Several candidates around the South are either directly affiliated with, or have shared their support online for, the group Voices for Freedom.
But they have been urged to keep those links quiet.
In an August 9 email seen by the Otago Daily Times, Voices for Freedom co-founder Claire Deeks encouraged candidates not to disclose their affiliation with the group, which has also urged followers to make New Zealand "ungovernable".
Two high-profile VFF affiliates, Gill Booth and Jaspreet Boparai, were standing for the Teviot Valley Community Board, and the Southland District Council and Tuatapere Te Waewae Community Board respectively.
Clair… Deeks, and Friends. Extremely dodgy people. Spreaders of lies, Mis and Dis Information, and Conspiracy theories unlimited. "Potentially" if not actually dangerous. A worry with this latest. Always good exposing them .
Yes, good for voters to know who is who. There is a Sovereign NZ candidate standing for the Far North District Mayoralty–Joshua Riley from Opua–a pilot and small business person, and a right head case.
He opposes “race specific” i.e. Māori Wards, and the Three Waters reform. The Far North District has one of the highest Māori populations, proportionately in the country.
Naming these people right around the country is so important. There seems to a lot of apathy around local body elections and we need absolute vigilance.
Voters should be careful this election, not to choose fruit-loops and crack-pots.
They are out there, wearing their masks, nose-out, calling the Prime Minister, “Jabcinda” and screaming blue-murder over 3-Waters. Some have managed to get onto the candidate lists and will soon be campaigning for your vote. Ask questions of them; are they afraid of 5G cell-phone towers, do they believe Trump is honest, are they convinced the Gummint is trying to steal their farm?
Councils will be challenged by real issues over the next 3 years; adapting to climate change being the most pressing, in my opinion. Councillors with axes to grind, 3-legged hobby-horses to ride, will fail Southland voters and make a mockery of local government.
I’ve put my name forward again for Environment Southland. I’ve been on that council for 3 terms now, and reckon I’ve done a good job speaking up for the environment.
I have a fb friend ,staunch Maori guy , loves trump ,thinks trump is honest, misogynist asf, hates national and act , votes labour , some people are complicated
Imo, its incumbent upon journalists around the country to seek out these imposters (because that is what most of them are) and publish their names.
People are inclined to vote for name recognition in local body elections because they have no idea who any of them are, and they have no inclination to spend time finding out. This is what the VFF crowd are banking on to get their people across the line.
Yes Anne, name recognition plays a big role. In the Far North where I have been for 30 years, a perennial issue is that Mayoral candidates may be well known in Kerikeri or Kaitaia or Kaikohe or Te Hapua or Hokianga or Doubtless Bay–but not over the whole district–which is why Wayne Brown got in for two terms because he had branding based on his years of property development activity and crawling within the business and farming sector.
The Anti vaccination, Groundswell, Convoy, 5G and other nut job lots go under various banners so do need to be identified.
Mackie says the largest (and most well-resourced) anti-vaccine group in New Zealand, the female-led Voices For Freedom, deliberately set out to target mums more than a year ago
Hi Anne, Ive posted the above Link before….but it still disturbs me. That these "Mumfluencers" cannot see who is actually behind their conspiracy theories and fear mongering.
But yes, Journalist exposure could hopefully throw bright light on the shadowy leaders.
Carter was sacked as whip in 1995, after he phoned into a talkback radio show, hosted by fellow National MP John Banks impersonating a work-shy Maori called Hone, causing widespread offence.
This is pretty much a direct copy-paste from the MAGA playbook, where schools, councils, you name it – have MAGA's lining up to get on the inside.
A deliberate malicious undermining of society because they fear a swarm of communist pronouns and IRS officers are coming for their guns. Here they have different victim fantasies, but it's the same nonsensensical shite.
The people directing such activities are enemies of democracy, period. But we already see MP's talk utter shit to get in. Shoe – other foot!
The rhetoric coming from US is murderous right now. Or should I say murder fantasy. Where the righteous emerge from a storm cloud to purge the land of evil.
Really twisted.
Now, let's see if my and others posts on the subject attract lightly veiled threats from a certain poster, again…
The fascinating thing is that they've succeeded in getting their people to put their hand up for local government, in significant numbers!
It takes a lot to motivate people.
Some, for example those standing for community boards, will get a shock if they find themselves sitting around those tables, committed to 3 years of debating footpaths ands street lights – I guess they can try to rid their communities of 5G towers and get their little town taken off the chem-trail routes.
Robert, that's what I don't get too – how they are going to cope with all the meetings, reading, travel around the electorate, responding to and resolving individuals concerns/problems etc etc.
Maybe the initial flurry of Meet Your Candidates meetings will see them drop out.
I live in a very large, rural ward and the workload is gruelling for our sole Councillor. We have four candidates – at least one has suspect affiliations.
Matiri – indeed; I just can't see what they hope to achieve, but that could just be my lack of understanding; people who profess to despise democracy, signing-up to the strictest of democratic institutions? Their plan must be to get inside and bring it down, but how, I wonder, do they propose to do that?? If their plans are anything like the plans they had for getting an audience with the Government, then I they're going to be sorely disappointed. Otoh, going along to community board meetings; usually as dry as toast, could be an entertainment and I'm certainly going to be there, popcorn in hand! Our local board has a gaggle lining up. It seems there are far more than "we" might suspect.
Edit: it’s just occurred to me that their plan might be to not go to meetings at all, meaning there’s not enough for a quorum, and meetings will fail accordingly 🙂
I was suggesting Mr Arps seemed unlikely to want to attend his school board meetings (if elected). Doesn't seem clear what hes going to change when hes busy agreeing dates for the school fare to be run and deciding if the fees (voluntary donations) should be increased or terminated this year.
Also interesting that he's apparently sending kids to a multi-cultural school to begin with of course. Maybe hes one of those very well adjusted people who keeps his work separate to his family life and this never comes up.
If there is a plan to shut down school boards by not attending meetings I expect it to be activated at a later date and that the candidates haven't been told about it yet. Also the boards will just get one of the unsuccessful candidates co-opted onto the school board at that point anyway, or arm twist somebody to step in (which they do when not enough parents stand anyway).
I don't think there's a solid plan – I think the anti-vaxx candidates just want to put the willies up the "sheeple" and prance. As they did on Parliament's lawn. They won't be aware of deeper machinations, just as they weren't aware on the protest lawn.
If the plan is not to go to meetings so that the meeting fails, he/she will be very very unpopular in our ward if successful, as we rely on our sole councillor to represent us. Life will be very uncomfortable for him/her!!
I don't think running for office is yet in and of itself undermining society. People you (or I) don't like are able to run for office, that's a strength of democracy not a weakness IMO.
Agreed, Nic; great to see them all turn out with their hands up. Disturbing though, to read that their "controlling agency" has advised them to hide their affiliations and intentions from the public. That's kinda whiffy!
Deeply ironic that a bunch of loonies who think the government is sneaky and dishonest, themselves are willing to be sneaky and dishonest to get into power, guess they must think they're allo allo voices please) le resistance
Not in the south but we have locally at least one candidate that is very much trying to say 'affiliated with such and such party' but not naming it.
I have complained about that to local government that including party membership/alliances should be part of the intro of the dudes/ettes standing and we were told that that was no important.
That was for the last election which was before that brouhaha broke out.
So in essence you will not be allowed that information for anyone irrespective the party that they would promote/vote for.
Jaspreet Boparai returns with Gill Booth to summarise with Claire Deeks what they’ve been talking about for the past year on the Be Kind Be Blind series and find a focus on a way forward which all concerned kiwis can take when it comes to stopping the UN Agenda playing out in our local councils.
joe90, hmmm I already know of their extremist views. I might pass on viewing that clip. (even at the beginning, i could feel the attack on my rationality : )
I'm not sure they have any extremist views of their own. I reckon they're bored, resentful, and after so many trips down the damn rabbit hole, delusional nobodies who finally have something to latch onto, the UN Agenda playing out in our local councils, purpose. Egged on by the cowardly well heeled fucks who instigate and inflame the nonsense from the safety and comfort of their own living rooms, home studios, cordons of minders in dirty dogs and, as in Wellington, the best hotel rooms in the town.
And there doesn't seem to be any one thing in particular that unites these dangerous loons in their campaign to upend the lives of their fellow New Zealanders. They say that they're all about liberty and freedom but I think these are catch-all excuses for their grab bag of grudges, grievances, resentments, and their apparent paranoia aboutthe dark, amorphous forcesthey perceive to beresponsible for their shitty, boring lives.
There is always something to get politics followers attention–and the latest for me is the Labour Caucus embracing the US Pacific “charm offensive” (charming in public anyway–75 years ago…WWII…sob…etc.) and behind the scenes cuddling up via various US State Department personnel visits, including recently Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman, and signing a ‘space agreement’ fer crissakes, which really just recognises and approves the increased US military use of Rocketlab.
Toadying up to US Imperialism is never a good look–how far away can actual AUKUS membership be?–this is shameful for a country with Nuclear Free Legislation.
Well we must hope then that L will do its utmost best to prevent what ever they are creating re Water and other utilities to be not misused for privatisation by other parties.
I mean after all they are doing all the 'reforming' atm. Surely safeguarding and safekeeping of these assets in the commons will be a big aspect of it.
National refused to discuss the Privatisation model of proposed 3 Waters, saying instead that they would cancel 3 Waters so privatisation would be irrelevant. Ha Ha!
It's meaningless. Future governments can simply change the law. The greatest protection against privatisation would be to reverse the 3Waters reforms altogether.
Let some National government long after my death find itself facing a public backlash of unprecedented severity for trying to pass legislation allowing it to steal our country's water.
Is the clause that entrenches the anti-privatisation clause also entrenched? i.e. can the entrenchment itself be removed with a simple majority? Genuine question – I'm not sure how this stuff works.
The argument you were making was actually if something doesn't exist it can't be privatized. So I expect your about to explain how the country should function doing away with its water infrastructure (rather than privatizing it, or relying on the government not to). So do go ahead…
3Waters creates a monolithic, nationwide, water services organisation. For all intents and purposes it ends Council control over those assets, and transfers control to that entity, which is in effect a monopoly. My view is that is a far more attractive beast for privatisation that a series of truly locally controlled and owned water services enterprises.
I view 3Waters as a strange animal. It seems to be a solution well wide of the problem, but that's a different discussion. It is far being a safeguard against privatisation.
NZ doesn't have an overriding constitutional system. The only possible protection is not to have a privatising govt in office. A 75% vote against privatisation would be stronger but even this govt doesn't have such a majority.
On the other hand LibertyBelle's argument that govts can change laws is not in good faith. They have several arguments at the same time as you can see. Apparently their best argument, presented at the dregs of a thread for the first time naturally, is that having national framework for water makes it a monopoly. Water is a natural monopoly regardless of the legislation.
But your looking for some stronger proofing than legislation inside a legislative system. Good luck.
"Water is a natural monopoly regardless of the legislation."
The issue is not whether 'water' is a monopoly, the issue is whether the delivery of water services is a monopoly. 3Waters creates such a monopoly at a national level, which makes it an attractive proposition for sale.
The country can function without the 3Waters reforms quite well. And with smaller water providers, the likelihood of privatisation would be significantly reduced.
Weirdly Maori corporates gaining 50% of the water entities start to look a lot more reliable than Parliament as a defence of sovereign ownership here.
Imagine if Maori had owned 50% of Contact, Genesis, or Mighty River Power (as it was). Then Key tried to sell them (as he did). He would have Supreme Court rulings at him left right and centre.
The 75% threshold is the Parliamentary limit. But they forgot the first 50% Maori limit.
With Maori at the table from the beginning, it would be very hard to see these new entities bringing in Vivendi and RWE to 'privatise-by-stealth' as Papakura Council did in the early 2000s.
Maori ‘sell’ assets they obtain for gain and good on them. For example ex Crown land in Auckland offered to mana whenua under RFR clauses in the Tamaki Collective.
Six provisions in New Zealand law are constitutionally entrenched, meaning they can only be changed by a vote of more than 75% of the House of Representatives or more than 50% at a referendum. They are contained in the Electoral Act 1993 (and one in the Constitution Act 1986) and relate to:
the term of Parliament
the Representation Commission (a committee that determines electoral boundaries)
the division of New Zealand into general electorates
the 5% margin for the population of general electorates
Except that it gets way way way harder to get a 75% vote from MPs than it does to get a 50% vote.
Perhaps you should have a look at how few times a 75% vote is achieved on any legislation in our parliament.
Usually it is only on repair legislation, treaties, MP pensions, and the few bits of legislation enabling referendums, and …. thats about it.
It requires a super majority by both major parties before it can happen in reality. As you can see from the examples given – we really only get entrenched legislation on things of common interest to both major political groups.
Of course it's 'way harder'. But it isn't impossible. The combined value of the water services companies will be huge, and a very tempting proposition for raising money, particularly to pay off debt.
"So, now you change your tune from twice “future governments can simply change the law” [my italics] to “Of course it’s ‘way harder’”."
You have difficulty with comprehension. The word simply doesn't always mean something is simple, does it? Here's an example – 'if someone continues to ignore you, you can simple ignore them'. Get it now?
Yes, I get that you like to waste good people’s time here and that you’re pretty good at it too. As a Moderator I’m always concerned about obtuse commenters who monopolise the discourse here and who clearly show no sign of letting up. Let’s see if your reading comprehension is up to it and if you can parse this.
PS to write “… you can simple ignore them” is not cute. Perhaps you could pay more attention to what others are saying instead of ignoring them and/or fobbing them off. And believe me, I won’t ignore you.
My understanding is that in order to entrench a clause to say 75% vote in order to ensure its longevity, that 75% must vote for it. Labour would need National approval and its vote to achieve that.
”Even a small conflict in which two nations unleash nuclear weapons on each other could lead to worldwide famine, research suggests. Soot from burning cities would encircle the planet and cool it by reflecting sunlight back into space. This, in turn, would cause global crop failures that — in a worst-case scenario — could put five billion people on the brink of death. The research is the latest in a decades-long thought experiment about the global consequences of nuclear war. It seems especially relevant today as Russia’s war against Ukraine has disrupted global food supplies, underscoring the far-reaching impacts of a regional conflict. “
This is the same Toby Curtis that expressed disappointment that his nephews were found guilty of murdering Nia Glassie rather than being found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
This is the same Toy Curtis who spoke about the shame the Curtis family would have to endure as they visited marae around the rohe. Yes….he did give the impression that it was an untoward burden of shame…rather than one richly deserved.
This is the same Toby Curtis, who described the murder of Nia Glassie as "…just one of those things."
I vividly remember this particular interview I have involuntarily snorted every time in the past 14 years he has been introduced as 'Highly respected Te Arawa kaumatua.'
sits there and lets Luxon pontificate about how they, the principled party, believe voters should choose the MPs, when his party is currently in the middle of a scandal where they kept information from voters so they could not choose properly on full information.
A pre-selection committee shall be convened in all Electorates at the closing of nominations, subject to Rule 97 (a).
(b) The purpose of the pre-selection committee is to:
(i) Conduct in depth interviews and reference checks with the approved nominees;
(ii) In the event that there are more than five approved nominees, then to reduce the number of nominees to five (including the sitting National Member of Parliament if approved as a nominee by the Board); and
(iii) Exclude from further consideration in the selection process those nominees who are considered unsuitable to be National Members of Parliament
So, Luxon believes voters should choose the MPs? Who chooses the candidates?
Agree with you newsense, the conflating of the Waka jumping law by Luxon with “National supports letting the voters choose MP's" was never challenged by Corin Dann either. Kim Hill would have though.
I know poor old Luxy had a tough interview with Susie a week or two back, but given the background of these couple of weeks and couple of years of candidate selection it’s worse than softball.
Quite clear the selection team knew about Uffindell and thought he was fine. Why?
Labour on current polling even to get a shot at government needs the Greens to be stronger, the Maori Party to be stronger, and any other help.
So presumably now if Ardern really wants power in a third term, she has some deals to stitch:
– Labour agrees not to oppose Gaurav Sharma in Hamilton West, and he agrees to support Labour in the party vote. Or Labour just agrees to let his LEC select him.
– Labour agrees not to oppose Chloe Swarbrick in Auckland Central
– Labour agrees not to stand Tamati Coffey against Rawiri Waititi
– Labour agrees not to stand a candidate in Te Tai Hauaru against Debbie Ngarewa-Packer
As the polls get deeper the list will need to be added to.
Of course it is the electorate vote that elects individuals in electorates but it is the percentage party vote that dictates the number of MP's per each party ends up with, assuming a party gets at least 5% or has one or more electorate seat.
More than a crack, there was a line of thinking that Dr Sharma kicked the whole thing off after noting that Hamilton West was very likely going back to the National candidate next time.
that's a big cultural shift for a party that prides itself on standing someone in every electorate, and which has eschewed such strategy in the past. Do you think it's likely?
Think Sharma is unlikely, as he doesn't have a realistic chance of winning against National, especially without the Labour machine behind him.
Definitely worth considering the other two scenarios, to benefit TPM and Greens. Although Labour has always firmly rejected this kind of accommodation in the recent past.
And would have to put those candidates not standing in a very winnable place on the party list (which might be a tense negotiation – especially with Helen White in Ak Central), or parachute them into a post-parliamentary career (cf Louisa Wall)
The way the polls are ATM, the Greens don't need the accommodation in Ak Central – they have sufficient polling support to get into parliament, independently.
TPM require an electorate seat, unless they hit the 5% threshold (which seems unlikely at the moment). I don't know enough about the personalities and the politics in the individual Maori electorates, to know if TPM candidate is already the front-runner – so whether a Labour concession is worth-while for them.
Christopher Luxon's Preferred Prime Minister results continue their slide. Mr Luxon was on 28% in June is now on just 19.5% today. Jacinda Ardern is at 39.5%.
…overall gain for the Labour/Green centre-left parties at the expense of the National/ACT centre-right bloc.
Doubt it. All polls have been keenly addressed to date – and the media have regularly led with TPM holding the 'balance of power'.
Suspect it's just that Sharma has sucked all the political oxygen over the last few days, as Uffindell did previously.
As this seems to be dying down now, I'd expect regular transmission to resume.
My $0.02 worth: I think all polls with a difference of less than 3% are within the margin of error, and too close to call (been saying this consistently for months)
Doesn't suit their agreed agenda BG? Now if it had been the other way round… Luxon was soaring and Arderrn plummeting then it would have knocked the Sharma drama, and the Uffindell upset completely off the news circuit. It may even have forced the raging torrents of water flooding villages and towns in the Sth. Island into second place. 👿
Media have frequently reported these polls (both with Labour ahead and with National ahead, as well as with TMP holding the balance of power – as they do in this one).
To ascribe this as not being reported, because it doesn't fit an 'agenda' is pretty far gone along the conspiracy theory path.
And, indeed, a quick search of the news headlines finds an article in the Herald, released at 11:18 this morning.
Google searches are tailored to each individual user, i.e., your ‘hits’ will be (slightly?) different from anybody else’s ‘hits’. It also depends on whether one limits to NZ only or all countries, for example. That said, the NZH is also the first result (“20 hours ago”) of my search using Google.
Yeah, I know that Google relevance rankings use an arcane art to weigh results. But working on the assumption that commenters here are both interested in politcs and in NZ – you're pretty likely to get the same results for a political search.
Bollocks Belladonna. I know you have a high opinion of your abilities, but many of us here are experienced and politically very aware. Being lectured by you about some aspects that we have known for years might be amusing, but is not always a pathway to good conversations.
Bearded Git @ 9.1 knows I was being facetious with a tinge of humour thrown in. TS regulars are well versed in such banter. Suggest you read and learn before leaping in with your criticism. It only lead to equally negative responses.
Many of the commenters on TS are, indeed, highly experienced and politically very aware.
Poorly informed claims that the media are biased, however, aren't either funny or clever. And, in fact, they are dangerous…. (if you can't figure out why, I'm happy to discuss further)
Using emoticons or emojis doesn't excuse you from mis-representing the facts. Although it might pay to stick to ones where you're certain of the meaning, and equally certain it won't be misunderstood.
The occasional apology – when you get something wrong – wouldn't exactly go amiss. Doubling down, when you're called on something, also 'leads to negative responses'
* Luxon still against waka jumping legislation amid Uffindell inquiry
* Sharma remains under threat of expulsion (really a re-hash of the day before, for those who get their news in the morning)
Seems a fairly balanced list of topics: both right and left getting some airtime, and a big government-initiated investigation into a topic of significance.
Left & Right blocs essentially neck-and-neck … TPM holding balance.
Luxon's initial fall in popularity didn't affect National's ratings, now it's beginning to.
While NZF is only rating 2.6%, Winston almost doubles his personal popularity to 4.2% … suggesting a pool of voters who are currently unsure of their party support but prefer Winnie as PM (possibly indicating some latent NZF support that may manifest over the next year).
"…a pool of voters who are currently unsure of their party support but prefer Winnie as PM (possibly indicating…") their complete detachment from reality?
Peters is still well below Seymour in preferred PM league.
I think we can all agree that the rats-and-mice numbers at the bottom are just about name recognition in those surveyed, rather than signifying any real support. Especially as those indicating they would vote for NZF remain around 2.5% (as they have all year) well shy of the 5% threshold.
Ardern and Luxon are the only ones that matter here.
Ardern will be hoping that the uptick in popular support for her, personally, will spill over into Labour votes, too.
Peters is still well below Seymour in preferred PM league.
Irrelevant to the question of whether or not the doubling of his personal rating (making it almost twice as high as current committed NZF supporters) indicates a latent potential pool of support for NZF.
..
Especially as those indicating they would vote for NZF remain around 2.5% (as they have all year)
Nope … NZF support in Curia-Taxpayers Polls (2022):
Jan 0.9 … Feb 1.5 … March 1.8 … April 1.7 … May 1.8 … June 2.3 … July 2.8 … Aug 2.6.
..
well shy of the 5% threshold
NZF has made a bit of a habit of outperforming the polls. Not in 2020 … but certainly in election campaigns where Labour's support is down on the previous election (NZF outperforming both in terms of the immediate pre-election polls and, even more so, the polls more than a year out … which is where we are at the moment).
..
Ardern will be hoping that the uptick in popular support for her, personally, will spill over into Labour votes, too.
Ardern is down slightly in this latest Curia-Taxpayers Poll.
Re Peters. I don't think that doubling support, when the figures are so low, is really meaningful. It would be well within the margin of error.
Poll results at the margins (below about 3%) are notoriously inaccurate.
NZF made a habit of outperforming polls when voters believed that Peters would go with the larger party, and be a handbrake on them. After 2017, I don't think that many voters would trust him to do that.
Future polls will show if you're right. If there's an upward trend for NZF – then, you have my concession in advance. 🙂
However, I do think that many people (those who aren't firm party voters), tend to select the 'person' they like for the leader category, but are generally more influenced by policies (or what's going right or wrong for them in an economic/political sense) when deciding which 'party' to vote for.
[That's just my opinion, BTW, I don't have anything from polling companies to back it up]
What is the poll’s margin of error?
The maximum sampling error is approximately ± 3.1%-points at the 95% confidence level. This is the sampling error for a result around 50%. Results higher and lower than 50% have a smaller sampling error. For example, results around 10% and 5% have sampling errors of approximately ±1.9%-points and 1.4%-points respectively at the 95% confidence level.
This is an older article, but I think it does articulate well, why small percentage point differences in poll results aren't particularly accurate or useful.
It does use American examples – but AFAIK NZ polling uses the same statistical sampling methodology.
There is a tendency in the media and elsewhere to look at a 1% percentage change as 'real news', when actually it's within the margin of error, and may simply be statistical 'noise'
I still believe National will replace Luxon before the election. They would be crazy not to. Every Wednesday morning is Jacinda's birthday. An election campaign is non-stop Wednesday mornings.
See the preferred PM polling from 2005 to 2008. Luxon is Brash, not Key. Why try and win with a self-imposed handicap?
I don't know if they have a Key, or an Ardern – maybe Willis would be the closest. But Luxon definitely isn't, that comparison has never made any sense.
So anyway … National caucus, please ignore the above. Luxon's the man!
Willis is smart enough – but not long on charisma. This is also Luxon's weakness. Key could fake a bit of bonhomie, but the only Gnat with any charisma at all is Bishop, whose intellect, sadly, always makes us recall the opening lines of this song.
I don't think Luxon is at all secure, though there is no obvious successor – and National will be very wary of any further instability (the post-Bridges history is a dreadful warning….)
I think that the next poll or two will be critical. If the National vote stabilizes or rises – they won't really care about Luxon's personal popularity, too much.
And a cunning TPU question heading with:"Most Voters want the Government to cut taxes."
"As part of this month's poll, our polsters asked voters whether they support a temporary 10% reduction in overall income tax for all families to help with the increased cost of living. 59% said yes."
Personally i am not for tax cuts at the upper end of income. I would prefer the first 10 – 25 grand to be made tax free as that would support low income workers, pensioneers and beneficiaries most as they would fall into this group.
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Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
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Clair… Deeks, and Friends. Extremely dodgy people. Spreaders of lies, Mis and Dis Information, and Conspiracy theories unlimited. "Potentially" if not actually dangerous. A worry with this latest. Always good exposing them .
Yes, good for voters to know who is who. There is a Sovereign NZ candidate standing for the Far North District Mayoralty–Joshua Riley from Opua–a pilot and small business person, and a right head case.
He opposes “race specific” i.e. Māori Wards, and the Three Waters reform. The Far North District has one of the highest Māori populations, proportionately in the country.
Naming these people right around the country is so important. There seems to a lot of apathy around local body elections and we need absolute vigilance.
Voters should be careful this election, not to choose fruit-loops and crack-pots.
They are out there, wearing their masks, nose-out, calling the Prime Minister, “Jabcinda” and screaming blue-murder over 3-Waters. Some have managed to get onto the candidate lists and will soon be campaigning for your vote. Ask questions of them; are they afraid of 5G cell-phone towers, do they believe Trump is honest, are they convinced the Gummint is trying to steal their farm?
Councils will be challenged by real issues over the next 3 years; adapting to climate change being the most pressing, in my opinion. Councillors with axes to grind, 3-legged hobby-horses to ride, will fail Southland voters and make a mockery of local government.
I’ve put my name forward again for Environment Southland. I’ve been on that council for 3 terms now, and reckon I’ve done a good job speaking up for the environment.
Well done Robert, we need more like you.
three legged hobby horse is such a great image.
I have a fb friend ,staunch Maori guy , loves trump ,thinks trump is honest, misogynist asf, hates national and act , votes labour , some people are complicated
Well, if you are an Advocate for the Environment as you are on The Standard …I would say Lucky Environment : )
Ha! I'm way more vocal in the real world 🙂
But thanks 🙂
Imo, its incumbent upon journalists around the country to seek out these imposters (because that is what most of them are) and publish their names.
People are inclined to vote for name recognition in local body elections because they have no idea who any of them are, and they have no inclination to spend time finding out. This is what the VFF crowd are banking on to get their people across the line.
Yes Anne, name recognition plays a big role. In the Far North where I have been for 30 years, a perennial issue is that Mayoral candidates may be well known in Kerikeri or Kaitaia or Kaikohe or Te Hapua or Hokianga or Doubtless Bay–but not over the whole district–which is why Wayne Brown got in for two terms because he had branding based on his years of property development activity and crawling within the business and farming sector.
The Anti vaccination, Groundswell, Convoy, 5G and other nut job lots go under various banners so do need to be identified.
Hi Anne, Ive posted the above Link before….but it still disturbs me. That these "Mumfluencers" cannot see who is actually behind their conspiracy theories and fear mongering.
But yes, Journalist exposure could hopefully throw bright light on the shadowy leaders.
Indeed. And It has also always amazed me that Carter…is still Mayor Far North. Jerk that he is….
Yep, another one. Carter was Hokianga County Clerk in the 80s, and lightweight Natzo MP for many years.
This is pretty much a direct copy-paste from the MAGA playbook, where schools, councils, you name it – have MAGA's lining up to get on the inside.
A deliberate malicious undermining of society because they fear a swarm of communist pronouns and IRS officers are coming for their guns. Here they have different victim fantasies, but it's the same nonsensensical shite.
The people directing such activities are enemies of democracy, period. But we already see MP's talk utter shit to get in. Shoe – other foot!
The rhetoric coming from US is murderous right now. Or should I say murder fantasy. Where the righteous emerge from a storm cloud to purge the land of evil.
Really twisted.
Now, let's see if my and others posts on the subject attract lightly veiled threats from a certain poster, again…
"your fault" "be afraid" etc.
The fascinating thing is that they've succeeded in getting their people to put their hand up for local government, in significant numbers!
It takes a lot to motivate people.
Some, for example those standing for community boards, will get a shock if they find themselves sitting around those tables, committed to 3 years of debating footpaths ands street lights – I guess they can try to rid their communities of 5G towers and get their little town taken off the chem-trail routes.
Robert, that's what I don't get too – how they are going to cope with all the meetings, reading, travel around the electorate, responding to and resolving individuals concerns/problems etc etc.
Maybe the initial flurry of Meet Your Candidates meetings will see them drop out.
I live in a very large, rural ward and the workload is gruelling for our sole Councillor. We have four candidates – at least one has suspect affiliations.
Matiri – indeed; I just can't see what they hope to achieve, but that could just be my lack of understanding; people who profess to despise democracy, signing-up to the strictest of democratic institutions? Their plan must be to get inside and bring it down, but how, I wonder, do they propose to do that?? If their plans are anything like the plans they had for getting an audience with the Government, then I they're going to be sorely disappointed. Otoh, going along to community board meetings; usually as dry as toast, could be an entertainment and I'm certainly going to be there, popcorn in hand! Our local board has a gaggle lining up. It seems there are far more than "we" might suspect.
Edit: it’s just occurred to me that their plan might be to not go to meetings at all, meaning there’s not enough for a quorum, and meetings will fail accordingly 🙂
I was suggesting Mr Arps seemed unlikely to want to attend his school board meetings (if elected). Doesn't seem clear what hes going to change when hes busy agreeing dates for the school fare to be run and deciding if the fees (voluntary donations) should be increased or terminated this year.
Also interesting that he's apparently sending kids to a multi-cultural school to begin with of course. Maybe hes one of those very well adjusted people who keeps his work separate to his family life and this never comes up.
If there is a plan to shut down school boards by not attending meetings I expect it to be activated at a later date and that the candidates haven't been told about it yet. Also the boards will just get one of the unsuccessful candidates co-opted onto the school board at that point anyway, or arm twist somebody to step in (which they do when not enough parents stand anyway).
I don't think there's a solid plan – I think the anti-vaxx candidates just want to put the willies up the "sheeple" and prance. As they did on Parliament's lawn. They won't be aware of deeper machinations, just as they weren't aware on the protest lawn.
If the plan is not to go to meetings so that the meeting fails, he/she will be very very unpopular in our ward if successful, as we rely on our sole councillor to represent us. Life will be very uncomfortable for him/her!!
I don't think running for office is yet in and of itself undermining society. People you (or I) don't like are able to run for office, that's a strength of democracy not a weakness IMO.
Agreed, Nic; great to see them all turn out with their hands up. Disturbing though, to read that their "controlling agency" has advised them to hide their affiliations and intentions from the public. That's kinda whiffy!
Deeply ironic that a bunch of loonies who think the government is sneaky and dishonest, themselves are willing to be sneaky and dishonest to get into power, guess they must think they're allo allo voices please) le resistance
Peace & Love! (Hurl those flagstones!)
Best laugh of the day bwaghorn. "Allo allo" indeed.They bear watching though.
Yep, DB Brown. So much of the NZ nuttery…is connected with the head nuts in the USA. And you are so right..dangerous nuts.
Not in the south but we have locally at least one candidate that is very much trying to say 'affiliated with such and such party' but not naming it.
I have complained about that to local government that including party membership/alliances should be part of the intro of the dudes/ettes standing and we were told that that was no important.
That was for the last election which was before that brouhaha broke out.
So in essence you will not be allowed that information for anyone irrespective the party that they would promote/vote for.
Hi Sabine, well good on you for taking note and complaining about it. Local Govt is at least a place where we can all attempt to Change for Good.
If you have the stomach.
Jaspreet Boparai returns with Gill Booth to summarise with Claire Deeks what they’ve been talking about for the past year on the Be Kind Be Blind series and find a focus on a way forward which all concerned kiwis can take when it comes to stopping the UN Agenda playing out in our local councils.
https://odysee.com/@voicesforfreedom:6/Be-Kind-Be-Blind-Special:2
joe90, hmmm I already know of their extremist views. I might pass on viewing that clip. (even at the beginning, i could feel the attack on my rationality : )
I'm not sure they have any extremist views of their own. I reckon they're bored, resentful, and after so many trips down the damn rabbit hole, delusional nobodies who finally have something to latch onto, the UN Agenda playing out in our local councils, purpose. Egged on by the cowardly well heeled fucks who instigate and inflame the nonsense from the safety and comfort of their own living rooms, home studios, cordons of minders in dirty dogs and, as in Wellington, the best hotel rooms in the town.
And there doesn't seem to be any one thing in particular that unites these dangerous loons in their campaign to upend the lives of their fellow New Zealanders. They say that they're all about liberty and freedom but I think these are catch-all excuses for their grab bag of grudges, grievances, resentments, and their apparent paranoia about the dark, amorphous forces they perceive to be responsible for their shitty, boring lives.
Pretty much. And well summed.
People should just look after themselves if they’re worried about covid, right?
https://twitter.com/tiredasfmilf/status/1559166458512478210
(it was the grandparents visiting).
There is always something to get politics followers attention–and the latest for me is the Labour Caucus embracing the US Pacific “charm offensive” (charming in public anyway–75 years ago…WWII…sob…etc.) and behind the scenes cuddling up via various US State Department personnel visits, including recently Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman, and signing a ‘space agreement’ fer crissakes, which really just recognises and approves the increased US military use of Rocketlab.
https://nz.usembassy.gov/deputy-secretary-sherman-in-new-zealand/
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/07/rocket-lab-s-peter-beck-defends-contracts-with-us-military-says-space-industry-intertwined-with-defence.html
Toadying up to US Imperialism is never a good look–how far away can actual AUKUS membership be?–this is shameful for a country with Nuclear Free Legislation.
What we have to look forward to should National or Act get a chance.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/16/i-worked-on-privatisation-england-water-1989-failed-regime?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Well we must hope then that L will do its utmost best to prevent what ever they are creating re Water and other utilities to be not misused for privatisation by other parties.
I mean after all they are doing all the 'reforming' atm. Surely safeguarding and safekeeping of these assets in the commons will be a big aspect of it.
National refused to discuss the Privatisation model of proposed 3 Waters, saying instead that they would cancel 3 Waters so privatisation would be irrelevant. Ha Ha!
Well yeah, if something doesn't exist, it can't be privatised.
I would expect N to privatize anything they can lay their hands on, after all that is what they do.
What i expect of L is to know that too and to safeguard our assets so that they can not be privatized by anyone and keep it in the Commons for all.
Labour seeks to entrench the provision against privatisation. National refuses.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/three-waters-entrenchment
It's meaningless. Future governments can simply change the law. The greatest protection against privatisation would be to reverse the 3Waters reforms altogether.
Or block National & ACT from getting into government.
I favour this solution 🙂
Unhappily for us, but happily for democracy, we two don't get to decide that!
Enrol. Join a Party. Canvass. Vote.
Both works for me.
Let some National government long after my death find itself facing a public backlash of unprecedented severity for trying to pass legislation allowing it to steal our country's water.
LibertyBelle. Do you understand what was proposed in the entrenched clause? 75% majority required.
Yes. Which means future governments can simply change the law.
As obtuse as ever, I see.
Is the clause that entrenches the anti-privatisation clause also entrenched? i.e. can the entrenchment itself be removed with a simple majority? Genuine question – I'm not sure how this stuff works.
The argument you were making was actually if something doesn't exist it can't be privatized. So I expect your about to explain how the country should function doing away with its water infrastructure (rather than privatizing it, or relying on the government not to). So do go ahead…
not really. It's a matter of how easy it is to privatise. Is it easier to privatise currently or if 3 waters is enacted?
Is there an explanation for how NACT will be prevented from privatising using the 3 Waters structure?
Well good for you, you want to assume 'LibertyBelle' is making a good faith argument, rather than the argument actually made in 4.1.1.1.
Robert Guyton has a good understanding of the relevant constitutional arrangements here of course.
My argument is in good faith and goes like this.
3Waters creates a monolithic, nationwide, water services organisation. For all intents and purposes it ends Council control over those assets, and transfers control to that entity, which is in effect a monopoly. My view is that is a far more attractive beast for privatisation that a series of truly locally controlled and owned water services enterprises.
I view 3Waters as a strange animal. It seems to be a solution well wide of the problem, but that's a different discussion. It is far being a safeguard against privatisation.
no, I was responding to *you apparently dismissing concerns (from anyone) about how tory-proof the plan is.
NZ doesn't have an overriding constitutional system. The only possible protection is not to have a privatising govt in office. A 75% vote against privatisation would be stronger but even this govt doesn't have such a majority.
On the other hand LibertyBelle's argument that govts can change laws is not in good faith. They have several arguments at the same time as you can see. Apparently their best argument, presented at the dregs of a thread for the first time naturally, is that having national framework for water makes it a monopoly. Water is a natural monopoly regardless of the legislation.
But your looking for some stronger proofing than legislation inside a legislative system. Good luck.
"Water is a natural monopoly regardless of the legislation."
The issue is not whether 'water' is a monopoly, the issue is whether the delivery of water services is a monopoly. 3Waters creates such a monopoly at a national level, which makes it an attractive proposition for sale.
Are you aware, LibertyBelle, of provisions and protections made by the Labour Government, to guard against the very thing you fear?
Regardless of what you want to call it water is a natural monopoly.
Robert, LibertyBelle is clearly fearless.
The country can function without the 3Waters reforms quite well. And with smaller water providers, the likelihood of privatisation would be significantly reduced.
Weirdly Maori corporates gaining 50% of the water entities start to look a lot more reliable than Parliament as a defence of sovereign ownership here.
Imagine if Maori had owned 50% of Contact, Genesis, or Mighty River Power (as it was). Then Key tried to sell them (as he did). He would have Supreme Court rulings at him left right and centre.
The 75% threshold is the Parliamentary limit. But they forgot the first 50% Maori limit.
With Maori at the table from the beginning, it would be very hard to see these new entities bringing in Vivendi and RWE to 'privatise-by-stealth' as Papakura Council did in the early 2000s.
Maori ‘sell’ assets they obtain for gain and good on them. For example ex Crown land in Auckland offered to mana whenua under RFR clauses in the Tamaki Collective.
You could really do with some civics lessons.
I have made bold the relevant section.
Entrenchment in NZ
Six provisions in New Zealand law are constitutionally entrenched, meaning they can only be changed by a vote of more than 75% of the House of Representatives or more than 50% at a referendum. They are contained in the Electoral Act 1993 (and one in the Constitution Act 1986) and relate to:
None of which prevents any future government changing the legislation.
Except that it gets way way way harder to get a 75% vote from MPs than it does to get a 50% vote.
Perhaps you should have a look at how few times a 75% vote is achieved on any legislation in our parliament.
Usually it is only on repair legislation, treaties, MP pensions, and the few bits of legislation enabling referendums, and …. thats about it.
It requires a super majority by both major parties before it can happen in reality. As you can see from the examples given – we really only get entrenched legislation on things of common interest to both major political groups.
Of course it's 'way harder'. But it isn't impossible. The combined value of the water services companies will be huge, and a very tempting proposition for raising money, particularly to pay off debt.
So, now you change your tune from twice “future governments can simply change the law” [my italics] to “Of course it’s ‘way harder’”.
In my view, you are a disingenuous commenter who does not come here in good faith and who sucks away a lot of oxygen, in fact way too much oxygen.
"So, now you change your tune from twice “future governments can simply change the law” [my italics] to “Of course it’s ‘way harder’”."
You have difficulty with comprehension. The word simply doesn't always mean something is simple, does it? Here's an example – 'if someone continues to ignore you, you can simple ignore them'. Get it now?
Yes, I get that you like to waste good people’s time here and that you’re pretty good at it too. As a Moderator I’m always concerned about obtuse commenters who monopolise the discourse here and who clearly show no sign of letting up. Let’s see if your reading comprehension is up to it and if you can parse this.
PS to write “… you can simple ignore them” is not cute. Perhaps you could pay more attention to what others are saying instead of ignoring them and/or fobbing them off. And believe me, I won’t ignore you.
"You have difficulty with comprehension."
A step too far, imo.
LibertyBelle, Incognito, is, in my opinion, giving you, and us, the run-around 🙂
N is currently in no position to refuse anything as they are not the government. Labour a single majority – they can do as they like.
It is easy to blame N – after all they are whom they are, but currently all they can do is bark.
Yep, NAct bark is worse that its bite; voters decide how soon that changes.
My understanding is that in order to entrench a clause to say 75% vote in order to ensure its longevity, that 75% must vote for it. Labour would need National approval and its vote to achieve that.
"Standing Orders provide that an entrenched provision should be adopted by the House only by the vote which would be required for the amendment or repeal of the provision being entrenched. " https://gg.govt.nz/office-governor-general/roles-and-functions-governor-general/constitutional-role/constitution (two paragraphs from the end of the document!)
Even more reasons to revile the current occupation of Ukraine.
From Nature Magazine.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02219-4?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=0ee1356685-briefing-dy-20220816&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-0ee1356685-47041915
”Even a small conflict in which two nations unleash nuclear weapons on each other could lead to worldwide famine, research suggests. Soot from burning cities would encircle the planet and cool it by reflecting sunlight back into space. This, in turn, would cause global crop failures that — in a worst-case scenario — could put five billion people on the brink of death. The research is the latest in a decades-long thought experiment about the global consequences of nuclear war. It seems especially relevant today as Russia’s war against Ukraine has disrupted global food supplies, underscoring the far-reaching impacts of a regional conflict. “
Toby Curtis dead. "Sir" if you go along with such honours.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/te-arawa-leader-sir-toby-curtis-dies-at-home-in-rotorua/FXUCJIIDPFCUS6TXINZ2V7EORA/
This is the same Toby Curtis that expressed disappointment that his nephews were found guilty of murdering Nia Glassie rather than being found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
This is the same Toy Curtis who spoke about the shame the Curtis family would have to endure as they visited marae around the rohe. Yes….he did give the impression that it was an untoward burden of shame…rather than one richly deserved.
This is the same Toby Curtis, who described the murder of Nia Glassie as "…just one of those things."
I vividly remember this particular interview I have involuntarily snorted every time in the past 14 years he has been introduced as 'Highly respected Te Arawa kaumatua.'
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/11279/child%27s-death-just-one-of-those-things-killers%27-family
Losing faith in Colin Dann-
sits there and lets Luxon pontificate about how they, the principled party, believe voters should choose the MPs, when his party is currently in the middle of a scandal where they kept information from voters so they could not choose properly on full information.
From today’s Morning Report.
https://elections.nz/assets/Party-rules/national-party-rules-and-constitution.pdf
Candidate selection rules Rules 87-118 apply.
Rule 98. (a)
A pre-selection committee shall be convened in all Electorates at the closing of nominations, subject to Rule 97 (a).
(b) The purpose of the pre-selection committee is to:
So, Luxon believes voters should choose the MPs? Who chooses the candidates?
Agree with you newsense, the conflating of the Waka jumping law by Luxon with “National supports letting the voters choose MP's" was never challenged by Corin Dann either. Kim Hill would have though.
I know poor old Luxy had a tough interview with Susie a week or two back, but given the background of these couple of weeks and couple of years of candidate selection it’s worse than softball.
Quite clear the selection team knew about Uffindell and thought he was fine. Why?
Labour on current polling even to get a shot at government needs the Greens to be stronger, the Maori Party to be stronger, and any other help.
So presumably now if Ardern really wants power in a third term, she has some deals to stitch:
– Labour agrees not to oppose Gaurav Sharma in Hamilton West, and he agrees to support Labour in the party vote. Or Labour just agrees to let his LEC select him.
– Labour agrees not to oppose Chloe Swarbrick in Auckland Central
– Labour agrees not to stand Tamati Coffey against Rawiri Waititi
– Labour agrees not to stand a candidate in Te Tai Hauaru against Debbie Ngarewa-Packer
As the polls get deeper the list will need to be added to.
National will probably be eyeing up having a decent crack at the Hamilton West seat next election.
I'm sure they will Jimmy….but as you know it is the party vote that counts.
No. The electorate vote (FPP) is what elects a local MP (in Hamilton West or any other electorate).
The party vote only matters for the list seats.
I highly doubt that Labour will win Hamilton West. They won in 2020 due to the Jacinda bounce – but hadn't won the seat for the previous 15 years.
Unless there is a major reversal of current polling it would seem one that National would likely win – even without the Sharma situation.
Agreed Bella-sorry I didn't make my post clear.
Of course it is the electorate vote that elects individuals in electorates but it is the percentage party vote that dictates the number of MP's per each party ends up with, assuming a party gets at least 5% or has one or more electorate seat.
(And there can be overhang seats too)
More than a crack, there was a line of thinking that Dr Sharma kicked the whole thing off after noting that Hamilton West was very likely going back to the National candidate next time.
Tamati Coffey can stand all he wants, he will not win a thing.
that's a big cultural shift for a party that prides itself on standing someone in every electorate, and which has eschewed such strategy in the past. Do you think it's likely?
Think Sharma is unlikely, as he doesn't have a realistic chance of winning against National, especially without the Labour machine behind him.
Definitely worth considering the other two scenarios, to benefit TPM and Greens. Although Labour has always firmly rejected this kind of accommodation in the recent past.
And would have to put those candidates not standing in a very winnable place on the party list (which might be a tense negotiation – especially with Helen White in Ak Central), or parachute them into a post-parliamentary career (cf Louisa Wall)
The way the polls are ATM, the Greens don't need the accommodation in Ak Central – they have sufficient polling support to get into parliament, independently.
TPM require an electorate seat, unless they hit the 5% threshold (which seems unlikely at the moment). I don't know enough about the personalities and the politics in the individual Maori electorates, to know if TPM candidate is already the front-runner – so whether a Labour concession is worth-while for them.
Is the Taxpayers Poll being discussed? 17 August:
https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/taxpayer_update_new_poll_peter_williams_podcast_mp_whistleblower
Thanks Ianmac-I hadn’t seen that and the media doesn't seem to be talking about the Taxpayers Union Poll.
Perhaps this is because it shows Lab/Gr/MP getting 62 seats and so being able to form a government.
Doubt it. All polls have been keenly addressed to date – and the media have regularly led with TPM holding the 'balance of power'.
Suspect it's just that Sharma has sucked all the political oxygen over the last few days, as Uffindell did previously.
As this seems to be dying down now, I'd expect regular transmission to resume.
My $0.02 worth: I think all polls with a difference of less than 3% are within the margin of error, and too close to call (been saying this consistently for months)
Never ever rely solely (or blindly) on (NZ) MSM. If you like to see just the poll numbers without the ‘interpretation’ of the usual suspects in NZ MSM and political pundits with the inevitable associated bias then go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_New_Zealand_general_election
It is very up to date 🙂
I knew there was a Taxpayer Poll out but couldn't find it on The Herald. Why not?
And even on the Taxpayers page the seem to dodge the numbers leaving it in broad graphs. But they are not biased are they?
Doesn't suit their agreed agenda BG? Now if it had been the other way round… Luxon was soaring and Arderrn plummeting then it would have knocked the Sharma drama, and the Uffindell upset completely off the news circuit. It may even have forced the raging torrents of water flooding villages and towns in the Sth. Island into second place. 👿
Media have frequently reported these polls (both with Labour ahead and with National ahead, as well as with TMP holding the balance of power – as they do in this one).
To ascribe this as not being reported, because it doesn't fit an 'agenda' is pretty far gone along the conspiracy theory path.
And, indeed, a quick search of the news headlines finds an article in the Herald, released at 11:18 this morning.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/poll-national-and-leader-christopher-luxon-drop-labour-overtakes-in-new-poll/NOLDDJMIMBHUZPPHZV22XP5XFA/
Thanks Belladonna though I just had a look again online and apart from your link I still couldn't find it. Certainly not front and centre.
Google search: poll today nz – has it as the first result in the hit list.
It's not hard….
NZ herald Politics section has it on the front page, too
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/
Google searches are tailored to each individual user, i.e., your ‘hits’ will be (slightly?) different from anybody else’s ‘hits’. It also depends on whether one limits to NZ only or all countries, for example. That said, the NZH is also the first result (“20 hours ago”) of my search using Google.
Yeah, I know that Google relevance rankings use an arcane art to weigh results. But working on the assumption that commenters here are both interested in politcs and in NZ – you're pretty likely to get the same results for a political search.
Bollocks Belladonna. I know you have a high opinion of your abilities, but many of us here are experienced and politically very aware. Being lectured by you about some aspects that we have known for years might be amusing, but is not always a pathway to good conversations.
Bearded Git @ 9.1 knows I was being facetious with a tinge of humour thrown in. TS regulars are well versed in such banter. Suggest you read and learn before leaping in with your criticism. It only lead to equally negative responses.
Many of the commenters on TS are, indeed, highly experienced and politically very aware.
Poorly informed claims that the media are biased, however, aren't either funny or clever. And, in fact, they are dangerous…. (if you can't figure out why, I'm happy to discuss further)
Using emoticons or emojis doesn't excuse you from mis-representing the facts. Although it might pay to stick to ones where you're certain of the meaning, and equally certain it won't be misunderstood.
The occasional apology – when you get something wrong – wouldn't exactly go amiss. Doubling down, when you're called on something, also 'leads to negative responses'
On that note Bella I accept now that the Herald did report the TU poll prominently.
Having said that it's report that the MP would be the "kingmaker" appears somewhat biased when in fact they would be the queenmaker.
And correct me if I am wrong but Griffin's RNZ has given this poll no air time at all?
Sorry, don't have enough time in my day to listen to radio & know whether or not it was covered in any of the programmes.
The RNZ politics page has a grand total of 3 political links dated the 17th on the main page (page viewed 10 am 18/8)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political
* Govt orders review of RSE scheme
* Luxon still against waka jumping legislation amid Uffindell inquiry
* Sharma remains under threat of expulsion (really a re-hash of the day before, for those who get their news in the morning)
Seems a fairly balanced list of topics: both right and left getting some airtime, and a big government-initiated investigation into a topic of significance.
Oh and btw, that is why we add emoticons. It is to show we are not always being strictly serious. See, you've learnt something.
.
Left & Right blocs essentially neck-and-neck … TPM holding balance.
Luxon's initial fall in popularity didn't affect National's ratings, now it's beginning to.
While NZF is only rating 2.6%, Winston almost doubles his personal popularity to 4.2% … suggesting a pool of voters who are currently unsure of their party support but prefer Winnie as PM (possibly indicating some latent NZF support that may manifest over the next year).
Indicating they are not accepting of either major party ….or a plague on both their houses.
"…a pool of voters who are currently unsure of their party support but prefer Winnie as PM (possibly indicating…") their complete detachment from reality?
Peters is still well below Seymour in preferred PM league.
I think we can all agree that the rats-and-mice numbers at the bottom are just about name recognition in those surveyed, rather than signifying any real support. Especially as those indicating they would vote for NZF remain around 2.5% (as they have all year) well shy of the 5% threshold.
Ardern and Luxon are the only ones that matter here.
Ardern will be hoping that the uptick in popular support for her, personally, will spill over into Labour votes, too.
..
Irrelevant to the question of whether or not the doubling of his personal rating (making it almost twice as high as current committed NZF supporters) indicates a latent potential pool of support for NZF.
..
Nope … NZF support in Curia-Taxpayers Polls (2022):
Jan 0.9 … Feb 1.5 … March 1.8 … April 1.7 … May 1.8 … June 2.3 … July 2.8 … Aug 2.6.
..
NZF has made a bit of a habit of outperforming the polls. Not in 2020 … but certainly in election campaigns where Labour's support is down on the previous election (NZF outperforming both in terms of the immediate pre-election polls and, even more so, the polls more than a year out … which is where we are at the moment).
..
Ardern is down slightly in this latest Curia-Taxpayers Poll.
Apologies, I was looking at the general trend, here – which has her with a sharp tick up. I gather you were measuring against the previous CT poll?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_New_Zealand_general_election
Re Peters. I don't think that doubling support, when the figures are so low, is really meaningful. It would be well within the margin of error.
Poll results at the margins (below about 3%) are notoriously inaccurate.
NZF made a habit of outperforming polls when voters believed that Peters would go with the larger party, and be a handbrake on them. After 2017, I don't think that many voters would trust him to do that.
Future polls will show if you're right. If there's an upward trend for NZF – then, you have my concession in advance. 🙂
However, I do think that many people (those who aren't firm party voters), tend to select the 'person' they like for the leader category, but are generally more influenced by policies (or what's going right or wrong for them in an economic/political sense) when deciding which 'party' to vote for.
[That's just my opinion, BTW, I don't have anything from polling companies to back it up]
For your education:
https://www.colmarbrunton.co.nz/1-news-poll/
Thank you for the data.
This is an older article, but I think it does articulate well, why small percentage point differences in poll results aren't particularly accurate or useful.
It does use American examples – but AFAIK NZ polling uses the same statistical sampling methodology.
There is a tendency in the media and elsewhere to look at a 1% percentage change as 'real news', when actually it's within the margin of error, and may simply be statistical 'noise'
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/upshot/when-you-hear-the-margin-of-error-is-plus-or-minus-3-percent-think-7-instead.html
Yes Winston is a worry Sword…he will probably go with Luxon next time IMHO.
I still believe National will replace Luxon before the election. They would be crazy not to. Every Wednesday morning is Jacinda's birthday. An election campaign is non-stop Wednesday mornings.
See the preferred PM polling from 2005 to 2008. Luxon is Brash, not Key. Why try and win with a self-imposed handicap?
I don't know if they have a Key, or an Ardern – maybe Willis would be the closest. But Luxon definitely isn't, that comparison has never made any sense.
So anyway … National caucus, please ignore the above. Luxon's the man!
Willis is smart enough – but not long on charisma. This is also Luxon's weakness. Key could fake a bit of bonhomie, but the only Gnat with any charisma at all is Bishop, whose intellect, sadly, always makes us recall the opening lines of this song.
I don't think Luxon is at all secure, though there is no obvious successor – and National will be very wary of any further instability (the post-Bridges history is a dreadful warning….)
I think that the next poll or two will be critical. If the National vote stabilizes or rises – they won't really care about Luxon's personal popularity, too much.
They won't ditch Luxon. They will simply media train him within an inch of his life and tell him to play it safe.
I do think Luxon doubling down on the tax cuts for the rich (39% rate gone, bright line test back to 2 years) are a huge mistake and a gift to Labour.
.
More Clark vs Brash in the run-up to the 2005 Election … which was close.
And a cunning TPU question heading with:"Most Voters want the Government to cut taxes."
Next the TU will be asking turkeys "Do you support Christmas?"
But a recent poll showed that 65 % didn't want tax cuts. So was that Taxpayers question a defensive move to soften the Luxon Stand?
Both can be true.
Personally i am not for tax cuts at the upper end of income. I would prefer the first 10 – 25 grand to be made tax free as that would support low income workers, pensioneers and beneficiaries most as they would fall into this group.
Maybe it depends were the cutting happens?
Maybe you are right ianmac, but Luxon has recently doubled down on tax cuts as I said above.
Good afternoon Moderator
I am following Lynn's instructions to advise you that I have changed my email address.
It used to be a [deleted] email.
Thanks.
Thanks for the note and you’re all good to go using the new e-mail address from now on. Your avatar will be different though.