Politics

Posts on government and governence at national and local level, political parties,politicians, and political participation

National’s alternative budget doesn’t add up

Written By: mickysavage
Date published: - 23 comments

If ever you needed a symbol of National’s current plight it is the handling of the release of its alternative budget. It has been a complete and utter shambles.  A clusterf&*k of epic proportions.  Because if there is one part of National’s reputation that needs to be defended at all costs it is the perception that they are competent financial managers and making multiple billion dollar mistakes in your alternative budget at election time is the one thing over all else that will hurt that part of your reputation.

So much for the climate change consensus

Written By: mickysavage
Date published: - 39 comments

Ten months ago National supported the Zero Carbon Bill and called for a consensus between the major political parties on the overall framework through which climate change issues are addressed.  This week National trashed all of that to try and shore up its sagging support.

The Greens on urban farming

Written By: weka
Date published: - 25 comments

This is exactly the kind of approach the Green Party would like to encourage – it’s strategic, it’s intergenerational and it recognises the interconnectedness of our people, the environment and local communities.

Last night’s leader debate

Written By: weka
Date published: - 129 comments

The leaders of our both main parties committed to neoliberalism is another kind of brutality that we seem reluctant to address.

How low can National go?

Written By: mickysavage
Date published: - 43 comments

With news of a second mistake in National’s draft budget its campaign is in trouble and support for other right wing parties appears to be surging.  Update:  Stuff is reporting a further $3.9 billion dollar mistake …

The Auckland Central Poll

Written By: mickysavage
Date published: - 33 comments

A Reid Research poll has suggested that Helen White is well ahead of Emma Mellow and Chloe Swarbrick and that Labour’s support is still sky high.

Why Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Death Matters Here

Written By: advantage
Date published: - 27 comments

RBG’s death was an important event for women here because it happened on the anniversary of Women’s Suffrage Day 126 years ago.  On this day in New Zealand we celebrate women being able to vote, the women who won further victories of political liberation, and many got together to recount our female heroes enabled by that right and all those rights that followed.

National’s lolly scramble tax cuts

Written By: mickysavage
Date published: - 55 comments

Despite claiming that the PREFU figures were catastrophic and despite stating a month ago that it would not do this National has come out with a policy of temporary tax cuts favouring the rich.  They must be desperate.

Reti’s running

Written By: mickysavage
Date published: - 62 comments

Yesterday Shane Reti ignited leadership rumours after he was asked if he wanted to be National leader and did not pledge support for existing leader Judith Collins.

Grant Robertson’s crisis leadership

Written By: advantage
Date published: - 22 comments

Much has rightly been made of the leadership quality of Prime Minister Ardern this year. But the PREFU results announced today shows that Minister of FInance Grant Robertson is by a long way the most effective Minister of Finance we have had since Dr Michael Cullen.

What just happened with Israel?

Written By: advantage
Date published: - 40 comments

Just two months before election day, Donald Trump appears to have won a diplomatic coup in the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have normalised relations with the state of Israel.

Taxpayer’s Union is wasting taxpayers’ money

Written By: mickysavage
Date published: - 35 comments

The Taxpayer’s Union, which claims to be opposed to Government waste, is wasting taxpayer’s resources by lodging a spurious complaint with the Broadcasting Standards Authority against Labour’s free apprenticeship policy.

National’s Upper Harbour problem

Written By: mickysavage
Date published: - 41 comments

This has been quite a year for National. It is onto its third leader, has lost a slew of experienced MPs, and has had other MPs resign in curious circumstances.  And now it appears that it has a crisis involving its Upper Harbour candidate, Jake Bezzant.

Qanon is here

Written By: advantage
Date published: - 132 comments

While a few in the media leapt at the opportunity to vilify a small evangelical community at the latest COVID 19 spread, the really big COVID 19-conspiracy story landed by the thousand this weekend. It’s overdue we woke up to QAnon here.

Labour’s social welfare policy

Written By: mickysavage
Date published: - 62 comments

Labour has announced that if elected they will significantly increase abatement levels for beneficiaries and reinstitute the Training Incentive Allowance Scheme, the policy that Paula Bennett famously had the benefit of but then cancelled once she was Minister.

National’s infrastructure bank

Written By: advantage
Date published: - 21 comments

National’s proposed Infrastructure Bank is an accounting trick, with very high risks that the entire power of our political order for anyone affected by these monster projects will weaken citizens’ rights.

Covid, the US President and the Evangelical churches

Written By: mickysavage
Date published: - 123 comments

There has been disturbing local news that some members of a local evangelical church, influenced by American equivalents, refused to accept the threat posed by the virus. And in America a new book from Bob Woodward suggests strongly that Donald Trump knew how big a threat Covid would be but chose for political reasons to downplay the risk.

Labour announces tax policies

Written By: mickysavage
Date published: - 98 comments

Labour and the Greens have both recently announced taxation policies.  Meanwhile there is no sign of any fiscal policy or alternative budget from National.

Will NZ First make it back into Parliament?

Written By: mickysavage
Date published: - 43 comments

One of the most interesting questions about the current election campaign is will New Zealand First make it back into Parliament after the election, with polling and a slew of not dissimilar parties on the right suggesting that Winston’s time may be up.

Assange’s torture and the death of journalism

Written By: Mike Smith
Date published: - 60 comments

On the eve of Assange’s extradition hearing in London, award-winning freelancer Jonathan Cook has written a scathing indictment of corporate journalism’s collusion in ignoring his official torture. I posted an example of that here last year, where Richard Harman denied Assange was a journalist at a panel convened at Parliament by the British High Commissioner.

Labour’s two tier welfare plans

Written By: weka
Date published: - 74 comments

As the covid crisis deepens Labour appear to be committed to entrenching the underclass and giving a helping hand to the middle class.

Will our cities revive?

Written By: advantage
Date published: - 43 comments

Our cities are the nation’s lungs; they recycle and accelerate external goods and transform them internally into faster circulation. Auckland and Christchurch have had tens of billions invested in them over successive local and central governments, but has this improved our strength or wealth as a country at all?

“Reds under the Bed”.

Written By: KJT
Date published: - 78 comments

Everyone has recently had an education on  “Socialism” working in practice.

And a graphic illustration of the shortcomings, of under regulated “Free market” Capitalism, Globalism, tax cuts for the rich, and the mania for monetising everything in sight, and “running it like a business”.