Dr. Geoffrey Miller

Strategic analyst

Category: Politics

Politics

Another reason why a “Country Party” is not a good idea

[text-blocks id=”act-party”] Earlier in the year I covered an op-ed piece by former ACT MP Gerry Eckhoff in which he advocated the establishment of a Country Party to better represent rural interests in New Zealand. He used the example of the Nationals in Australia to support his argument. Well, the results of the recent Australian federal election should provide him with some advice. Australians gave the Nationals just 10 seats, its worst ever result. One of the reasons suggested by the Sydney Morning Herald for the party’s decline in fortunes was that urban lifestylers have encroached into more traditional rural...

Politics

The real home of ACT – and Derek Quigley

[text-blocks id=”act-party”] This week I’ve been in Australia and I can’t get over how much stuff in the papers there is on ACT. Much more than the Herald. The “Roger Douglas Fan Club” (as a journalist described ACT in 1996) must have definitely found a home across the Tasman, right? Well, although ACT likes to highlight its “global heritage”, I’m afraid this is not the case. For those who did not see through my feeble attempt at humour, I’m referring to the Australian Capital Territory. But on a more serious note, former ACT (New Zealand!) MP Derek Quigley moved to...

Politics

Stephen Franks to stand for National!

[text-blocks id=”act-party”] Some very interesting news out today: Stephen Franks is standing for National in Wellington Central. Although this was signalled in the NBR in July 2007, the big surprise for me is that he is standing in Wellington Central, where Heather Roy recently announced she was standing for ACT. This can only be seen as a slap in the face for ACT. Admittedly, it is quite likely that Franks’s nomination was already finalized before Roy announced her candidacy. Still, this will make for some interesting campaign meetings. Although we knew that Franks was being courted by National, I wonder...

Politics

NZPA on Roy

[text-blocks id=”act-party”] NZPA has a report on Heather Roy standing in Wellington Central and gives some good background: Wellington Central is going to be open territory for candidates next year because the Labour MP who holds it, Marian Hobbs, is standing down.Ms Hobbs retained it in 2005 with 20,199 votes – a majority of 6180 over Mark Blumsky, the former Wellington mayor who stood for National.A former Act MP, Stephen Franks, contested the seat in that election but gained only 1254 votes, fewer than the Green’s Sue Kedgley who came third. Richard Prebble, a former ACT leader, won the seat...

Politics

It’s a Right Roy-al con!

[text-blocks id=”act-party”] The candidate ACT will be standing in Wellington Central, mysteriously foreshadowed last week and reported at this blog, is none other than….Heather Roy! Readers who take only a passing interest in ACT may be forgiven for not knowing who Roy is, but she is currently ACT’s sole list MP. Douglas to Dancing will analyse the pros and cons of standing Roy in Wellington Central in greater detail later, but for now some raw data from this evening’s events: – Roy has launched a personal website, http://www.roy.org.nz. The 1990s-style website design must be a deliberate ploy to subtly remind...

Politics

Gerry Effed-off

[text-blocks id=”act-party”] The Otago Daily Times reported today that former ACT MP and now Otago Regional Councillor Gerry Eckhoff was annoyed about being excluded from a workshop on air quality, because he had made a submission to council on the matter in a private capacity prior to being elected: As a former Act New Zealand MP, and having sat on a select committee, he had more than illustrated he could not be accused of predetermination or bias, he said. It was ‘‘insulting’’ to suggest otherwise. ‘‘Councillors say it’s not personal. It’s just a matter of process. I do not see...

Politics

ACT vs. New Zealand First

[text-blocks id=”act-party”] The latest Roy Morgan poll finds that New Zealand First has increased its support from 3.5% to 5.5%. ACT, however, continues to be down in the cellar at 1%, where it has been pretty much for the last two years. Now, I’m no fan of the Duncan Garner-style breathless commentary (“will come as a massive blow to the…”) on individual polls, but I think it might be useful to look at the differences in ACT and NZ First behaviour in recent weeks. First and foremost, New Zealand First found itself a winning issue for its potential constituents. The...

Politics

On Newztext

[text-blocks id=”act-party”] A major resource for anyone writing about a New Zealand political topic is the Newztext database. This is a online subscriber-only database but is commonly accessible through institutions. When I was writing my dissertation, I had access to the database through the University of Otago. If you don’t belong to such an institution, however, don’t despair. Newztext is also freely available through many public libraries and is quite likely accessible simply by going to your local library’s website (click here for a list of every library in the country) and entering your library card number and PIN. What’s...

Politics

ACT contesting Wellington Central

[text-blocks id=”act-party”] Party newsletter ACTion! reported today that ACT will be contesting the Wellington Central seat at the 2008 election, with the candidate to be “unveiled” next Thursday. By the sound of the announcement it must be a stellar candidate, who knows, perhaps a former MP or city councillor? Or someone from media or sport? Whoever it is, he or she will have to be well known to Wellingtonians to have any chance of winning the seat. Richard Prebble held this seat from 1996-1999, but the electoral boundaries have since changed, making this a harder seat for ACT to win....

Politics

‘The Economist’ and school vouchers

[text-blocks id=”act-party”] In an earlier post I mused over whether ACT would bring back a voucher scheme as a key policy. Here’s a reason why not. This week’s issue of The Economist (which recently unlocked the walled garden that was its website and made its content freely available) reports on the failure of school voucher systems in the United States: Mr [Michael] Bloomberg [New York City mayor] has not been as brave with schools as Mr Giuliani was with crime. Oddly given his belief in competition, the former media mogul shunned the most radical option—vouchers that allow parents to shop...

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