Kiwiblog

Got 9/10 in Herald quiz in 44 seconds. Muffed the Andrew Williams one.

The NZ Herald Politics Quiz is back. Despite my holiday, still got 10/10 in 33 seconds.

Herald has a post-election politics quiz.

Try this week’s Herald’s quiz.

Best yet – 10/10 in 39 seconds in the Herald Politics Quiz.

This week’s Herald Politics quiz is here.

Got 8/10 in 50 seconds.

10/10 in 46 seconds for the Herald Politics Quiz. Not bad as I am on holiday.

NZ Herald Politics quiz is here. Got 9/10 in 40 seconds.

Herald Politics quiz is here. 9/10 in 1 min 6 secs.

Sadly the Dom Post politics quiz seems to have died, but the NZ Herald now has one. It seems to be tougher – only got 6/10.

Unless they are hiding them very well, Stuff seems to have stopped their weekly NZ politics trivia quiz. So here’s a substitute one.

1. What is it that Phil Goff doesn’t want John Key to do with Prince William?

(a) Dance with him at the wedding
(b) Make him Governor-General
(c) Ask for his endorsement as best ever Kiwi PM
(d) Pose for photos with him during the Rugby World Cup
(e) Try to hook Steffi up with Prince Harry

2. What change has Steven Joyce proposed for student loans?

(a) That interest be charged at the rate of inflation, so they are interest-free in real terms rather than nominal terms
(b) That students aged over 55 can only use student loans for tuition fees and not for living costs
(c) That any graduates willing to work in Christchurch have 10% of their loan balance written off every year, for five years.
(d) That graduates be unable to leave to go overseas until they have paid off their student loan
(e) That students can use their student loans to buy shares in the four state owned power companies

3. How many seats did the latest political poll (TV3/Reid Research) predict National would get in an election based on their poll?

(a) 58
(b) 62
(c) 67
(d) 71
(e) 75

4. Former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley is a director of the China Construction Bank. In terms of market capitalisation, where does it rank in the world?

(a) 2nd
(b) 5th
(c) 9th
(d) 10th
(e) 20th

5. Which TV channel is to close next July?

(a) C4
(b) The Hitler History Channel
(c) Sky Sport 3
(d) TVNZ7
(e) Playboy TV

6. Which party voted against the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority bill?

(a) Progressive
(b) ACT
(c) Labour
(d) Green
(e) Maori Party

7. Rodney Hide announced the scrapping of various outdated regulations last week. How many did he scrap?

(a) 21
(b) 49
(c) 88
(d) 125
(e) 156

8. Which former journalist has been appointed Chair of Radio New Zealand?

(a) Richard Long
(b) Richard Griffin
(c) Paul Henry
(d) Tom Scott
(e) Linda Clark

9. What penalty could a court in future apply to someone convicted of downloading copyrighted material without paying for it?

(a) Forced to listen to Rebecca Black’s “Friday” for 48 hours non-stop
(b) Ban them from using the Internet for life
(c) Confiscate their computer
(d) Suspend their Internet account for six months
(e) Slow their connection speed to 56 Kb/s

10. Who has been dubbed the Minister of Twitter?

(a) Clare Curran
(b) Tau Henare
(c) Trevor Mallard
(d) Jacinda Ardern
(e) Chris Finlayson

Otago University Politics Lecturer Bryce Edwards has been producing a daily politics summary for the last two weeks. It must take him hours to do, and is hugely useful to political junkies.

He does a summary of the major issues with his commentary, and then provides links (or pdf copies in the e-mail version) to several dozen stories that have appeared on media on blogsites. They’re helpfully grouped together by topic.

I am already quite addicted to it. While I see most of the stories that Bryce compiles, there are always a few I have not seen. I recommend you check it out every day.

Yay it is back. 9/10 in 44 seconds. The Japanese question was a guess and I got it wrong.

Dear Stuff/Dom Post,

Parliament resumed last week. So where is our weekly politics trivia quiz?

If it does not appear soon, the suicide rate amongst political geeks may skyrocket.

They are here:

1 National will form a government after the November 26 election. (Note the dangerously specific date).

Agree, on date and outcome.

2 Botany will be a Clayton’s by-election and we don’t mean Cosgrove. National’s candidate will be anointed and Labour will hardly bother to campaign, preferring to keep its cash in the bank for the election.

Not so sure. By-elections can be un-predictable for a Government.

3 Judith Collins will become defence minister after the retirement of Wayne Mapp. Without tanks she could be a useful addition to our arsenal.

Very possible.

4 Mercurial NZ First leader Winston Peters will stand in an inner-Auckland seat to maximise coverage of his bid to return to Parliament. Possibly Epsom, but more likely Tamaki, where he can mobilise any remnants of Sir Robert Muldoon’s “Rob’s Mob” voters and cash in on sitting MP Allan Peachey’s low profile.

I think Tamaki is more likely than Epsom. His old seat of Hunua can’t be ruled out though. He won’t win an electorate though.

5 The Maori Party will not improve its current tally of five seats – a punt.

Probably not, unless Parekura retires then maybe pick that up.

6 MMP will survive the referendum, meaning a second one will not be necessary. But there will be a clamour to change some of the existing features of MMP.

I agree, unless the Government has its coalition partners disintegrate in 2011.

7 Labour president Andrew Little will not win New Plymouth, but will get into Parliament on the list.

I won’t make a prediction here on New Plymouth, except to observe that for Andrew to win he will need around 20% of National party voters to give him their electorate vote. I agree Andrew will be in Parliament regardless of the New Plymouth outcome.

8 Labour will campaign on a new top tax rate on income above $120,000 a year.

Yep – the starting rate may vary but will be at least $100k. The return of Cullen’s rich prick tax.

9 The Government’s popularity will drop mid-year as the rising cost of living, slow economic recovery and cuts in public spending usher in a mild winter of discontent.

It is inevitable that poll ratings of mid 50s will not translate into an election result.

10 Labour leader Phil Goff will survive till the election, but not long after.

By the end of 2012 there will be a new leader – David Cunliffe

11 Kris Faafoi’s majority in Mana will rebound in line with Labour’s traditional dominance in the seat.

I don’t think it will rebound as much as people think.

12 The Greens will beat their 6.72 per cent share of the vote from 2008 and bring in at least one fresh female face.

Probably yeah.

13 National will campaign on partial listings of minority stakes in some state assets including some of the bigger SOEs.

Hope so.

14 Steven Joyce will take over the education portfolio.

After the 2011 election, could well be.

15 The Maori Party will hold its nose and see the new foreshore and seabed law into force despite Hone Harawira’s opposition.

They’ll be irrelevant if they decide to stay with the status quo.

16 Georgina te Heu Heu and Sandra Goudie will signal an end to their political careers.

Would be surpised if either stand in 2011

17 This has been our hardest pick but on balance we think Rodney Hide will hold on to ACT’s Epsom lifeline – though we say so with our heart in our mouth given the signals from even Mr Hide’s Right-wing supporters that they are not convinced the souffle can rise twice.

I think he will, but it will depend on ACT having its shit together enough that people think they will get three or four MPs at least, who can work together.

18 Revenue Minister and UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne will finally realise his haircut is his biggest electoral liability and change it – or even admit it is a hairpiece.

Ha – never.

19 Another senior Labour MP will announce they are bailing out of politics at the next election – and unlike the retirement of George Hawkins and Pete Hodgson, this one will be a surprise.

Parekura would not be a surprise. Perhaps they mean Mallard?

20 John Key will come back from “kicking the tyres” during his Hawaiian holiday and declare himself “relaxed” about his chances in election year.

Of course.

I always admire Fairfax gallery staff for having the balls to make some predictions every year, and be judged on them. They have just self-scored their 2010 predictions and marked it as 128/100 – down from 145 in 2009 and 138 in 2008.

The story does not appear to be online, so no link, but here is the summary:

1. The Government will play follow- the-leader with Australia’s tax reform plans, putting business tax cuts at the top of its reform agenda. 4/10
2. There will be ructions in ACT and at least one of its MPs will signal an end to their political career. 10/10.
3. Hone Harawira will be trouble. 10/10.
4. Jim Anderton will not announce an end to his parliamentary career. 0/10.
5. Prime Minister John Key’s “elegant” solution to the foreshore and seabed issue will turn out to be another way to write the same law, with minor tweaks, that Labour passed. 10/10
6. The Government will signal partial asset sales will be part of its 2011 election campaign. 8/10
7. Chris Carter will be relieved of the Labour foreign affairs role and his frontbench seat. 10/10
8. Former Green MP Sue Bradford will run for the Auckland super- city council. 0/10.
9. 9 The national standards fight will end in a points victory to the Government over education unions. 8/10.
10. John Key will have a White House meeting with US President Barack Obama, but will make a second trip to Washington too. 5/10.
11. Labour will struggle to get its poll rating over 35 per cent, although Phil Goff will survive as leader. 10/10.
12. Two National MPs will announce their retirement from politics. 10/10.
13. The economic outlook and Budget deficit will keep improving, lowering the forecast debt mountain. 0/10.
14. John Key will reshuffle his ministers, or have a reshuffle forced on him. 8/10.
15. The Government will put a woman in a top advisory role. 10/10.
16. The Australia-New Zealand income gap will widen again. 10/10.
17. The Government will water down or even scrap the requirement for ACC to be fully funded by 2019. 0/10.
18. Labour’s Rick Barker will signal his retirement. 0/10.
19. The 2010 Budget will make Bill English’s 2009 effort look like a lolly scramble. 7/10.
20. John Key will admit, at least once, to not being “relaxed”. 8/10.

I thought they did very well with (2) and (7) as both were very specific and occured. Hopefully the full article will appear online as the commentary with the scoring is amusing.

The Dom Post published the political awards from teh Fairfax staff on Saturday. They were:

• Politician of the Year Award – Gerry Brownlee for how he handled the Government’s response to the Canterbury earthquake, the weeks working behind the scenes to negotiate the deal that saw The Hobbit pictures stay in New Zealand and his calm, measured and reassuring presence during the Pike River tragedy
• Backbencher of the Year – Green MP Keith Locke – forever challenging the Government – exactly what an Opposition backbencher should be doing
• Wally of the Year – Chris Carter
• Loser of the Year – ACT leader Rodney Hide
• The Frederick Forsyth ‘Day of the Jackass’ Award for Political Self-Assassination – David Garrett
• The Deep Throat award for all the wrong reasons – Labour MP Shane Jones
• The Johnnie Walker award for services to minibars – Climate Change Negotiations Minister Tim Groser
• The Keep New Zealand Beautiful award for the most manicured lawn – Pansy Wong’s husband Sammy who made 35 trips on the taxpayer to and from Christchurch in a year to mow the lawns and look after their former home.
• The Mule award for stubbornness – Manurewa MP George Hawkins
• The Biggest Twit award for gratuitous use of social media – Tau Henare for philosophical tweets such as “I hate waking up. But I spose if we didn’t wed be dead.” [sic] and “had Peiking [sic] Duck for tea. Yum.”
• The Ghandi award for religious tolerance – Maurice Williamson
• The Emily Post award for etiquette- Paul Quinn
• The not-quite Oscar Wilde award for wit – Kevin Taylor, the prime minister’s chief press secretary, for ill-temperedly branding Labour MP Pete Hodgson a “f . . . . . .” when the Pansy Wong scandal broke.
• The Mogadon award for dull political speechifying – Green MP Kennedy Graham
• The Epic McPhail award- To consultant Hugh McPhail
• The Birdbath award for shallow media analysis – To Labour’s Clare Curran, who spends huge amounts of energy criticising the mainstream media for its lack of depth, resourcing and breadth and then throws her weight behind every social media platform going. Go figure.
• St Jude award for championing hopeless cases- Tariana Turia, who added to her long list of supporting hopeless cases like Donna Awatere Huata by passionately defending Hone Harawira and Pansy Wong.
• The Lord Cardigan award for bravery in the valley of death – Speaker Lockwood Smith who, like the famous Light Brigade, charged into the fray on behalf of MPs travel perks . . . only to find he was alone.
• The Drinks Are On You award for personal generosity – Housing Minister Phil Heatley
• The “That’s All, Folks” Award – Warner Bros, for managing to wring more than $30m out of the cash-strapped Government to keep The Hobbit movies in New Zealand.

The Dominion Post also awards a weekly winner, loser and wally award. I’ve bene noting them down every week, and some interesting stats for 2010:

• Winner of the Week – John Key awarded it the most at 4 times. Next on two each were Kris Faafoi, Phil Goff, The Greens, Steven Joyce, David Parker, Heather Roy and Tariana Turia
• Loser of the Week – Phil Goff awarded it the most at 5 times. Second was Chris Carter at 3 times. On 2 each was Bill English, Rodney Hide and Nick Smith,
• Wally of the Week – John Key a clear “winner” getting it 7 times. Chris Carter 2nd with 4 times, Gerry Brownlee 3 times, Bill English Rodney Hide Matt McCarten and Lockwood Smith all got it twice each.

National MPs won winner of the week 12 times, loser of the week 14 times and wally of the week 22 times.

Labour MPs won winner of the week 8 times, loser of the week 10 times and wally of the week 5 times.

ACT MPs won winner of the week 3 times, loser of the week 3 times and wally of the week 5 times.

Green MPs won winner of the week 2 times, loser of the week 1 time and wally of the week no times.

Maori Party MPs won winner of the week 4 times, loser of the week 1 time and wally of the week 1 time.

Looking at those states, you wonder why on earth National is 24% ahead in the polls!

Quiz is here. 12/15 in around one minute. Sure people can beat that.

Yes – aced it. No guesses, 10/10 and a record 23 seconds. Quiz is here.

Been so busy this week only got around to the quiz today.

The good news is I got 10/10 in 31 seconds.

The bad news is their Q1 is wrong.

They asked how much can lobbyists give to political parties. The answer to that question is unlimited.

The question they meant to ask (based on what they say is the right answer) is how much money could a lobbyist spend on advertising during an election campaign.

This week‘s quite challenging. 8/10 in 40 seconds.

Pretty tough this week. I made four guesses and got two right and two wrong.

Actually it says I got 7/10 but I accidentally hit the wrong answer in one question. Quiz here. 27 seconds.

Quiz is here. 33 seconds.

Got one wrong. But only took 27 seconds. Quiz here.