Jacinda’s speech to the Labour campaign launch

Written By: - Date published: 5:09 pm, August 8th, 2020 - 94 comments
Categories: election 2020, jacinda ardern, labour, uncategorized - Tags:

E ngā mana

e ngā reo

Ngāti whātua ngā mana whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau,

e tika te kōrero

Ehara taku toa he toa (taki tahi)

he toa (taki tini)

No rēira tātou e huihui mai nei,

ka ‘Hoake tonu tātou’

Thank you for that welcome.

And thank you for being here.

What an amazing privilege it is to see you all gathered in one place today.

Thank you for all your work over these last few months, which has made this gathering possible. In a COVID world, our team of 5 million has been a steady ship and I am so grateful for that.

It’s hard to believe that we were here, in this town hall just three years ago, launching our 2017 campaign.

If you had told me then that our launch in 2020 would be in the midst of a global pandemic with our borders closed – I would have found that very hard to fathom.

If you’d told me that Clarke and I would have a toddler, I wouldn’t have believed we would have been so lucky.

And if you’d told me that we would have just completed a term in Government with both New Zealand First and the Greens, I’d assume you’d been watching excessive amounts of “Stranger Things” on Netflix.

And yet here we are.

It was perhaps fitting then, that three years ago as I finished speaking with you at our campaign launch, we all left this space with a joyous song of optimism by Tim Finn playing in the background.

It was called “Couldn’t Be Done”

And there were plenty who thought it couldn’t. And plenty of others who just hoped it couldn’t. And while I won’t name names, Mike Hosking, I will say this. When we stood here three ago, it wasn’t about winning for the sake of it. It wasn’t about being better than anyone else. It wasn’t about proving people wrong.

It was about change.

It was about change because after nine years there was a realisation that some really important things had been neglected, and that doing things differently wasn’t only possible, it was necessary.

John Key and Bill English, they were good managers of our economy. And I want to thank them for that. They helped New Zealand through the GFC and they paid down debt.

But after nine years of a singular focus on GDP and surplus, the actual result was too many families sleeping in cars, too many New Zealanders suffering from poor mental health and too many of our waterways polluted.

I maintain the point I have often made through this term, economic growth accompanied by worsening social outcomes is not success at all. It is failure.

And so, on the 26th of October 2017 as our government was sworn it, we set out to change that.

I remember the day of our swearing in really well.

It started with a text from my mother. She was in London with my sister who was expecting a baby, and that morning my nephew arrived. As John Campbell said, it was a big day in the Ardern household.

I did an interview with John that day as I drove to Government House to be sworn in as Prime Minister.

I never listened back to that interview, until yesterday. Two things stood out to me. The first, was that every time John asked me how far we were in our journey, rather than opt for street names I used well known landmarks, namely Subway and KFC.

And secondly, it struck me that my belief in what we needed to do as a government and why, had not changed.

When John Campbell asked “what is it you want to do?” I replied:

“I want this Government to feel different. I want it to feel like we are…. truly focused on every body.

I want people to feel that it’s open that it’s listening and that it’s going to bring kindness back in everything that we do……I know that will sound curious, but to me if people see that they have an empathetic government, I think they’ll truly understand that when we’re making hard calls that we’re doing it with the right goal, and the right focus in mind… that’s the feeling I want this government to create.”

We have made big decisions, we have made hard decisions. But ultimately we have made progress.

Now I’m very conscious that if I run through every single one of the things we have done, I risk losing my audience. And that’s saying something when half of your audience are enthusiastically holding up Labour signs.

So let’s just run through the things that when we stood here three years ago, we wanted to change.

We said we wanted to build a country where children grow up free from poverty.

And so in our first 100 days we brought in the families package. It boosted the incomes of some 384,000 families. It included the Best Start Payment, the first time New Zealand had a universal payment for kids since the 1990s.

We introduced the Winter Energy Payment, with over a million New Zealanders no longer having to make the decision between a warm home and food on the table.

We indexed benefits to wages, and lifted them by $25 week.

We increased school funding so parents don’t have to pay school donations, scrapped NCEA fees, and are rolling out lunches in schools and period products too.

We extended paid parental leave to 26 weeks.

And we increased the minimum wage from $15.75 to $18.90, which means an extra $126 a week for a full time worker.

But for all of that, there is more to do.

We said that shelter was a basic right, and that we wanted everyone to have a warm, dry home.

And so we created the healthy home guarantee, invested half a billion dollars to start retrofitting state houses, stopped foreign buyers purchasing residential housing, and gave tenants more security.

We brought more affordable housing to the market through KiwiBuild, launched the start of progressive home ownership scheme and a papakainga housing scheme, expanded the housing first programme and created 3900 public housing places.

In fact, we have undertaken the largest house building programme of any Government since the 1970s, with 18,000 state houses to be delivered by 2024.

And still there is more to do.

We said we wanted to rebuild health and education.

And so we made visits to the doctor cheaper for over half a million kiwis, increased nurses in schools, employed more doctors, nurses, midwives and mental health workers. And we began rebuilding our run down hospitals and health facilities.

We increased PHARMAC funding by over $400 million to buy more medicines for New Zealanders, including new cancer drugs. We set up the Cancer Control Agency and funded new radiation machines.

And we made the biggest investment in mental health ever seen in New Zealand with new, free, frontline services being rolled out around the country.

And yet still there is more to do.

We said we wanted to make our rivers swimmable again.

And so we worked with farmers and environmental groups on freshwater reforms and invested in riparian planting, fencing of waterways and sediment control.

We said climate change was my generation’s nuclear free moment.

And so we stopped new offshore oil and gas exploration, passed the Zero Carbon Act, established the Climate Commission, invested in our goal of 100% renewable electricity generation and reached an historic deal with farmers to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.

And still there is more to do.

We trained more Te Reo teachers in our schools, invested in Kohanga Reo and Whanau Ora, and are making sure New Zealand history is taught in schools.

We ran budget surpluses, reduced net debt to below 20% of GDP, and got unemployment to the lowest rates in over a decade.

But still, there is more to do.

We haven’t always achieved everything we set out to, and there have been lessons for us in that.

In that same interview three years ago I was asked what I thought people wanted from our time in government. I said:

“I think we’ve got a big job to do to try and restore faith in politics and politicians, and I know politicians are desperate for that too….. I think it’s about really just following through, and when we fail, when we haven’t been able to reach our goal, telling people why….that’s what people expect of us.”

Despite the many things we have done, we haven’t always reached every goal.

We wanted more homes for first home buyers. We wanted light rail in Auckland. But we’ve had to accept that sometimes when you try things that have never been done before, you won’t always succeed, but that doesn’t mean you should give up.

There have been other lessons too. Some were unexpected, and some were devastating.

I remember vividly the moment I received a phone call telling me that there had been a shooting in Christchurch on March 15 last year.

I was in a van driving to visit a new environment school in New Plymouth. Much has been said about that afternoon, the terror that was rained down on our Muslim community, and what it represented for us as a nation. It will forever be etched into our collective memories.

But so too will the response.

Whether it was March 15, or Whakaari White Island, or even COVID-19 – these three entirely different events that devastated in very different ways – they drew out a response from kiwis that was the same.

They drew out a sense of collective purpose, of determination, of kindness. They are all values we will need as we take on our next challenge – and our next challenge is huge.

Some have asked me whether this is the COVID election.

No one wants it to be.

We would all prefer the world to be free of the health and economic impact that this global pandemic has created.

I would rather not have had to close our borders. Or put in place the most severe restrictions on personal freedoms in our country’s history.

But it has been our new reality, and one that the team of 5 million have made work in the most extraordinary way.

We have now one of the most open economies in the world, and we have a head start on our recovery and rebuild, but our job is not done.

And so yes, there is no denying that COVID has changed New Zealand, and therefore it will inevitably change what we talk about this election.

And there is a lot to talk about.

There wasn’t a playbook for COVID-19. That means there was no pre-written plan for how a country should respond to a one in one hundred year global pandemic. But respond we did.

We went hard and we went early, used the wage subsidy to support 1.7 million workers through a lockdown and beyond, and put ourselves in the position to safely reopen our economy.

We have never wavered from the view that the best economic response was a strong health response. There are tough times ahead but the proof is in an economy up and running well before others.

And now that we’re here, we need to keep rolling out our five point plan to recover and rebuild.

Here’s what that entails for the next three if we are re-elected.

Firstly, we’re investing in people with extra income support, and opportunities to retrain through free apprenticeships and vocational training.

We’re creating jobs, through shovel-ready infrastructure projects like community pools and sports facilities, and investment in environmental projects that are a win-win for our people and the planet.

We’re making sure our investments are taking on our long term challenges by building more state houses, waste processing facilities and energy options that mean New Zealand can be powered by 100% renewable electricity, and all of the exciting opportunities that brings.

We’re supporting small business with interest free loans, R&D support, targeted tourism funding and tax refunds.

And we are retaining our place as a trading nation by providing practical support for our exporters, while also working hard to improve their access into new markets.

It’s a plan that is already in motion, and that is already making a difference and that with New Zealand’s support we want to keep delivering over the next three years.

While we know there is much ahead of us, this week’s unemployment rate of 4% shows the measures we have taken to date have cushioned the economic blow from COVID, and the investments we are making now are all designed to keep driving job growth.

But the support for those hardest hit won’t just be measured in statistics. I have a different metric. Letters.
As COVID hit, one of the things we did to support our people’s wellbeing was to extend our free lunches in schools programme. I got a letter from a child in one of the schools we had already rolled this initiative out to.

She wrote:

“I had a mate who never ate, and whenever I said, are you hungry she would always say nah I’m not hungry, but I knew she was. She was too ashamed to admit it.

“But then you started getting us free lunches and now she can eat and she is healthy. I am really happy now because I don’t have to worry about my friend”

COVID has undoubtedly created many friends for us to worry about, and we know there are tough times ahead.

Analysis by the Treasury shows that downturns impact our lowest paid and most insecure workers most.

And we also know that those without formal training qualifications, those over 50, disabled people, and Māori and Pasifika workers will disproportionately bear the brunt of economic downturns – they are often in industries where job losses are most common and are the last industries to recover.

Some call it economic scarring – the long lasting damage to individuals of an economic down turn. I call it the loss of potential, and the greatest of wastes, and I am determined it will not happen on Labour’s watch.

That’s why I’m announcing today, that if Labour is returned to government we will roll out a support package to assist businesses in employing up to 40,000 New Zealanders whose employment is impacted by COVID-19.

We are revamping and expanding our existing Flexi-Wage scheme – a wage subsidy to help employers hire those on a benefit who are at risk of long-term unemployment.

Under our proposal, we will double the value of the wage subsidy to an average of $7,500 and ensure that far more work and income clients, including those who may be on the COVID income support payment, are eligible for this scheme.

As part of this package I am also announcing we will be ring-fencing $30 million to provide grants to those who lose their job to start a new business of their own.

The intention is to support those New Zealanders most affected by the economic hit of the virus.

Our team of 5 million’s approach to fighting COVID means there is huge willingness in our business community to avoid unemployment rising by taking on new staff where they can, but many just need a little bit of extra support which this package provides.

Businesses large and small are crucial to our economic recovery, but they can’t do it alone. The Flexi-wage is a way for the Government to partner with the private sector to support job creation together.

It will act as a strong incentive to support those who have been hit the hardest by COVID, and provide additional support to businesses who might not otherwise be in the position to take someone on long-term.

And importantly, we know this is a programme we can scale up quickly that works.

An evaluation by MSD of the Flexi-wage scheme showed seventy per cent of people placed into work still had a job at the end of the evaluation period, and that $7 in value was generated by every dollar that was invested.

I want to be clear though. This is a targeted scheme.

It is aimed at supporting real jobs that have a real chance of lasting. It’s an investment in our people, their future, and it’s about working together.

Almost every day I talk to businesses – large and small. I know their contribution to the economy, the commitment they have to their staff, I understand the pressures they face. Government alone can’t do everything. Neither can business. But together we can.

But as with all investments, there is a price tag. This scheme represents an investment of $311 million.

Our cautious approach to future spending means we will be using the current underspend from the Wage Subsidy to pay for this programme, rather than drawing from the COVID Response Fund which we intend to preserve in case it’s needed to fight the virus again, or to reduce our level of debt.

Ultimately though, there is no costless response to COVID, but Grant Robertson’s excellent management of the books means we went into COVID with lower debt relative to GDP than almost any other OECD nation, and look to come out in a better position than Australia, the UK, Canada and the US.

Keeping debt low is important to us, and we’ve shown that. But that need not be at the expense of health and education, and it shouldn’t mean leaving people behind. And that is the difference between Labour and others.

And so, when people ask, is this a COVID election, my answer is yes, it is.

But that does not mean that there aren’t still choices to be made. It does not mean there aren’t ideas to be debated, or plans to be discussed, policies to be announced.

In fact, it’s the very reason why this is election is more important than ever.

It’s about the future. It’s about leadership and it’s about values.

It’s about whether we stop and change to another team, or whether we keep those we know and we trust.

It’s about whether we build a few roads, or whether we rebuild New Zealand.

It’s about whether we stop and start again, or whether we keep up the momentum we already have.

In the last three years the Labour government has dealt with a lot.

And we have learned a lot too.

We came in on a platform of change, and a commitment to tackle our long term challenges, and that is what we have done.

Fewer children live in poverty.

More homes are being built.

We’re closer to making our country clean, green and carbon neutral.

And when we had hard decisions to make, we have been strong, we have been empathetic, and we have been kind.

But there is much more to do.

Now, more than ever, is the time to keep going, to keep working.

To do more for our people and their wellbeing, for our small businesses, for our economy and our recovery.

To grab hold of the opportunities that lie in front of us.

So let’s keep going

Let’s keep rebuilding

Let’s keep moving!

94 comments on “Jacinda’s speech to the Labour campaign launch ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Draco T Bastard 1
    8 August 2020 at 6:34 pm

    Government alone can’t do everything.

    Actually, it can. If it involves all of the community and not just a few people sitting in parliament.

    And that's all the private business does to a degree – distributes out the decision making process to more people. But it comes with a price in higher poverty and the dictatorial aspects of private ownership.

    • Grafton Gully 1.1
      8 August 2020 at 7:00 pm

      Are you advocating government by a social media hivemind ? How can government involve all of the community when there is no agreement on what the community encompasses ? I'm suspicious of the exclusionary aspects of community, based on my experience as a pupil at an authoritarian private school, various institutions I have worked in, the Muldoon and Lange governments and my reading about marxist and fascist political movements.

      • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1
        8 August 2020 at 7:16 pm

        Are you advocating government by a social media hivemind ?

        No.

        How can government involve all of the community when there is no agreement on what the community encompasses ?

        Its called democracy.

        I'm suspicious of the exclusionary aspects of community

        If there are exclusionary aspects then it fails to be a community.

        • Grafton Gully 1.1.1.1
          9 August 2020 at 6:18 pm

          You are saying that government can do everything if it involves all of the community and I floated the social media idea as the means, what did you have in mind to achieve total community involvement ?

          We do not have a democracy because about 20% do not vote and no-one under 18 is legally allowed to.

          https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96083630/new-zealands-growing-nonvoting-problem

          "If there are exclusionary aspects then it fails to be a community" and the community finds a way to eliminate the excluded, including prisoners sentenced to more than three years.

          https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/prisoner-voting-rights-be-restored-ahead-2020-general-election

          • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1.1.1
            9 August 2020 at 6:45 pm

            what did you have in mind to achieve total community involvement ?

            Direct electronic voting on policies and use of our nations resources.

            We do not have a democracy because about 20% do not vote and no-one under 18 is legally allowed to.

            We do not have democracy but it has nothing to do with the legal age of voting. It has to do with the fact that representative democracy was designed to prevent democracy while giving the illusion that we were.

            the community finds a way to eliminate the excluded, including prisoners sentenced to more than three years.

            Over the last few decades I've seen the community become more and more inclusive. I see no indications that this will stop.

            Now, the prisoners were excluded but was that because the community wanted it or because a small clique at the top of National did? If the latter, then why did they want it? Was it because prisoners vote Labour and National were looking for ways to prevent Labour being voted in? Was it just a distraction from something else?

            The fact that Labour got in saying that they would repeal National's undemocratic legislation does tend to indicate that it wasn't what the community wanted.

  2. Ad 2
    8 August 2020 at 6:43 pm

    Keep going Jacinda.

    The vast majority of the country is right with you.

    • Pusskins 2.1
      9 August 2020 at 12:17 pm

      The speech was a lot of self-praise and self-congratulation.

      [Please stick to one user name]

      • Incognito 2.1.1
        9 August 2020 at 12:22 pm

        [Please stick to one user name]

        • Sacha 2.1.1.1
          9 August 2020 at 12:24 pm

          Seems to be a rash of that lately. Can moderators perhaps tell the rest of us what the other handles are, if you're not going to ban people for that sort of behaviour?

          • Incognito 2.1.1.1.1
            9 August 2020 at 12:35 pm

            I think this is ‘normal’ behaviour around a General Election. It attracts news users as well as old ones who have not commented for years, in some cases. After the Election, they’re likely to disappear again for a few years 😉

            I give them a warning, or a few, and then ban them. Hasn’t happened in a while and the last one I can remember was a sockpoppet of a notorious pain in the proverbial (who copped a ban just recently). Some people just refuse to learn 🙁

            Pusskins is a new-ish user here AFAIK.

  4. ScottGN 4
    8 August 2020 at 7:02 pm

    Classic front runner speech. Well delivered (of course, she’s a superstar in that regard). The line ‘they can build a few roads, we’ll rebuild NZ’ was good. And keeping it real in what are unreal times.

  5. Rosemary McDonald 5
    8 August 2020 at 7:50 pm

    The placard waving fans in the background….how long has that been a feature of NZ political rallies?

    I thought I had accidentally stumbled Stateside.

  6. Byd0nz 6
    8 August 2020 at 7:51 pm

    Very poor presentation by TV1 and TV3, almost identical with cut ins of that lemon-sucking face of Collins and out of context repeats of Jacinda saying"there's more to do". But despite their negative spin, there was no hiding the enthusiasm of the faithful and the comments gathered from the public.

    • newsense 6.1
      8 August 2020 at 8:05 pm

      Oh really? That's a shame.

      What about the 25% of kiwis not planning to vote Labour or National?

      So far people can see through her bs and obviously the plan is to try to elevate a less compromised, more messianic figure later.

      Hope Labour has got some good long term plans! It's all a bit messy out there

    • ScottGN 6.2
      8 August 2020 at 8:24 pm

      Doesn’t matter. This time round Labour doesn’t need to make a splash at the campaign launch, that will be Judith’s job next weekend. Ardern’s task now is to make sure everyone is getting the memo, she and Labour are focussed solely on them.

    • Patricia Bremner 6.3
      8 August 2020 at 8:45 pm

      The Media produce larger well placed pictures of Judith Collins, the Labour Launch photo being half the size.

      The reporters who attended the Labour Launch in numbers and asked searching questions must have been gutted by the coverage.

      Most of us watched online so we truly enjoyed it with no twists or malice, including the Press conference.

      • Sacha 6.3.1
        9 August 2020 at 11:28 am

        Political reporters and editors are really not handling that we can now bypass their stranglehold and then lay bare the distortion they add.

  7. Patricia Bremner 7
    8 August 2020 at 8:38 pm

    Rosemary @ 5 the volunteers were invited to be on the stage. Many worked for Labour in 2017 and again now. They are unpaid supporters who do all sorts to help the Party.

    They are nothing like Trumps supporters..FFS.

  8. newsense 8
    8 August 2020 at 8:53 pm

    Lol, RNZ loves Collins.

  10. Patricia Bremner 10
    8 August 2020 at 9:39 pm

    Oh Muttonbird. What religious picture for Judith?

  12. Chris T 12
    9 August 2020 at 9:42 am

    When did kiwis go US style and agree to hold up bits of card board like muppets on cue?

  13. Robert Guyton 13
    9 August 2020 at 9:48 am

    "muppets on cue" – curious critters, those!

    • Chris T 13.1
      9 August 2020 at 9:58 am

      Yes. They do look it

      • Patricia Bremner 13.1.1
        9 August 2020 at 11:30 am

        You don't think supporters should be invited to share that stage? They represented many areas of NZ. (Muppets eh?)

        It was no more American than the piles of blue and white balloons in nets, the G men accompanying the Leader of past National Rallies. I did not see you posting about that Chris…..but then …..I'm Labour so I am biased. Where do you stand? What did you think of the speech, or didn't you bother?

        • Chris T 13.1.1.1
          9 August 2020 at 11:42 am

          Was going to watch it and then Labour posters started to compare her to jesus so didn't bother.

          [Who or what are those “Labour posters”? Feel free to back up your insinuation with evidence or withdraw your stupid allegation. BTW, your cop out is pathetic and begs the question why you visit this site and comment here other than to troll – Incognito]

          • Rapunzel 13.1.1.1.1
            9 August 2020 at 11:46 am

            Well it worked for the Beatles, you seriously need to lighten up. Any "posters" who did that just confirm the original point John Lennon made & not that it's remotely related to the public in general or entirely

          • Incognito 13.1.1.1.2
            9 August 2020 at 11:49 am

            See my Moderation note @ 11:42 AM.

            • Chris T 13.1.1.1.2.1
              9 August 2020 at 12:08 pm

              Muttonbird at 9.05.

              • Incognito …
                9 August 2020 at 12:44 pm

                Yes, and?

                Is Muttonbird on the Labour pay-roll? Does Muttonbird have a special affiliation with Labour that justifies/deserves the label “Labour posters”? Is Muttonbird a self-confessed member of NZLP?

                If you don’t want to watch the speech of the Labour Leader and the current PM then please don’t insult our intelligence with stupid excuses and stop wasting comment space/bandwidth with your vacuous nonsense. OTOH, you could watch the speech and tell us why you think it was bad or whatever.

                You’re wasting my time so put up or withdraw or you will join The Chairman in the infirmary who could do with some company.

                • Chris T …
                  9 August 2020 at 1:32 pm

                  You asked me to back it up and I did.

                  Tbf maybe Muttonbirds thinks Ardern is shit and apologise if this is the case.

                  • Muttonbird …
                    9 August 2020 at 2:41 pm

                    It's only a meme, an interesting visual study of two leaders and the body language they use. Political rallies do have similarities to Mass, after all.

                    No need to get upset by it.

                  • Incognito …
                    9 August 2020 at 7:34 pm

                    You asked me to back it up and I did.

                    No, you did not. I know Muttonbird made the comment. What I asked you was why you called Muttonbird “Labour posters”.

                    Obviously, you’re not putting up and not retracting either. Fine by me; all you’ve achieved is burning your credit here, as your lack of goodwill will meet an equal level of goodwill from me next time. Your trolling this side is becoming tedious and with the Election coming closer, the urge to clear the site of trolls is increasing.

                • Chris T …
                  9 August 2020 at 1:34 pm

                  I will watch the speech btw

    • Chris T 13.2
      9 August 2020 at 9:25 pm

      Fair point.

      I probably should just become someone who just votes for the same name their entire life, no matter what the policy, cos their dad did.

      (Sorry. No reply button on your other post)

  14. Chris T 14
    9 August 2020 at 9:58 am

    ..

  15. Chris T 15
    9 August 2020 at 1:37 pm

    Geezes mate. It is a half an hour and she is still going on about covid. This could be a long watch

    • lprent 15.1
      9 August 2020 at 2:14 pm

      You can read right! ???.

      There is a reason that the transcript is there. I read the transcript. Then I decided I wanted to watch the video. I also skipped straight up to whathisname – the comedian.

  16. Chris T 16
    9 August 2020 at 2:07 pm

    Sorry, but there is only so many times I can hear Covid, Chch, White Island "Team of 5 million" " Be kind", while not actually having any policy that I am willing to subdue myself to.

    • mac1 16.1
      9 August 2020 at 4:06 pm

      Chris T

      Read the transcript. Actual word usage.

      1. White Island mentioned once.

      2. Christchurch mentioned once.

      3. Team of 5 million twice.

      4. Covid mentioned 15 times (it is the Covid election after all!)

      5. 'Be nice' not mentioned at all.

      • Chris T 16.1.1
        9 August 2020 at 4:27 pm

        I think it is more, Labour are trying to make it a Covid election, minus the policy to get out of having any.

        But then that is what PR people are paid so much to advise you to do.

      • Chris T 16.1.2
        9 August 2020 at 4:45 pm

        "I want people to feel that it’s open that it’s listening and that it’s going to bring kindness back in everything that we do……"

        • mac1 16.1.2.1
          9 August 2020 at 5:04 pm

          You are partly right. 'Kindness' for 'Be kind' once.

          So, you have a problem with words like 'Christchurch', "White Island', 'kind' being mentioned once in 3228 words?

          With 'team of 5 million' twice in 3228 words?

          'Covid', a word that has dominated politics and social life for months, is used by the PM fifteen times in 3228 words. That's like Prime Minister Fraser somewhere about 1944 being criticised for mentioning 'the War'!

          • Chris T 16.1.2.1.1
            9 August 2020 at 5:10 pm

            I would just prefer some actual detailed policy.

            Not that many other parties are giving it out.

            • mac1 16.1.2.1.1.1
              9 August 2020 at 5:34 pm

              1000 words of that 3228 word speech devoted to what Labour will do with the five point plan in the next three years, including a new policy costing $311 million to support up to 40,000 workers in employment.

              That's the opening of the campaign.

              Expect more.

              • Chris T …
                9 August 2020 at 5:49 pm

                I know I might be being a bit fickle.

                But what does this mean exactly in detail?

                "And we are retaining our place as a trading nation by providing practical support for our exporters, while also working hard to improve their access into new markets."

                • mac1 …
                  9 August 2020 at 6:36 pm

                  So you pick one part of a speech and ask for lots of detail? Man, then you'd really object to having to read 20,000 words.

                  • Chris T …
                    9 August 2020 at 7:18 pm

                    Not lots.

                    Any, would be nice

                    • mac1 …
                      9 August 2020 at 7:31 pm

                      Now you have to promise to read it. There will be a test eg how many times do the words ‘trade’, ‘exporter’ and ‘Covid’ appear?

                  • Chris T …
                    9 August 2020 at 7:51 pm

                    Have read it. Would be interested in what you personally think are the highlights?

                    • mac1 …
                      9 August 2020 at 7:54 pm

                      The highlights of the Prime Minister's opening campaign speech?

                      Counting the number of times that Judith Collins and National got a mention…….

                  • Chris T …
                    9 August 2020 at 8:11 pm

                    Meant more the highlights of her detailed policies

            • The Al1en 16.1.2.1.1.2
              9 August 2020 at 6:09 pm

              I think it's clear you're not going to vote labour or green, no matter what policies they do, or do not put out.

              Perhaps leave the concern trolling to those better at it, and you'd have better luck trying https://www.national.org.nz and https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz

              Let us know how you get on, or don’t.

              • Chris T …
                9 August 2020 at 6:22 pm

                Not sure yet. Still haven't decided

                  • Chris T …
                    9 August 2020 at 8:27 pm

                    Let me put it this way.

                    Currently I am looking at neither the Nats or Labour, I would never vote Act, think Peters is scum, so I haven't got a huge array of options.

                    Will probably just end up voting in the referendums if you can do it without bothering with the party thing, or just not bother

                    • Muttonbird …
                      9 August 2020 at 8:34 pm

                      This comment highlights your position across forums.

                      Isolated and confused.

                    • I Feel Love []
                      9 August 2020 at 8:51 pm

                      The only way people will stop idolising Adern is if she'd stop being very clever at whatever it is she is doing. Most here detested Key, but I'm sure most here also appreciated he was skilled at giving the people what they wanted, you don't have to like someone to give them a quiet nod. KDS is now ADS, frustrating isn't it?

                    • Chris T …
                      9 August 2020 at 9:05 pm

                      Muttonbird.

                      I am being serious. I have no idea who to vote for.

                      Not Labour as they haven't done anything or National as they are a mess.

                    • Robert Guyton …
                      9 August 2020 at 9:16 pm

                      Poor ChrisT! Neither here nor there, betwixt and between, no post to tether his horse to, no port in the storm, no compass, no stars to guide his flight! If only Peter Dunne had stuck it out; Chris'd have a hero!

    • Robert Guyton 16.2
      9 August 2020 at 4:43 pm

      Could we have a special election thread for ChrisT? He seems so special and yearns for special treatment and he's just not willing to subdue (subject?) himself to what every one else is getting – ChrisT is a special case, in need of special treatment; let's respect his specialness.

    • Marcus Morris 16.3
      9 August 2020 at 9:25 pm

      Must have been a different speech by someone perhaps who resembled Jacinda. Don't recognise your report at all.

  17. Sacha 17
    9 August 2020 at 2:18 pm

    From the speech (with my italics):

    “I think we’ve got a big job to do to try and restore faith in politics and politicians, and I know politicians are desperate for that too….. I think it’s about really just following through, and when we fail, when we haven’t been able to reach our goal, telling people why…”

    Despite the many things we have done, we haven’t always reached every goal. We wanted more homes for first home buyers. We wanted light rail in Auckland…

    So where is the 'why' on those two failures?

  18. I Feel Love 18
    9 August 2020 at 8:59 pm

    Guardians view, including quotes from Grey Lynn Farmers Market, great comments.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/09/can-anything-stop-the-high-flying-jacinda-ardern

  19. Observer Tokoroa 19
    10 August 2020 at 10:26 am

    @ Incognito

    Are you able to advise me why my words this mornng were not used?

    Many thanks

  20. Observer Tokoroa 20
    10 August 2020 at 11:21 am

    Thank you Incognito for letting me know what was done.