Search Results

  1. What will National do about special voting rights?

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 10:55 am, November 11th, 2023 -  45 comments
    Categories: Christopher Luxon, david seymour, election 2023, elections, national, nz first, same old national, uncategorized, winston peters
    Tags:

    One of the most democratic changes that Labour made to the electoral system was to allow people to enroll and vote on election day. The right hate it.  And may be planning to change it.

  2. 2023 Final results

    Written By:  lprent -  Date published: 2:38 pm, November 3rd, 2023 -  166 comments
    Categories: Coalition NZ, election 2023, Politics
    Tags:

    National loses 2 electorate seats to Labour. Te Pāti Māori picked up two electorate seats from Labour which means that parliament will have a 2 seat overhang. Greens gain a seat. Nact needs a coalition buddy. Now we’re looking at the coalition phase of the long wait. Time to pull out the popcorn.

  3. A point on the long wait

    Written By:  lprent -  Date published: 10:48 am, November 3rd, 2023 -  32 comments
    Categories: act, election 2023, national, nz first, Politics, winston peters
    Tags: ,

    Today we will get the final election counts. It will now include the estimated specials of 20.2% of the vote. This can change the precise balance in parliament. A NAct coalition will probably require a partner party to secure a reliable majority. Unfortunately past political history is going to make that awkward. The chaos will be great for a political blog of the left. Not so good for the country.

  4. Pagani and Edwards do not understand the working class

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 9:26 am, November 1st, 2023 -  87 comments
    Categories: class, class war, Deep stuff, Media, Parliament
    Tags: ,

    Bryce Edwards and Josie Pagani have suggested that there should be more working class in Parliament. But the quality of their analysis leaves a lot to be desired.

  5. How the special votes may work out

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 8:18 am, October 17th, 2023 -  57 comments
    Categories: election 2023, labour, maori party, national, national/act government
    Tags:

    Special vote counts may see Labour win back some important electorate seats and see the National/Act majority vanish.

  6. NZ Election result

    Written By:  nickkelly -  Date published: 6:03 am, October 17th, 2023 -  45 comments
    Categories: act, campaigning, election 2023, greens, labour, maori party, national
    Tags: , , , ,

    In parliamentary politics, there are no final victories. After losing the 2023 election, Labour must now immediately focus on winning in 2026.

  7. Why are the Greens so happy?

    Written By:  weka -  Date published: 12:05 pm, October 15th, 2023 -  75 comments
    Categories: election 2023, greens, labour, maori party
    Tags: ,

    The trad left/right spectrum people are wondering why the Greens are so happy. Didn’t the left just lose?

  8. That was not as good as was hoped for

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 9:52 am, October 15th, 2023 -  129 comments
    Categories: act, election 2023, greens, labour, maori party, national, national/act government, nz first
    Tags:

    Last night was not a good night for the Labour Party …

  9. Election Night 2023 on The Standard

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 7:00 pm, October 14th, 2023 -  237 comments
    Categories: election 2023, elections, Left
    Tags:

    A post for election night discussion on the Standard (and links for where to watch).

  10. Labour surges in latest poll

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 7:55 am, October 11th, 2023 -  82 comments
    Categories: act, greens, labour, national, nz first, political parties, polls
    Tags:

    A new poll has Labour surging into the 30s, Act continuing its decline and National going backward. This election is not over.

  11. The lost art of the heckle

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 8:33 am, October 10th, 2023 -  12 comments
    Categories: Deep stuff, election 2023, Media, Politics, uncategorized
    Tags:

    What has happened to the fine art of intelligent heckling?

  12. Like two cats in a sack

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 1:38 pm, October 6th, 2023 -  15 comments
    Categories: act, Christopher Luxon, david seymour, election 2023, national, nz first, war, winston peters
    Tags:

    The minor leader’s debate last night confirmed the fact that David Seymour and Winston Peters hate each other.

  13. Wither Foreign Policy?

    Written By:  Mike Smith -  Date published: 8:31 am, October 5th, 2023 -  7 comments
    Categories: AUKUS, australian politics, China, defence, Diplomacy, FiveEyes, Pacific, Peace, Russia, Ukraine, us politics, war
    Tags:

    Alexander Gillespie complains that kiwis are not being given answers on foreign policy in the election. Given the state of flux in the world, and the questions he poses, it is probably just as well. The answers might all be dangerous.

  14. The weird and wacky 2023 election campaign

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 11:22 am, October 4th, 2023 -  30 comments
    Categories: act, benefits, chris bishop, Christopher Luxon, covid-19, david seymour, Dirty Politics, election 2023, national, nz first, Politics, polls, same old national, spin, winston peters
    Tags:

    In a week of weird events National’s decision not to debate Labour in the Press’s leader’s debate has been a massive own goal because the country will be able to see how toxic David Seymour’s and Winston Peters’ relationship is.

  15. Skyfall comes to Wellington

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 7:30 am, October 1st, 2023 -  5 comments
    Categories: act, Christopher Luxon, david seymour, election 2023, national, privatisation, public services, same old national, uncategorized
    Tags:

    Skyfall was 10 years ago but it has a message for all public servants local or central as you choose your vote.

  16. Tax or quality public services – which is more important to NZ voters?

    Written By:  nickkelly -  Date published: 10:31 pm, September 27th, 2023 -  16 comments
    Categories: budget 2023, capital gains, chris hipkins, Economy, economy, election 2023, elections, grant robertson, greens, gst, health, labour, Long Read, maori party, tax
    Tags: , , , , , ,

    Earlier this year Andrew Marr wrote in the New Statesmen, that Britain’s problem was that it wanted Scandinavian levels of Public Services and North American levels of taxation. His view was that Britain was overdue for an honest debate about tax and public spending. In New Zealand, there is a similar challenge.

  17. Winston adds to National’s tax cut credibility problem

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 2:18 pm, September 27th, 2023 -  26 comments
    Categories: act, Christopher Luxon, election 2023, national, nicola willis, nz first, same old national, winston peters
    Tags:

    National’s failure to adequately explain how its new revenue policies will work has seen its support sag. And its problem is that if it depends on Winston Peters for confidence and supply he has expressed major reservations about these policies and there is no guarantee he will support them. And a significant majority of New Zealanders understand this.

  18. Even Mike Hosking thinks that a National-Act-NZ First coalition would be an absolute disaster

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 10:22 am, September 26th, 2023 -  63 comments
    Categories: Christopher Luxon, election 2023, greens, labour, national, national/act government, nz first, same old national, winston peters
    Tags:

    As the polls show a further slump in support for the right and as Winston Peters emerges as a kingmaker there is growing concern about the possibility of a real coalition of chaos being elected.

  19. Understanding the New Zealand General Election 2023: Historical trends and perspectives.

    Written By:  nickkelly -  Date published: 6:01 am, September 20th, 2023 -  15 comments
    Categories: act, campaigning, chris hipkins, Christopher Luxon, economy, election 2023, elections, First Past the Post, greens, inequality, labour, leadership, Long Read, maori party, MMP, national, national/act government, nz first
    Tags: , , , , , , ,

    From the outside, the New Zealand 2023 General Election seems both lacklustre and slightly strange. The Labour Government, having won a huge majority in 2020 is now fighting for its political life. Yet National, the main centre-right opposition party is still on average polling significantly worse now than they were when it lost power in 2017.

  20. Predatory delay on climate action by Fonterra, Dairy NZ and Federated Farmers

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 9:23 am, September 13th, 2023 -  2 comments
    Categories: climate change, ETS, farming, farming, russel norman
    Tags: ,

    A damning report from Russel Norman on how the agricultural industry blocked climate action for the past two decades.

  21. The Greens In Real Government in October 2023

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 10:21 am, September 11th, 2023 -  21 comments
    Categories: climate change, community democracy, Conservation, election 2023, greens, housing, political parties, science, social democracy, transport
    Tags:

    What happens if the Green Party gets 10% of the vote and the top 9 get in. And say they get to form a government. What would Greens in Cabinet look like?

  22. An ACT New Zealand

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 1:29 pm, September 8th, 2023 -  38 comments
    Categories: act, broadcasting, david seymour, energy, housing, law, law and "order", police, uncategorized
    Tags:

    What will New Zealand look like if Act forms part of the next Government?

  23. Unease Over New Zealand Overtures to US in Pacific

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 8:36 pm, September 6th, 2023 -  9 comments
    Categories: Andrew Little, AUKUS, China, chris hipkins, defence, Diplomacy, Disarmament, helen clark, Nanaia Mahuta, Pacific, Peace, us politics, war
    Tags:

    New security-state documents show Wellington aligning its military with the “rules-based international order” while preparing Kiwis for war with key trading partner China, writes Mick Hall.

  24. Hipkins rules out coalition with Peters

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 8:18 am, August 28th, 2023 -  27 comments
    Categories: chris hipkins, Christopher Luxon, election 2023, labour, national, nz first, winston peters
    Tags:

    Yesterday was a good day for Labour.  Leader Chris Hipkins started talking about what the party stood for and what its values are while also ruling out a coalition with NZ First.

  25. The other cost of living crisis

    Written By:  weka -  Date published: 6:05 am, August 18th, 2023 -  7 comments
    Categories: climate change, cost of living, disaster, election 2023
    Tags: , ,

    Our descendants will curse us

  26. Hoki Whenua Mai/Landback

    Written By:  weka -  Date published: 6:05 am, July 18th, 2023 -  56 comments
    Categories: election 2023, greens, Maori Issues
    Tags:

    The term landback appears to induce anxiety in some people, but whether one agrees with the details or not, there’s nothing in this Green Party policy to be afraid of.

  27. Why a change of Government would be a bad thing – school lunches

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 12:14 pm, July 14th, 2023 -  63 comments
    Categories: chris hipkins, david seymour, Economy, education, politicans, poverty, tax
    Tags:

    Act has declared its class prejudice by advocating for the cancellation of the free lunch in schools programme even though the benefits are clear and recognised and the programme helps poor kids’ nutrition and education.

  28. Hipkins’ tax gamble

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 6:25 pm, July 12th, 2023 -  92 comments
    Categories: chris hipkins, Economy, greens, labour, maori party, political parties, politicans, tax
    Tags:

    Chris Hipkins today stated that for any future Government he leads after the next election there will be no wealth or capital gains tax implemented. End of story.

  29. The Green Party’s Pledge to Renters

    Written By:  weka -  Date published: 6:10 am, July 3rd, 2023 -  66 comments
    Categories: election 2023, greens, housing, tenants' rights
    Tags: ,

    “Right now, the rental market more closely resembles a game of monopoly than a public good – and it’s landlords who hold all the cards. This didn’t happen by accident. For decades, governments have made rules to prioritise those who own property and failed to protect people who rent.”

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.