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Politics

Posts on government and governence at national and local level, political parties,politicians, and political participation

Categories under Politics

Bryce Edwards: The State of the political left (in the Age of Outrage)

Written By: - Date published: 6:10 am, May 31st, 2021 - 134 comments

What role has the political left played in helping create some of the changes to the current way politics is debated?

Cycling Politics is Winnable Politics

Written By: - Date published: 3:43 pm, May 29th, 2021 - 100 comments

This Sunday Aucklanders have an opportunity to protest the catastrophic failure of NZTA to generate a cycleway from the North Shore to the CBD, and to promote a practical proposal to “liberate a lane” on the Harbour Bridge which would do the job in the meantime.

Latest Colmar Brunton poll – people disapprove of Judith

Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, May 28th, 2021 - 44 comments

In the latest Colmar Brunton poll although National’s result and Judith Collins’ result as preferred Prime Minister went up slightly her approval rating for her job performance has plunged deep into negative figures.

Cummings: Boris is unfit for the job

Written By: - Date published: 8:37 am, May 27th, 2021 - 20 comments

Former top aide Dominic Cummings has accused UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson of being unfit for the job, and of making constant U-turns, “like a shopping trolley smashing from one side of the aisle to the other”.

Chris Bishop is tilting at Covid windmills

Written By: - Date published: 12:35 pm, May 26th, 2021 - 32 comments

Right now, in terms of our Covid response, New Zealand is in a unique position.  It has no community spread of Covid and its level of restrictions is the most permissive in the world.  But this does not stop Chris Bishop from trying to double guess the handling of the pandemic.

Cycling Politics Is Damn Serious Business

Written By: - Date published: 7:12 am, May 26th, 2021 - 73 comments

Don’t knock local politics until you’ve had to stand up and defend a cycleway in public.

The right bring out the big guns

Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, May 25th, 2021 - 39 comments

This is day five of the post Ruthenasia era and the response from the right is really underwhelming.  The most notable response is a comment by Peter Dunne questioning whether 11 year olds are ever interested in politics.

A very Samoan coup

Written By: - Date published: 10:07 am, May 23rd, 2021 - 43 comments

In overnight news the Samoan head of state Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II has suspended the recalling of Parliament due to occur on Monday throwing Samoa’s democracy into turmoil.

The Non-Partisan Populism of Popper’s Paradox

Written By: - Date published: 6:18 pm, May 22nd, 2021 - 91 comments

When democracy and free speech are hijacked to silence others, they can no longer support their principles and become a contradictio in terminis.

Taxpayer’s Union comrades celebrate glorious Socialist revolution

Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, May 22nd, 2021 - 31 comments

It is good to see our comrades in the Taxpayers Union celebrate the glorious Socialist revolution that is currently engulfing Aotearoa.

Where Did Business Go?

Written By: - Date published: 8:56 am, May 22nd, 2021 - 34 comments

Back in the day when we had useful Opposition, business leadership could be relied upon to think as if they had interests in common as business. This budget, their ability to think let alone lead has deserted them.

The end of Ruthenasia

Written By: - Date published: 8:03 am, May 21st, 2021 - 61 comments

National presented a particularly glum picture in Parliament yesterday.  And it was not only the realisation that Judith Collins is out of her depth. It was because this budget spells the end of Ruthenasia.

Will the real leader of the Opposition please stand up

Written By: - Date published: 8:41 pm, May 20th, 2021 - 5 comments

Today’s budget debate suggests that the effective leader of the opposition may not be the leader of the National Party.

Budget 2021

Written By: - Date published: 12:37 pm, May 20th, 2021 - 71 comments

Headline change, budget is lifting weekly main benefit rates by between $32 and $55 per adult to tackle inequality and child poverty, as well as reinstating the Training Incentive Allowance.

Reality has a left wing bias

Written By: - Date published: 10:22 am, May 20th, 2021 - 54 comments

Fresh from a claim that the Ministry of Education is trying to persuade kids not to eat home made lunches, David Seymour has taken aim at a new target, a radical education policy that intends to teach our kids about racism and inequality and what has happened in the country’s past.

What the recent elections tell us about British society

Written By: - Date published: 11:31 pm, May 17th, 2021 - 35 comments

Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s Blog In a nation that has suffered over 100,000 COVID-19 deaths, one may be somewhat taken aback to see the latest YouGov Poll where The Conservative Party enjoy a 15% lead over the Labour Opposition. 17 months after the Conservatives won the 2019 General Election, it would be easy to […]

C’mon National!

Written By: - Date published: 1:27 pm, May 17th, 2021 - 20 comments

Forlorn for now though they may be, this is the advice National MPs need right now.

Will we rebuild better?

Written By: - Date published: 7:34 am, May 17th, 2021 - 36 comments

There’s a question Covid19 allows us to ask that we haven’t been able to ask since the end of World War 2: can we all just co-operate to get along – as a species?

Latest poll – Collins dog whistling is not working

Written By: - Date published: 8:04 pm, May 16th, 2021 - 55 comments

The latest TV 3 Reid Research Poll has Judith Collins’ preferred leadership rating cut by two thirds.  Judith’s racist dog whistling is clearly not working.

How Covid may work out from here

Written By: - Date published: 9:50 am, May 15th, 2021 - 68 comments

The world may never get back to a pre covid state.  Until herd immunity is achieved throughout large swathes of the world as well as in Aotearoa New Zealand our borders need to continue to be closely monitored.  The anti vaccination movement and the failure to ensure equitable vaccine distribution may mean that our current messy dread filled reality will continue.

The Māori Party and the National Party

Written By: - Date published: 7:43 am, May 13th, 2021 - 113 comments

There were dramatic scenes in Parliament yesterday.  Judith Collins chose to again attack Jacinda Ardern about the He Puapua report.  And Māori Party Co leader Rawiri Waititi expressed his disgust at her race baiting in a uniquely New Zealand way.

Government backs away from public service wage announcement

Written By: - Date published: 8:02 am, May 12th, 2021 - 34 comments

Some good news from yesterday.  The Government has decided to walk back earlier comments suggesting a wage freeze for teachers and nurses.

Caption contest

Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, May 11th, 2021 - 52 comments

Keep it seemly.

National’s use of the dog whistle and its hatred of UN conventions

Written By: - Date published: 9:22 am, May 10th, 2021 - 52 comments

Judith Collins has applied the dog whistle to the He Puapua report and suggested that it is evidence of the Government wanting to radically change New Zealand society.  But a check through history shows that the report is based on an International Treaty that National signed up to.

Hang Facebook

Written By: - Date published: 11:15 am, May 9th, 2021 - 30 comments

The decision by the Oversight Board of Facebook to continue banning Donald Trump is one of the biggest moves against free speech and the modern definition of its limits that the world has seen.

Onya Michael

Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, May 8th, 2021 - 34 comments

Yesterday Minister of Labour Michael Wood led the announcement of a policy that conceivably could do more to address the decline in workers wages and conditions over the past 40 years than anything else tried recently.

Branko Marcetic: Labour’s public sector pay freeze isn’t just a betrayal of frontline workers – it’s a rejection of mainstream economic thinking

Written By: - Date published: 6:04 am, May 8th, 2021 - 24 comments

Consistent with how they’ve governed so far, Ardern and Robertson are happy to demand workers sacrifice for the greater good — but asking the rich to do the same is a red line they simply won’t cross.

About the public service pay freeze

Written By: - Date published: 7:40 am, May 6th, 2021 - 45 comments

A few of us on the left have issues with the public service wage freeze announced yesterday. By setting the salary level so low, at $60,000 per annum, the threat is that previous gains for teachers and nurses will be undermined.

About Trevor Mallard

Written By: - Date published: 8:20 pm, May 5th, 2021 - 67 comments

  • Trevor Mallard has made a concerted effort to change the tone of Parliament.  But last night got caught in a bickering match with National.

Uyghur separatists behind call for Parliamentary motion on genocide

Written By: - Date published: 4:26 pm, May 4th, 2021 - 72 comments

On Morning Report today ‘High Court lawyer’ Sam Vincent called for Parliament to resolve to condemn alleged Uyghur genocide in Xinjiang. He said he spoke on behalf of Uyghur Solidarity Aotearoa committed to taking action on Xinjiang “or as they call it East Turkestan.” If they call it East Turkestan they are likely separatists, with possible links to terrorists. That explains a lot.

Collins’ really bad take on te Tiriti

Written By: - Date published: 10:21 am, May 4th, 2021 - 67 comments

Last weekend Judith Collins spoke to the Northern Regional Conference of the National Party and gave as crude an analysis of te Tiriti as you can imagine.