Can anyone work out what English stands for? His actions and his words are at odds. Vernon Small tries and fails to pin English down on electoral deals, Winston Peters, abolishing the Maori seats, and more.
Te Tai Tokerau looks to be a hotly contested seat in the 2017 general election, and the Greens are entering the fray there for the first time, with new candidate Godfrey Rudolph.
John Key’s support as preferred Prime Minister has plunged in the latest Colmar Brunton poll. And he has been seen playing sponsored golf for a Japanese businessman with unusual characteristics.
Gerry Brownlee is a walking disaster. Such is the depth of National’s talent pool that he is ranked number 4 in their lineup.
Andrew Little’s announcement yesterday in Gisborne of Labour’s pledge of up to $20million to build a prefabricated timber plant there is a much-needed boost to the area and a sign that Labour’s 100,000 new house pledge first made by David Shearer in 2012 has legs.
Any sign of progress is welcome, but let’s hope English is not deliberately stringing along the Pike River families with false hope.
What are the Greens up to then?
Hey Bill English, it’s not the case that “no one could have anticipated the large-scale fire on the Port Hills”. Just about every relevant organisation could and did predict it. Most of the other predictions relating to climate change will come true too.
It seems almost inevitable that the recent fires in Canterbury and the Hawkes Bay are the result of climate change and the harbingers of things to come.
Marama Fox and Bill English have painted themselves into a bit of a corner, and Fox is threatening to “walk away from the Government”. Key would have handled this better.
Who can even keep up with it all?
In the middle of a housing crisis “Housing New Zealand documents obtained under the Official Information Act show that there are nearly 2,500 empty state houses, more than 500 of which have been empty for over a year.”
The Government is refusing to support Jan Logie’s bill aimed at helping the victims of domestic violence despite the bill receiving support from the ANZ and Business New Zealand supporting the bill going at least to select committee.
Putting aside misgivings for the sake of the greater good is a mark of political maturity which many politicians and commentators could learn from.
The former Police Association president has been confirmed as a Labour’s candidate for Wellington’s Ōhāriu electorate.
The Herald informs us that Key is going on the speaking circuit and will go back into finance (not that he ever left). Like John Howard before him, he also intends to carry on chairing the International Democratic Union of right-wing parties. Not a surprise.
With these deep divisions exposed the party is clearly in total disarray.
The Government is finally moving to adopt Labour policy and loosen requirements for the use of medicinal cannabis.
Green Party co-leader James Shaw’s 2017 Parliamentary Commencement Speech
So apparently the PM managed to get through a 15 minute call without “upsetting” Trump. That’s where we set the bar these days.
Some time in the next 12 months it is likely that the forgone dividend payments and loss in share value from the Power Company shares and Air NZ share sale will be greater than the amount received, only three years after the sale.
Anonymous Herald editorial: “Bill English has 8 months to answer Labour’s challenge”.
The Government signed a deal with Peter Thiel that socialised the losses and allowed him to privatise the gains of the joint venture fund that the parties entered into.
Compassionate conservatism in action. No wonder English was so tame in his criticism of Trump’s Muslim ban.
Fair to say that Bill English’s “big” policy announcement today was a total flop.
(Photo – Peter McIntosh the Otago Daily Times)
The Peter Thiel paper dump raise more questions than they answer and hints at ongoing communication with National ministers and that John Key approached Thiel to make the donation subsequently made to Key’s earthquake fund.
Labour is serious about regional development. It is proposing a 10 year $200m package of regional initiatives. The first of these was just announced in Dunedin.
Interim PM Bill English is getting a hammering for his “weak and indecisive” response to Trump’s Muslim ban.
A touching cartoon message to Bill English on why he should increase New Zealand’s refugee intake.
Bill English has failed his first test of real leadership. Compare and contrast, English and Little’s responses to the Muslim ban.
Update: The image is Emmerson’s take in The Herald.
Yesterday’s joint Labour Green state of the nation event was effectively a campaign launch for the 2017 election. And it went well.
World leaders are condemning Trump’s Muslim ban. What does the PM of our country have to say on the matter?
The text of Andrew Little’s State of the Nation speech delivered today.
