Hipkins goes on the offensive
Chris Hipkins has upped the ante in the election campaign by directly calling out the right’s use of dog whistle racism.
political parties
nz first
Winston adds to National’s tax cut credibility problem
National’s failure to adequately explain how its new revenue policies will work has seen its support sag. And its problem is that if it depends on Winston Peters for confidence and supply he has expressed major reservations about these policies and there is no guarantee he will support them. And a significant majority of New Zealanders understand this.
Even Mike Hosking thinks that a National-Act-NZ First coalition would be an absolute disaster
As the polls show a further slump in support for the right and as Winston Peters emerges as a kingmaker there is growing concern about the possibility of a real coalition of chaos being elected.
Understanding the New Zealand General Election 2023: Historical trends and perspectives.
From the outside, the New Zealand 2023 General Election seems both lacklustre and slightly strange. The Labour Government, having won a huge majority in 2020 is now fighting for its political life. Yet National, the main centre-right opposition party is still on average polling significantly worse now than they were when it lost power in 2017.
Cookers of the world unite
Ryan Hamilton, National’s Hamilton East candidate, has had social media released suggesting that he is against flouridation of water, opposed covid mandates and thinks that covid death numbers were inflated, is vehemently opposed to cycleways and thinks that poor people only drink Raro.
The silver lining of last night’s poll
The silver lining to last night’s Reid Research poll is that Act’s support is slumping and if there is a change in Government it may not be as extreme as it could have been.
Where is NZ First’s list?
With the nomination period closing within a week or so I wonder why NZ First has not published its list yet?
Hipkins rules out coalition with Peters
Yesterday was a good day for Labour. Leader Chris Hipkins started talking about what the party stood for and what its values are while also ruling out a coalition with NZ First.
Be afraid be very afraid – the next Government could be really strange
If there was a change of Government the next Government could potentially be full of fundamentalist Christians, anti vaxers and all sorts of people whose view of Aotearoa is not conventional or reality based.
Why New Zealand First Will Get Back In
Winston’s term with Ardern shows what high-delivery, low-foolishness government looked like. That’s why he’s rising again.
NZ First gets some hefty donations from National donors
Some donors normally associated with the National Party have recently made significant donations to the NZ First Party.
NZ First and Winston seek anti vax vote
Winston Peters clearly hopes that enough of us have short memories. He was an integral part of the 2017 Government whose Covid policies saw our death rate from the disease amongst the lowest in the developed world. But now his party is clearly courting the anti vaccination community.
Why stick more fingers in the donations dyke?
The latest attempt to construct a sensible political donations regime will likely again prove to be full of holes. Going back to basics would be much better. The good news is that the basics were comprehensively assessed 36 years ago by the 1986 Royal Commission on Electoral Reform. It recommended state funding.
Political donations law needs reform
Judge Jagose’s decision to acquit two persons linked to New Zealand First charged with obtaining control over $750,000 has opened up rather large holes in the obligations of political parties to report donations.
Shane Jones’ weird premature budget take
Former Labour MP Shane Jones has criticised the 2021 budget even though he has no idea what is going to be in it.
Covid and the latest polls
The results of two polls were leaked recently both showing a drop in support for Labour. Clearly the Delta outbreak has rattled confidence. But National has not surged up in support and the Greens have picked up some of the former Labour vote.
About the latest Colmar Brunton poll
The latest Colmar Brunton poll confirms that National’s polling is in the doldrums and David Seymour’s preferred PM rating is twice that of Judith Collins.
He’s baaack
For the first time since the election Winston Peters has reemerged. But instead of talking about the country’s problems such as climate change, child poverty and recovering from the global pandemic he chose to concentrate on the “over” use of Te Reo, cycleways and gangs.
Latest poll – Collins dog whistling is not working
The latest TV 3 Reid Research Poll has Judith Collins’ preferred leadership rating cut by two thirds. Judith’s racist dog whistling is clearly not working.
Ihumātao deal imminent
Radio New Zealand is reporting that a deal on Ihumātao is imminent and that Cabinet is expected to sign off on the deal today.
Less buzz and more cooperative governing
I liked the process for the Greens and Labour agreement. From Labour’s side after this election it was logically completely unnecessary, except maybe under some weird scenarios. But it is cooperative and that is clearly something that voters reward these days. Politics isn’t about buzz. It is about effective governance.
NZ election 2020: Labour win is a watershed moment in the country’s history
The 2020 election was more than just a victory for Labour and more than a crushing defeat for the National Party (New Zealand’s main centre-right political party). This result marks a significant watershed in New Zealand politics which will likely have implications long after this parliamentary term.
O Winston I love you
Some reasons for us to miss Winston’s exit from politics.
Your Preliminary Parliament for 2020
On the preliminary results, we have our expected MPs. While Parliament may change a little, we now know its shape, and its likely members- with about three exceptions.
Pollwatch: 2020 Pre-election rush
We’ve had three recent pre-election polls. While we wait for results on election day, let’s have a look at where things might be headed.
Jacinda or Judith?
With election day tomorrow those who have not voted already need to decide, do they want Jacinda Ardern or Judith Collins to be the next Prime Minister.
Latest UMR Poll – National sinking
Leaked results of the latest UMR poll suggests that National is under 30% and that Judith Collins campaign techniques are not working. She responded by calling the Prime Minister a liar and fat shaming the population.
NZ First and the SFO
Some random musings on the news yesterday that persons associated with NZ First had been charged by the Serious Fraud Office.
SFO exonerates NZ First
The SFO has put out a press release a few days before overseas voting starts. They have not laid charges against NZ First or anyone in it. They have laid charges against two other people. What I find appalling is that they waited so close to the election before making it clear that whatever NZF did was lawful. To me that smacks of political malfeasance. And the complainants probably should be brought up on charges themselves for wasting police and SFO time.
Colmar Brunton poll: Labour still way ahead
Judith will not enjoy this poll result.
The Auckland Central Poll
A Reid Research poll has suggested that Helen White is well ahead of Emma Mellow and Chloe Swarbrick and that Labour’s support is still sky high.
The Greens sticking to their guns (and their values)
The Greens just boldly stepped up their election campaign.
Will NZ First make it back into Parliament?
One of the most interesting questions about the current election campaign is will New Zealand First make it back into Parliament after the election, with polling and a slew of not dissimilar parties on the right suggesting that Winston’s time may be up.
Will Jacinda Ardern meet her promise to transform?
Neoliberalism has run its course and displayed its profound inability to address inequality issues. It makes the poor get ever poorer while the affluent top 10% ticks of society get bloated and increasingly insufferable on untaxed capital gains. In 2017 Jacinda Ardern set a goal of bringing all children out of poverty within six years. So how is that going? And what are the next steps?
Pollwatch: August Roy Morgan poll, reported 1st September 2020
Pollwatch returns, with a Labour majority government no longer a complete certainty, and with another poor result for National.
UMR Poll August 2020
The latest Rogue Poll™ is out. This time it’s UMR’s turn and Judith Collins is on the rise.