Social issues

Categories under Social issues

O Winston I love you

Written By: - Date published: 9:25 am, October 18th, 2020 - 50 comments

Some reasons for us to miss Winston’s exit from politics.

Jacinda or Judith?

Written By: - Date published: 7:47 am, October 16th, 2020 - 65 comments

With election day tomorrow those who have not voted already need to decide, do they want Jacinda Ardern or Judith Collins to be the next Prime Minister.

Latest Colmar Brunton – Labour Greens ascendant

Written By: - Date published: 6:08 pm, October 15th, 2020 - 62 comments

Labour is coming off strastopheric polling but the Greens are looking safer.  And National is still on the decline.  

Legalise it! The Socialist case for Cannabis reform

Written By: - Date published: 1:13 pm, October 15th, 2020 - 18 comments

Maria Hoyle of Socialist Aotearoa argues that from a socialist perspective the legalisation of the possession of cannabis should occur.

Backbench National MP proposes radical new tax to address deficit *

Written By: - Date published: 6:23 pm, October 14th, 2020 - 29 comments

* but I am not sure that all of his caucus colleagues would be happy with the proposal.

Latest UMR Poll – National sinking

Written By: - Date published: 7:40 am, October 14th, 2020 - 180 comments

Leaked results of the latest UMR poll suggests that National is under 30% and that Judith Collins campaign techniques are not working.  She responded by calling the Prime Minister a liar and fat shaming the population.

How not to campaign in an MMP environment

Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, October 13th, 2020 - 30 comments

A recent series of advertisements placed by National MPs in Auckland seeking electorate votes and not seeking party votes show that central control of National’s campaign and discipline are completely lacking.

NZ Medical Association drops its opposition to the legalisation of cannabis

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, October 13th, 2020 - 38 comments

“So after staunchly opposing the legalisation of cannabis all year NZ Medical Association chair Kate Baddock has issued a statement and apology, in the middle of voting, saying actually the NZMA has “no position regarding the cannabis referendum”” – TVNZ political journalist Benedict Collins

Labour Increases Protection for Kauri Dieback

Written By: - Date published: 9:18 am, October 10th, 2020 - 10 comments

In an announcement that will probably gain them few extra votes but still warms the cockles, Labour have promised to put Kauri Dieback on the same scale of national disease response as Bovine Tuberculosis and Kiwifruit PSA.

Ngaro goes negative

Written By: - Date published: 8:18 am, October 10th, 2020 - 43 comments

National list MP Alfred Ngaro has shown that National’s message discipline has broken down completely by going negative and making some outlandish claims against Labour’s Phil Twyford.

Is this woman being coerced into unsafe healthcare by the DHB’s handling of covid testing?

Written By: - Date published: 1:21 pm, October 8th, 2020 - 13 comments

Why is the Ministry of Health not stepping in to ensure nationwide standards for covid testing, and ensuring that isolation facilities meet our Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights?

The Trump Covid game

Written By: - Date published: 2:17 pm, October 6th, 2020 - 10 comments

Let’s imagine a scenario where you are the President of the United States and it is in the middle of a pandemic.  You then contract the virus yourself.  How would you rate compared to Donald Trump?

National leaks again

Written By: - Date published: 7:33 am, October 6th, 2020 - 62 comments

A highly critical email about Judith Collins written by National Maungakiekie MP Denise Lee has been leaked and indicates that National’s Auckland policy was made on the hoof and without reference to the person in caucus with actual responsibility for the subject.

Meanwhile, the climate crisis

Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, October 4th, 2020 - 44 comments

A large wildfire has destroyed many homes in the village of Ohau in the Mackenzie Country, and hundreds of people have been evacuated.

Trump’s not so bad: the holding our breath edition

Written By: - Date published: 11:17 am, October 4th, 2020 - 79 comments

An occasional series

Paul Goldsmith should stop digging

Written By: - Date published: 3:05 pm, October 3rd, 2020 - 80 comments

Paul Goldsmith has shown yet again his complete inability to understand how Government finances work by claiming there is a $10 billion dollar hole in Labour’s fiscal plan where there is none.

POTUS, Covid and the New Zealand election

Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, October 3rd, 2020 - 122 comments

News that Donald Trump has tested positive for Covid will have a significant effect on the US election as well as our local election.  It raises the issue who will you trust to lead the country against this most agile yet deadly virus?

The Votesafe campaign

Written By: - Date published: 11:44 am, October 2nd, 2020 - 35 comments

A well funded organisation has emerged from nowhere and is potentially having a significant effect on one of the referendum topics this year.

Leaders’ debate post

Written By: - Date published: 6:59 pm, September 30th, 2020 - 115 comments

Post for discussion of the latest leaders’ debate scheduled for this evening.  Be kind to each other.

Jacinda Ardern and New Zealand Health

Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, September 30th, 2020 - 15 comments

Jacinda Ardern is a contender for winning a Nobel Peace Prize.  If she were to get it for anything, it will be for her leadership response to the national health crisis response to COVID19.

NZ First and the SFO

Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, September 30th, 2020 - 38 comments

Some random musings on the news yesterday that persons associated with NZ First had been charged by the Serious Fraud Office.

What Have Labour Done For The Poor, Exactly?

Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, September 28th, 2020 - 30 comments

There’s been plenty of criticism about Labour’s policies not being effective enough to alleviate poverty. Time for a bit of perspective.

Latest Newshub/Reid Research poll – Labour cruising, National floundering

Written By: - Date published: 6:28 pm, September 27th, 2020 - 137 comments

Labour can still rule alone and the Greens are looking safer.

Vote Labour To Support Your Job

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, September 24th, 2020 - 100 comments

This is a backpocket election – and that’s where most of Labour’s effort is going as it rightly should.

National’s many and varied Covid border policies

Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, September 24th, 2020 - 12 comments

On Tuesday National announced the fifth variation of its Covid border policy this year.

Colmar Brunton poll: Labour still way ahead

Written By: - Date published: 6:04 pm, September 22nd, 2020 - 90 comments

Judith will not enjoy this poll result.

National’s lolly scramble tax cuts

Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, September 19th, 2020 - 55 comments

Despite claiming that the PREFU figures were catastrophic and despite stating a month ago that it would not do this National has come out with a policy of temporary tax cuts favouring the rich.  They must be desperate.

Choosing ‘enough’ rather than ‘more’

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, September 18th, 2020 - 104 comments

A brief look at steady state economics and the values of enough rather than more.

The PREFU is much better than National wanted

Written By: - Date published: 4:33 pm, September 16th, 2020 - 51 comments

The Prefu is out! And it is not as scary as National would have wanted.

What just happened with Israel?

Written By: - Date published: 7:21 am, September 16th, 2020 - 40 comments

Just two months before election day, Donald Trump appears to have won a diplomatic coup in the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have normalised relations with the state of Israel.

Taxpayer’s Union is wasting taxpayers’ money

Written By: - Date published: 9:24 am, September 15th, 2020 - 35 comments

The Taxpayer’s Union, which claims to be opposed to Government waste, is wasting taxpayer’s resources by lodging a spurious complaint with the Broadcasting Standards Authority against Labour’s free apprenticeship policy.