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5:30 pm, July 24th, 2020 - 37 comments
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The political skill of Winston Peters (Cabinet Minister) to successfully stop the government rolling out an economic recovery package for Southland, and then go down there a week later as Winston Peters (NZFirst Leader) to roll out his own response and literally beg the crowd for votes, is impressive.
Galling, bold, arrogant are other words. But he needs to do that. We all need our politicians to show they are hungry for our votes.
Ardern and Robertson have been thoroughly outplayed so far.
They have only a few weeks to stop being played by Winston and get their economic recovery message back on track.
Agreed.
The government is showing signs of not being hungry enough. What concerns me is that despite their talk to the contrary, they're relying on their laurels for this election.
Yes, they have more than earned a second term, but a significant portion of the voting public are fair weather friends and it wouldn't take much for Judith Collins to use negative persuasion to change their votes.
"Kindness" alone will not win them the election. Believe it or not, but imo the majority of people actually like a little bit of mongrel.
But Ardern and Robertson have done far more than being kind. Ardern's behaviour of late is part of the campaign strategy. I don't see them resting on their laurels……that would mean just saying "hey look guys we got through through Covid, aren't' we great, vote for us"………..
We shouldn't applaud how Winstone is bahaving lately. Quoting Hitler is not a vote winner. IMHO Peters is coming across as a rabid, desperate animal………..vote winning? well I guess we will find out in September.
Ardern currently looks like one of the few adults in the room. Everytime she speaks I am blown away by her brilliance.
But just my opinion
I just hope that NZ is not out played by the owners of Tiwai pt and see them "spray"and walk away, leaving us with the cleanup the dross/ouvea and ramifications of returning the pt. to a clean status.
"The bigger issue is the cleanup of the actual smelter site, a job that is said to cost about $256m. The Government has little leverage. It doesn’t hold a bond it can refuse to give back if it’s unhappy with the way the site is left."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/122092874/tiwai-point–helterskelter-around-the-smelter
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/13-02-2020/deep-dross-in-the-deep-south-is-rio-tinto-holding-new-zealand-to-ransom/
he is, and others could learn from this. It's also a flaw in MMP.
The Nats do, maybe. He's not competing for votes with his current coalition parties, thank goodness.
Peters knows he's done this election. The virtue signalling over Tiwai Point is a last desperate pitch vote a very few number of votes.
Ha she not read what Rio Tinto has been saying? That the high end Aluminium market has no future as technology is using other materials.
What is the point of the rest of New Zealand subsidising multinational companies in a dying industry?
Yes, Peters is hungry but that is because he's fast looking at his last meal.
"Ardern and Robertson have been thoroughly outplayed so far. They have only a few weeks to stop being played by Winston and get their economic recovery message back on track."
It's not clear if this is sarcasm. I assume it is, since all available polling evidence says the opposite. The wrong/right track surveys, such as Roy Morgan, have 72% supporting the government's direction.
This is the latest polling specifically on the economy.
with Labour ahead of National by a huge margin. Meanwhile the most recent coverage of economic policy has featured National's numbers being dismissed by media and independent economists.
What is the evidence that Ardern and Robertson have been "thoroughly outplayed"?
It's not sarcasm. Just desperate, extreme centrist babble.
Peters is doing the people of Southland a major disservice by promising to keep Tiwai Point open when both Labour and National are not going to move on further subsidies.
I think that its more important that they show us:
Yes draco and may I add a no. 7? That they handle themselves with competence and intelligence, while doing so demonstrating that they have NZders best interests at heart.
………..I think that's Ardern
The recovery message might include a Hydrogen promo to sop up NZ's hydro power no longer required by RIO.
"The excitement about hydrogen as an energy source is based on an alternative approach, which involves passing an electric current through a so-called electrolyser. This splits water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen and emits no nasty carbon."
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-hydrogen-breakingviews/breakingviews-hydrogen-investing-is-a-lottery-worth-playing-idUSKCN24N0X0
People who refer to hydrogen as an energy source really irritate me.
Its a store of energy, same as petrol and batteries.
Heh. (just in case any reader isn't twitter savvy, click on the date to get to the original tweet and all the glorious replies)
https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1286418875811270659
Person, man, woman, camera, tv. I'm presidential material!
(Clicking anywhere on the embedded tweet will work)
How 'bout that, it does!
My set-up went through a phase where only clicking the date worked, so that kinda got turned into a hardened habit.
@lprent also moves the goalposts every now and then to keep us on our toes 🙂
A compassionate President might say something like this.
"Each generation doubtless feels called upon to reform the world. Mine knows that it will not reform it, but its task is perhaps even greater. It consists in preventing the world from destroying itself. Heir to a corrupt history, in which are mingled fallen revolutions, technology gone mad, dead gods, and worn-out ideologies, where mediocre powers can destroy all yet no longer know how to convince, where intelligence has debased itself to become the servant of hatred and oppression, this generation starting from its own negations has had to re-establish, both within and without, a little of that which constitutes the dignity of life and death. In a world threatened by disintegration, in which our grand inquisitors run the risk of establishing forever the kingdom of death, it knows that it should, in an insane race against the clock, restore among the nations a peace that is not servitude, reconcile anew labour and culture, and remake with all men the Ark of the Covenant. It is not certain that this generation will ever be able to accomplish this immense task, but already it is rising everywhere in the world to the double challenge of truth and liberty and, if necessary, knows how to die for it without hate. Wherever it is found, it deserves to be saluted and encouraged, particularly where it is sacrificing itself."
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1957/camus/speech/
Let's talk about how Trump plans to win.
His base still strong, his profile and channels dominant, his funding colossal, his party loyal to their boots. So what would he do?
Beau of the Fifth Column with a magnificent beard and what sounds like a deep midwestern accent, lists the strategy in 14 quite enjoyable points:
How to acuity test
for more:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-person-woman-man-camera-tv_n_5f1a4316c5b6296fbf402c09
The government has taken some steps to support shared ownership schemes being run by housing charities. This is an important addition to the problematic Kiwibuild concept and one which should have been announce at the same time as Kiwibuild. One which targets families which have been left behind in the housing rush.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/07/government-launches-400-million-first-home-buyer-scheme-here-s-how-it-works.html
The scheme should really by run directly by the government through HNZ/Kainga Ora rather than through the non-profit industrial complex. I can seriously imagine this being announced in the parallel universe where Bill English is PM, he was big on social services being delivered by charities.
5 absconders from Hamilton, 4 caught, 1 still at large…all tested negative on day 3.
This appears planned. Police saw one offender in the act of climbing the fence.
Absconding has to be treated as an extremely dangerous action IMO.
1 adult and 4 children, including a teenager. Odd grouping. Maybe they're all teens and know each other?
Looks like 3 adults and 2 youths
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/122247176/police-charge-four-people-who-allegedly-escaped-covid19-isolation-in-hamilton
NOPE 1 adult and 4 youths!!!
more here https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-25-07-2020/#comment-1734116
Has to be treated as attempted mass murder because that is what could possibly happen.
My feeling is if you escape you do your next 2 weeks in prison. If you escape knowing you are sick you face potential attempted bodily harm charges, you escape and someone get sick it’s an immediate grievous bodily harm charge and it someone dies then it’s a man slaughter charge
murder has to have intent. Risk taking with other people's lives in other ways isn't treated as murder. I get that people feel strongly about this but equating it to murder isn't helpful imo.
Thing is, there was intent. Sure, they may not have intended to kill but they they certainly intended to escape. On top of that they know that the disease that they have can and they knew they had it before they escaped.
So, maybe manslaughter as John suggests above but the charge needs to be strong to get through to any other idiot that tries this.
Knowing what the reason for escaping is would be where I would start as it may have prevented the escape were the groups needs met.
Or their wants, perhaps.
yep. This is the missing part of all the stories and it's an important one.
Apparently wanted to go to a funeral and had been refused compassionate leave.
That was probably because they were infected. Throw them in jail and make sure they don't come out for a long time.