Why is there a role, and why do we have to be on it?
There has been some talk on this blog of electoral reform. Most of the talk has come from a more centrist and therefore more conservative point of view, usually around forcing compulsory voting backed up by punitive fines. (As in Australia).
I would like to suggest that instead of the punitive path we go in the opposite direction, that we free up the process.
If you can prove you’re a citizen of the age to vote then you should be allowed to.
Drivers licence, passport, or other verifiable ID should be enough to allow you to exercise your democratic right.
Then you just rock up on the day and vote.
This in fact was one of the original demands of the Egyptian revolution.
I was moved to reconsider this option by an opinion piece on Stuff.co. nz
We often see criticism of the US voter discrimination that sees black people hit particularly hard by election rules that disadvantage them.
But New Zealand has similar built in electoral disadvantage. I was reminded of this when at the last local body elections my voting forms didn’t arrive. My partner had received theirs. At first I thought it was because my name appeared later in the alphabet. But when time was almost out I made inquiries and found that my name and details had been removed from the role. I rang the electoral office in Wellington and inquired why, I was told I hadn’t returned the standard enrollment package updating my details. I said, but it plainly says on the letter that if your details haven’t changed don’t send this form back. The person on the other end of the phone agreed that it what it said and that my name should not have been removed from the role, they offered no other reason why I was cut off.
Anecdotal reports from friends and family revealed a couple more cases of people being mysteriously removed from the electoral role.
But apart from these odd anomalies and mistakes there is the wider question of how and why many lower paid people are being dumped from the role.
With the recent end of Housing New Zealand and the removal of state house tenants’ tenure and the imposition of the “90 days notice” of eviction. And the change from housing being a right under Housing New Zealand to a charitable benefit under the control of WINZ, many more lower paid New Zealanders are facing housing insecurity and being moved on more often at the discretion of their landlord just as private rental tenants are. In fact state house tenants now have less rights to their houses than private renters. The over whelming trend is for lower paid renters to change address more often, each time automatically sees them dumped from the electoral role.
(there is also the idiocy of the mass mailing out of re-enrollment forms to people’s previously last known address. What on earth is this supposed to achieve?)
There are other reasons that people are not on the role and the writer to stuff mentions them. Another one that wasn’t mentioned is that many people on low incomes are actively avoiding debt collectors, and don’t want their details easily publicly available, should someone be denied the right to vote because of that? Or someone avoiding a bad ex-boyfriend, should that cost them their vote?
Forget about punitive solutions that blame the victim let’s abolish the intrusive and invasive electoral role and open the electoral mandate to everyone without fear or favour.
Well written Jenny, spoiled a little by the use of the word role instead of ROLL in your opening line,
The major flaw i see in your proposal being if there is no electoral roll how do we arrive at electorate Members of the Parliament,(you presuppose honesty, but, your laissez fairre prescription would allow myself residing in the Rongatai electorate to nip across to the west of the city and vote in the Ohariu electorate),
Again concerning honesty, would not the voting system have to be computerized, without an electoral roll what is to stop, again say myself, from rolling round all the electorates casting votes as i went,
i am in favor of compulsory voting, along with the compulsion i believe the school curriculum should be altered to include civics where the reasons why we all should vote are explored and explained…
PS Jenny, most of your concerns surrounding the ‘churn’ of citizens moving constantly throughout New Zealand, in the context which you have laid out, could be easily addressed by having WINZ as part of all clients files have a flag show whether the client was or was not enrolled and if not an instant enrollment could occur in this setting,
Obviously the ability for WINZ computers to ‘talk’ to the computer? which holds the data base of enrollments would be a necessity but would be little different in the current ability for WINZ to match data with other Government data bases…
When I moved from Dunedin to Auckland I got a letter from the Electoral commission demanding that I update my electoral details. I assume that they got my new address from WINZ.
I also know people who were dropped off the rolls around Wellington despite not having shifted butt in some years. Looks like the electoral office had a system failure that it has not come clean about so that people can check and re-enrol. OIA perhaps but they really should just front up and let everyone know and reinstate the dropped names.
No. The electoral roll can only be viewed in hard copy – at libraries and post offices. This is to stop misuse of electronic/online rolls. I.e. people using them for spam emails, etc.
I was dropped off the roll earlier this year despite having moved to my present address at the end of 2005 and having no problems up until I was asked to re-enrol. I thought it weird at the time, but complied with the request and am now back on. My husband wasn’t asked to re-enrol.
If you can prove you’re a citizen of the age to vote then you should be allowed to.
That would be what the electoral role is for rather than going through the rigmarole every time you went to a voting station.
Drivers licence, passport, or other verifiable ID should be enough to allow you to exercise your democratic right.
The problem with that idea is that not everyone has those things. What you’d need is a citizenship card that everyone has. I’m certainly not averse to such a thing but I’m sure that a lot of people would be.
Playing devil’s advocate, the real concern would be if everyone had cards, a government could impose, for example, restrictions of movement on the populace. Presenting a card to travel inter city could lead to track and trace of all citizens. I know cell phones probably do the same, but not everyone has to have a mobile.
it’s like drivers licenses: went to photo id (slightly less reliable than written details, but ok), and you suddenly had to carry them all the time. Then it became a traffic duty stat to just stop drivers and ask to see their license.
And what if your citizen card gets nicked? No vote, or just shedloads of paperwork?
For us who can’t afford the paperwork, barcodes on the forehead or chips under the skin.
Lucky they won’t have those nasal implant trackers like in Total recall for a few more years yet.
On seeing the headline earlier I thought that’s not a bad idea if it sets off an alarm should kids go out of bounds or worst case scenario, abducted during school hours, but on reading it was a bonus point reward scheme, I couldn’t help wonder what my local school could spend $7000 on to improve outcomes and educations.
Teachers would use portable scanners to add points to a student’s online good behaviour chart with a reward when a certain amount of points was accumulated.
The teachers could do that without a bracelet. But, really, why are they even considering an online database of a kids behaviour? Nothing online disappears and so the children will have that weight hanging around their necks for the rest of their lives.
Also heard an anecdotal report of Maori electoral roll voters turning up at a poll booth, only to be told that they had to go to the one down the street as they didn’t have Maori electorate voting papers. The redirection required another 1km journey.
I would have thought this would have been against election rules.
I teach tertiary students. Most are aged between 18 and 25.
Of all those eligible to vote at the 2011 election they said they all voted. Of that group one is probably not going to vote this year. His reason was it doesnt make a difference.
Of those eligible for the first time this year, half said they dont intend voting. Dont care, doesnt make a difference. None know anything the parties are offering. Some have not received enrolment papers. I directed them to rockenrol.me
It is not scientific, obviously, but wanted to share
The reason for the censorship as imposed by the Criminal Division of the Supreme Court of Victoria is that coverage may negatively effect Australia’s international relations and may impugn the reputation of specified individuals who are not the subject the charges in the proceedings. That seems entirely disengenuous in that the demonstration of open justice would, in fact, impact positively on Australia while, chances are, the individuals who’s reputations the Court is so concerned about are among those who have benefitted most from the corruption. Its the classic case of the street soldiers taking the fall while the Dons sit back and enjoy the loot.
For those who have not been following the RBA scandal, the corruption goes back to at least 1998 . At that time, two agents of the RBA visited Iraq in order to sell the regime new technology being employed in the printing of bank notes. The attempt broke both Australian and international law because of the sanctions against doing business with Iraq which were then in place. The RBA was among the statutory bodies reponsible for ensuring that the sanctions were not violated. However, a multi-million dollar deal was cooked up to facillitate the deal by filtering payments through Jordan. At the last moment, the crime was scuttled by diplomats who caught wind of it. While that deal fell through, agents for the RBA went on to sell the new-technology bank notes to countries around the world and, in doing so, sweetened most of the deals with massive bribes paid to officials and politicians. There’s a familiar note to this new development in that among the material being censored is the affadavit of one Gillian Elizabeth Bird, another diplomat and the person just recently appointed to the UN by the Australian government. It would seem she has named names.
The criminal prosecution of the executives who managed the corruption has been dragging on since 2011. As far as I can see (IANAL) the case has been stalled since August 2012 while the federal government appealed an earlier court decision to allow media coverage and public attendance during the trial. It seems now that the case will go ahead. Meanwhile, the henchman have all had their names already published, yet the main cuplrits and benefactors get to keep their crimes.
I’m looking at you . . .
Graeme Thompson
Mark Bethwaite
Dick Warburton
Bob Rankin
Tony Negus
Greg Medcraft
. . . as well as:
Mohammad Najib Abdul Razak, currently Prime Minister (since 2009) and Finance Minister (since 2008) of Malaysia;
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (also known as Pak Lah), a former Prime Minister (2003 – 2009) and Finance Minister (2003 – 2008) of Malaysia;
Puan Noni (also knows as Ms/Madame Noni, or Nonni), a sister-in-law of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi;
Mahathir Mohamed, a former Prime Minister (1981 – 2003) and Finance Minister (2001 – 2003) of Malaysia;
Daim Zainuddin, a former Finance Minister of Malaysia (1984 – 1991; 1999 – 2001);
Rafidah Aziz, a former Trade Minister of Malaysia (1987 – 2008);
Hamid Albar, a former Minister for Foreign Affairs (1999 – 2008) and Minister of Home Affairs (2008 – 2009) of Malaysia;
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (also known as SBY), currently President of Indonesia (since 2004);
Megawati Sukarnoputri (also known as Mega), a former President of Indonesia (2001 – 2004) and current leader of the PDI-P political party;
Laksamana Sukardi, a former Indonesian minister (2001 – 2004; in Megawati Sukarnoputri’s goverment);
Truong Tan San, currently President of Vietnam (since 2011);
Nguyen Tan Dung, currently Prime Minister of Vietnam (since 2006);
Le Duc Thuy, a Former Chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Committee (2007 – 2011) and a former Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (1999 – 2007); and
Nong Duc Manh, a former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (2001 – 2011).
In Oz its dawning on them that they are no better than some of those dodgy regimes they’ve been sneering at with this, especially malaysia who keating had a pop at as PM. Indonesia can do as they please as theres too much oil and gas in that mix for any other action.
You only have to look at their treatment of refugees which is being blacked out to their msm to see a loss of humanity and empathy across the ditch.
Among Tonys CT assisted agenda is attack public broadcasting, education and dismantle fund manager reforms to allow the fat cats to keep fleecing contributors on top of a budget shocker stalling in the senate thats been stacked with mining money senators under PUP.
“Last night, children were killed as they slept next to their parents on the floor of a classroom in a UN-designated shelter in Gaza. Children killed in their sleep; this is an affront to all of us, a source of universal shame. Today the world stands disgraced.”
Yep, this killing by the Jewish nation state is a genocide.
But it is more than that. As I mentioned last week, it is also infanticide.
Gaza is a concentration camp being subjected to genocide and infanticide.
And the rumours of Jewish young folk being called up to serve from here in NZ because it is going to be a long long murdering rampage are clearly true.
+100 vto…and is the NZ govt going to regard these New Zealanders who fight for the Israelis as terrorists…remember John Key condoning the drone attack on a young New Zealander?
By Robert Fisk
“It’s not just radicalised Islamists – what about foreign fighters who flock to the IDF?
Is the Government interested in UK citizens who have been fighting in Israeli uniform in Gaza in the past couple of weeks?…
Let me be frank. Dozens of British supporters of Israel do serve in the Israeli army. The same applies for Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US. And they don’t necessarily gravitate to being war criminals. This may not be what an Arab would say – and it is certainly not what Israelis would suggest. But there is plenty of evidence – from 1982 in Lebanon, from 1996 in Qana, from 2008-9 in Gaza and again in Gaza these past two weeks – that individual Israeli soldiers and pilots have committed acts which, under international law, are war crimes…
“a blot on the world as we know it”..like the Cat in the Hat…a jiggery pokery statement…could mean whatever you want… or everything you dont want ! ( I wonder if Texter /Crosby helped him dream that one up?)
for some reason the Link to Robert Fisk above at 3.1.1 does not seem to be working (on my browser at least)…so try again
…Robert Fisk writes for the British newspaper ‘The Independent’…Robert Fisk is a multiple award-winning journalist on the Middle East, based in Beirut.
“Last week 29 of the UN Human Rights Council’s 47 members voted to set up an inquiry into possible war crimes committed by Apartheid Israel during it’s latest bloody purge of the Palestinian people….
Yes, vto. You’re comment a few days ago that said something like ‘tomorrow the IDF will kill x children’, really nailed the determined nature of this attack on civilians.
They must have guidelines at the Herald to achieve this kind of redirect.
Derek Cheng does a superb job of downplaying criticism for Simon Bridges both with his headline: Spending on oil barons draws criticism, and his opening sentences (which after all, are the ones that show when viewing online).
“The Green Party is angry that the Government forked out $22,000 on food and drink and $37,000 on luxury accommodation.”
You wouldn’t know from that leading sentence that the amount discussed was actually $237,000.
Further confusion is in his breakdown of the spending that lists a variety of expenses except for the largest, $96,000 for “event and project management”.
Three reasons come to mind for this kind of division:
1. Skim readers will read the list of expenses and think … that doesn’t seem so much… especially when they are looking for a breakdown of $237,000 and read only $141,000 worth.
2. The largest expense is also the most questionable – does no-one in Simon Bridges office know how to organise a knees up?
3. Who provided the “event and project management”? Is this why Derek Cheng put this expense in the prose, rather than bullet point?
I figured that employers in NZ with our present high unemployment and the government and WINZ pushing people to apply for 5 plus jobs a day would actually be getting really pissed off with applicants. Especially the applicants that turned up on their doorstep demanding an interview which would be happening because WINZ pushes people to get out there and door knock.
“The Herald understands Mr Mark is being courted both as a list candidate and as a potential successor to leader Winston Peters, in part because of his good relationship with National as the two parties consider a potential post-election deal’
His good relationship with National as the two parties consider a potential post-election deal?
BUGGER THAT!
P.S:
Winston, I doubt if my aunt will vote NZF first now. NZF-Last now UNLESS it was just a mischief making article by a spinalist!
wow doesn’t take long for the knives to come out, wasn’t so long ago the Left were claiming Winstonfirst as part of their voting bloc…
For what is worth the left put up a valient attmpt but theres no shame in being beaten by a superior, more popular team, you lot on the left did your best and you should be proud of that
Beaten?
Puck you, you silly man! Has the election campaign begun in earnest yet? The election is on Sept 20 dork. Seven weeks away. I would like to see your face on the night of Sept 20 when you and the RWNJobs will realise that Key/National will not be in a position to form a government at all! There WILL be a Labour led coalition government next. Mark my words, Rogue!
Even Winston wasting 4.999% of the vote wont get labour over the line. Lets assume the following party votes – not my view but kind of an average of what a lot of commentators on this site are suggesting/hoping for and consistent-ish with polls:
More wasted vote means it gets easier for national – look what happens if national stays at 47% but the conservatives get 4%.
The vote isn’t really about getting labour up to 30% or 35% its more about getting the national share down to 45% or less – anything above 46-47% then Nats likely to win because of three overhang seats. And if Winston gets in he’ll most likely go with National because of his allergy to the greens and IMP which makes the right bloc even bigger. At 5% on the above numbers he’d take 3 seats from national, 2 from labour, 1 from greens. That would also make Winston Peters our next treasurer or minister of foreign affairs.
Interesting and original analysis, nadis. You’ve put a bit of work and thought into this. And quite right about the implications of a higher wasted vote. Nicely done.
Slippery the Prime Minister’s ”ruling out” of doing an electorate deal with Colon and the Conservatives is either a gamble that National believe they have the numbers to be able to form the next Government post-election,
Or, National have some sense of surety that NZFirst will opt after the election to enter a coalition with National rather than Labour/Green,
That of course presupposes that NZFirst will actually attain the 5% of party vote necessary, and, on this point i have some pretty large doubts,
i find that article in Granny today to be rather odd to say the least, Peter’s has been at His usual pains to attempt to hide any preference from the electorate, snake-oil salesmanship on display to the max where voters are invited to cast a ballot on blind faith as if there were no left nor right existing in the political realm,
Pointing out to its readers the ‘appearance’ that some form of deal has already been struck between NZFirst and National has the ability to do as much damage to NZFirst’s vote as any gains made if as it would seem the intention was to attract floating ‘soft’ right wing votes to that parties cause,
Tactical voters from 2011, an unmeasured number who only voted NZFirst last election as an ambit to stymie ‘National Governing alone’ with the assurance of the PM that that party was ‘ruled out’ will not be voting NZFirst again in 2014,
Such an article, the unwritten text saying that Winston Peters is being less than honest with His ‘deals only considered after the vote’ has the ability to scare off from NZFirst prior refugees from Labour with a wish, held by many within Labour as well, for a coalition which the party enjoyed with the previous Helen Clark Government,
Along with the Labour refugees, the 2011 Tactical vote, and, a small % of vote that Colons Conservatives have managed to chisel from NZFirst i am picking a result for Peters and company that matches the 2008 result, so near yet so far, 4.5% on election night…
Interestingly, or not, i have long spelled out here at the Standard my opposition to the Labour policy surrounding the raising of the age of entitlement to superannuation,but, even tho i oppose such with some fervor i would never consider voting for NZFirst to in effect stymie this aspect of Labour policy,
Having said that i know my mother, a lifelong Labour voter did just that, and, far from being comfortably tucked up in their boxes a lot of that particular demographic are now comfortably retired enjoying the small benefits of their gold cards,
As an aside, someone a few days ago produced a comment which strongly intimated that there has been flexibility introduced to the policy which addresses some of the concerns surrounding manual workers and those who become to sick to work at a late age,
The underlying Neo-liberalism inherent in this policy cannot tho be escaped especially in light of the recent David Parker comment hinting at future tax cutting by a Labour Government,
Obviously as i mention above there are within the Labour Caucus and the support base those who pine for the comfort of a Labour/NZFirst coalition which largely sidelines the Greens with some medium sized concessions,
Just as obviously there are those among us who would find another Government of this vein anathema to achieving any ‘real’ gains in repairing the 30 odd years of damage such neo-liberal ideology has inflicted upon the body of society,
Thus the marriage of InternetMana has been seen as a masterstroke of some genius and obviously, by the size of the crowds at the 2 roadshows so far, that view is not confined simply to the pages of the Standard,
If all that DotCom gets to take out of the 2014 election is a ”take that you prick” directed at Slippery the Prime Minister the same as the collective evidence the DotCom’s waved John Banks’s way then i am sure He will be well pleased,
For the harder edge of the left tho, InternetMana might be the gift that just keeps on giving, more MPs’ in the House means far more exposure for the message along with the all important ability to build the Party base,
And, we now have a choice, a large whiff if you will of the chance to in effect leverage the whole political discourse to the left, these numbers by themselves while hardly screaming ”impressive”, Labour 33%, Green 12%, InternetMana 5% when addition is applied as an equation without equivocation simply say 50%,
unless labour + NZ first is a majortiy, labour can’t rely on Winston. He will not go into a coalition that contains the greens and to suggest he might is wishful thinking.
Whilst I agree with you that Winston will probably try and avoid the Greens; he hasn’t actually ruled it out this time (unlike previous elections) so there is the possibility that he might do a deal that involved the Greens, though obviously with some concessions.
That said if the Greens get over 2x Winston’s vote (as is quite likely) then Winston might just have to suck it up and live with some Green policy (which is probably why he hasn’t ruled them out.) Yes he could go with National instead, but that appears to be an unholy union of about 5 parties, albeit with Winston being the biggest by far of the coalition partners, and the others being National sock puppets. I don’t think that Winston will like that option much either. He would jump into a Nat+NZF >50% coalition (with the dregs giving the breathing room) if the alternative was Lab + Green + NZF >50% but I personally don’t think that either option will be on the table. the 50% on either side is going to require the minors (with Winston as their king)
Today’s Roy Morgan says that you are, i invite you to guess the rest…(you obviously haven’t read the Ron Marks remarks attributed to Him in today’s Granny Herald either)…
I try to avoid the Herald ever since it has stopped being a useful source of news and more a propaganda tool. I have now read them, and read Winston’s rebuttal/denial. Sure it may all be smoke and mirrors, but it looks more like to me a play to pull in some Nat-soft voters to give Winnie more of a say in any post election deals. As I say he is looking at being third fiddle in a left government, but that still may be more palatable to him than being top cat in the hodge-podge of rats and mice that a right coalition might be. Making a play to drag in some soft Nat voters strengthens his position on both sides post-election. Winston needs to be closer to 10% to be a serious player in a Left coalition, and being ~10% with national at 40 works for him too. In fact argument can be made that at this juncture for him to have the most power post election he needs to take National voters whilst hoping for a continued resurgence of labour voting. Winston would want to be the Sole kingmaker (like 96) not one among many (even if it is the biggest among many)
My point was that Winnie also hasn’t ruled out being with the Greens post-election; which I assume he hasn’t ruled out because his political nous has talked to him and said that such a stance might lose him votes. Plausible deniability on a deal with National (which is highly likely to not have happened as any leak of an actual deal ruins the play) means a drop in left voters but a rise in right voters, hopefully more than he loses. This strengthens Labour and NZF and weakens Nat – which puts NZF in a stronger position post-election.
Winston knows how to play the NZ electorate like a harp
The fact that you think Winston can graft 10% of the vote from the point of the latest Roy Morgan which ascribes to NZFirst 5% of that vote suggests you do not do it very well and again as previously intimated, you are (fill in gap),
If we ascribe to Winston that 5% of the Roy Morgan what then of Colons Conservatives, do you think that their 2.7% from the last election when they had NO electorate deal with Slippery the Prime Minister will have simply evaporated because the PM has said No Deal this time round,
Treated to a miserly 1% by the latest Roy Morgan i would suggest considering the millions spent by the Conservatives this election will be considerably more than were spent at the 2011 contest that Colon and the moon-beam crowd will pull at least the same amount of the vote as they did in 2011,
Part of that vote will be chiseled from the NZFirst %, the other part from National, tough for Winston, if that 5% is correct in terms of current support then i would suggest that Colon the Conservative, in a glorious act of revenge upon Slippery the PM will blow NZFirst’s electoral chances with a side dish of leaving the National Party without a dance partner for the next waltz, and thus a very large party in opposition…
you’ve forgotten Winstons third option which is to go with neither party. Just because he wont go with National means he has to go with Labour/Greens/IMP.
If this is an indication of where Whyte wants to take things then we’re going to need a bit more than Susan Devoy talking about things she doesn’t understand:
“She went on to say that treating everyone exactly the same, as Dr Whyte was arguing for, “will not necessarily make everyone exactly the same and anyone who thinks so is incredibly naive”.”
It’s almost as if Devoy’s saying she thinks it would be good if everyone were the same just that it’s a pretty hard thing to achieve. Pretty lightweight stuff. Whyte’s a piece of work. Judith Collins will be thinking Devoy’s appointment strikes the perfect balance.
Argentina chose to borrow under US law. No-one held a gun to their head.
BNP admitted to deliberately and wilfully circumventing US sanctions. If there is one thing to get the Feds excited it is deliberately trading with terrorist states or entities (as defined by the USG).
The US is being quite even-handed, they are extracting multi-billion dollar fines from every bank they can, domestic or foreign without discrimination. Good on them. Think of it as a thank-you from the banks for the bailout (both directly and via liquidity measures) they have received from the USG since 2008.
Argentina chose to borrow under US law. No-one held a gun to their head.
A statement which totally ignores the long long history of the USA holding guns to the heads of South American governments who choose not to fit in with the world financial and central banking system.
Forcing down the Ecaudorean president’s plane over European air space last year was just another example.
Fortunately, this kind of move by the USA simply accelerates the move away from the USD denominated financial system which I suggest is in its final 10 years of dominance right now.
“Today’s New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll shows a large fall in support for National (46%, down 5% – the lowest since May) now with a significantly reduced lead over a potential Labour/Greens alliance (42%, up 3.5%) just two months before the New Zealand Election on September 20.
Support for Key’s Coalition partners has changed little overall with the Maori Party 1.5% (up 0.5%), Act NZ (0.5%, unchanged) and United Future 0.5% (unchanged).
Support for the Labour Party is 30% (up 6.5%), but the Greens are down 3% to 12%. Potential ‘king-makers’ NZ First is 5% (down 1%), the Internet-Mana Party alliance is 2.5% (up 1%). Support for the Conservative Party of NZ is 1% (unchanged) and support for Independent/ Others is 1% (up 1%).”
hooton has repeatedly said that/poured that bucket of reality over national..(except then it was six points below where they were last time..10% behind is a serious amount/lag..)
..and when watching questiontime i like reading the backbenchers’ faces…
..and aside from the end-of-term hijinks today..
..they have this week looking very very glum..
..this observation cheered me to some degree..
(..as..right or wrong.. i read it as bad news internal-polling..or the like..)
..and i hafta say..that as a political-junkie..while ideologically i wd like more certainty to what i want..this is the most cliff-hanging/fascinating election i can remember..
..the different permutations churn around and around..
..and the packed halls for internet-mana meetings cheer me no end..
..with the certainty they will well out-perform the ‘experts’/pundits opinions..bedding further in day-by-day..
To be honest not all that good but if it keeps the GIMPs (note that doesn’t include Labour) away from the treasury benches its the price you have to pay in an MMP environment
(1) a derrogatory term for someone that is disabled or has a medicial problem that results in physical impairment.
(2) An insult implying that someone is incompetent, stupid, etc. Can also be used to imply that the person is uncool or can’t/won’t do what everyone else is doing.
(3) A sex slave or submissive, usually male, as popularlized by the movie Pulp Fiction.”
After the final question at QT David Shearer asked for leave to table an email which showed that maybe McCulley had mislead the House over the timing of that Diplomat email. David gave just that it was an email relating to….. I can only guess that it has great significance to the saga but… House has just risen so no access to recourse?
+Holding individuals to account is a key component of our job’ says Bank of England deputy governor
+ Some executives could find they have to pay back money after 10 years
+ Other measures being considered include scrapping ‘golden hello’ bonuses for senior executives
+Britain has also already passed a law making reckless behaviour by bankers a criminal act punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Hopefully 15 years then Brain Fade Key will have to pay back his ill gotten millions earned by selling false interest rates as head of Merrill Lynch currency trades . insider trading was at its peak when Brain Fade Key has conveniently forgotten how rotten Merrill Lynch was while he was their!
Wow, that changes everything. Thanks, Thor42, I’m convinced. You know what’s really bad? Hamas forcing those babies to throw themselves in front of peaceful Israeli rockets. The bastards.
The United States issued a firm condemnation of the shelling of a United Nations school in Gaza that killed at least 16 Palestinians on Wednesday, but also confirmed it restocked Israel’s dwindling supplies of ammunition….
The Israeli military requested the addition ammunition on 20 July . The US defense department approved the sale three days later, Kirby said.
Two of the requested munitions were sourced from a secret stockpile the US keeps in Israel for emergencies. White House approval was not required to release the weaponry War Reserve Stockpile Ammunition-Israel (WRSA-I)
Shouldn’t you be over at colonel bunnies place with the other deluded old men talking about ni-CLANG’s in the whitehouse ignoring constutional shit and molon labe shit and shooting shit and shit and stuff…
I’m so happy for you. You must save heaps on Viagra when you can watch hospitals being bombed and kids being killed on youtube. You could even spend the money you save for a ticket to the Sderot cinema.
Good on you ianmac – Pretty extensive roadshow although the Westcoast is missing out it seems – never mind, I’m going to Nelson – I wonder if any other standardistas will be there.
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Dr Helen Waite, sports sociologist and former elite athlete, on the invasion of women’s sport by men and the anti-scientific and misogynist ideology used to rationalise it. ...
As Brexit comes to a grisly conclusion (perhaps) people on all sides are saying intemperate and uwise things. Some, like the Daly Mail, have been doing it for years.People as normally level headed as Jon Lansman are calling for automatic deselection of MPs who vote against a (likely) Labour three ...
I've got one source saying more Labour MPs than expected are mulling whether to vote for the deal - including names who were not on the letter to Juncker and Tusk— Emilio Casalicchio (@e_casalicchio) 17 October 2019 I've compiled a list of possible reasons why Labour ...
On Wednesday, the government was loudly telling us that it needed to legislate to allow it to impose "control orders" - effectively a parole regime, but imposed without charge, prosecution, conviction or real evidence - on suspected terrorists because they couldn't be prosecuted for their supposed crimes. Today, it turns ...
On Monday, the Hit and Run inquiry heard from NZDF's former director of special operations, who claimed that the defence Minister knew everything about the Operation Burnham raid. Today, the inquiry heard from that (former) Minister - and it turns out that he didn't know nearly as much as NZDF ...
Yoga gurus and cult leaders – I’ve seen a few. Two weeks ago, I unknowingly joined an alleged new-age cult at the Kāpiti coast, together with a giant kraken and some neatly dressed pensioners who would make any book club proud.They were among the two hundred people of all ages ...
The last decade has seen a trend of increasing weapons availability to police. Assault rifles. Tasers on every hip. Guns in cars. And following the march 15 massacre, pistols on every hip, all over the country. At the same time, its also seen an increase in the abuse of force: ...
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been busy preparing for our summer paper on Science Communication. Looking for something amusing about ‘risk’ in science, I came across this neat xkcd.com cartoon about why so many people come knocking on my door (or phoning me, or emailing me) desperately wanting ...
by John Edmundson The International Socialist Organisation (ISO) have recently reposted a February article, by Romany Tasker-Poland, explaining ISO’s position in the “trans rights” debate. It is available on their website and on their Facebook Page. The article sets out to explain why “socialists support trans rights”. It reads more ...
"Auckland City Mission: 10% of Kiwis experiencing food insecurity", RNZ, 16 October 2019:About half a million people are experiencing food insecurity, according to new research from the Auckland City Mission. Food insecurity, or food poverty, is defined as not having enough appropriate food. The City Mission said over the last ...
Media Statement for Immediate Release 16th October 2019 “Fake News” from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers Despite comments from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers—Herald Newspaper Tuesday Oct 15th–there is very little evidence ...
Would You Buy A Used Propaganda Video From This Man? Bridges and the National Party’s strategists have discovered that the ideas and attitudes considered acceptable by today’s editors and journalists are no longer enforceable. The rise and rise of the Internet and the social media platforms it spawned means that ...
There is plenty of evidence of the way the business mentality has permeated every level of society since the recrudescence of market liberalism 35 years ago. You only need to think of how citizens in need of help from their government, their state, their country, are now routinely described as ...
John MacCormickOver the last 40 years, New Zealanders – and people in other countries – have experienced big changes in the jobs they do and where they live and work. These changes include: a decline in manufacturing jobs an increase in jobs in ‘information-intensive’ industries (which are better paid ...
Nick Wilson, Leah Grout, Mereana Wilson, Anja Mizdrak, Phil Shoemack, Michael BakerProtecting waterways has the benefits of: (1) protecting water from hazardous microbes; (2) minimising cancer risk and other problems from nitrates in water; (3) avoiding algal blooms that are hazardous to health; (4) protecting mahinga kai uses (cultural ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women In a press release today Massey University announced it has decided to rebrand and reorientate after struggling to be a University for grown-ups. For some time the University has wanted to be a safe play space for wee-woke-misogynists who have been really badly triggered ...
After a brief dalliance with 'hard Revoke' it looks like the Lib Dems are changing ground on on Brexit, with leader Jo Swinson reverting to calling for a second referendum on Johnson's deal.The party has tabled an amendment to the Queen’s speech requesting that any deal brought back from Brussels ...
The government has decided that someone has done Something Bad. But despite their belief, there seems to be no evidence that they have actually broken the law. So the government's solution is to pass a retrospective law allowing them to be punished anyway, on a lower standard of proof. If ...
So, Judith Collins has done a Facebook rant about climate change, peddling the same shit National has been shovelling for the past twenty years: the impacts are overstated, there's no need to do anything about it, and its too hard anyway (oh, and its so unfair that people who peddle ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzThere is a lot of discussion on the benefits of ...
I came across this song quite by accident. If it isn't one of Greta Thunberg's favourites - it should be.Video courtesy of YouTube.This post is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
Last month, NZDF's shoddy coverup of what it knew about civilian casualties in Operation Burnham began to fall apart, with the revelation that a report on the matter, which NZDF claimed not to have, had been sitting in an NZDF safe for the past nine years. Yesterday, the man responsible ...
While many imagine that countries like the USA and Europe dominate space activities, in fact India is now a major player on this stage. It launches satellites for its own purposes and also commercially, and has constellations orbiting our planet and returning data of vital importance to that nation in ...
Thanks to a report from the Acting Inspector General of Intelligence and Security following a complaint by Nicky Hager, we have come to find out that the SIS illegally spied on Mr. Hager on behalf of the NZDF after publication of Hager’s 2011 book, Other People’s Wars. The NZDF justified ...
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING MYTH 1: Global temperatures are rising at a rapid, unprecedented rate. FACT: The HadCRUT3 surface temperature index, produced by the Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office and the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia, shows warming to 1878, cooling to 1911, ...
For the past week, Extinction Rebellion has been peacefully protesting in London to demand action on climate change. The British government's response? Ban their protests:Police have banned Extinction Rebellion protests from continuing anywhere in London, as they moved in almost without warning to clear protesters who remained at the movement’s ...
An essay by Judith Collins MP reported on Carbon News yesterday seems to show an alarming shift in attitude within the National Party. Collins argues against the Zero Carbon Bill, the Paris Agreement, and downplays the magnitude of climate impacts. The Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015 and ratified ...
When they were running for election, Labour promised to overhaul the Employment Relations Act and introduce fair pay agreements to set basic pay and conditions on an industry level, preventing bad employers from undercutting good ones. They followed this up by establishing a working group, which reported back in January ...
A list of indicators of bad science – many of these are found in articles promoted by anti-fluoride activists. Anti-fluoride activists have been pouring money into a scaremongering campaign warning pregnant women not to drink fluoridated water. They claim fluoride will lower the IQ of their future child. Fluoride ...
Nothing Left To Say: Labour's pollster, Stephen Mills, remains swaddled-up in the comforting myths of the 1980s. As if the experience of Roger Douglas’s genuinely radical post-Muldoon policy agenda was literally a once-in-a-lifetime thing – as much as the party could possibly absorb for at least the next 50 years.MEMO ...
The Royal Commission on abuse in care is very significant for the disability community. For many decades last century, thousands of disabled children, and adults who managed to survive, were locked away from families and communities. This was not for anything they had done, but for the perceived threat their ...
With an unfair voting system, uneven electorates and an un-elected upper house, the UK's "democracy" is barely worthy of the name. But now the government wants to make it worse:The government has been accused of suppressing voters’ rights with the potential disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of people after plans ...
Back in the 90's and early 2000's, the building industry was building leaky homes which should never have been granted consent. Now it turns out they've been building dodgy office blocks as well:New imaging technology has revealed hundreds of major buildings nationwide have defective or missing concrete or reinforcing steel. ...
Local body election results were released over the weekend, to joy or despair depending on where you live. In Auckland, Phil Goff trounced John Tamihere, who is muttering darkly about running for Parliament again (but which party would want him?) Wellington is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Weta Workshop, except ...
How could government evolve over the next decades? Reports of democracy’s imminent demise are greatly exaggerated. However, satisfaction with political systems in many countries is low, so there is much to do for governments of all political stripes to improve relevance and trust. Digital technologies are seen as one ...
Two years have now gone by since the Friday afternoon when my university-student son and I headed out of our Barcelona flat to a nearby primary school, designated as a polling station for the vote that was to be held the following Sunday: the referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain ...
Overruled: The joint decision of Finance Minister, Grant Robertson (Labour) and his Associate Minister, David Parker (Labour) arguably the two most powerful ministers in Jacinda Ardern’s government, to grant OceanaGold the consents which Land Information Minister, Eugenie Sage (Greens) had earlier denied them, offers bitter proof of how hard fighting ...
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...
A Statement on Abortion Law Reform by the Council of Disobedient Women On the eve of bringing an end to antiquated, anti-women abortion laws Green MP Jan Logie intends to write women out of the Bill. With a stroke of the pen, the woke are aiming for total erasure ...
Musings continue apace about “the experienced businessman!” soon to be taking up a National Party MP position. Or to be more accurate, being parachuted into a seat to shut down their former MP Jamie-Lee Ross, who despite his own shortcomings shed at least some more light on the inner workings ...
The Ugandan government wants to murder gay people:Uganda has announced plans to impose the death penalty on homosexuals. The bill, colloquially known as “Kill the Gays” in Uganda, was nullified five years ago on a technicality, but the government said on Thursday it plans to resurrect it within weeks. The ...
Hassan Vally, La Trobe UniversityWho doesn’t want to know if drinking that second or third cup of coffee a day will improve your memory, or if sleeping too much increases your risk of a heart attack? We’re invested in staying healthy and many of us are interested in reading ...
Freedom Of Speech? The Säuberung (cleansing by fire) was the work of the German Student Union which, on 10 May 1933, under the watchful eye of the Nazi Reichminister for Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, consigned 25,000 books to the flames in a ritual exorcism of “un-German thought”. According to the logic of the ...
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...
New Zealand has prided itself for decades with regard to its lack of pollution, and all will be aware that the ‘100% Pure New Zealand‘ meme is under threat through land, water and air pollution of various causes. There is another type of contamination that the country also faces: light ...
New Zealand’s media is doing its part in Japan, reassuring those in the path of the storm that they won’t miss any rugby while away from their flooded homes. New Zealand sports reporters stationed in Japan for the Rugby World Cup have had the rare and heartwarming opportunity to inform ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is the only Cabinet member in favour of putting it all on green. As Finance Minister Grant Robertson finds himself with an enormous $7.5 billion surplus, the Government has begun intense, at times contentious conversations about whether to put the money on red or black at ...
by Susanne Kemp At the start of September close to 100,000 school teachers went on strike in Jordan. They demanded a 50% pay rise. A pay rise actually agreed to by the regime back in 2014. In early October, however, in the face of government repression and threats, the teachers’ ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhy do people still think climate change isn’t real?David ...
Back in 2011, journalist Nicky Hager published Other People's Wars, an expose on NZDF's activities over the previous decade of the "war on terror". NZDF didn't like this, and especially didn't like the fact that it was base don leaks from their own. So, they had the SIS investigate him ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is due back from select committee in two weeks, and will likely pass its final stages in November. So naturally, farmers are planning a hate-march against it. But they're not just demanding lower methane targets so they can keep on destroying the planet; they're also demanding ...
Last year, California burned. This year, to stop it happening again (or rather, to stop themselves from being found liable if it happens again), Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting power to half the state for a week:Schools are closed. Traffic lights down. Tunnels dark. Businesses unopened. Hospitals running on ...
The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
by Nick Rogers The debate around the meaning of sex and gender made an appearance at this year’s British Labour Party conference in Brighton. Women’s Place UK – an organisation that questions the demand that biological males who self-identify as woman should have access to women’s spaces, to all-women shortlists, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...
Speaking at the Council of Trade Unions' (CTU) biennial conference, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told unionists that any future attacks on the Government won't work. "Now, we are being attacked by the union movement in this country. You can have your views but I'm here to say standing ...
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has opened fire against "unreconstructed morons" after NZ First MP Shane Jones was photographed on holiday holding an AR-15 rifle. Mr Peters is defending Mr Jones, telling Magic Talk host Peter Williams that his MP was just having fun "like most people do". "The ...
New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau was in attendance during the morning blessing of the Rotorua Lakefront development project. Around 60 people gathered on the shores of Lake Rotorua, including city mayor Steve Chadwick and deputy Dave Donaldson. The Lakefront development is a ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
The Government today announced its support for a project that could substantially reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. The announcement was made as part of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor’s visit to Nelson’s Cawthron Aquaculture Park. The Cawthron Institute will receive $100,000 from the Government’s ...
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni has welcomed the first reading of the New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension Legislation Amendment Bill. “Every New Zealander has a stake in New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension,” says Carmel Sepuloni. “They are our most common form of social assistance – nearly 800,000 New ...
Babies in Auckland aged six months and over can receive a free vaccination and children will all have access to vaccines, Associate Minister of Health Julie Anne Genter announced today at Papatoetoe High School. The move comes as part of Government efforts to step up the fight against measles. ...
***Check against delivery*** Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here, and to have the honour of opening this important conference on behalf of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. Let us take the opportunity to acknowledge all the people who have helped make today possible, including our special ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash says the safety of frontline officers and members of the public will be the focus of a new trial of specialist Police response teams in three of our largest urban centres. Police have this morning released details of an initiative to be trialled in Counties Manukau, ...
The Minister of Fisheries is calling for entries for a new public award to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector. “I have established the Seafood Sustainability Awards to recognise and celebrate those throughout industry, tangata whenua and communities who demonstrate outstanding dedication and innovation towards the sustainability of New Zealand’s ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter welcomes leaders in the private sector taking action on closing their gender pay gaps to ensure a fairer workplace for all New Zealanders. Ms Genter today launched a new report, Addressing the gender pay gap and driving women’s representation in senior leadership, from the Champions for ...
Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. The release underlines the importance of government proposals to combat climate pollution, ensure clean freshwater, protect biodiversity, make land use more sustainable, and reduce waste and plastic. Environment ...
The Government has approved funding for a new acute mental health facility for Waikato which will provide better care and support to people with mental health and addiction issues. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Dr David Clark announced the $100 million project to replace the aging Henry Rongomau ...
The Government is making progress on its goal to integrate te reo Māori into education by 2025, with over 500 teachers and support staff already graduating from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis made the announcement at an awards ceremony in Waikanae today, for ...
Statistics Minister James Shaw has welcomed the first release of 2018 Census data. The first release of data today, 23 September, includes key data on population, regional growth, the number of homes and the size of different ethnic groups in New Zealand. Data from the 2018 Census will support the ...
Minister for Statistics James Shaw today announced a public consultation on a proposed algorithm charter for government agencies. The charter has been developed by the Government Chief Data Steward in response to growing calls for more transparency in government use of data. Computer algorithms – procedures or formulas for solving ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, Climate Change Minister James Shaw and visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte co-hosted a business roundtable in Auckland this morning focused on working together to address climate change. “The Netherlands is an important partner for New Zealand. We share a strong agricultural history. Sustainable agribusiness and ...
The Government is taking action to build an inclusive economy where more of us receive our fair share at work and businesses can compete on great products and services, not undercutting wages and conditions, Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. Two consultations launched today seek feedback ...
The future for New Zealand’s threatened indigenous freshwater fish looks brighter with the passing of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill in Parliament today said Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “Until now, our freshwater fish legislation has been 20 years out of date. We have lacked effective tools to ...
At 1.30pm tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will join about 65 million people around the globe in ShakeOut, the world’s biggest earthquake drill. The annual drill is to remind people of the right action to take during an earthquake which is to Drop, Cover, Hold, and to practise their ...
Kiwis are benefiting from higher wage growth and low inflation under the Coalition Government. Stats NZ data out today shows the rise in the cost of living remains low, as annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 1.5% in September from 1.7% in June. “The low inflation comes as ...
New Zealand’s economic strength and resilience has been recognised in a major update on the state of the global economy. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook released overnight shows a reduced global growth forecast over the next two years as issues like the US-China trade war and Brexit take hold. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little has today introduced a new Bill to prevent terrorism and support the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill gives the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to the High Court to impose control orders on New Zealanders who ...
A Bill that proposes targeted changes to simplify the processes for Māori land owners when engaging with the Māori Land Court has had its First Reading today. “The approach taken by the Government is to ensure that the protection of Māori land remains a priority as we seek to improve ...
Let me first thank all the new unionists and members in the room. There is nothing more important to improving people’s working lives than people making the decision to care, to get on board and help, to take up the reins and get involved. Congratulations to you. You bring the ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has signed a certificate exempting the activity of engine testing at Whenuapai Airbase from the Resource Management Act 1991. The Act gives the Minister of Defence the power to exempt activities for the purposes of national security. The certificate will mean the recent Environment Court ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced New Zealand will join the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action while attending APEC meetings in Chile. The objective of the 39 member Coalition is to share information and promote action to tackle climate change. It was formed in April this year, in ...
Feedback sought– Lyttelton commercial zone parking The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to remove on-site car parking requirements for new developments in the Lyttelton commercial zone. The proposal, by Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section 71 of the Greater ...
Hon Minister Poto Williams Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration MEDIA STATEMENT Tuesday 15 October 2019 Feedback sought – Hagley Oval The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal about Hagley Oval. The proposal was developed by Regenerate Christchurch ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
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Why is there a role, and why do we have to be on it?
There has been some talk on this blog of electoral reform. Most of the talk has come from a more centrist and therefore more conservative point of view, usually around forcing compulsory voting backed up by punitive fines. (As in Australia).
I would like to suggest that instead of the punitive path we go in the opposite direction, that we free up the process.
If you can prove you’re a citizen of the age to vote then you should be allowed to.
Drivers licence, passport, or other verifiable ID should be enough to allow you to exercise your democratic right.
Then you just rock up on the day and vote.
This in fact was one of the original demands of the Egyptian revolution.
I was moved to reconsider this option by an opinion piece on Stuff.co. nz
“When 10 per cent of the population doesn’t vote, it’s apathy.” “But you can’t dismiss 30 per cent.”
I agree.
We often see criticism of the US voter discrimination that sees black people hit particularly hard by election rules that disadvantage them.
But New Zealand has similar built in electoral disadvantage. I was reminded of this when at the last local body elections my voting forms didn’t arrive. My partner had received theirs. At first I thought it was because my name appeared later in the alphabet. But when time was almost out I made inquiries and found that my name and details had been removed from the role. I rang the electoral office in Wellington and inquired why, I was told I hadn’t returned the standard enrollment package updating my details. I said, but it plainly says on the letter that if your details haven’t changed don’t send this form back. The person on the other end of the phone agreed that it what it said and that my name should not have been removed from the role, they offered no other reason why I was cut off.
Anecdotal reports from friends and family revealed a couple more cases of people being mysteriously removed from the electoral role.
But apart from these odd anomalies and mistakes there is the wider question of how and why many lower paid people are being dumped from the role.
With the recent end of Housing New Zealand and the removal of state house tenants’ tenure and the imposition of the “90 days notice” of eviction. And the change from housing being a right under Housing New Zealand to a charitable benefit under the control of WINZ, many more lower paid New Zealanders are facing housing insecurity and being moved on more often at the discretion of their landlord just as private rental tenants are. In fact state house tenants now have less rights to their houses than private renters. The over whelming trend is for lower paid renters to change address more often, each time automatically sees them dumped from the electoral role.
(there is also the idiocy of the mass mailing out of re-enrollment forms to people’s previously last known address. What on earth is this supposed to achieve?)
There are other reasons that people are not on the role and the writer to stuff mentions them. Another one that wasn’t mentioned is that many people on low incomes are actively avoiding debt collectors, and don’t want their details easily publicly available, should someone be denied the right to vote because of that? Or someone avoiding a bad ex-boyfriend, should that cost them their vote?
Forget about punitive solutions that blame the victim let’s abolish the intrusive and invasive electoral role and open the electoral mandate to everyone without fear or favour.
YEah, I think if our details could be kept out of a public register then more people would vote.
Well written Jenny, spoiled a little by the use of the word role instead of ROLL in your opening line,
The major flaw i see in your proposal being if there is no electoral roll how do we arrive at electorate Members of the Parliament,(you presuppose honesty, but, your laissez fairre prescription would allow myself residing in the Rongatai electorate to nip across to the west of the city and vote in the Ohariu electorate),
Again concerning honesty, would not the voting system have to be computerized, without an electoral roll what is to stop, again say myself, from rolling round all the electorates casting votes as i went,
i am in favor of compulsory voting, along with the compulsion i believe the school curriculum should be altered to include civics where the reasons why we all should vote are explored and explained…
PS Jenny, most of your concerns surrounding the ‘churn’ of citizens moving constantly throughout New Zealand, in the context which you have laid out, could be easily addressed by having WINZ as part of all clients files have a flag show whether the client was or was not enrolled and if not an instant enrollment could occur in this setting,
Obviously the ability for WINZ computers to ‘talk’ to the computer? which holds the data base of enrollments would be a necessity but would be little different in the current ability for WINZ to match data with other Government data bases…
When I moved from Dunedin to Auckland I got a letter from the Electoral commission demanding that I update my electoral details. I assume that they got my new address from WINZ.
I also know people who were dropped off the rolls around Wellington despite not having shifted butt in some years. Looks like the electoral office had a system failure that it has not come clean about so that people can check and re-enrol. OIA perhaps but they really should just front up and let everyone know and reinstate the dropped names.
I have just looked on line.
Is it possible to check you enrolment on line?
I could not see it.
No. The electoral roll can only be viewed in hard copy – at libraries and post offices. This is to stop misuse of electronic/online rolls. I.e. people using them for spam emails, etc.
Worth noting that you can of course check your own personal details online, but not other peoples…
https://enrol.elections.org.nz/app/enrol/#/check
and worth stating again that there is an unpublished roll too…
http://www.elections.org.nz/voters/get-ready-enrol-and-vote/unpublished-roll
Thanks Tiger.
I should have been more assiduous.
I was dropped off the roll earlier this year despite having moved to my present address at the end of 2005 and having no problems up until I was asked to re-enrol. I thought it weird at the time, but complied with the request and am now back on. My husband wasn’t asked to re-enrol.
That would be what the electoral role is for rather than going through the rigmarole every time you went to a voting station.
The problem with that idea is that not everyone has those things. What you’d need is a citizenship card that everyone has. I’m certainly not averse to such a thing but I’m sure that a lot of people would be.
“What you’d need is a citizenship card that everyone has. I’m certainly not averse to such a thing but I’m sure that a lot of people would be.”
The only issues I’d have with a id card is what information was on it and who gets to check it.
I figure it would contain your social security details at a minimum and passport, drivers license when/if you get them.
Still no worries with that.
Playing devil’s advocate, the real concern would be if everyone had cards, a government could impose, for example, restrictions of movement on the populace. Presenting a card to travel inter city could lead to track and trace of all citizens. I know cell phones probably do the same, but not everyone has to have a mobile.
it’s like drivers licenses: went to photo id (slightly less reliable than written details, but ok), and you suddenly had to carry them all the time. Then it became a traffic duty stat to just stop drivers and ask to see their license.
And what if your citizen card gets nicked? No vote, or just shedloads of paperwork?
For us who can’t afford the paperwork, barcodes on the forehead or chips under the skin.
Lucky they won’t have those nasal implant trackers like in Total recall for a few more years yet.
As an aside, this ones for the kiddies: Microchip bracelets to track behaviour:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/60406398/school-plans-microchip-bracelets.html
How disturbing is that!
On seeing the headline earlier I thought that’s not a bad idea if it sets off an alarm should kids go out of bounds or worst case scenario, abducted during school hours, but on reading it was a bonus point reward scheme, I couldn’t help wonder what my local school could spend $7000 on to improve outcomes and educations.
That is really disturbing.
The teachers could do that without a bracelet. But, really, why are they even considering an online database of a kids behaviour? Nothing online disappears and so the children will have that weight hanging around their necks for the rest of their lives.
RealMe kinda does that already. I found it pretty painless to set up and really useful for getting a new passport and also enrolling at uni.
https://www.realme.govt.nz/
Also heard an anecdotal report of Maori electoral roll voters turning up at a poll booth, only to be told that they had to go to the one down the street as they didn’t have Maori electorate voting papers. The redirection required another 1km journey.
I would have thought this would have been against election rules.
You need a roll because that is how we check that there is one person one vote.
I teach tertiary students. Most are aged between 18 and 25.
Of all those eligible to vote at the 2011 election they said they all voted. Of that group one is probably not going to vote this year. His reason was it doesnt make a difference.
Of those eligible for the first time this year, half said they dont intend voting. Dont care, doesnt make a difference. None know anything the parties are offering. Some have not received enrolment papers. I directed them to rockenrol.me
It is not scientific, obviously, but wanted to share
What’s going on in Australia? Wikileaks’ latest revelation about the news black-out concerning the endemic corruption at the Reserve Bank of Australia is bad enough, but not sufficiently reported so far, IMHO, is that it seems those actually responsible for the corruption may escape justice because of it.
The reason for the censorship as imposed by the Criminal Division of the Supreme Court of Victoria is that coverage may negatively effect Australia’s international relations and may impugn the reputation of specified individuals who are not the subject the charges in the proceedings. That seems entirely disengenuous in that the demonstration of open justice would, in fact, impact positively on Australia while, chances are, the individuals who’s reputations the Court is so concerned about are among those who have benefitted most from the corruption. Its the classic case of the street soldiers taking the fall while the Dons sit back and enjoy the loot.
For those who have not been following the RBA scandal, the corruption goes back to at least 1998 . At that time, two agents of the RBA visited Iraq in order to sell the regime new technology being employed in the printing of bank notes. The attempt broke both Australian and international law because of the sanctions against doing business with Iraq which were then in place. The RBA was among the statutory bodies reponsible for ensuring that the sanctions were not violated. However, a multi-million dollar deal was cooked up to facillitate the deal by filtering payments through Jordan. At the last moment, the crime was scuttled by diplomats who caught wind of it. While that deal fell through, agents for the RBA went on to sell the new-technology bank notes to countries around the world and, in doing so, sweetened most of the deals with massive bribes paid to officials and politicians. There’s a familiar note to this new development in that among the material being censored is the affadavit of one Gillian Elizabeth Bird, another diplomat and the person just recently appointed to the UN by the Australian government. It would seem she has named names.
The criminal prosecution of the executives who managed the corruption has been dragging on since 2011. As far as I can see (IANAL) the case has been stalled since August 2012 while the federal government appealed an earlier court decision to allow media coverage and public attendance during the trial. It seems now that the case will go ahead. Meanwhile, the henchman have all had their names already published, yet the main cuplrits and benefactors get to keep their crimes.
I’m looking at you . . .
Graeme Thompson
Mark Bethwaite
Dick Warburton
Bob Rankin
Tony Negus
Greg Medcraft
. . . as well as:
As always thank you BLiP. Fascinating …
Yes indeed blip.
In Oz its dawning on them that they are no better than some of those dodgy regimes they’ve been sneering at with this, especially malaysia who keating had a pop at as PM. Indonesia can do as they please as theres too much oil and gas in that mix for any other action.
You only have to look at their treatment of refugees which is being blacked out to their msm to see a loss of humanity and empathy across the ditch.
Among Tonys CT assisted agenda is attack public broadcasting, education and dismantle fund manager reforms to allow the fat cats to keep fleecing contributors on top of a budget shocker stalling in the senate thats been stacked with mining money senators under PUP.
All cheered on by murdoch amongst others.
‘Pinpoint’ targeting turns to ‘in the vicinity of…’
There is no excuse .
Yep, this killing by the Jewish nation state is a genocide.
But it is more than that. As I mentioned last week, it is also infanticide.
Gaza is a concentration camp being subjected to genocide and infanticide.
And the rumours of Jewish young folk being called up to serve from here in NZ because it is going to be a long long murdering rampage are clearly true.
Evil bastards
+100 vto…and is the NZ govt going to regard these New Zealanders who fight for the Israelis as terrorists…remember John Key condoning the drone attack on a young New Zealander?
By Robert Fisk
“It’s not just radicalised Islamists – what about foreign fighters who flock to the IDF?
Is the Government interested in UK citizens who have been fighting in Israeli uniform in Gaza in the past couple of weeks?…
Let me be frank. Dozens of British supporters of Israel do serve in the Israeli army. The same applies for Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US. And they don’t necessarily gravitate to being war criminals. This may not be what an Arab would say – and it is certainly not what Israelis would suggest. But there is plenty of evidence – from 1982 in Lebanon, from 1996 in Qana, from 2008-9 in Gaza and again in Gaza these past two weeks – that individual Israeli soldiers and pilots have committed acts which, under international law, are war crimes…
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/its-not-just-radicalised-islamists–what-about-foreign-fighters-who-flock-to-the-idf-9634260.html
Key has said it is a blot
what is a blot?
Like a blot on the landscape, a horrible maro or stain that is difficult to erase
hmmm
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11302051
Now that Israel has achieved its objectives he is prepared to call for a halt… To save the inncocent children of course
Has he called in the ambassador for Israel to express concern about this blot?
Although it’s not a big enough blot for sanctions or anything, so…
“a blot on the world as we know it”..like the Cat in the Hat…a jiggery pokery statement…could mean whatever you want… or everything you dont want ! ( I wonder if Texter /Crosby helped him dream that one up?)
for some reason the Link to Robert Fisk above at 3.1.1 does not seem to be working (on my browser at least)…so try again
…Robert Fisk writes for the British newspaper ‘The Independent’…Robert Fisk is a multiple award-winning journalist on the Middle East, based in Beirut.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/its-not-just-radicalised-islamists–what-about-foreign-fighters-who-flock-to-the-idf-9634260.html
‘Has Apartheid Israel committed war crimes?’
By Martyn Bradbury / July 31, 2014 / 3 Comments
“Last week 29 of the UN Human Rights Council’s 47 members voted to set up an inquiry into possible war crimes committed by Apartheid Israel during it’s latest bloody purge of the Palestinian people….
Yes, vto. You’re comment a few days ago that said something like ‘tomorrow the IDF will kill x children’, really nailed the determined nature of this attack on civilians.
Ooops stupid autopilot fingers and I missed the edit window *your
“..No – Teens Don’t Smoke More Pot In Medical Marijuana States.
A new national report dispels the common prohibitionist argument..”
(cont..)
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/no-teens-dont-smoke-more-pot-medical-marijuana-states
They must have guidelines at the Herald to achieve this kind of redirect.
Derek Cheng does a superb job of downplaying criticism for Simon Bridges both with his headline: Spending on oil barons draws criticism, and his opening sentences (which after all, are the ones that show when viewing online).
“The Green Party is angry that the Government forked out $22,000 on food and drink and $37,000 on luxury accommodation.”
You wouldn’t know from that leading sentence that the amount discussed was actually $237,000.
Further confusion is in his breakdown of the spending that lists a variety of expenses except for the largest, $96,000 for “event and project management”.
Three reasons come to mind for this kind of division:
1. Skim readers will read the list of expenses and think … that doesn’t seem so much… especially when they are looking for a breakdown of $237,000 and read only $141,000 worth.
2. The largest expense is also the most questionable – does no-one in Simon Bridges office know how to organise a knees up?
3. Who provided the “event and project management”? Is this why Derek Cheng put this expense in the prose, rather than bullet point?
Molly ”event and project management” was probably provided by contracting out the task, this could also be termed ”Phone a friend”…
A ridiculous new law making Australian unemployed apply for 40 jobs a month isn’t being appreciated by employers over there
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/28/industry-concerned-about-coalitions-40-job-applications-a-month-plan
and this:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/australia-news-blog/2014/jul/29/i-applied-for-40-jobs-in-nine-minutes
I figured that employers in NZ with our present high unemployment and the government and WINZ pushing people to apply for 5 plus jobs a day would actually be getting really pissed off with applicants. Especially the applicants that turned up on their doorstep demanding an interview which would be happening because WINZ pushes people to get out there and door knock.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11301700
From the article, here is the disturbing bit:
“The Herald understands Mr Mark is being courted both as a list candidate and as a potential successor to leader Winston Peters, in part because of his good relationship with National as the two parties consider a potential post-election deal’
His good relationship with National as the two parties consider a potential post-election deal?
BUGGER THAT!
P.S:
Winston, I doubt if my aunt will vote NZF first now. NZF-Last now UNLESS it was just a mischief making article by a spinalist!
Be that as it may Ron Marks a good man, I’d consider giving NZFirst my party vote if he was leader
u wd vote for attilla the hun..there..p.r..
..if he came back and promised u some more more neo-lib/ayn rand..
..eh..?
..it’s been so good to/for you..eh..?..that ‘neo-lib/ayn rand’..
Which is all we really need to know that he’s the last person we need in parliament.
Winston needs to come clean for all concerned, Key rubbed his nose in it well and truly in 2008 but his real home remains National.
nice to have for the left;
Winston First 4.8%–please voters
Colonservatives–less than Winston around 3 % please voters
wow doesn’t take long for the knives to come out, wasn’t so long ago the Left were claiming Winstonfirst as part of their voting bloc…
For what is worth the left put up a valient attmpt but theres no shame in being beaten by a superior, more popular team, you lot on the left did your best and you should be proud of that
Beaten?
Puck you, you silly man! Has the election campaign begun in earnest yet? The election is on Sept 20 dork. Seven weeks away. I would like to see your face on the night of Sept 20 when you and the RWNJobs will realise that Key/National will not be in a position to form a government at all! There WILL be a Labour led coalition government next. Mark my words, Rogue!
Well done for keeping up that optimism 🙂
Even Winston wasting 4.999% of the vote wont get labour over the line. Lets assume the following party votes – not my view but kind of an average of what a lot of commentators on this site are suggesting/hoping for and consistent-ish with polls:
Nats 47%
Lab 30%
Greens 13%
NZ1 4.999%
IMP 4% (with 1 electorate seat)
Other minors 1%
Dunne and Act and MP win 1 seat with essentially 0% party vote.
Equating this to seats you get:
Nats: 60 seats
Dunne: 1 seat
Act: 1 seat
MP: 1 seat
Right= 63 seats
Labour: 38 seats
Greens: 17 seats
IMP: 5 seats
Left= 60 seats
More wasted vote means it gets easier for national – look what happens if national stays at 47% but the conservatives get 4%.
The vote isn’t really about getting labour up to 30% or 35% its more about getting the national share down to 45% or less – anything above 46-47% then Nats likely to win because of three overhang seats. And if Winston gets in he’ll most likely go with National because of his allergy to the greens and IMP which makes the right bloc even bigger. At 5% on the above numbers he’d take 3 seats from national, 2 from labour, 1 from greens. That would also make Winston Peters our next treasurer or minister of foreign affairs.
Interesting and original analysis, nadis. You’ve put a bit of work and thought into this. And quite right about the implications of a higher wasted vote. Nicely done.
i really think that peters is underestimating the number who voted for him last time..
..because there was no chance of him propping up national..
..that certainty is now gone…
..a vote for peters cd well be a vote for key….(don’t forget..peters is a tory..)
..lab/grns/int-mana are the only ‘safe’-votes for anyone desiring change from what is happening now…
..and i think it is very important this message/warning is repeated often in the run up to the election..
(..we wouldn’t want peters getting away with running a con-job on unsuspecting progressive voters…eh..?..)
..especially those of that persuasion who voted for peters last time..
..when that non-national guarantee was firmly in place…
..they must be warned off voting for him again..
+1 phillip
Yep. Sounding like Winston is trying to pull another 1996.
Slippery the Prime Minister’s ”ruling out” of doing an electorate deal with Colon and the Conservatives is either a gamble that National believe they have the numbers to be able to form the next Government post-election,
Or, National have some sense of surety that NZFirst will opt after the election to enter a coalition with National rather than Labour/Green,
That of course presupposes that NZFirst will actually attain the 5% of party vote necessary, and, on this point i have some pretty large doubts,
i find that article in Granny today to be rather odd to say the least, Peter’s has been at His usual pains to attempt to hide any preference from the electorate, snake-oil salesmanship on display to the max where voters are invited to cast a ballot on blind faith as if there were no left nor right existing in the political realm,
Pointing out to its readers the ‘appearance’ that some form of deal has already been struck between NZFirst and National has the ability to do as much damage to NZFirst’s vote as any gains made if as it would seem the intention was to attract floating ‘soft’ right wing votes to that parties cause,
Tactical voters from 2011, an unmeasured number who only voted NZFirst last election as an ambit to stymie ‘National Governing alone’ with the assurance of the PM that that party was ‘ruled out’ will not be voting NZFirst again in 2014,
Such an article, the unwritten text saying that Winston Peters is being less than honest with His ‘deals only considered after the vote’ has the ability to scare off from NZFirst prior refugees from Labour with a wish, held by many within Labour as well, for a coalition which the party enjoyed with the previous Helen Clark Government,
Along with the Labour refugees, the 2011 Tactical vote, and, a small % of vote that Colons Conservatives have managed to chisel from NZFirst i am picking a result for Peters and company that matches the 2008 result, so near yet so far, 4.5% on election night…
Not forgetting that some of the very old oldies from 2008 would sadly be no more now. RIP.
Interestingly, or not, i have long spelled out here at the Standard my opposition to the Labour policy surrounding the raising of the age of entitlement to superannuation,but, even tho i oppose such with some fervor i would never consider voting for NZFirst to in effect stymie this aspect of Labour policy,
Having said that i know my mother, a lifelong Labour voter did just that, and, far from being comfortably tucked up in their boxes a lot of that particular demographic are now comfortably retired enjoying the small benefits of their gold cards,
As an aside, someone a few days ago produced a comment which strongly intimated that there has been flexibility introduced to the policy which addresses some of the concerns surrounding manual workers and those who become to sick to work at a late age,
The underlying Neo-liberalism inherent in this policy cannot tho be escaped especially in light of the recent David Parker comment hinting at future tax cutting by a Labour Government,
Obviously as i mention above there are within the Labour Caucus and the support base those who pine for the comfort of a Labour/NZFirst coalition which largely sidelines the Greens with some medium sized concessions,
Just as obviously there are those among us who would find another Government of this vein anathema to achieving any ‘real’ gains in repairing the 30 odd years of damage such neo-liberal ideology has inflicted upon the body of society,
Thus the marriage of InternetMana has been seen as a masterstroke of some genius and obviously, by the size of the crowds at the 2 roadshows so far, that view is not confined simply to the pages of the Standard,
If all that DotCom gets to take out of the 2014 election is a ”take that you prick” directed at Slippery the Prime Minister the same as the collective evidence the DotCom’s waved John Banks’s way then i am sure He will be well pleased,
For the harder edge of the left tho, InternetMana might be the gift that just keeps on giving, more MPs’ in the House means far more exposure for the message along with the all important ability to build the Party base,
And, we now have a choice, a large whiff if you will of the chance to in effect leverage the whole political discourse to the left, these numbers by themselves while hardly screaming ”impressive”, Labour 33%, Green 12%, InternetMana 5% when addition is applied as an equation without equivocation simply say 50%,
Lets do it….
unless labour + NZ first is a majortiy, labour can’t rely on Winston. He will not go into a coalition that contains the greens and to suggest he might is wishful thinking.
Whilst I agree with you that Winston will probably try and avoid the Greens; he hasn’t actually ruled it out this time (unlike previous elections) so there is the possibility that he might do a deal that involved the Greens, though obviously with some concessions.
That said if the Greens get over 2x Winston’s vote (as is quite likely) then Winston might just have to suck it up and live with some Green policy (which is probably why he hasn’t ruled them out.) Yes he could go with National instead, but that appears to be an unholy union of about 5 parties, albeit with Winston being the biggest by far of the coalition partners, and the others being National sock puppets. I don’t think that Winston will like that option much either. He would jump into a Nat+NZF >50% coalition (with the dregs giving the breathing room) if the alternative was Lab + Green + NZF >50% but I personally don’t think that either option will be on the table. the 50% on either side is going to require the minors (with Winston as their king)
Today’s Roy Morgan says that you are, i invite you to guess the rest…(you obviously haven’t read the Ron Marks remarks attributed to Him in today’s Granny Herald either)…
I try to avoid the Herald ever since it has stopped being a useful source of news and more a propaganda tool. I have now read them, and read Winston’s rebuttal/denial. Sure it may all be smoke and mirrors, but it looks more like to me a play to pull in some Nat-soft voters to give Winnie more of a say in any post election deals. As I say he is looking at being third fiddle in a left government, but that still may be more palatable to him than being top cat in the hodge-podge of rats and mice that a right coalition might be. Making a play to drag in some soft Nat voters strengthens his position on both sides post-election. Winston needs to be closer to 10% to be a serious player in a Left coalition, and being ~10% with national at 40 works for him too. In fact argument can be made that at this juncture for him to have the most power post election he needs to take National voters whilst hoping for a continued resurgence of labour voting. Winston would want to be the Sole kingmaker (like 96) not one among many (even if it is the biggest among many)
My point was that Winnie also hasn’t ruled out being with the Greens post-election; which I assume he hasn’t ruled out because his political nous has talked to him and said that such a stance might lose him votes. Plausible deniability on a deal with National (which is highly likely to not have happened as any leak of an actual deal ruins the play) means a drop in left voters but a rise in right voters, hopefully more than he loses. This strengthens Labour and NZF and weakens Nat – which puts NZF in a stronger position post-election.
Winston knows how to play the NZ electorate like a harp
The fact that you think Winston can graft 10% of the vote from the point of the latest Roy Morgan which ascribes to NZFirst 5% of that vote suggests you do not do it very well and again as previously intimated, you are (fill in gap),
If we ascribe to Winston that 5% of the Roy Morgan what then of Colons Conservatives, do you think that their 2.7% from the last election when they had NO electorate deal with Slippery the Prime Minister will have simply evaporated because the PM has said No Deal this time round,
Treated to a miserly 1% by the latest Roy Morgan i would suggest considering the millions spent by the Conservatives this election will be considerably more than were spent at the 2011 contest that Colon and the moon-beam crowd will pull at least the same amount of the vote as they did in 2011,
Part of that vote will be chiseled from the NZFirst %, the other part from National, tough for Winston, if that 5% is correct in terms of current support then i would suggest that Colon the Conservative, in a glorious act of revenge upon Slippery the PM will blow NZFirst’s electoral chances with a side dish of leaving the National Party without a dance partner for the next waltz, and thus a very large party in opposition…
you’ve forgotten Winstons third option which is to go with neither party. Just because he wont go with National means he has to go with Labour/Greens/IMP.
Possible, but I don’t see Winston giving up the baubles of power
McCully is incompetent or lying (or both). Either way he should resign-see this on the (alleged) Malaysian rape case:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11301663
Not incompetent
need/want encrypted phone calls on yr i-phone..?
http://boingboing.net/2014/07/30/ios-app-signal-promises-free.html
the app is open-source/free…
If this is an indication of where Whyte wants to take things then we’re going to need a bit more than Susan Devoy talking about things she doesn’t understand:
“She went on to say that treating everyone exactly the same, as Dr Whyte was arguing for, “will not necessarily make everyone exactly the same and anyone who thinks so is incredibly naive”.”
It’s almost as if Devoy’s saying she thinks it would be good if everyone were the same just that it’s a pretty hard thing to achieve. Pretty lightweight stuff. Whyte’s a piece of work. Judith Collins will be thinking Devoy’s appointment strikes the perfect balance.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11301695
I disagree. I think she was saying in order for everyone to be equal you have to give some folks assistance to get there
@Tracey 4.13
That shows a generous and trusting spirit Tracey about Susan Devoy Race Relations Commissioner. I hope you are right.
And by the way – why is Jamie Whyte bald like wotsname – Rodney Hide? Is it a rule that you have to be a skinhead in the ACT enclave?
I think she was too, Tracey. I also suspect she didn’t realise what she was saying, with her speech having been written by her staff.
So do you think Devoy’s up to the task of dealing with the sort of evil manipulation Whyte and his mates are all about? That was my point.
No I don’t. We are making the same point.
Yes, sorry about that. The comment was supposed to be to Tracey @ 4.13.
Finkelstein on Gaza: Ceasefire or Surrender
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/60409431/exgreen-claims-colincraigconz-spoof-site.html
And?
Argentina defaults on sovereign debt.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-30/argentina-defaults-according-to-s-p-as-debt-meetings-continue.html
the behavior and pseudo jurisdiction of US courts suggest the running of extortion rackets for companies trading in US dollars
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21606279-french-bank-deserved-clobbering-americas-legal-system-looks-extortion
Argentina chose to borrow under US law. No-one held a gun to their head.
BNP admitted to deliberately and wilfully circumventing US sanctions. If there is one thing to get the Feds excited it is deliberately trading with terrorist states or entities (as defined by the USG).
The US is being quite even-handed, they are extracting multi-billion dollar fines from every bank they can, domestic or foreign without discrimination. Good on them. Think of it as a thank-you from the banks for the bailout (both directly and via liquidity measures) they have received from the USG since 2008.
A statement which totally ignores the long long history of the USA holding guns to the heads of South American governments who choose not to fit in with the world financial and central banking system.
Forcing down the Ecaudorean president’s plane over European air space last year was just another example.
Fortunately, this kind of move by the USA simply accelerates the move away from the USD denominated financial system which I suggest is in its final 10 years of dominance right now.
Latest Roy Morgan …
“Today’s New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll shows a large fall in support for National (46%, down 5% – the lowest since May) now with a significantly reduced lead over a potential Labour/Greens alliance (42%, up 3.5%) just two months before the New Zealand Election on September 20.
Support for Key’s Coalition partners has changed little overall with the Maori Party 1.5% (up 0.5%), Act NZ (0.5%, unchanged) and United Future 0.5% (unchanged).
Support for the Labour Party is 30% (up 6.5%), but the Greens are down 3% to 12%. Potential ‘king-makers’ NZ First is 5% (down 1%), the Internet-Mana Party alliance is 2.5% (up 1%). Support for the Conservative Party of NZ is 1% (unchanged) and support for Independent/ Others is 1% (up 1%).”
Just one poll I know …
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/5711-roy-morgan-new-zealand-voting-intention-july-31-2014-201407310230
great news!…the NACTS are on the slippery slidey slope now!….they are going to lose!
….and this would explain all the right wing trolls hanging around and having a go for no good reason yesterday and today…
Rouge.
infused: Key is rouge cheeked but Roy Morgan not a rogue!
and that polling will have been done before this latest round of nat fuck-ups..
..and nice to see act on 0.5%..
..and conservatives on 1%..
..and if banks gets a discharge without conviction 2morrow..
..i am presuming the howls of outrage will also not do good things to national/the rights’ poll-ratings..
Like I’ve always said, election is too close to call: http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/5711-roy-morgan-new-zealand-voting-intention-july-31-2014-201407310230
National is now 10 points lower in the polls than it was 51 days before 2011 election.
lol
Like you’ve always said? but but but ipredict…
iPredict has always indicated too close to call too.
Then why do plenty of RWNJ commentators on here like to say that ipredict shows a definite NAT government after the next election?
really? fisi must have been fibbing. There’s a surprise.
hooton has repeatedly said that/poured that bucket of reality over national..(except then it was six points below where they were last time..10% behind is a serious amount/lag..)
..and when watching questiontime i like reading the backbenchers’ faces…
..and aside from the end-of-term hijinks today..
..they have this week looking very very glum..
..this observation cheered me to some degree..
(..as..right or wrong.. i read it as bad news internal-polling..or the like..)
..and i hafta say..that as a political-junkie..while ideologically i wd like more certainty to what i want..this is the most cliff-hanging/fascinating election i can remember..
..the different permutations churn around and around..
..and the packed halls for internet-mana meetings cheer me no end..
..with the certainty they will well out-perform the ‘experts’/pundits opinions..bedding further in day-by-day..
..harre/sykes/minto in parliament…
(doesn’t that have a pleasant ring to it..?..)
moderation..?
..did i misspell hoots’ name..?
I wonder if this poll reflects Nationals daily polling and explains Key making overtures in Winnie’s direction.
National + Winston = 51% + a vote each from Dunne and Act = good for NZ 🙂
How do you feel about National forming a coalition with Winston?
He is whatever it takes guy. He doesnt care that key flip flops more than a schnapper on the poop deck
The ends justifies the means
A code to feel honourable by
To be honest not all that good but if it keeps the GIMPs (note that doesn’t include Labour) away from the treasury benches its the price you have to pay in an MMP environment
which meaning were you using..?
“.. gimp
(1) a derrogatory term for someone that is disabled or has a medicial problem that results in physical impairment.
(2) An insult implying that someone is incompetent, stupid, etc. Can also be used to imply that the person is uncool or can’t/won’t do what everyone else is doing.
(3) A sex slave or submissive, usually male, as popularlized by the movie Pulp Fiction.”
..you class act you..eh…?
🙄
Green…internet…mana…party…
Just got sent this link and love it. Oh and he is not threatening a libel case – Seems some politicians can take a joke.
http://catsthatlooklikedavidcunliffe.tumblr.com/
that’s funny..i like the eggs that look like joyce..
After the final question at QT David Shearer asked for leave to table an email which showed that maybe McCulley had mislead the House over the timing of that Diplomat email. David gave just that it was an email relating to….. I can only guess that it has great significance to the saga but… House has just risen so no access to recourse?
Rogue bankers face bonus clawback – even if they have spent the money
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2711473/About-time-Rogue-bankers-face-bonus-clawback-spent-money.html#ixzz391CTQJqC
+Holding individuals to account is a key component of our job’ says Bank of England deputy governor
+ Some executives could find they have to pay back money after 10 years
+ Other measures being considered include scrapping ‘golden hello’ bonuses for senior executives
+Britain has also already passed a law making reckless behaviour by bankers a criminal act punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Hopefully 15 years then Brain Fade Key will have to pay back his ill gotten millions earned by selling false interest rates as head of Merrill Lynch currency trades . insider trading was at its peak when Brain Fade Key has conveniently forgotten how rotten Merrill Lynch was while he was their!
and kennedy graham struck exactly the right note in his speaking to his motion on gaza..
..i actually think graham wd make a brilliant speaker..
..he wouldn’t take no shit..from anyone..
..he wd run a very tight ship..
..and he wd be able to put that death-stare of his that he has so perfected –
..and at the very least..in the next parliament he shd at least be the speaker who sits in for the speaker..
..i can’t think of anyone doing a better job..
Oh dear.
Hamas has posted two videos that completely contradict each other.
Video one – “Human shields have proven effective in Gaza” –
Video two – Hamas denies using human shields in Gaza –
And just as a bonus – a third UNRWA-run school has been found to be storing rockets……..
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/07/29/THIRD-Rocket-Arsenal-Found-At-UN-School-In-Gaza
Wow, that changes everything. Thanks, Thor42, I’m convinced. You know what’s really bad? Hamas forcing those babies to throw themselves in front of peaceful Israeli rockets. The bastards.
Lucky the Israelis don’t need to use vacant facilities to store weapons that kill civilians by the hundreds. They have the U.S. to do that for them.
Shouldn’t you be over at colonel bunnies place with the other deluded old men talking about ni-CLANG’s in the whitehouse ignoring constutional shit and molon labe shit and shooting shit and shit and stuff…
I’m so happy for you. You must save heaps on Viagra when you can watch hospitals being bombed and kids being killed on youtube. You could even spend the money you save for a ticket to the Sderot cinema.
Come and see what the buzz is around the IMP, come and see for yourself.
Wow Marty. Even in Blenheim on 14th. Will go and see if they sway my allegiance.
Good on you ianmac – Pretty extensive roadshow although the Westcoast is missing out it seems – never mind, I’m going to Nelson – I wonder if any other standardistas will be there.