Written By: - Date published: 12:55 pm, December 4th, 2011 - 82 comments
What questions would you ask David Cunliffe, and why? What questions would you ask David Shearer, and why?
Written By: - Date published: 6:50 am, December 4th, 2011 - 194 comments
A tough decision for Labour looms – go for the gamble on the hero, or back the proven performer? (This post should have been on Friday night but got munched by Wordpress…)
Written By: - Date published: 1:55 pm, December 3rd, 2011 - 134 comments
I ran David Shearer’s campaign headquarters in the 2009 Mt Albert by-election. That gave me unique perspective to get a good hard look at a man in a pressure cooker environment. David arrived from the middle east literally a few short hours before the candidate selection speeches. It showed. He looked tired. But he went […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:44 pm, December 2nd, 2011 - 36 comments
Party reform is high on the agenda of the ALP conference, being held in Sydney this weekend. The conference is being carried live on Sky. Party reform is also high on the agenda of the NZLP – President Moira Coatsworth announced that Labour would conduct an organisational review after the election in her speech to Labour’s Conference in May. It was a prescient move.
Written By: - Date published: 12:34 pm, December 1st, 2011 - 84 comments
It worries me that the media and right wing are trying to take control of the Labour Leadership contest. There’s no great hurry with Christmas around the corner (no new leader is going to get a lot of traction over the summer holidays), but the consequences of making a hasty decision will be disasterous for the party, and disasterous for New Zealand.
Written By: - Date published: 3:42 pm, November 29th, 2011 - 160 comments
Have just received an email from Labour’s President Moira Coatsworth. Phil Goff and Annette King to resign Labour’s leadership effective December 13. Moira is urging all Party members to make their views known to their MPs about the new leadership.The caucus will make the decision but members will have their say. Good.
Written By: - Date published: 12:31 pm, November 29th, 2011 - 20 comments
No Right Turn takes Key to task on his perception of a “large majority”.
Written By: - Date published: 8:43 am, November 29th, 2011 - 172 comments
Looks like Labour will have a proper leadership comp with Goff as caretaker till early next year. Good. Let’s get to know the options. Labour needs to get this right. Because the next Labour leader needs to be the next PM in 2014. Needs to be able to win. The poor people of NZ can’t afford another lost 3 years being squeezed and ripped off by the Tories.
Written By: - Date published: 3:54 pm, November 28th, 2011 - 11 comments
The Old Masters give us their verdict on the 2011 election.
Written By: - Date published: 9:48 am, November 28th, 2011 - 141 comments
Pundit’s poll of polls tracked 57 individual polls this year, four of them appearing just a day or so before the election. Every single poll predicted National with the seats to govern alone. Didn’t happen. The polls over estimate Nat support to the tune of about 4%. They need to rethink their methods.
Written By: - Date published: 2:47 pm, November 27th, 2011 - 43 comments
The specials are going to be crucial in a number of seats, and to determine whether National can form a majority without needing the Maori Party. National could easily lose 2 seats on specials, leaving 58. Banks and Dunne bring 1 each, which equals 60 out of 121, not enough to pass legislation without at least tacit support from elsewhere.
Written By: - Date published: 1:15 pm, November 27th, 2011 - 31 comments
I’m just back from cleaning up our election day HQ after last night’s party. With apologies to lefties who aren’t feeling too flash today, and with particular sympathies to Labour MPs who didn’t make it back, I had a good election night.
Written By: - Date published: 11:17 am, November 27th, 2011 - 22 comments
I agree with Anthony Hubbard in today’s SST “Turning the spin around” – not yet on-line. The most outrageous piece of spin in the election was Chief Ombudsman Beverley Wakem’s justification for allowing the Treasury to refuse to release documents relating to asset sales as requested by TV1, the Greens and Labour. Hubbard calls it a cop-out and a cave-in – he’s right.
Written By: - Date published: 10:13 am, November 27th, 2011 - 321 comments
It’s been a funny kind of election and there’s a lot to ruminate on over the next few days.
Here’s a handful of random thoughts on the matter…
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 pm, November 26th, 2011 - 350 comments
We will try to keep updated with the results of the election as they come through. And we hope that you will do the same in comments. Hopefully we’ll keep the level of punditry down to a less boring level than dead time fill requires for broadcast media. Feel free to tell us what you’re […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:45 pm, November 25th, 2011 - 5 comments
We’re not posting posts and not allowing comments from 2359 tonight to 1900 tomorrow after the polls close.
Thanks everyone….
Written By: - Date published: 11:37 pm, November 25th, 2011 - Comments Off on Where and how to vote
Regardless of who you decide to vote for, it’s really important that you do exercise your democratic duty to vote. Here’s a link to the Electoral Commission site that gives information on voting booth locations, how to make a vote, the people and parties you can vote for in your area, and answers to any […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 pm, November 25th, 2011 - 66 comments
76% of Kiwis are against National’s plan to sell our assets. We know it just doesn’t make sense. We know privatisation leads to higher prices, under-investment, asset-stripping, and profits going overseas rather than into public services. Make no mistake: the only way to stop asset sales is to vote Green, Mana, Labour, or New Zealand First.
Written By: - Date published: 7:02 pm, November 25th, 2011 - 238 comments
Over at norightturn idiot savant has declared his voting intentions. And let’s face it, in a representative democracy how you vote is where the rubber hits the road.
With that in mind Standard authors who feel comfortable with the concept are declaring the who and why of their democratic activities this Saturday. Commenters are free to join in.
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, November 25th, 2011 - 5 comments
If you’re still undecided, www.onthefence.co.nz is a cool little website that will help. You choose three issues that matter to you and how much you agree with two opposing statements on each those three issues – and it’s done with cute sheep graphics. The website then matches your priorities and the three parties that best fit them.
Written By: - Date published: 1:20 pm, November 25th, 2011 - 10 comments
In the end its pretty simple for me. I’m asking you to vote for the Left this election, for 100,000 reasons.
Both Labour and The Greens have policies that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty.
Written By: - Date published: 12:45 pm, November 25th, 2011 - 21 comments
For the sake of your neighbors in Auckland and your extended family throughout New Zealand, could the voters of Epsom please terminate the twitching corpse of the Act party. Once they may have had a purpose. Now they just have John Banks and that other failed politician. Let us look forward into the sunset without this zombie party being maintained by the misplaced charity of the voters of Epsom.
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, November 25th, 2011 - 2 comments
We’ve been getting links to this song for a week or two. Wish I’d gotten round to posting it earlier. Just fantastic.
Hiding in his mansion/While half the population flies across the Tasman/The other half try to act like it’s not happening
There’s no depression in New Zealan’/ Just a slow sinking feelin’
Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, November 25th, 2011 - 33 comments
It’s been a costly election for Key. After the teapot tape fiasco and the subsequent police raids on media, his political capital with the media (except for die-hard fans) is spent.
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, November 25th, 2011 - 25 comments
We’ve been getting emails and comments from people getting robo-calls from John Key. These pre-recorded calls are notoriously bad campaign tools. Invite lots of backlash. Odd National is introducing them (they used them last election but only on election day as a get out the vote tool, not to campaign). Shows they know this election is tighter than it looks.
Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, November 25th, 2011 - 13 comments
The parties’ closing addresses screen tonight on TV1 at 7:30pm. Here’s Labour’s – a strong finish to a strong campaign.
Written By: - Date published: 11:43 am, November 24th, 2011 - 128 comments
The old timers say never trust a Tory. Can see why. Exclusive Brethren. Hollow Men. Tranzrail shares. Secret agenda tapes. Teapot tapes. Suppressed asset sales advice. Climate change ‘hocus pocus’. Police hiring freeze. We keep on discovering their secret agendas. If you care about integrity, if you’ve got enough pride not to put up with being lied to, you won’t be voting National. Only chumps tick Tory.
Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, November 24th, 2011 - 45 comments
I don’t think I can recall an election in NZ conducted under such a cloud of extraordinary and dubious circumstances as this one. Media raids, suppressed information, lies, and apparently even discussing the weather could get you in to trouble.
Written By: - Date published: 4:20 pm, November 23rd, 2011 - 175 comments
Debate over. Not a walkover for Goff like the TV3 debate, but a win to Goff on points. Communicated effectively, came across as honest and open (compared to Key’s shifty body language), and had Key on the ropes several times.
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