The landmark 2020 New Zealand general election is going to be discussed and analysed for many years to come. for an early attempt at making sense of the results, VUW hosted a panel discussion on 4 November for Alumni to watch and participate in. The panel was chaired by Bryce Edwards, and involved Maria Bargh, …
Today’s content Border failures, criticism Hayden Donnell (RNZ): Mediawatch: A backlash over tough questions for Dr Ashley Bloomfield Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup – How serious are the Govt’s border botch-ups? Andrea Vance (Stuff): Big little lies: Getting to the facts in New Zealand’s border failures Michael Morrah (Newshub): Conflicting messages over whether returnees’ bus drivers have to wear …
Today’s content Border Michael Morrah (Newshub): Senior quarantine whistleblower says staff were refused regular testing programme despite pleas Derek Cheng (Herald): Horrible sense of déjà vu over Government border blunders (paywalled) Jenna Lynch (Newshub): As officials hunt for the source of Auckland’s COVID-19 cluster, there’s also a search for political accountability Richard Harman (Politik): A war of ambiguous words Stuff …
Today’s content Community transmission Ben Thomas (Spinoff): What the Covid resurgence means for the election campaign Luke Malpass (Stuff): In this new lockdown, Labour competence will be key Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): NZ’s bubble bursts as Covid returns Jason Walls (Herald): ‘Extremely disappointed’: National Party leader Judith Collins blasts Govt; says it let Covid-19 back into NZ Richard Harman (Politik): Covid’s …
Today’s content Auckland Central Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Senior National Party figure accused of using secret alter ego ‘Merv’ to derail Auckland Central candidate RIchard Harman (Politik): “Merv” upsets Nats’ Auckland Central selection Luke Kirkness (Herald): National Party’s Roger Bridge accused of using ‘Merv’ alter ego to derail candidate Nuwanthie Samarakone Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Out of disarray, a candidate Simon …
Today’s content Labour Party Henry Cooke (Stuff): Labour launch an extremely centrist campaign Audrey Young (Herald) Labour launch is a deliberately understated affair from Jacinda Ardern (paywalled) Audrey Young (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s decision to ditch Labour manifesto carries risk (paywalled) Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Labour planning to revisit coalition Government policy casualties Simon Wilson (Herald): Election diary: Happy days at Labour launch (paywalled) Toby …
Millionaires and billionaires can step up today and start making proper contributions to improving the world. They do not need to wait for governments to act. A group of 83 wealthy people calling themselves “Millionaires for Humanity” earlier this week released an open letter calling on governments to raise taxes on people like them “Immediately. …
Today’s content Tiwai Point to close Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Government subsidising practically everything plays hardball with Rio Tinto (paywalled) Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Sudden closure of aluminium smelter worst outcome for jobs, consumers and the environment Brian Fallow (Herald): Tiwai closure sad news – and an opportunity for the environment (paywalled) Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Rio Tinto are not good corporate …
Today’s content National Party revealed as source of Covid-19 privacy leak Audrey Young (Herald): National’s failures on patient leak from top to bottom (paywalled) Luke Malpass (Stuff): National leader Todd Muller found wanting in first real test of moral leadership Jo Moir (RNZ): How the Hamish Walker Covid-19 patient detail leak played out Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Muller says he’s lost …
Today’s content Labour Party Thomas Manch (Stuff): It might be ‘team’ Labour, but there’s little doubt about who’s the skipper, and ‘saviour’ Audrey Young (Herald): No ordinary Labour speech by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (paywalled) Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Ardern asks NZ to move her towards a second term Richard Harman (Politik): Labour’s red glow Justin Giovannatti (Spinoff): Ardern rouses faithful with …
The Greens have shaken up the election campaign with the announcement of their radical poverty and action plan to reform welfare provision and introduce a new wealth tax for millionaires. It’s a big-thinking, controversial policy and has generated a lot of disagreement over how radical it is, whether it could work, and what it might …
My house is currently supplied electricity by Meridian. As soon as I can change I will because Meridian spilled water to hike electricity prices. They got consumers to spend an extra $80 million on power unnecessarily. Clever them. The Electricity Authority has called their behaviour an “undesirable trading situation”, or “UTS”. Where shall I start …
When Jacinda Ardern unexpectedly became the Labour Party leader shortly before the 2017 general election, she promised to lead a government of transformation. After nearly three years occupying the Treasury benches, health professionals working in public hospitals have been keenly waiting for transformational progress, including in the capacity and quality of hospital buildings where a …
Hearing the Prime Minister castigate the Warehouse for laying off 1,000 workers after receiving $52 million in wage subsidies reminds me of the fabled frog who agreed to carry a scorpion across a river. The scorpion stings the frog halfway across, dooming both to drown. The frog cries “Why on earth did you do that?” …
No one could have predicted when David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill was passed by Parliament last November that the referendum required to bring the legislation into force would be held against the backdrop of a deadly global pandemic. Since then, the mounting tally of casualties around the world has thrust death and dying …
At a time when a wave of iconoclasm has meant no statue or monument appears safe from destruction — whether it is Gandhi, Churchill or Captain Cook — Judith Collins has taken the opportunity to attack a living icon who has been feted in some quarters, both here and abroad, as the world’s greatest leader: …
Today’s content Border restrictions, quarantine Tracy Watkins (Stuff): The only way to restore confidence is to order an urgent inquiry into our border failures John Armstrong (1News): David Clark is Minister of Health in name only after calamitous Covid-19 testing bungle Andrea Vance (Stuff): If there must be anger, direct it at those who set unrealistic expectations Audrey …
During the State Opening of Parliament after the 2017 election, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pledged that her administration would be a government of transformation. 31 months later, it is clear that Labour in 2020 will never be transformational. Here are ten dead giveaways that explain why. 1. When the Budget was delivered in May, Finance …
It is rare for a first-term New Zealand prime minister to be the subject of a biography. Let alone two. But then Jacinda Ardern is no ordinary prime minister. At least, that is what two recent books claim. Michelle Duff’s Jacinda Ardern: The Story Behind an Extraordinary Leader (2019) is the first attempt at a …
One of the valuable things about Health & Disability Commission (HDC) decisions (findings) is that interesting experiences are published in a readable manner from which much can be learned. Decisions are specific to their own distinctive circumstances. Each HDC decision involves some form of tragedy. But they can provide insights into how our health system …
There’s a popular story from the early days of the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, the US counterpart to our own Michael Joseph Savage. As he embarked on what would be one of the most transformational presidencies in the country’s history, a group of activists — sometimes labour leaders, sometimes civil rights campaigners, sometimes nondescript “leftists,” …