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Politics by numbers

Written By: - Date published: 7:57 pm, April 13th, 2014 - 125 comments

The first rule of politics is learn how to count. And, as much as we would all like to see Labour and the Greens govern by themselves, 13 and 32 don’t add up to 50

That’ll be why, when the Greens came to Labour with a plan to campaign together, Labour said no.

Polity: The Greens’ proposed pre-election deal

Written By: - Date published: 2:45 pm, April 10th, 2014 - 58 comments

Last night, via One News, the public became aware that the Greens had proposed a pre-election coalition with Labour, but Labour had rejected it. While the Greens’ offer is nothing unusual internationally, New Zealand’s comparatively fair electoral system doesn’t provide Labour much incentive to accept it. Which, I think, makes Labour’s rejection of the proposal much less noteworthy.

NRT: A good idea from NZFirst

Written By: - Date published: 7:06 pm, March 20th, 2014 - 4 comments

From an environmental economics perspective, mining is a wealth transfer, shifting public wealth (minerals) into private profits of mining companies. Along the way, it creates jobs, but it is basically spending capital. When the resources run out or become unprofitable to extract the jobs disappear and a regional economy geared solely to resource extraction withers and dies. NZ First wants to change that.

Key, Peters and the early election

Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, March 11th, 2014 - 57 comments

Three years ago National announced a full term election date and ruled out going into coalition with NZ First. Fast forward to now and we are having an early election and Key is not ruling out going into coalition with Peters. Get the sense that National is becoming desperate?

Polity: X more thoughts on poll bias

Written By: - Date published: 11:36 am, February 26th, 2014 - 26 comments

Whenever the media report on polls, they get accused of all manner of biases by the blinkered commentariat. Most of it is nonsense, of course. But some criticism of the polling methods themselves may have more merit that Rob Salmond first thought.  While he is not yelling “fire” at this stage, he does think there may be smoke. Something that he did not think that three years ago.

National’s first strategic mistake

Written By: - Date published: 12:22 pm, January 22nd, 2014 - 109 comments

John Key  has made a major strategic mistake with his early announcement of the parties National could go into government with.  In framing the 2014 campaign as a contest between two blocs he has given away National’s trump card for gaining Winston’s support – support the largest party. Opportunity time for a positive alternative from Labour/Greens.

The democracy challenge

Written By: - Date published: 2:20 pm, November 24th, 2013 - 101 comments

I’ve been thinking about what next years’ election is going to be like. Not like 2011 that’s for sure. Labour was in the doldrums and ran a largely negative campaign. Let’s assume that Labour has learnt its lesson about running an effective campaign and ticks all the boxes. The secret weapon that Labour and the Greens have eschewed for as many elections as I can remember is actually working together.

Coat-tail of Many Colours

Written By: - Date published: 1:19 pm, November 22nd, 2013 - 72 comments

Te Reo Putake speculates on exactly what plan that National and John Key have to distort the MMP review and Iain Lee Galloway’s private members bill so that it allows them to stay in power. Most probably by gifting Crazy Colin and the Conservatives with several chances to get several partners into parliament while discarding the husks of their former coalition partners.

(Un)affordable rents in Berm City

Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, October 3rd, 2013 - 43 comments

Central Auckland, gated city candidates get cosy about their grass verges. The west has a crisis in affordable rents & homelessness. Labour & Nats housing policies bow to the middle class home ownership agenda.  Greens & Mana look to state & council housing.

John Key’s anti-democratic government

Written By: - Date published: 9:31 am, September 17th, 2013 - 48 comments

John Key tries to smear the winner of Labour’s democratic leadership contest as “far left”, while his government continues in its anti-democratic, plutocratic ways: sale of Meridian to avoid referendum; Joyce’s Broadband pricing “arm twisting”.

Key rules out Peters?

Written By: - Date published: 9:26 am, August 8th, 2013 - 77 comments

“He is completely and utterly wrong as per normal,” Mr Key said. – The PM responds to Winston Peters’ allegations that the Police considered seizing his phone records in Key’s teapot tape witch-hunt with his usual sophistication and class. Key’s comments raise an important question: ‘would Key have in his government a man who is normally “completely and utterly wrong?’

Winston Peters, King Maker

Written By: - Date published: 8:49 am, July 25th, 2013 - 109 comments

Winston_Peters smilingWinston Peters may be the king maker after the next election.  No wonder that John Key has started to court the person he said as a matter of principle he would never have in his Government.

John Key: These are my principles …

Written By: - Date published: 7:53 pm, July 24th, 2013 - 43 comments

… and if you don’t like them, I have others.  Key once said he’d never have Peters in any government he led, now he’s reconsidering. Peters is playing hard to get, and Gower tries to be part of the story as usual, promoting 3 News’ own poll.

Manufacturing Inquiry report

Written By: - Date published: 2:59 pm, June 17th, 2013 - 83 comments

The parliamentary inquiry into the future of manufacturing has released its report today. I’ve not had time to read it, but it’s great to see a report by 4 out of parliament’s 7 or 8* parties, showing a united stance to one of our country’s biggest economic problems. 40,000 lost jobs in 4 years; the worst current account deficit in the developed world (overtaking Greece) – and a government that’s ignoring it.  We need some big solutions and a combined force committed to it.

Positioning and reality

Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, June 10th, 2013 - 72 comments

There’s a lot of talk at the moment about whether Labour is too close to the Greens. Lately, we’ve seen spin coming out that Labour might be able to govern without the Greens, favouring NZF instead. Meanwhile, the Greens seem happy to talk about a future Greens-Labour government. National’s leaking to Peters and Peters is playing the race card. What’s going on?

GCSB Bill: & Dotcom versus FBI, “NZ Intelligence Community” et al

Written By: - Date published: 10:21 am, May 8th, 2013 - 47 comments

John Key is using “urgency” to push through his anti-democratic Big brother GCSB surveillance Bill.  Dotcom’s lawyers have released a 39 page white paper making a range of allegations against the FBI, Obama & NZ authorities. Peters is keeping his cards close to his chest. Update: Peters’ calls government “bully boy” & will vote against the Bill.

The cost of a US Harvard education: global land exploitation

Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, May 7th, 2013 - 51 comments

US universities’ budgets partly rely on endowment funds.  Harvard University investment activities in poor countries exploit people and lax regulations, damaging communities, the environment & economies. They are one of the biggest foreign owners of NZ land.

NRT: National’s future coalition options

Written By: - Date published: 1:31 pm, May 2nd, 2013 - 24 comments

No Right Turn points out the inherent flaw in National’s election campaign (and Vernon Small’s analysis of it). A future National government has no good coalition partners. Even the mythic (and likely to be epic if it happened) National/NZ First coalition faces the problem of three parties competing for the same group of economically nationalist and socially conservative voters from slightly different directions.

New Zealand First: hates sex work, loves rape culture

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, March 28th, 2013 - 346 comments

New Zealand First is fronting a forum on sex work in South Auckland, and its spokesperson is concerned about underage sex workers.  What could possibly go wrong?

Real social security; real jobs – not bennie bashing

Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, March 27th, 2013 - 55 comments

Opposition MPs (e.g. Ardern & Mathers) and Sue Bradford highlight that the Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill destroys lives, furthers NAct’s elitist agenda, & is more propaganda than social security or job creation.

Punitive, anti-beneficiary Bill- opposition needed!

Written By: - Date published: 10:28 am, March 20th, 2013 - 48 comments

The Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill second reading is first up on the provisional order paper for today. It is a further step in Paula Bennett & NAct’s vicious, punitive, bennie-bashing campaign. MPs are urged to vote against it!

What if Winston…

Written By: - Date published: 9:26 am, March 14th, 2013 - 86 comments

What if Winston Peters holds the balance of power in 2014? Just a little something for potential Mighty River Power investors to consider…

Annoy Prosser and vote Muslim!

Written By: - Date published: 8:17 pm, March 4th, 2013 - 88 comments

Census 2013 logo

After reading Queen of Thorns complaint about the limited gender options in the census, I was considering the census. For me and almost everyone else I know (apart from my brother and a few others) we are devotedly irreligious. But every census they ask us that same old rather meaningless question… Obviously voting Jedi didn’t work. However […]

THM: Questions that were never asked

Written By: - Date published: 1:03 pm, February 14th, 2013 - 89 comments

Stargazer at The Hand Mirror has a unique take on the Prosser affair. Prosser claims to have been motivated by concerns for his daughters’ rights and freedoms – which raises some interesting questions…

Opposition speeches & ‘Roads of Madness’

Written By: - Date published: 12:05 pm, January 30th, 2013 - 54 comments

Debates on the PM’s statement to the House show that this do-nothing government needs to go.  Plenty of good ideas from opposition MPs. An excellent speech by Genter against Joyce’s ‘Roads of Madness’ & for public transport.

What’s new? Shearer retrospective.

Written By: - Date published: 11:35 am, December 17th, 2012 - 124 comments

David Shearer was on TV 3 this morning, reflecting on his last year. He claimed that he and Labour are doing well under new and settled leadership, taking a new direction.  How accurate are his claims?

Who in the House is for beneficiaries?

Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, December 5th, 2012 - 64 comments

Yesterday Jacinda Ardern questioned Paula Bennett on WINZ paying for beneficiaries to travel to Aussie to get jobs. Did she highlight the government’s poor record on jobs, or inadvertently trigger more MSM bennie-bashing? Do any MPs raise their voices strongly beneficiaries?

Make a submission to the manufacturing inquiry – today!

Written By: - Date published: 1:22 pm, November 30th, 2012 - 28 comments

Over the past four years 40,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost (and over a thousand manufacturing companies have shut up shop). The government is in full denial, so the opposition parties have set up their own inquiry. Today is the last day for submissions.

In other news: the failings of Key’s government

Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, November 21st, 2012 - 20 comments

John Key’s crony-capitalist, neoliberal government is failing NZ on the environment, affordable housing, and a living wage. Mana and the Greens  are leading the way on affordable housing and anti-poverty campaigns.  The Greens still lead the way on pressing environmental issues.

Opposition Party statements; what the MSM doesn’t report

Written By: - Date published: 8:10 am, November 10th, 2012 - 39 comments

The MSM quickly picked up a press release on the failure of the Southern Cross Cable. Others that are ignored:  Bennett has either lied or is incompetent;  Nat-linked appointment to TVNZ board; Hone’s ‘feed the kids’ Bill; Joyce’s education agenda; John Key as a “bumbling Marxist”.

Not in the public interest

Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, November 3rd, 2012 - 89 comments

Some prominent “journalists” are working to undermine Labour and a possible Labour-Green government: one that could turn against the neoliberal scam that such “journalists” feed off. The left should take heart – the time has come to support the “public interest”, as outlined by Nicky Hager.

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