Careering to the right

Written By: - Date published: 2:23 pm, August 27th, 2014 - 65 comments
Categories: national - Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In May 2013 Andrea Vance wrote an article about far-Right National Party member and political strategist, Simon Lusk.  Four of Lusk’s clients in 2008 and three in 2011 were successful in being selected as National Party candidates. These included Nicky Wagner, Sam Lotu-liga, Chris Tremain and Louise Upston who was appointed Chief Whip in the 2013 cabinet reshuffle that also saw Jamie-Lee Ross, another client of Lusk’s in the 2011 selection round, promoted to Third Whip.

Vance’s article is worth re-reading to see how much of what she reported as ‘political lore’, ‘claims’, ‘rumours’ and Labour Party ‘fixation’ has been confirmed by the disclosures in Nicky Hager’s book, ‘Dirty Politics”.

Hager argues that, since Key took over as party leader from Don Brash, National has been following a ‘two-track’ strategy – fabricating a public image of Key as personable, populist and politically moderate, while a covert strategy relies heavily on unscrupulous and vicious attack politics delivered via social media – in particular, Cameron Slater’s Whaleoil blog.

These attacks have not just been on political opponents, they’ve also been used against moderates and the ‘old guard’ in the National Party itself.

Hager’s book proves that Lusk and Slater worked together to further the selection of far-Right candidates by attacking their opponents and non-compliant Party officials. The exposure of this far-Right agenda within the National Party is one of the book’s most important elements so it’s interesting that most of the mainstream media have ignored or downplayed it 1.

The internal attacks were sometimes couched in Slater’s trademark belligerent and ungracious style, and sometimes in a more subtle way – such as damning by faint praise or by posing as the guardians of ethical standards in candidate selection.

When Stuart Smith, an ex-President of the NZ Winemakers Association, successfully challenged the incumbent in the safe National seat of Kaikoura, a post on Whaleoil said:

Challenges are good for the party, they should be encouraged as they drive membership and engagement.  This challenge should also pose as a warming (sic) to meddling board members that their days of whispering campaigns and threats are over. The next people to be rinsed will be them…especially the longer serving and out of touch ones.

On November 10th 2013, in more typical Slater-style, it was claimed that Whaleoil would never take sides

unless some stupid fundy tries to break all the rules and rig selection, or if some factional war lords wearing drag try to impose a candidate on an electorate.

These sort of statements are typical of the mendacity and hypocrisy of the cabal that has used Whaleoil to conduct dirty tricks campaigns within the National Party aimed at advancing candidates who were current or potential clients of Simon Lusk.  Those who Lusk and Slater advised and helped get selected had to be a good fit with Lusk’s stated plan to build a “loose alliance of committed fiscal conservatives” to take the National Party more to the far-Right.

In “Dirty Politics”, Hager details a 2011 Whaleoil smear campaign against two candidates for the Rodney seat, Brent Robinson and Scott Simpson, and the electorate chair Cehill Pienaar.   Simpson eventually gave up and sought and won selection in Coromandel, and Pienaar resigned. The Rodney selection was won by Mark Mitchell, who was one of Lusk’s clients. (Somewhat bizarrely, in light of his attacks on him, Slater now refers to Simpson as ‘my best friend in caucus’.)

On March 21st 2014, in a post headed ‘Skullduggery in Hunua Selection” Whaleoil was at its hypocritical and mendacious worst:

Long time readers will know this blog does not support any candidate for selection in National seats, believing in fair play and ethics in selections at all times. In 2011 WOBH outed the skullduggery in Rodney where Brent Robinson and Cehill Pienaar tried to jack up a selection by not following the rules or the unwritten selection etiquette of the party. ….The electorate chair was forced to resign the day after the selection, and deservedly so as there is no place for dodgy behaviour from impartial office-holders in the National Party.

It goes on to say that “certain electorate chairs haven’t learned that they need to remain impartial” and accuses the Hunua chair, Ian McDougall, of committing the same ‘skullduggery’ as Pienaar had in Rodney – trying to influence branches over who to select to replace Paul Hutchinson who had resigned.

Whaleoil huffed sententiously :

If this is true is (sic) an absolute disgrace and McDougall should be forced to resign immediately. There is no place in the National Party for officials elected in the expectation that they will be impartial to take partisan positions.…..The Party hierarchy needs to investigate the skullduggery in Hunua immediately. 

The gall of this is breathtaking if you know that Slater and Lusk had smeared candidates and officials in Rodney in 2011 to ensure the selection of Lusk’s client, Mark Mitchell. Lusk and Slater set up camp on the moral high ground and claimed to be acting as impartial guardians of National Party ethics and procedures whilst taking pot shots at yet another electorate chair who got in the way of their preferred candidate.

In November Slater claimed MacDougall had tried to ‘rinse’ the outgoing MP Paul Hutchinson in the past. In March Slater said that Paul Hutchinson was an ‘old duffer’ who ‘was going to get hammered by a well-organised selection challenge’.

Slater was not referring to a challenge from Kael Roberts who he’d alleged McDougall was supporting, but to the eventual winner, Andrew Bayly. Even if Andrew Bayly has no connection to Lusk or Slater, their attacks on his opponent via a smear campaign against the electorate chair means suspicion hangs over him.

In truth, anyone who has been selected for a safe National seat over the past three elections who paid for Lusk’s services, attended Lusk’s candidates’ colleges, or whose opponents were attacked on Whaleoil is tainted by association. 

Lusk was quoted by Vance as saying that Chris Tremain would not beat Labour’s Stuart Nash (who Lusk described as ‘an exceptionally gifted politician’) and this assertion was repeated on Whaleoil in March this year. Tremain duly resigned his seat.

Kate Wilkinson, who took the fall for the Pike River disaster, resigned her Waimakirriri seat. Slater claims she ‘got the arse at the same time as Heatly,mainly for being far to cosy with the unions’. She has been replaced by Matt Doocey, one of the Carter family.

Phil Heatley, who was ‘given the arse by John Key from cabinet …couldn’t see much point in hanging around’ had taken Whangarei from marginal seat status to a 12000+ majority. He resigned and has been replaced by Shane Reti.

One who did not take the hint was Colin King and in November 2013 Whaleoil was at it again with the headline “Skullduggery in Kaikoura”.

The post contained covert threats about what would happen if there was any attempt by ‘old buggers’ to influence the contest. It reminded people (who supported King) that Whaleoil has ‘eyes and ears everywhere’, that he knows ‘who they speak to, what they say and who they saying to to’ (sic). He ends by reminding people how easily Whaleoil could use its voice against them.

The seat was won by Stuart Smith who has been a National Party member for just two years. The outcome was announced at the meeting but no details were given of the votes cast for each candidate and the voting papers were destroyed immediately.

A commenter on Whaleoil’s Soapbox on June 21st confirmed what I’ve heard that a lot of grass roots National supporters in Kaikoura are angry about King’s deselection and are worried about the strong challenge from the Labour candidate. And of course there’s the off-shore oil drilling issue in Kaikoura itself.

There was widespread speculation that, prior to this election, many National Party MPs in safe seats had been told that it was time to step down. There are rumours of large cash payouts being made to sweeten the deal for some of them. Whatever the reasons and however it was managed, there has been a major clearing out of MPs – something that Slater has been crowing about and has taken delight in contrasting National’s rejuvenation’ with the retrenchment of Labour’s old guard in safe electorate seats.

Andrea Vance quoted Lusk’s prediction that the holders of several safe seats will retire including “John Key, Murray McCully, Gerry Brownlee and Bill English” and says that Lusk “confirms he is acting for potential successors.” Lusk claimed in an email to Slater that he has  “at least half a dozen people in their twenties who will be in caucus one day”.

Predicting that politicians will retire is hardly proof of great political insight, but it’s interesting that one of the senior MPs who Lusk named, resigned his seat to go onto the Party List. Bill English was succeeded in Clutha-Southland by Todd Barclay who, by the age of 23, had got a degree, worked as a lobbyist for a tobacco company and as an intern for Hekia Parata and Gerry Brownlee, and gained sufficient political knowledge and nous to justify his selection for a National citadel formerly occupied by one of the Party’s most senior and respected people.

That’s truly incredible – in the ‘impossible to believe’ sense of the word.

Another young person with political ambitions who Lusk described as a ‘client’, is Sam Johnson, who was catapulted into celebrity by being the public face of the Student Volunteer Army in the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquakes.

Johnson, who was named Young New Zealander of the Year in 2012, is the sort of young, politically ambitious National Party member that Lusk wants to get on board – advancing the far-Right agenda by creating long term relationships based on shared ideology and – importantly – indebtedness.

People who get places by being associated with unscrupulous ideologues who use overt and covert dirty tricks, will always be hostages to fortune. That fact alone makes this a serious threat to democracy and should concern all of us – the more so because the influence of far-Right political strategists like Lusk is not the full picture. There’s also the influence of big business in who gets into safe seats in electorates and into high places on the party list.

Hager points to the use of Slater’s blog by commercial interests, like tobacco industry lobbyist Carrick Graham who has deep family roots in the National Party.  In exchange for significant sums of money, Slater placed articles under his name on Whaleoil that were written by Graham. Had these openly promoted smoking that would be bad enough but, like the candidate selection scenario, the Whaleoil articles smeared the reputations of anyone opposed to Big Tobacco.

There are at least two National Party candidates who were lobbyists for tobacco companies, Todd Barclay and Hutt South candidate Chris Bishop who, at 49 on the list, would be expected to make it into Parliament unless National’s vote collapses. Then there’s the influence of the dairy, alcohol and oil industries whose interests are also best served by a government that minimises controls over how big business operates.

The truth the New Zealand electorate needs to face is that the far-Right smear campaigns have not just been against the Left but have been waged against National’s ‘wets’ – those who Slater and Co disparage as ‘old buggers’, ‘old duffers’, ‘old tuskers‘, ‘numpties‘, the ‘sitting scum‘, the MPs with a ‘difficult missus’ – and worse.

We all know how this would have been spun by the Right and their supporters in the media had anything like this grubby shoe been on the other foot.  The evidence of that is in the way the rightwing media has spun innocuous and tangential issues into major controversies to whip up political and moral indignation against the Left in this and the previous two elections.

There is NO leftwing equivalent of Whaleoil or of Lusk whose objective is to take the National Party permanently to the far-Right. The Left and moderates in the National Party need to realize that the polarization that started with the hi-jacking of the Labour Party by neo-liberals in the 1980s is being accelerated and intensified by a National Party that has been hijacked by the same type of soulless, money-grubbing bastards. It’s beyond time we sent them ALL packing.

Te Whare Whero


 

  1. A conspiracy theorist could be forgiven for thinking that’s because drawing attention to those sitting MPs and candidates who are associated with Lusk could have far more impact on the outcome of the election than Judith Collins’ leaking of information to Slater and fast tracking OIA requests, and the question of who is in charge of the SIS.

65 comments on “Careering to the right ”

  1. Excellent post on a much-ignored aspect of the ‘Dirty Politics’ network.

    Slater and Lusk could be dismissed as fringe wannabes if it weren’t for one thing – they appear to be getting what they want in terms of the future make-up of the National Party caucus.

    Slater and Lusk presumably hope that, with their successful ‘two track’ record known within National, all they will have to do is put up a complimentary post for some previously unknown electorate challenger on the WhaleOil site and the other contenders (including long-sitting candidates) will immediately get the message that they will be dragged through the dirt if they get in the way of the chosen one.

    Chilling stuff.

  2. karol 2

    Thanks. Great analysis, TWW.

    One of the things that bothers me about these manipulators and covert political operators. They were outed in the Hollow Men. Some resignations followed, but, as Dirty Politics shows, some of the same players and networks morphed into something far nastier, and more covert.

    Now they have been exposed again by Hager, where will they go next? These are some ruthless operators, who don’t work int he interests of the majority f the public.

    We need a major systemic change, to provide checks and balances against the dominance by a small number of elite political operators.

  3. Excellent post on a much-ignored aspect of ‘Dirty Politics’.

    Slater and Lusk would be able to be dismissed as fringe wannabes if it weren’t for one simple thing – they appear to be getting their way.

    I suspect that Slater and Lusk hope that their ‘two track’ record will become so well-known within National circles that all they will have to do is put up a complimentary post of some previously unknown challenger for an electorate seat and all the other contenders (including any long-sitting MPs) will immediately get the message that they will be dragged through the dirt if they get in the way of the ‘chosen one’.

    Chilling stuff.

  4. Dan1 4

    For the disallusioned Nats in Kaikoura there is a simple solution: party vote Nat, and local vote to the very able and competent Janette Walker. Her pedigree of 17 years as nurse, and then long farming experience is compelling. Her success at mediation is known nationally. Her success at forcing government intervention in the swaps scheme has helped farming families and city councils around the country.
    Kaikoura is definitely marginal this year and as we get closer to September 20, the momentum will accelerate further.

  5. ghostwhowalksnz 5

    The released email details point out a conversation where Slater comments about what Jamie Lee Ross would do in a certain situation:

    He will do as hes told

  6. Well written.

    The media tend to downplay how much this is an internal, National Party problem, whereas Labour’s caucus are “perpetually” at each other’s throats. How odd…

  7. Tony's ego 7

    Kaikoura is my electorate.

    I attended several meetings involving Colin King when he first stood in 2005 and spoke with him on a number of occasions. My assessment of him was that he was a nice enough guy but clueless – perfect cannon-fodder for the Party in a relatively safe seat. He did nothing to attract my vote.

    Nothing in his subsequent Parliamentary career disturbed this assessment and I was entirely unsurprised when he was marked for the truck to the works last year.

    Rather than speculate on any possible shenanegans underlying King’s merciful euthenasia I would rather be interested in the arm-twisting that pursuaded his predecessor, the considerably more effective Lynda Scott to, ah, return to her medical career to make way for His Vacancy.

  8. Tracey 8

    When some people say focus on policy not on issues of integrity, such as exposed in “Dirty Politics”, they maybe lose sight that underlying policy promises, is trust and integrity.

    It is difficult to analyse politics in this integrity vacuum some would like. If people lack integrity it speaks to the types of policies they may favour, the policies they will chuck for expediency and so on.

    I dont accept that integrity, trust and policy can be so easily seperated in politics.The electorate appears to have attempted to do this and been manipulated and lied to as a result.

    The truth matters. Transparency in government matters. Integrity matters.

    The people who say it doesnt matter make me wonder about the level of trust, honesty and integrity they are fostering in their children.and those around them

    • Tony's ego 8.1

      I’d hazard the problem is that most people know the first casualty of war is truth (Aeschylus) and the first casualty of a political career is integrity.

      • Tracey 8.1.1

        most people, knowing that, appear to vote for those who lied to them. THAT is the part that has to change.

        NOT all politicians are lying gutter dwellers.

    • emergency mike 8.2

      Exactly Tracey, how the hell do you vote for a party on policy when their trust and integrity is zero? How can you believe a word they say?

      It’s been clear since The Hollowmen that the policies National presents are just a front for what they really want to do with New Zealand.

  9. Jenny Kirk 9

    Unfortunately it looks like those on the right have moved to the Conservatives – if the comment coming from TV3 News re latest poll results is anything to go by.

    ” Tonight’s 3News-Reid Research poll shows that the Conservative Party is on the verge of making it into the next Parliament, even without an electorate deal with National.
    The poll, conducted in the week following the release of Nicky Hager’s Dirty Politics book, has the Conservatives on 4.6 per cent, tantalisingly close to the five per cent MMP threshold.

    The poll has also asked for the public’s reaction on whether John Key should stand Judith Collins as a minister.
    3News Political Editor Patrick Gower says:
    “Tonight’s 3News-Reid Research poll shows Dirty Politics has given the political landscape a real good shake. Not only does it have the Conservatives nearly at five per cent – there are also significant results for some of the other parties.”

    • Tracey 9.1

      so, does this mean the party that wants to be the nation’s moral compass will deal with key and collins and anyone else who benefitted from the slater association? Lets sit back and watch how much they are prepared to compromise their moral high ground now

    • RedLogix 9.2

      I think Cunliffe only has to point out that expressing your displeasure with National by voting Conservative will only have exactly the opposite effect to what you intend.

    • emergency mike 9.3

      That’s mildly concerning. I had wondered after Dirty Politics: if you’re a ‘right’-minded National voter but you’re shocked and turned off by the revelations who do you vote for? I’m not talking about the ‘swing’ voters, but those for whom voting Labour or Green is just not going to happen. What options are there on the right?

      Is it possible that a significant number of traditionally Nat voting Christian folk have decided that crazy Colin is an option?

      • MrSmith 9.3.1

        National have done their polling and are well aware that Craig is trouble for them, otherwise they would have put out the welcome mat already. Craig now climbing in the polls could be good news for the left because now the National voters that would rather eat broken class than have anything to do with Craig will be looking at other options.

    • Anne 9.4

      I have been wondering for some time if Labour’s…”lets stick to the positives and ignore the negatives” has had the opposite effect to what is intended. I suspect it’s being perceived as wishy-washy and weak. For example: I don’t believe they have been nearly strong enough in their condemnation of dirty politics and John Key’s role in it all.

      In my view, one of Labour’s biggest failures is their tendency to over-estimate the average voters’ cognitive abilities. I’ve said it here before and in fact I’ve been saying it for 30 years plus… and nothing changes. 🙁

      • Anne 9.4.1

        And right on cue:

        Labour down to 26%. I rest my case!

        • karol 9.4.1.1

          Labour has been on the receiving end of dirty politics for several years now – it’s taken a battering in the main pages of the MSM.

          It will take longer than a few weeks to change the MSM narrative and to build trust in the minds of a large proportion of the general public.

          • Tracey 9.4.1.1.1

            judging by prime news, and the Herald, those outlets have moved on

          • Colonial Viper 9.4.1.1.2

            They could dump trust-sapping initiatives like the retirement age increase for a start.

          • Anne 9.4.1.1.3

            Yes, I know that is all true karol, but it doesn’t alter the fact that Labour does over-estimate the average voters’ ability to understand the political scene. I’ve been involved with Labour off and on for 40 years and I’ve witnessed it first hand many times.

            A good example – just one example – is their tendency to write very wordy public releases that nobody reads including most of their members. In the two electorates I’ve been an activist in, we have virtually stood over candidates with a metaphorical meat-cleaver in order to reduce their epistles to an acceptable level.

            Helen Clark understood the voters need for simplicity. She rarely over-burdened their brains with more than half a dozen words at a time. The pledge card was an excellent example. (Yes, they got themselves into a bit of electoral trouble later on but that’s another story) It worked a treat at the time of the election.

            The Nats have known it for decades and it is one of the reason they’ve been in power twice as long as Labour.

            • Colonial Viper 9.4.1.1.3.1

              Yes. The smarter more aware more educated establishment Left has consistently been outsmarted/out-resourced/out played by the Tories. The establishment Left has responded by talking to narrower and narrower groups of people in increasingly inaccessible ways. Which has opened up space for new players on the ‘far left’.

            • Saarbo 9.4.1.1.3.2

              Yep. Agree 100% Anne.

            • Rodel 9.4.1.1.3.3

              Anne
              I don’t like to say it but you are quite correct.

          • anker 9.4.1.1.4

            100+ Karol

    • AmaKiwi 9.5

      In order to be polled you need a landline. Few who rent have one.

      I think the polls overestimate percentages for NZ First, Conservatives, and Nats because their supporters have landlines. Kim Dotcom: “My supporters don’t know what a landline is.”

      By my count, Nats (plus UF and Act) will have 50 seats. (I give Conservatives 0.)

      By my count, Labour plus Greens will have 56 seats. Labour plus Greens will need to do a deal with Internet Mana or Winston to have 62 for confidence and supply. Winston’s 6 seats would only give Nats/UF/Act 56 seats.

      I think Dirty Politics will continue to drain the Nats. More damage will come on Sept. 15 when Dotcom and Glenn Greenwald drop Snowden NSA bombs on Key.

      Time to re-double my efforts so Labour/Greens can govern alone.

      • Colonial Viper 9.5.1

        In order to be polled you need a landline. Few who rent have one.

        They sometimes poll mobile phones nowadays I hear…but just ‘on-account’ mobile numbers, not prepays…

  10. ghostwhowalksnz 10

    This from whaledump

    “Simon Lusk, 2/21, 2:06am

    is he ( Jonathon Marshall NZ Herald)going to run with a story on cehill?

    Cameron Slater, 2/21, 2:06am

    don’t think so, it is too deep for him, mccammon and watkins are though”

    Thats Tracey Watkins( Dom Post) and Belinda McCammon (RNZ) who quite happily do Slaters and Lusks work on discrediting their opponents in the National Party

    • Tracey 10.1

      not many seem to be loking behind the drip feed even now.

    • Matthew Hooton 10.2

      To be fair, smearing former South African Conservative Party activist Cehill Pienaar is quite a noble thing to do.

      • RedLogix 10.2.1

        Ends justifying means.

      • anker 10.2.2

        You are missing the point Matthew H and showing how morality deficient you are.

        I myself have no time for Rodney Hide and Act, but am appalled, by the blackmailing of him to resign.

        Gets some integrity.

        • Matthew Hooton 10.2.2.1

          I have called Rodney about the blackmail and he is adamant it never happened. Lusk and Slater were talking about it (and apparently wanted to tell Rodney that I had the incriminating texts, which I didn’t because they didn’t exist) but the whole thing was a Lusk/Slater fantasy.

          • Paul 10.2.2.1.1

            What was/is your involvement in the systematic abuse of power as highlighted by Dirty Politics?
            What attacks politics did you participate in?

          • RedLogix 10.2.2.1.2

            Oh that’s fine then Mathew. Glad to hear it never happened.

            Can you explain to the rest of us how to tell the difference between reality and fantasy whenever we hear or read anything said by any National/Right-wing mouthpiece?

            We keep getting so many conflicting versions it is getting quite hard to keep up.

            • Tracey 10.2.2.1.2.1

              Hager does not suggest it actually happened. I won’t quote but am pretty sure he states he has no knowledge of whether they went through with it. The media painted it as Hager saying Hide WAS blackmailed to resign, Hager spoke to the plan by Slater and Lusk not the implementation

              • RedLogix

                So we conclude from this that Hooton either has not read the book – or he has and is lying about it.

                Wattaguy.

          • Tracey 10.2.2.1.3

            I thought it was Jordan Williams who was getting the texts, not you?

          • Tracey 10.2.2.1.4

            Page 70 Dirty Politics

            “there were of course various political pressures on Hide as he made the decision but the threats described here were something completely different. The documents do not contain the texts and we do not know that they exist. There is also no evidence that a direct was made to Hide. Nonetheless, Slater and Lusk’s planning and thinly veiled threat on the blog post go far beyond normal politics. They feel more like blackmail. ”

          • Murray Olsen 10.2.2.1.5

            Why should anyone believe you, Horton? You’re about as credible as Key.

      • emergency mike 10.2.3

        Ah so Matthew Hooten thinks that smearing is a good thing, even a noble thing, if you believe the person deserves it. Nah that doesn’t sound like a slippery slope at all.

        Speaking of, hey Matthew, when is the big reveal happening about the $300,000 Liu donation to Labour? Or was that just a baseless rumour you were spraying around the internet because, what? Labour deserved it? Utu? The end justifies the means?

        You’re like that cartoon joke about the two bankers: “Relax. I said we’re morally bankrupt.”

        Dat’s a good one huh Matthew?

        • Northland 10.2.3.1

          FFS get a sense of humour will you

          • emergency mike 10.2.3.1.1

            Right. Because smearing and rumour mongering are actually kind of funny? Nah you’ll have to explain it to me Northland.

        • Matthew Hooton 10.2.3.2

          The smear involved spreading it around that the guy had been a leader (and I think maybe an MP) for these guys: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Party_(South_Africa)
          And was trying to bring his former allies from that party into the NZ National Party.
          As a Nat – and setting aside the bad things in Dirty Politics – stopping this lot from getting a beachhead in the party is at least one thing to be thankful to Cameron Slater for! We learned our lesson well from the EB in 2005.

          • emergency mike 10.2.3.2.1

            Good things can happen for bad reasons. Was Slater serving the noble cause of getting rid of Pienaar because of Slater’s high moral standards? Or was he serving the interests of Lusk’s client? I just read Hager’s book. You can wave your yay Slater flag if you want to, (I wouldn’t advise it in the current climate though – no charge for that btw), but I know which way I’m leaning on that question.

          • TeWhareWhero 10.2.3.2.2

            I think it’s very revealing that Pienaar and his ‘former allies’ from the far-Right SA Conservative Party saw the NZ National Party as their political home but you’ll have to forgive me if I reject your claim that Slater and Lusk were being ‘noble’ in relation to Pienaar’s political history. If Pienaar had been one of their mates they’d have smeared anyone who tried to use his background in SA against him.

            The best thing about that scenario was the far-Right engaging in in-fighting – and the more of that there is, the better I like it.

  11. Excellent post on a much-ignored aspect of ‘Dirty Politics’.

    Slater and Lusk would be able to be dismissed as fringe wannabes if it weren’t for one simple thing – they appear to be getting their way.

    I suspect that Slater and Lusk hope that their ‘two track’ record will become so well-known within National circles that all they will have to do is put up a complimentary post of some previously unknown challenger for an electorate seat and all the other contenders (including any long-sitting MPs) will immediately get the message that they will be dragged through the dirt if they get in the way of the ‘chosen one’.

  12. blue leopard 12

    Wow excellent article, Te Whare Whero, thanks!

    I like the way you highlight the way these creatures say one thing and do the complete opposite. Key does that too. It is truly hard for people to believe that others could be so dishonest. They are and it is good to have it pointed out.

    I like the point you make about there being NO left wing equivalent to this carry on. I have been pretty stunned at our stupid msm for putting forward such a thing – it is false equivalence.

    I like the point you make about this movement being against sections of right-wing people as well as left. I am surprised there hasn’t been more of an uproar from the right because of that.

    [These were some of the many points I liked]

  13. Sorry about the multiple comments – They weren’t showing for me after submitting them.

    [lprent: The system has decided that you are spam for some reason. It usually does that when the comment isn’t correctly formatted due to something with bad reply capabilities (or being a lazy spambot) that drops required data. However it can also happen if there is a match in the blacklist. I will have a look for the latter ]

  14. ghostwhowalksnz 14

    Lusk thinks no stone is too small to be overturned

    “Simon Lusk, 2/21, 4:20am

    reckon carrick can get any money out of the pro oral sex lobby?

    In the United States, oral cancer due to HPV infection is now more common than oral cancer from tobacco use, which remains the leading cause of such cancers in the rest of the world.”

    He incorrect about oral cancers, its only one type, oropharyngeal cancer

    • Northland 14.1

      Again, as revolting as these people might be, you don’t think that perhaps, just perhaps, they have a sense of humour and might be making a joke here?

    • Matthew Hooton 14.2

      The “pro oral sex lobby”??? I would have thought membership would be near universal but didn’t realise there was an actual formal lobby group!

      • RedLogix 14.2.1

        You’d think so Matthew, but membership of the formal lobby group is actually quite exclusive.

        You have to be able to spin and talk out both sides of your mouth at the same time.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 14.2.2

        I’m a member of the Chop Chop for Matthew lobby.

  15. yeshe 15

    Some post, thank you, wow. And at the end of the day, no less !

    Re CrayCray Colin and his new percentages .. hasn’t he said long and hard that his bottom line for coalition is binding referenda ? Let’s see how long it lasts. If he has integrity, he could sit on cross benches .. proof of the pudding and all that.

    Again, thanks for your incredible post TWW.

    • Tracey 15.1

      well today he and his party broke an embargo on those poll results, so the moral high ground is crumbling already

  16. BLiP 16

    Nice work Te Whare Whero. Thank you.

  17. I replied to Matthew and it hasn’t appeared …. has it been waylaid by a lazy spambot?

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Climate Change: The wrong direction
    This week the International Energy Association released its Net Zero Roadmap, intended to guide us towards a liveable climate. The report demanded huge increases in renewable generation, no new gas or oil, and massive cuts to methane emissions. It was positive about our current path, but recommended that countries with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    13 hours ago
  • “Racism” becomes a buzz word on the campaign trail – but our media watchdogs stay muzzled when...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Oh, dear.  We have nothing to report from the Beehive. At least, we have nothing to report from the government’s official website. But the drones have not gone silent.  They are out on the election campaign trail, busy buzzing about this and that in the hope ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    13 hours ago
  • Play it, Elvis
    Election Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t have time for. You’re welcome, etc. Let us press on, etc. 1.  What did Christopher Luxon use to his advantage in ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    14 hours ago
  • Pure class warfare
    National unveiled its fiscal policy today, announcing all the usual things which business cares about and I don't. But it did finally tell us how National plans to pay for its handouts to landlords: by effectively cutting benefits: The biggest saving announced on Friday was $2b cut from the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    15 hours ago
  • Ask Me Anything about the week to Sept 29
    Photo by Anna Ogiienko on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for an hour, including:duelling fiscal plans from National and Labour;Labour cutting cycling spending while accusing National of being weak on climate;Research showing the need for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    18 hours ago
  • Weekly Roundup 29-September-2023
    Welcome to Friday and the last one for September. This week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Matt highlighted at the latest with the City Rail Link. On Tuesday, Matt covered the interesting items from Auckland Transport’s latest board meeting agendas. On Thursday, a guest post from Darren Davis ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    22 hours ago
  • Protest at Parliament: The Reunion.
    Brian’s god spoke to him. He, for of course the Lord in Tamaki’s mind was a male god, with a mighty rod, and probably some black leathers. He, told Brian - “you must put a stop to all this love, hope, and kindness”. And it did please the Brian.He said ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    23 hours ago
  • Labour cuts $50m from cycleway spending
    Labour is cutting spending on cycling infrastructure while still trying to claim the higher ground on climate. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Labour Government released a climate manifesto this week to try to claim the high ground against National, despite having ignored the Climate Commission’s advice to toughen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    23 hours ago
  • The Greater Of Two Evils.
    Not Labour: If you’re out to punish the government you once loved, then the last thing you need is to be shown evidence that the opposition parties are much, much worse.THE GREATEST VIRTUE of being the Opposition is not being the Government. Only very rarely is an opposition party elected ...
    23 hours ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #39 2023
    Open access notables "Net zero is only a distraction— we just have to end fossil fuel emissions." The latter is true but the former isn't, or  not in the real world as it's likely to be in the immediate future. And "just" just doesn't enter into it; we don't have ...
    1 day ago
  • Chris Trotter: Losing the Left
    IN THE CURRENT MIX of electoral alternatives, there is no longer a credible left-wing party. Not when “a credible left-wing party” is defined as: a class-oriented, mass-based, democratically-structured political organisation; dedicated to promoting ideas sharply critical of laissez-faire capitalism; and committed to advancing democratic, egalitarian and emancipatory ideals across the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    1 day ago
  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Hipkins fires up in leaders’ debate, but has the curtain already fallen on the Labour-led coalitio...
    Labour’s  Chris Hipkins came out firing, in the  leaders’ debate  on Newshub’s evening programme, and most of  the pundits  rated  him the winner against National’s  Christopher Luxon. But will this make any difference when New  Zealanders  start casting their ballots? The problem  for  Hipkins is  that  voters are  all too ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    2 days ago
  • Govt is energising housing projects with solar power – and fuelling the public’s concept of a di...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Not long after Point of Order published data which show the substantial number of New Zealanders (77%) who believe NZ is becoming more divided, government ministers were braying about a programme which distributes some money to “the public” and some to “Maori”. The ministers were dishing ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • MIKE GRIMSHAW: Election 2023 – a totemic & charisma failure?
    The D&W analysis Michael Grimshaw writes –  Given the apathy, disengagement, disillusionment, and all-round ennui of this year’s general election, it was considered time to bring in those noted political operatives and spin doctors D&W, the long-established consultancy firm run by Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Known for ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • FROM BFD: Will Winston be the spectre we think?
    Kissy kissy. Cartoon credit BoomSlang. The BFD. JC writes-  Allow me to preface this contribution with the following statement: If I were asked to express a preference between a National/ACT coalition or a National/ACT/NZF coalition then it would be the former. This week Luxon declared his position, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • California’s climate disclosure bill could have a huge impact across the U.S.
    This re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Andy Furillo was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The California Legislature took a step last week that has the potential to accelerate the fight against climate ...
    2 days ago
  • Untangling South East Queensland’s Public Transport
    This is a cross post Adventures in Transitland by Darren Davis. I recently visited Brisbane and South East Queensland and came away both impressed while also pondering some key changes to make public transport even better in the region. Here goes with my take on things. A bit of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    2 days ago
  • Try A Little Kindness.
    My daughter arrived home from the supermarket yesterday and she seemed a bit worried about something. It turned out she wanted to know if someone could get her bank number from a receipt.We wound the story back.She was in the store and there was a man there who was distressed, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • What makes NZFirst tick
    New Zealand’s longest-running political roadshow rolled into Opotiki yesterday, with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters knowing another poll last night showed he would make it back to Parliament and National would need him and his party if they wanted to form a government. The Newshub Reid Research poll ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • September AMA
    Hi,As September draws to a close — I feel it’s probably time to do an Ask Me Anything. You know how it goes: If you have any burning questions, fire away in the comments and I will do my best to answer. You might have questions about Webworm, or podcast ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Bludgers lying in the scratcher making fools of us all
    The mediocrity who stands to be a Prime Minister has a litany.He uses it a bit like a Koru Lounge card. He will brandish it to say: these people are eligible. And more than that, too: These people are deserving. They have earned this policy.They have a right to this policy. What ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • More “partnerships” (by the look of it) and redress of over $30 million in Treaty settlement wit...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point of Order has waited until now – 3.45pm – for today’s officially posted government announcements.  There have been none. The only addition to the news on the Beehive’s website was posted later yesterday, after we had published our September 26 Buzz report. It came from ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • ALEX HOLLAND: Labour’s spending
    Alex Holland writes –  In 2017 when Labour came to power, crown spending was $76 billion per year. Now in 2023 it is $139 billion per year, which equates to a $63 billion annual increase (over $1 billion extra spend every week!) In 2017, New Zealand’s government debt ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • If not now, then when?
    Labour released its fiscal plan today, promising the same old, same old: "responsibility", balanced books, and of course no new taxes: "Labour will maintain income tax settings to provide consistency and certainty in these volatile times. Now is not the time for additional taxes or to promise billions of ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • THE FACTS:  77% of Kiwis believe NZ is becoming more divided
    The Facts has posted –        KEY INSIGHTSOf New Zealander’s polled: Social unity/division 77%believe NZ is becoming more divided (42% ‘much more’ + 35% ‘a little more’) 3%believe NZ is becoming less divided (1% ‘much less’ + 2% ‘a little less’) ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the cynical brutality of the centre-right’s welfare policies
    The centre-right’s enthusiasm for forcing people off the benefit and into paid work is matched only by the enthusiasm (shared by Treasury and the Reserve Bank) for throwing people out of paid work to curb inflation, and achieve the optimal balance of workers to job seekers deemed to be desirable ...
    3 days ago
  • Wednesday’s Chorus: Arthur Grimes on why building many, many more social houses is so critical
    New research shows that tenants in social housing - such as these Wellington apartments - are just as happy as home owners and much happier than private tenants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The election campaign took an ugly turn yesterday, and in completely the wrong direction. All three ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Old habits
    Media awareness about global warming and climate change has grown fairly steadily since 2004. My impression is that journalists today tend to possess a higher climate literacy than before. This increasing awareness and improved knowledge is encouraging, but there are also some common interpretations which could be more nuanced. ...
    Real ClimateBy rasmus
    3 days ago
  • Bennie Bashing.
    If there’s one thing the mob loves more than keeping Māori in their place, more than getting tough on the gangs, maybe even more than tax cuts. It’s a good old round of beneficiary bashing.Are those meanies in the ACT party stealing your votes because they think David Seymour is ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • The kindest cuts
    Labour kicks off the fiscal credibility battle today with the release of its fiscal plan. National is expected to follow, possibly as soon as Thursday, with its own plan, which may (or may not) address the large hole that the problems with its foreign buyers’ ban might open up. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • Green right turn in Britain? Well, a start
    While it may be unlikely to register in New Zealand’s general election, Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak has done something which might just be important in the long run. He’s announced a far-reaching change in his Conservative government’s approach to environmental, and particularly net zero, policy. The starting point – ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    3 days ago
  • At a glance – How do human CO2 emissions compare to natural CO2 emissions?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    3 days ago
  • How could this happen?
    Canada is in uproar after the exposure that its parliament on September 22 provided a standing ovation to a Nazi veteran who had been invited into the chamber to participate in the parliamentary welcome to Ukrainian President Zelensky. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, a Ukrainian man who volunteered for service in ...
    4 days ago
  • Always Be Campaigning
    The big screen is a great place to lay out the ways of the salesman. He comes ready-made for Panto, ripe for lampooning.This is not to disparage that life. I have known many good people of that kind. But there is a type, brazen as all get out. The camera ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • STEPHEN FRANKS: Press seek to publicly shame doctor – we must push back
    The following is a message sent yesterday from lawyer Stephen Franks on behalf of the Free Speech Union. I don’t like to interrupt first thing Monday morning, but we’ve just become aware of a case where we think immediate and overwhelming attention could help turn the tide. It involves someone ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Competing on cruelty
    The right-wing message calendar is clearly reading "cruelty" today, because both National and NZ First have released beneficiary-bashing policies. National is promising a "traffic light" system to police and kick beneficiaries, which will no doubt be accompanied by arbitrary internal targets to classify people as "orange" or "red" to keep ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Further funding for Pharmac (forgotten in the Budget?) looks like a $1bn appeal from a PM in need of...
    Buzz from the Beehive One Labour plan  – for 3000 more public homes by 2025 – is the most recent to be posted on the government’s official website. Another – a prime ministerial promise of more funding for Pharmac – has been released as a Labour Party press statement. Who ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • Bryce Edwards: The Vested interests shaping National Party policies
    As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that might arise. One of the key individuals of ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Labour may be on way out of power and NZ First back in – but will Peters go into coalition with Na...
    Voters  are deserting Labour in droves, despite Chris  Hipkins’  valiant  rearguard  action.  So  where  are they  heading?  Clearly  not all of them are going to vote National, which concedes that  the  outcome  will be “close”. To the Right of National, the ACT party just a  few weeks  ago  was ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    4 days ago
  • GRAHAM ADAMS: Will the racists please stand up?
    Accusations of racism by journalists and MPs are being called out. Graham Adams writes –    With the election less than three weeks away, what co-governance means in practice — including in water management, education, planning law and local government — remains largely obscure. Which is hardly ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on whether Winston Peters can be a moderating influence
    As the centre-right has (finally!) been subjected to media interrogation, the polls are indicating that some voters may be starting to have second thoughts about the wisdom of giving National and ACT the power to govern alone. That’s why yesterday’s Newshub/Reid Research poll had the National/ACT combo dropping to 60 ...
    4 days ago
  • Tuesday’s Chorus: RBNZ set to rain on National's victory parade
    ANZ has increased its forecast for house inflation later this year on signs of growing momentum in the market ahead of the election. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: National has campaigned against the Labour Government’s record on inflation and mortgage rates, but there’s now a growing chance the Reserve ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • After a Pittsburgh coal processing plant closed, ER visits plummeted
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Katie Myers. This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Pittsburgh, in its founding, was blessed and cursed with two abundant natural resources: free-flowing rivers and a nearby coal seam. ...
    4 days ago
  • September-23 AT Board Meeting
    Today the AT board meet again and once again I’ve taken a look at what’s on the agenda to find the most interesting items. Closed Agenda Interestingly when I first looked at the agendas this paper was there but at the time of writing this post it had been ...
    4 days ago
  • Electorate Watch: West Coast-Tasman
    Continuing my series on interesting electorates, today it’s West Coast-Tasman.A long thin electorate running down the northern half of the west coast of the South Island. Think sand flies, beautiful landscapes, lots of rain, Pike River, alternative lifestylers, whitebaiting, and the spiritual home of the Labour Party. A brief word ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Big money brings Winston back
    National leader Christopher Luxon yesterday morning conceded it and last night’s Newshub poll confirmed it; Winston Peters and NZ First are not only back but highly likely to be part of the next government. It is a remarkable comeback for a party that was tossed out of Parliament in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 20 days until Election Day, 7 until early voting begins… but what changes will we really see here?
    As this blogger, alongside many others, has already posited in another forum: we all know the National Party’s “budget” (meaning this concept of even adding up numbers properly is doing a lot of heavy, heavy lifting right now) is utter and complete bunk (read hung, drawn and quartered and ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    4 days ago
  • A night out
    Everyone was asking, Are you nervous? and my response was various forms of God, yes.I've written more speeches than I can count; not much surprises me when the speaker gets to their feet and the room goes quiet.But a play? Never.YOU CAME! THANK YOU! Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • A pallid shade of Green III
    Clearly Labour's focus groups are telling it that it needs to pay more attention to climate change - because hot on the heels of their weaksauce energy efficiency pilot programme and not-great-but-better-than-nothing solar grants, they've released a full climate manifesto. Unfortunately, the core policies in it - a second Emissions ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • A coalition of racism, cruelty, and chaos
    Today's big political news is that after months of wibbling, National's Chris Luxon has finally confirmed that he is willing to work with Winston Peters to become Prime Minister. Which is expected, but I guess it tells us something about which way the polls are going. Which raises the question: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • More migrant workers should help generate the tax income needed to provide benefits for job seekers
    Buzz from the Beehive Under something described as a “rebalance” of its immigration rules, the Government has adopted four of five recommendations made in an independent review released in July, The fifth, which called on the government to specify criteria for out-of-hours compliance visits similar to those used during ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • Letter To Luxon.
    Some of you might know Gerard Otto (G), and his G News platform. This morning he wrote a letter to Christopher Luxon which I particularly enjoyed, and with his agreement I’m sharing it with you in this guest newsletter.If you’d like to make a contribution to support Gerard’s work you ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Alarming trend in benefit numbers
    Lindsay Mitchell writes –  While there will not be another quarterly release of benefit numbers prior to the election, limited weekly reporting continues and is showing an alarming trend. Because there is a seasonal component to benefit number fluctuations it is crucial to compare like with like. In ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON: Has there been external structural change?
    A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase.   Brian Easton writes –  Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • CRL Progress – Sep-23
    It’s been a while since we looked at the latest with the City Rail Link and there’s been some fantastic milestones recently. To start with, and most recently, CRL have released an awesome video showing a full fly-through of one of the tunnels. Come fly with us! You asked for ...
    5 days ago
  • Monday’s Chorus: Not building nearly enough
    We are heading into another period of fast population growth without matching increased home building or infrastructure investment.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Labour and National detailed their house building and migration approaches over the weekend, with both pledging fast population growth policies without enough house building or infrastructure investment ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Game on; Hipkins comes out punching
    Labour leader Chris Hipkins yesterday took the gloves off and laid into National and its leader Christopher Luxon. For many in Labour – and particularly for some at the top of the caucus and the party — it would not have been a moment too soon. POLITIK is aware ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Tax Cut Austerity Blues.
    The leaders have had their go, they’ve told us the “what?” and the “why?” of their promises. Now it’s the turn of the would be Finance Ministers to tell us the “how?”, the “how much?”, and the “when?”A chance for those competing for the second most powerful job in the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • MIKE GRIMSHAW:  It’s the economy – and the spirit – Stupid…
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Over the past 30-odd years it’s become almost an orthodoxy to blame or invoke neoliberalism for the failures of New Zealand society. On the left the usual response goes something like, neoliberalism is the cause of everything that’s gone wrong and the answer ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 17, 2023 thru Sat, Sep 23, 2023. Story of the Week  Opinion: Let’s free ourselves from the story of economic growth A relentless focus on economic growth has ushered in ...
    6 days ago
  • The End Of The World.
    Have you been looking out of your window for signs of the apocalypse? Don’t worry, you haven’t been door knocked by a representative of the Brian Tamaki party. They’re probably a bit busy this morning spruiking salvation, or getting ready to march on our parliament, which is closed. No, I’ve ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago
  • Climate Town: The Brainwashing Of America's Children
    Climate Town is the YouTube channel of Rollie Williams and a ragtag team of climate communicators, creatives and comedians. They examine climate change in a way that doesn’t make you want to eat a cyanide pill. Get informed about the climate crisis before the weather does it for you. The latest ...
    1 week ago
  • Has There Been External Structural Change?
    A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase. Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was similar to the May Budget BEFU, ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • Another Labour bully
    Back in June, we learned that Kiri Allan was a Parliamentary bully. And now there's another one: Labour MP Shanan Halbert: The Labour Party was alerted to concerns about [Halbert's] alleged behaviour a year ago but because staffers wanted to remain anonymous, no formal process was undertaken [...] The ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Climate Change: Ignoring our biggest problem
    Its that time in the election season where the status quo parties are busy accusing each other of having fiscal holes in a desperate effort to appear more "responsible" (but not, you understand, by promising to tax wealth or land to give the government the revenue it needs to do ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • JERRY COYNE: A good summary of the mess that is science education in New Zealand
    JERRY COYNE writes –  If you want to see what the government of New Zealand is up to with respect to science education, you can’t do better than listening to this video/slideshow by two exponents of the “we-need-two-knowledge-systems” view. I’ve gotten a lot of scary stuff from Kiwi ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago
  • Good news on the GDP front is accompanied by news of a $5m govt boost for Supercars (but what about ...
    Buzz from the Beehive First, we were treated to the news (from Finance Minister Grant Robertson) that the economy has turned a corner and New Zealand never was in recession.  This was triggered by statistics which showed the economy expanded 0.9 per cent in the June quarter, twice as much as ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago
  • The Scafetta Saga
    It has taken 17 months to get a comment published pointing out the obvious errors in the Scafetta (2022) paper in GRL. Back in March 2022, Nicola Scafetta published a short paper in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) purporting to show through ‘advanced’ means that ‘all models with ECS > ...
    Real ClimateBy Gavin
    1 week ago
  • Friday's Chorus: Penny wise and pound foolish
    TL;DR: In the middle of a climate emergency and in a city prone to earthquakes, Victoria University of Wellington announced yesterday it would stop teaching geophysics, geographic information science and physical geography to save $22 million a year and repay debt. Climate change damage in Aotearoa this year is already ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: Calling the big dog’s bluff
      For nearly thirty years the pundits have been telling the minor parties that they must be good little puppies and let the big dogs decide. The parties with a plurality of the votes cast must be allowed to govern – even if that means ignoring the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago
  • The electorate swing, Labour limbo and Luxon-Hipkins two-step
     Another poll, another 27 for Labour. It was July the last time one of the reputable TV company polls had Labour's poll percentage starting with a three, so the limbo question is now being asked: how low can you go?It seems such an unlikely question because this doesn't feel like the kind ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    1 week ago
  • A Womance, and a Nomance.
    After the trench warfare of Tuesday night, when the two major parties went head to head, last night was the turn of the minor parties. Hosts Newshub termed it “the Powerbrokers' Debate”.Based on the latest polls the four parties taking part - ACT, the Greens, New Zealand First, and Te ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • New community-level energy projects to support more than 800 Māori households
    Seven more innovative community-scale energy projects will receive government funding through the Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund to bring more affordable, locally generated clean energy to more than 800 Māori households, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. “We’ve already funded 42 small-scale clean energy projects that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Huge boost to Te Tai Tokerau flood resilience
    The Government has approved new funding that will boost resilience and greatly reduce the risk of major flood damage across Te Tai Tokerau. Significant weather events this year caused severe flooding and damage across the region. The $8.9m will be used to provide some of the smaller communities and maraes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Napier’s largest public housing development comes with solar
    The largest public housing development in Napier for many years has been recently completed and has the added benefit of innovative solar technology, thanks to Government programmes, says Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods. The 24 warm, dry homes are in Seddon Crescent, Marewa and Megan Woods says the whanau living ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Te Whānau a Apanui and the Crown initial Deed of Settlement I Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me...
    Māori: Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna te Whakaaetanga Whakataunga Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna i tētahi Whakaaetanga Whakataunga hei whakamihi i ō rātou tāhuhu kerēme Tiriti o Waitangi. E tekau mā rua ngā hapū o roto mai o Te Whānau ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Plan for 3,000 more public homes by 2025 – regions set to benefit
    Regions around the country will get significant boosts of public housing in the next two years, as outlined in the latest public housing plan update, released by the Housing Minister, Dr Megan Woods. “We’re delivering the most public homes each year since the Nash government of the 1950s with one ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Immigration settings updates
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