Category: Politics
This election campaign has been effectively stolen from voters. Left wing activist Nicky Hager clearly planned to dominate the campaign period with the publication of his book of hacked emails. He has done this before. He knew releasing private emails would overshadow the campaign and give him unprecedented publicity.
Dirty politics from the Left during the current New Zealand general election campaign obscures policy at a time when the issue of wealth or poverty and how to get there should be critical.
Through this Tuhoe settlement, the government is sanctioning separatism. But when it results in the bullying of Police and the disrespecting of the rule of law, is this really the future we want for New Zealand – a nation of ‘no-go’ zones, where the rule of law can no longer be guaranteed?
The current National-led government has been by far the most generous with treaty settlements, having paid out $1.22-billion over six years, and is pushing for as many signed agreements as possible before the September 20 election.
There is no doubt that the concept of citizens’ democracy is a powerful one. It is, after all, attributed with building Switzerland into a successful and prosperous nation. But the question that advocates should be asking right now is whether the policy of binding referenda is feasible within New Zealand’s constitutional framework?
The trouble with referendums is they inevitably must focus on single or particular issues, or specific aspects of issues, and don’t, and can’t, in their “yes or no” message, weigh the issues adequately in the wider context of society’s broad present welfare, or likely future needs.
Official data shows that the biggest foreign investor in New Zealand land during the five years from 2009 to 2013 was the US, followed by Canada, Israel, the UK, Australia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Monaco, with China in tenth place.
The polls all say that Team Key (the new name of the National Party) will win in a canter, with a bit of help from coalitional support riders. But then polls are often wrong and it's as well to remind ourselves that Team NZ were 8 to 1 up at the same stage.
It is a fundamental tenant of democracy that all citizens should be treated equally in law. We believe that should start with the removal of race-based seats and electoral rolls. We would like to reach out to as many other New Zealanders as we can with that message, and we are asking for your help.
Quite why New Zealand governments have wanted to penalise households and small businesses, with an ETS that is far more onerous than that of the European Union, is not clear - especially when our country is one of the cleanest and greenest on earth, with human habitation covering less than one percent of our total land area.
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