Election buffs are eagerly watching the Maori party. Why? Because it might just give us overhang seats in Parliament.
Let’s say the Maori party gets 2 per cent of the party vote and wins all seven Maori electorate seats. The 2 per cent entitles it to three seats but under MMP rules it keeps all seven and the size of the Parliament goes up by four to 124.
Right, holidays are over, or nearly. Time to sober up. There are some things to be sober about.
I mean the economy. Specifically, I mean our spendthriftness and our belief that our personal finances are as safe as houses.
This belief has fuelled an impressive consumer boom. But who is really paying for the boom and what does that mean for the future?
Who won most in Helen Clark’s Christmas reshuffle? Bill English. Both education ministers were moved.
Not bad for the has-been, two scalps. Tony Ryall, for all his high-octane attacks on Phil Goff and George Hawkins, got neither’s. That may explain Don Brash’s failure to get a rise out of law and order last July.
Should we have had a referendum on the Civil Union Bill? There are three relevant answers: yes, that’s democracy; no, it’s not the way to protect civil rights; it depends�
That question and those answers illustrate something bigger: we are starting to question and discuss our constitution. A small but significant step will be taken this year.
Don’t be surprised if this year American warriors kill more Iraqis than Al Qaeda killed Americans in its attacks on September 11, 2001 (9/11).
Add to that the larger numbers of Iraqis who will be killed by other Iraqis in this man-made tsunami. In the past two years between 15,000 and 100,000 innocent Iraqi citizens, depending who is doing the counting, have been sacrificed to the ideal of freedom or the ideal of (im)pure religion.
Colin James on the legislative agenda for the Business Herald for 31 December 2004 Second of two
Workplace productivity is the key phrase on one side, tax cuts and deregulation on the other. The 2005 election battle lines on policy for business are drawn.
They represent different beliefs about the path to prosperity. They promise different operating environments for business.
Colin James on the political year ahead for the Business Herald 30 December 2004 First of two
All election years are crunch years because they decide the next three years’ policy direction. But this year’s election may decide a bigger question: whether if re-elected, Labour can then embed its policy parameters so that for some time ahead future governments have less room for manoeuvre.
How do you get the white wine cool in a Wellington summer? Put it outside for half an hour. So much for global warming.
And what is Pete Hodgson doing about this? Sure, he lost energy and science in the reshuffle. But Helen Clark left him in charge of the climate.
And, frankly, he hasn’t delivered. He and Helen solemnly promised us global warming in 1999 and again in 2002 and you can bet they will promise it again in next year’s election. Just a week back, Pete was in Argentina at a conference of nations dedicated to global warming.
The political silly season arrived prematurely last week: a newsreader’s salary was deemed a national emergency. We are a small country. We fluster about small things.
When I say “we”, I include the Prime Minister. The guardian of our national interest at home and abroad stooped to conquer a flea.
This could have been Don Brash’s year. Ten months ago the potential was there. But the real Don Brash took time out.
The Don Brash I knew for two decades exuded integrity and depth, principle and authority. He was a classical liberal — valuing personal liberty on moral and social matters (voting for prostitution reform and the Civil Union Bill’s first reading) and backing the free-market economy.