Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, January 1st, 2026 - 7 comments
Happy New Year to all the readers, commenters, and fellow authors/mods at The Standard
Written By: - Date published: 5:46 pm, December 5th, 2025 - 6 comments
Many unaware as what we hold dear and for granted slips.
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, December 4th, 2025 - 4 comments
The recent decision by PNCC to remove Rangitāne o Manawatū representatives from the Culture, Arts, and Community Committee, and to remove the independent member from the Finance and Audit Committee, is not an administrative tidying-up exercise. It is a political statement.
Written By: - Date published: 1:43 pm, November 22nd, 2025 - 28 comments
For all people who believe and stand for freedom & democracy, know thy enemy, who has a name and a platform.
Written By: - Date published: 3:57 pm, November 14th, 2025 - 8 comments
There are clear signs Ireland’s new President Catherine Connolly’s landslide victory has intensified efforts to undermine the country’s neutrality and neuter its aim to punish genocidal Israel.
Written By: - Date published: 6:15 pm, July 30th, 2025 - 17 comments
Zarah Sultana for one – she’s a star. Gaza for another – anti-zionism/semitism won’t work this time. 500,000 signed up in a week for a new party is impressive.
Written By: - Date published: 2:53 pm, July 27th, 2025 - 25 comments
If we are to renew the purpose of democracy after this current bunch of old people have had a crack at shrinking it, we need to turn this into something prospective voters can actually hope for: they can make change happen through the vote.
Written By: - Date published: 7:31 pm, July 25th, 2025 - 21 comments
The voters registered about 13 days leading up to and including election day surpasses total ACT and NZ First votes by 140,000
Written By: - Date published: 3:49 pm, July 25th, 2025 - 9 comments
You know a government is in trouble when it has to resort to gerrymander to boost its prospects. The coalition government’s decision to restrict voter enrolment is disgraceful.
Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, March 29th, 2025 - 27 comments
The Coalition is utterly disrespectful to the people.
Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, September 5th, 2024 - 76 comments
Remember when Christopher Luxon told the National Party that we had a maths teaching crisis? Experts have concluded that the statement is misleading. And an OIA dump suggests that behind the scenes there is an attempt to radically rewrite the existing curriculum.
Written By: - Date published: 4:16 pm, August 30th, 2024 - 38 comments
94% of councils that have voted vote to retain Maori wards. Many of them are National background Councillors and previously urged Central Government to not push ahead with the legislation. The forced local referendums are now expected to cost ratepayers and take away from Council workloads
Written By: - Date published: 10:04 pm, June 10th, 2024 - 12 comments
The UK still has the First Past the Post Electoral system. Something New Zealand should have absolutely no nostalgia for. This means that, while the campaign is UK-wide, a lot of campaign activity is directed into constituencies that are deemed marginal. In marginal constituencies, a General Election brings a conveyor belt of the good and the great supporting their prospective parliamentary candidate. In “safe seats” voters get much less attention.
Written By: - Date published: 4:44 am, June 2nd, 2024 - 10 comments
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.
Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, May 30th, 2024 - 18 comments
Protests by Māori and Tangata Tiriti against government policy are underway on the day of the National government’s first budget. Carkoi and Hikoi are taking place in many locations across the country.
Written By: - Date published: 1:22 pm, March 4th, 2024 - 44 comments
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.
Written By: - Date published: 10:39 pm, February 13th, 2024 - 103 comments
Attacking leftists attempts to expose the Atlas Network of right-wing think tanks, Chris Trotter offers this gem “Morally speaking, is taking money from oil companies really all that distinguishable from giving money to oil companies every time we fill up our petrol tank?”
Written By: - Date published: 7:57 pm, February 13th, 2024 - 16 comments
We have remarkably little democracy left in New Zealand.
Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, January 19th, 2024 - 22 comments
The Independent Electoral Review Panel has recommended changes to the electoral system including the banning of any donations unless made by enrolled voters, a cap on the size of those donations and a requirement that third parties disclose all large donations that they receive.
Written By: - Date published: 2:36 pm, December 21st, 2023 - 20 comments
The coalition government has hijacked the democratic process for its own partisan and nefarious agenda.
Written By: - Date published: 9:37 pm, December 14th, 2023 - 40 comments
A notably different approach to sequencing political comeback was on show at the VUW post-election seminar last week. Luxon put rebuilding the party first, Hipkins put it last. On policy Luxon was bottom-up and early, Hipkins was top-down and late.
Written By: - Date published: 4:43 pm, November 2nd, 2023 - 18 comments
In 2021, I voted against Labour’s conference proposal for midstream leadership change to be determined by Caucus alone, saying that it risked Labour becoming a cadre party for elites. A series of posts will start with why the Caucus should not rush to a leadership vote.
Written By: - Date published: 10:55 am, August 22nd, 2023 - 26 comments
The brains trust of Labour’s leadership have recently released a policy providing for the compulsory teaching of financial literacy in schools. Tacking to the centre and seeking votes from the pro business part of the electorate is an interesting approach to campaigning. Time will tell if it is the correct approach.
Written By: - Date published: 10:16 pm, April 24th, 2023 - 63 comments
Andrew Little says our government is willing to “explore” participating in AUKUS Pillar 2, but “foreign or local voices would not be a factor.” Our leaders will decide he says. I say “taihoa.”
Written By: - Date published: 7:07 pm, March 6th, 2023 - 10 comments
Australia’s Prime Minister Albanese is trying to get actual indigenous representation into the Australian Parliament with a referendum. Going to be tough.
Written By: - Date published: 9:19 am, February 16th, 2023 - 56 comments
While Sturgeon’s strong leadership and vision have helped build support for Scottish Independence, the Conservative and Unionist Party’s arrogance and self-serving incompetence in government have greatly aided her in this.
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, October 13th, 2022 - 37 comments
Can you be too old to represent your people? New Zealand’s oldest person to first get elected was William Cargill at 71. Australia’ s John Howard was 68 when he retired, and Robert Menzies was 72 when he retired as Prime Minister. The previous US president is now 76 and will likely run again in […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:50 pm, September 30th, 2022 - 57 comments
Urs Signer is standing for the Taranaki Regional Council, and is speaking a lot of sense about working with farmers, iwi and greenies for a Just Transition.
Written By: - Date published: 9:59 am, May 23rd, 2022 - 95 comments
What if instead of waiting for a new left wing party to arise, the left worked with the three progressive parties we already have in parliament?
Written By: - Date published: 11:57 am, July 4th, 2021 - 48 comments
With the United States Supreme Court allowing individual states to choke voting rights into bare consciousness, that country is accelerating its democratic decline. That matters for every democracy including ours.
Written By: - Date published: 11:13 am, June 30th, 2021 - 111 comments
A guest post by Clint Smith who has actually analysed the effect of the proposed changes and makes comment on the detail of what is proposed.
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