Enter the Patriarchy
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; send him off to fish and you get a matrilineal society.
Politics
Posts on government and governence at national and local level, political parties,politicians, and political participation
The fast and the really furious
Christopher Luxon had no idea that National has recently used artificially generated images in what appears to be a crude attempt to avoid historical issues National has had with respecting the intellectual property rights of artists.
UN expert: Allow women and girls to speak on sex, gender and gender identity without intimidation or fear
“I am deeply concerned at the escalation of intimidation and threats against women and girls for expressing their opinions and beliefs regarding their needs and rights based on their sex and/or sexual orientation”
– Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls
The real coalition of chaos
National has hatched on its attack line which we will hear about a lot over the next few months. But it may have a problem. Because the phrase “coalition of chaos” clearly applies to its leadership team.
Government announces project that will significantly reduce coal consumption
The Government has done a deal with the owners of New Zealand Steel that will see the company replace its coal fired furnace with a renewable energy supplied electric arc furnace and will significantly reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
How come government doesn’t improve our economy?
When we continue to spend our money on stupid stuff, we get a dumb country.
Green Party list announced
The Green Party has announced its list for the 2023 election.
Our heat battery in the oceans
Almost all of the extra heat that humans have captured by adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere over the last few centuries has wound up warming the deep oceans. We’re now starting to feel the effects of that excess heat.
National thinks tax cut good, reduction in Government charges bad
National has promised to reverse the removal of prescription charges even though it has a strong policy support and is an example of the state taking less of individuals’ private wealth.
Green Budget Day 2023
“All of these things were impossible, until they weren’t” – Chloe Swarbrick
Budget day
Today is Budget Day with the proceedings kicking off at 2 pm.
National's Policy Machine is a thing to behold
National’s latest policy brainstorm is to print out and mail to every taxpayer information they could obtain by using Google and MyIRD.
Luxon’s days are numbered
The latest TV3 Newshub poll results are out. The major parties are neck and neck. No surprise there. But what is stark is the public response to Christopher Luxon. Basically he is tanking.
Countering Conspiracy – the Green Party is not in a Civil War
Trust in academics is on a downslide, as is trust in general. This is exacerbated by academics hiding a personal-political agenda when they dabble in the public domain.
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.
What Do The Maori Party Want Anyway?
Since they’re touted as 2023’s electoral ‘Kingmakers’, it’s time to understand what the Maori Party really want.
Iwi Kiwi 2.0
In 2005 the National Party went full on racist with attacks on supposed Maori privilege which almost won the party power. Looks like they are going to try this tactic again.
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.
Yes, A Constitution
We are mature enough to have our own leader. Own our own shit.
Late Game Bench
Last minutes of this parliamentary term and all teams are subbing out.
Kerekere quits Greens
Elizabeth Kerekere has announced that she is quitting the Green Party, will stay on as an independent and not stand again at the next election.
The Future of the Monarchy
Support for the monarchy is largely based on sentimentality. Democracies are not enhanced by feudal relics performing old-fashioned ceremonies and living in castles. These quaint traditions and displays are all rather nice, and for the most part fairly benign and harmless in themselves. But to pretend that they are in any way relevant to the modern world is absurd.
How Labour Does Less And Still Wins
Prime Minister Hipkins has put Labour on course to win a third term. Here’s how.
Meka Whaitiri is moving to the Maori Party
Meka Whaitiri has quit Labour and confirmed that she will stand for the Maori Party in this year’s election. She intends to stay on as an MP and sit with the Maori Party.
Fuel efficient cars and National’s tacky little culture war
Recent days have provided a further example of why Aotearoa’s response to climate change has been compromised by politics.
National keeps making shit up
National has been caught out misrepresenting official data by claiming that 19,000 nurses had left public health when they knew that the figure includes transfers between health boards and the number of employed nurses actually increased by 4,108.
National’s weird tenancy policy announcement
This week Chris Bishop announced National’s landlord policy and made the extraordinary claim that making evictions of tenants easier was a progressive pro tenant policy.
Where Is New Zealand Extremism Going?
I’ve worked my way through two books recently, both on extremist sects, one about New Zealand groups and one about those in the United States of America. It’s startling.
Poor Regulation Is Burning This Government Down
This government has within its power the ability to alter the crippling cost of living increases we now face. If they don’t do the political job they can do with prices, they will lose power at the election.
Why a Capital Gains tax is necessary
With the release by David Parker of a report showing that the wealthiest New Zealanders pay tax at much less than half the rate of other Kiwis is it time to again debate the virtue of a comprehensive Capital Gains Tax.
Taihoa on AUKUS Pillar 2
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.”
Debate of the Day: should farms be regulated to centre climate action and nature?
In election year, National’s farming regulations bonfire flies in the face of climate action and ecological restoration.
The Murdoch’s very bad week
The Murdoch family’s decision to pay record damages to Dominion Voting Systems and to capitulate in its defamation case against Cricky Media suggest that they have had a very bad and a very expensive week.
The patriarchy is not inevitable
One of the prime tasks of feminism is to teach women that the patriarchy is not inevitable.
Much ado about nothing
Right wing twitter thought it was onto something big yesterday after there were revelations that Human Rights Commissioner Meng Foon had donated funds and cheap premises to Kiri Allan’s election campaign in 2020. But there was one rather significant problem with this expose, he had also donated to the National candidate in the same election.
National despairs as inflation rate drops
Yesterday Statistics New Zealand dealt a rather large blow to National’s election chances when it announced that the latest rate of inflation was 6.7%, a significant drop below the previous rate.