Right place wrong reason
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Politics
political parties
Jin An – Why I am running for Labour
In this guest post Jin An states what made her decide to be the Labour Candidate for Upper Harbour and the list.
Little on immigration
A good piece by Andrew Little in The Herald, setting out Labour’s position on immigration (with policy to come).
Chester Borrows in court
With the Eminem case on the go too its a busy time in court for National.
More love for Labour’s list
Herald: “It is a fresh-looking line-up, led by MPs who have been in opposition long enough to have won their spurs and feel they are more than ready to move into the Beehive.”
Macron and Trudeau mean yes for Ardern
The election of Trudeau in Canada and Macron in France suggest that the path to electoral success may be with younger fresh faced and untainted candidates.
Still spinning “social investment”
Directing welfare spending where it will do most good makes sense. But let’s make sure that that is what it is, not an excuse to simply cut funding, stigmatise, and target “undesireables”. National’s record does not inspire confidence, to say the very least. Then there’s the hypocrisy…
Fuck the homeless
Those compassionate conservatives of the National Party have a message for the increasing number of homeless who occupy our Brighter Future.
NRT: This is why we can’t have nice things
I/S highlights National’s new net debt target of 10-15% of GDP – and specifically, what it will cost us.
Brownlee as Foreign Minister as successful as you’d expect
Brownlee’s run as Foreign Minister is already a mess. Such is the depth of National’s talent pool.
Why Labour’s Maori MPs opted out of the list
In a facebook post Meka Whaitiri has explained why Labour’s Maori Electorate MPs decided not to stand for list placements.
NRT: Inflation and poverty
I/S at No Right Turn writes: “The CPI is out today, and it shows that the poor are getting poorer … This is a long-term trend. Since National took office, inflation for poor households has been nearly twice that of rich households.”
Bill English doesn’t get it – literally doesn’t get it – how messed up the “Brighter Future” is
“There are approximately 92,700 Kiwis aged between 15 and 24 who aren’t working, in education or training. That’s up 19 percent during National’s time in power, and Prime Minister Bill English admits he’s not sure why.” Could it be because…
A young person’s view on why we have to change the Government
At Labour’s North Shore candidate Romy Udanga’s recent campaign launch a fourteen year old young man spoke about why he wants to work to change the Government.
Labour’s list – diversity and renewal
Labour has delivered a list of diversity and renewal. Good to see it getting the recognition it deserves.
Labour’s list of candidates for 2017
The full list of Labour’s list candidates for the 2017 election list. (Updated)
Protecting our biggest export income earner
Tourism Export Council: “The National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) in its current form is nothing more than a PR-stunt from Government who continue to ignore scientists and expert opinion re the state of our freshwater. The NPS-FM does not address the serious problems facing our waterways and, in fact, will make them worse.”
Eminem case could cost Nats big
Eminem’s lawyer on the Nats’ email chain – “Also, the focus is on not just whether it’s an infringement. But whether they can shift liability to someone else.” Typical.
Jackson’s list position
Willie Jackson accepts his (rumoured) list position without the need for an over-hyped “crisis meeting”.
Pike River – what did the government know and when did they know it?
Bill English claims to have been unaware of the video footage, but the night before Nick Smith’s spokesperson said the government had been “advised”. It would have been extraordinary if they had not. Pike River families deserve the truth.
National in court – is “pretty legal” good enough?
Today National, party of personal responsibility and property rights, is in court for allegedly ripping off work the work of Eminem. How stupid do you have to be to make the same mistake twice?
Is the Labour Housing policy even possible?
If Labour wins in September what state infrastructure can it utilise to deliver on its promise to build tens of thousands of affordable homes?
Hickey’s chart of the week
Greens launch nationwide Māori Caucus tour
The Green Party’s Māori Caucus is on a national outreach tour to engage with Māori communities, starting in Northland today.
A legacy of poisoned water
We won’t be able to say that we didn’t have ample warning, with a another detailed and damning report on water quality out yesterday. Does National really want to be remembered for allowing the poisoning of our water?
Nick knifed
Parata fleeing education mess
Parata can believe whatever brings her comfort of course, but the fact is that this National government has made, as usual, a mess of education.
Reshuffle
Bill English is to announce a cabinet reshuffle today. What should he do?
Housing affordability data suppressed?
Bill English would have you believe that there is no housing crisis. He desperately needs you to believe it until after the next election. Is Nick Smith deliberately suppressing housing data?
Green power
Lots to like in The Greens’ new power policy.
National’s economic report card fail
Though artificially boosted by high immigration and disaster rebuilds, the NZ economy is in the doldrums, and National are a failure even by their own goals and targets. I predict that National will soon abolish all targets, and that this will be “a sign of our success”.
National has some strange candidates – Pakuranga
National is selecting some unusual candidates. One of them is Simeon Brown a devout chrisitian with very conservative views who is replacing liberal National MP Maurice Williamson.
Labour’s leadership team
Big turnouts for Labour meetings. Some commentators just can’t quite get to grips with how well the new leadership team is working.
Won’t the Government think about the kiwis?
The Government has granted Alpine Pure the right to construct a pipeline through a breeding area for a critically endangered Kiwi so that it can extract water from a Unesco World Heritage site for free.
Stay on the treadmill suckers!
That is the Nats’ advice to aspiring Auckland house buyers.
Motels are full of homeless so now what?
Ordinary people are priced out of home ownership and increasingly out of renting, the state-housing safety net has been deliberately run down, and now the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff is full. National leaps into action – by asking the Salvation Army for ideas…