Penn Raine: Golden Child

Our friends have four adult children who joke about whose turn it is to be ‘golden child’. They judge this accolade on which of their lives and careers is currently most admired. The corollary to this is which of them could stuff up the most and avoid a proper telling off.

In our country these days there is a whole group of golden children who never get the level of ticking off that they deserve. So who are they?

Damien Grant: Brooke Van Velden is one of a handful of ministers directly combatting NZ’s decline

We all know what to do, we just don't know how to get re-elected after we've done it” is attributed to former Luxenberg Prime Minister and European Union head Jean-Claude Juncker.

Juncker was referring to the crisis in the Eurozone some two decades past. I don’t know enough about that period to comment further but keep his wisdom in mind as we concentrate on the here and now.

Let’s focus on this week’s heroine; Brooke van Velden, who brought this nation to attention with her response to Stuff columnist’s Andrea Vance’s colourful characterisation of herself, Nicola Willis and others.

JC: Why Do the Left Not Learn

The question is something of a conundrum. I am referring specifically to their behaviour and strategy. From their perspective politics is littered with examples of how these two things hurt them in all sorts of ways. They seem to have become obsessed with the nasty side of politics. They have a propensity to go after the person and not the policy. This fanaticism extends, unsurprisingly, to their comrades in the media who seem to think, irrationally, this is a good idea.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: There's a lot of remarkable things about yesterday's c-word column

There are a lot of remarkable things about that C-word column yesterday, and one of them is that it is still up online, and apparently no one is sorry for this.

If you haven't seen this column, let me get you up to speed on this:

Yesterday, Sunday Star Times columnist Andrea Vance did something that I would venture no other mainstream columnist has ever done in this country - she called a minister of the Crown a c-word in the newspaper.

Bob Edlin: The pen indeed is mighty (the PC, too, presumably).....

The pen indeed is mighty (the PC, too, presumably) – but it’s overkill for Martyn Bradbury to proclaim ACT’s destruction

The Stuff website describes Andrea Vance as one of their senior journalists, with more than 20 years’ experience in reporting.

Born in Northern Ireland, we are told, she was an investigative reporter for the News of the World, was night news editor for The Scotsman, and worked in New Zealand’s parliamentary Press Gallery for nearly a decade.

Bruce Moon: Alas, Simone…

“Defending the truth is not something one does out of a sense of duty or to allay guilt complexes, but is a reward in itself.” - Simone de Beauvoir

There have been some rather curious commentaries in the news media lately and two in particular that one may note are by Andrea Vance of the “Sunday Star-Times” and Catherine Delahunty in “E-Tangata”, both on 9th July 2023.  Then we have had a seminar sponsored by the Nelson City Council on 17 and 21 June just passed, entitled “Understanding and Enacting Te Tiriti O Waitangi”.

David Lillis: In Response to Stuff Limited

Catching up with the News

Like many New Zealanders, I catch up on New Zealand news through daily reading of Stuff online. Stuff’s website tells us that Stuff is the flagship website of Stuff Limited, New Zealand's leading media organization (Stuff, 2023).

Normally I enjoy articles and editorials by Andrea Vance. So - I was interested to read her recent piece in Stuff - Could the Treaty of Waitangi become the next casualty of populism? (Vance, 2023). Her article discusses the Act Party’s and Leader, David Seymour’s, position on co-governance and related issues. Andrea makes several bold assertions into the public domain, of course, that each deserves a response. Here, Andrea’s assertions are given in italics and my responses follow directly.

Karl du Fresne: What's wrong with NZ journalism: No. 228 in a series

I read something by Andrea Vance at the weekend. Why? Good question. I think I read Vance to assure myself that I’m not missing anything by not reading her. Figure that out if you can.

Actually, that’s not entirely fair, because she has done some good work. I remember a column of hers from 2021 in which she gave the government a robust and deserved serve for being obsessively secretive.

Regrettably her piece yesterday, which purported to be an analysis of electorates to watch in the 2023 general election, was marred by the familiar Stuff slant. This is now so embedded that you barely notice it.

Andrea Vance: Why Labour is starting to look a little grubby

It’s usually the third term before the rot sets in.

Labour is displaying early symptoms of third term-itis, a kind of arrogance and complacency that can be fatal to future electoral success.

The longer they spend in office, the more a government start to look a little grubby. And there is nothing dirtier than money in politics.

Andrea Vance: Values vs policy - How a new 'luxury belief class' is changing politics

He’s polled for Scott Morrison, Jeremy Corbyn and now Liz Truss. But strategist Mike Turner says political campaigns – and voters – are changing.

It’s not just the economy, stupid. The sign on the wall of US presidential hopeful Bill Clinton’s 1992 HQ was a policy message rendered simple and has characterised political campaigns ever since.

Clinton beat George H.W. Bush in an election defined by economic distress. Once again, economies throughout the world are spiralling.

But compelling research produced in Britain in the wake of the Brexit divorce from the European Union suggests traditional assumptions no longer apply. Modern politics no longer divides simply across lines of social class, left versus right, globalist versus nationalist, or even liberal versus authoritarian.

Voting patterns are more complex, with many of these beliefs values cross-cutting. The theory has the power to revolutionise how political parties work to gain our support.

Ian Powell: What happens when a health minister loses workforce trust and confidence

On 4 July Stuff published my opinion piece on the angry behaviour of Minister of Health Andrew Little in publicly disparaging dedicated people and organisations strongly committed to the provision of accessible quality healthcare: Health Minister’s angry behaviour denying the obvious.

I referred to his derogatory comments on the “nominal leaders” of primary care (essentially general practice representatives), rural general practice ownership, New Zealand’s pharmaceutical purchasing agency Pharmac, Waikato emergency medicine specialist Dr John Bonning (also President of the Australia and New Zealand College of Emergency Medicine), and finally the NZ Nurses Association (NZNO).

Bryce Edwards: Labour needs to rediscover its political soul

In the last few days the Labour Government has come in for criticism for its panicked pandering to opinion polls. Last week it announced petrol tax cuts and reduced public transport fares. This was in response to pressure from opponents and the public who alleged the Government was out of touch on the cost of living crisis, and following a poll showing Labour behind National.

Likewise, the Government has decided to fast-forward the dismantling of the Covid protections framework – expect to see Covid passes and mandates being phased out. This all has the appearance of Labour choosing pragmatism over principle.

TVNZ’s Jack Tame has been scathing, telling his Newstalk ZB audience on Saturday that the recent petrol tax cuts were a kneejerk reaction: “The truth is, petrol taxes would never have been cut if Labour had been well ahead in last week’s poll. They saw the poll numbers. They freaked out. They dropped almost $400m to try and win back some popularity.” Tame argued that there are more targeted ways to relieve the cost of living crisis.

Chris Trotter: “Yesterday’s Controversy” – Labour Better Hope So!

Andrea Vance's claim that: “Beyond 2022’s local government elections, Three Waters will be yesterday’s controversy”, is a bold one. Had the Delta Variant of Covid-19 not made it to New Zealand, and if Jacinda Ardern’s government was still basking in the warm glow of public adulation, then it is just possible that the Three Waters project would, indeed, have become “yesterday’s controversy” by 2023. 

But Delta did arrive, and the Prime Minister has become the lightning-rod for a noisy political movement dedicated to the utter destruction of both herself and her government. Labour’s Three Waters project can only assume an ever-increasing salience as that anti-government movement grows.