This is day five of the post Ruthenasia era and the response from the right is really underwhelming. The most notable response is a comment by Peter Dunne questioning whether 11 year olds are ever interested in politics.
Peter Dunne has come up with some 2020 election reckons that ignores current polling as well as National’s leadership problems.
United Future has announced that it will be wound up.
Peter Dunne has announced that he will resign from Parliament at the next election.
On current polling the Nats are going to be short at least one of their puppet parties after the election.
From the letter – “Prime Minister Bill English is asking National voters in Ohariu to support National with their Party vote and Peter Dunne with their Electorate vote as this year’s General Election.”
Without a cup of tea in sight National has announced that it will asking supporters to vote for Act leader David Seymour in Epsom and United Future leader Peter Dunne in Ohariu.
Got to hand it to Peter Dunne, he is a master of tragic comedy.
What are the Greens up to then?
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 Government is finally moving to adopt Labour policy and loosen requirements for the use of medicinal cannabis.
Journos have been looking at how Peter Thiel gained citizenship. Not because he shouldn’t have been made a citizen. But it was done without any public notice using a special section of the immigration act. That reeks of a corruption route by a minister or officials. Reasons need to be made public for this and other decisions done this way.
I was rather amused reading Politik’s “Despite the pact Shaw takes on Robertson“ and was struck by the strange way that some political commentators (and probably some politicians) view the world at the political coalface. They really need to start to think about political parties as being like any other organisation. Tactical compromises without a strategic focus will always kill any organisation – eventually.
“Pain debilitates you and makes you depressed and you can sort of let the depression seep over you, but if you can, get out and live your life.”
The Labour/Greens electoral pact spells the end of the line for Parliament’s most self serving MP, Peter Dunne. National have a choice to make; stand down in Ohariu or stab him in the back. And then there’s the equally supine Maori party. Te Ururoa Flavell’s hold on his seat is also shaky. No Flavell, no Maori Party.
No Mates National. The Brighter Future just arrived!
The weekend saw the pressure stay on National over our tax haven status, and the role Key might have played in protecting it.
Peter Dunne is concerned about the ‘extremely damaging’ tax haven label. Guyon Espiner points out that he used to call it ‘legitimate tax avoidance’.
Welcome signs of new realism on drugs. Sadly, it’s the sort of progress only a right-wing government can propose.
With Martin Crowe’s sad death we now learn that he too was self-medicating with liquid cannabis. The time for political timidity is past – make cannabis legally available for medical purposes.
Helen Kelly is getting the run around from Peter Dunne with her request for permission to use cannabis oil. The talented Foxy is running a petition.
Like a stopped watch, Peter Dunne sometimes gets it right.
Peter Dunne doesn’t hold back in his assessment of the craven foreign policy – that is the creation of his government.
With support from Labour, the Greens and the Maori Party NZ First is promoting the Fighting Foreign Corporate Control Bill. The support of one more MP will be sufficient to sent the Bill to select committee for consideration.
Key claimed that the number of hungry kids in schools was limited to “the odd one or two”. Everyone knew it was nonsense. Now a survey by the New Zealand Principals’ Federation indicates the true extent of the problem.
Nick Smith today announced proposed changes to the Resource Management Act. It is likely he will resuscitate the reforms that were stalled after Peter Dunne refused to support them last year. ACT’s David Seymour has said he will support the changes even though he did not know what they are. Treasury are to release a paper with proposals for change. Updated lprent – yep National stupidity reprised.
On the eve of Christmas in a cynical attempt to avoid political damage the Government has apologised to Andrea Vance for breaching her rights of privacy in 2013 after requiring Parliamentary Services to hand over her metadata and attempting to cover up the exercise.
There is a rort being negotiated in Parliament that will cost the thick edge of $1 million a year. Where is the Taxpayer’s union on this?
Will Peter Dunne continue as the MP for Ohariu and sole United Future MP or will Labour’s Virginia Andersen prevail?
Updated: Looks like Peter Dunne is back again.
The choice for NZ voters is becoming clearer in the last days of the 2014 election. The irony is that after John Key’s scaremongering, our options are a three-headed coalition of natural allies versus a five-or-six headed hydra of extremists and sworn enemies.
Peter Dunne has been thrown the lifeline he has been begging for – National voters have been given the nod by Key to keep him on. One has to ask why would they bother – I can’t see him going back as a Minister after so many stuff ups and a resignation that leaves too many questions unanswered. Ohariu has a much better option in Labour’s Ginny Andersen – if she’d been there a truly independent Parliament would have delivered mothers 26 weeks parental leave for example. Dunne supported it initially but backed down when it came to the crunch.
It looks like I’ll be able to head to the NZ First conference at Alexandra Park racecourse on the weekend as media. This election the position of NZ First party members is probably going to be crucial for any coalition that forms. In this rather long post I explain my (and other peoples) thinking on possible coalition results for National after the election. They aren’t good because they really depend on a political group that National has been denigrating for quite a while.
Auckland Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse this week called for there to be a rational debate on whether organic cannabis should be decriminalised. Her reasoning is sound. The natural kind is better than the synthetic kind and prohibition is not working.
In the next few hours Peter Dunne could stand by his word and help Kiwi Families.
The question is, will he do it?
Update: No he didn’t. So much for his principles.
David Cunliffe has just announced that Labour will introduce legislation to remove synthetic cannabis and other psychoactive substances from sale. (updated)
