NZ POLITICS DAILY: Twin disasters tear at govt - Rena and $12b deficit blowout
Labour, Greens rise as oil leaks | Deficit blowout comes on heels of double ratings downgrade | Dr Edwards reviews NBR.
Labour, Greens rise as oil leaks | Deficit blowout comes on heels of double ratings downgrade | Dr Edwards reviews NBR.
Two significant disasters are dominating New Zealand politics today.
The most visually and immediately newsworthy is the obviously the Rena oil spill disaster, which is suddenly looking much worse, and is rapidly taking on a much more party political character.
Cynics (or realists?) might see the unfolding disaster as a ready made recipe for Green Party success, coming as it is just weeks from a general election.
Certainly the Greens are making a lot of noise about the potential catastrophe – and you couldn’t expect anything else from an environmental party. See, for example some of the blogposts by Green MPs: Catherine Delahunty’s Rena Oil Spill Day Five, David Clendon’s A precautionary tale, and Gareth Hughes’ Joyce caught lying about Rena.
And for balance, it’s worth reading Whaleoil’s short jab, Is coastal shipping green?.
The Press newspaper also labels the Greens’ response as ‘political opportunism’ – see: Editorial – Cleanup all at sea.
But regardless, the issue seems likely to have an impact on the general election, and already iPredict is being reported as showing Labour And Greens Rise As Oil Leaks.