Geoffrey Miller

New Zealand geopolitical analyst & Arabic/Russian learner

Tagged: Kim Dotcom

Politics

Forget the spaghetti pizzas – it’s substance voters are looking for

Get ready for more spaghetti pizzas, selfies and walkabouts on university campuses. It’s that time again when politicians pull out all the stops to do what they think will make young people vote for them. How bad can it get? At the 2014 election, Kim Dotcom spent some $4m largely targeting the youth vote. Symbolic of this attempt was a series of dance party events called the “Party Party” – the most memorable outcome of which was Dotcom leading a “f**k John Key” chant. Internet Mana later used the chant in an online campaign video. But the party ended in...

Politics

#Hagerbook: How did Martyn Bradbury know what was in “Dirty Politics”?

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 his brand new book. Here are my 3 guesses on his book. 1 – Right wing spin doctors in Wellington will be crying harder than Matthew Hooton post the Hollow Men. 2 – We won’t hear from the Taxpayer Union for a while. 3 – This won’t be the only...

Success or failure

Politics

Three reasons why the Internet Party might not be successful

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. But the downside of being populist is ideological incoherence. The unveiling of the deal with Mana was met by the wave of scepticism from the Establishment – perhaps symbolised best by TV3 political editor Patrick Gower, wholabelled the arrangement as ‘one of the dirtiest deals in New Zealand political history’. Internet...

Kim Dotcom

Politics

Three reasons why the Internet Party might be successful

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 why the Internet Party may succeed – and three reasons it might not. The Internet Party is up and running. Here are three reasons why it might succeed: 1. Resources Where: Albany Street in Dunedin, just along from the now closed Captain Cook Tavern.When: A wet Monday afternoon in June. What:...

Politics

Has John Banks breached the Act Party constitution and rules?

This blog post was originally published at Liberation Currently the Act Party is attempting to distance itself from the ‘banks.com’ scandal engulfing its leader. For example after the Dotcom donation allegations became known, Act Party president Chris Simmons told the New Zealand Herald ‘There’s a bit of a beat-up going on. It was all to do with the mayoral campaign. It doesn’t have anything to do with Act’. But in practical terms, it has become fairly clear that anything to do with John Banks has in fact a great deal to do with Act, given that he is now their...

Politics

The consequences of the John Banks donation scandal

This blog post was originally published at Liberation Is it all a damp squib? Or will the Kim Dotcom allegations about John Banks lead to messy by-elections, the death of the Act Party, a boost for the Conservative Party, and other party mergers? The guest blog post below from Act-watcher Geoffrey Miller, delves into the various ramifications, and outlines five possible consequences of the scandal. Five possible consequences of the John Banks donation allegations: 1. Nothing – or nothing much Sometimes things that seem like enormous scandals turn into damp squibs. In September 2006, a former policeman and then private...

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