What will National do about special voting rights?

Written By: - 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.  All those young and/or people who are slightly disorganised because of life’s issues get to have their choice for Government recorded, as should happen in a properly functioning democracy.

These votes clearly swing left.  In 2011 after the counting of special votes the Greens gained a seat from National.  In 2014 the same thing happened.  In 2017 Labour and the Greens picked up one seat each at National’s expense.  And in 2020 Labour and Te Maori Pati picked up one seat each at National’s expense.

And in 2023 National again lost two seats, the Greens picked up one and Te Maori Pati picked up two and increased the overhang in Parliament.

The effects special votes had on the final result for the recent election are recorded in this Marc Daalder Newsroom article.  In it he said:

National, Act and New Zealand First all fared worse in the special votes than on election night. National dropped from 40 percent on preliminary to 34.7 percent in the specials, Act fell from 9 percent to 7.4 percent and NZ First fell from 6.5 percent to 4.7 percent.

The specials made up 21 percent of the overall vote, compared with 17 percent in the past two elections.

That means National dropped 0.9 percent in the final results from its election night tally, Labour stayed the same, the Greens gained 0.8 percent, Act and NZ First each dropped 0.4 percent and Te Pāti Māori gained 0.5 percent.

National must be really frustrated by this.  It appears the bigger the turn out and the more people vote that their chances worsen.

So what are they going to do?

Judging from what Christopher Luxon and Winston Peters and David Seymour have been saying I suspect that under the guise of getting a quicker final result they will look at adjusting election day enrolments.

Luxon wants things done more quickly.  From Craig McCulloch and Russell Palmer at RNZ:

Luxon this week raised the possibility of speeding up the final vote count, saying a three-week delay is “way too long”. He suggested in interviews on Wednesday that the time allowed could be shortened, the Electoral Commission could release daily updates, and the commission could handle local elections.

He repeated that when speaking to reporters in Auckland on Thursday, ahead of the final results being released on Friday.

“It’s incredibly frustrating for everybody,” he said. “It’s sort of like, ‘hurry up and wait’. That’s why I would like the Electoral Commission to actually process special votes in a much quicker way going forward, if possible.”

David Seymour’s comments were even more pointed.  Again from RNZ:

If democracy’s worth doing it’s worth doing well, but I think people could ask the question: is it worth waiting an extra week in return for people’s ability to walk up and register instead of pre-registering? Reasonable people can argue either way on that, but that’s certainly a question that needs to be asked.”

And Winston Peters has criticised the change to the law which allowed election day enrolments which was a law change supported by none other than Winston Raymond Peters.  From Thomas Coughlan at the Herald:

NZ First leader Winston Peters today launched a broadside against the decision to allow people to enrol to vote on election day.

These votes are counted as special votes, which take ten times longer to count than other votes. As part of the rule change, the Electoral Commission now takes a week longer to publish final election results, including the special vote count.

Asked why NZ First had waited so long to begin coalition talks, which could have begun the day after polling day, Peters argued the real cause of the delay was the decision to allow people to enrol on election day.

“Here we are with a three week delay because people decided to have people enrol on election day,” Peters said.

The main reason for the delay is the hiatus built into the system to make sure that special votes and overseas votes are returned to their home electorate.  The law currently provides that 10 days is allowed for special votes to be returned from overseas and 13 days for special votes cast in New Zealand to be returned to their home electorate.  These periods could be shortened.  Use of couriers should mean that special votes cast within the country are returned to their home electorates.  And the checking and counting of special votes need not wait for receipt of all votes.

But I would not be surprised if there are actions to tighten up voting entitlement.  And of course the skewering of the scrum in favour of the right will be completely accidental.

45 comments on “What will National do about special voting rights? ”

  1. mikesh 1

    Peters has always said that he would wait until the people's mandate was known before entering into coalition talks. This, I suppose, would involve waiting until the final count was completed.

    Although Peters is said to have been part of the cabinet which introduced election day enrollments, that doesn't necessarily mean that he supported the decision personally.

  2. Everything and anything the Labour/Green Govt put in place is now at risk. Special vote enrolment on the day a prime example.

    National/Act/NZFirst will use their "mandate" if they can agree.crying

    Labour should have used theirs more in line with what the electorate wanted.sad

    Let us hope the tensions and strains plus overseas expectations modify some of the hardline Policies of the three parties.

    The fact they have had to reinstate Hipkins as PM and Sepoloni as DP, tells us they are struggling to agree fundamentals. loldevil

    Now to throw a blanket over events and "Look over here" journalism by Wade et al, to blot the copy books of two up and coming ministers in Labour. … Dirty Politics is rife. imo.angry

    • alwyn 2.1

      ''Labour should have used theirs more in line with what the electorate wanted.".

      Well there would have gone the Maori Wards in Local Government. It would certainly appear that the electorate didn't want them so why did Labour push so hard to get them provided even if the electorate didn't want them?

      19% in favour, 45% opposed.

      https://www.newsroom.co.nz/pro/race-relations-among-most-divisive-issues-in-election-poll

      I wonder how many people are really in favour of allowing people to enroll on the day anyway? Have you any evidence that the electorate want it? I've never seen anything pointing either way. With the way the election went, and with Winnie seeming to have decided that he got it wrong in 2020 why should they not remove the option if they want to?

      • observer 2.1.1

        Of course they could use their 51% majority in Parliament to change electoral law.

        Only problem being that they would prove that all previous opposition to such moves, in the name of "principle", was phoney (see waka-jumping law, electoral finance act, etc). Calls for a 75% majority now seem to be conveniently forgotten.

        In power, you either make changes to electoral law by cross-party consensus, as argued by Nats like Nick Smith in the past, or you make the self-serving changes to suit the government of the day.

        And one day soon, you aren't the government of the day and you can't claim "principle" any more.

        So, voting age at 16, no consensus, no problem. Because majority, eh?

        Electoral law review to follow transparency, Māori Roll changes | RNZ News

        “The review would be led by an independent panel and the government would work with parties across Parliament for broad, non-partisan changes” … was that the wrong approach?

        • alwyn 2.1.1.1

          "Calls for a 75% majority now seem to be conveniently forgotten."

          What were these calls?

          As far as changing the law goes the 75% requirement applies to only 6 things in New Zealand law. One of them is the voting age. The ability to enroll on the day is not, and can be changed, as it was by the Labour-led Government, with a simple majority. It could be reversed just as simply should the incoming Government want to do so. So far I have seen nothing that says they intend to do so but it is certainly within their ability.

      • lprent 2.1.2

        I wonder how many people are really in favour of allowing people to enroll on the day anyway?

        Wonder no more, you will probably find out by looking at the electoral commission for the 2023 election that will come out early next year. The election day registrations will probably be 100% for election day registrations, and there will probably won't be that many of them. But it will increase exponentially from now on.

        They will be the people who moved flats to seek work, change education, seeking accommodation, or kicked out by landlords or simply don’t have a accessible letterbox. They are disappearing rapidly from public view because of the onslaught of junk mail – even amongst the affluent. Increasingly post-boxes are disappearing from them as well.

        My apartment block moved postboxes into our inaccessible lobby about 15 years ago to get away from that crap. Now the NZ post deliver a majority of our junk mail because they have a access code along with most parcel courier companies. The only mail I get are from legislation. Election commission, AT for parking files, banks telling me that they over charged me fees decades ago and asking what account to deposit their reparations in.

        But election day registration will also be a minority of special votes around the country on election day. Which after all account for for the vast majority of special votes. Basically people who weren’t in their electorate on election day – about 17-18% of the population.

        The length of the election day registration procedure on election day and in subsequent counting is similar in length to for doing any special vote. After all most will have previously been on a roll in previous elections or will have been born or immigrated here – in other words in the DIA's databases.

        So if National, Act and NZF were consistent about reducing the counting delay they would want to get rid of the time ‘wasted’ on all special votes, and disenfranchise anyone couldn’t get to their home polling booths on the day.

        The real cost of all of these is just checking that people are eligible to vote when it can’t be ruled off on election day.

        The most expensive will be the ~12% of special votes from overseas where eligibility requires

        If you live overseas, you can vote (and enrol to vote) if you:

        • are 18 years or older
        • have lived in New Zealand for more than 12 months continuously at some time in your life, and
        • meet one of the following residency criteria:
          • are a New Zealand citizen and have been in New Zealand within the last six years or
          • are a New Zealand permanent resident and have been in New Zealand within the last four years. 

        Now that is a difficult set of requirements to validate.

        //—

        Following your and Luxon's flawed logic (apparently mainly so he could hobnob at APEC) we should also look at 2020 voting practices for instance

        There was increased uptake (933 registrations, up from 610 in 2017) of the dictation service for people who could not mark the ballot paper due to vision or other disability.

        That by its very nature is a very costly in time. Luxon if he was capable of being consistent should look at reducing the cost by denying them the right to vote.

        //—

        Perhaps he would, for consistency sake, remove the ability to have special votes at all or to only allow advance voting like local body elections. After all doing advance and postal voting have been great at decreasing local body elections voting to well less than 50%. We get some very representative councils who represent districts with well-heeled citizens who can have all of the remaining postboxes and advance in their areas (as seen in Auckland). Those of course are also the districts that benefit from preferential funding for rate payer facilities and preferential rating policies for some unknown reason.

        //—–

        But of course following your clear thinking and logic about polling on Maori wards..

        We should also completely ignore the teeny minority of fools who expressed concern about

        • requirements to register firearms 9% compared to 75% – and remove them from Act's representation
        • the 14% of scientifically ignorant idiots who railed against mask requirements during covid vs the 68% who approved of them. Of course that would cause issues within NZF, Act, and probably National voter support.

        //—

        Or we could just call you a partisan hack who doesn't understand the basis of representative democracy nor the concepts behind a right to vote. Or just a plain stupid regressive fossil still secretly longing for the golden eras "When single women and Māori couldn't buy a home".

        • alwyn 2.1.2.1

          Oh dear. what was that line from Ian Fleming?

          "He disagreed with something that ate him"

          Still, you have managed to write a great long spiel with nothing to back it up from the simple question "I wonder how many people are really in favour of allowing people to enroll on the day anyway?"

          I don't actually recognise anything about myself in what you do say but I'm sure that won't bother you. I will offer one comment about voting that may stir you up though. I don't believe that anyone who is not a citizen should have the right to vote.

          If you do want to vote take out citizenship.

        • Ghostwhowalks 2.1.2.2

          "who can have all of the remaining postboxes and advance in their areas (as seen in Auckland)"

          Think of a election with 30-40% turnout as a huge 'poll' with a ultra low margin of error.

          All councillors are from wards , and it seems they represent those voters. The Mayor is citywide

          Its wishful thinking to assume a 15% winning margin over the next candidate means the turnout is responsible for someones loss

          • lprent 2.1.2.2.1

            Yeah and think of the preliminary election results as being an even bigger poll. Then where adding in 20% more votes from the specials demonstrates how wide the margin of error is in that large poll. The margin of error in a poll of ~2.2 million against ~3.3 million registered voters should have been +/- what? nothing much.

            Looking just at the NAct vote.
            Preliminary vote of 1,077,311 over 2,244,380 votes = 48.00% of votes cast.
            The current official vote of 1,332,323 over 2,851,220 votes = 46.67% of votes cast

            What we got was a error of more like 1.33% for those to associated parties combined just in the addition of 20% more votes were counted. That was sufficient to change from a coalition to form a government requiring two parties to one requiring three. Which gives us teh coalition of indecisive confusion and chaos that we will have tolerate for the next few years. The Shane Jones coalition…

            Obviously what is skewing the results is a poorly formed sample of the population due to sampling technique.

            In the case of a general election there is a pretty significiant skew between the population of advance and votes cast by people in their electorates or on the borders of those electorates, and people who do special votes. There is probably also a even more pronounced skew between those who vote at all and those who didn’t in the general election.

            I’d expect that in a local body elections that if anyone did the analysis on the 59% who didn’t vote because of the piss-poor sampling voting techniques, it’d skew more like 15%.

  3. There seems to be an organised (Taxpayer Union and friends?) and concerted MSM lobby saying that a wait of three weeks is too long and the culprit is allowing people (students, Maori, renters and other mostly Left wing voters) to register on the day they vote.

    Two Comments on this:

    1. The three week wait made little difference. We all knew that a Nats/ACT/NZF government was a racing certainty and that Luxon was to be PM. Meanwhile preliminary discussions between the parties took place and a caretaker government ran the country.
    2. Excluding the thousands of register-on-the-day people would obviously be be undemocratic.

    In any event surely the Electoral commission can find a way to cut 2/3 days off the process?

    Seymour will produce a bill to prevent registration on the day. Luxon should order the Nats to vote against this-but he wont.

    Which means we all have to wonder what Winston will do? I heard on RadioNZ that NZF voted with Labour in support of register-on-the-day in the first place. I guess this must have been under the 2017-2020 government.

    • cathyo 3.1

      and as for Winnie complaining that the counting takes too long, who was it who stretched out the negotiations with Labour beyond belief on the first MMP election?

  4. Mike the Lefty 4

    ACT can't wait to get stuck into ripping the social welfare and public service systems apart. Every day they have to wait is like an eternity to them.

  5. SPC 5

    Will they investigate the election shambles?

    The late delivery of cards in south Auckland that would have discouraged early voting.

    The difficulty when the on-line system was down enrolling or being rejected from voting out of electorate (those moving from flat to flat or students) if without an enrollment card, and the lack of of papers (again) in south Auckland?

    It was as if those who want to reform the system to reduce voting access were administering the system we have on the day for the same impact.

    Here we presume incompetence, if in the USA deliberation

    • Belladonna 5.1

      On a different, but related topic – online systems.
      There has just been another cock-up with online access for the NCEA Level 1 English paper.

      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/ncea-level-1-english-exam-issues-nzqa-stops-students-from-logging-in/DDZ2PQZD2NHJZOS2UCMEZI6UPY/

      About time, that the Government (of whichever composition) realized that online access has significant drawbacks, and is not a 'safe' first choice for important democratic or educational participation. Census. Election. NCEA exams. All with significant flaws in the online access.

      Yes online is 'cheap' (if you don't care about those disenfranchised), in comparison to paper-based and human-mediated systems. The problem is that it's not reliable.

      • Ghostwhowalks 5.1.1

        Didnt the election day system only used by Vote NZ staff screw up too

        "“Extensive testing by our technology vendor gave NZQA confidence that this level of activity could be supported."….. LOL

        But it wasnt remote acess as the students were in an exam room

        "Students who were stopped from logging in were given paper copies of the exam to fill out instead, Marshall said."

        • lprent 5.1.1.1

          I presume your latter quotes are related to this
          https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/350108288/2000-students-turn-ncea-level-1-english-online-exam-handed-paper-copy-system

          That would have been a remote system using wifi. So you’d most likely be doing a client system to wifi repeater to wifi switch to landline to provider to provider to server(s) for 18,000 connections. Each link of which has loading issues, transmission issues, and failure rates.

          I have been involved in building a lot of RF and land-line based remote servers and device systems over the last three decades using several different technologies. I wouldn’t want to build any electoral system based entirely on servers connected to RF devices on site or even land-line. Too difficult to test under real world conditions, and not running continuously or often enough to get incremental improvements. Plus everything is highly time dependent.

          The server side can’t really be tested until it was under election day loads. That is a load based on tens of thousands of queries per minute where the client side and transport side has some extremely varying request and response handling times, and able to be tested in the field only once every few years. It is going to fail under actual loads in some locations (including the servers)

          Similarly the client side needs to handle being put in 2300 different locations – many of which can’t be fully checked for RF interference beforehand. There are still quite a lot of areas of the country that have poor 3G/4G/LTE reception from various providers. I haven’t been involved in mapping parts the cell network since 2015 (when 2G was still available) but the outright holes and poor comms were pretty extensive on the transport routes that I looked at.

          That was in the open. After you factor in roofing, rooms, reinforced concrete, local RF emitters, and even just human bodies adsorbing RF – you realise just how fraught running reliable client end-point data access systems on RF are. Not so bad if it can be tested and made robust over decades on a installation by installation basis (think eft-pos) or where someone can move 25m aside to get a clear connection like internet banking. But bloody tricky on occasional use location dependent and time limited procedures.

          Plus a paper system simply isn’t that hard to operate in a timely manner. Biggest problem these days is the lack of printers – especially line-feed ones rather than page fed.

          At an Auckland Central polling booth on Elliot St, a Herald reporter casting a special vote was told it appeared the system for looking people up electronically was down, and workers were having to look some people up in printed rolls.

          Despite this, there was a wait of just 10-15 minutes before the special vote was able to be cast.

          Yeah. Paper systems have a lot of advantages.

          But the electronic electoral roll is actually pretty tiny in modern computing terms. It isn’t that hard to shove it into a encrypted lookup database and just have it loaded on a reasonably modern mobile device or laptop with a one-time usage. SQLite with SQLite Encryption Extension would do it just fine.

          For obvious privacy reasons you’d want the application to require a license startup/install and automatic immolation on shutdown. To have security against programmatic extraction. Ideally it’d require a local signal to anchor it to a polling area that would immolate it on removal. Way easier to develop and test. Probably harder to hack.

  6. UncookedSelachimorpha 6

    Voter participation is far more important than a few days delay.

    Classic strategy of the authoritarian right world-wide – putting barriers in the way of voting and trying to drive down turnout.

  7. Grey Area 7

    The push from the right for a faster election result is ironic given the issue now is Luxon needing time to put together a coalition of chaos "strong and stable" government. So this process dragging on is okay but taking time to get an accurate result, especially for special votes, is not

    Hypocrites much.

  8. ianmac 8

    Don't expect that we will ever know but what if over the last week before polling day, a body of people who were not going to vote, suddenly realised that the Nact promises were hollow and dangerous. So chose to vote at the last minute? Bet the right would hate that.

  9. AB 9

    National will constrain special voting to the fullest extent they can get away with. Their argument for doing so is weak – merely to speed up government formation rather than any suggestion of voter fraud. But that won't stop them. They have an ally in the media, whose fundamental shallowness means that when the horse race stops, they have nothing to say.

  10. Thinker 10
    1. Not sure, but I don't think the special votes saw that big a swing to the left. Probably because they are not only new voters but also overseas voters.

    2. Even if NZ doesn't want to go full-tilt to a software driven voting system, surely there are opportunities for parts of the system to be software-driven that would speed up the process.

    Maybe, for example, special votes could be done with a computer-friendly pen and scanned by a machine reader. Any ambiguous special votes could be counted the old-fashioned way but because 95% of them were scan-counted it would speed up the counting process no end.

    Let's see if Luxon comes up with a similar solution, funded by ???

    3. If I was Luxon or Seymour, I wouldn't be so excited about the next 3 years. As I've said before:

    A. Luxon talked up expectations so much people are bound to be disappointed in things that can't be delivered;

    B. I imagine Luxon plans to use the fact of the coalition as a reason why some things can't be delivered but I think he's raised expecations about his leadership style to the extent that people will still be disappointed;

    C. Point A was about Luxon, but I think people who voted for Seymour and Peters will also be disappointed they gave their votes and didn't get some of the things they voted for.

    4. Again, what the three parties of the left should be doing, now, is to be meeting and forming a "Coalition of Consensus" – ready to take a concerted opposition to the incoming government.

    By being visibly working as a team, instead of three parties that happen to sit on neighbouring bench seats, it will juxtapose the government's Coalition of Keystone Kops and build a rapport with voters that will pay off in 2026.

    Be ready to speak with one voice against the worst of what will be announced in the negotiated package – don't be left running to catch the train after it's left the station.

    • alwyn 10.1

      "By being visibly working as a team"

      Can you seriously claim that the TPM MPs are going to work as a team with anyone?

      I mean to say. Did they ever show any sign of it in the last Parliament?

      • Incognito 10.1.1

        Necessity is the mother of invention.

      • Thinker 10.1.2

        "The enemy of my enemy is my friend".

        If TPM wants to be part of the next government, it's going to have to work as a team in opposition, not least to be seen as a natural coalition partner of the left.

        IMHO, there's more common ground between TPM, Greens and Labour than there is between ACT, National and NZF. Also, don't forget the TPM has gone from a two-person voice in the house to a much more significant party. They won't need to shout so loudly as before to get the media attention. The country is going to expect to see more diplomacy and some of their new MPs seem to me to carry themselves well.

        Politics is all about compromises.

  11. Ad 11

    After we'll documented miscouts and missteps in 2023 voting, I want Luxon to tell the Electoral Commission to review rheir performance.

    That should include whether the legal right to enroll on the day is contributing to more mistakes and fumbles.

    I'm also keen to hear how many eligible in jail (after Little's reforms) took up the opportunity.

    I'd hoped that the 50% voting before elecday would take the heat off the election day staff so mistakes would be rare. They were actually very big and potentially costly to candidates.

    No fear from a review of the Commission's performance.

  12. tsmithfield 12

    One of the most democratic changes Labour made…

    And that is the contradiction. If Labour unilaterally changed the election system, then how can that be democratic? So, I think the change failed on first principles. Firstly, I think changes to the electoral system should have the full support of the house.

    • Drowsy M. Kram 12.1

      https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/ris-enabling-election-day-enrolment.pdf

      The last NZ general election with a voter turnout above 90% was 1984 – 93.7%. This was, by a whisker, the highest voter turnout in NZ election history.

      In 6 of the 13 general election since (and in 6 of the last 8 elections, including 78.2% in 2023), NZ voter turnout has been below 80%.

      What would be the reason(s) for making changes that would likely decrease voter turnout? Why even contemplate making such anti-democratic changes? Why indeed.

      While voter turnout in Australia has fallen slightly in recent decades, and hovered around 90% in 2022, they haven't had a sub-90% voter turnout in almost 100 years.

      Imho, Kiwi govts of all flavours should do everything they can to increase voter turnout, and close the 10% gap between NZ and Australia that has opened up since 1984.

      If our next government actually doesn't want to increase voter turnout, then their other principles aren't worth shit, again imho.

      • Ghostwhowalks 12.1.1

        Australia has compulsory voting, for federal, state , local council referendums and they do enforce it with a fine

        • Drowsy M. Kram 12.1.1.1

          yes Australia has had compulsory voting for nearly a century.

          It is argued compulsory voting ensures elected governments are viewed as legitimate, with nearly all electors having their say through voting.

          Only 27 countries out of 195 worldwide (13.8%) have compulsory voting.

          Compulsory voting will have been a factor in the widening gap between Aussie and Kiwi voter turnout since 1984, when the gap was 0.5%, to 2022/23 when the gap was ~12%. Mind the (widening voter turnout) gap, which would matter less if all Kiwi MPs were committed to serving all NZers to the best of their abilities.

          • Ghostwhowalks 12.1.1.1.1

            2022 Australia Federal election for both 151 house seats and a half senate election was on 21st may 22

            Th writs were returned about 1 month later . So not so different to us in timeline, but the Senate is their tricky one to count- a few elections back they stuffed it up in WA and had to run a Senate election again.

            Also each MMP election is two separate votes which are counted separately, which adds to the confusion.

            Maybe the party vote be counted differently to de couple from the electorate vote

            By different I mean 'scanning' which is the means that local council votes are counted. Its also the method used for the so called infamous Dominion voting system, which produces a computer printed ballot paper from the dozens of different offices up for election in US election day – it just gives the person voted for and excludes the other candidates. These are scanned into the system or hand counted which is the back up process

            • Drowsy M. Kram 12.1.1.1.1.1

              In NZ's first MMP election, ministers in the new National/NZF coalition govt were sworn in on 16 December 1996, over two months after voting closed.

              It's less than one month since voting closed in the 2023 election, and the 'need for speed' to form our latest new govt baffles me. Patience may not be one of the seven heavenly virtues, but it's not all bad – at least for my blood pressure.

              "There are three parties involved in this and I know Christopher Luxon wants to get this right… he wants to get things delivered, he's very impatient," she [Stanford] said.

              Might pollies be more patient if Aotearoa NZ had a four year-term of govt?

              • Ghostwhowalks

                Good points .

                I think 1996 and 2017 were similar in that the two main parties were competing to lead the government. Double negotiations ?

                This time and many others thats not the case. Hipkins totally ruled out NZF and they are interested anyway with the shattering results they got

    • Ghostwhowalks 12.2

      Only six provisions are entrenched , not all directly related to the actual voting process

      • the term of Parliament
      • the Representation Commission (a committee that determines electoral boundaries)
      • the division of New Zealand into general electorates
      • the 5% margin for the population of general electorates
      • the minimum voting age of 18
      • the method of secret voting.
  13. Incognito 13

    Nope, it wasn’t done unilaterally.

    A party vote was called for on the question, That the Electoral Amendment Bill be now read a third time.

    Ayes 63

    New Zealand Labour 46; New Zealand First 9; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 8.

    Noes 57

    New Zealand National 55; ACT New Zealand 1; Ross.

    Bill read a third time.

    https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20200304_20200304_28

    What do you mean by “full support of the house”? A unanimous 100% vote in favour?

    • tsmithfield 13.1

      Fair enough.

      But it wasn't a super majority or the like. That is what I mean. The electoral law should require support to the extent that a super majority is required in my opinion. A simple majority means that governments can make changes any time they want. A super majority of say 75% would require much broader support, and hence would be more democratic.

      • Incognito 13.1.1

        Whether a supermajority of 75% is always ‘more democratic’ is debatable. In this case (Election Day enrolment), it’s a rather simple technical question, which should not have to meet the supermajority requirement, IMO.

        • tsmithfield 13.1.1.1

          I agree it isn't akin to a whole new electoral system or the like. But, a super majority would safe guard the system as a whole. I think it is a case of erring on the side of caution. Otherwise it could end up as a slippery slope with respect to changes.

  14. Stephen D 14

    What will fascinate me is the way our msm handle the situation.

    Luxon seems to want to make it harder to vote in a general election. This goes against the grain of being able to take part in a fair and equitable society. In fact it’s positively Republican.

    Will our msm follow along like well trained labradoodles, or show some teeth in favour of democracy?

  15. Ghostwhowalks 15

    Special votes mostly arent people enrolling on the day. The vast majority are just voting outside their electorate ( and where the booth doesnt have the voting papers) and are already enrolled.

    Of those who are enrolled but did so on the last 30 days before the poll date, they do wont appear on the printed rolls . Although these days polling booths use tablets to check the database for these people

    Special votes are 20% , but what % are those who actually enrol while voting ?

    • lprent 15.1

      Special votes are 20% , but what % are those who actually enrol while voting ?

      WE don’t have the data. We will probably get it in the wash from the electoral commission early next year. But I’d expect that it will be way less than 5% of special votes.

  16. If MMP is a problem in getting results out perhaps STV would be a better idea

Leave a Comment

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 hour ago
  • ELE LUDEMANN: It wasn’t just $55 million
    Ele Ludemann writes –  Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 hours ago
  • Weekly Roundup 1-December-2023
    Wow, it’s December already, and it’s a Friday. So here are few things that caught our attention recently. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered the new government’s coalition agreements and what they mean for transport. On Tuesday Matt looked at AT’s plans for fare increases ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 hours ago
  • Shane MacGowan Is Gone.
    Late 1996, The Dogs Bollix, Tamaki Makaurau.I’m at the front of the bar yelling my order to the bartender, jostling with other thirsty punters on a Friday night, keen to piss their wages up against a wall letting loose. The black stuff, long luscious pints of creamy goodness. Back down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 hours ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 1
    Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop and other National, ACT and NZ First MPs applaud the signing of the coalition agreements, which included the reversal of anti-smoking measures while accelerating tax cuts for landlords. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 hours ago
  • 2023 More Reading: November (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for November: A Modern Utopia, by H.G. Wells The Vampire (poem), by Heinrich August Ossenfelder The Corpus Hermeticum The Corpus Hermeticum is Mead’s translation. Now, this is indeed a very quiet month for reading. But there is a reason for that… You see, ...
    15 hours ago
  • Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies.The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. They also describe the processes of the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    19 hours ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    21 hours ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    21 hours ago
  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    22 hours ago
  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
    Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    22 hours ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    1 day ago
  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    1 day ago
  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 day ago
  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    2 days ago
  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: Who’s driving the right-wing bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In 2023, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • GRAHAM ADAMS:  Media knives flashing for Luxon’s government
    The fear and loathing among legacy journalists is astonishing Graham Adams writes – No one is going to die wondering how some of the nation’s most influential journalists personally view the new National-led government. It has become abundantly clear within a few days of the coalition agreements ...
    Point of OrderBy gadams1000
    2 days ago
  • Top 10 news links for Wednesday, Nov 29
    TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere for Wednesday November 29, including:The early return of interest deductibility for landlords could see rebates paid on previous taxes and the cost increase to $3 billion from National’s initial estimate of $2.1 billion, CTU Economist Craig Renney estimated here last ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Smokefree Fallout and a High Profile Resignation.
    The day after being sworn in the new cabinet met yesterday, to enjoy their honeymoon phase. You remember, that period after a new government takes power where the country, and the media, are optimistic about them, because they haven’t had a chance to stuff anything about yet.Sadly the nuptials complete ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • As Cabinet revs up, building plans go on hold
    Wellington Council hoardings proclaim its preparations for population growth, but around the country councils are putting things on hold in the absence of clear funding pathways for infrastructure, and despite exploding migrant numbers. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Cabinet meets in earnest today to consider the new Government’s 100-day ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • National takes over infrastructure
    Though New Zealand First may have had ambitions to run the infrastructure portfolios, National would seem to have ended up firmly in control of them.  POLITIK has obtained a private memo to members of Infrastructure NZ yesterday, which shows that the peak organisation for infrastructure sees  National MPs Chris ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • At a glance – Evidence for global warming
    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
  • Who’s Driving The Right-Wing Bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In ...
    3 days ago
  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • National’s murderous smoking policy
    One of the big underlying problems in our political system is the prevalence of short-term thinking, most usually seen in the periodic massive infrastructure failures at a local government level caused by them skimping on maintenance to Keep Rates Low. But the new government has given us a new example, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • NZ has a chance to rise again as our new government gets spending under control
    New Zealand has  a chance  to  rise  again. Under the  previous  government, the  number of New Zealanders below the poverty line was increasing  year by year. The Luxon-led government  must reverse that trend – and set about stabilising  the  pillars  of the economy. After the  mismanagement  of the outgoing government created   huge ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    3 days ago
  • KARL DU FRESNE: Media and the new government
    Two articles by Karl du Fresne bring media coverage of the new government into considerations.  He writes –    Tuesday, November 28, 2023 The left-wing media needed a line of attack, and they found one The left-wing media pack wasted no time identifying the new government’s weakest point. Seething over ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • PHILIP CRUMP:  Team of rivals – a CEO approach to government leadership
    The work begins Philip Crump wrote this article ahead of the new government being sworn in yesterday – Later today the new National-led coalition government will be sworn in, and the hard work begins. At the core of government will be three men – each a leader ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Black Friday
    As everyone who watches television or is on the mailing list for any of our major stores will confirm, “Black Friday” has become the longest running commercial extravaganza and celebration in our history. Although its origins are obscure (presumably dreamt up by American salesmen a few years ago), it has ...
    Bryan GouldBy Bryan Gould
    3 days ago
  • In Defense of the Media.
    Yesterday the Ministers in the next government were sworn in by our Governor General. A day of tradition and ceremony, of decorum and respect. Usually.But yesterday Winston Peters, the incoming Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister, of our nation used it, as he did with the signing of the coalition ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Tuesday, Nov 28
    Nicola Willis’ first move was ‘spilling the tea’ on what she called the ‘sobering’ state of the nation’s books, but she had better be able to back that up in the HYEFU. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • PT use up but fare increases coming
    Yesterday Auckland Transport were celebrating, as the most recent Sunday was the busiest Sunday they’ve ever had. That’s a great outcome and I’m sure the ...
    3 days ago
  • The very opposite of social investment
    Nicola Willis (in blue) at the signing of the coalition agreement, before being sworn in as both Finance Minister and Social Investment Minister. National’s plan to unwind anti-smoking measures will benefit her in the first role, but how does it stack up from a social investment viewpoint? Photo: Lynn Grieveson ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Giving Tuesday
    For the first time "in history" we decided to jump on the "Giving Tuesday" bandwagon in order to make you aware of the options you have to contribute to our work! Projects supported by Skeptical Science Inc. Skeptical Science Skeptical Science is an all-volunteer organization but ...
    4 days ago
  • Let's open the books with Nicotine Willis
    Let’s say it’s 1984,and there's a dreary little nation at the bottom of the Pacific whose name rhymes with New Zealand,and they've just had an election.Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, will you look at the state of these books we’ve opened,cries the incoming government, will you look at all this mountain ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Climate Change: Stopping oil
    National is promising to bring back offshore oil and gas drilling. Naturally, the Greens have organised a petition campaign to try and stop them. You should sign it - every little bit helps, and as the struggle over mining conservation land showed, even National can be deterred if enough people ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Don’t accept Human Rights Commission reading of data on Treaty partnership – read the survey fin...
    Wellington is braced for a “massive impact’ from the new government’s cutting public service jobs, The Post somewhat grimly reported today. Expectations of an economic and social jolt are based on the National-Act coalition agreement to cut public service numbers in each government agency in a cost-trimming exercise  “informed by” head ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • The stupidest of stupid reasons
    One of the threats in the National - ACT - NZ First coalition agreements was to extend the term of Parliament to four years, reducing our opportunities to throw a bad government out. The justification? Apparently, the government thinks "elections are expensive". This is the stupidest of stupid reasons for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • A website bereft of buzz
    Buzz from the Beehive The new government was being  sworn in, at time of writing , and when Point of Order checked the Beehive website for the latest ministerial statements and re-visit some of the old ones we drew a blank. We found ….  Nowt. Nothing. Zilch. Not a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • MICHAEL BASSETT: A new Ministry – at last
    Michael Bassett writes – Like most people, I was getting heartily sick of all the time being wasted over the coalition negotiations. During the first three weeks Winston grinned like a Cheshire cat, certain he’d be needed; Chris Luxon wasted time in lifting the phone to Winston ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Luxon's Breakfast.
    The Prime Minister elect had his silver fern badge on. He wore it to remind viewers he was supporting New Zealand, that was his team. Despite the fact it made him look like a concierge, or a welcomer in a Koru lounge. Anna Burns-Francis, the Breakfast presenter, asked if he ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • LINDSAY MITCHELL:  Oranga Tamariki faces major upheaval under coalition agreement
     Lindsay Mitchell writes – A hugely significant gain for ACT is somewhat camouflaged by legislative jargon. Under the heading ‘Oranga Tamariki’ ACT’s coalition agreement contains the following item:   Remove Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 According to Oranga Tamariki:     “Section ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON:  Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record. Brian Easton writes – 1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Cathrine Dyer's guide to watching COP 28 from the bottom of a warming planet
    Is COP28 largely smoke and mirrors and a plan so cunning, you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel? Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: COP28 kicks off on November 30 and up for negotiation are issues like the role of fossil fuels in the energy transition, contributions to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Monday, Nov 27
    PM Elect Christopher Luxon was challenged this morning on whether he would sack Adrian Orr and Andrew Coster.TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am on Monday November 27, including:Signs councils are putting planning and capital spending on hold, given a lack of clear guidance ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the new government’s policies of yesteryear
    This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on Friday Routinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded but equally important role as the ...
    4 days ago
  • The New Government’s Agreements
    Last Friday, almost six weeks after election day, National finally came to an agreement with ACT and NZ First to form a government. They also released the agreements between each party and looking through them, here are the things I thought were the most interesting (and often concerning) from the. ...
    4 days ago
  • How many smokers will die to fund the tax cuts?
    Maori and Pasifika smoking rates are already over twice the ‘all adult’ rate. Now the revenue that generates will be used to fund National’s tax cuts. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The devil is always in the detail and it emerged over the weekend from the guts of the policy agreements National ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How the culture will change in the Beehive
    Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to do, and that means it knows what outcomes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • No More Winnie Blues.
    So what do you think of the coalition’s decision to cancel Smokefree measures intended to stop young people, including an over representation of Māori, from taking up smoking? Enabling them to use the tax revenue to give other people a tax cut?David Cormack summed it up well:It seems not only ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 19, 2023 thru Sat, Nov 25, 2023.  Story of the Week World stands on frontline of disaster at Cop28, says UN climate chief  Exclusive: Simon Stiell says leaders must ‘stop ...
    5 days ago
  • Some of it is mad, some of it is bad and some of it is clearly the work of people who are dangerous ...
    On announcement morning my mate texted:Typical of this cut-price, fake-deal government to announce itself on Black Friday.What a deal. We lose Kim Hill, we gain an empty, jargonising prime minister, a belligerent conspiracist, and a heartless Ayn Rand fanboy. One door closes, another gets slammed repeatedly in your face.It seems pretty ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • “Revolution” is the threat as the Māori Party smarts at coalition government’s Treaty directi...
    Buzz from the Beehive Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website, Point of Order turned today to Scoop’s Latest Parliament Headlines  for its buzz. This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM. “Soured” ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • The Good, the Bad, and the even Worse.
    Yesterday the trio that will lead our country unveiled their vision for New Zealand.Seymour looking surprisingly statesmanlike, refusing to rise to barbs about his previous comments on Winston Peters. Almost as if they had just been slapstick for the crowd.Winston was mostly focussed on settling scores with the media, making ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • When it Comes to Palestine – Free Speech is Under Threat
    Hi,Thanks for getting amongst Mister Organ on digital — thanks to you, we hit the #1 doc spot on iTunes this week. This response goes a long way to helping us break even.I feel good about that. Other things — not so much.New Zealand finally has a new government, and ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Thank you Captain Luxon. Was that a landing, or were we shot down?
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Also in More Than A FeildingFriday The unboxing And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Cans of Worms.
    “And there’ll be no shortage of ‘events’ to test Luxon’s political skills. David Seymour wants a referendum on the Treaty. Winston wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Labour’s handling of the Covid crisis. Talk about cans of worms!”LAURIE AND LES were very fond of their local. It was nothing ...
    6 days ago
  • Disinformation campaigns are undermining democracy. Here’s how we can fight back
    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Misinformation is debated everywhere and has justifiably sparked concerns. It can polarise the public, reduce health-protective behaviours such as mask wearing and vaccination, and erode trust in science. Much of misinformation is spread not ...
    6 days ago
  • Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record.1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is not even an entry in Wikipedia. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago
  • The New Government: 2023 Edition
    So New Zealand has a brand-spanking new right-wing government. Not just any new government either. A formal majority coalition, of the sort last seen in 1996-1998 (our governmental arrangements for the past quarter of a century have been varying flavours of minority coalition or single-party minority, with great emphasis ...
    7 days ago
  • The unboxing
    And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the tree with its gold ribbon but can turn out to be nothing more than a big box holding a voucher for socks, so it ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • A cruel, vicious, nasty government
    So, after weeks of negotiations, we finally have a government, with a three-party cabinet and a time-sharing deputy PM arrangement. Newsroom's Marc Daalder has put the various coalition documents online, and I've been reading through them. A few things stand out: Luxon doesn't want to do any work, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Hurrah – we have a new government (National, ACT and New Zealand First commit “to deliver for al...
    Buzz from the Beehive Sorry, there has been  no fresh news on the government’s official website since the caretaker trade minister’s press statement about the European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement. But the capital is abuzz with news – and media comment is quickly flowing – after ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago
  • Christopher Luxon – NZ PM #42.
    Nothing says strong and stable like having your government announcement delayed by a day because one of your deputies wants to remind everyone, but mostly you, who wears the trousers. It was all a bit embarrassing yesterday with the parties descending on Wellington before pulling out of proceedings. There are ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Coalition Government details policies & ministers
    Winston Peters will be Deputy PM for the first half of the Coalition Government’s three-year term, with David Seymour being Deputy PM for the second half. Photo montage by Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: PM-Elect Christopher Luxon has announced the formation of a joint National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government with a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • “Old Coat” by Peter, Paul & Mary.
     THERE ARE SOME SONGS that seem to come from a place that is at once in and out of the world. Written by men and women who, for a brief moment, are granted access to that strange, collective compendium of human experience that comes from, and belongs to, all the ...
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2023-12-01T00:16:17+00:00