David Seymour blows the dog whistle, hard

Written By: - Date published: 8:56 am, May 22nd, 2018 - 34 comments
Categories: act, david seymour, housing, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags:

What do you do when you are the parliamentary leader of and sole Member of Parliament for a party disappearing in the polls and totally dependent on National giving its supporters a nudge and a wink to get you over the line.

Apart from being embarassed that you are so reliant on others for your livelihood when you head a party that preaches self sufficiency you get out the dog whistle.

Blow really hard about how some poor people who need our support and somewhere to live may have mental health problems.  And hint some of them may be homicidal maniacs.  And rely on coarse human instincts to whip up a bit of hysteria.

This is exactly what David Seymour did recently.

From Isaac Davidson at the Herald:

Act Party leader and Epsom MP David Seymour has been accused of fuelling prejudice after he sent a letter to constituents warning that tenants in a new housing development could have mental health issues.

Seymour stands by the letter, saying that the social housing development had a history of anti-social behaviour and he was “telling it like is”.

Housing New Zealand (HNZ) has applied to the Auckland Council to replace a rundown residential building with a five-storey, 25-unit complex on Banff Ave, Epsom.

In a letter to residents, Seymour invited them to voice their concerns at a public meeting and said the development would put pressure on local infrastructure.

He added: “There is also a chance that some of the future residents will have social and mental health issues who will need to have special support measures in place.”

The public meeting on Thursday was a fiery affair, and Seymour was forced to step in after residents became furious at HNZ officials.

The redevelopment is planned to house small families and elderly residents.  It is one of many that are planned throughout Auckland.  There is nothing unusual about it.  This is what a responsible Government does when there are New Zealand citizens who otherwise would have nowhere to live.

Shame on you David Seymour.

https://twitter.com/PhilTwyford/status/998651703879655427

34 comments on “David Seymour blows the dog whistle, hard ”

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  1. Rosemary McDonald 1
    22 May 2018 at 9:02 am

    David Seymour frankly, needs to go jump in a lake, start debating on the evidence and stop speculating to create fear, uncertainty and doubt.

    Do as you say David, do as you say…https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/356086/euthanasia-bill-dangerous-palliative-care-workers

  2. cleangreen 2
    22 May 2018 at 9:07 am

    Seymour needs to jump in a lake full of crocodiles more like Rosemary.

  3. WILD KATIPO 3
    22 May 2018 at 9:11 am

    L0L !

    Rimmer is a NIMBY.

    Here’s a song from Kevin Bloody Wilson that talks about another NIMBY who got run out of town by the very people he looked down on. A cheeky song that has the Aborigines winning and coming up trumps at every turn 🙂

    KEVIN BLOODY WILSON Living Next Door To Alan – YouTube
    Video for living next door to alan studio version youtube▶ 4:36

  4. Pete 4
    22 May 2018 at 9:14 am

    David Seymour blows the dog whistle? I admit I have heard him referred to as a mongrel.

  5. tc 5
    22 May 2018 at 9:26 am

    That’s the sound of ACT circling the drain, desperate and dateless.

    Hope it gets the ugly, anti social, callous sentiment behind it returned to Rimmer with Interest.

  6. Stunned Mullet 6
    22 May 2018 at 9:29 am

    As long as none of them having Chinese sounding names…

  7. cleangreen 7
    22 May 2018 at 9:32 am

    ACT was a destructive element in NZ politics with no good outcomes derived from this loose band of rich extremists.

    • WILD KATIPO 7.1
      22 May 2018 at 9:45 am

      It was only ever a construct to house the minority radicals to provide a visible frontage once the destruction was carried out , – look at them all Douglas, Prebble , Richardson et al…

      All of the scumsuckers not only destroying the country but destroying the party’s they used to launch their treasonous campaigns…

      And after that , … leaving a rear guard to be used by National to carry on the process, they all went on to prominent local and overseas CEO positions from which to further their unethical rorting.

      Anyone remember Jamie Whyte?

      So now we have Rimmer the NIMBY.

      If people cant see these creeps for what they are they almost deserve to be shafted by them for not being vigilant enough to help close that party down. Hopefully next election will see their final demise from NZ politics.

  8. David Mac 8
    22 May 2018 at 9:42 am

    I think David quite likes being a politician. In his shoes, I’d be trying to think of creative ways to remain a politician.

    Convincing the good folk of Epsom that ‘we’ need to stop ‘The Shining’ from moving in next door is one plan. It may well get traction with those in that part of town. A 6.5 on the Get David Elected scale and a 0 on the Do The Right Thing scale.

    • Wensleydale 8.1
      22 May 2018 at 1:21 pm

      You’ve got to hand it to Virgil Tracey (he does dance a bit like a Thunderbirds puppet), he does know how to start a fire, watch it spread and then conveniently appear to placate the rioting mob while painting himself as the voice of reason. Well played, Virgil.

  9. AsleepWhileWalking 9
    22 May 2018 at 9:54 am

    Given the extensive problems these complexes generate I think there is cause for concern.

    Specifically HNZ need better plans around dealing with antisocial behavior. Right now they seem to have the same head in sand approach the have always had.

    She also had concerns for her daughter if there were more people in the HNZ units like the tenants of the empty complex.

    “My daughter should be able to go to the BP down the road for icecream and not be afraid.”

    Well its not a shitload of fun living in such complexes either. HNZ tenants deserve better management. Its not that hard.

  10. David Mac 10
    22 May 2018 at 10:04 am

    “My daughter should be able to go to the BP down the road for icecream and not be afraid.”

    There is nowhere in NZ where this is not in the back of a parent’s mind and most paths will always be a whole lot more perilous than the one to BP Remeura.

    NZ is no place for communities with invisible gates of discernment, we’re in this together.

    • WILD KATIPO 10.1
      22 May 2018 at 10:20 am

      … ‘ There is nowhere in NZ where this is not in the back of a parent’s mind and most paths will always be a whole lot more perilous than the one to BP Remeura ‘ …

      Good on you. I have a 22 year old son, 6 feet tall , who when a little younger was selected by his Chinese Muay Thai tutor to go to Mainland China on several competition / training trips,… he can adequately look after himself.

      Yet even if he goes down to the BP late at night I always caution him , I dislike him going into central Auckland in the wee hours and try to encourage them to ‘stay home and have a few beers here’… ‘far more comfortable’ etc… you never stop being that parent.

      And it is true that ‘ most paths will always be more perilous than the one to BP Remuera’. We are all in this together and what Rimmer is being alarmist about is encouraging straight out NIMBYISM for cheap political gain.

      And nothing more.

  11. repateet 11
    22 May 2018 at 10:15 am

    I remember discussion about a new secondary school in the area a few years back. People got upset because their prized zone status might be affected. I remember Seymour being on their side.

    Of course a few years later there’s still talk about problems with schools being full. New housing announcements recently have seen renewed concern about schooling.

    Seymour wants change. He wants things done in logical, sensible ways not a status quo simply based on old models. Mostly though if people don’t want changes which seem necessary, he doesn’t want change. He doesn’t want change to his electoral status.

    He is all piss and wind.

  12. Siobhan 12
    22 May 2018 at 10:26 am

    I’m not saying this facetiously, but as a layman I would treat someone like Seymour as having his own, if not mental health issues, then at the very least personality issues. Given his lack of political power, and the fact he is not immediately a contender, other politicians/commentators would be better treating his proclamations with a snigger and a laugh, or even better entirely ignore him.

    Give these people air, any type of air, and next minute you find them being voted in as President.

  13. mac1 13
    22 May 2018 at 11:22 am

    Poor folks in rich areas. Who remembers this?

    “Labour Party housing spokesperson Annette King said Prime Minister John Key has long been against the idea of homes for low-income buyers or tenants being part of the development.

    She said said that in 2008 Mr Key, who is also the local MP, had described state housing as part of the mix at the Hobsonville Point as economic vandalism.”

    https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/106013/first-home-buyer-scheme-ended-at-hobsonville-point

    John Key was against state housing being in the mix at the former Hobsonville air base, a prime waterfront site, in 2002.

    • tc 13.1
      22 May 2018 at 2:41 pm

      Yes that’s more likely….Property values and social segregation.

      Is Melissa Lee his strategist ?

  14. AB 14
    22 May 2018 at 11:45 am

    I’d be more concerned at the social and mental health issues of the Act-voting sociopaths these decent, hardworking HNZ clients might have to live amongst.

  15. mpledger 15
    22 May 2018 at 12:17 pm

    I don’t agree with David Seymour at all but a five story high building in a suburban area is too high and too dense. The people in the building deserve some quality of life as well and not live in a chicken coop.

    • tc 15.1
      22 May 2018 at 2:34 pm

      There’s multi storey retirement complexes recently put up in epsom, ellerslie, onehunga with little fuss so it’s 100% NIMBY driven faux outrage from the hologram.

    • greywarshark 15.2
      22 May 2018 at 5:07 pm

      The effects of multi storeys start to become isolating when they get beyond three stories. Being close enough to ground level to feel connected to the people in the neighbourhood is best according to studies I have read.

      People in penthouses in tower blocks usually have city busy lives, enough money to socialise and mix and be out as they wish, and are not likely to be troubled by broken lifts etc. As social housing, it would be important to keep the levels down to three.

  16. Cinny 16
    22 May 2018 at 4:39 pm

    Just read the article on Stuff…..

    Guess what david seymour, the CEO around the corner from me has mental health problems, but don’t worry it’s not contagious.

    Mental health difficulties are global, the disease isn’t fussy, it knows no specific gender, age, race, religion, income bracket etc.

    Sheez I’m livid over his comments and by the way david seymour, Miss 13 and I were wondering how on earth you are still on dancing with the stars (actually most of NZ are probably wondering the same).

  17. greywarshark 17
    22 May 2018 at 4:58 pm

    But Seymour knows that this area of Epsom is a sheltered community for people with paranoid fears of meeting ordinary people living ordinary lives, like the Indian Brahmins who can’t stand having even the shadow of an Untouchable fall on them.

    https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dalit-girl-beaten-up-as-her-shadow-falls-on-high-caste-muscleman/articleshow/47691186.cms

    Epsom is a perfect place for people of a sensitive mental condition to seek shelter from a complex world. And it would be therapy for the present residents to find that they are not harmed, and in time they will learn to relax and love their new neighbours. Seymour’s comments about it must have been misquoted.

  18. AsleepWhileWalking 18
    22 May 2018 at 5:25 pm

    He digs deeper…

    https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104102224/act-leader-david-seymour-warns-social-housing-tenants-may-have-mental-health-issues

    Mental Health Foundation CE Shaun Robinson said Seymour held an influential position that could shape public opinion.

    …..
    Seymour said that the Foundation was weighing into a situation it “hadn’t sought to understand.”

  19. AsleepWhileWalking 19
    22 May 2018 at 5:25 pm

    He digs deeper…

    https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104102224/act-leader-david-seymour-warns-social-housing-tenants-may-have-mental-health-issues

    Mental Health Foundation CE Shaun Robinson said Seymour held an influential position that could shape public opinion.

    …..
    Seymour said that the Foundation was weighing into a situation it “hadn’t sought to understand.”

  20. Cinny 20
    22 May 2018 at 5:58 pm

    From that stuff article…. seymour says…

    “I’d like to invite Phil Twyford to come to southern Epsom and speak to the residents and explain why it is that they have been subject to public urination”

    Holy contributing to the delinquency of minors Batman!

    Just taking a wild guess here…. could it be that locals were boozed up and needed to take a leak on the way home from the pub?

  21. Gabby 21
    22 May 2018 at 8:47 pm

    If Coq SeeMore’s neighbours cn cope, anybody can.

  22. Visubversa 22
    22 May 2018 at 9:10 pm

    Party which wants to scrap the RMA and give people more “freedom” to build what they want on their own land – objects to organisation building what they want on their own land. I reckon they should have a 12 month suspension of the RMA in the Epsom Electorate – and see how that works out for them.

  23. WILD KATIPO 23
    22 May 2018 at 11:50 pm

    Yeah mate,…

    Primitive Technology: Grass hut – YouTube
    Video for grass hut▶ 4:17
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEUGOyjewD4

    ——————————————

    This’ll fuck em !

    ‘They came down from Meekatharra
    In a burned-out blue FJ
    That farted and just shit itself in Jutland Parade
    Right next door to Bondy’s
    When the smoke had cleared a voice said:
    ‘Eh .. this place look all right
    We’ll tell the government it’s a sacred site
    Dead fuckin’ easy’

    ‘Good day Mr Alan Bond, how you goin’ bloke?
    Hey, I’m your brand-new neighbour … hey, mate you got a smoke?
    And I think I’m gonna like it here
    Livin’ next door to Alan’

    Twenty-four kids, 9 adults and 15 dogs
    A dead roo on the roof rack and a boot load full of grog
    ‘And I’m flash as Michael Jackson now I’m
    Livin’ next door to Alan’

    ‘The first thing that we gott a do is get another car
    ‘Cause the one sittin’ out the front won’t even fuckin’ start
    We’ll call that bloke again from the government
    He’s all right, eh?’

    So they called the bloke in charge of all the government grants
    And the next day in the driveway was a new Mercedes Benz
    ‘Eh, come ‘n’ have a look at this one, Edwin
    This one’s got a wireless … look at this, eh’

    ‘Good day Mr Alan Bond, how you goin’ mate?
    You got a real flash car, but my one’s flash one, eh
    And I believe that my one’s faster than yours, Mr Bond
    ‘Cause mine’s a red one’

    Twenty-four kids, 9 adults and 15 dogs
    All squeezed in the front seat with the wireless turned full on
    Listenin’ to Slim Dusty now they’re
    Livin’ next door to Alan

    So Bondy called Ben Lexcen and said:
    ‘I want another yacht, twice as big
    And twice as fast as what I already got
    That’ll fuck ’em’

    So his neighbours called some welfare mob, not to be outdone
    And got the HMAS Melbourne on some sorta government loan
    Got me knackered — they just said they wanted to
    Go fishin’ for yabbies in the river

    ‘Good day Mr Alan Bond, how you goin’ mate?
    You got a real flash boat, but my one’s flash one, eh?
    And I think I’m gonna put him in the river
    Next door to Alan’s

    Fifteen dogs, 9 adults, two dozen screaming kids
    With lines strung from the flight deck, tryin’ to catch some squid
    Swimmin’, fishin’, pissin’ in the river
    Next door to Alan

    So Bondy threw a party
    The likes you’ve never seen
    And invited everybody from the Premier to the Queen —
    And the Leyland Brothers

    So his neighbours baked bungarra on a barbie on the lawn
    And invited all their relatives from Meekatharra to come down
    ‘Hey, Edwin, don’t you forget to bring a big flagon of woobla
    There’s a party on at my ‘ouse!’

    ‘I don’t know why he’s leavin’, or where he’s gonna go
    He says he’s got his reasons and I reckon that I know
    He just never got used to
    Livin’ next door to Abos’

    ‘He’s jumpin’ up and down and he’s makin’ such a fuss
    At least we don’t got fuckin’ coons livin’ next door to us!
    Now we gotta get used to not
    Livin’ next door to Alan

    Now we gotta get used to not
    Livin’ next door to Alan