liberation

NZ Politics Daily - 30 August 2012

Is New Zealand ‘in the running to become the gayest place on earth’? That’s the suggestion of America’s gay magazine Instinct, following the passage of Louisa Wall’s marriage equality bill by surprisingly high margin of 80 to 40. The international coverage of what is happening is quite interesting – for example the Washington Post has run Nick Perry’s report, New Zealand Parliament passes 1st stage of gay marriage law spurred by Obama declaration. This includes the quote from Wall: ‘I think the catalyst was around Obama’s announcement, and then obviously our prime minister came out very early in support, as did the leader of my party…. The timing was right’. [Read more below]

NZ Politics Daily - 28 August 2012

The Government faces some difficult choices over the water claim, but it does have choices. Delay is probably the ‘only wise and commercially sound option’, as Tim Watkin writes in Push on or delay? National's defining, high stakes choice. Watkin thinks Key’s record shows he is willing to take the time, but the political opportunity to score some easy polling points may see him ‘give into temptation’ and push the asset sales forward. Both the tight timeframe and the uncertainty have many commentators wondering if the Mighty River Power float can go ahead this year, and whether Key’s pragmatic streak will win – see Gordon Campbell’s On this week’s arm-wrestling over water rights. [Read more below]

 

Guest post: Whose water?

Leftists and liberals are deluded if they think that the latest judgment of the Waitangi Tribunal is a victory or that the Maori Council and other Maori aristocrats have suddenly become political allies. What the left fails to understand is that the corporate – or wannabe corporate – leaders who make up the Maori Council aren’t so concerned with privatisation moves, but instead are merely better positioning themselves to gain a cut of the state asset pie. The fight over water and state assets has become transformed into a muddy battle in which the left has lost its way, and could end up contributing to greater inequality and the further development of corporate Maori/iwi control of what is currently state property. That’s what guest blogger John Moore argues in this analysis of the ongoing ‘water wars’. He says that the left (and liberals) fail to deal with the big question: ‘Whose water?’ 

 

NZ Politics - 24 August 2012

Don’t expect Bronwyn Pullar’s name to be in the New Years honours list, but there is a view she has done us all a service by forcing ACC to front up on its shortcomings. John Armstrong agrees with that assessment which was expressed yesterday by Michael Crompton, a former Australian Privacy Commissioner who helped author one of the ACC reviews – see Armstrong’s Pullar has done us a huge favour. [Read more below]

NZ Politics Daily: 23 August 2012

The public’s appetite for New Zealand’s involvement in foreign wars and conflicts is undoubtedly waning. The Defence Force currently has personnel deployed on 14 military operations across 12 countries. In fact over the last decade or so, New Zealand has been involved in more overseas military interventions than ever before. Afghanistan and Iraq have obviously been the most controversial, but the armed forces have been deployed in other significant so-called ‘peacekeeping’ deployments in recent years including to Bougainville, Cambodia, the Balkans, and the Solomon Islands. Currently the Defence Force is involved the conflict-ridden Syria – but the latest news is that New Zealand is extricating itself from this area too – see Tracy Watkins’ NZ troops to pull out of Syria. [Read more below]

 

NZ Politics Daily - 20 August 2012

Politics doesn’t stop when soldiers die, but it does make public pronouncements more difficult. Parties and politicians are loath to be perceived as scoring points, but all sides are reacting in a political way to news of three further deaths of New Zealand soldiers in Afghanistan. The Government’s line is: We are not for turning and to withdraw from the war in Afghanistan would be cowardly. Nonetheless, the Prime Minister has used the event to announce further details of New Zealand’s withdrawal programme for 2013. Key now says this will happen ‘early next year’, after previously refusing to be tied down on the exact timing. It has been reported that, ‘Goff believed the recent deaths had influenced the Government's decision to consider bringing the troops home early next year’ – see Danya Levy’s Pull troops out early: Opposition. [Read more below]

NZ Politics Daily - 17 August 2012

If your income is courtesy of the taxpayer you had better be careful about what you say publicly or who you give information to – unless you are a Cabinet minister, apparently. In the wake of Paula Bennett’s somewhat Clayton’s apology and lack of repentance for releasing the personal details of a solo mum, both Gordon Campbell (Paula Bennett’s problems with privacy) and Steven Cowan (Paula Bennett – Guilty as charged) point to the apparent hypocrisy that has seen ten WINZ staff sacked for breaching the privacy of beneficiaries. [Read more below]

NZ Politics Daily - 16 August 2012

It was ‘Joe the Plumber’ in the last US presidential elections, and the British Labour Party had ‘Mondeo Man’. These are the personalised manifestations that political parties often attempt to imbue their political messages with. New Zealand Labour has (so far): ‘guy sitting at his kitchen table in West Auckland doing his GST return’, ‘Rangitikei truck driver’, and now  ‘neighbour of sickness beneficiary painting his roof’. Apart from the obvious need to choose one and give him a more usable handle (Chris Trotter calls him ‘Waitakere Man’), finding an acceptable characterisation of the all-important swinging voter is proving troublesome for Labour. [Read more below]

NZ Politics Daily - 15 August 2012

Should politicians lead political debate or follow it? Do political parties best serve democracy by ‘listening to the people’ or by articulating their own vision? These are two distinct approaches to the role of party politics, and it’s worth keeping them in mind when following the ongoing online discussion over Labour’s political direction. That debate continues unabated at the moment, despite David Shearer’s (rather late) attempts to impose some leadership and discipline on his caucus. For the best summary of this, see Claire Trevett’s Shearer warns MPs: Stop these sideshows. [Read more below]

NZ Politics Daily - 14 August 2012

The ‘Goldilocks’ formula has been used by the Electoral Commission to come up with its controversial proposals to change MMP. This is the age-old process by which politicians and authorities decide on compromise policies on the basis of them being ‘not too hot and not too cold’ – i.e. something between the extremes of opinion on any one issue. This is how the Electoral Commission has come up with its recommendation to abolish the so-called ‘one seat rule’ that helps small parties get proportional representation in Parliament, and reduce the 5% threshold slightly to 4%. This Goldilocks method is both explained and approved of today by John Armstrong (National faces tough decision on closing door to cosy deals) and Andrew Geddis (Should the government dissolve the people, and appoint another one?). [Read more below]

 

NZ Politics Daily - 13 August 2012

The Electoral Commission has blown its once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to significantly enhance democracy. MMP will remain Mixed and existing Members are now even safer in parliament. Apparently, though, Proportionality can be sacrificed. The report from the Electoral Commission is business as usual and the main party leaders will be pleased. The status quo has been protected and no major change is needed. [Read more below]

 

NZ Politics Daily - 10 August 2012

Sexual politics is dividing New Zealand once again, this time over gay marriage. So where are the dividing lines, and how polarising are the arguments involved? While Parliament is certainly divided on the issue, there are also interesting divides within families, religious communities, and political parties. Jane Clifton’s Listener column provides the best analysis of the week – see: Here comes the bride/groom. She looks at the impact of Louisa Wall’s Marriage Equality Bill on parties and politicians, and ponders how ‘Same-sex marriage just isn’t considered the scary monster it used to be’. Her most insightful observation is about how the ‘far right’ have done a 180-degree turnaround on sexual politics, and now ‘it’s the Far Right that’s pouring on the heaviest moral pressure in support of the bill – the reverse of the trend back in 1986, when National’s hardest-liners arrayed themselves against the Homosexual Law Reform Bill’. She also notes that John Banks ‘is now not ruling out voting for the bill’, speculating that ‘if there’s anything that can redeem at least a vestige of Banks’s shattered career before its final drain-gurgle, it would be an aye vote on this, accompanied by a heartfelt speech’. In contrast, Clifton says that the issue kills off the prospect of Act supporters moving over to Colin Craig’s conservatives. A critique is also offered of New Zealand First’s abstention on the bill. [Read more below]

 

NZ Politics Daily - 9 August 2012

Labour’s ‘palace politics’ is endangering their activist base, many of whom now have the ability to publicly express their frustrations. While the behind-the-scenes attacks on David Cunliffe have angered some, Shearer’s latest speech and Su'a William Sio’s public attack on Louisa Wall’s marriage equality bill has led to questions about the Labour caucus’ discipline and leadership. ‘Where’s the leadership?’ asks one of a number of guest posts on The Standard, saying that Su'a William Sio’s public outburst would never have happened under Helen Clark, and if it did he would have been ‘clarifying’ his comments by midday - see: Labour, WTF? – a collection of posts. [Read more below]

NZ Politics Daily - 8 August 2012

Labour is once again embroiled in bitter infighting. The question of the party’s leadership is being fought over, and the latest shot in the internal battle comes at David Cunliffe’s expense in the form of a must-read blog post by Duncan Garner: Why does Labour hate David Cunliffe so much? Essentially, senior Labour MPs are publicising their hatred for Cunliffe. Clearly some Labour MPs are still very threatened by failed leadership contender David Cunliffe. They don’t have enough political capital to waste on pointless utu, so there must be a reason for the vitriol being directed at him from ‘senior MPs’. Garner claims Cunliffe ‘is not just disliked – he is actively campaigned against’. Garner is clear that this view is shared by the majority of Labour MPs and it goes all the way to the top: ‘Sources have told me Shearer was advised to demote him when he became Labour's leader, but Shearer resisted and said he wanted to work with Cunliffe. That hasn't worked apparently – my sources tell me Shearer is deeply disappointed with Cunliffe and he feels let down. This relationship cannot last. According to Shearer's sources, the Labour leader no longer trusts Cunliffe’. [Read more below]

 

NZ Politics Daily - 7 August 2012

We’ve been in Afghanistan over ten years already but just another year will make all the difference apparently. The Press (Must stay the course), the Dom Post (Don’t let soldiers’ sacrifice be in vain) and Herald (Deadly attack shows troops still needed) editorials this morning all urge the Government not to ‘cut and run’ from the deployment. With very few edits they could have been printed by those papers in the late sixties as New Zealand’s involvement in Vietnam became increasingly contentious. The comparison has always been rejected by both Labour and National governments, but the similarities are growing stronger each day: pressure from the US to be - and stay - involved, the propping up of a corrupt regime, and severe doubts about the loyalty and abilities of the local army. With the provincial reconstruction project we even have an updated version of the infamous ‘hearts and minds’ strategy and, with another attack on our forces overnight (see Patrick Gower’s Second attack on Kiwis' Afghan base), it looks likely to have the same long-term outcome. Paul Buchanan asks some detailed questions about the attack, pouring doubt on the claim that no enemy dead were recovered because the Taliban carried them away – see: Some questions about the ambush. Inflated enemy body counts were one of the main tools the US military used to deceive the public (and themselves) that they were winning the Vietnam war. [Read more below]

 

NZ Politics Daily - 6 August 2012

Any plan to rebuild an entire CBD from what is now mostly rubble was always going to take a while for everyone to get their heads around. But there are now some very good detailed examinations of the Christchurch blueprint emerging. Recommended today is the Political Scientist’s A rainy Christmas Day in Christchurch, which has a lengthy but well researched look at who the real winners will be: ‘Those with the money to invest in this new ‘Core’ have now found themselves a Government-edicted, ratepayer subsidised, brand new ‘gusher’ – with its bore hole right in the centre of Christchurch’. The blog says the new green zones may not be green for long, heritage buildings will be sacrificed, exceptions made for the benefit of a few, and that the deliberate restrictions to drive up CDB land values will keep out smaller retailers who previously provided vital character and diversity to the city. [Read more below]

 

NZ Politics Daily - 3 August 2012

The Maori Council’s lawyer, Felix Geiringer, was once so determined to slow down a National Government that he lay his body down on the road in front of Bill Birch’s ministerial car. Bill Birch drove right over top of the protesting student. That was 1991, shortly after National’s ‘Mother of all Budgets’ and just prior to the introduction of the Employment Contracts Act. Now in 2012, Geiringer and the Maori Council are proving to be an even bigger bump in the road and a collision seems unavoidable. The question is ‘who will collide with who’? [Read more below]

 

NZ Politics Daily - 2 August 2012

When you have a great idea sometimes you just want to share it so others can benefit from your wisdom. If selling prime assets to reduce debt is a good idea for the nation, then it must be a good idea for Christchurch too. Right?  King Gerry has been forced to admit that he has received advice on selling the city’s public assets to help pay for the re-build – see Radio NZ’s Brownlee admits receiving advice on Christchurch asset sales. What’s more, he thinks it is a good idea because the city’s ‘rainy day’ has arrived and that’s exactly what they’ve been saving those assets for. Right? Almost certainly ‘wrong’ as far as most Christchurch residents are concerned, and the response from Corporate Services Manager Paul Anderson indicates the Council is aware of that political reality – see Radio NZ’s Council confident it won't have to sell assets. [Read more below]

NZ Politics Daily - 1 August 2012

Conscience votes in Parliament are not free of partisan politicking. In fact there seem to be a lot of partisan political motives at play at the moment. John Armstrong says, for instance, that the PM’s endorsement of a marriage law change is a calculated strategy: ‘Wall's bill is a cost-free means of portraying National as a "modern" party. Key may have another motive - giving Colin Craig's Conservative Party some room to National's right to carve out a niche’ – see: Key out to show Nats have another side. Not to be outdone in political gaming, Winston Peters is joining Colin Craig’s call for a referendum and says NZ First MPs will either vote against or abstain on the bill –see: Lloyd Burr’s NZ First will abstain in gay marriage vote. [Read more below]