No democracy for the Selwyn National Party?
Colin Espiner has a story in yesterday’s Press saying that the heads of three National Party branches in the Canterbury district supported by […]
Politics
Posts on government and governence at national and local level, political parties,politicians, and political participation
National and the wage gap
I see National’s complaining about the wage gap between New Zealand and Australia again. As usual they have no answers on what to […]
Style over substance: no real answers
In a continuation of Key’s “style over substance” policy approach, his consultants have found him a new buzzword – “infrastructure”. “Australia’s been more […]
ODT on the Electoral Finance Bill
Here’s an article from the ODT. It’s by Simon Cunliffe, “a senior Otago Daily Times journalist”. I’m loathe to reprint it in full […]
Classic Winston
Winston Peters just stood up in the house. Everyone expected he was going to announce he’d paid back the $160k. Instead, he announced […]
Dole figures at 28-year low
From the Beehive site: Social Development Minister Ruth Dyson said that in December 1999, when Labour came to power, there were 161,000 people […]
Petty politicking and the Xinyao tragedy
Reuters reports that the death toll from China’s Xinyao mine tragedy has now surpassed the 100 mark after 50 rescue workers were sent […]
KiwiSaver enrolments pass 300,000
I wonder if the Nats still want to bin it? Remember it was only last May that John Key told Morning Report “Oh, […]
A decade since Shipley
How remiss of us! Our pals over at Kiwiblogblog have just pointed out that we’ve just missed the 10 year anniversary since Jenny […]
Key pledges to sack prison and parole staff
I’ve just listened to John Key’s interview on Radio Dunedin last week: powered by ODEO “I also think we need to get a […]
2007 Trans-Tasman MP rankings
So DPF’s given his predictable take on this year’s Trans-Tasman MP rankings (PDF – 150K). Now averages are one thing but more interesting […]
Weekend selection meetings
Two more electorates have confirmed Labour candidates. Rimutaka was on Saturday – Chris Hipkins was selected. Christchurch Central was today – Brendon Burns […]
John’s dead seal
Um, why does John Key have a picture of a dead seal on his flickr page?
From the archives: who said it?
In my work as a constituent MP, I have often been emotionally shocked at the dilemmas that some constituents get trapped in. However, […]
Ever wonder why people call John Key “slippery”?
Here he is being interviewed by Paul Henry on Breakfast earlier today. Key tries to slip out of answering a direct question not […]
Big Brother bringing in National’s cash?
John Hales, the secretive Australian world leader of the Exclusive Brethren (known as the Elect Vessel), met the elect faithful in Christchurch yesterday. […]
National filibustering EFB
So it’s official: National is filibustering the Electoral Finance Bill. This really is childish, and it’s directly at odds with what Bill English […]
Personal responsibility
It seems John Key’s lack of judgment isn’t restricted to matters of policy. Twice in the last few days he’s made nasty digs […]
Gap roughly unchanged in Morgan poll
From RoyMorgan.com: In the second half of November support for the New Zealand Labour Government was up 1% to 35% while support for […]
Anti-EFB crusader calls for armed revolution
If you thought the Nazi flags and ‘Heil Helen’ signs at Saturday’s march against the Electoral Finance Bill were distasteful, take a look […]
National’s spin doesn’t stack up
National’s attempt to spin its way out of John Key’s DVD debacle doesn’t stack up. Here’s the official line: National’s campaign manager Jo […]
Rules of the game
Just had a read of Colin Espiner’s latest opinion piece. He certainly doesn’t pull any punches. Here’s what he has to say about […]
Lord Keith of Kinloch
Am halfway through “Kiwi Keith”, Barry Gustafson’s portrait of our third-longest serving Prime Minister. He obviously had something, as he was picked out […]
A bird in the hand is worth two in the provinces
Fran O’Sullivan is not known as a critic of our pollies from the right. So imagine my surprise when catching up on my […]
Key DVD canned over Clocks fiasco
Just spotted on Scoop: A scheduled gathering of the media in Auckland this afternoon to meet National Party leader John Key to view […]
The accidental MPs
A short while back Bob Clarkson effectively admitted to having no idea what he was doing in Parliament. Now he’s thinking of standing […]
Same song? You decide.
powered by ODEO National needs to come clean and stop misleading the public. The Herald reported yesterday that “National Party campaign manager Jo […]
Poetic justice?
Remember when the National Party threatened the Standard with copyright infringement? Nothing ever came of it of course because we had the fair […]
Clocking up the royalties
John Key’s new DVD doesn’t tell us much about what National would do in Government, but as we’ve noted before, his choice of […]
Latest DigiPoll favours National, Clark
The Herald reports that: National has hit its highest rating – 51.3 per cent – in a Herald-DigiPoll survey. Translated to votes, that […]
Will the real John Key please stand up?
Linda Clark: “This is a gimmick, that’s all it is. if people don’t know John Key, well he needs to come to Parliament […]
National HQ deleting YouTube comments?
Just received this from a “concerned reader”: Just wanted to know whether or not you have also been blocked by NZNats? This morning […]
Armstrong reviews Key’s DVD (2 out of 5)
Hold the popcorn. Citizen Kane this isn’t. It’s Citizen Key in a 13-minute epic saturated with more artificial sweetener than The Sound of […]
John Key’s $50,000 anniversary present
Just in case you don’t know, today is John Key’s first anniversary as National Party leader and his backers have given him the […]
John Key and January 1
John Key’s just admitted the election campaign has already begun, adding further weight to the argument that electoral law needs updating to reflect […]
Ambition doesn’t cut it
Wow, so that’s John Key’s announcement: he’s ambitious. I know I said he’d be short on substance, but maybe that was giving him […]