The Labour Party policy for transport in Auckland is the likes we have never seen in New Zealand. Aucklanders have on average three cars per household. They are a massive national cause of pollution, CO2 and monoxide, waterway killers from tyres, and of course crushing…
National had some bad luck this week. Its Auckland transport policy found its way into Bernard Orsman's hands and was published prematurely. Normally there would be a joint Auckland Council Government negotiation with Phil Goff getting some well deserved credit but this opportunity was destroyed…
Back in May the Nats chose Nikki Kaye as their vehicle to attack Jacinda Ardern. It didn't work so well - Patrick Gower: National's attacks on Jacinda Ardern look desperate, and - National's attack on Labour's deputy suggests concerns more than skin deep. Having learned…
I had a gratifying experience last month, a late night conversation on twitter about the left and the NZ election and what the Greens are up to. There were maybe half a dozen people in the conversation, and all of them were left wing. The…
This Guest Post is from The Standard commenter and occasional guest author Kōrero Pono. _______________________________________________________________________________ Everyone is acting like Metiria committed the crime of the century, both her accusers and defenders. I know that most of her defenders believe they need to bow down to the sensibilities…
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We've had plenty of coverage of last weekend's Newshub poll: Poll: Labour crumbles, falling towards defeat (happily overtaken by the Ardern effect) Newshub poll: Jacinda Ardern overtakes Andrew Little again as preferred Prime Minister Newshub poll: Winston Peters cements position as kingmaker Newshub poll: The…
Consider the sharp contrast between the lies and dirty politics that the Nats have brazened out in the last 9 years and the way that Metiria Turei fronted up and took responsibility for decades old youthful mistakes. Gower is right that it has headed off…
This post by Matthew Whitehead is reposted from lemattjuste.wordpress.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ Metiria Turei announced today that she does not intend to resign as Green Party Co-Leader, but that she would deliberately rule herself out for ministerial positions due to media scrutiny. It’s good to hear the first…
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 …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
At a noon press conference Metiria Turei announced that she is not resigning and will continue to lead the Greens, but she is not seeking a ministerial position in a new government. She takes responsibility for her past, but the work on a fair welfare…
The Health system is riddled with crises and useless Minister Jonathan Coleman is in all kinds of shit. Starting with - Treasury found Minister of Health's mental health strategy not 'coherent' two months before Budget An "incredibly damning" Treasury report criticised the Minister and Ministry…
https://twitter.com/radionz/status/892901731209625600 He aha te mea nui o te ao, He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people. https://twitter.com/golrizghahraman/status/892957984396951552 #GreentheGovt Resources for beneficiaries NZ Beneficiaries and…
I enjoy a ray of hope as much as the next leftie, and Jacinda Ardern is off to an incredible start, but let's not burden her with impossible expectations - that would be destructive in the long run. Peters is trying to do it as…
Cross posted from No Right Turn _____________________________________________________________________ There's a bit in Kim Stanley Robinson's New York 2140 where the empty investment properties of the ultra-rich are compared to giant gold bars, taking up space in our cities that people could live in. Its becoming an…
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 …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Steven Joyce was pushing this line on RNZ this morning - knowing that it'll backfire if they attack Jacinda. They tried that when she became deputy (and Joyce was hanging Nikki Kaye out to dry on that - even though clearly she'd been put up to…
https://twitter.com/GregPresland/status/892540861354917889 Good grief, it's 2017, in NZ of all places, and we're having this conversation? Nuts and bolts of the first day - Jacinda Arden becomes leader of the Labour Party, suddenly, and the MainStreamMen are caught unprepared. After their initial sugar rush, they pick…
Man it has been good to be a left winger lately. A few days ago Labour was looking at a really rough defensive campaign where it struggled to hold its vote. Now anything looks possible. And Labour has dominated the media for the past few…
Yesterday I had big roundup of the acclaim for Jacinda Ardern as new Labour leader. Suffice it to say that there is plenty more to add to the collection: The Jacinda effect and why National will be worried Jacinda Ardern is a 'game changer' -…
Update May 3 2018: I see that Dirty Politics operative Matthew Hooton is using this post as some kind of false equivalence with the filthy lies about Clarke Gayford. As you will see it contains nothing that was not being publicly commented on in the…
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 …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
We have the highest rate of youth suicide in the "developed" world. The Nats just cut the funding to Lifeline - Government axes $800,000 Lifeline contract In March this year, the Ministry of Health axed a decade-long $800,000 contract for Lifeline to provide suicide-prevention training…
Let's just get this out of the way. It's inevitable that there will be focus on Jacinda Ardern's looks. Also a given is a certain amount of sexism that frequently goes with that because women get treated differently in politics, and because of, you know,…