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There's a famous line from Joyce's Ulysses in which the main protagonist Stephen Dedalus states "history is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake" and when I opened the Herald this morning I suddenly understood what that can mean: Now look at this…
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The Dominion, election day 1938: If the socialist government is returned to power your vote today may be the last free individual vote you will ever be given the opportunity to exercise in New Zealand. NZ Herald, 12 November 2007: When is the Government going…
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Grannywriter Audrey Young's story headlined "Exclusive Brethren's email sets stage for Electoral Finance Bill" is more National Party spin. The Brethren's email to Chief Electoral Officer Henry on 8 June 2005 followed their letter to Don Brash and John Key on 24 May 2005 in…
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So the NZ Herald has finally admitted it's running a campaign against the government. Check out this ridiculous, chest-thumping, self-congratulatory piece from their website: Public opinion has swung behind the Herald's call for the Electoral Finance Bill to be scrapped. Hundreds of people have joined…
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Laila Harre's Bruce Jesson Memorial Lecture is now available in full over at Scoop. It's titled Union Relevance in Aotearoa in the 21st Century, and while it's nothing new to those of us in the movement it provides a good overview of the challenges unions…
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I'm not always a fan of Colin Espiner's work, but thank goodness someone's injected a bit of sense into this morning's hysteria over the EFB. This morning's blog post kicks off by pointing out the credibility hit the Herald will take for its shameless National…
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Last week Stats NZ announced unemployment had dropped to a record low of just 3.5%, after reaching double-digit figures under National in the 90s. That reminded me of an old press release from Bill English just before the 1999 election where he called unemployment in…
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You do have to wonder sometimes who's making the judgment calls in our newsrooms. Last night One News decided to use a National Party staffer, David Farrar, to comment on a poll that showed the Maori Party leading Labour in the Maori seats. As you'll…
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Charles Chauvel has withdrawn his nomination for Wellington Central. This leaves Grant Robertson the uncontested Labour candidate, likely to be confirmed on November 17th. Chauvel will instead seek to re-enter Parliament by means of the Party list.
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Thought that we had a worldwide monopoly here in NZ on right wing flip-floppers with Don Brash, John Key et al? Think again. Turns out the right wing flip-flopper isn't as rare as you might have thought - they're found in other continents too. The…
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The Herald reports that "Dunedin South MP David Benson-Pope says he will not stand as an independent if he is not selected as the Labour Party's candidate in the seat." There was speculation following the nominations of Clare Curran, Olivier Lequeux, Don Pryde, and Keith…
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Via onegoodmove
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Vampires can't exist. It turns out that their existence would contradict ours. Here's the maths to prove it: "Let us assume that a vampire need feed only once a month. This is certainly a highly conservative assumption, given any Hollywood vampire film. Now, two things…
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DPF and the National Party have made much of a Helen Clark quote unearthed from her conference speech in 2000 on tax cuts. I've just read it on Kiwiblog and was puzzled by the elipsis in the middle. DPF writes: "Tax cuts are a path…
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Bloomberg reports that Bernard Kerik, the former police commissioner under New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani who withdrew his nomination to head the Department of Homeland Security, has been charged with fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy. Kerik once led the largest U.S. police department. Giuliani…
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About a year ago I discovered the TED website. It's rapidly become a staple in my internet diet. From their 'about' page: TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. The annual…
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From Ruth Dyson's press release: The latest Household Labour Force Survey quarterly results from Statistics NZ confirm the Labour-led government's employment policies and responsible economic management, says Social Development and Employment Minister Ruth Dyson. "The record low level of unemployment of 3.5 per cent is…
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There's a new Roy Morgan poll today, and it's good news for the left. Gary Morgan says: "The vote for the Labour Government has surpassed the 40% mark for the first time since January. Conversely, the vote for John Key's Nationals (45%) is at its…
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All election addicts are casting their eyes to what is happening in other countries & especially over in Australia and in the States. The US political teams lead the way on the integration (and spend power) of web resources & but as this article points…
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Evan Thornley is a member of the Upper House of the Victorian State Labor govt. He spoke recently at the NZ Labour Party conference about Labour values. He helped set up the internet based campaigning organisation GetUp! which now has over 200,000 members. He's big…
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Crown Prosecutor Simon Mount is rumoured to be replacing Bob Clarkson for National in Tauranga next election. Which is a bit rough considering Bob won the seat off Winston last time round. But you can't blame them - the man can barely feed himself, let…
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Chris Simpson has suddenly gone as manager of the National Party, and Steven Joyce and Jo de Joux are back. According to The Hollow Men they are the team who ran the hidden campaigns with the Exclusive Brethren and the racing industry in the 2005…
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The Solicitor general has decided against allowing prosecutions under the Terrorism Suppression Act for all 12 people referred to him by the police and is making an announcement in Wellington now to that effect. According to Newsroom: He says the key reason he is not…
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It seems the suggestion of "Deutschland uber alles" as a campaign song has got National's General Manager Chris Simpson the boot. I also hear that there's no love lost between him and Judy and apparently it's a matter of madness. One of them thinks the…
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Chris Knox had a good piece in the Dom Post today explaining why he wrote Labour's new campaign song. Here's an extract: Good grief! I've gone and written a campaign song for a mainstream political party! Could I possibly be the same Chris Knox who…
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Watching party conference made me think of this old ad - when it all lines up great things can happen. Fortunately for Honda they didn't have to contend with Len Richards on the set...
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Some people just never learn. After National's conflicting statements on bulk funding the other day you'd have thought they'd get their messages in order, if not their policies. But take a look at these comments from Alan Peachey in Parliament yesterday: Hon Marian Hobbs: Has…
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Following on Tane's post yesterday, it looks like Ger's in trouble with his Nat bosses over his comments that National would back the law around Parliamentarly spending if Labour shortened the period under which parties come under the spending limits in the Electoral Finance Bill.…
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It looks like Herald journo Audrey Young needs to go back to the basics and check a few facts before going to print. Reporting on the Labour conference and the performance of Chris Knox's song Audrey's blog says: "What you won't get on the recorded…
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It's not often we're wrong, but we're right again. Gerry Brownlee dropped a clanger in Parliament today when he admitted that National's opposition to electoral finance reform isn't to do with the drafting problems, nor is it to do with anonymous donations. It's about being…