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Dancr

John Armstrong on the politics of ChCh’s quake

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 14 comments

John Armstrong provides an insightful analysis of the politics around the aftermath of Christchurch’s earthquake, saying “The chaos and destruction wreaked on Christchurch by Saturday’s earthquake leaves no room for playing party politics….The politicians are already playing politics, however, though not too flagrantly. Saying you are not going to play politics – as Goff effectively did – is itself a political statement. As was John Key’s decision to cancel his trip to Britain and France.”

Roy calls Rodney’s bluff

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 9 comments

From John Armstrong: He [Hide] stared at the ornate ceiling. He stared at the wood-panelled walls. And when he wasn’t staring at those things, he just stared into the void in front of him. The only direction Rodney Hide was not looking was two seats to his left….

Roy enounters changeable Mr Hyde

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 24 comments

Is Heather Roy to depart the ACT caucus? According to TVNZ, Act Party leader Rodney Hide is signalling his dumped deputy Heather Roy will find it extremely difficult to stay on as an MP, despite saying last week that she would be welcomed back into the caucus.

Corrections boss not sure about private prisons

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 17 comments

We’ve already seen criticism of the move by National to introduce private prisons (eg. NZ Herald editorial). Now the soon-to-depart prison boss, Barry Matthews has indicated that he too has his doubts.

Why life in Labour is complicated

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 73 comments

From Gordon Campbell, who offers useful some thoughtful observations on the challenges ahead for Labour when figuring out what lies ahead with Chris Carter: “It is now up to Andrew Little to find a way through this morass in a way that will not do further damage to his party and his parliamentary leader. That path now looks a lot less clear that it seemed last Friday”

Nats try ‘thinking green’ on for size

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 4 comments

It’s taken me a few days to post on this opinon piece from Pattrick Smellie but it’s still worth reading! There are signs that Nick Smith is trying hard to improve the Nats environmental credentials, Gerry Brownlee notwithstanding. But Pattrick Smellie suggests it is not that simple:

Key due to release mining decision today

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 18 comments

Today we should find out the fate of Schedule 4 – the precious Department of Conservation land that Key put up for mining. RNZ reports that the Cabinet are looking at the proposal today…

Right to protest up for change

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 38 comments

RadioNZ is reporting that one of the men who avoided a conviction for his attack on the Waihopai spy base says a proposed law change is aimed at shutting down legitimate protest.

No SOE saviour for Key over Crafar farms

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 36 comments

Just spotted in the NZ Herald that receivers for the Crafar dairy farm empire have announced that state-owned farmer Landcorp has been unsuccessful in its attempt to buy the properties…

Yes, next Roy Morgan out

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 93 comments

In case you didn’t spot it in the papers (who for reason seem to be covering it this time), the latest New Zealand […]

Appreciating parenthood

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 10 comments

A thought provoking piece from Bryan Caplan ponders “”Having kids—what’s in it for me?” An economic perspective on happiness, nature and nurture provides an answer: Parents’ sacrifice is much smaller than it looks, and much larger than it has to be.”

Beware the politics of gender

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 5 comments

An article in the Guardian puts gender politics into perspective, with 1,000 “honour killings” a year in India, according to one recent study. For those who think that the world has moved on – it hasn’t.

Petitioning for education

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 4 comments

Good to see that the Greens presented to Parliament today a 37,000 signature petition expressing concern about the Government’s National Standards policy…

Latest polls

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 38 comments

Two polls: Roy Morgan who say “The latest New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll shows support for John Key’s National-led Government has weakened to 55.5% (down 2%)” and TV3 “National are up 3.2 percent to 55.3 percent, Labour are down 3.3 percent to 30.5 percent and the Greens are down to 7.7 percent.” Wish I was a pollster…

Losing confidence in education

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 37 comments

I really like my children’s school – I think they work hard to keep those young minds engaged and bodies active. I know it’s a job that is pretty demanding, and hugely important. So when I hear that three-quarters of teachers are feeling unprepared and rushed as they work to implement National’s new national standards (according to a NZEI survey) I start to feel apprehensive.

Roy Morgan poll

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 70 comments

Latest Roy Morgan poll shows support for John Key’s National-led Government has strengthen considerably to 57.5% (up 3.5%)

Fascinating magnetism: a bit of science

Written By: Dancr
Date published: -

Audio from an interview by Kim Hill with Gillian Turner, Senior Lecturer in Physics and Geophysics at Victoria University, and author of North Pole, South Pole: the Epic Quest to Solve the Great Mystery of Earth’s Magnetism.

Armstrong column: Nats and polling

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 35 comments

John Armstrong in today’s NZHerald asks whether the love affair with Key is over: After an 18-month dream run during which National had polled consistently above 50 per cent – and as high as 57 per cent – Sunday’s poll may be viewed as a watershed and the end (finally) of the honeymoon with voters. But that may be too simplistic.

Sweeping the ETS under the carpet

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 11 comments

According to Newsroom [currently offline]: No money has been budgeted to pay for New Zealand’s contribution to a $44 billion component of the Copenhagen Accord on climate change or to withstand losses from the emissions trading scheme beyond Kyoto’s lifetime.

Mining continues to gather criticism

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 16 comments

More bad news for the Government’s mining plans. The submission from the Committee of New Zealand Members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and a Shape NZ survey both indicate the need for them to back off. How long until they admit it?

Has climate change been trumped?

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 32 comments

We are so used to hearing that climate change is the most important environmental issue of our time, that to hear that biodiversity may require more urgent attention made me sit up and pay attention. As reported in the Guardian…

Childcare costs ahead

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 16 comments

Have you figured out what the Budget means for you? I’ve been looking at the media statements, reading the spin, deconstructing the commentators and trying to work out where it gets me as a parent with young children….

Learning lessons on mining

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 6 comments

Here in NZ we have the issue of mining front and centre, with assurances that it will be done with due process. Gerry Brownlee must be feeling frustrated at the senario in the US which vividly illustrates what can happen when it all goes wrong. This NY Times examines how the situation came to be…

Out of fashion

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 9 comments

You’d think Gerry Brownlee would be embarrassed after the week he’s had – yet I doubt it. We’ve ceased to have such expectations of our politicians. But is there more to it than that? Perhaps. According to Christine Rossen, we are facing ‘the death of embarrassment’, with a potential social cost.

Poll watching – the British elections

Written By: Dancr
Date published: - 8 comments

As we hit mid-term in our election cycle, political addicts are casting their eyes over to the UK. Now the latest Guardian poll shows that the gap between the two main parties is now at four points – the closest in an ICM poll for almost two years…