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Must New Zealand Pay Back All This Public Debt?

Written By: advantage - Date published: 9:34 am, December 20th, 2020 - 22 comments

Without much fanfare, Minister Robertson has used 2020’s crisis to bury the historic scourge of monetarism and within it the excuses of the governments that used it as a pretext to sell off our key government income generators.

A joy to read

Written By: lprent - Date published: 9:24 am, December 10th, 2020 - 18 comments

There are the odd occasions when you find a political opinion that is a joy to read and quite revealing. An analysis piece by the Bagehot columnist that refers to the Conservatives as the dysmorphic Tory party completes its transition from the natural party of government into a British version of the Taliban…

National’s gonna National

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:25 am, December 2nd, 2020 - 73 comments

On two issues, pill testing at music festivals and tax changes to address the housing crisis, National yesterday indicated that it will do what conservative parties do and oppose any meaningful change.

National announces terms of reference for its election campaign review

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:45 am, November 24th, 2020 - 62 comments

National wants to work out what went wrong during the last election.

National’s annual conference

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:47 am, November 22nd, 2020 - 64 comments

National has heeded the calls for change and rejuvination by returning Peter Goodfellow as its president.

Less buzz and more cooperative governing

Written By: lprent - Date published: 10:45 am, November 1st, 2020 - 49 comments

I liked the process for the Greens and Labour agreement. From Labour’s side after this election it was logically completely unnecessary, except maybe under some weird scenarios. But it is cooperative and that is clearly something that voters reward these days. Politics isn’t about buzz. It is about effective governance.

Will consensus building paralyse Ardern?

Written By: Simon Louisson - Date published: 7:14 am, October 21st, 2020 - 33 comments

Jacinda Ardern aims to bet both ways on our future – transforming Aotearoa to rid us of inequality and poverty, and building consensus. She has won a mandate with her historic, landslide victory but can she do both? My question is whether Labour are willing to do that because of her desire to maintain consensus and not rock the waka.

Backbench National MP proposes radical new tax to address deficit *

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 6:23 pm, October 14th, 2020 - 29 comments

* but I am not sure that all of his caucus colleagues would be happy with the proposal.

National’s 2020 election campaign in billboards

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 4:51 pm, October 11th, 2020 - 24 comments

A review of National’s billboards used this year shows what an utter disaster the campaign has been for them.

Ngaro goes negative

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:18 am, October 10th, 2020 - 43 comments

National list MP Alfred Ngaro has shown that National’s message discipline has broken down completely by going negative and making some outlandish claims against Labour’s Phil Twyford.

Strong team at leaking

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:43 am, October 9th, 2020 - 56 comments

Another day and another story about National MPs leaking against Judith Collins

When campaigns go bad

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:43 am, October 8th, 2020 - 50 comments

Emma Mellows national Auckland Central Hamish Price

Every day there is a new catastrophe for Judith Collins. Yesterday she had a walkabout from hell when it was revealed on national news that national activists including Hamish Price had been strategically placed to pretend to be ordinary members of the public and say nice things about her for the camera.

The importance of party unity

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:33 am, October 7th, 2020 - 83 comments

If a party wants to become Government there are a few characteristics that is has to have. Fiscal competence is one, unity is another. National currently has neither.

Paul Goldsmith should stop digging

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 3:05 pm, October 3rd, 2020 - 80 comments

Paul Goldsmith has shown yet again his complete inability to understand how Government finances work by claiming there is a $10 billion dollar hole in Labour’s fiscal plan where there is none.

POTUS, Covid and the New Zealand election

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:01 am, October 3rd, 2020 - 122 comments

News that Donald Trump has tested positive for Covid will have a significant effect on the US election as well as our local election. It raises the issue who will you trust to lead the country against this most agile yet deadly virus?

Judith Collins, Nicky Hager and Dirty Politics

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:16 pm, September 29th, 2020 - 55 comments

Judith Collins has said about Dirty Politics author Nicky Hager that he “still needs to meet his maker.” What did she mean by this? And why does she harbour such dark thoughts about Hager?

National’s alternative budget doesn’t add up

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:36 am, September 26th, 2020 - 23 comments

If ever you needed a symbol of National’s current plight it is the handling of the release of its alternative budget. It has been a complete and utter shambles. A clusterf&*k of epic proportions. Because if there is one part of National’s reputation that needs to be defended at all costs it is the perception that they are competent financial managers and making multiple billion dollar mistakes in your alternative budget at election time is the one thing over all else that will hurt that part of your reputation.

So much for the climate change consensus

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 10:50 am, September 25th, 2020 - 39 comments

Ten months ago National supported the Zero Carbon Bill and called for a consensus between the major political parties on the overall framework through which climate change issues are addressed. This week National trashed all of that to try and shore up its sagging support.

Paora Goldsmith is National’s $4 billion dollar man

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 4:17 pm, September 20th, 2020 - 116 comments

Paul Goldsmith has blighted National’s campaign launch by making a $4 billion dollar mistake in National’s budget costings.

National’s Upper Harbour problem

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:31 am, September 14th, 2020 - 41 comments

This has been quite a year for National. It is onto its third leader, has lost a slew of experienced MPs, and has had other MPs resign in curious circumstances. And now it appears that it has a crisis involving its Upper Harbour candidate, Jake Bezzant.

Landlord lobby group hopes National Government will ditch warm flat requirement

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:49 am, September 7th, 2020 - 56 comments

The NZ Property Investors Federation has proposed to its members they should hold off on making flats warmer and drier just in case there is a change of government.

Left wing twitter is the worst *

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:42 am, September 1st, 2020 - 69 comments

* but you should see what Judith Collins’ husband has been posting.

If National wins the hope for clean water and swimmable rivers will be gone by lunchtime

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:03 am, August 27th, 2020 - 40 comments

National has promised that if it gains power rules designed to improve water quality in our streams and rivers will be “gone by lunchtime.

National’s latest deception

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:45 am, August 26th, 2020 - 98 comments

National’s social media team has published an edited version of a response to a written question by Chris Hipkins to suggest that returning kiwis in quarantine were not subject to compulsory testing, when the reality is anyone refusing a test can be held for up to 26 days following the fortnight stay.

Is New Zealand or the United States the Covid cot case?

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:39 am, August 22nd, 2020 - 28 comments

This week Donald Trump has defended the US’s abysmal handling of Covid 19 by claiming that the disease is out of control in New Zealand. And National’s rhetoric continues to match what he is saying.

What is wrong with postal voting?

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:48 am, August 16th, 2020 - 73 comments

Judith Collins’s and National’s ridiculing the proposition that New Zealand could safely hold an election using postal voting has some disturbing similarities with Donald Trump’s approach in America.

TheY aRe onlY aSKing qUestiOns

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:32 am, August 13th, 2020 - 112 comments

Yesterday National suggested a wide based and interesting conspiracy theory involving the Government and the Ministry of Health and all of the Health Boards suppressing news of community spread of Covid 19 for political advantage while at the same time complaining that the Government should be consulting with them on decisions.