election 2008
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Roy Morgan shows Left ahead
Written By: - Date published: 5:14 pm, September 4th, 2008 - 89 comments
John Key’s impatience to get the election over and done with makes a lot more sense in light of today’s Roy Morgan poll. The poll has Labour up 4 to 38%, the Greens up to 8% and National down 3.5 to 44.5% – well out of their comfort zone given their lack of viable coalition […]
Why didn’t NZF use Nats’ donations playbook?
Written By: - Date published: 2:22 pm, September 4th, 2008 - 56 comments
This business with donations from the Spencer Trust going to New Zealand First but not being declared. I find it hard to credit that this was an accident. It seems beyond belief that no-one in the party would have seen the donation declaration at some point and said ‘hey, what about that $50K from the […]
Video: Nats wave goodbye to blue sky
Written By: - Date published: 2:01 pm, September 4th, 2008 - 14 comments
Newly up from 08wire There’s something very powerful about that music and image combination….
ACC privatisation costs National support?
Written By: - Date published: 12:27 pm, September 4th, 2008 - 18 comments
A reader just sent us this poll from NZ Doctor magazine (offline): If there was a snap election tomorrow, 38 per cent of GPs would vote National and 36 per cent for Labour, the latest New Zealand Doctor / IMS Health Fax poll shows. Labour’s comeback might be attributed to National’s ACC stance. The poll […]
Why the rush?
Written By: - Date published: 10:54 am, September 4th, 2008 - 51 comments
We are, at a legal maximum, 72 days away from the election. The tradition is that the date is announced at least six weeks before election date (that’s the timeframe the Electoral Office needs). So, we would expect to have the election date announced by the start of October, no more than four weeks from now. […]
Key, leadership, and the audacity of hope
Written By: - Date published: 3:31 pm, September 3rd, 2008 - 24 comments
Perhaps Mr Key is feeling a little regretful about comparing himself to Barack Obama. Certainly the chutzpah inherent in such a comparison has been noted – including these comments in the ODT today from Simon Cunliffe: “it’s quite natural that a political leader such as the “young, smart and rich” John Key might think about […]
Beyond parody
Written By: - Date published: 1:15 pm, September 3rd, 2008 - 57 comments
National’s new billboard. It’s like when your Dad tries to rap.
Are you positive?
Written By: - Date published: 12:43 pm, September 3rd, 2008 - 5 comments
Talking about the Nat billboard campaign on Wammo’s show this morning, Key said it was going to positive and on message*. Umm, when’s the positive bit coming? Because ‘wave goodbye to higher taxes, not your loved ones’ is not a positive message. It’s negatively framed and intentionally so. If the Nats wanted to be positive […]
It just gets worse
Written By: - Date published: 11:06 am, September 3rd, 2008 - 35 comments
Just when you thought National’s billboard campaign couldn’t possibly get any weaker, reports emerge that their next one will say: “Get youth into training, not into trouble” Honestly guys, just cut your losses and start again. [UPDATE: Apparently the first of this run is going up in Vivian Street today.]
Dissection
Written By: - Date published: 1:13 pm, September 2nd, 2008 - 19 comments
OK, so there are limitless ways to mock the Nat’s ‘WW2 bombers flying to Chile’ billboard (send us yours to add to these ones) but I want to quickly examine it seriously as a piece of political argument. First, the premises: a) our taxes are high: No, they’re not. Tax as a percentage of GDP […]
Break open the trusts
Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, September 2nd, 2008 - 25 comments
As we’ve discussed earlier, it would be highly surprising if the investigations into NZF’s finances find any serious illegality. At worst, a failure to declare donations might be found, an offence for which charges cannot be laid more than 6 months after an alleged offence. Now, TV3 was shown accounts by the Spencer Trust which show that […]
Weak
Written By: - Date published: 3:35 pm, September 1st, 2008 - 101 comments
Perhaps I’ve overestimated the National Party’s PR machine. I mean I’ve seen them run their C/T strategy pretty well and, as much as I hate to admit it, Ansell’s billboards were pretty bloody good last time. But then I opened the PDF with their latest billboard on it. It’s busy, the message is confusing, and […]
New York Times praises NZ on nukes
Written By: - Date published: 2:31 pm, September 1st, 2008 - 6 comments
‘Let’s hear it for New Zealand’ exclaims the New York Times editorial. Why? Because New Zealand is leading a group of countries that opposes a Bush Administration plan to supply nuclear technology to India. Supply of nuclear technology to India is banned because it used its civilian nuclear programme to develop an atomic bomb, contrary […]
Causes and effects
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, August 30th, 2008 - 47 comments
A series of graphs from the Social Report. First off, the unemployment rate When the unemployment goes up or down, the practical effect is a decrease or increase in household incomes as the country got poorer under National, unemployment rose, incomes fell, and and the poverty rate rose, compounded by National’s cut benefits and its choice […]
Peters stands down
Written By: - Date published: 5:49 pm, August 29th, 2008 - 145 comments
Peters has stood down. Clark has taken over his portfolios. It’s good that Peters appears to have accepted that this is a necessity and hasn’t turned on the Government. Clever of Clark to take the portfolios herself too. [we nearly had the scoop on this too but it took too long for me to get […]
Nats, Farrar fail again in attempt to muzzle Kiwis
Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, August 29th, 2008 - 26 comments
For the third time, National’s attempt to get a legal decision to block the EPMU and its sister unions from participating in the election campaign as registered third parties as failed. So pathetic were National’s arguments that they lost their last case even though the EMPU submitted no arguments of its own to the Court. […]
Clark cuts the thread
Written By: - Date published: 1:43 pm, August 28th, 2008 - 192 comments
Winston Peters’ stories around the Owen Glenn donation to his legal fund are dangerously convoluted and have stretched everyone’s credulity but without real evidence either way it has been impossible to fairly condemn him. Glenn’s letter yesterday provided strong evidence and left Peters ‘hanging by a thread’, as every hack in the country wrote. Now, Helen Clark […]
Social Report shows Kiwis better off
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, August 28th, 2008 - 31 comments
MSD released its Social Report today, an annual publication that collates a wide variety of standard of living measures, and produces this awesome graph. The circle represents the status quo in 1995-97 each spoke represents a different measure (income, crimes per capita etc). If the spoke is longer than the circle than the measure has improved between 1995-97 […]
Herald poll shows Nats’ lead collapsing
Written By: - Date published: 10:50 am, August 28th, 2008 - 36 comments
Today’s Herald-Digi poll is the first to be released that was taken after the secret agenda tape scandal had fully emerged and had some time to sit in voters’ minds. Which makes it worrying reading for National. They have lost 5.4% support (54.4% to 50%) and Labour has benefited from that loss picking up 5.5% (30.8% […]
The more things change…
Written By: - Date published: 6:18 am, August 28th, 2008 - 18 comments
70 years ago (more or less) and The Standard was correctly predicting a Labour victory as the ‘Nationalists’ ramped up a hollow election campaign. In true Standard-style, there’s even some stats. Click on the image for the full article.
Whom to believe? (2)
Written By: - Date published: 12:26 pm, August 27th, 2008 - 63 comments
Owen Glenn’s letter to the Privileges Committee contradicts Winston Peters’ previous statements to the media, the Privileges Committee, and, presumably, the PM. Glenn says that Peters did personally approach him for a donation, contrary to what Peters has said. It’s important to remember that there’s nothing illegal or even unusual about what Glenn claims Peters did. […]
Greens win better ETS
Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, August 27th, 2008 - 21 comments
The Greens have won some very good improvements to the ETS in exchange for their support. The most important is $1 billion over 15 years to insulate low-income homes and subsidise upgrades to insulation of higher income homes. That’s a really positive development; all New Zealand homes will finally have decent insulation (Labour has done well […]
Kiwis waking up to Nats’ secret agenda
Written By: - Date published: 10:29 am, August 26th, 2008 - 96 comments
According to the TV3 poll last night, 46% of voters believe National has a secret agenda. And why wouldn’t they? We’ve had Bill English talking about a secret agenda to ‘sort out’ Working for Families and sell Kiwibank while being recorded, on the same recordings, we’ve had Lockwood Smith talking about the need to adopt popular […]
Adapting to the end of cheap oil
Written By: - Date published: 11:01 pm, August 24th, 2008 - 30 comments
On August 1, Transit NZ and Land Transport NZ were merged into the NZ Transport Authority. The new organisation’s first major publication shows a welcome shift in thinking and an acknowledgment that the age of cheap oil is over. Managing Transport Challenges When Oil Prices Rise contains a model built on the consensus of a number of international […]
TV3: Labour clawing back National’s lead in latest poll
Written By: - Date published: 6:50 pm, August 24th, 2008 - 31 comments
According to TV3 “Labour is on the move. The latest 3 News poll shows that less than three months out from the election, their support is heading upwards. And once you add the Greens and the Maori Party into the mix, a Labour-led coalition is not out of the running just yet.” Why will this […]
Open democracy?
Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, August 24th, 2008 - 20 comments
According to the Sunday Star Times the Sensible Sentencing Trust and Family First have decided to refuse to comply with the Electoral Finance Act. While the Sensible Sentencing Trust is outrightly claiming they are going to use their breach of the Act as a publicity stunt, Family First are absurdly claiming they can’t register as […]
Greens call for public input on ETS
Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, August 22nd, 2008 - 22 comments
One thing you can always say for the Greens, they’re democratic to their core. Currently, they find themselves facing a tough choice – whether or not to support Labour’s Emissions Trading Scheme – and, true to their democratic principles, they’re asking for advice from the public on their decision. Jeanette Fitzsimmons outlines the following pros […]
Mythbusting: Half of new generation is thermal
Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, August 22nd, 2008 - 16 comments
Reading National’s energy policy last week I was surprised to learn that of 1942MW of new generation that has come online since 2000 1073MW of that has been thermal*. Sure enough, John Key is going around using that as a ground for National’s policy of building more gas power plants and giving up on the […]
Kiwis don’t trust Nats
Written By: - Date published: 6:13 am, August 20th, 2008 - 38 comments
According to the Colmar/Brunton poll, 50% of Kiwis don’t believe National is being open about its plans vs 37% who believe the Nats are being upfront (presumably, the other 13% offered no opinion). That’s got to be worrying for National. As I’ve said time and again, the three grounds that politicians are ultimately judged on […]
Key and McCain: underdogs rising
Written By: - Date published: 2:48 pm, August 19th, 2008 - 6 comments
The US presidential race in the States took a new direction with the McCain and Obama both appearing at a Forum on faith, held over the weekend, moderatorated by pastor and author Rick Warren. Commentators and opinion leaders are now disecting the event, offering their views. For example in the Washington Post Michael Gerson wrote: It is now […]
Reviewing the weekend polls
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, August 18th, 2008 - 37 comments
As I said last week, the polls that came out this weekend can not reflect any impact of the secret agenda tapes. The Roy Morgan poll was 50% over before the first tape even came out, and remember it was not until mid-week that the story was really big. Similarly, the Fairfax poll was mostly […]
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Final preparations are being made as tens of thousands of people in te Hīkoi mō te Tiriti convoys converge in the capital. ...6 days ago - My Brilliant Career: musical based on Miles Franklin’s novel takes us on a sassy, spirited journey...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Hunter, Senior Lecturer in Art and Performance, Deakin University Pia Johnson Melbourne Theatre Company’s My Brilliant Career is a musical re-imagining of Miles Franklin’s classic 1901 novel of the same name. It follows a young woman, Sybylla Melvyn, as she ...6 days ago - Stinky feet, angry mermaids and a toilet ghost: Round The Twist musical captures the magic and madne...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Schirmer, ROLE at Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University Lyndon Mechielsen It’s a universally acknowledged truth that a geriatric millennial in possession of a Scholastic book club catalogue and a television must have been a fan of Paul Jennings back in the ...6 days ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Nethery, Senior Lecturer in Politics and Policy Studies, Deakin University After nearly a year without basic income and support services, 42 refugees and asylum seekers remaining in Papua New Guinea will soon begin receiving a meagre allowance of 900 kina (A$338) ...6 days ago
- David Seymour criticises Maipi-Clarke’s haka on eve of Treaty hīkoi’s arrival at Parlia...
The ACT leader and Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have spoken to reporters as a hīkoi against his controversial Treaty Principles Bill converges on Wellington. ...6 days ago
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- New to streaming: What to watch on Netflix NZ, Neon and more this week
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- We need a minister for big tech, and we need one now
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- Treaties, truth and equality: how NZ, Australia and Canada are all struggling with colonial politics
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic O’Sullivan, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University The hīkoi (march) to protest NZ’s Treaty Principles Bill crosses Auckland Harbour Bridge, November 13. Getty Images With the ACT ...6 days ago
- The haka that circled the globe
A polarising haka has chalked up some gobsmacking numbers around the world, and it even pursued the NZ prime minister to Peru, writes Toby Manhire in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Half a billion views and counting On Thursday afternoon ...6 days ago
- The mistakes, inaccuracies and unchecked claims that led to Oranga Tamariki permanently uplifting a ...
Anna's granddaughter was taken from her by social workers in a matter of minutes. It took years for Oranga Tamariki to admit it should never have happened. ...6 days ago
- NZ to sign $4m climate reparations deal with Vanuatu
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The Treaty Principles Bill has been handed over to the Justice Select Committee. It’s now up to them to shepherd it through a six-month debate. The post Committee draws short straw to work on Treaty Principles Bill appeared first on Newsroom. ...6 days ago
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New Zealanders have lost nearly $200m in the last year to scammers, it has been revealed. ...6 days ago
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There will be extra buses and train carriages to ease congestion, but it will still be "super busy". ...6 days ago
- Non-Māori lend their voices of support to the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti
Pākehā and tauiwi "need to make our stand clear about Te Tiriti", supporters say. ...6 days ago
- Ka tuku te rākau: Handing over the baton of protest to a new generation
As tens of thousands show their support for the hīkoi to parliament, the organisers are busy behind the scenes ensuring things run smoothly. For many, this is their first time leading a kaupapa of this scale – and it hasn’t all been easy. On August 31, an extraordinary hui was ...6 days ago
- Banks are grappling with a scam ‘crisis’ while Facebook profits from it
The CEOs of two major New Zealand banks say Facebook is rife with fraud – and that Meta is too busy making money from scam ads to try and stop them. Duncan Greive reports. The story would have been dystopian a few years ago, but is now routine, almost unremarkable. ...6 days ago
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