political parties

NZ Inc

Written By: geoff - Date published: 10:31 am, September 14th, 2014 - 119 comments

David Cunliffe has announced his final big policy. It’s called NZ Inc and it’s a bloody smart move.

Greenwald on the GCSB

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:06 pm, September 13th, 2014 - 155 comments

Glenn Greenwald has arrived in New Zealand and has been interviewed on the Nation. He has alleged that the GCSB is a fully fledged member of the 5 eyes network and has been engaged in mass surveillance of New Zealanders, contrary to assurances previously given by John Key.

The hairdressers of Levin and Foxton

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 12:00 pm, September 13th, 2014 - 44 comments

John Key reckons increasing the minimum wage would hurt “the hairdressers in Levin or Foxton”. So Rob McCann, Labour’s candidate for Ōtaki, asked one how she felt about that.

Nat two track strategy – March to Sept

Written By: karol - Date published: 9:58 am, September 13th, 2014 - 26 comments

Nicky Hager has exposed the two track strategy of the Whale Oil, Kiwiblog, Nat smear machine. Why is it allowed to continue?

Bombs Away?

Written By: Bill - Date published: 5:00 pm, September 12th, 2014 - 73 comments

So much for any abatement of dirty politics…

Donghua Liu Letter: More Dirty Politics

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 7:06 am, September 12th, 2014 - 55 comments

Frank Macskasy at the Daily Blog has produced a timeline on the 11 year old David Cunliffe – Donghua Liu letter that shows some more seriously dodgy Dirty Politics

Campbell: Reasons Why We Can’t Afford Another National Government

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 8:27 am, September 11th, 2014 - 51 comments

Gordon Campbell posted an excellent piece yesterday on 19 Reasons Why We Can’t Afford Another National Government. I’m sure that Standardistas can add to the list…

A clear Cunliffe win

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 10:31 pm, September 10th, 2014 - 141 comments

David Cunliffe’s performance in tonight’s head-to-head with John Key was exactly what I wanted to see from the next Labour Prime Minister of NZ.

Cunliffe v Key – Round 3

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:01 pm, September 10th, 2014 - 87 comments

Round three between David Cunliffe and John Key is scheduled for tonight. John Campbell will moderate and Paul Henry will provide expert comment …

The only way National know to grow the economy

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 5:15 pm, September 10th, 2014 - 19 comments

On Firstline this morning, John Key tried to compare National’s and Labour’s policies by saying “You can’t grow the economy when you restrict labour laws.” It’s nonsense, and it’s scary.

NRT: Fundamental incomprehension

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 2:54 pm, September 10th, 2014 - 37 comments

Idiot Savant nails the basic issue that commentators like John Armstrong and many others simply don’t understand about the Greens. They aren’t particularly interested in the political game. They are interested in effecting change. But that’s the problem with the galley: they don’t think policy matters. The idea that some victories aren’t worth winning is something they just don’t understand.

Slater backs down

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:08 am, September 10th, 2014 - 67 comments

The Slater application for an injunction against various media outlets has been settled by the media agreeing to not to use information that was not in the public interest, including but not limited to Mr Slater’s wife, children, medical information, the death of his mother and other inherently personal information regarding Mr Slater and his friends. The way is now clear for further stories on Dirty Politics.

Emmerson – What they did in the shadows

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 9:36 am, September 10th, 2014 - 16 comments

EmmersonDirtyPoliticsShadows

Poverty a National disgrace

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:12 am, September 10th, 2014 - 82 comments

Advocacy groups are calling for action. People are marching for action. The parties of the left are ready to take action. Only National stands in the way.

NRT: That empty void again

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 12:21 pm, September 9th, 2014 - 8 comments

A bit over a week ago, I complained about the empty void at the heart of the election: Nationals refusal to release policy. And it has struck again today, in the form of Nationals fiscal “plan”. We actually have a government seeking re-election while offering no specifics about what it intends to do in office. But don’t they have a lovely picture of John Key?

Polity: Key waves hands, insipidly

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 12:12 pm, September 9th, 2014 - 34 comments

Nationals hypothetical tax cut package has not gone down well. People do not appear to like the fact that it is small, hypothetical, and irresponsible, all at once.This is what you get when you have a prime minister so weakly desperate for public approval that they make up policy by accident and then push that poor decision through their cabinet and caucus.

Nats useless on economy

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:00 am, September 9th, 2014 - 49 comments

The economy is a mess, the Nats have no ideas, and their current policies (e.g. hypothetical tax cuts) are getting laughed out of town. National is useless on the economy, and the sooner we the people wake up to this fact, the better off we will be.

What kind of government would National lead?

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 12:45 pm, September 8th, 2014 - 112 comments

The choice for NZ voters is becoming clearer in the last days of the 2014 election. The irony is that after John Key’s scaremongering, our options are a three-headed coalition of natural allies versus a five-or-six headed hydra of extremists and sworn enemies.

Is National’s sleaze unit feeding the Slater again?

Written By: lprent - Date published: 11:10 am, September 8th, 2014 - 138 comments

Cameron Slater, National’s attack blogger has written a sleaze post on Martyn Bradbury. This shows far too much intelligence for the ever lazy Cameron to have researched it. Has National’s research unit (into dirt) resumed using that sock puppet again? We should be able to look and find out which blackmailed journalists they touch up as this story progresses. Time to follow the dots.

Where is Jason Ede?

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:54 am, September 8th, 2014 - 19 comments

Jason Ede’s disappearance from public view suggests a cover up in response to Hager’s Dirty Politics. The book implicates Ede (past PM staffer) in a coordinated black ops smear machine working with blogs like Whale Oil. Key may need to come clean soon about some of Ede’s activities.

National’s mating dance with the Conservatives II

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:39 am, September 8th, 2014 - 30 comments

National is now talking up the possibility of a post election accommodation with the Conservative Party. But the thought of the Conservatives having a significant say in policy formation should make all progressives very afraid.

Tax cuts – simple question simple answer

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:54 pm, September 7th, 2014 - 84 comments

Duncan Garner asks – “when we’ve just borrowed $55b over 6 years how on earth are tax cuts suddenly affordable?”. Presumably it’s a rhetorical question…

“Democracy Under Attack”.

Written By: KJT - Date published: 10:10 am, September 7th, 2014 - 89 comments

How long before “they” use control of the internet and media to bury adverse information, subvert democracy and vilify and silence those who disagree. “They” are doing it, NOW! A Government no longer has legitimacy, when they regard their own citizens as the enemy.

ImperatorFish: Hands off!

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 9:32 am, September 7th, 2014 - 19 comments

Scott feels we need to keep up the fight.

Perceptions of National’s government

Written By: lprent - Date published: 12:57 pm, September 6th, 2014 - 114 comments

There is how John Key and a few of his acolytes like to think of his government. Then there is how everyone else now does. The many ministers who have been abusing their position, were caught and ‘resigned’. Now we can see the true nature than lurks beneath. A vote for National is a vote for Cameron Slater.

Two weeks to go …

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:05 am, September 6th, 2014 - 139 comments

Two weeks to go and polls suggest that National’s slide in the poll may be arrested. But for how long?

The Big Lie in action

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 12:30 pm, September 5th, 2014 - 13 comments

This morning Rob Salmond did a great post about the “big lie” – the spin coming from the Right that Labour hasn’t concentrated on policy, just dirty politics.

Like clockwork, David Farrar has a post up about the latest polls, suggesting “Their focus on hacked e-mails instead of policy is backfiring.”

Polity: The big lie

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 8:05 am, September 5th, 2014 - 44 comments

Rob Salmond looks at the Big Lie technique coming from the right and being gormlessly swallowed by some pundits. That Labour and the left aren’t talking about policy. They have been brimming over with policy. The right have vague possible ideas. Pundits are too obsessed in dirty politics to look at the detail of actual policies.

Tories! Scared of Internet/Mana? I have the solution …

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 7:19 am, September 5th, 2014 - 64 comments

Labour are going to lead the next Government. So what’s a Tory voter to do to keep the damge to a minimum? If the possibility of Hone Harawira and Laila Harre being Ministers in the Cunliffe administration is keeping you up at night, then Te Reo Putake has the answer.

NRT: Sensationalising the status quo

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 1:41 pm, September 4th, 2014 - 55 comments

Pity the political reporter. Committed to horse-race style reporting and desperate for an ‘angle’. Patrick Gower on 3 News last night was desperately talking up how “complicated’ National’s… current arrangements are?? Use your brain Paddy…