Mike's Minute: Can the Opportunity Party succeed?

Well, welcome back Opportunity. I think I have that right.

Opportunity is the former "The Opportunities Party". Now it's just "The Opportunity Party".

It has a new leader and a new tax policy. They have been looking for a leader for ages and they even advertised.

None of this is a good sign.

Clive Bibby: Rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic

Hopefully readers will forgive me for using this oft regurgitated analogy of people still committed to a doomed exercise. I mean no disrespect to those who died in that tragic accident.

However my use is more in reference to modern day New Zealand political parties who are in danger of becoming irrelevant in the minds of those who are finding things difficult just trying to feed, house, clothe and educate their families. Ironically, it has little to do with loyalty to outmoded doctrines or philosophies of yesteryear.

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.

John Porter: Greens or Home for the Disaffected?

Back in 1972, not long before the general election of that year, an idealistic ex journalist and political science student at Victoria University, 25-year-old Tony Blunt founded the Values Party. They were actually the world’s first national-level environmentalist party and were a precursor to the Green Party we know today.

There are many political pundits who credit the Values Party, by bringing the environmental issues to the forefront of political thinking led the world by formulating their own environmental policies. 

Thomas Cranmer: Are political parties too tribal?

Assessing the impact on democracy and the escalation of polarisation

Political parties play a significant role in democratic systems, including in New Zealand. They provide a means of organising political representation and facilitating the functioning of the government. However, the question arises whether political parties, with their inherent tribalism and policy conformity, are necessary for a functioning democracy. The shortcomings of political parties are apparent on an almost daily basis with elected representatives and supporters encouraged to maintain a blind support for party policies even when faced with legitimate criticism. The adversarial nature of the Westminster system makes it difficult for politicians to admit mistakes and the net effect is an exacerbation of polarisation.