Steven Gaskell: Emerging Patterns of the Tribal Elite in Political Manipulation

New Zealand prides itself on being a liberal democracy one person, one vote, equal under the law. But a concerning pattern is taking shape in recent years: a growing tendency by elements of the tribal elite and their political allies to challenge the legitimacy of democratic outcomes whenever the results don’t align with their ideological or tribal ambitions.

This isn't a stray incident or emotional overreaction it’s becoming a calculated political strategy.

Point of Order: We know what the PM thinks of David Seymour.....

.....but how does he stack up alongside Vladimir Putin?

Ukraine loomed large in the latest announcements and the one speech posted on the Beehive website in the past 224 hours.

The speech came from the PM, telling us what she said in her address to Ukraine’s President Zelensky on the occasion of his addressing the New Zealand’s Parliament.

Chris Trotter: How “New” Is Our Democracy?

The face of New Zealand and democracy has changed dramatically in the past few years and we need to reflect New Zealand’s new identity and democracy in our main media entities.
Willie Jackson, NZ Herald, 5 July 2022.

Has New Zealand's democracy really “changed dramatically” in the past few years? I suppose it all depends on how you define “democracy”, “dramatically” and “the past few years”. Let’s start from there, and then work on to explore the motivation behind such a bold political assertion.

There are very few countries in the world that can boast a continuous democracy as old as New Zealand’s. Our population became fully enfranchised in 1893 when the Liberal Government extended voting rights to women. The United States would not reach that democratic milestone until 1920, and women would not be fully enfranchised in the United Kingdom until 1930. If one of the key indicators of a democratic nation is the right of its people to vote in fair and regular elections, then New Zealand can hold its head high.