Written By: - Date published: 11:38 am, February 17th, 2023 - 31 comments
Chris Hipkins has so far not put a foot wrong. Since he became PM he has quickly and competently reformed the Cabinet and jettisoned policies that were for one reason or another causing problems. And he has quickly asserted control over two massive storms, the first which pummeled the country’s major city and the second which has caused massive floods to much of the East Coast of the North Island.
Written By: - Date published: 11:32 am, February 12th, 2023 - 30 comments
It is really difficult trying to appear to be Prime Minister material and inclusive and to appeal to racists at the same time. Christopher Luxon this week has shown how difficult it is.
Written By: - Date published: 6:24 pm, January 30th, 2023 - 78 comments
This evening two new political polls have been released both putting Labour ahead of National.
Written By: - Date published: 8:54 am, January 27th, 2023 - 26 comments
National Deputy Leader Nicola Willis said yesterday that it was a great shame that the minimum wage had increased by so much because it means the Government can’t do it now to help low-income Kiwis make ends meet without stoking inflation.
Written By: - Date published: 2:38 pm, January 26th, 2023 - 25 comments
Chris Luxon has provided another example of his ineptness by suggesting in an MMP environment that a vote in a Maori Seat is worth more than a vote in an European seat.
Written By: - Date published: 9:53 am, January 19th, 2023 - 2 comments
Cameron Slater and Simon Lusk have been accused of engaging in underhand tactics to upset National’s Tukituki selection process.
Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, January 18th, 2023 - 61 comments
The Electoral Commission has published that National raised $2.3 million dollars in large donations alone over the past 12 months.
Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, January 15th, 2023 - 37 comments
Wayne Brown’s campaign techniques used in the Auckland Mayoral election are likely to be used by National in the election campaign this year.
Written By: - Date published: 11:24 am, January 12th, 2023 - 30 comments
National MP Stuart Smith has tweeted suggesting that students should not be taught about climate change but should instead be taught the skills to decide for themselves if it exists.
Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, January 10th, 2023 - 57 comments
Son of former National MP and former Political reporter and currently self branded travel reporter Brook Sabin has produced potentially the most ridiculous article of the year by blaming the Government for not sorting out Auckland Airport’s baggage handling problems. And we are only 10 days in.
Written By: - Date published: 10:39 am, January 9th, 2023 - 48 comments
I’m back at work at my home office desk today and the weather sucked in Auckland and the north of the North Island over my break. Waiting for Luxon and minons blaming the government for not controlling La Niña – now in the third year of her current reign.It seems like all that National can do these days – blame the government for external events.
Written By: - Date published: 10:55 am, January 6th, 2023 - 116 comments
* or is it?
Written By: - Date published: 10:09 am, January 4th, 2023 - 23 comments
This morning a estimated 5.1 earthquake close to Te Aroha shook Hamilton, Tauranga, Auckland and Rotorua a region of half of our population. Only a day earlier National’s number 3 14 stupidly criticised a programme designed to diminish the risks in earthquakes. As usual National has no policy on dealing with earthquake risks that I can see. National simply aren’t ready for government.
Written By: - Date published: 12:01 pm, December 30th, 2022 - 39 comments
It is that time of year again where the events of the year are reviewed and what was notable, noteworthy and notorious.
Written By: - Date published: 7:20 am, December 22nd, 2022 - 165 comments
David Seymour is feeling his oats and has claimed that past National Governments never changes anything. A brief review of history would suggest otherwise.
Written By: - Date published: 7:28 am, December 20th, 2022 - 96 comments
I thought David Seymour was the most interesting speaker at the Victoria University post-election conference at Parliament last year. Two things stood out for me in his presentation following ACT’s election gains. He opened by offering lengthy and effusive praise to his researcher, then clearly stated his objective to supplant National as the leading party on the right. He’s on track for that, as current media attention shows.
Written By: - Date published: 7:46 am, December 13th, 2022 - 77 comments
New Zealand politics is at an interesting stage. With announcements about Ministerial futures pending and with a review of all current projects to occur over Christmas Jadinda Ardern is planning to repurpose Labour to have its best chance in the election next year.
Written By: - Date published: 7:11 pm, December 10th, 2022 - 95 comments
The polls are now closed but someone should tell National about how on election day you should not be campaigning.
Written By: - Date published: 8:51 am, December 9th, 2022 - 73 comments
Minister Mahuta’s water reforms are by some measure the most consequential industry intervention of this Labour government, and likely to be the most successful in over a decade.
Written By: - Date published: 8:46 am, December 4th, 2022 - 56 comments
Chris Luxon marked the anniversary of his becoming National leader this week by showing that he is that out of touch he had no idea what the single rate of superannuation is.
Written By: - Date published: 8:12 am, November 30th, 2022 - 412 comments
National, the party which enacted legislation that gave Waikato command over the allocation of the Waikato River, iwi command over the Taupo catchment and full Maori control over the massive Uruwera water catchment, has not traditionally been opposed to co governance.
Written By: - Date published: 12:13 pm, November 29th, 2022 - 25 comments
National is proposing a return of the Three Strikes legislation, despite the Supreme Court ruling that the law went well beyond excessive punishment and would shock the conscience of properly informed New Zealanders, and was so disproportionately severe as to breach the Bill of Rights. And despite there being no evidence that it would actually work.
Written By: - Date published: 8:12 pm, November 21st, 2022 - 90 comments
The Supreme Court has just lobbed a grenade into New Zealand politics by ruling that denying 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote was not only discrimination on the basis of age but also had not been justified and was therefore a breach of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.
Written By: - Date published: 10:27 am, November 21st, 2022 - 28 comments
There should be a law against the cynical recycling of dog whistle policies that everyone knows will not work. Last week’s announcement by National of a boot camp policy is as good an example as you can imagine.
Written By: - Date published: 8:09 am, November 17th, 2022 - 66 comments
Yesterday was a bad day for Chris Luxon. It is increasingly clear that he is not up to the job of being leader of the opposition and National’s senior management must be worried.
Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, November 16th, 2022 - 70 comments
Remember when a few leaders ago then National Leader Simon Bridges promised that National would be a 56 MP policy machine? Judging by its response to the Government’s release of two bills at the centre of RMA reform the machine has major problems.
Written By: - Date published: 11:33 am, November 5th, 2022 - 86 comments
National’s recent press releases show that its approach to politics will be relentlessly negative, with no idea of what it will do as an alternative or how it will fund changes.
Written By: - Date published: 11:46 am, November 2nd, 2022 - 148 comments
Chris Luxon has avoided answering this question so far but he needs to be asked continuously about it. Is it fair that he as Prime Minister would receive under National’s proposed tax cuts a tax cut of $349 per week while a minimum wage worker would receive only $2.15 per week
Written By: - Date published: 8:39 pm, November 1st, 2022 - 22 comments
Remember this scene from the Tauranga by election? National has decided it will not be repeated by ensuring that it has no potential white male candidates for the Hamilton West by election.
Written By: - Date published: 8:45 pm, October 25th, 2022 - 109 comments
Leader of the Opposition Christopher Luxon turned up to Parliament today and his media spin doctors will be hoping for some good photo opportunities to lift his popularity. But they will be asking a lot.
Written By: - Date published: 10:06 am, October 23rd, 2022 - 25 comments
Russ Jones has described the five tribes of the UK Conservative Party as including One Nation Conservatives, xenophobic English nationalists, wild-eyed libertarians, scatty populist bullshitters and machine politicians.
The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.
Recent Comments