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Politics

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

Categories under Politics

Thanks Jacinda – Zero cases of Covid19 in Aotearoa!

Written By: - Date published: 1:15 pm, June 8th, 2020 - 93 comments

Thanks to clear and decisive leadership, an intelligent government, the decision to go hard and fast, respect for science, and overwhelming commitment to local kiwis we can celebrate a milestone, Aotearoa has no current cases of Covid 19.

Dear Hamish please keep it up

Written By: - Date published: 7:50 am, June 8th, 2020 - 39 comments

Hamish Price’s twitter game is proving to be a boon to Labour.

National Has Found a Moral Compass

Written By: - Date published: 3:46 pm, June 6th, 2020 - 34 comments

National has embarked on a moral crusade to not lose the Election.

Bunker boy Trump finally builds that wall

Written By: - Date published: 1:23 pm, June 5th, 2020 - 23 comments

This week Donald Trump has hid in a bunker, used tear gas to move protestors away from a church so that he could have a photo opportunity with a bible, and has started to build his much vaunted wall.  Although it is around the White House and not on the Mexican border.

How Covid 19 appears to be playing out

Written By: - Date published: 10:51 am, June 4th, 2020 - 108 comments

The politics of Covid 19 present difficulties for the opposition.  They cannot fault execution of the plan so far and have been reduced to complaining that the restrictions are not being loosened quickly enough.

The four horsemen of the apocalypse

Written By: - Date published: 8:03 am, June 4th, 2020 - 16 comments

Ok so this is the worst year I can think of in my lifetime. But apocalyptopia it ain’t.

Stunned Muller

Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, June 3rd, 2020 - 85 comments

Todd Muller thinks it is up to Donald Trump to decide if Donald Trump is a racist.

The wood, the trees and the ETS

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, June 3rd, 2020 - 4 comments

It’s a brutal thing to propose more taxes and costs on business during our worst economic meltdown in a century. But yesterday the Government increased the cost of Carbon.  But we need to do more.

Is National Just Inconsistent or Incompetent?

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, June 1st, 2020 - 65 comments

National’s new job-creation scheme appears to be inconsistent with their desire to fully re-instate the 90-day trial period.

Twitter takes on Trump

Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, May 30th, 2020 - 77 comments

Donald Trump is engaged in an escallating war with Twitter after the Social Platform hid one of his tweets calling for Minneapolis rioters to be shot.

What has the Government ever done for business?

Written By: - Date published: 1:33 pm, May 29th, 2020 - 19 comments

Borrowing heavily from Monty Python’s Life of Brian Labour MP Deborah Russell sets out what the Government is doing for small business in these Covid 19 times.

Most leaders of the opposition are unemployed, they just don’t know it yet

Written By: - Date published: 10:21 am, May 29th, 2020 - 68 comments

Holy hyperbole. Todd Muller has claimed that most kiwis are unemployed although they do not realise it yet.  Although in one case he may not be wrong …

Is there something wrong with Judith being white?

Written By: - Date published: 8:17 am, May 28th, 2020 - 134 comments

Judith Collins has responded to criticisms that National’s front bench has no diversity by asking if there was something wrong being white and then saying she was sick of being demonised for her ethnicity.

Direct small business loan scheme is now working

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, May 27th, 2020 - 26 comments

It was interesting reading this morning that the updated small business owner loan scheme is now working (unlike the previous guarantee through the banks version). National’s new Small Business shadow minister Todd Muller should be all over this between now and the election offering helpful suggestions. I’m going to be fascinated looking at those to see what type of small business he is trying to help…

Labour and the Greens on welfare

Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, May 27th, 2020 - 79 comments

While Labour remain wedded to a neoliberal view of welfare as a necessary evil with deserving and undeserving poor, the Greens are standing up for the rights of all of us to live with dignity and have a meaningful standard of living.

Cat MacLennan: We Are Beneficiaries

Written By: - Date published: 10:45 am, May 27th, 2020 - 9 comments

Approximately 2.8 million of Aotearoa New Zealand’s 4.9 million residents are now beneficiaries. Covid-19 has shown us that #WeAreBeneficiaries. Those New Zealanders who only need state support for a short time in their lives are incredibly lucky. Let’s stop looking down on and punishing those who are less fortunate.

New leadership same old tactics

Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, May 27th, 2020 - 24 comments

National has released a social media ad suggesting that New Zealand’s per head of population Government debt figure will be worse than Greece’s by 2014.  But the data used presumes the effects of Covid 19 in New Zealand’s figure but no effects of Covid 19 in Greece’s figure.

Ko Paora Goldsmith tenei

Written By: - Date published: 9:11 pm, May 26th, 2020 - 33 comments

National’s new brains trust has not had a great day today.  They responded to claims that their front bench looked awfully white and had no Tangata Whenua by claiming that Paora Goldsmith was from Ngāti Porou.  The only trouble was that he wasn’t.  

Todd Muller is Simon Bridges with less personality

Written By: - Date published: 1:33 pm, May 26th, 2020 - 68 comments

Todd Muller has announced a front bench that resembles a National Party front bench from 30 years ago.  And his first live interview on national television did not go as well as he hoped.

Two Tier. Bull. Shit.

Written By: - Date published: 2:58 pm, May 25th, 2020 - 217 comments

I thought we were “in this together” or some such?

Todd’s MAGA hat

Written By: - Date published: 7:59 am, May 25th, 2020 - 119 comments

Todd Muller has spent the weekend not introducing himself to the country and talking about his ideas for our future but by defending the displaying of a MAGA hat in his office.

The current National party.

Written By: - Date published: 3:06 pm, May 24th, 2020 - 62 comments

The change of leadership inside of National is essentially meaningless. All it seems to have started is exposing the kind of internecine factional warfare that is lurking below their party surface. I can’t see the inexperienced National team, even with Amy Adams back in it, being able to make the kinds of long-term decisions required in a modern world.

On the Road with Todd and Ken

Written By: - Date published: 10:05 am, May 24th, 2020 - 57 comments

Catherine Delahunty recounts an impression of Todd Muller from her days as an Green MP. “The road to polite and personal good will is worth driving when there is no urgency and no deep changes required. It is good to arrive somewhere without personal damage and with genuine good will but it is not the base for addressing the most critical issues of our time.”

Todd Muller is no Jacinda Ardern

Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, May 23rd, 2020 - 151 comments

Is Todd Muller the solution to National’s inability to deal with Jacinda Ardern?

Constitutions that build citizen power and joy

Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, May 23rd, 2020 - 34 comments

Emerging from the current crisis, what kind of state can be envisaged that could do the opposite of this consciousness deflation, by enabling and encouraging an empowered citizenry, and harnessing public intelligence, creativity and ingenuity for the common good?

Nat Vote: And the Loser Is ….

Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, May 22nd, 2020 - 197 comments

The Nation holds its breath as the dullest political leadership race in a generation snores to a close. Who will win by losing? Who will lose by winning? Who cares?

UPDATE: It’s Mullertime!

UPDATE: Bennett dumped!

Work ideas

Written By: - Date published: 8:13 am, May 22nd, 2020 - 28 comments

Jacinda Ardern has floated the idea of a four day working week and Grant Robertson wants to change the future of work.  Maybe they should get on and do it.

Who wants to lead the National Party?

Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, May 21st, 2020 - 93 comments

Tomorrow the National Party caucus meet to decide on a leadership challenge mounted by Todd Muller and Nikki Kaye.  Both parties obviously think they have the numbers.  Which MPs are misleading them?

Dead man walking

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, May 20th, 2020 - 106 comments

The media is reporting there will be a vote of no confidence in Simon Bridges’ leadership at next week’s National caucus meeting.

Mark Richardson for National leader!

Written By: - Date published: 11:08 am, May 19th, 2020 - 27 comments

Michelle Boag thinks that Mark Richardson should be the next National leader after Simon Bridges.  Here at the Standard we wish to endorse this proposal.

Pollwatch for Newshub/Reid Research poll, 18th May 2020

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, May 19th, 2020 - 53 comments

The latest Newshub/Reid Research poll is a bloodbath for National- but who are the likely victims? Pollwatch is back, this time with a model for electorate winners and losers to add onto the party vote stats.