election 2008

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Power to attack Nats’ new prison policy?

Written By: - Date published: 2:55 pm, October 7th, 2008 - 30 comments

If he stands true to his principles, National justice spokesman Simon Power will soon be criticising the cost of their proposed new prison. You’ll note in this story that National proposes to build a prison (for their new reactionary justice policy) at a cost of $314 million. That is $548,951 per bed. Or not far […]

Changing the subject

Written By: - Date published: 2:05 pm, October 7th, 2008 - 15 comments

Former National advisor Richard Long has let the cat out of the bag. The day before National’s much-hyped, cure-all tax cut package is to be announced, he is desperately trying to change the subject. National has nothing but tax cuts to offer, it has been their one consistent answer for every problem but, now, tax cuts are […]

Will Labour back $15 minimum wage?

Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, October 7th, 2008 - 45 comments

The unions want the minimum wage lifted to $15 an hour, two thirds of the average hourly rate, restoring the historic ratio. The Greens, New Zealand First, The Progressives (I think), the Maori Party* and, oddly, the Kiwi Party are also calling for $15 an hour. Will Labour join them? Labour has an excellent record on the […]

The rainy day cometh

Written By: - Date published: 3:50 pm, October 6th, 2008 - 117 comments

The Pre-election Fiscal Update projects that gross debt will rise from 17.4% today to 24.3% of GDP in five years. Fortunately, we are facing these tough economic times starting from a solid position due the the Government’s policy of running surpluses and paying down debt, rather than slashing taxes. 24.3% debt is right at the […]

Spin-busting: Govt could have used surpluses for tax cuts

Written By: - Date published: 2:37 pm, October 6th, 2008 - 28 comments

With the economic situation deteriorating the surpluses the Government has run for the first eight years have turned to a deficit. National’s line now is that the Government ‘suquendered’ these surpluses when it could have been cutting taxes. As if when the Government runs a surplus it takes the extra money out and burns it. […]

Party like it’s 1946

Written By: - Date published: 1:24 pm, October 6th, 2008 - 27 comments

Reverting to type

Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, October 6th, 2008 - 48 comments

Fearing a PR disaster over their tax-cut package announcement later this week, National has reverted to type, shedding the moderate facade and proposing a good old fashioned ‘get tough’ crime policy. National would abolish parole for people convicted of murder who have previously been convicted of a serious violent crime. In the last six years, […]

Previewing the Prefu

Written By: - Date published: 12:49 pm, October 5th, 2008 - 9 comments

Tomorrow the government’s books will be opened up. It is not expected to be a pretty picture. Oil prices and the credit crunch have forced the economy into recession. The debt to GDP ratio will be higher than was modelled in the Budget for three reasons (at this point, I just want to remind our excitable righties that […]

Fighting the moral fight

Written By: - Date published: 11:16 am, October 5th, 2008 - 34 comments

There are two core strains to left-wing thought. Both of them can be seen as rooted in the evolution of the scientific method during the 18th and 19th centuries, although the essential ideas, of course, existed long before. The first is liberalism. Liberalism holds that we must always keep an element of self-doubt and criticism […]

CTU on closing the wage gap

Written By: - Date published: 4:20 pm, October 3rd, 2008 - 4 comments

The Council of Trade Unions has done a lot of work on why wages are low for many workers in New Zealand and how they can be increased to close the wage gap with Australia. They offer six proposals: Increase the minimum wage to at least $15 per/hour We know from the painful experience of […]

Trivialising the electoral process

Written By: - Date published: 3:48 pm, October 3rd, 2008 - 29 comments

I don’t have a lot of time for Winston Peters’ politics or his dodgy electoral practices, but sometimes the man just hits the nail on the head: Rt Hon Winston Peters has accused a number of media outlets of trivialising general election coverage to the point of mindless banality. This follows a request from a […]

Video: Why vote? Watch this

Written By: - Date published: 3:15 pm, October 3rd, 2008 - 3 comments

We’ve seen the work of Declare Yourself before. Their message is aimed at voters in the US but the call to engage and get involved resonates just as strongly for us here. This time some big names are promoting the message to get involved including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Aniston and Ellen DeGeneres (others whose faces […]

Wage gap decreasing thanks to pro-worker policies

Written By: - Date published: 12:05 pm, October 3rd, 2008 - 36 comments

  As The Standard first reported on April 1 and Radio New Zealand picked up today, Treasury figures show that the wage gap between Australia and New Zealand increased 50% under National in the 1990s and has decreased moderately under Labour since then. Now, a lot of our readers simply won’t want to believe that […]

Good on youse

Written By: - Date published: 10:38 am, October 3rd, 2008 - 49 comments

Yesterday, I printed and cut 6500 A6 leaflets from the designs on the Campaign Hub and took them along to Drinking Liberally. They were all gone in minutes. The Right wins and keeps power by dis-empowering and disenfranchising, by taking away our voice. So, it was great to see so many people take it on themselves […]

Rhetoric vs reality

Written By: - Date published: 1:55 pm, October 2nd, 2008 - 25 comments

With expectations about National’s tax cuts justifably very high (thanks to National talking them up for nine years), National is suddenly trying to change course. John Key, who has promoted tax cuts as the solution to doctors’ strikes, the wage gap, and petrol prices along with every other issue facing this country, is now saying […]

Here’s an idea, ask the expert

Written By: - Date published: 12:29 am, October 2nd, 2008 - 33 comments

Don’t take it from me. Certainly don’t take it from a National hack, who despite being a professional statistician, is too dishonest to even adjust his stats for population growth. No, listen to the Assistant Police Commissioner explain (in a measured and charmingly earnest tone) the details and meaning of the latest crime stats here.

Great expectations

Written By: - Date published: 1:54 pm, October 1st, 2008 - 25 comments

John Key is being pretty evasive on his tax cut plan. He won’t say whether the famous ‘$50 a week for the average worker’ (note that’s not every worker, your income has to be $47K plus) is additional to Labour’s cuts, the first round of which came into effect today. Given the evasiveness, it’s safe to […]

Nats’ ‘NZ sucks’ campaign vs the facts

Written By: - Date published: 1:45 am, October 1st, 2008 - 69 comments

08wire produces some of the most well-thought out and best argued pieces on the blogosphere, as well as great videos. Well, I know what to do when I see gold  – thief it. From 08wires’ post, here’s a table of arguments that comprise National’s ‘New Zealand sucks’ campaign and how they stack up against the facts: (sources) I […]

Between the lines: Nats’ RMA free-for-all

Written By: - Date published: 4:55 pm, September 30th, 2008 - 24 comments

The RMA is a quick and cheap process in the vast majority of cases, and it is regarded as a world-leading piece of legislation. Few consent applications are refused or appealed. Reforms of the RMA over the years have made it more efficient. The studies show that the delays that do happen in consents being […]

When did lying become OK?

Written By: - Date published: 2:40 pm, September 30th, 2008 - 43 comments

On Breakfast this morning, failed National party candidate Paul Henry and Guyon Espiner discussed the possibility of the Maori Party and National working together in a government. Henry: Do you get the feeling National would do anything for power, they would cut almost any deal at all with the Maori Party to get in? Espiner: […]

The Kingmaker but only one potential King

Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, September 30th, 2008 - 51 comments

Let’s get serious about the idea of the Maori Party working with National. Yes, they want to play up the possibility to enhance their bargaining position, just as the Greens were last month, but it’s not going to happen. National and the Maori Party voted together in only a third of votes in the last […]

More posters and leaflets on the Hub

Written By: - Date published: 4:15 pm, September 29th, 2008 - 10 comments

We’ve got a range new posters and leaflets up on the Campaign Hub and we’re keen to see more. Some people are printing off two different designs and making doubled-sided leaflets, which is a really good way to get two messages distributed in one go. Best to only do that with designs authorised by the same […]

Still nothing personal

Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, September 29th, 2008 - 15 comments

National desperately wants to portray any criticism of John Key as a personal attack. Don’t be taken in. Look, PM is a powerful job. We need to have a thorough examination of anyone contesting for that role. As I’ve always said there are three legitimate questions that need to be answered what are their policies? […]

Attack on democracy

Written By: - Date published: 5:02 pm, September 28th, 2008 - 53 comments

National have quietly released their policy on electoral law and have promised to abolish the Maori seats once treaty claims are finished, repeal the Electoral Finance Act and run a referendum on MMP. These all represent substantial changes to the way our democracy operates. I’ll be very interested to see what the Maori Party make […]

Expect the unexpected

Written By: - Date published: 2:36 pm, September 28th, 2008 - 44 comments

I’m probably going to be at odds with my fellow Standardistas in this but I support having debates featuring just Clark and Key. One of these two people will lead the country after the election and we deserve to see to them in a forum where they go head to head against each other, rather […]

Nats desperate to silence grassroots activists

Written By: - Date published: 1:53 pm, September 28th, 2008 - 33 comments

An email from a reader: “A friend and I were putting up some Vote with Both Eyes Open posters on Lambton Quay the other night. We had just put some up around the intersection by Parliament and crossed the road when a senior National advisor came up to us with one of our recently pasted banners […]

Why National won’t win

Written By: - Date published: 6:43 am, September 25th, 2008 - 138 comments

National has four fatal problems that will prevent it from winning the election. Or, rather, it has two problems, both with two parts. – A large majority of New Zealanders don’t like the policies National wants to implement – they reject privatisation and cutting government spending. – People were sucked in by the shallow, vague […]

Diversion tactics

Written By: - Date published: 1:28 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 87 comments

Key’s three defences on the share scandal are ‘no-one asked how many shares I had’, ‘it didn’t matter how many shares I had’, and ‘Labour is spending all their time researching me’. It’s classic distraction stuff. Let’s break it down. ‘No-one asked me how many shares I had’ – Yes, Fran Mold did on Monday […]

Credit where it’s due

Written By: - Date published: 12:13 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 28 comments

I’m usually no fan of Paul Henry as an interviewer but I’m prepared to give credit where it’s due. He certainly didn’t let John Key off the hook this morning on Breakfast. Was tempted to edit it down a bit but it’s worth watching the full thing. HENRY: “Well it’s not going well is it? […]

Both Eyes Open shows activism alive and well

Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, September 24th, 2008 - 36 comments

The Vote with Both Eyes Open posters had a star turn yesterday when Annette King presented them as evidence that activism is alive and well in New Zealand despite attacks from National that the Electoral Finance Act is scaring people off. Bill English didn’t look at all comfortable as King read from the poster about […]

PSA launches campaign

Written By: - Date published: 1:53 pm, September 23rd, 2008 - 33 comments

The PSA’s campaign looks to get past National’s simplistic ‘tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts’ mantra and ask voters to consider what they would have to give up to get larger tax cuts. (full size) Great stuff. Hopefully, they won’t be limiting this campaign to internet and magazine ads. Every kiwi family should get this […]