It's the Green Party Conference this weekend in Lower Hutt. Metiria Turei was on RNZ yesterday morning, talking about how the main focus for the conference will be on policies. Metiria Turei on Morning Report TUREI: We genuinely believe a progressive government is possible after…
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 ...
Allow me to fly in the face of an accepted truth in NZ politics by saying this: there is absolutely nothing undemocratic about the MMP “coat-tail” rules. This has quickly become the meme du jour around the Internet/Mana alliance (and I keep using the A-word…
This has already caused intense debate amongst the left about how Labour should approach the confirmation that Laila Harre is the Internet Party leader with a war chest of $3 million to spend on a campaign. This number made my eyes water. The effect is…
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 ...
David Farrar has quite a thing for Winston Peters. He attacks him at every opportunity. Here's the latest. Many other examples can be found on kiwiblog. I've heard rumours that Farrar's hatred of Winston is based on his fear that National might end up in…
Could the Australian budget sink any lower? - the answer is yes, apparently, with the shock news that the ABC may cut Peppa Pig due to budget restrictions. This awful news appeared in answer to a question in the Australian Senate from Labor Senator Louise…
I’ve blogged before about some of the issues with our social welfare system which have been getting attention, thanks to great people like Sarah Wilson at Writehanded. Labour and the Greens have been fighting these fights too – though this being an election year, they’re…
Karol posted last night on the farce that occurred during debate on Sue Morony's Paid Parental Leave Bill. National obviously wants to kill the bill but in a way that makes it look like it is not doing so. Unbelievably it refused to allow to Te Ururoa…
These thoughts are entirely my own and are somewhat random. But every political junkie in the country must have followed yesterday's developments concerning the Internet Party with interest. And the implications of Laila Harre's selection as the top Internet Party candidate are considerable. So here…
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 ...
"The New Zealand dairy industry will be dead in fifteen years." Coming from a well-informed and highly placed investor source met recently in China, these words made me sit up. His reason - nitrate-poisoned pasture product will be increasingly unacceptable to environmentally conscious customers. Here…
There has been some questioning of the vote for the second reading of the Paid Parental Bill Second Reading tonight. The Nats cast the Maori Party votes for them, saying they were againts the Bill. Sue Moroney stood up and made a point of order…
Twitter is reporting that NBR, behind its paywall, claims (sources say) Laila Harre will lead the Internet Party. I honestly don't know what my reaction is (and of course it's all unconfirmed at this point) ... so provide yours in the comments! https://twitter.com/robhosking/status/471484465689014272
Lew at Kiwipolitico raises an interesting issue about the current housing cost issues in the major urban centres by looking at the regions. There are some well-considered comments there that are worth reading. But we asked if we could repost here to get a wider…
Good to hear David Cunliffe on Firstline this morning clearing up the nonsense about Labour's immigration policy. There's been a lot of heat on Labour from the usual beat-up suspects and not a lot of light until now. Immigration is always a hot-button issue, you've…
This morning on Morning Report there has been the development of a story concerning asbestos exposure in Christchurch. The issue is an important one. The earthquakes and subsequent of demolition of numerous buildings have almost inevitably caused the release of asbestos into the environment. The substance is…
No Right Turn looks at one of the more stupid bills to go into a select committee and to come out worse than it started. The Justice and Electoral Committee has reported back on the Harmful Digital Communications Bill. The bill attempts to outlaw "harmful digital communications" - defined…
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The original of this post was written by Rob Salmond at Polity. He has a series of posts in recent days that have been well worth reposting but alas they missed due to travel. Who gained from National's tax switch? and May TV polls. He…
A common response I saw to the Mana/Internet alliance today was, “Oh great, Mana’s sold out. Mana’s meant to be grassroots! Mana and the Internet Party have nothing in common!” The thing is, it largely (not entirely) came from people who aren’t Mana members or supporters.…
While I was in the windy1, freezing2, city with a transport system that almost made me weep with envy3, someone gave me this following event and asked me to put it up on The Standard. Anyone interested in issues such as asset sales, corporate tax…
It appears that David Farrar, paid rubber mouthpiece for the National party, is exercising his right to be a hypocrite again. This time on immigration. Here he is explaining the National party rationale about preventing economic migrants coming here seeking a better life for themselves…
It is difficult to describe just how abhorrent that I find the concept of the US military murdering the many bystanders and even targets with drone strikes and then trying to justify their illegal actions (under both US and international law) by labelling all of…
From Scoop: The Internet Party has hailed its partnership with the MANA movement as a win for young New Zealanders. The deal – brokered by Internet Party founder Kim Dotcom, party chief executive Vikram Kumar and MANA officials including leader Hone Harawira – has been…
Last night on 3 News, Paddy Gower ran an astounding story accusing David Cunliffe of engaging in “dog whistle” politics on immigration. The cuts Gower used showed Cunliffe saying two things. Firstly that it would take 80 percent of our new housing supply just to…
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 ...
Last night's dual Colmar Brunton Reid Research poll releases have some on the right suggesting that the election is a formality and all that National needs to do to win is turn up. They should rethink their optimism. Because the election is incredibly close and anything can…
Labour please take note. The more that National publicly adopts "left wing" "socialist" party policies, such as, "free" medical care for children under 13, keeping the retirement age at 65, and balancing the budget, the more they rise in the polls. Of course, under that…
BLip has been maintaining for quite a while, a little list of Honest John's statements that aren't exactly true. One iteration of this list "An Honest Man" is still one of the most popular posts here with many page views on a daily basis -…