https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7qQ6_RV4VQ Dedicated to the latest UMR poll that Bomber reports has Labour on 33%, the Greens on 12% and National on 41% ...
The fiction that National is doing a competent job of managing the economy is entirely due, now that the boom from Dairy and Christchurch rebuilding is ending, to immigration and rising house prices. They are now riding a bolting horse that they cannot dismount, caused…
As is being widely reported, a truck has been used as a weapon to kill around 60 people in Nice, as crowds celebrated Bastille Day. Many shots were fired and the driver is dead. Motives are not yet known, and (at time of writing) no…
Earlier this week RNZ announced that they were turning off comments: Why we're turning off comments From later this week, we're removing comments from RNZ.co.nz. Comments on news websites are a fraught topic. For a long time they seemed like the way forward, a way…
As part of their "comprehensive" response to the housing crisis, the Nats are backing off their promise on social housing. Simon Collins in The Herald reports : Government abandons social housing target of 65,000 The Government has abandoned a target of increasing the numbers of…
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 …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Press release from the Cross-Party Homelessness Inquiry (Labour, Greens, Māori Party). People who are homeless, those who were once homeless, those working with the homeless and concerned New Zealanders are being asked to share their experiences and solutions to this growing issue with the Cross-Party Homelessness…
Rethinking political thought - Shamubeel Eaqub A recent paper from the IMF's research team suggests that neoliberalism - which places competition at its core - hasn't delivered on its promise. They also found that fiscal austerity following the GFC hasn't worked, as standard economic theory…
Events in England really highlight the different processes of the two main parties. The Conservatives have completed their leadership transition in their elitist but efficient manner - closed rooms, long knives, blood on the floor, done. Labour have barely started the challenge process in their…
Yesterday 10 of the candidates for the UN's top job faced off in debate. For the first time this was a public event (you can view the whole thing on YouTube). Al Jazeera hosted and broadcast the debate, and ran a live blog. That page…
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 …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Remember back in April?: Greens’ “Barking Mad” Bill Blocked The big question in Question Time arose from the allegation in leaked documents called the Panama Papers that New Zealand is a tax haven. Prime Minister John Key says tax havens are secret and New Zealand…
With a rush of sanity to the head, the UK Labour Party has ruled that Jeremy Corbyn is automatically on the leadership ballot, as a straightforward reading of the rules suggests. Labour executive rules Jeremy Corbyn must be on leadership ballot ... In a crunch…
There is a pretty bloody silly leader on The Herald at the moment: The piece reads: Frustrated would-be first-home buyers will get a hand up as the Government moves to lift house price limits for KiwiSaver subsidies and low-deposit loans. Housing Minister Nick Smith has…
National is usually a formidable opposition. Given its resources, its extensive polling and focus grouping to work out lines that will appeal to ordinary New Zealanders as well as the superficially impressive arrogance shown by its representatives it impresses some people as the natural party of government. This…
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 …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Good - MP Chester Borrows charged after driving into protesters MP Chester Borrows has been charged over injuring two women with a car during a Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) protest. The Whanganui National MP and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives told NZME he…
Of some politicians it can be said that nothing in his career became him like the leaving it. We won't even manage that for David Cameron: https://twitter.com/BBCDanielS/status/752526624722194433
On Friday Steven Joyce was lecturing us on the necessity of HNZ paying its regular "dividend" to the government (as per the May Budget projections). Over the weekend Labour released its genuinely comprehensive housing policy, and Steven Joyce went in to meltdown on Twitter. Among…
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 …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Essential reading, two pieces by Olivia Carville in The Herald today. Lower infant death target slammed A Maori health target for sudden infant death was lowered by Government officials because it was too difficult to achieve - even though Maori babies are five times more…
Trump. Brexit. A rising tide of anger, violence, and political instability. Even "the market" has noticed, according to Liam Dann in the Business Herald: It's a mad, mad world From Britain, to the US to Australia, voters are punishing politicians. Why the anger and what…
Housing and homelessness has been top of the public agenda this year. Over the weekend Labour rolled out a genuinely comprehensive response: Build more affordable houses Create an Affordable Housing Authority to fast-track development in our cities ... Build 100,000 affordable homes across the country…
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 …