Critical analysis breaking down New Zealand news coverage, media framing, and political narratives behind the headlines.
When Ihumātao suddenly went from a benign protest few were paying attention to into a cultural flash point utilising social media in a way that was in the full glare of the national and international media in the space of a week, Labour were stunned.
Because Labour didn’t think they were going to win in 2017, they had no plan to reform the neoliberal public services and we are seeing the price of that lack of a plan as those same vested interests strangle off the weak reform programme Labour have attempted.
Babies clambering all over him for photo ops is fine, but young people stand and sing a song in support of ongoing injustice against Māori and he trespasses them from their democratic seat of power for a year.
The job of Politicians is to control bureaucrats, not empower them to simply veto policy ideas during an election.
Māori won the 2017 election for Labour, that this is their reward is jaw dropping.
If only the media spent as much time on this as they are on Celebrity Treasure Island.
WINZ are a neoliberal welfare agency focused on punishing the poor and beating them with a bloody great big stick, all Labour have done is put a small cushion on the stick.
The existing law works fine, Corrections need a kick up the arse and told to do a better job of vetting this Prisoner’s communications, but to change the entire law and allow the state to vet prisoners political views sounds like a terrible step backwards, not forwards.
We tell ourselves that Trump will lose because we want to believe it, but Trump was elected because of economic anxiety, how much more enraged will his electorate become when they truly feel that anxiety become economic reality?
Some might suggest fringe Christian fanatics Family Fist have pumped out propaganda and that has changed things, but I don’t for one second think it’s God squad or their moronic whining, I think it’s something far more damaged.
