Nastiest election ever?

Written By: - Date published: 8:06 am, September 17th, 2014 - 79 comments
Categories: brand key, election 2014, twitter - Tags: , ,

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79 comments on “Nastiest election ever? ”

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  1. mickysavage 1
    17 September 2014 at 8:14 am

    I keep thinking about the turmoil the right created over anti smacking, lightbulbs and sausage rolls in school and compare it to dirty politics, mass surveillance and the abuse our PM hands out without thinking and I wonder what National supporters are thinking of …

  2. Ad 2
    17 September 2014 at 8:39 am

    Most annoying election since 1981.

    1981, all the activist stars were aligned, Sprinbok Tour that year, Muldoon appeared on the ropes. Righteous fervour demanded he go.
    Nope. Opposition unsteady and poorly led in the vital week for Undecideds.

    2014, massive activist froth, Key tilting from astonishing popularity, but opposition largely sucked dry of oxygen. Righteous fervour demanded he go.
    Opposition generally nowhere in the vital week for Undecideds.

    Harrumph!

    • Tom Jackson 2.1
      17 September 2014 at 1:38 pm

      The 1981 election merely delayed the inevitable, since Muldoon couldn’t even limp to a full term. If National/Act don’t get an outright majority, I think we’ll be back at the polls before too long, especially if Key resigns (I give him about a year).

      1996 was much the same. A cobbled together, desperate government on its last legs.

      This government is too beset by scandals to continue for much longer, even if it wins. Perhaps the worst thing that could happen for them is for Collins to be found innocent, because the public will see the vindication as yet another act of cronyism whatever its merits.

      • Ad 2.1.1
        17 September 2014 at 3:52 pm

        Hope you’re right.
        Because a win’s a win.

        • JRT 2.1.1.1
          17 September 2014 at 4:30 pm

          This election so reminds me of 1996. It will remind Winston too. He got 13% of the vote in the 1996 election, and after getting into bed with a third term National government he got less than 5% in the next election. I see we even have Paula Bennett with a deja vu Shipley makeover, cue for her to roll Key just like Shipley’s faction rolled Bolger during that third term. National got tossed out in 1999, but they were able to do a lot of damage in those last three years.

          • alwyn 2.1.1.1.1
            17 September 2014 at 6:30 pm

            Winston will also be reminded of course that he had 5.72% of the vote in 2005, went into bed with a third term Labour Government and dropped 30% of the party vote in the next election and got kicked out of Parliament. Labour got tossed out in 2008, but they were able to do a lot of damage in those last three years.
            I suspect that if it meant being number 3 in a centre-left Government or number 2 in a centre-right he would waffle about stability, get a firm promise of an easy portfolio AND a knighthood and go with National

    • Ergo Robertina 2.2
      17 September 2014 at 5:02 pm

      One big difference between now and 1981: Labour received more votes than National. And that was despite the vote splitting factor of Social Credit.

  3. sockpuppet 3
    17 September 2014 at 9:07 am

    Certainly the weirdest election in my memory (60years).

    The sooner the portly chap for Coatesville slings his hook the better as his profile and egocentric behaviour has been an unwanted distraction.

    Also a double thumbs down for the MSM and the blogs who seem to have made the election all about them to the detriment of the poetical parties and informing the voters. IMO NZ political journalists are at the lowest ebb and are a disgrace to what was once a respected profession.

    • ropata 3.1
      17 September 2014 at 9:38 am

      KDC has been a lightning rod exposing some important truth about the Key government.

      John Key’s bully-boys don’t like it when their boss is under scrutiny. Steve Crow and a few other shady characters were the *actual* henchmen that had 4 big black Mercedes-Benz SUVs plastered with anti Dotcom slander and parked illegally in front of the Town Hall before the “Moment of Truth” meeting. They looked pretty intimidating.

      • sockpuppet 3.1.1
        17 September 2014 at 9:50 am

        KDC is a fraud and an egomaniac that some on the left cling to him in the delusion that my enemy’s enemy must be my friend is both childish and worrying.

        • ropata 3.1.1.1
          17 September 2014 at 11:54 am

          So that justifies illegally wiretapping his calls, seizing all his assets, destroying his business (and millions of people’s stored data), and using the armed offenders squad to arrest him and terrorise his family?

          Looks like the FBI, NSA and Warner Bros are running the National Party these days. They already have the GCSB and police doing their bidding.

        • Tracey 3.1.1.2
          17 September 2014 at 12:44 pm

          Makes you wish te Nats hadnt overturned/ignored the concerns drawn to their attention about his past…

        • Draco T Bastard 3.1.1.3
          17 September 2014 at 3:54 pm

          Nope. KDC comes across as a guy who’s suddenly realised that politics matters and who’s now thinking about how things should be. His ego’s still a bit large though.

          • TheContrarian 3.1.1.3.1
            17 September 2014 at 4:04 pm

            “KDC comes across as a guy who’s suddenly realised that politics matters”

            Bullshit, he comes across as some guy that didn’t give a fuck until he was personally affected and is concerned only with what matters to him

            • Draco T Bastard 3.1.1.3.1.1
              17 September 2014 at 4:13 pm

              Yes, the personally affected bit was the trigger. Before then he just went through playing the game by the rules as he understood them. Now, IMO, he’s learning the rules as they actually apply and he’s realising that they’re wrong. He’s got a way to go yet but he’ll get there. That intellect of his won’t allow anything else.

              • TheContrarian …
                17 September 2014 at 10:05 pm

                If it were Labour in power when his raid went down I have no doubt he’d throw his weight behind National in opposition. Dotcom does what is best for Dotcom. End of.

          • Colonial Viper 3.1.1.3.2
            17 September 2014 at 5:01 pm

            His ego’s still a bit large though.

            And thank grod for that. No other sane person would jump up on stage and start a political party.

      • CeeEm 3.1.2
        17 September 2014 at 10:02 am

        Crow hates Dotcom because mega users are downloading tons of porn that Crow can’t sell them.

      • Mary Anne 3.1.3
        17 September 2014 at 11:18 am

        Intimidating is correct.
        Prospective beneficiaries of the State have a lot to fight for.
        I am pleased that this disgusting behaviour is in the light for us to see, considering their behaviour in the past was veiled.

  4. AsleepWhileWalking 4
    17 September 2014 at 9:07 am

    Most engaging election ever! So far we are short of a sex or drug scandal and a mysterious accident (perhaps something minor like tripping over an AV cable) which would both be explained away by some kind of conspiracy involving a pack of feral chihuahuas, five moon phases and of course a silver shaped weather balloon owned by a Labour party member residing in Twizel.

  5. Rrr 5
    17 September 2014 at 9:12 am

    If Key gets back into power he will be as lame a duck as Len Brown after all the half truths etc , etc

    • Colonial Viper 5.1
      17 September 2014 at 5:04 pm

      Way lamer than Len Brown, who was a politician who had an affair. Meh. Whereas Key has sold the sovereignty of this country out to foreign powers without even mentioning it until he was made to.

  6. ropata 6
    17 September 2014 at 9:20 am

    2008 Wishart, Farrar, Whale published some ridiculous sh1t about Helen Clark’s personal life.

    On the Electoral Finance Act reforms, the Herald ran a scaremongering “Democracy Under Attack” campaign, and seemed to forget about the “hollow men” saga that prompted it.

    There was a nationwide petition against the “anti-smacking” law, propagated by the uninformed.

    Michael Cullen was vilified for being stingy with the national surplus and not handing out tax cuts! (but the media gives bill english a free pass to run deficits, raise taxes, pile up huge debt, and get a double downgrade for good measure)

  7. greywarbler 7
    17 September 2014 at 10:02 am

    The Standard has been scrutinised and criticised by Your NZ blog with the motto ‘Reason, Reasonable, Robust’. It is undated but quotes lprent from 7/9/14 with a sarcy comment, “This tries to portray The Standard as independent authors”.

    Apparently TS is flaky because it seems to have labour activists commenting but they mightn’t actually declare their political leanings so that readers from Your NZ know it’s right to despise them or not.

    And secondly, though Labour is pushing for a Positive campaign, TS persists in criticising things, which is sooo negative.

    They have put a lot of work into this nonsense passing itself of as intelligent analysis. It’s very National ie, doesn’t concentrate on studying policies that should be being presented to patch the holes in various places of our economy.
    http://yournz.org/2014/09/08/vote-positive-and-the-standard/

    • Te Reo Putake 7.1
      17 September 2014 at 10:19 am

      Yawn NZ. An attempt to put into writing the sound of gentle snoring from a grandparent who has nodded off in front of the telly. Ssssh, don’t wake him, he might accidentally swallow his dentures again.

      • greywarbler 7.1.1
        17 September 2014 at 10:49 am

        @TRP
        You’re sharp TRP Like that knife always on tv adverts! LOL

        • Te Reo Putake 7.1.1.1
          17 September 2014 at 11:48 am

          Cheers, greywarbler! As weka notes, the closet tory is still trying to inflict damage behind his Mr Reasonable facade, so the occasional witty skewering is the least I can do to prick his pomposity.

      • weka 7.1.2
        17 September 2014 at 10:55 am

        That’s all very well TRP, but PG has very good priority on google search results and some MSM outlets seem to think him a worthy person to quote from time to time. He’s an active part of the smear machine who hides behind his respectability and he fools many people (looking at you Rory factchecker dude). In other words, he’s quite capable of doing damage.

        On the other hand, he did get a ban from Public Address 😀

      • Tracey 7.1.3
        17 September 2014 at 12:47 pm

        TRP

        The labour stickers dont have an authorisation on the stickers themselves.

        The orange national stickers likewise.

        They DO look at a glance like the electoral commission

    • lprent 7.2
      17 September 2014 at 10:48 am

      …labour activists commenting but they mightn’t actually declare their political leanings…

      It has all sorts of activists commenting. Including ones like Pete George who tries to say that he isn’t a old right wing conservative when his writing clearly labels him as such.

      But I guess that trying to judge where other people are coming from by looking at what they actually say is something that his fossilised brain finds too hard to do. If he doesn’t have a wee label handed to him saying “commie” or “woman”, the jerk is too damn lazy to exert himself to figure it out.

      (cue another outraged diatribe) 😈

    • ropata 7.3
      17 September 2014 at 10:53 am

      Pete George is an irrelevant blowhard with a grudge, banned from TS for pompous offtopic verbiage, concern trolling, and derailing threads. Thankfully started his own blog where he can be safely ignored.

  8. BM 8
    17 September 2014 at 10:07 am

    Labour vote will be in the very low 20’s, most of their new talent will be gone.

    Has this election being successful for the left, I don’t think so.

    Big winners out of this, the old drunk Peters and conspiracy boy Craig.

    Thanks lefties.

    • ropata 8.1
      17 September 2014 at 11:00 am

      The left is attempting to give NZers an informed choice. If you prefer a low information environment f*ck off to whaleoil.

      • Hayden 8.1.1
        17 September 2014 at 11:51 am

        f*ck off to whaleoil

        That’s not necessary.

        BM spends most of his time* on Whaleoil already.

        * disclaimer: I don’t actually know that

        • greywarbler 8.1.1.1
          17 September 2014 at 1:48 pm

          @ Hayden
          I don’t know about that. though it’s a possibility. He seems like one of those quiet blowflies that I hate even more than the noisy ones. But he isn’t always here and I think he uses the blog like a junkie getting a fix.

          So where does he go when he is not here. Perhaps his doctor recommends a little light gardening, a short drive in the country to settle his nerves, or even to train up for a half marathon for the oldies bracket. Where does the idle man spend his time when he is old? Sitting round annoying the wife possibly.

    • emergency mike 8.2
      17 September 2014 at 11:49 am

      Yeah that’s right BM, the dirty truth described in Hager’s book and the hollow lies of Key shown by Greenwald and co is ‘the left’s fault.

      If only they had STFU about it, then National voters who would chew their own foot off before voting for Labour or the Greens wouldn’t be forced to vote for Winston First or Christian First in the desperate hope that they will keep the current bunch of sociopaths honest.

  9. Tom Gould 9
    17 September 2014 at 10:08 am

    And now, only days after Ashburton, Bennett declares a fresh war on beneficiaries. Obscene. Nasty.

    • weka 9.1
      17 September 2014 at 10:15 am

      Link? Or even just an explanation?

      • Lanthanide 9.1.1
        17 September 2014 at 11:54 am

        They’re going to reduce benefit numbers by 25% in their next term through a range of initiatives.

        • weka 9.1.1.1
          17 September 2014 at 11:58 am

          Ta.

          http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/policies/10508263/Nats-promise-cut-to-benefit-numbers

          Had a quick skim, but can’t be bothered really. It looks like a clean presentation which means they’re saving the nasty shit until after the election.

          • Lanthanide 9.1.1.1.1
            17 September 2014 at 12:01 pm

            My exact response, too. It’s the usual dog-whistling to the uninformed.

            I’m not against a 25% drop in beneficiaries. I just want to see it through creating jobs and uplifting people, rather than punishing them.

            • weka 9.1.1.1.1.1
              17 September 2014 at 12:07 pm

              in which case we should talk about a 25% drop in unemployed beneficiaries. Many beneficiaries aren’t unemployed and some of those are being wrongly categorised as work ready. This isn’t just semantics, it’s because National have real world policies and practices that are damaging people’s lives by forcing them into punitive schemes when they need support in other ways. Even Labour doesn’t get this, and constantly uses the term ‘beneficiary’ when it really means unemployed.

    • greywarbler 9.2
      17 September 2014 at 10:51 am

      @ TomGould
      That’s a very Oliver remark. Want more!

  10. Enough is Enough 10
    17 September 2014 at 10:22 am

    I don’t actually think it has been that nasty.

    Essentially it has been Key defending himself for 5 weeks against clear evidence that he is a crook and a liar.

    The dirtiest thing is the fake email from Dotcom. The sooner he leaves New Zealand the better.

    • weka 10.1
      17 September 2014 at 10:58 am

      Do you have proof that it is fake, or even some evidence that this is likely? If not, then using that to further your antipathy towards KDC is just part of the bullshit.

      • Enough is Enough 10.1.1
        17 September 2014 at 11:04 am

        Ok for arguments sake lets assume it is genuine.

        Dotcom has known about it for two years. Don’t you think it a wee bit underhand to hold onto it for that long and then reveal it the week of an election.

        We would have won this election on policy. In my view the bullshit which he is pulling will only harden the determination of the righties to get and vote.

        • weka 10.1.1.1
          17 September 2014 at 11:31 am

          That’s all very fair enough, although I personally have no idea about KDC’s motives re the email. or the legalities. We can talk about all that, and the impact on the election, but that wasn’t my point. My point was that we don’t know what the deal is with the email, so if we call it fake as part of furthering our antipathy for someone we deem an enemy, when we don’t have evidence yet that it is a fake, then it’s just the same old bullshit that the right are doing.

          It’s fine that you don’t like KDC or his impact on the election, I’m just suggesting that there is plenty of real stuff to talk about with that without perpetuating an idea that we have no idea is true or false.

          • Enough is Enough 10.1.1.1.1
            17 September 2014 at 11:39 am

            Yes and no.

            Remove the word “fake” from my post and lets start again.

            Lobbing a grenade into an election campaign when you have had the pin pulled for 2 years, is in my view underhand.

            It is politics alright but it is dirty.

            Flip it around. Imagine if Slater had been threatening something for two years and then pulled out the questionable evidence today, even though he had held it for the whole time.

            Its dirty and we should call dirty on whoever does it.

            • Lanthanide 10.1.1.1.1.1
              17 September 2014 at 11:58 am

              Slater’s modus operandi seems to be to unleash the dirt after the important election has a occurred, vis-a-vis Len Brown…

              KDC has always been planning to release the ‘proof’ at his extradition trial as evidence that the government was colluding, therefore his extradition is illegal etc. The extradition trial date kept being pushed back, as far as I can tell through no fault of KDC’s own.

              So, he had planned to have it out in public before now, it just didn’t pan out that way. Even as it is, his lawyers have told him not to comment on it publicly, which is why he’s been very evasive and why we had the vacuum on Monday night.

              But, given how flimsy it looks – a single 3rd hand email without anything to verify it, he would have been better off not publishing it at all.

              Edit: snap @ yeshe.

              • Enough is Enough …
                17 September 2014 at 12:06 pm

                My problem with all this is people do not like it.

                I work in an office which is overrepresented by John Key fans. A large proportion of them were a bit indifferent and were turning against him as a result of Hager’s revelations and I was confident those people would vote left or stay at home.

                What I have seen in the past week is it has turned the other way again. People are getting animated about Dotcom in a negative way. He has hijacked the headlines and stolen our voice in this most critical week.

                The left wins this election on policy. Unfortunately the public is not getting the opportunity to hear that though.

            • weka 10.1.1.1.1.2
              17 September 2014 at 12:03 pm

              “Remove the word “fake” from my post and lets start again.”

              thanks for getting the point.

              • Enough is Enough …
                17 September 2014 at 12:09 pm

                I think you missed the point of why I think it is dirty.

                Hint: It has nothing to do with the authenticity of the email.

                • weka …
                  17 September 2014 at 12:18 pm

                  No, I get it. Like I said, let’s talk about that, but we don’t have to call things fake when we don’t actually know.

        • yeshe 10.1.1.2
          17 September 2014 at 11:56 am

          Enough is enough — a small point, but likely worth making.

          KDC has promised always he would reveal in his extradition trial in the High Court the evidence he had that Key knew earlier of his existence; it would be part of his evidence.

          This trial has taken many twists and turns but was expected to be heard in full including this evidence, prior to the election. However, it has not, and is now re-scheduled to early next year.

          KDC and his eminent legal team must have made a strategic decision about entering it into evidence it or releasing it. ( In fact, Paul Davison QC referred to the email outside court on Monday.)

          But I do not think we can say KDC has lied or been duplicitous about it.

          He has always said he had the evidence. The only fact that has changed is the promised release — in this time, not delaying until his High Court extradition hearings.

          • Enough is Enough 10.1.1.2.1
            17 September 2014 at 11:58 am

            Yes

            Why did he pull it out this week then?

            • Lanthanide 10.1.1.2.1.1
              17 September 2014 at 12:02 pm

              Presumably because he thought the public should know that John Key is a liar?

              His problem is that it was very weak.

              • Enough is Enough …
                17 September 2014 at 12:07 pm

                Obviously because he thought that. The issue (or the reason I think it is “dirty”) is the timing.

            • Tracey 10.1.1.2.1.2
              17 September 2014 at 12:54 pm

              His case was back in court on monday and tuesday. It may have been tabled as evidence.

              It does seem that key was scared enough to release documents which he had been told the release of which was a danger to national security.

              One question key, joyce etc… Are not asked often enough, is why not release those documents when the gcsb bill was under debate

              August 2013 gcsb bill passes and the GCSB is still working on the business case for option 2…

              IOW Key was still intending to go with it, so he kept quiet…

              December 2013 rescinding of decision to get a business plan for option 2.

              Key says between april 2012 and December 2013 key says he never saw the business case….

              No draft? No, hows it coming along?

              I do not believe that NOTHING was done in that time on the business plan, do you?

        • Tracey 10.1.1.3
          17 September 2014 at 12:52 pm

          Because it is part of his legal strategy. People dont have an obligation to reveal things when others want it.

          Slater releases shit all the time which the msm runs with, without checking authenticity.

          Farrar and others recently released BS about a song getting public funding. The msm regurgitated and then NZ on Air tweeted it had not funded it.

          No one, not even the msm, rang nz on air first… But dotcoms email is a fake cos the ceo of warners who secured law changes, rebates and an extradiction of someone he considers is hurting his profit said so.

        • Murray Olsen 10.1.1.4
          17 September 2014 at 7:59 pm

          Ok, assuming the email is genuine….then Key schemed with Hollywood executives and the FBI to pervert our immigration procedures and basically hold someone hostage until a Rambo operation could be mounted. Don’t you think it a wee bit underhand to do all that and never mention any of it? In fact, to lie and deny it all instead?

          The fact that so many Kiwis still accept that such a crook is fit to be free, let alone our PM, is what is bullshit.

    • greywarbler 10.2
      17 September 2014 at 11:05 am

      @ Enough is Enough 10.22
      Our politics is a serious game, if we could package it properly we might get into the Olympics or perhaps the thinking Chess Olympics with it. We need experienced contenders as good as we can find. It’s not enough to turn up and pass a ckean hands and fingernails test.

      There are only two situational possibilities in NZ at present – the quick and the dead. The quick are rich or getting there. Dotcom is one of the better rich ones. Don’t be too hasty to boot him out, wanting only saints managing our country. Having some experienced financial and business exponents with knowledge of finagling comes in useful.

      Saints are for the dead, then you get canonised. NZs will get cannonised if we don’t think more quickly. Keep our political and financial stars as long as they can present a case for their inclusion and reliability in their dealings now..

  11. sable 11
    17 September 2014 at 12:57 pm

    Government is a contrivance and never has it been so explicitly demonstrated than this election.

  12. James Thrace 12
    17 September 2014 at 4:28 pm

    Latest roy morgan poll is out

    Again, still too close to call. National-led Government: National Party, Maori Party, ACT NZ, United Future on 49% (up from 46.5% in August 31 poll)

    Opposition Parties: Labour Party, Green Party, Internet-Mana Party alliance, NZ First; down to 46.5 (from 49% in August 31 poll)

    Nothing more than an old switcherooni.

    National is up 1.5
    Labour down 2
    Greens down 2.5
    NZ1st up 2
    Maori Party up 1

    No real change for everyone else.

    Even so, based on those numbers, assuming Dunne is gone from Ohariu, and even with Seymour in Epsom, it still leaves National short. Have assumed conservatives get 4.5% and are out of parliament. The percentage signs relate to the party vote gained on the day.

    I am worried that Labour will get less overall, particularly as the weather on the day is shaping up to be nasty.

    ACT New Zealand 1.50% 2 MPs (1 electorate + 1.5% PV)
    Green Party 16.00% 21 MPs (no electorates)
    Internet MANA 2.00% 3 MPs (1 electorate +2% PV)
    Labour Party 26.00% 34 MPs (29 Electorates+ 5 list)
    Māori Party 1.00% 2 Mps (2 electorates)
    National Party 39.00% 50 Mps (37 electorates + 13 list)
    New Zealand First Party 7.00% 9 Mps (no electorates)

    121 seats total.

    Using the numbers:

    National + Act + MP = 54 seats
    Even if Dunne gets in, that still only gives them 55 seats

    Labour + Green + NZ1st = 64 seats, if Dunne gets in, that makes it 63 seats for the left block. I have factored in the probability of Ginny winning Ohariu.

    I can’t see Winston wanting to be part of a four headed monster, or even in a Nat+NZ1+Act/MP/Dunne configuration.

    However, If National got 42% and Labour got 23% on Saturday in their respective party votes (n/c to electorates won), then the left block would likely need IMP to be part of a formal coalition, or in a confidence and supply arrangement.

    Other alternative is that Lab+Grn+NZ1 combined on a 60 seat bloc in 121 seat parliament could run a minority government.

    A national+act+uf+mp bloc is only 58 seats in a 121 seat parliament.

    I haven’t done any configurations with Conservatives as I believe people will shy away from them at the last minute and switch to Winsome Winnie instead of Crazy Colon.

    Overall conclusion? This election is coming down to the wire.

  13. philj 13
    17 September 2014 at 4:38 pm

    Can’t wait for the movie to screen! Especially the walking on water scene.

    • alwyn 13.1
      17 September 2014 at 6:46 pm

      That is the one where on Morning Report, if John Key does it, the story will start “Key too mean to pay the fare on the ferry” and if it is Russell Norman “The Messiah has returned”.

  14. DS 14
    17 September 2014 at 7:26 pm

    The nastiest election this country has ever had was 1951. Sid Holland and John Key bear more than a passing resemblance.

    • Theodora 14.1
      18 September 2014 at 10:05 pm

      I just read SId Holland’s Wikipedia page and he sounds revolting. And yes, very similar to the incumbent.