CoveragePost
August 18, 2020
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards Has the election been saved from becoming another victim of Covid-19? Quite possibly. The issue of when to hold the election had come under serious scrutiny due to the increased restrictions and changed focus necessitated by the outbreak of community transmission of Covid-19. There were major problems with how democratic ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Jacinda Ardern’s successful and clever election date shift" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2020/08/18/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-jacinda-arderns-successful-and-clever-election-date-shift/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Jacinda Ardern’s successful and clever election date shift">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 20, 2020
Is the National Party off the hook over the Serious Fraud Office donations prosecution? That’s what the party is claiming, pointing out that no National official or MP has been charged. But of course, there was a National MP involved – albeit one no longer with the party – and he is being prosecuted. In ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: National’s embarrassing donation scandal" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2020/02/20/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-nationals-embarrassing-donation-scandal/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: National’s embarrassing donation scandal">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 19, 2020
A very concerning element of the current NZ First donations scandal is the role of lobbying and lobbyists close to the Government. The most recent story from RNZ’s Guyon Espiner and Kate Newton, revealed that lobbyist Doug Woolerton, who is also a trustee of the NZ First Foundation, had been advocating for law changes on ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: NZ’s latest political lobbying problems" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2020/02/19/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-nzs-latest-political-lobbying-problems/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: NZ’s latest political lobbying problems">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 17, 2020
NZ First is facing the boot at this year’s election, especially as it’s now embroiled in an unfolding donations scandal, which comes on top of low poll ratings. But what effect will the scandal have on NZ First’s government coalition colleagues? And is Labour and the Greens’ hands-off stance appropriate, or are they ethically compromised? ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Are Labour and the Greens behaving unethically over the donations scandal?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2020/02/17/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-are-labour-and-the-greens-behaving-unethically-over-the-donations-scandal/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Are Labour and the Greens behaving unethically over the donations scandal?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 15, 2020
Does money buy policy in New Zealand politics and government? Based on the ongoing political finance scandal involving New Zealand First, which comes hot on the heels of the Serious Fraud Office charging four people in relation to donations to the National Party, New Zealanders have every reason to doubt the integrity of the electoral ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Is Government policy for sale in New Zealand?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2020/02/15/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-is-government-policy-for-sale-in-new-zealand/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Is Government policy for sale in New Zealand?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
December 5, 2019
What is it about reforming laws around money and politics that makes politicians so inclined to stuff it up and act undemocratically? From Helen Clark’s notorious Electoral Finance Act (2007) – which the party eventually voted to repeal, given it was so anti-democratic and unworkable – through to yesterday’s announcement of a so-called ban on ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: What’s driving the urgent clamp down on foreign donations?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/12/05/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-whats-driving-the-urgent-clamp-down-on-foreign-donations/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: What’s driving the urgent clamp down on foreign donations?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
November 25, 2019
A consensus is building around the need for reform of New Zealand’s rules governing political party donations and spending. Many commentators are asking whether our electoral laws are fundamentally broken and, if so, how they should be changed. Currently the leading ideas appear to be to clamp down further on donations, better regulate loans to ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Fixing the problems of money in politics" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/11/25/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-fixing-the-problems-of-money-in-politics/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Fixing the problems of money in politics">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
November 21, 2019
New Zealand is officially one of the least corrupt countries in the world. But it could be argued that our political system is still biased in favour of the wealthy. Here – as in other countries – wealthy individuals and businesses are able to disproportionately influence policy decisions and the distribution of resources in their ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: What’s going on with NZ First’s mysterious donations?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/11/21/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-whats-going-on-with-nz-firsts-mysterious-donations/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: What’s going on with NZ First’s mysterious donations?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
October 14, 2019
The results of the local government elections appear to show that New Zealanders are generally supportive of a more diverse range of representatives, having voted in greater numbers for candidates from traditionally under-represented groups. The elections have therefore modernised our councils in a small but very significant way, helping address some long-standing imbalances in representation. ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: The demographic shift in local government elections" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/10/14/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-the-demographic-shift-in-local-government-elections/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: The demographic shift in local government elections">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
September 20, 2019
“Diversity” is a central theme of the current local government elections – with the common criticism that incumbent politicians are generally too “stale, male, and pale” (or variations on that). Numerous commentators and candidates have lamented the lack of women, ethnic minorities, and youth in local government. There are signs, however, that the current elections ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Diversity problems and solutions in local government" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/09/20/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-diversity-problems-and-solutions-in-local-government/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Diversity problems and solutions in local government">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
September 16, 2019
The National Party is in trouble again for its Facebook advertising campaigning. Late last week, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled against one of the party’s social media ads targeting the Government’s vehicle efficiency feebate scheme. The authority ruled it was “likely to confuse or deceive consumers”. The ad had claimed that the feebate scheme ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Electioneering on Facebook under scrutiny" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/09/16/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-electioneering-on-facebook-under-scrutiny/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Electioneering on Facebook under scrutiny">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
August 28, 2019
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – It’s the prerogative of Cabinet ministers and politicians to be friends with wealthy individuals, and then to accept their generous donations of money, travel, and accommodation. But those relationships and gifts do come at a cost. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, as politicians of the political ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: The costs of politicians being friends with generous foreigners" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/08/28/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-the-costs-of-politicians-being-friends-with-generous-foreigners/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: The costs of politicians being friends with generous foreigners">Read more</a>
