political parties

Anthony Rimell – why I am standing for Parliament

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 9:00 am, March 14th, 2017 - 30 comments

Anthony Rimell is Labour’s candidate for the Ilam seat. In this post he sets out the reasons why he is standing for Parliament.

Justin Lester: Why Wellington, why Labour, and how did he make conference cry?

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 4:49 pm, March 12th, 2017 - 10 comments

Via Noted, the Mayor of Wellington talks about his city, his mayoralty, and why he’s Labour.

Andrew Little on The Nation

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 1:16 pm, March 11th, 2017 - 84 comments

A good interview with Andrew Little on The Nation. Among the many topics covered, Little stated that all pledges can be funded without raising taxes.

What should Labour and the Greens do in Ilam?

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:32 am, March 11th, 2017 - 48 comments

Christchurch Councillor Raf Manji has announced that he will be standing as an independent against Gerry Brownlee for the Ilam seat in Christchurch.

Community groups abandon Smith’s water forum

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:37 am, March 11th, 2017 - 14 comments

Will Nick Smith get the message and set in place a realistic consultation process and safe standards, or will he persist with a plan so bad that no one wants to be associated with it?

Nick legged it

Written By: Natwatch - Date published: 1:18 pm, March 10th, 2017 - 19 comments

Remember how the move of Nick Leggett to National was supposed to be some big disaster for Labour?

TOP climate change policy

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:32 am, March 10th, 2017 - 21 comments

Morgan’s TOP climate change policy is out, and it commits to “net zero carbon emissions by 2050”. There’s lots to like…

Roads not health

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:38 am, March 9th, 2017 - 98 comments

A new coalition protests health under-funding, while the cost of the holiday highway blows out. Our government has its priorities all screwed up.

Congratulations Jacinda Ardern!

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 10:47 am, March 7th, 2017 - 21 comments

Will Collins make a move?

Written By: Natwatch - Date published: 9:52 am, March 7th, 2017 - 40 comments

The crisis around English’s amateur-hour handling of the super announcement is an opportunity for Judith Collins.

National accuses John Key of shying away from the hard issues

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:35 am, March 6th, 2017 - 61 comments

Shambolic scenes as Bill English’s twitter account tweets criticism of John Key not taking the hard decisions regarding superannuation eligibility, then the tweet gets deleted. And Bill did not know the tweet had been sent out.

Swimmable standards that aren’t for all of our rivers except most of them

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:10 am, March 5th, 2017 - 21 comments

Swimmable standards that aren’t, for all of our rivers except most of them, sometime maybe not now. Nat policy at its finest.

A social media primer for progressive candidates

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:36 am, March 4th, 2017 - 15 comments

Labour Party General Secretary Andrew Kirton recently sent out a message to Labour Candidates which of itself was a lesson on all things social media …

Encouraging Signs

Written By: Bill - Date published: 1:32 pm, March 3rd, 2017 - 25 comments

A refreshing shift in NZ’s political environment.

Thanks Annette

Written By: Mike Smith - Date published: 11:38 am, March 3rd, 2017 - 9 comments

I well remember going to see new Minister of Employment Annette King in 1989 to ask for support for group apprenticeship in the motor industry. “Seems like a good idea, we’ll put up $50,000.” she said. I nearly fell off my chair. It was not the usual response from Ministers in those days, but is Annette King to a T – positive, decisive, and supportive.

Coalition building – deft politics from Little

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:45 am, March 3rd, 2017 - 87 comments

Helen Clark wrote the book on MMP coalition government, shoring up alliances on the left and the right. Looks like Andrew Little has read the book. Labour + Green + NZF = government.

Labour: Greens are the first cab off the rank

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:38 am, March 3rd, 2017 - 19 comments

Andrew Little has confirmed that the Green Party will be first party Labour looks to for a coalition deal after the election.

Who would have thunk that Government’s approach to housing is inadequate

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 10:46 am, March 2nd, 2017 - 34 comments

Radio New Zealand has reported on a review of the Government’s housing policy which described it as fragmented and lacking a robust plan but it took intervention by the Ombudsman to have the review released.

Great reaction to Jacinda move

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:02 am, March 2nd, 2017 - 72 comments

The (presumed) move to Jacinda Ardern as deputy leader has been very well received.

Annette King standing down as deputy leader

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 9:43 am, March 1st, 2017 - 215 comments

In breaking news Annette King is standing down as deputy leader of the Labour Party and Andrew Little will nominate Jacinda Ardern as deputy leader.

National bolster their moribund blue-greens

Written By: lprent - Date published: 8:28 am, February 28th, 2017 - 74 comments

I read this morning in Politik that Vernon Tava has left the Greens and appears to be leaning towards National. It doesn’t seem to me to much of a problem to lose a conservationist to National. It just means that the Greens can concentrate more effectively on the work of getting everyone trying to build a cleaner sustainable future.