http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5srcxBinZyI E rau rangatira ma E te whanau o te roopu reipa Piki mai, kake mai haere mai Te tangi a te pipiwharauroa Te Po Ka Awatea! Whiti ao - whiti ao - whiti whiti Ao Hello Labour Hello New Zealand Today is about you.…
For those of you who aren't going to be at the campaign launch today. Here is the link to where the live stream will be.. Press the image for the link. It will go live about 2:30pm. Now live. It is going to be fun…
Reposted from Polity. Here's Stuff's Tony Wall and Kelly Dennett on Labour's boost for primary healthcare: David Cunliffe will today throw down his biggest spending promise of the election, wooing middle income voters with an attractive health package at Labour's campaign launch in Auckland. He is…
Today is the day of the Labour Campaign launch. Details are here if you are interested in attending and have not already reserved a position. Some of the policy announcements have been foreshadowed in the media. Yesterday the Herald reported that there will be extended…
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 ...
There's much to discuss on the two election-focused TV debates conducted over the last 24 hours: Prime TV's new show: Prime Time with Sean Plunket (Prime TV Fridays 9.30pm) TV 3's The Nation: Saturday 9.30am - video here. Part One Part Two Part Three Panel…
Just over six weeks to go until the next election and we have our first major campaign issue. Not what some young people said about John Key but foreign ownership of our land. With regards to that other issue I am bemused that it is even…
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 ...
Not only is National the party of preference for those who reject the science behind human induced climate change, it is also the party for poverty deniers. For them real poverty only happens in Africa and in New Zealand poor kids are just the result of bad…
Reposted from No Right Turn. Yesterday the government announced that it would be spending $284 million on subsidising a privately-owned convention centre in Christchurch. The lucky beneficiaries of the government's largesse? “Today we’re pleased to reveal that Plenary Conventions New Zealand, a consortium of proven international…
There are sobering and harrowing stories coming out of Auckland Action Against Poverty's Action Impact at Mangere this week. Yesterday's press release from AAAP, states: “The number of people in need standing outside Mangere Work & Income early this morning was almost beyond belief,” says…
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 ...
Reposted from No Right Turn. The Greens announced their transport policy today: a massive re-prioritization from roads to public transport: The Green Party's policy would prioritise getting people out of their vehicles and onto public transport by building better networks, increasing the amount of services and…
Labour has announced its water policy. It can be accused of being aspirational, as if that is a bad thing, but they are goals which most people would support. The headlines are that a Labour Government will: ensure that all our rivers and lakes…
Reposted from Polity. Opinion columns are leading indicators. I have noticed a modest shift int he political climate in recent days. The perception is that sticking a fork in this election may be premature, something I have been saying for a while. You see it…
I was sad to hear of Dave Hereora's death - another Maori man like Parekura who has died too young. Dave was a good man, a gentle man, and a strong man. He knew where he came from, he knew what he stood for, and…
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 ...
This press release from the Greens pretty well sums up the situation that National have left the economy in. Once you remove the rebuild effects from the Christchurch earthquakes, our increasingly undiversified economy is looking in pretty poor shape for the decade ahead. Falling…
Our Friends in the North It's been an interesting few days in the battle for Te Tai Tokerau. There are significant implications for the wider election campaign as well. First Annette Sykes from Mana made an unsubstantiated and absurd claim that Labour have done a…
Reposted from No Right Turn. The latest Household Labour Force Survey was released today, showing a drop in unemployment. But while its an improvement, there are still 32,000 more people out of work than there were when National took office. And Treasury doesn't expect unemployment to return to…
From Stuff: Politicians who want to share the stage with John Key at his only multi-candidate electorate event have been warned they shouldn't even mention his name. Candidates vying for the safe National seat of Helensville include Laila Harre, leader of the Internet Party, who…
How much longer do we have to live with this"neoliberal" nightmare?! It should have died with the global financial crisis, caused by the unfettered greed of the banksters, their enablers, and the socially callous. It promised so much - raise the life-enhancing boats for all…
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 Cunliffe is officially launching Labour's campaign in Auckland this Sunday and you're all invited. It's at the Viaduct Events Center in Auckland and kicks off at 1:30 PM on Sunday the 10th. If you weren't able to be there for his spectacular speech to Congress in Wellington here's…
Reposted from Polity. I've noticed recently that National likes to talk a lot about everyone else's ideas, but it prefers not to discuss its own. Steven Joyce's shout performance on The Nation is a good example. Why would that be? First, National would rather point backwards to…
Māori Television's Native Affairs program and Mihingarangi Forbes are developing well deserved reputations for being amongst the forefront of current affairs news programmes and as a reporter. Last night's interview of ACT's Jamie Whyte will have enhanced that reputation. Because Forbes quietly and efficiently showed that Jamie…
The Green Party is launching their "Election Priority for Students" at Auckland University today from 2-3 pm in the Auckland University Quad. Russel Norman and Metiria Turei will be presenting it together, indicating it will most likely have a financial ficus, and considerations of individual, social and…
Below is a post from Tracey, showing the result of her OIA requests in response to a published comment from Bill English. English's quoted statement is a bit odd. Is he claiming to have found a way to reduce the numbers of single NZ women…