australian politics

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Turnbull out, Morrison In?

Written By: - Date published: 2:29 pm, August 23rd, 2018 - 100 comments

Turnbull out, Morrison or Dutton in? The Australian Liberal Party self flagellation continues in Canberra. Updates as they roll in, cobbers.

UPDATE: Malcolm Turnbull calls press conference at 1PM AEST (3PM in NZ)

UPDATE: Turnbull to quit tomorrow, if ballot called.

UPDATE: Julie Bishop prepares bid.

UPDATE: Scott Morrison wins, Dutton defeated 45-40.

New Zealand’s offer to accept some of Nauru’s refugees

Written By: - Date published: 12:42 pm, August 23rd, 2018 - 32 comments

Jacinda Ardern is looking to repeat Helen Clark’s example of proposing to take refugees that Australia is refusing to take.

Strewth Dutton could be Aussie PM

Written By: - Date published: 7:54 am, August 20th, 2018 - 87 comments

Malcolm Turnbull’s days as Australian Prime Minister may be numbered with suggestions that Peter Dutton has the numbers to win a leadership contest.

About freedom of speech

Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, August 12th, 2018 - 97 comments

Simon Wilson in the Herald neatly skewers suggestions that Donald Brash is a free speech warrior and raises important issues about the interplay between free speech and attacks on “political correctness” also known as tolerance and respect.

Guest post: The end of Neoliberalism – What went wrong?

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, August 7th, 2018 - 172 comments

The Left predicted the death of neoliberalism after the global financial crisis of 2008.  But since then inequality has increased and new right nationalism is on the ascendancy.  How should the left respond?

Duck Futton

Written By: - Date published: 4:59 pm, July 19th, 2018 - 46 comments

The Australians are upset with Andrew Little expressing concern about their inhumane treatment of some Kiwis living in Australia and are throwing Donald Trump type tantrums to show their displeasure.

Property price decline

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, July 13th, 2018 - 61 comments

What would happen if the house prices of Auckland, Queenstown, and other centres of very high debt went into substantial and long term decline?

Draining the swamp

Written By: - Date published: 3:33 pm, May 29th, 2018 - 32 comments

One Nation has made an appearance in Aotearoa New Zealand, complete with all the nuttiness of its Australian counterpart, some Donald Trump insanity and some support for the hard right in the United Kingdom.

The Failed Estate: Kabuki Economics

Written By: - Date published: 8:56 am, May 13th, 2018 - 19 comments

Jim Parker dissects the Australian customs around the presentation of the Budget with comments that are just as applicable to New Zealand’s system.

Australia and New Zealand budget days

Written By: - Date published: 7:47 am, May 7th, 2018 - 23 comments

Isn’t it time we at least synchronized the New Zealand budget with the Australian budget?

The Australian banking system review

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, May 2nd, 2018 - 17 comments

The review into Australia’s banking system really matters to New Zealand and is doing New Zealand an almighty good service.

Evidence-based foreign policy

Written By: - Date published: 6:07 pm, April 2nd, 2018 - 99 comments

In the second stage of a false flag attack, facts go out the window and the sole issue becomes “are you for us or against us.” Our media and National Party politicians are well into this stage in the Skripal affair. But as questions mount and skeptics proliferate from all sides, Jacinda Ardern and Winston Peters may well be wiser than media advisers by not following blindly  the western herd. 26 countries is not the whole world. Update: Porton Down unable to establish Novichok of Russian origin.

Joyce stands down as National struggles to find new leader *

Written By: - Date published: 8:07 am, February 24th, 2018 - 13 comments

* in Australia.

Beetrooted

Written By: - Date published: 1:58 pm, February 16th, 2018 - 20 comments

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce’s future in politics is on the line as he responds to allegations of infidelity, hypocrisy and misuse of Government resources.

Two Labour Governments, two coal mines

Written By: - Date published: 12:38 pm, February 7th, 2018 - 13 comments

The New Zealand Government has rejected the OIO’s proposal to allow Bathurst to purchase DOC land for coal mining purposes.  And in Australia the Queensland Labor Government is working out how it can back out of an agreement to permit the Adani coal mine to proceed.

Waitangi Day and Australia Day

Written By: - Date published: 9:04 am, January 26th, 2018 - 10 comments

Australia Day (January 26th), like Waitangi Day (February 6th) often divides our countries as much in its silence as anything else.

Shock horror right wing think tank thinks NZ not very democratic

Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, January 18th, 2018 - 74 comments

National’s cheerleaders are pushing an international report which suggests that New Zealand’s democratic system is only slightly better than average in world terms.  But the organisation behind the report and the methodology used need some checking.

Racist dog whistling

Written By: - Date published: 9:24 am, January 14th, 2018 - 64 comments

We may think that we now live in more enlightened times where the scourge of racism is finally being dealt to and is no longer considered acceptable but recent events in Australia and the United States suggests that this is not the case.

The Froth Comes off The Beer

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, January 5th, 2018 - 77 comments

Auckland appears to be following the trend set by Melbourne and Sydney of a softening in expected prices for selling houses.

What will 2018 bring for Donald Trump?

Written By: - Date published: 7:58 am, January 1st, 2018 - 181 comments

The New York Times has broken a astory suggesting that Australian Ambassador to the UK Alexander Downer informed the FBI that the Trump camp knew about the Russian hacking of Hillary Clinton’s emails four months before the 2016 Presidential election.

The Failed Estate: Us and Them

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, December 31st, 2017 - 20 comments

In Australia the Murdoch press has chosen the Christmas down period to try and whip up some anti beneficiary hysteria.  Jim Parker from the blog Failed Estate calmly dissects the figures and concludes there is no reason for concern.

Why Malcolm Turnbull is nearly right

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, December 12th, 2017 - 27 comments

Malcolm Turnbull is proposing law changes in Australia to try and minimise the effect that China is having on Australia’s democratic system. He may not be wrong in doing so.

Australian Parliament votes to accept New Zealand’s Manus Island offer

Written By: - Date published: 7:22 am, December 5th, 2017 - 30 comments

The Australian Parliament voted yesterday, against the Government’s wishes, to accept New Zealand’s offer to take refugees from Manus Island.  At least for a short time.

Friggit!

Written By: - Date published: 8:01 pm, November 23rd, 2017 - 155 comments

Frigate. Send one. Now.

Queensland State Election and Coal

Written By: - Date published: 10:22 am, November 22nd, 2017 - 9 comments

The Queensland election is turning into one of those rare and weird ones in which a large-scale environment-versus-economy fight looms largest.

National on the Manus Island crisis

Written By: - Date published: 8:14 am, November 22nd, 2017 - 82 comments

Gerry Brownlee has surfaced on Radio New Zealand to criticise Labour’s handling of the Manus Island refugee issue. But he seems to have forgotten that the proposal offered by Labour is the proposal originally offered by National.

Ardern’s Manus Island offer

Written By: - Date published: 7:36 am, November 18th, 2017 - 298 comments

The Australian Government has this week been attempting to undermine Jacinda Ardern’s humanitarian request that the refugees on Nauru Island should be treated humanely.

Tampa, Ardern and positioning small countries

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, November 16th, 2017 - 41 comments

There are major similarities between Helen Clark’s decision to accept into New Zealand refugees from the Tampa boat and Jacinda Ardern’s pushing for New Zealand to accept refugees based on Manus Island.

The Yellow Peril?

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 pm, November 15th, 2017 - 338 comments

What’s with the academic panic epidemic about China? Two in our media in the same week, referencing each other with vague warnings about the Chinese bogey. It’s not quite Lionel Terry in Haining Street again; more likely in my view a case of singing to someones else’s geopolitical tune. No prizes for guessing whose.

 

Australia supports same sex marriage

Written By: - Date published: 12:18 pm, November 15th, 2017 - 21 comments

Australian electors have voted overwhelmingly in favour of allowing same sex marriages.

Ardern has words for Trump and Turnbull

Written By: - Date published: 8:16 am, November 13th, 2017 - 67 comments

Jacinda Ardern has publicly criticised Donald Trump for idiot treating and Malcolm Turnbull for unacceptable handling of the Manus crisis.