David Cunliffe spoke to the Left base in the Daily Blog Live interview last night: economy, tax, employment, GCSB, TPPA & more. He raises hopes for a new, post GFC social democratic vision. But he spoke to those with economic & policy knowledge. His nods towards better social security, away from bennie bashing, need fleshing out.
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National is now ‘officially on board’ with getting the Auckland City Rail Link built. But they won’t start building it until 2020 at the earliest, and there’s no government money actually budgeted for that. Why not start building in 2015, like the Council wants? Maybe because that would mean committing actual funding. It turns out the Nats’ 5-year delay will cost $500m.
You will have heard of this ‘buy now, pay later’ plan that the Nats have to try to save the Meridian sale. Pay 60% of your shares’ price up front, the remaining 40% in 18 months. It’s an interest-free loan, funded by higher government borrowing. What we didn’t know is this outrageous fact: this taxpayer-funded interest-free loan will be extended to foreign banks
Nick Smith says he did not even know a document existed even though he was given a full briefing on it. And after he gets involved a submission critical of the environmental effect the proposed Ruataniwha Dam will have on the Tukituki River is drastically altered. There is something distinctly smelly about this.
Did you know that Wellington mayoral candidate John Morrison told an audience at an arts awards ceremony that he would see a body-painted model in the shower later? Did you know he’s engaged in voter suppression of young voters? Did you know at a recent debate he told Celia Wade-Brown to be quiet, saying ‘the men are talking’? If you do, it’s not from reading the Dompost.
It’s 120 years since women got the vote – what are you doing to celebrate?
Ok, I’m very pleasantly surprised. David Cunliffe has made a very interesting choice for chief of staff. Based on what I know about the task, she looks like a damn good fit for the role. In fact I’m just surprised that he managed to attract her at all for the thankless task.
I’ve always thought that the Chief of Staff role should be exercised by someone who was more managerial and staff orientated rather than being deeply embedded in the political game.
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What seems to be the defining feature of this government is in providing corporate welfare to incompetents who underbid their competition for government […]
The MSM largely reported on Cunliffe stumbling over the word Chorus in his first question yesterday to PM Key. But Key’s answers and later replies to the media, indicate corporate-friendly, cronyist manipulations and dodgy phone advice. [Update: Coalition for Fair Internet Pricing]
Yesterday Paula Bennett introduced the First Reading of the Vulnerable Children Bill. Nat MPs separated child abuse from issues of poverty and income inequality. Opposition MPs from Mana, Labour & The Greens called the Nats on it, arguing for the bigger picture.
Paddy Gower’s gleeful predictions of ‘blood on the floor’ of caucus didn’t happen. Tracy Watkins’ unrealistic demand that Grant Robertson (whom she incorrectly thought would win the leadership race) be retained as deputy was never going to happen. What we saw was a neat, least moves action that puts the economy front and centre of Labour’s brand.
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As a special handy guide for political journalists I include a summary of John Key’s understanding of the inner workings of the Labour Party:
What comes first – the economy or the society? The only point of having a good economic policy is because you have a […]
Cunliffe has asked David Parker to be his is Cunliffe’s deputy. Moroney & Lee-Galloway Whips, Robertson Employment, Jones Economic Development. Audrey Young at the NZ Herald. Parker to retain finance, Robertson leader of House. Will there be a strong female presence in the front bench? Tracy Watkins on Stuff: [Updates]
John Key tries to smear the winner of Labour’s democratic leadership contest as “far left”, while his government continues in its anti-democratic, plutocratic ways: sale of Meridian to avoid referendum; Joyce’s Broadband pricing “arm twisting”.
This may be shades of getting over-Apple’d as they mercilessly flay people on iTunes with their gargantuan pile of boilerplate each time they change a line.
However there are a couple of policy changes on this site that people should be aware of.
Day one of Cunliffe’s leadership and he is into battle mode. He has made it clear that unity in the caucus is expected. And he has deftly raised the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement as a political issue.
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Day one of David Cunliffe’s tenure as Labour leader and the tone is being set. There will be unity in the party and Labour is going to take the fight to National and John Key.
For many years there used to be a blog site called The Thordon Bubble that was dedicated to the minutiae of the political scene as seen from a small area in Wellington. I always thought it was a perfect name for the thermocline difference of views between the hunting grounds of the politicians and parliamentary political media, and what happens inside the Labour party. The leadership vote numbers highlight the scale of the event horizon between them.
Today is the 75th Anniversary of the 1938 Social Security Act, one of Labour’s finest achievements that shaped our modern society. As Michael Joseph Savage said during the passage of the Bill: “There is enough of the best for all of us, and I want to bring about security for everyone during illness, whether it be temporary incapacity due to accident, or anything else. I should think it was the inalienable right of every person to be secured against distress of any form.”
The stunning levels of naked media dishonesty and bias we’ve seen in the coverage of David Cunliffe, his campaign, and now his election, […]
Well, didn’t that work well? For the past three weeks, Labour has dominated the political news with three contenders show-casing its values. There was remarkably little aggro – witness Tracy Watkins’ desperate scratching for any time conflict story. David Cunliffe has emerged with the legitimacy of a democratic victory, and a much stronger-than-expected mandate.
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It’s official David Cunliffe is Labour’s new leader. And, having been democratically elected by Labour’s Parliamentary, Party, and industrial wings in the first […]
One from each side of the politician-journalist relationship, both from one article…
Julia Gillard on power, purpose, and Labor’s future. Well worth a read.
The election of a new Leader today will be a historic moment in the history of the New Zealand Labour party. Regardless of […]
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Despite an overall swing to the Liberal National coalition in the recent Australian election there is potentially one exceptional result where a Liberal front bencher with a 16,000 majority may lose to a community independent in a historically conservative area. No matter what happens this campaign will provide progressives with good learning on the use of social media and how to run a campaign in a conservative area.
John Armstrong gets it right: David Cunliffe’s going to win tomorrow. But he also gets it really wrong. Armstrong cooks up a conspiracy where Cunliffe’s job is to win the election, then Robertson will roll him. It’s almost as if, in the middle of Labour’s first democratic leadership selection process, he’s forgotten that Labour now has a democratic leadership selection process.
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According to the latest Roy Morgan: If a National Election were held now the latest NZ Roy Morgan Poll shows that a Labour/ Greens alliance would win easily. Yes, a leaderless Labour with Greens help would apparently defeat John Key.
