On Monday, Martyn Bradbury posted “3 guesses about Nicky Hager’s new book” on The Daily Blog. The post is so short that it’s worth quoting in full: 3 guesses about Nicky Hager’s new book Nicky is about to inject some critical analysis into politics with the launch this Wednesday of...
#81959809 / gettyimages.com In New Zealand, this week has seen some discussion about Mike Hosking hosting leaders’ debates on state-owned, but independent and commercially-driven broadcaster TVNZ. It has been reported that Labour leader David Cunliffe is considering boycotting them because of Mike Hosking’s alleged leanings towards National, the main centre-right...
This post was originally published at Liberation. The majority view seems to be that David Cunliffe’s apology on Friday for ‘being a man’ was a mistake. But a contrary view could be that the apology was a very deliberate and calculated risk. Here are three reasons why Cunliffe’s apology might have been a...
UPDATED 28 August 2017: I’ve updated both the Twitter list and this post in time for the 2017 New Zealand General Election In 2012, I began to curate a Twitter list related to New Zealand politics. I would have used someone else’s, but couldn’t find a truly comprehensive list for what...
This post was originally published at Liberation. In my first post, I looked at why the Internet Party might be successful. Here, I look at why it might not be. 1. Ideology In the last post, I concluded by looking at the Internet Party’s chances of taking the mantle of a populist party....
This post was originally published at Liberation. The Internet Party has a funder, a leader and now a shortlist of 22 enthusiastic prospective candidates who are seeking a place on the party’s inaugural list. But how likely is the party to succeed? In the following two posts, I look at three reasons...
This post was originally published at Liberation. In this post I provide some comparative insights into the lessons of the recent German election for New Zealand politics. The lessons are the following: 1. The electoral system is the same, 2. The German election shows the danger of a 5% threshold, 3. Angela Merkel is...
This post was originally published at Liberation. MPs past and present in the blogosphere A number of past and present MPs are engaging in social media – blogs, and Twitter in particular. In this blog post,I outline what politicians are communicating online and where. I evaluate their efforts, and report on...
#56052984 / gettyimages.com This post was originally published at Liberation. In the last post, I looked at the background to the Act Party’s 2004 leadership primary, which saw Rodney Hide win election over three other contenders. In this post, I consider some new information passed from a former Act insider, who wishes...
#55789878 / gettyimages.com This post was originally published at Liberation. The current New Zealand Labour Party leadership primary contest presents a more democratic way to elect a party leader. Traditionally, the party leader has been seen as a matter for the parliamentary wing, with the much less visible role of...