Further to the table posted by David Farrar yesterday on all the parties responses regarding their position on MMP.
Finally someone’s done the numbers on the table: The majority of Parliament appears to support Judith Collins.
s.russell Says:
According to that table:
* There is a 68-53 majority for retaining the 5% threshold
* There is a 65-56 majority for retaining the coat-tail provision Read more »
Earlier I blogged about Labour’s mystery deceased donor. David Farrar also blogged about it and noted that Labour appeared to have broken the law by hiding the donations for over a year.
Now they claim it was all just a mistake…using the Ted Crilley defence:
The Labour Party could be in hot water over its party donation returns.
Papers published by the Electoral Commission show the party received over $430,000 from the estate of Brian Dalley last year.
The sum was donated in four instalments between April and July last year. Read more »
It was 2008 and David Farrar and I were in Gisborne to watch a debate as guests of Richard Harman. His production company was televising the debate between Derek Fox and Parekura Horomia for the TVNZ 7 Swing Seats debate.
The theatre, I forget its name now, was packed, there were rosettes, banners, and good fun being had.
It was a good old-fashioned election meeting with opposing teams sledging each other in good-natured banter.
The stage was set, everyone was ready…and then the pollies came out to play.
Derek Fox came out first, his supporters went berserk with clapping and cheering. He sat on the stool provided.
Then Parekura Horomia came out…same reception…but he stopped, stared down at what was now apparent to everyone there at the tiny little stool..he threw back his head and laughed then turned around and proceeded to ever so slowly back himself onto the stool…the audience hushed, everyone stopped and as he sat down the legs on the tiny little stool groaned and spread…and then Parekura stood up…called for a more robust chair/stool.
Everyone roared with laughter and the debate got started. Parekura even joked about it several times.
That night was probably one of the most enjoyable political occasions I have ever attended, for the raw politics, for the old-fashioned campaigning and for the enjoyment of everyone in attendance.
Afterwards we all went out to dinner and stayed eating and drinking till late into the night. It was all very convivial and hugely entertaining.
I will always remember that night and it is one of my more enduring memories of Parekura Horomia….to me he was a man to tried to achieve many great things, but more importantly was a man who knew people, you could see that during the night, it was obvious.
Labour lost a good MP yesterday. My only hope is that the person they select is even half as good as Parekura Horomia was for his electorate.
Rest in Peace.
David Parker was front and centre yesterday launching the Labour/Green economic assault on power generation.
“National is hurling all sorts of inaccurate insults at the NZ Power policy and muddying the waters. Their scaremongering shows they’re worried that hard-working New Zealanders who are sick of paying through the nose for electricity will embrace our new policy.
“Labour’s policy is quite clear. It will reduce power prices through two means.
“First, the single buyer NZ Power will buy electricity from generators on behalf of all New Zealanders at a fair price, based on their actual production costs and return on capital. It will not allow the companies the super profits from older hydro generation they get currently.
“Second, NZ Power will sell that wholesale power to retailers. As generators will be structurally separated from their retail business there will a level playing field and barriers to entry will be lowered. This will increase retail competition and lead to lower prices.
He was the go to man for comments yesterday, but I wonder of it is the same David Parker who, in a report to cabinet in 2006 said this:
“a single buyer would likely result in higher capital and operating costs”. He went on to say that: “The risks involved in changing arrangements could be significant. The resulting uncertainty could lead to investment proposals being put on hold. Direct implementation costs could be large.” And, he admitted that “The single buyer would be relatively poor at sustaining pressure on operational costs.” Read more »
Brian Rudman is going to be very perturbed by this development, there will be a column for sure on the need for another state funded theatre so he and his luvyies can still enjoy subsidised liberal elites arts. David Farrar will probably lend the support of his arts blog.
Firefighters have brought under control a large fire at the University of Auckland’s Maidment Theatre but the theatre has been significantly damaged.
An automatic alarm was activated at 4.35pm and shortly after staff from the university phoned emergency services to say there was smoke showing from the theatre, fire communications shift manager Nicole Bernard said.
Bernard said the first crews on the scene quickly called for backup. Read more »
Yesterday travel blogger David Farrar had quite the scoop about the Green party running deceptive ads.
So in summary, the Greens:
- Misrepresented the minimum wage change
- Inaccurately stated the minimum wage last week was $13.75
- Miscalculated the take home pay last week (they were wrong at $13.50 and $13.75)
- Miscalculated the change in student loan repayments
- Miscalculated the change in Kiwisaver deductions
This is pretty gross incompetence for a political party with you know staff and MPs. There is nothing difficult about going to the IRD website and using their calculator. Their advertisement is false and misleading and they should withdraw it until corrected. Read more »
Clare Curran looks set to commit Labour to an election year policy of bashing up Sky TV at the least or pushing to break up their alleged monopoly.
She has no concept of risk and reward in business…failing to recognise that the original investors in Sky TV put up considerable amounts of their own money to try something new in the NZ market. They have been successful with their business model and now people like Curran are moaning and demanding the ‘government’ destroy their property rights by breaking them up.
This is like David Farrar campaigning constantly against Telecom to break up their business. It is shameful for Farrar, and perhaps understandable for socialists like Curran, but it is arranging for the state destruction of private assets.
Labour’s broadcasting spokeswoman Clare Curran says Government regulation is needed to rectify New Zealanders’ lack of free-to-air television access to major sports.
Her party opposes Sky TV’s buy-up of major national sports over the past decade. “Sky have held at bay the prospect of regulation probably for decades, and very successfully. I have said for a couple of years now that that has to stop,” says Ms Curran. Read more »
via the tipline:
Cam, I’m a long time reader of both yours and the Wellington based Discovery Channel’s Travel writer David Farrar Blogs. However I’ve been concerned about his foray into the world of Top Gear presenter as he writes rave reviews about BMW’s offerings.
I also noticed that his quiz’s which feature on the blog often are political, where he boasts of getting all 12 out of 10 right in nanoseconds. Where as most of us Kiwis have difficulty finding Wellington on Google maps, little alone understanding if Jim Bolger or David Lange is the current Prime Minister.
However, I found this quiz that will prove he knows very little about the automotive world. Read more »
The Law Commission has published its final report as part of their review of regulatory gaps and new media.
I’ve read the report and can’t find a lot to disagree with. They have resisted the big brother approach that the UK and Australia seem to be implementing. Media should be by and large kept free from interference of politicians.
The main key recommendation actually removes some statutory bodies and they should be commended for that.
David Farrar has a useful summary of the their recommendations:
- A news media standards body (the News Media Standards Authority or NMSA) should be established to enforce standards across all publishers of news.
- Membership should be entirely voluntary and available to any person or entity that regularly publishes or generates news, information or current opinion. Read more »
