The latest round of economic data won’t carry Judith Collins and the National Party into the promised land, and she’ll need to come up with something else to save her chances, writes political commentator Ben Thomas. The government has delivered an economic miracle! How else to describe today’s labour market statistics for the June quarter … Read more
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
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
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
With the National Party caucus looking more conservative than it’s been in a long time, Liam Hehir warns of the dangers of ideological factionalism, and why being a conservative party isn’t the same as being a party with conservatives. Liberals seem to be something of an endangered species in the National Party these days. First … 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 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
In every discussion about who could lead the National Party since John Key resigned in 2016, one name has always figured high in speculation: Judith Collins. The controversial yet popular MP for Papakura has put her name forward twice – losing to Bill English and Simon Bridges. Since then, Collins has pledged loyalty to the … Read more
After Todd Muller’s shock resignation, a crushing electoral defeat for National looks all but assured. But is a historically weak opposition really something for the left to celebrate, asks Danyl Mclauchlan. It probably doesn’t matter who takes over as leader of the National Party. Todd Muller’s sudden resignation after weeks of internal leaks, infighting, scandals, … Read more
Just over seven weeks after he rolled Simon Bridges to become leader of the opposition, and with under 10 weeks to go to the election, Todd Muller has quit. Here’s a reminder of how it unfurled – and unravelled. May 21 A Colmar Brunton poll for TVNZ puts National at 29%. It’s just the latest … Read more
With just over two months to go before the election, National suddenly, shockingly finds itself in need of a new leader. Who are the potential candidates? Late leadership changes before an election aren’t unheard of in politics. The current prime minister is living proof of that, taking over from Andrew Little as Labour leader just … Read more
Todd Muller made the choice of health over politics two months before a general election. National is now scrambling to find a new leader, politics editor Justin Giovannetti reports from parliament. Former National leader Todd Muller’s resignation shook Wellington this morning, ending one of the shortest leaderships in New Zealand’s modern history. Only 53 days … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Self-inflicted story puts National on the defensive, another escape attempt from managed isolation, and a series of party events ahead of election. There’s a convention in journalism called Betteridge’s law of headlines. Basically what it means is that headlines that end in a question mark can … Read more
With an election now less than 10 weeks away, the National Party is confronting the very real prospect of a crushing defeat, writes Pattrick Smellie for BusinessDesk. Only two things can now save Todd Muller and the National Party from the growing likelihood of a crushing defeat at the September 19 election. Only one of … Read more
Has Michelle Boag finally gone too far? It won’t be the first time the question has been asked of New Zealand’s infamous right-wing PR consultant. On Tuesday night, news broke that Michelle Boag had provided private Covid-19 patient information to National MP Hamish Walker, who in turn leaked it to the media. She had apparently … Read more
The leak, we discovered last night, was the work of a first-term MP and a veteran National Party operator. What does it mean for the pair, and for the party, asks Ben Thomas. The latest whodunit in New Zealand politics was solved last night in a flurry of releases, as National’s Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker … Read more
The admissions by Walker and veteran spin doctor Michelle Boag follow the government’s announcement yesterday of a sweeping inquiry to find the source of the leak. National MP Hamish Walker has disclosed that he engineered a privacy breach over the weekend when he purposefully released the personal details of Covid-19 patients at the country’s border … Read more
Headlines about the ‘world’s gayest’ parliament only serve to highlight how far behind National has fallen on queer representation, writes Sam Brooks. On Monday, the Australian Associated Press reported that New Zealand is on the brink, if current polling persists, of achieving the “gayest parliament in the world”. There are currently seven openly queer* MPs … Read more
After 15 years in parliament, National MP Paula Bennett has officially announced she’s quitting politics. Here, we round up some of her most memorable moments. Following last month’s coup ousting her from the deputy leadership, Paula Bennett has decided to leave politics behind, confirming on Monday that she won’t be standing again in 2020. As … Read more
Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire on efforts to resolve the failures exposed in the self-isolation system. As the saying goes, a week is a long time in the response to an unprecedented global pandemic, and so it has proved, with the military called in to fix the issues in border control following the … Read more
Todd Muller has been criticised for posing in front of an upside down tino rangatiratanga flag. Hayden Donnell deploys high-level investigative journalism to find out who’s responsible. Todd Muller’s speech at Te Puna Rugby Club was designed as a reset for his troubled leadership. He’d spent his first days as National Party leader defending a … Read more
Now that his old friend Todd Muller is National leader, Matthew Hooton is pulling back from political commentary. His critics say he should have done so before the contest kicked off, writes Colin Peacock for RNZ. Prominent political pundit Matthew Hooton has withdrawn from commentary for the time being because of a conflict caused by … Read more
Charismatic leadership has historically been less important to New Zealand voters on the right. But when the country was thrown into crisis the old rules suddenly no longer applied, writes Danyl Mclauchlan. And just like that the National Party has a new leader. Todd Muller has replaced Simon Bridges because of profound policy and ideological … Read more
Four months out from a general election, National has turfed out Simon Bridges and installed Todd Muller as leader. Justin Giovannetti writes from parliament on a big day for NZ’s biggest party. As Simon Bridges clears his desk in the the leader’s office, the National Party now prepares to enter an unprecedented election campaign with … Read more
Bridges will be licking his wounds right now, but don’t count him out for good, writes Liam Hehir. Simon Bridges is no longer the leader of the New Zealand National Party. He never hit it off with the public but strong party vote polling kept him in the job. When that melted away in the … Read more
Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire on Simon Bridges’ fight to hang on to the top job in National. On Friday National MPs gather in Wellington to vote on the future of Simon Bridges and Paula Bennett. After miserable poll results a challenge has been launched, with Todd Muller and probably Nikki Kaye angling … Read more
The divisions roiling National might be forgivable if they resulted in a newly invigorated party. That seems highly unlikely now, writes Liam Hehir. The challenge to Simon Bridges’ leadership has damaged the National Party and its election chances. This is true whether Bridges or his challenger, Todd Muller, prevails. Nobody is indispensable and leadership tensions … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Rumblings grow of a coup against Bridges, police dogs being set on people in mental distress, and government’s contact tracing app ready early. The long-threatened coup attempt at National leader Simon Bridges seems to be finally here. Many times over his tenure there have been murmurings … Read more
Advertising doesn’t have to ruin a radio station, says former bFM programme director Bill Kerton. In fact, it can make it stronger. In the mid 1990s I found myself programme director at Auckland’s 95bFM. You couldn’t have found a more intense, dedicated group of creative, free thinking, anti-establishment wankers if you tried – yet we … Read more