Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Green Party members furious at ministerial decision, China’s rubbish ban starts to bite, and what was really in that letter signed by Auckland councillors? Green Party members are outraged at a ministerial decision to allow a Chinese water bottling and exporting company to expand, reports Stuff. The … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Greens and Labour at odds over compulsory te reo in schools, petrol prices hit high, and farmers facing big mycoplasma bovis bill. The government won’t yet back a Green Party push for compulsory te reo Māori in schools, reports Newshub. New Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is … Read more
Good morning, and welcome the The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Major welfare changes coming, more funding for soldiers with PTSD, and Eric Murray won’t have a beer after all. A major overhaul of the welfare system is coming, in line with Labour and Green election campaign promises, reports Newshub. PM Jacinda Ardern indicated that could include the scrapping … Read more
Jacinda Ardern sprung a surprise this morning in announcing an end to offshore oil exploration. So what’s the catch? What’s this all about then? A few weeks after PM Jacinda Ardern stepped onto the parliament forecourt to accept a petition from Greenpeace, speculation has been swirling that a ban on offshore oil exploration was imminent. … Read more
A bill designed to prevent MPs from switching parties, one of Labour’s concessions to NZ First in the coalition talks, has passed its first reading. Graham Cameron has strong feelings on what the ‘waka-jumping bill’ means for democracy and whakawhanaungatanga. Labour’s Electoral (Integrity) Bill has passed its first reading. It’s likely to pass despite … Read more
Deborah Coddington celebrates a biography of former Green MP Sue Bradford. When did New Zealanders who loved a good debate morph into silo mentality? Current zeitgeist has us in this curious – not to say alarmingly unhealthy – state that we all must urgently agree over everything: personal opinions, political policies, future predictions, even book … Read more
The speculation about a Greens-National coalition is futile given the tribalism of New Zealand politics, writes former National cabinet minister Wayne Mapp. Instead, he wonders if a revitalised TOP can become a second, centrist Green party. All the discussion about a possible National/Green coalition reminded me just how much political parties are tribes. They are … Read more
Former Green MP Nandor Tanczos writes that while it would be unconscionable to go with National now, the Greens need to prepare for a future where that’s on the table. This originally ran on his own blog, Monkeywrenching. There is a lot of talk in the media and in the public at the moment about the … Read more
‘There is something slightly unnerving about being this close to the possibility of a real political shift’, writes Laila Harré of the opportunity presented by this election result for NZ First, Labour and the Greens. A majority of us voted for parties who struggle with neo-liberal “certainty and stability”. I can’t think of a single … Read more
Election Night 2017: Simon Wilson reports from the Green Party party in central Auckland. David Farrier is at the Greens and Peter Gordon’s at Labour. Election night party parties attract the celebs, although not as many as you might think. Weirdly, some people find better things to do with their time. At the Green Party … Read more
We present the five most interesting takeaways from analysis of the vast trove of data thrown up by our Policy tool in the lead-up to this election. Since its debut on August 14, more than 120,000 people have viewed over 1.3 million pages of Policy, our tool for comparing parties’ different positions across various areas. … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens and luminaries making the news. Today: Green Party hopeful Robin McCandless heads out to meet the voters. Click here for all our Kiwis of Snapchat videos.
In the wake of Metiria Turei’s resignation as Greens co-leader there has been much discussion about a perceived tension between the emphasis on social justice or environmental issues. Don Rowe tracked down Greens icon Nándor Tánczos to get his thoughts. Nándor Tánczos is undeniably one of the grooviest cats to ever make their way into the … Read more
What will National do if the wheels start to come off its campaign? How will Jacindamania cope with Labour policies that are not progressive? And what about those head-to-head leader debates? Simon Wilson looks at potential turmoil to come. 1. Jacinda Ardern will have to explain Labour’s immigration policy Did everyone forget Labour’s record on immigration? … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens making the news. Today: Green Party leader James Shaw is hopping mad about losing co-leader Metiria Turei. Click here for all our Kiwis of Snapchat videos. This content is entirely funded by Simplicity, New Zealand’s only nonprofit fund … Read more
The Green co-leader’s confessions were snowballing, her position becoming untenable. But ultimately the decision seems to have come down to Jacinda Ardern. ’Tis the season for resigning, and there was plenty of speculation Metiria Turei was about to do that when she called a press conference for noon today. Her first words upon addressing the … Read more
The Greens had their annual conference this weekend: the perfect opportunity to provide the bold leadership and arresting policy they’ve been missing. Simon Wilson was there to find out if they took it. It’s about leadership. Political parties can have the best policies in the world but if we don’t believe their leaders are trustworthy, likeable … Read more
Backbencher Barry Coates’ indiscreet words are just what National wanted, writes Toby Manhire. Gaffes come in a range of sizes and colours. One garden variety is the Kinsley Gaffe, named after the veteran American journalist who first identified the species, Slate founder Michael Kinsley. He describes it as the kind of gaffe “when a politician … Read more
Not everyone will tell you this, but the Green Party is doing a lot of things right – which is more than you can say about most of the others. So why aren’t they polling better? Kermit will always be right: it is never easy being Green. Even when the world needs you more than … Read more
The NZ Green Party has been in parliament in its own right since 1999, yet never in government. They hope a pact with Labour and a pledge of financial prudence will change that at last. But there are detractors, some of the most critical among their own membership. Co-leaders Metiria Turei and James Shaw tell … Read more
Jacinda Ardern, Julie Anne Genter and Geoff Simmons meet to do battle at our special live-streamed debate this Wednesday at 7pm. Will they wave the white flag or fight on to the death? Why vote for Jacinda when you can choose Julie Anne? Or maybe that should be the other way round. Why vote for … Read more
Chlöe Swarbrick’s entry into the Auckland mayoral race captured the imagination of tens of thousands of voters – including, but not limited to, scores of politically disillusioned millennials. Now she wants to channel that passion into a run for the Green Party at next year’s general election. What is the right age to enter politics? … Read more
Green MP and planning geek Julie Anne Genter reacts to the Unitary Plan – and announces a four-step programme to radically evolve our urban environment into the future. I love city planning – I’m a planning geek. So it’s pretty cool seeing people get excited about the Auckland Unitary Plan. The actual document might be … Read more
Labeen? Grabour? The marriage of the two main parties of the left makes sense, but the course of true love never did run smooth. Shortly after the Labour Party’s calamitous defeat at the election in 2014, the soon-to-be-former leader David Cunliffe admitted that they had erred in rebuking an offer made by the Green Party, … Read more