political parties

Is Karl Marx dead?

Written By: advantage - Date published: 11:38 am, May 8th, 2018 - 60 comments

2018 marks several anniversaries of Karl Marx whose significance for the critique of capitalist society is hard to diminish. But what now for his beliefs?

The strange and unusual National Campaign Launch for the Northcote by election

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:36 am, May 7th, 2018 - 52 comments

Dan Bidois has formally launched his campaign by blaming Auckland Council for the last Government’s shortcomings, and opposing the regional fuel tax while at the same time insisting that if there is intensification then it needs to be paid for.

English Council Elections

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 10:02 am, May 7th, 2018 - 16 comments

By Nick Kelly – Upper Hutt boy in London.

Australia and New Zealand budget days

Written By: advantage - Date published: 7:47 am, May 7th, 2018 - 23 comments

Isn’t it time we at least synchronized the New Zealand budget with the Australian budget?

The election year party donations returns

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 10:12 am, May 6th, 2018 - 40 comments

The election year donation returns have been released and show a surge of donations for Labour but National still well ahead.

Everyone applauds Labour’s homelessness plan … except National

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:56 am, May 5th, 2018 - 133 comments

Labour’s announcement of $100 million spending on homelessness has attracted praise from everyone, except National.

The Centre, the Left and UK local elections

Written By: Bill - Date published: 11:18 am, May 4th, 2018 - 14 comments

Thoughts on a resurgent left and a collapsing centre.

So there was sewage leaking into Middlemore hospital’s walls

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:21 am, May 4th, 2018 - 87 comments

In further horror news about our health system the leaks of sewage into the walls of Middlemore Hospital has been confirmed and its discovery occurred in 2010. And in 2015 the chair of cash strapped Canterbury DHB signed a Ministry of Health drafted letter saying it did not need further funding despite an urgent need for further funds.

The real conspiracy facing New Zealand

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:00 am, May 3rd, 2018 - 55 comments

Rhys Darby has discovered the real conspiracy facing New Zealand by judicious use of the Internet. And Clarke Gayford does not feature.

National wants to add to Auckland’s gridlock

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 4:11 pm, May 2nd, 2018 - 16 comments

National has promised to overturn Auckland’s Regional Fuel Tax. But has no proposal for how the funding will be replaced.

ACT’s failed charter school protest in tweets

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 8:30 am, May 1st, 2018 - 101 comments

Last weekend ACT had a protest against charter schools and spent in the vicinity of $10,000 to get maybe 50 people to attend. They should have gone to Labour Hire.

Does this Government have the money to deliver?

Written By: advantage - Date published: 9:51 am, April 30th, 2018 - 76 comments

I’m sure all revealed at Budget 2018, but the financial management of this government is not surefooted.

National is yeah nah on climate change

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:21 am, April 30th, 2018 - 34 comments

National’s Blue Green conference on the weekend suggests that the party has moved on from outright denial that cliamte change exists to grudging acceptance that it is a phenomenon but “balance” requires that it is tolerated.

National’s fiscal ineptitude over Auckland transport

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:03 am, April 29th, 2018 - 32 comments

National has responded to Labour’s ATAP proposal by refusing to accept there is a problem, drumming up anti Auckland resentment in the rest of the country and claiming they would have done the same thing.

Doofus of the week – April 28, 2018

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:30 am, April 28th, 2018 - 23 comments

This week’s winner is a National MP who has perfected the ability of cutting and pasteing but has no idea about the dark art of social media.

The Big Auckland Transport announcement

Written By: advantage - Date published: 1:30 pm, April 26th, 2018 - 39 comments

Minister Phil Twyford and Mayor Phil Goff announced the ATAP, the transport programme for Auckland for the next ten years. At $28 billion it is the largest civil infrastructure programme since World War II.

Guest Post: How many working groups did the last National Government create?

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 7:50 am, April 26th, 2018 - 38 comments

A Guest Post from Luke C where he analyses National’s creation of working groups in the last Goverment and comes up with a surprising conclusion.

Jacinda Ardern is just like Donald Trump

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:15 am, April 22nd, 2018 - 77 comments

In a gross example of click bait journalism a senior political commentator at a major media outlet has claimed that Jacinda Ardern and Donald Trump are similar.

Pollwatch: Colmar Brunton, 16/4/18

Written By: Matthew Whitehead - Date published: 4:00 pm, April 18th, 2018 - 78 comments

An arc chart of seats in the latest Colmar Brunton poll: Greens 7, Labour 53, New Zealand First 6, National 54, ACT 1.

In this third edition of Pollwatch, we note Simon Bridges’ leap out of the gate to a hiss and fizzle, and with Roy Morgan still on an unexplained hiatus, our second poll of the year has arrived from Colmar Brunton, with the government’s support down very slightly, but its support partners both in a much more stable position.

The political honeymoon that keeps on ending

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:01 am, April 18th, 2018 - 43 comments

Media pundits are claiming on the evidence offered by one poll that the Government’s political honeymoon is over. But the same claim was made four months ago.

The Northcote by-election

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:59 am, April 17th, 2018 - 86 comments

Labour and National have both selected their candidates for the Northcote by election. Labour’s candidate is Shanan Halbert who cut significantly into Jonathan Coleman’s majority at the last election.

The Government’s response to the Syrian crisis

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:58 am, April 16th, 2018 - 203 comments

Jacinda Ardern has accepted the US, UK and French response to the Syrian crisis. Should she have instead condemned it?

Global finance and climate change

Written By: advantage - Date published: 9:00 am, April 14th, 2018 - 18 comments

The two greatest powers at work in the world right now are the roles of global finance, and climate change. In New Zealand we don’t yet see how these intersecting worlds of finance and climate change are interacting, or the government’s role in forming that interaction. But this is close.

Dear Judith burning Oil and Gas is the worst thing for the climate

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:45 am, April 14th, 2018 - 73 comments

National now seems to adopt the position that climate change is real and has to be addressed. But it is refusing to accept that to address the problem New Zealand is going to have to give up its reliance on oil and gas.

Homeless families are living in cars … and tents

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:00 am, April 13th, 2018 - 84 comments

Remember how early on during his reign as National leader John Key talked about the underclass and how they were a blight on New Zealand society? Well over the past year WINZ has been giving grants to homeless families to live in tents.

Government blocks off shore oil and gas drilling

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 10:13 am, April 12th, 2018 - 158 comments

The Government has announced that there will be no new offshore oil and gas exploration permits issued under the block offer process.

We did not know it would be this bad

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:10 am, April 11th, 2018 - 173 comments

Marama Davidson’s question to Jacinda Ardern in Parliament yesterday allowed Jacinda to outline the enormous mess the last National Government has left the country in.

What did we want from Marama Davidson?

Written By: Matthew Whitehead - Date published: 8:30 am, April 10th, 2018 - 68 comments

James Shaw and Marama Davidson, standing together as Green Party co-leaders

While there has been some informed commentary on Marama Davidson’s ascension as co-leader of the Green Party, some of the more right-wing outfits have failed to understand the dynamics within the party right now. What did Marama promise, and what were Greens expecting of her?