The Green Party candidate list reveals the membership is happy with its current MPs and that a small group of left-wing party members did not have much influence.
The "small group" need to now be expelled from the Green party – their disruption was clearly designed to damage their own party and as such they fail the most basic tests for party discipline. Their should be consequences for that and expulsion is the most obvious.
Labour need to do a deal to give Chloe Swarbrick a clear run at Auckland Central. A victory for the Greens there would give them a lifeboat, and the Labour + Green vote would have a great chance of turfing out the National Party's deputy leader.
Why Nelson? Just do the simple arithmetic of adding up the leftish party votes and rightish party votes to see if there's any chance at all of making a deal work. Not a chance of making it happen in Nelson.
It will be tough enough getting a few Green voters to vote strategically to turf out Smith, let alone trying to get almost all Labour voters to vote for the Green candidate.
It will be tough enough getting a few Green voters to vote strategically to turf out Smith
Not necessarily. Last year the Greens received a large donation on the condition they used it to try and unseat dr. custard (aka nick smith). This year it will be different, there will be strategic voting. The Nelson race will be close, but I'm predicting nick will lose his seat this time to Labour, if only by a slim margin. Looking forward to it 🙂
I read the other day after his candidature was announced, the new geologist candidate (name forgotten), state he was focussing on the party vote in Nelson.
Yeah. Last time Boyack plus Lawrey was around 22k votes, vs 17k for the Nat candidate (what was his name?). So it wouldn't take much strategic voting to install a Labour candidate into that seat. Plus, haven't there been boundary changes that should be favourable to Labour?
Yes, the boundary change, good point. Nelson electorate has lost Brightwater (Dr custard's old stomping ground). Brightwater has now moved to the West Coast-Tasman electorate, and that will make a difference.
That is a good thing. But getting back to the topic of electorates, is that likely to pull in more Green voters or Labour or NZF voters into the electorate.
Brightwater is a blue town, with a bit of red. I'm guessing nick will lose out on up to 1,000 votes with the boundary change. Enough to make a difference on the night.
At a guess those blue person votes from Brightwater will be split between maureen pugh and Damien. Damien has quite a bit of respect from national party voters, it's not uncommon in West Coast-Tasman for national voters to vote Labour for the person (Damien).
I'd be really surprised if NZ 1st stood a strong candidate in Nelson or the WC-Tasman seat, they haven't in the past.
It will be a straight out red v's blue for Nelson re the person vote. With a strong Green party vote.
Brightwater is a blue town, with a bit of red. I'm guessing nick will lose out on up to 1,000 votes with the boundary change. Enough to make a difference on the night.
I've had a quick look & I'd say losing Brightwater will shave off less than 400 from Smithy's majority. Would only make a difference in an extremely tight race.
[That’s the Candidate Vote margin … in terms of the Party Vote profile – the Nats take 50%., while the Govt Bloc Parties as a whole take 45% … so i would have to say a relatively Pale Blue sort of a town]
Why Auckland Central? The combined Labour and Green party votes weren't much more than the Nat vote. Trying to divert Labour voters to Swarbrick is more likely to split the vote and let Kaye win again. Anyways, better to turf her out cleanly without any hint of dodgy deals.
Whereas Wellington Central and Dunedin North have a combined Labour and Green party vote nearly double the Nat party vote.
Ok. In 2017 the party votes in Auckland Central were: Nat 11773, Lab 11340, Green 4170, TOP 944, Winston1st 1165. (Note that Kaye's personal vote was 13198; she picked up a lot of non-Nat personal support)
Let's make the heroic assumptions that 10% of the Nat party vote swings to Labour (20% swing to Labour), that 1/2 of Labour voters will "take orders", the Green and NZ1st vote share holds, all TOP goes to Labour, half NZ1st goes to the Labour candidate.
For party votes that will be 10600 ish to Nat, 13500ish to Labour, 4200ish Greens plus rats and mice.
Divvy those up among the candidates as wildly optimistically fantasised above, and Kaye gets 11000 ish votes (Nat plus ACT, no NZ1st vote, no personal loyalty vote to Kaye), Greens candidate 10900ish votes, Labour candidate gets 7000ish.
Whereas, assume a small swing to Labour and that a decent chunk of Greens party voters use their heads and vote for the Labour candidate, then Kaye is solidly a list MP rather than an electorate MP. Which would do wonders for her cred as deputy leader.
Yes. But an electorate deal to persuade Labour party voters to strategically vote for a Greens candidate to give the Greens party a lifeboat is more likely to be successful where there is already a very strong Greens party vote, and an overwhelming Labour plus Greens dominance over the Nats.
Those conditions are not met in Auckland Central or Nelson, but they are met in Wellington Central and Dunedin North.
Replace Shaw, Sage and Swarbrick, and the Greens would no longer be green. And would then travel the route of other "activist left" parties such as Alliance, Mana etc.
Of those on the Green list only Eugenie Sage is ranked in the top 10 with any "Green" credentials. Not sure how you include the other 2 when it is not even important enough to include in the bio any. Not a mention of anything "Green" in Chloe Swarbrick's background !!! So who in the party is concerned with environment ?? Perhaps those who have left ??
Labour need to do a deal to give Chloe Swarbrick a clear run at Auckland Central.
You must be joking. Trying to herd voters simply doesn’t work unless there is a already a 3 way split because a small minority will either heed the advice or decide to do it themselves. The Green vote in Auckland Central was ~2.3k odd last time. Labour was ~11.5. National was ~13k.
The Labour candidate is White who got that vote – who will have been doing the electorate work and face-to-face since becoming a MP off the list – which is essentially how you win electorate seats. I hadn’t noticed Swarbrick around much. That is a problem when dealing with a electorate seat. Kaye has been maintaining her usual level of work in the electorate. But it hasn’t been anything to write home about.
Basically you’re must be dreaming. Usually the maximum number of people shifting will be a few thousand at best unless there is a pretty piss-poor candidate. All a ‘deal’ in Auckland central will do is to increase Kayes majority. There is a good chance that a swing to Labour generally will flip that seat anyway.
The probability of neither Labour nor the Greens winning the seat will rise massively in the event of the type of deal you’re looking for. The Green vote would go up to something like 3.5-4.5k – well short of majority. It will consist almost entirely of Green split voters who party voted Green last time and electorate voted Labour.
You need to look at electorates that have a 3 way split. Offhand, I don’t know of an electorate. Even Nelson isn’t good for a Green electorate seat: Smith ~16.7k, Boyack (candidate again) ~12.4k, and Lawrey trailing well way behind at 9.7k. The Green party vote was only ~3.1k so it is likely that the split voting was pretty intense.
Is the Chinese government a client of Exceltium PR? I only ask because I want to know if Matthew Hooton, the $2 dollar store Dominic Cummings to the watered down ScoMo, is getting paid by China to tell Toddy what to do.
Brownlee's mascot could be Rolling Rosa. Rosa features an innovative self-righting design that allows …. to track Rosa's face as she spins, always landing with her smile facing up.
It would be educational for Muller plus with soothing sounds designed 'to stimulate auditory development'.
People go on about Labour and the Greens being killjoy wowsers, but you have Paulo Garcia, who think sex should only be for making babies, and having any pleasure from it is verboten.
And how many creationists are in there? No wonder there was such a huge support for charter schools, it was all about giving young NZers are creationist diet and purging any mention of Darwin from large parts of the education system, along with the perodic table, etc.
Jacinda was live. giving an interview when the quake struck, she remained positive, up-beat, unrattled and calm. She was awesome and impressive.
After which mark richardson had a crack at her, because she wasn't scared and she kept it together.
Now the herald are reporting nats at the beehive scrambled and hid under a table.
Everyone behaves differently during a crisis, some keep it together and re-assure others and some hide under a table. Earthquake responses this morning by our politicians spoke volumes.
To be fair Cinny, if the roles were reversed you would be having a go at the Nats for not following Civil Defence guidelines with respect to earthquakes.
Muller just interviewed by Kathryn Ryan…considerably better than Bridges but nothing to write home about….he will need to improve to make inroads…the same old attack lines and no substance
I felt similarly, but view it as natural caution. Can't go wrong adhering to the established party line. If that rumour is correct (that he only won by a single vote) then he will be aware that he has to win support for any new National plan before sketching that in public.
His main theme seemed to be “trust us we’re National”. That and bagging Cabinet Ministers under Ardern. Kaye was banging on along the same lines so definitely a pre-organised attack line. I suppose we should be pleased they’ve finally figured out that belittling the PM isn’t going to wash.
I listened to that broadcast as well Pat. At just after 9am, Kathryn Ryan asked a basic question re when did Muller first consider challenging the Natz leadership. It took her three attempts to get some sort of a response from him, even then Ryan caught him out in a lie. To me Muller seemed to be more interested in promoting himself than answering questions.
At this rate, Jacinda should have a field day during the election leaders' debates.
"It is a very different picture to that memorable North & South front page of just over three years ago. Half of the high ranking candidates on the cover are gone. The magazine itself is gone, too." John Hart, the farmer, gone. Alienated by leftists, I bet.
Hayley Holt, gone. I was sorry to see a brief media report recently that she'd lost her baby – had wondered at her disappearance from the TVNZ breakfast show – so wish her a speedy bounce back from that trauma.
"Perhaps more of a time warp, however, is the cover line: “Is the once ‘loony left’ ready to rule (and should we be afraid)?” For plenty of Greens – voters, members, and even some in caucus – the question is have they been loony, or at least loud, enough?"
"The Greens: we are the only ones that can achieve a true transformative tilt." Yeah, valid for the party as a whole but not for our parliamentarians, who continue to shirk that task.
Just read on 3news website the government has announced a $500pw tax free payment, for 12 weeks, for those laid off between March and October. Comes in 8th June and not backdated, and you have to be looking for work or training.
The wage subsidy should have shown clearly that the unemployment benefits for anyone on unemployement – not just hte current and growing expected wave of jobless – should get at the very minimum 585 $ (before tax 🙂 ) every week to maintain a semblance of normal life, i.e. pay rent, groceries and electricity.
Agree. Would have applauded any government that rebuilt from a solid base – from the ground up, rather attempting to provide support from the middle upwards. Doesn't look like I'll be clapping anytime soon.
The $490 for certain Covid related unemployed is useful of course, but has just put off the day of reckoning for Labour with the institutional neo liberalism of WINZ/MSD. Those Depts are punishment mazes and the Govt. knows it. Newbies do not cope well, or necessarily get the miserly assistance they seek.
Two tier unemployment payments, Covid and “Jobseeker” reinforce the “deserving/undeserving” tenet of state payments beloved of monetarist theory.
Some employers refused to apply for the subsidy, instead they gave their employee's two weeks notice of their intention to use their employees annual leave for their wages over lock down. Some of those employee's may have or did have very little accrued leave and they suffered over lock-down as a result.
Upon return to work, those employee's were told they were no longer tenable.
This is good news for them, as it was to no fault of those employee's that their employers decided against taking the subsidy.
And yes, benefits need to be increased. Living wage please and thank you.
AFAIK, the annual leave could only be used WITH the agreement of the employee. (My partner spent much of his first couple of weeks at home dealing with this issue, while working with the business owner in trying to maintain full pay for all the staff.) Those that agreed took annual leave in the final week of lockdown.
Yes they do need to streamline the WINZ//MSD . But look at the politics of it. The three months will be up for extension shortly before the election. Would Nact extend if they won – takes the election battleground to social welfare and gets its off tax increases for the wealthy.
I think this is a good small step towards a better social security system. I'd love this to be bigger and bolder, but it's still more than nothing.
I also think this is very politically astute – start with a step that should be uncontroversial, extend later, go into the election with a bigger policy piece, win the election, and by the time National see the front bench again, it's the new normal.
Hosking: "The key here is, is there a magic? The X-factor? Is there something that transforms him from just another decent person who aspires to lead their party, and therefore their country, into a person who actually attracts votes, turns tides, explains things in a way people get? Is he something or someone that has that magnetic factor that marks you out as different from the rest?"
Then fails to provides any answers. He would no doubt claim that the media does shallow, only, and answers go too deep. But then he does have a go at profound:
I googled "Greens candidate profiles 2020" to see if the GP had performed the elementary political requirement of allowing those interested to get to know those candidates better.
No. No such link to the GP website exists as yet. So the clueless dork syndrome remains in control. Look on the bright side: they have four months to get their act together.
The good news is I've read those profiles and they are available to members – and some of those people would make exceptional parliamentarians. Please don't hide them!
And only Eugenie Sage (ranked 6th) from the current crop background containing anything substantial regarding the environment. No wonder Gaia is screwed.
I wouldn't go that far. If you read Lovelock's books you get a good sense of how resilient Gaia is – as a supersystem. That said, we have dislocated the Holocene, and that was the basis of the economy. Agriculture.
Now that the supersystem is in transition from that stable state to another as yet unknown, we call the interim Antropocene. We will all live & die in that one. Comprehension of this relation between economy and ecology is non-existent – I never encountered anyone in the Green movement who even thought about it. Statism has everyone in a death-grip. Thus we still await an alternative to neoliberalism 30 years after it was obviously dead in the water!
That the members of the GP persist in denial of this fundamental reality is due to human nature: gnosis is too hard, culture is trivial, we must therefore be trite, etc.
Fairfax papers in Australia are suggesting the Federal government over there may allow travel between NZ and individual states, NSW and Victoria while borders between other states remain closed.
That's weird. Aren't victoria & NSW still battling outbreaks whereas NT & Wa are pretty much clean? Is NZ being used by slomo to shore up his political standing?
Probably more likely an effort by the federal government to get the state Labor government’s in WA and Qld to move on opening their borders to interstate travel. At any rate tv news in Australia is reporting Ardern’s comments here this morning saying that NZ was unlikely to open the border unless all of Australia was available for non-quarantined travel for NZers.
"MacDonald is a family man with two daughters, and has lived in the electorate for five years. His background is not that of a traditional Green candidate. He's been a psychotherapist for two decades, helping people with mental health issues and addiction through their troubles with talk therapy."
"MacDonald gained a spot on radio's 'Nutter's Club' show, which has him talking to callers on-air about their problems. The show, started by comedian-turned-advocate Mike King, has a strong following of dedicated listeners. Between 60,000 and 80,000 tune in, which is the largest radio audience for the 11pm to 1am weekend timeslot, MacDonald says."
"MacDonald also wrote a regular column about mental health and drugs, which ended three weeks ago when he announced his candidacy." At #14 on the list, a significant rebound will be required to get him in.
Good discussion on Novara with James Meadway on how to manage the increased government debt racked up during the COVID-19 crisis. I was getting alarmed to hear Bridges, shortly before his replacement, describe the debt as "$80k per household", and more recently Nikki Kaye claiming that young people were concerned at the thought of having to pay the debt back in future through increased taxes.
It seems that National not only poses a threat to public health by wanting to prematurely open borders, but also poses a threat to the economy because of ingrained tendencies towards austerity.
Stuff have been sold by nine. Be very interesting to see if they are going to try to be genuinely NZ or whether this is a front for a wealthy individuals. Hoping for the former, be wise for the government to now bung them a relief package ., heck I'd subscribe again if they stopped being a Nact mouthpiece
Siebert arrived at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago three days later as the new U.S. restrictions — including mandatory medical screenings — went into effect. He encountered crowds of people packed in tight corridors, stood in lines in which he snaked past other travelers for nearly five hours and tried to direct any cough or sneeze into his sleeve.
When he finally reached the coronavirus checkpoint near baggage pickup, Siebert reported his prior symptoms and described his exposure in Spain. But the screeners waved him through with a cursory temperature check. He was given instructions to self-isolate that struck him as absurd given the conditions he had just encountered at the airport.
“I can guarantee you that people were infected” in that transatlantic gantlet, said Siebert, who tested positive for the virus two days later in Chicago. “It was people passing through a pinhole.”
Jack Tame had him over a barrel when he asked the question about there being no-one of Maori descent in his Shadow Cabinet. He didn't see it coming and tried to cover up by extolling the virtues of Shane Reti who comes in at 16 on the list.
How astounding that he didn't even consider how it would look having only pale, stale Pakehas in his line-up.
Q & A interview? Yeah, that was painful. Todd, toast.
As I said on Friday, Muller did well in his first round of interviews on Day 1, but now we've got past the soft "introduce yourself" and moved on to "what are your policies?".
His policy platform appears to be "saying Amy Adams a lot".
Yes. Watching the whole of Todd;s responses to Jack's questioning and it was worse even than earlier speeches. I know I am biased but truly I was expecting Todd to be able telling us that since the Government is failing, he could offer a light on how he would rescue the Small Business owners. He could only repeatedly tell us how wonderful Amy Adams is but no specifics – at all. Jack tried but it was a no show.
And these folk have been beavering away at this plan for months and should be ready to Wow.
Wish I had of watched it! Have just listened to his interview with Kathryn Ryan this morning and what a bore he is. One of these "we could do it better" with no good evidence for why. And it turns out they don't have a plan. He will begin to sound very boring and arrogant soon……..How long will Amy think it ok to play second fiddle to him and and wait, what! more excitement… Simon's back! Happy days
I guess Todd is obliged to give it a jolly good go but if I was him I'd find it hard not to feel like a caretaker, a guy to wave the flag until Florence Nightengale wanes.
I wonder if Jacinda has positioned us to be global destination darlings.
We haven't found a vaccine for the common cold. We suppress Aids, we're yet to find a vaccine, I'm not holding my breath for the arrival of a Covid-19 job.
Looking at the complexity of mutations to date, looks like a moving target to me.
I think the healing component most likely to become fail-safe first are speedy accurate testing regimes.
If we have none here and we have a speedy 100% accurate test at our borders. It's the 60+ that have big holiday $ to spend. The most Covid threatened.
I think we could easily make it to the top of many dream destination wish-lists around the world. Not kids in a van pooing in our carparks. Those that pay $200 for a personal guided tour of a marae.
Wish I had of watched it! Have just listened to his interview with Kathryn Ryan this morning and what a bore he is. One of these "we could do it better" with no good evidence for why. And it turns out they don't have a plan. He will begin to sound very boring and arrogant soon……..How long will Amy think it ok to play second fiddle to him and and wait, what! more excitement… Simon's back! Happy days
Everyone has nice scenery. We have lots of it but it's not special.
What makes NZ unique is Maori.
I think the rebuild of an elevated $ return per guest tourism industry should revolve around them. With a 60+ punter, they're over being drunk and chasing skirt, they want to taste the culture.
I think it would be a nice way for us of a colonial extraction to say "Thanks for sharing."
Huawei are running utube videos featuring US executives that sing their praises.
As the world slides over to 5G….
The thrust of the argument being put forward by this American Huawei executive was "We are a private company, the Chinese government have nothing whatsoever to do with our business."
A few weeks ago I watched an interview with the American manager of a 3M factory in China. They make masks for their parent company, the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company. 3M, those guys on the board at Wall Street. They were visited and informed "All of your output will stay here in China."
When the largest company in China says "Oh no, we have nothing to do with the CCP.",,,, oxymoron.
hold on carmel sepuloni is reforming the welfare system.After the election,so in the mean time all you unemployed can look on the new unemployed with envy and imagine if the government treated everyone fairly.
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..From: Frank MacskasySent: Tuesday, 25 February 2025 12:37 PMTo: Brooke van Velden <Brooke.vanVelden@parliament.govt.nz>Subject: Destiny Church/GangKia Ora Ms Van Velden,Not sure if you're checking this email account, but on the off-chance you are, please add my voice to removing Destiny Church/Gang's charity status.I've enquired about what charities do, and harassing and ...
The Australian government’s underreaction to China’s ongoing naval circumnavigation of Australia is a bigger problem than any perceived overreaction in public commentary. Some politicisation of the issue before a general election is natural in a ...
Oh hi, Chris Luxon here, just touching base to cover off an issue about Marie Antoinette.Let me be clear. I never said she ate Marmite sandwiches and I honestly don’t know how people get hold of some of these ideas. I’m here to do one thing and one thing only: ...
Artificial intelligence is becoming commonplace in electoral campaigns and politics across Southeast Asia, but the region is struggling to regulate it. Indonesia’s 2024 general election exposed actual harms of AI-driven politics and overhyped concerns that ...
The StrategistBy Karryl Kim Sagun Trajano and Adhi Priamarizki
The Commerce Commission is investigating Wellington Water after damning reports into its procurement processes. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says parents who are dissatisfied with the new school lunch programme should “make a marmite sandwich and put an apple in a bag”. Health Minister Simeon Brown says overseas clinicians may be ...
Ruled Out:The AfD, (Alternative für Deutschland) branded “Far Right” by Germany’s political mainstream, has been ostracised politically. The Christian Democrats (many of whose voters support the AfD’s tough anti-immigration stance) have ruled out any possibility of entering into a coalition with the radical-nationalist party.THAT THERE HAS BEEN A SHIFT towards the ...
School lunches plagued with issues as Luxon continues to defend Seymour Today, futher reports on “an array of issues” with school lunches as the “collective nightmare” for schools continues. An investigation is underway from the Ministries of Primary Industries after melted plastic was consumed by kids in Friday’s school lunches ...
Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis tour a factory. Photo: NZMEMountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Last week, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Mike Hoskings that nurses could easily replace general practitioners (GPs) - a ...
When National cancelled the iRex ferry contract out of the blue in a desperate effort to make short-term savings to pay for their landlord tax cuts, we knew there would be a cost. Not just one to society, in terms of shitter ferries later, but one to the government, which ...
The risk of China spiralling into an unprecedentedly prolonged recession is increasing. Its economy is experiencing deflation, with the price level falling for a second consecutive year in 2024, according to recent data from the ...
You know he got the cureYou know he went astrayHe used to stay awakeTo drive the dreams he had awayHe wanted to believeIn the hands of loveHands of loveSongwriters: Paul David Hewson / Adam Clayton / Larry Mullen / Dave Evans.Last night, I saw a Labour clip that looked awfully ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson One month into the new Trump administration, firings of scientists and freezes to U.S. research funding have caused an unprecedented elimination of scientific expertise from the federal government. Proposed and ongoing cuts to agencies like the National ...
Counter-productive cost shifting: The Government’s drive to reduce public borrowing and costs has led to increases in rates, fees and prices (such as Metlink’s 43% increase for off-peak fares) that in turn feed into consumer price inflation. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, my top six news items ...
China’s not-so-subtle attempt at gunboat diplomacy over the past two weeks has encountered various levels of indignation in Australia and throughout the region. Many have pointed out that the passage of a three-ship naval task ...
The left — or the center left, in more fragmented multi-party systems like New Zealand — are faced with what they feel is an impossible choice: how to run a campaign that is both popular enough to be voted on, while also addressing the problems we face? The answer, like ...
Are we feeling the country is in such capable hands, that we can afford to take a longer break between elections? Outside the parliamentary bubble and a few corporate boardrooms, surely there are not very many people who think that voters have too much power over politicians, and exert it ...
Like everyone else outside Russia, I watched Saturday morning's shitshow between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in horror. Sure, the US had already thrown Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's theft of land - but there's a difference between that, and berating someone in front of the ...
With Donald Trump back in the White House, Washington is operating under a hard-nosed, transactional framework in which immediate returns rather than shared values measure alliances. For Australia, this signals a need to rethink its ...
Poor Bangladesh. Life is not easy there. One in five of its people live below the poverty line. Poor Bangladesh. Things would surely be even tougher for them if one billion dollars were disappear from their government’s bank deposits.In 2016, it very nearly happened. Perhaps you've heard of the Lazarus ...
Welcome to the January/February 2025 Economic Bulletin. In the feature article Craig surveys the backwards steps New Zealand has been making on child poverty reduction. In our main data updates, we cover wage growth, employment, social welfare, consumer inflation, household living costs, and retail trade. We also provide analysis of ...
Forty years ago, in a seminal masterpiece titled Amusing Ourselves to Death, US author Neil Postman warned that we had entered a brave new world in which people were enslaved by television and other technology-driven ...
Last month I dug into the appointment of fossil-fuel lobbyist John Carnegie to the board of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. Carnegie was rejected as a candidate in two appointment rounds, being specifically not recommended because he was "likely to relitigate board decisions, or undermine decisions that have been ...
James “Jim“ Grenon, a Canadian private equity investor based in Auckland, dropped ~$10 million on Friday to acquire 9.321% of NZME.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Grenon owns one of the most expensive properties in New ...
Donald Trump and JD Vance’s verbal assault on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office will mark 28 February 2025 as an infamous moment in US and world history. The United States is rapidly ...
Following Our Example: Not even the presence of Chinese warships in the Tasman Sea will generate the sort of diplomatic breach the anti-China lobby has been working so assiduously for a decade to provoke. Too many New Zealanders recall the occasions when a New Zealand frigate has tagged along behind ...
Well you can't get what you wantBut you can get meSo let's set out to sea, love'Cause you are my medicineWhen you're close to meWhen you're close to meSongwriters: Damon Albarn / Jamie Hewlett.Morena, I’m a little out of the loop when it comes to current news stories, which is ...
“Time has come for a four-year term of govt”, or so declared the editorial in yesterday’s Sunday Star-Times. I voted against the idea in the 1990 referendum, and would do so in any conceivable future referendum. If history is anything to go by, a four-year parliamentary term seems a ...
Northern Australia’s liquid fuel infrastructure is the backbone of defence capability, national resilience, and economic prosperity. Yet, it faces mounting pressure from increasing demand, supply chain vulnerabilities and logistical fragilities. Fuel security is not just ...
Labour welcomes Simeon Brown’s move to reinstate a board at Health New Zealand, bringing the destructive and secretive tenure of commissioner Lester Levy to an end. ...
This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill that will ensure employment decisions in the public service are based on merit and not on forced woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ targets. “This Bill would put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. ...
Police have referred 20 offenders to Destiny Church-affiliated programmes Man Up and Legacy as ‘wellness providers’ in the last year, raising concerns that those seeking help are being recruited into a harmful organisation. ...
Te Pāti Māori welcomes the resignation of Richard Prebble from the Waitangi Tribunal. His appointment in October 2024 was a disgrace- another example of this government undermining Te Tiriti o Waitangi by appointing a former ACT leader who has spent his career attacking Māori rights. “Regardless of the reason for ...
Police Minister Mark Mitchell is avoiding accountability by refusing to answer key questions in the House as his Government faces criticism over their dangerous citizen’s arrest policy, firearm reform, and broken promises to recruit more police. ...
The number of building consents issued under this Government continues to spiral, taking a toll on the infrastructure sector, tradies, and future generations of Kiwi homeowners. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Prime Minister to rule out joining the AUKUS military pact in any capacity following the scenes in the White House over the weekend. ...
The Green Party is appalled by the Government’s plan to disestablish Resource Teachers of Māori (RTM) roles, a move that takes another swing at kaupapa Māori education. ...
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...
After months of mana whenua protecting their wāhi tapu, the Green Party welcomes the pause of works at Lake Rotokākahi and calls for the Rotorua Lakes Council to work constructively with Tūhourangi and Ngāti Tumatawera on the pathway forward. ...
New Zealand First continues to bring balance, experience, and commonsense to Government. This week we've made progress on many of our promises to New Zealand.Winston representing New ZealandWinston Peters is overseas this week, with stops across the Middle East and North Asia. Winston's stops include Saudi Arabia, the ...
Green Party Co-Leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have announced the party’s plans to deliver a Green Budget this year to offer an alternative vision to the Government’s trickle-down economics and austerity politics. ...
At this year's State of the Planet address, Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick announced the party’s plans to deliver a Green Budget this year to offer an alternative vision to the Government’s trickle-down economics and austerity politics. ...
The Government has spent $3.6 million dollars on a retail crime advisory group, including paying its chair $920 a day, to come up with ideas already dismissed as dangerous by police. ...
The Green Party supports the peaceful occupation at Lake Rotokākahi and are calling for the controversial sewerage project on the lake to be stopped until the Environment Court has made a decision. ...
ActionStation’s Oral Healthcare report, released today, paints a dire picture of unmet need and inequality across the country, highlighting the urgency of free dental care for all New Zealanders. ...
The Golden Age There has been long-standing recognition that New Zealand First has an unrivalled reputation for delivering for our older New Zealanders. This remains true, and is reflected in our coalition agreement. While we know there is much that we can and will do in this space, it is ...
Labour Te Atatū MP Phil Twyford has written to the charities regulator asking that Destiny Church charities be struck off in the wake of last weekend’s violence by Destiny followers in his electorate. ...
Bills by Labour MPs to remove rules around sale of alcohol on public holidays, and for Crown entities to adopt Māori names have been drawn from the Members’ Bill Ballot. ...
The Government is falling even further behind its promised target of 500 new police officers, now with 72 fewer police officers than when National took office. ...
This morning’s Stats NZ child poverty statistics should act as a wake-up call for the government: with no movement in child poverty rates since June 2023, it’s time to make the wellbeing of our tamariki a political priority. ...
Green Party Co-Leader Marama Davidson’s Consumer Guarantees Right to Repair Amendment Bill has passed its first reading in Parliament this evening. ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
As the world marks three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced additional sanctions on Russian entities and support for Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction. “Russia’s illegal invasion has brought three years of devastation to Ukraine’s people, environment, and infrastructure,” Mr Peters says. “These additional sanctions target 52 ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced the Government’s plan to reform the Overseas Investment Act and make it easier for New Zealand businesses to receive new investment, grow and pay higher wages. “New Zealand is one of the hardest countries in the developed world for overseas people to ...
Associate Health Minister Hon Casey Costello is traveling to Australia for meetings with the aged care sector in Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney next week. “Australia is our closest partner, so as we consider the changes necessary to make our system more effective and sustainable it makes sense to learn from ...
The Government is boosting investment in the QEII National Trust to reinforce the protection of Aotearoa New Zealand's biodiversity on private land, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. The Government today announced an additional $4.5 million for conservation body QEII National Trust over three years. QEII Trust works with farmers and ...
The closure of the Ava Bridge walkway will be delayed so Hutt City Council have more time to develop options for a new footbridge, says Transport Minister Chris Bishop and Mayor of Lower Hutt, Campbell Barry. “The Hutt River paths are one of the Hutt’s most beloved features. Hutt locals ...
Good afternoon. Can I acknowledge Ngāti Whātua for their warm welcome, Simpson Grierson for hosting us here today, and of course the Committee for Auckland for putting on today’s event. I suspect some of you are sitting there wondering what a boy from the Hutt would know about Auckland, our ...
The Government will invest funding to remove the level crossings in Takanini and Glen Innes and replace them with grade-separated crossings, to maximise the City Rail Link’s ability to speed up journey times by rail and road and boost Auckland’s productivity, Transport Minister Chris Bishop and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown ...
The Government has made key decisions on a Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) framework to enable businesses to benefit from storing carbon underground, which will support New Zealand’s businesses to continue operating while reducing net carbon emissions, Energy and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Economic growth is a ...
Minister for Regulation David Seymour says that outdated and burdensome regulations surrounding industrial hemp (iHemp) production are set to be reviewed by the Ministry for Regulation. Industrial hemp is currently classified as a Class C controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act, despite containing minimal THC and posing little ...
The Ministerial Advisory Group on transnational and serious organised crime was appointed by Cabinet on Monday and met for the first time today, Associate Police Minister Casey Costello announced. “The group will provide independent advice to ensure we have a better cross-government response to fighting the increasing threat posed to ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will travel to Viet Nam next week, visiting both Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City, accompanied by a delegation of senior New Zealand business leaders. “Viet Nam is a rising star of Southeast Asia with one of the fastest growing economies in the region. This ...
The coalition Government has passed legislation to support overseas investment in the Build-to-Rent housing sector, Associate Minister of Finance Chris Bishop says. “The Overseas Investment (Facilitating Build-to-Rent Developments) Amendment Bill has completed its third reading in Parliament, fulfilling another step in the Government’s plan to support an increase in New ...
The new Police marketing campaign starting today, recreating the ‘He Ain’t Heavy’ ad from the 1990s, has been welcomed by Associate Police Minister Casey Costello. “This isn’t just a great way to get the attention of more potential recruits, it’s a reminder to everyone about what policing is and the ...
No significant change to child poverty rates under successive governments reinforces that lifting children out of material hardship will be an ongoing challenge, Child Poverty Reduction Minister Louise Upston says. Figures released by Stats NZ today show no change in child poverty rates for the year ended June 2024, reflecting ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the most common family names given to newborns in 2024. “For the seventh consecutive year, Singh is the most common registered family name, with over 680 babies given this name. Kaur follows closely in second place with 630 babies, while ...
A new $3 million fund from the International Conservation and Tourism Visitor Levy will be used to attract more international visitors to regional destinations this autumn and winter, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston says. “The Government has a clear priority to unleash economic growth and getting our visitor numbers ...
Good Evening Let us begin by acknowledging Professor David Capie and the PIPSA team for convening this important conference over the next few days. Whenever the Pacific Islands region comes together, we have a precious opportunity to share perspectives and learn from each other. That is especially true in our ...
The Reserve Bank’s positive outlook indicates the economy is growing and people can look forward to more jobs and opportunities, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Bank today reduced the Official Cash Rate by 50 basis points. It said it expected further reductions this year and employment to pick up ...
Agriculture Minister, Todd McClay and Minister for Māori Development, Tama Potaka today congratulated the finalists for this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy, celebrating excellence in Māori sheep and beef farming. The two finalists for 2025 are Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust and Tawapata South Māori Incorporation Onenui Station. "The Ahuwhenua Trophy is a prestigious ...
The Government is continuing to respond to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care by establishing a fund to honour those who died in care and are buried in unmarked graves, and strengthen survivor-led initiatives that support those in need. “The $2 million dual purpose fund will be ...
A busy intersection on SH5 will be made safer with the construction of a new roundabout at the intersection of SH28/Harwoods Road, as we deliver on our commitment to help improve road safety through building safer infrastructure, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Safety is one of the Government’s strategic priorities ...
The Government is turbo charging growth to return confidence to the primary sector through common sense policies that are driving productivity and farm-gate returns, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “The latest Federated Farmers Farm Confidence Survey highlights strong momentum across the sector and the Government’s firm commitment to back ...
Improving people’s experience with the Justice system is at the heart of a package of Bills which passed its first reading today Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee says. “The 63 changes in these Bills will deliver real impacts for everyday New Zealanders. The changes will improve court timeliness and efficiency, ...
Returning the Ō-Rākau battle site to tūpuna ownership will help to recognise the past and safeguard their stories for the benefit of future generations, Minister for Māori Crown Relations Tama Potaka says. The Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill passed its third reading at ...
A new university programme will help prepare PhD students for world-class careers in science by building stronger connections between research and industry, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “Our Government is laser focused on growing New Zealand’s economy and to do that, we must realise the potential ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today announced funding of more than $14 million to replace the main water supply and ring mains in the main building of Auckland City Hospital. “Addressing the domestic hot water system at the country’s largest hospital, which opened in 2003, is vitally important to ensure ...
The Government is investing $30 million from the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy to fund more than a dozen projects to boost biodiversity and the tourist economy, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. “Tourism is a key economic driver, and nature is our biggest draw card for international tourists,” says ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters will travel to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, China, Mongolia, and the Republic of Korea later this week. “New Zealand enjoys long-standing and valued relationships with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, both highly influential actors in their region. The visit will focus on building ...
Minister for Rail Winston Peters has announced director appointments for Ferry Holdings Limited – the schedule 4a company charged with negotiating ferry procurement contracts for two new inter-island ferries. Mr Peters says Ferry Holdings Limited will be responsible for negotiating long-term port agreements on either side of the Cook Strait ...
Ophthalmology patients in Kaitaia are benefiting from being able to access the complete cataract care pathway closer to home, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. “Ensuring New Zealanders have access to timely, quality healthcare is a priority for the Government. “Since 30 September 2024, Kaitaia Hospital has been providing cataract care ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Prema Arasu, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre, The University of Western Australia David Jara Boguñá / Instagram In February, researchers from conservation organisation Condrik Tenerife were about two kilometres off the coast of Tenerife Island, looking for sharks, when ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – ANALYSIS:By Jonathan Cook If there is one thing we can thank US President Donald Trump for, it is this: he has decisively stripped away the ridiculous notion, long cultivated by Western media, that the United States is a benign ...
A change of hands for some major portfolios and a subtle switch in focus suggest Labour desperately wants to rinse Auckland red.Where has the Labour Party been for the past year? Flying safely under the radar thanks to the endless controversies coming out of the coalition, and recently far ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Youtube/Austvarchive Some 50 years ago, on March 1 1975, Australian television stations officially moved to colour. Networks celebrated the day, known as “C-Day”, with unique slogans such as “come to colour” (ABC ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christina Boedker, Professor, Business School, University of Newcastle Floral Deco/Shutterstock The opposition wants to call time on letting public servants work from home. In a speech to the Menzies Research Institute this week, shadow public service minister Jane Hume said, if ...
A new poem by Maia Armistead. Mention of forest creatures I have never entered a forest. I have never sent stones careening and not heard them fall. I have never let a footprint fill with wild ants and seen it walk off without me. If there is a dark, tangled ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Understanding Te Tiriti by Roimata Smail (Wai Ako Press, $25) Author Kiri Lightfoot says Smail’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca McNaught, Research Fellow, University of Sydney It’s been three years since floods pummelled the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. Now, Cyclone Alfred is heading for the region, threatening devastation once more. On Thursday night and Friday morning, the NSW ...
"The Government’s privatisation agenda has been well and truly exposed in Minister Brown’s priorities," said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi. ...
Analysis: Labour’s reshuffle reflects a more focussed party, but by returning to a diet of bread and butter issues the party risks leaving important issues behind.On Friday, Chris Hipkins delivered his state of the nation address to a business audience at the Auckland Business Chamber. At the same time, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Western Australian state election will be held on Saturday, with polls closing at 9pm AEDT. A Newspoll, conducted February 27 to ...
Float, dance or run to see this spectacular show at the Auckland Arts Festival, but whatever you do, don’t miss it.A realisation of the very best of this country’s creative ambitionIt’s easy to forget the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre at the Aotea Centre, with its three tiers of ...
Featuring some of New Zealand’s acting greats, this confronting new Māori drama will resonate with those familiar with iwi politics.The opening scene of End of the Valley sets the mood for a tense, emotionally charged drama. A distraught Kaea Williams (Matia Mitai) stumbles through the forest at night, desperately ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Camilla Nelson, Associate Professor in Media and Journalism, University of Notre Dame Australia Owen Franken/Corbis via Getty ImagesIn our feminist classics series we revisit influential works. Shere Hite’s The Hite Report was quickly dubbed a “sexual revolution in 600 ...
OANZ has been consistent through its submission and articulating to all political parties and the Government that the best outcome would be to have food and environment exempt from the bill. ...
Analysis: Health Minister Simeon Brown is to bring an end to Lester Levy’s enormously vexed term as Commissioner of Health NZ, and take the first steps to reinstating a governing board.“I promise every New Zealander: we will not stop until our health system delivers timely, quality care to all,” Brown says.Brown ...
Yes, another creature-of-the-year competition – and there’s something fishy going on with this one.If birds and bugs get to have an annual popularity contest, why not fish? For the last few years, the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust run Fish of the Year competition has been a relatively niche ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tara Lind, PhD Candidate, La Trobe University The 2025 AFL season is just around the corner and fans are pondering the big questions: who will play finals? Who will finish in the top four? Who’s getting the wooden spoon? The start ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kai Riemer, Professor of Information Technology and Organisation, University of Sydney HAKINMHAN/Shutterstock What if we told you that artificial intelligence (AI) systems such as ChatGPT don’t actually learn? Many people we talk to are genuinely surprised to hear this. Even ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Hibbert, Honorary Professor, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University Pormezz/Shutterstock Over the past two weeks, the media has reported several cases of serious “adverse events”, where babies, children and an adult experienced harm and ultimately died while receiving care ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Perry, Professor of Education Policy and Comparative Education, Murdoch University Getty Images During the federal election campaign we can expect to hear candidates talk passionately about school funding. This is one of the most contentious areas of education policy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Allen-Franks, Senior Lecturer; Co-director of the New Zealand Centre for Human Rights Law, Policy and Practice and Co-director of the New Zealand Centre for Intellectual Property Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau drante/Getty Images Journalist Paddy Gower’s attempts to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Naomi Lightman, Associate Professor of Sociology, Toronto Metropolitan University As Canada prepares to close the book on the Justin Trudeau era, some will be happy to watch him go. But in Canada’s haste to see him out the door, let’s not forget ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Allison Stanger, Distinguished Endowed Professor, Middlebury Elon Musk has simultaneous control of DOGE and his AI company xAI.AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has secured unprecedented access to at least seven sensitive federal databases, including those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Johnston, Associate Professor, China Studies Centre, University of Sydney Since taking office, US president Donald Trump has implemented policies that have been notably hostile towards China. They include trade restrictions. Most recently, a 20% tariff was added to all imports from ...
The former Auckland mayor’s momentary lapse in judgement has cost him his diplomatic career, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Peters moves fast after comment comes to light It was only a brief question during a post-talk ...
Party releases actual list. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/121610675/election-2020-green-party-list-promotes-hello-boomer-chloe-swarbrick
The "small group" need to now be expelled from the Green party – their disruption was clearly designed to damage their own party and as such they fail the most basic tests for party discipline. Their should be consequences for that and expulsion is the most obvious.
Labour need to do a deal to give Chloe Swarbrick a clear run at Auckland Central. A victory for the Greens there would give them a lifeboat, and the Labour + Green vote would have a great chance of turfing out the National Party's deputy leader.
Is that the safest seat they could do a deal on?
There and Nelson, getting rid of Nikki Kaye and Nick Smith, what is not to like?
Why Nelson? Just do the simple arithmetic of adding up the leftish party votes and rightish party votes to see if there's any chance at all of making a deal work. Not a chance of making it happen in Nelson.
It will be tough enough getting a few Green voters to vote strategically to turf out Smith, let alone trying to get almost all Labour voters to vote for the Green candidate.
Not necessarily. Last year the Greens received a large donation on the condition they used it to try and unseat dr. custard (aka nick smith). This year it will be different, there will be strategic voting. The Nelson race will be close, but I'm predicting nick will lose his seat this time to Labour, if only by a slim margin. Looking forward to it 🙂
I read the other day after his candidature was announced, the new geologist candidate (name forgotten), state he was focussing on the party vote in Nelson.
That's good news 🙂
Yeah. Last time Boyack plus Lawrey was around 22k votes, vs 17k for the Nat candidate (what was his name?). So it wouldn't take much strategic voting to install a Labour candidate into that seat. Plus, haven't there been boundary changes that should be favourable to Labour?
Yes, the boundary change, good point. Nelson electorate has lost Brightwater (Dr custard's old stomping ground). Brightwater has now moved to the West Coast-Tasman electorate, and that will make a difference.
Dr custard was gutted about the boundary change.
That is a good thing. But getting back to the topic of electorates, is that likely to pull in more Green voters or Labour or NZF voters into the electorate.
Brightwater is a blue town, with a bit of red. I'm guessing nick will lose out on up to 1,000 votes with the boundary change. Enough to make a difference on the night.
At a guess those blue person votes from Brightwater will be split between maureen pugh and Damien. Damien has quite a bit of respect from national party voters, it's not uncommon in West Coast-Tasman for national voters to vote Labour for the person (Damien).
I'd be really surprised if NZ 1st stood a strong candidate in Nelson or the WC-Tasman seat, they haven't in the past.
It will be a straight out red v's blue for Nelson re the person vote. With a strong Green party vote.
I've had a quick look & I'd say losing Brightwater will shave off less than 400 from Smithy's majority. Would only make a difference in an extremely tight race.
[That’s the Candidate Vote margin … in terms of the Party Vote profile – the Nats take 50%., while the Govt Bloc Parties as a whole take 45% … so i would have to say a relatively Pale Blue sort of a town]
Why Auckland Central? The combined Labour and Green party votes weren't much more than the Nat vote. Trying to divert Labour voters to Swarbrick is more likely to split the vote and let Kaye win again. Anyways, better to turf her out cleanly without any hint of dodgy deals.
Whereas Wellington Central and Dunedin North have a combined Labour and Green party vote nearly double the Nat party vote.
What about after a 18% swing to the government?
Ok. In 2017 the party votes in Auckland Central were: Nat 11773, Lab 11340, Green 4170, TOP 944, Winston1st 1165. (Note that Kaye's personal vote was 13198; she picked up a lot of non-Nat personal support)
Let's make the heroic assumptions that 10% of the Nat party vote swings to Labour (20% swing to Labour), that 1/2 of Labour voters will "take orders", the Green and NZ1st vote share holds, all TOP goes to Labour, half NZ1st goes to the Labour candidate.
For party votes that will be 10600 ish to Nat, 13500ish to Labour, 4200ish Greens plus rats and mice.
Divvy those up among the candidates as wildly optimistically fantasised above, and Kaye gets 11000 ish votes (Nat plus ACT, no NZ1st vote, no personal loyalty vote to Kaye), Greens candidate 10900ish votes, Labour candidate gets 7000ish.
Whereas, assume a small swing to Labour and that a decent chunk of Greens party voters use their heads and vote for the Labour candidate, then Kaye is solidly a list MP rather than an electorate MP. Which would do wonders for her cred as deputy leader.
https://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2017/electorate-details-01.html
I think the 18% swing to the Government will happen just after I win Lotto for the third time.
We’re talking about electorate candidate votes though aren’t we?
Yes. But an electorate deal to persuade Labour party voters to strategically vote for a Greens candidate to give the Greens party a lifeboat is more likely to be successful where there is already a very strong Greens party vote, and an overwhelming Labour plus Greens dominance over the Nats.
Those conditions are not met in Auckland Central or Nelson, but they are met in Wellington Central and Dunedin North.
The Green Left are absolutely correct, Shaw, Swarbrick and Sage need to be replaced. One of the many reasons, Dennis and I are now former Greens…
Replace Shaw, Sage and Swarbrick, and the Greens would no longer be green. And would then travel the route of other "activist left" parties such as Alliance, Mana etc.
Of those on the Green list only Eugenie Sage is ranked in the top 10 with any "Green" credentials. Not sure how you include the other 2 when it is not even important enough to include in the bio any. Not a mention of anything "Green" in Chloe Swarbrick's background !!! So who in the party is concerned with environment ?? Perhaps those who have left ??
https://www.greens.org.nz/our_people
You must be joking. Trying to herd voters simply doesn’t work unless there is a already a 3 way split because a small minority will either heed the advice or decide to do it themselves. The Green vote in Auckland Central was ~2.3k odd last time. Labour was ~11.5. National was ~13k.
The Labour candidate is White who got that vote – who will have been doing the electorate work and face-to-face since becoming a MP off the list – which is essentially how you win electorate seats. I hadn’t noticed Swarbrick around much. That is a problem when dealing with a electorate seat. Kaye has been maintaining her usual level of work in the electorate. But it hasn’t been anything to write home about.
Basically you’re must be dreaming. Usually the maximum number of people shifting will be a few thousand at best unless there is a pretty piss-poor candidate. All a ‘deal’ in Auckland central will do is to increase Kayes majority. There is a good chance that a swing to Labour generally will flip that seat anyway.
The probability of neither Labour nor the Greens winning the seat will rise massively in the event of the type of deal you’re looking for. The Green vote would go up to something like 3.5-4.5k – well short of majority. It will consist almost entirely of Green split voters who party voted Green last time and electorate voted Labour.
You need to look at electorates that have a 3 way split. Offhand, I don’t know of an electorate. Even Nelson isn’t good for a Green electorate seat: Smith ~16.7k, Boyack (candidate again) ~12.4k, and Lawrey trailing well way behind at 9.7k. The Green party vote was only ~3.1k so it is likely that the split voting was pretty intense.
The split vote statistics for Nelson are indeed very interesting.
https://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2017/statistics/split-votes-electorate-30.html
Green party members and voters, in general, will not be as accepting of "deals" as Epsomites.
You reckon they'd turn their nose up at a gaurantee of getting back into parliament?
Indeed.
Is the Chinese government a client of Exceltium PR? I only ask because I want to know if Matthew Hooton, the $2 dollar store Dominic Cummings to the watered down ScoMo, is getting paid by China to tell Toddy what to do.
I have certainly wondered that-particularly after the recent Herald article by him that was pounded on social media.
First retrograde step for National?
Gerry Brownlee tipped to be campaign manager
Yep. Looking forward to this.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/content/tvnz/onenews/story/2013/11/21/praise-for-gerry-brownlee-hates-christchurch-plaque.html?variant=tb_v_1
Perhaps the words campaign chair should always be replaced by a picture off this bench
Brownlee's mascot could be Rolling Rosa.
Rosa features an innovative self-righting design that allows …. to track Rosa's face as she spins, always landing with her smile facing up.
It would be educational for Muller plus with soothing sounds designed 'to stimulate auditory development'.
https://us.tomy.com/lamaze/rolling-rosa
Nikki Kaye is on Morning Report just now. She’s not very good really.
Nikki didn't seem very assertive during Question Times.
She avoided answering the question this morning of when she and Toddy started planning.
An awful lot of Simon-like padding in her non answers.
A poor start Nikki.
Yes I started to count the number of times she said "Look".
Excellent piece by Chris Trotter….misogyny and religious fundamentalism at the core of Nationals woes
https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/105183/chris-trotter-argues-todd-mullers-backers-have-rejected-radical-conservatism
That was rather good.
Those far right Christian zealots remain in the National Caucus. Will they fall into line or will they grumble?
do zealots ever fall into line?
People go on about Labour and the Greens being killjoy wowsers, but you have Paulo Garcia, who think sex should only be for making babies, and having any pleasure from it is verboten.
And how many creationists are in there? No wonder there was such a huge support for charter schools, it was all about giving young NZers are creationist diet and purging any mention of Darwin from large parts of the education system, along with the perodic table, etc.
Good one Trotter.
Muller hasn't made a good start though. Methinks the MAGA cap might disappear from the display cabinet in due course. 😉
Simon's junketing ambitions thwarted. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12334370
So The Herald 'has learned'.
Is that what you say when it is leaked to you?
These folk are leakier than a colander full of thin water. They would want to get on top of the internal discipline or else we may run low on popcorn.
Jacinda was live. giving an interview when the quake struck, she remained positive, up-beat, unrattled and calm. She was awesome and impressive.
After which mark richardson had a crack at her, because she wasn't scared and she kept it together.
Now the herald are reporting nats at the beehive scrambled and hid under a table.
Everyone behaves differently during a crisis, some keep it together and re-assure others and some hide under a table. Earthquake responses this morning by our politicians spoke volumes.
To be fair Cinny, if the roles were reversed you would be having a go at the Nats for not following Civil Defence guidelines with respect to earthquakes.
I hear what your saying, but too be fair, I've always been impressed when people hold it together to keep others calm in a crisis, emergency etc.
Some people panic, some don't.
That's where I'm coming from, re my comment above.
Muller just interviewed by Kathryn Ryan…considerably better than Bridges but nothing to write home about….he will need to improve to make inroads…the same old attack lines and no substance
I felt similarly, but view it as natural caution. Can't go wrong adhering to the established party line. If that rumour is correct (that he only won by a single vote) then he will be aware that he has to win support for any new National plan before sketching that in public.
His main theme seemed to be “trust us we’re National”. That and bagging Cabinet Ministers under Ardern. Kaye was banging on along the same lines so definitely a pre-organised attack line. I suppose we should be pleased they’ve finally figured out that belittling the PM isn’t going to wash.
I listened to that broadcast as well Pat. At just after 9am, Kathryn Ryan asked a basic question re when did Muller first consider challenging the Natz leadership. It took her three attempts to get some sort of a response from him, even then Ryan caught him out in a lie. To me Muller seemed to be more interested in promoting himself than answering questions.
At this rate, Jacinda should have a field day during the election leaders' debates.
You reckon Hosking will be out to get her in those debates? He's been out to get her for 2 and a half years. Or will they use a staffer?
Jacinda must have nerves of steel. She was smiling and posed. It was a very big shake and the Beehive shakes more in EQ.
Also heard her talking positively and compassionately about National. Its so soothing the amygdala…….she's a winner.
She behaved like a parent who keeps it together in a crisis so ones kid's don't panic. Made me feel very proud 🙂
Seems to be a rumor going around that amy adams may not quit politics after all.
I heard this to.
Is it the change of leader or the job market?
We are now praising people for being used to earthquakes in Wellington?
Compared to the National MPs hiding under a table?
I think we’re just admiring her sangfroid.
That's it 🙂
It's trending around the world.
Toby Manhire reviews the Green Party list here: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/25-05-2020/the-greens-list-ranking-revealed-can-this-group-lift-them-over-the-threshold/
"It is a very different picture to that memorable North & South front page of just over three years ago. Half of the high ranking candidates on the cover are gone. The magazine itself is gone, too." John Hart, the farmer, gone. Alienated by leftists, I bet.
Hayley Holt, gone. I was sorry to see a brief media report recently that she'd lost her baby – had wondered at her disappearance from the TVNZ breakfast show – so wish her a speedy bounce back from that trauma.
"Perhaps more of a time warp, however, is the cover line: “Is the once ‘loony left’ ready to rule (and should we be afraid)?” For plenty of Greens – voters, members, and even some in caucus – the question is have they been loony, or at least loud, enough?"
"The Greens: we are the only ones that can achieve a true transformative tilt." Yeah, valid for the party as a whole but not for our parliamentarians, who continue to shirk that task.
Just read on 3news website the government has announced a $500pw tax free payment, for 12 weeks, for those laid off between March and October. Comes in 8th June and not backdated, and you have to be looking for work or training.
Cant link on this stupid IPad.
Edit:
What do you know? I can after all
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/05/income-relief-payment-tax-free-weekly-payments-of-almost-500-announced-for-workers-laid-off-due-to-covid-19.html
https://www.interest.co.nz/news/105188/people-who-lose-their-jobs-could-be-eligible-250-490-week-payment-12-weeks-under-new
could
between
for 12 weeks.
Government still so timid.
The wage subsidy should have shown clearly that the unemployment benefits for anyone on unemployement – not just hte current and growing expected wave of jobless – should get at the very minimum 585 $ (before tax 🙂 ) every week to maintain a semblance of normal life, i.e. pay rent, groceries and electricity.
I guess its baby steps.
Agree. Would have applauded any government that rebuilt from a solid base – from the ground up, rather attempting to provide support from the middle upwards. Doesn't look like I'll be clapping anytime soon.
The $490 for certain Covid related unemployed is useful of course, but has just put off the day of reckoning for Labour with the institutional neo liberalism of WINZ/MSD. Those Depts are punishment mazes and the Govt. knows it. Newbies do not cope well, or necessarily get the miserly assistance they seek.
Two tier unemployment payments, Covid and “Jobseeker” reinforce the “deserving/undeserving” tenet of state payments beloved of monetarist theory.
Some employers refused to apply for the subsidy, instead they gave their employee's two weeks notice of their intention to use their employees annual leave for their wages over lock down. Some of those employee's may have or did have very little accrued leave and they suffered over lock-down as a result.
Upon return to work, those employee's were told they were no longer tenable.
This is good news for them, as it was to no fault of those employee's that their employers decided against taking the subsidy.
And yes, benefits need to be increased. Living wage please and thank you.
AFAIK, the annual leave could only be used WITH the agreement of the employee. (My partner spent much of his first couple of weeks at home dealing with this issue, while working with the business owner in trying to maintain full pay for all the staff.) Those that agreed took annual leave in the final week of lockdown.
Yes they do need to streamline the WINZ//MSD . But look at the politics of it. The three months will be up for extension shortly before the election. Would Nact extend if they won – takes the election battleground to social welfare and gets its off tax increases for the wealthy.
Tiger Mountain "Punishment mazes" So apt. 😥
I think this is a good small step towards a better social security system. I'd love this to be bigger and bolder, but it's still more than nothing.
I also think this is very politically astute – start with a step that should be uncontroversial, extend later, go into the election with a bigger policy piece, win the election, and by the time National see the front bench again, it's the new normal.
Hosking: "The key here is, is there a magic? The X-factor? Is there something that transforms him from just another decent person who aspires to lead their party, and therefore their country, into a person who actually attracts votes, turns tides, explains things in a way people get? Is he something or someone that has that magnetic factor that marks you out as different from the rest?"
Then fails to provides any answers. He would no doubt claim that the media does shallow, only, and answers go too deep. But then he does have a go at profound:
"The polls will close, they always do." Usually at 7pm on election day. Something vaguely zen about that, eh? https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=12334438
Hosking as usual going round and round the bowl at the first flush and inevitably like all waste, following all the crap that's gone before.
I googled "Greens candidate profiles 2020" to see if the GP had performed the elementary political requirement of allowing those interested to get to know those candidates better.
No. No such link to the GP website exists as yet. So the clueless dork syndrome remains in control. Look on the bright side: they have four months to get their act together.
The good news is I've read those profiles and they are available to members – and some of those people would make exceptional parliamentarians. Please don't hide them!
And this from Weka – The Green Party with an environmentalist ranked at No 11 in the new crop and will require 8.6% of the vote (Same as NZ1st)
https://thestandard.org.nz/the-green-party-list-2/
And only Eugenie Sage (ranked 6th) from the current crop background containing anything substantial regarding the environment. No wonder Gaia is screwed.
https://www.greens.org.nz/our_people
I wouldn't go that far. If you read Lovelock's books you get a good sense of how resilient Gaia is – as a supersystem. That said, we have dislocated the Holocene, and that was the basis of the economy. Agriculture.
Now that the supersystem is in transition from that stable state to another as yet unknown, we call the interim Antropocene. We will all live & die in that one. Comprehension of this relation between economy and ecology is non-existent – I never encountered anyone in the Green movement who even thought about it. Statism has everyone in a death-grip. Thus we still await an alternative to neoliberalism 30 years after it was obviously dead in the water!
That the members of the GP persist in denial of this fundamental reality is due to human nature: gnosis is too hard, culture is trivial, we must therefore be trite, etc.
NZ is blessed to have such a great leader ☺️
https://twitter.com/DrJinRussell/status/1264707155606691840?s=20
Fairfax papers in Australia are suggesting the Federal government over there may allow travel between NZ and individual states, NSW and Victoria while borders between other states remain closed.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/border-friction-new-zealand-set-to-open-for-nsw-victorian-tourists-before-queensland-20200524-p54vwg.html
That's weird. Aren't victoria & NSW still battling outbreaks whereas NT & Wa are pretty much clean? Is NZ being used by slomo to shore up his political standing?
Probably more likely an effort by the federal government to get the state Labor government’s in WA and Qld to move on opening their borders to interstate travel. At any rate tv news in Australia is reporting Ardern’s comments here this morning saying that NZ was unlikely to open the border unless all of Australia was available for non-quarantined travel for NZers.
"Kyle MacDonald is seeing more solar panels on the rooves of the electorate's million-dollar homes. That's a sign that Epsom voters are increasingly Green, he says." https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/119520709/a-poverty-agitator-a-climate-negotiator-and-a-psychotherapist-take-on-doomed-mission-for-the-greens?rm=a
"MacDonald is a family man with two daughters, and has lived in the electorate for five years. His background is not that of a traditional Green candidate. He's been a psychotherapist for two decades, helping people with mental health issues and addiction through their troubles with talk therapy."
"MacDonald gained a spot on radio's 'Nutter's Club' show, which has him talking to callers on-air about their problems. The show, started by comedian-turned-advocate Mike King, has a strong following of dedicated listeners. Between 60,000 and 80,000 tune in, which is the largest radio audience for the 11pm to 1am weekend timeslot, MacDonald says."
"MacDonald also wrote a regular column about mental health and drugs, which ended three weeks ago when he announced his candidacy." At #14 on the list, a significant rebound will be required to get him in.
Good discussion on Novara with James Meadway on how to manage the increased government debt racked up during the COVID-19 crisis. I was getting alarmed to hear Bridges, shortly before his replacement, describe the debt as "$80k per household", and more recently Nikki Kaye claiming that young people were concerned at the thought of having to pay the debt back in future through increased taxes.
It seems that National not only poses a threat to public health by wanting to prematurely open borders, but also poses a threat to the economy because of ingrained tendencies towards austerity.
This could be huge.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/kiwis-now-trust-labour-more-than-national-repair-economy-poll-suggests
Children's Commissioner calls for all benefits to be on the same level of trust, equity and accessibility as the covid payments.
I would like to know what he says about a spike in Rheumatic Fever cases in Wellington.
I heard something about that this morning – how big is it?
Stuff have been sold by nine. Be very interesting to see if they are going to try to be genuinely NZ or whether this is a front for a wealthy individuals. Hoping for the former, be wise for the government to now bung them a relief package ., heck I'd subscribe again if they stopped being a Nact mouthpiece
Reports say for $1. I am thinking they owe a bit.
This sounds like a potentially great news story.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/121615231/stuff-boss-sinead-boucher-i-asked-myself-what-i-wanted-for-the-business
Seeing the way staff produced quality editorial content, took a pay cut and the demand for content influenced the decision.
Those busting at the seams airports have come back to bite them on the arse.
https://twitter.com/gregpmiller/status/1264309638964617217
Siebert arrived at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago three days later as the new U.S. restrictions — including mandatory medical screenings — went into effect. He encountered crowds of people packed in tight corridors, stood in lines in which he snaked past other travelers for nearly five hours and tried to direct any cough or sneeze into his sleeve.
When he finally reached the coronavirus checkpoint near baggage pickup, Siebert reported his prior symptoms and described his exposure in Spain. But the screeners waved him through with a cursory temperature check. He was given instructions to self-isolate that struck him as absurd given the conditions he had just encountered at the airport.
“I can guarantee you that people were infected” in that transatlantic gantlet, said Siebert, who tested positive for the virus two days later in Chicago. “It was people passing through a pinhole.”
http://archive.li/nD49i
Just listened to the end of Stolid Todd's Media on the reshuffle of spoke persons.
Amy Adams is back as No 3 and funnily enough she is far better at speaking than Stolid Todd. Succinct. Informed and credible up to a point of course.
And after 25 minutes Todd looks a bit rattled.
Live https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12334590
Todd's a good frontman. He can put words together to make sentences. Simon struggled with that.
You made through 25 minutes of him? Well done!
David Slack – as always – comes up with a gem:
David Slack
A thorn in the new boy's side.
https://www.twitter.com/henrycooke/status/1264751244645564417
Jack Tame looking stunned at how fucking stupid Todd Muller really is!
Todd is new to being in the hot seat and gosh, it's hot.
He is yet to learn the 5 go to sentences to parrot if you don't know what to say.
Jack Tame had him over a barrel when he asked the question about there being no-one of Maori descent in his Shadow Cabinet. He didn't see it coming and tried to cover up by extolling the virtues of Shane Reti who comes in at 16 on the list.
How astounding that he didn't even consider how it would look having only pale, stale Pakehas in his line-up.
I don't think he's a nasty guy Anne….but yeah, he's among a crew with cards up their sleeves. "What Chinese donor?"
I'm not sure if he is our next PM or a nightwatchman.
But whatever his calibre, he's a Honda Step-thru racing a Katana.
Q & A interview? Yeah, that was painful. Todd, toast.
As I said on Friday, Muller did well in his first round of interviews on Day 1, but now we've got past the soft "introduce yourself" and moved on to "what are your policies?".
His policy platform appears to be "saying Amy Adams a lot".
Yes. Watching the whole of Todd;s responses to Jack's questioning and it was worse even than earlier speeches. I know I am biased but truly I was expecting Todd to be able telling us that since the Government is failing, he could offer a light on how he would rescue the Small Business owners. He could only repeatedly tell us how wonderful Amy Adams is but no specifics – at all. Jack tried but it was a no show.
And these folk have been beavering away at this plan for months and should be ready to Wow.
The panel was much more illuminating.
Wish I had of watched it! Have just listened to his interview with Kathryn Ryan this morning and what a bore he is. One of these "we could do it better" with no good evidence for why. And it turns out they don't have a plan. He will begin to sound very boring and arrogant soon……..How long will Amy think it ok to play second fiddle to him and and wait, what! more excitement… Simon's back! Happy days
I guess Todd is obliged to give it a jolly good go but if I was him I'd find it hard not to feel like a caretaker, a guy to wave the flag until Florence Nightengale wanes.
The Q+A interview was disastrous for Todd Muller. Lots of waffle and no substance. Todd is a bumbling idiot under pressure.
The question about the disappearance of Maori faces from his team slayed him.
The Q+A interview can be viewed here.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/todd-muller-commits-nationals-pledge-raise-superannuation-age-bring-back-oil-and-gas-exploration
I wonder if Jacinda has positioned us to be global destination darlings.
We haven't found a vaccine for the common cold. We suppress Aids, we're yet to find a vaccine, I'm not holding my breath for the arrival of a Covid-19 job.
Looking at the complexity of mutations to date, looks like a moving target to me.
I think the healing component most likely to become fail-safe first are speedy accurate testing regimes.
If we have none here and we have a speedy 100% accurate test at our borders. It's the 60+ that have big holiday $ to spend. The most Covid threatened.
I think we could easily make it to the top of many dream destination wish-lists around the world. Not kids in a van pooing in our carparks. Those that pay $200 for a personal guided tour of a marae.
Wish I had of watched it! Have just listened to his interview with Kathryn Ryan this morning and what a bore he is. One of these "we could do it better" with no good evidence for why. And it turns out they don't have a plan. He will begin to sound very boring and arrogant soon……..How long will Amy think it ok to play second fiddle to him and and wait, what! more excitement… Simon's back! Happy days
Two TV interviews, two leaders, same location, same day.
Todd Muller can't answer questions or keep cool during an interview.
Jacinda Ardern answers questions and keeps cool during … an earthquake.
Everyone has nice scenery. We have lots of it but it's not special.
What makes NZ unique is Maori.
I think the rebuild of an elevated $ return per guest tourism industry should revolve around them. With a 60+ punter, they're over being drunk and chasing skirt, they want to taste the culture.
I think it would be a nice way for us of a colonial extraction to say "Thanks for sharing."
First impressions count, an amazing kapa haka performance for every incoming flight and each performer paid $80k a year.
Make the most of what we've got.
Huawei are running utube videos featuring US executives that sing their praises.
As the world slides over to 5G….
The thrust of the argument being put forward by this American Huawei executive was "We are a private company, the Chinese government have nothing whatsoever to do with our business."
A few weeks ago I watched an interview with the American manager of a 3M factory in China. They make masks for their parent company, the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company. 3M, those guys on the board at Wall Street. They were visited and informed "All of your output will stay here in China."
When the largest company in China says "Oh no, we have nothing to do with the CCP.",,,, oxymoron.
Huawei + global 5G = all over everyone's shit.
Aren't the Germans good at this stuff?
hold on carmel sepuloni is reforming the welfare system.After the election,so in the mean time all you unemployed can look on the new unemployed with envy and imagine if the government treated everyone fairly.