Political analysis and commentary shaping the progressive debate in Aotearoa New Zealand, focused on power, policy, and accountability.
A quick, back-of-an-envelope calculation shows that government electricity subsidies have been so high that the country would be better off with the smelter closed and the workers paid their full salaries for the rest of their lives. I wrote about this in a previous blog.
Why would Michelle Boag, who has spent years constructing herself as a respected media commentator and consultant, risk it all by sending a list to Hamish Walker?
It would be nice to think that Hamish Walker and Michelle Boag “came clean” because of a belated attack of common decency. More likely, however, their confessions were driven by fear of the official inquiry into the leak ordered by Minister of Health, Chris Hipkins.
It’s always refreshing when a member of parliament admits their party made a mistake – not just a wee mistake but a big mistake which threatened the wellbeing of thousands of low-income New Zealanders.
THE LABOUR PARTY delisted Kurt Taogaga for one very simple, very brutal, reason: to appease the mainstream news media.
Looking at the weekend’s press releases from National, there is a clear theme coming through.
Primary production and big business have the power, money is all, and low-quality jobs and industry are better than no jobs at all, even if profits go offshore.
Two cannabis referendum polls were released this week, with one putting Yes in the lead and the other showing the opposite, but both showing support for Yes tracking upwards.
Do not be confused by the title of this document as a “conversation piece”. It may have emerged from a conversation between the three authors but it neither opens up a conversation nor provides much in the way of solutions. It expounds.
THE GREAT PROLETARIAN CULTURAL REVOLUTION, the very name unfurls like a crudely painted red banner.