Judith Collins has been fighting back. Last week she was under attack from all quarters over her decision not to implement the recommendations of the MMP Review. Now she’s taken to Twitter (@JudithCollinsMP) and is shooting with both barrels at anyone and everyone, often with wit and verve – see Lloyd Burr’s Collins goes on tweeting spree. Collins’ sudden twittering prompted initial questions about the authenticity of her tweets, which led Danyl McLauchlan (@danlymc) to initiate the Voight-kampff test of the day. This is also covered by Toby Manhire in Judith Collins fails replicant test. [Read more below] Continue reading

The Labour Party will be angry with Bill English’s 2013 Budget. Not because it is radically rightwing and austere – it’s actually not – but because it undercuts so many of the areas in which Labour has been attempting to campaign. It’s a budget that has obviously been carefully calculated to disarm National’s opposition and any growing sense of unease the public might have about the Government. Labour would have been much happier to see a more traditional rightwing ‘Budget for the boardroom’ which it could easily attack and use to highlight National as the party of the rich and powerful. [Read more below] Continue reading

This blogpost contains a collection of various cartoons, photographs, infographics, and newspaper frontpages related to the 2013 New Zealand Government Budget. [Read more below] Continue reading

The following is a collection of some of the most interesting, insightful or humourous tweets following Aaron Gilmore’s valedictory speech in Parliament [Read more below] Continue reading

The following is a collection of some of the most interesting, insightful or humourous tweets about Aaron Gilmore from the last few days. [Read more below] Continue reading

This blogpost compiles various cartoons and photographs of National List MP Aaron Gilmore. [Read more below] Continue reading

The National Party is changing. The modern party is inclusive, diverse, down-to-earth, and egalitarian. At least that’s the narrative John Key and Bill English have been pushing for most of the last decade and there’s plenty of evidence that the claims are more than just rhetoric. This can be seen in the caucus demographics, which are far from being the preserve of rich, white, middle-aged men. But then along came Aaron Gilmore. He’s just seriously set back the modernising cause of National Party leaders, and revealed an underbelly of old conservative privilege that is very unfashionable. This is why Gilmore is about to pushed under a bus (metaphorically) by his National colleagues. As Colin Espiner, says, ‘The trouble for National is that Gilmore has played up to exactly the sort of born-to-rule Tory, I'm-more-important-than-you stereotype that John Key has worked so hard to dismantle’ – see Espiner’s excellent column, explaining how Gilmore broke the two golden rules for MPs: 'Happy' Gilmore's political career likely to be brief. [Read more below] Continue reading

‘Don’t speak ill of the dead’ is increasingly the practice when it comes to the death of public figures – nowhere more so than in Maoridom. The responses so far to the death of MP Parekura Horomia are unsurprisingly focused on his political achievements and on the strong consensus about Horomia’s affability. But the Herald’s Audrey Young has gone against the grain by writing a very fair, but controversial column, Horomia – the good and the bad. She draws attention to his political strengths and weakness, in particular to Horomia’s role in helping Labour push through the Foreshore and Seabed legislation, and keeping the Maori electorate onside when Labour could have been wiped out in the Maori seats. Similarly, today’s Herald editorial points out that his refusal to depart along with Tariana Turia was hugely important to Labour: ‘His decision not to leave with her was probably crucial to Labour's retaining three of the seven Maori electorates at the 2005 election. If all of the seats eventually return to Labour, as seems possible now, he will have a hallowed place in the party's memory’ – see: A quiet man whose contribution was huge. While his impact was effective for Labour, others saw the saga as a lesson in why an independent Maori political movement was needed. With both the Maori and Mana parties gaining a foothold in Parliament, the final outcome of those torrid times will play out without Horomia’s considerable influence. [Read more below] Continue reading

Is New Zealand a racist country? That was the debate last week on TV3’s The Vote programme (which you can watch here). The debate ended with an almost 2:1 majority of viewers agreeing that we do live in a racist country (although David Farrar quite correctly points out that the results need to be seen for what they are – see: It’s not a poll). The discussion continues this week in the media and blogosphere – especially in items like Susan Edmunds’ We're not racist, but ..., and Heather McCracken’s Migrant groups claim NZ not racist country despite poll. And although the new Race Relations Commissioner, Susan Devoy, sat on the fence on the night of the TV3 debate and made some strange comments (New Zealanders should feel ‘ashamed that they perceive themselves as a racist country"), she has now given a more coherent and strident speech – see Amy Maas’ Dame Susan Devoy: Racism shames Kiwis. [Read more below] Continue reading

This blogpost contains various photos and cartoons of former Labour MP Parekura Horomia. It will be updated with further images. [Read more below] Continue reading

You can’t make this stuff up. Well, you can, but it is hard to distinguish from the stuff that isn’t made up. Such is the case with Colin Craig’s sense-of-humour failure at being ‘quoted’ by satirical blog The Civilian. Toby Manhire thinks that the Christian politician just can’t be for real, and we’re all victims of a huge hoax: ‘For you must be a character, a chimera, an invention. Mustn't you? The alternative is too bizarre to contemplate’ – see: Politics spawns a truth stranger than fiction. [Read more below] Continue reading

Being attacked by the government of the day is not a problem for opposition parties – being ignored and portrayed as irrelevant is. While the merits, politics and even ethics of the Labour-Greens Power NZ policy is being fiercely debated, the consensus is that it will have a big impact on the next election – and even beyond. [Read more below] Continue reading

Below are various recent images relating to the proposed shakeup of the electricity market by the Labour and Greens. [Read more below] Continue reading

It’s a bold political move that has caught the Government off-guard and threatens their flagship policy. The Labour-Greens joint power policy has plenty of critics, including some on the left, but it has had an immediate impact on a number of levels. Most crucially for David Shearer, it marks a dramatic move away from vague and cautious statements; it is a major and specific policy commitment that affects every household in the country. The change is enough to turn around one of Shearer’s most vocal critics on the left with Chris Trotter exclaiming Okay! Okay! Okay! I surrender. Shearer Stays. Trotter has a few misgivings about the policy but says it is ‘inspiring’ and will ‘introduce the voters to an alternative Centre-Left government with sufficient smarts and guts to offer real change’. At The Standard, where Shearer’s timidity has previously been heavily criticised, there is also real enthusiasm – see: NZ Power and the next step. [Read more below] Continue reading

This blog post contains various cartoons, photos and other visual representations of the political debate and parliamentary vote over introducing marriage equality in New Zealand. [Read more below] Continue reading

Has the GCSB scandal run out of steam, or was it a media and partisan beatup from the start? That seems to be the view of veteran media and political commentator Brian Edwards in his contrarian blogpost, Of knuckleheads, long-running stories, media beat-ups and Judith Collins parting the waters. The crucial part is this: ‘Will the GCSB affair do any permanent damage to John Key? I very much doubt it. This has been a saga of huge interest to the media but, so far as I can see, of precious little interest to anyone else…. On The Nation yesterday my colleague Bill Ralston described the GCSB saga as “one of the longest running stories I’ve ever seen.” I suspect we may look back on it as one of the greatest media beat-ups’. Edwards, a staunch leftwinger, is very sympathetic towards the Prime Minister over the issue and sides with him about the need to be less up front with the media. [Read more below] Continue reading

Having finally landed some direct blows on John Key’s credibility (after so many frustrated attempts) Labour now faces a dilemma. It doesn’t want to give National an easy bipartisan solution to the GCSB spying scandal but the emerging reality is that this is indeed a bipartisan mess and there is scope for some embarrassment to Labour’s old guard in Parliament. The Greens have shown that they are very capable of politically exploiting National-Labour cosiness. That the GCSB may have been spying domestically for many years before the current legislation was passed in 2003 actually calls into question Labour’s integrity at the time says Tracy Watkins: ‘It was a necessary appeasement to Labour's left wing coalition partner, the Alliance Party, at the time submissions were heard on the legislation in 2001. And it was a highly effective snow job. Author Nicky Hager – who has done more digging into the GCSB than any one – said in a blog he was embarrassed to admit that even he believed the assurances the GCSB wasn't spying on New Zealanders’ – see: Sunlight best disinfectant over GCSB concerns. [Read more below] Continue reading

A busy week in politics has produced more questions than answers. Many of these relate to the continuing GCSB scandal – but there are also some big questions about government privacy leaks, the Maori Party leadership, and the Pike River disaster. Some of the questions of the week are listed and discussed below. [Read more below] Continue reading

The GCSB is officially a mess. The only question now is who is going to wear the blame? There are plenty of likely candidates pointing their fingers at each other, but the ‘prime’ target is the minister directly and ultimately responsible for the agency. That is a big problem for National. [Read more below] Continue reading

The following blogpost contains various cartoons and photos relating to the GCSB spying scandal and John Key and Kim Dotcom. [Read more below] Continue reading

Below are some of the top tweets about the latest GCSB revelations. They’re a mixture of the insightful, interesting and humourous. [Read more below] Continue reading

New Zealand and its political system have an international reputation for integrity. But this could come under threat with continuing questions about aspects of the way the country is governed and our financial affairs are managed. New Zealand’s role in allowing tax havens to operate could be a significant area of concern, with new ‘Winebox’ style tax havens being identified in a major international investigative story, involving New Zealand’s own Nicky Hager. This is detailed by Hager in his Sunday Star Times feature story, Money trail leads home to New Zealand. As Beith Atkinson (a senior public servant at the Department of Corrections) argues, ‘New Zealand may be tarnished as the attitudes of tax haven governments become better known. The Cook Islands is substantial player in the tax haven market, and though self governing, of course is part of New Zealand’ – see his blogpost, Wikileaks-like focus on elites’ use of tax havens. [Read more below] Continue reading

John Key’s strong public credibility is suddenly vulnerable due to the latest revelations about his role in appointing spy boss Ian Fletcher. There now appears to be ‘blood in the water’, and Key is being strongly pursued not only by the Opposition but also by the media and political blogosphere. A good example is Andrea Vance’s latest in-depth reporting on the matter – see: Key forgets tip to friend over spy job. In Vance’s report criticisms are laid bare of Key ‘lying by omission’ and ‘misleading the public’ over the appointment of Fletcher. [Read more below] Continue reading

Below is a selection of some of the most interesting, informative or humourous tweets about the current power struggle between the Government and Rio Tinto about the supply of electricity from Meridian to the Bluff Aluminium smelter. [Read more below] Continue reading

Below are various images (cartoons, etc) representing the (power) struggle between the National Government and Rio Tinto over the future of the Bluff Aluminium smelter. This post will be updated as more images become available. [Read more below] Continue reading