political parties

Pure clear water

Written By: advantage - Date published: 7:15 am, February 21st, 2020 - 44 comments

It’s probably time to notice why Jones’ Provincial Growth Fund had to step in and provide several million of funding to patch up the water supply emergency in Northland.

National has nothing to be afraid of

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:03 am, February 20th, 2020 - 54 comments

National has absolutely nothing to worry about the prosecution of four people for carving up a donation to the National Party.

SFO: The National Party Four are Named

Written By: te reo putake - Date published: 3:20 pm, February 19th, 2020 - 107 comments

Name suppression has been lifted for the four National Party associates charged by the SFO.

National’s donation reporting problem

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:19 am, February 19th, 2020 - 25 comments

National’s recent donations returns suggest that a large total of their donations are made in the under $15,000 category, the benefit of which is that the donor’s identity does not have to be disclosed. Update: The four accused have been named.

Green Party call for national discussion on political party funding and donations reform

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 7:10 am, February 19th, 2020 - 61 comments

It’s clear that Parliament is incapable of meaningful reforms to itself, as some political parties have a vested interest in the status quo, a citizens’ assembly would remove bias around these important decisions.

– NZ Green Party

BREAKING NEWS: Simon Bridges Calls on Simon Bridges to Stand Down

Written By: te reo putake - Date published: 6:30 pm, February 18th, 2020 - 5 comments

BREAKING NEWS: Simon Bridges calls on the leader of the opposition to stand down while the SFO case is before the courts.

National received two dodgy $100,000 donations

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:25 am, February 18th, 2020 - 46 comments

The SFO charges laid in the District Court reveal that it investigated not one but two dodgy $100,000 donations to National.

National’s big economic policy announcement

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 1:42 pm, February 17th, 2020 - 83 comments

Simon Bridges has claimed that the average wage earner in the country pays almost 33c in the dollar in taxes. Spoiler alert, they do not.

National is not counting its chickens for granted

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:47 am, February 17th, 2020 - 27 comments

National will announce today that tax cuts will be a major policy plank for the next election.

What was Winston thinking?

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:52 am, February 15th, 2020 - 120 comments

It has been revealed that NZ First acquired photographs of its former President and two reporters emerged on the Whaleoil mark 2 site, raising the concerning possibility that Simon Lusk may be involved in helping NZ First.

The problem with opinion polls

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:38 am, February 14th, 2020 - 77 comments

This week the Reid Research Poll predicted a Labour Green government and the Colmar Brunton poll predicted a National ACT government. Which one will be proved correct?

Fact checking National

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:51 am, February 13th, 2020 - 14 comments

Simon Bridges has claimed that a GDP growth Jacinda Ardern used was wrong even though it was the figure released by Statistics NZ.

Bridges’ many and varied positions on coalition with NZ First

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:48 pm, February 12th, 2020 - 18 comments

In the past 10 days Simon Bridges has said that National will not go into coalition with NZ First after the next election, to it could consider coalition in the future, to there is no way it will ever go into coalition with NZ First.

Will the last remaining National MP please turn off the lights

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 1:35 pm, February 11th, 2020 - 58 comments

Three more National MPs have joined the ranks of those leaving Parliament this year.

Will DPF condemn National for hiding the identity of its donors?

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:35 am, February 11th, 2020 - 59 comments

David Farrar has called for the suspension of Winston Peters from Cabinet for reasons which would also justify the suspension of Simon Bridges from the National Party.

The big State Media Merger?

Written By: advantage - Date published: 8:00 am, February 8th, 2020 - 27 comments

Looks like there’s a ways to go before New Zealand gets an integrated state-backed broadcaster. But the Government’s recent proposal is a big step in the right direction.

No mates Simon

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 10:48 am, February 7th, 2020 - 86 comments

The repercussions from Simon Bridges’ disastrous Waitangi performance continue to reverberate. His suggestions that Māori seats and the Waitangi Tribunal should be done away with have resulted in the Māori Party indicating it is more likely to support Labour after the election.

The MPs go to Waitangi

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:04 am, February 5th, 2020 - 93 comments

Yesterday the political parties were welcomed onto the upper Marae at Waitangi. Jacinda Ardern took the occasion to give a stock take of what the Government was doing to address Iwi concerns, Andrew Little gave his speech totally in te reo, and Simon Bridges chose to use the opportunity to politic.

Mike Moore

Written By: advantage - Date published: 7:30 am, February 3rd, 2020 - 104 comments

It’s not often you find New Zealanders who give every single breath they have to the left and do it with resounding and even global success. Such a person was Mike Moore.

Bridges’ biggest gamble

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 3:46 pm, February 2nd, 2020 - 103 comments

Simon Bridges has mimicked John Key and ruled out National working with NZ First after the election. The difference is however that back then Key ruled out working with NZ First because NZ First was involved in a SFO investigation about the hiding of a $100,000 donation. This time it is National.

Pay the money back Simon

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 3:17 pm, February 1st, 2020 - 33 comments

Simon Bridges has stated that National wants to pay the undeclared $100,000 donation back but even though nearly two years have passed since it was made it still remains unrepaid.

Is National the party of law and order?

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:26 am, January 30th, 2020 - 38 comments

Following the announcement by the Serious Fraud Office of charges relating to the donation of $100,000 to the National Party Simon Bridges claim of being exonerated appear to be optimistic.

SFO files charges in relation to National Party donations

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 3:37 pm, January 29th, 2020 - 55 comments

The SFO has confirmed that it has charged four persons with offences relating to the receipt of donations by the National Party.

The Government’s $12 billion infrastructure package

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:33 am, January 29th, 2020 - 96 comments

The details of the Government’s $12 billion infrastructure announcement have been released.

How low will Bridges go?

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:55 am, January 28th, 2020 - 23 comments

Simon Bridges has wondered out loud if anti semitism stopped the Government from sending a senior representative to a Holocaust memorial in Israel.

The Fourth Estate struggling in the social media world

Written By: nickkelly - Date published: 11:51 pm, January 27th, 2020 - 30 comments

Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s blog

Ahead of the 2020 General Election in New Zealand, Labour Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that her party is committed to run a factual election and has signed up to a social media tool to help prove it. The 2020 NZ election will be an interesting case study of whether in the social media age there can be honest political debate free of misinformation and manipulation of facts.

Labour is signing up to Facebook transparency tool

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 2:58 pm, January 23rd, 2020 - 68 comments

Jacinda Ardern has announced that Labour will abide by Facebook Ad Library Report rules which allow voters to see where campaigning money is being spent on Facebook ads. And that it will have its major policies independently costed.

The right is splintering on climate change

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:30 am, January 23rd, 2020 - 70 comments

The right appears to be splintering on climate change, with former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull describing Donald Trump as the world’s leading climate change denier. And locally National MP Andrew Bayley has talked the profound effects of climate change on Antarctica’s ecosystems at the same time as Paula Bennett is attacking educational material designed to make children think about climate change.