Here's my 2c on the Labour leadership, for what it's worth. Robertson, Mahuta, Shearer and Cunliffe are all, for different reasons, strong candidates. It's reassuring to see the depth of skill, talent, and passion in the party. I thank them all for putting themselves forward,…
In a little over 24 hour's time Labour's caucus will meet to elect the new leader. If you're one of the many Standard readers who is also a labour party member then you need to contact your MP and let them know who you want…
Now the Maori Party are off the hook for voting for asset sales, John Key's government needs Peter Dunne if it is to sell out assets. As the Greens point out, Dunne has no mandate for asset sales as he did not campaign on the…
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This is for anyone who's struggled to keep up with the Labour leadership contest, whether currently at the Auckland meeting or not. Too Many Daves by Dr. Seuss Did I ever tell you that Mrs. McCave Had twenty-three sons and she named them all Dave? Well,…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
John Armstrong's column today - not yet on website - is extraordinary. "Elements on the left", "cried wolf", "secret agenda" - that's just the first paragraph. Armstrong's faux outrage is generated by the fact that National's charter schools policy was not flagged in the election,…
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here —————————————————————————– The Two Most Powerful Arguments They Can Muster Let’s sum up the arguments by the main players for and against Charter Schools. Educational experts:…
Someone told me the other day that Aaron Gilmore is a lowly National list MP. I didn't believe them - but it is true! Way down on the National party list and today dropped out of parliament by the specials. It was like a blast…
Official Election results are out. Carmel Sepuloni takes Waitakere back for Labour by 11 votes, and National loses one seat to the Greens. MMP wins by a mile. Well done Carmel - I'm really glad she stays in Parliament. I don't think a recount will…
Truth-Out content is licensed for redistribution, so I'm going to repost this excellent piece in its entirety. It's long, but it's worth it. I agree with the author about the importance of the speech, though I might have called a post on this "Is Obama…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
For the Auckland Labour party members (and others) going the the candidates meeting on Sunday has been moved. This e-mail turned up today (from Moira Coatsworth) Due to the huge amount of interest in Sunday's meet the leadership candidates meeting the venue has changed to…
Sometimes when I get depressed about NZ politics, I take a few deep breaths and reassure myself that at least it's not American politics. Then I think about that a bit and I get even more depressed... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PAJNntoRgA
Weekend social is for non political chat. What's on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no aggro, why can't we all just get along?
Nat masterminds Farrar and Slater are throwing it all into the anti-Cunliffe push. Farrar has a quote dredged up by the Nat research unit of Cunliffe in 2007 saying he doesn't want to be PM because "it's bastard of a job and I have a…
I have a theory that the Herald employs Shelley Bridgeman, Garth George, Kerry Woodham, Peter Bromhead, Deborah Hill-Cone, Jim Hopkins, and Paul Holmes as columnists only because, while a relatively small team of monkeys on typewriters could spit out much more cogent and insightful pieces…
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog - the original of this post is here ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Which Candidate Gets My Non-Vote? When David Shearer announced he wanted to be Labour leader I didn't know what to think. Then, when it…
Heaven knows we're not short of bad news on climate change. I lost hope after the failure of the Copenhagen conference in 2009. The Cancun conference in 2010 was a waste of time. The Durban conference for this year is just wrapping up, at time…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog - the original of this post is here ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Not Irony #2 Over at Kiwiblog David Farrar writes: The teacher unions insisted national standards should be trialled before implementation, yet…
We asked the candidates if they want to post here. So we have now received Grant Robertson's post. Thanks for the opportunity to post on The Standard. In this contest I am a candidate for the Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party. In 1997 after…
Paula Bennett's staff in tomato-growing contest with MSD staff - Stuff Benefit numbers up 60,000 under National - MSD Benefit costs up up $2 billion pa in the last 3 years - Treasury
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog - the original of this post is here ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Not Irony #1 David Farrar applies some wonky logic in order to blame everything bad the Nats do on the left.…
In its final days, South Canterbury Finance quietly loaned $300m to related-parties. Breach of the deposit guarantee scheme's rules. Nats did nothing. When SCF collapsed the related parties got off scot-free - if they owned SCF bonds, the Nats even paid them $350m voluntarily. Now,…
Is the John Key Party actively trying to trash New Zealand's fragile "100% Pure" brand? Pushing for mining on Schedule 4 conservation land, a slow response to the Rena spill, pushing for off shore drilling, delaying the ETS, polluted lakes and rivers, breaking a promise…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
To understand why a party does stuff, you have to go back to their core objectives. Simply looking at policies in isolation means missing the underlying goals. In particular, looking at policies that clearly don't work to achieve their stated aims without context can lead…
We asked the candidates if they want to post here. So far we have received David Cunliffe's post. Firstly, can I thank Lynn and the authors of the Standard for this opportunity to contribute to the dialogue concerning who should be Labour’s next leader.…