politicans

Categories under politicans

Judith’s very bad two days

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:12 am, September 2nd, 2021 - 50 comments

Judith Collins’ insistence that Parliament be reconvened even at a time that the country was in lockdown level 4 has backfired spectacularly.

MPs should not only follow the rules but follow them with stars

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:16 am, August 31st, 2021 - 68 comments

Judith Collins has insisted on travelling from Auckland to Wellington so she can stand and shout in an empty Parliament Chamber.

Covid and the media

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 10:42 am, August 29th, 2021 - 54 comments

This week there has been some argy bargy between the Twitterati including the Waitakerati and the media on coverage of Covid in Aotearoa with elements of the media complaining that the criticisms are unjustified. A brief review of some of the offerings this week would suggest otherwise.

Gumming up the works

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:05 am, August 28th, 2021 - 53 comments

Last night it was revealed that National and Act had refused to agree to a proposed virtual Parliament sitting where questions could be asked, and instead wanted face to face meetings, even though this would mean a third of the country’s MPs travelling regularly to Wellington from a Covid delta hotspot.

Ardern Needs to do More Than Manage Crisis

Written By: advantage - Date published: 2:23 pm, August 25th, 2021 - 24 comments

For a country that has sought to form advantage for itself with strong and hard COVID-19 lockdowns, we’re not gaining any more advantage than yet another binge-purge cycle of supply tension and shortages, rapid economic downturn softened by tens of billions of subsidy, followed by unsustainable booms, over and over again.

The mysterious socialist hermit kingdom

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:55 am, August 25th, 2021 - 111 comments

Various commentators including Nigel Farage have claimed that New Zealand’s Covid elimination strategy is a failure. Our death rate and the possibility that we can again return to a normality that other nations can only aspire to suggests they are wrong.

Matt King caught blowing anti vaccination dog whistle

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:15 am, August 23rd, 2021 - 22 comments

Former National MP Matt King has been publicly posting anti vaccination propaganda under the ruse of only wanting a conversation.

The importance of Jacinda’s 1 pm press conferences

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:50 am, August 22nd, 2021 - 130 comments

Jacinda Ardern has resumed the 1 pm briefings where she communicates effectively the country’s current situation and what the plan is. But National and some elements of the media are complaining, presumably that she is doing too good a job.

The Covid vaccine may not be the nirvana

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:47 pm, August 21st, 2021 - 151 comments

Claims that a comprehensive vaccination scheme will allow life to get back to normal ignores the experience of Israel, which despite having a large proportion of its population vaccinated is having a surge of new infections of Covid that is stretching its health system.

Farewell Dr Michael Cullen

Written By: advantage - Date published: 1:52 pm, August 20th, 2021 - 21 comments

Dr Michael Cullen has died, and with him goes a real standard-bearer for Labour for three decades.

The importance of political leadership in dealing with Covid

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:55 am, August 18th, 2021 - 66 comments

Political leadership in the time of Covid is important. As the Government urgently swung into action and imposed a level 4 lockdown after news of a community case of Delta Covid who lived in Auckland and had spent time in Coromandel while infectious, Thames-Coromandel District Mayor and former National MP Sandra Goudie admitted to not scanning regularly.

The United States Retreat from Afghanistan

Written By: advantage - Date published: 6:30 am, August 16th, 2021 - 140 comments

President Biden is about to get a Jimmy Carter-scale shellacking with tv footage coming of Afghani Taleban going through Kabul and in short days rifling through the U.S. Embassy as they finally take over the entire country. You don’t win re-election with defeats and withdrawals, and you won’t be thanked for it in the mid-term Senatorial races either.

The latest battle in the culture wars

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:49 am, August 15th, 2021 - 79 comments

This week National agreed to the bill allowing gender self identification to proceed to select committee which was a stark contrast to their position on the bill banning gay conversion therapy. I wonder what happened?

The Churchill picture

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:13 am, August 12th, 2021 - 165 comments

National, the party that claims to be focussed on the issues that matter decided to get upset when the Greens requested the replacement of a picture of a former UK leader who had a reputation for engaging in crimes against humanity.

National’s civil war continues

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:08 am, August 9th, 2021 - 25 comments

In an extraordinary move National’s board has reselected Peter Goodfellow as Party Chairperson and this has caused former MP David Carter to resign as board member and express no confidence in the leadership or in National’s chances at the next election.

National used to be better than this

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:28 am, August 6th, 2021 - 59 comments

Back in the day National used to have a strong urban liberal wing that gave the impression that it was sympathetic to LGBTQI issues. Yesterday that impression was trashed.

Judith’s last stand?

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:04 am, August 4th, 2021 - 43 comments

Judith Collins has decided to attack the Government on the use of the Te Reo name for New Zealand even though the last National Government regularised its use.

Lies damned lies and Crime statistics

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 10:39 am, August 1st, 2021 - 13 comments

It should be an offence for political parties to deliberately misrepresent law and order statistics as National has done this week. It should be an aggravating feature if the party is a conservative party that champions law and order issues. After all fraud is an offence and if we don’t punish it appropriately then everyone will do it.

Are we really ready to escalate to war with China over Taiwan?

Written By: Mike Smith - Date published: 6:47 pm, July 29th, 2021 - 38 comments

“What will the role of New Zealand be should China invade Taiwan?” was by far the most popular question for Jacinda Ardern after she spoke at a NZIIA seminar last week. Promising to be benign, Ardern said we are “very predictable,” cited alleged human rights abuses in Hong Kong, and went on to say we […]

Citizenship is a human right

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:40 am, July 29th, 2021 - 81 comments

National has responded to the impending return to New Zealand of Suhayra Aden by hinting that they may follow Australia and breach human rights by bringing in laws allowing countries to arbitrarily remove rights of citizenship.

Letting private enterprise handle Covid quarantine is a really stupid idea

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:55 am, July 27th, 2021 - 31 comments

Leader of the Opposition David Seymour has proposed that private enterprise should provide quarantine services. The recent experience of Melbourne where private security firms failed dramatically to properly managed quarantine facilities suggests that this is a really stupid idea.

The many and varied takes of Des Gorman on covid

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 3:05 pm, July 25th, 2021 - 32 comments

A review of Des Gorman’s comments about Covid over the last 15 months, pretty well all of which have been negative, makes you wonder how it is possible that we have been able to maintain an effective Covid free status in Aotearoa New Zealand.

What If Boris Is Right?

Written By: advantage - Date published: 11:51 am, July 24th, 2021 - 80 comments

Now that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has “opened up” the United Kingdom from many of the Covid19 strictures that it had undergone, there is a lot at stake to his reputation and indeed to the lives and livelihoods of its citizens.

The bubble pops

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:32 am, July 24th, 2021 - 32 comments

The appearance of community spread Delta variant Covid in Australia has caused New Zealand to suspend the trans Tasman travel bubble.

Greens: a Warrant of Fitness for rental homes

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 6:10 am, July 23rd, 2021 - 118 comments

People who rent their home shouldn’t have to get sick or complain before the safety of their home is tested and guaranteed.

Freedom day

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:55 am, July 19th, 2021 - 58 comments

As infection rates of Covid in the United Kingdom surge Boris Johnson has announced that today will be the UK’s Freedom day and will be removing pretty well all mandatory Covid restrictions, even the wearing of masks and social distancing.

Trump and Russia

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:15 am, July 18th, 2021 - 41 comments

The Guardian has reported on claims of a leaked Russian Government paper which on the face of it confirms Russian support for the Trump 2016 election at the highest level.

Minister Robertson’s Economic Development Strategy

Written By: advantage - Date published: 7:32 am, July 15th, 2021 - 20 comments

Minister Roberston’s recent speech to the Trans Tasman Business Circle sets out both how this government is using the pandemic to reset whole sectors of the economy, and also how it is getting its head around economic and social challenges. The points made were unsurprising, but his intended direction was unclear.