political parties

Categories under political parties

Liam Hehir needs to relearn his civics

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, May 22nd, 2025 - 16 comments

Generally I like reading Liam Hehir over at the The Blue Review. He is usually interesting despite his position. However he asserted that “Parliament Must Rule Itself”. Of course parliament must control itself. But rule itself – no! Voters do that. Parliamentary rules are mainly there to keep a low profile to voters looking at their poor performance. Right now that is inside the privileges committee.

The Government blinks

Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, May 21st, 2025 - 15 comments

Faced with the threat of an impassioned filibuster against the Priviliges Committee extreme recommendations the Government yesterday abruptly stopped debate on the committee report by voting to adjourn the debate.

Privileges Committee recommendations are partisan, indefensible and racist

Written By: - Date published: 3:39 pm, May 19th, 2025 - 20 comments

The Privileges Committee recommendation for suspension of three Maori Party MPs for performing a haka in Parliament has been described as appearing to be partisan, indefensible and open to attacks of racism. Parliament’s response tomorrow will show how political the issue has become.

Te Pati Maori and the Privileges Committee

Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, May 16th, 2025 - 40 comments

The Government’s desire to heavily punish Maori Party MPs for their haka in Parliament in opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill may have a dramatic effect on Budget Week.

The Empire strikes back

Written By: - Date published: 8:38 am, May 16th, 2025 - 51 comments

National has launched an all out attack on Labour for accusing it of cutting women’s pay, even though this is precisely what it has done.

The Green Budget

Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, May 15th, 2025 - 49 comments

An economy for the people, by the people.

Louisa Wall – This Is Not Feminism – It’s Fiscal Evasion Dressed in Lipstick

Written By: - Date published: 8:59 am, May 15th, 2025 - 24 comments

Louisa Wall eviscerates Government claims about pay equity.

The worst Finance Minister ever?

Written By: - Date published: 10:22 am, May 13th, 2025 - 70 comments

Future historians may consider Nicola Willis to be the country’s worst Finance Minister, even worse than Rob Muldoon and Ruth Richardson.

Get ready for the Regulatory Standards Bill

Written By: - Date published: 10:47 am, May 11th, 2025 - 24 comments

Following on from the undermining under urgency of the current Pay Equity scheme the Government intends to introduce the Regulatory Standards Bill which if passed would have a significant adverse effect on collective rights and environmental action.

Rock and a hard place: the under 16 social media ban

Written By: - Date published: 11:19 am, May 10th, 2025 - 50 comments

Given the complexities and conflict over privacy, can MPs be trusted to design a good law?

The beginning of the end

Written By: - Date published: 10:13 am, May 10th, 2025 - 58 comments

When the history of the sixth National Government is written I am confident that the events of this week when the Pay Equity system was smashed up will be described as the the beginning of the end.

Vale David Parker MP

Written By: - Date published: 2:08 pm, May 8th, 2025 - 20 comments

David Parker’s Deputy Leader ‘s speech in 2014 at the Wellington Labour Party Conference was the best I ever heard from a Labour Leader. Vision matched values in intensity and scope. Parliament now loses one of its very best.

National wants to make voting harder

Written By: - Date published: 1:35 pm, May 6th, 2025 - 9 comments

luxon sheep

National’s recent announcement that it will take away voting rights from all prisoners may be nothing more than a distraction from its real intent, screwing the electoral scrum by making it harder to vote for some of us.

Blind Spots When Playing for Big Stakes

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, May 2nd, 2025 - 65 comments

How the Greens Are Setting Candidates Up to Fail

The Greens’ Industrial Strategy: Green Jobs Guarantee and Ministry of Green Works

Written By: - Date published: 5:17 pm, May 1st, 2025 - 39 comments

New Zealanders should be in control of our economy, our jobs and our future. We don’t need to leave our fate to be decided by international shareholders

National yet again wants to take away prisoner voting rights

Written By: - Date published: 2:10 pm, May 1st, 2025 - 9 comments

Despite the prospect of it being struck down by the Courts being very high the Government has announced a plan to reintroduce a prisoner voting ban.

Culture wars and the Waitākere Ranges

Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, April 29th, 2025 - 20 comments

Claims have been made that Auckland Council is giving away rights to the Waitākere Ranges to local iwi. But the claims suffer from that important characteristic of not actually being true.

Atlas and the Treaty Principles Bill

Written By: - Date published: 12:58 pm, April 27th, 2025 - 4 comments

It is time to reflect on what happened with the Atlas Network and the Treaty Principles Bill.

Did someone mention “class”?

Written By: - Date published: 10:43 am, April 23rd, 2025 - 55 comments

The “Win the Wealth Tax” group offers a welcome return to Labour’s political and policy roots.

The National MP and the religious sect

Written By: - Date published: 10:40 pm, April 20th, 2025 - 19 comments

National MP Hamish Campbell has been the subject of a media pile up recently for being a member of the Two by Two Christian Sect. But the treatment appears at this stage to be an overreaction.

And now, the end is near …

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 pm, April 14th, 2025 - 82 comments

It looks like the three way marriage made in hell is on the rocks.

Tamatha Paul on BHN

Written By: - Date published: 4:07 pm, April 8th, 2025 - 1 comment

The Sensible Sentencing Trust’s free publicity, and what defunding the policy means.

NZD Freefalls & NZ First Linked To Green Party Attack Ads

Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, April 8th, 2025 - 3 comments

Headlines: NZD free falls, misleading Green Party attack ads linked to NZ First, making NZDF lethal, and American billionaires regret support for Trump

Misleading Billboards Are a Threat to Electoral Integrity

Written By: - Date published: 6:44 pm, April 7th, 2025 - 33 comments

Misleading the public never is good for politics.

Aotearoa take a bow

Written By: - Date published: 8:14 am, April 5th, 2025 - 27 comments

The Justice Select Committee has returned Act’s odious Treaty Principles Bill to Parliament. And in its report it has noted that the overwhelming majority of submitters opposed the bill.

What Tamatha Paul Really Said

Written By: - Date published: 2:22 pm, March 28th, 2025 - 22 comments

Tamatha Paul’s comments on policing have been criticised by Luxon as “insane” but a closer look at what she really said shows how much her comments have been taken out of context.
Meanwhile, National’s law and order track record is only deteriorating.

Yeah, Nah, National Don’t Deserve A Second Term

Written By: - Date published: 3:34 pm, March 27th, 2025 - 23 comments

A response to right wing commentator Matthew Hooton.

The Draft Electoral Boundaries

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, March 27th, 2025 - 11 comments

The Representation Commission’s draft boundaries for the next election have been released. And despite right wing claims to the contrary at least in Auckland the boundaries appear to favour the left.

Winston’s war on wokeness

Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, March 25th, 2025 - 41 comments

In what looked like an early election campaign launch Winston Peters has done his old man shaking his fist at the sky tirade against everything woke.

Then they came for the Doctors

Written By: - Date published: 10:38 am, March 22nd, 2025 - 45 comments

It seems that the National Act Government is looking at what is happening in the US of A and thinking that the rolling out of fascist restrictions of freedom of speech is a good thing. And they are starting with health professionals.

The Libelle liquidation

Written By: - Date published: 12:20 pm, March 20th, 2025 - 20 comments

The first liquidator’s report on Libelle Group Limited suggests the company was hopelessly incapable of performing its role in providing the National-Act Government’s version of school lunches.