Labour got a bit of a towelling on Saturday. I have been, as therapy, analysing some of the figures and there are some interesting features to them and also, I believe cause for medium term optimism. The features include:
1. Low turnout. The continuous stream of negative poll results and adverse media effect had its effect on Labour supporters who just stayed home.
2. Labour dipped substantially in the Maori electorates where the presence of the Mana Party sucked up valuable party votes.
3. The NZ First phenomenon clearly had an effect of Labour’s support base where a number voted strategically to make sure NZ First was over the line. My gut feeling is that this could have been as high as 3% of the total vote. The Greens pretty well account for the rest of the loss.
4. In Auckland the result was relatively good. Labour’s support declined on average by less than 4%.
5. South Auckland performed very well with a swing towards Labour. Mangere was the standout with a 10% swing. Sua William Sio and the Mangere organisation did really well.
6. Christchurch suffered a cataclysmic downturn in support with a 10.6 overall swing against Labour and turnout noticeably dipping. The effect of the earthquake and people’s response to it obviously need more analysis but at this stage it looks like Labour has to do a major rebuilding job. Despite the swing Dalziel and Dyson did well and held their seats and Clayton Cosgrove only just dipped out. The party vote in his electorate was especially strong for National and given this his performance was incredibly good.
7. The counting of special votes will be interesting. Jacinda Ardern probably will not swing Auckland Central back but Carmel Sepuloni still has a chance in Waitakere of unseating Bennett. And if we can knock off one more tory MP the figures get that much tighter to manage.
The ‘vicious bullshit ‘ was suggesting that beneficiaries who deservedly need assistance would be better off if they were helped more, not just with money but with education opportunities and assistance with things like budgeting and how to provide good nutrition on a budget, and that the minority abuses that are occurring were addressed more effectively.
The ‘vicious bullshit ‘ was suggesting that beneficiaries who deservedly need assistance would be better off if they were helped more, not just with money but with education opportunities and assistance with things like budgeting and how to provide good nutrition on a budget, and that the minority abuses that are occurring were addressed more effectively.
How stupid do you think we are? That’s not what you said and you know it.
Er, I would have thought irony was a failed candidate accusing a party 50 times more popular than his own of failing to inspire voters. And isn’t it time you joined the Conservative party, Pete? At least they have a future beyond contributing to Peter Dunne’s retirement fund and may actually get some list candidates elected next time.
Conservatives are not my thing at all. Far too narrow.
My main focus now is continuing to build a strong cross party (and non party) voice for Dunedin. Regional politics rather than party politics, current party politics is failing Dunedin as indicated by the abysmal voter turnout.
And as per usual here the personal attacks divert from Labour’s denial problem. It’s everyone else’s fault.
The problem with Disunited No Future is that nobody knows what they actually stand for -other than hyposcisy, looting the planet, denialism and opportunitsm.
I think it is a great shame that there are still sufficient numbers of uninformed, deluded people around for UF to still exist. The same applies to ACT, of course.
(Update He missed by one – he was second up this morning – seems he is still trying to campaign)
Quote
logie97 34
27 November 2011 at 10:22 pm
Who was that guy Pete George who appeared to be using this blog as a platform for his own ends.?
Now that the ballot has closed and the dust virtually settled, perhaps he will disappear and allow reasonable discourse to resume in these columns. I guess we won’t know till we open up “OpenMike” in the morning to see whether he is still trying to be first poster. Obviously not many of his beloved UF followers read these pages (or maybe they followed him here and saw each and every one of his arguments put in their place …) Dunne holds on just. What a joke.
Purile git hopefully next election when the 1 man band takes some more party votes of Nationa that don’t count it will be hard to imagine with an idiot like you promoting them 132 votes wow thats a successful campaign!
But dunne is nearly finished 3 more years of a no growth economy and he and National will be dunne for.
8. Most of the Nat gain is via ACTs collapse, no paradigm shift and certainly not the grand mandate they’re claiming so if the Greens can hold their support there is be a strong and natural left coalition in the wings.
Labour’s support base where a number voted strategically to make sure NZ First was over the line.
Yes. I thought long and hard about voting strategically for NZF but in the end I couldn’t. It didn’t seem possible that Labour could win this time but NZF could become a spoiler and damn near did.
What a load of tosh. Labour failed in it’s policy’s, failed with it’s candidates and now fail to see the error of their ways. Why did so many stay away, try no passion, no inspiration to start with. You guys just don’t get it, fortuitously most Kiwi’s do. Perhaps it was because of polices like money for working for nothing. Perhaps it was the same dumb candidates that believe the only way to voters hearts are to bribe them with other peoples money.
“money for working for nothing.”
Side Show Bob – Try to pay attention. There is a discrimination case(s) working its way through the system that has a good chance of finding that there is discrimination in not offering WFF to beneficiaries.
Which leaves two choices to any government cough up the dosh for benes or axe the scheme altogether.
Do you think for one minute Mr “I need to be love” Key would have campaigned on axing WFF?
Side show bob other peoples money coming Debt from overseas at high interest and higher if [Greek European proportions] national fail to get the economy growing at more than the 0.1% it has under the dipstick.National will need to grow the economy at more than 2.5% to start paying off Debt at more than interest costs we are paying 6% for our debt the US 2.5%.The exodus to Australia will gather pace a lot of young ones I know are not waiting for another 3 years of National that includes one of my children if the CHCH rebuild doesn’t get under way soon my other child and husband and 3 grandchildren have gone already.
I assume that’s because you don’t have a family, and you do have a high income. Consumption taxes harm the poor, because they spend everything they get, whereas the rich save their money.
Try reading past the first two sentences. A rise in GST should be engineered so that those in the bottom 50% end up with a real tax cut, after price rises, while everyone else pays more.
instead of having a graduated stepped tax system ie 20% to 35% why not have a continually graduated system with computers now it would be easy and would create less poverty traps and resentment from the rich .
Capital Gains Tax would be more acceptable from the right if business tax was reduced with some of that increase in tax which would encourage the productive sector
Capital gains should be on all capital gain at a lower rate which would be more acceptable as well
Small businesses need simpler easier systems computerizing all small businesses systems and having instant gst would reduce paper work needed for small business
Small businesses are the backbone of employment in this country if their Acc levies and all the govt taxes and rebates were paid as they earned it would save a lot of head aches for small businesses we on the left need to make sure its easy for these businesses to thrive and survive
You have obviously discovered fraud in the way the election was run.
David Parker’s 6,000 votes? The organisers of the election only credit Parker with 3,093.
Quick, who stole the other 2,900 you think he got?
see also – excluding the poorest meembers of the community from working for families, the seabed and foreshore act (yes still), the increased gap between rich and poor after 9 years of labour government, and entitlitis that led to labour ministers rorting the system for travel perks, hotel pornography, unfortunate examples of public behaviour, giving large amounts of money to rich people for a boat race, changing school terms for a sports tournament and trevor mallard. In nine years of government all they succeeded in doing was alienating their consituency. Apart from the departure of Cullen and Clark the labour caucus has very few new faces and have borrowed all their new policies from the greens, proving that for them it’s not about integrity but about jumping on popular bandwagons to regain power.
Kudos to the grace shown by Goff and most of the posters on here. I fully expected an outpouring of bile and venom about the election result (and had looked for some youtube clips in response) but I’ve been pleasently surprised by the restraint on here.
So the questions are:
How long will Goff stay on as leader for and who’ll replace him if he goes?
Cunliffe is non-committal, but is apparently being blamed for not coming up with numbers for Goff quick enough in the campaign. He denies he’s considering runing with Dalziel as deputy.
Other potential leaders named have included former union leader Andrew Little, who was elected from the party list on Saturday, and Mt Albert MP David Shearer, though it is seen as too soon for both.
Shane Jones has ruled himself out of leadership contention.
I can’t say that Parker inspires me at all. He seems very MOR and lacking in passion – too managerial.
Of the ones mentioned, I’d go for Little (with Ardern). That’d be a lively and energises team, along with Little’s gravitas and ability to think assertively on his feet. Fresh – new, not old-style managerial, has the potential to engage with disengaged struggling workers and poor. And combines with a youthful, female and smart image.
He’s also negative and I’m not sure he could do a positive campaign. Do Labour really just want to attack John Key in 2014 as they have in 2011 and 2008. Do they want to campaign once again negatively rather than positively?
micky, I like Cunliffe a lot – have given my electorate vote to him in the last couple of elections. I think he is very good on his feet, in the House and with “tough” media interviews. But he also needs to have the support of the majority of the caucus. I wonder if he is personable enough to have wide voter appeal.
However, RNZ this morning is talking a 2 horse race between Parker and Cunliffe. In that case, I would go for Cunliffe. Parker is too bland and just comes across as a middleclass suit. he’s not going to be able to engage with some of the disengaged battler sections of the electorate. Cunliffe has a certain mongrel appeal.
But I would have someone softer, more personable and youthful as his deputy – eg Ardern.
I don’t believe Key will see out the full term. And on that basis I reckon it would be crazy to not remain with Goff – he got profile,experience and kudos for his performance this election. People began to connect with him, and the media grudgingly appreciated him. Absolute madness for him to stand down. Stay, Phil – with Jacinda as deputy. Call the shots – you have the mandate now to do it on your own terms.
Why did you expect that? The right have been somewhat more restrained than in their hysterical witch hunt in 2008. The reaction is consequently less.
The answer to your question is when he feels it is appropriate, and there will be caucus discussion and a vote. It isn’t a direct party decision – it is a caucus decision.
Without being too apocalyptic there are some major sea changes happening out in the wider world that will change how we view the role of the future politician: if Labour are to present any credible alternative they will have to look like saviours of the coming train wreck.
Moving on Goff now is pointless, better to see who understands the future best and represents it best. None have shown the vision and world awareness they will need, so until somebody does just wait.
if Labour are to present any credible alternative they will have to look like saviours of the coming train wreck.
Small problem. If people actually believed that there were real ‘train wreck’ magnitude problems coming up, they wouldn’t have voted National.
However, they don’t so they did vote National. Orlov, Kunstler and many others are right. By the time the signals become obvious that BAU is failing badly, it will be too late to do much about it on a Governmental level.
Yes, the financial ‘tsunami’ is ‘tuindering up the beach’ and WILL hit in a matter of months. The peak oil is more akin to a ‘rising sea level’ that will inundate everything over the next few years, and environmental collapse a ‘wild card’ that could hit hard and fast or just erode everything currently people take for granted over the next decade.
You cannot be ‘too apocalyptic’ because apocalypse actually means uncovering or revealing [of that which has been hidden]. Much WILL be revealed very soon, starting with exposure of the ‘economic growth will save us’ fraud.
CV.
Yes, you are right. ‘If people actually believed that there were real ‘train wreck’ magnitude problems coming up, they wouldn’t have voted National.’
The only consolation is, fewer people are deluded by the flag-waving and fireworks displays than in 2008.
The real issue is that the time to start preparing for the mess we are now in was over the period 2000 to 2008, when we had a Labour government that was composed of deniers and ‘clowns’, many of whom are still hanging around and giving off bad smells like slowly decomposing cadavers.
“I fully expected an outpouring of bile and venom about the election result”
It is telling how the bulk of the bile is spewing from the victors, perhaps that well dressed little cricket we all possess is gnawing at their sense of reason?
Peters on RNZ yesterday basically said the voters will have to learn the hard way if they insist on voting against their own interests. Quite right, but at what cost?
Most NZers, unfortunately, don’t know their own history very well and have forgotten the lessons of, say, the Great Depression. The next depression – which approaches quickly – will provide many fresh lessons. However, it will be too late as far as our economic sovereignty is concerned, what with the asset sales, TPP, etc.
There will be unrest (5 years?) ahead and I expect NACT will foster closer military ties with the US over the next term. In the long run, they probably won’t want to rely on the NZ Army to enforce the new economic hegemony.
Two possibilities:- 1) We get another stupid government in that actually pays to get the assets back or 2) we get a government that got the will to just re-appropriate them with no compensation.
What we will need is the latter. We will probably get the former.
If Labour, NZ First, Greens, Mana, really cared as much about these asset sales as they say, they would have signalled Option (2) pre-election. This would have been adequate warning to any potential investor.
As mandated by what – less than 35% of registered voters? Don’t wank on about democracy when a referendum directly asking about asset sales would have returned at least a 75% NO
Mighty river is the most profitable SOE so National will see what funds can be raised from it if its a failure they can abandon the sales program and go back to their main policy of borrow and hope!
Act said they would stop the National party from selling assets if they didn’t get a good price for them!
Banks sold NZR for nothing to his mates and sold Auckland airport shares to his mates for nothing expect the same again!
On this side (a Left blog) its all doom and gloom, especially if you were looking to take the reins of “power” in what is seen as BAU, the steady state growth economy. Well look at this little storm arriving full tilt…
As the world economies plunge into a storm the 1930s would have regarded as a minor blip we blithely hand our fate to a bankster. You can remain amazed at your fellow citizens stupidity and short sightedness BUT thats democracy, no complaints please.
I’m personally asking anyone who says anything about any party if they voted……that turnout is a very sad apathy indicator so be good to know where the hypocrites are.
If you didn’t vote you have no right to comment whatsoever IMO……so shut up hold tight and pay attention.
People don’t vote if they are disenfranchised from the process and outcomes. Try to understand that it is not the same meaning as apathy. Apathy is a measure of inaction. Disenfranchisement is the motive behind a choice of action. Try to understand that those that are disenfrancised will excercise valid complaint by not voting and their complaints will be valid after they also don’t vote.
If you ignore and attack the disenfranchised, how will you ever grow the voter turnout? Where will your extra voters come from? Will you ship them in? Give everyone else an extra vote?
If you ignore the disenfranchised you are ignoring those who need information, explanation and assistance. Worse, you are dismissing the core of an active democracy – to engage all people and both sides of every argument.
And if all else fails, ask yourself, if you were faced with the choice of being ignored by one man or or being ignored by another, which would you choose? What about if the choice was between two men who would oppress you?
I have wondered how much pre-election media coverage and polls contribute to voter turn out as I suspect that a number of people fail to vote based on reports of media and polls and coming to a conclusion that their vote is either note needed or will be wasted depending on how exactly the media are covering their preferred party.
What you’re advocating here is that politicans should decide the direction of the Nation, isolated from the people i.e. no democracy. That is why the no vote no complaint slogan is anti-democratic. Generating a paternal attitude about it is pathetic at best, counterproductive at worst.
Every party in the last election could have gained from at least 25% extra support. They failed to engage those voters. Key would have a true mandate. ACT might not be all but dead. Labour might be in power. The Greens might have been the majority base of a left coalition. NZF might have…. everything would be different. It’s stunning our political parties could be so short sighted – this is an MMP environment.
An MMP parliament does not mean either National or Labour cabinet, plus some pet coalition partners who get thrown a concession or two. While parties continue to believe that, they can expect to be overrun or corrupted by the majority party of a coalition. If people are increasingly disenfranchised, the old arguments of persuation will no longer work. There is no need to apologise for past regimes if your new presentation explains the basic concepts of why you create particular policy. Not rich vs. poor, not dollar vs. future, not slogan vs. slogan, but what is right and why. No need to sigh over present reality in your campaign ad’s if clear reasoning is present. Then even if a voter does not vote for you, they will vote for your allies. Cement your support. Create dialogue. If the basic concepts behind policy are truely right, they will be right regardless of economic climate.
Any party that thinks that percentages are all that matter cannot tap into the lost vote.
Umm… IMO I believe that kids should be enrolled in year 10 by their high school and there be a mandatory fine/debit of say $100-150 for not voting which could be data linked into IRD for collection.
That would get all the youth and low income out to vote.
The trouble with that is only the dictatorial right would create that sort of system, and they are sooo not interested in the young and the poor voting.
Enrolment is compulsory but not enforced.
if we can’t enforce that then we wont enforce voting.
The census people want people to participate and be honest. Any likelihood of bad consequences from completing the census will drive people to avoid it.
The US know this only too well. Back in WW2 they used census results to round up Japanese citizens or those of Japanese descent and lock them in internment camps.
Now they have a difficult time trying to get the nutjobbers from completing the census, because in this case the nutjobbers actually have proof that needs to be taken seriously.
Yes after being a big fan of the man for at least five years now it’s hugely gratifying to see him start getting some traction. He may yet turn out to be the Maynard Keynes of our generation.
I thought the photo on the front page of The Southland Times this morning summed the situation up nicely. Key meeting senior Cabinet Ministers (Brownlee, English, Joyce and McCully) at home in Parnell.
Five middle aged, born-to-rule white guys in their weekend uniform of blue striped Rodd and Gunn shirt tucked into jeans arrayed around Key’s living room which has all the warmth and personality of a hotel room.
Peters will thrive in his natural opposition habitat which will doom the left to coalesce with NZF should they get the numbers in 2014 (please). That is a problem. Quite apart from trust issues the man never really leaves opposition. Oh… and Andrew Williams anyone?
Curran got well and truly spanked in a formerly Labour stronghold seat. Dunedin people don’t like her – she is sour, intolerant and focuses on fringe issues. Even the City Councillors believe she is a waste of space – keeps bleating on about painting seats in the Octagon. The best thing that Curran can do for Dunedin is to go back to Australia.
I think you are letting personal feelings cloud your judgement here. Curran won the seat with a 4,000 odd majority, hardly a spanking. As for the party vote I believe boundary changes in recent years have pushed the seat more towards Middlemarch which might account for National’s increased party vote.
keeps bleating on about painting seats in the Octagon.
I lived there for a few years and I can assure you, from my perspective, the whole city needs a bloody good clean. Some fantastic architecture but it’s dirty and the foot paths are black with grime.
I ripped the shit out of 2 friends of family uni students yesterday, ” We’re Labour all the way, yeah ” ” did you vote? ” Tried to bluff but didn’t get away with it. ” Aw didn’t get around to it ” was the worst admission they could have made. I realised later that it was probably the first time these two had ever been made to be accountable for slackness. Don’t think they will be back, good riddance. Don’t let these lasy ungrateful little shits off the hook, years of getting 18 yr olds the vote, interest free student loans, 18 year old drinking age and decent wages. If thats not worth 5 minutes time to vote any way they have the right to, they deserve all the shit thats going to hit them in the next 3 years. The same goes for anybody else that you come across who didn’t vote . tear the fuckers a new arsehole.
The same goes for anybody else that you come across who didn’t vote . tear the fuckers a new arsehole.
Why? I mean, this ‘representative’ malarky is two minutes out of one day every three years. Hardly a scenario that encourages participation or any level of engagement whatsoever. Inbetween times, we are subjected to parliamentary tedium and soap opera with no further opportunity for meaningful input until another (approx) 1095 days have gone by.
I’m much more concerned with those that view meaningful democracy as consisting of those two minutes every three years.
Given the choice between somebody who will support political activism and not vote, or someone who will merely vote, I know who my frustrations would be focussed on.
I wasn’t even enrolled for the first 2 elections i was eligible to vote in.
I figured if the choice is between the lesser of two evils or the devil you know. I ‘d rather not vote for a devil or evil at all.
You can’t lose if you don’t play.
The sooner we get secure txt voting from a smart phone the sooner you’ll engage the youngers to vote. It’s just stupid that we use online banking, pay by phone and ATM’s but don’t engage that technology for voting.
a tick on a piece of paper behind a cardboard box in this day and age ???…you’ve got to be fucking kidding !!!
Polly, I was so impressed by your analysis of why my stupid vacuous office girl wanted to vote for Key that I have taken the liberty of reposting here (in italics). In short she is very vulnerable if this company crashes in the coming depression and if she has to support her son on sonn to be cut welfare (and perhaps be forced to find a job at Makkers). Yet she voted for a man who “worked so hard to get rich…just like we can)>>>Yeah right.
Living the dream
Congratulations people, you bought the aspirational middle class dream Key was selling. You didn’t
want the reality Goff was selling and why would you ?
The reality is high unemployment, no jobs, stagnant wages, rising cost of living, NZ’s best and brightest leaving NZ in record numbers, an aging population reliant on welfare, an angry youthful
demographic also reliant on welfare, a property investment boil that needs lancing and a wealth
disparity chasm that will only widen with asset sales.
I mean, who in their right mind wants to face that reality ?…and buy into it, let alone deal with it, when you can live the dream of aspirational middle classiness. You too can come from living in a state house to make a fortune then become Prime Minister. Thats the shit people want to buy into and the shit Key was selling.
And man did we buy it, hook, line and sinker, cos like i said on Dim Post, everyone thinks they’re middle class these days. There is no working class anymore, only the underclass, consisting of the working poor and the unemployed. But no one’s going to admit to being underclass. That’s the fucking nightmare class you read about on the news, committing violent crime, breeding for business and living of charity.
Sure, you may be jobless and poor or scraping to get by, but your parents weren’t and they were middles class so you are too eh ? You just have to keep believing, have faith that Key can keep your dream alive. I mean, you’re a real life wannabe kiwi mum and dad whose better times are just around the corner.
But you know the only trouble with living the dream is, sooner or later you wake up and have to face reality, either by your own choice or by neccessity of someone forcing you to. And don’t you just hate it when the realization dawns on you that the dream you thought you were living was only happening in your mind and for all that time you were just asleep.
sleep tight NZ, don’t let reality bite…Vampires are real !!!
Underclass and proud of it…I own that shit and one day soon i and others like me will be Key’s worst nightmare.
Not for the crime or the ‘breeding for business’ that drain welfare, but for the sheer weight of critical mass that happens when the 99% sleepers awaken and choose a new reality.
Think Dune when Paul Atreides transmuted the waters of life. And like House Atreides inspiring the Fremen to storm the deserts of Arrakis and overthrow the Harkonnens to bring the Emperor to his knees.Theres gonna be hell to pay.
They who control the spice controls the universe. We will take back spice production and own our future.
There is a real move (I think from the left) in the US to return to paper voting.
The concern is that there are too many problems with machine voting, no audit-able paper record for electronic voting (and therefore greater chance of fraud, hacking or government interference), and too many jurisdictions that determine their own method of casting a vote.
Yes, we have online banking etc but one of the secrets the banks keep quiet is the evel of “interference” that does take place.
The difference between the US and us is population and the prohibitions to exclude voters there.
If there was a cross party consensus to change the electoral status quo, it could happen practically overnight. No more silly land line polls and dodgy internet ones. People could txt in using their secure ird number and bank acct log in.
A referendum on that would be way more useful than wasting time deciding on MMP alternatives. Imagine if we could real time decide on mandates for things like State Asset Sales.
It’s inevitable we will eventually vote via the virtual cloud. Rather we own it and control it, make it happen NOW, or by proxy, facebook and the US through the banks will do it for us.
No doubt the new technology gives us the chance of fast, inexpensive feed back for all sort of issues that a government faces.
It doesn’t solve the lack of participation.
I could see a problem of buy in and the degree of representation.
You would need to limit each person to one person one vote and be able to secure that so there is no staking of a referendum or other sort of poll.
Then there is the technology to be used – smart phones for everyone? polling booths permanently on street corners like phone boxes?
Do we want such events like a general election to be treated so casually?
Still, something of the sort is in the future.
polling booths permanently on street corners like phone boxes?
Using eftpos or ATM’s as voting machines tied into your bank acct secure pin and login details cross matched with your ird number and drivers license sent as a txt to confirm via answering a personal question you sent in using snail mail with your electoral enrolment form.
It doesn’t solve the lack of participation.
I’m pickin youngers would, if given the option, vote using their phone or an ATM, especially if you engaged them via social media and incentivised them with free credit.
As a trial, get the systems up, trial some refererenda and then in the next elections just electronically vote on the party vote and see how irrelevent electorate voting is to the youngers.
…see how irrelevent electorate voting is to the youngers.
This election has, IMO, proven that we need to get rid of electorate voting or bring in STV voting for the electorate. As it is it’s too open to manipulation and gerrymanders are still possible. If we do get rid of electorate voting then people have to become more involved with local politics which seems to be more or less ignored ATM.
You would need to limit each person to one person one vote and be able to secure that so there is no staking of a referendum or other sort of poll.
You may not have noticed but the government already has a database (actually, they probably have several) that has everybody in the country on it. Tie the voting into that database, make the record of the vote permanent and that each person can see that record online (IMO, government data on a person should be available online for that person to view) with the option to change a vote once under supervision if the vote is recorded incorrectly.
The voting is done online, database is government owned and controlled, software is developed in-house and is open source. That prevents private companies from being able to manipulate the voting directly and makes the software as secure as possible. Using Security Tokens makes the actual online transaction about as secure as you can get and possibly more secure than paper based options.
There is a real move (I think from the left) in the US to return to paper voting.
The concern is that there are too many problems with machine voting, no audit-able paper record for electronic voting (and therefore greater chance of fraud, hacking or government interference), and too many jurisdictions that determine their own method of casting a vote.
Absolutely right! There’s no way that Dubya really genuinely got re-elected in 2004 – we all know that much! Paper voting is safe, and if the younglings won’t do it, tough on them, lazy barstewards! Voting by text should never happen… I am teaching a bunch of lazy teens, and they think I am horrible, because there are some things up with which I will not put…
How hard would it be to remove ‘personality’ from politics and have a more representative parliament in the process? Not hard at all, I reckon. Instead of lists of parties, why not have lists of policy direction that parties offer up (limited to x number of policies per party) with a ‘yes/no’ option and then the various parties attached to the relevant yeah or nay side of the policy?
So for example, on ‘Asset Sales’ there would be a yes or no option and then, depending on your thoughts on asset sales, a further choice as to which parties prescriptions you’d rather see implemented.
Same on tax free income. If 50% + favour it, then the signal as to whether Labour’s $5000, Mana’s $20 000 or whatever was preferred would have been signalled on the ballot paper. And then the party which had the largest vote next to it on that policy, would be charged with making it happen….executing the policy.
The overall result…a representation of voter desire…would probably be a hoary bastard for parliamentarians to deal with. But if their job is to give effect to voter desires, then hey.
If a particular policy couldn’t be implemented for genuine reasons (ie politiking aside), then at the next election it assumes a priority that needs only 50%+ to vote for it and then it must be implemented by the same party as before. No ‘if’s’ no ‘but’s’….no excuses whatsoever.
In the space between elections, policy and not personality would be the only thing worth discussing. And unlike the Swiss system that appears to demand constant engagement, this allows people to ‘dip in and out’ of parliamentary shenanigans.
Once every three years the politicians are directed on what they are required to deliver. It’s up to them after that.
I think Mana’s idea of lowering the voting age has some merit.
If young people had a chance to experience at least one election and maybe even two elections before leaving high school, young people may have a better appreciation of the democratic process as a valuable and empowering experience and therefore decide to stay more involved as adults.
(To experience two elections while still at High School would mean lowering the voting age to 15)
I would like to debate with others the merits/demerits of this idea.
Would our youth just vote as their parents do?
Would teachers have an improper influence over students’ political views?
Are our objections based on fear?
Are we frightened of what our young people would do with the mandate?
I can’t help wondering, what would they would do with it?
No doubt I imagine it will be something I can’t imagine.
To judge by what my younger son has told me about his former classmates, yes, a scarily large number would do just that.
Would teachers have an improper influence over students’ political views?
I don’t believe so…
Are our objections based on fear?
Mine certainly are! The monstrous idiocy displayed by many of the pupils at Western Springs College when L., was there is terrifying. One girl was convinced that Helen Clark was an unmarried lesbian, because her Daddy said so (see above). A boy was convinced that World War 2 was fought by the brave Americans (along with maybe 20 New Zealanders) against the evil Brits and the evil Nazis, all for the purpose of saving Jews and establishing the state of Israel. Another boy believed that whatever box you’re in precludes all other boxes – and screamed his disbelief that an Irish person they were learning about could be both a Communist and a Republican! Many 15 year olds would, in the wonderful words of my daughter in law speaking about her rest-home “ladies” – ‘vote for the Wombles if they were on the ballot” – the old dears because they don’t know what day it is, the teens, for the lulz…
Are we frightened of what our young people would do with the mandate?
Absolutely yes. Sadly, teens are irresponsible. It’s what they are!
No doubt I imagine it will be something I can’t imagine.
I can and it makes me blench! My youngest was a teen not to long ago, and I remember it all too well. His besetting sin was (and still is to an extent) self-righteousness and an absolute conviction that he’s always right. If you think Petulant Bean and old Tariana think they know what’s best for bennies, try a bunch of teenagers!
Thanks Mickey for your analysis …you (and too many coffees) have got me thinking in an after-match-analysis sort of way……
1. Low turnout.
Traditionally the no-voters are on the left (for a number of reasons) and that we always hit the left hard if they don’t vote. I think that Labour and the Greens need to step up the game.
a.We need to see the next three years like The South during the ’60s and have drives to increase voter registration. Make a concerted effort to help people outside the political process to dip their toes in the water and hope they wade in on election day.
This is something I will be committing myself to in the next three years ( I have yet to checkout turnout in my area but I’m sure there is a need).
b. Step up our efforts to get out the vote on the day. Cars, vans, umbrellas – anything to remove the barriers people have to voting. That involves some organisation at the grass roots and co-operation across the left (not sure how the greens will feel about all those car miles 🙂 )
c. Non-partisan letterbox drops, well before the lead up to the election, with a series of well thought out, nicely produced, flyers that people can down load and distribute around their neighbour hood. A set number of drops, on certain dates, over the course of a year.
These flyers would aim to educate people about the process, why we have an election at all, and why it is important for any citizen to vote and the efforts people, as seen in the news, are going to in order to get a say.
Perhaps campaign slogans that have a uniform, pithy message that can be put on bumpers, posters etc. e.g. “If you don’t vote then don’t complain”, “If you didn’t vote I ain’t listening”, “Be part of the solution – Vote!”, “Vote first, bitch second”, “You’re only alive because politicians allow you to be”
2. Labour dipped substantially in the Maori electorates where the presence of the Mana Party sucked up valuable party votes.
Labour can no longer rely on being the dominant party on he left. The left is fragmented. But that should not necessarily be a bad thing. It is the nature of the left to be fragmented – we all have differing views about what in the status quo needs to be changed and we rally to that flag.
Instead of it being a weakness that the right can use to divide and conquer, the left needs to decide on what they can agree on, be gracious with each other, and leave the adversarial debate to the presentation of ideas during the election.
Perhaps we need a association of progressives, a congress of like minded people that have a common ethos but differ in the details.
If Labour wants to survive it needs to look at who it constituency is. With the advent of strong Maori voices the days of Ratana and Labour Maori safe seats are gone. Who does Labour speak for? The Middle class? Labour? Maori, Pacifica, Asians?
Do they need to build a constituency? Organise union membership, campaign for better work conditions, get a profile in the foodbanks, elevate the “common man” in the party ranks, be proud to be socialist and promoting a return to a more caring NZ, boldly address the future like they have stated to but go further – peak oil, climate change, NZ for NZdrs and not trans-nationals).
The Greens are on a roll and it is a generational thing. The young have the values and expectations that resonate with the Green message. They are the children of the greening of society and as they come of voting age there will be more of them. I say the young but I exclude brain dead “I’m a Key person” bimbos-for-hire that Key had following him – why weren’t they at work?!
3. The NZ First phenomenon clearly had an effect of Labour’s support base
I don’t think you could call Winston a leftie but the party does have an appeal to people who are older and are concerned about change, people who respond to ideas of national pride and their definition of NZ, people who feel they have invested in NZ and want to be recognised, who want to feel that not everyone is waiting for them to die out.
Add to that the personality cult around him and the protest vote against the status quo and the belief that Labour were not going to be strong enough. There is one thing about Winston, he can deliver some scathing soundbites about “the enemy” that make us feel good and put the self-important in their place.
5. South Auckland performed very well with a swing towards Labour. Mangere was the standout with a 10% swing. Sua William Sio and the Mangere organisation did really well.
Again, who is Labour talking to? Are they being moblised to vote? Unionised? What’s the Labour profile at foodbanks, markets, in lobbying for the people who need help? Should their be more brown faces in the Labour benches?
6. Christchurch
The demographics are still to fluid for John Key to puff out his chest and say we must be doing a good job in Chch. I think te shit hasn’t fully hit the fan with CERA and I suspect that so much is still to be revealed that might piss people off. But then you only have so much energy and the energy levels in Chch have been drained by events.
Again, the important role for Labour is advocacy, advocacy, advocacy. People remember who goes to bat for them when things are down.
7. Carmel Sepuloni still has a chance in Waitakere of unseating Bennett
I don’t give a monkey’s about Bennett, she’s in anyway, but Sepuloni would be a great loss. She’s one of those “watch this space” people.
So in 2008 terms NZ1st was left of Labour and the authoritarian thing would be the personality cult thing they’ve go going.
…I would think Labour has moved to the left this election.
They’ve got a simple test that they run political parties policies through (It’s not necessarily the most accurate way but it’s better than nothing and it’s fairly constant). The 2011 one didn’t have NZ1st on it otherwise I would have linked to it. It shows that Labour have moved right but probably within margin of error (ie, not moved at all).
I’ve been wondering since I have seen it quoted as fact a few times on this site how anyone knows that no-voters favor the left?
By definition they didn’t express an opinion so there is no way to know.
The only way I can see you would be able to do it is by comparing the actual results to polls and as polls are not scientific and there is no way to check if they are correct that would be meaningless as well.
You look at the enrolled vote (political parties are allowed to read and check the marked roll for things like the dead voting). If they didn’t vote then they are enrolled non vote and you look at them against against previous canvassing data or the deprivation index. Pretty damn clear
But there are also academic studies looking at voting intentions with followup to ask about voting.
Bill, because if they can’t give ” 2 minutes every 3 years” they will only be involved in the process by bitching about whatever the subsequent outcomes happen to be , and their negativism about “reperesentation ” will only foster more disenfranchisment.
T.W.I.M.C. Stick with Phil, remember the lesson according to Ted, but just hope that it’s not as close as 8-7 in ’14.
Maybe you mistakenly see the ‘representative parliamentary system’ as the crucible of democracy rather than as one among a number of obstacles to democracy?
“It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see….”
“You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?”
“No,” said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, “nothing so simple. Nothing anything like so straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people.”
“Odd,” said Arthur, “I thought you said it was a democracy.”
“I did,” said Ford. “It is.”
“So,” said Arthur, hoping he wasn’t sounding ridiculously obtuse, “why don’t the people get rid of the lizards?”
“It honestly doesn’t occur to them,” said Ford. “They’ve all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they’ve voted in more or less approximates to the government they want.”
“You mean they actually vote for the lizards?”
“Oh yes,” said Ford with a shrug, “of course.”
“But,” said Arthur, going for the big one again, “why?”
“Because if they didn’t vote for a lizard,” said Ford, “the wrong lizard might get in.”
– Douglas Adams
Afew its not perfect but its better than any other option unless you are the despotic leader but in your case the only movement you will be starting will be followed by the sound of a cistern flushing unless you’ve invested in a composting toilet
Also, as Willis Eschenbach seems to have connections with Delingpole and manages to rate a mention in that bastion of truth Conservapedia, will someone please please pass me the salt.
Big strike on Wednesday in the UK, maybe bigger than in 1979 (I remember the uncollected rubbish bags piling up on Clapham Common), and maybe bigger than the 1926 general strike.
I do feel it’s pity that the strike is over changes to pensions and not to cuts to the public sector services. Note also that Stuff headlines are all to about how it will impact on Kiwi air travellers, whereas the strike itself is the big news:
And there’s a threat of Cameron re-drafting industrial action law to restrict such strikes.
Teachers, garbage collectors, construction workers and some medical staff are also among those who will strike in an escalating row over planned changes to public sector pensions.
The biggest strike in decades was expected to close hospital operating theatres and thousands of schools closed, and prompted Britain’s government to warn that it could lead to tougher laws on industrial action.
The walkout is expected to top the scale of Britain’s 1979 strikes – when tens of thousands of people halted work over pay disputes. Some labour unions claim the action could even eclipse Britain’s 1926 general strike, when about 1.75 million people joined walkouts
blue stop playing the man and listen to what he has to say.
otherwise you contribute nothing.
come to think of it I never seen you round before.
are you trolling?
Intermittent Signal 2011/8 (last 29/9)
NZs making something, doing something clever always gets me hopeful that we have some future apart from getting stuck in the dropping of a cow’s back end or playing with money that somebody else has made. and circulating it with lots of drop-off points each taking a cut for participating in the round robin.
Tait Electronics has been going for yonks and hasn’t been bought out yet!! Maybe never as I believe they have a trust structure that might prevent this. I pass on news item I saw about their radio system for London’s 7500 buses which Tait won the $19 million contract for in 2006 to overhaul London Buses’ Radio network with a system designed and manufactured in Christchurch. Tait will now maintain and support the network.
We need to have a way of investing in an advance New Zealand entrepreneurs business. That would be fun, interesting with some risk, and a good proportion would be very profitable. Also a fund to buy out businesses when they have reached adulthood so we stop the overseas firms and destructive highly-leveraged equity types from picking them off and sucking them dry.
We need to have a way of investing in an advance New Zealand entrepreneurs business.
Government prints the money and loans it to entrepreneurs at 0% interest. This gives the entrepreneurs the boost they need. If the idea fails then the money is recaptured through taxes costing us all a few cents each but if it succeeds then the loan is paid back in full from proceeds plus we have something new in the economy.
…and a good proportion would be very profitable.
A proportion would be but it’s likely to be a small proportion. Profits are a dead weight loss which we need to avoid.
Also a fund to buy out businesses when they have reached adulthood…
Don’t need it – just need to ban sales of businesses and property to foreign owners. Doing so is, after all, bad for NZ.
DTB Yes you seem to be making sense but I can’t always agree with you. As for NZs backing their own entrepreneurs and successful businesses, if there was a climate favourable to that it would be better than throwing money away to dodgy finance companies that are mostly just living off consumerism.
I’m all for a development fund that
– provides the venture capital we’re too small a country to provide
– takes a stake in any future profits, intellectual property etc.
– keeps investment returns in the country
– develops ideas and sponsors research
– NZ is too small and could do with some central planning towards NZ Inc.
They say government can’t pick winners but the private sector hasn’t done too well at it either.
It would be better for NZ than stateless, disloyal, corporates getting welfare payments.
Imagine what we could have done with a research/venture capital fund equal to the money we paid out on failed finance companies alone.
The emotional payoff — two innovators triumphing over troglodyte naysayers by delivering an awesome product — portrayed Rand’s polemical point in its best conceivable light. I am all for that aspect of the libertarian dream! Indeed, it is the core theme that makes THE FOUNTAINHEAD sympathetic and persuasive. So, for ten minutes, we actually liked the characters and rooted for them. Significantly, it is the portion when nobody speaks.
Alas, though. The film then resumed a level of simplistic lapel-grabbing that many of us recall from our Rand-obsessed college friends — underachievers who kept grumbling from their sheltered, coddled lives, utterly convinced that they’d do much better in a world of dog-eat-dog. (Using my sf’nal powers, I have checked-out all the nearby parallel worlds where that happened; in those realms, every Randian I know was quickly turned into a slave or dog food. Sorry fellows.)
The mandate about asset sales is really annoying from all sides. As a government you have the right to introduce legislation to parliament. Doesn’t matter how unpopular that might be, as a government you get to introduce it to the house. And with parliamentary consent that policy can become law and thus mandated. To get consent you need a majority of parliament to agree to it. This parliament looks to be 61 votes in favour.
John Key can’t actually say he has a mandate because his party did not get 61 seats in parliament. All that happened from the election was the ability to pass legislation with consent of other parties who carry seats. Likewise, its poor taste from Labour, their supporters and others opposed to asset sales. National by virtue of confidence and supply with others (or abstaining) has the legal right to introduce legislation no matter how unpopular it may be. As National themselves is not a majority. They still require further support to actually pass that legislation.
Why would Maori ever want to spend their money on a stake in the power companies.
It’s a cool plan though by the government – we’ll settle with you and pay you money and then give you this really great opportunity to give us (the government) the money back by getting a share of a power company you already own as a citizen.
And people accuse Maori of having their hands out.
Still at least Maori got the payouts legitimately unlike the investors who were bailed out after their poor investment decisions and who can now use taxpayers money to buy the power companies.
The MP say today that their agreement with asset sales is not likely to be part of their confidence and supply agreement with National. On RNZ, I heard Turia say the onlyquestions or communication they had had from their constituents about asset sales was from some iwi leaders/business people who’d like to invest 10% or so. Turia said that’s their business and the MP isn’t so into it.
But, if no pressure is being put on the MP to support asset sales legislation, either Key is very sure of not losing 2 seats in the specials, or asset sales aren’t that important to them.
I was disappointed by that, but I can understand it. Unless I can find another dedicated server provider in NZ with a less painful policy on international traffic (current cap is 60GB, and $3 per GB over), this sites servers will be heading back offshore. The latency is less of an issue than losing the search spiders that bring new readers.
It’s a totally understandable decision by Netflix Vice President Brent Ayrey. Can you imagine the backlash from thousands of customers experiencing lag and low quality. I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of Nationals meaningless rhetoric.
The lack of bandwidth is the result of the privatisation and deregulation of telecommunications. ~$20b in dead weight loss (profit) just going to Telecom. $20b that would have been used to build up and upgrade the network if it hadn’t been sold. On top of that is the extra billions lost through the building of extra unnecessary networks and profits in the other telecommunications firms.
Once something becomes ubiquitous it must be brought into government ownership so that it can be used for the good of the country at minimal cost.
There’s no question that the lead up to the 2011 election has given the New Zealand Occupy movement a reprieve from any harsh Police action to break up their protests. However I predict that this time has come to an end…
Pelease … comparing David Shearer to John Key is far from complimentary. I believe Labours leadership demands a higher calling. A David I know was the ultimate leader … a true philosopher, cunning diplomat and talented musician. A fighter who fought and won many battles for his people, and as a wise leader united a tumultuous nation. The giants and battles we face today is not John Key and the National party but the broiling of a very troubled and disastrous economy not just nationally but worldwide. David also had a very faithful and loyal friend. However with all these high accolades David wasn’t a perfect leader or a perfect man, in fact he committed the sin of all sins, but his years alone with God, humbled and crumbled in the dark, developed the soul of a legendary philosopher-king, and forged a legacy that endures to this day.” Whoever is chosen may God’s blessing and favour be upon him.
Free Speech Union member Daphna Whitmore speaks with Dr. Bryce Edwards about the causes and manifestations of contemporary political polarisation. Edwards, a well-known political scientist, lecturer in Politics at Victoria University, and long-time supporter of free speech, copped a lot of flak for his coverage of the parliamentary protests which ...
Are our ethical standards in politics dropping? Recently there have been several appointments made by Government and related agencies that have raised questions about conflicts of interest or about whether correct procedures have been followed. However, not all scrutiny and criticisms are welcomed or embraced. Sometimes those that raise questions ...
Last week, Stuff asked Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis about compulsory te reo Māori in primary schools. And as usual for Labour, he firmly rejected the idea, citing fears of a public backlash. Today, Stats NZ released data from the 2021 General Social Survey, showing us thatfears of that backlash ...
On The Horns Of A Dilemma: The essence of Maori Development Minister Willie Jackson’s problem is that he can neither withdraw, nor water-down, the Draft Plan for implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples without exposing the Labour Government to the most withering political fire from Maori. ...
Spotify has to be one of the most interestingly futile mouse-wheels of 21st century capitalism. Run, run, run goes the Spotify mouse but it never, ever makes a profit. For reasons set out below, it maybe never will. But it won’t be for wont of trying. Reportedly, Spotify’s music library ...
The Right In Action: Nothing in politics is ever settled. The hands of History’s clock can go backwards, as well as forwards.IT REALLY WAS THE BEST OF TIMES. The brief recession of the late-1950s was over. The United States was led by a young, Harvard-educated war hero, with the dashing ...
Is New Zealand suddenly softening its more pro-Western foreign policy – and its tougher line on China? After months of inching towards the West, Jacinda Ardern’s set-piece speeches on her Europe trip last week seem to have been crafted to try and keep observers guessing. At the North Atlantic Treaty ...
Don Franks was interviewed by Dr Toby Boraman in December 2013 about his time working in the militant Ford car plant in the 1970s. In this first installment Don tells of some of the early organising that had been done before it became a site of significant industrial strength. (The ...
Picturesque Illusion: The early-Sixties’ picture-book tableau of cultural homogeneity wasn’t real. The values cherished by America’s and New Zealand’s fundamentalist Christians only appeared to be widely shared. Beneath the veneer of happy conformity, the trials and tribulations of ordinary men and women went on regardless. Occasionally their troubles were overcome by ...
Natter about the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has reached even these distant shores, with much online ink being spilled about what our National Party Opposition intends to ...
Behavioural economics challenges our assumptions about the relevance of rational economic man.Paul Krugman tweeted that ‘behavoural econ[omics] is the best thing to happen to the [economics] field in generations’. For the last 150 years much economic analysis has been based on homo economicus, an ‘economic’ man who is rational and ...
There’s huge public concern about the potential for the wealthy to translate their economic power into political power. In particular, there’s a strong belief that governments in New Zealand tend to make laws to suit the interests of the rich. Whether it’s concern over Jacinda Ardern’s Government not implementing a ...
Metropolis George Grosz 1918A FEW HOURS AGO, I was sorting through a box of old papers when I came across these lyrics to a song I’d composed nearly fifty years ago, at the tender age of seventeen! I have decided to share it with the readers of Bowalley Road as proof ...
Last night the government concluded a free trade agreement with the European Union. I'm pretty meh about FTAs, largely because they seem to be a backdoor for pro-corporate irregulation than actual trade now, so I wasn't enthusiastic to begin with (though on the plus side this one does at least ...
Completed reads for June: 4.50 from Paddington, by Agatha ChristieNarrations, by CononThe Vampire (poem), by Rudyard KiplingProgress and Poverty, by Henry GeorgeA Modest Proposal, by Jonathan SwiftThe Horla, by Guy de MaupassantSupernatural Horror in Literature, by H.P. LovecraftTowards Zero, by Agatha ChristieHickory Dickory Death, by Agatha ChristieThe Lady of ...
Looking into a distant mirror The academic publishing process is notoriously stately. Events in the rest of the world happen at their own swift pace as a given article makes its way through the publication pipeline. In the case of Russian climate scepticism: an understudied case, authors Teresa Ashe & Marianna Poberezhskaya submitted their work ...
A ballot for one member's bill was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Harm Minimisation) Amendment Bill (Chlöe Swarbrick) Swarbrick's bill implements a number of past recommendations from government agencies and advisory bodies which for some reason (cough big booze ...
No Common Ground: The destructive and punitive impulses aroused by the abortion issue make a rational, let alone a civil, debate virtually impossible. Indeed, the very idea that those on both sides of the abortion issue might be decent and caring individuals, whose opposing positions are based on reasonable and ...
What Happened Next? After the Supreme Court of the United States, in 1954, overturned its earlier validation of “separate but equal” schools, hospitals, public washrooms, busses and trains for Blacks and Whites, and told the Topeka Board of Education that segregated education is in breach of the Fourteenth Amendment of ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Neha Pathak When spring creeps around the corner, pediatrician Aaron Bernstein starts counseling his Boston-area patients and their families about extreme heat action plans. “The first heat wave of the year is routinely the most harmful,” says Bernstein, who also directs Harvard’s ...
On 7 December 1941, Imperial Japan launched a war on the American people. It would forever become a date of infamy, said then US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, eightyone years ago.On 24/25 June 2022, conservatives launched their war on 166.24 million American women. That date, also, will forever live on ...
Stuff has a story this morning about the police juking the domestic violence stats, downgrading family violence crimes to "incidents" so they don't have to be investigated (and so Bad Number doesn't Go Up). That's appalling in and of itself, for the human consequences, and for what it says about ...
Today is a Member's Day, and it looks like its back to local legislation for a while. First up is the committee stage of the highly controversial Canterbury Regional Council (Ngāi Tahu Representation) Bill, which would allow unelected appointees (and a disproportionate number of them, at that) on ECan. This ...
Despite Christopher Luxon’s assurances to the contrary, there is no such thing as “settled law” in New Zealand. Apart from the six provisions that are constitutionally entrenched, legislation can always be amended or overturned by a simple majority vote within our single chamber of Parliament. Luxon’s repeated use of the ...
This is a re-post from the Thinking is Power website maintained by Melanie Trecek-King where she regularly writes about many aspects of critical thinking in an effort to provide accessible and engaging critical thinking information to the general public. Please see this overview to find links to other reposts from Thinking is Power. ...
What a week, month even of deplorable headlines and hysterics we’ve had as a country – and given 2023 is closing in on us (a mere 6 months until Parties shift some gears into election mode really, not that some of them haven’t started already of course), we need ...
Over the weekend, the US Supreme Court followed through on its threat, and overturned Roe v. Wade, effectively outlawing abortion in much of the United States. People were outraged, in America and around the world. And in Aotearoa, this meant a lot of sudden questions for the National Party, which ...
Nothing is evil in the beginning… #TheRingsOfPowerpic.twitter.com/XffZtqp8Yw— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) June 27, 2022 We have ourselves a new breadcrumb (not a leak!) out of The Rings of Power. It is a fifteen second collection of clips from the original teaser-trailer, together ...
The repeal of Roe vs Wade by the US Supreme Court is part of a broader “New Conservative” agenda financed by reactionary billionaires like Peter Thiel, Elon Mush, the Kochs and Murdochs (and others), organised by agitators like Steve Bannon and Rodger Stone and legally weaponised by Conservative (often Catholic) ...
A Dangerous Leap Backwards: A United States forced to live by the beliefs and values of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries cannot hope to go on leading the “Free World”, or compete economically with nations focused fearlessly on the future. The revocation of Roe v. Wade represents the American republic’s most ...
Now that the right of US women to abortion (formerly protected by Roe vWade) has been abolished, the important role of medication-induced abortion will come even more to the fore. Already, research by the Guttmacher Institute reproductive rights centre shows that over half of US abortions are obtained ...
The government is finally moving to improve transparency over party finances, lowering the donation disclosure threshold to $5,000. This is a good move, though it doesn't go as far as it should. And of course, there's a nasty twist: The rules for larger donations are also changing. Presently parties ...
A rare exposure in Western media of the fact that many residents of the Donbass prefer Russian rule to Ukrainian ultranationalist rule. I don’t know why anyone would take advice from UK’s lame duck Prime Minister and well-known buffoon Boris Johnson seriously, but he ...
Jacinda Ardern will need to deploy every aspect of her starpower if she is to have any hope of rescuing New Zealand’s faltering free trade negotiations with the European Union (EU). The Prime Minister has branded each of her four foreign trips so far this year as ‘trade missions’ – ...
It was sometime in the late 1990s that I first interviewed Alan Webster about New Zealand’s part in a global Values Study. It’s a fascinating snapshot of values in countries all over the world and I still remember seeing America grouped with many developing countries on a spectrum that had ...
Today marks Matariki, the first “new” New Zealand public holiday since Waitangi Day was added in 1974. Officially the start of the Maori New Year, this is one of those moveable beasties – much like Easter, the dates will vary from year to year, anywhere from mid-June to ...
The takeaways from the just released data are:1. Any estimate of GDP is subject to error.2. The 0.2 percent decrease in the March 2022 quarter is not precise and will be revised, with the mild likelihood that it will eventually be higher.3. New Zealand has no ‘official' definition of a ...
Guided By The Stars? This gift of Matariki, then, what will be made of it? Can a people spiritually unconnected to anything other than their digital devices truly appreciate the relentless progress of gods and heroes across the heavens? The elders of Maoridom must wonder. Can Te Ao Māori be ...
The internet is a wonderful thing sometimes. Yesterday, I ran across an AI program that generates images via prompt: https://huggingface.co/spaces/dalle-mini/dalle-mini So I have been doing the logical thing with it. Getting it to generate Silmarillion characters in bizarre situations. Morgoth playing golf, and so forth. But one thing I ...
Stashing renewable energy Do a little internet sleuthing on renewable energy via your favorite search engine and you'll find some honest critique and much more dishonest misinformation (aka disinformation) to the effect that photovoltaic and wind generation are fickle energy supplies, over-abundant in some periods and absent in others. There's ...
The current New Zealand First Foundation trial in the High Court continues to show why reform is required when it comes to money in politics. The juicy details coming out each day show private wealth being funnelled into some peculiar schemes in an attempt to circumvent the Electoral Act. Yet ...
As in so many other areas of public policy, attitudes towards overseas investment in New Zealand – and anywhere, for that matter – boil down in the end to ideology. For proponents of the “free market”, there is really no issue. The market, in their view, must never be second-guessed; ...
Selwyn Manning and I discussed the upcoming NATO Leader’s summit (to which NZ Prime Minister Ardern is invited), the rival BRICS Leader’s summit and what they could mean for the Ruso-Ukrainian Wa and beyond. ...
New Zealand’s Most Profitable“Friend” Dangerous “Threat”: This country’s “Five Eyes” partners, heedless of the economic consequences for New Zealand, have cajoled and bullied its political class into becoming Sinophobes. They simply do not care that close to 40 percent of this country’s trade is with China. As far as Washington, London, ...
I have seen some natter around about how The Rings of Power represents the undue and unholy corporatisation of J.R.R. Tolkien. I won’t point out examples, but anyone who has seen YouTube commentary has a pretty good grasp of what I am talking about – the sentiment that ...
2017’s Queenmaker: Five years ago, Winston Peters’ choice ran counter to New Zealand’s informal, No. 8 wire, post-MMP constitution, which, up until 2017, had decreed that the party with the most votes got to supply the next prime minister. Had National not been in power for the previous 9 years, it ...
I've read some bad stuff about long covid recently, and Marc Daalder's recent Newsroom piece about what endemic covid means for Aotearoa got me wondering about whether the government was thinking about it. Mass-disability due to long covid has obvious implications for health and welfare spending, as well as for ...
Last year, a stranded kiwi criticised the MIQ system. Covid Minister Chris Hipkins responded by doxxing and defaming her. Now, he's been forced to apologise for that: Minister Chris Hipkins has admitted he released incorrect and personal information about journalist Charlotte Bellis, after she criticised the managed isolation system. ...
Gil-galad is an Elven Chad Gil-galad is an Elven Chad But Celebrimbor makes them mad Digesting leaks from Amazon Of Isildur and Pharazôn. The hair is short? The knives are keen. The beardless face of Dwarven Queen? With meteor and man-not-named The fandom temper is inflamed. Of Annatar ...
From the desk of Keir "Patriotic Duty" Starmer:“We have robust lines. We do not want to see these strikes to go ahead with the resulting disruption to the public. The government have failed to engage in any negotiations.“However, we also must show leadership and to that end, please be reminded ...
Has swapping Scott Morrison for Anthony Albanese made any discernible difference to Australia’s relations with the US, China, the Pacific and New Zealand ? Not so far. For example: Albanese has asked for more time to “consider” his response to New Zealand’s long running complaints about the so called “501” ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The Biden administration in April 2021 dramatically ratcheted up the country’s greenhouse gas emissions reductions pledge under the Paris target, also known as its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). The Obama administration in 2014 had announced a commitment to cut U.S. emissions 26-28% below 2005 levels ...
Something I missed: the Central African Republic has abolished the death penalty: The National Assembly of the Central African Republic (CAR) passed a law abolishing the death penalty in the CAR on May 27, 2022. Once CAR President Touadéra promulgates the bill, the CAR will become the 24th abolitionist ...
Walking On Sunshine: National’s Sam Uffindell cantered home in the Tauranga By-Election, but the Outdoors & Freedom Party’s Sue Grey attracted an ominous level of support.THE RIGHT’S gadfly commentator, Matthew Hooton, summed up the Tauranga by-election in his usual pithy fashion. “Tonight’s result is poor for the National Party, catastrophic for ...
Te reo Māori is Dr. Anaha Hiini’s life purpose. Raised by his grandparents, Kepa and Maata Hiini, Anaha of Ngāti Tarāwhai, Tūhourangi, Ngāti Whakaue descent made a promise at the age of six to his late grandmother, Maata Hiini. “I’ve always had a passion for Māori culture. My first inspiration ...
Dr Carwyn Jones’ vision is to see Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the law given equal mana. Carwyn who holds a PhD in law and society and currently teaches Ahunga Tikanga (Māori Laws and Philosophy) at Te Wānanga o Raukawa after 15 years at Victoria University of Wellington has devoted ...
Jacinda Ardern’s decision to attend the upcoming North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Spain – but to skip the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda – symbolises the changes she is making to New Zealand foreign policy. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) starts today in ...
The outlook does not look that promising. Forecasting an economy is a mug’s game. The database on which the forecasts are founded is incomplete, out-of-date, and subject to errors, some of which will be revised after the forecasts are published. (No wonder weather-forecasting is easier.) One often has to adopt ...
by Don Franks It seems that almost each day now another ram raid shatters someone’s shop front and loots the premises. Prestigious Queen street is not immune, while attacks on small dairies have long stopped being headline news. Those of us not directly affected are becoming numbed to this form ...
It’s hard to believe that when we created Sciblogs in 2009, the iPhone was only two years old, being a ‘Youtuber’ wasn’t really a thing and Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok didn’t exist. But Science blogging was a big thing, particularly in the United States, where a number of scientists had ...
For 13 years, Sciblogs has been a staple in New Zealand’s science-writing landscape. Our bloggers have written about a vast variety of topics from climate change to covid, and from nanotechnology to household gadgets.But sadly, it’s time to close shop. Sciblogs will be shutting down on 30 June.When ...
Radical Options: By allocating the Broadcasting portfolio to the irrepressible, occasionally truculent, leader of Labour’s Māori caucus, Willie Jackson, the Prime Minister has, at the very least, confirmed that her appointment of Kiri Allan was no one-off. There are many words that could be used to describe Ardern’s placement of ...
A Delicate Juggler? The new Chief Censor, Ms Caroline Flora, owes New Zealand a comprehensive explanation of how she sees, and how she proposes to carry out, her role. Where, for example, is her duty to respect and protect the citizen’s right to freedom of expression positioned in relation to ...
Good grief. Has foreign policy commentary really devolved to the point where our diplomatic effort is being measured by how many overseas trips have been taken by our Foreign Minister? Weird, but apparently so. All this week, a series of media policy wonks have been invidiously comparing how many trips ...
Where we've been Time flies. This coming summer will mark 15 years of Skeptical Science focusing its effort on "traditional" climate science denial. Leaving aside frivolities, we've devoted most of our effort to combatting "serious" denial falling into a handful of broad categories of fairly crisp misconceptions: "radiative physics is wrong,""geophysics is ...
Mercenary army of bogus skeptics on parade Because they're both squarely centered in the Skeptical Science wheelhouse, this week we're highlighting two articles from our government and NGO section, where we collect high-quality articles not originating in academic research but featuring many of the important attributes of journal publications. Our mission ...
In the latest episode of AVFA Selwyn Manning and I discuss the evolution of Latin American politics and macroeconomic policy since the 1970s as well as US-Latin American relations during that time period. We use recent elections and the 2022 Summit of the Americas as anchor points. ...
The Green Party is calling for urgent government action to ensure safe staffing levels in aged residential care facilities, as a new report today shows a strained workforce is under increasing pressure. ...
The Green Party backs the unions and community groups and Human Rights Commission calling for an urgent change in legislation to make pay gap reporting mandatory. ...
We’re incredibly proud to be celebrating the launch of Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People. Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People will put disabled people, their whānau, carers, and supporters first, removing barriers that existed when there was no single agency. The Ministry will also be the first in Aotearoa to ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to scrap the Acceptable Standards of Health policy that discriminates against disabled migrants after former Minister for Disability Issues Carmel Sepuloni acknowledged the policy “disadvantages” disabled migrants on TVNZ’s Q&A this morning. ...
We’ve secured a major free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) – a move that’s set to boost exports by $1.8 billion per annum, enhance our economic security, and enable New Zealand businesses to grow, by unlocking one of the world’s biggest and high value markets. The new ...
Our Government is committed to making sure that our health system works for all New Zealanders, no matter who you are or where you live. Transformation of our health system will take time, and the step we’re taking today – establishing Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority – ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to announce its support urgently for a moratorium on deep sea mining under the high seas, after Pacific nations joined forces this week to demand change. ...
We’re committed to ensuring that there is every opportunity for women and girls to succeed in Aotearoa New Zealand, with fewer barriers. Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to support women and girls, by improving services like healthcare and tackling issues like the gender pay gap. Here are just ...
Political pressure from the Green Party has pushed the Government to supply free masks to kids and teachers in schools across Aotearoa New Zealand. ...
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand and the European Greens have published a joint statement calling for the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement to support climate action, phase out fossil fuel subsidies, cut agriculture emissions, protect human rights, and uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to guarantee that it will complete light rail and improve walking, cycling, and bus journeys across Wellington before digging new high-carbon tunnels. ...
The Green Party is urging Oceans and Fisheries Minister David Parker to commit to stronger ocean protection around Aotearoa and on the high seas while at the United Nations Oceans Conference in Portugal this week. ...
A strong Green voice in Parliament has helped reduce the influence large secret money will have in future elections and finally ensured overseas New Zealanders will retain the right to vote even while stranded by the Pandemic. But, the Government needs to go further to ensure our democracy works for ...
A new poll shows that the majority of people back the Greens’ call on the Government to overhaul the country’s criminally punitive, anti-evidence drug law. ...
The US Supreme Court’s decision on abortion is a reminder that we must take nothing for granted in Aotearoa, the Green Party says. “Aotearoa should be a place where everyone, no matter where they are from, or who they love, can choose what is right for their body and their ...
We’re proud to have delivered on our election commitment to establish a public holiday to celebrate Matariki. For the first time this year, New Zealanders will have the chance to enjoy a mid-winter holiday that is uniquely our own. ...
Proposed new legislation to reduce the risk that timber imported into Aotearoa New Zealand is sourced from illegal logging is a positive first step but it should go further, the Green Party says. ...
On World Refugee Day, the Green Party is calling on the new Minister for Immigration, Michael Wood to make up for the support that was not provided to people forced to leave their home countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. ...
This week, we’ve marked a major milestone in our school upgrade programme. We've supported 4,500 projects across the country for schools to upgrade classrooms, sports facilities, playgrounds and more, so Kiwi kids have the best possible environments to learn in. ...
We’ve delivered on our election commitment to make Matariki a public holiday. For the first time this year, all New Zealanders will have the chance to enjoy a mid-winter holiday that is uniquely our own with family and friends. Try our quiz below, then challenge your whānau! To celebrate, we’ve ...
The Green Party says the removal of pre-departure testing for arrivals into New Zealand means the Government must step up domestic measures to protect communities most at risk. ...
The long overdue resumption of the Pacific Access Category and Samoan Quota must be followed by an overhaul of the Recognised Seasonal Employers (RSE) scheme, says the Green Party. ...
Aotearoa New Zealand is sending a medical team and supplies to Niue to help it respond to new cases of COVID-19, following the opening of its border to quarantine-free travel last week. Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Defence Minister Peeni Henare have announced a Medical Assistance Team will head to ...
More than 30,000 small businesses have participated in Government-funded digital training, which supports businesses to take advantage of digital tools and new opportunities through e-commerce, Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash announced today. “Over the last two years, many business owners had no option but to move to digital platforms ...
The latest Crown Accounts show a solid result, despite challenging international conditions – reflecting the Government’s careful management of the books. For the eleven months to the end of May 2022 the Operating Balance before Gains and Losses (OBEGAL) deficit was $7.7 billion, $5.5 billion below that forecast in May’s ...
New legislation aimed at tackling delays in the family justice system, will help improve the wellbeing of thousands of children caught up in Family Court disputes every year, Justice Minister Kiri Allan says. The Family Court (Family Court Associate) Legislation Bill will see a number of Family Court Associates employed ...
New Associate Minister of Local Government Kieran McAnulty is today beginning a series of visits to all of the 55 rural and provincial councils across the motu. “Local government plays a crucial role in our democratic system, ensuring people have a voice in the leadership of their community,” Kieran McAnulty ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta and Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor have announced that Aotearoa New Zealand will ban the import of Russian gold. “Today’s decision further signals Aotearoa New Zealand’s condemnation of Russia’s flagrant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Nanaia Mahuta said. “It underscores our intention of ensuring ...
The rollout of the new nationwide health system continued today with the launch of the country’s first national public health system to fight disease and promote healthy lives. The Public Health Agency will lead and co-ordinate population and public health policy, strategy and regulation, while the national Public Health ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will lead a trade mission including over 30 New Zealand businesses to Melbourne and Sydney this week as part of the Government’s reconnection strategy to support export growth and the return of tourists post COVID-19. While in Sydney, Jacinda Ardern will also give an address to ...
Final stage of Accredited Employer Work Visa goes live today Offshore migrants can apply to work in New Zealand for an accredited employer Partners and dependents of work visa applicants can also apply for visas from today New Zealand has taken another significant step forward in our Reconnecting plan ...
Raising eligibility thresholds will provide a helping hand to more than 90,000 New Zealanders currently denied access to legal aid, Justice Minister Kiri Allan says. “The Government is committed to driving through legislative changes to strengthen our legal aid system. “Enshrining changes in legislation and regulations is necessary to give ...
Mihi Manawa maiea te pūtanga o Matariki Manawa maiea te ariki o te rangi Manawa maiea te mātahi o te tau! Thank you for the invitation to join you today. Unfortunately I can’t be there in person but I'm pleased that this is an opportunity for young Māori and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in London overnight, and together took a number of steps to strengthen the already close ties between our two countries, and promote our common interests in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. “The UK is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s oldest and closest friends and ...
Building a more secure, sustainable and prosperous future together: Joint Statement – Prime Ministers Jacinda Ardern and Boris Johnson 1. New Zealand and the United Kingdom are old friends and close partners. Our relationship rests on a bedrock of history, shared values, and deep people-to-people links, extending across almost all ...
Director Sir Robin Niblett, distinguished guests. What an honour it is to be back in London, and to be here at Chatham house. This visit represents much for me. The reopening of borders and resumption of travel after a difficult few years. The chance to bring life to the UK ...
Manawa maiea te pūtanga o Matariki Manawa maiea te ariki o te rangi Manawa maiea te mātahi o te tau! Introduction I’m pleased to join you for my second address at the 56th Annual Otago Foreign Policy School. The topic for this year is Space. Given that we are in ...
New Ministry will officially be called Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People Public Service Commission have appointed Geraldine Woods as Interim Chief Executive Office for Disability Issues to be folded into the new Ministry In what is a milestone day, the Government has launched Aotearoa New Zealand’s first Whaikaha ...
Nine new He Poutama Rangatahi programmes have been approved funding. These programmes will provide work-readiness, training and employment initiatives for over 820 rangatahi NEETS (not in education, employment or training), across Aotearoa New Zealand. "He Poutama Rangatahi has proven to be a very successful initiative which supports rangatahi to overcome ...
Minister for Māori Development Willie Jackson today announced the appointment of Crown representatives, Dr Charlotte Severne and Mr Bernie O’Donnell, to the Steering Committee that will determine the future of the Ihumātao land. “I’m pleased to have made the Crown appointments. Both Dr Severne and Mr O’Donnell have extensive ...
I begin by thanking each of you for accepting appointment to these boards. You’ve each been on the Ministerial committee that established Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand and Te Aka Whai Ora - the Māori Health Authority and I express my appreciation for the enormous task you collectively ...
Aotearoa New Zealand has reiterated its concerns over the continued erosion of rights, freedom and autonomy in Hong Kong. On the second anniversary of the introduction of the Hong Kong National Security Law, the Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta says developments in Hong Kong remain a cause for worry. “Two years ...
The Europol Agreement signed is a significant milestone for New Zealand and the European Union’s relationship, and reflects our shared principles of democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today. The Prime Minister attended a signature ceremony in Brussels, as part of ...
· New nationwide public health system · 20 district health boards disestablished and deficits wiped · 82,000 health employees directly employed by Health New Zealand · $24 billion health budget this year – up 43% since Labour took office in 2017 – in addition to separate funding for the new ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins has announced appointments to the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand and the Board of Trustees of Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (Te Kura). “Robyn Baker ONZM has been appointed as the chair of the Teaching Council. She has considerable governance experience and is a ...
European Commission President von der Leyen and Prime Minister of New Zealand Ardern met in Brussels on 30 June 2022. The encounter provided an opportunity to reaffirm that the European Union and Aotearoa New Zealand are longstanding partners with shared democratic values and interests, aligned positions on key international and ...
Export revenue to the EU to grow by up to $1.8 billion annually on full implementation. Duty-free access on 97% of New Zealand’s current exports to the EU; with over 91% being removed the day the FTA comes into force. NZ exporters set to save approx. $110 million per annum ...
57,000 EVs and Hybrid registered in first year of clean car scheme, 56% increase on previous year EVs and Non Plug-in Hybrids made up 20% of new passenger car sales in March/April 2022 The Government’s Clean Car Discount Scheme has been a success, with more than 57,000 light-electric and ...
Police Minister Chris Hipkins congratulates the newest Police wing – wing 355 – which graduated today in Porirua. “These 70 new constables heading for the frontline bring the total number of new officers since Labour took office to 3,303 and is the latest mark of our commitment to the Police ...
Members with a range of governance, financial and technical skills have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Board as part of the shift to strengthen the Bank’s decision-making and accountability arrangements. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 2021 comes into force on 1 July 2022, with the establishment of ...
New Zealand to remain at Orange as case numbers start to creep up 50 child-size masks made available to every year 4-7 student in New Zealand 20,000-30,000 masks provided a week to all other students and school staff Extra funding to schools and early childhood services to supports better ...
Aotearoa New Zealand will join Ukraine’s case against Russia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which challenges Russia’s spurious attempt to justify its invasion under international law. Ukraine filed a case at the ICJ in February arguing Russia has falsely claimed genocide had occurred in Luhansk and Donetsk regions, as ...
The Government has taken another step forward in its work to eliminate family violence and sexual violence with the announcement today of a new Tangata Whenua Ministerial Advisory Group. A team of 11 experts in whānau Māori wellbeing will provide the Government independent advice on shaping family violence and sexual ...
Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine: Women’s Employment Action Plan was launched today by Minister for Women Jan Tinetti – with the goal of ensuring New Zealand is a great place for women to work. “This Government is committed to improving women’s working lives. The current reality is that women have ...
The food and fibre sector acknowledged its people and leadership at last night’s 2022 Primary Industries Good Employer Awards, a time to celebrate their passion towards supporting employees by putting their health, welfare and wellbeing first,” Acting Minister of Agriculture Meka Whairiti said. “Award winners were selected from an extraordinary ...
Kia ora koutou katoa. It is a rare thing to have New Zealand represented at a NATO Summit. While we have worked together in theatres such as Afghanistan, and have been partners for just on a decade, today represents an important moment for our Pacific nation. New Zealand is ...
Te Arataki mō te Hauora Ngākau mō ngā Mōrehu a Tū me ō rātou Whānau, The Veteran, Family and Whānau Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy Framework “We ask a lot of those who serve in the military – and we ask a lot of the families and whānau who support ...
Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs Aupito William Sio has been appointed by the United Nations and Commonwealth as Aotearoa New Zealand’s advocacy champion for Small Island States. “Aotearoa New Zealand as a Pacific country is particularly focused on the interests of Pacific Small Island Developing States in our region. “This is a ...
An estimated 100,000 low income households will be eligible for increased support to pay their council rates, with changes to the rates rebate scheme taking effect from 1 July. Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta has announced increases to both the maximum value of the rates rebate, and the income threshold ...
A long-standing physical activity programme that focuses on outcomes for Maori has been expanded to four new regions with Government investment almost doubled to increase its reach. He Oranga Poutama is managed by a combination of hapū, iwi, hauora and regional providers. An increase in funding from $1.8 million ...
The Government is progressing a preferred option for LGWM which will see Wellington’s transport links strengthened with light rail from Wellington Station to Island Bay, a new tunnel through Mt Victoria for public transport, and walking and cycling, and upgrades to improve traffic flow at the Basin Reserve. “Where previous ...
To Provost Muniz, to the Organisers at the Instituto de Empresa buenas tardes and as we would say in New Zealand, kia ora kotou katoa. To colleagues from the State Department, from Academia, and Civil Society Groups, to all our distinguished guests - kia ora tatou katoa. It’s a pleasure ...
Inside PNG News Forty-Two Papua New Guinea Defence Force staff have arrived in Kavieng for the national general election operations. New Ireland Provincial Police Commander Chief Inspector Felix Nebanat said this brought the total number of joint security forces up to 400 in the province. Papua New Guinea’s general election ...
RNZ Pacific The president of New Caledonia’s Southern Province Sonia Backès has been given a post in France’s reshuffled and enlarged 42-member government. The prime minister Elisabeth Borne appointed her as the secretary of citizenship within the interior ministry, which has integrated the overseas ministry. The reshuffle means that the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isaac Gross, Lecturer in Economics, Monash University Shutterstock There was no suprise in the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia lifting interest rates at its July meeting. The only question was by how much. Would it be a “regular” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes “Word from The Hill”, where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation politics team. Michelle and Peter ...
The state-subsidised mainstream media have been found wanting in their coverage of Three Waters governance arrangements. In this post, reproduced from his blog, BARRIE SAUNDERS exposes failings in the business press’s coverage of the nationalisation and property rights issues and their implications… IF THE GOVERNMENT gets its way, around $100 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vanessa Smith, Professor of English, University of Sydney Sydney Theatre Company/Prudence UptonReview: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, directed by Jessica Arthur for the Sydney Theatre Company “You know when it’s the autumn of 1827, and you’re sitting in a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in Linguistics, Curtin University Of the world’s 7,000 languages, it is estimated 50% to 90% will no longer be spoken in the next 50 to 100 years. The majority under threat are languages spoken by Indigenous peoples around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Beard, Associate professor, University of Sydney Shutterstock An unvaccinated toddler from the far north coast of New South Wales is in intensive care after catching respiratory diphtheria (diphtheria of the throat). A six-year-old close family contact is also infected. ...
On his Bowalley Road blog today, Political commentator CHRIS TROTTER says Maori Development Minister Willie Jackson’s problem is that he can neither withdraw, nor water down, the Draft Plan for implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples without exposing the Labour Government to the most withering ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jamie Pittock, Professor, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University For the fourth time in 18 months, floodwaters have inundated homes and businesses in Western Sydney’s Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley. Recent torrential rain is obviously the immediate cause. But poor decisions by ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will almost certainly have earned a bounce upwards in her party’s polling after her mission in Europe, where, as a result of her “Captain’s Call”, New Zealand has accepted the terms of the EU free trade deal. The outcome is positive for some sectors, though not ...
The New Zealand Law Society Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa has welcomed a new Bill that will work towards reducing delays in our Family Court system. Delays in Family Court cases are one of the biggest issues for families and children who experience prolonged ...
Buzz from the Beehive Amidst a raft of statements that crow about government achievements and/or bray about new initiatives, Point of Order found an oddity: a statement from the newly minted Associate Minister of Local Government who intends to meet local government leaders around the country to talk about this, ...
The MindTheGap campaign is applauding New Zealand Cricket for its decision to award equal pay to men and women players. New Zealand Cricket has closed the pay equity gap for women’s cricketers, with both men and women receiving the same pay for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist), The Conversation The US Supreme Court’s annual term usually finishes at the end of June, so late June is when the most important decisions are likely to be announced. On June 23, the Court struck down ...
Those entering the line-up for 2022 local body elections in the Wellington region must face the issue at the top of mind for sports club members and parents of children playing school sport. Will they allow sport to become more affordable, or will they ...
Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand for the 11 months ending 31 May 2022 Please note the next Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand to be released will be for the full year ended 30 June 2022. It is anticipated that ...
T wo travellers returning to New Zealand from tropical getaways have been fined for failing to declare protected corals and shells they brought back into the country. C o rals and some shells found in Pacific Island nations are protected by the Convention ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Murray Goot, Emeritus Professor of Politics and International Relations, Macquarie University What does “the average Australian” look like? After every census, this is one of the questions people like to see answered. Average on one measure or on several? If the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Niro Kandasamy, Lecturer in History, University of Sydney When Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe conceded ten days ago that the Sri Lankan economy has “completely collapsed”, his words would have come as no surprise to the island’s 22 million people. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Peetz, Professor Emeritus, Griffith Business School, Griffith University Shutterstock, CC BY-SA Uber Australia’s historic agreement with the Transport Workers’ Union, on the need to regulate the gig economy, is the first step in fundamental reform of gig work. It suggests ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael David Barbezat, Research fellow, Australian Catholic University Netflix From Kate Bush to Russian villainy, Season Four of Stranger Things revives many parts of the 1980s relevant to our times. Some of these blasts from the past provide welcome nostalgia. Others ...
RNZ Pacific Voting in the Papua New Guinea general election begins today. Voters will elect 118 members of Parliament, including governors of the 22 provinces, from the 3600-plus candidates nominated. There are 6000 polling teams in the 22 provinces. There have also been reports that polling in the capital, Port ...
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby A man was held by Papua New Guinean security personnel in Hela Province on Saturday after he was found to have in his possession K1.56 million (about NZ$715,000) in cash carried in a suitcase. The man, who police identified as a local, allegedly told ...
COMMENTARY:By Benny Wenda We celebrated the 51st anniversary of the independence declaration of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) at Markas Victoria on July 1, 1971. The declaration, signed by Seth Rumkoren and Jacob Prai — who sadly passed away last month — was a direct rejection of Indonesian colonialism. ...
Analysis - Geoffrey Miller poses the question: Is New Zealand suddenly softening its more pro-Western foreign policy - and its tougher line on China? ...
The SOS cries of under-pressure GPs hit close to home for the country's only MP and practicing doctor, Shane Reti, who suggests three vital steps to help. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Dooley, Research Fellow, Climate & Energy College, The University of Melbourne Nico Smit/Unsplash, CC BY Restoring degraded environments, such as by planting trees, is often touted as a solution to the climate crisis. But our new research shows this, ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern does not expect a resolution on 501 deportations from her trip to Australia this week, saying it will take time to work through. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elodie Camprasse, Research fellow in spider crab ecology, Deakin University Julian Finn/Museums VictoriaAm I not pretty enough? This article is part of The Conversation’s series introducing you to little-known Australian animals that need our help. Every winter in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nina Lansbury, Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health, The University of Queensland In Australia, most states have introduced initiatives to provide people who menstruate with free period care products in public schools. The Queensland government’s recent announcement of free period care ...
As consumers receive their winter power bills, many are puzzled and some are incensed that they are so high. There is a simple answer: wholesale prices are elevated (they have been very high for some time and reached $215 a megawatt/hour last week). And there’s a not-so-simple answer: The latter ...
New guidance published by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) today advises most seismically vulnerable buildings are not imminently dangerous and can remain occupied while seismic remediation work is planned, funded and undertaken. ...
Buzz from the Beehive Measures to raise eligibility thresholds to help more than 90,000 New Zealanders that currently are denied access to legal aid were announced today Changes to the Legal Services Regulations 2011 and the Legal Services Act 2011 will give effect to $148.7 million of funding in Budget 2022. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tomas Fitzgerald, Lecturer in Law, Curtin University A brainy machine? Shakey, the world’s first AI-based robot.SRI International It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that the machines are taking over. What is less clear is whether the machines know that. Recent claims ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brian Robert Cook, Associate professor, The University of Melbourne In the aftermath of destructive floods, we often seek out someone to blame. Common targets are the “negligent local council”, the “greedy developer”, “the builder cutting corners”, and the “foolish home owner.” Unfortunately, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Rae, Associate Professor, English and Theatre Studies, The University of Melbourne Julio Donoso/Sygma via Getty Images I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else ...
Crombie Lockwood today announced a new partnership with Trees for Survival. Trees for Survival is a charitable trust which works with over 150 schools and local communities across New Zealand to grow and plant native trees along waterways and on erosion ...
Labour shortages, supply chain disruption and climate change are expected to be among the topics of discussion on the Prime Minister's Australian trade mission. ...
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions is pleased to support the #NotAnotherWinter campaign, which calls on the Government to take urgent action on pay transparency. The campaign, which was launched by Mind the Gap this week, calls on the Government ...
Aaron Martin, Principal immigration lawyer, New Zealand Immigration Law The Job Check has been introduced to ensure that there are no suitable New Zealanders who can do a job before it is offered to a migrant worker. But it comes with a requirement ...
“New Zealand needs to make up its mind if it is open for business and remove any barriers to make it easy for people with the skills we need to come here to keep our schools, hospitals, hospitality and tourism ventures running,” says a frustrated ...
Responsible Campers Association has today announced they will seek a change to the law that allows defecation in public if a person believes they would not be observed doing so. Spokesman for the group, Bob Osborne explains; “At the moment section ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Phil R. Cummins, Professor, Geoscience Australia Brendan Esposito/AAP Earthquakes can be especially devastating for developing countries, where competing priorities can stymie resource allocation towards earthquake resilience. Even in tectonically active areas, where tectonic plates meet and scrape against one another, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Bongiorno, Professor of History, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University ‘Peace for our time’: British prime minister Neville Chamberlain displaying the Anglo-German declaration, known as the Munich Agreement, in September 1938.Wikimedia, CC BY-SA Can historians influence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Glasziou, Professor of Medicine, Bond University Engin Akyurt/Unsplash Since Australia’s first Omicron wave after borders opened late last year, the pandemic has largely faded from the news and public perception. Gone are the daily briefings with updates on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julianna Santos, PhD candidate, The University of Melbourne David Mariuz/AAP About 100 of Australia’s unique land mammals face extinction. Of the many threats contributing to the crisis, certain fire regimes are among the most pervasive. In a new paper, we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maryanne Macdonald, Lecturer, Indigenous Education, Edith Cowan University Floods, fires and droughts in Australia devastate lives, destroy wildlife and damage property. These disasters also cost billions of dollars through loss of agricultural and economic productivity, environmental vitality and costs to mental health. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meena Jha, Course Coordinator, Information Communications Technology (ICT), CQUniversity Australia Shutterstock While face-to-face classes are back after the COVID disruptions of the past two years, our research suggests at least some Australian universities intend to continue with fully online assessment. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra Shutterstock The dream that decentralised finance – or “DeFi” – can free the monetary system from the clutches of governments and banks has helped launch 20,000 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Esther Suckling, Research Associate, Grattan Institute Mackay Regional Council Australia’s mining and heavy industry sectors are on the cusp of a revolution as the world shifts to net-zero. Demand for traditional industrial commodities – coal, oil, and gas – is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darren Jorgensen, Senior lecturer in art history, The University of Western Australia Tracker Nat, holding his hat on the far left, with Paul Hasluck standing next to him, holding Nat’s shield in this picture from 1958. National Archives of Australia. NAA: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dale Dominey-Howes, Honorary Professor of Hazards and Disaster Risk Sciences, University of Sydney Mick Tsikas/AAP Again, thousands of residents in Western Sydney face a life-threatening flood disaster. At the time of writing, evacuation orders spanned southwest and northwest Sydney and ...
By Hayden Donnell, RNZ Mediawatch producer Some said the US Supreme Court’s controversial ruling on abortion was none of our business, because we don’t have the same legal or political set-up, let alone its religious cleavages and cultural conflicts. Opinion leaders in our media didn’t agree — and provoked a ...
By Theckla Gunga of Inside PNG Papua New Guineans, your future is in your hands, vote wisely. As the campaign trail wound up its last hours at the weekend, voters were being urged to keep their future in mind when choosing and voting this election starting tomorrow. Alvin Gia Huk, ...
By Stephen Forbes, Local Democracy Reporter Manukau Urban Māori Authority (MUMA) is welcoming the government’s health reforms as an important first step to improving Māori and Pasifika health in south Auckland. But some in the health sector say the jury is still out on what will be achieved in Counties ...
Power Play - The Prime Minister travelled to Brussels with two speeches prepared - one detailed a historic trade deal, the other why she would leave Brussels without one. ...
Green Party candidate for Wellington's Motukairangi-Eastern Ward Luana Scowcroft is launching her campaign at Hataitai Centre (the former Hataitai Bowling Club) at 7pm tonight, Saturday July 2nd. Luana says that council's short-term thinking, and ...
The government has just announced the conclusion of a free trade agreement with the European Union. One Māori entity operating in the trade space, Ngā Toki Whakarururanga, is not celebrating. “We are aware that New Zealand negotiators genuinely sought ...
Buzz from the Beehive Down here on Earth – more particularly, in Ihumātao – progress on doing whatever is going to be done to that disputed patch of land has been glacial. Newsroom drew attention to the dawdling in an article in April which noted that Māori Development Minister Willie ...
PNG Post-Courier Today is officially the last day of campaigning in Papua New Guinea’s 2022 National General Election. Count tomorrow until Monday as rest days, but in politically charged PNG, anything is possible, including illegal last-minute clandestine campaigning. Polling is set to begin Tuesday, July 4, when millions will exercise ...
Asia Pacific Report newsdesk Greenpeace Aotearoa has condemned New Zealand for “standing by” while “deep wounds are inflicted on its Pacific neighbours” by silence over deep sea mining. Greenpeace’s seabed mining campaigner James Hita made the critical statement today after a dramatic shift at the UN Oceans conference in Lisbon ...
Buzz from the Beehive Numbers, quotas and ratios have been high in ministerial considerations over the past 24 hours or so. Export revenue to the EU will grow by up to $1.8 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Harris Rimmer, Professor and Director of the Policy Innovation Hub, Griffith Business School, Griffith University Prime Minister Anthony Albanese admitted at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Public Forum that some Australians may not understand why he’s at a NATO meeting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jared Mondschein, Senior Research Fellow, US Studies Centre, University of Sydney When colonial Americans declared their independence on July 4 1776, they rejected more than British rule. They explicitly denounced the British form of government and the unlegislated norms, traditions and conventions ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and Emma Larouche, from the University of Canberra’s Media and Communications team discuss the week in politics. They canvass the crossbenchers’ stoush with the Prime Minister over ...
"Aotearoa New Zealand remains concerned by the steady erosion of rights, freedoms, and autonomy that has occurred in Hong Kong as a result," the foreign minister said. ...
Well the people have spoken.
Labour got a bit of a towelling on Saturday. I have been, as therapy, analysing some of the figures and there are some interesting features to them and also, I believe cause for medium term optimism. The features include:
1. Low turnout. The continuous stream of negative poll results and adverse media effect had its effect on Labour supporters who just stayed home.
2. Labour dipped substantially in the Maori electorates where the presence of the Mana Party sucked up valuable party votes.
3. The NZ First phenomenon clearly had an effect of Labour’s support base where a number voted strategically to make sure NZ First was over the line. My gut feeling is that this could have been as high as 3% of the total vote. The Greens pretty well account for the rest of the loss.
4. In Auckland the result was relatively good. Labour’s support declined on average by less than 4%.
5. South Auckland performed very well with a swing towards Labour. Mangere was the standout with a 10% swing. Sua William Sio and the Mangere organisation did really well.
6. Christchurch suffered a cataclysmic downturn in support with a 10.6 overall swing against Labour and turnout noticeably dipping. The effect of the earthquake and people’s response to it obviously need more analysis but at this stage it looks like Labour has to do a major rebuilding job. Despite the swing Dalziel and Dyson did well and held their seats and Clayton Cosgrove only just dipped out. The party vote in his electorate was especially strong for National and given this his performance was incredibly good.
7. The counting of special votes will be interesting. Jacinda Ardern probably will not swing Auckland Central back but Carmel Sepuloni still has a chance in Waitakere of unseating Bennett. And if we can knock off one more tory MP the figures get that much tighter to manage.
1. Low turnout. The continuous stream of negative poll results and adverse media effect had its effect on Labour supporters who just stayed home.
Maybe, just maybe, it’s not everyone else’s fault.
Maybe, just maybe, Labour is not attracting and inspiring Labour voters.
Have you given any thought to that? Maybe Labour has disillusioned too many ex-supporters.
Dunedin has previously strongly supported Labour, but there are very worrying signs. Clare Curran has already been put on notice (not by me).
Have you given any thought to answering my questions??
o btw the letter I wrote condoning your behavior should be hitting your hairpiece wiggy by tuesday or wednesday
thats right a letter so he cant say he never got it
Condoning or condemning?
both
as a prospective MP he had no right to blog his vicious bullshit on THIS site
IF he wants to bag beneficiaries then do it on his poor blog
The ‘vicious bullshit ‘ was suggesting that beneficiaries who deservedly need assistance would be better off if they were helped more, not just with money but with education opportunities and assistance with things like budgeting and how to provide good nutrition on a budget, and that the minority abuses that are occurring were addressed more effectively.
How stupid do you think we are? That’s not what you said and you know it.
You realise that condone and condemn are polar opposites?
Um Pete.
The turnout was low. People stayed at home and did not vote.
And when you are active in a party that has standing and electoral gravitas I will give your thoughts proper consideration.
“And when you are active in a party that has standing and electoral gravitas I will give your thoughts proper consideration.”
That arrogance sums up one of Labour’s major problems, probably their biggest problem.
And full of irony.
Er, I would have thought irony was a failed candidate accusing a party 50 times more popular than his own of failing to inspire voters. And isn’t it time you joined the Conservative party, Pete? At least they have a future beyond contributing to Peter Dunne’s retirement fund and may actually get some list candidates elected next time.
Pete George will shortly be joining any party who will have him. A candidate truly worthy of following in Peter Dunne’s political footsteps.
Conservatives are not my thing at all. Far too narrow.
My main focus now is continuing to build a strong cross party (and non party) voice for Dunedin. Regional politics rather than party politics, current party politics is failing Dunedin as indicated by the abysmal voter turnout.
And as per usual here the personal attacks divert from Labour’s denial problem. It’s everyone else’s fault.
PG.
The problem with Disunited No Future is that nobody knows what they actually stand for -other than hyposcisy, looting the planet, denialism and opportunitsm.
I think it is a great shame that there are still sufficient numbers of uninformed, deluded people around for UF to still exist. The same applies to ACT, of course.
Last night I wrote this on OpenMike
(Update He missed by one – he was second up this morning – seems he is still trying to campaign)
Quote
logie97 34
27 November 2011 at 10:22 pm
Who was that guy Pete George who appeared to be using this blog as a platform for his own ends.?
Now that the ballot has closed and the dust virtually settled, perhaps he will disappear and allow reasonable discourse to resume in these columns. I guess we won’t know till we open up “OpenMike” in the morning to see whether he is still trying to be first poster. Obviously not many of his beloved UF followers read these pages (or maybe they followed him here and saw each and every one of his arguments put in their place …) Dunne holds on just. What a joke.
Purile git hopefully next election when the 1 man band takes some more party votes of Nationa that don’t count it will be hard to imagine with an idiot like you promoting them 132 votes wow thats a successful campaign!
But dunne is nearly finished 3 more years of a no growth economy and he and National will be dunne for.
8. Most of the Nat gain is via ACTs collapse, no paradigm shift and certainly not the grand mandate they’re claiming so if the Greens can hold their support there is be a strong and natural left coalition in the wings.
ditto.
What a load of tosh. Labour failed in it’s policy’s, failed with it’s candidates and now fail to see the error of their ways. Why did so many stay away, try no passion, no inspiration to start with. You guys just don’t get it, fortuitously most Kiwi’s do. Perhaps it was because of polices like money for working for nothing. Perhaps it was the same dumb candidates that believe the only way to voters hearts are to bribe them with other peoples money.
That sounds like NAct. They’re the ones causing major a deficit blow-out through their unaffordable tax cuts.
“money for working for nothing.”
Side Show Bob – Try to pay attention. There is a discrimination case(s) working its way through the system that has a good chance of finding that there is discrimination in not offering WFF to beneficiaries.
Which leaves two choices to any government cough up the dosh for benes or axe the scheme altogether.
Do you think for one minute Mr “I need to be love” Key would have campaigned on axing WFF?
Ronald McDonald’s understudy is only able to form a government because of the rorts in Epsom and Ohariu.
Side show bob other peoples money coming Debt from overseas at high interest and higher if [Greek European proportions] national fail to get the economy growing at more than the 0.1% it has under the dipstick.National will need to grow the economy at more than 2.5% to start paying off Debt at more than interest costs we are paying 6% for our debt the US 2.5%.The exodus to Australia will gather pace a lot of young ones I know are not waiting for another 3 years of National that includes one of my children if the CHCH rebuild doesn’t get under way soon my other child and husband and 3 grandchildren have gone already.
8. David Parker’s 6,000 votes allowed ACT into parliament.
9. Goff’s support for 15% GST dismayed Labour grass roots activists.
10. Labour’s call to raise the retirement age to 67 alienated older workers.
11. Labour’s unanimous vote to excuse police law breaking against Tuhoe angered Maori voters.
12. The Greens enabled Paula Bennett keeping her electorate seat.
I support 15% GST. Consumption taxes are good. The problem is that National cut taxes to the top 10%, not the bottom 50% as was required.
And in fact it was only the top 2% who got the really big tax cuts ($120K pa and over)
I assume that’s because you don’t have a family, and you do have a high income. Consumption taxes harm the poor, because they spend everything they get, whereas the rich save their money.
Try reading past the first two sentences. A rise in GST should be engineered so that those in the bottom 50% end up with a real tax cut, after price rises, while everyone else pays more.
Increasing a regressive tax like GST makes it extremely difficult to raise top end taxes enough to create a bottomline progressive change.
Why don’t you just decrease regressive taxes and increase progressive taxes instead.
Because consumption taxes are taxes on consumption. Consumption = consumerism and destruction of the environment.
But consumption taxes are also usually regressive ones.
Why not go for better targetting of consumption taxes? Eg a luxury goods tax.
If you want to reduce consumption why are you taxing a 2L BMW at the same rate as a 5L BMW?
instead of having a graduated stepped tax system ie 20% to 35% why not have a continually graduated system with computers now it would be easy and would create less poverty traps and resentment from the rich .
Capital Gains Tax would be more acceptable from the right if business tax was reduced with some of that increase in tax which would encourage the productive sector
Capital gains should be on all capital gain at a lower rate which would be more acceptable as well
Small businesses need simpler easier systems computerizing all small businesses systems and having instant gst would reduce paper work needed for small business
Small businesses are the backbone of employment in this country if their Acc levies and all the govt taxes and rebates were paid as they earned it would save a lot of head aches for small businesses we on the left need to make sure its easy for these businesses to thrive and survive
You have obviously discovered fraud in the way the election was run.
David Parker’s 6,000 votes? The organisers of the election only credit Parker with 3,093.
Quick, who stole the other 2,900 you think he got?
that seat only provided one MP so it was Acts Disaster changing hats half way through the electoral cycle.
see also – excluding the poorest meembers of the community from working for families, the seabed and foreshore act (yes still), the increased gap between rich and poor after 9 years of labour government, and entitlitis that led to labour ministers rorting the system for travel perks, hotel pornography, unfortunate examples of public behaviour, giving large amounts of money to rich people for a boat race, changing school terms for a sports tournament and trevor mallard. In nine years of government all they succeeded in doing was alienating their consituency. Apart from the departure of Cullen and Clark the labour caucus has very few new faces and have borrowed all their new policies from the greens, proving that for them it’s not about integrity but about jumping on popular bandwagons to regain power.
Kudos to the grace shown by Goff and most of the posters on here. I fully expected an outpouring of bile and venom about the election result (and had looked for some youtube clips in response) but I’ve been pleasently surprised by the restraint on here.
So the questions are:
How long will Goff stay on as leader for and who’ll replace him if he goes?
Answer to your last question: Christmas
Parker- Robertson is the front runner at present says Vernon Small:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6045621/Jockeying-starts-as-Goff-set-to-quit
Cunliffe is non-committal, but is apparently being blamed for not coming up with numbers for Goff quick enough in the campaign. He denies he’s considering runing with Dalziel as deputy.
I can’t say that Parker inspires me at all. He seems very MOR and lacking in passion – too managerial.
Of the ones mentioned, I’d go for Little (with Ardern). That’d be a lively and energises team, along with Little’s gravitas and ability to think assertively on his feet. Fresh – new, not old-style managerial, has the potential to engage with disengaged struggling workers and poor. And combines with a youthful, female and smart image.
Carol if you want to see someone who is capable on their feet you cannot go past David Cunliffe.
IMHO he is the outstanding potential leader and is the one best positioned to take on Key.
I am disappointed that some within the party are putting out anonymous spin lines in the media. This is not helpful.
Shame on them.
He’s also negative and I’m not sure he could do a positive campaign. Do Labour really just want to attack John Key in 2014 as they have in 2011 and 2008. Do they want to campaign once again negatively rather than positively?
The problem for Cunliffe is that he will make a very good Finance Minister but good Finance Ministers rarely make good Prime Ministers.
micky, I like Cunliffe a lot – have given my electorate vote to him in the last couple of elections. I think he is very good on his feet, in the House and with “tough” media interviews. But he also needs to have the support of the majority of the caucus. I wonder if he is personable enough to have wide voter appeal.
However, RNZ this morning is talking a 2 horse race between Parker and Cunliffe. In that case, I would go for Cunliffe. Parker is too bland and just comes across as a middleclass suit. he’s not going to be able to engage with some of the disengaged battler sections of the electorate. Cunliffe has a certain mongrel appeal.
But I would have someone softer, more personable and youthful as his deputy – eg Ardern.
Cunliffe has no charisma.
Yeah, that’s what I’ve been thinking.
I don’t believe Key will see out the full term. And on that basis I reckon it would be crazy to not remain with Goff – he got profile,experience and kudos for his performance this election. People began to connect with him, and the media grudgingly appreciated him. Absolute madness for him to stand down. Stay, Phil – with Jacinda as deputy. Call the shots – you have the mandate now to do it on your own terms.
Agreed, and don’t stop campaigning now, Phil. The last month has been the first four weeks of the campaign for 2014.
Don’t be like the fickle Nats who change their leader at every defeat. Jeez, we might as well learn something from the RWC, eh?
Helen lost 1996…
+1
Good comment felix.
Why did you expect that? The right have been somewhat more restrained than in their hysterical witch hunt in 2008. The reaction is consequently less.
The answer to your question is when he feels it is appropriate, and there will be caucus discussion and a vote. It isn’t a direct party decision – it is a caucus decision.
Without being too apocalyptic there are some major sea changes happening out in the wider world that will change how we view the role of the future politician: if Labour are to present any credible alternative they will have to look like saviours of the coming train wreck.
Moving on Goff now is pointless, better to see who understands the future best and represents it best. None have shown the vision and world awareness they will need, so until somebody does just wait.
Small problem. If people actually believed that there were real ‘train wreck’ magnitude problems coming up, they wouldn’t have voted National.
However, they don’t so they did vote National. Orlov, Kunstler and many others are right. By the time the signals become obvious that BAU is failing badly, it will be too late to do much about it on a Governmental level.
Bored.
Yes, the financial ‘tsunami’ is ‘tuindering up the beach’ and WILL hit in a matter of months. The peak oil is more akin to a ‘rising sea level’ that will inundate everything over the next few years, and environmental collapse a ‘wild card’ that could hit hard and fast or just erode everything currently people take for granted over the next decade.
You cannot be ‘too apocalyptic’ because apocalypse actually means uncovering or revealing [of that which has been hidden]. Much WILL be revealed very soon, starting with exposure of the ‘economic growth will save us’ fraud.
CV.
Yes, you are right. ‘If people actually believed that there were real ‘train wreck’ magnitude problems coming up, they wouldn’t have voted National.’
The only consolation is, fewer people are deluded by the flag-waving and fireworks displays than in 2008.
The real issue is that the time to start preparing for the mess we are now in was over the period 2000 to 2008, when we had a Labour government that was composed of deniers and ‘clowns’, many of whom are still hanging around and giving off bad smells like slowly decomposing cadavers.
Afewmorepredictions new name for your alter ego Thendisnigh
“I fully expected an outpouring of bile and venom about the election result”
It is telling how the bulk of the bile is spewing from the victors, perhaps that well dressed little cricket we all possess is gnawing at their sense of reason?
How can anyone go past the dynamic duo of Kris Faafoi and Darien Fenton ???
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/business/6045209/Mighty-River-Power-set-to-be-first-on-sell-list
Mighty River Power, followed by Meridian, Air New Zealand, Genesis and then Solid Energy in that order.
and so it begins…………………
Heartbreaking!
Time to remind Key he doesn’t have a mandate to sell our assets.
The opposition should push for a referendum.
maybe a miracle in the special votes
I truly believe it’s possible! 🙂
John Key, spin away but 29% is not a mandate
Peters on RNZ yesterday basically said the voters will have to learn the hard way if they insist on voting against their own interests. Quite right, but at what cost?
Most NZers, unfortunately, don’t know their own history very well and have forgotten the lessons of, say, the Great Depression. The next depression – which approaches quickly – will provide many fresh lessons. However, it will be too late as far as our economic sovereignty is concerned, what with the asset sales, TPP, etc.
There will be unrest (5 years?) ahead and I expect NACT will foster closer military ties with the US over the next term. In the long run, they probably won’t want to rely on the NZ Army to enforce the new economic hegemony.
Two possibilities:- 1) We get another stupid government in that actually pays to get the assets back or 2) we get a government that got the will to just re-appropriate them with no compensation.
What we will need is the latter. We will probably get the former.
If Labour, NZ First, Greens, Mana, really cared as much about these asset sales as they say, they would have signalled Option (2) pre-election. This would have been adequate warning to any potential investor.
As mandated by the people. Democracy in action.
As mandated by what – less than 35% of registered voters? Don’t wank on about democracy when a referendum directly asking about asset sales would have returned at least a 75% NO
Mighty river is the most profitable SOE so National will see what funds can be raised from it if its a failure they can abandon the sales program and go back to their main policy of borrow and hope!
Act said they would stop the National party from selling assets if they didn’t get a good price for them!
Banks sold NZR for nothing to his mates and sold Auckland airport shares to his mates for nothing expect the same again!
Monday post election and the wolf packs are salivating:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/business/6045662/Mighty-River-Power-set-to-be-first-on-sell-list
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/business/6045210/A-good-appetite-for-SOE-shares-likely
Likely because of the way a million of us just dont care or feel too disenfranchised to bother.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10769246
On this side (a Left blog) its all doom and gloom, especially if you were looking to take the reins of “power” in what is seen as BAU, the steady state growth economy. Well look at this little storm arriving full tilt…
http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/
As the world economies plunge into a storm the 1930s would have regarded as a minor blip we blithely hand our fate to a bankster. You can remain amazed at your fellow citizens stupidity and short sightedness BUT thats democracy, no complaints please.
And then, we of coarse, shouldn’t forget China, weakest manufacturing figures in 32 mths… and Oz is tied to the tail of the Dragon, and us to the Roo…
http://pragcap.com/time-to-start-watching-china?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://www.economonitor.com/blog/2011/11/chanos-says-china-bank-system-extremely-fragile%E2%80%99/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=chanos-says-china-bank-system-extremely-fragile%25e2%2580%2599&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
I’m personally asking anyone who says anything about any party if they voted……that turnout is a very sad apathy indicator so be good to know where the hypocrites are.
If you didn’t vote you have no right to comment whatsoever IMO……so shut up hold tight and pay attention.
People don’t vote if they are disenfranchised from the process and outcomes. Try to understand that it is not the same meaning as apathy. Apathy is a measure of inaction. Disenfranchisement is the motive behind a choice of action. Try to understand that those that are disenfrancised will excercise valid complaint by not voting and their complaints will be valid after they also don’t vote.
If you ignore and attack the disenfranchised, how will you ever grow the voter turnout? Where will your extra voters come from? Will you ship them in? Give everyone else an extra vote?
If you ignore the disenfranchised you are ignoring those who need information, explanation and assistance. Worse, you are dismissing the core of an active democracy – to engage all people and both sides of every argument.
And if all else fails, ask yourself, if you were faced with the choice of being ignored by one man or or being ignored by another, which would you choose? What about if the choice was between two men who would oppress you?
I have wondered how much pre-election media coverage and polls contribute to voter turn out as I suspect that a number of people fail to vote based on reports of media and polls and coming to a conclusion that their vote is either note needed or will be wasted depending on how exactly the media are covering their preferred party.
Uturn.
Voting papers need to amended to provide the following options for voters to tick:
1. No candidate in this electorate worthy of my vote.
2. No political party listed worthy of my vote.
And another box afterwards to tick that says “I am the centre of the universe, and if you don’t play by my rules I’m going to pack a big sad.”
What you’re advocating here is that politicans should decide the direction of the Nation, isolated from the people i.e. no democracy. That is why the no vote no complaint slogan is anti-democratic. Generating a paternal attitude about it is pathetic at best, counterproductive at worst.
Every party in the last election could have gained from at least 25% extra support. They failed to engage those voters. Key would have a true mandate. ACT might not be all but dead. Labour might be in power. The Greens might have been the majority base of a left coalition. NZF might have…. everything would be different. It’s stunning our political parties could be so short sighted – this is an MMP environment.
An MMP parliament does not mean either National or Labour cabinet, plus some pet coalition partners who get thrown a concession or two. While parties continue to believe that, they can expect to be overrun or corrupted by the majority party of a coalition. If people are increasingly disenfranchised, the old arguments of persuation will no longer work. There is no need to apologise for past regimes if your new presentation explains the basic concepts of why you create particular policy. Not rich vs. poor, not dollar vs. future, not slogan vs. slogan, but what is right and why. No need to sigh over present reality in your campaign ad’s if clear reasoning is present. Then even if a voter does not vote for you, they will vote for your allies. Cement your support. Create dialogue. If the basic concepts behind policy are truely right, they will be right regardless of economic climate.
Any party that thinks that percentages are all that matter cannot tap into the lost vote.
Umm… IMO I believe that kids should be enrolled in year 10 by their high school and there be a mandatory fine/debit of say $100-150 for not voting which could be data linked into IRD for collection.
That would get all the youth and low income out to vote.
The trouble with that is only the dictatorial right would create that sort of system, and they are sooo not interested in the young and the poor voting.
(Off the top of my head) Could voting be linked in with a census?
Enrolment is compulsory but not enforced.
if we can’t enforce that then we wont enforce voting.
The census people want people to participate and be honest. Any likelihood of bad consequences from completing the census will drive people to avoid it.
The US know this only too well. Back in WW2 they used census results to round up Japanese citizens or those of Japanese descent and lock them in internment camps.
Now they have a difficult time trying to get the nutjobbers from completing the census, because in this case the nutjobbers actually have proof that needs to be taken seriously.
AFKTT
They do, an option of no confidence; if for nothing more than an indicator to parties where they have failed to engage.
afew You want everything to collapse so you should have voted Act
choose the one with the lube.
In my email this morning:
The three principal reasons that NZ lost the Election to a Corpocracy
Television media
Print media
Radio media
Steve Keen on Hard Talk: Parasitic Capitalism and Debt
At least Keen is starting to hit the mainstream now. “The credit system has failed”
Yes after being a big fan of the man for at least five years now it’s hugely gratifying to see him start getting some traction. He may yet turn out to be the Maynard Keynes of our generation.
Listened to it on the Beep in the early hours. Very good.
I thought the photo on the front page of The Southland Times this morning summed the situation up nicely. Key meeting senior Cabinet Ministers (Brownlee, English, Joyce and McCully) at home in Parnell.
Five middle aged, born-to-rule white guys in their weekend uniform of blue striped Rodd and Gunn shirt tucked into jeans arrayed around Key’s living room which has all the warmth and personality of a hotel room.
I’m sure you can snarl a bit more convincingly than that Scott.
Peters will thrive in his natural opposition habitat which will doom the left to coalesce with NZF should they get the numbers in 2014 (please). That is a problem. Quite apart from trust issues the man never really leaves opposition. Oh… and Andrew Williams anyone?
Curran got well and truly spanked in a formerly Labour stronghold seat. Dunedin people don’t like her – she is sour, intolerant and focuses on fringe issues. Even the City Councillors believe she is a waste of space – keeps bleating on about painting seats in the Octagon. The best thing that Curran can do for Dunedin is to go back to Australia.
I think you are letting personal feelings cloud your judgement here. Curran won the seat with a 4,000 odd majority, hardly a spanking. As for the party vote I believe boundary changes in recent years have pushed the seat more towards Middlemarch which might account for National’s increased party vote.
I lived there for a few years and I can assure you, from my perspective, the whole city needs a bloody good clean. Some fantastic architecture but it’s dirty and the foot paths are black with grime.
I ripped the shit out of 2 friends of family uni students yesterday, ” We’re Labour all the way, yeah ” ” did you vote? ” Tried to bluff but didn’t get away with it. ” Aw didn’t get around to it ” was the worst admission they could have made. I realised later that it was probably the first time these two had ever been made to be accountable for slackness. Don’t think they will be back, good riddance. Don’t let these lasy ungrateful little shits off the hook, years of getting 18 yr olds the vote, interest free student loans, 18 year old drinking age and decent wages. If thats not worth 5 minutes time to vote any way they have the right to, they deserve all the shit thats going to hit them in the next 3 years. The same goes for anybody else that you come across who didn’t vote . tear the fuckers a new arsehole.
Why? I mean, this ‘representative’ malarky is two minutes out of one day every three years. Hardly a scenario that encourages participation or any level of engagement whatsoever. Inbetween times, we are subjected to parliamentary tedium and soap opera with no further opportunity for meaningful input until another (approx) 1095 days have gone by.
I’m much more concerned with those that view meaningful democracy as consisting of those two minutes every three years.
Given the choice between somebody who will support political activism and not vote, or someone who will merely vote, I know who my frustrations would be focussed on.
I wasn’t even enrolled for the first 2 elections i was eligible to vote in.
I figured if the choice is between the lesser of two evils or the devil you know. I ‘d rather not vote for a devil or evil at all.
You can’t lose if you don’t play.
The sooner we get secure txt voting from a smart phone the sooner you’ll engage the youngers to vote. It’s just stupid that we use online banking, pay by phone and ATM’s but don’t engage that technology for voting.
a tick on a piece of paper behind a cardboard box in this day and age ???…you’ve got to be fucking kidding !!!
Polly, I was so impressed by your analysis of why my stupid vacuous office girl wanted to vote for Key that I have taken the liberty of reposting here (in italics). In short she is very vulnerable if this company crashes in the coming depression and if she has to support her son on sonn to be cut welfare (and perhaps be forced to find a job at Makkers). Yet she voted for a man who “worked so hard to get rich…just like we can)>>>Yeah right.
Living the dream
Congratulations people, you bought the aspirational middle class dream Key was selling. You didn’t
want the reality Goff was selling and why would you ?
The reality is high unemployment, no jobs, stagnant wages, rising cost of living, NZ’s best and brightest leaving NZ in record numbers, an aging population reliant on welfare, an angry youthful
demographic also reliant on welfare, a property investment boil that needs lancing and a wealth
disparity chasm that will only widen with asset sales.
I mean, who in their right mind wants to face that reality ?…and buy into it, let alone deal with it, when you can live the dream of aspirational middle classiness. You too can come from living in a state house to make a fortune then become Prime Minister. Thats the shit people want to buy into and the shit Key was selling.
And man did we buy it, hook, line and sinker, cos like i said on Dim Post, everyone thinks they’re middle class these days. There is no working class anymore, only the underclass, consisting of the working poor and the unemployed. But no one’s going to admit to being underclass. That’s the fucking nightmare class you read about on the news, committing violent crime, breeding for business and living of charity.
Sure, you may be jobless and poor or scraping to get by, but your parents weren’t and they were middles class so you are too eh ? You just have to keep believing, have faith that Key can keep your dream alive. I mean, you’re a real life wannabe kiwi mum and dad whose better times are just around the corner.
But you know the only trouble with living the dream is, sooner or later you wake up and have to face reality, either by your own choice or by neccessity of someone forcing you to. And don’t you just hate it when the realization dawns on you that the dream you thought you were living was only happening in your mind and for all that time you were just asleep.
sleep tight NZ, don’t let reality bite…Vampires are real !!!
Again superb analysis, well done.
thanks B.
Underclass and proud of it…I own that shit and one day soon i and others like me will be Key’s worst nightmare.
Not for the crime or the ‘breeding for business’ that drain welfare, but for the sheer weight of critical mass that happens when the 99% sleepers awaken and choose a new reality.
Think Dune when Paul Atreides transmuted the waters of life. And like House Atreides inspiring the Fremen to storm the deserts of Arrakis and overthrow the Harkonnens to bring the Emperor to his knees.Theres gonna be hell to pay.
They who control the spice controls the universe. We will take back spice production and own our future.
Mark my worms !
There is a real move (I think from the left) in the US to return to paper voting.
The concern is that there are too many problems with machine voting, no audit-able paper record for electronic voting (and therefore greater chance of fraud, hacking or government interference), and too many jurisdictions that determine their own method of casting a vote.
Yes, we have online banking etc but one of the secrets the banks keep quiet is the evel of “interference” that does take place.
The difference between the US and us is population and the prohibitions to exclude voters there.
If there was a cross party consensus to change the electoral status quo, it could happen practically overnight. No more silly land line polls and dodgy internet ones. People could txt in using their secure ird number and bank acct log in.
A referendum on that would be way more useful than wasting time deciding on MMP alternatives. Imagine if we could real time decide on mandates for things like State Asset Sales.
It’s inevitable we will eventually vote via the virtual cloud. Rather we own it and control it, make it happen NOW, or by proxy, facebook and the US through the banks will do it for us.
IMHO
No doubt the new technology gives us the chance of fast, inexpensive feed back for all sort of issues that a government faces.
It doesn’t solve the lack of participation.
I could see a problem of buy in and the degree of representation.
You would need to limit each person to one person one vote and be able to secure that so there is no staking of a referendum or other sort of poll.
Then there is the technology to be used – smart phones for everyone? polling booths permanently on street corners like phone boxes?
Do we want such events like a general election to be treated so casually?
Still, something of the sort is in the future.
polling booths permanently on street corners like phone boxes?
Using eftpos or ATM’s as voting machines tied into your bank acct secure pin and login details cross matched with your ird number and drivers license sent as a txt to confirm via answering a personal question you sent in using snail mail with your electoral enrolment form.
It doesn’t solve the lack of participation.
I’m pickin youngers would, if given the option, vote using their phone or an ATM, especially if you engaged them via social media and incentivised them with free credit.
As a trial, get the systems up, trial some refererenda and then in the next elections just electronically vote on the party vote and see how irrelevent electorate voting is to the youngers.
This election has, IMO, proven that we need to get rid of electorate voting or bring in STV voting for the electorate. As it is it’s too open to manipulation and gerrymanders are still possible. If we do get rid of electorate voting then people have to become more involved with local politics which seems to be more or less ignored ATM.
You may not have noticed but the government already has a database (actually, they probably have several) that has everybody in the country on it. Tie the voting into that database, make the record of the vote permanent and that each person can see that record online (IMO, government data on a person should be available online for that person to view) with the option to change a vote once under supervision if the vote is recorded incorrectly.
The voting is done online, database is government owned and controlled, software is developed in-house and is open source. That prevents private companies from being able to manipulate the voting directly and makes the software as secure as possible. Using Security Tokens makes the actual online transaction about as secure as you can get and possibly more secure than paper based options.
Absolutely right! There’s no way that Dubya really genuinely got re-elected in 2004 – we all know that much! Paper voting is safe, and if the younglings won’t do it, tough on them, lazy barstewards! Voting by text should never happen… I am teaching a bunch of lazy teens, and they think I am horrible, because there are some things up with which I will not put…
How hard would it be to remove ‘personality’ from politics and have a more representative parliament in the process? Not hard at all, I reckon. Instead of lists of parties, why not have lists of policy direction that parties offer up (limited to x number of policies per party) with a ‘yes/no’ option and then the various parties attached to the relevant yeah or nay side of the policy?
So for example, on ‘Asset Sales’ there would be a yes or no option and then, depending on your thoughts on asset sales, a further choice as to which parties prescriptions you’d rather see implemented.
Same on tax free income. If 50% + favour it, then the signal as to whether Labour’s $5000, Mana’s $20 000 or whatever was preferred would have been signalled on the ballot paper. And then the party which had the largest vote next to it on that policy, would be charged with making it happen….executing the policy.
The overall result…a representation of voter desire…would probably be a hoary bastard for parliamentarians to deal with. But if their job is to give effect to voter desires, then hey.
If a particular policy couldn’t be implemented for genuine reasons (ie politiking aside), then at the next election it assumes a priority that needs only 50%+ to vote for it and then it must be implemented by the same party as before. No ‘if’s’ no ‘but’s’….no excuses whatsoever.
In the space between elections, policy and not personality would be the only thing worth discussing. And unlike the Swiss system that appears to demand constant engagement, this allows people to ‘dip in and out’ of parliamentary shenanigans.
Once every three years the politicians are directed on what they are required to deliver. It’s up to them after that.
I think Mana’s idea of lowering the voting age has some merit.
If young people had a chance to experience at least one election and maybe even two elections before leaving high school, young people may have a better appreciation of the democratic process as a valuable and empowering experience and therefore decide to stay more involved as adults.
(To experience two elections while still at High School would mean lowering the voting age to 15)
I would like to debate with others the merits/demerits of this idea.
Would our youth just vote as their parents do?
Would teachers have an improper influence over students’ political views?
Are our objections based on fear?
Are we frightened of what our young people would do with the mandate?
I can’t help wondering, what would they would do with it?
No doubt I imagine it will be something I can’t imagine.
To judge by what my younger son has told me about his former classmates, yes, a scarily large number would do just that.
I don’t believe so…
Mine certainly are! The monstrous idiocy displayed by many of the pupils at Western Springs College when L., was there is terrifying. One girl was convinced that Helen Clark was an unmarried lesbian, because her Daddy said so (see above). A boy was convinced that World War 2 was fought by the brave Americans (along with maybe 20 New Zealanders) against the evil Brits and the evil Nazis, all for the purpose of saving Jews and establishing the state of Israel. Another boy believed that whatever box you’re in precludes all other boxes – and screamed his disbelief that an Irish person they were learning about could be both a Communist and a Republican! Many 15 year olds would, in the wonderful words of my daughter in law speaking about her rest-home “ladies” – ‘vote for the Wombles if they were on the ballot” – the old dears because they don’t know what day it is, the teens, for the lulz…
Absolutely yes. Sadly, teens are irresponsible. It’s what they are!
I can and it makes me blench! My youngest was a teen not to long ago, and I remember it all too well. His besetting sin was (and still is to an extent) self-righteousness and an absolute conviction that he’s always right. If you think Petulant Bean and old Tariana think they know what’s best for bennies, try a bunch of teenagers!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6045516/Dunne-settles-in-for-10th-term
Go and get a real fukn job Dunne
And you wonder why Chauvel didn’t win Ohariu.
So when do the specials get counted?
They will be released on Dec 10
Thanks Mickey for your analysis …you (and too many coffees) have got me thinking in an after-match-analysis sort of way……
1. Low turnout.
Traditionally the no-voters are on the left (for a number of reasons) and that we always hit the left hard if they don’t vote. I think that Labour and the Greens need to step up the game.
a.We need to see the next three years like The South during the ’60s and have drives to increase voter registration. Make a concerted effort to help people outside the political process to dip their toes in the water and hope they wade in on election day.
This is something I will be committing myself to in the next three years ( I have yet to checkout turnout in my area but I’m sure there is a need).
b. Step up our efforts to get out the vote on the day. Cars, vans, umbrellas – anything to remove the barriers people have to voting. That involves some organisation at the grass roots and co-operation across the left (not sure how the greens will feel about all those car miles 🙂 )
c. Non-partisan letterbox drops, well before the lead up to the election, with a series of well thought out, nicely produced, flyers that people can down load and distribute around their neighbour hood. A set number of drops, on certain dates, over the course of a year.
These flyers would aim to educate people about the process, why we have an election at all, and why it is important for any citizen to vote and the efforts people, as seen in the news, are going to in order to get a say.
Perhaps campaign slogans that have a uniform, pithy message that can be put on bumpers, posters etc. e.g. “If you don’t vote then don’t complain”, “If you didn’t vote I ain’t listening”, “Be part of the solution – Vote!”, “Vote first, bitch second”, “You’re only alive because politicians allow you to be”
2. Labour dipped substantially in the Maori electorates where the presence of the Mana Party sucked up valuable party votes.
Labour can no longer rely on being the dominant party on he left. The left is fragmented. But that should not necessarily be a bad thing. It is the nature of the left to be fragmented – we all have differing views about what in the status quo needs to be changed and we rally to that flag.
Instead of it being a weakness that the right can use to divide and conquer, the left needs to decide on what they can agree on, be gracious with each other, and leave the adversarial debate to the presentation of ideas during the election.
Perhaps we need a association of progressives, a congress of like minded people that have a common ethos but differ in the details.
If Labour wants to survive it needs to look at who it constituency is. With the advent of strong Maori voices the days of Ratana and Labour Maori safe seats are gone. Who does Labour speak for? The Middle class? Labour? Maori, Pacifica, Asians?
Do they need to build a constituency? Organise union membership, campaign for better work conditions, get a profile in the foodbanks, elevate the “common man” in the party ranks, be proud to be socialist and promoting a return to a more caring NZ, boldly address the future like they have stated to but go further – peak oil, climate change, NZ for NZdrs and not trans-nationals).
The Greens are on a roll and it is a generational thing. The young have the values and expectations that resonate with the Green message. They are the children of the greening of society and as they come of voting age there will be more of them. I say the young but I exclude brain dead “I’m a Key person” bimbos-for-hire that Key had following him – why weren’t they at work?!
3. The NZ First phenomenon clearly had an effect of Labour’s support base
I don’t think you could call Winston a leftie but the party does have an appeal to people who are older and are concerned about change, people who respond to ideas of national pride and their definition of NZ, people who feel they have invested in NZ and want to be recognised, who want to feel that not everyone is waiting for them to die out.
Add to that the personality cult around him and the protest vote against the status quo and the belief that Labour were not going to be strong enough. There is one thing about Winston, he can deliver some scathing soundbites about “the enemy” that make us feel good and put the self-important in their place.
5. South Auckland performed very well with a swing towards Labour. Mangere was the standout with a 10% swing. Sua William Sio and the Mangere organisation did really well.
Again, who is Labour talking to? Are they being moblised to vote? Unionised? What’s the Labour profile at foodbanks, markets, in lobbying for the people who need help? Should their be more brown faces in the Labour benches?
6. Christchurch
The demographics are still to fluid for John Key to puff out his chest and say we must be doing a good job in Chch. I think te shit hasn’t fully hit the fan with CERA and I suspect that so much is still to be revealed that might piss people off. But then you only have so much energy and the energy levels in Chch have been drained by events.
Again, the important role for Labour is advocacy, advocacy, advocacy. People remember who goes to bat for them when things are down.
7. Carmel Sepuloni still has a chance in Waitakere of unseating Bennett
I don’t give a monkey’s about Bennett, she’s in anyway, but Sepuloni would be a great loss. She’s one of those “watch this space” people.
They were at work – they just weren’t doing anything of any value.
According to this analysis NZ1st is more left than the Labour Party. They happen to be more authoritarian although less so than NActUF.
So in 2008 terms NZ1st was left of Labour and the authoritarian thing would be the personality cult thing they’ve go going.
…I would think Labour has moved to the left this election.
What measures do they use for this?
They’ve got a simple test that they run political parties policies through (It’s not necessarily the most accurate way but it’s better than nothing and it’s fairly constant). The 2011 one didn’t have NZ1st on it otherwise I would have linked to it. It shows that Labour have moved right but probably within margin of error (ie, not moved at all).
I’ve been wondering since I have seen it quoted as fact a few times on this site how anyone knows that no-voters favor the left?
By definition they didn’t express an opinion so there is no way to know.
The only way I can see you would be able to do it is by comparing the actual results to polls and as polls are not scientific and there is no way to check if they are correct that would be meaningless as well.
You look at the enrolled vote (political parties are allowed to read and check the marked roll for things like the dead voting). If they didn’t vote then they are enrolled non vote and you look at them against against previous canvassing data or the deprivation index. Pretty damn clear
But there are also academic studies looking at voting intentions with followup to ask about voting.
Bill, because if they can’t give ” 2 minutes every 3 years” they will only be involved in the process by bitching about whatever the subsequent outcomes happen to be , and their negativism about “reperesentation ” will only foster more disenfranchisment.
T.W.I.M.C. Stick with Phil, remember the lesson according to Ted, but just hope that it’s not as close as 8-7 in ’14.
Maybe you mistakenly see the ‘representative parliamentary system’ as the crucible of democracy rather than as one among a number of obstacles to democracy?
Bill.
Well said. Far too many people mistake the present sytem for democracy.
Who was it that said ‘Democracy is a good system. We should try it some time’?
“It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see….”
“You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?”
“No,” said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, “nothing so simple. Nothing anything like so straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people.”
“Odd,” said Arthur, “I thought you said it was a democracy.”
“I did,” said Ford. “It is.”
“So,” said Arthur, hoping he wasn’t sounding ridiculously obtuse, “why don’t the people get rid of the lizards?”
“It honestly doesn’t occur to them,” said Ford. “They’ve all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they’ve voted in more or less approximates to the government they want.”
“You mean they actually vote for the lizards?”
“Oh yes,” said Ford with a shrug, “of course.”
“But,” said Arthur, going for the big one again, “why?”
“Because if they didn’t vote for a lizard,” said Ford, “the wrong lizard might get in.”
– Douglas Adams
lol (Forgotten how observant Adams’ writing could be)
Afew its not perfect but its better than any other option unless you are the despotic leader but in your case the only movement you will be starting will be followed by the sound of a cistern flushing unless you’ve invested in a composting toilet
A video by potholer54, aka Peter Hadfield: Climategate Part 2– the quotes and the context.
Also see – http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/11/27/an-open-letter-to-dr-phil-jones-of-the-uea-cru/
A masterly summary of the parlous state of climate science by Willis Eschenbach.
A link to Climate Denialist website – yeah, not worth clicking.
latest news Artic ice melt increasing in speed
This Willis Eschenbach who happens to write for a site that has a semi retired Toronto minerals consultant with ties to the Heartland Institute and an economist as primary contributors and seems primarily focused on debunking climate science. Pass the salt.
Also, as Willis Eschenbach seems to have connections with Delingpole and manages to rate a mention in that bastion of truth Conservapedia, will someone please please pass me the salt.
Big strike on Wednesday in the UK, maybe bigger than in 1979 (I remember the uncollected rubbish bags piling up on Clapham Common), and maybe bigger than the 1926 general strike.
I do feel it’s pity that the strike is over changes to pensions and not to cuts to the public sector services. Note also that Stuff headlines are all to about how it will impact on Kiwi air travellers, whereas the strike itself is the big news:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/6047635/Air-NZ-to-rebook-strike-affected-passengers
And there’s a threat of Cameron re-drafting industrial action law to restrict such strikes.
OAB
I see the pattern remains unchanged.
You consistently make pathetic and inane comments that are feeble attempts at put-downs.
I guess that’s as far as your brain can take you, poor thing.
AFKTT, just thought I’d point out that your user name is now misspelled.
It sort of loses the impact when it’s written as ‘AfewknowtheTURTH’
Blue.
Thanks for that. The human world is imperfect -eyes, fingers, computer systems.
Fortunately fundamental truths don’t change from day to day.
lol
so comforting knowing the TURTH is out there.
You want the turth?
You can’t handle the turth!
blue stop playing the man and listen to what he has to say.
otherwise you contribute nothing.
come to think of it I never seen you round before.
are you trolling?
Nah, this pink Blue’s a good egg.
Intermittent Signal 2011/8 (last 29/9)
NZs making something, doing something clever always gets me hopeful that we have some future apart from getting stuck in the dropping of a cow’s back end or playing with money that somebody else has made. and circulating it with lots of drop-off points each taking a cut for participating in the round robin.
Tait Electronics has been going for yonks and hasn’t been bought out yet!! Maybe never as I believe they have a trust structure that might prevent this. I pass on news item I saw about their radio system for London’s 7500 buses which Tait won the $19 million contract for in 2006 to overhaul London Buses’ Radio network with a system designed and manufactured in Christchurch. Tait will now maintain and support the network.
We need to have a way of investing in an advance New Zealand entrepreneurs business. That would be fun, interesting with some risk, and a good proportion would be very profitable. Also a fund to buy out businesses when they have reached adulthood so we stop the overseas firms and destructive highly-leveraged equity types from picking them off and sucking them dry.
Government prints the money and loans it to entrepreneurs at 0% interest. This gives the entrepreneurs the boost they need. If the idea fails then the money is recaptured through taxes costing us all a few cents each but if it succeeds then the loan is paid back in full from proceeds plus we have something new in the economy.
A proportion would be but it’s likely to be a small proportion. Profits are a dead weight loss which we need to avoid.
Don’t need it – just need to ban sales of businesses and property to foreign owners. Doing so is, after all, bad for NZ.
DTB Yes you seem to be making sense but I can’t always agree with you. As for NZs backing their own entrepreneurs and successful businesses, if there was a climate favourable to that it would be better than throwing money away to dodgy finance companies that are mostly just living off consumerism.
I’m all for a development fund that
– provides the venture capital we’re too small a country to provide
– takes a stake in any future profits, intellectual property etc.
– keeps investment returns in the country
– develops ideas and sponsors research
– NZ is too small and could do with some central planning towards NZ Inc.
They say government can’t pick winners but the private sector hasn’t done too well at it either.
It would be better for NZ than stateless, disloyal, corporates getting welfare payments.
Imagine what we could have done with a research/venture capital fund equal to the money we paid out on failed finance companies alone.
WJ +1
The asset sales “mandate” talk begins already..
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/12098484/new-zealand-pm-claims-vote-mandate-to-sell-assets/
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6047024/Asset-sales-fight-on-but-Key-claims-mandate
A couple of interesting reads.
http://nymag.com/print/?/news/politics/conservatives-david-frum-2011-11/
http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2011/09/libertarians-and-conservatives-must.html
Also, Brin’s review of the Randian fantasy movie amused me.
http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2011/11/atlas-shrugged-hidden-context-of-book_27.html
The emotional payoff — two innovators triumphing over troglodyte naysayers by delivering an awesome product — portrayed Rand’s polemical point in its best conceivable light. I am all for that aspect of the libertarian dream! Indeed, it is the core theme that makes THE FOUNTAINHEAD sympathetic and persuasive. So, for ten minutes, we actually liked the characters and rooted for them. Significantly, it is the portion when nobody speaks.
Alas, though. The film then resumed a level of simplistic lapel-grabbing that many of us recall from our Rand-obsessed college friends — underachievers who kept grumbling from their sheltered, coddled lives, utterly convinced that they’d do much better in a world of dog-eat-dog. (Using my sf’nal powers, I have checked-out all the nearby parallel worlds where that happened; in those realms, every Randian I know was quickly turned into a slave or dog food. Sorry fellows.)
The mandate about asset sales is really annoying from all sides. As a government you have the right to introduce legislation to parliament. Doesn’t matter how unpopular that might be, as a government you get to introduce it to the house. And with parliamentary consent that policy can become law and thus mandated. To get consent you need a majority of parliament to agree to it. This parliament looks to be 61 votes in favour.
John Key can’t actually say he has a mandate because his party did not get 61 seats in parliament. All that happened from the election was the ability to pass legislation with consent of other parties who carry seats. Likewise, its poor taste from Labour, their supporters and others opposed to asset sales. National by virtue of confidence and supply with others (or abstaining) has the legal right to introduce legislation no matter how unpopular it may be. As National themselves is not a majority. They still require further support to actually pass that legislation.
Why would Maori ever want to spend their money on a stake in the power companies.
It’s a cool plan though by the government – we’ll settle with you and pay you money and then give you this really great opportunity to give us (the government) the money back by getting a share of a power company you already own as a citizen.
And people accuse Maori of having their hands out.
Still at least Maori got the payouts legitimately unlike the investors who were bailed out after their poor investment decisions and who can now use taxpayers money to buy the power companies.
The MP say today that their agreement with asset sales is not likely to be part of their confidence and supply agreement with National. On RNZ, I heard Turia say the onlyquestions or communication they had had from their constituents about asset sales was from some iwi leaders/business people who’d like to invest 10% or so. Turia said that’s their business and the MP isn’t so into it.
But, if no pressure is being put on the MP to support asset sales legislation, either Key is very sure of not losing 2 seats in the specials, or asset sales aren’t that important to them.
The last denier.(cartoon)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6048658/Time-for-action-to-stop-asset-sales-says-O-Connor
hell yes
Netflix fail
New Zealander’s wanting to join Netflix would have been disappointed by the message: Sorry, Netflix is not available in your country…
I was disappointed by that, but I can understand it. Unless I can find another dedicated server provider in NZ with a less painful policy on international traffic (current cap is 60GB, and $3 per GB over), this sites servers will be heading back offshore. The latency is less of an issue than losing the search spiders that bring new readers.
It’s a totally understandable decision by Netflix Vice President Brent Ayrey. Can you imagine the backlash from thousands of customers experiencing lag and low quality. I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of Nationals meaningless rhetoric.
The lack of bandwidth is the result of the privatisation and deregulation of telecommunications. ~$20b in dead weight loss (profit) just going to Telecom. $20b that would have been used to build up and upgrade the network if it hadn’t been sold. On top of that is the extra billions lost through the building of extra unnecessary networks and profits in the other telecommunications firms.
Once something becomes ubiquitous it must be brought into government ownership so that it can be used for the good of the country at minimal cost.
Occupy Auckland crackdown
There’s no question that the lead up to the 2011 election has given the New Zealand Occupy movement a reprieve from any harsh Police action to break up their protests. However I predict that this time has come to an end…
Pelease … comparing David Shearer to John Key is far from complimentary. I believe Labours leadership demands a higher calling. A David I know was the ultimate leader … a true philosopher, cunning diplomat and talented musician. A fighter who fought and won many battles for his people, and as a wise leader united a tumultuous nation. The giants and battles we face today is not John Key and the National party but the broiling of a very troubled and disastrous economy not just nationally but worldwide. David also had a very faithful and loyal friend. However with all these high accolades David wasn’t a perfect leader or a perfect man, in fact he committed the sin of all sins, but his years alone with God, humbled and crumbled in the dark, developed the soul of a legendary philosopher-king, and forged a legacy that endures to this day.” Whoever is chosen may God’s blessing and favour be upon him.