What Have Labour Done For The Poor, Exactly?
There’s been plenty of criticism about Labour’s policies not being effective enough to alleviate poverty. Time for a bit of perspective.
Social issues
Latest Newshub/Reid Research poll – Labour cruising, National floundering
Labour can still rule alone and the Greens are looking safer.
Vote Labour To Support Your Job
This is a backpocket election – and that’s where most of Labour’s effort is going as it rightly should.
National’s many and varied Covid border policies
On Tuesday National announced the fifth variation of its Covid border policy this year.
Colmar Brunton poll: Labour still way ahead
Judith will not enjoy this poll result.
National’s lolly scramble tax cuts
Despite claiming that the PREFU figures were catastrophic and despite stating a month ago that it would not do this National has come out with a policy of temporary tax cuts favouring the rich. They must be desperate.
Choosing ‘enough’ rather than ‘more’
A brief look at steady state economics and the values of enough rather than more.
The PREFU is much better than National wanted
The Prefu is out! And it is not as scary as National would have wanted.
What just happened with Israel?
Just two months before election day, Donald Trump appears to have won a diplomatic coup in the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have normalised relations with the state of Israel.
Taxpayer’s Union is wasting taxpayers’ money
The Taxpayer’s Union, which claims to be opposed to Government waste, is wasting taxpayer’s resources by lodging a spurious complaint with the Broadcasting Standards Authority against Labour’s free apprenticeship policy.
Qanon is here
While a few in the media leapt at the opportunity to vilify a small evangelical community at the latest COVID 19 spread, the really big COVID 19-conspiracy story landed by the thousand this weekend. It’s overdue we woke up to QAnon here.
National’s infrastructure bank
National’s proposed Infrastructure Bank is an accounting trick, with very high risks that the entire power of our political order for anyone affected by these monster projects will weaken citizens’ rights.
Covid, the US President and the Evangelical churches
There has been disturbing local news that some members of a local evangelical church, influenced by American equivalents, refused to accept the threat posed by the virus. And in America a new book from Bob Woodward suggests strongly that Donald Trump knew how big a threat Covid would be but chose for political reasons to downplay the risk.
How has Conservation Fared Under This Government?
I’m going to give this government just 5 out of 10 on the conservation front.
What did Brownlee know about Southern Response’s misleading and deceptive conduct?
The Court of Appeal has ruled that Southern Response has engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and has potentially short changed thousands of Cantabrians hundreds of millions of dollars.
Will NZ First make it back into Parliament?
One of the most interesting questions about the current election campaign is will New Zealand First make it back into Parliament after the election, with polling and a slew of not dissimilar parties on the right suggesting that Winston’s time may be up.
Landlord lobby group hopes National Government will ditch warm flat requirement
The NZ Property Investors Federation has proposed to its members they should hold off on making flats warmer and drier just in case there is a change of government.
Covid – New Zealand has similar levels of freedom to Sweden
Simon Thornley is claiming that New Zealand’s covid response is a failure and we should be more like Sweden. But it appears that in more recent times Sweden has toughened its stringency tests so that they are similar to New Zealand’s.
Will our cities revive?
Our cities are the nation’s lungs; they recycle and accelerate external goods and transform them internally into faster circulation. Auckland and Christchurch have had tens of billions invested in them over successive local and central governments, but has this improved our strength or wealth as a country at all?
“Reds under the Bed”.
Everyone has recently had an education on “Socialism” working in practice.
And a graphic illustration of the shortcomings, of under regulated “Free market” Capitalism, Globalism, tax cuts for the rich, and the mania for monetising everything in sight, and “running it like a business”.
What progressive housing policy for renters looks like
Currently your politicians do NOT represent people who rent. But you all have a choice to vote for solutions that do!
How Trump Has Changed New Zealand’s future
Post Trump how is the world order looking?
The Herald’s idea of balance
The Herald yesterday posted a story suggesting that Aucklanders were split over the second lockdown when the actual reality was the vast majority were supportive. And a subsequent article pointing out how positive the result was does not clear the perception of negative bias.
No Right Turn: If police think this is lawful and ethical, why did they try to hide it?
“The Privacy Commisisoner has said explicitly that any use of facial recognition needs a high level of scrutiny, which for a government agency, effectively means their approval. Police deliberately avoided doing that.”
Labour’s Hefty Carrot-And-Stick For Water
New Zealand’s local and regional councils have been given until August 31 2020 to sign up to a ginormous fund that would help them improve their water, wastewater, and stormwater systems. The implications for them doing this are significant and could see the end of Council control of the supply of water.
Kia kaha Greens
The Green Party is facing major push back from members relating to a decision to give shovel ready funding to a private school involved in education about the environment.
Everybody got together on that day as one brother
The sentencing of the Christchurch Mosque mass murderer was shaping up to be a circus and allow the person in the dock to spread his message of hate. But so far it has been a cathartic event and has given the victims a chance to vent their feelings. And it has provided a chance for us to reinforce our solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters.
Should 16 year olds have the vote?
A current case before the High Court is asking the question should 16 year olds be permitted to vote.
The election campaign and the sponsored Herald article
Radius Chair and NBR rich lister Brien Cree has a sponsored article in the Herald this morning that is critical of the Government’s Covid response.
Covid 19 catastrophisation
Recent catastrophisation of the Government’s response to Covid by National is overplayed and overhyped, although some of the investigation by the media has been helpful in highlighting weaknesses in the response where improvement is important.
Is New Zealand or the United States the Covid cot case?
This week Donald Trump has defended the US’s abysmal handling of Covid 19 by claiming that the disease is out of control in New Zealand. And National’s rhetoric continues to match what he is saying.
Here comes the vaccine
Australian Prime Minister Scott Malcom has indicated he’s getting close to the deal of a lifetime for Australians with a letter of intent from Astra Zenica, who are in third stage clinical trials. Will New Zealand benefit?
Yale does socialist medicine with new covid test
Yale have developed a covid saliva test that is not only effective but will be intentionally cheap and easily available.
The Covid Court Case
The High Court has ruled that for technical reasons during the first nine days of the lockdown statements that New Zealanders were legally required to remain at home were incorrect.
What Might A Democratic Party-Dominated U.S. Foreign Policy Do?
Inasmuch as tiny, distant New Zealand need worry about the foreign policy of the United States, it’s worth a drill into what a Democratic Party dominated United States foreign policy might look like.
What does Judith do about Gerry?
Gerry Brownlee has chosen to not only repeat his conspiracy theories involving Ashley Bloomfield but also claim that the media is against National. Both claims have no factual foundation.