|
How
the Numbers add up, for Labour
8 June 08
Muriel Newman
The
latest Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Statement will be of very
serious concern to the Labour-led coalition government, given
that it comes only months ahead of the 2008 general election.... More
>>>
Undermining
Democracy
29 February
08
Muriel Newman
The freedom of speech, including the freedom to criticise
the government, has always been central to the healthy
functioning of a democracy. The underlying principle of a
democracy is that the ultimate power rests with the
people, and the underlying virtue is that the transition
from one administration to another occurs quickly and
without bloodshed. This is in stark contrast to
dictatorships where change is measured in generations
rather than years, and the catalyst for change is
revolution not election... More >>>
Free
Speech, Anyone?
29 February 08
Karl du Fresne
Join
the dots here. The New Zealand Olympic Committee, with the
backing of the Minister of Sport, tries to muzzle athletes
taking part in the Beijing Games. The police are issued
with instructions allowing protesters to be blocked or
moved from view if they offend a visiting VIP. Parliament
passes an extraordinarily elaborate set of laws protecting
Rugby World Cup sponsors from competitors’ advertising... More
>>>
When
Radicals Agree
10 February 08
Muriel Newman
With
radical agendas gaining ascendency, it is inevitable the there
will be a clash of cultures between the ideals of the many and
varied malcontents living comfortably within our society, and
the sort of place that mainstream Kiwis want New Zealand to be.
At some stage our leaders in Wellington will need to recognise
and acknowledge this inconvenient reality...
More >>>
Winds
of Change
Muriel Newman
2
December 2007
The
only good news from the Australian election is that it has
foreshadowed a change in government here. Electorates grow
disillusioned with parties that have been in power for too
long and vote for change.
More
>>>
Financial
Literacy:
What’s the Buzz?
Prof Lawrence Rose,
2 December
2007
What
is a basis point, and what does it have to do with changes
in interest rates? Should your savings be put into
Kiwi Saver or into paying off a house mortgage? Should you
be worried about the recent collapse of so many finance
companies over the past 18 months? What is an
exchange rate and why does the New Zealand Exchange Rate
change so much? Should I sell my Warehouse shares or buy
more? More >>>
Compromising
Democracy
Muriel Newman
25
November 2007
The Electoral
Finance Bill, which seeks to impose complex restrictions
on how people can engage in the democratic process during
election year, was reported back from the Justice and
Electoral Select Committee last week.
More
>>>
An
Abuse of Power
David Farrar
25 November
2007
The Electoral Finance Bill is quite simply an
unacceptable attack on the human rights of New Zealanders.
This is not simply my view, but also the views of the
Law Society and the Human Rights Commission.
Even with the Select Committee modifications, they
oppose the Bill being passed into law.
More
>>>
Is
it Time to Change Our Voting System?
Muriel Newman
14
October 2007
Don
reflects the views of a good many New Zealanders when he says:
“While
MMP has got some advantages, it leads to disproportionate
influence for very small parties, as a consequence leads to
weak and ‘compromising’ government, requires more MPs than
most New Zealanders see as desirable, and greatly strengthens
the hand of party bosses at the expense of voters”. More
>>>
We
Deserve Another Referendum on MMP
Dr.
Don Brash
13 October 07
Last
month, New Zealand passed a milestone – happy or unhappy
depending on your point of view. Last month marked the 10th
anniversary of MMP in New Zealand. I
still get asked at public meetings: “When are we
going to get the MMP referendum we were promised?” And I
try to convince the questioner that there never was any
promise to hold another referendum on MMP.
More
>>>
One
Year Out
Muriel Newman
22
September 2007
Two
years ago the opinion polls were predicting that National
would win the 2005 election. But it was always going to be
close. More
>>>
The
Green Messchine
Trevor Grice
22 September 07
There is a dogged persistence in the way Sue Kedgley, the
Green Party spokesman on Consumer Affairs, trains her
magnifying glass on the contents of every tin or package
of food. Whether it’s the processing of food, the
importation of food, the push for organic home grown, the
contaminated clothing, the poison toys and so on, little
escapes her exhaustive scrutiny. We should probably
congratulate her for her efforts to protect our
‘Internal Environment’ - even if she could quite
rightly be accused of evangelism.
More
>>>
Smacking:
Those kiwis must be crazy!
Ruby
Harrold-Claesson
11 August 07
One
year ago, I travelled 36 hours from Gothenburg, Sweden to
Auckland at the invitation of the Section 59 Coalition. I
came to testify at the Parliamentary hearing on the
private member's Bill that proposed a repeal of Section 59
of the Crimes Act and to inform - and to warn - the
general New Zealand public of the effects of the Swedish
smacking ban.More
>>>
The
Corruption of Power
Muriel Newman
1
July 2007
It was Dr Thomas Sowell, author and senior
fellow at the Hoover Institute who said about
government, “It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more
dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those
decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for
being wrong”.
More
>>>
Yes
Minister!
By
Trevor Grice
1 July 07
Over
the past 30 years New Zealand society has undergone some
seismic shifts in philosophical, ethical, political and
technological thinking. It is not so much that society has
been subjected to a single, life-shaking quake but more a case
of many seemingly small and innocuous changes adding up to a
landscape shift that appears increasingly unacceptable
to many people. And like so many situations we are confronted
with today it is difficult to see how such changes can be
challenged or modified when responsibility rests somewhere
‘in the system’.
More
>>>
The Tail
is Wagging the Dog
Muriel Newman
6
May 2007
The ramming through Parliament of the deeply unpopular anti-smacking
bill is the clearest sign yet that under MMP the ‘tail
is wagging the dog’. As Iain Gillies wrote in an
editorial in the Gisborne Herald last month: “Widespread
antipathy to Sue Bradford’s bill on parental smacking
could unwittingly provoke renewed calls for a review of
the MMP voting system. The motion does not figure much -
yet - in either public discussion or the parliamentary
debate, but may well get traction when voters consider to
whom their MPs are beholden; their party hierarchy or the
electorate."
More
>>>
The
Nonsense of the List MP
Peter Shirtcliffe
6 May 07
One of the most heavily-promoted arguments in favour of
MMP, at the time of the 1993 referendum, was that its
introduction would transform (for the better) the way in
which Parliament worked. We were promised much better
behaviour in the House, but more importantly, greater
sensitivity to the wishes of the Electorate. More
>>>
Taxpayer
Funding Makes us Less Democratic
Hon
Richard Prebble
21 April 2007
Now after the Auditor –General has concluded that much
of Labour’s election spending was an illegal use of
taxpayer’s funds, the government’s solution is to
decide that the taxpayer must fund political parties.
More
>>>
The Smacking Bill a con job
Muriel
Newman
24 Mar 07
New
Zealand
is being conned over the so-called anti-smacking bill.
Touted as
being the way to prevent child abuse, this bill is part of
an international movement designed to undermine parental
authority and increase state control over children. While
a dozen or so countries have succumbed to the pressure of
the anti-smacking lobby and the United Nations, the
overwhelming majority have not. More >>>
Parents Under Attack
Muriel
Newman
3 Mar 07
In
two week’s time Parliament will again consider the
Crimes
(Abolition of Force as a Justification for Child
Discipline) Amendment Bill, a bill that seeks to remove
section 59 of the Crimes Act.
More >>>
Uncharitable Control
Muriel
Newman
21 Oct 06
It
was Thomas Jefferson who warned, "The natural
progress of things is for liberty to yield and
government to gain ground." More >>>
MMP
Referendum
Muriel
Newman
7 Oct 06
Next
week is the tenth anniversary of MMP, the Mixed Member
Proportional voting system that was introduced as a
result of a binding referendum in 1993. It was meant to
deliver a better standard of government to New Zealand .
More >>>
Corruption in Parliament
Muriel
Newman
30 September 06
Allegations
of corruption in
New Zealand
’s Parliament have now escalated to new heights. During
a radio interview this week, Tariana Turia described how
the Maori Party was offered $250,000 in return for
supporting the Labour Party after the election. This
“inducement” was intended to secure Labour the numbers
to govern.
More >>>
How NZ'ders see themselves
Muriel
Newman
19 August 06
Last
week, the University of Otago published: “New Zealand in
the 21st Century – A Consumer Lifestyles
Study”, which provides a five-yearly insight into New
Zealand society. The findings present a snapshot of how
more than 3,500 New Zealanders view our country.
More >>>
Capturing the Language
Muriel
Newman
3 June 06
“Framing” is the political left’s new buzzword for
what used to be called brainwashing. It has been developed
into an art form by George Lakoff, Professor of
Linguistics at
Berkley
University
and forms the basis of a paper prepared by communications
consultant Claire Curran for last month’s Labour
Party’s Southland Regional Conference. Called
“Language Matters: Setting agendas - taking charge of
the debate”, the
paper describes the necessity of capturing the language
for the center-left if Labour is to win the next election.
It provides an insight into their communication strategy.
More >>>
Does ACT have a
Future?
Sir
Roger Douglas
1 Apr 06
Speech
to the 2006 ACT Conference.
I
welcome the opportunity to be here this evening and also
the opportunity provided to me to say a few words.
HTML
>>>
Lowering the
Bar
Muriel
Newman
24 Mar 06
When governments become embroiled in scandal, there
comes a point where the confidence of the public, begins
to wane. If the scandals continue, a “tipping point”
approaches whereby voters begin to question the
capability of an administration to govern effectively. More >>>
Are you a New Zealander?
Muriel
Newman
4 Mar 06
Next
Tuesday is census day. Once every five years we are
required by law to fill in a detailed questionnaire about
ourselves and our households. The information gathered
provides a snapshot of
New Zealand
and is used in a wide variety of different ways to
determine such things as whether we have enough hospitals
and schools, where new roads should be built, how many
police will be needed, whether a planned shopping centre
is viable, or whether an airport needs to be extended.
More >>>
The Boundaries of Free Speech
Muriel
Newman
25 Feb 06
The publication of the Mohammed cartoons and the screening
of South Park's bleeding Madonna episode has again exposed
how tenuous the right of free speech really is. More >>>
The Smacking Debate
Muriel
Newman
14 Jan 06
Last
week the Body Shop announced that stores throughout the
country would be encouraging customers to sign a petition
to Parliament supporting the Green Party's bill to abolish
section 59 of the Crimes Act. More >>>
The Feminist Agenda 3 Decades On
Muriel
Newman
10 Dec 05
Last month, when the public furore erupted over an airline
policy that bans men from sitting next to unaccompanied
children, I wondered whether the feminists were
celebrating. A few years ago, the mere suggestion that a
man on a plane could be a likely child molester, would
have been greeted with derision. Now, however, not only
has the concept been taken seriously by the airlines, but
some public servants – including the Commissioner for
Children - have said it’s a good idea. More >>>
Stop
Beating the Parents
Melanie Phillips
7
July 04
More
>>>
|
