What exactly has Russel Norman done wrong?
Well, what a fuss. In the past 24 hours I've heard and seen reports of Greens' co-leader Russel Norman having "secret" meetings with Kim Dotcom, of him having a "brain fade" about said meetings and...
View ArticleLet's all pick on the deaf girl!
A chill wind of fear will have blown through the corridors of power in Wellington with the publication of this Sunday Herald story about Green MP Mojo Mathers' decision to travel to take part in a...
View ArticleTime to put the punch into ‘punch above our weight’
We need to push strongly for the United Nations to stand up to Russia’s violation of international law and the sovereignty of Ukraine.Ukraine is nascent democracy. New Zealand is a small one. There is...
View ArticleDon't walk away, in silence
Have a read of this NZ Herald article by Greg Ansley about the conditions in the off-shore asylum seeker camps that Australia has set up to "deal with" refugee claimants who try to get to Australia by...
View ArticleOne of these things actually isn't quite like the other
There's been a bit of lefty gloating going on around the traps about Patrick Gower's interview with John Key on The Nation, in which he sought to draw an equivalence between David Cunliffe's use of a...
View ArticleThe left missed a chance to score today
It wasn’t like we didn’t know it was coming. The announcement of the date today has highlighted the fact that the left now has six months to add five per cent to its support, find and mobilise a couple...
View ArticleThe takeaway from Judith's Chinese dinner
It's a new week, and so the beginning of a new political era. Why, then, am I bothering going all the way back to the ancient past of the start of the month, in order to write about Judith Collins'...
View ArticleHow the left could still win
Bill English believes the government shouldn't bother with trying to promote added value exports. If the market wants raw logs, then that's what we should sell.read more
View ArticleNational’s muddled message on economy could help Labour
John Key’s promise not to promise anything in his pre-budget speech last week revealed some serious muddle in National’s thinking. The tried and tested rule is that governments spend in the bad times...
View ArticleIt is the evil things that we shall be fighting against ... and against them...
When Bill English warned National's northern region conference that the upcoming election would be "close", he meant it as a caution against complacency. Judith Collins, however, appears to have...
View ArticleWhy the Collins case is about then, not now
So Judith Collins survives her 48 hours on the cliff's edge and heads off on holidy with the title "honourable" still in front of her name. Which is hardly surprising really, because while all the MFAT...
View ArticleA taxonomy of scandal
Except when it’s a 'Kinsley gaffe', named after the first political botanist to identify this species in the wild. In these cases, the scandal occurs when a politician says something that is true but...
View ArticleThat's the price I pay for hating Key the way that I do
Call it genius or hypocrisy, but the Mana Internet alliance, Laila Harre's decision to lead the Internet Party into this year's election and Kim Dotcom's record $3 million donation creates all sort of...
View ArticleHere’s what to do about inequality
A recent UMR poll found 50% of us are 'very concerned' about growing inequality, 37% are 'somewhat concerned', and only 13% 'not concerned at all'. Seven out of ten of us believe the gap between rich...
View ArticleDirty deal dancing - when Colin finally meets Key
Remember in the 2009 Mt Albert by-election when Melissa Lee said she was hoping to come second? She was roundly mocked and, presumably put straight by an advisor or senior colleague.read more
View ArticleAcronyms and secret handshakes no way to sell a trade deal
The National government hasn’t been able to reassure us that they really will protect these principles in their secret Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.read more
View ArticleAstride the eagle & dragon: John Key's Pacific paradox
There has been a fair bit of recent speculation about whether John Key's approach to foreign policy represents a departute from the consensus of the past two decades and if this, somewhat to everyone's...
View ArticleMate, has Winston put the Conservatives in check?
With holidays over, party conferences held, and the final two weeks of this term's parliament commencing, the parties have just about all laid out their pieces for the campaign chess game ahead.read more
View ArticleWhat does Labour do now?
The problem isn't 'right wing framing'. There isn’t a media conspiracy to get a third term National government. When you fall behind everyone airs their favourite explanation and negatives get repeated...
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