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Backwards to the future?

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, October 20th, 2012 - 50 comments

Labour Day celebrates, what was at the time, a cutting edge victory for working people – the 8 hour working day.  But the struggles continue for men and women. Now is not the time to be going backwards on issues that impact on workers, people struggling on low incomes, or beneficiaries. Updated.

Jones to jump to NZ First?

Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, October 19th, 2012 - 45 comments

I see David Farrar’s retailing the rumour that’s been doing the rounds over the last week that Shane Jones is in talks with Winston to make the jump from Labour to become Deputy Leader of NZ First. This makes a lot of sense for Jones – he’s to the right of Labour, has a reputation for being a bit un-PC and has the gift of the gab that a leading NZ First politician needs.

‘What crisis?’ Rudderless ship, stormy seas

Written By: - Date published: 8:03 am, October 14th, 2012 - 133 comments

There is ample evidence of a deep and lasting crisis, but in the delusional world of Planet Key it doesn’t exist. The EPMU Job Crisis Summit  opened a much needed conversation.  Russel Norman likened the New Zealand economy to a rudderless sailing ship In Stormy Seas.  Will the summit be the start of a sea change for NZ?

Historic joint party Inquiry: Crisis in Manufacturing

Written By: - Date published: 3:07 pm, October 12th, 2012 - 43 comments

Today leaders of 3 opposition parties took part in an historic press conference.  Winston Peters, David Shearer and Russel Norman jointly announced the launch of a parliamentary inquiry into the crisis in manufacturing. Update: Links to articles added. One News Video.

Frankly Speaking: “John Banks: condition deteriorating”

Written By: - Date published: 3:05 pm, August 15th, 2012 - 18 comments

Frank Macskasy over at Frankly Speaking writes some very long posts that are often full of interesting information. This one does a good analysis of the recommendations from the Electoral Commission and various party positions on it. On the way through he has a good swipe at John Banks, who it would be safe to say, he considers to be political cabbage.

Time for an anti-asset sales coalition

Written By: - Date published: 1:50 pm, February 7th, 2012 - 128 comments

Mana, NZF, the Greens, and even the Maori Party, are suddenly grabbing the asset sales issue from Labour, just when it actually started to be a really valuable issue to lead on. Shearer should stop playing pundit on whether the Maori Party will go and how ‘unstable’ that makes the government. Instead, realise the broad base of opposition to asset sales and build a coalition to stop them.

ImperatorFish: “You talkin’ to me?”

Written By: - Date published: 2:38 pm, December 14th, 2011 - Comments Off on ImperatorFish: “You talkin’ to me?”

Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here

Richard Prosser: Satirists need have nothing to fear from the new Parliament, even if Muslim women now do.

Thought for the Day

Written By: - Date published: 2:51 pm, November 28th, 2011 - 62 comments

Not wanting to get into a fight with my fellow lefties who advocated a vote for NZ First, but did you want an 8th NZ First MP instead of the excellent Raymond Huo?

The dangers of voting strategically…

Labour should not rush to judgment

Written By: - Date published: 12:36 pm, November 28th, 2011 - 171 comments

One can understand why John Key is ‘speed dating” to form a one-seat majority in Parliament.  His honeymoon is likely to be a lot shorter in the next term of government. It is quite different for Labour. The caucus would be wise not to rush to decide  who leads Labour into the next election.

Fearing Winston

Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, November 21st, 2011 - 46 comments

National is getting increasingly hysterical as its internal polling shows its majority slipping away and New Zealand First above 5%. National is lashing out, saying Winston could trigger a snap election because he wouldn’t sacrifice his principles like the Maori Party and ACT. Invent your own anti-NZF scare line for National:

More lameness from the man with no ideas; wave goodbye to Aroha

Written By: - Date published: 2:19 pm, November 20th, 2011 - 74 comments

John Key has announced today that if Winston is re-elected, New Zealand will be forced to go back to the polls within weeks.

Meanwhile elsewhere on the limping catastrophe that is the John Key Campaign, Aroha Ireland has decided to leave New Zealand and join the record numbers of kiwis leaving permanently for a Brighter Future in Australia.

‘Dying off’?

Written By: - Date published: 7:07 am, November 16th, 2011 - 116 comments

Winston Peters is suggesting that in the transcript of the PM’s meeting with Banks, John Key made some derogatory remarks about the older New Zealanders that tend to support New Zealand First, along the lines of “not to worry [about Winston’s support] they’re dying off”. Slagging off older New Zealanders (ie. the ones that always vote) is a sure way to lose an election.

Could Key really be so clueless? Well yes, when you look at the excuses he’s trotting out – probably.

 

Banks & Peters

Written By: - Date published: 4:34 pm, November 11th, 2011 - 46 comments

So the meeting has taken place, and Epsom has been asked to hold its nose and vote for failed Nat retread John Banks, and with him on his coat tails failed Nat retread Don Brash.  Nice one.  In other news, Winston Peters is riding a boost in the polls all the way to the televised minor parties leaders’ debate.  The Nats will be spitting.

A footnote to history

Written By: - Date published: 3:06 pm, November 6th, 2011 - 30 comments

In which which Winston Peters rules out working with any possible government.  Not that it matters, but, way to make your party irrelevant Winston.

More opening addresses

Written By: - Date published: 5:41 pm, October 29th, 2011 - 42 comments

Opening addresses from the remaining parties screen on TV1 starting at 7:30pm. Should be good fun for political junkies, make sure you tune in…

The Peters principle

Written By: - Date published: 7:16 am, August 2nd, 2011 - 70 comments

There’s been a lot of coverage of Winston Peters lately.  Most of his announcements have been perfectly predictable, but for me there have been two real surprises.

Winnie’s big chance

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, April 18th, 2011 - 58 comments

The TV3 poll has the NACT vs Lab/Green/NZF gap at 22% vs 9% in the latest Roy Morgan. I’ll tend to pay attention to the company that polls every fortnight to the one that polls once in a blue moon. Nevertheless, the story of both polls is the same: Labour struggling to make headway + Nats potentially with a majority = opportunity for Winston Peters

Little impact from Hughes affair, NZF on the rise

Written By: - Date published: 9:32 pm, April 8th, 2011 - 50 comments

The latest Roy Morgan poll shows little impact from the Darren Hughes affair to date. We still don’t know how the investigation will play out but the poll suggests dithering leadership matters less than economic fundamentals. The big news, though, is that New Zealand First would be back under these numbers.

A hell of a speech

Written By: - Date published: 10:40 am, March 22nd, 2011 - 74 comments

“The worldwide recession is not your fault… You are being softened up for cuts in social spending… It’s easy to see the people this government is looking after. If you are a bank boss on $5.6million, helping cause a recession, you get an extra five thousand a week. If you are on the minimum wage – you get an extra 25 cents an hour.”

Nats drop 6% on privatisation announcement

Written By: - Date published: 12:56 pm, February 5th, 2011 - 65 comments

OK, that title is pure spin. National has dropped from 55% to 49% in the latest Roy Morgan, and Labour’s up from 29% to 34.5%. But that just shows the last poll was a rogue. Now, normal transmission, and National’s decline, has resumed. When you look at the Nat/ACT and Lab/Green/New Zealand First potential coalitions – the race is tight and closing fast.

Principles

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 pm, February 2nd, 2011 - 45 comments

So John Key has flip flopped and decided to rule out working with Winston Peters again.  He’s trying to portray that as a principled decision, about running an “aspirational” government.  So why did he need to spend so many months working out what his principles are?  No, it’s a political decision.  Key thinks he can squeeze a little more milage out of flogging the dead horse that is Winston Peters.

New Zealand’s Electoral Wild Card

Written By: - Date published: 10:34 am, January 18th, 2011 - 26 comments

Will New Zealand First get back into Parliament after the election? If they do, it changes everything. A range of new governing coalitions become possible – both National and Labour-led. Can the Left trust Winston Peters to side with Labour over National? Could a Left+NZF government work? Jenny looks at the issues.

How bad’s the poll?

Written By: - Date published: 9:12 pm, January 8th, 2011 - 59 comments

Farrar and Slater are trying to knee-cap a poll in the SST tomorrow. They know the numbers because Key’s office told them. Obviously jittered. Slater says it has NZF at 8.9%. Movement of ipredict stocks suggest its bad news for Nats and Labour. If Nats are in mid-40s then they’re in danger territory. Very hard for them to find a majority.

What would a National win mean in 2011?

Written By: - Date published: 9:28 pm, December 6th, 2010 - 49 comments

In my final post I look at the possible influence coalition partners could have on a future National government. Even if Labour loses in 2011, an outright win for right-wing economic doctrine is not necessarily on the cards.

NZF poll is wrong

Written By: - Date published: 7:34 am, December 6th, 2010 - 77 comments

Great excitement in the Sunday papers over Winston Peters / NZF.  “Poll puts NZ First back in contention”!  “Peters the kingmaker again”!  Don’t believe a word of it.

Some thoughts on ACT

Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, September 18th, 2010 - 81 comments

One way or another ACT’s troubles are going to ripple through the entire political discourse.

So what’s likely to happen with Garrett?

And what does it mean for everyone else?

Crown ownership by any other name would smell as bad

Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, September 6th, 2010 - 13 comments

Unnoticed amongst all the earthquake coverage was a small article in the Weekend Dompost on the foreshore and seabed deal. Apparently, ‘public domain’ will no longer appear in the new legislation. Instead, we’ll have a new name, possibly ‘takutaimoana’, Te Reo for ‘seabed’. That sound you can hear Winston Peters is rubbing his hands with glee.

ACT’s demise bad news for neo-liberals

Written By: - Date published: 6:33 am, August 20th, 2010 - 37 comments

No wonder Winston Peters is smiling. His personal vendetta with Hide must be at on the forefront of his mind as he watches his nemesis sink.

But what does ACT’s impending demise actually mean for other parties? It’s not good news for National.

Peters vs Key

Written By: - Date published: 8:27 pm, August 18th, 2010 - 53 comments

TV3 is reporting Winston Peters will standing at the next election… against John Key in Helensville. Those are candidate meetings I for one wouldn’t want to miss!

Key and Peters best buddies?

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, August 4th, 2010 - 58 comments

Key hasn’t ruled out working with Winston after 2011. This seems like a huge miscalculation. Not only has he added legitimacy to the re-animation of this political zombie, but he has also cut the legs out from under the right’s “Winston is the devil” campaign. That giant sucking sound you hear? That’s DPF’s head imploding.

NZF dodges the Lhaws bullet

Written By: - Date published: 4:27 pm, July 28th, 2010 - 43 comments

Must admit my heart sank this morning when I read that “Winston Peters and his former adviser Michael Laws are to team up again as part of a “relaunch” of the party this year”…

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