Apparently, Paul Goldsmith is not even handing out his business card in Epsom any more. And Imperator Fish reports on the extreme lengths he is going to in an effort to lose. But his popularity cannot be quelled. #hipstersforgoldsmith is big on Twitter. And new,…
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...
Bradley Ambrose, the cameraman widely maligned by John Key and his pudgey lapdogs David Farrar and Cameron Slater for daring to hold the PM to some basic standards of accountability, is demanding an apology from John Key or he'll take the PM (and hopefully the…
We missed this at the time - thanks to toad in comments (and link to g.blog) for the heads up! Especially relevant now that John Key has personally tied himself to ACT with his endorsement. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mazVH2AlOfg
It's a year since the explosion at Pike River killed 29 men. Just people like you and me doing their job. It seems some semblance of justice may be delivered to those who let this disaster happen. But the lasting legacy must be a change…
Some say the tea tapes haven't hurt Brand Key. In fact, National is down 2% last week and those polls were largely taken before the tea tapes hit overdrive. It also takes time for impressions and media narratives to bed in. The 26th will be…
The teapot tape fiasco has done the country a couple of favours. First, it has given us a good long look at the tawdry reality behind the media construct that is Brand Key. That story is playing out with a momentum all of its own.…
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...
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?
Outraging families of suicide victims. Insulting the Police as layabouts. Declaring war on the media. Negative teapot stories every day, now spreading to overseas coverage. The Nats are spinning that this was planned; that they decided to go nuclear on the media as a vote…
The International Federation of Journalists, an organisation representing half a million journalists worldwide, has condemned police demands for media organisations to hand over information about the tea tapes. The IFJ says it 'supports journalists at Radio New Zealand and other news media organisations for upholding their…
Kazakhstan police have ordered four media organisations to hand over evidence of an alleged illegal recording of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The police said they would carry out searches to get the material. Opposition politicians have accused Mr Nazarbayev of trying to gag the media in…
John Key says that it's OK for the Police to waste time trying to intimidate the media on his behalf because they have "spare time" with the drop in crime. There were 220,000 unsolved crimes last year including 8 homicides. The cops solved 15,000 fewer…
The Herald reports CEOs are moaning that MMP won't let them ram through unpopular policies: Ahead of election day referendum on the future of MMP as New Zealand's electoral system, the Mood of the Boardroom survey found 65 per cent of chief executives wanted it…
The problem with a presidential campaign strategy is that when you put all your bets on one pony, there's not a lot of room for error. If that pony goes lame, or if it's a one trick pony and the trick stops working, you're in the crap. John Key…
I got an email from a mate in the UK this morning asking what the hell is going on over here. He'd just got into work and was being asked by his British workmates why the police were searching media outlets in the middle of…
The major parties poll high between elections. As the election approaches, and minor parties get publicity, the major parties tend to fall and the minors rise. This election is following the same pattern, with both National and Labour down in the two TV polls (though…
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...
Stephen Price, a lawyer blogging on media and ethics, has a quick blog on the question of the police seeking search warrants against the media. I’ve just stepped off the plane back from Melbourne to find that the police are following up a complaint from the Prime…
RNZ has a great Policy Q&A site up. They list policy under many topic areas (Climate Change, Economy, Education etc.), with questions that they put to the parties, and the answers that they received. Here's a sample from the Agriculture & Primary Industry section: What will you plan…
Winston Peters is having the time of his life with the teapot tapes. He was widely rumoured to be releasing a transcript at a meeting in Invercargill at 2pm. He didn't, but he did leak more details. A 3 News summary: Peters claims knowledge of…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D6bx8j4d-Y We have the right to know if the man we elect and pay to be our prime minister is saying different things in private than he is saying to our faces. Whenever the PM is talking politics, that is a matter of public interest.…
This headline speaks for itself. Tea tape: TVNZ, RNZ to be searched - "Four media outlets, including Radio New Zealand and TVNZ, are to be searched for any material they might have in their possession that relates to the tea pot tapes". Radio New Zealand's…
And this is just from one news outlet. Stuff, the Herald, RNZ, TVNZ - they're all focussing on what's making Key looking like a fool. They aren't interested in hearing what National has to say about anything until they fess up. Nine days from an…
Minor Leaders' debate: Winston Peters 36%, Hone Harawira 27%, Don Brash 14%. Fairfax Epsom poll: Paul Goldsmith 45.5%, John Banks 29.1%. Impact of Key endorsement: More likely to vote Banks 23%, Less likely 30%. Taranaki Daily news debate exit poll: Andrew Little 64.5%, Jonathan Young…
Pop quiz, who said "Anyone who is innocent has nothing to fear"? Answer, just about every politician ever who was arguing for an increase in state powers, especially powers of surveillance. On this particular occasion it was John Key defending the powers of a newly…
The Right's crying we should be talking about policy, not certain tapes. Funny, until recently they were mocking Labour for putting out so much policy. Fact is, we don't elect policy implementing automatons. We elect leaders for their policies and because we trust them to…