Category: Politics
To those of you who have experienced difficulties with our New Zealand Centre for Political Research website at www.nzcpr.com over the last few weeks, our apologies for any inconvenience caused. The technical problems with the server that hosts our NZCPR website have now been resolved by our ISP, and the full functionality of the website has been restored. However, the difficulties we experienced have highlighted the fact that the NZCPR website has outgrown our current technology platform - and the server.
In a Rasmussen national telephone survey of American adults conducted last month, 69% say it’s likely that some scientists have falsified research data in order to support their own theories and beliefs. Only 6% say it is not at all likely.
The debates over the place of the Treaty in our law, constitution and national life are not legal debates. Maori prefer to phrase them in legal terms, because it would do their cause no good to see their claims revealed in their greedy racist nakedness. But claims are not a matter of law. They are - I say this not as metaphor, but as actual fact - the colossal programme of confidence men, accompanied by carefully-judged doses of hard luck stories, flattery and menaces. It is highly convenient to disguise them as law, and Maori as artless lovable hard-done-by innocents, but it is not true. That is why Treaty claims will not end until we say ‘No’. – David Round (Time to Say “No!”).
The total redress paid under Treaty of Waitangi settlements is approaching $2.5-billion and will continue to increase, according to information from the Office of Treaty Settlements. Eleven settlements with a total financial redress amount of $216.64-million are awaiting legislation and 29 settlements totalling $2.078-billion have been completed. A further 14 agreements in principle totaling more than $220.5-million await progress, and a further 20 in negotiation are moving towards agreements in principle.
There are no excuses for the rioting and hooliganism that took place in Britain in recent weeks. It was criminal and cowardly behaviour – the worst form of opportunism by (mostly) young delinquents. That the government has made a commitment to the British public that the rioters will face the full force of the law is as it should be. The tragedy is that the initial response to the crisis by the Police was so inadequate that rampaging mobs were able to create widespread mayhem and death.
The fact that Phil Goff intends funding Labour’s $800 million policy of paying R D tax credits by bringing agriculture’s biological emissions into the ETS two year early in 2013 raises some very interesting questions about the mechanisms of the ETS and its purpose.
As a representative democracy New Zealand’s system of government is supposed to be ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’. So why do our ruling parties go to such great lengths to prevent the public from having a proper say on how we are being governed? With an election just around the corner, isn’t it time that voters collectively demanded the right to hold governments to account?
I have been campaigning for more direct democracy in our political system since 2003, but just recently I looked at some old newspaper clippings from 1985 and realised I was even talking about referendums way back then. Having an interest or passion for politics is rather peculiar in this day and age. It is not uncommon at the first signs of a political discussion, for the person standing in front of me to have an immediate attack of ocular revulsion (eye rolling). I often wonder why I've always had this interest.
Since the 2008 election, the Labour Party has been desperately searching for a new identity and relevance. As the main opposition party they have failed to gain political traction – if anything they have simply made National appear better than they really are. Now with an election just months away they need policies that will give them a real breakthrough, and Phil Goff needs to give his caucus a reason to support him as leader.
Over the last few weeks various economists and tax experts have been trying to predict the economic effects of Labour’s capital gains tax (CGT) proposal. What the experts do agree on is the best tax is one that is simple, has a broad base and few exemptions and incentives.
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