by Cimino | 26 Sep 2017 | Coalition democratisation, Election turnout, Electoral enrolment, Youth voting
When Jacinda Ardern stepped up, Labour was on 24% and National was at 47%. Once the special votes are counted, which include whatever youthquake or youth-tremor has occurred, the New Zealand National Party share will be lucky to be 45%, which means that about 55%minus...
by Cimino | 22 Sep 2017 | Nuclear power, Youth voting
If the local Kids Voting result is any indication, New Zealand’s youthquake is going to visit most damage on National. Mahurangi College students, their Kids Voting coordinator has reported, gave the Labour Party a clear majority: 35% versus the National Party’s 23%....
by Cimino | 14 Sep 2017 | Coalition democratisation, MMP
Failure to fix mmp could cost Labour Gareth Morgan’s failure to crash last Friday’s leaders debate drew attention to the inescapable. His briefly promising political initiative hasn’t come close to breaking the 5%-threshold barrier to tyro parties, and will not make...
by Cimino | 8 Sep 2017 | Warkworth, Warkworth Town Hall Talk
Warkworth’s population of 4000 is estimated to reach 27 000 in the next 30 years. Without relentless optimism, on the strength of international experience Warkworth-as-a-satellite-growth-centre is a recipe for a sprawling, Geography of Nowhere town, totally dominated...
by Cimino | 1 Sep 2017 | Climate action, Election turnout, Youth voting
There’s no reason to imagine Aotearoa will be spared its youthquake. In the United Kingdom, it was a 68-year-old Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who triggered the tremor. The quake unleashed by the youth-adjacent Jacinda Ardern, who has just rocked the polls to a...
by Cimino | 21 Aug 2017 | Concurrent elections, Direct democracy, MMP, Online, Parliament, Youth voting
As with the America’s CupWhether apocryphal or otherwise, and whether ‘Your Majesty, I regret to report, there is no second’, or “Ma’am, there is no second” the response to Queen Victoria beautifully sums up the cruel reality of two-party politics., coming second...
by Cimino | 14 Aug 2017 | Climate mobilisation, MMP, Parliament
It’s 30 years since David Lange belatedly called taihoawait; do not hurry. Lange, in fact, said it was ‘time for a cup of tea’. His Labour Party caucus cohorts had unleashed the neoliberal onslaught that, amongst other tragedies, precipitated New Zealand’s ongoing...
by Cimino | 9 Aug 2017 | Four waters, Local, Local board, Regional governance, Representation, Warkworth
Twin tweaks to conquer local-democracy deficit Status quo would be the less satisfactory option. Corner to corner, the Rodney Local Board area stretches 86 kilometres—a 165-kilometre, 2-hour drive by road, plus at least an hour’s walk at either end. In the context of...
by Cimino | 1 Aug 2017 | Climate strategy, Nuclear power, Population, Science
Dr Jan Wright’s last report is also her least likely to ruffle feathers. Until now, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s refreshingly evidence-based reports have probably unsettled more Green Party supporters than the balance of voters. While Dr...
