In his usual dignified way, Donald Trump announced that he was sacking Rex Tillerson, the American Secretary of State in a tweet. And so the round of musical chairs that marks the White House’s descent into even more incompetence continues. Meanwhile the farce of the Russian election proceeds in their background of state operated terrorism in the UK. But there is some light
At a Union/NDP conference in March 2002 in Ottawa I saw wall-to-wall US TV attacking Iraq in my room. My caucus report that […]
Herald lifestyle columnist has published two recent opinion pieces, the first wondering if Jacinda Ardern will be able to address the many and varied problems the country faces and the second suggesting that the Government is under the control of the extreme right. Can he please make up his mind.
Some aspects of the TPP no-one’s mentioning.
Winston Peters has launched a legal fishing expedition to identify who exactly breached privacy on his superannuation over payments. A problem that he shares with about 50 thousand other pensioners. Unlike them, his problem wasn’t trying to find money to repay it. It was that the breach was deliberately timed to be a classic dirty politics ploy, almost certainly by National, in the leadup to the recent election. I wish him good fishing.
Details about how the next Cabinet may be made up are emerging. Winston Peters may regain the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs as well as being Deputy Prime Minister.
NZ First chose to be inside Cabinet in a full coalition. I’d rather expected that they would choose to be in a confidence and supply agreement as they did with Labour back in 2005. That they decided to take the risk despite their previous experience with National is a stunning level of trust. But they work well with Labour.
It appears that Winston is about to announce the decision of the NZ First party about their coalition partner today. For those who seem to think that coalitions should be formed with rapidity, they simply shouldn’t. That is the path to making stupid decisions, and I am yet to hear a single good reason to do it.
Lloyd Burr at Newshub rounded up 23 of Peters’ most quotable attacks on the Nats and their failed government. Add them to the collection of issues that Peters will have to disown if he goes wrong and picks Right.
Just watched the “waiting for Winston Peters” live feed from Stuff. It sounds like the NZ First board know what they want and now there will be a bit more negotiation with both major parties to get closer to what the NZF board were after. They are heading back home leaving the politicians to finish up.
Updated: Winston in one-on-one talks with Bill and Jacinda last night. Looks like it is getting serious.
* but delays are possible.
Peters has the opportunity to put an end to this useless government (and turn National into “the opposition from hell”). I think he’s going to ’96 us, but I’d be happy to be proved wrong
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it now favours higher taxes on the rich and has demolished the myth this might adversely affect […]
Every morning, as the waiting for Winston to decide continues to fray my fragile psyche, I can look at myself in the mirror, contemplate my own frenzied speculative hopes for an Ardern Prime Ministership, and immediately think of a host of strong social-methodological reasons why all such speculation is futile.
D day approaches. What will happen? Will we have a decaying toothless National Government moderated by coalition with New Zealand First or will we have something more exciting?
It’s the last day of coalition talks (probably). Peters has certainly created big expectations of “change”, but what they will mean in practice is still anyone’s guess.
Policy is everything, Winston Peters said today. This should not be a surprise. Before every election, he has refused to give any hint of Party support preference until after the vote. But he will have thought a lot about what he might want, as it has long been clear that his Party would decide the outcome. So what are his policies?
Expect to see agendas on display, and egos, and reckons, and the occasional gleaned factoid. But don’t expect predictions to be any better than chance.
The prospects of a Labour led Government have improved dramatically following the release of the final election results.
Audrey Young on the coalition dance: “Labour would probably have an advantage because of the greater policy overlap”, “Keeping deputy leader Paula Bennett out of the first pro-forma courtesy meeting was an appalling decision by English that simply says he was desperate to please Peters at any cost”.
A tongue in cheek list of reasons why it may be best for National to form the next Government.
In a sign of desperation Bill English rang Winston Peters on the weekend but the call was not answered. Clearly National realises that waiting for the special votes to be released will significantly weaken its bargaining position.
The Herald has offered a number of opinions this weekend saying that Labour forming a coalition with New Zealand First would be a very bad thing.
The Winston Peters interregnum provides New Zealand with the opportunity to work out what are core values and what can be the subject of compromise.
A significant and positive development late yesterday. Labour held firm on the Māori seats, and Peters has decided that a referendum is probably not a bottom line after all. This early progress bodes well for future negotiations.
During the election campaign elements of the farming community protested the possibility of a water tax and of farming being in the ETS on the basis the sector could not afford it. In awkward news it has since come to light that the Chief Executive of Fonterra and senior executives are being paid huge salaries.
Peters campaigned hard against the Nats, and for a change in government (check out the speech and video). To keep faith with democracy and with his party members he has to go with Labour Green (check out the feedback and polls). If Peters goes the other way NZF will implode.
Peters has hardly cleared his throat yet and he’s already clearing out Nats and their proxies. Seymour, Eagleson, Carter – Peters won’t be stopping there. Bill English will agree to anything to cling to power. Peters is already enjoying humiliating him in public.
Labour didn’t deserve to win on Saturday because, firstly, because it failed to bring a fully-fleshed tax policy to voters, and, secondly, it never attempted to win the ideological battle over tax. To succeed at the next election, Labour must begin work today to frame this debate.
“Its not going to be a comfortable term. But it will probably be an exciting one.”
The Nats lost this election. It was a vote for change. NZF party members are calling on Peters to do the right thing.
The political reputation of NZ First as being a one man band. It isn’t. It is a real political party with the classic volatile mixture of members, supporters, candidates and MPs, plus undercurrents of factionalism. They will take some time to negotiate how they should negotiate and with whom.
National do a last ditch dirty politics effort. A few hours before it becomes impossible for anyone to refute this, Tracey Watkins publishes an opinion piece which sounds like the usual National BillShit. Another cynical lie designed to stop the horses from thinking rationally when they vote. This time it is a lie about things that the Greens can’t do – not without going to members. Who aren’t going to go for it.
Peters’ major election interview is a mess of epic proportions, and NZF’s own Pauline Hanson makes an iwi/kiwi speech.
It’s a timely reminder that 12 days before the election Winston Peters has just reaffirmed the door is very much open to a coalition or Confidence and Supply agreement between National and NZF. If you want to change the government, a vote for NZF is a risk.
National deciding to go after Winston Peters was a high risk strategy, and it has backfired on them. Caught between their own dirty history and a resurgent Labour.
