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Politics

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

Categories under Politics

What does National do in Epsom?

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, May 19th, 2020 - 33 comments

Last night’s Reid Research Newshub poll result will be reverberating through National’s caucus.  And raises the question, do they gift Epsom to ACT and maybe get a right wing MP or do they preserve every seat they can for themselves.

Newshub Poll Shock!

Written By: - Date published: 6:30 pm, May 18th, 2020 - 158 comments

The May 2020 Newshub/Reid Research poll is astonishing. You’ve have, quite literally, never seen anything like it.

“Is there even a point in having the Greens anymore?”

Written By: - Date published: 12:31 pm, May 17th, 2020 - 104 comments

Yes lefties, there is, and it’s not rocket science.

What the Greens did

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, May 15th, 2020 - 39 comments

A round up of the Green Party’s achievements in the 2020 Budget: funding for nature, the commitment to ending violence, and public housing and insulation. And a look at the pragmatics of what the Greens can currently accomplish.

Budget 2020

Written By: - Date published: 3:37 pm, May 14th, 2020 - 89 comments

The budget site is up and running. Some links here along with Robertson’s speech. This post may get updated if authors feel like it. Otherwise commenters can praise or criticize. Preferably constructively rather than with mindless waffle.

Viruses love liberty – they can breed more.

Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, May 14th, 2020 - 25 comments

Viruses and other diseases simply don’t care about abstractions like ‘human rights’. They just want to breed. We need a better legislative toolkit to deal with epidemics. There is only so long that a draconian state of emergency should be maintained. Like 1918 we need to start thinking about the future Health Act with reserve powers like level 2 and 1. In the meantime, we’ll deal with the virus with this imperfect act as a tool.

Budget 2020: biggest and best from PM Ardern

Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, May 14th, 2020 - 88 comments

Text of a pre budget speech given yesterday by Jacinda Ardern.

Jacinda is not like Muldoon

Written By: - Date published: 9:49 am, May 13th, 2020 - 97 comments

National has decided to play politics with Covid 19 and is opposing the Government’s attempt to pass legislation to secure level 2 arrangements. And has made the extraordinary claim that Jacinda Ardern is just like Rob Muldoon but with slogans.

Bloomfield and the empire strikes back

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, May 12th, 2020 - 41 comments

Dr Ashley Bloomfield has responded to allegations by Simon Bridges that the government has suspended the Official Information Act and the Emergency Response Committee has made multiple requests for information from the Ministry that it is waiting for by advising publicly there are no outstanding requests for information.

Covid-19: down to L2 Thursday

Written By: - Date published: 4:37 pm, May 11th, 2020 - 44 comments

In the ongoing press conference (RNZ): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced a staggered move into level 2 starting on Thursday, with schools and bars reopening later and groups limited to 10 people. and She said retail, malls, cafes, restaurants, cinemas and other public spaces including playgrounds and gyms would be able to reopen on […]

Israel’s proposed annexation of Jordan Valley

Written By: - Date published: 8:53 am, May 10th, 2020 - 18 comments

With Benjamin Netanyahu now reinstated as Prime Minister of Israel, the big annexation of the Jordan Valley is gathering momentum.

Go Joe.

Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, May 9th, 2020 - 50 comments

The clock is ticking on Joe Biden.

Parker gives Bridges a lesson in constitutional law

Written By: - Date published: 10:01 am, May 9th, 2020 - 175 comments

In a Facebook Live event David Parker has schooled Simon Bridges on basic principles of constitutional law. And it appears that Bridges demand that legally privileged advice be handed over is heading to the Privileges Committee.

UK Labour – the leaked report

Written By: - Date published: 1:35 pm, May 7th, 2020 - 27 comments

In July 2019 BBC current affairs show Panorama did a report on antisemitism in Labour. Ironically many of the whistleblowers from this Panorama documentary were the people named in this leaked Labour report as having frustrated antisemitism investigations. Were it not for COVID-19, we can be sure the BBC would ensure this was properly reported on to ensure a balanced and factual news service had been provided. Or maybe not?

Transmission Gully PPP

Written By: - Date published: 10:46 am, May 7th, 2020 - 56 comments

I’d agree with what No Right Turn says..
“The entire project looks to be an expensive failure. Rather than transferring risk to the private sector, it turns out to be the usual scam of privatising profits and socialising losses.”

Bridges pulls a stunt

Written By: - Date published: 7:46 am, May 7th, 2020 - 93 comments

Simon Bridges threw two stunts yesterday, firstly threatening to try and summons senior Public Servants to publicise confidential legal advice and then by attacking Dr Ashley Blomfield for not answering emails quickly enough despite the existence of a pandemic which the country appears to be handling pretty well.

The Green Party’s proposal on essential workers’ pay

Written By: - Date published: 12:19 pm, May 6th, 2020 - 45 comments

Low-wage essential workers are getting New Zealand through this crisis and continue to do so. They went to work when the rest of us were told to stay away – and people would be horrified to hear many of them barely earn enough to live on.

Trump’s not so bad: manslaughter edition

Written By: - Date published: 12:07 pm, May 6th, 2020 - 49 comments

An occasional series

Roger Douglas attacks economic privilege and inequality

Written By: - Date published: 10:18 am, May 5th, 2020 - 261 comments

Roger Douglas has reverted to his socialist roots by going back on his pro market mantra and criticising the economic privilege and inequality that he helped create.

What would President Biden do?

Written By: - Date published: 7:47 am, May 4th, 2020 - 59 comments

With President Trump doing what we all expected, and killing 67,000 people and counting through chronic poor leadership, and utterly ruining the U.S. economy as well, it’s time to look at what policies the alternative candidate has on offer.

UMR’s bombshell poll result

Written By: - Date published: 11:41 am, May 1st, 2020 - 142 comments

A leaked UMR poll result puts National on 29%.

His work here is not yet done

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, May 1st, 2020 - 71 comments

Former Prime Minister John Key has said that under current conditions employers are going to sack 20 per cent of their workers even if the company is doing well and that employers should never waste a crisis.

No Exit.

Written By: - Date published: 5:25 pm, April 30th, 2020 - 22 comments

Reaction to Covid 19 has done more in a few weeks to blunt the drive behind climate change than anything the environmental movement has managed to do in over thirty years.

UFOs are real

Written By: - Date published: 3:44 pm, April 30th, 2020 - 24 comments

The Pentagon has confirmed the existence of videos which pretty well prove the existence of Unidentified Flying Objects and released the videos.

How to kill the car

Written By: - Date published: 7:17 am, April 29th, 2020 - 45 comments

What would you do so that instead of wandering endlessly through tilt-slab monstrosities soaked in 80s music and fluorescent lighting, surrounded by oppressed minimum-wage slaves who hate being there and you hating being there worried about your wheeled asset damaged in their carpark instead you get freedom?

Leak, leak, leak, leak …

Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, April 28th, 2020 - 19 comments

Tova O’Brien has reported multiple leaks of a Nick Smith email which was highly critical of Simon Bridges.

The class politics of the Covid-19 pandemic response

Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, April 28th, 2020 - 59 comments

National economics spokesperson Paul Goldsmith has advanced a plan to address the Covid 19 pandemic which includes union bashing and privatisation.

Green Party: COVID-19 recovery and investment in people and nature

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, April 27th, 2020 - 16 comments

Most of the funding will go directly to employing people – the tools needed for wetland restoration such as spades and seedlings are far cheaper than big excavators and asphalt.

Draconian Tourism or no Tourism?

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 27th, 2020 - 192 comments

If overseas tourists want to visit NZ, they may have to give up a little bit of their privacy to keep all of us safe.

How Covid-19 is smashing councils

Written By: - Date published: 9:23 am, April 26th, 2020 - 69 comments

Just as most industries in New Zealand are firing thousands of people to cut costs, local government is getting ready to do the same.

dear sysop: on covid-19 debt

Written By: - Date published: 3:33 pm, April 25th, 2020 - 60 comments

We put in guest posts occasionally.  These days I’m the person who runs the email account and sees the general ones. Mostly I don’t give any feedback as much as anything else because a lack of time. But I should. This is the first to get that editorial attention. The topic itself is worth discussing. What is the process of raising debt for the cobid-19 economic response.