“Along with public ownership and better wages and conditions for people working on public transport, if we can get the Government to focus nearly all transport investments on making it easier for people to walk, bike, or hop on a bus, train, or ferry we can create a world-class transport system that works for everyone. The best way to do that is to get more Green MPs into Parliament,” – Julie Anne Genter.
Peter Dunne has some sage advice for National; phone a friend. If you can find one.
A guest post by Swordfish on the implausibility of the claims by Dr Claire Robinson’s odd claim that the 2017 election result was a win for the status quo.
In strange news Kim Dotcom is talking about resurrecting the Internet Party and claims have been made that a New Zealand journalist is seeking asylum in Russia. Update: I am satisfied the application is for real.
Laila Harre has quit – end of the line for the Internet Party?
Nice to see one Journalist speaking up about National’s vicious personal attacks on Kim Dotcom. What will Dotcom do next? My guess is that he will stay out of NZ politics from now on.
Dave Kennedy (bsprout) looks at the increasingly parlous current state of the smaller parties. He is also looking forward to the Green party campaign launch this weekend in Auckland. Updated with Green campaign launch details.
It’s been an interesting few days in the battle for Te Tai Tokerau. Never mind the bollocks, people. The question for Labour isn’t should we stand aside for Hone in the north or Mana/IP anywhere else. The question is ‘do we need ’em?’. The answer is looking more and more like no.
How much longer do we have to live with this”neoliberal” nightmare? It should have died with the global financial crisis, caused by the unfettered greed of the banksters & socially callous. “Paying the Price” on Al Jazeera; AAAP Mangere Action Impact this week.
The Green Party is launching their “election priority for students” at Auckland University today from 2-3pm in the Auckland University Quad. Russel Norman and Metiria Turei announced a student Green Card for off peak public transport. Updated
I’m intrigued by Kim Dotcom’s announcement of earth-shattering revelations to be made on 15 September – just 5 days out from the last voting day of this general election.
New Zealand’s democracy would better if we had a lower threshold and no coat-tailing shenanigans. Even without coat-tailing there remains the potential for blocs to make tiny gains by way of electorate deals, but it would ensure the end of manifest unfairnesses like the relative ACT / NZ First results in 2008. The reality is that National had the opportunity to do the right thing, and chose not to for venal self-interested reasons, and are now crying like spoiled brats because their opponents are using it too.
Scott Yorke at Imperator Fish opines on electorate seats and inter-party relations. On the way through he identifies some strikingly bad net behaviour. Labour MPs past and present who badly need to learn to control themselves on the net just as much as Bomber does.
Last week’s developments around Internet MANA have caused much conversation on the left in New Zealand. Some of that conversation has been constructive, strategic, and forward-thinking. And then there is Bomber:…. Whose analysis is designed to split the left, not unify it; and the recommendations would help the left lose, not win. Top work.
Kim Dotcom has shaken up the election with a claim his new Internet Party will have a $3 million war chest. The big questions are: is this kind of donation good for democracy, and are left-leaning campaigners hypocrites for accepting it? The answers are respectively yes and no. A politician’s job is to campaign within the rules as they currently stand. They owe no duty to provide their opponents with advantage by pre-emptively limiting their own campaigns.
Some thoughts on the implications of the Internet Mana announcement and the anticipated selection of Laila Harre as the Internet Party leader. Like everything else concerning Kim Dotcom nothing is simple.
Mana has announced a formal partnership agreement with the Internet Party. Both parties will retain their separate existence but submit a joint list for the election. The Internet Party will contest as yet unnamed general electorate seats.
