Written By:
Mike Smith - Date published:
11:00 am, November 3rd, 2011 - 37 comments
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It is obvious why Nikki Kaye has been dodging debates with Jacinda Ardern in Auckland Central. She’s terrible at it, as last night’s Backbenchers showed. Kaye came across as an angry finger-wagger who thinks the most important issue in the campaign is to keep wages down for young people. This was in spite of the appearance on the show of of one small business owner who already paid $15 minimum, and a student who was getting the Australian minimum of $21 an hour.
Kaye looked like a politician under pressure. Her polling can’t be that hot. Jacinda Ardern, Labour’s spokesperson on youth affairs, was forward-looking and articulate, and had all the best lines of the night as well. Kaye said the holiday highway was to help the poor; Ardern asked how making it easier for Aucklanders to get to their baches was going to help the poor! The show’s worth a look when it comes up on the TVNZ site; it gives a glimpse of what the future could be like. The Greens’ Denise Roche was also impressive.
Aucklanders tell me Kaye is well known as a ‘cushion politician’; one who agrees with the last person that sat on them. She decries mining on Barrier but happy to have it going ahead on Coromandel and talks trams, happy in the knowledge her party bosses talk roads. There was an example of this last night – Kaye favoured the rail loop last night, confident that Joyce will veto it.
No wonder Nikki Kaye is being represented at debates by a chicken. Auckland Central could be a very interesting contest. Ardern’s a buy.
The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...
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helllllooooooooooooo Jacinda…
Really? A road out of town to help the poor? Guess she wants to ship them all up north.
Seriously, the poor don’t have money to spend on petrol to go on highways like that.
I wonder what Melissa Lee thinks about the holiday highway? Anyone know what list placing she has or if she’s up for an electorate?
Shhh… don’t tell her about it. Melissa will panic cause all the crims from Northland will travel along it on their way to Mt.Albert!
She’s standing in Mt. Albert again.
ffs, I just dont’ get what it is the nats dont get about a better minimum wage being better for the entire country.
It doesn’t take money out of the economy. It spreads it around amongst more people, which is better surely. Better a hill and valley than a mountain peak and ravine.
No? Anyone?
The Nats and their supporters are hills that want to be mountains, and don’t mind as long as someone else is the ravine.
“It spreads it around amongst more people”
There’s your answer, v. That’s exactly what they hate about it.
They say it will hurt small businesses.
The adjustment period may hurt a tiny bit, but that’s it. It will definitely not hurt after that. And then we have valleys and hills rather than mountains and ravines.
While I’m sure some supporters like that argument, it’s certainly not the reason National is against it, as they seem to keep implying that a lower minimum wage is actually BETTER for the economy as a whole. They’re not opposed to it because of marginal cases, they’re opposed because they don’t want employers to need to pay more on wages.
Raising the minimum wage is a goal any truly optimistic-patriotic government would be striving for.
but, but, business owners could use that extra $2 per hour for something important, like… buying more houses as a CGT free investment to get rich!!!!!!
/sigh
Election Debate Winners
#1 Native Affairs: Key/Goff draw. Minor parties: Metiria Turei – 24 Oct
#2 Sky Campaign 2011: Hone Harawira – Oct 30 (worst one yet)
#3 TVOne Leaders debate: Phil Goff – Oct 31 (not the first debate)
#4 Native Affairs Kowhiri 11: Clinton Dearlove – 31 Oct
#5 Press Leaders debate: Draw – Nov 2 (Best format but technical faults)
#6 Backbenches: Jacinda Ardern – Nov 2
#7 Waiariki election debate Maori TV: Jack McDonald – Nov 2
My god, Nikki Kaye actually said she’d love to see wages drop!
Jacinda deserves the win and deserves every success coming to her. She’s so damn smart and effective. Very, very proud to be a member of a party with talent like this on a rise.
Jacinda for P.M. !
We need her ..
One day. I’d happily put money on it.
I might actually vote Labour if that happened. 😛
I thought Jacinda was impressive in that debate and it got me wondering what the polling is like.
Nikki Kaye has been taking smug grin lessons from Key and it really didn’t look good. “Can I just say two things…” every time she tried to make a point, at least one if not both of her two things was an attack on Labour at some bizzare tangent to the topic.
Denise Roche had a few good lines too.
Interesting to hear that the CBD rail loop is too expensive for Labour to afford, but Kaye supports the holiday highway AND the rail loop.
The difference between Jacinda Adern and Nikki Kaye is that Jacinda’s Party agrees with her!
Another great performance from Jacinda. We can now look forward to Grant Robertson taking out the Backbenchers Wellington Central debate next week. The Grant Robertson/Jacinda Ardern Labour leadership combination is worth waiting for. They are both smart, articulate and relate extremely well to all New Zealanders. They each have a deep social conscience. Great work team!
I’m ready for the youngsters to take charge now
Kaye won Auckland the old fashioned way; by knocking on thousands of doors and telling people whatever they wanted to hear.
She’s not smart and she’s not talented but she’s willing to do the footwork every 3 years and that makes her dangerous.
Just watched BackBenchers – Nikki Kaye squints when she tries to get her point across – it just makes her look conniving and mean! Fingerpointing the whole time too! Blowing with the wind of Auckland then swaying back the way of her party – she can’t have it both ways forever! Choose Nikki – Auckland City or National – two very different agendas!
Kaye won because Tizzard couldn’t be arsed IMO a few seats were won by the nats because of lazy campaigning by labour candidates……let’s hope for nz sake they get off their butts this time….listening Beaumont !
I’m not sure why you feel like electorates matter when it’s a Labour/National contest.
I posted in yesterdays open mike about the chicky with the glasses standing behind the presenter, she looked like such a cow. I think someone noticed too because by the end of the show she was gone. 🙂
As for Jacinda, she was on fire, I loved her line about how Kaye wants the holiday highway so she could have a smooth ride to her holiday bach lol, and The Green MP was awesome with the local knowledge quiz. She got all the answers except for one that got picked up by labour. Made the NACTs look like tourists haha.
LOL! I noticed her as well and man did she look like she’d been sucking lemons through a straw! Very attractive – not! Great debate and agreed Jacinda made Nikki look really smug and quite frankly out of touch. Another great debate from Labour.
I thought it was a man at first and thought that was funny, but the funniest thing was that it was wearing a “I’m a Key person” t-shirt and that explained everthing.
Apologies to feminist types for objectifying but Jacinda is HOT, good and on the correct side.
I realise its the wrong electorate but pretty please could you come doorknocking up in the not so swanky bits of Parnell Jacinda? <3 <3 <3
Yes shes a fine looking lady but even better than that when she starts talking she just makes so much sense.
I’m sorry but you think Ardern is hot? There are no hot politicians in NZ.
Even if she wasa regular girl at the bar, I wouldn’t go near her. Average at best – just like her politics. Cactus Kate was right – you spend all your time crying about John Key being Mr Smile and Wave and ignore the fact that Ardern is being wheeled out at the “attractive” face of Labour at every opportunity.
Consistency please! Or at least get better standards!
[lprent: You could have just used your own name as usual – just for consistency. Isn’t that what you keep urging my authors to do? The word hypocrite comes to mind. ]
I think the hotness factor is not relevant, but I do think it helps that Jacinda comes across well on TV and is quite photogenic. But, an important part of that is that she sounds passionate and sincere. Kaye just looks like another National spin merchant, with moves and body language rehearsed in front of a mirror, or a Nat spin meister.
The Green MP came across really well too – smart and down to earth with some good lines.
Denise isn’t an MP yet but yes I agree she came across well, especially for someone who hasn’t done much on tv.
I’ve had dealings with her before and found her to be a person of notable integrity.
Hahahahahahahahaha!!! Best line of the campaign so far:
ACT Wally: – I don’t know why Denise is complaining about urban sprawl – she doesn’t even live on the same island. She live on an off shore island . . .
. . . (three other panel members start falling about laughiing) . . .
<Jacinda: – At least she lives on the same planet.
Tha ACT guy sounded very middleclass in his aspirations for “his generation”., with little real understanding of the ways many people in all generations, but especially large numbers of young people, are struggling just to get jobs that pay enough to live on.
Jacinda ? Hot ?
Yeah .. in a good way.
She’s on fire. We need more like her.
I read recently* that voter registration for Cent. Auks is the lowest in the country. So even if JA loses inspite of her activity, it’ll probably come down more to voter apathy, and entrenched stubborn folks. I’m not from that electorate, but I am an Aucklander, and I do appreciate Js vision more and hope she wins the seat.
* I had a look for the article but couldn’t find it. But basically all the main urban centres had very low registration (aucks, welly, dunedin… etc)
low registration rates bad for Labour.