The Standard

Author Archive

Was it Luxon’s idea to cancel pay equity claims under urgency?

Written By: - Date published: 10:43 am, August 2nd, 2025 - 5 comments

A recent dump of papers relating to the cancellation of the Pay Equity scheme suggest that Christopher Luxon was the primary driver behind the decision to do this under urgency.

Can we trust Shane Jones?

Written By: - Date published: 10:12 am, July 31st, 2025 - 31 comments

Using a really shoddy parliamentary procedure Shane Jones has introduced an amendment to a bill that will potentially reduce oil industry liability for clean up costs.

Fisher and Paykel

Written By: - Date published: 12:07 pm, July 29th, 2025 - 26 comments

Chris Hipkins came up with a zinger yesterday calling Christopher Luxon and Nicolas Willis “Fisher and Paykel” because of the incredible amount of spin they produce.

Judith Collins believes proposed changes to enrollment laws breaches Bill of Rights

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, July 28th, 2025 - 29 comments

Judith Collins has issued a Bill of Rights report which concludes that National’s proposed changes to the enrollment electoral laws breach the Bill of Rights Act.

Imported culture wars

Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, July 28th, 2025 - 62 comments

Winston Peters is proposing to engage in a Nigel Farage Reform style circus relying on racial division to get him over the line at the next election.

Only a dropkick would want to make voting harder

Written By: - Date published: 1:31 pm, July 25th, 2025 - 42 comments

National has announced electoral law changes that will disenfranchise some voters who tend to vote left. And David Seymour has described them as being dropkicks.

So the Government has increased homelessness

Written By: - Date published: 11:20 am, July 24th, 2025 - 11 comments

For some time now National has been crowing about how they have solved the emergency housing problem in Aotearoa. But a recent report suggests that their policies have cause a surge in the number of homeless kiwis.

Hey Federated Farmers climate change is real

Written By: - Date published: 10:22 am, July 22nd, 2025 - 9 comments

The Commerce Commission has dismissed Federated Farmers’ claim that banks offering lower interest rates to clients who meet greenhouse gas emission targets are engaging in cartel type behavior.

Everybody is wrong except David Seymour *

Written By: - Date published: 12:25 pm, July 16th, 2025 - 23 comments

* according to Seymour when it comes to International and Domestic condemnation of his Regulatory Standards Bill.

Climate Change and Bumper Sticker Politics

Written By: - Date published: 7:50 am, July 15th, 2025 - 16 comments

Christopher Luxon has engaged in a classic example of bumper sticker politics by blaming Labour for excessive power prices, not the structure of the power sector. And he has completely ignored the imperitave action that climate change demands the country takes.

What happened to the Epstein Client List?

Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, July 9th, 2025 - 9 comments

After months and months of speculation as to its content there was a bombshell announcement yesterday by the United States Justice Department. There is no Epstein list of wealthy men who preyed on vulnerable young women.

Reality Check Radio needs a reality check

Written By: - Date published: 2:50 pm, July 6th, 2025 - 64 comments

Reality Check Radio has on the eve of the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s hearings into the Government’s Covid response released a petition suggesting that Jacinda Ardern and others have been put on trial.

A different way of doing politics

Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, June 29th, 2025 - 56 comments

Hopefully what we witnessed in Parliament this week will return a trend to the politics of kindness that Jacinda Ardern practised. And one holding respect for Te Ao Māori at its core.

Conduct unbecoming

Written By: - Date published: 9:56 am, June 25th, 2025 - 25 comments

David Seymour has been criticised for breaching the Cabinet Manual when posting Parliamentary Service funded social media attack ads against academic opponents to the Regulatory Standards Bill.

The mother of the mother of all budgets is unrepentant

Written By: - Date published: 3:07 pm, June 20th, 2025 - 15 comments

Ruth Richardson remains totally convinced that her “mother of all budgets” was appropriate and claims that it was responsible for slaying inflation and promoting a high-growth high-wage high-employment economy.

The other Jacinda Book

Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, June 12th, 2025 - 79 comments

Shortly after the release of Jacinda Ardern’s autobiography comes news of the release of a new biography for which the funding of and motivation for are not clear.

The Auckland Mayoralty

Written By: - Date published: 11:07 am, June 8th, 2025 - 4 comments

With National aligned Desley Simpson ruling herself out of the Mayoralty race and pledging support for Wayne Brown Auckland’s mayoral contest looks like it will be a two way battle between Brown and Kerrin Leoni.

The trouble with using AI bots

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, June 5th, 2025 - 16 comments

After David Seymour’s claim that 99.5% of submissions against his Regulatory Standards Bill were generated by AI bots it is relevant to review the time that he was implicated in the purchase of Russian sex bots to bolster his Instagram following.

Work will not be so safe

Written By: - Date published: 3:01 pm, June 4th, 2025 - 11 comments

Brooke Van Velden has announced changes to Workplace safety laws that will see prosecutions of Employers decrease but prosecutions of workers start.

Shut up you dickhead

Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, June 1st, 2025 - 13 comments

Chris Bishop has chosen to say loudly and publicly “what a load of crap” during a song celebrating Te Reo Maori performed during the Aotearoa Music Awards ceremony.

Which animal does Labour resemble?

Written By: - Date published: 9:55 am, May 30th, 2025 - 7 comments

In the United States Republicans have been compared to Apex Predators and Democrats to a deer in headlights. Which animal does Labour resemble and which animal should it aspire to resemble?

The Peoples’ Select Committee on Pay Equity

Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, May 28th, 2025 - 8 comments

In very bad news for the Government former National MP Marilyn Waring has announced that she will be doing something the Government did not do, organise hearings to consider the Government’s sabotaging of Pay Equity.

The weird similarities between the Trump and the Willis budgets

Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, May 27th, 2025 - 25 comments

A comparison of Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Budget and Nicola Willis’s recent budget disclose remarkable similarities.

The Government blinks

Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, May 21st, 2025 - 15 comments

Faced with the threat of an impassioned filibuster against the Priviliges Committee extreme recommendations the Government yesterday abruptly stopped debate on the committee report by voting to adjourn the debate.

Privileges Committee recommendations are partisan, indefensible and racist

Written By: - Date published: 3:39 pm, May 19th, 2025 - 21 comments

The Privileges Committee recommendation for suspension of three Maori Party MPs for performing a haka in Parliament has been described as appearing to be partisan, indefensible and open to attacks of racism. Parliament’s response tomorrow will show how political the issue has become.

Waitangi Tribunal wants halt to Regulatory Standards Bill introduction

Written By: - Date published: 1:45 pm, May 18th, 2025 - 6 comments

The Waitangi Tribunal’s interim judgment on the Regulatory Standards Bill strongly suggests the Government has been playing games with it.

Te Pati Maori and the Privileges Committee

Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, May 16th, 2025 - 40 comments

The Government’s desire to heavily punish Maori Party MPs for their haka in Parliament in opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill may have a dramatic effect on Budget Week.

The Empire strikes back

Written By: - Date published: 8:38 am, May 16th, 2025 - 51 comments

National has launched an all out attack on Labour for accusing it of cutting women’s pay, even though this is precisely what it has done.

The worst Finance Minister ever?

Written By: - Date published: 10:22 am, May 13th, 2025 - 70 comments

Future historians may consider Nicola Willis to be the country’s worst Finance Minister, even worse than Rob Muldoon and Ruth Richardson.

Get ready for the Regulatory Standards Bill

Written By: - Date published: 10:47 am, May 11th, 2025 - 24 comments

Following on from the undermining under urgency of the current Pay Equity scheme the Government intends to introduce the Regulatory Standards Bill which if passed would have a significant adverse effect on collective rights and environmental action.

The beginning of the end

Written By: - Date published: 10:13 am, May 10th, 2025 - 58 comments

When the history of the sixth National Government is written I am confident that the events of this week when the Pay Equity system was smashed up will be described as the the beginning of the end.