Political analysis and commentary shaping the progressive debate in Aotearoa New Zealand, focused on power, policy, and accountability.
I grew up on a dead end street, each side divided into quarter, or fifth acre sections. At the end of the street was farmland, where cows would graze; beyond the paddocks the Waipa river, glistening and murky, and in the far distance: Mt Pirongia. It was rarely cold enough for snow to fall on that mountain.
Part-way through last month, I became aware of a number of interesting things happening down in the Wairarapa electorate. This is a National seat (and these days arguably something of a ‘safe’ one), but with a local MP widely regarded as an aloof and out-of-touch carpet-bagger who spends most of his time in Wellington. So we’d presumably be unsurprised to see the Nats putting a bit of work in to campaign there next year.
“This country wants waking up and setting to rights … and Sharkey’s going to do it; and make it hard, if you drive him to it. You need a bigger Boss. And you’ll get one before the year is out if there’s any more trouble. Then you’ll learn a thing or two, you little rat folk.”
This sign is in a Christchurch City Council area close to the mouth of the river near a popular summer swimming spot.
The New Zealand Government issued a Press Release on 1 October 2016 concerning what it called Education Minister Hekia Parata’s significant visit to Israel in which she extended her education visit in order to represent New Zealand at the state funeral for Shimon Peres.
THE FIRST THING to say about “Hobson’s Pledge” is that its message will resonate with hundreds-of-thousands of Pakeha New Zealanders. The second thing is that the organisation is likely to be both well-funded and well-resourced.
In an address to the University of Otago’s 50th annual Foreign Policy School in June 2015, New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister, Murray McCully, spoke of this country’s intentions regarding its present term at the UN Security Council.
I leave Christchurch residents to decide if they think this is corporate fraud, sloppy council oversight, greed, sharp business practice, conflict of interest, immoral, unethical, outrageous or a mixture of these.
Personally for me, sometimes I feel a bit burnt out from activism. Sometimes I feel like I’m not achieving much, that the enemy is too powerful.
The tragedy of Syria is unbearable for us to witness; albeit vicariously via the news media. It’s not an earthquake; it’s a war. It’s a situation that cannot be resolved by humanitarian aid.