Everything about politics
At this stage, Donald Trump is like an SF monster: the more his enemies attack him, the stronger he grows. Every dodgy court case sees Trump’s poll numbers grow. The Bad Orange Man is even drawing crowds in deepest blue Bronx. Meanwhile, Joe Biden keeps going from bad to
Australia’s foreign criminals debacle just gets more mind-boggling by the day. As The BFD has been reporting, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles — a former boat-chasing “refugees” lawyer — issued Direction 99, which orders the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to give priority to allowing foreign-born criminals facing deportation to stay in Australia. That
Dennis Wesselbaum, Associate Professor, Department of Economics University of Otago On the eve of the first budget from the National-ACT-New Zealand First coalition government, there is ongoing debate over whether borrowing while offering tax cuts could trigger a rise in inflation. Finance minister Nicola Willis has confirmed the budget will
Peter Berkowitz Peter Berkowitz is the Tad and Dianne Taube senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. From 2019 to 2021, he served as director of the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. State Department. His writings are posted at PeterBerkowitz.com and he can be followed on
Whenever some pro-Hamas ignoramus starts jabbering about Israel, they inevitably screech “zionism”. So, I challenge them to define zionism. Most can’t: they’re simply parroting a buzzword, and, as Orwell once wrote, “the average human being never bothers to examine catchwords”. They’re also too cowardly to say what
Dr Bryce Edwards Political Analyst in Residence, Director of the Democracy Project, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington democracyproject.nz News that the Government’s new Parliamentary Undersecretary for Health, Todd Stephenson, has been pressured to sell his investments in pharmaceutical companies shows how New Zealand is becoming more
Many years ago, I was accosted on the street by a group of striking teachers, demanding more pay. Why, I asked them, should you be entitled to more of my taxes when school grades are consistently falling? In what other industry, outside of politics, after all, would the workforce be
Bob McCoskrie bobmccoskrie.com If you spoke up against the Relationships and Sexuality Education curriculum over the past 12 months – then all we can say is – thank you! You have been heard. There has been huge progress. But we must remain vigilant. Here’s an update on the progress – including
Geoff Parker Recently Taranaki Daily News published a propaganda piece titled ‘Maori Wards and all the things not to be afraid of’ authored by Mr Dinnie Moeahu, a New Plymouth District Councillor (at large). My responses to his piece are as follows. Firstly Moeahu asks, “What are you afraid of?
Richard Shaw, Professor of Politics Massey University When finance minister Nicola Willis stands to deliver her first budget today, it will be a significant moment for her personally, but also for the coalition government, and her own National Party in particular. The budget is the most consequential event in the
The Maori Party need to be gone from Parliament. Most Kiwis are fed up to the back teeth with their despicable behaviour. Their latest childish, illegal prank – to have Maori strike nationwide on Budget Day – is frankly the last straw from a mob who don’t give a damn about
Dr Muriel Newman nzcpr.com When Treasury prepared its four-yearly Long-Term Fiscal Position report in 2021, the forecasts showed that the rising cost of funding the healthcare and pensions of retirees would bankrupt New Zealand by 2061 if policies remained the same. The problem is demography. While retirees currently number
The latest Roy Morgan Poll should sound a warning to the Government, particularly the National Party. It is unpleasant reading but is not at all surprising given the constant media attacks on this Government. Roy Morgan’s New Zealand Poll for May 2024 shows support for the National-led Government (National,
Paul Spoonley Distinguished Professor, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Massey University The first data from the 2023 census will be released on May 29 – and not before time. We will see how successful – or not – the census exercise was in achieving participation and coverage. It’s no secret past
Who would have thought, back in the 2000s, that the Howard years would seem like a golden age of good governance? Or that John Howard would teach the self-appointed moral elite what ethics and leadership really mean? Yet, here we are. Labor, whose past great leader warned that, “If the
