LocalBodies: John Key Aspires to Mediocrity

Written By: - Date published: 10:20 am, April 24th, 2014 - 26 comments
Categories: helen clark, john key, Minister for Photo-ops, Politics, russel norman - Tags: , , , , ,

Local Bodies provides this interesting comparison on John Key compared to some of the more ethical leaders of our past. Suffice it to say that the ever forgetful John Key doesn’t measure up to past standards. He is really only distinguished the his sustained level of  pathetic mediocrity.

The Prime Ministers of New Zealand who have had lasting respect are the ones who have stood up on the global stage on points of principle. While we may be a small country and almost insignificant in a population sense, we have often been far more influential than our size should dictate.

Michael Savage won respect and attention by challenging Britain for weakening the League of Nations, damaging the concept of collective security and failing to properly consult the dominions on matters of foreign policy and defense. At the 1937 Imperial Conference he criticised Britain’s weak stance over Japan’s invasion of China and its appeasement of Franco in Spain. In 1938 Savage publicly castigated Britain for its acceptance of Hitler’s annexation of part of Czechoslovakia. Savage had a strong Christian faith and governed using ‘applied Christianity’, for him principles and people came before economics.

Norman Kirk wanted “New Zealand’s foreign policy to express New Zealand’s national ideals as well as reflect our national interests”. In 1973 his government refused to grant visas to a South African rugby team because the sport wasn’t racially integrated. Kirk tried to pressure the French into stopping the testing of nuclear weapons in the Pacific and when they refused to do so a frigate was sent into the test area. He wanted to provide a focus for international opinion against the tests. Not since Savage had New Zealand seen such an activist government on the world stage.

David Lange defended New Zealand’s non-nuclear stance with a memorable speech in an Oxford Union debate supporting the proposition “That nuclear weapons are morally indefensible”. He agreed to make the speech against diplomatic advice, but received a standing ovation at the end of it. When the Rainbow Warrior was sunk through a terrorist act by the French secret Service, Lange and his government received no support from other nations because
their relationship with France was deemed more important. Lange’s determination to see justice done eventually forced a belated apology from France and some compensation paid.

John Key is no Savage, Kirk or Lange. His predecessors were driven by their strong sense of morality: Savage had a Catholic upbringing and was influenced by the socialist evangelist, Tom Mann; Kirk  was the son of devout Salvation Army parents and while he didn’t remain in the church he respected and had contact with a number of clergy while a Prime Minister; Lange had strong links to the Methodist Church and was influenced by the English preacher Donald Soper, who became a baron and was appointed to the English House of Lords. Key’s moral foundation, on which he bases his governance, is difficult to establish.

John Key has never shared with us his earlier experiences that provided him with his moral compass, but we do know how he has responded to important events. Most students in 1981 had an opinion about the Springbok Tour but oddly Key has no recollection of having any view on the issue at the time. Throughout his political career Key has swung from one position to the other and seems to be driven more by trade and public opinion than his own convictions.

When George W Bush first sent troops into Iraq because of the fictitious threat of weapons of mass destruction Helen Clark refused to support an attack that wasn’t sanctioned by the United Nations. Key, on the other hand, made a blistering attack on Clark because of the potential damage to trade with the US. He was also very comfortable with Chinese security roughing up Russel Norman when he protested against the persecution in Tibet, civil rights of New Zealand citizens were obviously expendable when meeting major trading partners.

Key appears to think foreign policy is less about principle and more about rubbing shoulders with the movers and shakers of the corporate world. It is more important to subsidize Warner Bros than support the Auckland film industry. Key and his Government enthusiastically responded to Hollywood and the CIA to illegally raid and arrest a New Zealand resident.

Key expressed little concern when a New Zealander was recently killed by a US drone attack in Yemen. No matter what we may think of the activities of the New Zealander concerned one has to question the right of the US to use drones to take out anyone in areas that are not war zones. Key claimed that the drone attacks were legitimate “given that three of the people killed were well known al Qaeda operatives”.

I look forward to being governed again by Prime Ministers who are motivated by principle and aren’t afraid to stand up and be counted, on our behalf, when larger nations stray from what is right. We could lead the world in addressing climate change, dealing with poverty and standing up for human rights around the world. Imagine our international status, and even our export branding, if our clean green image actually stood for something and our reputation for speaking out for the oppressed was again widely known. Mediocrity is not aspirational and I would rather live in a country that leads by example than one that is guided by expediency.

26 comments on “LocalBodies: John Key Aspires to Mediocrity ”

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  1. Puckish Rogue 1
    24 April 2014 at 10:47 am

    🙂 keep the attacks coming because its worked so well the last 8 years 🙂

    • aerobubble 1.1
      24 April 2014 at 11:02 am

      Yeah, conservatism has held back out country for too long, exposing it in the last 8 years won’t change the fact that weak lazy wealthy people don’t like change. Especially change that harms their profits due to their dull deluded view that i.) they have a right to remain wealthy as they aren’t weak but especially brilliant capitalists, ii.) that they know the economy, iii.) dismal science is their ideological blood, iv.) free markets must be made to continue to feed their niche parasitical profit machine.

      We should have built a dual carriageway from Auckland to Wellington thirty years ago!!!
      Conservationism stopped it, and Conservatives kept it being built for thirty years during the age of oil, and now we cannot do without the infrastructure Conservatives finally build it and hide the awful fact that its now uneconomic!!! Yeah, its one of those must haves but will costs us more when more pressing investment will return better profits (Green economy).

      Is there a sorry from do-nothing retards of the economic clueless, no. Destroy the world banking system by thirty years of Thatcher’s stupidity , no, not a whimper of an apology. Their conservative revolution, was just lots of boring people made into a brand by PR, yet remained boring people.

    • ianmac 1.2
      24 April 2014 at 1:12 pm

      Or as Puckish would advocate, ignore political morality. Look the other way when Key expediency trumps ethics. And smile when Key smiles. It must be OK if Key smiles.

    • Warren 1.3
      24 April 2014 at 3:04 pm

      I see a reasoned analysis, not an attack.
      Politics is not a sport, or a war, but an expression of opinions.

      What should be happening in New Zealand now is a reasoned debate about the merits or otherwise of various policies. Instead we have a media fixated on reporting politics as though it was a game. It is much too important to treat it so trivially.

      The author of the post is not out to score points but to point out what is real versus what is hype and image To try to get people looking past the image of John Key and reflect on what he has actually done and said. Not just on how popular he is.

      Popularity is not a measure of worth. Look at Justin Beiber!

      • Draco T Bastard 1.3.1
        25 April 2014 at 11:48 am

        What should be happening in New Zealand now is a reasoned debate about the merits or otherwise of various policies. Instead we have a media fixated on reporting politics as though it was a game. It is much too important to treat it so trivially.

        QFT

  2. Clemgeopin 2
    24 April 2014 at 10:59 am

    I have no trust in Key or his policies. He is cunning and a great actor. It is quite astonishing that so many people and the media are so easily fooled by him.

  3. fender 3
    24 April 2014 at 11:27 am

    Puddleglum has an excellent article on Mr ‘what they see is what they get’

    • RedLogix 3.1
      24 April 2014 at 12:20 pm

      Is it ever – simply Puddlegum at his most brilliant and thought provoking best!

      Compulsory viewing.

  4. Richard Christie 4
    24 April 2014 at 11:56 am

    It’s very dubious to equate morality with religious adherence.

    It’s a favourite fallacy of religious apologists.

  5. fisiani 5
    24 April 2014 at 2:02 pm

    John Key and Mediocre is supremely oxymoronic. John Key is the Superman of NZ politics. He along with the Boy Wonder Bill English has rescued New Zealand from a future of never ending deficits and delivered a brighter future in this wonderful land to which the citizens of the world are clamouring in record numbers. 6 long years of attacking and underestimating John Key have seen off Helen Clark, Phil Goff, David Shearer and in 152 days David Cunliffe. Please keep up these posts attacking the PM. It must surely be moving hearts and minds to the Left. Ignore the constant rogue polls of the media. They never call the poor. Have faith that The Cunliffe can be the Messiah. Everyone you talk to knows that The Greens are intelligent, sensible reasonable visionaries. The caucus war room has the dirt. A Green/Labour/Winston First/Mana/Internet government is nigh.

    • fender 5.1
      24 April 2014 at 2:26 pm

      Stay away from that shit fizzy, don’t be fooled by the ‘legal high’ branding.

    • McFlock 5.2
      24 April 2014 at 3:52 pm

      fisi, your head is so far up John Key’s arse that you get toothpaste in your eyes when he brushes his teeth.

      But your “superman” analogy is close – it was actually Batman who had the Boy Wonder as his sidekick. And all Key lacks in common with that bored, rich psychopath is that Bruce Wayne preferred to dress in black rubber and beat up poor people using the gadgets his extreme wealth enabled him to buy. Key just uses his signature to create the same result without effort or worry.

    • David H 5.3
      24 April 2014 at 8:21 pm

      Fishy Fishy Fishy. Surely you mean TricKey as Crashman, and Blinglish as the Amazing Wonder Blunder. Supported by a cast of at the 300kg and the Hollow Headjoyman, helped by Crusher and Tollers the GunChucks.

  6. Ad 6
    24 April 2014 at 3:00 pm

    Perhaps a little unfair comparing Key to Labour Prime Ministers.

    Try Key to Muldoon, or Bolger, or Holland. All transformative and bold in their way.

    But I think he aspires not to be a radical, but to supplant Holyoake as the gradual and inter-generational undoing of NZ’s New Deal.

  7. felix 7
    24 April 2014 at 5:29 pm

    I also think it’s a slightly unfair comparison.

    Savage, Kirk and Lange were all fundamentally opposed to fascism.

  8. Melb 8
    25 April 2014 at 8:09 am

    “In June 1986, in a political deal with Prime Minister of New Zealand David Lange, presided over by United Nations Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, France agreed to pay NZ$13 million (USD$6.5 million) to New Zealand and apologise, in return for which Alain Mafart and Dominique Prieur would be detained at the French military base on Hao Atoll for three years. However, the two agents had both returned to France by May 1988, after less than two years on the atoll.”

    Ahh yes, so principled.

    No mention of Key’s widely acclaimed speech to the UN about the tragedy of inaction over Syria?

      • Clemgeopin 8.1.1
        25 April 2014 at 10:37 am

        Obviously USA uses drones to kill people in foreign countries that they think are the ‘enemy’. They can’t be sure if they are the ‘enemy’ or freedom fighters in their own country? Besides, the CIA’s information comes from informants. There is no guarantee these informants are honest or have an axe to grind or doing things to earn lots of cash.

        The targeted victims/suspects have no defense to fall back on at all. I suspect that the number of innocents killed due to ‘collateral damage’ far exceeds the number of ‘suspects’.
        Do the families of these innocent victims get compensated?

        Would USA be so blaze and accepting of it if enemy drones did the same to their citizens inside USA?

        Fair questions?

        America is playing a dangerous game and helping increase hatred and militants. There has to be a better way.

    • Dave kennedy 8.2
      25 April 2014 at 5:43 pm

      The issues of the past were the threats of nuclear fallout, racism and world wars; the major threats of today are climate change and inequality. Key leads a government full of human induced climate change deniers and inequality has dramatically increased under his watch. Key’s speech on Syria was hardly bold and will never go down in history like the others I referred to.

    • Puddleglum 8.3
      25 April 2014 at 8:57 pm

      The measure of sovereign independence and stature on the world stage is the extent to which a country stands up to powerful ‘official friends’ rather than relatively powerless ‘official enemies’.

      Irrespective of the rights or wrongs of the behaviour of official enemies New Zealand (a) has little influence over them and (b) is under no threat of retaliation from them.

      The true test of whether our government is adopting an independent and principled stance on the world stage is whether or not it has the moral fibre to stand up against the unjust wielding of power by those (a) it can supposedly influence through its status as an ‘ally’ and (b) who have the power to punish New Zealand in various ways (i.e., there is a potential cost to standing on principle).

      Further, it is just those kinds of stances (that conflict with the interests of official friends) that add credibility to any reputation of being an ‘honest broker’ in global politics.

      Notice that Savage criticised Britain, Kirk France and Lange the US. In her own way, Clark also stood up to the US over Iraq. All of those countries had the ability to exert considerable pressure on New Zealand.

      Right or wrong, those stances required courage, discipline, diplomatic nous and principle. By contrast, joining in near-universal condemnation (from your more powerful allies) of some minor power half a planet away requires none of the above.

      • Clemgeopin 8.3.1
        25 April 2014 at 10:05 pm

        A regards international conflicts, we should prefer to be guided by the United Nations.
        It is up to the super powers and other countries, including NZ, to influence the UN members for the good of the world. Without UN approval, it would be a mistake in the long run for smaller countries like NZ to simply to do the bidding of the powerful countries like, USA, China, USSR etc in their non UN supported attacks on other counties such as Syria, Iraq, Tibet, Ukraine etc. We do need to be more independent and have the moral gumption for it. Is this easier said than done?

  9. Jrobin 9
    26 April 2014 at 2:49 am

    Brilliant Puddleglum link, thanks. It is interesting when considering the traits idenitified in this post, that ruthlessness and skill as a deal broker are two dominant features. Ironic then that he has failed so spectacularly to persuade the Chinese Govt. that the botulism scare was insignificant. Perhaps because his persona is not effective in this cultural context, where losing face is avoided and knowlege of cultural practises and customs are valued. Appearing to be bland, low brow, smiling and blokey may clash with the cultural norms and ‘persona’ considered appropriate for credible leadership in the Chinese context.
    Regardless, this is one if Keys most humiliating failures, and one which is further linked and complicated with the Judith Collins cronyism scandal. Not only are their actions naive, embarrassing and sycophantic, but JK and JC are also failing spectacularly to convince the Chinese authorities that our bio security and food safety standards are high, at least as regards Infant Formula. Bribery and corruption may be the next step now that JKs American X kiwi bloke persona has failed to impress.
    It will be fascinating to watch the unfolding of events; will Oravida avoid new Strict import regulations and if so what back room deal achieved this result. Furthermore, despite descriptions of McCullys rat cunning, the Shane Jones poaching smacks of the very same (a)moral compass discussed by Puddleglum. The National Party has never stooped quite this low before. John Key may be just about to be revealed in splendid nakedness parading as Emperor before a less than impressed NZ public. How relaxed do you feel now Mr Smiling Assasin?

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  • NZ has a chance to rise again as our new government gets spending under control
    New Zealand has  a chance  to  rise  again. Under the  previous  government, the  number of New Zealanders below the poverty line was increasing  year by year. The Luxon-led government  must reverse that trend – and set about stabilising  the  pillars  of the economy. After the  mismanagement  of the outgoing government created   huge ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    4 days ago

  • KARL DU FRESNE: Media and the new government
    Two articles by Karl du Fresne bring media coverage of the new government into considerations.  He writes –    Tuesday, November 28, 2023 The left-wing media needed a line of attack, and they found one The left-wing media pack wasted no time identifying the new government’s weakest point. Seething over ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • PHILIP CRUMP:  Team of rivals – a CEO approach to government leadership
    The work begins Philip Crump wrote this article ahead of the new government being sworn in yesterday – Later today the new National-led coalition government will be sworn in, and the hard work begins. At the core of government will be three men – each a leader ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Black Friday
    As everyone who watches television or is on the mailing list for any of our major stores will confirm, “Black Friday” has become the longest running commercial extravaganza and celebration in our history. Although its origins are obscure (presumably dreamt up by American salesmen a few years ago), it has ...
    Bryan GouldBy Bryan Gould
    4 days ago

  • In Defense of the Media.
    Yesterday the Ministers in the next government were sworn in by our Governor General. A day of tradition and ceremony, of decorum and respect. Usually.But yesterday Winston Peters, the incoming Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister, of our nation used it, as he did with the signing of the coalition ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Tuesday, Nov 28
    Nicola Willis’ first move was ‘spilling the tea’ on what she called the ‘sobering’ state of the nation’s books, but she had better be able to back that up in the HYEFU. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • PT use up but fare increases coming
    Yesterday Auckland Transport were celebrating, as the most recent Sunday was the busiest Sunday they’ve ever had. That’s a great outcome and I’m sure the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • The very opposite of social investment
    Nicola Willis (in blue) at the signing of the coalition agreement, before being sworn in as both Finance Minister and Social Investment Minister. National’s plan to unwind anti-smoking measures will benefit her in the first role, but how does it stack up from a social investment viewpoint? Photo: Lynn Grieveson ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Giving Tuesday
    For the first time "in history" we decided to jump on the "Giving Tuesday" bandwagon in order to make you aware of the options you have to contribute to our work! Projects supported by Skeptical Science Inc. Skeptical Science Skeptical Science is an all-volunteer organization but ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Let's open the books with Nicotine Willis
    Let’s say it’s 1984,and there's a dreary little nation at the bottom of the Pacific whose name rhymes with New Zealand,and they've just had an election.Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, will you look at the state of these books we’ve opened,cries the incoming government, will you look at all this mountain ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Climate Change: Stopping oil
    National is promising to bring back offshore oil and gas drilling. Naturally, the Greens have organised a petition campaign to try and stop them. You should sign it - every little bit helps, and as the struggle over mining conservation land showed, even National can be deterred if enough people ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • Don’t accept Human Rights Commission reading of data on Treaty partnership – read the survey fin...
    Wellington is braced for a “massive impact’ from the new government’s cutting public service jobs, The Post somewhat grimly reported today. Expectations of an economic and social jolt are based on the National-Act coalition agreement to cut public service numbers in each government agency in a cost-trimming exercise  “informed by” head ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • The stupidest of stupid reasons
    One of the threats in the National - ACT - NZ First coalition agreements was to extend the term of Parliament to four years, reducing our opportunities to throw a bad government out. The justification? Apparently, the government thinks "elections are expensive". This is the stupidest of stupid reasons for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • A website bereft of buzz
    Buzz from the Beehive The new government was being  sworn in, at time of writing , and when Point of Order checked the Beehive website for the latest ministerial statements and re-visit some of the old ones we drew a blank. We found ….  Nowt. Nothing. Zilch. Not a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: A new Ministry – at last
    Michael Bassett writes – Like most people, I was getting heartily sick of all the time being wasted over the coalition negotiations. During the first three weeks Winston grinned like a Cheshire cat, certain he’d be needed; Chris Luxon wasted time in lifting the phone to Winston ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Luxon's Breakfast.
    The Prime Minister elect had his silver fern badge on. He wore it to remind viewers he was supporting New Zealand, that was his team. Despite the fact it made him look like a concierge, or a welcomer in a Koru lounge. Anna Burns-Francis, the Breakfast presenter, asked if he ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL:  Oranga Tamariki faces major upheaval under coalition agreement
     Lindsay Mitchell writes – A hugely significant gain for ACT is somewhat camouflaged by legislative jargon. Under the heading ‘Oranga Tamariki’ ACT’s coalition agreement contains the following item:   Remove Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 According to Oranga Tamariki:     “Section ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record. Brian Easton writes – 1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Cathrine Dyer's guide to watching COP 28 from the bottom of a warming planet
    Is COP28 largely smoke and mirrors and a plan so cunning, you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel? Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: COP28 kicks off on November 30 and up for negotiation are issues like the role of fossil fuels in the energy transition, contributions to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Monday, Nov 27
    PM Elect Christopher Luxon was challenged this morning on whether he would sack Adrian Orr and Andrew Coster.TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am on Monday November 27, including:Signs councils are putting planning and capital spending on hold, given a lack of clear guidance ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the new government’s policies of yesteryear
    This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on Friday Routinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded but equally important role as the ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    5 days ago

  • The New Government’s Agreements
    Last Friday, almost six weeks after election day, National finally came to an agreement with ACT and NZ First to form a government. They also released the agreements between each party and looking through them, here are the things I thought were the most interesting (and often concerning) from the. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago

  • How many smokers will die to fund the tax cuts?
    Maori and Pasifika smoking rates are already over twice the ‘all adult’ rate. Now the revenue that generates will be used to fund National’s tax cuts. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The devil is always in the detail and it emerged over the weekend from the guts of the policy agreements National ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • How the culture will change in the Beehive
    Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to do, and that means it knows what outcomes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • No More Winnie Blues.
    So what do you think of the coalition’s decision to cancel Smokefree measures intended to stop young people, including an over representation of Māori, from taking up smoking? Enabling them to use the tax revenue to give other people a tax cut?David Cormack summed it up well:It seems not only ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 19, 2023 thru Sat, Nov 25, 2023.  Story of the Week World stands on frontline of disaster at Cop28, says UN climate chief  Exclusive: Simon Stiell says leaders must ‘stop ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Some of it is mad, some of it is bad and some of it is clearly the work of people who are dangerous ...
    On announcement morning my mate texted:Typical of this cut-price, fake-deal government to announce itself on Black Friday.What a deal. We lose Kim Hill, we gain an empty, jargonising prime minister, a belligerent conspiracist, and a heartless Ayn Rand fanboy. One door closes, another gets slammed repeatedly in your face.It seems pretty ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • “Revolution” is the threat as the Māori Party smarts at coalition government’s Treaty directi...
    Buzz from the Beehive Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website, Point of Order turned today to Scoop’s Latest Parliament Headlines  for its buzz. This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM. “Soured” ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • The Good, the Bad, and the even Worse.
    Yesterday the trio that will lead our country unveiled their vision for New Zealand.Seymour looking surprisingly statesmanlike, refusing to rise to barbs about his previous comments on Winston Peters. Almost as if they had just been slapstick for the crowd.Winston was mostly focussed on settling scores with the media, making ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • When it Comes to Palestine – Free Speech is Under Threat
    Hi,Thanks for getting amongst Mister Organ on digital — thanks to you, we hit the #1 doc spot on iTunes this week. This response goes a long way to helping us break even.I feel good about that. Other things — not so much.New Zealand finally has a new government, and ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago

  • Thank you Captain Luxon. Was that a landing, or were we shot down?
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Also in More Than A FeildingFriday The unboxing And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Cans of Worms.
    “And there’ll be no shortage of ‘events’ to test Luxon’s political skills. David Seymour wants a referendum on the Treaty. Winston wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Labour’s handling of the Covid crisis. Talk about cans of worms!”LAURIE AND LES were very fond of their local. It was nothing ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago

  • Disinformation campaigns are undermining democracy. Here’s how we can fight back
    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Misinformation is debated everywhere and has justifiably sparked concerns. It can polarise the public, reduce health-protective behaviours such as mask wearing and vaccination, and erode trust in science. Much of misinformation is spread not ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record.1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is not even an entry in Wikipedia. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago

  • The New Government: 2023 Edition
    So New Zealand has a brand-spanking new right-wing government. Not just any new government either. A formal majority coalition, of the sort last seen in 1996-1998 (our governmental arrangements for the past quarter of a century have been varying flavours of minority coalition or single-party minority, with great emphasis ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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