political parties

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Ward sees sense

Written By: - Date published: 11:43 am, June 4th, 2008 - 35 comments

Good on Mike Ward for finally seeing sense and stepping aside, allowing Greens co-leader Russel Norman to enter Parliament replacing Nandor Tanczos. Norman is rapidly establsihing himself as a very good media frontperson for the Greens; being in Parliament will enhance his role. Only the righties were praising Ward for not stepping aside (just as […]

Labour re-opens Botany

Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, June 4th, 2008 - 4 comments

Brenden Sheehan, the high profile spokesperson for the Muliaga family has withdrawn as Labour’s candidate in Botany. A press release put out by the party says Brenden’s chosen to pull out in order to give his time and energy to a seriously ill family member. Nominations close on June 20. The same presser also contains […]

Polling companies confirm reputations

Written By: - Date published: 12:02 pm, June 3rd, 2008 - 61 comments

Another pair of TV polls, another embarrassment for Colmar Brunton as their poll goes widely out of line with the others even as TNS/TV3 is confirming the established trend. Still, neither of the polls looks great for the Left. National would govern alone under either result. That said, given the trend of 35% for Labour, […]

Regrets? I’ve had a few

Written By: - Date published: 11:57 am, June 3rd, 2008 - 24 comments

Is Don Brash trying to help or hinder John Key? A revealing couple of articles (a news story and a feature) in the Sunday Star Times in which the former leader – full of self pity and self loathing in equal measures by the sound of it – says his two biggest regrets were supporting […]

Greens challenge Fonterra

Written By: - Date published: 10:01 am, June 3rd, 2008 - 10 comments

Good to see the Greens coming out with a relevant, populist message at the weekend’s conference by tackling the issue of food affordability. The Greens have great policies but far too often they’ve got themselves bogged down in the detail and been seen by voters as irrelevant on hip-pocket issues. But while the challenge to […]

PC scourge claims another victim

Written By: - Date published: 11:49 am, June 1st, 2008 - 9 comments

A recent newsletter from anti-PC campaigner Murray McCully led with this comment supporting the right of the Burmese people to decide for themselves what their country is called: The US State Department asserts the preference for ‘Burma’ ‘due to consistent, unyielding support for the democratically elected leaders’, and the UK Foreign Office notes that ‘Burma’s […]

Ryall: disgraceful

Written By: - Date published: 1:28 pm, May 30th, 2008 - 34 comments

National’s Tony Ryall has made a disgrace of himself, yet again. This time, by labelling a Government initiative to hasten improvements in the detection of colon cancer (which kills 1200 people a year) ‘a political stunt’. Here is Health Minister David Cunliffe and Ryall on National Radio: CUNLIFFE: I’m not doing this because of votes, […]

Notional Policy: Kiwisaver

Written By: - Date published: 7:24 am, May 30th, 2008 - 24 comments

Tracy Watkins reported yesterday that National’s weakening of the employer contribution to Kiwisaver may take a different path to the one we envisaged. Rather than limiting employer contributions to a lower level Watkins reports businesses want to be able to dock or cut wages to compensate for the Kiwisaver contributions they make. This is currently […]

Gosche to retire

Written By: - Date published: 3:15 pm, May 29th, 2008 - 19 comments

Mark Gosche has announced he will retire from politics at the election. Gosche has represented the people of Maungakiekie for 12 years and, in 1999, became the first minister of Pacific Island descent. You will be aware of the family tragedies that led him first to step down from Cabinet and now to retire. Here’s […]

Why didn’t Kate know Nats’ Kiwisaver policy?

Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, May 29th, 2008 - 34 comments

The most surprising thing to come of the National’s Kiwisaver fiasco is not that they want to undermine the scheme and get employers out of paying their part (this is the party of big business, after all). No, the real shock is to learn that Kate Wilkinson, National’s Industrial Relations spokesperson, is not involved in […]

Greens must not let ETS fail

Written By: - Date published: 2:20 pm, May 28th, 2008 - 45 comments

The Dompost reports that the Greens will not vote for the Emissions Trading Scheme if the introduction of transport fuels into the scheme and the end of free allocation of credits are delayed. Without the Greens, the Bill will probably not pass. I have a lot of sympathy for the Greens’ position. The ETS is […]

Nats to journos: say what we want or shut up

Written By: - Date published: 12:59 pm, May 28th, 2008 - 19 comments

Here’s Barry Soper on ZB on the ‘Kate-gate‘ Kiwisaver debacle: What I found interesting was the way it was handled. I was the only person this time yesterday at this particular breakfast and it was a question from the floor. Kate Wilkinson quite clearly said that employer contributions to KiwiSaver was not going to be compulsory.  Now, […]

Kremlinology: National and Kiwisaver

Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, May 28th, 2008 - 15 comments

National’s refusal to say what it stands for is becoming so ridiculous we have resorted to the Cold War art of Kremlinology. Today, we look at Kiwisaver. National has had a tortured relationship with Kiwisaver. When it was first introduced in 2005 John Key described it as a “terribly designed system” and spent the next […]

Interview the Leaders IX – Questions for Peters

Written By: - Date published: 8:44 pm, May 27th, 2008 - 2 comments

We’ve chosen the questions for Winston Peters in the final installment of our ‘Interview the Leaders’ series. The first question remains the same, as for all leaders: Of which of your achievements in politics are you most proud? For the others we’ve gone with Robinsod’s question: Last election you stated you would go with the […]

The status of KiwiSaver

Written By: - Date published: 3:03 pm, May 27th, 2008 - 34 comments

Tracy Watkins reports: “National has been forced into an embarrassing u-turn on KiwiSaver after its industrial relations spokeswoman Kate Wilkinson appeared to put the kibosh on a major component of the scheme. Ms Wilkinson was forced to retract comments made earlier today suggesting National would do away with the compulsory employer contribution.” On his blog Vernon […]

Getting blood from a stone

Written By: - Date published: 2:20 pm, May 27th, 2008 - 5 comments

A reader has just written in as a followup to IrishBill’s post earlier today on National’s plans to line the pockets of oil tycoons with a four land highway stretching the length of the North Island. Our reader notes that it’s not just us who think getting policy out of the Nats is like getting […]

ToryAid: The Standard resurrects Wastewatch

Written By: - Date published: 1:35 pm, May 27th, 2008 - 66 comments

Remember wastewatch.co.nz? It’s National’s site listing all the ‘government waste’. From six years of Labour government it managed to find a grand total of $1 billion in waste (0.32% of Government spending or a 10 cent a week tax cut) and most of that wasn’t ‘waste’ it included the entire $400 million for the new […]

Grueling

Written By: - Date published: 12:31 pm, May 27th, 2008 - 6 comments

Nats announce launch release consider rural doctors bonding scheme. Here’s the link, but honestly, don’t bother.

Ambitious for big oil

Written By: - Date published: 11:41 am, May 27th, 2008 - 74 comments

We’ve all heard John Key bang on about his ambitions for New Zealand’s infrastructure and now one of my sources within the National Party has tipped me off that as part of their infrastructure policy they are planning to announce a plan for a four lane highway between Wellington and Auckland. As I recall this […]

Vote National, get ACT

Written By: - Date published: 9:34 am, May 27th, 2008 - 78 comments

A source present at the University of Victoria debating society event last night tells us that Heather Roy referred to herself frequently (but we’re told lightheartedly) as the Minister of Education in a National/ACT government before handing out these scholarships vouchers… you’ll notice it’s even signed by Roger Douglas <shiver>.

Predictions on Parliament

Written By: - Date published: 10:29 pm, May 26th, 2008 - 9 comments

We’ve seen many of the commentators suggest that National is coming up short on policy proposals after the Budget last week. What I’ll be looking for is whether Mr Key takes his attack to the PM and Michael Cullen in the House tomorrow. The hints continue to be that tax cuts will be larger and […]

Show us ya policy

Written By: - Date published: 3:57 pm, May 26th, 2008 - 32 comments

Steve posted this morning that even Granny Herald’s patience appears to be wearing thin waiting for National and Key to announce some policy detail: “National must get a move on… we need to hear some serious policy soon”. Turns out they’re not alone. Rod Oram (SST): …for it to be a genuine debate, National needs […]

Kremlinology: Nats’ tax plans

Written By: - Date published: 3:24 pm, May 26th, 2008 - 11 comments

National is still refusing to give us any detail on its tax cut plan, indicating it doesn’t have one. But let’s do a bit of Kremlinology to work out what we might expect from them when they eventually get their act together. The size of Labour’s tax cuts has spooked National. Key’s speech in reply […]

Even Granny’s patience can wear thin

Written By: - Date published: 9:47 am, May 26th, 2008 - 42 comments

With a loving smack that would have brought a smile to Bob McCoskrie’s face, the Herald‘s editorial today rebukes John Key in the strongest terms it can. Now that the Budget is behind us, the National Party has less excuse for indecision on most of the important economic issues facing the country at the coming […]

The Ministry of National Affairs

Written By: - Date published: 2:05 pm, May 23rd, 2008 - 70 comments

Here’s a good ten minutes from the middle of Winston’s post budget address yesterday. The highlight is around four minutes in, on National’s burgeoning bureaucracy: Did you know that John Key himself in his Wellington parliamentary office employs has 36 people?… they cost the taxpayer, every year… over seven million dollars… Teams of PR people and spin doctors […]

National’s cruel hoax

Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, May 23rd, 2008 - 52 comments

Well the budget is out and across the country the public are looking at their tax cuts and asking “is that it?” and this is at a time that economists are very nervous about the inflationary impact of such a large package of cuts and anything bigger means cutting services or significantly increasing borrowing. The […]

Telling porkies

Written By: - Date published: 9:50 am, May 22nd, 2008 - 44 comments

The Herald and National have started attacking every piece of government spending as pork-barrelling. Here’s some of what they’re calling ‘wasteful, needless spending’: $750 million of new health spending ($160 million for elective services) -Pork $700 million for Fast Forward Fund, food and pastoral sector research -Pork $665 million to buy the national rail operations […]

Water, water everywhere, why not stop to think?

Written By: - Date published: 7:11 am, May 22nd, 2008 - 18 comments

From the MP who tried to ban water comes ‘don’t use crash statistics to work out which roads are dangerous’. Writing in the Oamaru Mail about a dangerous stretch of road, National MP Jacqui Dean says: “Transit New Zealand often places too great an emphasis on the crash statistics it receives from Land Transport New […]

National’s campaign to muzzle union continues

Written By: - Date published: 4:14 pm, May 21st, 2008 - 139 comments

It seems National has succeeded in the first step of its campaign to muzzle the EPMU and the fifty thousand workers it represents. Over at the bog our mate Davey is crowing about the high court win that recognises the union as a legal person for the purposes of the act. This still means that […]

National still won’t say what they’d do

Written By: - Date published: 2:41 pm, May 21st, 2008 - 9 comments

Seemingly content to coast along on the “time for a change” sentiment, the National Party are still refusing to offer any substantive details in major policy areas: government debt, work rights and retirement savings. English ended up sounding like a broken record on Agenda a few days back. His stock answer was ‘I can’t tell […]

Nandor to stay in Parliament until election

Written By: - Date published: 12:50 pm, May 21st, 2008 - 20 comments

Nandor Tanczos has just announced he will not be standing down from Parliament early to let Russel Norman in because former MP Mike Ward has refused to step aside. According to Nandor’s statement: “I had hoped that I might step down soon and allow Co-Leader Russel Norman to take my place before the election, however, […]

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