political parties

How we got where we are

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:35 am, November 24th, 2011 - 39 comments

Last election we had a choice between competent economic management and a bunch of hollow promises. We made a poor choice then, and the record shows that we have wasted three years as a result. Coming up to this election we don’t need more tired Nat excuses, we need solutions. Bring back Labour!

Will Key sign pledge not to sell Kiwibank?

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:42 am, November 23rd, 2011 - 97 comments

Phil Goff has signed a pledge that Labour will not sell Kiwibank if it becomes government. Other party leaders have been invited as well. I expect the Greens, New Zealand First, Mana, and the Conservatives will (who knows about the Maori Party). But will Key sign? National is secretly itching to sell Kiwibank, Bill English got caught out admitting as much.

Like shit warmed-up

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 7:20 am, November 23rd, 2011 - 81 comments

John Key is really showing the strain of campaigning, he’s not bearing up under the stress of it at all well. Clearly the National Show Pony was not built for endurance.

Nat asset sales lies

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:07 am, November 23rd, 2011 - 53 comments

Last night TV1 revealed National’s lies on the explosive topic of asset sales. The Nats have no official advice to back up their asset sales claims, and information is being withheld from the public. Not good enough – vote them out.

Nats’ education policy

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:27 am, November 22nd, 2011 - 35 comments

The Nats’ education policy came out yesterday and, predictably, it’s ideologically driven nonsense that will damage children. Worst aspects, league tables (almost universally condemned by experts and experience) and a proposal for the Nats to specify a “personality test” to select teachers.

Key’s campaign super weapon

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 8:38 am, November 22nd, 2011 - 11 comments

The Goldsmith Gambit

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 3:22 pm, November 21st, 2011 - 49 comments

This will be one of the dirtiest political and anti-democratic tactics ever designed in NZ history. It has the potential of delivering a second John Key term, gifting Epsom to ACT and of discrediting MMP in one foul swoop: a true Tory Trifecta.

Fearing Winston

Written By: Eddie - 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:

Five days to Save our Assets

Written By: Ben Clark - Date published: 6:42 am, November 21st, 2011 - 152 comments

Phil Goff said yesterday we had “Six days to save our assets” – now we have 5. Here’s what University of Auckland’s economics professor thinks about asset sales, and some more reasons why we desperately need to avoid a National-led government on November 27.

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

Written By: the sprout - 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.

What would he have thought?

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 8:39 am, November 20th, 2011 - 57 comments

Ambrose to sue Key for defamation

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 9:18 pm, November 19th, 2011 - 107 comments

Bradley Ambrose, the cameraman widely maligned by John Key and his pudgey lapdogs David Farrar and Cameron Slater for daring to hold the PM to some basic standards of accountability, is demanding an apology from John Key or he’ll take the PM to court for defamation.

UPDATE: The final week of the campaign will kick off with a police raid on the Herald Monday morning.

ACT have been very stable

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 3:58 pm, November 19th, 2011 - 18 comments

We missed this at the time – thanks to toad in comments (and link to g.blog) for the heads up! Especially relevant now that John Key has personally tied himself to ACT with his endorsement.

How bad are National’s internals?

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 12:33 pm, November 19th, 2011 - 135 comments

Some say the tea tapes haven’t hurt Brand Key. In fact, National is down 2% last week and those polls were largely taken before the tea tapes hit overdrive. It also takes time for impressions and media narratives to bed in. The 26th will be the first poll to really tell us how much the tea tapes have hurt. But the internals could give us a clue.

Nats and climate change deniers

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:02 am, November 19th, 2011 - 45 comments

The teapot tape fiasco has forced the Nats to pretend that they are interested in policy. It’s screamingly hypocritical of them, since they couldn’t even be bothered returning answers to Radio NZ’s policy survey. But let’s not waste this new opportunity. Let’s start with asking them why they’re endorsing a party of loony climate change deniers.

John Key: Berlusconi of the south pacific

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 7:22 am, November 19th, 2011 - 20 comments

Key loses plot under election pressure

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 8:23 am, November 18th, 2011 - 64 comments

John Key has a history of choking under pressure but this time, calling on the police to raid the premises of our national broadcasters TVNZ and RNZ, and our major privately owned newspapers – he’s cracked under the pressure of the campaign and the spectre of losing it all. There’ll be no knighthood if Key becomes the first National PM to lose after just one term.

National Election agenda setting fail

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 12:27 pm, November 17th, 2011 - 7 comments

This is just from one news outlet. Stuff, the Herald, RNZ, TVNZ – they’re all focussing on what’s making Key looking like a fool. They aren’t interested in hearing what National has to say about anything until they fess up. Nine days from an Election, now that’s a spectacular agenda setting fail. Who’s advising Key’s campaign, Melissa Lee?

Caption Contest

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 11:32 am, November 17th, 2011 - 33 comments

National’s deadwood thicket

Written By: the sprout - Date published: 7:01 am, November 17th, 2011 - 36 comments

hattip: William Joyce

Labour’s jobs policy

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 1:04 pm, November 16th, 2011 - 34 comments

Now that we’re all over Nice Mr Key, maybe we can focus on minor details like the environment, the economy, assets, and jobs…

Goldsmith removing Goldsmith signs

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 10:31 am, November 16th, 2011 - 80 comments

Most politicians crave attention, especially when they’re trying to win an electorate. Not so National’s Paul Goldsmith! A Standard reader snapped these pictures of Goldsmith removing (apparently “unofficial”) Goldsmith electoral signs. It’s almost as if he doesn’t want to get elected!

[insert tea-related pun here]

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:08 am, November 16th, 2011 - 65 comments

The teapot tapes story (seems that’s the name that’s been settled on, despite the story involving neither teapots nor tapes) has evolved two distinct strands: the contents of the Key-Banks conversation, which is gradually coming out through the media, and the very aggressive, poorly conceived response of National which is making it worse for them.

Update: According to Fairfax reporter Danya Levy on Twitter, Key has just “stormed out” of a press conference after further questioning on the tapes. He’s losing it. Now The Herald has the story.

‘Dying off’?

Written By: the sprout - 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.

A wee reminder

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 4:16 pm, November 15th, 2011 - 21 comments

MANA’s Epsom Candidate Pat O’Dea, reminds the voters of Epsom who they are really voting for.

Do the maths on massive public service cuts

Written By: Jenny Michie - Date published: 2:36 pm, November 15th, 2011 - 37 comments

We finally get a glimpse of just how ‘small’ the government thinks small government should be. From the Sunday Star Times: It has slashed new spending provisions and put the public service on a belt-tightening programme for which, English warns, there is no end in sight. The public services, he says, is only about a […]

InvisiNats: Gerry Brownlee

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 12:26 pm, November 15th, 2011 - 7 comments

Key is avoiding the hard questions, but his photo-op face is everywhere. The rest of the Nats are working hard at being invisible. Let’s bring a little sunlight into that darkness!

Today’s InvisiNat is Gerry Brownlee.

Going, going, gone?

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 11:11 am, November 15th, 2011 - 5 comments

120 ways to say ‘dunno’

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 10:11 am, November 15th, 2011 - 9 comments

120 ‘policies’ and only 1 of them new. That’s National’s economic development “action plan“. It looks superficially impressive at first: 120 points – what a busy government. But then you read, and it’s all stuff that’s underway or already announced, or in some cases Labour policies that are already complete. This is a (bad) PR exercise, not a plan.

Once a bully always a bully

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:08 am, November 15th, 2011 - 43 comments

Key is now using the police to intimidate journalists at The Herald and at 3 News to keep the “game changing” teapot tapes from being released. What a surprise! Not. John Key and the Nats have a long, long history of bullying their critics and intimidating the media.