political parties

Petty

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 9:17 am, December 28th, 2011 - 126 comments

Under cover of Christmas, the Nats are following in their long tradition of intimidating journalists, by going after the teapot tape reporter for “costs”.

Still no plan

Written By: Ben Clark - Date published: 7:05 am, December 22nd, 2011 - 59 comments

“Once in office, you’ve got to do something. That is why having a plan matters.” – Simon Power, 2011, valedictory speech to parliament

Shearer shows he means it

Written By: Mike Smith - Date published: 4:40 pm, December 21st, 2011 - 84 comments

Labour’s new leader promised a fresh approach. He’s delivered already in his speech in reply today. Gone is the ritual opening denunciation of the government’s programme – Shearer begins with where a new Labour government would start.

Cunliffe, Parker swap roles

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 2:44 pm, December 19th, 2011 - 111 comments

The new Labour line-up is announced. Parker Finance, Ardern Social Development, Cunliffe Economic Development (plus Assoc Finance) round out the top five.

Theorising the Labour leadership selection

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 11:55 am, December 16th, 2011 - 78 comments

“British philosopher Edmund Burke termed two different modes of viewing representation as the trustee and delegate models. ” Guest poster Pointy looks at this related to the recent Labour leadership selection debate.

Too many ministers

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 10:47 am, December 16th, 2011 - 16 comments

Brian Fellow wrote a piece in the Herald yesterday on how NZ has too many ministers. Hard not to agree. 28 ministers. Nearly half of the governing parties’ MPs. 90+ portfolios. Ministerial warrants are clearly being used to keep backbenchers and minor parties in line. Too many do nothing ministers on big salaries while the rest of us have to cut back.

Thank you Phil, Annette

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:47 am, December 15th, 2011 - 43 comments

Now that Labour’s new leaders are settling in, I think we should all take a moment to thank the outgoing leaders, Phil Goff and Annette King.

David Shearer – The Backstory

Written By: rocky - Date published: 7:19 pm, December 14th, 2011 - 44 comments

One of David Shearer’s campaign volunteers organised this video as a surprise for David on the night of the Mt Albert By-Election in 2009. We played it to David and the Labour Party activists during the election night celebrations and I’ve had it sitting on my computer ever since. After re-watching it with my partner […]

Auckland’s election result was not so bad

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 2:55 pm, December 14th, 2011 - 50 comments

micky savage writes about Labour’s results in Auckland. There were some stunning results, particularly in South Auckland where Labour’s share of the vote increased by 10.2% in Mangere, 7.3% in Manukau East and 5.2% in Manurewa. And in Phil Goff’s Mount Roskill it increased by 1%. These were very good results in an election where the tide was going out.

ImperatorFish: “You talkin’ to me?”

Written By: notices and features - 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.

What to do with Cunliffe

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 10:59 am, December 14th, 2011 - 62 comments

There’s talk Shearer might hand Cunliffe the poisoned chalice of foreign affairs. As Clark did her main rival, Goff. That’s no job for a man with a young family. Anyway, Goff’ll want it back ahead of taking the Chinese ambassadorship. Instead, let Cunliffe swap with Parker, who was invisible in economic development and energy, and take on Joyce.

Countering the Tories’ bait & switch

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:00 am, December 14th, 2011 - 89 comments

Congratulations David Shearer, you’re leader of the Left now, and the prime target for the Right’s smear machine. The Right’s strategy is obvious: bait and switch. Having proclaimed Shearer’s virtues to high heaven, they (and their useful idiots) will now say ‘who is this man?’, try to frame unreasonable expectations, and try to beat up leadership rumours.

David Shearer

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 6:34 pm, December 13th, 2011 - 69 comments

Here is David Shearer’s first speech as Labour party leader.

Selections I have known

Written By: Mike Smith - Date published: 5:18 pm, December 13th, 2011 - 38 comments

I’ve now seen David Shearer in three Labour selection contests – I was on the panel in Waitakere in 2002 and Mt Albert in 2009, and I was in Wesley Church last Wednesday in Wellington. He’s won two out of three, and been most impressive every time. Had I been a caucus member today, he would have had my vote. This is why.

ImperatorFish: Analysing The Reshuffle

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 2:19 pm, December 13th, 2011 - 11 comments

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

The King of the Gods, Zeus, yesterday announced a reshuffle of his pantheon, in an effort to freshen up his front bench. Getting the pantheon lineup right was always going to be one of the trickier tasks facing the Father of Gods and Men, and he will have had to manage some bruised egos during the process…

And the decision is…

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 11:11 am, December 13th, 2011 - 340 comments

Labour have come out of their caucus after their vote on who should succeed Phil Goff as leader. The new leadership team is David Shearer and Grant Robertson.

Good luck, David

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 8:27 am, December 13th, 2011 - 31 comments

To Cunliffe and Shearer, good luck. To the 34 people choosing the next Labour leader, remember your task is to choose the person who can represent a million+ centre and left voters. The man to take the centre-left to victory in 2014. Don’t you dare let petty personal issues cloud your judgement. We, whom you are privileged to represent, deserve better.

The lesson of Lange

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 10:59 pm, December 12th, 2011 - 65 comments

David Lange was a good man with a sharp mind, he was quick as a cat thinking on his feet – especially debating – he was an excellent communicator. With only six years’ parliamentary experience before becoming leader of the NZLP he was also the least experienced of all Labour’s twelve leaders to date. David Lange got eaten alive.

Nanaia Mahuta

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 8:18 pm, December 12th, 2011 - 21 comments

I believe that a strong platform of investment in education, skills and training makes all the difference for many hard working families.

We need to be relevant to aspirations in the provinces, this means that we need to support our provincial candidates more effectively so that they are not having to fight an election on a single issue and not without the resources and support of the party.

ImperatorFish: The Labour Leadership Indecision

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 3:43 pm, December 12th, 2011 - 10 comments

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

The Labour leadership contest is not a left-right battle, but a tough call between an Obama-like orator and a down-to-earth guy who lives his values. Both talented and want to reform the party: but hard to chose who’s best to lead the fight to National.

Tolley Drops

Written By: Ben Clark - Date published: 1:47 pm, December 12th, 2011 - 69 comments

The new cabinet is out, and the Biggest Loser is Anne Tolley.

The big win

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:22 am, December 12th, 2011 - 41 comments

The new government comprises the same parties as the previous one: National, ACT, United Future, and the Maori Party but with 64 votes, not 69. The governing parties’ total vote fell from 51.84% to 50.41%. Even the narrower Nat+ACT bloc fell. National’s ‘big win’ was just one more seat. And the most powerful man in the country now? Peter Dunne.

2c on the leadership

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:02 am, December 12th, 2011 - 116 comments

In the end it comes down to two questions. Are the public looking for a good bloke, or are they looking for a compelling politician? Which of the two can unite, motivate, and lead, the caucus and the wider party?

Sunday afternoon poetry

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 3:36 pm, December 11th, 2011 - 91 comments

This is for anyone who’s struggled to keep up with the Labour leadership contest, whether currently at the Auckland meeting or not.

Caption contest

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 2:25 pm, December 10th, 2011 - 80 comments

Auckland candidates meeting moved

Written By: lprent - Date published: 3:57 pm, December 9th, 2011 - 25 comments

Due to the huge amount of interest in Sunday’s meet the leadership candidates meeting the venue has changed to a larger venue.

I can’t say that I am surprised. There have been more inches written about these meetings than any political meeting that I can remember since Orewa I, especially in the blogs.

ImperatorFish: Which Candidate Gets My Non-Vote?

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 9:18 am, December 9th, 2011 - 16 comments

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

Scott wants his say on the Labour leadership – even if he’s not sure who he’d vote for. But he’ll decide like many of us at the Sunday Meet the Candidates Meeting.

Disgraced again on climate change

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:52 am, December 9th, 2011 - 89 comments

To add insult to the injury of another wasted year on climate change, the government has taken the opportunity of the Durban conference not to make progress, but to disgrace us yet again.

Grant Robertson

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 2:23 pm, December 8th, 2011 - 80 comments

In 1997 after six years fighting for fair access to tertiary education through the student movement I joined the Labour Party. I didn’t join to become leader or deputy leader or even to become an MP. I joined because I believed then, and I believe now in the values of social justice, fairness and equality that are the foundation of our party.

ImperatorFish: Not Irony #1

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 9:54 am, December 8th, 2011 - 28 comments

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

David Farrar applies some wonky logic in order to blame everything bad the Nats do on the left. If any group of voters is to blame for the National/ACT deal, it’s those voters who gave National their party vote and/or John Banks their electorate vote.