Written By: - Date published: 11:35 am, June 17th, 2014 - 202 comments
Labour has released its Kiwisaver policy. Kiwisaver will now be universal for all workers except those earning less than a to be set level. Contributions will be gradually increased. The $1,000 Kick-start and government contribution of up to $521 a year will be retained and will apply to all new enrollments
Written By: - Date published: 7:41 am, June 15th, 2014 - 253 comments
Al Jazeera outlines the dubious ethics of Goldman Sachs and the oligarchy it supports. They don’t give a shit about the lives they damage, or the resulting increases in inequality. The Nation interviews call for increasing public pressure on politicians to tackle NZ’s appalling child poverty.
Written By: - Date published: 3:48 pm, June 13th, 2014 - 84 comments
The latest Conservative poster has a familiar feel to it.
Written By: - Date published: 2:50 pm, June 13th, 2014 - 40 comments
Rob Salmond at Polity on what has landed in his mail box paid for by your GST and also close to the wrong side the permissible limits of Parliamentary Services funds. Or perhaps this is something for “NZ Taxpayers Union” to moan about wasting taxpayers money with. They won’t of course because they seem to be good little front organisation for Act and Jordan Williams appears to have about as much independence as their beloved slaves. But if you received one, then a complaint seems in order.
Written By: - Date published: 4:11 pm, June 11th, 2014 - 37 comments
Writing in the Herald, Fran O’Sullivan tells us what we all knew: that political donors have expectations, and want favours in exchange for their cash. She’s too polite (and Establishment) to call it corruption, but that’s what it is. Its time we forced parties to do so as well. Transparent public funding if required. If the choice is spending public money or permitting corruption, the choice is pretty clear.
Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, June 11th, 2014 - 70 comments
Five years after making cuts to the training incentive allowance for solo parents wanting to educate themselves National is moving to provide some support and now realises that it makes long term sense to invest in education for solo parents. Could it be there is an election around the corner and National realises that it is vulnerable on issues relating to poverty and inequality?
Written By: - Date published: 1:34 pm, June 9th, 2014 - 34 comments
Yesterday TV3 on the Nation hosted a debate between the candidates for the Epsom seat. Unbelievably National’s Paul Goldsmith did not show up. Labour’s Michael Wood produced a bag of wholemeal flour and has promised to take this bag to every public event and to put it where Goldsmith should be every time he does not show up. I suspect we are going to see this particular bag of flour a lot …
Written By: - Date published: 12:56 pm, June 9th, 2014 - 62 comments
The government has been stripped of its legislative majority and its policy programme, especially employment relations “reform”, is now in tatters. Now that Banks has going, we are seeing an extensive rewriting of history by the National government. Kind of pathetic really.
Written By: - Date published: 9:24 am, June 9th, 2014 - 51 comments
David Cunliffe badly needs a new stump speech. On Thursday in Whanganui I heard him depress a large and sympathetic audience for ten minutes with tales of national woe, then promise a positive campaign but give no details. It is good to know that a positive campaign is proposed. Labour has promised an economic upgrade; it also needs a communications upgrade, and besides being positive it must be relevant. That could shift the polls.
Written By: - Date published: 6:23 pm, June 8th, 2014 - 108 comments
John Banks has announced his resignation from Parliament effective from this Friday …
Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, June 8th, 2014 - 93 comments
Banks look very likely to be gone by Monday. But, some journalists are going to bat for John Banks, claiming he hasn’t really done anything wrong with respect to the verdict of guilty for filing a false election funding return. They are ignoring the facts of the case, and trying to rewrite history. [Update: Banks to resign]
Written By: - Date published: 10:20 pm, June 7th, 2014 - 8 comments
As a senior member of the New Zealand Police, I would like to respond to allegations that the police were remiss in not prosecuting ACT Party MP the Hon John Banks. There is no police corruption here. We may have been disgracefully, eye-wateringly incompetent, but we are not dirty. Now please move along, as we wish to put this entire incident behind us as quickly as we can, before too many questions are asked.
Written By: - Date published: 8:32 pm, June 7th, 2014 - 220 comments
Nate Silver (The Signal and the Noise – the art and science of prediction) uses an old idea to distinguish pundits as hedgehogs or foxes. Originating with Archilochus through Isaiah Berlin to it can be summed up as “the fox knows many little things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” The test for hedgehogs is “Do your predictions improve when you have more information?” Foxes do – hedgehogs’ don’t. The polls should be a wake-up call for Labour.
Written By: - Date published: 10:54 am, June 7th, 2014 - 47 comments
Earlier this week the latest Roy Morgan poll came out. It was not good news for the left, with National up well over 50% and the Labour/Greens combination languishing below 40%. It is after the Budget and ended before the Banks stuff. Most is probably the post-budget spike. But the government parties are in a lot worse position than they were before the 2011 election.
Written By: - Date published: 8:54 am, June 7th, 2014 - 104 comments
The John Banks scenario must have the Government scratching its head wondering what to do. If he fails to be discharged without conviction a by election will need to be called and can only be avoided if Parliament is reconvened and a 75% majority agrees that one not be called. The imagery of this occurring is something I am sure National wants to avoid.
Written By: - Date published: 8:06 pm, June 6th, 2014 - 76 comments
The names of 20 short listed Internet Party candidates have been published. The list has a very fresh, diverse, youthful, talented and energetic feel to it. I would need more informaton in order to judge who will be the most effective politicians.
Written By: - Date published: 3:08 pm, June 6th, 2014 - 45 comments
In Kiwiblog this morning, David Farrar appeared to be running a 9th floor pre-pump for John Banks to resign. But I was rather incredulous when I read this “I don’t think the Judge has actually helped the Government by delaying the decision on entering a conviction. Now that it is the Judge’s role to care about the impact on the Government.”. Huh? DPF badly needs to go back to do some adult education. Perhaps to night school?
Written By: - Date published: 12:19 pm, June 6th, 2014 - 7 comments
Meet Australia’s President of the United States, Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the instigator of a wink-related scandal. He sometimes puts his foot in his mouth and other times chooses to say nothing at all. 665,777 page views.
Written By: - Date published: 8:06 am, June 6th, 2014 - 88 comments
Justice Wyllie’s written decision in the John Banks case makes compelling and damning reading. Banks has been found guilty because he engineered a situation where a false return was produced and he signed it knowing of this defect. His continued presence in Parliament must be untenable.
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 pm, June 5th, 2014 - 105 comments
It is untenable for someone to remain as an MP after being found guilty of electoral fraud. For the integrity of Parliament, John Banks must go: now.
Written By: - Date published: 9:43 pm, June 5th, 2014 - 15 comments
It was standing room only at a packed Grand Hotel this evening for Hamish McDouall’s campaign launch – “the biggest crowd they’d ever had at the Grand.” One local told me of very good canvassing reports as well. Hamish gave a great speech – as the city’s Deputy Mayor there’s no doubt about his commitment to the local community and name recognition will not be a problem. Watch this space.
Written By: - Date published: 2:21 pm, June 5th, 2014 - 278 comments
John Banks has been found guilty of filing a false expense return in the Auckland High Court today. Will update with details …
Written By: - Date published: 7:58 am, June 5th, 2014 - 99 comments
D Day for John Banks is today. Is he guilty of making a false declaration of his electoral expenses? Will he be convicted? And what are the political repercussions?
Written By: - Date published: 8:53 pm, June 4th, 2014 - 196 comments
David Farrar and then TV3 today get their analysis of Labour’s position on electoral law reform horribly wrong. Are we going to have to put up with this during election year?
Written By: - Date published: 12:43 pm, June 4th, 2014 - 71 comments
The media is trying to suggest that Labour is opposing the Green’s proposed Carbon Tax policy. This is a gross over dramatisation of the situation. Labour has in the past supported a Carbon Tax, has a policy formation process which prevents policy creation on the hoof, and prefers an ETS even though it is slightly more complex on the basis that it is slightly more effective in allocating costs and benefits across the board.
Written By: - Date published: 7:33 am, June 3rd, 2014 - 256 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Written By: - Date published: 5:26 pm, June 1st, 2014 - 101 comments
On Q&A this morning Josie Pagani criticised Labour for not trying to get the MMP coat tail rule removed. The only problem is that Labour already has a bill ready to do just this. Before criticising the Party for inaction she should learn what the party is actually doing.
Written By: - Date published: 12:25 pm, June 1st, 2014 - 132 comments
Kim Dotcom has shaken up the election with a claim his new Internet Party will have a $3 million war chest. The big questions are: is this kind of donation good for democracy, and are left-leaning campaigners hypocrites for accepting it? The answers are respectively yes and no. A politician’s job is to campaign within the rules as they currently stand. They owe no duty to provide their opponents with advantage by pre-emptively limiting their own campaigns.
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, May 31st, 2014 - 74 comments
It’s the Green Party Conference this weekend. Metiria Turei was on RNZ yesterday morning, talking about how the main focus for the conference will be on policies. Speeches will be streamed live online from the conference today & tomorrow. Update: summary of today’s speeches. Healthy Teens policy.
Written By: - Date published: 1:02 pm, May 30th, 2014 - 234 comments
So what does Labour do? Gift Te Tai Tokerau and be open to allegations of manipulating the system (even though National has made an art form of this particular type of activity) or campaign hard and risk the loss of 3 – 4 % points of party vote if Hone loses his seat?
Written By: - Date published: 5:09 pm, May 29th, 2014 - 5 comments
Could the Australian budget sink any lower? – the answer is yes, apparently, with the shock news in answer to a question in he Senate that the ABC may cut Peppa Pig due to budget restrictions. The outcry was such that Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull had to declare that Peppa Pig is safe.
Recent Comments