I must admit thinking on election night that it was all over. Despite a tremendous surge thanks to an outstanding campaign by Jacinda Ardern it seemed that Labour ended up short of the necessary votes. Basic math shows that Labour and the Greens were then…
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The final election results have been released. Pontifications and guesses can now cease although someone should do an analysis of all the shyte some commentators said and show how wrong they were. I put up a post three years ago where I predicted that the…
A long and interesting read: Audrey Young: Labour has the edge if the Left's seat count rises Politics, like life, would be a lot simpler without choices. Ask Winston Peters. This week he seemed burdened by having to make coalition choices when he pointed out…
The right wing clobbering machine is already calling a possible Labour Green NZF a "coalition of losers". Well under MMP a coalition of losers can be the winners. But however you cut it a coalition of liars will always be liars. National's Joyce and English…
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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?
Two of the big issues in the 'can the Greens go with National?' debate are the party's political positioning, and the internal processes that the party is obligated to follow. Both of those things reflect deeper values around policy and decision making, and I hope…
According to the Electoral Commission "The target to release the Official Results of the 2017 General Election is 2pm on Saturday 7 October 2017." A blogger at Cut Your Hair has crunched the numbers and sees only two plausible outcomes: Realistic possibilities for Parliament post-specials…
Among the biggest winners of the election will be the Pike River families (Newshub): 'We're going to get into that drift': Pike River families buoyant after meeting Winston Peters, Jacinda Ardern The Pike River families say for the first time in seven years, they have…
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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 …
Preliminary talks between NZF and National have concluded, talks between NZF and Labour are due this afternoon: https://twitter.com/NZStuffPolitics/status/915700455040106496 https://twitter.com/NewsroomNZ/status/915657745285763072 https://twitter.com/NewshubPolitics/status/915634291131932672 https://twitter.com/NewshubPolitics/status/915694236179218432 Significantly, Peters met with Pike River families first: https://twitter.com/rnz_news/status/915700503970955264 Gower has resorted to parodying himself? https://twitter.com/patrickgowernz/status/915689093488533504 Summing up: https://twitter.com/ChrisKeall/status/915660317782183936 https://twitter.com/VernonSmall/status/915684269455900673
Spare a thought for poor Cameron Slater. He is currently involved in a High Court defamation case. Three medical researchers, Doug Sellman, Boyd Swinburn and Shane Bradbook are suing Slater, Carrick Graham, former National front bencher Katherine Rich and the New Zealand Food and Grocery…
I have seen things you wouldn’t believe. The original Blade Runner movie really meant something. Filmed in 1982 but set in 2019, it held a conservative and melancholy core now recognisable to those of the hard right and hard left alike: the civil order is…
Ten Reasons for National to Do Another Term. Leave the downturn to National. The economy is cooling, and neither side has any clear plan about how to revive it. The Greens won’t have to compromise. Winston would be just too hard work. English can have…
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 …
Outspoken sociologist Dr Jarrod Gilbert has written a piece that needed writing for The Herald - Jarrod Gilbert: Continuing curse of blinkered believers I need to talk about political tribalism, this phenomenon that so often mocks the principles that uphold our democracy while chipping away…
I just finished reading an article by Richard Harman at Politik on "How climate change could derail the government formation talks". Amongst other things it outlines the political positions of the major parties who are going to be involved in coalition talks and the way that…
This Guest Post by Standardista adam was first published on The Standard in 2015. Given our politics this month it seems relevant to revisit this now. ___________________________________________________________________________ “Smash the State” was a well know maxim of anarchism for a long time. The state is the point where-by the…
This post by Chloe King is cross posted from millennialposse.wordpress.com I’ve just come from a WINZ (Work and Income New Zealand) office out in East Auckland, I often go as an advocate for people on welfare. I do this because I know going it alone, mostly,…
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 …
https://twitter.com/max_tweedie/status/915012627230711809 On election day Plunket tweeted this: https://twitter.com/SeanPlunket/status/911356579865288704 He was working for The Opportunities Party at the time. The Electoral Commission's press release: On 2 October 2017, the Electoral Commission referred four incidents to Police in response to complaints about social media content on election…
I wrote the following post 18 months ago about a Winona LaDuke speech. It seems appropriate to repost it given the current discussion about values and the election. Much of this reminds me of the process of NZ learning about green politics. Both indigenous perspectives…
Another day another mass shooting in the United States of America. At least 58 people have been killed and hundreds of others injured by a 64 year old armed with an arsenal of weapons. With utter predictability the right is trotting out well rehearsed lines. With…
I have very mixed feelings about a Labour Green NZF government. I certainly don't think that Labour should "pay any price". So I'm pleased to see Jacinda Ardern acknowledging the Greens (even though dumping on them would smooth the path with Winston): Labour leader Jacinda…
There is an awful lot of drivel written about "business confidence" and "the market", most of it no better than reading tea leaves. Take the current situation. There is no "strong and stable" government to "lead" us. Maximum uncertainty! No end in sight! According to…