liberation

NZ Politics Daily - 31 May

Is some work too hard to do when you are in your 60s? Yes, according to Labour which, trying to soften the edges of its push to raise the general retirement age to 67 has said that manual workers should get the opportunity to retire at 60. Maori, because of their shorter lifespan, should also be able to retire at 60 according to the Maori Party – see: Duncan Garner’s Labour says retirement age should be 60 for manual workers. United Future blogger Pete George advocates his party’s flexible system with increasing rates for those that hold off retiring until later but also points out the complications of defining who actually would be entitled to retire when, in Should women be eligible for Super later than men? [Read more below]

NZ Politics Daily - 30 May

‘Must do better’ is the least criticism Education Minister Hekia Parata can expect from her colleagues over the shambolic class sizes policy. She may argue that being heckled by intermediate school principals at their conference today in the midst of it all is punishment enough, but as John Armstrong writes, the entire mess was completely avoidable – see: Class backdown a mess of National's own making. Parata’s performance under pressure yesterday will not do her political aspirations any good. John Hartevelt says Parata ‘ran from questions in the morning and was hapless in the teeth of grillings from the media and the baying Opposition in the afternoon – see: Education minister learns the hard way. [Read more below]

 

NZ Politics Daily: 29 May

Is the proposal to fix the ‘intergenerational unfairness’ of superannuation actually a Trojan horse? Labour’s proposal to raise the superannuation eligibility age to 67 is being met by an almost deafening media chorus calling for National to agree – see: Duncan Garner’s Pressure for John Key to raise retirement age. National appears stuck with an election promise, but it’s giving some signals that it will follow suit in a few years according to Tracy Watkins who says that Key has admitted that ‘National had "kicked the tyres" on whether to revisit his 2008 and 2011 election promise’ – see: Nats thought about pension change. Labour’s proposal is to raise the age in increments between 2020 and 2032 – after the vast majority of baby boomers have already secured their full entitlement. They will get their super at 65 and collect it for their expanding life span, pulling up the ladder behind them.  It is actually the following generation who will pay the boomers’ full entitlement but get less themselves. It’s OK – they are used to it. It is a generation that has had the cradle-to-grave welfare state ladder pulled up higher all of their lives. [Read more below]

 

‘For a richer New Zealand’: Environmentalism and the Green Party in the 2011 New Zealand General Election

The 2011 general election was a breakthrough election for the New Zealand Green Party. Campaigning ‘For a richer New Zealand’, the Greens won 11.1% of the vote, which translated into 14 MPs. Although the Greens had been in Parliament for the previous 12 years, they had never before been able to win much more than 7% of the party vote. This blog post reproduces a version of a journal article accepted for publication in Environmental Politics, written by Niki Lomax and Bryce Edwards. It argues that the 2011 triumph of the Greens can be attributed, more than anything else, to the significant reinvention of the party over recent years. The Green Party that contested the 2011 election was essentially an entirely new and transformed version of the party that formed in 1990 and was first elected to Parliament in 1999. The Greens, originally regarded as a radical, fringe movement of political outsiders and non-politicians, by 2011 had metamorphosed into a much more conventional, moderate, and professional party. [Read more below]

John Moore: ‘Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me’ – How the Green Party aims to woo back left voters

Is the Green Party now the nature home for progressives in New Zealand? While the David Shearer led Labour Party is rapidly distancing itself from its brief move to the left under the leadership of chameleon-like politician Phil Goff, the Greens have seemingly embraced a number of leftwing causes. These include: opposition to state asset sales, support to various striking and locked-out workers, and the struggle against growing inequality. So if you are leftwing you should vote Green, right? In this guest blog post, John Moore argues that the Green Party is once again making an opportunistic political shift in an attempt to capture a segment of the electorate. In light of the Greens’ shift to the right over recent years, and the exiting of a number of key leftwing activists from the party including the prominent resignation of Sue Bradford, the Greens born-again leftism therefore needs to be viewed with a large dose of cynicism. [Read more below]

 

NZ Politics Daily - 28 May

Does New Zealand now hold political prisoners in its jails? The imprisonment of Tame Iti and Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara on arms charges has outraged supporters who claim their sentences are more about justifying a massive police blunder than a punishment befitting their convicted crimes. TVNZ’s Q+A had excellent coverage of the issue on Saturday including an interview with Police Commissioner Peter Marshall (read the transcript and watch the interview here).

 

The Commissioner’s explanations are not convincing according to Tim Watkin (See no evil, hear no evil, insist there is evil) who says that while Marshall claims ‘that police are "very clearly vindicated" by the sentences this week… at the same time he can't say who was at risk, which buildings were being targeted or what the plot was’. He says Marshall almost appears to be ‘willfully ignorant’ of the inconsistencies, particularly the allegation that then-Opposition Leader John Key was a named target and yet went into a remote marae in the Ureweras just two months before the raid. [Read more below 

NZ Politics Daily: 25 May

New Zealand is a tougher place to live in because of the Government’s latest Budget. There are plenty of losers and few winners, leaving a balance sheet that is pretty dismal. Those badly affected by Bill English’s latest decisions include families, smokers, kids in paid employment, farmers and students, and today there are literally hundreds of articles detailing their losses. Tracy Watkins sums up the bad news nicely: ‘Bill English's fourth Budget pinches the pennies, raids nearly every piggy bank and even plunders the Government's rainy-day fund. No-one, it seems, is safe – even kids with an after-school job have been frisked for extra revenue to help fill Government coffers’ – see: Budget 2012: Cough it up. Similarly, TV3’s Duncan Garner puts it like this: ‘It's the penny-pinching, paper boy Budget.  A million here, a million there. No one walks away from this budget without getting hit in some way.  No matter how small – we've all gone backwards’ – see: Robbing the paper boys to pay the Bills. [Read more below]

 

Post-Budget analysis: "The Yawn Budget"

The race to name the Budget seems to have been won by Vernon Small: it’s ‘The Yawn Budget’ (http://bit.ly/JpaZwL). There’s many variations on this theme that have been announced today by various pundits and political players. John Armstrong labels it A most forgettable (and dull) Budget (http://bit.ly/JpcPh5), and uses words such as ‘forgettable’, ‘dull’, ‘boring’. Bernard Hickey seems to call it ‘The Steady-as-she-goes Budget’ (http://bit.ly/Jpbmr5). Herald business editor Liam Dann (@liamdann) (http://bit.ly/JpbAyC) has tweeted that it’s ‘The Seinfeld Budget’ i.e. ‘A Show about Nothing’. Political strategist Mark Blackham ‏(@mark_blackham) (http://bit.ly/JpiZ0X) has tweeted to say that it’s The "plain pack" Budget i.e. as with plan packing of cigarettes, ‘No National branding, but we all know what's inside’. [Read more below]

NZ Politics Daily: 24 May

The race has already begun to attach a folksy label to this year’s Budget and capture in two or three words what it’s all about. John Armstrong’s bid for the title is ‘sweet and sour’, reflecting how each unpalatable cut is balanced with a sweetener. He thinks this approach has worked so far and that with the outcry over cuts and increased charges effectively minimised, today’s fare will be fairly bland – see: 'Sweet and sour' approach averts Budget outcry. 

 

‘Bach, boat and beemer’ is Patrick Gower’s pick for an catchy handle, reflecting Bill English’s hint that he will be closing down on tax loopholes such as tax write-offs for holiday homes – see: Bach, boat and beemer targeted in Budget. Such measures will make easy headlines for English and make it easy for headline writers. But the measure is unlikely to harvest large amounts of extra revenue or cause real concern for the most affluent New Zealanders. [Read more below]

 

Geoffrey Miller: Is taking gifts from lobbyists ever a good idea?

David Shearer has defended taking free hospitality from SkyCity at the Rugby World Cup by saying he didn't know at the time about the ‘convention centre for pokie machines deal’. If this is really true, then Shearer is, at the very least, guilty of incompetence, as the deal was announced in June 2011 and he is an Auckland MP. The deal was covered by the media at the time in June 2011. The alternative is somewhat worse for Shearer, namely that he was in fact fully aware of the news of the deal in June 2011, but somehow, in May 2012, fell victim to the rather contagious and virulent malady spreading through the New Zealand parliament: the 'cannot recall' disease. In this guest blog post, Geoffrey Miller warns against politicians receiving corporate gifts and says they should declare them more quickly than they do. [Read more below].

 

NZ Politics Daily: 23 May

Is Labour still fighting last year’s election? David Shearer’s limited announcements on economic policy have carefully been aimed to boost Labour’s image as a fiscally responsible government-in-waiting. This clearly constrains them as they attack the Government’s Budget tomorrow. The problem may be that the world has moved on and ‘fiscal responsibility’ is becoming synonymous with ‘austerity’ – policies that are becoming economically and politically less fashionable by the day. There is clearly a majority of voters who think the Government has got it wrong or are unsure about the current economic approach according to Vernon Small and Tracy Watkins (see: Support for economic direction wavering). This would suggest there is fertile ground for a credible economic alternative, and there is no doubt Labour has plenty of ammunition with which to attack the Government. But they also need to provide a strong point of difference in order to be seen as a real alternative government. [Read more below]

 

NZ Politics Daily: 22 May

Quickly accumulating unwanted baggage is a reality for most travellers. On his journey towards the Beehive’s 9th floor David Shearer, the ‘non-politician’ elected with no political baggage, is quickly getting weighed down. Shearer’s office, along with Government politicians, are no doubt poring over the Labour Leader’s previous statements about political corruption in light of the daily revelations about Shane Jones’ involvement with William Yan (aka Bill Liu), currently on trial in Auckland. Revelations in court yesterday show the link goes further than just Jones, as Shane Phillips (also known as Shane Te Pou), a professional Labour Party fundraiser, had close links with Mr Yan, taking Yan on a trip to Hawke’s Bay which included a visit with then Labour Internal Affairs minister Rick Barker. His brother also worked in Shane Jones’ office. Phillips claims to have filled in a citizenship form on behalf of Mr Yan, the accuracy of which is central to the prosecution – see: Edward Gay’s Millionaire knew immigration statements were untrue, court told. The article, along with others – such as Jared Savage’s Labour links to Yan emerge in court – illustrate how well-connected Yan was to the Labour Party. [Read more below]

 

NZ Politics Daily: 21 May

Jobs and growth versus fiscal responsibility - that’s the major dichotomy characterising political analysis and debate in the lead up to this week’s Budget. Brian Fallow asks today in the Herald, ‘Which is the economy’s biggest problem right now: too much debt or not enough work to go around?  That is the basic question the Government faced as it prepared this week’s Budget’ – see: Dealing with debt key to recovery. Similarly, today’s Herald editorial says ‘Governments around the world are in the same dilemma: whether to give lacklustre economies an even greater stimulus or demonstrate budgetary control’ – see: Budget likely to test resolve on economy. This Government has clearly chosen in favour of fiscal responsibility, and that’s going to be the key message pushed all week. 

 

In contrast, Labour, the Greens, and other critics are going to be pushing for a priority to be placed on creating economic growth – and to a lesser extent, jobs. You can see a foretaste of this in David Shearer’s very nice catchphrase: A ‘zero Budget this week is a recipe for zero growth’ – see: Adam Bennett’s Zero Budget means zero growth – Shearer. John Armstrong also says that the focus of debate ‘will shift to the adequacy or otherwise of National's economic growth strategy’ – see: Backlash lurking in Govt austerity march. According to Armstrong, National is going to have to rely on ‘Steven "Minister of Everything" Joyce’ and his new super-ministry to create the required growth and jobs. Labour’s not alone in pushing for greater job creation, interestingly, Business New Zealand’s Chief executive Phil O'Reilly has called for a ‘much sharper focus on job creation’ – see RNZ’s Business NZ to hold Govt to its goal of returning to surplus. [Read more below]

NZ Politics Daily: 18 May

The Judith Collins defamation action is starting to look like a cross between the Teapot tapes and the McLibel trial. The Minister has finally filed the legal proceedings against Labour MPs Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little who, for their part, both seem determined to milk it for all it’s worth – see the two items by Danya Levy: MPs laugh off Collins' lawsuit and Little tells Collins to send in the 'thugs'. Clearly Little and Mallard sense that this legal action can only embarrass the Minister and her Government, and are set on turning the process into a circus with their hijinks, bluster, and jovial disregard for the matter. 

 

Graeme Edgeler writes in his blogpost, Sanctuary!, that being ‘served’ your legal papers is a rather quaint, bizarre and ‘fun’ part of the whole procedure, so who can blame the Labour MPs for enjoying the theatrics. But he takes issue with the notion that MPs cannot be served defamation proceedings while in the Parliamentary complex due to parliamentary privilege. Instead Edgeler suggests that ‘unless they’re planning on being unfindable for next couple of years, it might be better to get it over with. If the case is as likely as they claim to prove embarrassing for the Minister, one might wonder why they don’t want to bring it on’. Furthermore, as Adam Bennett reports in Little out to embarrass Collins over court action, ‘should the pair avoid being served in person several times, lawyers could apply for a court order allowing the papers to be simply taped to their front doors’. [Read more below]

 

NZ politicians on gay marriage (on the record)

Recently we have seen some New Zealand party leaders and MPs come out in support of same-sex marriage – albeit often with qualifications. When I interviewed politicians in my Vote Chat series last year, I asked them about this issue, and their responses can be viewed on YouTube. In the blog post below, I summarise their responses and provide links through to the particular video clips where they give their views on gay marriage. I also roughly rank the various politicians who participated in Vote Chat – from those that were most enthusiastic in supporting marriage equality through to those that clearly oppose allowing same-sex couples to marry. [Read more below]

  

John Moore: Language chauvinism, Maori nationalism and the demonisation of the ‘other’ in New Zealand

A sizeable minority of New Zealanders are ‘annoyed’ or even ‘repulsed’ by the apparent proliferation of shop signs in ‘foreign’ languages. So, what could be a reason or explanation behind this sense of anguish felt over a few shop signs written in Chinese and other ‘foreign’ scripts? This phenomenon of anxiety, and even pathological hatred, felt towards the ‘other’ is not unique to this country, and is in fact part of a global rise of xenophobic, nativist and nationalistic responses to ‘globalization’. However, perhaps unique to this country, such views are currently being promoted by the left in alliance with Maori nationalists, rather than by a populist right. And alongside this leftwing promotion of anti-foreigner politics, we are seeing a transformation of tino rangatiratanga ideology, where a synthesis is occurring of Maori nationalism and traditional pakeha/white nationalism. In this guest blog, John Moore explains why racist and nationalist views continue to have resonance in modern Aotearoa and argues that the left must unambiguously reject such irrational reactions to a rapidly changing world. 

NZ Politics Daily: 17 May

The most significant education reforms since David Lange’s Tomorrow’s Schools in 1988? An attack on teachers? A focus on quality versus quantity? A slight change in student-teacher ratios? Or the thin edge of the wedge? These are the arguments flying around today over Hekia Parata’s announcement signaling changes to primary and secondary education. The proposals have instantly incurred the wrath of many organised elements of the education sector, including the New Zealand Principals' Federation, Secondary Principals Councils, Post Primary Teachers' Association, Canterbury Primary Principals' Association, and the NZ Educational Institute – joined, naturally, by Labour and the Greens – see Kate Shuttleworth’s Sharp response to planned class size changes. 

 

So has National launched a political assault on the education sector and, if so, is it bravery or stupidity? There are parts of the sector – such as the School Trustees Association and some educationalists - who support the basic ideas proposed by Parata. What’s more, in terms of the particularly controversial matter of performance pay for teachers, the latest Herald survey 63 per cent of respondents supported it. For other useful coverage of the issue, see: Tina Law and John Hartevelt’s Bad report card for bigger classes, Teuila Fuatai and Vaimoana Tapaleao’s Move to larger classes sparks alarm, and the Herald editorial: Size matters, but excellence even more so. Meanwhile, in the tertiary sector, changes in the governance of universities are also being proposed, and today Sandra Grey of the TEU argues that ‘Corporate-style boards will undermine the independence of universities and their staff’ – see: Tertiary governance changes suspect. [read more below]

 

NZ Politics Daily: 16 May

The media should hold politicians to account, and politicians should be wary of the media – that’s the golden rule of political communications. Democracy and politics are best served by a healthy distance and tension between MPs and those who report on and analyse them. It is far more problematic when the two institutions get too cosy – as we have witnessed in the British tabloid hacker-gate scandal in which media moguls, editors and journalists have been exposed as being incredibly close to prime ministers, politicians and spin doctors. 

 

In that case we should probably be pleased to see that John Key has been venting his spleen at various journalists and describing the media as increasing hostile, aggressive and antagonistic towards him. Of course this doesn’t mean that his criticisms of the media are accurate or fair, and there has been some interesting reactions. The best response to Key’s media moan has come from Paul Buchannan writing on the Kiwipolitico blog – see: Whining John. While lambasting Key, Buchannan actually agrees with the Prime Minister’s observation that the press has turned against him to some degree. This is a welcome development according to Buchannan, who says that the media gave Key the ‘press equivalent of a free pass for the first three years in spite of often equivocal, deceptive or disingenuous answers to anything other than patsy question’. Furthermore, Buchannan argues that the changing orientation of the media is largely a response to Key’s own actions – in particular his conduct during the ‘teapot tape’ saga where he attempted ‘to have the photographer prosecuted, following on his defamatory and/or contemptuous treatment of individual members of the press corps’. What’s more, Buchannan notes a change in Key’s demeanour: ‘Slowly but surely, as each new mini-scandal or crisis was revealed, Mr. Key began to drop his smile and wave optimism and replaced it with a surly, if not seething disdain for his questioners. Although he keeps his nice persona sharp for staged interviews on TV and radio, his guard drops when doing the impromptu stand-up Q&A with the press gallery’. 

 

Swift responses to Key came, interestingly, from the Herald editors – who instantly hit back on Twitter. Herald Editor-in-Chief Tim Murphy (@tmurphyNZH) dismissed the gripes as ‘a 2nd term thing’. And Herald Editor Shayne Currie (@ShayneCurrieNZH) said ‘We wouldn't want to be populist now would we Mr Key’, and in reference to British hacker-gate scandal, said ‘I guess I won't be getting LOL texts’. 

 

The best single item covering the story is Key denies slamming NZ media. Adam Bennett’s Key backs off comments on 'Herald' in media gripe also provides the responses of some other politicians – the most interesting being from the staunchly anti-media Winston Peters: ‘Mr Peters said the Herald, like other media, had been "absolute poodles" towards Mr Key during his Government's first term.  But he offered the media his blessing for their more aggressive approach now’. TVNZ also reported later that day, ‘John Key said the nation's media "were doing well" when he was confronted with a barrage of journalists in Wellington’ – see: Key told to harden up after media moan. For other responses see: Duncan Garner’s Media's 'hostile' behaviour natural – Key, the Wanganui Chronicle’s Huff a bad look for PM, and David Farrar’s Keys actual comments on the media.

 

So is there a 'tabloidisation' going on in New Zealand’s media? Academic media expert (and former Herald editor) Gavin Ellis gives his view about this in an interview on Newstalk ZB. Larry Williams also discussed the issue in an interview with Barry Soper. 

 

John Key could well cite two examples from the Herald today to bolster his case that the media is becoming more critical of his Government. The first is in Claire Trevett’s front-page story, MP Spending: Big bucks on travel. This details ‘The latest release of ministerial credit card details - covering the first three months of this year’ and reveals that Tim ‘Groser ran up a $10,829 hotel bill for a week in Switzerland - about $1345 a night’. The biggest ministerial spenders on international travel were: Murray McCully ($110,637), Tim Groser ($87,970) and Jonathan Coleman ($42,012).

 

More significantly, David Fisher keeps digging for dirt on the BanksDotcom scandal, and today he has come up with yet more material that, in the public interest, deserves publication – see: Banks promised Dotcom aid: Email and Hong Kong hospitality warmly received. The first story about the promises that John Banks allegedly made to Dotcom is particularly damning. It provides further details about what might be seen as ‘cash for political influence’ both before and after Banks’ election to Parliament and appointment as a minister in the current government. Fisher has got hold of emails written by Kim Dotcom's head of security that allegedly record what John Banks had offered to Dotcom. When asking for a donation to the Act Party, Banks apparently promised ‘he would be a "very good friend" once he was back in Parliament, according to an email’. In terms of Dotcom’s declined OIO request to buy his mansion, Banks also allegedly ‘said "once in government" he "would have the power to do something about it"’. And perhaps most damning of all – after being elected to the current Parliament – one email relays Banks making the following offer: ‘He [said he] would like to sit down with you in the new year to talk about how he can be a service to [you] and the family now [he] is back as an MP’. For more analysis of what the latest revelations might mean, see The Standard’s Emails reveal Key & Banks’ Dotcom links. 

There’s praise and blame being heaped on the Government’s plans to raise pharmaceutical prescription prices. Criticism can be seen in TVNZ’s Health experts plead for rethink on prescription price hike and Gordon Campbell’s On the rise in prescription charges. While editorials in the Herald and Dominion Post are sympathetic – see: Angst at rise in script fees misdirected and No sugar coating for prescription charges. Both editorials note that New Zealand prescriptions remain relatively cheap by international standards. The Herald make a case, however, for the prices to be even higher but offset by a lower ‘trigger point for free prescriptions’. 

Next week’s Budget is looking increasingly black for some sectors. The Government continues to pre-announce some of the potentially controversial elements, the latest being: Bigger class sizes announced and the fact that ‘the Government is working on performance pay for teachers’. John Hartevelt has written a good piece on the ‘money-shuffling’ going on – see: About this budget.... Hartevelt notes ‘that the Government is running out of obvious money-saving targets in the public service and has been forced to move on to finding money-raising options…. [and] looks to have wound up wringing the revenue it needs from growing user charges’. For further forecasts on what might be in next Thursday’s announcements, see also BusinessDesk’s Budget spotlight on 'sin taxes' and property.

Other important or interesting political items today include:

 

• Maori Television broadcast a special ‘Native Affairs’ episode this week about the Urewera controversy, which you can watch here. For some interesting commentary on the issue, see Morgan Godfery’s Native Affairs on the Urewera "terrorists", Stephen Franks’s Urewera 4 and the Supreme Court, and Joshua Hitchcock’s Once More On The Urewera 4. Interestingly, Franks is full of praise for the episode of Native Affairs, and Hitchcock expresses strong reservations about the actions of the Urewera defendants.
• Paula Bennett has announced what she calls the Government's new ‘investment approach’ to welfare, with the establishment of a business-focused new board to give advice and support to the MSD chief executive and the Minister – see: Danya Levy’s Rebstock appointment to welfare reform board concerns. Gordon Campbell raises some critical concerns. 
• TVNZ is no longer a public broadcaster, and hence it believes it shouldn’t be forced to screen political party electioneering advertisements for free – see: Paul McBeth’s Electioneering puts TVNZ at 'commercial disadvantage'. 
• The Green Party’s Claire Browning has written a book on the history of her party – and it will be launched to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Values Party (the precursor to the Greens) – see: Beyond Today: a values story, and the Greens’ story. Browning warns her comrades: ‘It says one thing some members won’t like. The Greens are an ecological economic party, a party that puts the environment first, not a party of the Left’.

 

Below are the internet links to all the NZ politics material from the last 24 hours that are either informative, insightful, interesting or influential. This list and the links are taken from a fuller document, NZ Politics Daily, which is emailed out, Monday to Friday, to various researchers, academics, journalists, MPs and so forth. The document is purely for research purposes only, and if you would like to be on the subscription list, please email: [email protected]

 

PM criticises media

Newstalk ZB, APNZ, Herald: Key denies slamming NZ media

Newstalk ZB: Key slams news media (+ video)

Adam Bennett (Herald): Key backs off comments on 'Herald' in media gripe

TVNZ: Key told to harden up after media moan

TV3: Key: Media 'aggressive and hostile' toward Govt

Duncan Garner (TV3): Media's 'hostile' behaviour natural – Key

Alex Tarrant (Herald): Key takes aim at hostile, aggressive and antagonistic media

David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Keys actual comments on the media

Paul Buchannan (Kiwipolitico): Whining John.

Anthony Robins (Standard): Better late than never

Wanganui Chronicle: Huff a bad look for PM

BanksDotcom

David Fisher (Herald): Banks promised Dotcom aid: Email

David Fisher (Herald): Hong Kong hospitality warmly received

Newswire: Email confirms Banks got donation from Dotcom

The Standard: Emails reveal Key & Banks’ Dotcom links

 

Prescription charges

TVNZ: Health experts plead for rethink on prescription price hike

Gordon Campbell (Scoop): On the rise in prescription charges

Herald: Editorial: Angst at rise in script fees misdirected

Dom Post: Editorial: No sugar coating for prescription charges

TV3: User-pay charges will harm Kiwis - Green Party

Melody Brandon (NBR): New Zealanders happy to pay up to $9 for prescriptions

No Right Turn: A bitter pill

 

Budget

John Hartevelt (Stuff): About this budget...

BusinessDesk’s Budget spotlight on 'sin taxes' and property

Rob Salmond (Pundit): Lies, damned lies, and National party spin-doctoring

John Hartevelt (Stuff): Bigger class sizes announced

Kate Shuttleworth (Herald): Minister: Classroom sizes to grow

Tim Hazledine (Herald): Downsizing will ensure top quality

 

Welfare reform

Herald/APNZ: Minister defends new welfare board

Danya Levy (Stuff): Rebstock appointment to welfare reform board concerns

Newswire: Bradford slams new reforms board

RNZ: Minister defends Rebstock appointment to board

Felix Marwick (Newstalk ZB): Balance of new welfare board questioned

Gordon Campbell (Scoop): On Paula Rebstock and her new welfare reform platform

 

Broadcasting

Herald: Funeral procession protest for TVNZ7

Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Nearly half of homes watch Freeview – survey

Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Sky shares fall on ComCom news

Esther Goh (idealog): Igloo gets the green light but Sky under scrutiny

Tom Frewen (Scoop): Strongman Mine Doco - Another Disaster at NZ on Air?

Tim Selwyn (Tumeke): NZ On Air can't ad

Russell Brown (Public Address): Disrupting the Television

 

Urewera case

Morgan Godfery (Maui Street) Native Affairs on the Urewera "terrorists"

Stephen Franks: Urewera 4 and the Supreme Court

Joshua Hitchcock (Maori Law and Politics): Once More On The Urewera 4

 

Other

Claire Trevett (Herald): MP Spending: Big bucks on travel

Paul McBeth (NBR): Electioneering puts TVNZ at 'commercial disadvantage'

Claire Browning (Frogblog): Beyond Today: a values story, and the Greens’ story

Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Anxious time for super man

Stuff: 'NZ Inc' stretches legs in new digs

Danya Levy (Stuff): Consultancy's part in review questioned

Press: Editorial: Ruling's wide reach

Newswire: PSA welcomes budget boost

Andrea Vance (Stuff): Conservative Craig in demand as agony aunt

Lincoln Tan and Hayden Donnell (Herald): Ethnic signs: Poll confirms Kiwis uncomfortable

Manawatu Standard: Editorial: When, not if

Charlie Gates (Stuff): Christ Church Cathedral rescue bid rejected

The Political Scientist: Under cover, under hand and under the radar – ‘all about sport’ in Christchurch

Martyn Bradbury (Tumeke): Let David Cunliffe speak on TV3's 'The Nation' Facebook group

The Standard: Much ado about nothing

Robert Winter (Idle Thoughts): Jordan Carter on the Labour Party Reorganisation

Eric Crampton (Offsetting Behaviour): A useful lottery

Newswire: McCully to lobby for UN council seat

Jamie Morton (Herald): $2m for police informants an 'essential' cost

Dan Parker (TV3): Funding squeeze at Te Papa

Nikki Preston (Herald): Social agencies seek halt to pensioner housing sale

David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Regional Approval ratings

Stuff: Today in politics: Wednesday, May 16

Audio coverage of politics

 

 

John Moore: The Cunliffe Conspiracy

David Shearer is a dead man walking. That is, his failure to reconnect a cynical electorate with Labour means that his continuation as party leader is untenable. So, is David Cunliffe once again vying for the big job?  And with his recent ‘anti-Shearer’ speech calling for the party to more strongly differentiate itself from National, do we have a full-blown conspiracy in our midst? Are a group of Labour insiders planning to take hold of the organisation and push it to the left? In this guest blogpost, John Moore speculates on plotting against the Labour leader, and asks what this all really means for the trajectory of the party?

 

Geoffrey Miller: Has John Banks breached the Act Party constitution and rules?

Currently the Act Party is attempting to distance itself from the ‘banks.com’ scandal engulfing its leader. For example after the Dotcom donation allegations became known, Act Party president Chris Simmons told the New Zealand Herald ‘There's a bit of a beat-up going on. It was all to do with the mayoral campaign. It doesn't have anything to do with Act’. But in practical terms, it has become fairly clear that anything to do with John Banks has in fact a great deal to do with Act, given that he is now their sole MP. In this guest blog post, Act-watcher Geoffrey Miller asks whether Banks has formally violated party rules? [Read more below]