Indefensible New Zealand

New Zealand has entered its formal election campaign period. That's always signalled by a proliferation of large and brightly coloured billboards appearing around the country.

Heather Roy and Simon Ewing-Jarvie go on a 'field trip' (code for 'sorry about the wind and other background noise') just outside Wellington to check out some of the party campaign slogans. Slogans from past campaigns covered in a recent article on the Spinoff are also included in the mix!!!!!!!!!!

Send us in your views about this year's slogans as well as any other political questions you'd like covered in our regular audience Q+A episodes. Use the contents page at our website torquepoint.co.nz.

With so many parties promising to take Goods and Services Tax (GST) off fruit and vegetables in the lead-up to the New Zealand General Election 2023, Heather Roy and Simon Ewing-Jarvie felt compelled to take a dive into this policy debate.

If you can't spare 8 minutes - they think that it's a bad idea.

But there is at least one bad Dad joke in there - maybe two!

And Damien Grant gets a mention so if you like his writing - you should subscribe to this podcast.

Send in your questions for this podcast via the contacts page at torquepoint.co.nz.

In the last week, the New Zealand government has released three documents relating to national security:

Aotearoa’s National Security Strategy: Secure Together Tō Tātou Korowai Manaaki

Defence Policy and Strategy Statement

Future Force Design Principles

These were preceded by a public consultation exercise, a long-term insights briefing and a foreign policy assessment

In the coming week, we expect the release of an updated threat assessment.

Since Defence Minister Andrew Little’s announcements last week, there

Never in the field of Kiwi conflict have so many words been written

It’s not all bad. The fact that there is a document that says

I know you can hear the whistling of an incoming “BUT…”

A strategy it is not. It is what academics would call a ‘meta-policy.’ By its own admission it sits over the country’s:

A strategy is contested. Its success can be measured. This is a

The Defence Policy and Strategy Statement is little more than a

Then there are the Future Force Design Principles which “acts as a bridge between the high-level policy and strategy in the Defence Policy and Strategy Statement 2023 and detailed investment planning that will be included in a Defence Capability Plan.” – The latter document will be sometime next year. Only then will an acquisition process be initiated. When you take out the pictures and the fluff, there’s 1800 words on 5 pages wrapped around 11 principles. Three of these are ‘fixed’ and eight are ‘sliding principles.’

Simon Ewing-Jarvie and Heather Roy discuss these documents and what they mean for New Zealand's national security.

Heather Roy and Simon Ewing-Jarvie discuss current political issues that are front of mind for voters. These range from the economy and cost of living to crime and co-governance.

Issues episodes will recur throughout the season so send in your ideas or questions for discussion. You can send in questions for the podcast hosts through the ⁠contacts page at torquepoint.co.nz⁠

You can read more about what each of the hosts is writing about and also support this work at the following sites:

⁠⁠Heather's Political Blog⁠⁠

⁠⁠Simon's National Security Blog⁠⁠

⁠⁠Simon's Patreon Page⁠⁠

⁠⁠Buy Simon a Coffee

Heather Roy and Simon Ewing-Jarvie answer questions from the VoterTorque audience. In this episode the questions addressed are:

1. What does TOP stand for?

2. Will Winston Peters get back into parliament?

3. What is an overhang?

4. What is meant by hard right and hard left?

Questions and answers will be published approximately every 5th episode. You can send in questions for the podcast hosts through the contacts page at torquepoint.co.nz

You can read more about what each of the hosts is writing about and also support this work at the following sites:

⁠Heather's Political Blog⁠

⁠Simon's National Security Blog⁠

⁠Simon's Patreon Page⁠

⁠Buy Simon a Coffee

Do political polls reflect or shape public opinion in New Zealand?

With an election due on 14 October, this is an important question that is discussed by Heather Roy and Simon Ewing-Jarvie. What's important are the trends and other questions like whether people think the country is headed in the right or wrong direction.

You can read more about what each of them is writing about and also support this work at the following sites:

Heather's Political Blog

Simon's National Security Blog

Simon's Patreon Page

Buy Simon a Coffee

Simon Ewing-Jarvie and Heather Roy take the audience through the TorquePoint version of the political compass quiz.

This episode links with S2E2 podcast and describes how you can use a simple questionnaire to determine where you lie on the political spectrum. This is useful for working out which parties and policies you are most  closely aligned with.

A pdf version of TorquePoint's political compass can be downloaded for free from their website at torquepoint.co.nz

You can read more about what each of the hosts is writing about and also support this work at the following sites:

⁠Heather's Political Blog⁠

⁠Simon's National Security Blog⁠

⁠Simon's Patreon Page⁠

⁠Buy Simon a Coffee

Former ACT Deputy Leader and Government Minister, Heather Roy, and

Simon Ewing-Jarvie and Heather Roy from TorquePoint are back for the run up to New Zealand's 2023 General Election to bring you their analysis of each of the political parties, what they're offering and how they compare. This introductory episode outline the main points to be covered.

If you're a newcomer or a political junkie, why not listen to the 22 episodes from Season 1 in 2020 as well?