We are 87 days away from The Budget. RNZ’s funding has been frozen for the past 9 years. I have a petition running if anyone cares to put their name to saving a bastion of good journalism in this country. https://www.tinyurl.com/jg9e42t .
Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster 2
Like many on the left, I suppose, I felt a general sense of dismay on the news of Labour losing the Copeland by-election – a seat they had held for 80 years.
But there are ‘alternative facts’ and Jonathan Pie gives a few:
But if Corbyn is the Messiah and his policies are clearly the path to Nirvana, why didn’t the long term slide in Labour’s vote-share turn around?
Maybe, just maybe, the Corbynites are putting just as much effort into backstabbing the more moderate Labour as they accuse the Blairites of doing to Corbyn?
We’re not far from the home stretch of our own election. Candidate selections and policies are close to being finalised. The Greens and Labour will almost certainly include policies and candidates that are dead rats to many, especially those fond of slogans such as back-stabbing Blairites.
So what to do? Choke down those dead rats with a forced smile and go hard supporting Labour or Greens as the best route to changing the government? Ignore Labour and Greens and go hard supporting a smaller party like Mana or Socialist Aotearoa and risk wasting votes which allows the Nats to sneak in for a fourth term? Go hard bagging Labour and Greens for their lack of purity and principle which amounts to supporting Nats into their fourth term?
I’m going with the choke down the dead rats option.
The first option for me too, Andre. The only way we get rid of the Nacts is to party vote Labour and the Greens. They are the only parties emphatically saying they will not go into a coalition with National.
Not sure where Mana sits in that all that. I’m guessing the first one, but I think it’s reasonable all things considered to expect all parties to either be explicit or be in the second one.
Any links on positions? I can put it up as a post.
hi weka,
the hone with national seems absolutely unthinkable, however…
the idea of a maori voice/party in parliament may not naturally fall into a tory/socialist framework.
listening to interviews late last week and weekend this notion became apparent.
perhaps it is better for them to be at the table, regardless of where on the political spectrum the main party comes from.
That’s pretty much how I see it gsays. Hard to have that conversation in this Pākehā space though, because anyone who works with National is evil and should be pilloried.
I too can’t imagine Harawira supporting a National govt, but if the left wing parties reject him utterly where else is there to go?
The Mp seem conservative to me, not necessarily neoliberal but just not radical like HH is. It makes sense to me that they would want to be at the table of whichever side had power.
These liberal media outlets have to be seen as Trojan horses, infiltrating the progressive movements of the western Left, poisoning and disrupting any shift to the Left at every opportunity.
Ask your self this…
When was the last time a western Left wing party has been so popular?
700,000 paid up members
Conservative Party had 149,800 members as of 2013, probably to embarrassed to release any more current numbers.
You would think any thinking progressive would be proud and happy at Labour UK’s numbers, but no, it seems so many people are willing to swallow the bullshit pumped into them by their so called liberal media…it really is a slow moving tragedy for the Left….
Well, Corbyn’s Labour may be popular with activist members, but apparently not with the wider swath of voters.
Act used to have large numbers of enthusiastic activists, but it never translated to votes beyond about 6 or 7 %. I suspect the same applys to the Greens – lots of activist but not looking like it can break out of the 10% zone.
Membership is only one factor in electoral success.
Wayne, your attempt to compare ACT with the British Labour Party is beyond parody. It’s the funniest—even funnier because of its apparent sincerity—thing you’ve written on this site since you made the claim that New Zealand in the 1970s was “too equal.”
…in actual fact he is being attacked relentlessly by all nearly establishment liberal media like The Guardian…
Well, yes, but that’s a given, which is why Labour parties are ill-advised to make their most left-wing people the leader. If it’s a choice between getting into government or comforting yourself with the thought that your guy would have won if only the media weren’t so unfair, I’ll take “getting into government” every time.
The bit you’re missing is that a political party can have all of the media (TV and newspaper) railing against them and yet go on to form a government. The trick is in effortlessly representing the wishes and will of people.
Professional politicians (unsurprisingly) struggle to do that and so opt for getting on-side with media in the belief that all hopes and aspirations are shaped by them (the media) resulting in a kind of election by third party interference – get the media to endorse your programme and to hell with the people who might vote.
They’ll mostly vote anyway and if they’ve nothing of substance to go for, then they’ll likely go for the medias ‘flavour of the month’.
It’s lazy and in some respect much worse than corrupt insofar as corruption might be said to be up front and ‘honest’.
edit – should maybe just note that the party in question sent a decidedly centrist Labour Party to the political scrapheap in the process (currently 15% in the polls)
I wouldn’t describe the leader of the main opposition party being attacked by liberal media a as given.
Normalizing the neoliberal establishments unethical distortion of the news though our own traditional news vehicles is not normal practice, and certainly not a given.
Man you guys seriously fold at the first sign of a fight don’t you, haven’t you heard of sticking to your principles, or are they all negotiable for a taste of power?
Sticking to your principles at all costs is a luxury for people with little at stake. I share more of Corbyn’s principles than I have any other Labour leader of the last few decades, UK or NZ, and I’d love to see a government running on those principles. Problem is though, those principles aren’t mainstream ones. We’re a minority, and a small one at that. A party on 40% of the vote that adopts those principles can only be assumed to have an ambition of being a party on 10 or 15% of the vote.
When I was a kid I loved the Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks, the Stranglers and the Clash – they were all way better than any of the other music being made at the time, but funnily enough the overwhelming majority of the population kept buying the shite music that they always do and the mainstream press agitated to have the good music banned. Corbyn’s a political equivalent of the Sex Pistols – we might think he’s great, but the mainstream is not going to buy the product.
Yes well you may be half right, but what music from the mid to late seventies shaped the future and direction of all music in a way none had since the original British invasion sound of the early sixties?…Punk, why, because of it’s unquestioned authenticity and power.
And what happened to a majority of the shit music that was being brought back then…nothing, crumbled and fallen from the annuals of history…why?..because that music , much like the economics of neoliberalism lacks human authenticity.
Our principles is ALL we have got, and especially while we are the underdogs fighting this destructive power base hiding in full view at the so called centre politics…this is time when we show, by our own example, to the people around us, family, friends, work mates etc,that our principles are worth fighting for. even in the face of defeat…if not us then who?
There’s a time for sticking to your principles and agitating – before policies and candidates are chosen, long before the next general election. UK Labour members have done that with Corbyn, and good on them for that. But it really doesn’t look like it is going to bring them to electoral success, unlike SNP in Scotland.
Meanwhile in New Zealand, our next general election is soon. Do you want to change the government and get a little bit of movement towards policies that matter to you, or are you OK with the current lot returning to power and further trashing things that matter because sticking to principles is more important?
Corbyn supports traditional Labour policy, which most people in the United Kingdom also support. You know: decent public education, the best health system in the world with the possible exception of Cuba’s, decent wages, and no nuclear weapons.
That’s “left wing” is it?
I guess you think this patricidal fool is a hero rather than a chickenhawk?….
Corbyn supports traditional Labour policy, which most people in the United Kingdom also support.
Oh, well, that’s game over for the Tories then, innit? Corbyn can just stroll along to victory, bolstered by the polls showing massive popular support for his traditional Labour policy. What are you all complaining about?
Because they’re a lot closer to the big fat hump in the middle of the bell curve of the range of voter opinions, where they’ve got a chance of attracting votes from people that might vote Labour in some circumstances or Conservative in others.
Actually they are not. They are precisely on the big fat hump of the middle of the bell curve of the right wing press. The population of the United Kingdom does not want the destruction or downgrading or dismantling of its schools, its health system and its public transport systems. It is Jeremy Corbyn that voices those popular values.
The real conservatives in this country now are the traditional Labour Socialists.
A fair and equal society that protects and encourages all citizens.
People.
Family.
Community.
Environment.
Country.
Socialism.
The fact is, Left wing Socialists are the new progressive conservatives.
I presume you mean my name – I had it long before that f/w made it taste sour. Anyway, there are far worse crosses to bear – I have a house and a comfortable income, and food on the table. Many in this country are not so fortunate!
The Greens seem to have hit a support ceiling, failing to increase their vote from the 2011 to the 2014 election. Polls suggest not much has changed since – a leadership change from Russel Norman to James Shaw doesn’t seem to have helped.
Labour won 77 per cent of the vote; the Greens trailed with 11 per cent. Why did Labour do so well? They had many more people on the ground; the seat was theirs anyway; National and Act stayed away; the Greens don’t do well in by-elections because they’re a list party; and despite recent controversies centre-left voters wanted to signal confidence in Labour. And most of all, everyone likes Jacinda. Sure. But what it all boils down to is this:
Labour sucked up all the oxygen and the Greens were left gasping for breath.
Greens chose to give Labour oxygen. Genter said she campaigned to show their policies were mostly the same and she was mostly the same as Ardern.
Greens need Labour to increase their party vote, but if they do too much to help they risk losing votes for themselves.
The Mt Albert by-election was used to show how well Labour and Greens (actually Ardern and Genter, which is quite different) could work together.
But if Greens want to hold ground or increase their vote they will need to give people a reason to vote for them over Labour. Promoting votes for Labour candidates and saying they have similar policies is unlikely to do that.
I’m not concerned. I think it’s interesting to see how this is playing out.
Will Labour and Greens stick with this togetherness strategy right through to the election? Or if it continues to look like it isn’t working will either or both party switch to a more selfish approach?
don’t worry about the Greens and the Labour party.
They are doing fine. Winning by elections and such. National on the other hand?
blowing up budgets, can’t see the homeless cause it would infringe on their world view, like shit in rivers and in lakes – of course not where you live :), bleeding MP’s like someone gutted a pig.
I would suggest you go and raise your concerns with the National Party about their issue re credibility, accountability and acceptable cowshit levels.
It’s interesting how Mt Albert is being spun. Had Ardern lost to Genter, it would have been “Labour in Crisis after shock defeat”.
Had she won in a squeaker, it would have been “[Labour] will immediately be in trouble. This poll is not just a measure of the value of Jacinda Ardern – it’s a checkpoint for the leadership of Andrew Little.” – Simon Wilson 24 Feb.
But Ardern romps home handily and now it’s (to paraphrase) “Labour is ignoring Ardern’s wider appeal and they’re eating the Greens’ lunch”.
What it really shows is that uncontested by elections tend not get as many votes. Although 12k is respectable. There have been a number of contested byelections lower than that in nz in recent decades.
Uncontested byelections will favour the incumbent party. It might have something to do with having the organisation on the ground and the contacts.
I suspect that the lowish green electorate vote isn’the out of line with their previous electorate vote.
The real loser other of this is that National failed to contest the election. That will be fun to exploit in the general election.
The previous green electorate vote was around 8000 (Labour 12,000, National 14,000), but they only got 1300 votes for Genter vs. ~3000 for the previous election’s candidate.
So Genter didn’t do so well.
National really lost because they failed to do the most destructive thing they could have: give a wink wink nudge nudge to their voters to vote for the TOP candidate.
“The previous green electorate vote was around 8000 (Labour 12,000, National 14,000), but they only got 1300 votes for Genter vs. ~3000 for the previous election’s candidate.”
Which election are you referring to?
8,000 was the Green party vote in Mt Albert in the 2014 GE (Labour 11,000, Nat 14,300*). The Green candidate vote was 3,152. But that doesn’t take into account turnout. Better to look at %.
Genter got 11.5% of the candidate vote in Mt Albert this time. In the 2014 GE, the Green candidate got 8.5% of the candidate vote.
But again, the comparisons aren’t that straight forward. National was standing then for instance. TOP wasn’t (they got 4.5% of the vote this time).
The Green party vote in Mt Albert in 2014 was 21%. Let’s see what they get this time I think.
*weird mix that when you look at the party vote across parties compared to the electorate vote. But I seem to remember this happened a bit, high Labour candidate votes but lower party votes.
I was fairly close for off the top of my head! The errors are regretted, I still have full confidence in all my ministers, etc.
High Labour vote in electorates in the GE is from two reasons I think:
1) Green and NZF voters voting for the Labour candidate because their party’s candidate is unlikely to get there and could let a Nat candidate through if they split their vote
2) Incumbency/name recognition. In Hutt South, for instance, Trevor Mallard got 6,000 votes more than Labour got party votes, which can’t be all from the other left parties. He basically got some right wing voters voting for him (at least 2,000) because he’s been in parliament for four thousand years.
Of course there’s no party vote in a by-election, but this campaign was all about positioning for the general election for the Greens, where party vote is crucial for them.
If Genter and the Greens had got a much better electorate vote in the by-election it is likely to have helped their campaign for party votes.
Many voters will have seen their Mt Albert capaign as ‘vote for Labour’.
wow, you need a snickers. You come across as mean. And so early in the morning already.
btw, do you think that with the current rate of National Party MPs resigning they will have enough to actually run next years? Seriously, i am very concerned about their ability to actually find living bodies wanting to stand for the good of the country.
Yep the gnats are in disarray – I even felt a bit sorry for dim bill having to pull smirky key back into the media to help him – what a failure. I don’t think Bill will get to the election – notice how quiet bennett and collins have been – plans are afoot imo.
Of course there’s no party vote in a by-election, but this campaign was all about positioning for the general election for the Greens…
What does that even mean? Nobody outside Mt Albert was paying any attention to the campaign. The “positioning for the general election” consisted of getting some news coverage, which they did. Julie-Ann Genter didn’t go round the electorate telling people “Vote for me because we want to use my vote share as an indicator of the Green Party’s likely party vote share in the general election.”
That’s the second time I’ve read that ACT not running in Mt Albert had an effect on the result.
Act is a sub 1% party, heavily brain damaged, and reliant on life support from the long standing National Party dirty electorate deal. An ACT candidate would have trailed Penny Bright and struggled to crack triple figures.
Talking about clever monkeys and what they eat, if anyone has some spare money to give a donation or set up a permanent payment, help the orang-utans. A guy who has worked with them says they are as sensitive and intelligent as us and don’t have the aggression, and cruelty that seem to arise in us. Leif Cocks suggests they should be classified as persons under threat of genocide.
Australian primatologist and zoologist Leif Cocks about his life-long work with orangutans. Leif is the founder and president of the international charity The Orangutan Project. He’s spent three decades campaigning on behalf of orangutans, and is working in particular to save the Sumatran orangutan.
I just wish that people would realise that money doesn’t pay for anything and that when it comes to retirement the nation needs to have enough productivity to support those who retire as well as the people working.
Another example of how real private wealth is usually made by ruthlessly exploiting your fellow humans, rather than the myth of riches rewarding hard work and creativity etc.
We got there, Ad! Or rather, generous people from all over got us there with their pledges and donations; we’ve bought the building and couldn’t be happier with the support we received from so many people, many of whom we’ve not yet met. Our pledge Me campaign reached its target a couple of days before it closed, though people continued to contribute, and behind the scene-donations, many of them of a size that made my eyes water, got us up to the amount we needed for the purchase ($73, 000). There were contributions too from overseas: Japan, Canada, Scotland, France, from people who had visited the Centre as they traveled in NZ. All in all it was a heart-warming experience, though one that wasn’t without some anxiousness and lying awake at night, “considering” (not me, Robyn – I sleep embarrassingly well)
Long answer, I know, Ad, but we’re buoyant just now and feel surrounded with support – thanks to the TS people who gave to our campaign; I recognised several from here.
I am sure, given that you are all journalists there at RNZ, you must aware that Brent Budowsky was outed in no uncertain terms by Wikileaks, as being an insider for the DNC and Hillary Clinton during the 2016 US primaries and presidential elections.
My question to you is why, in light of his obvious personal and political bias, you would choose to have him of all people on RNZ to comment on Trump and the press?
Could you please clarify for your listeners, your reasoning behind this decision.
If he is to be used in future, please insert a disclaimer in your introduction of him as a simple courtesy to your listeners.
Well done Adrian. I have thought exactly the same thing every time I’ve heard Budowsky wittering on. I also feel the same irritation every time Simon Marks comes on.
By the way, I happened to hear the “BBC World News” at 8 o’clock this morning; first item was a report of a protest march in Moscow to mark the second anniversary of the Boris Nemtsov assassination. There was a crowd estimated variously between 5,000 and 15,000.
Wellington Central-based National MP Paul Foster-Bell has been pushed out. He has been subject to a nasty internal Nat campaign for a couple of years and now they’ve won. Where is the examination of the detail of these nasty internal Nat politics? Was it because he dared to come out as gay? Media and blogs obsess about Labour and Greens instead.
Uh maybe because there is no story, he’s leaving and unlike labour Nat MPs have careers outside of parliament, where for most labour MPs the salary and job is the gig of thier life, I mean Annette king can’t go back to been a dental nurse assistant, hence they will have to carry her out
Of course previous cults of personality have been raging successes.
To spend three days at this year’s CPAC, the annual right-wing carnival of politics and culture, was to witness an ideology conforming to an individual rather than the other way around.
That’s some mighty interesting stat keeping – probably because before this government, any numbers being put up in motels by WINZ were statistically tiny.
“But first, to the leaks about stopping leaks from the Trump White House.
Fearless in the face of what some have described as expletive-laden attacks on them by press secretary Sean Spicer, White House staffers dutifully lined up to give Politico magazine unattributed accounts of Spicer’s latest crackdown.
Having consulted White House Counsel Don McGahn and accompanied by another lawyer, Spicer reportedly summoned a dozen of his communications staff to an “emergency” meeting late last week, at which they were ordered to surrender mobile phones and other devices, private and government-issued, for a “phone check” that might reveal who was leaking.
After warning them that the use of encrypted apps, some of which delete a text after it has been sent, was a violation of the Presidential Records Act, Spicer sent the staffers packing – with a final warning that accounts of the meeting were not to be leaked.”
I shouldn’t laugh though. It still all reads like the bit in a dystopian novel just before people start getting hauled off to jail. You know the bit where the people in charge can’t handle the disobedience or being laughed at.
If the ventures of these young entrepreneurs go on to be successful, should Labour be seeking a percentage of the return (and a percentage of the sale if the venture is later sold)? Which could be recycled back into the scheme.
Should Labour also stipulate a living wage be paid to employees of the recipients of the grant?
Negligible changes in the February Roy Morgan poll.
– National 48% (up from 46)
– Labour 26% (down from 27)
– Greens 13% (up from 12.5)
– NZ First 8% (down from 9)
– Maori Party 2% (no change)
– ACT Party 1% (up from o.5)
– United Future 0% (down from 0.5)
– Conservative Party 0% (down from 0.5)
– Internet Party 0% (no change)
– Independent/Other 2% (no change)
Labour + Greens are 39% compared to National’s 48%.
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In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
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. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
The change allows for devices that do screening, similar to at drink-drive checkpoints, rather than having to test oral fluid to an evidentiary standard. ...
Almost 40% of those departing NZ long-term are aged 18 to 30. What sort of country will they leave behind, asks Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Young people leading the charge out the door Last year saw ...
New Health Minister Simeon Brown is presiding over a list of resignations from high-ranking health officials that some say is a "bloodbath". What's going on? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Rickerby, Lecturer, School of Product Design, University of Canterbury The Poly-1. MOTAT , CC BY-NC Some 45 years ago, a team of staff and students at Wellington Polytechnic designed and built a desktop computer with an operating system customised for ...
The Forum has raised concerns regarding the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill and the Regulatory Standards Bill, which, if enacted, will radically undermine existing human rights protections, Indigenous rights, and constitutional safeguards ...
The passage of time hasn’t been kind to Ngāi Tahu.When its High Court hearing over wai māori (freshwater) commenced last week, 52 months after the claim was filed, the tribe mourned the loss of two named first plaintiffs – Bishop Richard Wallace, of Makaawhio, and Theo Bunker, of Wairewa – ...
Margie Apa, Nicholas Jones, Diana Sarfati, the board of Health New Zealand … and will Lester Levy be next?The biggest names in our health service are tumbling like dominos.It’s been called a bloodbath and a crisis.What’s going on?Every day there’s a new story about shortages, patients having to wait for ...
Opinion: The coalition Government’s recent revisions to the business investor visa, officially the Active Investor Plus but commonly known as the ‘golden visa’, has put pay-for-residency back in the headlines. While many object to the commodification of citizenship implicit in this policy, questions should be asked about its potential as ...
One Christmas, to thank him for helping me hugely with my writing (on a mentor scheme), I sent Michael King a dark blue cashmere scarf. I chose it with the awful knowledge that he was battling cancer, and I somehow thought it might keep him warm and make him feel ...
Comment: Readers may recall the commentaries from academics that appeared on these pages as well as on many media outlets, alarmed and appalled by the disbanding of the Marsden panels for humanities and the social sciences.The Marsden Fund is a “blue skies” initiative established by Simon Upton in the 1990s. ...
Everything you missed from day five of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard seven hours of submissions. Read our recaps of the previous hearings here.An “insult to every one of our tīpuna” was the first advice the Justice Committee heard on the Treaty principles bill ...
The same councillors who decry excessive spending on pet projects just voted to pump millions of dollars into a greenhouse for flowers. On Thursday last week, Wellington City Council voted to consult on repairing Begonia House, the greenhouse for exotic flowers in Wellington Botanic Garden. The options for repairs range ...
It’s important to respect people’s right to free speech and peaceful assembly, but how much political deference is due when it isn’t peaceful? Commenting on Destiny Church members storming a children’s event at the Te Atatū library and community centre on Saturday, prime minister Christopher Luxon said it’s important to ...
Comment: US is capitulating to Moscow’s demands before negotiations over Ukraine even begin The post The day the West died appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 18 February appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Asia Pacific Report Two Palestinian resistance groups have condemned “the brutal assault” on prisoners at Ofer Prison, saying it was “barbaric criminal behaviour that reflects the fascist and terrorist nature of” Israel. In the joint statement, Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) called the attack a “miserable attempt” by Israel ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist in Avarua, Rarotonga Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown hopes to have “an opportunity to talk” with the New Zealand government to “heal some of the rift”. Brown returned to Avarua on Sunday afternoon (Cook Islands Time) following his week-long state visit to China, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sonia R. Grover, Clinical Professor of Gynaecology, The University of Melbourne Polina Zimmerman/Pexels Menstruation, or a period, is the bleeding that occurs about monthly in healthy people born with a uterus, from puberty to menopause. This happens when the endometrium, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ella Barclay, Senior Lecturer, School of Art and Design, Australian National University Despite the perceived outrage at Khaled Sabsabi’s depiction of Hassan Nasrallah in his 2007 work You, Australian art has long made subjects of outlaws and questionable figures. And it is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Pryke, Honorary Research Associate, Department of Classics and Ancient History, University of Sydney Lisa Tomasetti/Opera Australia “It’s an old song”, Hermes (Christine Anu) sings at the opening of Hadestown, but “we’re gonna sing it again and again”. Based on a ...
An additional $13 million will be invested in tourism infrastructure, including upgrading huts and resolving the backlog in Milford Sound concessions. ...
The reality is that we have no obligation to tolerate the intolerant. They are using violence to shut down and silence others. The result of tolerating intolerant views is the loss of everyone’s freedom of speech except for the one who most effectively ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Davis, Associate Professor in Conservation, Edith Cowan University Adwo/Shutterstock Humans have been poisoning rodents for centuries. But fast-breeding rats and mice have evolved resistance to earlier poisons. In response, manufacturers have produced second generation anticoagulant rodenticides such as bromadiolone, widely ...
Alex Casey unearths Simon Court’s full sales pitch for how menstrual cups could end poverty. On Friday last week, Act MP Simon Court was accused of “mansplaining” during a parliamentary committee hearing about benefit sanctions. After submitter Rachel Dibble shared her concerns about period poverty and the impact that sanctions ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato It’s an unfortunate fact that bad people sometimes want guns. And while laws are designed to prevent guns falling into the wrong hands, the determined criminal can be highly resourceful. There are three main ...
Asia Pacific Report Two independent Jewish Voices groups in Aotearoa New Zealand have written an open letter to the government condemning the Zionist “colonisation” project leading to genocide and criticising the role of the NZ Jewish Council for its “unelected” and “uncritical support” for Israel. The groups, Alternative Jewish Voices ...
We are 87 days away from The Budget. RNZ’s funding has been frozen for the past 9 years. I have a petition running if anyone cares to put their name to saving a bastion of good journalism in this country. https://www.tinyurl.com/jg9e42t .
Like many on the left, I suppose, I felt a general sense of dismay on the news of Labour losing the Copeland by-election – a seat they had held for 80 years.
But there are ‘alternative facts’ and Jonathan Pie gives a few:
But if Corbyn is the Messiah and his policies are clearly the path to Nirvana, why didn’t the long term slide in Labour’s vote-share turn around?
Maybe, just maybe, the Corbynites are putting just as much effort into backstabbing the more moderate Labour as they accuse the Blairites of doing to Corbyn?
Give me Jonathon Pie over your Blairite ramblings anyday Andre.
We’re not far from the home stretch of our own election. Candidate selections and policies are close to being finalised. The Greens and Labour will almost certainly include policies and candidates that are dead rats to many, especially those fond of slogans such as back-stabbing Blairites.
So what to do? Choke down those dead rats with a forced smile and go hard supporting Labour or Greens as the best route to changing the government? Ignore Labour and Greens and go hard supporting a smaller party like Mana or Socialist Aotearoa and risk wasting votes which allows the Nats to sneak in for a fourth term? Go hard bagging Labour and Greens for their lack of purity and principle which amounts to supporting Nats into their fourth term?
I’m going with the choke down the dead rats option.
Glasseye Sauce is a winner.
The first option for me too, Andre. The only way we get rid of the Nacts is to party vote Labour and the Greens. They are the only parties emphatically saying they will not go into a coalition with National.
No National government
Labour
Greens
Maybe a National government
NZF
TOP
Mp
Def a National government
ACT
(UF?)
Not sure where Mana sits in that all that. I’m guessing the first one, but I think it’s reasonable all things considered to expect all parties to either be explicit or be in the second one.
Any links on positions? I can put it up as a post.
hi weka,
the hone with national seems absolutely unthinkable, however…
the idea of a maori voice/party in parliament may not naturally fall into a tory/socialist framework.
listening to interviews late last week and weekend this notion became apparent.
perhaps it is better for them to be at the table, regardless of where on the political spectrum the main party comes from.
That’s pretty much how I see it gsays. Hard to have that conversation in this Pākehā space though, because anyone who works with National is evil and should be pilloried.
I too can’t imagine Harawira supporting a National govt, but if the left wing parties reject him utterly where else is there to go?
The Mp seem conservative to me, not necessarily neoliberal but just not radical like HH is. It makes sense to me that they would want to be at the table of whichever side had power.
Maybe just maybe Corbyn is putting to fear of god into the centrists, both in the party and in the liberal media, and that is why…just maybe, no not maybe, in actual fact he is being attacked relentlessly by all nearly establishment liberal media like The Guardian… (Guardians of the establishment)
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/jeremy-corbyn-media-bias-labour-mainstream-press-lse-study-misrepresentation-we-cant-ignore-bias-a7144381.html
These liberal media outlets have to be seen as Trojan horses, infiltrating the progressive movements of the western Left, poisoning and disrupting any shift to the Left at every opportunity.
Ask your self this…
When was the last time a western Left wing party has been so popular?
700,000 paid up members
Conservative Party had 149,800 members as of 2013, probably to embarrassed to release any more current numbers.
You would think any thinking progressive would be proud and happy at Labour UK’s numbers, but no, it seems so many people are willing to swallow the bullshit pumped into them by their so called liberal media…it really is a slow moving tragedy for the Left….
Corbyn may very well be putting fear into centrists. And when centrist voters are fearful, they tend to swing conservative.
Well, Corbyn’s Labour may be popular with activist members, but apparently not with the wider swath of voters.
Act used to have large numbers of enthusiastic activists, but it never translated to votes beyond about 6 or 7 %. I suspect the same applys to the Greens – lots of activist but not looking like it can break out of the 10% zone.
Membership is only one factor in electoral success.
Wayne, your attempt to compare ACT with the British Labour Party is beyond parody. It’s the funniest—even funnier because of its apparent sincerity—thing you’ve written on this site since you made the claim that New Zealand in the 1970s was “too equal.”
Morrissey,
I guess you missed the point that enthusiasm and size of the membership is not a guarantee of electoral success.
He just saw “Corbyn” and “ACT” in the same comment and became enveloped in a toxic cloud of smug…
Could you define what you mean by the word “smug”? There’s a good angry and bitter fellow.
Look it up in the dictionary. Your gravatar is the illustration.
I’d say that ACT is content with being a party of influence.
…in actual fact he is being attacked relentlessly by all nearly establishment liberal media like The Guardian…
Well, yes, but that’s a given, which is why Labour parties are ill-advised to make their most left-wing people the leader. If it’s a choice between getting into government or comforting yourself with the thought that your guy would have won if only the media weren’t so unfair, I’ll take “getting into government” every time.
The bit you’re missing is that a political party can have all of the media (TV and newspaper) railing against them and yet go on to form a government. The trick is in effortlessly representing the wishes and will of people.
Professional politicians (unsurprisingly) struggle to do that and so opt for getting on-side with media in the belief that all hopes and aspirations are shaped by them (the media) resulting in a kind of election by third party interference – get the media to endorse your programme and to hell with the people who might vote.
They’ll mostly vote anyway and if they’ve nothing of substance to go for, then they’ll likely go for the medias ‘flavour of the month’.
It’s lazy and in some respect much worse than corrupt insofar as corruption might be said to be up front and ‘honest’.
edit – should maybe just note that the party in question sent a decidedly centrist Labour Party to the political scrapheap in the process (currently 15% in the polls)
I wouldn’t describe the leader of the main opposition party being attacked by liberal media a as given.
Normalizing the neoliberal establishments unethical distortion of the news though our own traditional news vehicles is not normal practice, and certainly not a given.
Man you guys seriously fold at the first sign of a fight don’t you, haven’t you heard of sticking to your principles, or are they all negotiable for a taste of power?
Sticking to your principles at all costs is a luxury for people with little at stake. I share more of Corbyn’s principles than I have any other Labour leader of the last few decades, UK or NZ, and I’d love to see a government running on those principles. Problem is though, those principles aren’t mainstream ones. We’re a minority, and a small one at that. A party on 40% of the vote that adopts those principles can only be assumed to have an ambition of being a party on 10 or 15% of the vote.
When I was a kid I loved the Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks, the Stranglers and the Clash – they were all way better than any of the other music being made at the time, but funnily enough the overwhelming majority of the population kept buying the shite music that they always do and the mainstream press agitated to have the good music banned. Corbyn’s a political equivalent of the Sex Pistols – we might think he’s great, but the mainstream is not going to buy the product.
Yes well you may be half right, but what music from the mid to late seventies shaped the future and direction of all music in a way none had since the original British invasion sound of the early sixties?…Punk, why, because of it’s unquestioned authenticity and power.
And what happened to a majority of the shit music that was being brought back then…nothing, crumbled and fallen from the annuals of history…why?..because that music , much like the economics of neoliberalism lacks human authenticity.
Our principles is ALL we have got, and especially while we are the underdogs fighting this destructive power base hiding in full view at the so called centre politics…this is time when we show, by our own example, to the people around us, family, friends, work mates etc,that our principles are worth fighting for. even in the face of defeat…if not us then who?
There’s a time for sticking to your principles and agitating – before policies and candidates are chosen, long before the next general election. UK Labour members have done that with Corbyn, and good on them for that. But it really doesn’t look like it is going to bring them to electoral success, unlike SNP in Scotland.
Meanwhile in New Zealand, our next general election is soon. Do you want to change the government and get a little bit of movement towards policies that matter to you, or are you OK with the current lot returning to power and further trashing things that matter because sticking to principles is more important?
Corbyn supports traditional Labour policy, which most people in the United Kingdom also support. You know: decent public education, the best health system in the world with the possible exception of Cuba’s, decent wages, and no nuclear weapons.
That’s “left wing” is it?
I guess you think this patricidal fool is a hero rather than a chickenhawk?….
Corbyn supports traditional Labour policy, which most people in the United Kingdom also support.
Oh, well, that’s game over for the Tories then, innit? Corbyn can just stroll along to victory, bolstered by the polls showing massive popular support for his traditional Labour policy. What are you all complaining about?
You keep calling the right wing, pro-nuclear, pro-Israel, pro-war, anti-worker, Blairite rump “the more moderate Labour”. Why?
Because they’re a lot closer to the big fat hump in the middle of the bell curve of the range of voter opinions, where they’ve got a chance of attracting votes from people that might vote Labour in some circumstances or Conservative in others.
Actually they are not. They are precisely on the big fat hump of the middle of the bell curve of the right wing press. The population of the United Kingdom does not want the destruction or downgrading or dismantling of its schools, its health system and its public transport systems. It is Jeremy Corbyn that voices those popular values.
The real conservatives in this country now are the traditional Labour Socialists.
A fair and equal society that protects and encourages all citizens.
People.
Family.
Community.
Environment.
Country.
Socialism.
The fact is, Left wing Socialists are the new progressive conservatives.
My sympathy that your name is now associated with that kind of thing.
I presume you mean my name – I had it long before that f/w made it taste sour. Anyway, there are far worse crosses to bear – I have a house and a comfortable income, and food on the table. Many in this country are not so fortunate!
Change the government!
And change the personnel at Radio Sport! Not just your namesake, but the whole damn lot of them, with the possible exception of Darcy Waldegrave.
Epic
The Greens seem to have hit a support ceiling, failing to increase their vote from the 2011 to the 2014 election. Polls suggest not much has changed since – a leadership change from Russel Norman to James Shaw doesn’t seem to have helped.
Simon Wilson at The Spinoff: https://www.change.org/p/hon-amy-adams-minister-of-broadcasting-increase-funding-for-radio-new-zealand-in-this-year-s-budget
Greens chose to give Labour oxygen. Genter said she campaigned to show their policies were mostly the same and she was mostly the same as Ardern.
Greens need Labour to increase their party vote, but if they do too much to help they risk losing votes for themselves.
The Mt Albert by-election was used to show how well Labour and Greens (actually Ardern and Genter, which is quite different) could work together.
But if Greens want to hold ground or increase their vote they will need to give people a reason to vote for them over Labour. Promoting votes for Labour candidates and saying they have similar policies is unlikely to do that.
your concern is noted.
I’m not concerned. I think it’s interesting to see how this is playing out.
Will Labour and Greens stick with this togetherness strategy right through to the election? Or if it continues to look like it isn’t working will either or both party switch to a more selfish approach?
hahahahahah
don’t worry about the Greens and the Labour party.
They are doing fine. Winning by elections and such. National on the other hand?
blowing up budgets, can’t see the homeless cause it would infringe on their world view, like shit in rivers and in lakes – of course not where you live :), bleeding MP’s like someone gutted a pig.
I would suggest you go and raise your concerns with the National Party about their issue re credibility, accountability and acceptable cowshit levels.
It’s interesting how Mt Albert is being spun. Had Ardern lost to Genter, it would have been “Labour in Crisis after shock defeat”.
Had she won in a squeaker, it would have been “[Labour] will immediately be in trouble. This poll is not just a measure of the value of Jacinda Ardern – it’s a checkpoint for the leadership of Andrew Little.” – Simon Wilson 24 Feb.
But Ardern romps home handily and now it’s (to paraphrase) “Labour is ignoring Ardern’s wider appeal and they’re eating the Greens’ lunch”.
It’s never pleasing you righties, is it?
What it really shows is that uncontested by elections tend not get as many votes. Although 12k is respectable. There have been a number of contested byelections lower than that in nz in recent decades.
Uncontested byelections will favour the incumbent party. It might have something to do with having the organisation on the ground and the contacts.
I suspect that the lowish green electorate vote isn’the out of line with their previous electorate vote.
The real loser other of this is that National failed to contest the election. That will be fun to exploit in the general election.
The previous green electorate vote was around 8000 (Labour 12,000, National 14,000), but they only got 1300 votes for Genter vs. ~3000 for the previous election’s candidate.
So Genter didn’t do so well.
National really lost because they failed to do the most destructive thing they could have: give a wink wink nudge nudge to their voters to vote for the TOP candidate.
“The previous green electorate vote was around 8000 (Labour 12,000, National 14,000), but they only got 1300 votes for Genter vs. ~3000 for the previous election’s candidate.”
Which election are you referring to?
8,000 was the Green party vote in Mt Albert in the 2014 GE (Labour 11,000, Nat 14,300*). The Green candidate vote was 3,152. But that doesn’t take into account turnout. Better to look at %.
Genter got 11.5% of the candidate vote in Mt Albert this time. In the 2014 GE, the Green candidate got 8.5% of the candidate vote.
But again, the comparisons aren’t that straight forward. National was standing then for instance. TOP wasn’t (they got 4.5% of the vote this time).
The Green party vote in Mt Albert in 2014 was 21%. Let’s see what they get this time I think.
http://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2014/electorate-27.html
*weird mix that when you look at the party vote across parties compared to the electorate vote. But I seem to remember this happened a bit, high Labour candidate votes but lower party votes.
I was fairly close for off the top of my head! The errors are regretted, I still have full confidence in all my ministers, etc.
High Labour vote in electorates in the GE is from two reasons I think:
1) Green and NZF voters voting for the Labour candidate because their party’s candidate is unlikely to get there and could let a Nat candidate through if they split their vote
2) Incumbency/name recognition. In Hutt South, for instance, Trevor Mallard got 6,000 votes more than Labour got party votes, which can’t be all from the other left parties. He basically got some right wing voters voting for him (at least 2,000) because he’s been in parliament for four thousand years.
I think the criticism last time was around Labour MPs not being that good on getting the party vote, and being more focussed on the seat.
You may be confused, Pete. There isn’t any party vote in a by-election.
No-one can stop you or Simon Wilson trying to use an electorate vote as a proxy for party vote, but we can recognise how stupid it is.
You’re showing your stupidity.
Of course there’s no party vote in a by-election, but this campaign was all about positioning for the general election for the Greens, where party vote is crucial for them.
If Genter and the Greens had got a much better electorate vote in the by-election it is likely to have helped their campaign for party votes.
Many voters will have seen their Mt Albert capaign as ‘vote for Labour’.
wow, you need a snickers. You come across as mean. And so early in the morning already.
btw, do you think that with the current rate of National Party MPs resigning they will have enough to actually run next years? Seriously, i am very concerned about their ability to actually find living bodies wanting to stand for the good of the country.
The Mount Albert by-election was about positioning for the general election?
National are screwed then.
as i said, by the rate National MP’s are resigning they will be forced to not stand anyone cause they run out of warm bodies.
🙂
Yep the gnats are in disarray – I even felt a bit sorry for dim bill having to pull smirky key back into the media to help him – what a failure. I don’t think Bill will get to the election – notice how quiet bennett and collins have been – plans are afoot imo.
My guess is that the Nats new Dirty Rivers policy has added 2 per cent to the Green’s vote at a stroke.
Of course there’s no party vote in a by-election, but this campaign was all about positioning for the general election for the Greens…
What does that even mean? Nobody outside Mt Albert was paying any attention to the campaign. The “positioning for the general election” consisted of getting some news coverage, which they did. Julie-Ann Genter didn’t go round the electorate telling people “Vote for me because we want to use my vote share as an indicator of the Green Party’s likely party vote share in the general election.”
That’s the second time I’ve read that ACT not running in Mt Albert had an effect on the result.
Act is a sub 1% party, heavily brain damaged, and reliant on life support from the long standing National Party dirty electorate deal. An ACT candidate would have trailed Penny Bright and struggled to crack triple figures.
Should we be paying large fees (and salaries) to so called professional fund managers.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-25/buffett-says-100-billion-has-been-wasted-on-investment-fees
Or should we be paying them bananas.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rickferri/2012/12/20/any-monkey-can-beat-the-market/#1663f8a6630a
Nope. They should be on minimum wage as the research has shown that flipping a coin is a more effective way of managing your money.
That will let them know just how worthless their job is as well as teach them what it’s like at the bottom.
Talking about clever monkeys and what they eat, if anyone has some spare money to give a donation or set up a permanent payment, help the orang-utans. A guy who has worked with them says they are as sensitive and intelligent as us and don’t have the aggression, and cruelty that seem to arise in us. Leif Cocks suggests they should be classified as persons under threat of genocide.
Great on Radionz
Leif Cocks: Saving Orangutans
From Nine To Noon, 10:14 am today 27/2
Listen duration 30′ :02″ Add to playlist
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201834717
Australian primatologist and zoologist Leif Cocks about his life-long work with orangutans. Leif is the founder and president of the international charity The Orangutan Project. He’s spent three decades campaigning on behalf of orangutans, and is working in particular to save the Sumatran orangutan.
KiwiSaver fees are ‘The largest household expense you’ve never heard of’
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/82559050/kiwisaver-fees-are-the-largest-household-expense-youve-never-heard-of
Which reminds me, does anybody know if Labour have taken compulsory KiwiSaver off the table?
I just wish that people would realise that money doesn’t pay for anything and that when it comes to retirement the nation needs to have enough productivity to support those who retire as well as the people working.
“I just wish that people would realise that money doesn’t pay for anything…”
Yet, we are discussing how much money (fees) should we be paying fund managers and whether or not their service is overvalued.
KiwiSaver creator Michael Cullen says it’s time KiwiSaver fees fell
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/89636109/kiwisaver-creator-michael-cullen-says-its-time-kiwisaver-fees-fell
Another example of how real private wealth is usually made by ruthlessly exploiting your fellow humans, rather than the myth of riches rewarding hard work and creativity etc.
Could someone please give an update on how the Riverton Environmental Centre fundraising is doing?
We got there, Ad! Or rather, generous people from all over got us there with their pledges and donations; we’ve bought the building and couldn’t be happier with the support we received from so many people, many of whom we’ve not yet met. Our pledge Me campaign reached its target a couple of days before it closed, though people continued to contribute, and behind the scene-donations, many of them of a size that made my eyes water, got us up to the amount we needed for the purchase ($73, 000). There were contributions too from overseas: Japan, Canada, Scotland, France, from people who had visited the Centre as they traveled in NZ. All in all it was a heart-warming experience, though one that wasn’t without some anxiousness and lying awake at night, “considering” (not me, Robyn – I sleep embarrassingly well)
Long answer, I know, Ad, but we’re buoyant just now and feel surrounded with support – thanks to the TS people who gave to our campaign; I recognised several from here.
Awesome Robert and great to hear.
Excellent!! Well done you lot down there.
Letter to RNZ this morning….
Good morning.
I am sure, given that you are all journalists there at RNZ, you must aware that Brent Budowsky was outed in no uncertain terms by Wikileaks, as being an insider for the DNC and Hillary Clinton during the 2016 US primaries and presidential elections.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/columnist-emailed-podesta-about-whether-his-column-would-give-you-a-problem/
https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/786798072722358273?lang=en
https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/25651
My question to you is why, in light of his obvious personal and political bias, you would choose to have him of all people on RNZ to comment on Trump and the press?
Could you please clarify for your listeners, your reasoning behind this decision.
If he is to be used in future, please insert a disclaimer in your introduction of him as a simple courtesy to your listeners.
Looking forward to your reply.
Best
Adrian Thornton
Well done Adrian. I have thought exactly the same thing every time I’ve heard Budowsky wittering on. I also feel the same irritation every time Simon Marks comes on.
By the way, I happened to hear the “BBC World News” at 8 o’clock this morning; first item was a report of a protest march in Moscow to mark the second anniversary of the Boris Nemtsov assassination. There was a crowd estimated variously between 5,000 and 15,000.
Interestingly, when Britons march—in far bigger numbers than gathered in Moscow yesteday—against THEIR government, the BBC often ignores them….
https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/28sbun/why_arent_the_bbc_reporting_a_massive_protest_in/
Good on you Adrian. Should have asked them to dump Mora’s dopey panel too. It’s way past its use by date!
Wellington Central-based National MP Paul Foster-Bell has been pushed out. He has been subject to a nasty internal Nat campaign for a couple of years and now they’ve won. Where is the examination of the detail of these nasty internal Nat politics? Was it because he dared to come out as gay? Media and blogs obsess about Labour and Greens instead.
Money talks in national he will be well looked after with a sinecure or 3 to keep his mouth shut.
@Ethica (7) and it’s interesting to note Paul Foster Bell will be replaced by a former John Key adviser (?) Willis, who also has his support.
So it seems the murky shyster currency trader is still doing the dirty deeds in the dark background as usual! Keeping Natziratzi on track obviously!
KDS is strong in this one
why isn’t the media onto this issue its because they are too busy bagging the left
when the gnats are at it themselves
Uh maybe because there is no story, he’s leaving and unlike labour Nat MPs have careers outside of parliament, where for most labour MPs the salary and job is the gig of thier life, I mean Annette king can’t go back to been a dental nurse assistant, hence they will have to carry her out
can’t see big jerry teaching woodwork again and i pity the fullas that have to carry him out
Trump’s first run for the presidency, in 1980
Well done this family for making this public.
An appalling coverup by CYF after a toddler was murdered and CYF had failed dreadfully:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/325390/cyf-admits-failures-over-toddler's-death-to-family
So there is a problem with migrants and crime in Germany, but it isn’t the problem we hear about.
.
Nearly 10 attacks were made on migrants in Germany every day in 2016, the interior ministry says.
A total of 560 people were injured in the violence, including 43 children.
Three-quarters of the attacks targeted migrants outside of their accommodation, while nearly 1,000 attacks were on housing.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39096833
One thing we can be sure of about today’s Academy Awards ceremony
Nobody will make a speech as spineless as this….
http://www.vox.com/2015/2/23/8092543/edward-snowden-neil-patrick-harris
or as ignorant as this…
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kevin-spacey-defends-venezuela-protests-694743
or as naïve and stupid as this one…
Of course previous cults of personality have been raging successes.
To spend three days at this year’s CPAC, the annual right-wing carnival of politics and culture, was to witness an ideology conforming to an individual rather than the other way around.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/02/the-conservative-movement-is-donald-trump-214828
Wow. So apparently the good side of state housing mismanagement is that the people you put up in motels get counted as “domestic tourists” rather than “homeless”.
That’s some mighty interesting stat keeping – probably because before this government, any numbers being put up in motels by WINZ were statistically tiny.
edit: lol argh shit missed half a post on just that, sigh.
Zeynep Tufekci Retweeted Teen Vogue
Teen Vogue does the Oscars, heh.
Teen VogueVerified account@TeenVogue
an #Oscars red carpet break to remind you that President Trump is still telling lies: http://tnvge.co/tm7hLGU
http://www.teenvogue.com/story/we-fact-checked-all-lies-donald-trumps-administration-told-week?mbid=social_twitter
“But first, to the leaks about stopping leaks from the Trump White House.
Fearless in the face of what some have described as expletive-laden attacks on them by press secretary Sean Spicer, White House staffers dutifully lined up to give Politico magazine unattributed accounts of Spicer’s latest crackdown.
Having consulted White House Counsel Don McGahn and accompanied by another lawyer, Spicer reportedly summoned a dozen of his communications staff to an “emergency” meeting late last week, at which they were ordered to surrender mobile phones and other devices, private and government-issued, for a “phone check” that might reveal who was leaking.
After warning them that the use of encrypted apps, some of which delete a text after it has been sent, was a violation of the Presidential Records Act, Spicer sent the staffers packing – with a final warning that accounts of the meeting were not to be leaked.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/89848281/paranoia-at-the-white-house-as-crackdown-on-leaks-begins
LOL that’ll stop the leaks spicer you dingbat
lol. Burner phones.
I shouldn’t laugh though. It still all reads like the bit in a dystopian novel just before people start getting hauled off to jail. You know the bit where the people in charge can’t handle the disobedience or being laughed at.
Labour are offering a $20,000 one-off start-up grant backing young entrepreneurs.
http://www.labour.org.nz/yep
If the ventures of these young entrepreneurs go on to be successful, should Labour be seeking a percentage of the return (and a percentage of the sale if the venture is later sold)? Which could be recycled back into the scheme.
Should Labour also stipulate a living wage be paid to employees of the recipients of the grant?
yes to the last one. No to the payback if they end up paying a living wage.
yes to living wage.
The return for society on a grant is a going concern that employs people. I’m not too bothered either way if Labour wants to stipulate more than that.
Negligible changes in the February Roy Morgan poll.
– National 48% (up from 46)
– Labour 26% (down from 27)
– Greens 13% (up from 12.5)
– NZ First 8% (down from 9)
– Maori Party 2% (no change)
– ACT Party 1% (up from o.5)
– United Future 0% (down from 0.5)
– Conservative Party 0% (down from 0.5)
– Internet Party 0% (no change)
– Independent/Other 2% (no change)
Labour + Greens are 39% compared to National’s 48%.
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/7149-roy-morgan-new-zealand-voting-intention-february-2017-201702271519
Not much change from a year ago.
Nats pretty much unchanged.
Lab + Green down a bit.
Winston First up a bit.