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Agenda this morning showed, in several ways, that if you want to ask difficult questions, you have to know your topic. Guyon Espiner gave a comprehensive lesson in the dangers of only knowing the media hype on a topic, not the actual detail. Defence Minister…
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This week the election was announced and the third question to the PM (asked by Colin Espiner) was about whether The Standard possibly knew the date (Helen doesn't tell us either). Colin thinks we're being sensitive about the mainstream media's attitudes to The Standard as…
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A reader just sent us the screenshot below with the attached explanation: Thought I should start to read up on some of the content from parties involved - from their own websites of course. Mainly to educate myself as a voter. National party site -…
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There's an important difference between negative campaigning and dirty tricks but it already seems the two are getting confused in the media. Negative campaigning is saying bad things about your opponent that are at least arguably true (eg Clark saying Key was like a tourist…
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The election date was announced as November the 8th. Everyone had worked that out based on the available dates. But that didn't stop Colin Espiner asking the PM if she had tipped off The Standard about the date seeing as we have called the 8th…
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It's not John Key's week really. Winston disappears like magic off the front pages (I honestly thought I had time travelled somehow when I woke up as usual this morning to Moaning Report and there wasn't a single item on Winston & Glenn), Labour keeps…
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Anyway, Tane sees the article on Stuff that the election date is going to be announced. He puts up a post about it and bets it will be November 8th (which we have already been predicting for weeks, you can see my rationale for it…
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So, Helen Clark is expected to announce the election date at 12.30. $20 says it's November 8. UPDATE: The 8th it is. I'll be collecting my $20 off each of you in due course. Full text of the speech over the break: PM's announcement on…
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Finally, from realestate.co.nz, we have an example of illiteracy to rival National's billboards: I blame Labour's failing education system. [Hat-tip: Matthew Pilott.]
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The Catholic Church has called for politicans to take a 'moral stand' on abortion, adoption by same-sex couples, gambling, embryonic stem-cell research, and euthanasia. Ok, well here are my moral stands on those issues: Abortion: is an awful thing for anyone to have to go through…
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On Sunday, John Key, apparently off-the-cuff, announced he would dismantle the Families Commission and give the money to church groups, who just happened to be the people he was speaking to at the time. Then, he had to speak to UnitedFuture Leader Peter Dunne. The…
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Visit google.co.nz search for the word "clueless" then hit "I'm feeling lucky". I wonder where you'll end up... Update: Make sure you select "pages from New Zealand"
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Helena Catt, head of the Electoral Commission, says the EFA has had a 'chilling effect' on democratic participation. I'm convinced that that is a foolish position based on a belief that 'democratic participation' is rich lobby groups paying for ads and billboards, trying to market…
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With an almost Winston-esqe turn of phrase Owen Glenn has labelled Labour Party president Mike Williams an "unmitigated falsifier of veracity". Yet Glen himself has claimed that he was offered a cabinet post (cough), that he donated money to Labour because of the Exclusive Brethren's involvement…
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One of the great things about the EFA is that donations over $20,000 must be declared within 10 working days. Because of that, we have today learned National received $30,000 from something called the Road Transport Trust on August 27. The Trust is clearly a…
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Like John Key, I'm utterly bored with Peters. So, just a short, tangentially-related note. Tracy Watkins, like every other press gallery journo, thinks the latest micro-development around Peters is more important than the release of a major party's health policy (in contrast, my flatmates are…
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Is this our first real Youtube election? 08wire is doing its bit with another new video:
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We can do good news here on the Standard! According to a World Bank survey shows New Zealand is still ranked second in the world when it comes to ease of doing business. Singapore ranked first with the United States third. According to Clayton Cosgrove:…
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Having just read the National health policy and background paper released by Labour, a few things stand out to me. 1) There is no commitment to primary health-care. In fact, in 25 pages all it says is 'we'll do what's already happening but we'll re-name…
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An interesting interview between John Key and Wammo today. He starts out saying Labour is spending all its time talking about Owen Glenn and Peters whereas he wants to concerntrate on what matters. Funny, because he then spends the rest of the interview turning the…
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Jim Anderton is releasing elements of National's health policy at Question Time: - Pharmac's independent decisions could be overruled by politicians. - Private health insurance would be subsidised by the taxpayer. - No more money for public health National's Jonathan Coleman also reportedly said that…
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For the last several weeks the EPMU has had to weather an extraordinary series of attacks from ACT, ACT candidate and EPMU employee Shawn Tan, and right-wing activist/Herald journalist Lincoln Tan. The union has been accused of breaching Tan's human rights and racism but it…
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Winston Peters will be wondering why he has let his political legacy be destroyed by not simply declaring donations that came from legal sources and being open in his role in soliciting them. All those MPs and other hangers-on who have ridden on the coat-tails…
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Multiple spies, whom National has been unable to catch, and a series of 'gaffes' and accidents involving sensitive papers? Or a bitter faction led by the man who was deposed by Key's vote?
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Boosting their green credentials is not proving as straightforward as National would like, as this video that's doing the rounds shows.
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Can't put it any better than Jafapete has: Seems that John Key has done it again. Announced policy off-the-cuff and back tracked later. TV3 reports that, speaking to an Auckland families forum yesterday, Key 'veered away from a written speech appearing to announce in off…
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This is really getting pretty serious now - a fourth National party policy has been leaked to Labour, who have made it public. In the last week we've seen National's environment, conservation, biofuels, and, now, research, science, and technology policies leaked from within National. This…
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Apologies if you've seen this before - but I had a reader request a replay.
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God, another leak from National, this time their research, science and technology policy. From Mallard's press release: "Mr Key should not only be embarrassed, he should be very worried about the shambolic show he is running. Contrary to his desperate claims last week, I did…