frogblog

Like the Japanese soldiers who apocryphally continued guarding their post long after World War 2 had finished the Herald continues steadfastly in its campaign to prove the Electoral Finance Act is an attack on democracy.
First it has Bill English demonstrating for logic students, with this statement, the exact opposite of a tautology:
“The worst of it […]

Kiwiblog raised an issue that I must admit I hadn’t considered when I wrote last week about why Maori Party voters who are leaning towards the Maori party should consider voting tactically with their party vote.   David Farrar suggests:
But what the Greens are calling for, is for Maori roll voters to vote in such a […]

This gem appeared in my fan mail box during May:
LazyBones wrote:
Hey
With the election coming up in NZ and many ex-pats (such as myself) keen to vote can you post some  information on how we go about this, who is eligible to vote, deadlines etc.
Know this sounds lazy and should do it myself but I’m sure […]

An American friend of one of our Green Party parliamentary staffers just sent in this photo from the top of Mt Everest:

Today we commemorate the 30th anniversary of the forcible eviction of protesters from Bastion Point. I for one will be watching the series of documentaries starting from 9 tonight on Maori TV. Like so many events from our past, they are coloured by our impressions from the time as well as the fading of our […]

John Key gets environmental in the latest Investigate magazine interview [not on line]:
First his views on Peak Oil:
Yeah, I’m not sure I entirely buy the peak oil argument. I guess, if it’s real, and demand really is greater than the world’s ability to supply, then you’ll certainly see technology being invoked that will […]

I wouldn’t normally use this blog as a forum to promote the views of other parties’ politicians but I enjoyed this speech yesterday from Hone Harawira on the ridiculous Summary Offences (Tagging and Graffiti Vandalism) Amendment Bill.
 …And that’s where this whole thing has gone haywire, because here we are, about to criminalise taggers for environmental […]

The Herald’s editorial on MMP concludes:
Twelve years ago, MMP was this country’s answer to a widely recognised need. A change so soon thereafter would be justified only if it were failing to produce governments that voters could recognise as an expression of their collective will. Broadly, it has passed that test, the ultimate test of […]

So, John Key wants a referendum on MMP but still ‘personally favours some proportionality in the voting system.’
“I personally would be surprised if we went back to first past the post.”
So what proportion of proportionality does he want? A few seats somewhere near the back of the chamber where diversity of view can be […]

The Nation has an interesting article on Hillary Clinton’s floundering nomination campaign, arguing that the mistake she made was not a tactical or strategic one. It wasn’t that she picked the wrong states to focus on, or threw everything into her knock-out punch or fundraised poorly. It was a policy mistake:
The biggest factor […]