frogblog

If Roy Morgan’s poll tends to flatter the smaller parties some times, TVNZ can’t be caused of the same love of diversity. So in many ways it’s One News Colmar Brunton poll showing 8 percent for the Greens last night (up from 3.5% in the middle of August) is more exciting than Roy Morgan’s 9 […]

NZ Inspired, a British magazine for NZ ex-pats, has an article this month on Kiwi film maker and Green Party candidate Lizzie Gillett. Lizzie has just finished creating the climate change blockbuster, The Age of Stupid. The film features Pete Postlethwaite in the year 2055:
watching archive footage from 2007 (documentary footage of six characters […]

Oops. Last night that ‘this election is about trust’ statement from the Prime Minister kind of backfired on her and her Minister without portfolio. The TVNZ poll about which political leader we trust the most shows Jeanette has the trust of 64 percent of New Zealanders, probably due to consistently saying what she means and […]

Just as proof that Buy Kiwi Made does work, this election’s campaigns have become a study in contrast.  It seems we have National’s dour ‘Things are bad, we promise not to make them worse’ campaign of blue planes leaving our shores, bought to you by Australian firm Crosby Textor.  Then there is Labour’s ‘Vote for […]

A bit more on music.  The Herald yesterday asked political party leaders ‘Dub, hip hop or techno?’ Ok, it’s a silly question and hardly what you’d expect from a paper taking its fourth estate role seriously. But it did highlight something of the fact that our politicians place so little value on youth culture.  Jeanette […]

The Greens’ campaign launch got a lot of positive coverage yesterday despite my pessimistic concerns before the weekend. And in some ways the contrast to Winston Peters and NZ First’s launch at the same time seemed to help emphasis the clean Green brand.
The Herald has focused on the growing number of celebrities endorsing the Green […]

Here’s a challenge for the media this Sunday.  Two parties are officially launching their election campaigns.  One in Wellington and one in Auckland.  The Auckland launch belongs to the party that is only polling about half as much as the other, it’s leader is widely discredited and censured, and its chances of re-election look slim […]

One of the many pieces of false logic in Clark’s assumption that we only need Helen Clark and John Key at the televised leaders debates is the assumption that all undecided voters are simply choosing between a Labour-led government and a National-led government.
In fact there are also large numbers of voters who are deciding between […]

There was an odd story from the Herald today on an immigration debate in Auckland. Keith was at the debate and was one of the most vocal speakers there, outlining the Green’s strong human rights stance on immigration. Yet he got no mention at all in the article that found space to note […]

Noelle McCarthy lamented during the weekend that she is sick of politics and especially New Zealand politicians.  But she did point to one who isn’t ‘fatuous’, ’slimy’, or ’self indulgent’:
Russel Norman is looking good. Call me old fashioned, but there’s something satisfying about a politician who actually answers a question.
Doesn’t prevaricate, doesn’t […]