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Of polls and elections

Written By: - Date published: 11:07 am, May 26th, 2014 - 116 comments

Two new polls are out and the Government has enjoyed a post budget bounce. But when the post budget glow wears off and the inevitable seepage of support starts what will National do then?

The Green Party List

Written By: - Date published: 9:34 am, May 25th, 2014 - 73 comments

The Green Party has released its list for the 2014 election.

Tony Astle does not want progressive customers

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, May 24th, 2014 - 100 comments

Tony Astle apparently wants to ban some left wing politicians from his restaurant Antoines. He should get a life. Because the idea is stupid and reinforces the impression that National is a party insisting on the retention of privilege for the few.

Key-Fletcher nexus: anti-democratic ‘Intelligence communities’

Written By: - Date published: 11:36 am, May 23rd, 2014 - 47 comments

Campbell Live pointed to a massive, integrated shift in NZ governance under John Key’s watch. This enhances the power of international trade and commerce, incorporating the GCSB the US, & 5 Eyes . At the centre of this shift, is the murky relationship between John Key & Ian Fletcher.

Occasionally Erudite: Please, Labour, stop trying to link everything to the housing crisis

Written By: - Date published: 11:20 am, May 21st, 2014 - 99 comments

Jono at Occasionally Erudite has this advice to offer the strategy team at Labour. Make sure pushing of theme(s) this election doesn’t get snagged into the irrelevant that doesn’t have much to do with it. For instance “…are people currently earning minimum wage really likely to be even close to getting into the Auckland, Christchurch or Wellington housing markets?”

Penny Hulse and the decriminalisation of cannabis

Written By: - Date published: 8:21 am, May 18th, 2014 - 52 comments

Auckland Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse this week called for there to be a rational debate on whether organic cannabis should be decriminalised.  Her reasoning is sound.  The natural kind is better than the synthetic kind and prohibition is not working.

Marama Davidson: candidate for Tāmaki Makaurau

Written By: - Date published: 10:11 am, May 17th, 2014 - 40 comments

Marama Davidson, is on the Green Party list & is a candidate for the Tāmaki Makaurau seat.  Davidson is a really promising up-coming politician.  She is committed to working for people, communities, the environment, democratic process, & strongly supports wahine, Māori & young people.

The Budget and the Christchurch rebuild

Written By: - Date published: 9:39 am, May 17th, 2014 - 44 comments

In the pursuit of a balanced budget it appears that the Government has cut funding from a number of areas of Government activity, the Christchurch rebuild included. And Gerry Brownlee is refusing to accept that flooding has been exacerbated by the earthquakes and trying to undermine the suggestion that costs estimates are overly optimistic.

National tacks left with its fudge it budget

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, May 16th, 2014 - 174 comments

National must be worried about its prospects in this year’s election.  Because its budget did not have the normal hard right policies that we have come to expect of it and it is trying to lessen the attraction of some of Labour’s announced policies.

The over-sold Budget

Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, May 16th, 2014 - 82 comments

You could tell it was coming.

When, about two days out from the Budget. English started trying to downplay expectations, you knew there wasn’t enough in it.

“Collect it all”, “exploit it all”: 5 Eyes economic surveillance

Written By: - Date published: 9:10 pm, May 15th, 2014 - 54 comments

Glenn Greenwald, interviewed on Democracy Now, outlines the extent of the NSA-led 5 Eyes surveillance systems. It is a leap from sci fi into our daily lives. Economic surveillance dominates.  John Key & Ian Fletcher have some questions to answer – have they misled us? [Update: documents link]

All Down to Dunne

Written By: - Date published: 7:31 pm, May 15th, 2014 - 37 comments

In the next few hours Peter Dunne could stand by his word and help Kiwi Families.

The question is, will he do it?

Update: No he didn’t. So much for his principles.

David Cunliffe Q&A on Facebook this evening

Written By: - Date published: 6:45 pm, May 15th, 2014 - 14 comments

For Facebook users there will be a chance to ask David Cunliffe questions on the budget this evening.

Polity: Budget 2014: Over-promise. Under-deliver.

Written By: - Date published: 3:18 pm, May 15th, 2014 - 40 comments

Earlier this week I predicted the Budget would be Labour-lite. I was right, but only in part. By far the biggest disappointment is in housing. The government signalled help for home buyers would be a highlight in the Budget. A few pathetic morsels isn’t a highlight. This will make next to no difference to the housing affordability crisis. First home buyers aren’t $3,500 short of a house. They are hundreds of thousands short, because there aren’t nearly enough homes.

Tax cuts for all!

Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, May 15th, 2014 - 227 comments

Despite having never presided over a budget surplus and despite the nearly tripling of core crown gross debt John Key is talking about the possibility of future tax cuts.

The desperation of the National’s sockpuppets

Written By: - Date published: 6:51 pm, May 14th, 2014 - 77 comments

National Party pollster David Farrar must be seeing some numbers he really doesn’t like because he is claiming that David Cunliffe photoshopped himself into a rally that he was really at!  Yeah right – a doyen of the local net governing body failed to use google before making a complete dick of himself on the net. I expect we will see a lot more of National’s paid for bloggers acting like fools heading into this election because National only being good at putting us heavily into debt (again!) rather limits the good news they can write.

John Key’s bullshit about rising inequality

Written By: - Date published: 2:41 pm, May 14th, 2014 - 86 comments

In Question Time today.  John Key has rejected evidence such census statistics, as reported on RNZ, that the inequality gap in Auckland is growing. He crowed about his government’s record & launched diversionary attacks on the opposition. Update: Question One video; Transcript links – Transcripts & other links updated. #realbudgetnumbers

Polity: Key – “Meh. Maybe I lied to Parliament.”

Written By: - Date published: 11:38 am, May 14th, 2014 - 39 comments

Misleading parliament is serious. If it happens, MPs are supposed to make a stand-alone statement to the House about what they said, why it was wrong, and what they should have said instead. Key didn’t do that at all. He just inserted a pathetic “meh” concession into an answer to a question. And the speaker diminished parliament by letting him get away with it.

David Cunliffe on The Standard

Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, May 13th, 2014 - 160 comments

The guest post from David Cunliffe outlining where he sees a Labour-led government heading.

What do you want to know about it.

David Cunliffe will be online after 5:30pm today to clarify any points people care to raise. The comments will be fully moderated. Check the rules about comments before making any.

Green Party pre-budget policy launch

Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, May 13th, 2014 - 10 comments

The Green Party will do a pre-budget economic policy launch: livestream here 11am 11.30am-12.30pm.They are pretty adept at interacting with Kiwis via social media, and on TV. They are grounded in grassroots activities, that link to their policies aimed at making life better for low-to-middle income Kiwis. [Updated#1: got start time wrong: #2 policy here – Green Investment Bank; news reports]

NRT: “A wish, a target, and a dream”

Written By: - Date published: 6:47 pm, May 12th, 2014 - 58 comments

No Right Turn shows that John Key has no real understanding of the economic and political history of this country. Probably because the last time another economic illiterate from National said that the prospect of reducing unemployment in NZ to below 6% was “a hoax”, John Key wasn’t here. He probably heard it from that illiterate, who once again is our minister of finance. Unemployment under Labour was as low as 3.3%

Cunliffe interacts on Tuesday evening (rescheduled)

Written By: - Date published: 4:24 pm, May 12th, 2014 - 45 comments

Update: Rescheduled for Tuesday 5:30.
David Cunliffe will taking some time to write a post and engage on comments about it tomorrow evening. The topic will be about David’s “vision for New Zealand and how we get there”. The post may be up earlier, but the earliest that David will be able to respond will be about 5:30pm and then only for a limited period of time. The post’s comments will be fully moderated, so read the rules in this post about what is acceptable.

Judith Collins the walking dead

Written By: - Date published: 12:53 pm, May 7th, 2014 - 114 comments

Yesterday in Parliament the Government was completely on the back foot.  Judith Collins cannot be more compromised.  National strategists must be afraid at the damage that its one strength, John Key, is sustaining.

Handouts to make them go away

Written By: - Date published: 12:25 pm, May 7th, 2014 - 9 comments

The announcement from National that they’d bribe unemployed beneficiaries to go to Christchurch was “An empty grab for headlines”. Perhaps they should have used their strategy for party renewal? Pay more from party funds awash from selling the time of Ministers time seems to work well.

Labour’s Caucus Reshuffle

Written By: - Date published: 10:55 am, May 6th, 2014 - 61 comments

Labour has announced a reshuffle of its Caucus rankings and portfolios.

Corrosive, anti-democratic power of big money

Written By: - Date published: 9:23 am, May 2nd, 2014 - 86 comments

Too many MPs in the NAct government, & some journalists, fail to understand that the negative impacts of the infiltration into politics of the worst ethos of big business & big money: croynism, networks of power & influence, self-serving, buddy-supporting actions, & deceptive manipulations of public relations.

Todd Barclay’s real problem: naïveté

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, May 1st, 2014 - 79 comments

I don’t think Todd Barclay’s biggest crime was working for the tobacco industry; it’s being a bit bloody naïve about how his professional background was going to play.

Clutha- Southland and the stark contrast in NZ politics

Written By: - Date published: 4:08 pm, April 30th, 2014 - 79 comments

Guest post by Ad about the Clutha Southland where Labour’s Liz Craig, a Doctor and Public Health researcher, is standing against Todd Barclay, a former National Parliamentary staffer and ex Philip Morris lobbyist.

The local in the bigger picture: new Green conservation policy

Written By: - Date published: 9:47 am, April 30th, 2014 - 12 comments

Largely overlooked yesterday, the Green Party launched their “Conservation in Our Backyards” policy. Focusing on protecting New Zealand’s socially and environmentally rich biodiversity, it provides a means to act locally in countering the current track towards global social, environmental and economic destruction.

Labour announces ban on synthetic cannabis

Written By: - Date published: 5:04 pm, April 27th, 2014 - 215 comments

David Cunliffe has just announced that Labour will introduce legislation to remove synthetic cannabis and other psychoactive substances from sale. (updated)

To Robert Reid, respect

Written By: - Date published: 2:24 pm, April 27th, 2014 - 135 comments

I may be damaging the prospects of him being invited back but I thought Robert Reid’s recent performance on Q&A was terrific and his example is one that all progressive MPs and activists should follow.