Brash to roll Hide?

100 comments on “Brash to roll Hide? ”

• Comments are now closed

1. Treetop 1

   23 April 2011 at 8:36 am

   Act is dead under Hide and Act know it.
   • Draco T Bastard 1.1

     23 April 2011 at 2:52 pm

     And so does National.
2. Jono 2

   23 April 2011 at 9:20 am

   I’m really hoping Brash doesn’t manage to do this to be honest. 

   ACT under Hide is a complete joke, & would (hopefully) either be back with no more than 2 mps, or even none. Under Brash though I’m sure he could scrape back a % of the hard-right National vote, and be back with either as many mps as they have now, or even more.

   If we’re going to have a National government I’d rather one that could govern either on its own or with the maori tory king/queen & bad hair guy as opposed to one propped up by ACT, because they’re fucking lunatics.
3. ron 3

   23 April 2011 at 9:32 am

   Mind you. If ACT can only get in on Hide’s shirttails then wouldn’t it be a good thing for Brash to take over? He’s a joke too and won’t win a seat anywhere will he?
4. Eddie 4

   23 April 2011 at 9:40 am

   “I’m assuming that Hide quitting the party (and make no mistake he’s narcissistic enough to pull the pin) wouldn’t result in the other ACT MPs losing their seats as we’re well past writ day.”

   A couple of clarifications.

   If Hide were to resign today there would be a byelection because we’re over 6 months from the general election date. The only way a by-election can be avoided when a seat is vacant is if the date is within 6 months of Parliament expiring (it doesn’t expire until some time in early Jan I think) or the PM tables a paper in Parliament stating that an election will be held within 6 months AND the Parliament votes not to have a byelection by 75% majority.

   I hear another MP is looking at triggering a by-election before Labour and National can block it – guess who

   Also, if Hide were to leave Parliament at any time it doesn’t affect ACT’s list seats. The number of list seats a party is entitled to is determined only once per term no matter what happens – Labour didn’t get an extra list MP when Carter was expelled, for instance.
   • IrishBill 4.1

     23 April 2011 at 9:46 am

     I was talking about Hide leaving act and staying on as an independent. I don’t think for a second he’d leave parliament – he’d never get back.

     If they do roll him I think it’s highly likely that’s just what he’ll do.

     What would be interesting would be whether the govt kept him on as a minister if he was an independent. I think they would.
     • Eddie 4.1.1

       23 April 2011 at 9:54 am

       oh, yup. Sorry mate.

       Can you picture the ACT campaign slogan:

       ‘Brash: the Face of the Future’

       actually, Imma do that up.
       • IrishBill 4.1.1.1

         23 April 2011 at 9:58 am

         Nah, my fault. I should have been more clear.
       • IrishBill 4.1.1.2

         23 April 2011 at 10:08 am

         Fixed it.
       • Policy Parrot 4.1.1.3

         23 April 2011 at 11:22 am

         “the Face of the Future”
         I can just see the scene from the film “The Aviator” where US tycoon Howard Hughes (who was suffering from obsessive-compulsivism) where he continually repeats the phrase:
         “the way of the future”.
         Perhaps you can put in that kind of context with Brash being synonymous with Hughes for the purposes of the project.
   • Rich 4.2

     23 April 2011 at 11:06 am

     Yup, list seats coat-tailed from an electorate MP are never in question, even if that MP were to resign/defect/be beamed up to the mothership on the first day of parliament.

     Even if a party breaks up, the list MPs are elected and stay in parliament until the next election.
5. Pascal's bookie 5

   23 April 2011 at 9:45 am

   Brash coming back would re-raise all the things that National put to bed by having him quit.

   Joyce. Emails. Racism. Lies.

   *uncomfortable*
   • handle 5.1

     23 April 2011 at 10:29 am

     But it would locate them outside National this time – another win for Key who already managed to escape being held accountable for his part in the dodgy Brethren dealings in the 2005 election campaign.

     And reactivating Brash’s racism would help the right take on NZ First.
   • Hanswurst 5.2

     23 April 2011 at 10:32 am

     While I can only agree with this, I have to say that Brash does seem to have a great deal more substance to him than Hide, who, beyond his infantile “perkbusting” of yesteryear, has never really seemed to have much of a specific vision at all (uttering Act buzzwords like “investment”, “choice” and “small government” doesn’t count). At least with Brash, while I disagree with basically everything he says, you know you have someone who is keen to articulate his policy and have a debate about it.
     • mickysavage 5.2.1

       23 April 2011 at 10:44 am

       I have to day that Brash does seem to have a great deal more substance to him than Hide …

       My 6 month old cat also has more substance than Hide …
       • Hanswurst 5.2.1.1

         23 April 2011 at 11:01 am

         Very likely, but I’d rather have the Act party actively promoting a clear neoliberal agenda and turning the public off them – and National by association – than a silly clown who goes dancing and wears stupid yellow coats but seems rather innocuous to the general public.
         • felix 5.2.1.1.1

           23 April 2011 at 7:52 pm

           I’d rather have micky’s cat warming a seat in the house than either of those fuckwits.
       • higherstandard 5.2.1.2

         23 April 2011 at 11:22 am

         At the present I’d seriously consider voting for your cat if you put him up as a candidate.
         • QoT 5.2.1.2.1

           23 April 2011 at 12:08 pm

           Cats in Parliament would certainly put the self-centredness, attention-demanding and tendency to take long naps of the current bunch in perspective …
         • the pink postman 5.2.1.2.2

           23 April 2011 at 3:46 pm

           Well the fact is that cats are vicious killers,they spread decease plus damage to the  inviroment by killing of our bird life . In other words a pest .
           .Yep a good substitute for any Right -Winger Nat/Act.
6. millsy 6

   23 April 2011 at 10:49 am

   Ha! I knew the guy was more suited to ACT, right from the moment he became National leader, which I have always contended was an effective coup ‘d etat by the far neo liberal right – the equivalent would be putting John Minto at the helm of the Labour Party.
7. Rich 7

   23 April 2011 at 10:57 am

   “Dr Brash confirmed yesterday that he remained a member of the National Party”

   But is running to lead the ACT party, whilst a member of a different party (and presumably not a member of ACT, since most parties rules expect you to be a member of only that party).

   I guess NACT have a sufficiently well-oiled revolving door that stuff like party membership is just a formality).
8. ianmac 8

   23 April 2011 at 11:13 am

   I think that Act is just the convenient right wing of the National Party. They do the dirty work for the right wing but are expendable if they become unpopular leaving the Key lot with “clean hands.” Therefore without Act they would have to own the rightist policies and enact them, which would not go down well with centrist  voters. So be long gone the Actors!
   • mickysavage 8.1

     23 April 2011 at 12:04 pm

     There does appear to have been a significant shift in the past few weeks. Originally National was going to stand a candidate in Epsom that was able to walk and talk at the same time thereby consigning ACT to history. Even the day before Key’s announcement the Herald was saying that National would stand someone and Tim Groser was mentioned as a possibility.

     Then Key comes out with the “we are competing for the Party Vote in Epsom and the local people can choose their representative” line and now this announcement. National’s fingerprints are all over it and it really appears to have been stage managed.

     Two issues though:

     1. If Groser is their candidate what will he do? Apparently privately he would hate to be an electorate MP and he is competent and guaranteed to be high on their list. Maybe he is the best sacrificial lamb they can find?
     2. What will Hide do? I doubt that he will go quietly.
     • Rich 8.1.1

       23 April 2011 at 12:52 pm

       It may make sense for Labour and the Greens to withdraw their Epsom candidates. That would give Groser a (probably unwanted) boost which might be enough to win him the electorate. He could always then actually withdraw as well, but that would just make the whole thing look hugely manipulative.
     • Puddleglum 8.1.2

       23 April 2011 at 6:52 pm

       I think the interesting development is that the turn around by Key on Epsom happened days before Brash spoke of going for the leadership of ACT.

       Brash rolls Hide, stands in Epsom. Key then gets to say that his decision to only go for the party vote in Epsom was announced prior to Brash letting the public know of his ambitions, and so Key can ‘unhook’ the party vote turnaround announcement from the timing of Brash’s decision (If you follow me).

       The aim all along (pre-2005) was to parachute Brash and Key into positions that led to them having major government roles. After November we could have Key as PM and Brash as Deputy-PM (or finance minister?) in a coalition.

       Unlikely because of ACT’s current support? Well, with Brash at the head of ACT, ACT becomes more attractive to the right-leaning wing of National’s support base (especially remembering that National, under Brash, got almost 40% of the popular vote in 2005). That part of the support base (which could be quite sizable) goes to ACT giving them (through cannibalism) a greater number of seats and hence the clout to require Deputy PM or a senior (economic) cabinet position (e.g., Jim Anderton with the Alliance in 1999-2002).

       The high level of National’s support at this stage means that the right would be happy to shave quite a bit of it off if it could go to ACT and still leave National covered by the centre vote that Key can command (inexplicably). 

       Labour and the Greens need to remind the electorate not just of The Hollow Men saga but also the recent announcements from Brash’s Taskforce that Key’s government have been publicly trying to distance themselves from.

       Edit: But your point, MS, about what Hide would do is the fly in the ointment of that scenario – unless he can be offered something, post-election???
       • Frank Macskasy 8.1.2.1

         26 April 2011 at 2:42 pm

         Unlikely because of ACT’s current support? Well, with Brash at the head of ACT, ACT becomes more attractive to the right-leaning wing of National’s support base (especially remembering that National, under Brash, got almost 40% of the popular vote in 2005). That part of the support base (which could be quite sizable) goes to ACT giving them (through cannibalism) a greater number of seats and hence the clout to require Deputy PM or a senior (economic) cabinet position (e.g., Jim Anderton with the Alliance in 1999-2002).
         The high level of National’s support at this stage means that the right would be happy to shave quite a bit of it off if it could go to ACT and still leave National covered by the centre vote that Key can command (inexplicably).

          
         I believe you’re half-right, Puddle…
          
         A Brash-led ACT Party would indeed cross the 5% MMP threshold, and be returned to Parliament. His extremist free-market and anti-Treaty views would attract voters of that ilk. (And make no mistake, New Zealand has a fair number of right wingers and racists.)
          
         However, I suspect that RW/R vote has already been captured by the National/ACT bloc – with perhaps NZ First taking the rest.
          
         So if ACT increases it’s Party Vote share from the previous 3.6% to, say, 5% (minimum) – it will be at the expense of National.
          
         Furthermore, National will likely bleed additional support. It has many urban liberals; women; and people who are 50+, who remember very vividly the activities of Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson during their hey-day – and will be frightened witless at the prospect of a toxic trio of Brash-Douglas-Richardson once again on the Treasury benches.
          
         The Middle Vote will run a mile, either to Labour, or, more likely, not vote at all, rather than face the prospect of a National/ACT coalition that is further to the right than at any previous time in our history.
          
         So, if we “play” with the figures a bit, we could end up with;
          
         ACT
         2008 – 3.65%
         2011 – 5%? (minimum)
          
         National
         2008 – 44.93%
         2011 – 39.1%? (2005 election figure)
          
         ACT may build it’s Party Vote quite successfully. But it will be at the expense of support for National, as centrist voters shy away from that party. The election refrain in November may well be, “A Vote For National is a Vote for Brash/Douglas/Richardson”.
          
   • the pink postman 8.2

     23 April 2011 at 3:33 pm

     Dead right ianmac.All the unpopular bills like the Auckland Super City are pure National but dodgy,so give it to Rodney..The fact is Tories are Tories regardless of what they call themselves.
   • RobertM 8.3

     24 April 2011 at 3:51 pm

     Up until now it would be more accurate to have described Act as the right radical wing of the Labour Party. But Brash and Banks are certainly right wing and that will make their intergration difficult and inevitably lead to some surprising compensatory choices for high list places.
     Actually of all the current Act MPs, Hide is the only one I didn’t find objectionable. His bedroom relations and seperations hardly seem any more dramatic and exciting than those of Don Brash and I can’t see why anyone should be upset abut Rodney having a good looking 30 year old girlfriend and now wife. Many would regard his choice as remarkably conservative, certainly I would.
     In reality Rodney Hide did an intelligent competent job of administering the creation of the Auckland greater council. The choice as one of his major assistants of the feisty and very able and fairly left wing Laila Harre as one of the major administrators and faciliatiors of the Labour relations and human resources arrangements of the new council could not remotely be regarded as a right wing. No wonder Heather Roy was spitting anger and muttering about ‘Black Swans” over Rodney wasting time and energy on the low priority, greater Auckland council.
     The obvious, predictable effect of Rodneys rearrangement and consolidation of the Auckland councils is that the lefts position and power in Auckland has been almost permanently entrenched. In Greater Auckland, Banks was almost certain to lose and that was probably a very good thing as John Banks is old and devoid of talent or insight.
     Rodney is to be congratulated for his excellent work in the house and over Auckland and brickbats must be awarded to the ideological blinkered and fanatical Don Brash who is attempting to unhorse his former friend.
     • Colonial Viper 8.3.1

       24 April 2011 at 3:54 pm

       Rodney is to be congratulated for his excellent work in the house and over Auckland

       Pffffffft
9. Sanctuary 9

   23 April 2011 at 11:18 am

   I wonder why Hide even bothers nowadays. Once he leaves parliament he can be sure his plutocratic handlers will richly reward him with the usual baubles reserved for high Quislings, so he need not be concerned about making a living. It must be just insecurity.
   • felix 9.1

     23 April 2011 at 8:00 pm

     It was never about the money for Rodney, it was always about being respected.
      
     He’s a deeply flawed and quite tragic individual.
10. Fairfacts Media 10

    23 April 2011 at 11:32 am

    Don Brash saved the National Party.
    That’s why you hate him.
    He doubled the party’s support and almost won Election 2005, when Uncle Helen should have walked it.
    Had you Liarbour lot not cheated with overspending, National might even have won.

    Imagine how much better New Zealand would have been had Don Brash been prime minister for the past six years, either ready to win a third term, or be handing over power to John Key?
    And how can Brash be racist when he supports One Law for All?
    • Pascal's bookie 10.1

      23 April 2011 at 11:45 am

      Yeah, if only Brash could have inflated the property bubble a bit more and started running deficits before the GFC, everything would be peachy.

      And One law for all is racist when what you mean is ‘iwi should shut the fuck up about their so called rights’.
    • Lanthanide 10.2

      23 April 2011 at 11:54 am

      “Imagine how much better New Zealand would have been had Don Brash been prime minister for the past six years”

      Yeah, I can just imagine how those tax cuts back in 2005 would have prepared the country to weather the then-upcoming global recession so well. Instead of, you know, getting us down to a 0 net debt position so that we were amongst the safest western countries in terms of government debt, and remain so even after the bailouts and earthquakes.
    • Eddie 10.3

      23 April 2011 at 11:54 am

      Brash saved the National Party? I though that was St John?

      The reality is that the National vote was trending up before Brash came to power and he was vital in losing the 2005 election for the Nats. It’s true, too, that Key’s election result was pretty much in line with what Brash was polling two years earlier.  

      “And how can Brash be racist when he supports One Law for All?”

      What is a dog-whistle?
    • millsy 10.4

      23 April 2011 at 12:02 pm

      Oh fuck off ‘Fairfacts’, let me tell you what would have happened has Brash become PM:

      1) Welfare would have been gutted, and the streets would have been full of single mothers and their children unable to afford anywhere to live.
      2) The entire workforce would have been casualised. There would be no minimum wage, no sick leave, no personal greivances, no holidays, no nothing. You make one mistake, your gone, just like that. Trade unions would be outlawed
      3) The privately owned power companies would be hiking prices year after year
      4) Education would have become the exclusive domain of the those who could afford it, or those lucky enough to get a scholarship. Schools in lower income area would become sink schools for those those at the bottom of society, and would be either starved of funds or closed down. Teachers would be on minimum wage
      5) Our health system would be privatised, and be just like the US system. If you have insurance, you may be lucky, if you dont, then you die
      6) The poor would be priced of the roads through tolls, they would be trapped in their cities because they would be unable to be able to afford the toll to get them out of town.
      7) Every single state house would be sold. Rents would be unaffordable, we would have people working 2,3 jobs and still have to live in garages.

      Don Brash as PM would have caused hardship on a scale never imagined in this country. We had a lucky escape in ’05. Hopefully as leader of ACT he would be a lame duck.
      • Rich 10.4.1

        23 April 2011 at 12:48 pm

        The second and third Key terms will do all those things.

        But Key is cleverer and more methodical. Priority #1 is to exploit crisis and rollback democracy, only then can he start on the substantive work.
      • Swampy 10.4.2

        23 April 2011 at 1:18 pm

        Your talking rubbish, that would have never got through Parliament, it would be 2008 election result just like 1993. Remember Ruthless Richardson got the boot as finance minister that yeae.
        • millsy 10.4.2.1

          23 April 2011 at 1:28 pm

          Fuck off Swampy. We dont want twatcocks like you round here. If I was in charge of this blog, I’d ban you for the promotion of the erosion of living standards.

          IrishBill: Watch yourself. We decide who stays and goes and so far swampy’s been a lot more civil than you.
    • Kevin Campbell 10.5

      23 April 2011 at 2:20 pm

      You are so right Fairfacts.
    • Deadly_NZ 10.6

      23 April 2011 at 10:19 pm

      What you mean they still havent driven a stake thru the old bastards heart yet??  Sheeit he’s got more lives than Dracula.
11. Anthony 11

    23 April 2011 at 11:46 am

    He’s a poisonous old man with bat-shit crazy ideas.
    • Anne 11.1

      23 April 2011 at 7:14 pm

      @ Anthony

      If you’re talking about Brash… don’t agree he’s poisonous. Bat-shit crazy in a political sense yes, but he comes across to me as a genuine person.
12. chris73 12

    23 April 2011 at 11:48 am

    Tell you what Brash would be a very good temp leader for Act to rebuild their brand around, he’d easily win Epsom and bring in some voters from both National and NZF
    • Pascal's bookie 12.1

      23 April 2011 at 11:50 am

      Coz ‘Old and rejected’ are such powerful brand motifs. All the cool kids are doing it.
      • chris73 12.1.1

        23 April 2011 at 12:14 pm

        Somehow I don’t think young people are Acts target demographic (Act on Campus not withstanding)
        Lanthanide: maybe not but how about the “one law for all” types
        
        
        
    • Lanthanide 12.2

      23 April 2011 at 11:55 am

      Any NZF voters who are voting for “no asset sales” wouldn’t swap to National or Act.
    • McFlock 12.3

      23 April 2011 at 3:40 pm

      Maybe ACT could “build their brand” on policy and principled action, rather than whichever narcissist suffering from economic dementia claims holy anointing?
       
      Oh, sorry – ACT policies, if specific and widely advertised, would have trace element attraction for the electorate. Bring on the next Joan of Arc.
13. gobsmacked 13

    23 April 2011 at 12:13 pm

    Brash is the lead story now on the radio news bulletins, across the commercial networks. Happy days!

    Nicky Hager should find out if there are any secret e-mails from Phil Goff to Don Brash …

    “Help me, Obi-Don Kenobi, you’re my only hope”.
14. Puddleglum 14

    23 April 2011 at 12:27 pm

    Just confirms what the Hollow Men revealed, that Brash has never believed in the policies he ran with in 2005 under the advice of John Key (i.e., not repealing four weeks annual leave, etc.).

    It also confirms that John Key saw and sees that running on those policies is purely a question of strategy rather than belief.
15. infused 15

    23 April 2011 at 12:38 pm

    One law for all was a huge hit. He just fucked everything else up.
    • Colonial Viper 15.1

      23 April 2011 at 3:48 pm

      You know full well that the country needs TWO laws. One for the top 5% of wealth holders and income earners, and another for all the losers.
16. U 4 United 16

    23 April 2011 at 2:15 pm

    Brash could win Key’s seat.
    Banks could win Hide’s seat. 
    The added profile would lift Act to over 5%.
    Here we go again! 
    Glorious deliveries. 
    Nat/ACT would be good for the 2011,2014, 2017 elections.
    • Colonial Viper 16.1

      23 April 2011 at 3:50 pm

      Brash could win Key’s seat.
      Banks could win Hide’s seat.

      Adding two has-been losers together makes a win in your Right Wing universe?
       
      Shit you guys are so out of talent.
       
      I guess there’s always Jami-Lee.
      • Deadly_NZ 16.1.1

        23 April 2011 at 10:21 pm

        Oh the shiney one ? He reminds me of a young Hide, same looks and same principles, (NONE).
         
17. Blue 17

    23 April 2011 at 3:21 pm

    Thanks for that erudite post Millsy, Free speech is only the preserve of the lunatic left eh?  I very much doubt you have ever been or ever will be “in charge” of anything, if your emotions are used as an example.
    • Jum 17.1

      23 April 2011 at 10:39 pm

      Blue,
      It intrigues me that the idiotological rightwing always slag off emotions when it suits, yet politically they bring in JKeyll and the wife and two kids so everyone goes ahhh.  Then JKeyll pulls the I’ll pay for the cancer treatment for breast cancer women just before the election so all the women go ahhh.  Then he calls up the widowed mother raising her children in a state house on a widow’s pension,  (conveniently forgetting that the help and support his family got he’s now trying to gut) and everyone goes ahhh.
      The American wide boy flies into NZ with orders to smile and steal and New Zealanders give him the key to their hearts and their assets.  Never mind that where NAct is concerned there is no such thing as honour among NAct thieves.
       
       
       
18. todd 18

    23 April 2011 at 3:23 pm

    I really think it was inappropriate to edit Brash’s photo like that, you should have at least given him horns and fangs.
19. Shazzadude 19

    23 April 2011 at 3:40 pm

    I think Brash joining ACT would be good for the left. Labour aren’t getting anything to stick to John because he seems like a reasonable, pragmatic sort of guy. However, Brash isn’t. It’s not easy for the left to label Key as some sort of enemy given how well he comes across in public, but it’s much easier to do that with Brash, given his role in the Ruthanasia policies of the 90s, and of course his racist campaign in 2005.

    Vote Key, get Brash. Remember, many of those who jumped from Labour to National in 2008 probably would have done so in 2005 had it not been for Brash.
20. gobsmacked 20

    23 April 2011 at 3:41 pm

    Rodney Hide responds to Brash:

    http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news

    Translation: “You want a piece of me? Bring it on!” 

    So then, how can National do a deal with ACT in Epsom if ACT can’t even do a deal with itself? Yep, it’s a comedy horror show, and we can only hope it runs until the election.
21. Zaphod Beeblebrox 21

    23 April 2011 at 4:22 pm

    Install Bhanatgar into Epsom, throw in Jame-Lee Ross put them both into cabinet then get rid of Power, Findlayson and Smith (they’re going anyway aren’t they) and will have your very own ACT party in charge of the government. I doubt Joyce and Key have enough coherent principles to stand up to the tea partiers in caucus. 

    Why should right wingers worry about Hide and his band of odd-balls.
22. Pascal's bookie 22

    23 April 2011 at 4:31 pm

    DPF is unhappy in a post, whilst the kbr are running out of tissues in general debate.

    Quite something that they think that this might get ACT up to 8-10 %, (which it might) but they don’t think about what it would mean for National’s vote. DPF sees the centre voters being sketchy; the grupentariat? Not so much. They genuinely seem to think that middle NZ is pissed off that Key keeps kicking Douglas and Brash to the curb.
23. Pascal's bookie 23

    23 April 2011 at 6:21 pm

    The arrogance of this old coot is pretty astounding. 

    ‘Yeah I’ll be the leader of your party that I’m not a member of, but you have to fly me straight into the top slot, ditch your current clown, make me in sole charge and put my mate from the failed kiwisaver scheme into Epsom, otherwise? No deal.’

    Anyone would think he had resigned from parliament in triumph.

    Please do this ACT.
    • handle 23.1

      23 April 2011 at 6:30 pm

      Wasn’t that pretty much his deal last time with the Nats? Money talks.
      • IrishBill 23.1.1

        23 April 2011 at 6:38 pm

        I believe the phrase was “no Brash, no cash.”
        • Pascal's bookie 23.1.1.1

          23 April 2011 at 7:51 pm

          It will be interesting to see how ACT goes with the fundraising.
    • Mac1 23.2

      23 April 2011 at 6:46 pm

      Brash by name and brash by nature. A man for whom solemn vows mean fiddly-dit. A Hollow man, a slasher and burner, a neo-lib and money-changer. I love him for ACT.

      Under him I would wait for another 14 years to get a pension. Remember, old age pensions at 75?
      • millsy 23.2.1

        23 April 2011 at 7:12 pm

        Of course, the good doctor wont have to worry about making ends meet in retirement. He would have a good government pension set out for him, as well as lucrative international consultancies for a bit of variety. I’m also guessing he would have a portfolio of rental properties as well that he can ‘liquidate’ if need be.

        Dog food, hell, his canines will be eating better than a lot of pensioners out there.

        The term ‘deficit hawks’ is in vogue at the moment. And he would be one of them. Of course the term ‘deficit chickenhawk’ would be the most apt, seeing as he expects the middle, the less well off and those at the very bottom to wear most of the pain required to lessen our deficit.
    • lprent 23.3

      24 April 2011 at 2:25 am

      Worked last time….
24. gobsmacked 24

    23 April 2011 at 7:20 pm

    Actual comment on Kiwiblog:

    “With a bit of luck, Brash would also have the cahones to invite David Garrett back into the ACT fold, possibly Muriel Newman too!”

    Please, let these crazy wishes be granted.

    Let’s all join ACT and help make this happen … We want Don, we want Don!
    (PS he’s on Q & A tomorrow morning …)
25. Carol 25

    23 April 2011 at 7:23 pm

    just read the tweet of the week over at Red Alert.  I think it’s from TheEgonomist:

    Don Brash the anti-Graucho:  I wouldn’t want to be part of any group that wouldn’t have me as leader.

     
26. William Joyce 26

    23 April 2011 at 7:25 pm

    Hide sandwich meat? Check out Feel free to copy/save and send any of the images to friends (or foes!).
    • Lanthanide 26.1

      23 April 2011 at 10:14 pm

      “With juices”? Gross.
27. HC 27

    23 April 2011 at 8:16 pm

    Whatever the neo libs get up to now should only deserve second focus.
     
    What is more crucial is for Labour to get its act together and go on a full attack against government policies by presenting a decisive political alternative.
     
    It is time now for all front bench Labour polticians to present themselves as a team of equals. It is time to present a proper plan for this country istead of doing little stings against BMW purchases and so forth.
     
    Hoping and waiting for ACT to fall apart, split, go under and so forth is fair enough, but that can hardly be a worthwhile focus for the upcoming election.
     
    If an opposition can only rely on government parties to fall apart that is useless opposition.
28. todd 28

    23 April 2011 at 8:20 pm

    I had such a nice dinner, then I saw Brash on the TV. What a waste.
29. DJ 29

    23 April 2011 at 9:58 pm

    As I see it ACT has three options.

    Status Quo – Keep Rodney, but next election he’ll probably be the only ACT member in parliament and even that’s not guaranteed.

    Possibly survive with principles intact – They could replace Rodney with someone like Heather Roy. It would look refreshing and may net them 5%.  This could also lead to ACT being kicked out of parliament. However, with another term for renewal and enough financial backers they may look credible enough to get more votes.

    Survive but privatise principles – Don Brash becomes leader and starts selling his conservative views as liberal ACT policy. Of course ACT could force Don to swallow a dead rat but Don has far less to lose than ACT does.
30. gnomic 30

    23 April 2011 at 11:19 pm

    Donald Thomas Brash a man of substance? Is this based on his 14 years at the Reserve Bank suckling at the teat of the state while he pinned the tail on the donkey? Has anyone done a comparison test with the work of a chimpanzee on this? Or perhaps an octopus? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to roll some dice to determine interest rates and likely as effective? Then there was more battening on the taxpayer while he tried and mercifully failed to promote his ultra-dry recipes. As a man of principle it must have been really difficult to get those dead rats down, but I suppose sometimes it’s necessary to misspeak so as to get into power. Perhaps it’s a convention that a man’s private life is off limits, but Don seems to have issues with commitment, to put it mildly. Where is the wife from Singapore these days? Brash is the very essence of a hollow man surely? He will of course be refusing his pensions from all those years he spent working for the state, or at least giving the money to charitable causes.
    Anyway I thought that ineffable idiot and crazy loon Banksie was to be the member for Epsom?
31. Salsy 31

    24 April 2011 at 12:04 am

    National have no option than to choose Brash. Every other party they have gone into coalition with is dying.. they have no choice but to roll out the undead..
    • Colonial Viper 31.1

      24 April 2011 at 3:17 am

      Gentlemen! Find your silver, sharpen your stakes, fresh cloves of garlic all round, and prepare the vials of holy water!!!
32. M 32

    24 April 2011 at 2:30 am

    Don’s transmogrification’s not complete is it? Is he on the way to becoming the Grinch?
33. Annaliviaplurabella 33

    24 April 2011 at 2:34 am

    Brash’s return provides Labour with a landscape upon which it can clearly define it’s brand. Cunliffe and others should be let loose to present policy. Labors new economic direction as presented by Cunliffe will attract the liberal and centrist Nats.
34. Annaliviaplurabella 34

    24 April 2011 at 2:42 am

    This is the time for Labour to let Cunliffe loose with the new economic direction. While English is too gutless to argue his policies with Cunliffe, Brash is too vain to refuse.
    • Colonial Viper 34.1

      24 April 2011 at 3:21 am

      Hear us the Battalions of the Left! We are the many, they are but the few and the cowardly.
       
      Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!
35. Peter 35

    24 April 2011 at 5:30 am

    Cunliffe has way more brainpower than English.
36. Carol 36

    24 April 2011 at 7:02 am

    Is this Brash move evidence of a struggle between key & Hide and/or National & ACT?  First Key annouces Nats will put up a serious candidate for Epsom.  Then there’s a promo for TV3 saying Hide will stand at Epsom & to be on CL that night.  Then the slot is pulled & rescheduled for the next evening…. but it never eventuates.  Now Brash is making a brash statement about leading ACT.  Is this a ploy from National to squeeze Hide out so that ACT re-elects a new leader?
     
    And is it also evidence of Nats feeling they are not a complete shoe-in to re-gain the government benches?
37. Carol 37

    24 April 2011 at 10:06 am

    So, after qu & a, it’s looking like a Don Brash-John Banks attempt to take over ACT & for Banks to stand in Epsom…. and a headache for John Key, because that will give a lot of ammunition to Labour, not to mention that Brash is very critical of Key’s leadership and policies.

    PS: My error above. Key announced they would focus on the party vote in Epsom, not that they will field a strong candidate.
    • gobsmacked 37.1

      24 April 2011 at 10:18 am

      Asked if Key was a good Prime Minister, Brash basically said ‘No’.

      And his plan is not to join ACT and then become leader … it’s to join ACT if he can be leader. (I offer myself to Labour on the same condition).

      So who’s going to lead ACT in Parliament? Will the non-leader still get the leader’s budget? Surely if Hide isn’t leader any more, he loses his entitlements?
38. PeteG 38

    24 April 2011 at 10:32 am

    If Brash rolls Hide do Act still use Hide top try and win Epsom? Despite his faults Hide worked very hard on Epsom and was widely thought to have earned his seat.
     
    Brash was parachuted into the National list and never contested a seat. He wants to be parachuted to the top of the Act list. He doesn’t sound like he wants to work for it. I think he’s totally out of touch, more so then when he was in parliament before. He seems to have no idea about leading a small factional party.
39. Tui 39

    24 April 2011 at 12:33 pm

    Give Brash and Key credit for one thing – getting you lot mobilised.
     
    But will they win over the freezing voters in Ōtautahi (Christchurch), and will it translate to the broader electorate ?
    • grumpy 39.1

      26 April 2011 at 3:31 pm

      I live in Christchurch and I don’t know any voters in Otautahi…..
      • Daveosaurus 39.1.1

        26 April 2011 at 3:36 pm

        You need to get out more.
40. Samuel Hill 40

    25 April 2011 at 12:02 pm

    Brash as leader of ACT/Epsom Candidate would keep ACT in Parliament.
41. Frank Macskasy 41

    26 April 2011 at 3:28 pm

    Brash as leader of ACT/Epsom Candidate would keep ACT in Parliament.

     
    I concur.
     
    But as I outlined above, it would be at the expense of National’s share of the Party Vote.
     
    Whilst ACT would most certainly attract the right-wing; free marketeers; and Treaty deniers – the reverse would happen for National, and they would lose the urban liberal vote, women, and those who remember Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson when they were in office.
     
    The end-result might well be a strengthened ACT and a weakened National.
     
    End result; a Labour-led coalition government, by the slimmest of margins.
     
     
     
    • grumpy 41.1

      26 April 2011 at 3:30 pm

      …but Frank….wasn’t Roger Douglas a Labour Minister….??
      • Jum 41.1.1

        26 April 2011 at 5:35 pm

        Grumpy
        Roger Douglas has only ever had one plan – betray New Zealanders by removing their autonomy as a country – TPPA – and removing any vestige of their ability to have a reasonable lifestyle – Employments Contracts Act 90 days, plus remove women’s rights to be treated as equal human beings. He’s retiring this year. His job to betray us is done.
         
        He had no ethical problem infiltrating any group of politicians to achieve it. He also took his cohorts with him to the rightwing when National took up his cause in 1990 and invited him back, on a job well done in the 80s, in this second decade to finish that sell-off by the moneytrader and co.
         
        His cohorts like Michael Bassett are all advising NAct; all you have to do is read some of their books to understand that these crims have no ethics. They will use anything and anybody to get power, money and control over New Zealand’s people and their assets. Even Ansell left the left when he had no one interested in his pedalling rightwing propaganda.
      • Colonial Viper 41.1.2

        27 April 2011 at 1:29 am

        …but Frank….wasn’t Roger Douglas a Labour Minister….??

        Yeah, and a traitor to his party, and to his country

        What do you say to that grumps?
42. Frank Macskasy 42

    26 April 2011 at 11:00 pm

    But yes, Grumpy, he was.

    Now he isn’t.

    Along with Dunne, Prebble, and others, who were thrown out on their ears.

Links to post

1. Hideout? Brash tries Good Friday resurrection « Red Alert: posted on 23 April 2011 at 9:29 am
2. So ACT, do you want the good news or the bad news? | mydeology: posted on 23 April 2011 at 1:49 pm

• Comments are now closed

• Log in
• Donate
• Contribute post

• Articles RSS