Toby Manhire is joined by iconic duo Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas to rake the leaves of the JLR saga – and the mini-crises confronting the government, too. The overlord of all successful television in New Zealand, Annabelle Lee, restores equilibrium to the Gone By Lunchtime universe by sitting down with Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire … Read more
A new week has dawned, and to start it off, another conversation secretly recorded by Jami-Lee Ross has been leaked to Newshub. So what does it say, and what does it mean? The leader of the opposition goes on all the major TV and radio shows on a Monday morning, and generally the interviews follow … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Karel Sroubek case gets even stranger, industrial action rumbles away among court staff, and letting fees to be gone by Christmas. The residency decision on Czech drug dealer Karel Sroubek is starting to look stranger and stranger by the day. The NZ Herald’s Jared Savage has broken the latest: … Read more
Simon Bridges has ordered a review of the National Party’s culture following the Jami-Lee Ross saga. Such exercises tend to set up by those who have a pretty clear idea of the outcomes they want to see and who are likely to be dismissive if they’re not duly delivered, writes Bryan Gould, the former UK Labour … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Electric trains to continue on main trunk line, alarm sounded over loss of Auckland tree canopy, and MP Jami-Lee Ross gives proxy vote back to National. The railway network of New Zealand has been given a shot in the arm, which could signal more investment in … Read more
The Greens’ donation cap proposal would simply pull the small party ladder up behind them, argues TOP leader Geoff Simmons. The Jami-Lee Ross saga has highlighted some of the problems with donations in politics. Greater transparency is certainly needed. However, the Green Party idea of banning donations over $35,000 would be the third strike against … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: PM makes no new regional fuel taxes pledge on the fly, dream of merger over for media companies, and Hager speaks out on JLR saga. Jacinda Ardern has made what could become something of a defining pledge for her career – no new regional fuel taxes … Read more
The Jami-Lee Ross saga has prompted many to draw parallels with Dirty Politics, the 2014 exposé of attack politics and tactics emanating from the then prime minister’s office. Here the author of the book argues that it is a stark reminder that our politics remain at risk from the poison of dirty politics. The Jami-Lee … Read more
In a series of interviews this morning, a very high-ranking member of the National caucus has set the clock ticking, laying out exactly what Bridges needs to achieve in the coming polls to remain in his job Last night the immediate damage to the National Party from the Jami-Lee Ross saga was laid out in … Read more
A new Colmar Brunton poll for TVNZ conducted in one of National’s bleakest weeks makes tough reading both for the party and its leader. As is often pointed out, to read too much into any one poll is folly: it’s the patterns that matter. That’s a fair point; some of us do every now and … Read more
Here are some of the issues an internal probe following the Jami Lee-Ross saga will confront. The National Party leader faced a bit of blowback for commissioning an inquiry into the leaking of his expenses. He’s unlikely to face much criticism, however, for the inquiry he commissioned today. After a week-long fusillade from Jami-Lee Ross, … Read more
According to reports over the weekend the MP Jami-Lee Ross has been admitted to mental health care after being ‘sectioned’. But what does that mean? What is sectioning? In New Zealand, when you have a mental illness, you can generally decide your treatment options. Sectioning is a term that covers situations where someone needs mental … Read more
The Botany MP is experiencing mental illness – and he, like the women he has hurt, and his family, are as deserving of help and support as anyone else. Public speculation and privacy violations only serve to hinder this, writes Scout Barbour-Evans Scout Barbour-Evans is an expert in being mentally ill, living with PTSD, Bipolar Disorder … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Bus strikes begin in Auckland and Hamilton, secret party donations stay in the spotlight, and backlog of sex assault cases unassigned by police is rising. In transport news, the week is likely to be dominated by bus driver strikes. Some bus services in Auckland and Hamilton might … Read more
Reports that Botany MP has been sectioned and is in care for mental health issues have sparked a flurry of conjecture over the last couple of days. The Mental Health Foundation of NZ, which has to date not entered the debate around the controversial MP, who by his own account had a breakdown in recent … Read more
In a week like no other in NZ politics, the Botany MP turned on his former party and its leader, going about as rogue as you can go. Toby Manhire tallies the explosions Over the course of 100 hours last week, Jami-Lee Ross turned into a human firestorm. It began on Monday lunchtime with the … Read more
The Jami-Lee Ross saga is a betrayal without precedent in New Zealand’s political history. Danyl Mclauchlan explains why. So much of what happens in politics never makes it into the media. Every now and then a journalist – out for an early run or stumbling home from a late night – passes Parliament and observes … Read more
National was firmly and rightly opposed to such an anti-democratic piece of legislation. But Jami-Lee Ross’s volte-face on quitting parliament means they’re more than entitled to invoke it to throw him out of parliament, writes Liam Hehir Jami-Lee Ross has reneged on his stated to intention to resign from parliament and run as an independent … Read more
In an astonishing interview on Newstalk ZB, Jami-Lee Ross has taken the principled stance of not resigning to fight a by-election he has no chance of winning. Will Simon Bridges now look to the waka jumping law? Throughout this week, rogue National MP Jami-Lee Ross has shown himself accomplished at the marathon press conference. Tonight, … Read more
Last night RNZ reported that a woman alleging bullying by rogue National MP Jami-Lee Ross said she had received threatening phone calls from Simon Lusk. Ross himself had earlier confirmed that he was taking advice from the shadowy political operative. But who is he, and where have we heard that name before? When private security … Read more
If there’s one takeaway from the donations controversy that sparked the National Party Meltdown, it’s that we ought to start taking such influence campaigns seriously, writes Branko Marcetic To read the Chinese Embassy response, scroll to end. It’s a story about intraparty conflict and political ambition. It’s a story about potential electoral finance lawbreaking. It’s … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Ross saga flies off in half a dozen different directions, Wellington bus drivers vote on indefinite length strike, and a tragedy for DOC. It’s not really clear what you’d call this story any more, because it’s now about half a dozen different stories. That follows another wild … Read more
Allegations raised today by four women about the conduct of rogue MP Jami-Lee Ross, and the response to complaints, send a bleak message to women in Aotearoa, writes Morgan Tait. Remember that time a senior political figure was the subject of a long and sustained pattern of allegations of sexual harassment and abuse of women … Read more
The mother of Maureen Pugh, the National MP whom Simon Bridges called ‘fucking useless’, has rounded on the party leader, calling him a ‘dumb arse’ in return. Good on her, says Emily Writes: all power to mummy warriors, of all ages. I was at Chipmunks – sometimes it feels like I live there – when … Read more
Jami-Lee Ross’s ever-changing story about the $100,000 donation originating from businessman Zhang Yikun makes it hard to assess precisely what Police would be investigating. Either way, we’re all the poorer for the way it’s played out, writes writes law professor Andrew Geddis When Jami-Lee Ross re-enacted the Joker’s “everything burns” scene from The Dark Knight … Read more
The brain-melting mind warp of the week in politics has just got even more sordid, with four women speaking to Newsroom on the conduct of rogue MP Jami-Lee Ross. Just how damaged is everyone involved now? There were whispers, there were rumours. On Tuesday, Jami-Lee Ross took them head on, saying he had been falsely … Read more
The casual ethnic calculations of National leader Simon Bridges and the rebel MP Jami-Lee Ross are just the latest example of the marginalisation of Kiwi Asian voices in our politics, writes Sudhvir Singh One of the many spectacular revelations from the National Party saga this week is the shameful and tokenistic way Jami-Lee Ross and … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Secretly recorded tape raises huge questions for National, Austrian company gets oil exploration extension, and govt won’t close ‘back door’ for Nauru refugees. The question was asked yesterday – what fresh horrors await National? Well, we got our answer, with the release of a taped phone conversation … Read more
Whatever the truth of the rebel MP’s claims about Simon Bridges, it shines a light on electoral finance laws that are not fit for purpose, argues Leroy Beckett For the past 48 hours our political headlines have been drenched in scandal. A high ranking member of parliament admitted to electoral finance fraud, and claims it … Read more