New Zealand has a problem with money in politics. National and NZ First have been the subject of Serious Fraud Office investigations. And now that Labour mayors Phil Goff and Lianne Dalziel have been added to the list of fraud investigations, this should cement in the fact that we have a problem across the political …
Does money buy policy in New Zealand politics and government? Based on the ongoing political finance scandal involving New Zealand First, which comes hot on the heels of the Serious Fraud Office charging four people in relation to donations to the National Party, New Zealanders have every reason to doubt the integrity of the electoral …
There are many electoral and political questions arising out of the current NZ First donations scandal. Will the imbroglio tarnish the reputation and popularity of Winston Peters and his party? Or will Peters and his colleagues be exonerated, allowing NZ First to climb back up the moral and polling ladder for the next election? But …
New Zealand is officially one of the least corrupt countries in the world. But it could be argued that our political system is still biased in favour of the wealthy. Here – as in other countries – wealthy individuals and businesses are able to disproportionately influence policy decisions and the distribution of resources in their …
Winston Peters is well known for being belligerent, complaining and prone to political conspiracies. It’s easy to write-off his current High Court trial as hubris and score-settling. Peters is suing former National Cabinet Ministers and heads of government departments for their alleged role in his embarrassing 2017 scandal when his pension overpayments were made public …
When New Zealand First holds its annual party conference next week, the issue underpinning all the discussion and debate will be its survival. It’s a perennial problem, but one that is now particularly pronounced. With polling putting the party below the crucial five per cent MMP threshold for most of their time as part of …
Its increasingly looking as if the Beehive has been involved in some sort of “cover-up” of sexual assault allegations in the Labour Party. For that reason, it’s almost inevitable that further heads will roll – it’s just a question of whose. The Prime Minister herself is under immense pressure and scrutiny over any role she …
The integrity of Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Party is currently under question, following revelations about how allegations of sexual assault in Labour have been handled by the party. Party president, Nigel Haworth, has now resigned over the matter, but this is unlikely to resolve unanswered questions. Critics allege some sort of cover-up has taken …
Should we really care about the “Budget hack” that has been consuming a lot of politicians and political commentators over the last week? Is this really, as John Key used to say about scandals involving his own Government, one of “the things that matter”? I made the case yesterday in my column, The Budget ‘hack’ scandal …
Can we trust government departments? Can we trust Treasury not to lie to us? What about the Minister of Finance? Have they lied for political advantage? These are some of the questions that naturally come out of last week’s abysmal Government handling of National’s early release of budget details, in which senior officials and politicians …
The problem with scandals involving so much mystery is they naturally lead to plenty of speculation, some of which might be useful and some which might be completely wrong, or even highly-damaging. And while we are still in the midst of it all, it’s extremely difficult to sort out the useful from the damaging. For …
There’s always been a strong tension in politics between politicians’ right to privacy and the demands of political accountability. The difficult question is: which of these ideals should be paramount? This ethical question has been ever-present throughout the whole Jami-Lee Ross mega-scandal. And one of the most contentious media questions has been about whether National …
The media has played a central role in this year’s huge scandal involving MP Jami-Lee Ross. Journalists, broadcasters, and political commentators have reported on the scandal – including choosing to withhold some information – and interpreted it all. Inevitably questions have been asked about how well the media have performed, and the decisions they have …
Is it really time to “move on” from the Jami-Lee Ross mega-scandal? Certainly, that’s what National leader Simon Bridges has been saying over the last week. There are others outside of the National Party who also have an interest in “moving on”. Some in the media have been sympathetic to Bridges’ plea to stop focusing …
The international travel of parliamentarians has a tendency to get them into hot water. Perhaps it’s because they travel so much, at significant cost to the taxpayer. Or perhaps it’s because they tend to include non-parliamentary activities in their schedule. Sometimes they manage to catch an important match, and in some cases engage in questionable …
Parliament increasingly looks like a tawdry and dirty place in the wake of the Jami-Lee Ross mega-scandal. There will certainly be many in the public who have less trust and respect for MPs and political parties as a result. The quality and ethical standards of our politicians might now come under greater scrutiny. Jami-Lee Ross …
One of the more substantial and contentious political issues to arise out of the Jami-Lee Ross mega-scandal concerns electoral finance rules, and the increasingly promoted idea that taxpayers should fund the parties, so that they are less reliant on private funding. The Government has now indicated that it is open to introducing extensive state funding …
Last week was Simon Bridges’ worst one as National Party leader, which has sparked widespread discussion about his risk of being rolled. Commentators are relatively divided on the likelihood of this happening, and they also have differing views on how he’s performing, and how united his party currently is. Bridges’ harshest critic is the Herald …
What a contrast there is at the moment between international media coverage of Jacinda Ardern and the heat being applied by local media over her handling of current government problems. In the weekend, the British Guardian newspaper published a glowing feature story on New Zealand’s Prime Minister by Eleanor Ainge Roy – see: Meeting Jacinda Ardern: …
Any new government is going to have some teething problems in its first year. And this is especially likely when there are a lot of new ministers – and, indeed, a prime minister – without experience in government. Jacinda Ardern’s government is currently facing a number of difficulties which can easily be put down to …
Simon Bridges’ handling of the “limogate” saga may be contentious, but his argument that the inquiry should continue is not. In a surprise twist in the saga, it was revealed on Friday that someone purporting to be a National MP had been texting both Bridges and Parliament’s Speaker Trevor Mallard in a (successful) attempt to …