political parties

Vote smart: Winnie cleared but too late

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 5:39 pm, November 4th, 2008 - 33 comments

New Zealand First has now been cleared by the Police or any illegal behaviour. That’s three from three but too late. I’ve never had a lot of love for Peters. Yes, economically NZF is left-wing and they were an important bulwark against the neoliberal revolution. Yes, he’s a cheeky bugger and often hilarious, and its […]

Another Nat secret agenda tape

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 3:19 pm, November 4th, 2008 - 121 comments

The Herald campaign updates reports that Clark has just had a private interview with TV3, appearently getting her response to the latest secret agenda tape. Guess that means it will be on TV3 tonight. According to the Herald, a reporter at the conference asked the PM if she thinks the public is sick of having […]

Hypocrite

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 9:45 pm, November 3rd, 2008 - 47 comments

Watching Key tour Progressive Enterprises today was bad enough but watching him claim to support those workers in the leaders debate was sickening considering his party’s stance in 2006 when those same workers were locked out of their employment for daring to ask for a decent pay rise. At the time National’s employment spokesperson (who […]

Wages still growing strongly

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 1:48 pm, November 3rd, 2008 - 31 comments

Despite the recession, wages have continued to grow at a record rate and, crucially, faster than inflation. The average hourly rate was up 5.5% over the past year. The percentage of the economy that goes to workers (rather than to the capital owners) continues to increase. This is the outcome of running a low unemployment […]

Advertising, getting it right and getting it wrong

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 10:56 am, November 3rd, 2008 - 62 comments

Labour’s new ad is one of the best political ads I’ve seen. It’s just a really well written script: acknowledging the success of the Right’s ‘time for a change’ meme and undercutting it, getting in some positive points on Labour that are forward-looking, and getting in the sting on Key. ‘Mary’ is what National calls […]

How does ACT fit in?

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 10:54 am, November 3rd, 2008 - 10 comments

I have my doubts about the veracity of Meurant’s statements as he is well known for bigging himself up as a hard man and all of this “politicians in our pockets” stuff certainly fits that description. But the media is treating them as potentially damning and so are many rightwing commentators so I guess there […]

Dunne’s deal?

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 9:58 am, November 3rd, 2008 - 37 comments

The revelations in today’s Dompost that Peter Dunne’s United party took a donation from the Vela family shows again what a messy business donations can be. The Vela family opposed New Zealand following a new UN fishing agreement. Ross Meurant, acting for the Velas met with Dunne, days later he issued a press release opposing […]

Vote smart: The micro parties

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 11:58 am, November 1st, 2008 - 101 comments

Last election, 7,000 people gave their votes to very small left-wing parties that never had any chance of winning a seat in Parliament. That’s 0.3% of the vote; a small but not insignificant amount. If those votes to the Alliance and Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis had gone to the Greens instead (who, after all, have 99% […]

End of Winston?

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 9:30 am, November 1st, 2008 - 82 comments

The Dominion Post has published some pretty damning evidence indicating Winston Peters’ connections with the Vela family. According to the Dom Winston’s right-hand man, Ross Meurant, was telling the Vela’s that their donations to New Zealand First would give them “input” into the party’s policies. Like many others I’m always hesitant to predict the end […]

Side-show

Written By: Tane - Date published: 6:12 pm, October 31st, 2008 - 32 comments

I see the media are now comparing the ‘redundancy’ packages on offer with all of the horse race vigour they applied to the tax cuts. That’s understandable as the media like quantifiable measures so they can make simple graphs and X is greater or less than Y soundbite statements. But what they have forgotten is […]

Greenpeace converts John’s office

Written By: Tane - Date published: 3:22 pm, October 31st, 2008 - 34 comments

Some great political theatre from Greenpeace yesterday. A bunch of climate activists got up at the crack of dawn, plastered ready-made lawn around the outside of John Key’s electorate office, then put up some wee pine trees and stumps alongside a billboard saying ‘Would John solve this climate crime?’ Looks like a couple of them […]

Granny Herald yearns for good old days but democracy alive and well

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 2:59 pm, October 31st, 2008 - 16 comments

The Herald is once again trying to convince us that everyone is so scared of the EFA that there is no poltiical participation going on. Once again, they cite some rich right-wing organisations that don’t want to have to identify themselves when advertising, and so haven’t advertised at all. It seems the Right’s view is […]

Tories’ crack at socialism a poor substitute

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 1:39 pm, October 31st, 2008 - 5 comments

National’s redundancy package would effectively continue Working for Families payments for some people who would otherwise lose them after redunancy. Only people who have been in the same job for six months would get it, cutting out labourers, temps, and contract workers. For about the same cost, it would deliver more money to fewer people […]

Whose record is better?

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 11:19 am, October 31st, 2008 - 6 comments

I found it weird that National’s attack ad is a series of newspaper headlines. Everyone knows newspaper headlines are sensationalist and everyone knows that things were much worse under National in the 1990s, as this new youtube vid illustrates: Meanwhile, the upbeat jokers at 08wire have a positive reponse to the Nat attack ad:

Not exactly Jon Stewart

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 9:38 am, October 31st, 2008 - 38 comments

A new facebook group has started up called “I am killing a kitten for every person who votes for the Green Party” (*) This group is to encourage New Zealander’s to join the fight against hippies and social engineering by killing a kitten for every vote they receive this election, if we run out of […]

More redundancy protection

Written By: Tane - Date published: 4:01 pm, October 30th, 2008 - 78 comments

It’s good to see Labour turning its focus back onto policy (and particularly the economy) today with its announcement of a “job search allowance” for people made redundant in the coming economic downturn. Basically, the allowance means if you lose your job you’ll be eligible for the dole without means-testing for up to 13 weeks. […]

The Standard line: Tax cuts

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 12:21 pm, October 30th, 2008 - 23 comments

[update: download this (tax-and-kiwisaver-calculator) simple excel table that will calculate tax cut and Kiwisaver losses under Labour and National, and the difference, for you and your family. No other calculator has included Kiwisaver losses] So, you’re talking with someone about politics and they say something really dumb and wrong and you know it’s wrong but you don’t […]

Ripping the stuffing out

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 11:40 am, October 30th, 2008 - 1 comment

The CTU has released a second great youtube vid. Well worth a watch and emailing around.

No smoking gun

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 10:09 am, October 30th, 2008 - 152 comments

It turns out the Herald’s story about John Key’s H-fee involvement is a bust. Aside from Key not being straight with the dates he worked at Elders there isn’t anything firm to tie him to the actual fraud. That’s not the story I expected given the Herald had decided to lead with this story on […]

Gone Flippin’

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 11:58 am, October 29th, 2008 - 21 comments

Slippery John’s flip-flops keep on coming. Here he is just three weeks ago in the Listener: “you either have a conflict of interest or you don’t; it doesn’t matter whether you hold one share or a million” and, today, on Breakfast: ‘it’s a very small number, no-one thinks a Member of Parliament with 500 Contact […]

A clear choice on ACC

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 9:59 am, October 29th, 2008 - 48 comments

If you vote National, United Future, or ACT, you will be voting for the ACC system to be privatised. Consequences of this include: – $200 million in profits flowing offshore, according to John Key’s former employers Merril Lynch – higher levies on most workers, as private insurers cherry-pick the most profitable for themselves, leaving the […]

Chain gang

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 7:17 am, October 29th, 2008 - 76 comments

The Nats’ private prison scheme just gets worse. As No Right Turn points out prisons would be used to do contract work and prisoners would be forced to be used as cheap labour or lose their parole. Aside from the fact this would constitute slave labour it would also allow prison companies to undercut other […]

Prisons for profit

Written By: Tane - Date published: 5:50 pm, October 28th, 2008 - 49 comments

National’s announcement that it plans to privatise the prison system says a lot about the party’s underlying values. Say what you like about National’s temporary flip-flops, underneath they haven’t changed a bit. Whether it’s ACC, privatising assets, drafting electoral law or reforming the Resource Management Act, the National Party stands for entrenching private power at […]

Update on Brownlee

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 5:20 pm, October 28th, 2008 - 37 comments

There are substantive policy issues such as National’s privatisation plans for the prisons that need to be covered but, first, an update on Gerry Brownlee’s conflict of interest. According to the NZPA: Brownlee said his shareholding (496 shares, worth around $4,000 during 2002-2003) was too small to amount to a pecuniary interest. – Pecuniary interest is […]

Standard scoop: Another senior Nat failed to disclose conflicts

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 10:39 am, October 28th, 2008 - 34 comments

Last month, Key lied when he was asked whether he had more Tranzrail shares, over which he had failed to declare his conflict of interest. On Sunday, it was revealed on The Standard that Key had also held shares in Fletcher Challenge Forests, which was campaigning for the Government to buy the rails off Tranzrail, […]

Labour’s labour policy good for labourers

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 7:50 pm, October 27th, 2008 - 19 comments

Labour has unveiled its work rights policy, and it’s a good one: – minimum wage increases at least at the rate of inflation or the average wage increase, whichever is higher. That would bring it to nearly $15 a year by 2011. Why they didn’t just commit to $15 like the rest of the Left, […]

Standard Scoop: Key exposed again on secret shares and Tranzrail

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 9:00 pm, October 26th, 2008 - 145 comments

When the Tranzrail shares came to light, Key was asked whether he had any other undisclosed shares entailing a conflict of interest. He said he didn’t. That was not true. National Party Leader John Key failed to disclose his conflict of interest arising from his share holding in Fletcher Challenge Forests while using his privileges […]

On moral mandates

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 7:01 am, October 26th, 2008 - 69 comments

So, let me get this straight. The Right says that the minor parties have to support a National-led government if National gets more votes than Labour. Even if a National government would go against everything a party stands for, even if it is a complete betrayal of the people who voted for them, minor parties […]

Here be dragons

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 10:02 pm, October 25th, 2008 - 20 comments

So, we can all make up dumb pictures and say ‘beware of many-headed monsters’. Let’s, instead, ask if National’s attack makes sense. First, any new government is going to need support from a number of parties. A Labour-led government is likely to be dependent on Labour, the Progressives, Greens, and the Maori Party (four parties). […]

Fact checkin’ – five-headed monsters

Written By: Tane - Date published: 3:48 pm, October 24th, 2008 - 114 comments

The New Zealand Herald is, as usual, uncritically repeating John Key’s latest lines on the front page of its website. This time Key’s scaremongering that a Labour-led government would be a “five-headed monster”. Much better to go with a simple, straight-forward National government, says Key. It’s a pity we don’t have the resources for basic […]

The Standard line: Kiwisaver

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 11:37 am, October 24th, 2008 - 26 comments

So, you’re talking with someone about politics and they say something really dumb and wrong and you know it’s wrong but you don’t have the arguments and facts at your fingertips to make a decisive point. That’s where our election series, The Standard line, comes in. The info you need in bite-size form. Today: Kiwisaver Points […]