Yes

I'm not sure that it's clearly broadly socially detrimental either. A landlord is taking all the risk…

I think a key one is a requirement for cause before terminating a tenancy. In NZ a landlord can give 90 days’ notice and that’s the end of the matter. There is no…

No, it doesn't, but because it introduces a private profit motive (and in this country gives tenants very, very little protection against bad landlords) it's not an activity…

I think this is the point where somebody explains the protections for tenants in many European countries. I don't know much about it, but I'm sure somebody hereabouts could enlighten us, because it does seem to make for an interesting comparison.

Which is unfortunate, but you’re also a distinct minority. Plus, if you’re not making an income from it you’re obviously holding it for capital gain. Which makes you a prime example of the landlord-who-doesn’t-care-about-income-because-they’ll-make-a-tax-free-pile-at-sale class. Not…

It's also due to National abolishing all previous rental protections that applied to tenants. There's no cap to how much a landlord can increase the rent for existing tenants, beyond…

I think the LVR policy is misguided and incorrectly targeted. It's not…

The big difference with a US primary is that anyone can tick a box on their electoral registration form to register as Democrat or Republican, and then vote in the primary – no need to pay subs or adhere to the parties rules, etc.…

On the other hand won't it also put a damper on those who buy up two, three, four or more houses that they don't really need and don't intend to live in but regard simply as income generators?

Perhaps more houses will…

Depreciation deductions already got nailed down and it didn't result in a massive increase in rents. The market for housing actually works moderately well in most of the country in terms of the…

What about…

But listening to Cunliffe announcing
his tilt at the big windfarm,
I couldn’t find him…

Good. We're one then.I don't hold with abusing the Key bloc as the devil incarnate either. That doesn't stop me laughing at satire of all colours.

re MMP: I believe that two leaders who have best…

Small point of fact, Hebe, I’d rather nobody do…

Compared to other developed countries we have no:
– inheritance tax
– capital gains tax
– tax on real property transfers
– initial tax allowances
– social security / payroll…

One of the things about a CGT is that if you exempt family homes, which…

Pandering vs pragmatic? Hard to know…

And it was good to see how solid and passionate Cunliffe was. I was slightly skeptical of Cunliffe’s swift announcement he’d up taxes on the rich, followed by the careful shuffle to make it clear he meant he was keeping the…

Well, it was a Thursday. As in, never could get the hang of....

It is also very much the case that Grant's not been…

ETA: which is a remarkably good indicator of where Jones sits on the spectrum within Labour I would posit.

It kind of lends itself, although I'm not sure if anyone has really meant it the way it was meant in the original. It's the last message from the dolphins to…

Yep, I think that's what he meant.

And I think he wants to be attacked for making comments like this. That's the whole point.

Actually, Chris Keall used it on NBR ONLINE, last Thursday afternoon, only an hour or two after the announcement.

I also wonder if Jones would have spoken like that at the Auckland Regional Conference, face to face with the people he was insulting.

Or maybe he’s just referring to men who don’t use public funding to jack off.

That is a valid point of view, but it helps no Green or Labour supporters in any way other than pouring a bucket of bile…

David, the possible reference to Grover Cleveland is fascinating, but I just don't buy it – the full quote was "Mr Jones said he had spent yesterday in and around Kerikeri and Kaitaia…

Yes, it goes to perception of them, indirectly. I could see why they were doing it, but it was interesting how little of the…

Oooo Craig, you have such a way with…

How does calling women geldings even make sense? A gelding is a castrated male horse.

Well, that would display a fascinating (if somewhat random and totally irrelevant) knowledge of the historical minutiae of American presidential campaigns on Jones' part, considering he was being asked about a proposed rule change to allow woman-only shortlists.…

Section 47, in the absence of anything else (which I haven't found), suggests that there's no requirement to be on a particular roll in order to stand as a candidate under elections…

Also yeah they have now…

Not to exactly defend Jones (and given that this story is a bit difficult to follow since I’m not in NZ at the moment), but I suspect that he was actually misquoted.

Isn’t…

….For us in the main cities, but not so for those in the provinces. Much like we know Nactional enjoys most of the Farming communities all around the Country and Winston has picked up the disillusioned Nationalistic voter, who just want security for…

(Although with most Maori voting in Te Tai Tokerau, Northland must be…

Have you been to Kaitaia lately? I am still getting used to, in and around there, just where the locals get their( lack of) information and very outdated opinions. I can completely hear some of the locals calling…

When the Chinese Communist Party willingly gives up power? Close enough?

I imagine some might claim "no, no, he doesn't think that himself, he's just saying what the public think." If that were the case, he wouldn't have used the word "geldings". I wasn't particularly bothered by…

Well, to be entirely cynical, probably exactly the same…

Also, hey, Sacha, should the Greens firmly punish anyone who slags Labour?

Well, at least if Shane Jones becomes leader, we know where he…

It's also worth saying that Grant's been in a position for the past few years where he hasn't been able to articulate a vision of a Robertson-lead government, because that would…

Interestingly, Onehunga doesn't have fluoridated water courtesy of having its own bore. Could make for quite the control group to an empirical study if someone from the School of Population Health were so…

I have no problem drinking fluoride but I also think if enough people don't want it in the water supply then it shouldn't be there. Europe seems to be getting on fine without it. We offer iodised salt, we could add fluoride to…

Well, yes... but while I hate defending Shane Jones, you think…

He has been known to help out with the xmas tree sales at the Aro Valley Community Centre.

That Gordon Campbell piece is very good IMHO.

I think that's what Campbell was getting at here:

One way the new leader has to signal a break with Labour’s dithering recent past will be reflected in…

Exactly. Gordon has it right: Shearer only showed some spirit when dealing with a supposed `challenge' (largely manufactured) from Cunliffe, an easy target given the dynamics of caucus…

Thanks. A great article. This kind of touches on what I was saying upthread about indulgent behaviour:

It is Shearer’s dismal legacy that the probable…

Which not a Libertarian position, is pretty much what I'm saying. They seldom consider externalities.

This debate’s been had here before and…

totally agree

Shit!

Gordon Campbell discusses the `divisions' and, does a much better job of it. He also highlights the critical issue of the relationship with the Greens.

I don't mind eating GMOs (I figure they can't be worse than all the artificial additives in processed food), but I would rather they aren't hurting the environment. This debate's…

And they listen to each other too much.

Clifton, Garner, Armstrong, Trevett, all that crew: they're paid to be entertaining and have opinions, not to be right.

Not to me. Libertarian and freedom-like is to say…

I know others that have flourished at Steiner but I'd still add it to the expensive schools, Shame it cannot be funded like a…

Heh. Not far off. In a talkback (yeah, I know) Q & A I was monitoring for our client, a reasonably straight-up sounding woman got on to ask something relevant about potholes. All of a sudden she veered into, ” And what are you going to…

You mean something like this?

he's pretty thirsty, but

Bad choice of example. Fluoridation is no bell-wether for any political party's policies; it's one of the issues that makes I (and many others who have worked in politics) duck when we hear it coming. It…

If anything, anti-fluoridation campaigns had their origins in Red Scare McCarthyism.

And while the Greens have had their fair share of Gaian cultism, it's comparatively benign when the antitheses happen to be Intelligent Design, the Prosperity…

Not so much. If Key can manage not to have a cup of tea with Banks just before the election, Winston may well vanish back into political purgatory while his votes are distributed amongst the other parties. NZ First has…

How art is made, indeed!
quickly, intuitively and to
capture a moment...

I'm sure the crowd-funded opera
Hansard A quest down power's dark paths can't be far away...
...meanwhile where is a worthy vehicle (beyond the net), like Media3 f'rinstance,…

Brilliant: thanks Lilith.

The focus seems to not be anti-science, rather focused on…

The science around floridation so clear (PDF – Ministry of Health epidemiological survey): the risks are minimal or non-existent, and the benefits are stonkingly clear.

It's…

Aaaaaaaaahahahahaha!

They want the government. That does not necessarily mean the Greens as their only partner. They could make sufficient ground to gain the government and still come a long way short of not needing NZF.

It had better, or what's the point of rearranging the deckchairs.

Sorry. Hope it doesn't lead to nightmares, or envy :-)

Just because one voted Green, doesn't mean one supports their so-called "loony" (ie non-evidence based) policy. For years their anti-GMO was a show-stopper for me. But after "loony" (ie non-evidence…

Only if Labour and the Greens don't get a good enough share of the total vote between em to surpass Nats + Winston.

Fine, perhaps you could explain that to the Press Gallery. If a Government Bill is lost (or withdrawn or substantially changed) it’s not the end of the bleeding world unless it’s a matter of confidence or supply. And even there, I’d respectfully…

Same as per what I said to Bart. Apart from Labour…

When politicians get beyond childish tribalism, yes. Takes more maturity to approach policy based on its quality rather than who proposed it.

Green party economic policy page.

unfortunate mental image :)

I even agree to an extent with some of your views but I take issue with "loony" as applied to the third largest party in our…

But don't voters choose electorate MPs on different factors than parties choose list ones?

I've got 10 bucks and…

that's half-pai
#cultures

Exactly!

Or didn't see an alternative government they had confidence in.

That is the flaw in the way Labour and National think about MMP. That you can't do anything unless you have a fixed coalition majority on all issues. Essentially recreate the dictatorship for three years that we have…

Yeah apologies for that. I should have been more careful to make clear that it is the perception of loony they need to erase. As far as I can tell by focussing on evidence based policy they are…

Yes they are, this eye-licking craze article is still up

Despite having been debunked.

As this story was going to press, I was able to reach the editor at Core Magazine who had posted the original story on Bucchi.…

Sorry way off-topic.

I'd personally describe some of their policy as not based on consensus scientific opinion but my guess is that a chunk of the population would perceive them as "loony".

The couple of big ones for me are support of alternative medicines…

hardly

It's really hard to know why people didn't vote. Mostly because it's essentially qualitative research you need to do, not really amenable to polling, and if you assemble a group and ask them, people don't…

You mean like having 14 MPs, as the party does currently?

Did I hear someone call out "Mr Cunliffe" at the beginning of that. ROFL.

In 2005? Well, whose fault was that – the Greens were told to fuck off, and the toxic relationship with the Maori Party “haters and wreckers”…

Yes, because National spun it that way through their friends in the Medja.

No grudge. Some of my best friends are active Labourites. But the Irish in me don’t trust them when it comes to making a government. Good thing I’m…

The media, too, seem to still be thinking in FPP terms of National and Labour being the obvious, natural major parties.

Why should a policy you disagree with be "loony", or any more loony than…

Dunno about Bart, but I can. Any kind of nationalism worries me, and the Greens seem to have a bit too much of that in their economic policies for my taste, but the biggest problem I have with…

I'm sure there was some calculation as to the wisdom of reach towards the…

Not when the parties are inclined to eviscerate themselves in public.

Yes. Or accommodations by the centre-right that I don't believe are impossible over time (talking 20 years here).

I and others believe a deal could have been done in…

Just as a start: not ramming through poorly thought out legislation that screws over a major part of its core constituency (foreshore and seabed) or apparently out of vengeance (electoral finance). Dropping the attitude that the Maori seats and the working class and progressive…

It is an accusation levelled at the Greens so frequently in media commentary that I wonder if anyone can actually explain what they mean by it.

Agreed. In many respects I naturally sympathise with Greens policies, but they have a couple…

It would have to be a fairly significant…

And what would that proof be?

So you're a closet Green ? Hehe gotcha.

Also, from a purely media standpoint, you know what I'm really looking forward to? Four weeks of headlines about cool Labour MPs talking about…

Removed as redundant.

Which would be either of the two biggest parties if it came down to it.

Full text:

Thanks for the messages! Many have predicted this already but thought I should confirm- I won't be putting myself forward for Labour leader

I hope everyone can now respect that she's smart enough to…

It's way off topic until the election threads start next year, but I'm not going to party vote for anyone who's going to be part of any support arrangement with New Zealand…

Which comes down to figuring out how to stop environmentally conscious but conservative voters looking at the Greens and running for the hills (and the local National candidate).

There is a non-zero portion of…

The Labour-Green bloc is absolutely a given. There will be horse-trading a-plenty, but, that's the only way either of them will get into government.

And I think the belief that the…

I am…

Hear, hear!

And on that note, it's worth observing that elsewhere in the world where they are more used to this MMP and mutliple parties sharing…

I think I can confidently say now that she isn't seeking the leadership.

At a guess — and that's all this is — I…

The only thing demonstrates is enough dead rats collected and hidden away to ensure they get assigned one of the safe seats. Adern contested one of the more challenging seats around and did a good job.

I can't see that wallowing in a safe…

On current numbers, Labour won't have any choice. The 'left' block only looks meaningful when you add the Greens…

She isn’t? Oh, well that does make it rather hard then. :-)
Stuff yesterday had her as one of the frontrunners. But perhaps that was speculation.

Yes. And this time the hustings will be solo affairs, unencumbered by a running mate. The deputy leader will still be selected by caucus once the leader has been…

I don't think this would happen with Robertson/Cunliffe but if Labour elected Shane Jones, it might come down to that.

I think she'd have taken back the electorate if the incumbent wasn't as (ahem) popular and competent as Nikki Kaye is. She has an effective…

She's certainly a talented politician. I'd like to see a male/female leadership team, and there's a deputy spot up for grabs.

That's a rather foolish presumption to make — there is no constitutional or practical reason why the Greens should do any such thing, as opposed to doing…

And that Telco reform was a big…

I'm in the Cunliffe camp, though I am not…

Agreed to a point but…

The thing is, we never know how the electorate would have voted if someone else had been running. It could be…