Mike Butler: The long march to tribal control

NZCPR has published a number of articles on New Zealand’s “the long march through the institutions", the non-violent path to achieve Marxist revolution. This article, which is a bit of a long read, looks at the nuts and bolts of how the strategy has been applied here and gives an evaluation of where we are at.

The long march is a political strategy that seeks to create radical social change by infiltrating and subverting the core organizations of a society rather than using violent revolution. The strategy is accomplished by:

Richard Shaw: NZ’s political ‘centre’ is an electoral strategy, not a set of beliefs

Most of us use an imaginary two-dimensional spectrum to chart the positions of political parties, generally based on the fundamental issue of the relationship between the state and private enterprise.

Parties of the left tip towards a greater role for government, while those on the right favour free markets and lower taxes.

Michael P Cameron: NZ First wants a compulsory KiwiSaver - Boosting the Super Fund is a better bet

An ageing population not saving fast enough for its retirement has been called a “timebomb” and a looming crisis, with many New Zealanders facing the prospect of hard times when they stop earning.

So, NZ First leader Winston Peters was on the money at his party’s recent annual conference when he pitched a major KiwiSaver overhaul. Under the plan, membership would become compulsory and minimum contributions from both employees and employers would increase to 8% of income, rising to 10% later.

Professor Richard Shaw: With so many parties ‘ruling out’ working with other parties, is MMP losing its way?

There has been a lot of “ruling out” going on in New Zealand politics lately. In the most recent outbreak, both the incoming and outgoing deputy prime ministers, ACT’s David Seymour and NZ First’s Winston Peters, ruled out ever working with the Labour Party.

Seymour has also advised Labour to rule out working with Te Pāti Māori. Labour leader Chris Hipkins has engaged in some ruling out of his own, indicating he won’t work with Winston Peters again. Before the last election, National’s Christopher Luxon ruled out working with Te Pāti Māori.

Professor Richard Shaw: Election anniversary - a year into 3-party coalition government, can the centre hold?

Nearly a year on from its formation, it’s clear a three-party coalition is not quite the same as the two-party versions New Zealand is accustomed to.

Normally, the primary dynamic has been clear: the major party sets the pace while the smaller governing partner receives a bauble or two for supporting the lead act. There may be occasional concerns about tails wagging dogs, but the dog is clearly in charge.

Sean Plunket: National weak on Treaty issues.

Sean Plunket talks about National's woke stance on Treaty issues and in particular the Treaty Principles Bill on The Platform

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Mike Butler: Tribunal displays its principles

The Waitangi Tribunal’s latest report titled Nga Matapono - The Principles puts its principles on show while condemning both ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill and New Zealand First’s review of treaty principles in legislation.

The 202-page report, that draws heavily on the once-was-covert He Puapua plan for two governments in New Zealand, predictably concludes that both policies were:

Alison Pavlovich: Yes, landlords gain from the repeal of interest deductibility rules....

......but it was a flawed law from the outset

The new coalition government has announced a suite of tax reforms, including reintroducing the ability for property investors to deduct the interest costs on their mortgages against their rental income.

Early criticism of the proposed changes has focused on its retrospective nature (it will be backdated to April 1, 2023), potential windfalls to landlords (at the expense of tenants), and the fiscal cost of the measure.

Richard Shaw: Three parties, two deals, one government

It might have taken six weeks to decide the shape of New Zealand’s next government (or three if you count from the final results), but in the end that is the nature of proportional representation. Compromise, trade-offs and haggling are the price of an MMP electoral system designed to avoid single-party rule.

So, after some intermittently passive-agressive political posturing and much striding through airports, the deals were done and signed off in Wellington today. Both the ACT and NZ First parties have agreed, with exemptions, to National Party’s fiscal plan, tax plan and 100-day plan.

Jeffrey McNeill: The RMA is dead, long live the RMA

Why NZ’s resource laws won’t change overnight after this election

RMA – three letters that have struck fear into a generation of farmers, developers, politicians and anyone building a house. Or so legend would have it.

Whatever its original goal of promoting sustainable management of natural and physical resources, the Resource Management Act (RMA) has long been dogged by claims of unnecessary and inefficient rules that strangle innovation and progress.