The Standard

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Is National the party of law and order?

Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, January 30th, 2020 - 38 comments

Following the announcement by the Serious Fraud Office of charges relating to the donation of $100,000 to the National Party Simon Bridges claim of being exonerated appear to be optimistic.

SFO files charges in relation to National Party donations

Written By: - Date published: 3:37 pm, January 29th, 2020 - 55 comments

The SFO has confirmed that it has charged four persons with offences relating to the receipt of donations by the National Party.

The Government’s $12 billion infrastructure package

Written By: - Date published: 11:33 am, January 29th, 2020 - 96 comments

The details of the Government’s $12 billion infrastructure announcement have been released. 

Trump’s Middle East peace plan

Written By: - Date published: 10:47 am, January 29th, 2020 - 21 comments

This news shows how strange International Relations has become.  Donald Trump, currently on trial in the Senate for withholding approved funds from the Ukraine in an attempt to get the Ukranian authorities to dig up dirt on his possible opponent Joe Biden, and Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and […]

How low will Bridges go?

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, January 28th, 2020 - 23 comments

Simon Bridges has wondered out loud if anti semitism stopped the Government from sending a senior representative to a Holocaust memorial in Israel.

Steve Mnuchin, not Greta Thunberg, needs to go back to school

Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, January 27th, 2020 - 11 comments

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has attacked Greta Thunberg for not understanding the economics of climate change.  But he has then been roundly criticised by a number of people, including his wife.

Labour is signing up to Facebook transparency tool

Written By: - Date published: 2:58 pm, January 23rd, 2020 - 68 comments

Jacinda Ardern has announced that Labour will abide by Facebook Ad Library Report rules which allow voters to see where campaigning money is being spent on Facebook ads.   And that it will have its major policies independently costed.

The right is splintering on climate change

Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, January 23rd, 2020 - 70 comments

The right appears to be splintering on climate change, with former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull describing Donald Trump as the world’s leading climate change denier.  And locally National MP Andrew Bayley has talked the profound effects of climate change on Antarctica’s ecosystems at the same time as Paula Bennett is attacking educational material designed to make children think about climate change.

RIP Terry Jones

Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, January 23rd, 2020 - 16 comments

Sad overnight news with the death of Terry Jones being announced.

The great political heist that wasn’t

Written By: - Date published: 10:47 am, January 21st, 2020 - 40 comments

National has hinted darkly that the theft of laptops from its headquarters was possibly motivated by political considerations even though it had been told of a similar burglary of a neighbouring office had also occurred recently.

Bridges will talk tough to the Philippines but not China

Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, January 20th, 2020 - 18 comments

Simon Bridges is visiting the Philippines.  And unlike his recent trip to China this time he has decided to talk tough to the local leaders about human rights.

Federated Farmers launches petition against its business model

Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, January 19th, 2020 - 157 comments

Federated Farmers has started a petition against an educational resource that teaches about climate change and activism because it does not present their industry in a sufficiently positive way.

National created more working groups than Labour

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, January 18th, 2020 - 31 comments

The Herald has reported that National in its first two years of Government created *more* working groups than Labour.

McClay accused of supporting China’s mass detention of muslims

Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, January 17th, 2020 - 51 comments

Freedom House has criticised National MP Todd McClay for reinforcing Chinese descriptions of the mass imprisonment of Muslim minorities as vocational training centres.

News Corp climate change denial attacked by (checks notes) James Murdoch …

Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, January 15th, 2020 - 116 comments

News Corp has had a bad week in the media with many questioning its continued climate change denial and its support for politicians refusing to accept the reality of climate change.  But the most surprising opposition has been expressed by Rupert Murdoch’s son and News Corp director James Murdoch.

Housing consents at highest level since 1974

Written By: - Date published: 9:03 am, January 15th, 2020 - 20 comments

Statistics New Zealand has confirmed that in the last year the number of new housing consents was the highest since 1974.

National politicises police by claiming Government is politicising police

Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, January 14th, 2020 - 19 comments

Simon Bridges has alleged the police of being politicised after a person who holds rather right wing views and libertarian views on gun ownership had a search warrant for illegal firearms executed on his property.

A message for conservatives about climate change and nuclear power

Written By: - Date published: 3:21 pm, January 9th, 2020 - 142 comments

David Farrar has criticised young people not for their passion about addressing climate change, but for not supporting nuclear power as a potential solution.  Even though it is too risky, too expensive, and too late.

Iran attacks US bases in Iraq

Written By: - Date published: 2:11 pm, January 8th, 2020 - 174 comments

There are reports of two US bases being hit by missiles launched from within Iran and it is being reported that Iran’s air force is in the air.

Simon Bridges went to China

Written By: - Date published: 11:21 am, January 8th, 2020 - 44 comments

It has been revealed that Simon Bridges’trip to China last year was organised by National MP and former teacher of English to Chinese spies Jian Yang and that an offer of assistance from MFAT was declined.

Australia is no longer the lucky country

Written By: - Date published: 9:57 am, January 6th, 2020 - 112 comments

Australia is arguably no longer the lucky country.  And if it does not resolve its addiction to coal it may not have a future.

The power of positive campaigning

Written By: - Date published: 2:42 pm, December 31st, 2019 - 123 comments

With the 2020 election just round the corner and recent complaints about the left’s treatment of the #TurnArdern campaign it is a perfect time to think about the importance of language and positive uplifting campaign themes.

Bridges and the Robertson trial

Written By: - Date published: 8:53 am, December 30th, 2019 - 22 comments

National has released a video of Simon Bridges talking about the trial he conducted against Tony Robertson and suggesting he is in politics to change the law.  But the particular law he appears to be targeting was unchanged during the term of the last National Government.

T’was the day of Christmas

Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, December 26th, 2019 - 13 comments

National’s social media team spent Christmas day deleting tweets suggesting there was any link between its MPs and members of the #turnardern campaign.

What Cheeto, Bojo and Scomo are up to

Written By: - Date published: 3:56 pm, December 21st, 2019 - 76 comments

It has been a tough week for conservative leaders with Trump impeached and the evangelical magazine Christianity Today calling for his resignation, Johnson in the UK announcing voter fraud measures reminiscent of the American deep South, and in Australia Morrison being criticised for missing in action, upstaged by a 13 year old girl and pushing through protection for religious bigotry that Israel Folau would be pleased with. 

Rush to Judgment redux

Written By: - Date published: 7:12 am, December 20th, 2019 - 151 comments

Barrister Maria Dew has delivered a strong conclusion in the report concerning allegations of sexual assault by one Labour Party member against another member.  And Paula Bennett has not as yet apologised for her totally unfounded allegations against third parties.

Bridges fights losing twitter battle with Nigel Latta

Written By: - Date published: 7:52 am, December 19th, 2019 - 18 comments

Simon Bridges’s twitter account has chosen to celebrate Christmas by engaging in a twitter spat with well known Media personality Nigel Latta.  And has not fared well.

How to counter angry boomer campaigns

Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, December 17th, 2019 - 154 comments

The UK election was won not by Russian bots but by older voters with limited technical skills circulating poorly designed ads.  What can be done in New Zealand to counter what is clearly a right wing campaign tactic?

Then they came for public art

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, December 11th, 2019 - 6 comments

The conservative leadership in the United States and in Australia are both taking steps to attack the sustainability of public art.  Shame on them.

The freedom to lie during an election campaign

Written By: - Date published: 6:55 am, December 11th, 2019 - 75 comments

Two recent National advertisements involving drastically inaccurate graphics have attracted attention.  And at the same time National is opposing changes to the Electoral Law that would extend the time that it is an offence to publish a false and misleading advertisement during an election period.

Right wing lies

Written By: - Date published: 8:29 am, December 6th, 2019 - 110 comments

New Zealand and the United Kingdom are both cursed with the right wing parties having the same advisors and similar means of campaigning