Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, July 3rd, 2009 - 36 comments
I reckon Red Alert, the Labour MPs’ blog, has been a huge success. It’s great to see MPs unscripted and it’s good for them to get the instant public reaction in the comments. It’s also a bit of a political risk. When you’re allowing instant, uncensored public reaction you can’t hide from criticism and you […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, July 3rd, 2009 - 16 comments
Further to my post yesterday, a reader sent in this quote from 2004: Mr English’s view was not [National’s] official line. As expressed by strategist Murray McCully, it is that the bill is a “charter for blackmail and rent-seeking by Maori interests”. Let’s be clear. National opposed the Foreshore & Seabed Act because they thought […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, July 2nd, 2009 - 8 comments
Dear Labour I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes my attention span isn’t the greatest. Between Twitter and Facebook and texting it’s frankly a wonder I have time for much of anything else. I’m mostly in a hurry and I think that’s probably part of the reason I often don’t know what you’re trying […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, July 2nd, 2009 - 77 comments
I’ll be glad to see the back of the Foreshore & Seabed Act. For many on the Left, including myself, its been a monument to Labour’s failure of nerve in the face of a campaign by National to exploit the underlying racism of Pakeha New Zealand for electoral gain. Yes, there was a certain electoral […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:13 am, June 29th, 2009 - 34 comments
With every new cock-up or dereliction of duty from this Key government, righties point to the Roy Morgan polls and say ‘seems the voters don’t care’. It’s true that National is still polling around 50% in the Roy Morgan and parties’ internal polls. Yet the old hands in the Left aren’t too worried. Short of […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:26 am, June 26th, 2009 - 69 comments
I remember just over a year ago, Helen Clark announcing that the number of people on the unemployment benefit had fallen below 18,000 for the first time in 30 years. The roomful of Labour supporters erupted into applause. Contrary to the crap you hear from righties, Labour top priority is making sure everyone who wants one […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:22 pm, June 25th, 2009 - 8 comments
Over at the Labour MPs’ blog, Red Alert, Brendon Burns has written a piece criticising Agriculture Minister David Carter on the welfare of pigs in sow crates. But while it’s good to see Labour, or at least a Labour MP, finally take a stand on the sow crate issue (God knows the Tories won’t), I […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, June 17th, 2009 - 15 comments
No Right Turn has published an excellent guest post from Labour MP Charles Chauvel about his private member’s bill to stamp out loan sharks. Ever since I became an MP, an issue that I have supported is the regulation of so called “loan sharks”. Loan sharks prey on the vulnerable with unscrupulous rates of interest […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:25 am, June 16th, 2009 - 4 comments
Stolen from the Grassroots Labour site.
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, May 29th, 2009 - 9 comments
Thanks to a reader, here’s Phil Goff’s speech in reply to the Budget. Looks like they’ve ripped the Herald’s version, so for the sake of credit here’s the link to the original. If anyone has the Greens’ response send it in and we’ll put it up.
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, May 27th, 2009 - 15 comments
It’s good to see Green MP Sue Kedgley calling on John Key to personally fix the abuse of pigs in sow crates. The chair of Nawac appears incapable of seeing that there’s even a problem, and the Minister of Agriculture has already been caught misleading the public on national television to defend the industry. It’s […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:46 pm, May 16th, 2009 - 60 comments
In an epic last-ditch defence of Aucklanders’ right to be consulted on the removal of their democracy, Labour and the Greens are currently filibustering the government’s enabling legislation in Parliament by forcing a vote on thousands of new amendments. Their objective is simple, they want to get the bill off to a select committee and […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:46 pm, May 15th, 2009 - 7 comments
Moana Mackey has been looking at old Hansards in a post on Red Alert. The topic was the Local Government Act changes in 2002. It is a revealing look at the change of attitude by National MP’s on the process of consultation for local government changes. A couple of examples: Phil Heatley: I was disturbed […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:05 pm, May 14th, 2009 - Comments Off on “An indecent assault on numeracy”
Over at Public Address Keith Ng has a great post up on Labour and National’s tax regimes. Pretty graphs, accessible analysis and a DPF slap-down – what more could you ask for?
Written By: - Date published: 10:49 am, May 14th, 2009 - 15 comments
Labour’s just launched an interactive Google map showing National’s plans for the Waterview connection. Click the map below to check it out.
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, May 8th, 2009 - 19 comments
Red Alert, a blog by Labour MPs. A good idea – the blog format allows for a lot more freedom than the press release, and will hopefully them a chance to express their own personal views rather than just the official line of the party. It’ll be interesting to see how it works out. So […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:48 pm, May 3rd, 2009 - 93 comments
David Shearer has been selected as the candidate for Labour. Congratulations to all of the candidates [updated: The vodem was a bit slow. So I’ve now updated the post with links to the byelection campaign site after I got home.]
Written By: - Date published: 5:18 pm, April 30th, 2009 - 44 comments
Good to see Labour pursuing a private member’s bill to entrench the Maori seats. Mita Ririnui, who’s lodging the bill, says it “will ensure that the Maori seats in Parliament will not be able to be abolished unless 75 per cent of MPs in any Parliament vote in favour of such a move. ‘The only […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:03 pm, April 29th, 2009 - 49 comments
Today Phil Goff’s question to Key is: “Does he agree with the statements in the House by his Minister of Finance on 16 December 2008 that ‘Yes, I can confirm that National will not be going back on any of those promises, as we fully costed and funded them’?” His angle is obviously going to […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, April 27th, 2009 - 56 comments
With the Government openly preparing the public for spending cuts in the upcoming Budget, No Right Turn reminds us that there are alternatives – rather than cutting services and harming the poor, we could always raise taxes on those who can most afford it. The state of New York is doing this, hiking state income […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:34 pm, April 26th, 2009 - 68 comments
On the way to the Question & Answer session for the Mount Albert Labour selection candidates, it was clear that the campaign has kicked off. The hall is slowly filling up, and it looks like the seats are all full. You’ll see a photo (from the iphone) of candidates on the front table just as […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:56 pm, April 24th, 2009 - 23 comments
Phil Goff has put out a press release calling for a referendum so that the people of Auckland can decide whether the Government’s Auckland supercity plan should go ahead. Excellent. A referendum is the only fair and democratic way to proceed. Especially when polling shows the people of Auckland are evenly split on whether or […]
Written By: - Date published: 3:15 pm, April 23rd, 2009 - 28 comments
After the success of the meetings about the super-city in Waitakere and Manakau yesterday, here are a few more of interest in date order. We will issue reminders when they are due. From the notice on the Grassroots Labour site about a public meeting in Waitakere. Time April 27, 2009 from 8pm (now correct time) […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:49 pm, April 22nd, 2009 - 34 comments
So, Labour’s flying in some bloke called David Shearer to have a tilt at the Mt Albert selection. Apparently he’s been working for the UN Development Programme in Iraq and has quite a bit of foreign policy background. People like him, wife and kids, ticks all the boxes. He also seems to be pretty close […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:26 am, April 22nd, 2009 - 14 comments
It’s good that Labour has rejoined good leftwing principles over the foreshore and seabed. Labour was spooked by the popularity of National’s race baiting into emulating them. They should never have denied iwi the right to go to court to try to establish their customary rights to sections of the foreshore and seabed. There are […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:27 pm, April 21st, 2009 - 57 comments
Breaking news… Labour MP Phil Twyford announced today he will not be seeking the nomination for the Mt Albert by-election. Twyford said he believed the by-election was an ideal opportunity to bring more fresh talent into Parliament, building on Labour’s 2008 intake. “I am already a Member of Parliament. If someone from outside stands and […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, April 18th, 2009 - 20 comments
One of these things is not like the other… One of these things is not quite the same. Can you guess which one is not like the other… Can you tell me before I finish the game?
Written By: - Date published: 12:24 pm, April 16th, 2009 - 27 comments
We should expect National as the political arm of business to surround itself with dirty money and conflicts of interest. As a self-proclaimed social democratic party Labour has no such excuse. So: – What is Labour’s education spokesperson Chris Carter doing accepting election donations from a private college? – Why is Shane Jones accepting money […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:17 pm, April 14th, 2009 - 44 comments
I’ve just stumbled across this killer graph from the PSA on public service numbers under Labour and National. It helpfully puts in graphical form what we’ve known all along – that for all the bleating we’ve heard from National and its sycophants about how Labour’s bloated public service was sucking the nation dry, the reality […]
Written By: - Date published: 1:58 pm, April 7th, 2009 - 67 comments
The press statement from Michael Cullen on his departure from Parliament is here. He will be missed, and probably not just by members of the Labour Party. He has been an outstanding Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister. His attention to looking forward to circumstances such as the current world economic chaos has left […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:59 pm, April 7th, 2009 - 10 comments
Trans-Tasman reports: the Government will offer former Deputy PM and Finance Minister Michael Cullen the post of Chairman of the Board of NZ Post and its subsidiary Kiwibank, succeeding Jim Bolger who is due to retire this month. Cullen is announcing his retirement from Parliament today. Good on him. UPDATE: Stuff reports Cullen will be […]
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