Judith Collins today unlocked the secret of her political comedic code. ‘When my eyebrow goes up, it’s a joke,’ she told reporters. Enlightened, we’ve gone back through her first speech as National leader, to excavate the punchlines. On a trip to the comedy capital of Palmerston North yesterday, Judith Collins announced that no one had … Read more
A new Newshub poll has put Judith Collins’ National Party on 25.1%, Jacinda Ardern’s Labour on 60.9%, and many jaws on the floor. Gerry Brownlee has dismissed it as a “rogue poll”. In this week’s Gone By Lunchtime, Annabelle, Ben and Toby impersonate Nate Silver to assess the veracity of the thing, and ask: is … Read more
Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas dust off the bazookas scattered around New Zealand politics in this week’s Gone By Lunchtime. A new Newshub poll has put Judith Collins’ National Party on 25.1%, Jacinda Ardern’s Labour on 60.9%, and many jaws on the floor. Gerry Brownlee has dismissed it as a “rogue poll”. Annabelle, … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: National dismisses horror poll as a “rogue”, new populist party draws huge crowd in Auckland, and family attempts managed isolation escape to see father’s body. There are two possible explanations for an astonishing political poll that came out last night. Conducted by Reid Research for Newshub, it … Read more
Tonight’s Newshub-Reid Research poll has Labour on 60.9%, with National tumbling to a new low of 25.5%. But a giant Labour Party, governing alone, could be a nightmare of its own, argues Ben Thomas A poll is not an ironclad predictor of the future, but a snapshot in time. Newshub’s Reid Research snapshot was taken … Read more
The election is in 56 days, so expect party leaders to pop up in your neighbourhood any day now. Political editor Justin Giovannetti followed National’s Judith Collins as voters asked about cheaper cheese, pine trees and everything, really, but the scandals rocking parliament. “Hi Judith.” The National Party’s leader is on a first-name basis with … Read more
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 How Do We Know We’re Doing it Right? Essays on Modern Life by Pandora Sykes (Penguin Random House, $40) I’m … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: PM sacks Iain Lees-Galloway, Winston Peters makes stirring contribution to day of chaos, and Tarras locals not thrilled about potential new airport. By now, you’ll probably have heard the news that Labour MP for Palmerston North Iain Lees-Galloway’s political career is over. PM Ardern dismissed him from all … Read more
The number of active cases remains astronomical. Hopes of curbing community transmission of political disgrace in New Zealand are fading, with a succession of new reported cases raising fears that the so-called “Bowen cluster” is out of control. At a press briefing this morning the director general of parliamentary misconduct announced there was one new … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fallout continues from Falloon scandal, significant damage to Tairāwhiti from storm, and Labour MP Raymond Huo announces retirement. Much more emerged on the scandal around outgoing National MP Andrew Falloon yesterday. The police will now be reopening their inquiries into the matter, after previously finding that … Read more
Justin Giovannetti on an ugly day in New Zealand politics, which saw a National backbencher resign in disgrace. In the space of two weeks National has lost a leader, a half dozen MPs and any semblance of unity in the ranks of an outfit that is hoping to present itself as a government-in-waiting. Andrew Falloon … Read more
Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas on the Andrew Falloon scandal and its implications for a beleaguered National Party, a big weekend for Winston Peters and NZ First, and the chorus calling to charge arriving New Zealanders for their hotel isolation. Less than two months out from the election, the National Party remains bedevilled … Read more
Less than two months out from the election, the National Party remains bedevilled by controversy. Just a few days after she became leader, Judith Collins has successfully demanded the resignation of Andrew Falloon, dismissing one of the claims around the circumstances under which unsolicited pornographic images were sent by the first-term MP to more than … Read more
National MP Andrew Falloon has resigned from parliament following allegations he sent unsolicited pornographic material to young women. Here’s what we know happened and when. Tuesday July 14 9.45pm Judith Collins addresses the media after being elected the new leader of the National Party, replacing Todd Muller, whose shock resignation at breakfast time came after … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: What we know so far about the Andrew Falloon scandal, finance minister shuts purse strings on billions in spending, and Cameron Slater before the courts. The National party has lost yet another MP to scandal, with the latest casualty being first term representative for Rangitata … Read more
Judith is the youngest of six. Gerry is the oldest of five. Jacinda and Grant? Youngest of two and three, respectively. But where are the misunderstood middle children in our parliament? Linda Burgess investigates. If my younger sister – the cute-as-a-button baby of the family – smoked, which she doesn’t, she’d have inhaled, nostrils tightening, … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: National announces its plan to charge returnees $3,000 and the government indicates a policy is coming soon, Judith Collins’ first weekend as National leader, and Northland reels from flood damage. The days of free hotel stays for all returning New Zealanders appear to be drawing … Read more
A few election cycles ago Judith Collins would have been a formidable political contender, writes the Dirty Politics author. Now she’s the wrong person, at the wrong time. Judith Collins, who starred in the book Dirty Politics two elections ago, is an intelligent and politically capable person. However, as many of her National Party colleagues … Read more
Things with Todd Muller made sense. He was cautious and bland. National would fight the election over who had the best ideas. Jacinda Ardern would avoid getting dirty and debate those ideas. Then Muller left. And a firecracker was lobbed into the campaign. The dawn of a Judith Collins led National Party has upset election … Read more
People have been writing about what diversity can add to an organisation for literal decades, and yet we find ourselves with two major political party leaders that either can’t or won’t accept some very easy-to-grasp concepts. Gerry and Judith, this is for you. New National Party leader Judith Collins announced on Wednesday that she would … Read more
National’s new leader made her first big appearance in front of a crowd today, announcing her party’s $31 billion infrastructure policy. What got the biggest applause? It was standing room only (due to a lack of seats) at Judith Collins’ big policy address in central Auckland this morning. After a week of turbulence within the … Read more
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 White Fragility: Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism by Robin DiAngelo (Penguin Random House, $28) … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Collins announces major reshuffle after two leading MPs quit, horror story of migrant worker abuse revealed, and Auckland’s emergency budget passes. So, there was a bit of incorrect information in yesterday’s Bulletin about departures from National. It turns out Amy Adams will also be quitting, meaning … Read more
The leader of the National Party, Judith Collins, doesn’t know how much cheese costs. Yesterday, the nation stopped when one of the hosts of The Project, Josh Thomson, asked Judith Collins how much a 1kg block of cheese cost. “I think it’s about $4 or $5 – something like that, depending on the cheese,” she … Read more
The new National Party leader enjoyed a very short political honeymoon, with two MP resignations landing this morning. Her challenge now is to pull off a superhuman repair job on the party’s core reputational strength, writes Toby Manhire. It wasn’t quite a team of five million, but when Judith Collins took the stage in the … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Nikki Kaye reportedly set to quit politics, clearer indications of what response to renewed community transmission would be, and Auckland Council to debate emergency budget. The most prominent liberal in the National Party is expected to quit politics today, in what will be a massive … Read more
The new National leader has only a few weeks to turn the party’s fortunes around. But that’s what Labour’s new leader did in 2017. While there are obvious differences, there’s plenty Collins can draw from, writes Clint Smith, who was senior communications strategist under Andrew Little and Jacinda Ardern. It was 56 days from the … Read more
A party in crisis has chosen a leader with experience and profile. The challenge is daunting, writes Justin Giovannetti from parliament. The National Party has turned in its moment of crisis towards a battle-hardened and pugnacious leader in Judith Collins to guide it towards an election that is only 66 days away. Todd Muller’s unexpected … Read more
Do not mistake tough for malevolent. The new National leader can take on whatever role is required of her politically and play it to perfection, writes Ben Thomas. The National Party faces the fight of its life. And so it has chosen as its new leader the toughest fighter in New Zealand politics. Collins’ rise … Read more