Coming Up Short

Posted 11:50am Sunday 31st July 2016

In February of 2016, a post on the reddit forum r/newzealand entitled “Are You My Future Baby Daddy?” caused something of a stir. Rather than an inelegant attempt at internet dating, it told the story of a young couple looking for someone, anyone, who was willing to meet up in Wellington Read more...

John Key plans to eradicate all NZ predators by 2050

Posted 11:04am Sunday 31st July 2016

The Government has announced what John Key calls “the most ambitious conservation project attempted anywhere in the world”, with a lofty goal of making New Zealand predator-free by 2050. The plan would establish a new Crown Entity, Predator Free New Zealand, which will work alongside Read more...

Labour and Greens already arguing, despite ‘Memorandum of Understanding’

Posted 10:58am Sunday 31st July 2016

Trouble in Paradise? The Labour-Greens agreement has had its first public spat, a disagreement over housing policy. Greens Co-Leader Meteria Turei said she wanted to see a 50 percent drop in house prices over the next 10 to 15 years, and outlines a plan to get there by introducing a Capital Gains Read more...

Cull served with defamation papers ahead of election

Posted 10:44am Sunday 31st July 2016

Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull is facing a $500,000 defamation action after being served with legal papers while walking down Bath St last Thursday. The claim was filed by fellow Dunedin City Councillor Lee Vandervis. At a council meeting in December, Cr Vandervis had stated a belief that there were Read more...

Political conventions are stupid, dumb, pointless, fun

Posted 11:04am Sunday 24th July 2016

We are right now in the middle of the most meaningless, overhyped, expensive exercise in political cheerleading in the Western World ­—The Republican and Democratic National Conventions. National Conventions are to the US what the Monarch is to New Zealand – Formerly powerful Read more...

DCC accused of “active and wilful campaign to discourage student voters”

Posted 10:58am Sunday 17th July 2016

The Press Council has part-upheld a complaint from Dunedin City Council against this article. The PressCouncil decision is here http://www.presscouncil.org.nz/ Negotiations have broken down between OUSA and Dunedin City Council over plans to place a special Read more...

Emails reveal DCC deception over 2013 voting booth decision

Posted 10:55am Sunday 17th July 2016

The Press Council has part-upheld a complaint from Dunedin City Council against this article. The PressCouncil decision is here http://www.presscouncil.org.nz/ Emails have been acquired by Critic between DCC Electoral Officer Pam Jordan and a number of Read more...

Donald Trump is losing to himself

Posted 10:35am Sunday 10th July 2016

Recent reporting on the financial and organisational state of the Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton campaigns show a historically unprecedented divide in resources and planning that could very well lead to a landslide election.  Hillary Clinton boasts 823 paid staff around the country, $42 Read more...

Leaders budget chat proves predictable

Posted 11:08am Sunday 29th May 2016

Bill English promised that this year’s budget would be ‘predictable and boring’. As it turned out, that applied not only to the fiscal announcements, but to the traditional leaders remarks. Andrew Little stayed disciplined on his rhetoric, painting the government as ‘out of Read more...

Critic breakdown: Budget 2016

Posted 10:54am Sunday 29th May 2016

The government collects approximately $75 billion a year from income taxes, corporate taxes and GST.  The budget is the annual allocation of government funds to state services and initiatives. The allocation covers all government spending from social welfare to health. Spending breakdown: Read more...