About David Parker’s and Labour’s debate about taxation
Guest post by Nigel Haworth discussing recent publicity given to the Labour Party’s debate around tax reform.
Politics
Deep stuff
Luxon’s Support for AUKUS 2 is Against Our Interests
It is well time the Prime Minister set out how it is in our interests to move against China by buying into AUKUS.
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.
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?
The first Ministerial scalp?
Already we have what looks like an odds on favourite for the first Ministerial scalp.
The future of UK Labour and what it means for Aotearoa
It appears almost inevitable that Keir Starmer will be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. But his taking the party to the right and an active drive to rid the party of left wingers raises the spectre that his Goverment would be a pale immitation of its predecessors.
Guest Post – I was wrong about rainbows
Guest post by Brian Tamaki where he shares his change of thinking about rainbows.
News and New Zealand Democracy
How do we prevent the decline of broadcast tv news being a deep wound to our democracy?
Where is Melissa Lee?
The New Zealand media sector has been in turmoil during the past week. But Broadcasting Minister has refused to publicly discuss what is happening or what her government proposes to do about it.
Dune 2 and Gaza
What if life followed fiction and Gaza was explained by Dune 2? Sigh. It isn’t.
The apparatus behind the curtain – Part 2: The mainline
In a guest post Seddonville Miner explores links between the Atlas Network and the Taxpayer’s Union.
The Coming Oil Crisis
An expanding Middle East war that puts the Red Sea and Suez tanker route at risk is a major risk to us because it could hit the global price of oil.
Atlas smirked
A George Monbiot article in the Guardian made me wonder what effect the Atlas Network is having on New Zealand politics through the Taxpayer’s Union. Publicly available information suggests considerable funding is being made available and that the current Government’s priorities are precisely those that the Atlas Network would approve of.
Darkness Towards Peace
Can Israel lose a moral battle in Gaza and yet still win?
The Useful Rich
New Zealand’s rich are endlessly fascinating, but as wealth concentrates ever tighter we are poorer.
Wanaka Has No Crime
The purpose of everyone in New Zealand is to keep Wanaka pure.
The Pogues wrote the best Christmas song ever
It is Christmas time and the eternal debate about who wrote the best Christmas song ever is being debated yet again. For me there is only one possible contender.
Peak NZ Liberal
As National dismantles with speed some of the institutional reforms made by the last Labour Government the concern is that we may have witnessed the peak in progressive influence.
Why Labour must change course
“A Left government with any claim to progressive credentials will focus on three policy areas – first, high-quality, high value production; second, taxation measures to reduce significantly wealth differences; third, strengthened democracy, including industrial democracy beyond collective bargaining. These three are indispensable. A Left politics, which does not build on these three, will founder.”
Wanted: Dead or Alive? The Treaty of Waitangi
Is the Treaty a contemporary guide or an archaic historical document?
The inspiring Pope Francis
Pope Francis has been pope for a bit over 10 years. He’s made a difference.
Nigel Haworth – Back to the Future?
“Labour should be as focused on production as it is on distribution. Labour’s job is not simply to distribute such resources as accrue to the state; it is to promote production and trade that underpin fairer distribution, but under particular conditions.”
What Is peace Anyway?
We are further away from peace in parts of the world than a decade ago. But pessimism about peace isn’t a foregone conclusion.
The Injustice of Blackball
There is no “just transition” occurring on New Zealand’s west coast and there should be.
Pagani and Edwards do not understand the working class
Bryce Edwards and Josie Pagani have suggested that there should be more working class in Parliament. But the quality of their analysis leaves a lot to be desired.
Politics By The Armful
I’m going to show you what a large scale effective political act in a second hand store looked like recently.
The lost art of the heckle
What has happened to the fine art of intelligent heckling?
New Zealand’s Greatest Economic Threat is Fonterra
Fonterra represents New Zealand’s largest internal economic threat. And promise.
Barbie Will Save The World
Ad believes the Barbie Movie will be a mobilising element in regaining Democrat balance in Congress (maybe not the Senate) and the White House.
Should We Worry About Green and Maori Party Taxes?
We need to recognise our risk to the capital flight risk of the 1%, but also recognise the benefit to the 99% of us.
Future Green Wins Will Be Hard
It does not mean they are not worth trying; it means they will be fights against entrenched power.
Prime Minister Hipkins on the Trade Price of Everything
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins spoke this week on how the Government is acting to protect and advance the safety and security of New Zealand and New Zealanders while dealing with those countries that have most influence over us.
How come government doesn’t improve our economy?
When we continue to spend our money on stupid stuff, we get a dumb country.
NZ history of voting systems in elections
A guest post by Seddonville Miner outlining the history of voting rights in New Zealand and how Christopher Luxon’s recent claims about our voting system are hopelessly incorrect.
Really Small States in Really Big Conflicts
In case we just missed it, New Zealand really has picked a side. Prime Minister Hipkins will head to the NATO summit in Lithuania together with Australia, Japan and South Korean leaders. Also Vladimir Zelinskyy is intending to go as well.