Adrian Orr Cover Up – A Quid Pro Quo?
Part 2 of the Adrian Orr / Neil Quigley cover up scandal. Nicola Willis knew and did not divulge the truth until the Ombudsman forced their hand last week.
Politics
Posts on government and governence at national and local level, political parties,politicians, and political participation
Metiria Turei was right but did we learn the lesson?
In 2017 the Greens shifted the Overton Window on a compassionate response to poverty, but where are we now?
Jones accuses Luxon of hiding
Shane Jones has publicly attacked Prime Minister Christopher Luxon by accusing him of hiding. The chances of a snap election have just shot up.
Councils’ obligations to Māori
Kaipara District Council has circulated throughout the country a Franks Ogilvie opinion suggesting that local government obligations to Māori are limited. But even a cursory review of the opinion suggests that it is flawed and should not be used to minimise respect for Māori.
Adrian Orr Pushed Out By Neil Quigley – Then The Cover Up Started With Nicola Willis
Quigley, the RBNZ Board, and Willis. all appeared to take part in this explosive cover up about why Adrian Orr left the RBNZ in March 2025
Why Changing the Government Should Be Enough
Outrage is easy. Outrage feels righteous. But outrage without discipline destroys the very people it claims to save.
If we want transformation that endures, we must build it brick by brick. Or watch it burn, again.
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 […]
Gaslighters of the world unite
David Seymour has complained that New Zealand has “some of the most anemic governing arrangements in the world constitutionally” without acknowledging that his Goverment could change this.
Foreign Buyers Ban Will Be Lifted Under Urgency
PM Luxon has said he wants the repeal completed by the end of the year
Van Velden pressures ERA to reduce worker compensation payments
Brooke Van Velden has announced the appointment of four new members to the Employment Relations Authority and has expressed the wish that compensation payments to workers will be reduced.
Fight Like You Mean It: Why Message Discipline Matters
Screaming on social media about how weak Chris Hipkins is as Labour leader may make us feel good. But It also won’t do much do push back against the Coalition of Cockups. So, what if instead of searching fruitlessly for ideological purity, we put our energy and effort into winning instead?
No mandate for this
Partial strike law penalties used on nurses trying to keep themselves safe is emblematic of the wider libertarian playbook within the NZ government
Nicola Willis: National gave “tens of dollars” to Kiwis
Willis attacks Carmel Sepulonia as Ingrid Hipkiss assists.
National Government will have increased gross debt by over $100b – Who benefits ?
The debt bogeyman has been unleashed in NZ, which we will examine – but even on face value, National Party debt is 25% more than Labour’s full debt contribution over 6 years – with no global pandemic
“Dirty Politics” Rachel Glucina Is Behind Nicola Willis PM Rumours
Stuff and The Post was eager to repeat rumours of a PM Nicola Willis. Who was behind it?
The $671 million dollar woman
The Government is trying to spin that cancellation of the ferry contract will cost the country $144 million when the actual figure is at least $671 million.
The Curious Case of Central Otago
How can a region be so pretty, so rich, but so poor?
How was National able to take down construction so quickly?
Industry experts say Chris Bishop and his party are to blame, but Bishop denies it, saying construction industry leaders are just “wrong”
Should Labour attend a set-up?
The Government is accusing Labour of all sorts of bad things for not attending the second week of the Covid-19 inquiry.
What does this Government have against Te Reo Māori?
Erica Stanford’s removal of te reo words from reading books is the latest of a series of attacks on te reo Māori by this Government.
Helen Clark on Palestine
“This is a catastrophic situation and here we are in New Zealand somehow arguing some fine point about whether we should recognise. We need to be adding our voice to the need for this catastrophe to stop.”
Good, Democratic, Easy-To-Support Energy Policies
How to make fundamental changes to the country’s energy systems to ensure that future supply is sustainable and democratically controlled/
Confusing Confidence with Competence: Erica Stanford and the Bulldozing of Education Reform
NCEA wasn’t perfect, but it offered students a chance to grow and succeed in different ways. It recognised that learning isn’t linear or one-size-fits-all. It gave students a chance to find their place – not just in the job market, but in the world. Which brings me to the current Minister of Education, Erica Stanford… Are we confusing confidence with competence?
NZ sleepwalking towards bastardised hybrid health model
Half-baked attempts to fix New Zealand’s failing health system has resulted in Aotearoa drifting into a hybrid public-private model that threatens to combine the worst of both worlds. Isn’t it time to seriously review the working model
Power Companies Collude to Require New Zealand Coal-Fired Electricity
The country’s four main power companies have signed an agreement to stockpile coal and to extend the life of the coal-fired Huntly power station.
Was it Luxon’s idea to cancel pay equity claims under urgency?
A recent dump of papers relating to the cancellation of the Pay Equity scheme suggest that Christopher Luxon was the primary driver behind the decision to do this under urgency.
Can we trust Shane Jones?
Using a really shoddy parliamentary procedure Shane Jones has introduced an amendment to a bill that will potentially reduce oil industry liability for clean up costs.
Corbyn still draws a crowd – what’s new?
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.
Fisher and Paykel
Chris Hipkins came up with a zinger yesterday calling Christopher Luxon and Nicolas Willis “Fisher and Paykel” because of the incredible amount of spin they produce.
Judith Collins believes proposed changes to enrollment laws breaches Bill of Rights
Judith Collins has issued a Bill of Rights report which concludes that National’s proposed changes to the enrollment electoral laws breach the Bill of Rights Act.
Imported culture wars
Winston Peters is proposing to engage in a Nigel Farage Reform style circus relying on racial division to get him over the line at the next election.
Give Young People The Vote
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.
Goldsmith’s Voter Suppression Affects 15-20% of Voters
The voters registered about 13 days leading up to and including election day surpasses total ACT and NZ First votes by 140,000
Gerrymander alert – Government running scared
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.
Only a dropkick would want to make voting harder
National has announced electoral law changes that will disenfranchise some voters who tend to vote left. And David Seymour has described them as being dropkicks.
Sport Must Stand Up. Sport Must Lead. Sport Must Include Everyone.
Guest post from Louisa Wall. The government’s decision to scrap Sport New Zealand’s transgender inclusion guidelines for community sport is not leadership. It is exclusion by neglect.