It has been disappointing in the last few days to see the lack of respect that some of the Labour politicians on the right of the caucus have for the policy of restraint requested by the party. Vindictive attacks by David Shearer before and after…
NZ and the world needs a new green left direction, now and for the future. And this new direction needs to embrace some original core, left wing values, principles and processes, while being adapted to 21st century realities. Politically in New Zealand/Aotearoa this could mean a…
Suddenly I have some more independence. Instead of people thinking I am some sort of mouthpiece I can just be myself and say what I think. I would like to start with this new feeling of independence by saying to David Shearer that the thing…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike ...
Good to see David Cunliffe backing Andrew Little. He's a strong left-wing candidate who is already taking John Key's attack on workers rights head-on today. Law changes shaping up to be worse than first thought by Andrew Little on October 13, 2014 The Prime Minister needs to…
I am obviously really saddened by David's announcement that he is withdrawing from the Labour leadership contest. The combination of a poor electoral result, internal pressure and adverse media, created and fuelled from some within his own Parliamentary ranks, and a review of what is best for the…
Statement from David Cunliffe I am today announcing that I have decided not to nominate for the 2014 Labour Party leadership contest. It has been a hard decision to make but it is one that I believe is in the best interests of the wider…
From I/S at No Right Turn: The GCSB has been using our embassies as spybases Last night, The Intercept leaked the NSA's "core secrets" - or rather, the list of classification keywords covering them. While the descriptions are intentionally vague, they're still illuminating - especially the ones marked…
John Key is playing the terror card for all it's worth (and contradicting himself in the process). It's about to get worse: NZ PM talks changes to anti-terror laws similar to Australia New Zealand is considering detaining people with terrorist links on the grounds they…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike ...
I'd like to say thanks to the Standard for hosting me today. I've always enjoyed robust political meetings and I'm a firm believer in fronting up and answering the hard questions. Labour is a great party. Our movement’s values are values that New Zealanders share…
Excellent piece by Bernard Hickey in The Herald this morning. Living wage is good for everyone Money in workers’ pockets gives them cash to spend and boosts the economy. The piece begins with Hickey's account of a positive experience at The Warehouse, then... The Warehouse…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhbliUq0_r4 This is how a social media campaign is done. Greenpeace launched an online petition calling on Lego to end a partnership with Shell and released the above video with the very strong theme that everything is not awesome. And after a million signatures were…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike ...
And then there were four? David Parker is likely to join the leadership race tomorrow. David Parker has announced he's holding a press conference tomorrow, but hasn't disclosed what for. He's the man behind the complicated policies like raising the age of super that Andrew…
I know that I and others regularly get stuck into the Herald. It is just that its general tone is so anti Labour and pro National. The variation in quality of writers is considerable. Reading a John Roughan article invariably causes me to prefer that I…
Assisted no doubt by attempts to have the fund shut down, donations are still rolling in for Nicky Hager's defence. More than 1000 donations have been made and the total now stands at over $45,000. This is inspiring stuff. However much the John Roughan's of…
The Nobel Peace Prize this year is an inspired choice. From Stuff: Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating girls' right to education, and Indian children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi won the 2014 Nobel Peace…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike ...
At 3pm on Saturday Sunday, Andrew Little will be on The Standard for discussion with questions from our audience of ardent left-wingers, greens, those who are just interested, and the odd window driven troll. As always with candidates, this forum will be fully moderated. So…
I watched the NRL Grand Final last Sunday night at the Bristol in Cuba Street. I was going for the Rabbitohs and pleased to see them win. But I didn't like what I saw from Bulldog James Graham - two tackles led with his head…
Weekend social is for non political chat. What's on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no aggro, why can't we all just get along?
All the best to the ANZ staff who are on strike today: ANZ workers walk off the job ANZ Bank staff have today gone on strike across the country, with Wellington workers demanding the bank's $4.1 million boss David Hisco stop ''ratting'' on them. ...…
Today's Herald editorial raises important questions about the police search of Nicky Hager's home. In response to a complaint of theft - common old theft - five police officers spent the best part of a day searching the Hager home and taking away everything from…
Right now is an ideal time for the left to rethink our approach to social media and in this post I will outline a couple of examples showing why there has to be a better way. This week I did something that should give me automatic…
The Hager defence fund stands at over $41,000 $43,000 $44,000 and still climbing. But some mean-spirited wingnuts are trying to have it shut down, causing the host Spark / Givealittle organisation to post the following statement: Statement from Spark Foundation – Legal fund for Nicky…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike ...
"It all depends on the question you ask" - this was John Key's response to a question as to whether he had concerns about the SAS identifying air-strike targets that might kill civilians. If you ask whether they are comfortable with identifying targets people might…