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Remember Noelle McCarthy's 95bFM interview with Brash in which she got him to admit to knowledge of the Brethren pamphlets? Student radio has done it again. Hager's weekend article in the Sunday Star Times detailed an ongoing advisory relationship between the National Party and political consultants Crosby Textor. But RDU's Kate Gorgeous…
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Brand Key on Waatea news: "A National government will be a lot more demanding about educational standards, a lot more demanding about under-performance in schools, a lot more demanding on failing schools" There is no 'how we will fix things' here, simply a statement of…
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There's a standard formula that Crosby/Textor has its clients use when damaging information comes out. a) refuse to engage. The most senior public response to the revelation that Brand Key has been created by exactly the same people who ran Brash's divisive, racist campaign in…
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So Crosby/Textor has been designing Brand Key from Day 1, isn't this just what every party does? No, it isn't - Crosby/Textor uses a particularly undemocratic, nasty form of political marketing (more on that in later posts) and the extent to which National uses Crosby/Textor…
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Nicky Hager's piece in today's Sunday Star Times has confirmed what we all suspected: Crosby Textor are the creators of Brand Key. For those of you unfamiliar with CT, they're known as the dirtiest and most driven political PR firm in the game. CT specialises…
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It strikes me there is a disconnect between what prospective National voters expect it to do in government and what it has actually promised it would do. Some examples: Tax Cuts How much larger do you expect the tax cut National will offer you will be compared…
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On the odd occasion I have time to read outside of the confines of The Standard and its ever increasing brawl of entertaining comments. I noticed we don't have a external reading list, and it is within the range of my writing skills, so here…
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As expected, the economy contracted 0.3% in the March quarter. The drought brought activity in the agricultural sector down after a recent strong run, the housing sector continued to slow off the back of the boom, oil prices are dragging on the economy in general,…
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There's a technique that sits at the heart of conjuring tricks called misdirection the act of drawing attention away from the trick itself. You all know how it works: the conjurer will flourish a brightly coloured handkerchief in one hand, while the trick is quietly…
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ACT is turning to increasingly desperate attempts to win media attention. Raising Roger Douglas from the dead didn't work (he only got 6 people to come to his latest speech). Now, Heather Roy has named a police informant in Parliament. This pathetic attempt to raise…
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Great final speech by the Green MP. Good interview in the Dom here. Full speech at the Green Party website.
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A good cartoon by Mike Moreu this morning about Key's confusing stance on the smacking referendum. Though of course, as a_y_b pointed out yesterday, this approach isn't at all confusing if all you're trying to do is to win an election by accentuating and exploiting…
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Three events this week epitomised the benefits of nine years of centre-left government: the continuing fall in benefit numbers, the Government's moves to protect workers from being ripped off by labour-hire companies, and the 'Treelord' Treaty settlements. If the anti-Maori, anti-worker National party had won…
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For the first second third time, National is trying to shut down the reporting of things they feel don't cast them in the glowing light they'd prefer. TV3 indicates that National is to make a formal complaint over the reporting of John Key's ignorant and…
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In an attempt to cover for John Key's ignorance of New Zealand history, National's Gerry Brownlee has pulled out a quote from Michael Cullen that he asserts says the same thing as the Key quote. You compare: Key: "We're not a country that's come about…
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From Brian Fallow in The Herald on migration and immigration: ...Statistics New Zealand has been comparing last year with previous peak gross outflows, allowing for changes in population size and age-structure. In unadjusted terms, permanent and long-term departures for Australia last year were just 7…
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Mr Key on NewstalkZB: "We're not a country that's come about as a result of civil war or where there's been a lot of fighting internally, we're, we're a country which peacefully came together". So, the numerous pre-Treaty battles, the Flagstaff War, the Land Wars, Parihaka. decades…
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In line with Ministry of Justice advice, the Government has decided not to hold the child discipline referendum at the same time as the election. You can read the entire advice document here: Holding a referendum at the same time as the general election is…
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Colin Espiner's just posted an entry headed "National's position on smacking confusing". It is - but only if you're expecting philosophical consistency. Key's approach isn't at all confusing if all you're trying to do is to win an election by accentuating and exploiting negative perceptions…
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Michael Laws has called for 'draconian, central measures' to fight gangs; he wants the army called out. He wants military force let loose on our streets to engage in combat with an undefined enemy. Where are we? Iraq? That way lies dictatorship, military rule, the…
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An interesting article in the Washington Post poses the question: "You thought our presidential candidates were nice guys, regular guys, guys with whom you'd like to sit down and have a beer? Guess what, lots of people are now telling me: They aren't. But why…
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Whenever John Key is asked to explain how he will fund some new spending or his still secret tax cuts, he says ‘we'll cut waste/rein in spending' and the only example he ever gives is 'we'll cap the core public service at 36,000'. This, he…
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I've noticed a new trend in the right's spin lately (apart from their wholesale theft of campaign scripts) - the ‘have your cake and eat it' trick. This tactic is basically a response to legislation or policy they don't like but they know they can't…
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Petrol is over $2.10 a litre. The price will keep rising both with the ever upward march of the price of crude and the falling NZ dollar. Already, motorists are responding. Road usage in Auckland has fallen 3%. It's fair to believe it is falling…
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In Parliament yesterday: Anderton: "Has the Minister received any reports on how many National Party members it takes to change a light bulb?" Cullen: "None. Because they like to keep us in the dark."
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You're invited to the first Auckland Drinking Liberally event - 7.30pm next Wednesday night (2 July) at the London Bar with special guest speaker David Slack. Drinking Liberally brings together people from across the left-leaning wing of the political spectrum for discussion, debate and, well,…
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Everyone in the know is aware that Colmar Brunton is the worst polling company in New Zealand and constantly over-rates National. We also know Fairfax isn't much better. There's no use in going on about it. It's not a good look. The fact is Labour…
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There is no longer any hope the union-led Movement for Democratic Change can remove Mugabe from power peacefully. Now, his thugs are killing MDC supporters, union leaders have been arrested, and the regime is moving to break the organised labour. This is typical behaviour of…
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Labour, with the support of New Zealand First, has developed a bill based on Darien Fenton's private members' bill that will ensure tens of thousands of workers are no longer ripped off by 'triangular employment' situations, whereby their effective employer contracts out the actual employment…
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George Lakoff has a new book out. You might remember him from such books as "Moral Politics" and "Don't Think of an Elephant". These books largely dealt with what he termed "reframing" of political metaphors - using belief structures to which voters already subscribe as…