No Right Turn: Parliament and the pandemic
Idiot/Savant writes about what the government can and can’t do with sitting and the election.
Politics
Parliament
MMP Mark II*
What beats MMP? Open-list proportional representation with a low threshold would be a good option.
Time to become a republic
There are indications that Elizabeth the UK Queen may stand down from her office in the next two years. That may be the perfect time for Aotearoa New Zealand to cast aside constitutional provisions based on heredity and become constitutionally independent of the old country.
End of Life Bill passes
David Seymour’s End of Life Bill passed through Parliament last night by 69 votes to 51. We are now facing a referendum at the next election.
National’s faux outrage
The National Party has described as “censorship at the extreme” a rule in Parliament’s standing orders the latest version of which was enacted under the last National Government. Updated with Simon Bridges opposing the relaxation of the rule in 2017
Accused Labour Party Staffer Resigns
A second resignation has swiftly followed that of Labour Party President Nigel Haworth. The person from the Labour Party Parliamentary team accused of sexual assault has today quit his job.
National gather fuel for their political dumpster fires
Not so much Zero Carbon as Zero Shits. While National look set to monkey-wrench our climate legislation, we can remember that the real power in addressing the climate crisis lies outside of parliament.
100 Days of climate vigil
Ollie Langridge doing the climate action mahi at parliament.
What is up with NZ First?
New Zealand First’s late decision to promote a referendum concerning abortion has caught everyone including its spokesperson Tracy Martin by surprise and is the latest example of last minute changes of position.
Boris Johnson’s majority is disappearing
in England the Conservatives have lost a safe seat in a by election to the SDP. And from Ireland comes a cunning plan that would obliterate Johnson’s majority.
Tolley upsets Youth Parliamentarian
Anne Tolley has attracted adverse attention to the Youth Parliament by telling a young participant that she should not read from speech notes.
Submit or surrender
The submission period for the Zero Carbon Bill closes shortly. Please make a submission. This may be the New Zealand Goverment’s last chance to put in place measures to get us to carbon neutrality in time to make a difference.
Politicians Don’t Know Jack
Politicians rely on information provided to them, not on an encyclopaedic memory and an IQ of a genius.
National’s bad day in the house
In an unprecedented move yesterday in Parliament Government MPs agreed to Simon Bridges having extra time to harangue them during the general debate.
Everything Should Be Made As Uncomfortable As Possible, But No Less Comfortable
When providing a voluntary carbon-offset scheme, make it as simple as possible, but not simpler, and tell people about it.
David is delayed
David Seymour has done something even more embarrassing than twerking on Dancing with the Stars.
Life and Death in Aotearoa – Debating Euthanasia
David Seymour’s Private Member’s Bill on euthanasia is back for debate in Parliament. Maggie looks at one of the great social issues of our time.
Sroubek; Richie Hardcore Text Released
The text sent by Karel Sroubek supporter Richie Hardcore has been released. Is it the knock out blow we were promised?
National has lots of questions
National asked 40,000 questions of Ministers last year. This seems excessive.
Brexit: Tories Lose Control of the House and the Process
Another day, another humiliating defeat for Theresa May. Surprisingly, the news is no better for Jeremy Corbyn.
A tale of two Christmas speeches
The last sitting day in Parliament yesterday gave stark evidence showing how Jacinda is wiping the floor with Simon Bridges.
The SPOTY’s 2018
Here’s your chance to vote in the Standard’s Politician of The Year awards. The SPOTY’s are recognised worldwide as the leading indicator of political success in NZ and have been awarded annually for over two hundred years.
Now it’s your turn to prick the Thorndon Bubble, dear reader. Who’s your Politician of the Year?
Double down – protect parliament – ban Bridges for a month
Simon Bridges appears to have deliberately maligned the position of the speaker of the house of representatives, and did it before he had any cause to do so. While he may think that it is in the public interest to do so, he isn’t special. He should expect what every other social activist knows will happen. You suffer the consequences..
An Ineffectual Opposition Is Bad News
An ineffectual Opposition creates a vacuum that will be filled by the Mainstream and Social Media as they will assume the role of unelected and non-representative opposition in effectuo.
Ross saga quiescent, but donations scandal needs addressing
The Jami-Lee Ross scandal may have quietened down but issues raised by his explosive tape recording of Simon Bridges still need addressing. Does the $100k Zhang Yikun donation suggest we are going down the US track and, if so, what needs to be done about that
The Government’s plan for a modern and prosperous New Zealand
Text of Jacinda Ardern’s major speech delivered today.
Parliament and bullying
It should be a qualification of being a Labour Member of Parliament that they treat their worked in an exemplary manner.
Were Etu union delegates threatened at a select committee?
National MP Parmjeet Parmar has been accused of threatening to tell the employers of submitters to a Select Committee what they had said in evidence if they did not withdraw their statements.
National loses the plot in Parliament
National’s show down with Trevor Mallard today did not go as well as they hoped.
The Budget
An evolving post to cover budget announcements.
An Opportunity Missed? A Failure to Listen? And Whose Advice was Privileged?
The conclusion that I am left with is the bureaucrats have once again gained control of the social work profession and want to manage social work and social workers under a neoliberal managerialist ideology.
Kieran O’Donoghue, Associate Professor in Social Work, Massey University
Green Party statements on giving their parliamentary Questions to the Opposition
“As Greens, we’ve always stood for modernising our democracy, making MPs more accountable and giving the public better access to the levers of power.”
Green Party announces new transparency measures
Green Party Co-leader James Shaw has today announced two important new transparency measures, which will apply to Green Party Ministers, MPs and staff, to help counter the influence of money in politics.
Gareth Hughes: Passing a motion and other Parliamentary jargon
Democracy misunderstood is democracy denied.
NRT on submitting on the End of Life Choice Bill
“If you care about the bill, I encourage you to speak up about it.”
National spams the Beehive
National has been clogging Parliament’s written question system by asking questions that even David Farrar thinks seem silly and are over the top.