Election Coverage - None Better Than Trans Tasman 22 Sep 2014
Related articles
Trans Tasman
22 September 2014
Election Coverage - None Better Than The Trans Tasman Political Alert
To get a steer on what was going to happen in the election - away from the histrionics of the mainstream coverage - the best place to go was The Main Report Group’s weekly political reportTrans Tasman.
This long-running publication got to grips with the campaign - and its implications - like no other. Here are some of the key out-takes from the September 18 issue, just days before National’s landslide win.
The Dotcom “moment of Truth” was a Waterloo for the left, and a Trafalgar for National:
“…the slugfest has worked in National’s favour: Key has been National’s trump card. His popularity, and more importantly, his integrity have remained intact. Where support for National at the end of last week was softening at the edges, it has hardened up. For Labour, starved of the political oxygen it needs to make a late run… It may find itself polling even lower than it did in 2011, when it got only 27% of the total vote. So National is heading for a big win on Saturday.”
The question was asked - where was Labour’s support going? But Trans Tasman had that base covered, and so it eventuated:
“Both NZ First and the Greens appear to have been hoovering up disaffected Labour supporters. The prospect of a Labour-NZ First coalition, possibly including the Greens as long as they are shut out of major portfolios, has caused a re-think among many voters on the right who were considering voting tactically for NZ First, as a potential coalition partner for National.”
So was Cunliffe going to survive what looked like a Labour thrashing? Trans Tasman’ssentient coverage suggested he would be toast:
“Cunliffe’s problem has been to project himself as the leader of a potentially credible Govt, given the diversity (and to a degree the exceedingly limited appeal) of Labour’s possible coalition partners. Labour being held hostage by Internet/Mana is a turn-off for the vast majority of NZers. Cunliffe’s failure to condemn the rorting of the system by Hone Harawira, Laila Harre and Kim Dotcom and leaving Kelvin Davis pretty much on his own in Te Tai Tokerau constitute a strategic misjudgement which is rebounding on Labour across the country.”
Trans Tasman’s resident satirist also had a field day - getting to grips wit the meat of the moment, but not avoiding the human side:
“The campaign has not had much to say about what NZers can expect from the next three years, whoever gets to govern over those three years. To their credit, Labour and the Greens have been pushing out policy like they have an inexhaustible supply of the stuff. But - gaffes over capital gains taxes aside - most of the coverage has been about hacking, blogging, counter-espionage, and Kim Dotcom. These are all things which fascinate the political class, but they induce a mix of yawns and wrinkled noses of distaste among most voters.
National has released some policy, but has mostly run on a combination of its record and leader John Key’s appeal. Key himself has been out of sorts most of the campaign - the attitude has been a mix of the trivial and the snarky, selfies rather than substance.”
News
Hilary Timmins' Award-Winning UK Documentary Series To Inspire NZ Students
29 Jun 2020 Education
Dream Catchers, produced and directed by Hilary Timmins, celebrates the success stories of more than thirty inspirational New... more
New Zealand reaffirms support for Flight MH17 judicial process
7 Mar 2020 News
Ahead of the start of the criminal trial in the Netherlands on 9 March, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has reaffirmed the need to... more
Business
NZ Government's Economic package to fight COVID-19
17 Mar 2020 Business News
The Coalition Government has launched the most significant peace-time economic plan in modern New Zealand history to cushion the... more
NZ Government announces aviation relief package
19 Mar 2020 Business News
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today outlined the first tranche of the $600 million aviation sector relief package announced earlier... more
Living
Diversity was Key at New Zealand Trade Tasting in London
6 Jun 2022 Food & Wine
New Zealand Winegrowers Annual Trade Tasting was recently held in London, on Wednesday 4 May, in Lindley Hall.
It was the first... more
Kiwi author stuns Behind the Butterfly Gate
12 Jan 2022 Arts
Hidden behind the Butterfly Gate is where the secret has been kept for 76 years...
New Zealand writer Merryn Corcoran’s... more
Property
Fairer rules for tenants and landlords
17 Nov 2019 Property
17 NOVEMBER 2019
The Government has delivered on its promise to the over one million New Zealanders who now rent to make it fairer... more
New Zealand Government will not implement a Capital Gains Tax
17 Apr 2019 Property
The Coalition Government will not proceed with the Tax Working Group’s recommendation for a capital gains tax, Jacinda Ardern... more
Migration
Boosting border security with electronic travel authority – now over 500,000 issued
19 Nov 2019 Migration
19 NOVEMBER 2019
We’ve improved border security with the NZeTA, New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority, which helps us to... more
Christchurch reinstated as refugee settlement location
18 Aug 2018 Migration
18 AUGUST 2018
HON IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY
The announcement that Christchurch can once again be a settlement location for refugees... more
Travel
Gallipoli Anzac Day services cancelled
19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism
The New Zealand and Australian Governments have announced this year’s joint Anzac Day services at Gallipoli will be cancelled... more
New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas
19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism
New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas
more
Sport
The Skipper's Diary: Sir Richard Hadlee honouring his father and NZ's Forty-Niners
27 Oct 2019 Cricket
NZNewsUK London Editor Charlotte Everett spoke to Sir Richard Hadlee about why he’s chosen to publish his father’s... more
PREVIEW: All Blacks v England semi-final
26 Oct 2019 Rugby
The two most convincing quarterfinals winners are set to square off in a semifinal showdown for the ages when the All Blacks meet old... more
Columns
Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade
11 Nov 2016 Opinion
Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade
First published on Werewolf
The ghastly likes of Marine Le Pen in France and Geert ... more
Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome
10 Nov 2016 Opinion
Column - Gordon Campbell
Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome
Well um.. on the bright side, there (probably)... more
Kiwi Success
Congratulations to Loder Cup winner
26 Sep 2018 People
25 SEPTEMBER 2018
The Loder Cup, one of New Zealand’s oldest conservation awards, has been awarded to Robert McGowan for 2018... more
Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO
16 Aug 2018 Appointments
16 AUGUST 2018Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO
HON JENNY SALESA
Associate Education Minister Jenny Salesa is... more
Recruitment
Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
14 Aug 2018 Recruitment
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
HON CHRIS HIPKINS
Prime Minister
The... more
Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
22 Aug 2018 Recruitment
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
HON CHRIS HIPKINS
Prime Minister
The... more