Crusher wants to crush

Written By: - Date published: 8:59 am, February 14th, 2018 - 90 comments
Categories: Judith Collins, national, Politics - Tags:

 

And they are off.  Judith Collins is the first out of the block and has announced that she will be seeking the leadership of the National Party.

She did this by way of a tweet.

Shen then managed to secure an interview on Radio New Zealand who have said this:

Ms Collins said she believed the party needed strong and decisive leadership.

“We also need somebody that can operate in a way that will, in fact, bring about a lot of stress on the current government, and leader of the opposition is one of the toughest jobs in politics.

“So I’m one of the few people in our caucus who’s had any experience in opposition and it is not going to be easy but we do need to do that,” she said.

“I’ve got a plan to get 61 votes at the end of 2020 and I believe that I can do it, it’s not going to be easy but I can do it.”

Supporters have drawn a link between her potential bid and that of Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom for the Conservative Party leadership in the 1970s.  Thatcher was also a rank outsider but won through a matter of luck and timing and the fact that no one else with any credibility wanted the job.  Crusher is probably thinking she can do the same.

I am confident that she would not be able to repeat Thatcher’s success.  Although she could fracture National and create a second right wing party which could actually be helpful for them.

Meanwhile her BFF is saying that any contender who offers Steven Joyce a senior position will lose and that Amy Adams has major ethics problems.  This could get interesting.

90 comments on “Crusher wants to crush ”

  1. James 1

    Go Crusher !

      • James 1.1.1

        Whereas I would describe you as a flusher.

        • reason 1.1.1.1

          At the sound of the flush …..For whom the bell tolls.
          James mouth starts watering … Pavlovs fallen sole……

          he’s a number 1 heel.

          ———__

          Judith has self painted bulls eyes over herself …. All bigger than Kauri logs pretending to be a stumps.

          This Lady of the loophole …. Crusher of honest police statistics …. and very close friend of honest Cameron Slaterberg.

          Gets my vote ……….. to be the Nacts leader.

        • North 1.1.1.2

          A flusher beats a straighter the latter of which I take it you are Jameser. Gosh the guy on TS a few years ago who confessed a hard-on over Judith……he’ll be spoofing !

      • Puckish Rogue 1.1.2

        Shes a marvellous women, obviously no Caesar Imperator Lucius Aelius Aurelius Antoninus Commodus Augustus Pius Beatus Sarmaticus Maximus Germanicus Maximus Britannicus Maximus, Pax Orbis, Invictus, Romanus Herculaeus, Pontifex Maximus, Patria Patriae, Amazonius Fortunatus, Consul for the Seventh Time, Imperator for the Eighth Time, Tribune for the Eighteenth Time John Key
        (but then who is) but shes easily the best current politician in NZ so this is a good move

      • Ed 1.1.3

        James is 48.
        He hangs around left wing blogs all day.

        Sad.

  2. repateet 2

    Fancy that, adjectives in the headlines “fiery” and “crusher” but not “liar” or “dishonest.”

  3. Stunned Mullet 3

    She is no Thatcher.

    • Stuart Munro 3.1

      Give her a chance, she might be just as bad.

      When Margaret Thatcher dies there will be no tears
      save your sorrow for the people that she stomped for years
      she tortured North of Watford with a vicious hate
      so when Margaret Thatcher dies let’s celebrate

      Lousy governance in a democracy earns the peoples censure.

  4. Puckish Rogue 4

    I laid out the reasons why yesterday this could come about and some on here pooh-poohed the idea 🙂

  5. cleangreen 5

    What “crusher” needs to remember is this;

    It was the “dirty politics policy against Winston” during the election, that did this stuff started with Collins involvement now.

    We now have a court legal inquiry going on; – with four National MP’s and two civil employees found to be connected to leaking Winston’s private information to Government agencies and the press.

    Including the now defunct National leader Bill English!!!!! and some say that was why he suddenly exited the political scene because the legal court inquiry must be close to making a ruling that Bill English is one of the four national MPs that leaked Winston’s details along with his enemies in national such as Collins, Joyce and Bennett.

    Now the question is will Bill English now be able to be charged with his scandal over this since he will be not a politician any more come 27th February 2018???

    Was this the real reason why his ‘sudden retirement/pushed move happened???

    • Puckish Rogue 5.1

      “some say that was why he suddenly exited the political scene because the legal court inquiry must be close to making a ruling that Bill English is one of the four national MPs that leaked Winston’s details along with his enemies in national such as Collins, Joyce and Bennett.”

      All we know is hes called The Stig

    • red-blooded 5.2

      Surely it’s pretty clear that English knows he can’t win against Ardern and so he’s decided to go – probably partly out of pride/hurt feelings/burnout and partly out of loyalty to his party. He wants them to be able to establish a new leader in the public’s mind before the next election.

      He’s not the one to take on Ardern – he’s too stale and staid, is unlikely to win over new voters (even though the base is staying loyal to him at present) and has bad history with Peters and NZF, so would be unlikely to win them over in the situation in which they may again be the party inthe middle making a decision about who to back.

      I don’t think we need to look too hard to find reasons why English is moving on.

      • Enough is Enough 5.2.1

        “Surely it’s pretty clear that English knows he can’t win against Ardern”

        He didn’t win the election but I think you may have forgotten that he beat Ardern by a margin less than 6 months ago.

        • reason 5.2.1.1

          Yes enough is enough …. sad dog the english man beat Arden …. which is why he has resigned as loser of the opposition …and she is Prime minister… whoops, hang on a sec …

          New confidential information from stikypeeps emails …. show English having an epitaph and realizing he is a mathematical idiot.

          “I honestly thought we’d won “, he writes ….

          “Who the fuck knew 46% was not over half” …. ” I felt like a right dildo when John rang up and told me”.

          After the sly trickery of basic addition, the final kick came from a man with more resurrections than Jesus …. ” that brown bastard Winston called Me a minority”…..I’m not hanging around to be discriminated against” he wrote.

          After a brief period of getting his lawyer to be creative and suck every cent possible from his tax payer subsidised pension …. His future plans are to smoulder on with a career in Lignite.

          Box on Bill ………………… the biggest minority you ever saw.

    • alwyn 5.3

      ” legal court inquiry ”
      What Court Inquiry is this?
      Winston has actually withdrawn all his claims. He might still be blustering on but at the moment there are no claims at all outstanding.
      Please tell us. What Inquiry are you dreaming about?
      https://yournz.org/2018/02/04/winstons-legal-fishing-fizzles-into-fake-news/

      • cleangreen 5.3.1

        Alwyn dreams on; – or is Audrey Young got it wrong here?

        http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11987115
        quote

        By: Audrey Young
        2nd February 2018.
        Political editor, NZ Herald
        audrey.young@nzherald.co.nz @audreyNZH
        Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has dropped his legal action against two journalists in pursuit of the person who passed on details of his overpayment of superannuation to others.

        But he is stepping up his action against four National Party MPs and two former staffers.

        • alwyn 5.3.1.1

          How can you possibly believe that when he has withdrawn his action and hasn’t filed a new one.
          Are you really as stupid as you appear?
          Did you read through the item I linked to?

  6. Matthew Whitehead 6

    Yes, I think Crusher’s real path to success would actually be if the liberal faction of National get back into power in this contest, she could lead a significant breakaway faction of conservatives that would actually make the right wing of politics a much healthier place in general, because it would allow for genuine debates over social policy that aren’t so heavily whipped by large parties, with the liberal faction able to vote with the Greens and Labour on social issues even on party votes from time to time, and the conservative faction voting with NZ First.

    It would of course require that the upcoming electoral integrity act isn’t invoked on any list MPs, and that the electorate ones win any automatic by-elections if they don’t switch parties before the law is passed, but I think given National’s opposition to it they’re unlikely to complain.

    I’m also pretty confident it just won’t happen because conservatives and authoritarianism go together so well that they love the idea of one big party with a Strong Leader™. If there’s ever going to be a split, it kinda needs to be the liberals in National that do it.

  7. BM 7

    Left vs Right

    About fucking time.

  8. red-blooded 8

    As for Collins’ bid – well, I guess we knew she’d try. She hasn’t been particularly subtle, after all.

    She’s a head-banger and I can see why she might be seen as a good choice, in the short term. If the Nats concede that they’re unlikely to win in 2020, then she may well be the scrapper who could make the government very uncomfortable. She’s got a lot of baggage, though…

    The Thatcher comparison is interesting, but Thatcher wasn’t up against a really charismatic, personable opponent. Ardern is charming as well as savvy – she’s a great communicator. I don’t think she’d be easily intimidated. And her choice to be “relentlessly positive” has earned her a lot of kudos. Collins has been tryinga bit of a charm offensive since making it back onto the front bench, but that’s not who she is and the insincerity would be obvious, up against Ardern.

    Of course, some of Ardern’s shine may have worn off by 2020, but it’s also possible that she’ll have won over more people by then. We live in interesting times…

  9. Cinny 9

    ROFL LMFAO !!! No mud on her ahahahahahaha ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!

    Great choice lolololololollll !!!!

    How dirty will the tory blogs get now? Fun times for them hahahahahahahaha!

  10. Anthony Rimell 10

    Appropriate music for Judith as she prepares her bid?

    • Puckish Rogue 10.1

      Not quite, the Cunliffe used it a long time ago but this one might be more appropriate

  11. alwyn 11

    Well, one thing is clear. The Green Party might as well postpone their own election for female whatever.
    Neither the media nor the General Public are going to take the slightest bit of notice of their joust and the will miss out on the publicity they were hoping for.

    • Stuart Munro 11.1

      Hard though it may be for trolls to imagine, real parties exist to represent their members and the issues that are important to them, not to pander to the degraded tastes of gutter journalists.

      • alwyn 11.1.1

        One would certainly hope so.
        But weren’t you hoping for just a teeny weeny bit of publicity out of it as well?

        • Stuart Munro 11.1.1.1

          It’s more of a stability issue than anything else at the moment. That kind of publicity effect is pretty volatile – won’t last till the election in the absence of visible performance.

    • cleangreen 11.2

      Same for Bridges and Collins too.

      • alwyn 11.2.1

        I’m not really sure what you mean by this comment.
        However I just looked at the Herald Politics stories and there seemed to be about 20 on the National leadership contest and nothing at all on the Green affair.
        If you mean that Collins and Bridges won’t get any publicity you are, as usual, badly mistaken.
        Perhaps you didn’t mean that and were trying to make a sensible point. If so what was it?

  12. Sanctuary 12

    I’d like to make a few points. First, the MMP electoral system, complete with the high threshold, was devised for Germany to prevent the re-emergence of extreme politics and adopted in New Zealand for the same reason – to forever rein in the neoliberal excesses of the FPP dictatorship of the cabinet. As such, it is an electoral system that rewards the political centre and incrementalism.

    Second, the main engine of politcal radicalisation in the USA and EU – the 2008 GFC, the disasterous policy responses to it, and the near decade long recession – do not apply in this country. New Zealand flew through the GFC with barely a scratch. The surpluses of Cullen and the booming economies of our two largest trading partners – China and Australia – meant the GFC was largely an issue of the old Atlantic economic order. The economic and political conditions currently present in NZ therefore mitigate against radicalism, be it from the left or the right. There is very little appetite for radical economic change in the NZ electorate, and even less for socially conservative authoritarianism.

    The leadership we’ve had since MMP emphasises this. Clark, Key and Ardern were/are all centrist figureheads who rely on a deputy (Cullen and English) to do the policy donkey work. Arguably, Bill English is a 1980s Brashite neoliberal dry who was forced to pump prime by the GFC and Cullen was a softer neoliberal wet who benefitted from a boom. The question as to Whether or not Grant Robertson is of the same stature as a Cullen I’ll leave open for now, but point is our politics since 1999 has been of a broadly popular, centrist leader with a neoliberal dry or wet finance minister doling out incremental change.

    To my mind then, Collins would be a disaster as a leader for the Nats. She is polarising politican hell bent on fighting an identity politics culture war. Mobilising a radicalised base around identity is a game two can play, as the Trumpsters and the GOP are going to find out when every woman in America votes against them in the mid-terms. Collins would be marooned in the 1980s supported by a rump base and with a handy centre-left majority for Ardern.

    Therefore, I warmly endorse Judith Collins for the leadership of the National party.

  13. cleangreen 13

    100% Sanctuary

    Good thinking strategy there.

    All Jacinda needs to do is follow her promises to the letter including saving regional rail freight which Collins wants to destroy rail entirely around regional NZ for “roads of truck gridlock”.

  14. The Chairman 14

    One of the largest hurdles for Labour securing another term (or more) is a strong opposition.

    Under Bill, Nationals’ support was strong and increasing.

  15. I feel love 15

    Eat The Rich, a movie that has it’s monents, but the PM is a head banger called Nosher who solves the Israeli/Palestinian crisis by literally banging their heads together, “now shake hands”. It’s satire, but the likes of Collins et al think bullying and using a loud voice “gets things done”. Will be a popular choice for the authoritarians and other tiny little men.

  16. “I’ve got a plan to get 61 votes at the end of 2020…”

    Oh, I bet she has. DPF already gave us the suggestion a couple of months’ back: mount a dirty-politics campaign to drive NZF and the Green Party below 5%, and their redistributed votes should enable National to govern alone on less than 50% of the vote. If she gets the job, Key’s tenure as leader will look like a model of rectitude and integrity by comparison.

  17. McFlock 17

    The smear of Bishop either forced Bridges’ hand or gave him the opportunity do the numbers on English. Either way it was too soon, I think. But it outed him as the powerful challenger. Collins is the obvious shark in the water, ready to attack the nearest big fish in a frenzy.

    Unless Bridges can draw some blood on Collins quickly, it’s going to be a drawn out battle that will weaken both of them for someone else to sneak in the middle – and caucus might be willing to take the unknown third option in the knowledge that if it doesn’t work out they can go for a “Jacinda effect” leadership change in another 18 months or 2 years.

    But I can’t imagine that Collins doesn’t have figurative skeletons in her closet. I can almost believe she collects literal skeletons. So even if it’s not “who scraped the fuel pipeline while digging kauri”, this is going to turn ugly quickly.

    And good.

  18. Peroxide Blonde 18

    Please, oh please let it be Collins.
    She will drive the Nats back to the low 30s pc league.

  19. Keepcalmcarryon 19

    She offers the chance for some nice “finished” Kauri bench tops at National HQ.
    What’s not to like

    • AB 19.1

      I’m over finished kauri benchtops – all those untrimmed dead roots get in the way and the 3 tons of attached Northland clay broke the joists at my place.

      • cleangreen 19.1.1

        Shit AB;

        That sounds bloody awful the roots broke your house joists?

        That mean the house has been wrecked?.

        • AB 19.1.1.1

          Yeah – but lucky to have the house CG. A 3 bedroom bung in an undistinguished suburb, but now ‘valued’ at $1.3M due to National’s deliberate inflation of the AKL housing bubble. Can’t get the cash out of course – have to pass it to the young fella or he has no chance, thereby confirming Piketty’s contention that inherited wealth will become as important as it was during the “Belle Epoque’.

  20. delia 20

    Always seems to be on her own.

  21. One Anonymous Bloke 21

    It would be fun to watch Jeremy Wells reduce her to to a vengeful gibbering threat machine, eh.

    • BM 21.1

      I’d be surprised if Well’s lasts more than 3 months on Seven Sharp.

      Fucks sake it’s the completely wrong vehicle and audience for his type of humour.

      The general vibe from the sheeple blogs/boards I read is that they hate him, they don’t get his deadpan delivery, they think he’s boring.

      Jermery is actually a talented guy, but Seven Sharp is completely wrong for him, hopefully, it doesn’t trash his career.

      Whoever signed him up obviously knows nothing about show demographics and needs to be kicked repeatedly in the private parts until they resign

      • One Anonymous Bloke 21.1.1

        😆

        Touched a nerve I did.

      • solkta 21.1.2

        Very funny that stunt with Hosking’s award. He had to. “The other option was this: a Kenny Rogers LP”. lol.

        Maybe they will get more than just a few deadheads watching the program?

        • BM 21.1.2.1

          The problem is that it’s no longer Seven Sharp.

          Hosking and Street made that show, they are Seven Sharp, you cannot take the two leads out and replace them with two completely different types of people and sill call it Seven Sharp.
          Obviously, they’re going for a completely different audience so why hamstrung them by retaining the whole Seven Sharp vibe?

          It makes no sense at all and does make you question the competence of the people calling the shots on TVNZ.

  22. halfcrown 22

    “Jermery is actually a talented guy, but Seven Sharp is completely wrong for him, hopefully, it doesn’t trash his career.”

    I agree with you there BM. His intelligence and wit are far above the comprehension of the thick rightwing fuckwits who idolised Hoskins.
    Not a good look for ratings.

    • Keepcalmcarryon 22.1

      Beautifully said halfcrown.

    • BM 22.2

      Take some testosterone dude it will help deal with anger issues as you go through “menopause”.

      It’s what I’ll be doing when I reach your age.

      • halfcrown 22.2.1

        Well said BM, I like it, but no anger issues over rightwing fuckwits, more the truth, and I am well beyond menopause stage.

  23. Pat 23

    “I’ve got a plan to get 61 votes at the end of 2020 and I believe that I can do it, it’s not going to be easy but I can do it.”

    61 votes might be about it….61 seats however, no way

  24. Incognito 24

    We’re going to need strong & decisive leadership if we’re going to win in 2020.

    So, I am the only person who finds this an odd sentence. I mean “if” not “when” and the leadership is required after (?) the possible win in 2020 and not beforehand, i.e. without that wishful win no strong & decisive leadership will be required!?

    I’m that person.

    This does not logically connect to the previous sentence unless she’s using the royal “we”. Or it could refer to the first sentence of her tweet:

    I’m announcing my candidacy for Leader of the NZ National Party.

    In that case she means “I am the person who’s announcing my candidacy” as if she is stressing that’s she’s not announcing somebody else’s candidacy. Very peculiar.

    Or she’s projecting herself as the Leader of the NZ National Party, which makes a lot of sense to me as in JC being JC.

    All in all, a bit too unhinged, too wishful, and too disconnected from reality and thus a perfect match to a leadership bid for the National Party.

    Go Judith, you can do this! For the few, and most of all, for yourself! You’re on the cusp of something special and there’s a brighter future for you ahead.

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