Sack Him Christopher
After the 2005 election, the Chinese Embassy sent Zhang Wei to ask me if Winston Peters would follow Labour government policy. I said I didn’t know, but would ask.
Economy
capitalism
Where the Fight Against the DSS Bill Now Stands
On Thursday, Victoria Coleman handed over a petition at Parliament calling for the Disability Support Services Bill to be scrapped — 16,458 signatures got in five weeks while she cares full-time for her seven-year-old son Levi. Campaigning on top of that responsibility tells you whats at stake for thousands.
Opportunity knocks.
Denmark produces excellent beer, world class design, unmanageable open sandwiches and an object lesson in the operation of proportional representation. A particular interest […]
Talking to the “enemy”: an interview with Russian Ambassador Stanislav Krans
The reason I chose to interview the ambassador is because I accept as self-evident the truism that all wars end with diplomacy and the sooner we return to diplomacy the better.
Reformism or bust?: Making the best of a bleak future
Some initial ideas about the integrated policy package Labour must consider if it is to meet contemporary challenges posed by emerging populism and the narrowing of the Labour vision over the past five decades
Privatisation and Plunder
Privatisation and Plunder is essential reading for those who want to work for a society where prosperity for all is the aim.
From In and Down to Outward-In: The Big Picture matters
The world is entering a generation of challenges not seen since the late 1930s. New Zealand is better placed than most states to weather this challenge if it prepares now.
Why Is National Allowing Trans Tasman Resources to Destroy our Common Good?
This government is deliberately enabling private seabed mining in Taranaki to prevent New Zealand’s largest future renewable electricity supply.
It Is Not Enough Only to Change the Government
Everyone on the left can agree that we must change the government. Elliot Crossan argues that if Labour wins in 2026 and refuses […]
Queenstown as an exemplar of the limits to growth
We are Queenstown.
The ultimate Fuck you, to your neighbours, the community and the environment. Private helicopters!
Again, we were woken up by a bunch of hoodrats drifting on the intersection by our house. Great clouds of smoke and lots of noise. As you do at three o clock in the morning, my brain started tying this together with recent articles about private helicopters in urban areas, and other forms of antisocial “Fuck You’s” to the rest of us.
Cecilia Robinson’s Tend Health Win
For-profit healthcare continues its acceleration under National as second largest private healthcare provider in Australia shuts down
Migration: the spectre at the feast
The challenge posed by migration pressures is real and often underestimated. They are greater today than ever before in modern history.
Lies damned lies and Pay Equity Repeal excuses
Christopher Luxon yesterday tried to claim that budgetary considerations were not the reason for repealing the Pay Equity Legislation even though David Seymour had said that the monetary savings from the bill would save the Budget.
The Trump Shock: Why the US President Crashed the Global Economy
There is a method to Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff madness. The chaos and confusion is deliberate; the aim is nothing less than the […]
The World Turned Upside Down (again)
The world is in turmoil as political and economic uncertainty grow, and as conflict spreads. How the Left prepares for the next decade is a pressing challenge.
Is NZ as Stable as Luxon Claims?
By pursuing cuts, selling off assets to multinationals, enabling ACT’s attacks on the Treaty and cutting back on climate commitments, Luxon is guaranteeing that NZ will not be stable for long, writes Elliot Crossan.
Going for poverty: National’s new procurement rules
Nicola Willis is picking a fight with unions and environmental groups by proposing changes to Government procurement rules that would do away with environmentally beneficial policies and the requirement to pay the living wage.
Where Is the Resistance to Privatisation and Austerity?
As the Coalition moves to partially privatise our healthcare system, and Seymour fatally undermines the free school lunch programme, it is time for us to take to the streets and fight back, writes Elliot Crossan.
Capitawism
“Socialism only sounds good in theory!”
Its the end of the Media as we know it …
Two recent media related stories made me wonder if there was now formal acknowledgement that the concept that media should fearlessly and impartially report the news is now dead.
This govt. legislation will change our country like never before – learn about it like your country depends on it – because it does
Just after Christmas, submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill will close. But a far more sinister Bill underlles it all… and Seymour is hoping you might not notice
Tax and the Splintering World
The resurgence of the tax debate reflects impacts of neo-liberal economic policy and developments in the global economy over the last half century. As Labour considers further its approach to tax policy, this wider context should be considered
If Seymour succeeds what happens to Ngāpuhi’s Treaty claim?
If David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill is passed it may complicate Ngapuhi’s outstanding claim.
The Left Trumped?
We woke up last week to the post-mortem on the US election. How and why Trump won, and their implications for political alignments everywhere, are front and centre. A fundamental issue, explicitly identified when Trump won in 2016, is the presence of large sections of the working class vote into the Trump camp. So why has that happened – again?
Doomed?
“We’re doomed” was Private Frazer’s inevitable response to any crisis in “Dad’s Army”. One might stray into such despondency when considering the external context in which New Zealand finds itself, then considering what we are doing as a nation to respond. Nigel Haworth looks at where we are at.
New Zealand treats the wealthy better than comparable nations
A recently Tax Justice Aotearoa study suggests that the country could impse a capital gains tax or wealth tax and the wealthy would still be better off than they would be in similar countries.
We should have kept the power company shares
Shane Jones, went onto radio yesterday and pledged a solution to high power prices. What are his chances and why are we in this mess?
The Promises of Lange, Moore, Bolger, and the WTO
In 2024 we ought to ask if the economic reforms of the 1980s and 1990s has delivered on what was promised.
Anti-Muslim, anti-black, pro-Zionist: UK Labour goes for purge
I attended Faiza Shaheen’s impressive candidate launch in Chingford four years ago. She aimed to take on IDS and she dented his majority. Reselected two years ago by the local Labour Party, four days ago she was deselected by a 3-person kangaroo court from the party’s National Executive Committee.
Update: Faiza Shaheen to stand as an independent in Chingford.
Making up for lost time
Guest post by Nigel Haworth where he discusses Labour membership’s desire for taxation reform and why it is important that Labour decides on its position as soon as possible.
Are we drifting away or falling apart?
What is the antidote for our socio-economic problems and how do we deal with this coalition government?
On Newshub and economic voice
Nigel Haworth writes on some of the historic implications and strategy of the worker plans for companies in the context of the worker initiated initiatives for allowing Newshub to survive.
Uber Drivers in Court of Appeal
Uber Drivers are in the Court of Appeal today. Uber is appealing against Employment Court decision they they are employees with worker rights. Its a no-brainer, so they are and should have them.
Luxon on rents – another National economic idiot
I was incredulous that this lummox Christopher Luxon had ever paid attention during even a basic economics course. Landlords aren’t going to pass any cost reductions on to tenants in rent values. They charge new tenants the rental rates that the market can bear. In the absence of significiant new housing or a reduction in population, that is directly related to what tenants can afford to pay
National’s credibility is on the line
When the history of the 2023 New Zealand Aotearoa general election is written and if Labour gets up to win historians will point to the events of this week as the turning point in what has already been a dramatic year in politics. Because I cannot believe how bad National’s tax cut policy release has been researched and structured and how bad its release is going.