Two very good questions.

1: Beats me, but plenty of people do.…

Why would you want to live in a country where you can't converse with most of the population? Or is "residence" about having a bolthole and a convenient way to dodge Chinese…

You may well be correct.

There is no explanation of the "previous intervention" of Mr O'Connor,

Also, that English language requirement for his category of visa is not exactly strict or strenuous or tough. I find it very hard to believe that…

What O'Connor waived was the English-language requirement. He still made it clear Liu had to pass the character test. And he pointedly stepped back when there was some weirdness with the incorrect photo being supplied.

The real story here…

how else would you get 'zest' in a city
but by grating a lemon...

:- )

Merisnail
Papanubie
Ricecarton
Fondalton
Bumside
Bryndwr (thats Welsh for “itsquitenicehereomasunnydayyoucanseethehillsanshit”
Belfarts (ding dung)
New Brighton, a place without pier.
Avonside (now partly…

How the new suburb names trip off the tongue:
Aarrgh Hill, Blockhead Bay, Bowelmorale, Ellersleaze, Greyer Lynn, Hernia Bay, Missing Bay, Mourninginside, Mount Roadkills, Painmure, Poisonby, St Hellions, Wartview, Wetsmear – even Down town sucks...

Not some horror Hollywood,…

I'm curious. What's the rationale behind that? Surely the seats in parliament are divvied up by the percentages of those who voted, so why the sudden interest in boosting absolute numbers?

Funny how…

Yep. They're even setting electorate-level targets as bodies rather than percentages.

"It is not enough to get a certain percentage of whoever turns out," Mr Joyce said. "It's important to get as many as possible people to…

Oh, come on Steve. Sounds precisely like exactly the same message National was sending at the last election year…

Hate to be self-promotional here (well, no, actually that's not true – I quite like it), but can I just point out that – as Puddleglum at The Political Scientist very generously made…

I saw that and I thought something similar, if slightly less conspiratorial sounding.

Aucklander Paul Davison, QC, is heading a team of advisers for Liu reviewing the property developer's records following the comments of David Cunliffe this week.

The Weekend Herald understands this includes more than 30 photographs taken over 18 months linking Liu…

We have nothing better to go on, and want to know the answer, for any number of reasons? Because one can adjust strategy to optimize the chance of winning? Because one might want to know if…

Does the book discuss the time Key swam with the Dolphins off Maui?
Yes but the dolphins don't remember it.

This.

Whigs fo' life, yo. Things haven't been the same since George 3 let the Tories back in.

https://twitter.com/tmurphyNZH/status/482413071403462656

Unless the Herald has suddenly found evidence for a 100k bottle of wine and 150k in donations, then that story remains unraveled. And even if they have found rock solid…

which is the excuse the pollsters give for discarding all the undecideds.

to the gym! :)

Firstly, it is (like all similar social-democratic parties that sold their souls to the dead end of third way politics) in an existential crisis as what it actually primarily stands for. At the moment, it is a comfy establishment party of middle class urban liberal identity…

Fair enough — hell, for me the fundamental problem with polls is they all begin with "If an election was held today..." Well,…

through a glass darkly...
a little charity goes a long way
:- )

Good point.…

That's been done already. Must be two years ago now. They finally owned the fact that the…

Of course people standing for the Party have to believe that. But that doesn't much influence my judgment any more than Colin Craig's optimism of breaking the threshold influences my opinion of whether he actually will.

That's one of the things the link shows is a pretty minor effect. Which is kind of obvious, since the Greens move in a much smaller range than Labour.

No, just that they were formed from older existing parties. Also I should correct that Labour was not born in the 30s. That was just when they became seriously relevant. Anyone who was calling them irrelevant in 1972, when they…

"The retraction you have when you’re not having a retraction”.

At least they acknowledged error, even if it’s a Clayton’s acknowledgement. Still, the comments I've seen so far are mostly calling bollocks, and anyone who’s still hesitating to go to the Press Council, hesitate…

They've also completely failed to demonstrate that there was anything improper in Liu's donations or that Labour did Liu any favours in exchange for that cash. But still they insist:

Next we revealed Mr Cunliffe, a day after denying…

You may be right, but it's a very old song. The long-defunct Australian Nation-Review described the upcoming NZ election in terms of a…

This probably doesn’t need to be relitigated, but it’s funny how that “maturity” always seems to be demanded of Greens and not of Labour supporters who start screeching…

We regret having reported inflated and conflated dollar figures.

Then:

The core issue remains, however: At a minimum, removing Mr Barker's China trip and a donation to a rowing club the MP's daughter belonged to, Labour faces Liu's claim…

And this from a paper that sees no conflict in one of it's senior reporters, anonymous editorial writers and columnists writing and publishing a breathless hagiography…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKuc3faQAEs

TGIF ;- )

Chris linked to it a few posts above you.

examples?

Labour has lost vote share all right, but according to a recent chart of electoral vote share – visited the page but…

I'm undecided about that. I do love it when someone puts up a good fight.

Yes ,I think people get off on finding the faults without seeing the good. Labour have individuals. They speak their own minds, unlike NAct…

I'll finish the e-mail I've been drafting for...erm....some months....You can reply to that.

Then how to explain Tamati Coffey and the youth revival thing he is doing in Rotorua?

Another time, another thread.

You might have to expand on that one a bit.

Yes, poor caucus. I feel similarly sorry for them as I do for John Key. No one ever told them that their job for life at a massive salary might start looking a bit iffy to the people they claim to represent.

True and it shows, and also the disunity is obvious: in the theatrics…

There's some pretty suckful characters in the Nat crowd too. I think Labour's trouble is much deeper than any lack of talent. I think it's just an…

It seems fair to note that the MP responsible for that brainfart, Clare Curran, seems to have been demoted so far down the 2014 Labour list that she withdrew from the list altogether. There’s not much more the party can do to register disapproval.

The Greens don't have…

I can see it working fine, but I don't think it will happen.

FWIW, I can fully see why Labour don't do an official deal with the Greens. There are pros and cons to such an arrangement.…

Good to know, like you said. I must have never met a citizen who had not returned home once in any 3 year period that actually wanted to vote before :-).

Presumably the embassy doesn't count as NZ soil for these purposes…

Because the others, combined, are polling somewhere around half of where the Greens are polling. Anyone, apparently including the Labour caucus, who thinks that the Greens won't be…

When the only prospect they have of forming government is in a coalition with The Greens it seems like a sensible question to ask. Labour is looking at only being…

Yes, and I have just got my new passport so I will be spending a weekend in Christchurch shortly, specifically so I can legitimately vote. It's something of a PITA and I'd…

Exactly. I was last in NZ in 2010.

Ben, by 'expat' I mean any NZer…

No one mentioned charter schools at all during the election campaign. It was Act policy, which people who'd paid attention to their policy knew, but that was it.

I know. I'm watching this most nervously. Unfortunately I won't be back in time to reclaim my right to vote*, so I'm relying on you lot to help keep that threat at bay.

*Well, yes, I could, but that wouldn't be fair on my family, boss or students.

A bit harsh, don't you think? There have been some quite interesting policy announcements, and the aggression shown in fighting this non-scandal has been a welcome breath of fresh air.

In any case, I don't mind if media outlets nail their colours to a mast. What I would very much appreciate is being honest about it, and who, if anyone, pays them to be.

It's dreams like that that keep me from remembering that Labour are doing their damnedest to not win this election, and succeeding admirably.

Totally. The snippets read like the biggest white whine I've ever read in my life. Oh the adversity!! Someone recorded what the Chief of Spies was saying in a public meeting!! His mate in that meeting turned out to have dealings with someone he set his…

Nailed it. The affected laziness around process may well be his legacy and, living in Sydney, it's very very easy to see where it leads. The…

Well, it's got a name on it, but I thought an address was also necessary.

But:

Roughan writes that Mr Key's frustration began with the "Teagate" saga surrounding the taping of his conversation with Act candidate John Banks at a Newmarket cafe during the 2011 election campaign.

For the…

Electioneering? Who is paying for that?

That's what he says at every Question time,
"Well I can't tell you about that but what I will say is this, Labour did it first in (insert any random number or decade and report or news clipping here)"

Hagiography, already. A bit early, isn't it? When will the first reports of miracles appear? Wait, is that an image of John Key's smiley mug I see in the smog smothering this city?

... and in the actual aerial photo
– I have to say that it don't look Parkour-proof!
(I'd…

The…

a thinly veiled publicity vehicle
for Key’s new tee shirt range:
"Nothing I could do about it.
Didn’t know about it,
didn’t authorise it,
wasn’t part of it. …"

[edit: Bart Simpson's lawyers are on…

;- )

Probably not. It's a pretty common name.

The man who hoped to be the first Chinese MP for the Labour Party has emerged as a central figure in the donation claims of Donghua…

There are so many to complain about, but I've started with Armstrong being inaccurate, unbalanced.He's the Chief Political Commentator. I'm actually just really sick of his articles always rubbishing Labour. I'll be waiting for 10 days…

LOL. You know there are still people around who only get printouts? These are the people who pay for the Herald.

It may a perfectly fine aircraft, but the makers can't be bothered with the paperwork to certify it and the recipients of free airliners tend not…

What are we waiting for then?

One of those classic loony lefty things? Hawkes Bay Rowing Club vs. Rowing Club of Hawkes Bay?

Tangential to a tangent off a tangent, but it's gifts originating in China finding their way to the South Pacific: Xinhua's Anhui…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y

He says he donated
...in good faith and without expectation
to both governments/parties

How does a rowing club then equate with the Labour Party?

His confirmation of the total sum of $100,000 will still leave Labour with a headache as…

I hope somebody's keeping screenshots or printing hard copies.

Dragging Key and the Herald through the courts during the next National government would have certain advantages in tainting his brand. The ideal situation would involve him managing to…

David Cunliffe wants apology from Donghua Liu

as far as it goes, I doubt they'd win a case against Liu (who made no defamatory allegations) or the Herald (qualified…

that feather tickles

This can of worms only opens from the inside?

It isn't like Lange v Atkinson, which was about a vague allegation of being a "lazy prime minister", it's more like Lange v ABC which was about a specific allegation of buying influence. Lange won the latter case (in Australia).

Apart from anyone else, a…

I am not sure if Labour has much choice, or much to lose. They have no choice because this orchestrated farrago of lies and innuendo from the Herald and the National Party cannot be allowed to simply die and leave a bad impression. Not…

This is a very dumb idea.

Media types, any mileage in a Press Council complaint on this?

Wednesday June 18:
A Labour Cabinet Minister presented a bottle of wine to the partner of businessman Donghua Liu at a fundraiser for the party.
The Herald has obtained a photograph of…

I'm pretty sure that a "clarification" that completely contradicts something said earlier is technically called a retraction.

ETA: Although I'd settle for them choosing a sacrificial…

So the fabled"$100,000 for a bottle of wine" — which is now explicitly less than…

I'd be worried about getting sued.

I’m sensing it got shut…

more the problem, yes. Guys like that can't do their thing without our approval, no matter how misguided.

I’m not uberstanding this ….. it seems to me , if anyone needs answers to verify anything, avoidance is suppression and journalists need to be getting their Jon Stephenson thing on if they want respec’

The Fuknuckle thinks he's everyone to everything. His shit don't stink. We NZers really just don't care. Snapper is more important than democracy . Insurers are more important than Chch residents. He can't understand that Mauis…

Further down the story:

Mr Key revealed yesterday that he had known of Liu's statement for some weeks.

However, this morning he said he had no information on whether the donations claimed by Liu had been handled improperly by Labour.…

Except that that only plays for OIA requests. Unless he was going to try and play the "national security/police methods" card to blunt discovery, he'd have no choice about disclosure when presented with a lawsuit; I can't…

(And it's a specific allegation, not general political debate like calling someone a bigot, and its against a small, identifiable group of…

Be careful what you wish for. The more likely outcome (comparing and contrasting the media treatments just posted by Rob) is that Labour gets burned, and National carries on doing worse…