Geoffrey Miller

New Zealand geopolitical analyst & Arabic/Russian learner

Tagged: David Cunliffe

Politics

11 “game-changers” which weren’t for the 2014 New Zealand election

1. Advance voting Gareth Hughes at The Daily Blog, 2 September 2014 I believe advance voting will be a game-changer this Election. Young Kiwis in particular are notorious for voting in low numbers but this Election it doesn’t matter what the weather is like on September 20, how big the lines are, or if there’s something else on – everyone can vote from tomorrow or any day over the next seventeen days. Elections always take place on a Saturday to minimise disruption to the working week. But for young Kiwis, many of whom work part-time jobs on a Saturday (or...

Politics

Top tweets on the TVNZ leaders’ debate between John Key and David Cunliffe

Below are some of the top tweets on tonight’s TVNZ leaders’ debate between John Key and David Cunliffe. In roughly reverse chronological order. (To be updated) Good point from Gordon Campbell: “hard to imagine David Shearer carrying Labour’s banner in that debate last night” http://t.co/Dxg9wpGxfp — Mr Howell (@jeffieh) August 29, 2014 Green Party companion leaders’ debate: The Greens take an inclusive approach to being excluded. So when we wer… http://t.co/yBKKdiE2m3 — Frog Blog (@frog_blog) August 29, 2014 During last night’s Leaders debate I was struck by the fact that Key accepted all of Cunliffe’s basic assumptions. http://t.co/PCuwzeJkw8 — Jamie Whyte...

Cunliffe and Robertson

Politics

Three reasons why David Cunliffe’s apology for being a man might have been a smart move

This post was originally published at Liberation. The majority view seems to be that David Cunliffe’s apology on Friday for ‘being a man’ was a mistake. But a contrary view could be that the apology was a very deliberate and calculated risk. Here are three reasons why Cunliffe’s apology might have been a smart move.  1. Voters are talking about Cunliffe There’s only one thing worse than being talked about – not being talked about. There are 74 days until the election on 20 September. If Labour and Cunliffe win every one of these days – in terms of media attention and focus...

Parliament buildings, Wellington.

Politics

New Zealand politicians on social media (including Wayne Mapp at The Standard)

This post was originally published at Liberation. MPs past and present in the blogosphere A number of past and present MPs are engaging in social media – blogs, and Twitter in particular. In this blog post,I outline what politicians are communicating online and where. I evaluate their efforts, and report on the latest rightwing ex-politician to enter the comments section of a leftwing blog. #106540172 / gettyimages.com This post was inspired by an innocuous-looking reader comment by “Wayne” at leftwing blog The Standard on the blogpost, Cunliffe declares war on National and the TPPA. Here are the comments: Wayne 8.1.1.3 17 September 2013...

Rodney Hide Epsom billboard

Politics

Can Labour learn from Act’s leadership primary? (part 2)

#56052984 / gettyimages.com This post was originally published at Liberation. In the last post, I looked at the background to the Act Party’s 2004 leadership primary, which saw Rodney Hide win election over three other contenders. In this post, I consider some new information passed from a former Act insider, who wishes to remain anonymous. The comments are a cautionary tale as to what can go wrong with a primary contest. Based on this information and analysis, I ask whether Labour will end up going the same way that Act did following its destructive primary. An Act Party insider writes: I’m bemused by...

Act billboard 2005

Politics

Can Labour learn from Act’s leadership primary? (part 1)

#55789878 / gettyimages.com This post was originally published at Liberation. The current New Zealand Labour Party leadership primary contest presents a more democratic way to elect a party leader. Traditionally, the party leader has been seen as a matter for the parliamentary wing, with the much less visible role of party president being elected by the party as a whole. In this blog post – the first of two posts on the subject – I argue that the new primary system, while far from perfect, can only be seen as a long-overdue reform which should strengthen the Labour Party as...

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