Calculated cruelty
National has announced two populist cruel policies today of benefit cuts for beneficiaries on the Jobseeker benefit for over two years and random drug testing for beneficiaries.
national
same old national
Nicola Willis high on a surplus of inflation and unemployment
The PREFU reveals an approaching Nicola Willis surplus based on inflation and fiscal drag. It has nothing to do with economic growth. Meanwhile our young adults are experiencing the joys of very high and sustained unemployment. The same kind of environment that stunted the generation in National’s recession of the 1990s. This time we have a rapidly ageing population. And Nicola Willis in fantasy land.
Stanford gets caught out
This week, a video emerged of a senior official telling staff not to document draft curriculum rewrites exchanged between Erica Stanford’s office and the Ministry of Education, to avoid OIA disclosure. Recent changes also suggest education is being politicised in an offensive way.
National’s pro climate change obsession
Despite the Iranian war threatening supplies, the Methanex plant closure creating an LNG surplus for the foreseeable future, and enabling legislation still pending, National wants to rush through a construction contract for the LNG terminal before the next election.
Comrade Christopher and the breakup of Foodstuffs
Christopher Luxon’s announcement that if re-elected National would move to break up Foodstuffs has met resistence from within his caucus, from the Act Party and from some of the party’s strongest and best resourced supporters.
Why does National despise the poor?
Under National the MSD thinks that food is not an essential need. And it pushed through under urgency a botched up law change which cut the benefits for tens of thousands of elderly kiwis.
Homelessness kills
Very sad recent news from yesterday. Three homeless people in Aotearoa, the land of plenty, have recently frozen to death.
Winning the battle but losing the war
Christopher Luxon may have kept the National Party leadership yesterday but National’s chances in this year’s election just became much worse.
Will he stay or will he go?
Christopher Luxon’s decision to call a National Caucus meeting this morning to vote on his leadership may result in him being forced to walk the plank.
Luxon, Yahoo and Numpty
Christopher Luxon completed a week from Hell by calling his coleaders Yahoo and Numpty and obliterating Media coverage of the announcement of the opening of Auckland’s City Rail Tunnel and of new industry designed school subjects.
Does Policy Still Win the 2026 Election?
In a 2026 election beset already by bombast and hyperbole, is the big-policy-first approach of the left still working?
Uber Air Force One
It has been disclosed that Christopher Luxon used an Air Force plane to fly him from a National Party fundraiser in Whanganui to his home in Auckland.
Luxon’s biggest problem is Luxon
As we enter the home strait for the 2026 election National strategists must be thinking “what the f*(k do we do from here”? Because Christopher Luxon’s complete indifference to the difficulties businesses are facing and his inability to control Winston Peters are harming National’s reelection prospects big time.
Our Worst Recession
The very worst crisis is the one from which you learn nothing. New Zealand has not had an economic stagnation and housing market price decline this bad since the 1970s.
A Very High Impact Climbdown by Minister Bishop
Minister of Transport Chris Bishop has now finally admitted that National’s 2023 election promises in transport were “very ambitious, ” and pushed many of them into simply future unfunded ideas, at devastating economic cost.
Simpleton Brown: an idiot about power
I was struck by just how out of touch Simeon Brown is with the frustration of residential consumers of electricity. The ever rising prices, the frequent outages, and the stupidity of our electricity market. National’s fast-track doesn’t address any of that, nor their minuscule solar plan. Labour’s plan is a more useful fast-track to transform our real productive economy. Far more so than just exporting profits offshore from mining and data centres
With friends like NZ First …
This week Tama Potaka announced the Government will backtrack on a proposal that would have allowed for the sale of up to 60% of the country’s conservation land. But Shane Jones then completely undermined the announcement by talking about using Conservation land for mining.
National panics with Kiwisaver announcement as polling crashes
National’s recent Kiwisaver announcement, expected to cost $110 million a year, only pays back some of the savings from its erlier Kiwisaver cuts expected to save $610 million a year, and appears to be signs ofincreasing panic.
The Alarming Echos between Trump and Luxon on elections
In the United States and in New Zealand the current administrations wish to speed up the finalisation of election results by supressing the right to vote.
National panics
It is strange for a party in power finishing its first term to call a media event on a Sunday just so it can attack the opposition. But this is what happened yesterday.
National intends to proceed with the LNG terminal and welch on the country’s Kyoto Protocol obligations
National, a party of supposed economic geniuses, will spend billions on an LNG terminal that is not needed, billions on roads of National significance whose business cases are appalling, and attack Labour for a policy that is cheap, will help ordinary people, reduce fuel dependancy and greenhouse gas emissions.
Kamikaze Chris does Labour a favour
On May 21st, 2026 National’s Chris Bishop did his best to lose the 2026 general election and his Hutt South electorate.
No nukes
The timing of the recent suggestion by Chris Penk that New Zealand should review its nuclear free policy makes you wonder if the Trump Administration has applied pressure to do so.
National wages war on the poor
How cruel do you have to be to raise rents for some of our poorest citizens during a cost of living crisis?
National Is Destroying Wellington
Wellington is being deliberately targeted by National and it is destroying the third largest region of New Zealand.
The beatings will continue until morale improves
National today intensified efforts to alienate the entire public service by announcing that a further 9,000 public positions will be culled if, god help us, they are returned to power.
Constitutional outrage
The Government’s plans to retrospectively change the law to stop a case seeking damages for climate damage caused by heavy emitters is a constitutional outrage and shows not only contempt for the rule of law but also contempt for any action taken by a citizen against climate change.
Crisis what crisis
Christopher Luxon has responded to Winston Peters releasing emails suggesting Luxon wanted to support the US invasion of Iran by dressing him down publicly. The Government is clearly in crisis.
Will the real National leader please stand up
Christopher Luxon will today face his sternest challenge as leader as repeatedly bad polls are having their effect on National’s caucus’s morale.
Tick tock …
National is leaking like a sieve. Either a coup is under way or a group of disgruntled MPs are busily attempting to destabilise Luxon’s leadership. Either way this is not good for National.
National’s incredulous plan for challenging times
An ideological reflex to an economic challenge has severe limitations by design.
Missing in action
As this Government’s inaction over the oil crisis becomes more pronounced more and more people are noticing that Christopher Luxon is missing in action.
Pawn takes Bishop
Christopher Luxon this week showed strong leadership by demoting Chris Bishop for a coup against Luxon that was staged six months ago.
In a crisis the left does better
The Government’s complete reluctance to do anything about the approaching oil crisis is in stark contrast to the approach adopted by more progressive administrative governments overseas.
Is the Government’s $50 a week a vote winner?
The Government’s targeted fuel support is pork-barrelling.
Cash for Access: $8000 for National Party Cabinet, $10000 for PM
National is fundraising and for $10,000 you can buy access to sit with the PM