Nasty govt cont…

Written By: - Date published: 2:29 pm, July 26th, 2012 - 22 comments
Categories: national - Tags: , , ,

Eddie got there before me, but yesterday seemed to be a day of nasty attacks, not just by Maggie Barry.

(Incidentally, check out #maggiebarrystandingorders on Twitter for some laughs – apparently you need 3 stars on Trade Me to talk about Asset Sales…)

Tau Henare put his foot in it again when confronted with the fact that smoking while pregnant was bad for babies:

Mr Henare disputed that and asked if Ms Houston knew of any woman who had smoked while pregnant. “What’s wrong with your children?” he asked when Ms Houston replied that she had.

She said her son had asthma and eczema and her daughter asthma, allergies and a compromised immune system.

“When I look at my daughter . . . the first question I ask is: if I didn’t smoke in my pregnancy would she be different? And I’ll never know,” she replied emotionally.

Before going on to show his lack of understanding of statistics by saying that he smoked and his children didn’t; therefore the children of smokers weren’t more likely to smoke (despite the flood of evidence…).

It was somewhat amusing to hear Key’s vociferous attacks during the Mondayisation Bill (“I’ve seen how Labour work, I know they like holidays…”), despite the fact that earlier in the week he didn’t know his or his party’s position on the bill, and the fact that most businesses and especially the tourism industry he’s supposed to represent all support it.  All his false figures (including 225,000 unaffected self-employed workers in the costs, and not adding in any tourism etc benefits) couldn’t help him: it obviously really hurt having the first Bill this parliament to pass a reading without their support.

But the real venom was over the second to do so: the Paid Parental Leave Bill.

Here they were using discredited figures as well.  Rather than the $450-500 million they claim, it will cost $285 million over 3 years.

While the figure makes a closer correlation to the $360 million looters’ bonus, the $120 million on brokerage & advertising fees asset sales will throw up, a RONS motorway, the $2 billion we’ve spent on tax cuts for the wealthy, or the couple of billion we’re subsidising polluters with National’s changing the ETS to an Emissions Trading Scam, National preferred to talk PIIGS.

Louise Upston and Maggie Barry (she has a child, so she’s allowed to comment) compared the cost to the likes of Spain’s €820 billion debt, suggesting Greece needed €240 billion of bailout money because they have 3 weeks more PPL than we do.

[Maggie Barry] thank you Labour and the Greens for supporting these ridiculous policies. We are doing the right thing. As happens so often, Labour is out of step with the times. It is cocooned. It is unaware of cataclysmic upheavals and seismic activities… This is an ill-advised bill for these times that is poorly executed and put through, and I am very, very glad indeed for the children of New Zealand that we are not supporting this rubbish.

In fact those with more generous schemes – Sweden has 16 months, Germany and Norway 12 months – don’t have economies in trouble.  Indeed 24 out of 25 OECD countries have better schemes than ours, which is why the UN were over last week criticisng Jo Goodhew over our provisions.  But the fact that Albania and Bulgaria feel that 1 year’s PPL is affordable doesn’t suit the Nats argument so we have Jo Goodhew telling “that side“:

Go on, get on your hind legs.

And Nick Smith’s constant:

show us the money!

Despite plenty of suggestions where the money could come from.

Add this to Tuesday’s Phil Heatley dismissal of 142,000 voters’ opinions as irrelevant as he didn’t agree with their petition, Key’s dismissal of Russel Norman’s brokerage fees, the constant references to Planet Labour, and this week the government’s arrogant attitude is really showing.

–

=> A campaign launches today to support 26 weeks of paid parental leave. Please support them!

[Incidentally, the Rev Dr David Clark has obviously been calling on heavenly help and got another Member’s Bill drawn – this time for $15/hr minimum wage.  The media have a bigger story though with Louisa Wall‘s same-sex marriage bill, so even Clayton Cosgrove‘s SOE (protecting NZ’s assets) bill will be overlooked]

22 comments on “Nasty govt cont… ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Tracey 1
    26 July 2012 at 2:46 pm

    I was going to mention Germany a country the Nats like to pretend doesn’t exist (other than for PM photo OPs) for the purposes of work conditions, holiday pay, annual leave, PPL etc…

    Of course Maggie and her son have been to Greece, so they CAN comment.

  2. Carol 2
    26 July 2012 at 2:54 pm

    It was somewhat amusing to hear Key’s vociferous attacks during the Mondayisation Bill (“I’ve seen how Labour work, I know they like holidays…”), d

    And this from the Minister for Holidays in Hawaii Taken as Often as Possible Tourism?

    [taking a stab at what the strikethrough code might be] – Ha! Result!

    • Georgecom 2.1
      26 July 2012 at 9:02 pm

      The global financial system is in danger of freezing as National gains power in 2008. There are 100 days of ‘action’ which involve pushing through under urgency such serious matters as (flawed) National Standards for schools………and then Key goes on holiday for a month to Hawaii.

      Who enjoys taking holidays John?

  3. Richard Christie 3
    26 July 2012 at 3:56 pm

    My Gran says:
    Oh no! not the luverly garden lady! all of us down at bowls voted cause she was so nice on the telly. Now we’re quite shattered.”

  4. ad 4
    26 July 2012 at 4:18 pm

    This coming 12 months is no place for nice.

    Both the Greens and Labour need to harden up, and really start throwing punches. The polls show that the game is truly on, and labour could easily track right back to 29-31% preference.

    National and all its supporters did not hold back 1.5 years into Clark’s third term, which is where we are with this lot. They pulled every trick they could find, using as many allies as they could find.

    National show all the signs of being truly emboldened, and coming out swinging with harder and harder policy.

    Labour should stop squealing and start the fightback.

  5. peter 5
    26 July 2012 at 4:18 pm

    Tau Henare is just an idiot, comments like this just cement that.

  6. gobsmacked 6
    26 July 2012 at 4:37 pm

    If you’re not on Twitter, or you just want the edited version, check out these gems from the Maggie Barry “hashtag” …

    http://www.listener.co.nz/commentary/the-internaut/maggie-barry-standing-orders/

    Maggie’s the new Melissa Lee!

  7. North 7
    26 July 2012 at 5:22 pm

    Maggie Barry is nothing more than a self promoting dickhead. Ignore it.

  8. Dr Terry 8
    26 July 2012 at 5:39 pm

    Maggie kept up her facade of “loveliness”as she displayed rich peoples gardens on TV for years. Now that she has joined people of her own true kind, to hell with this facile pretense.Now we see the virago. Maybe she could become Minister of education on some future day? She lacks enough talent for the job!

  9. prism 9
    26 July 2012 at 7:31 pm

    I used to like Maggie Barry. She always seemed very on to it whatever the subject and thoughtful.
    But her sort of comment is disgraceful and stupid. There must be a sort of groupthink that parliamentarians go through which brings out the juvenile in them.

    • QoT 9.1
      26 July 2012 at 8:16 pm

      Or she was always this much of a dick and the wonders of TV editing worked their magic … (yes I know she was on Radio Live, but given the company she kept I refuse to believe she was some random voice of gentle reason there.)

      • Ad 9.1.1
        26 July 2012 at 9:33 pm

        She’s smart and engaging up close. Maybe could do with a facial with Dr Hauschka these days.

        But we should not mistake her for some standard twinset clad foundation-caked matron. She has a strong attack. A Collins with a smile and great televisual radiance.

        • Anne 9.1.1.1
          26 July 2012 at 10:12 pm

          She’s not nearly as smart as she thinks she is Ad. I’ve heard a few local stories about her lack of knowledge/understanding of complex issues. It was noticeable during the election campaign. Some of her answers to questions showed she actually had no idea what she was talking about. Mind you that’s a fairly common complaint among many Nat. MPs.

          • Murray Olsen 9.1.1.1.1
            28 July 2012 at 4:26 am

            I’ve heard from people who know her about her lack of knowledge of simple gardening issues. All fluff and scripted substance.

      • prism 9.1.2
        27 July 2012 at 3:08 pm

        The thing I remember about Maggie Barry was that she interviewed on Radionz in the 9 to noon slot. She sounded as if she had a brain and understanding and was people-centred then, but perhaps it was just good training in presentation. As I’ve said before that seems to be the most important trait for a politician, f..k thinking about people and trying to be part of making lives better.

        From wikipedia on her career before everything got mixed up with dirt –
        She began her broadcasting career in 1986 on National Radio’s Morning Report and moved on to Nine to Noon in 1990. In 1992 she was a news interviewer for TV2’s Counterpoint, and she was news presenter for Primetime in 1993.

    • the pink postman 9.2
      27 July 2012 at 3:34 pm

      I knew she was a Tory when I first saw her years ago.Don’t ask me how it’s just working class instinct. Plus a few key words they use. Ive watched them for yonks and I have never met a good one yet. They are all a slimy lot of creeps.

  10. Carol 10
    27 July 2012 at 9:21 am

    Seems to have turned in to an own goal for Ms Maggie. Will she ever be allowed to live down some of the resulting hilarity at her expense. My favourite tweet here, based on the logic of if you don’t have experience of XXX you can’t comment on XXX:

    MPs must live on the minimum wage to set the minimum wage.

    Followed by:

    We’ve got a problem, no one can talk about zombies since Roger Douglas left.

    And will she get mocked any time she speaks on something she doesn’t have direct experience of:

    She has spoken about covered bonds, Treaty of Waitangi clauses, building regulations, the law of the sea and the domestic purposes benefit – with no suggestion of personal experience in those areas.

    The North Shore MP spoke about graffiti in Hutt City, likening it to a dog marking its turf.

    She also gave a speech about sewage disposal in Tauranga.

    At a stretch, Ms Barry was possibly qualified to hold a view on Easter trading hours because gardening centres were one of the exceptions to trading rules.

    The Aucklander also spoke about visitor levies at Stewart Island – saying she had been there once.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10822482

  11. captain hook 11
    30 July 2012 at 7:24 pm

    she used to like bossing her gardeners around and not paying her bills.