Written By: - Date published: 8:12 am, September 2nd, 2021 - 50 comments

Judith Collins’ insistence that Parliament be reconvened even at a time that the country was in lockdown level 4 has backfired spectacularly.

MPs should not only follow the rules but follow them with stars

Written By: - Date published: 9:16 am, August 31st, 2021 - 68 comments

Judith Collins has insisted on travelling from Auckland to Wellington so she can stand and shout in an empty Parliament Chamber.

Gumming up the works

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, August 28th, 2021 - 53 comments

Last night it was revealed that National and Act had refused to agree to a proposed virtual Parliament sitting where questions could be asked, and instead wanted face to face meetings, even though this would mean a third of the country’s MPs travelling regularly to Wellington from a Covid delta hotspot.

The latest battle in the culture wars

Written By: - Date published: 8:49 am, August 15th, 2021 - 79 comments

This week National agreed to the bill allowing gender self identification to proceed to select committee which was a stark contrast to their position on the bill banning gay conversion therapy.  I wonder what happened?

Openness and transparency

Written By: - Date published: 12:20 pm, June 8th, 2021 - 117 comments

On the weekend Andrea Vance gave the Government a bit of a serve about its record on openness and transparency. But a deeper dig into the issue suggests that the cause may have nothing to do with the Government’s preferences and everything to do with the volume of information requests made by the opposition.

The National Party Caucus knew nuffink about Nick Smith’s problems

Written By: - Date published: 8:39 am, June 2nd, 2021 - 40 comments

Last night the story about Nick Smith’s issues that caused his resignation finally broke, or did it?

 

The Māori Party and the National Party

Written By: - Date published: 7:43 am, May 13th, 2021 - 113 comments

There were dramatic scenes in Parliament yesterday.  Judith Collins chose to again attack Jacinda Ardern about the He Puapua report.  And Māori Party Co leader Rawiri Waititi expressed his disgust at her race baiting in a uniquely New Zealand way.

About Trevor Mallard

Written By: - Date published: 8:20 pm, May 5th, 2021 - 67 comments

  • Trevor Mallard has made a concerted effort to change the tone of Parliament.  But last night got caught in a bickering match with National.

Can we trust David Seymour?

Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, May 1st, 2021 - 48 comments

David Seymour has got himself into a little bit of trouble. He filed a Parliamentary Pecuniary interests return that was not, ahem, correct.

National’s very bad day

Written By: - Date published: 7:44 am, April 22nd, 2021 - 86 comments

Yesterday was a day where National focussed on dog whistle racism, supported religious extremists and moaned about workers receiving a modest increase in the minimum wage.

National’s leadership problem

Written By: - Date published: 7:48 am, March 30th, 2021 - 42 comments

Chris Luxon’s maiden speech last week and another example of multiple leaks of details of a caucus meeting highlight how precarious Judith Collins’ tenure as National Party leader is.  But does someone have the numbers to replace her?

Much ado about nothing

Written By: - Date published: 8:39 am, March 13th, 2021 - 18 comments

Chris Bishop is claiming credit for Labour finishing a deal whereby the party rented premises to Parliamentary Services for the use of Gillian Anderson MP at a level well below market rates.

The case for mandatory legislative review

Written By: - Date published: 9:12 am, February 24th, 2021 - 15 comments

You can’t read legislation for very long without finding instances of weird edge cases. But is also why we have kids trying to walk or bike on gravel roads with no sidewalks to get to school. When modern cars travel these narrow lanes at up to 100km/hour. Parliament has no systematic way to review obsolete legislation.

Not wearing ties bad, denigrating MPs and breaching Standing Orders fine

Written By: - Date published: 7:29 am, February 12th, 2021 - 24 comments

Without a hint of embarrassment National associated entities yesterday criticised Trevor Mallard’s decision to loosen tie wearing requirements as a lowering of  standards while at the same time circulating a heavily doctored video in an attack on Labour MP Anna Lorck.

Elizabeth Kerekere take a bow

Written By: - Date published: 8:42 pm, February 10th, 2021 - 20 comments

One of the most personal and enjoyable celebrations of a maiden speech came from the Green’s Elizabeth Kerekere.  It made me happy as a Kiwi to watch this.  Sit back and enjoy.

Parliament’s tie issue

Written By: - Date published: 7:29 am, February 10th, 2021 - 90 comments

Not wearing a tie in Parliament is a weird issue for the Maori Party to get ready to die in a ditch about.  But the rules should be changed.

The Speech From The Throne

Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, November 27th, 2020 - 21 comments

I’m sure one needs a particular depth of political nerdiness to give a flying fig about such things, but since I am one of those, these are my highlights from the speech from the throne to Parliament this week.

NZ election 2020: Labour win is a watershed moment in the country’s history

Written By: - Date published: 12:27 am, October 20th, 2020 - 47 comments

The 2020 election was more than just a victory for Labour and more than a crushing defeat for the National Party (New Zealand’s main centre-right political party). This result marks a significant watershed in New Zealand politics which will likely have implications long after this parliamentary term.

Kia kaha Sarah Dowie

Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, July 30th, 2020 - 17 comments

Sarah Dowie’s valedictory speech yesterday was extremely good and offered a fascinating insight into Parliamentary life and some notable recent events.

Nat Vote: And the Loser Is ….

Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, May 22nd, 2020 - 197 comments

The Nation holds its breath as the dullest political leadership race in a generation snores to a close. Who will win by losing? Who will lose by winning? Who cares?

UPDATE: It’s Mullertime!

UPDATE: Bennett dumped!