In praise of Judith Collins

Written By: - Date published: 3:58 pm, May 17th, 2019 - 35 comments
Categories: act, david seymour, Dirty Politics, greens, Judith Collins, national, uncategorized - Tags:

I bet this is a headline that you never expected to see on the Standard but when someone does something deserving of praise they should receive it, even if they are Judith Collins.

The context is David Seymour being a dick about Golriz Gharaman and tweeting this:

To Seymour and ACT’s social media can I remind them about slain UK Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and killed by a far right wing nut job.  Rhetoric matters and violent rhetoric can have terrible effects on some people.

And Golriz is not a threat to freedom of speech. It takes a particularly twisted view of reality to arrive at this extraordinary conclusion.

What makes this particularly inappropriate was that this week we learned that Golriz had been the subject of conversations among right wingers who joked about her receiving physical harm.

For David Seymour to make these comments two days after the threats had been publicly disclosed shows how particularly distasteful his comments were.

And Judith agreed.

Poor old democracy mum did not know what to do.

https://twitter.com/democracymum/status/1129190858505445376

And it was odd but refresing to see Golriz and Judith agree.

https://twitter.com/golrizghahraman/status/1129139110143115264

Judith Collins, take a bow.  David Seymour you should be ashamed.

35 comments on “In praise of Judith Collins ”

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  1. Sanctuary 1
    17 May 2019 at 4:16 pm

    Collins is frantically re-inventing herself to broaden her appeal ahead of knifing Simon Bridges. Anyone who thinks that leopard can change it's spots has got rocks in their head.

    • mickysavage 1.1
      17 May 2019 at 4:24 pm

      Yep I thought about that. This is the most anti dirty politics thing Judith has ever done.

    • Jess NZ 1.2
      17 May 2019 at 4:31 pm

      +1000000 She sees it is trending on Twitter and jumps on board for a few touchy-feely feminism points to raise her current level of zero.

      What’s she got otherwise in her media portfolio? Oravida, Slater pal, and will she/won’t she knife her party leader?

    • Andre 1.3
      17 May 2019 at 4:53 pm

      Cunning shapeshifting indeed from Jhthulhu.

    • Adrian Thornton 1.4
      17 May 2019 at 6:14 pm

      Yeah, pretty cynical stuff from Judith IMO, especially coming from a party of highly trained dog whistlers.

      Still have to say smart move politically nonetheless.

  2. mary_a 2
    17 May 2019 at 4:20 pm

    Hmmm. Makes me wonder if Judith Collins is attempting to get NZ Greens onside!

    Alarm bells ringing rather loudly!

  3. McFlock 3
    17 May 2019 at 4:25 pm

    Well, fair call to her on that one.

    Seymour was probably just desperately seeking relevance and clicks with his BS, but I bet he didn't expect to be pulled up on it by JC.

    • Dennis Frank 3.1
      17 May 2019 at 5:31 pm

      Oh I see I unconsciously repeated you, so I need to acknowledge that! I had read your comment earlier. You were spot on with that. I added the timely christian factor that probably got him spooked well & truly.

  4. Formerly Roas 4
    17 May 2019 at 4:39 pm

    Golriz is not a threat to freedom of speech.

    I think she is. She has repeatedly argued for further limits on free speech. Such limits are not necessary. Indeed the answer to hate speech is more speech.

    https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/112731374/inclusivity-means-accepting-everyones-views–even-israel-folaus

    • observer 4.1
      17 May 2019 at 5:01 pm

      Does she have Jedi powers? How does she turn 1 into 61? Does her siren voice bring the population under her spell?

      The Greens can't even get Labour policies like a CGT over the line, so how is one backbencher, not even a Minister, going to carry out this "threat" to our free speech?

      This is all blatant bad faith from Seymour, cynically pandering to the Golriz-haters. And we all know why they hate.

    • McFlock 4.2
      17 May 2019 at 5:29 pm

      Arguing for adjustment to the limits on free speech is not in itself being a threat to free speech. We have a line, like any society. The recent events suggest that maybe the line is in the wrong place. There is a legislative process by which that line can be moved in a democracy.

      The only threat to free speech is some jerk with a gun ora bomb or a truck deciding that some people ought not to exist. Addressing the information by which he (almost always a "he") comes to that conclusion seems reasonable to me.

    • Lucy 4.3
      20 May 2019 at 10:53 am

      The answer may be more free speech but there is a consequence to speech. Please stop talking about free speech as if it is the end of the process. Yes you can be a Nazi but if you start calling for people to be killed then you should be arrested and charged with threatening to kill. The limit to free speech is when there is a negative action to that speech. We should not have to wait til someone kills before we say enough.

  5. Dennis Frank 5
    17 May 2019 at 4:59 pm

    Makes sense for JC to adopt a sensible centrist position. Voters have short memories. Seymour's desperately seeking relevance in response to the christian initiative. Golriz does not threaten our freedom of speech, and the time to get paranoid about limits on that is when legislation limiting it is in parliamentary process. No sign yet.

    Everyone's reluctance to use the hate-speech law we already have is the elephant in the room. Seymour's not the only one ignoring it!

  6. Sacha 6
    17 May 2019 at 5:02 pm

    Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Every chance Collins was just genuinely annoyed in the moment (and you won't hear me saying that often either).

    • observer 6.1
      17 May 2019 at 5:14 pm

      Yep. Approx 119 MPs dislike David Seymour. (Remember the universal glee when he failed to vote after grandstanding? Nats laughed as loud as the rest).

      Collins hasn't transformed to Cuddly Judith, she just despises the guy like everyone else does.

    • Anne 6.2
      17 May 2019 at 5:43 pm

      Agreed Sacha. I also believe she meant what she said. Seymour has out-stayed his parliamentary welcome. I suspect he won't be getting the Nat. Party nod in Epsom next time around – especially if JC is the leader.

      • Formerly Ross 6.2.1
        17 May 2019 at 6:26 pm

        Of course National will accommodate Seymour. They need all the seats they can get. Collins might not be bright but she surely isn’t that dim.

        • Psycho Milt 6.2.1.1
          17 May 2019 at 9:03 pm

          You bet. If you stand to get one seat more than your share of the party vote, who cares whether you like the guy or not? You take the extra seat.

  7. A 7
    17 May 2019 at 5:59 pm

    It was nice of her. She still reminds me of Mimi. Takes 10 +tives to cancel a -tive and all that.

  8. Timeforacupoftea 8
    17 May 2019 at 7:38 pm

    The great thing Judith Collins has done here is she has stuck up for the mentally ill and brain dead,

    We can expect Collin'siz next announcement will be regarding Marama Davidson and the wonderful Chloe Swarbrick – Subject : The Dumbing Down of Society on Cannabis

  9. Puckish Rogue 9
    17 May 2019 at 7:42 pm

    Awww yeah!

  10. Muttonbird 10
    17 May 2019 at 7:45 pm

    How cute. A genuine attempt from Collins to appear less lizard monster, and more human.

  11. JennyK 11
    17 May 2019 at 8:19 pm

    Thanks for sharing the tweets from Judith. She has blocked me and many others. Her support for free speech seems limited.

  12. BM 12
    17 May 2019 at 8:20 pm

    This is National putting a stake in the ground and saying they're a centrist party.

    If you disagree go vote ACT or the new Alfred Ngaro Christian party or the Vernon Tava Greens party.

    Can anybody here guess what Nationals 2020 strategy is?

      • BM 12.1.1
        17 May 2019 at 8:29 pm

        Nope.

        Nationals weakness is that they've been the one party of the right, in an MMP environment, you're far better to have multiple parties.

        Bridges will never win in a one on one big party duel with Ardern, but he has a great chance of winning if he can get xx number of people voting Act, Ngaro Christian, Tava greens.

        Bridges could easily sneak through the backdoor in 2020 and claim the big prize.

        For that to happen he has to show that National isn’t the party for everyone right of centre.

        • Drowsy M. Kram 12.1.1.1
          17 May 2019 at 8:32 pm

          "Bridges could easily sneak through the backdoor" – sounds about right.

        • Sabine 12.1.1.2
          17 May 2019 at 9:13 pm

          so ngaro right wing christians and tava corportate green are what?

          super extreme right?

          care to list any reasons why say I should ever vote for National – and no tax cuts ain't it – i am too poor for their tax cuts to be interesting to me, beneficiary bashing is not gonna work – not because i need welfare, i don't but because i take no pride nor joy in casting people in a ditch just to feel morally superior, and i have no use for man like Alfred Ngaro – and i had the chance to vote for the List MP of West Auckland and would have voted rather for humpty dumpty then that arrogant unpleasant man.

          so apart from creating puppet parties in the hope to siphon of votes from other smaller parties does National have any policies any future plans, anything? Like literally anything?

        • cleangreen 12.1.1.3
          18 May 2019 at 2:46 pm

          BM I dont believe I am agreeing wiith you here.smiley

  13. Sabine 13
    17 May 2019 at 9:05 pm

    a stopped clock is correct twice a day, so there.

  14. Incognito 14
    17 May 2019 at 10:29 pm

    Brilliantly played by JC. It was hardly a telling off, was it? The wording was just odd. Nor did she actually jump to defend the points made by Golriz Ghahraman.

    She provided oxygen to ACT and David Seymour, to the concerns on the right about curbing free speech, to Golriz Ghahraman’s views (on free speech) that are considered radical and extreme by some (on the right) as well as sanctimonious and hypocritical (by some on the self-proclaimed left as well), and, above all, to herself.

    Or maybe I’m too much of a cynic.

  15. Stuart Munro. 15
    17 May 2019 at 10:42 pm

    Luke 15:7

    If Judith is prepared to clean up her act to get elected, both her party & NZ will ultimately benefit.

  16. Incognito 16
    17 May 2019 at 11:19 pm

    David Seymour is one of the more respectful, well mannered members of parliament. ATM he is a lone voice in championing our #freedomofspeech.

    Funny that she should say that, Don Brash would fit perfectly into that sentence too. Both men love to wear suits and come across so mild-mannered. Be warned! It is not their looks; it is their message.

  17. Daveosaurus 17
    18 May 2019 at 1:41 pm

    Collins is smart enough to know which way the wind is blowing. This isn't the first time either (she told the NRA to 'bugger off' a few weeks back). I don't support her party, but she's demonstrating the difference between a 40% party and an 0.4% party.