After a disappointing election result, Leighton Baker is out as the leader of the New Conservatives, with former deputy Elliot Ikilei taking over. Alex Braae reports. After a review of the election campaign, the board of the New Conservative party has voted to “relieve” Leighton Baker of the leadership, opting to promote deputy Elliot Ikilei … Read more
As we reach the welcome conclusion of Trump’s 2020 campaign, one of the most bizarre in recent history, Stewart Sowman-Lund takes a peek behind the curtain of three of New Zealand’s own chaotic campaigns. ‘Mike… fuck,” says Jeremy Greenbrook-Held, drawing out the “fuck” like someone with a story to tell. The “Mike” he’s referring to … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: GDP growth slows in the latest quarter, questions raised over utter NZDF incompetence, and NZTA sends money intended for light rail elsewhere. The numbers are in, and GDP growth has slowed down for the second quarter of the year. Radio NZ reports it is the slowest level … Read more
Of all the would-bes stuck in minor party hell, the New Conservatives may be the horse that bolts on the back of opportunistic campaigning and culture wars. Alex Braae heads to the Bay of Plenty to watch their leader, Leighton Baker, in action. Leighton Baker strode purposely up to the front of the room when … Read more
The tale of the judge that went sailing with a QC that had just appeared before him, and the way it was handled, is almost enough to make you feel sorry for Jordan Williams, writes legal academic Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere. There is a scene in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl … Read more
1000 Words is a Spinoff series talking to the photographers behind our most iconic political images. In this instalment, Don Rowe speaks to David White, the photographer who shot Colin Craig. Following a failed attempt at the Auckland mayoralty in 2010, notorious goof and Auckland accountant Colin Craig founded and led the New Zealand Conservative … Read more
Everyone’s a loser in Colin Craig’s defamation case against blogger Cameron Slater – but the only victim is Rachel MacGregor, the woman for whom this saga has become a living nightmare, writes law professor Andrew Geddis. The finally decided defamation proceedings in Craig v Slater must be the stuff of judicial nightmares. A complicated fact … Read more
The High Court yesterday ruled in the latest legal tussle between disgraced Conservative leader Colin Craig and disgraced blogger Cameron Slater. Sam Brooks reads the judgement and shines light on the shade. Look, there were no winners in this case. Legally, sure. Morally, it’s like when the checkers team had a scrap against the backgammon … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: High profile resignation at yet another sports organisation, primary teachers vote for rolling strikes in November, and Colin Craig could have another crack at politics. Former champion triathlete Hamish Carter has offered up his resignation from High Performance Sport NZ, after leaking confidential athlete information. Newshub reports that … Read more
No platform has caused as much career havoc as twitter.com. Madeleine Chapman looks back (but not that far back) on New Zealand politics’ best worst tweets. This story was published in September 2018. There’s no greater marketing tool than the words “This tweet has been deleted”. The thrill of imagining what once was and is … Read more
The long-running, expensive legal spat between the head of the Taxpayers’ Union lobby group and the former leader of the Conservative Party arrived at NZ’s highest court this week. Asher Emanuel went along to watch “This must be an ethically difficult case for you,” Jordan Williams, Taxpayers’ Union boss, taunted when I asked him for … Read more
They might have rebranded, they want us to know they’ve changed. And yet the party now known as New Conservative say they have the same values as when they were just the Conservatives. Is there any chance they’ll be taken seriously? The most important thing to get across about the New Conservative Party is that … Read more
National might be the largest polling party, but they’re sorely lacking any serious parliamentary sidekick. ACT clearly isn’t the solution, so how about contriving a new splinter-party? Good luck getting that past the electorate, writes Alex Braae Voters are a strange group of people to lump together. By and large they have little in common … Read more
In a little over three months, New Zealand goes to the polls. Recent months have seen shock and volatility in elections around the world. Will we see something similar? Here we assess the contenders’ status as the clock counts down to September 23. A big day for lovers of democracy and arbitrary round numbers: there are one hundred sunsets … Read more
Colin Craig says he has filed defamation proceedings against his former secretary Rachel MacGregor, just one of at least five cases the former the Conservative Party leader currently has before the courts. Otago University law professor Andrew Geddis looks at whether Craig’s seemingly never-ending legal actions can be stopped. One of the earliest publicly screened … Read more
This morning Radio NZ reported Colin Craig was launching legal action against his former press secretary Rachel MacGregor – though Craig says he used to want to do that but doesn’t anymore. Hayden Donnell responds to the news with his honest opinion. Case law in New Zealand is clear: honest opinion is a defence against … Read more
A new work by our leading political poet. When Bill English grasped the reins of power last year, he plunged a concrete post of literature into the tender soils of New Zealand by reading aloud a bit of poetry. This week, courageously, to staunch the bleeding of the national auditory canal brought on by Colin … Read more
Josh Drummond should be delighting at the former Conservative Party leader being hoist by his own legal petard, he writes. But instead he just feels disgust Colin Craig! The one-time leader of the Conservative party is in the news again, this time after a court found that he had defamed Jordan Williams, to the tune … Read more
Hayden Donnell pays tribute to the brave men and women who sat through four awful weeks of the Colin Craig defamation trial. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing” – Edmund Burke “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – Jesus “Welcome to the black parade” … Read more
It’s a struggle to like either of the creeps who locked horns in the High Court, but the measure of the winner’s character will be in how he spends the damages, writes Toby Manhire The Hollow Men was turned into a stage play. Secret Power was adapted into a visual art spectacular. And now another … Read more
Late last year the Spinoff Review of Books invited Colin Craig to submit some of his poetry. He sent three works; we posted One World in November, and today publish his poem titled TV. TV Square box, square message, square minds, main stream conformity, Buy me, have me, consume me, spend with great enormity. … Read more
One World One world, Thinking with one mind, Thinking with no mind, Other than what they are told. Preach to me, Sell me new and old; Indoctrinate me, That I will do what I am told. Trace my every dollar, Trace my every step; Trace my every sentence, No privacy is left. … Read more
Exciting developments in one of New Zealand’s most enduring news categories: people and things getting sued by Colin Craig. The enigmatic former Conservative Party leader has reportedly threatened angry blogster Cameron Slater with legal action over the publication of a poem what he wrote. “In an email to the blogger,” reports the New Zealand Herald, “Craig … Read more
Craig expected to pursue legal action against Craig following Craig’s revelation about Craig. Contained within the thundering and snappily titled pamphlet Dirty Politics And Hidden Agendas: Colin Craig Vs The Dirty Politics Brigade and Their Campaign of Lies (PDF here), an unnamed interviewer speaks to someone called “Mr X”, a pottymouth insider. This morning Colin … Read more
From the legalistic urges of Colin Craig to Dirty Politics to the Kim Dotcom Town Hall spectacular, the unstoppable weirdness of the 2014 New Zealand general election was best encapsulated by the hashtag #PeakCray. In this chapter from the new collection Moments of Truth: The New Zealand General Election of 2014, Nicola Kean recounts the … Read more