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6:00 am, May 21st, 2026 - 64 comments
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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 …
I hope we start hearing some concrete policies from Labour immediately after the budget, but hapless Hipkin's latest bit of watering down – https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/election-2026-labour-leader-chris-hipkins-says-new-zealanders-dont-really-care-about-key-detail-of-partys-nz-future-fund-policy/ZNDVJI4SQ5A4TJJJVLHJOF6TVE/ doesn't fill you with confidence.
As Lynton Crosby famously observed: you can’t fatten a pig on market day. Labour just hasn’t been talking about anything with any intensity for far too long. It cannot rely on just sloganeering endlessly about the "cost of living" like it is some sort of break glass in case of emergency policy, to try and win back disaffected voters – indeed it could be deeply counter-productive if the electorate perceives Labour as insincere.
We need solid policies that make a big difference, now.
"When your opponent is busily hanging themselves, it is best not to interrupt them".
The Coalition of Cockups, would love Labour to announce some policies, as a distraction from the mess they are making. Looking more and more like the Temu version of Trump’s Republican party. Even doing their own imitation of DOGE.
Willis desperately mining every source of some more dollars, short of the necessary tax increases, to cover up her (fiscal) hole
Waiting until closer to the election makes sense.
Though.
I just hope that Labour actually has policies?
And not just some more minor tinkering with the Neo-Liberal direction.
Keeping the voters on tenterhooks (what will Labour offer??) is a good strategy; when everyone's hungry, all eyes are on the kitchen staff and when it comes, the food tastes way better.
Gruel can taste delicious if it’s been prepared efficiently using an AI recipe and cooked fast in a microwave on High.
We should prepare for a gruelling campaign!
Lots of dirty knives and broken dishes with frantic kitchen staff fast running of supplies while the two chefs are shouting at the sous-chef for not wearing a hat and not pulling his weight in the prep-room peeling spuds. Head-waitress Willis argues aggressively with customers about the poor service & rude staff, the long queues, the outdated menu, the flies in the soup and on the wall, and the ridiculously high prices – no stars from Moody’s.
Michelin…is but a fading memory…..
Re. Michelin, Al Brown says,
"Food comes from a happy place, it should be kitchens that are full of aroha and hard work and great produce and all the rest of it, but if we're living and dying by a star system, I don't think that's healthy at all."
Aha. So I looked up that quote and was Al Brown possibly alluding… to Star Wars… and Evil Empire?
: )
..
@ Mercurio What a massive critique – I'd put this gourmet high on the Best Diners Medals gurus.
"…And not just some more minor tinkering with the Neo-Liberal direction…"
That is the real danger for Labour. Like everywhere else in the Anglosphere the electorate is in revolt against distance, against managerialism, against the sense that power is exercised somewhere else, by someone else, for somebody else.
Labour and Hipkins still don't seem to understands this.
Many voters have come to see the ancien régime of which Hipkins was and is a supreme grand vizier not as a guarantee of stability, but as the very cause of their economic decline.
The next political era, the post neoliberal era, will belong to the politician who convinces voters they can finally take back control of the country from the rentiers, oligarchs and anti-democratic technocrats.
The budget is next week.
The election is over 5 monrhs away.
Why would he?
Oh I don't know, credibility, because he has a theory of politcal power that he has to courage to demonstrate, because Hipkins wants to build an enduring coalition of voters, and because the current strategy has the left bloc being neck and neck with a far right neoliberal zombie adminsitration that has presided over a three year recession, is led by a deeply unpopular non-entity and has a sadist for a finance minister?
Going into a election campaign neck and neck when we all know the ruling bloc is going to massively outspend you because it is heavily financed by the oligarch class and is backed to the hilt by a far right private owned MSM should be a cause of real concern. A complacent hope of drifting into power won't do.
With this government only able to find an spending by gutting another 9,000 public servants, it looks wise to me to hold back at least until after Budget.
In there we should see Treasury's Financial Update that will give us a scope on the 2026 impact of the oil price crisis.
I would not want to be Hipkins or Edmonds right now.
But worse, I would not want to be Willis or Luxon.
I 100% agree. The question for them to answer is how do they stimulate the economy without substantially increasing debt.
National is choosing austerity and firing workers.
Labour’s path should be structural tax reform. Not because it avoids hard choices, but because it potentially creates a different long-term revenue model altogether.
If they did that, Nicola Willis’ current budget framework could end up looking politically and economically very short-lived.
Wrong question.
I guarantee you that is going to be the question asked of them repeatedly throughout the campaign by the media and in the debates.
Mavellous!
Labour has announced the policy to introduce a CGT that will help finance health.
Labour has clearly stated that it will ditch the plans for an LNG terminal and instead will support renewables.
Labour has criticised a mass of things this government has done, Anybody paying attention will realise that legislation on many of these things will be amended or reversed to the status quo ante.
All this is enough to decide who to vote for. And as Merc says above, the MSM is now desperate to hear Labour's policies, so when they are revealed they will dominate the airwaves and give Labour a boost.
The COC is doing a good job of hanging itself now-so just be patient.
Isn't that bit like writing out the cheques when you don't know the balance in the account Sanctuary.
And there is going to be so much mess to clean up Labour will need to prioritise maybe starting with what they have said they will address which is decent jobs and housing.
Opportunities have been taken away by the CoC all people need a chance and opportunities especially our young people.
Labour also needs to tread carefully around making rapid changes to some of the CoC poor and rushed laws and policies and only implementing change after reviewing and auditing something and seeing it is not working rather than changing it because it belongs to the current government.
Hipkins has already stated that Labour won’t go down this garden path of repealing for the sake of it.
WordPress 7.0 has this morning arrived and been deployed.
Doesn't appear to caused any new problems for the site.
Thanks for all you do to keep The Standard up !
: )
the backend looks rather blurple (I’m not complaining)
comment box text is quite large
It seems ok – but I did a cache refresh so I may have missed it. Probably just caching
The wee simian thingy is claiming to be good at principles: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/election-2026-labour-leader-chris-hipkins-says-new-zealanders-dont-really-care-about-key-detail-of-partys-nz-future-fund-policy/ZNDVJI4SQ5A4TJJJVLHJOF6TVE/
I suspect he's right but since he failed to prove his point it is technically a groundless assertion. One would have to count the principles in each category to prove it.
As far as I know, the NZ Labour Party has never publicly claimed to have principles. Could be that some can be discerned in sub-text on their website. If any are specifically listed there, any competent reporter will publish a comparison with the Treaty to prove wee simian wrong, so I await that happening. If it doesn't, draw the obvious conclusion.
As regards Hipkins asserting that voters don't want policy details, no argument from me. Maybe they also don't want principles either…
The NZ Labour Party has principles, including "Honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi / the Treaty of Waitangi as the founding document of New Zealand" – clever eh. Clearly, "the wee simain thingy" can stand upright, clutch paper, and lie – just 3 of his many natural 'gifts'.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Labour_Party#Principles
Say what you like about Labour but they were the party that gave many workers pay rises, they also build more state houses under Jacinda than anyone else and Willie Jackson got our Māori people much more funding in their budgets to help advance us as a people. And what is good for us Maori is good for our country we all benefit not a small few as some would have us believe.
"And what is good for us Maori is good for our country" – 100% yes.
What are our values and principles?
In the Labour Party, our principles and values define what we do. They are codified by the Labour Party Constitution:
Principles
https://www.labour.org.nz/party_info
You suspect, you failed to check yourself, so you add nothing of value here.
You failed to check the premise and lazily wait for others to do your basic work, so that you can sneer at them for something when they do.
You didn’t check what Hipkins said and meant, so you’re agreeing with a straw man by anti-Labour & anti-Hipkins sentiments and actually perpetuating the distortion and undermining – you’re arguing & critiquing while pretending not to do so.
Pull your head in.
Well…yea ! Across many areas….for the worse : (
Drive Electric chairperson Kirsten Corson (and IMO Trump/Iran…only going to get worse)
Ex Mayor, now NZ Fist MP and
fly in the ointment…spanner in the works Andy Foster warned...(the article…a picture says a thousand words ..)And truly, what a spanner Ol' Andy is..
Vote..and save us from the NACT1 coalition of bell ends!
Ditch the pricks '26
Well, I can see why Labour has never created a perception of being a principled party in the public mind. Take the first, for instance.
Most punters reckon authority comes from govt (state), so this ploy that the people are running the show is never gonna impress anyone. I suggest Labour folk try to upskill their cognition around sovereignty and the political executive that runs the system (cabinet and parliament). I suspect they would reply "Hey it's just a pretence. Not meant to be taken seriously. Figure of speech. Y'know?" I feel Labour ought not to front with a principle of deceit prioritised to #1. Not a good look. Y'know?
Have you read a first year political theory book?
The term punters is an affectation used when someone is talking about the common folk – yet it is you that is failing to note the difference between from and exercised by.
Different topic: difference is situational for most users of reality. For instance, news that a lion escaped from its cage has a different meaning than exercised by its cage.
For most punters, I mean. Any didacticist could probably go for the creature exercising by padding around inside its cage being different from exercising by chasing and hunting down zoo attendees. Another didacticist would claim that there's no real difference between both scenarios. Viewers like lion stories, people die all the time, no big deal, so the common factor of exercise is most salient…
Keeping ones mind exercised, is not communicating on a political blog, it is much ado about nothing.
Yes, I agree that anyone exercising their mind on a political blog is marginally relevant to democracy. Small fish, big sea.
Why did you not use the reply button in the comment to which you’re replying?
Speak for yourself (aka you’re projecting your bias & prejudice onto ‘the public mind’). The point is that you feigned ignorance @ 3 about NZ Labour Party’s principles. Those principles have a long history and strong standing, which begs the question how you, of all people, can be so ignorant.
Predictably, you went straight into snark mode, as I’d foretold @ 3.3.
Another self-invite to go on an antagonistic rant.
You’re projecting again onto ‘most punters’ (i.e., the ones that are not so smart & knowledgeable as you, obviously). The principle is valid, of course, and guides & underpins all Labour’s policies, not what you allege ‘most punters’ do believe. You were setting up a straw man to unleash your cynical ploys again.
Pull your fucking head in.
Mr Thumb really is the gift that keeps on giving.
The narrative was that Mr Thumb summoned Peters to his office, in this update the PM went to Peter's office to whine.
“Luxon was outraged by the emails’ impending release and – the night before they were made public – went to Peters’ office to discuss the matter.”
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/595893/no-evidence-to-back-luxon-s-claim-peters-mischaracterised-view-of-iran-pm-s-office-says
Interesting. So mis-characterising is not meant to have any evidential requirement? I don't recall the education system informing me of any such requirement. Lux could have made the same point, eh?
Well, deflection is a valid political tactic, as in tennis. Hiding behind an official view is also established tradition. Could it be that these folk have inadvertently slipped thro the twilight zone into a world in which micharacterise replaces mis-characterise??
Or perhaps the journo is trying to impress us with idiosyncratic word-inventing. Seems to me the guys are doing competitive framing so no need to hunt evidence.
One hopes this will be canceled/totally restructured within days/weeks of the Labour/Green government being in place. Along with the rest of the RONPS.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/ombudsman-sides-with-government-to-keep-expensive-northland-highway-costs-under-wraps/TMBKUILRTBH2BHRX76LMFLWSMA/?
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2026/05/21/when-transparency-might-stop-a-bad-project/
”Six months ago I lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman, appealing a refusal by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) and the Ministry of Transport (MoT) to release information related to the Warkworth to Te Hana Road of National Significance project.
This week I received the Ombudsman’s final opinion on the matter. They agree with NZTA and the MOT that this information should be immune from any public scrutiny, until after decisions are made.
“Nothing to see here, move along.”
A disappointing response. But it came with a startling bonus. Hiding in plain sight, right in the middle of the reasoning for why they say they can’t tell us anything, is an implication of what we’ve long suspected:
This project is such a dog – in terms of benefits compared to costs – that saying so out loud would be the death of it.”
Meanwhile away from the political nursery and toys flying out of cots – this is interesting just the heading! I am very interested in NZAO holding onto major perhaps vital businesses and manufactories.
(I am interested in the Northland area managing to get to a better position than now; and people in general having work to do that brings in fair wages for reasonable conditions and expectations.)
So how do I receive and process this info?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/595904/chewing-it-over-auckland-mayor-wayne-brown-mulls-buying-at-risk-kaitaia-mills
I see now National have released another policy making it harder to get into state housing and a rent increase saying they want to make it fairer to those in private rentals.
Having been a state housing corporation tenant for many years they had some good processes in place. They inspected your house and property yearly, and they did regular income checks to ensure you didn't earn too much.
It seems they want to encourage more people into private housing at a time when it not easy to get private rentals as many agencies managing properties can be racist and queer. I have experienced it firsthand and so have many of my whanau members.
Every time National are in power they sell both state housing and land, and they make up fibs for the justification of doing it as they don't want to house the poor.
Link here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/595908/major-social-housing-shake-up-announced
Lets see how we can take away a little more from those "bottom feeders"
Trickle up theory.
Taking rent money off poor people and using it to subsidise private landlords. There needs to be laws against abusing the English language as well – calling it "fairer" FFS.
John Key's government was devious in taking poor peoples rent money and not doing maintenance and taking it to make the books look better through special dividends.
This government is just cruel and mocking.
The TAS money is paid to those whose living costs are too high to their incomes.
https://www.thepost.co.nz/politics/361008359/budget-2026-social-housing-overhaul-will-require-tenants-pay-more-do-more
National established market rents for state houses in the 1990's. Rents have been set at 25% of income since 2000.
The MW is now at $24. At that level the rent would go up c$48 from c$240 to c$288 a week.
A real increase of 20% (on top of any extra from an increase in income during the year).
Hardly, they will not be able to save for a bond.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360981980/government-announces-plans-overhaul-social-housing-system
Got to look after those housing scalpers, sorry, "Mum and Dad investors in rentals they kindly provide for their tenants", out of the greed for tax exempt capital gains, sorry, "out of the kindness of their big hearted concern for the homeless".
The Coalition of Cockups is to be lauded however, for managing to do what has been too hard for successive Governments.
Reducing house prices in Wellington!
Yes I paid market rent but the 2 bedroom house I was in was not worth it at the time it was cold, no heating and I was studying, working part time, was a single parent, young and Maori all barriers to getting into private rentals they were really racist and discriminative so was state housing corporation. SHC dumped all the Māori, PI and solo mums in the ugly blocks of flats and the Pakeha families got nice homes in central Lower Hutt. And when the National party got back in power, they sold these homes to the Pakeha families, this is how many climbed the housing ladder. The state was complicit in advancing their own and they still are. The same happened in state jobs who do you think got those initially and were able to climb the social and economic ladder
It's well for the general public to hear frank and straightforward stories of people's individual continuing difficulties because of discrimination. Single and solo parents have borne a large part of poor 'husbandry' of the nation's resources available for distribution and advancement.
The idea that families and young parents and children are important citizens to be helped and were the next generation of great NZs etc… seems to die down as we got further away from the end of WW2. Now the government looks upon us as servants to the mercantile class which has raised itself in the land, using the resources of all sorts that we have and which should be shared.
A potentially disturbing announcement from the government (21 May) that will involve "transferring responsibility for infrastructure project assurance from The Treasury to the independent NZ Infrastructure Commission."
Apparently there will be greater ministerial oversight of major projects and "clearer advice to ministers."
More power of a discretionary nature reserved to ministers, perhaps? Is it made to dovetail with the Fast-Track Approvals Act?
See https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/independent-oversight-infrastructure-investment and watch this space.
I agree with some of Labour's principles, am in accord with others poorly framed (intent/ethos shared) – but am alarmed at all the shoulds:
[copy pasta without link deleted]
See how that last one is an assertion of the nature of our collective reality – I would call it the principle of citizenship. Dunno why Labour is averse to citing this hallowed principle, but if their intent is to make it seem a principle of biodiversity instead, good on them. Coulda just cited the principle of biodiversity, right? Short & sweet.
Shoulds are usually interpreted as aspiration and/or moral coercion. Ruling sheeple via guidance is trad christian praxis, so I guess Labour is trying to recycle that from the 19th century. They seem to think it is more influential than current common sense. I don't like their chances of herding many with that stance.
feel free to repost the quote with a link
I copied it from Incognito's post at 1102 upthread. If you didn't read that, here's his link.. org.nz/party_info
Use the reply button; now, you’re wasting our time
reply button doesn't work on everyone's device.
DF managed to reply just fine to other comments here in OM, but has avoided twice replying to my comment – childish.
tbf I probably wouldn't reply to someone who called me childish either 😉
👍
It can help to reference the comment you are referring to eg say x comment @7.11pm or 12.1.1, or even just 'link is upthread'
OK, so I guess I've read enough.
Dennis, use of the derogatory term "sheeple" is tiresome – imho, repeated use, over and over and over and over and over and over*, indicates a certain rigidity of mind and ego.
Consider tasking your superior mind with finding an alternative – if it's not too late
*And over, et cetera – to be fair, you may be unaware of quite how often you're using it.
First, you denied knowledge of the [existence of the] Party’s principles. Next, you’re attacking them.
For some reason, you’re struggling with the word “should” in the Party’s principles!? You’re very confused, as these are guiding principles for the Party’s policy- and decision-making, not to ‘herd the sheeple’ in a certain direction. There’s no manipulative [mind] control or ‘moral coercion’ – you’re projecting malign motives. There’s no harking back to ancient times of ‘19th century trad christian [sic] praxis’. As usual, you’re dismissive and your tone is condescending.
You’re trying to re-write the Party’s principes to fit your own thinking & pre-conceived ideas instead of adopting them and adapting to them, or finding another Party that better fits your values & principles. Note in your version, you’ll limit your human rights to [NZ] citizens-only!
Your head is heading for moderation.
Dennis is just trying to pull the wool over our sheeple eyes…
.
I’m not a sheeple.