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(Article reprinted from Socialist Appeal newspaper Autumn 2019.  To buy a copy send us an email for further details) With the Labour Party riding high in the polls at approximately 45%, and the National Party leadership in meltdown and beginning to fall in the polls, Labour voters have (quite rightly) high expectations of the Labour […]

The barbaric attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand by a far-right fascist terrorist – indiscriminately shooting men, women and children, killing 50 and injuring many more, live streaming his bloody actions as he carried them out – comes at a time of deepening economic crisis and heightened social and political tensions around the […]

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden called it one of New Zealand’s darkest days.  As Muslim worshippers gathered at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand, for their Friday afternoon prayers on March 15th, 2019, an Australian white supramacist walked in and gunned down 50 worshippers as he live-streamed […]

  Both Australia and New Zealand escaped lightly from the 2008 global financial crisis and recession. Australia avoided a recession from 2008 onwards, on the one hand due to the minerals and aggregates boom (exported mainly to China) and on the other hand as a consequence of Keynesian policies pursued both in Australia and China. Additionally, […]

  July and August 2018 saw three major strikes take place in New Zealand and shows the growing militancy amoungst workers

On May 11th, 2018, the Employment Relations Court dropped a major bombshell on the bosses by ordering Smiths City, a major New Zealand furniture and appliance store, to pay workers for their attendance of daily meetings held before the stores opened.  According to Chief Judge Christina Inglis: “The expectation to attend, and pressure placed on staff […]

The 2017 general election resulted in a hung parliament on 23 September election night. Under MMP this is not a surprising result. Now that the special votes have been counted the National Party, under proportionality, lost two list seats awarded to them on election night with Labour and the Greens picking up one list seat […]

It is said that a week is a long time in politics. At a time when it seemed as if the National Party was going to sleepwalk to another victory at the polls. Andrew Little resigned as Labour Party leader in favour of Jacinda Ardern on August 1st, 2017, in an act initially seen as […]

On August 1st, 2017, the Labour Party leader, Andrew Little, resigned in favour of Jacinda Ardern. The leadership change came as a surprise to media commentators and political pundits alike coming as it did within 60 days of the 2017 General Election. Andrew Little decision to resign was primarily the result of the inability of […]