Peak NZ Liberal
As National dismantles with speed some of the institutional reforms made by the last Labour Government the concern is that we may have witnessed the peak in progressive influence.
Politics
political parties
Is the Coalition Government Back Jabbing Māori?
The coalition government robs Pita to pay Paora to appease its voter base.
The Mini Budget Today
Don’t let anyone be fooled this Christmas dinner by what National is setting out today.
Be very afraid for Kainga Ora
So National’s shock and awe campaign is under way. And the first target is Kainga Ora.
Why Labour must change course
“A Left government with any claim to progressive credentials will focus on three policy areas – first, high-quality, high value production; second, taxation measures to reduce significantly wealth differences; third, strengthened democracy, including industrial democracy beyond collective bargaining. These three are indispensable. A Left politics, which does not build on these three, will founder.”
90 day trials – Don’t come Monday
This coming week, under urgency and leading into Xmas, the Coalition government will expand 90-day trials to all workers, in yet another payback to National/ACT/NZ First’s (NAF) business backers.
Why was Judith Collins appointed as a KC?
Judith Collins has been appointed a Kings Counsel even before she has had time to show her performance as Attorney General and even though previous highly respected lawyers such as David Lange, Geoffrey Palmer and Margaret Wilson were not appointed while serving as Attorneys General.
Political comeback – Getting the sequencing right
A notably different approach to sequencing political comeback was on show at the VUW post-election seminar last week. Luxon put rebuilding the party first, Hipkins put it last. On policy Luxon was bottom-up and early, Hipkins was top-down and late.
Shame Jones
In one speech Shane Jones has talked about the “hysteria surrounding climate change”, promised to disregard targets agreed to under the Paris Agreement, ordered the halting of work at the Ministry for the Environment, promised the lifting the ban on offshore oil and gas exploration at pace, and said that Mining on Department of Conservation (DoC) and Stewardship land is also in the pipeline.
National’s contradictory stance on Immigration
So Christopher Luxon thinks there is too much immigration. It was not what he was saying last year.
How To Make Bad Law
The cutting of Regulatory Impact Statements is a very serious weakening of holding lawmakers and decision makers to account.
The Government is leaking like a leaky thing
Another day and another leak. And this time it calls into question the Government’s commitment to informed decision making.
Who leaked the Fair Pay Cabinet Paper?
My initial impression was that the person who leaked the Fair Pay Cabinet Paper to the media was probably a disgruntled Public Servant but was it?
What does National have against Te Reo?
It may have been coincidental but the day after there were mass protests against the new Government’s actions in undermining te Tiriti o Waitangi it was announced that National would seek to remove bonus payments for Public Servants learning Te Reo. Not only is this petty and vindictive, it may also be a breach of te Tiriti.
Tobacco bans in NZ and the UK.
The decision in 2021 to introduce the smoking ban was a courageous one. Smoking causes many deaths each year and places a strain on the country’s health system. Smoking is addictive and we should do all we can to discourage young people from taking up this habit. This being said, putting a total ban on tobacco sales of people born after 2009 is well-meaning, but would likely have unintended and profoundly negative consequences.
Willis’s budget analysis is either deeply cynical or evidence she does not know what she is talking about
Recent claims by Nicola Willis that the Governments Finances are full of fiscal cliffs is evidence either that National will cynically make baseless claims to attack Labour or that Nicola Willis has no idea about what she is talking about and has not been doing her most basic job of reading and comprehending previous budget documents.
Cutting fair pay agreements will disproportionately impact women, Māori and Pasifika and young people
The Cabinet Paper dealing with the Government’s proposal to do away with fair pay agreements has hit the media. And the advice suggests that Cabinet is completely disinterested in the on the ground reality of what their shitty policy will do to ordinary Kiwis.
The long wait – dithering, inexperience and wreckers
After 59 days after election day, parliament will finally sit today with a new government. The process has mostly been notable for its incoherent dithering, inexperience, and general stupidity. It is a coalition based on chaos,lack of usable policy and based on wrecking rather than work. It took so long because of wishful thinking and laziness.
Chris Bishop can’t count
This morning on Q&A and despite being pulled up on it Chris Bishop repeated National’s claim that under the Smokefree reforms there would only be allowed one tobacco retail shop in Northland when there would actually be at least 34.
Labour needs to open the military-political front
The new National coalition cares little about defence. Defence is surprisingly a large and under-appreciated strength for Labour.
Just One Term
There is every reason to believe National will be chucked out in 2026.
Gangs rejoice as Pseudoephedrine is back
For a Government that hates gangs you would think that they would be more circumspect with policies that may enrich gangs and increase illicit drug use. But this is exactly what the current Government is planning.
100 days of chaos
National’s 100 days of action is to address the rhetoric of economic difficulties but the announced policies will do nothing to help the pressure that ordinary people are feeling.
Nigel Haworth – Back to the Future?
“Labour should be as focused on production as it is on distribution. Labour’s job is not simply to distribute such resources as accrue to the state; it is to promote production and trade that underpin fairer distribution, but under particular conditions.”
The Left Do Not Own Maori
Labour, the Greens and liberal parts of the media have not adjusted to the fact that liberal and Maori are different things.
Aotearoa the way you want it?
The new Government’s policies give the impression they were formulated by members of a Workingman’s club in the 1970s and negotiated over a few beers.
Highlights quoted out of the National-New Zealand First coalition agreement
Some of the more unusual policies from the National-New Zealand First coalition agreement.
The long wait still continues
On Friday, three parties finally signed agreements to gain a slim majority in parliament. What this means is that some time on Monday Governor General Dame Cindy Kiro will be able to swear in the new ministers of the Executive Council. On Monday Labour and the Greens will have their constitutional muzzle removed. On December 5th parliament will lumber back into work. Then the fun begins for this political blogger.
Strong stable Government?
Today may be the day we have a new Government, that is as long as Act and NZ First can resolve their fight over who is to be Deputy Prime Minister.
The baubles of office
Now that the policy negotiations between Act National and NZ First have been concluded talks have progressed to the most sensitive and difficult area, who will get the baubles of office.
The politics of Palestine
Earlier this week the New Zealand Labour Party made a statement on Palestine and it was a good one.
Certainly much better than the positions adopted by its sister Labour parties overseas.
Mergers and acquisitions
Christopher Luxon has always talked the big talk about his corporate experience with mergers and acquisitions. But the media are starting to ask questions and his positive rhetoric may not be well placed.
Negotiation of chaos
So the coalition negotiations are going as well as I thought they would.
What will National do about special voting rights?
One of the most democratic changes that Labour made to the electoral system was to allow people to enroll and vote on election day. The right hate it. And may be planning to change it.
Nigel Haworth on Labour at the crossroads
Former Labour Party President Nigel Haworth: “Any decisions about leadership should follow a careful and comprehensive review of, first, the recent campaign, and second, the broader settings in which Labour has chosen to work in recent years”
Hipkins endorsed
It was never going to be anything else, but two positive emerged. All policy options are back on the table, including tax, and there is a realisation that the main task ahead is to rebuild a strong and progressive party.