election 2008

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Here be dragons

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 pm, October 25th, 2008 - 20 comments

So, we can all make up dumb pictures and say ‘beware of many-headed monsters’. Let’s, instead, ask if National’s attack makes sense. First, any new government is going to need support from a number of parties. A Labour-led government is likely to be dependent on Labour, the Progressives, Greens, and the Maori Party (four parties). […]

Fact checkin’ – five-headed monsters

Written By: - Date published: 3:48 pm, October 24th, 2008 - 114 comments

The New Zealand Herald is, as usual, uncritically repeating John Key’s latest lines on the front page of its website. This time Key’s scaremongering that a Labour-led government would be a “five-headed monster”. Much better to go with a simple, straight-forward National government, says Key. It’s a pity we don’t have the resources for basic […]

The Standard line: Kiwisaver

Written By: - Date published: 11:37 am, October 24th, 2008 - 26 comments

So, you’re talking with someone about politics and they say something really dumb and wrong and you know it’s wrong but you don’t have the arguments and facts at your fingertips to make a decisive point. That’s where our election series, The Standard line, comes in. The info you need in bite-size form. Today: Kiwisaver Points […]

The Standard line: Photoshop

Written By: - Date published: 10:03 am, October 24th, 2008 - 132 comments

So, you’re talking with someone about politics and they say something really dumb and wrong and you know it’s wrong but you don’t have the arguments and facts at your fingertips to make a decisive point. That’s where our election series, The Standard line, comes in. The info you need in bite-size form. Today: photoshop Points: […]

Caught in the ACT

Written By: - Date published: 7:43 am, October 24th, 2008 - 48 comments

The Dom Post reports that ACT will have to file amended returns after failing to declare $20,000 of donated office space. Luckily for ACT nobody found out until they got past the time-limit for prosecution. Rodney Hide is, of course, not embarrassed. I’m reminded of that proverb about glass-houses.

Don’t dream, it’s over

Written By: - Date published: 3:58 pm, October 23rd, 2008 - 76 comments

I’ve always regarded the possibility of a National-Maori Party governing arrangement as absurd, even grotesque. The interests of the Maori people, who are predominantly working-class, are clearly best represented by the Left. Under National in the 1990s, Maori unemployment reached 25% and incomes plummeted. Today it is 7.7%, and Maori incomes are rising as fast […]

A missing NZ Herald poll?

Written By: - Date published: 1:54 pm, October 23rd, 2008 - 23 comments

Now I’m not one to gossip (well, not too much) but in the last few days I’ve heard from several people that the NZ Herald has held back an opinion poll. Why might they do this? Well perhaps it’s related to NZ First apparently polling over 5%. That could really set the cat amongst the […]

Ramshackle PR fiasco

Written By: - Date published: 1:35 pm, October 23rd, 2008 - 27 comments

It seems DPF, Cameron Slater and John Ansell have pooled their collective genius and come up with a new campaign. Apparently they had some money left over from their earlier ramshackle PR fiasco so they’re putting up more anti-Labour billboards as the Free Speech Coalition: I have some advice for them: 1. Pick an issue […]

Debtmonster

Written By: - Date published: 11:06 am, October 23rd, 2008 - 30 comments

UPDATE: The Pink Batts original is youtubed here.

Wait, what’s the RSE?

Written By: - Date published: 3:46 pm, October 22nd, 2008 - 38 comments

OK, we’ve reported on, given historical context to, and mocked Lockwood Smith’s racist comments about seasonal migrant workers. Now, to the substance of what Smith as saying, ie that fewer permits issued under the Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme (RSE) should be allocated to people from the Pacific Islands (because, he says, other people are smaller […]

Clark winning in the style stakes

Written By: - Date published: 2:31 pm, October 22nd, 2008 - 34 comments

And now for something fluffy. That’s right, the fashion stakes count in the election as well. According to one stylist National leader John Key needs to update his style. Stephanie Rumble, a top New Zealand stylist says: “he hasn’t changed his appearance much since the election campaign started, but that Key’s look is very smart, […]

Scratch a Tory…

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, October 22nd, 2008 - 40 comments

…and you still reveal a bigot, it seems. Here is National’s Immigration spokesperson, Lockwood Smith, (he who likes to swallow dead fish) on taking more Asian seasonal worker migrants instead of Polynesians: “There are some skills in the vineyard that some people are perhaps better at, for example some of the pruning … some of […]

Vote smart: Epsom

Written By: - Date published: 1:40 pm, October 21st, 2008 - 58 comments

I’ve come in for a bit of flak for this ‘Vote Smart‘ series of posts on how people can make the most of their vote but I don’t resile from it. It seems to me the criticism is based on a quaint notion that there is an optimal party and candidate for everyone and they […]

Highly principled statements

Written By: - Date published: 12:29 pm, October 21st, 2008 - 16 comments

Yesterday, Bill ‘do whatever it takes to win’ English was out trying to assuage Kiwis fears of National’s secret agenda (which his recorded remarks helped ignite). He praised Labour’s achievements but said it was time for more positive leadership. In other words, ‘don’t worry, we’re just like Labour but John smiles a lot, oh and […]

John vs John

Written By: - Date published: 11:20 am, October 21st, 2008 - 53 comments

Labour’s new television ad is up on Youtube and I’m pleased to see it’s actually pretty bloody good. They’ve managed to draw attention to one of John’s many flipflops, this one on Kiwisaver, in a way that uses humour and sticks to the facts and thereby avoids the nastiness often associated with negative campaigning. It’s […]

It’s your choice

Written By: - Date published: 1:35 pm, October 20th, 2008 - 109 comments

Now that both Labour and National have all their major spending promises out, we can compare the options. Remember, whatever happens one of these two parties will lead the next government, so these are the basic choices we face: Labour: -Keep existing policies including important polices growing next term: -retaining Kiwibank -retaining Kiwisaver -tax cuts […]

Sensible Sentencing Trust in drag?

Written By: - Date published: 7:44 pm, October 19th, 2008 - 29 comments

Act have run an anti-crime protest outside of Mt Eden today and it was particularly theatrical by the sound of it with lots of coffin lids and whatnot. ACT have never done anything like this before. But the Sensible Sentencing Trust certainly has. I’ve asked before why the trust has refused to register as a […]

Spending ends

Written By: - Date published: 5:08 pm, October 19th, 2008 - 18 comments

At the Labour party’s Wellington launch this afternoon Helen Clark has declared there will be no more spending promises from Labour. This was unexpected and will mean that the focus will now be on National and whether they will follow suit. If they decide to release more spending policy in this environment they can expect […]

Guest post: The clever dealer?

Written By: - Date published: 5:58 am, October 18th, 2008 - 48 comments

Many people laud John Key’s experience in the business world, and say that the smiling assassin’s ability to play hard-ball when required means he will be an excellent prime minister. So why, during talks with the Maori Party, did Key drop a National ‘bottom line’ that would be a strong card to play? As evidenced […]

Not a game

Written By: - Date published: 3:56 pm, October 17th, 2008 - 46 comments

National has a press release out blaming Labour for a supposed increase in assaults on police. Now, there are more people and more police than ever before, so all things being equal there will be more assaults, but it would be a concern if the rate of assaults had increased. In fact, the rate on […]

Vote smart: Progressives and Wigram

Written By: - Date published: 11:25 am, October 17th, 2008 - 52 comments

Vote smart is a series of posts on tactical voting for people who support certain parties or live in certain electorates to help you maximise your vote. Today, the Progressives and Wigram: Since the last election, the Progressives have failed to register in half the Roy Morgan polls and never broken 1%. For a party […]

Tranzrail eyes

Written By: - Date published: 10:15 am, October 17th, 2008 - 23 comments

It’s possible to win a battle but, in doing so, lose the war. Like most commentators, I thought Key came off best from the debate on Tuesday. It was a good format for him to parrot his lines, all he had to do is deliver them well. As he said himself, 2 years of training […]

What exactly did Mr Key say?

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, October 17th, 2008 - 50 comments

We see this morning that: John Key concedes he has privately indicated to the Maori Party that National’s policy to abolish the Maori seats would not stand in the way of doing a deal with the party post-election. What did Mr Key say in that debate again? Shane Taurima: ” Pita Sharples said that you told him […]

Telling lies

Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, October 16th, 2008 - 9 comments

With the wit we’ve come to expect, 08wire has Key up on his many lies during the Tuesday debate. To my surprise, TV One didn’t bother doing fact checking even during their tedious hour-long run-down after the debate, whereas we were fact checking live on The Standard. I wish TV One would be our CNN […]

Key vs Sharples, who do you believe?

Written By: - Date published: 10:18 am, October 16th, 2008 - 71 comments

On September 28, Key released National’s policy on the Maori seats. It is unequivocal (if light on the details): “At the conclusion of the settlement of historic Treaty claims, National will begin a constitutional process to abolish the Maori seats. National wishes to see all New Zealanders on the same electoral roll.” Pretty clear. The […]

Make-work don’t work

Written By: - Date published: 2:15 pm, October 15th, 2008 - 24 comments

The Maori Party wants the dole abolished to be replaced by work schemes. It’s a bad idea but it’s not too far from being a good one. Make work schemes are bad in several ways. They distort the market for low-skill work. The State with an army of cheap, semi-involuntary labour ends up undercutting the […]

Wouldn’t you be embarrassed if…..?

Written By: - Date published: 1:28 pm, October 15th, 2008 - 40 comments

I have to declare – yes, I am an urban liberal. So I would be embarrassed if a member of my family said this: The National Party’s candidate for New Plymouth (Jonathan Young) says homosexuality is a choice and strongly objects to it being seen as a “normal alternative“: Jonathan Young’s views, printed in the […]

A matter of trust

Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, October 15th, 2008 - 42 comments

The Youtube debate was a bit of a let down to me because TV1 chose to play the least penetrating questions, allowing the leaders to pretty much stick to their stock answers. The only question that really broke through the pre-prepared stuff was Shane Taurima’s query about whether it is true that, as Pita Sharples […]

Nat vs Nat on National policy

Written By: - Date published: 10:50 am, October 15th, 2008 - 22 comments

National wants to introduce a 90 Day no work rights period for new employees. Now, in the face of very strong opposition to the policy, they have been forced to scale it back to only workplaces where there are 20 or fewer employees. But big questions still remain – not least of all whether teachers […]

Lying to win

Written By: - Date published: 9:02 pm, October 14th, 2008 - 65 comments

A narrow victory for Key in tonight’s TV1/Youtube debate. A forum where he could repeat his tired slogans to his heart’s content suited him. No-one could pull him up on his lies, except Clark who, inexplicably, failed to do so. And when Clark spoke, Key just yelled his lines over the top of her. That […]

Fact checkin’

Written By: - Date published: 7:20 pm, October 14th, 2008 - 71 comments

Live fact-checking of the debate. Key: The unions supported National’s position on Kiwisaver. Lie: The unions do not support National’s plan and never have. “We have supported 2+2 arrangements as a starting point but under the current scheme, this attracts the full value of member tax credits and employer tax credits. Under the National Party proposal […]