John AZ Moore and guest contributor Justine Sachs join the Democracy Project’s Geoffrey Miller to discuss Labour’s tax and dental care policies
John AZ Moore talks to Geoffrey Miller about issues raised in recent Democracy Project articles
Does scandal matter? Political analyst John A.Z. Moore and Democracy Project director Dr Bryce Edwards join the Democracy Project’s Geoffrey Miller to discuss the fallout from the abrupt end to the careers of Labour minister Iain Lees-Galloway and National MP Andrew Falloon. Plus: the Winston Peters superannuation court case and the future of NZ First.
Green Party tax and welfare plans: John A.Z. Moore joins the Democracy Project’s Geoffrey Miller for an in-depth discussion of issues raised in an article by Dr. Bryce Edwards.
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 …
As with the rest of the world, the New Zealand Police are under increased scrutiny at the moment. This played a part in Tuesday’s decision to scrap plans to arm some officers with automatic firearms. The new Police Commissioner Andrew Coster read the public mood correctly, explaining that the Armed Response Teams “do not align …
The latest opinion poll is out, and it’s more bad news for the National Party, with Roy Morgan putting them on only 26.5% support, against Labour’s 56.5%. You can see the details here: Roy Morgan May opinion poll. Roy Morgan is regarded as less accurate than other polling companies, and the polling period is largely prior …
The new National Party leader, Todd Muller, had been at pains to portray himself as a solid, serious, safe pair of hands, in contrast to the increasingly Trumpian leanings of Simon Bridges, who Muller deposed in a leadership coup last Friday. But after an uneventful, if uninspiring, first press conference, Muller’s debut week quickly took …
Is Todd Muller the Ned Flanders of the National Party? This is how he’s been characterised by political commentator Gordon Campbell, who suggests the change in leadership is, in Simpsons terms, akin to swapping the scary and cruel Monty Burns for Homer Simpson’s compassionate but conservative neighbour. There’s almost a consensus amongst political commentators that …
If tonight’s 1News-Colmar Brunton poll result is anywhere near the 31% recorded in Monday’s Newshub-Reid Research poll, Simon Bridges will surely be dog tucker when his caucus colleagues meet tomorrow to vote on the National Party leadership. The momentum is with newcomer Todd Muller, who seems likely to be installed as leader, with Nikki Kaye …
How radical or transformative is Grant Robertson’s 2020 Budget? Opinions are divided over this week’s landmark economic package. Some are viewing the big spend as a return to traditional Labour – or even socialist – politics, while others see it as “business as usual”, albeit on a grander scale. Seeing red Leftwing political commentator Chris …
When New Zealand holds its post-virus general election later this year, the country will go through a fiercely ideological debate about economics and resources. On 19 September, New Zealanders are scheduled to go to the polls. By then, the country is likely to have eliminated Covid-19, providing an enormous boost for Jacinda Ardern’s government, which is blitzing the …
How healthy is democracy at the moment in New Zealand? Criticisms are mounting about the state of the political system under the Coronavirus crisis, with complaints that things aren’t as democratic as they should be. I wrote for the Guardian last week about some of these political problems – see: New Zealand’s Covid-19 strategy looks …
Is David Clark the best possible Minister of Health to be leading New Zealand through the Coronavirus crisis? Confidence in Clark has plummeted with today’s revelation that the Health minister made another recreational trip during the lockdown that appears to breach the Government’s own rules. The Prime Minister has decided not to accept his resignation, …
Jacinda Ardern acted decisively in an attempt to get ahead of the Covid-19 curve, putting New Zealand into strict lockdown far earlier than other western leaders. It was a bold decision with massive economic implications. The public are listening to their prime minister and are united behind her. But the road ahead is littered with …
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 …
Call it “state housing”, “social housing” or this Government’s preference, “public housing” – it’s the accommodation solution that continues to be overlooked and neglected by both Labour and National governments. Sure, the current government might talk a lot about “public housing” and they might be building more state houses than the previous government, but it’s …
In many other parts of the world, the close relationship between our Prime Minister and a leading business lobbyist would be considered corrupt, but in New Zealand it’s seen as “business as usual”. Does that make it right? Is it in the public interest to have the politicians and lobbyists in each other’s pockets? The …
When politicians win votes on the basis of heroic promises to fix intractable problems, but then break those promises, the public quite rightly feel they’ve been ripped off. That’s exactly what has happened with KiwiBuild. Labour politicians largely won office in 2017 on the basis of their scathing critique of how badly the National Government …
Have the political left and supporters of the Labour-led Government been conned again? Big changes were promised in welfare reform, but with the response to the just-released working group report on the welfare system, it looks like very little is actually going to be delivered. Of course, the left has already been feeling shocked and …
Perhaps the public has looked at the Tax Working Group proposals for a capital gains tax and come back with a “no”. Certainly, the opinion poll published last night about the tax proposals looked quite definitive – the headline for Tova O’Brien’s Newshub scoop was: Large majority of New Zealanders don’t want capital gains tax – …
