On a serious note, I want to know WTF Luxon/Seymour/Peters were doing in the three weeks after the election when they knew the probable outcome given the way specials usually go. They should have had a deal just about sewed up before the final result was announced.
I'm suspicious that that they are dragging this out on purpose to blame the specials and so change voting eligibility to favour the Right. That is, to dump same day registration, and perhaps other measures like needing to bring ID when voting.
The obvious change would be count the party vote portion of the specials in the booth they are cast and include them in the provisional results on the night. Sure there might be some disqualified etc but unless it was a really close election we would have a much better idea of where things sit before the final result is issued.
There would be a bit of double handling. Counting special votes, for the party element – before they were reallocated to the batch going to a specific electorate – but it shouldn't be too challenging to manage.
Given that there are usually tens of thousands of votes separating even the closest of results – and that the same margin is required to flip seats at the party level – even a small minority of uncounted informal votes would be unlikely to affect the result. They would, of course, be properly counted and accounted for in the 'final' result (although, given the current performance of the EC, perhaps not).
I guess if they started obviously behaving like they had won already they might have incurred some negative pushback, something like what happened to National in 2005. But the real reason is more like what you suggest, Luxon really had no idea of whether he could cobble together a working government with the desperados surrounding him. He still doesn't, despite all the smiles and obligatory mutterings about "good working relationships" and "having a common goal".
They have nothing of the sort, this will be a government with its only common factors being hatred of the outgoing government, plus greed and arrogance. If Luxon can make a government that lasts the full term then he is a better man than I think he is.
But it is so typical of the right to blame others for their own failings. The system delivered the result, not without some errors and problems, but compared with overseas elections they were pretty minor. Its up to these bods to form a stable government. If it is beyond them, then they should advise the GG that they are unable to form a government and it will be back to the ballot boxes again. Only this time the public will have judged them on their inabilities.
Even if they manage to form a government, there will be no honeymoon period. Already the electorate is sick and tired of the manipulations and perambulations and the parties playing games with each other.
+100 Mike…..I am getting really tired of hearing Luxon say "strong and stable"….couldn't he say "robust and solid" or one of many other options available, just so that I can have some confidence he has a working brain.
As mentioned before, "strong and stable" became a running joke in UK politics. Given the number of NZ voters who have spent time in the UK or even just follow the news from a distance, he'd be well advised to drop it. (But judging by many of his utterances, he doesn't like taking advice).
Greens and Te Pāti Māori are likely to be the main opposition force in this Parliamentary term unless NZ Labour finally retire Rogernomics…(some of us live in hope I guess…) but yes Greens and TPM certainly need to get moving as do the NZCTU and other NGOs.
The hiatus effectively lets the Natzos determine the narrative yet again as they are prone to.
If we want Labour to move away from the neo liberal paradigm, get involved.
Join your local LEC, start drafting remits to submit to yoir local conference.Not everything in Labour is top down. If the flax roots overwhelmingly want to nationalise infrastructure, (for example) the Policy Council must listen.
The MSM response to the cone of silence from Luxon though hasn't been to report on TPM or the Greens or even remark on the apparent insouciance of corporate guy Luxon to democratic accountability – it's been to lazily carry on it's jihad against Labour's now largely irrelevant ex-ministers.
This fits with the wider MSM media pattern in NZ – a rump, decimated and intellectually uncurious press corps with a lazy ambient acceptance of right wing rule combined with a bullying policing of the opposition fueled by press releases from from right wing propaganda fronts like the TPU.
I never thought for one minute people could find more hilarious clips but they are all better than mine…
2. Sandra L-C comment is true, but to us peasants it's all about who wone how many seats. In a more formal way, it's about who took what oath. The coalition of chaos are no more the government than the left 3 parties are the opposition. This is because Luxon (as leader of the biggest-polling party) needs to go to the Governor-General with a coalition agreement, upon which the GG then "…makes it so…". So, in a formal sense, Labour is the nearest thing to a government we have at the moment, although they can't go making decisions that would bind the incoming government, to a great extent.
3. Tiger Mountain, you're absolutely right, because in 2026, Labour hopes to be where National is at the moment. Luxon's put many feet in his mouth by promising everything to everybody and I think his "Get out of jail free card" will be that he had to make some compromises to get the coalition over the line. Normally, that would work, but Luxon's talked up his negotiating skills so much that I think many National voters expect a National govrernment, with a few crumbs thrown to NZF and ACT in order to get their support for a coalition.
So, going back to your point, Tiger Mountain, the last thing Labour wants to be guilty of is making important promises that it then has to reneg on (which I think is where Luxon has put National).
4. Maybe or maybe not the media is right-wing friendly, but primarily it is still the media. If it can't create stories about good news, it will slowly start to write about whatever Luxon is doing. Think of it like a merry-go-round. The media writes stories that it things will sell papers (for example). In other words, it writes what it thinks people think because people will fork out money to read news that supports their own point of view. If/as people become dissatisfied with the incoming coalition, the medial will shift and write those stories, instead.
5. If I was Hipkins/Labour, today I would be publicly offering to lead a delegation to APEC, and take along someone from the incoming government. By virtue of his oath, Hipkins can sign off on things (I think) but would need to discuss such decisions with someone from the incoming government.
If I was Luxon, I would prefer no-one goes to APEC than to send a representative from the caretaking government. If no-one goes, APEC delegates would soon forget about little old NZ, but if Hipkins goes, the delegates will be constantly reminded that the results came out a while back and Luxon hasn't reached a consensus yet.
However, for the sake of New Zealand (politics aside) I think it's important that someone represents NZ at such an important occasion. I don't agree that "…hey, there'll be other APECs". An offer from Labour today would leave National between a rock and hard place. Send Labour or send nobody, neither of which is a good outcome.
Call me a right wing optimist looking at things through rose coloured glasses if you like.
But I think it is a good think for negotiations in any setting to be hard fought rather than easy. I think negotiations that are hard fought tend to be more sustainable in the long run. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, if negotiations are easy, then either party may feel they could have done better. Whereas in hard fought negotiations, parties may believe they have wrung as much out of the process as they can.
And, secondly, if negotiations are easy, then there has been a lot less commitment by either party to the negotiations. On the other hand, where both sides have invested a lot of time and effort in the negotiation process, they are less likely to walk away because their commitment has been a lot higher through the process.
I think we saw this in the result after Labour's first term in that the relationship lasted the full term. Likewise, when my wife was selling real estate, the deals we worried about most were the easy ones, because they were more likely to collapse whereas the hard fought deals tended to settle.
So, in the case of the current negotiations, from a right wing perspecitive it is probably a good thing if the negotiations are hard fought. Because then all parties will think they got the best deal they could, and they will be a lot more committed to the relationship going forward.
From a left wing perspective the best outcome would likely be a quick and easy deal because those deals may fall apart just as easily.
The Better Public Media has been ruled a Charity by the Court.
Some of the things that they advocate for resonate for me.
It believes well-funded public media – be it news, drama or documentary – not reliant on ratings or clicks, would lead to greater social cohesion.
“For example, people often think the wider world beyond their suburb is unsafe because of exaggerated crime coverage in the news,” Thomas said.
“If the only news media we have is shallow and ignores policies to focus on 'the horse race', then politicians who want to be elected will tailor their messages accordingly.
“There are examples of this from the election such as National’s bootcamp policy and Labour’s GST on food policy. Both policies are proven to be ineffective but in a 30-second soundbite they resonate. I really think that is a terrible way for decisions to be made.”
Couldnt agree more Ian, in the 70s my old old man used to complain about all the murders of which in reality there were less than previous decades . My reasoning to him was that in the 50s he got the 2Minute Silence also known as the Marlborough Express which didn't even have a front page, that was all ads, but the murders were a week old in a small column on maybe the 3rd page, whereas even in the 70s they were first item on the 6)Çlock News delivered to his own lounge so it just looked as though there were. Now, videographers do more kilometres than RamRaiders tearing around Auckland following them to record it all.
According to Simon Wilson in the (paywalled) Herald today, Luxon "..should establish a high-powered Fix Auckland Group, with direct access to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet…"
Ah yes, FAG. Groundswell might find the name appropriate. In any event, obviously their first move would be to restore car parks on K road.
But but but the supercity was supposed to fix all Auckland's problems……….
Anyway look forward to Groundswell's FonTerror banners as they protest their green policies.
Fonterra says its milk will be 30% greener in seven years – by encouraging farmers to plant trees, treat cow pats and introduce methane-cutting tools.
The announcement is the first time the co-op, the country’s biggest emitter, has asked its farmers to take steps to reduce emissions.
The company is under pressure to reduce the greenhouse footprint of its dairy, because its biggest customers, including Nestlé and Danone, have introduced science-led climate goals.
Mr Merger and Aquisitions' insistence on telling us about his need for a strong and stable government's going to provide some wonderful responses after the coalition's up and running. Even if it doesn't collapse midway through, anything involving Winston Peters and David Seymour's never going to be strong and stable. Whoever came up with Luxon's meme surely didn't envisage the precise outcome of the election, but you'd at least think he'd stop trotting it out at every opportunity.
Luxon has no one to blame but himself reaching out to NZ first increased their popularity and reduced Nationals popularity.Now by signaling he wants to be at Apec Luxon set himself up to be made a fool of twice.Now he is saying low and middle income earners will get tax cuts that's signaling that Nationals tax cuts are being re-written. More dead rats to swallow while Winston willows in Luxon's back tracking ,oh I'm the best negotiator (Trump like)our bottom line will not be compromised a lot of walking back for Luxon and still no govt.This is 1996 all over again Peter's is making Luxon squirm .Luxon has only one other choice go to the electorate again and that will not be popular as all the time wasted.
One has years of experience in politics and forming government and yet the man who would bring his managerial competence to government did not know him.
And the man who did, but who has never formed a coalition government in all his years as an MP, thought that he could instruct another party’s leader to meet his terms for coalition or require consent to every government action (this before his party polling numbers halved and enabled the ultimate triumph of the one who plays his hand after the votes are all counted).
So it has come to this.
Tick tock.
Bird of the century results are coming.
US slang. flipping the bird : to make an offensive gesture at (someone) by pointing the middle finger upward while keeping the other fingers folded down.
Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
Wow, it’s December already, and it’s a Friday. So here are few things that caught our attention recently. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered the new government’s coalition agreements and what they mean for transport. On Tuesday Matt looked at AT’s plans for fare increases ...
Late 1996, The Dogs Bollix, Tamaki Makaurau.I’m at the front of the bar yelling my order to the bartender, jostling with other thirsty punters on a Friday night, keen to piss their wages up against a wall letting loose. The black stuff, long luscious pints of creamy goodness. Back down ...
Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop and other National, ACT and NZ First MPs applaud the signing of the coalition agreements, which included the reversal of anti-smoking measures while accelerating tax cuts for landlords. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote ...
Completed reads for November: A Modern Utopia, by H.G. Wells The Vampire (poem), by Heinrich August Ossenfelder The Corpus Hermeticum The Corpus Hermeticum is Mead’s translation. Now, this is indeed a very quiet month for reading. But there is a reason for that… You see, ...
The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies.The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. They also describe the processes of the ...
First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
David Farrar writes – 1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR:PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some of the economic issues confronting New Zealand. It may take time for some new ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the changes that ...
TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In 2023, ...
The fear and loathing among legacy journalists is astonishingGraham Adams writes – No one is going to die wondering how some of the nation’s most influential journalists personally view the new National-led government. It has become abundantly clear within a few days of the coalition agreements ...
TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere for Wednesday November 29, including:The early return of interest deductibility for landlords could see rebates paid on previous taxes and the cost increase to $3 billion from National’s initial estimate of $2.1 billion, CTU Economist Craig Renney estimated here last ...
The day after being sworn in the new cabinet met yesterday, to enjoy their honeymoon phase. You remember, that period after a new government takes power where the country, and the media, are optimistic about them, because they haven’t had a chance to stuff anything about yet.Sadly the nuptials complete ...
Wellington Council hoardings proclaim its preparations for population growth, but around the country councils are putting things on hold in the absence of clear funding pathways for infrastructure, and despite exploding migrant numbers. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Cabinet meets in earnest today to consider the new Government’s 100-day ...
Though New Zealand First may have had ambitions to run the infrastructure portfolios, National would seem to have ended up firmly in control of them. POLITIK has obtained a private memo to members of Infrastructure NZ yesterday, which shows that the peak organisation for infrastructure sees National MPs Chris ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In ...
Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
One of the big underlying problems in our political system is the prevalence of short-term thinking, most usually seen in the periodic massive infrastructure failures at a local government level caused by them skimping on maintenance to Keep Rates Low. But the new government has given us a new example, ...
New Zealand has a chance to rise again. Under the previous government, the number of New Zealanders below the poverty line was increasing year by year. The Luxon-led government must reverse that trend – and set about stabilising the pillars of the economy. After the mismanagement of the outgoing government created huge ...
Two articles by Karl du Fresne bring media coverage of the new government into considerations. He writes – Tuesday, November 28, 2023The left-wing media needed a line of attack, and they found one The left-wing media pack wasted no time identifying the new government’s weakest point. Seething over ...
The work beginsPhilip Crump wrote this article ahead of the new government being sworn in yesterday – Later today the new National-led coalition government will be sworn in, and the hard work begins. At the core of government will be three men – each a leader ...
As everyone who watches television or is on the mailing list for any of our major stores will confirm, “Black Friday” has become the longest running commercial extravaganza and celebration in our history. Although its origins are obscure (presumably dreamt up by American salesmen a few years ago), it has ...
Yesterday the Ministers in the next government were sworn in by our Governor General. A day of tradition and ceremony, of decorum and respect. Usually.But yesterday Winston Peters, the incoming Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister, of our nation used it, as he did with the signing of the coalition ...
Nicola Willis’ first move was ‘spilling the tea’ on what she called the ‘sobering’ state of the nation’s books, but she had better be able to back that up in the HYEFU. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am ...
Yesterday Auckland Transport were celebrating, as the most recent Sunday was the busiest Sunday they’ve ever had. That’s a great outcome and I’m sure the ...
Nicola Willis (in blue) at the signing of the coalition agreement, before being sworn in as both Finance Minister and Social Investment Minister. National’s plan to unwind anti-smoking measures will benefit her in the first role, but how does it stack up from a social investment viewpoint? Photo: Lynn Grieveson ...
For the first time "in history" we decided to jump on the "Giving Tuesday" bandwagon in order to make you aware of the options you have to contribute to our work! Projects supported by Skeptical Science Inc. Skeptical ScienceSkeptical Science is an all-volunteer organization but ...
Let’s say it’s 1984,and there's a dreary little nation at the bottom of the Pacific whose name rhymes with New Zealand,and they've just had an election.Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, will you look at the state of these books we’ve opened,cries the incoming government, will you look at all this mountain ...
Wellington is braced for a “massive impact’ from the new government’s cutting public service jobs, The Post somewhat grimly reported today. Expectations of an economic and social jolt are based on the National-Act coalition agreement to cut public service numbers in each government agency in a cost-trimming exercise “informed by” head ...
One of the threats in the National - ACT - NZ First coalition agreements was to extend the term of Parliament to four years, reducing our opportunities to throw a bad government out. The justification? Apparently, the government thinks "elections are expensive". This is the stupidest of stupid reasons for ...
Buzz from the Beehive The new government was being sworn in, at time of writing , and when Point of Order checked the Beehive website for the latest ministerial statements and re-visit some of the old ones we drew a blank. We found …. Nowt. Nothing. Zilch. Not a ...
Michael Bassett writes – Like most people, I was getting heartily sick of all the time being wasted over the coalition negotiations. During the first three weeks Winston grinned like a Cheshire cat, certain he’d be needed; Chris Luxon wasted time in lifting the phone to Winston ...
The Prime Minister elect had his silver fern badge on. He wore it to remind viewers he was supporting New Zealand, that was his team. Despite the fact it made him look like a concierge, or a welcomer in a Koru lounge. Anna Burns-Francis, the Breakfast presenter, asked if he ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – A hugely significant gain for ACT is somewhat camouflaged by legislative jargon. Under the heading ‘Oranga Tamariki’ ACT’s coalition agreement contains the following item: Remove Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 According to Oranga Tamariki: “Section ...
A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record.Brian Easton writes – 1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is ...
Is COP28 largely smoke and mirrors and a plan so cunning, you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel? Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: COP28 kicks off on November 30 and up for negotiation are issues like the role of fossil fuels in the energy transition, contributions to ...
PM Elect Christopher Luxon was challenged this morning on whether he would sack Adrian Orr and Andrew Coster.TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am on Monday November 27, including:Signs councils are putting planning and capital spending on hold, given a lack of clear guidance ...
This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on FridayRoutinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded but equally important role as the ...
Last Friday, almost six weeks after election day, National finally came to an agreement with ACT and NZ First to form a government. They also released the agreements between each party and looking through them, here are the things I thought were the most interesting (and often concerning) from the. ...
Maori and Pasifika smoking rates are already over twice the ‘all adult’ rate. Now the revenue that generates will be used to fund National’s tax cuts. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The devil is always in the detail and it emerged over the weekend from the guts of the policy agreements National ...
Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to do, and that means it knows what outcomes ...
So what do you think of the coalition’s decision to cancel Smokefree measures intended to stop young people, including an over representation of Māori, from taking up smoking? Enabling them to use the tax revenue to give other people a tax cut?David Cormack summed it up well:It seems not only ...
A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 19, 2023 thru Sat, Nov 25, 2023. Story of the Week World stands on frontline of disaster at Cop28, says UN climate chiefExclusive: Simon Stiell says leaders must ‘stop ...
On announcement morning my mate texted:Typical of this cut-price, fake-deal government to announce itself on Black Friday.What a deal. We lose Kim Hill, we gain an empty, jargonising prime minister, a belligerent conspiracist, and a heartless Ayn Rand fanboy. One door closes, another gets slammed repeatedly in your face.It seems pretty ...
Buzz from the Beehive Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website,Point of Order turned today to Scoop’sLatest Parliament Headlines for its buzz. This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM. “Soured” ...
Yesterday the trio that will lead our country unveiled their vision for New Zealand.Seymour looking surprisingly statesmanlike, refusing to rise to barbs about his previous comments on Winston Peters. Almost as if they had just been slapstick for the crowd.Winston was mostly focussed on settling scores with the media, making ...
Hi,Thanks for getting amongst Mister Organ on digital — thanks to you, we hit the #1 doc spot on iTunes this week. This response goes a long way to helping us break even.I feel good about that. Other things — not so much.New Zealand finally has a new government, and ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Also in More Than A FeildingFriday The unboxing And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the ...
“And there’ll be no shortage of ‘events’ to test Luxon’s political skills. David Seymour wants a referendum on the Treaty. Winston wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Labour’s handling of the Covid crisis. Talk about cans of worms!”LAURIE AND LES were very fond of their local. It was nothing ...
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Misinformation is debated everywhere and has justifiably sparked concerns. It can polarise the public, reduce health-protective behaviours such as mask wearing and vaccination, and erode trust in science. Much of misinformation is spread not ...
A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record.1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is not even an entry in Wikipedia. ...
So New Zealand has a brand-spanking new right-wing government. Not just any new government either. A formal majority coalition, of the sort last seen in 1996-1998 (our governmental arrangements for the past quarter of a century have been varying flavours of minority coalition or single-party minority, with great emphasis ...
And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the tree with its gold ribbon but can turn out to be nothing more than a big box holding a voucher for socks, so it ...
So, after weeks of negotiations, we finally have a government, with a three-party cabinet and a time-sharing deputy PM arrangement. Newsroom's Marc Daalder has put the various coalition documents online, and I've been reading through them. A few things stand out: Luxon doesn't want to do any work, ...
Nothing says strong and stable like having your government announcement delayed by a day because one of your deputies wants to remind everyone, but mostly you, who wears the trousers. It was all a bit embarrassing yesterday with the parties descending on Wellington before pulling out of proceedings. There are ...
Winston Peters will be Deputy PM for the first half of the Coalition Government’s three-year term, with David Seymour being Deputy PM for the second half. Photo montage by Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR:PM-Elect Christopher Luxon has announced the formation of a joint National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government with a ...
THERE ARE SOME SONGS that seem to come from a place that is at once in and out of the world. Written by men and women who, for a brief moment, are granted access to that strange, collective compendium of human experience that comes from, and belongs to, all the ...
By scrapping Aotearoa’s world-leading smokefree laws, this government is sacrificing Māori lives to fund tax cuts for the wealthy. Not only is this plan revolting, but it doesn’t add up. Treasury has estimated that the reversal of smokefree laws to pay for tax cuts will cost our health system $5.25bn, ...
Figures showing National needs to find another $900 million for landlords highlights the mess this coalition Government is in less than a week into the job. ...
Community organisations, mana whenua and the Greens have written to the incoming Minister of Oceans and Fisheries to call for the progression without delay of the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill. ...
"On behalf of the Labour Party I would like to congratulate Christopher Luxon on his appointment as Prime Minister,” Labour Party Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
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Behind the scenes coalition negotiations 😜
https://youtu.be/hlb-lXypMyI?si=SPVubYtzqLWq-yaN
I prefer this one:
https://twitter.com/watershitdown/status/1721238198322598158
Haha.
On a serious note, I want to know WTF Luxon/Seymour/Peters were doing in the three weeks after the election when they knew the probable outcome given the way specials usually go. They should have had a deal just about sewed up before the final result was announced.
I'm suspicious that that they are dragging this out on purpose to blame the specials and so change voting eligibility to favour the Right. That is, to dump same day registration, and perhaps other measures like needing to bring ID when voting.
Luxon and seymour were praying they wouldn't need Winston instead of being grown ups.
The obvious change would be count the party vote portion of the specials in the booth they are cast and include them in the provisional results on the night. Sure there might be some disqualified etc but unless it was a really close election we would have a much better idea of where things sit before the final result is issued.
That sounds like a really practical suggestion.
There would be a bit of double handling. Counting special votes, for the party element – before they were reallocated to the batch going to a specific electorate – but it shouldn't be too challenging to manage.
Given that there are usually tens of thousands of votes separating even the closest of results – and that the same margin is required to flip seats at the party level – even a small minority of uncounted informal votes would be unlikely to affect the result. They would, of course, be properly counted and accounted for in the 'final' result (although, given the current performance of the EC, perhaps not).
Good idea Crickle.
I guess if they started obviously behaving like they had won already they might have incurred some negative pushback, something like what happened to National in 2005. But the real reason is more like what you suggest, Luxon really had no idea of whether he could cobble together a working government with the desperados surrounding him. He still doesn't, despite all the smiles and obligatory mutterings about "good working relationships" and "having a common goal".
They have nothing of the sort, this will be a government with its only common factors being hatred of the outgoing government, plus greed and arrogance. If Luxon can make a government that lasts the full term then he is a better man than I think he is.
But it is so typical of the right to blame others for their own failings. The system delivered the result, not without some errors and problems, but compared with overseas elections they were pretty minor. Its up to these bods to form a stable government. If it is beyond them, then they should advise the GG that they are unable to form a government and it will be back to the ballot boxes again. Only this time the public will have judged them on their inabilities.
Even if they manage to form a government, there will be no honeymoon period. Already the electorate is sick and tired of the manipulations and perambulations and the parties playing games with each other.
+100 Mike…..I am getting really tired of hearing Luxon say "strong and stable"….couldn't he say "robust and solid" or one of many other options available, just so that I can have some confidence he has a working brain.
As mentioned before, "strong and stable" became a running joke in UK politics. Given the number of NZ voters who have spent time in the UK or even just follow the news from a distance, he'd be well advised to drop it. (But judging by many of his utterances, he doesn't like taking advice).
Strong and stable – Wikipedia
A couple of alternatives:
Rigid and resistant
Rigid and reluctant
Tony "Priceless".

OMG. Thanks for this Tony. Can't stop laughing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YCrvSJaZQg
King Christopher the Great. (His view anyway.)
At some point the Opposition will have to wake up and be an Opposition.
While we're waiting for Labour to finally move off the throne, maybe the Greens and Maori Party could do the job they were just voted to do.
Greens and Te Pāti Māori are likely to be the main opposition force in this Parliamentary term unless NZ Labour finally retire Rogernomics…(some of us live in hope I guess…) but yes Greens and TPM certainly need to get moving as do the NZCTU and other NGOs.
The hiatus effectively lets the Natzos determine the narrative yet again as they are prone to.
If we want Labour to move away from the neo liberal paradigm, get involved.
Join your local LEC, start drafting remits to submit to yoir local conference.Not everything in Labour is top down. If the flax roots overwhelmingly want to nationalise infrastructure, (for example) the Policy Council must listen.
The Opposition cannot be in Opposition until they are in Opposition!.
That is true of Labour.
Anyone else it's a free hit.
The MSM response to the cone of silence from Luxon though hasn't been to report on TPM or the Greens or even remark on the apparent insouciance of corporate guy Luxon to democratic accountability – it's been to lazily carry on it's jihad against Labour's now largely irrelevant ex-ministers.
This fits with the wider MSM media pattern in NZ – a rump, decimated and intellectually uncurious press corps with a lazy ambient acceptance of right wing rule combined with a bullying policing of the opposition fueled by press releases from from right wing propaganda fronts like the TPU.
2. Sandra L-C comment is true, but to us peasants it's all about who wone how many seats. In a more formal way, it's about who took what oath. The coalition of chaos are no more the government than the left 3 parties are the opposition. This is because Luxon (as leader of the biggest-polling party) needs to go to the Governor-General with a coalition agreement, upon which the GG then "…makes it so…". So, in a formal sense, Labour is the nearest thing to a government we have at the moment, although they can't go making decisions that would bind the incoming government, to a great extent.
3. Tiger Mountain, you're absolutely right, because in 2026, Labour hopes to be where National is at the moment. Luxon's put many feet in his mouth by promising everything to everybody and I think his "Get out of jail free card" will be that he had to make some compromises to get the coalition over the line. Normally, that would work, but Luxon's talked up his negotiating skills so much that I think many National voters expect a National govrernment, with a few crumbs thrown to NZF and ACT in order to get their support for a coalition.
So, going back to your point, Tiger Mountain, the last thing Labour wants to be guilty of is making important promises that it then has to reneg on (which I think is where Luxon has put National).
4. Maybe or maybe not the media is right-wing friendly, but primarily it is still the media. If it can't create stories about good news, it will slowly start to write about whatever Luxon is doing. Think of it like a merry-go-round. The media writes stories that it things will sell papers (for example). In other words, it writes what it thinks people think because people will fork out money to read news that supports their own point of view. If/as people become dissatisfied with the incoming coalition, the medial will shift and write those stories, instead.
5. If I was Hipkins/Labour, today I would be publicly offering to lead a delegation to APEC, and take along someone from the incoming government. By virtue of his oath, Hipkins can sign off on things (I think) but would need to discuss such decisions with someone from the incoming government.
If I was Luxon, I would prefer no-one goes to APEC than to send a representative from the caretaking government. If no-one goes, APEC delegates would soon forget about little old NZ, but if Hipkins goes, the delegates will be constantly reminded that the results came out a while back and Luxon hasn't reached a consensus yet.
However, for the sake of New Zealand (politics aside) I think it's important that someone represents NZ at such an important occasion. I don't agree that "…hey, there'll be other APECs". An offer from Labour today would leave National between a rock and hard place. Send Labour or send nobody, neither of which is a good outcome.
Sorry, "…neither of which may be a good outcome for the incoming coalition, but it is the best thing for NZ as a whole, IMHO…"
(Not feeling well today).
Get well soon.
Call me a right wing optimist looking at things through rose coloured glasses if you like.
But I think it is a good think for negotiations in any setting to be hard fought rather than easy. I think negotiations that are hard fought tend to be more sustainable in the long run. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, if negotiations are easy, then either party may feel they could have done better. Whereas in hard fought negotiations, parties may believe they have wrung as much out of the process as they can.
And, secondly, if negotiations are easy, then there has been a lot less commitment by either party to the negotiations. On the other hand, where both sides have invested a lot of time and effort in the negotiation process, they are less likely to walk away because their commitment has been a lot higher through the process.
I think we saw this in the result after Labour's first term in that the relationship lasted the full term. Likewise, when my wife was selling real estate, the deals we worried about most were the easy ones, because they were more likely to collapse whereas the hard fought deals tended to settle.
So, in the case of the current negotiations, from a right wing perspecitive it is probably a good thing if the negotiations are hard fought. Because then all parties will think they got the best deal they could, and they will be a lot more committed to the relationship going forward.
From a left wing perspective the best outcome would likely be a quick and easy deal because those deals may fall apart just as easily.
The Better Public Media has been ruled a Charity by the Court.
Some of the things that they advocate for resonate for me.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/advocating-for-stronger-public-media-a-charitable-cause-court-rules?utm_source=Newsroom&utm_campaign=507cd68e07-Daily_Briefing+14.11.2023&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-507cd68e07-95522477&mc_cid=507cd68e07&mc_eid=88a3081e75
Couldnt agree more Ian, in the 70s my old old man used to complain about all the murders of which in reality there were less than previous decades . My reasoning to him was that in the 50s he got the 2Minute Silence also known as the Marlborough Express which didn't even have a front page, that was all ads, but the murders were a week old in a small column on maybe the 3rd page, whereas even in the 70s they were first item on the 6)Çlock News delivered to his own lounge so it just looked as though there were. Now, videographers do more kilometres than RamRaiders tearing around Auckland following them to record it all.
According to Simon Wilson in the (paywalled) Herald today, Luxon "..should establish a high-powered Fix Auckland Group, with direct access to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet…"
Ah yes, FAG. Groundswell might find the name appropriate. In any event, obviously their first move would be to restore car parks on K road.
But but but the supercity was supposed to fix all Auckland's problems……….
Anyway look forward to Groundswell's FonTerror banners as they protest their green policies.
Fonterra says its milk will be 30% greener in seven years – by encouraging farmers to plant trees, treat cow pats and introduce methane-cutting tools.
The announcement is the first time the co-op, the country’s biggest emitter, has asked its farmers to take steps to reduce emissions.
The company is under pressure to reduce the greenhouse footprint of its dairy, because its biggest customers, including Nestlé and Danone, have introduced science-led climate goals.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/133258547/fonterra-pledges-to-make-milk-production-30-greener-by-2030
In respect to treating cow pats, an obvious solution is dung beetles.
Here's a few minutes of a local effort (Sth Wairarapa).
Across the ditch ANZ CEO Shayne Shayne Elliott says the Australian dream of home ownership “has become the preserve of the rich" in The Australian.
Here ANZ just increased profit by 10% with an incoming govt that has policies that will make home ownership less affordable than it is now.
Interesting times for the banks who see a market in decline that they've plundered for all it's worth.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/301007984/tova-obrien-christopher-luxons-inexperience-costs-him-international-power-play
Mr Merger and Aquisitions' insistence on telling us about his need for a strong and stable government's going to provide some wonderful responses after the coalition's up and running. Even if it doesn't collapse midway through, anything involving Winston Peters and David Seymour's never going to be strong and stable. Whoever came up with Luxon's meme surely didn't envisage the precise outcome of the election, but you'd at least think he'd stop trotting it out at every opportunity.
I wonder if luxon has ever beaten a hostile take over by 2 smaller companies off !
bwaghorn, ‘ Hostile takeover by two smaller companies" lol
Luxon thought he was in control "till he wasn't.
Back to the Market?
I don't think luxons clever enough to manage Winston, it'll either be a disaster 3 years or Winston will get alot of nzf policy done.
There's at least 3 more years of scripted slogans unless he gets rolled by his more ambitious colleagues.
He’s a tad loose off the cuff with comments like bottom feeders so he'll likely stick to the safety rails a script offers.
I hear that spud head is not going to Apec. Lucky Apec. The absence of a grinning gargoyle would be a plus
Crikey Tova
Luxon has no one to blame but himself reaching out to NZ first increased their popularity and reduced Nationals popularity.Now by signaling he wants to be at Apec Luxon set himself up to be made a fool of twice.Now he is saying low and middle income earners will get tax cuts that's signaling that Nationals tax cuts are being re-written. More dead rats to swallow while Winston willows in Luxon's back tracking ,oh I'm the best negotiator (Trump like)our bottom line will not be compromised a lot of walking back for Luxon and still no govt.This is 1996 all over again Peter's is making Luxon squirm .Luxon has only one other choice go to the electorate again and that will not be popular as all the time wasted.
Elders of Tik Tok
Three blind mice
Too many to
make the clock
run on time
One has years of experience in politics and forming government and yet the man who would bring his managerial competence to government did not know him.
And the man who did, but who has never formed a coalition government in all his years as an MP, thought that he could instruct another party’s leader to meet his terms for coalition or require consent to every government action (this before his party polling numbers halved and enabled the ultimate triumph of the one who plays his hand after the votes are all counted).
So it has come to this.
Tick tock.
Bird of the century results are coming.
US slang. flipping the bird : to make an offensive gesture at (someone) by pointing the middle finger upward while keeping the other fingers folded down.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/133291298/pteketeke-wins-bird-of-the-century-with-a-record-number-of-votes-placed-in-2023
Hippy tutai
https://youtu.be/an_4rfU8y8k?si=UpyDIZ0XoQi5j932
All IO gifts are special to me ie
https://youtu.be/jZHcuKeau8M?si=X8IIQyAEFNZIAK4d