Chutzpah in Northland

Written By: - Date published: 9:47 am, March 14th, 2015 - 44 comments
Categories: by-election, john key, winston peters - Tags: ,

Say what you like about Winston Peters – and who doesn’t – but the man has chutzpah:

Key Challenged to Debate Northland

New Zealand First Leader and Northland by-election candidate Rt Hon Winston Peters is challenging Prime Minister John Key to a debate in Northland.

“John Key is the pseudo candidate up here. He’s on the hoardings and he’s up here leading the charge after ignoring the Northland electorate for years,” says Mr Peters.

“John Key spends a lot of time talking about me, let’s see how good he is face to face.

There’s no downside for Peters in that challenge. Key won’t show of course, but it he did, Peters would probably be asking questions about stats like this:

44 comments on “Chutzpah in Northland ”

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  1. Sable 1
    14 March 2015 at 10:29 am

    Keys wouldn’t fare well against Winston Peters. Peter’s is an astute and seasoned politician who won’t tolerate Keys nonsense.

    • Chooky 1.1
      14 March 2015 at 11:06 am

      +100

      • North 1.1.1
        14 March 2015 at 11:38 am

        ‘You-Gotta-Let-Me-Win-Key’ [“sookie sookie – ganging up”] will of course not show. The-Weakling-Key would rather do a ‘Speedgate’ detour over dozens of one-way bridges and endless dusty roads than face-off Winston.

        I hope like hell Winston wears that one like a medal for the rest of the campaign. How the hell could the guy the MSM says we’d all love to have a beer with……that ‘good joker’, that ‘one of us’ fulla…….how the hell could he not turn up after repeated invites ?

        “Mmmmm…….sounds like he might be a bit of a Chicken-Key that fulla ? Or a bit of a Snob-Key maybe ?……Fuck him anyway !…….Hey Winnie…….spare beer goin’ here if you’re interested”.

        • David H 1.1.1.1
          14 March 2015 at 1:27 pm

          I think Winston prefers scotch.

          • North 1.1.1.1.1
            14 March 2015 at 8:48 pm

            Yeah, him and Spud Bolger. DNA wise he’s got some Scot in ‘im ain’t he ? Seems reasonable to top it up from time to time. I have and I do. Got a litre of a pretty smart single malt the cork just aching to be torn off and tossed irretrievably away on 28/3/15.

            Don’t wish to overwork the point but Winston winning Northland is of immense significance for the entire nation. It will be the start of the rollercoaster, the beginning of the end for the Crosby Textor/MSM manufactured construct that theism naturally attaches to ThePonceKey. And the beginning of the end of the appalling candy-hued nouveua riche-ness that is said ponce.

            As charlatanesque as some of us choose to identify Winston think on this – Winebox he came through; 2011 he came through; if he wins in two weeks we will say again, he came through. And we will thank him for it.

            Why ? Simple. Whom amongst us doesn’t reflex that TheGargoyleKey is a fraud upon the values we learned at our parents’ knees ?

  2. Dorothy 2
    14 March 2015 at 11:44 am

    I would love it .
    I can see John Key smiling benignly but lost for words
    as it is difficult to lie to Winston Peters.

    • greywarshark 2.1
      14 March 2015 at 12:38 pm

      @ Dorothy
      Smiling not benignly, the word would be sickly. It would be pinned on but yek most of the time looks strained, weak and sickly. Keeping up the appearance of a veritable model of a modern Prime Minister takes it out of one, you know!

      Here is G&S with introductory musical heralding the entry of our PM to any debate with Winnie.

  3. Melanie Scott 3
    14 March 2015 at 11:47 am

    Have read that there has been a lot of early voting in the by election. (No booth open here in Mangawhai area until March 23.) Talk of Nats hearding their faithful to the polls before they learn the full details of the Sabin debacle. Worringly, there are a lot of elderly folks in rest homes and little retirement houses in Kaiwaka, Wellsford area whose Nat voting farmer relatives will be bullying them to vote the way they want them to vote.
    When I wrote about the shinanigans here last weekend I was bemused by the unfamiliar faces turning up in numbers to lunch with Key and Osbourne at a local watering hole. Have since learned they were all wealthy farmers from the Kaiwaka area.

    • Molly 3.1
      14 March 2015 at 1:23 pm

      We take out my 90 year old father-in-law every Saturday, along with another rest home resident in their late 80s. A couple of weeks before the election they told us that they were all set for election day, as they had just had people come around and check their enrolments. They both had their EasyVote cards tucked away in their wallets and were ready to go. We offered them a lift to the polling booth on election day, along with the usual visit to the bank and stop off for a cup of tea.

      When election day arrived they informed us that they had been told by staff that what they previously thought was enrolment checking, was actually early voting. When I asked them if they remembered voting for a particular candidate or party, they both looked confused. However, both said that they were told to tick places on the form (ballot paper?) and they did so.

      Given their general sense of confusion over this event, it is hard to tell if there was any undue influence over votes for vulnerable residents.

      What was obvious is that they had both voted without realising it. And when questioned, they both were not sure who they had voted for.

      • David H 3.1.1
        14 March 2015 at 1:34 pm

        Is that not illegal? Can a complaint be laid the the electoral commission over shenanigans like that?

        • Neil 3.1.1.1
          14 March 2015 at 2:03 pm

          Its not illegal when Key does it, but if others do, it is illegal.

        • Molly 3.1.1.2
          14 March 2015 at 4:29 pm

          The difficulty is that given their ages and personalities they are very compliant. They will change their story depending on who is directly in front of them, and if they feel that they will get their carers in trouble, they will prevaricate and get confused.

          Else I would have taken it further. To place a formal complaint, the presence of an objective observer would be of most benefit. If my in-law is still there next time around, will definitely ask to be informed when the next round of voting happens just to watch what is going on.

        • Lanthanide 3.1.1.3
          15 March 2015 at 8:42 am

          From the story as it is written here, nothing suggests they were told who to vote for, merely where on the form they should put the ticks – which incidentally you will also be told at the polling place, although generally in a very brief fashion and without 1 on 1 help.

          • Molly 3.1.1.3.1
            16 March 2015 at 2:19 pm

            Hi Lanthanide,

            In this particular instance, they were unaware that they had voted, so any help with selecting the correct party on the voting slip – even if well-intentioned or usual practice – did not extend to ensuring that they were aware that they were actually voting for a candidate and their party of choice.

            In fact, I know my in-law was still prevaricating, wanting to support NZF because he benefits so much from the use of the Gold Card, but wanting to support his grandson in the police who told him to vote for National. As his voting experience throughout his lifetime has been one of attending polling booths on election day – along with many other of his generation – it is easy to see how he was confused.

            What is pertinent though, is that he could not recall what party he had voted for when asked. He is still a very physically active person, not up on current affairs but lucid and reasonably personable, and still does not know where his vote went.

            • Lanthanide 3.1.1.3.1.1
              16 March 2015 at 3:18 pm

              “In this particular instance, they were unaware that they had voted, so any help with selecting the correct party on the voting slip – even if well-intentioned or usual practice – did not extend to ensuring that they were aware that they were actually voting for a candidate and their party of choice.”

              To be more precise, they now don’t have any recollection of voting. That’s not to say that they didn’t understand what was happening at the time.

              • Molly …
                16 March 2015 at 9:19 pm

                I guess you would have to know my in-law to understand that he does not suffer from dementia or alzheimers at all.

                You may be right that they were told, but you also may be wrong in assuming that care was taken to ensure that everyone understood what they were doing.

                As I mentioned before, only an independent observer that was there on the day could answer that question. If he is still there during the next election I’ll ask to be informed so that my partner and I can ensure that his intention and his vote are aligned.

      • weka 3.1.2
        14 March 2015 at 3:42 pm

        Thanks Melanie and Molly, such important stuff. It puts me in mind of the stories Hone Harawira was telling at the general election about the barriers to Māori voting.

      • rawshark-yeshe 3.1.3
        14 March 2015 at 4:21 pm

        is there really no level to which Key will not stoop ?? this is horrific and I hope someone will lay a complaint where it matters.

        • b waghorn 3.1.3.1
          14 March 2015 at 5:12 pm

          What happens to the ballot boxes over night? When I early voted in the general election I asked the bloke at the polling station and he muttered something about them being locked in someone’s garage over night.
          I have to say I don’t like this early voting carry on I think it opens the door to vote rigging .

          • Francis 3.1.3.1.1
            14 March 2015 at 9:15 pm

            From what I understand, the advanced votes are counted on the day they are cast (and then locked away in case they need to be re-counted). I could be wrong, though.

      • Murray Rawshark 3.1.4
        14 March 2015 at 8:24 pm

        The owners of the homes would probably have to be co-conspirators if what you describe is what I think it is. Wouldn’t surprise me at all. Most of them are Tory scum.

      • whateva next? 3.1.5
        15 March 2015 at 7:38 pm

        This is extremely concerning, there are so many polite, compliant older people in aged residential care, and the imbalance of power needs to be acknowledged. If the people who carry out the voting in rest homes do not of the highest of integrity, it needs addressing at the highest level.

  4. Neil 4
    14 March 2015 at 2:01 pm

    Key would be a no-show at a debate with Winston, Key hasn’t got the guts to do it.

  5. peter h 5
    14 March 2015 at 3:01 pm

    Key will turn up he has told everyone. Get some guts and follow me, If he did turn up you would need lots of time, Beause for every questions key would have several answers

  6. mary_a 6
    14 March 2015 at 3:34 pm

    If Key went head to head with Winston, watch the nasty card come out to play. Key is good at that, when the heat goes on and he wants to deflect attention away from himself!

    The Hosking could always make himself available to mediate the debate! Again!

    Key debating with Winston in Northland? A blood sport, finishing with Winston standing over the sniveling little slime ball, ready for the kill (figuratively)!

    But when put to the test, the gutless rat Key will say it’s not him standing and walk away.

  7. appleboy 7
    14 March 2015 at 3:43 pm

    Where is fisiani to prattle on and defend the idiot key?

    • North 7.1
      15 March 2015 at 10:34 am

      It’s Sunday……..he’s busy officiating at the Temple Of The God Key. Parakai Pools, Helensville. Worship followed by baptisms.

  8. saveNZ 8
    14 March 2015 at 3:58 pm

    Finally a politician who has the right style, political nous, experience and cheekiness to challenge Key!

    even the MSM are coming out of the woodwork…. to tentatively challenge dear leader.

  9. Incognito 9
    14 March 2015 at 6:44 pm

    It must be very confusing for Key with so many hats: the PM’s hat; the hat of the Leader of the Nats; the campaign leader’s hat; the billboard erector’s hat; Mark Osbourne’s hat. Wearing Osbo’s hat he should debate Winston, of course, but wearing any of the other hats he should butt out. Winston knows that, of course, the wily fox he is.

  10. Murray Rawshark 10
    14 March 2015 at 8:30 pm

    Mark Osborne has a Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/MarkOsborneForNorthland?fref=ts

    It’s really quite sad. I asked him about NAct’s policy on the prevention of the sexual abuse of Northland children, but he hasn’t answered. Winnie’s page is getting much more traffic, but in his defence, Osborne can lift really really heavy pieces of iron.

    • felix 10.1
      14 March 2015 at 10:02 pm

      15th tomorrow, wonder if he’ll have anything to say on the matter then?

      • Anne 10.1.1
        15 March 2015 at 8:23 am

        Have I missed something? What is significant about the 15th?

        • felix 10.1.1.1
          15 March 2015 at 8:29 am

          Doesn’t name suppression for a prominent NZer end today?

          • dv 10.1.1.1.1
            15 March 2015 at 8:37 am

            http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11404727

            He is facing 12 charges of indecent assault against two people including two representative charges.

            The charges, which include allegations of touching the complainants on the breast, buttocks, groin and thigh, are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

            Name suppression for the man expires on March 19 or until the appeal is heard.

            • felix 10.1.1.1.1.1
              15 March 2015 at 8:54 am

              Ah thank you, so Friday then. Tick tock…

              • Lanthanide …
                15 March 2015 at 9:25 am

                Of course the appeal will probably be lodged this week, in the expectation it will push the date past the 28th

                • felix …
                  15 March 2015 at 11:34 am

                  I’m sure the court won’t want to risk being seen to be taking political considerations into account.

                  • Lanthanide …
                    15 March 2015 at 1:35 pm

                    Which is unfair really, because the claimant is fully able to take political considerations into account, and upon questioning can just as easily say that it took a while to sort out exactly what argument they would be using, and after all the court did give them a month’s notice for a reason.

          • Anne 10.1.1.1.2
            15 March 2015 at 11:22 am

            Maybe you’re right. I thought it was the 20th.

  11. Ad 11
    15 March 2015 at 7:28 am

    The Ipredict for National’s candidate is beginning to look pretty sick.

  12. vto 12
    15 March 2015 at 9:25 am

    Come on Key – show some guts and debate with winnie…… ya chicken, bok bok

    • North 12.1
      15 March 2015 at 10:08 am

      VTO it is not permissible to address Richie McCaw or any effete, studied replicant of gutsy New Zealand manhood in that way……Bok Bok !