political parties

Doofus of the week – June 3, 2018

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 10:14 am, June 3rd, 2018 - 44 comments

Finalists this week are David Farrar for recklessly misrepresenting Labour’s view on the three strikes repeal proposal, Judith Collins for thinking a two year old photo used on the Standard was a current photo and evidence of the police being politicised and Paula Bennett for at the same time not knowing and knowing but being unable to do anything about the terrorising of state house tenants. And the winner is …

Simon Bridges, the three strikes law and the Bill of Rights

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:04 am, June 2nd, 2018 - 17 comments

National obviously desperately want to divert attention away from the Housing Corp methamphetamine fiasco. After five days of continuous bad news who can blame them.

Labour does not want to let them all out

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:48 am, June 1st, 2018 - 170 comments

Andrew Little has proposed the repeal of the irrational three strikes law. But signs are that National will not engage in a reasoned debate about what the law should be.

Reclaiming the Mountain

Written By: advantage - Date published: 7:17 am, June 1st, 2018 - 19 comments

Central and local Government have announced new funding for projects to preserve and enhance the natural environment in Taranaki.

National tags parody account in Northcote by election tweet

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 8:30 am, May 31st, 2018 - 6 comments

The difference between running a professional well organised campaign and a chaotic shambles can be slight.

National’s strategy on the Housing Corp P fiasco

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:59 am, May 31st, 2018 - 83 comments

National is all over the place in its response to Peter Gluckman’s Housing Corp methamphetamine report with three different justifications being provided by three different senior MPs.

Where the f*ck is Simon Bridges?

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 4:52 pm, May 30th, 2018 - 9 comments

An ongoing series where we try to work out what social media strategy Simon Bridges is following.

Gluckman: Methamphetamine policy was a crock

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:19 am, May 30th, 2018 - 80 comments

The Prime Minister’s chief science adviser Peter Gluckman has described the previous Government’s policy on methamphetamine in Housing Corp houses as hysterical and concluded that there has never been a documented case of someone getting sick from third-hand exposure to methamphetamine.

Where the f*ck is Simon Bridges?

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 9:37 am, May 29th, 2018 - 18 comments

An ongoing series.

Pollwatch: Colmar Brunton 28/5/2018

Written By: Matthew Whitehead - Date published: 7:38 pm, May 28th, 2018 - 59 comments

A chart of the expected outcome from this poll. Greens: 6, Labour: 55, National: 58, ACT: 1.

Hot on the heels of Reid Research, TVNZ has also been doing post-budget polling, and this one paints a bit of a different picture.

Comrade Simon supports Nurses Strike

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 3:52 pm, May 28th, 2018 - 21 comments

For the first time possibly ever a National leader has supported the right of the rank and file to engage in industrial action to improve their living conditions.

Bridges copies Bill Clinton on abortion

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 10:54 am, May 28th, 2018 - 51 comments

Simon Bridges has appropriated phrasing used by Bill Clinton in describing his position on abortion but made his personal view even more restrictive.

Where the f*ck is Simon Bridges?

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 8:00 am, May 28th, 2018 - 9 comments

An ongoing series.

Pollwatch: Reid Research, 27/05/2018

Written By: Matthew Whitehead - Date published: 8:32 pm, May 27th, 2018 - 88 comments

The latest Newshub/Reid Research poll is out, and it continues to be less than stellar news for the opposition, but also for New Zealand First.

Doofus of the week – May 27, 2018

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:54 am, May 27th, 2018 - 28 comments

Lots of competition this week with Katie Hopkins preferring to be called a racist to being described as being on drugs, Judith Collins for fronting the most naff scandals in the last decade, and Simon Bridges for going on tour to strange places. But the real contest was between Paula Bennett and Gerry Brownlee …

Where the f*ck is Simon Bridges?

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 8:00 am, May 27th, 2018 - 29 comments

An ongoing series.

A belated congratulations

Written By: Matthew Whitehead - Date published: 3:54 pm, May 26th, 2018 - 22 comments

Post Immigration New Zealand Spreadsheet debacle, Ministers Curran and Shaw announce a stocktake and review of all government algorithms.

#twyfordaccusations

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:53 pm, May 26th, 2018 - 52 comments

The Twitter hashtag #twyfordaccusations has been set up to allow people to speculate on what other nefarious allegations will be made against Phil Twyford by Judith Collins.

New Zealand’s Energy Future

Written By: advantage - Date published: 8:00 am, May 25th, 2018 - 53 comments

New Zealand has a low carbon energy future plan. What is the strategy to achieve this?

National loses the plot in Parliament

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 4:40 pm, May 24th, 2018 - 91 comments

National’s show down with Trevor Mallard today did not go as well as they hoped.

Deep Trawling.

Written By: Bill - Date published: 9:14 am, May 24th, 2018 - 21 comments

Is NZ’s fishing industry just a domestic version of the tobacco companies? And how much would that really matter?

Paula’s petulant parliamentary outburst

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:41 am, May 24th, 2018 - 247 comments

Paula Bennett stormed out of Parliament yesterday after Trevor Mallard correctly applied the standing orders and ruled out a question containing an unparliamentary term. And National has responded by questioning if Jacinda Ardern was actually described as a “silly little girl” but has refused to question its MPs.

New Zealand trade negotiations with Europe

Written By: advantage - Date published: 11:00 am, May 23rd, 2018 - 7 comments

On Thursday 31 May at the University of Auckland, the Fabians are hosting Max Harris on the topic “Is it time for an independent foreign policy?” What would be the costs of a really independent foreign policy, over the benefits of salving our conscience with greater national independence? And where does Trade fit in?

Trouble within National’s ranks?

Written By: Natwatch - Date published: 3:43 pm, May 22nd, 2018 - 126 comments

It looks like the National collective has doubts about Simon Bridges’ pulling power.

What’s happening inside UK Labour.

Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 11:19 am, May 22nd, 2018 - 4 comments

Factional infighting within UK Labour.

David Seymour blows the dog whistle, hard

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:56 am, May 22nd, 2018 - 34 comments

David Seymour has hit a new low by drumming up public opposition to a small social housing development planned by Housiung Corporation in Epsom by claiming some of the potential tenants may have mental health problems.

The law and order debate and the grade one tosser

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:43 am, May 22nd, 2018 - 36 comments

The Government has announced it will not proceed with the Waikeria mega prison as part of its policy to decrease the prison muster by 30%. And the called for public debate starts off with one of the major players using a study the author of which subsequently retracted because the data he relied on was wrong.