Grant Robertson Talks About Homophobic Abuse

Posted 11:04am Sunday 10th September 2017 by Joel MacManus

In a candid interview with Critic, Labour Party Finance Minister Grant Robertson revealed the extent of the personal attacks he has faced since he became an MP. Robertson, who is openly gay, said that he has experienced both “actual abuse” and “unconscious bias” over his Read more...

‘No Surprises’ Surprises and Multidimensional Scandal Strip Tease

Posted 11:06am Sunday 3rd September 2017 by George Elliott

There's been allegations made of leaking, dirty rumours on Twitter and blurring lines between the bureaucratic and political – the election is just threeish weeks away! The so-called ‘no surprises’ convention – not strictly the singular matter of Winston Peters' Read more...

The ‘Jacinda Effect’ Causes Spike in Campaign Volunteers – and Not Just for Labour

Posted 10:30am Sunday 20th August 2017 by Joel MacManus

The Dunedin North Labour Party say they have signed up an extra 52 campaign volunteers since Jacinda Ardern was made leader, as both major parties report an increased interest in this election campaign. Labour Party Campaign Manager for Dunedin North Jarred Griffiths says that during the 2017 Read more...

The Opportunities Party Fills Dunedin Auditorium on National Roadshow

Posted 10:45am Sunday 20th August 2017 by Joe Higham

Care. Think. Vote. That was the message displayed on the projector of Dunedin’s Glenroy Auditorium where the Opportunities Party's (TOP) Leader Gareth Morgan spoke last week. A crowd of well over one hundred people gathered to hear what the millionaire businessman and economist had to Read more...

Metiria Turei Resigns: From the Media’s Hard Questions to Labour’s Nakedly Evil Disownment

Posted 11:13am Sunday 13th August 2017 by George Elliott

It’s an utter shame that Metiria Turei has gone. It reflects something dark (i.e. politics as usual) in both the left and the news media in this country. The media going hard on Turei is part of the package deal. These past couple of weeks, what struck me has not been RNZ’s Susie Read more...

Jacinda Ardern Becomes Labour’s Sixth Leader in Nine Years

Posted 11:00am Sunday 6th August 2017 by Joe Higham

The leadership of the Labour Party has changed just six weeks out from September 23rd’s General Election, following their worst poll result in 24 years. Former Deputy Leader and MP for Mt Albert Jacinda Ardern was nominated unopposed to replace Andrew Little, who said that “while Read more...

Labour’s Leadership Change a Magnificently Risky Move, But One That Could Pay Off

Posted 11:08am Sunday 6th August 2017 by George Elliott

I was preparing to write a piece about how Andrew Little should not resign as leader of the Labour Party until after the election, an election that they would surely lose. It was too late to change things up, I thought. Things were looking dire for Labour. The polls showed them in the low Read more...

Poland Pulls Back from the Authoritarian Brink after Protests and EU Condemnation

Posted 11:16am Sunday 30th July 2017 by George Elliott

Poland, once the poster child of the post-1989 democratic wave against communism in Europe, has been going through rough political times. Thousands of Poles have flooded city streets to protest the government’s continued effort to limit the independence of the country’s judiciary. Read more...

Authentic Fakery: Who is the new US ambassador to New Zealand?

Posted 11:22am Sunday 30th July 2017 by George Elliott

It’s more obvious when an American is not being genuine. They can’t hide it from us. Chiefly, it’s the accent. We’re so conditioned to hearing it try and sell us things. If the transatlantic Beeb accent broadcasts the truth with authority, the piercing North American accent Read more...

How Healthy Is Our Democracy? Otago Academics Make Their Arguments

Posted 10:48am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joel MacManus

We are entering an age of radical politics, where extremism on the left and right will become mainstream and authenticity of personality will trump good policies in the hearts of voters, according to a panel of political experts which spoke at the University of Otago public lecture “How Read more...