Political analysis and commentary shaping the progressive debate in Aotearoa New Zealand, focused on power, policy, and accountability.
Our language can’t exists in a vacuum, separate from our intentions. It is our job, as communicators, to constantly strive to make these two see eye to eye. That is #howeyeseeit
The Christchurch earthquakes that violently shook the ground underneath our feet did not distinguish between the rich and poor, East and West.
Every day when you open the newspaper it seems there’s a new study, record broken or super storm related to climate change. Alongside 190 other nations, New Zealand has agreed to start reducing our emissions, but the country’s next power station looks like it will run on gas and release climate-changing pollution.
Politically, the champions of neoliberal globalisation are under siege, not always in ways we would welcome. This is evident in the US presidential contest, the vote for Brexit and the re-election of Jeremy Corban as Labour leader, but also in the rise of racism and fascism in other parts of Europe, including in the imminent Austrian re-election, and the support for Donald Trump.
From the get go, the process for considering the Social Security Legislation Rewrite Bill was flawed. This is a serious piece of legislation which is 454 pages long and therefore we expected that the maximum time available should have been given to the public to consider the detail and offer feedback. Instead the report back time was condensed to 4 months instead of the standard 6 months.
So it’s in the bag for Goff. And the whole thing could have been as boring as that. Until Chloe Swarbrick came along.
JEREMY CORBYN’S RE-ELECTION should signal an outbreak of peace and unity in the British Labour Party. Especially given his support among Labour members has gone up, not down, since he was first elected in September 2015. Not a chance. His enemies in Labour’s parliamentary caucus simply will not relent. The war of attrition will go on until Corbyn is no longer leader. Why?
Last week New Zealand First chose to Party Vote against the proposed Taranaki iwi membership of these committees by highlighting the May 2015 vote in New Plymouth that rejected the Council decision to have a Maori ward as justification for their opposition.
For anyone pessimistic about the possibility of progressive change, Jeremy Corbyn’s epic victory should be a confidence boost.
Those of us interested in the marine environment either as fishers or as conservationists, have known for a long time that in general, current commercial fishing practices stink.