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chris hipkins

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Game on: Labour and the Greens speak to media from Waitangi

Written By: - Date published: 2:28 pm, February 3rd, 2026 - 28 comments

Chris Hipkins, Marama Davidson, and Chloe Swarbrick speak on unity, working together while being separate partners, and the upcoming election.

What does Labour do about Winston?

Written By: - Date published: 2:29 pm, February 1st, 2026 - 61 comments

Current polling suggests that we may witness something that has not happened before, a one term National Government. But this may mean Labour making a deal with Winston Peters. What should Labour do?

Management speech mumbo jumbo

Written By: - Date published: 11:16 am, January 20th, 2026 - 17 comments

Christopher Luxon’s latest State of the Nation speech suggests that over summer he has been spending more on his Spotify summer list than he should have.

Some random predictions for 2026 …

Written By: - Date published: 10:22 am, January 2nd, 2026 - 8 comments

What will election year 2026 bring to Aotearoa?

Politician of the year?

Written By: - Date published: 9:39 am, December 31st, 2025 - 3 comments

Chris Bishop is thought by some to be the politician of the year, mainly for drafting a couple of bills plaigarised from the work of David Parker and untested promises to build hugely expensive roads of National significance. But they are ignoring the most extraordinary performance by an opposition leader in recent decades.

It’s Changed Too Much For The Nostalgia Cure

Written By: - Date published: 10:23 am, December 14th, 2025 - 13 comments

If Labour wins government in 2026, many things won’t be recoverable.

Why the next election will not be easy for Labour

Written By: - Date published: 12:12 pm, December 7th, 2025 - 27 comments

This may be a one term National Government. But electoral law reform, the state of Labour’s coalition partners, a possible economic upturn and a change in National’s leader threaten this.

Let them eat Michelin Stars

Written By: - Date published: 2:46 pm, November 7th, 2025 - 9 comments

The Government’s class prejudices are now on clear display. In the same week that news emerged that the Government is considering a ban on rough sleepers in major urban town centres further news emerged that it is subsidising Michelin to award Michelin stars to local restaurants.

We Deserve Better

Written By: - Date published: 8:57 pm, October 23rd, 2025 - 68 comments

New Zealand’s media landscape is falling apart. We need a publicly-funded media entity covering television, radio and a digital platform

Labour’s Future Fund is full of promise

Written By: - Date published: 1:09 pm, October 21st, 2025 - 6 comments

Labour’s first cornerstone policy is a solid start

Labour’s Sub-Therapeutic Dose for Economic Sickness

Written By: - Date published: 6:41 pm, October 20th, 2025 - 53 comments

Why is Labour proposing $200 million for a growth fund when New Zealand First got $3 billion?

It Is Not Enough Only to Change the Government

Written By: - Date published: 6:41 pm, August 27th, 2025 - 19 comments

Everyone on the left can agree that we must change the government. Elliot Crossan argues that if Labour wins in 2026 and refuses to transform the system generating extreme inequality, NZ society will continue to fragment. Change the government. This is currently the unanimous goal of trade union leaders, left-wing politicians and progressive NGOs. At rallies, […]

Should Labour attend a set-up?

Written By: - Date published: 10:57 pm, August 13th, 2025 - 158 comments

The Government is accusing Labour of all sorts of bad things for not attending the second week of the Covid-19 inquiry.

Weasel Winston’s FiveEyes fudge

Written By: - Date published: 4:45 pm, June 25th, 2025 - 22 comments

Winston Peters’ Ministerial statement in Parliament yesterday was a disgrace. Echoing other FiveEyes leaders such as Keir Starmer, unable to distinguish evil from good, he accused those who can of “moral posturing.”

Homelessness up by 58% in Auckland

Written By: - Date published: 5:35 pm, June 7th, 2025 - 8 comments

$250mn in emergency housing “savings” a year under National, while government increases corrections budget to ~$2b a year, and will surpass NZ’s ”moral and fiscal prison failure prison rate” by 2026

Seeing Is Believing

Written By: - Date published: 2:05 pm, May 30th, 2025 - 9 comments

A video post, starring Christopher Luxon, Chris Hipkins, Nicola Willis and Winston Peters. Featuring Debbie Ngarewa-Packer as star prosecutor.

Liam Hehir needs to relearn his civics

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, May 22nd, 2025 - 17 comments

Generally I like reading Liam Hehir over at the The Blue Review. He is usually interesting despite his position. However he asserted that “Parliament Must Rule Itself”. Of course parliament must control itself. But rule itself – no! Voters do that. Parliamentary rules are mainly there to keep a low profile to voters looking at their poor performance. Right now that is inside the privileges committee.

The Government blinks

Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, May 21st, 2025 - 15 comments

Faced with the threat of an impassioned filibuster against the Priviliges Committee extreme recommendations the Government yesterday abruptly stopped debate on the committee report by voting to adjourn the debate.

Lies damned lies and Pay Equity Repeal excuses

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, May 7th, 2025 - 27 comments

Christopher Luxon yesterday tried to claim that budgetary considerations were not the reason for repealing the Pay Equity Legislation even though David Seymour had said that the monetary savings from the bill would save the Budget.

Winston’s war on wokeness

Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, March 25th, 2025 - 41 comments

In what looked like an early election campaign launch Winston Peters has done his old man shaking his fist at the sky tirade against everything woke.

Climate change?

Written By: - Date published: 8:43 am, March 10th, 2025 - 101 comments

Chris Hipkins has released his priorities should he be Prime Minister. They do not include addressing climate change.

Labour to campaign on tax reform

Written By: - Date published: 6:15 am, March 10th, 2025 - 57 comments

1News: The party leader told Q+A that Labour would be announcing its tax policy later this year, ahead of the 2026 election. He said too much investment was going into property rather than “productive businesses that create jobs”. “We’ve got to rejig the tax system so that the burden of taxation is more evenly spread,” […]

If that’s Luxon’s Plan, What About Labour? 

Written By: - Date published: 1:05 pm, January 26th, 2025 - 56 comments

It’s time to highlight what a Labour plan for the New Zealand economy under a 2026 government would look like. And ask questions. 

Latest opinion poll – Labour overtakes National

Written By: - Date published: 2:21 pm, January 17th, 2025 - 62 comments

luxon sheep

That grinding noise you can hear from the Parliamentary precinct is the sound of National backbenchers sharpening their knives getting ready for a change of leadership. Because the latest Curia poll shows National has fallen behind Labour in the preferred party stakes.

2024 in review

Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, December 31st, 2024 - 25 comments

It is that time of year when during the brief hiatus of civilisation known as the holidays we get the time to reflect on what has happened over the past 12 months.

Is Luxon on a roll?

Written By: - Date published: 10:12 pm, December 18th, 2024 - 24 comments

Or about to be rolled? Word has it that Chris Bishop is waiting in the wings, as Luxon’s favourability rating drops below Hipkins.

Hipkins’ Conference speech

Written By: - Date published: 4:35 pm, December 1st, 2024 - 31 comments

Text of Chris Hipkins’ speech to the 2024 Labour Party Conference.

A Heavy Day

Written By: - Date published: 3:05 pm, November 7th, 2024 - 40 comments

This short excerpt represents a respite from the US election. Christopher Luxon apologises to Opposition leader Chris Hipkins and more. TPM ask Luxon about using force in boot camps. Plus a quick reminder on what we shouldn’t forget here in NZ either.

Where’s The Opposition?

Written By: - Date published: 11:36 am, October 13th, 2024 - 61 comments

Labour, Green Party and Te Pati Māori have been relatively quiet as the Coalition government move at breakneck speed to roll back laws and transfer wealth. Is it a matter of resources, media coverage, or will?

Latest poll result – National is being cleaned out by NZ First and Act

Written By: - Date published: 6:41 pm, October 11th, 2024 - 109 comments

The latest Curia poll result suggests that National is tanking and NZ First and Act are eating into its support. And Luxon selling off his rental properties and saying that he does not care suggests he may be planning for an exit.

The New Zealand left are in the worst place in a century

Written By: - Date published: 11:20 am, September 23rd, 2024 - 68 comments

New Zealand has the most right wing government it’s had since Governor George Grey determined to eradicate all Maori power by systematic war and then systematic legislative theft in 1863. But the left shows no sign of unifying.