Key’s loose government

Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, November 16th, 2009 - 12 comments
Categories: john key, maori party, MMP - Tags:

Over the weekend r0b reckoned the shambles of the Key government would start to really hurt. I was sceptical.

Winning the next election for the left is going to bloody hard.

But Key’s cracks are showing. As the ever thoughtful Colin James noted in his Dom Post column this morning (currently offline):

Too many distractions and slips eventually become a defining characteristic. That is the spectre for Mr Key’s loose government and most unusual three-way shackup. To keep his three-legged runners synchronised will need tough-minded management, sooner rather than later

That is the real issue with Mr Harawira. It’s a Key issue.

Colin James is right. Key’s management is loose and ineffective. He’s a flake.

And if Labour and the Greens grab this flake by the neck, then r0b’s right. We’ve got a bloody good chance.

12 comments on “Key’s loose government ”

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  1. Killinginthenameof 1
    16 November 2009 at 11:08 am

    I wonder if Mr Relaxed has set the standard so low (post Richard Worth) that the media now know that there is no blood to be smelt?

  2. vto 2
    16 November 2009 at 11:32 am

    The whole premise behind James point is that Key is unaware of this ‘looseness’ issue.

    That seems quite naive. Do you not think Key will be well aware of his management style and its risks and rewards? And any changing requirements necessary to control the whole shooting match?

    This fulla Key didn’t get where he is, and with such support, without being well aware of all aspects of every aspect.

    Watch for a change of style, subtly and quietly, in the new year.

    • Tigger 2.1
      16 November 2009 at 11:48 am

      If you housetrain a puppy early, it learns how to behave.

      If you housetrain a puppy a year after bringing it home, you’re in for a world of frustration.

      It’s far too late to ‘subtly and quietly’ change management style. This Cabinet will continue to chew up the sofa and pee on the carpet for months to come.

    • Pascal's bookie 2.2
      16 November 2009 at 11:51 am

      Funny thing though v.

      Righties often criticise lefty politicians for not having ‘real world’ experience. By which they mean private sector experience. They acknowledge that Government is a vastly different kettle of fish than the private sector and feel that the private sector is woefully misunderstood by lefty politicians who have only studied society by way of their big city book learning and what have you.

      And yet. They seem to think that private sector leadership is perfectly transferrable to government work.

      • vto 2.2.1
        16 November 2009 at 12:15 pm

        Well partly true. They definitely think that left politicians generally have a woeful understanding of the private sector realities, but I dont think that means they think private sector leadership is that transferable. I suspect most would recoil in horror at the thought of trying to lead public sector sectors.

        Is Key trying out private sector leadership skills on the public sector?

        I guess my point was that Key is ineresting to watch (policies aside). He seems to have manouevred himself with relative aplomb to date on the political scene. That is why I would doubt that the ‘looseness’ issue is something he has not considered in absolute detail.

        Mind you – many many people blindly raved about Clark’s skills and she had some hefty flaws which only became highlighted as time went on. Perhaps too with Key.

  3. sk 3
    16 November 2009 at 11:37 am

    The issue is that Key inhabits a parallel universe, and the NZ journalists have joined him. Take John Armstrong’s piece today on APEC and trade, John Key’s ‘billions and billions’ being an undestatement. I have scanned the FT and WSJ today on APEC, and all I see as disappointment with Obama on trade, and anything else that matters. It is la la stuff the reporting we are getting in NZ – driven by John Key.

    The real question is when that bubble bursts.

  4. gobsmacked 4
    16 November 2009 at 12:01 pm

    Gov’t PR machine: smart, effective.

    Media organisations: cutting costs.

    Journalists: fewer, overworked and underpaid.

    Opposition PR machine: feeble.

    As I pointed out on the “light/tunnel” thread, Key is feeding the journalists … literally. They’re not going to bite back.

  5. ben 5
    16 November 2009 at 12:28 pm

    Colin James is right. Key’s management is loose and ineffective. He’s a flake.

    Er that’s not what James said, at least in the bit you quoted. There’s a difference between paraphrasing and making sh*t up.

  6. Draco T Bastard 6
    16 November 2009 at 1:07 pm

    Key’s a “yes” man. He does as he’s told. This is seen in his response to the ~500 that he fired back in the 1980s/90s and further when he tried to deny that he’d seen lord so&so and finally had to admit that he hadn’t arranged it but that it been in his diary. Further to this he’s become very rich speculating. What this means is that he’s been very well rewarded for doing nothing of any value.

    Now he’s PM and he’s out of his depth. He’s supposed to be leading and he’s still waiting for people to tell him what to do that’s why he’s “relaxed” about everything. On top of that he’s trying to “speculate” (ie, the cycleway) on the course that the country’s going and he’s trying to maintain his popularity by being everything to everybody.

    He’s the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time and the whole country will pay for it. Of course, National and ACT are just wrong anyway – they haven’t got a friggen clue as to how the economy works.

  7. prism 7
    16 November 2009 at 2:13 pm

    Michaels Colin James quote
    “To keep his three-legged runners synchronised will need tough-minded management, sooner rather than later”

    sounds like a picnic race, perhaps the egg and spoon for which balance is essential. Nats don’t seem to have it.

  8. Bill 8
    16 November 2009 at 2:35 pm

    There’s a line to be had about ‘deep in the bowels of loose government’ but I’m just not flowing…