Proxy Music
Jami-Lee Ross has passed his proxy vote to NZ First, elevating waka jumping to an Olympic sport. How bad does it have to get before the Tory caucus puts Simon Bridges out of his misery?
political parties
nz first
Extinction Rebellion
In the United Kingdom, Extinction Rebellion, a new mass direct-action group modeled on Occupy, has emerged with the goal of forcing the Government to take urgent action on climate change.
Our rail revival
Yesterday the government announced that it was reversing the previous government’s decision to kill off the electric trains. The decision is one of many recently made that suggests that the future of rail is bright.
Pollwatch: Colmar Brunton, October 23rd
In this triumphant return of Pollwatch, we discuss the increasing likelihood of a Labour-Green coalition at the next election, the security of the two smaller list parties’ tenure, the shocking 2% support of Simon Bridges’ handling of recent political events, and the split in the shadow-race for National Party leader.
Kiwi values
New Zealand First at its conference on the weekend passed a remit to calling for immigrants and refugees to “respect New Zealand values” which are founded on Christianity.
Who is the National caucus leaker?
Winston Peters said in Parliament this week that he believes he knows who the leaker of Simon Bridges’ travel information is.
What Government crisis?
News of the Coalition’s bad health appears to be something of a beat up.
The Government’s plan for a modern and prosperous New Zealand
Text of Jacinda Ardern’s major speech delivered today.
Coalition Problems? Tell ’em they’re Dreaming!
Oh dear. The Winston Peters led governing coalition has completely collapsed and thank God Simon Bridges is there to pick up the pieces. I warned you this would happen! And look! Over there … the sky is falling. Falling, I tells ya!
Business NZ runs bogus poll
Business NZ has admitted that a poll that it ran was fundamentally flawed but has threatened to go to the ILO about Labour’s rather modest proposed changes to Industrial Relations law. And Radio New Zealand has reported on an industrial dispute involving Sistema plastics where union workers are working 60 hour working weeks without overtime pay on not much more than the minimum wage.
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori
It is Maori Language week. And National has come out with the unusual situation of requiring primary and intermediate schools to teach a compulsory second language. But the language may not necessarily be te Reo Māori. And Simon Bridges opposes it being taught compulsorily.
Winston and the refugee issue
Winston has suggested that New Zealand First may not agree to an increase in the number of refugees New Zealand accepts. Even though the infrastructure needed for the increase is paid for.
The Greens. Do We Need ’em?
What’s the point of the Green party? Do we really need them? Really?
Pollwatch: 5th August, 2018
The Return of the Pollwatch: Are Labour getting a baby bump? Are National in decline? Are the Greens in existential danger? And do all the previous questions have the same answer?
VSM – why it needs to go.
In 2010 the ACT Party with the help of National managed to pass a piece of legislation that damaged student democracy, and blatantly […]
A right, Left problem
A post suggesting that the traditional descriptive lens of “left and right” isn’t up to capturing current political realities.
No Mates National
Peter Dunne has some sage advice for National; phone a friend. If you can find one.
The teachers’ strike
Teachers have indicated they will also be seeking a significant catch up in salaries and job conditions after a decade of neglect.
Government announces living wage to be paid to all core public servants
The Government has announced that all employees in the core public service will be paid a living wage from September 1, 2018.
Pollwatch: Colmar Brunton 28/5/2018
Hot on the heels of Reid Research, TVNZ has also been doing post-budget polling, and this one paints a bit of a different picture.
Pollwatch: Reid Research, 27/05/2018
The latest Newshub/Reid Research poll is out, and it continues to be less than stellar news for the opposition, but also for New Zealand First.
New Zealand’s Energy Future
New Zealand has a low carbon energy future plan. What is the strategy to achieve this?
Deep Trawling.
Is NZ’s fishing industry just a domestic version of the tobacco companies? And how much would that really matter?
Fudget for Austerity
Some proposals on why we just got the budget we did.
Shouty Simon’s strange budget claim
National’s claims about Labour’s health spend suffer from the not insignificant problem that they do not make any sense when analysed.
The Budget
An evolving post to cover budget announcements.
The election year party donations returns
The election year donation returns have been released and show a surge of donations for Labour but National still well ahead.
Pollwatch: Colmar Brunton, 16/4/18
In this third edition of Pollwatch, we note Simon Bridges’ leap out of the gate to a hiss and fizzle, and with Roy Morgan still on an unexplained hiatus, our second poll of the year has arrived from Colmar Brunton, with the government’s support down very slightly, but its support partners both in a much more stable position.
The political honeymoon that keeps on ending
Media pundits are claiming on the evidence offered by one poll that the Government’s political honeymoon is over. But the same claim was made four months ago.
The Northcote by-election
Labour and National have both selected their candidates for the Northcote by election. Labour’s candidate is Shanan Halbert who cut significantly into Jonathan Coleman’s majority at the last election.
Labour aims to make transport system more sustainable
The Government has released a draft Government Policy Statement on Transport for consultation. A radical shake up of the Transport system is being proposed.
Local Bodies: NZ Politics, a rocky road ahead.
Dave Kennedy at Local Bodies looks at the tough task ahead for Labour, and where retired MPs are landing.
Golriz Ghahraman in the House on the TPPA
“As Greens, what’s particularly chilling to us is that we know elsewhere in the world where ISDS clauses have been accessed to sue Governments, corporates have used them to stop environmental protection.” … “The Indonesian environmental Minister had to admit, ‘If we shut them down, they will need compensation and Indonesia can’t afford it.’ That is chilling.”
It’s Our Future: Complete U-Turn by Labour and NZ First on TPP
The TPP might have been re-branded as the CPTPP but it’s still the same bad deal says Professor Jane Kelsey, New Zealand’s expert on international economic regulation.
“Calling it “Comprehensive and Progressive” doesn’t make it any better.
Poll Watch: Colmar Brunton Poll 2018-2-19
In this second edition of Pollwatch, we note the impact of Jacinda Ardern at the height of her powers, track the likelyhood of current government support partners of clearing our high Party Vote threshold, and note the small likelyhood that English’s eventual successor will have of sneaking into the Beehive even if we held a snap election right now.
TPPA-11 update and actions
The TPPA-11 is set to be signed on March 8. There are still huge problems with the agreement for NZ. Jane Kelsey provides an update.