What Labour forgot: You've got to earn it
Labour MPs travelling to Wellington today for their first post-election caucus will have their heads crammed full of theories, accusations and advice from all and sundry. But here's the message for...
View ArticleWhat Labour needs to hear: the 4th voice
As he pops back and forth between New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, Shane Jones must look on himself as the luckiest of the three men who took part in the Labour leadership race just a scant 12...
View ArticleThe shape of the new government - who gets what
What's clear from talking on The Nation this morning to the leaders of the minor parties supporting National, is quite how minor they now are.read more
View ArticleParty renewal: National's success, Labour's failing
Once upon a time National was a party dominated by farmers and their rural base. Its first townie leader, Sid Holland, had to have a farm bought for him in the 1940s, to maintain his status in the...
View ArticleA divided country?
Will we see New Zealanders marching in the streets during the next three years? I don't mean protests in which the police, while behaving perfectly professionally, are smiling benignly in a sort of...
View ArticleAndrew Little's New Plymouth problem
There's a lot of talk about "listening" in Labour circles these days. Announcing his bid for the party leadership, list MP Andrew Little named as his top priority "getting the process underway to...
View ArticleQuotes of the year, Pundit style
Massey University today reported its 'quote of the year' for 2014 is an outburst from blogger Cameron Slater. Except it's a dumb choice.read more
View ArticleAnd whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the...
After every general election, Parliament's Justice and Electoral Committee holds an inquiry into how things went during it. This is A Good Thing, as it provides an opportunity for looking at (and...
View ArticleThe lark's on the wing; The snail's on the thorn
Turns out that, contrary to what you may have read in some dark corners of the interweb, you canslate Key on the radio.read more
View ArticleA very MMP election... & a manicured mandate
In case you've been wondering, yes, I've been away for a bit. Taking Winston Peters at his word, I felt comfortable planning a holiday in the US from October 13. Well, that'll learn me! I got to watch...
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