Dear Phil Twyford – Kia kaha Comrade
your gracefulness at offering your resignation for this phone call on a plane only makes you a better human being and leader.
New Zealand Politics
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What is more important for Christchurch? A rugby stadium or social housing?
It’s been a tough couple of weeks for Christchurch city councillors hearing submissions on the council’s long-term plan. A vast range of community groups and individuals, fronted by positive, passionate people concerned for Christchurch’s wellbeing, have presented funding wish lists both great and small. However, there is a finite amount of money and hard decisions need to be made.
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New internal Labour poll for Northcote by-election bad news for Greens
Labour have just sent this out to their Northcote support team, and if true could be one of the biggest upsets in a safe National electorate since Winston took Northland!
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Testing The Speaker
QUESTION TIME IN PARLIAMENT this afternoon was a useful reminder of what Jacinda and her government are up against. In theory, Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition are supposed to impress the Visitor’s Gallery as a government-in-waiting: sagacious, witty and (to use a favourite parliamentary term) honourable. In practice, Simon Bridges’ National Party Opposition comes across as ignorant, boorish and disturbingly truculent.
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National finally hit gold with stupid-little-girl-gate
One of Key’s greatest gifts was knowing what the average Kiwi shopping at a mall believed. Time and time and time again the incredibly clever focus group value mining that David Farrar managed to get him allowed Key to side step criticism by playing to the petty ignorances of muddle Nu Zilind.
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Cannabis referendum: Bring it on!
Great news today with the Government announcing it is considering bringing forward the binding referendum on legalising cannabis to next year, 2019, rather than during the 2020 general election.
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Why Q+A moving to 9.30pm matters
Putting political discussion on the dead wasteland of Sunday morning relegates it to religious programming, something only train spotters in anoraks enjoy. 9.30pm however creates a space that builds the town square into an audience that actually matters and is meaningful.
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The naked counter productive madness of Housing NZ
Housing NZ are part of the housing crisis and the incarceration crisis, at some stage the new Government must purge these welfare agencies of the neoliberal acolytes who see their interests first and the welfare of those they are supposed to be serving second.
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So how many times have the NZDF lied about war crime allegations now?
…how on earth can Paula Bennett storming out in a manufactured huff from Parliament Question Time get more media attention than the latest revelation that the NZDF have once again be caught out lying about war crime allegations?
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Are we ready for the cannabis referendum?
If we want real cannabis reform in NZ, it will have to be caused by a huge referendum turn out with numbers so large that not even Labour can ignore it.