National announces new line up

Written By: - Date published: 3:47 pm, March 11th, 2018 - 121 comments
Categories: Amy Adams, Gerry Brownlee, Judith Collins, national, nick smith, paula bennett, Politics, same old national, Simon Bridges - Tags:

Simon Bridges has announced the result of National’s reshuffle.

From the Herald:

National leader Simon Bridges’ reshuffle will feature five new faces on the party’s front bench of its top 10 MPs.

The big winners in the reshuffle include Judith Collins, who moves up to be fourth-ranked MP and will take on Labour’s Phil Twyford in Housing and Urban Development – one of the areas Bridges has identified as fertile ground for attacks on the Labour – NZ First Government.

Other new faces on the front bench are Todd McClay, who takes Foreign Affairs, Trade and Tourism; Mark Mitchell, who gets Justice and Defence; and Jami-Lee Ross, who gets Infrastructure and Transport.

The relatively low-profile Paul Goldsmith will get a chance to change that – he is ranked at 9 and will take on the massive Economic Development and Regional Development areas, going head to head against NZ First’s Shane Jones and Economic Development Minister David Parker.

The biggest losers are Nicky Wagner (down 18 places), Joanne Hayes (down 11), Nick Smith (down 8), Chris Finlayson (down 8), Gerry Brownlee (down 7) and Maggie Barry and Tim McIndoe (down 6).  Expect a few more resignations from this list before the next election.

121 comments on “National announces new line up ”

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  1. Ed 1
    11 March 2018 at 4:05 pm

    Nick Smith down 8.
    Nelson by election?

    • Graeme 1.1
      11 March 2018 at 6:10 pm

      Time to reflect…

      Opportunity for the party to parachute the next National PM in? Although could be high risk in that electorate.

    • BM 1.2
      11 March 2018 at 6:12 pm

      Smith will stay until the next election and then retire.

    • Tanz 1.3
      12 March 2018 at 4:47 pm

      Nope, they won’t risk that seat going to the Greens or Labour. Bet he stays.

      • Cinny 1.3.1
        12 March 2018 at 5:45 pm

        I really hope nick smith stands next election, he WILL lose and so many people are very much looking forward to that.

        However I tend to agree with BMs comment above.

        • Anne 1.3.1.1
          12 March 2018 at 5:52 pm

          I wouldn’t be too concerned Cinny. Tanz has been proven wrong about every prediction she’s ever made here. 😉

  2. chris73 2
    11 March 2018 at 4:11 pm

    “[Housing Minister] Phil Twyford is on notice, Judith is coming,” Bridges said.

    Labour have had the warning, lets see what they can do (it probably won’t end well for Twyford) Go Jude!

    • mickysavage 2.1
      11 March 2018 at 4:13 pm

      But where has she been for the past 9 years while the problem became worse and worse? Rhetorical flourishes don’t cut it.

      • chris73 2.1.1
        11 March 2018 at 4:17 pm

        Doesn’t matter, Labour made the claim so now they need to be held to account and Judes just the person for the job

        Bet Twyfords already having nightmares, hes toast

        • Grey Area 2.1.1.1
          11 March 2018 at 4:20 pm

          Yeah I’m sure your alternate reality on Planet Key looks like that, but meanwhile back in NZ 2018 …

          • chris73 2.1.1.1.1
            11 March 2018 at 4:29 pm

            Well don’t worry because when, when not if, Jude makes Twyford and by extension the Labour party look like incompetents that just plucked numbers out of their nether regions I’ll be here to helpfully remind you that I said it was going to happen

            • AB 2.1.1.1.1.1
              11 March 2018 at 4:56 pm

              “plucked numbers out of their nether regions”

              While National disgorged the contents of their nether regions over the people for 9 years.
              You are a nice case study in the psychopathology of vandalism – wreck stuff, then jeer at the people trying to fix it, especially if they can’t fix it as fast as they had hoped.
              The intention being that your jeering will disillusion enough people so that you are then given another go at wrecking it all again.
              Your worship of Judith Collins is true to character

    • Grey Area 2.2
      11 March 2018 at 4:18 pm

      But then again maybe “Jude” Oravida Collins will implode once again. Yeah, I’m sure Twyford will be quaking in his boots.

      He will have to keep on his toes, but there is no indication so far that he isn’t, so as he goes about starting to fix National’s mess he’s probably enjoying the sleep of the righteous.

      • chris73 2.2.1
        11 March 2018 at 4:24 pm

        Kiwiblog has helpfully put up a counter showing how many houses Labour will need to build to make their own targets

        https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/

        Basically hes going to have to start to pull finger at some point because Jude knows, for good or bad, how to get headlines and you know shes going to be onto this

        This move a good move by Simon as I was worried he was going to demote Nationals biggest weapon

        • Ed 2.2.1.1
          11 March 2018 at 4:31 pm

          I don’t read that hate fulled garbage website.

          • chris73 2.2.1.1.1
            11 March 2018 at 4:35 pm

            Thats ok as of the time of writing for Labour to reach 10000 houses built per year they’ll have needed to build 3739 and to have planted 100 million trees for the year they’ll have needed to have planted 38597880, although that counter goes up roughly two per second

            So they’re a wee bit behind schedule at the moment but I’m sure Jude won’t mention it at all nor will she go through the details with a fine tooth comb

            🙂

            • Incognito 2.2.1.1.1.1
              11 March 2018 at 5:12 pm

              National trumps all Labour’s big numbers, and we all how much National loves big numbers and Big Data, because they are still counting down from 11.7 billion (that’s’ 11,700,000,000 for you; lots of lovely zeroes). But I agree that Jude is gonna crush Phil and all his affordable and state houses because that’s what Jude (and National for that matter) does best: decry, deter, and destroy. Let the market sort it out. Oh, wait …

          • alwyn 2.2.1.1.2
            11 March 2018 at 8:37 pm

            “I don’t read that hate fulled garbage website.”

            That leads to having to pick one of two conclusions.
            1. You are lying and you do read it. If so you can at least claim to have some excuse for your description of the site.
            2. You don’t read it. In that case you have no possible way to claim that it is what you depict. If you don’t read it it is impossible to be able to make such a claim about something you are ignorant about.

            Either way makes you a liar. Which is it?

            • McFlock 2.2.1.1.2.1
              11 March 2018 at 11:29 pm

              3: took a look at it a few times and it was consistently full of arseholes, so now don’t visit it at all.

              No lies involved. Just good taste and experience.

              • alwyn …
                12 March 2018 at 12:16 am

                Surely you don’t have to dig Ed out of his hole?
                I note he never bothers to answer any questions he gets.
                You, on the other hand are a true gentleman.
                A cigar aficionado no less. No wonder you can suggest sensible, if unlikely options
                For your entertainment
                https://twitter.com/CigarAficMag?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

                • McFlock …
                  12 March 2018 at 2:14 pm

                  No, I was merely pointing out the absurdity of your false dichotomy before you disgraced yourself too much. A futile gesture, perhaps.

                  And again, tense is important. Sadly no longer an aficionado.

                  • alwyn …
                    12 March 2018 at 2:27 pm

                    ” Sadly no longer an aficionado”.
                    Oh dear. No wonder you sometimes seem a trifle ill-tempered.
                    So am I (an ex smoker), in New Zealand. When visiting civilised countries like France I can still afford to indulge. They allow people to practice their small pleasures. Not like the wowsers in the form of Key and Turia that we had here.

            • Doogs 2.2.1.1.2.2
              12 March 2018 at 7:54 am

              As usual – RWNJ fuck logic. That’s the kind of reasoning one learns in Year 3.

        • Psycho Milt 2.2.1.2
          11 March 2018 at 5:51 pm

          Kiwiblog has helpfully put up a counter showing how many houses Labour will need to build to make their own targets

          And I’m sure there are plenty of Kiwiblog too dumb to see where the grift is. Are you one of them, or are you just assuming the readership here contains a similar proportion of dumbasses?

          • chris73 2.2.1.2.1
            11 March 2018 at 6:14 pm

            Like in most things around politics its not whos right or wrong it manages to convince the majority of people

            Labour made much ballyhoo of building a stack load of houses, if Labour fail to deliver any meaningful numbers then they’ll certainly believe Jude when she says how much of a clusterf**k kiwibuild has been

            • Sanctuary 2.2.1.2.1.1
              11 March 2018 at 6:38 pm

              The authoritarian right has this weird, neo-fascist adoration of Judith Collins.

              I bet chris73 has a Judith action figure complete with jackboots and a riding crop that he frantically rubs on dick every night.

              Trouble is, most people find her polarising and she only really gets her base – and how base they are – supporters going.

              • chris73 …
                11 March 2018 at 6:43 pm

                Well I don’t know anyone named dick but I get what you’re saying and shes a fine women all right

              • Gabby …
                11 March 2018 at 8:58 pm

                It’s not so much the right as Big Julee’s Claque.

              • paul andersen …
                11 March 2018 at 9:08 pm

                yes, the same sort of men that worship collins also worship pauline hanson and maggie thatcher. says a lot about them and there relationship to there mothers. the other 44% of men cant stand any of these women and have normal sexual fantasies…..

                • chris73 …
                  11 March 2018 at 11:15 pm

                  Define normal

                  • McFlock …
                    11 March 2018 at 11:33 pm

                    I like the one with the gooseberries.

                  • Doogs …
                    12 March 2018 at 7:58 am

                    Labour supporters!

                  • paul andersen …
                    12 March 2018 at 9:48 am

                    define normal…NOT fantasising about being ruled by a nasty overbearing harridan . you sound like the typical nat gimpboi,….. mistress orivida will see you now

                    • red-blooded …
                      12 March 2018 at 1:50 pm

                      Can we get away from such gendered abuse, please guys? Why does your disussion of JC have to be sexual? And why does a powerful woman have to be characterised as a “harridan”? Say she’s a bully – yes, she is, but let’s avoid words made up to diminish strong women and make a woman’s gender central to the way in which she’s criticised.

            • mikesh 2.2.1.2.1.2
              12 March 2018 at 9:51 am

              The exact number of houses Labour will build doesn’t matter. What matters is that they build as many as resources allow. Labour are now in government, not so much because they promised to build 100,000, but because National was seen to have failed in this area.

          • Stunned mullet 2.2.1.2.2
            11 March 2018 at 6:17 pm

            “Are you one of them, or are you just assuming the readership here contains a similar proportion of dumbasses? ”

            Oh I don’t believe this site has any shortage of dullards, the extreme edges of politics seem to attract them.

    • Delia 2.3
      11 March 2018 at 9:21 pm

      We want Housing sorted not endless point scoring..so has Judith Collins got any ideas, or is it sleep in cars, and live in motels time again?

      • Incognito 2.3.1
        11 March 2018 at 10:17 pm

        If you want ideas or constructive criticism you’re at the wrong address with National.

    • Michelle 2.4
      12 March 2018 at 11:12 am

      don’t you mean go judas Chris 73

  3. Fireblade 3
    11 March 2018 at 4:21 pm

    The top 20, with changes from the last rankings.

    1. Simon Bridges, Leader (+4)
    2. Paula Bennett, Deputy Leader, Social Investment Services, Tertiary Ed, Women (nc)
    3. Amy Adams, Finance (+3)
    4. Judith Collins, Housing, RMA reform (+5)
    5. Todd McClay, Foreign Affairs, Trade, Tourism (+8)
    6. Jonathan Coleman, Health (+1)
    7. Mark Mitchell, Justice, Defence (+14)
    8. Jami-Lee Ross, Infrastructure, Transport (+19)
    9. Paul Goldsmith, Economic Development, Revenue (+5)
    10. Nikki Kaye, Education (+2)
    11. Gerry Brownlee, Shadow House Leader (-7)
    12. Nathan Guy, Agriculture, Biosecurity (-1)
    13. Michael Woodhouse, Immigration, Labour (-3)
    14. Louise Upston, Social Development (+1)
    15. Alfred Ngaro, Children, Community, Pacific (+5)
    16. Chris Finlayson, Shadow AG (-8)
    17. Scott Simpson, Environment (+9)
    18. Jacqui Dean, Local Govt, Small Business (+5)
    19. Melissa Lee, Broadcasting, Comms (+12)
    20. Sarah Dowie, Conservation (+19)

    • chris73 3.1
      11 March 2018 at 4:36 pm

      Theres some talent in there, Labour must be feeling really jealous

      • Psycho Milt 3.1.1
        11 March 2018 at 5:00 pm

        Oh, there’s some talent in there, alright, but I’m not sure Labour has a great need for talents in dirty politics and crony capitalism. Can’t imagine jealousy featuring.

        • chris73 3.1.1.1
          11 March 2018 at 6:16 pm

          Currently Labour is like the 80s NZ cricket team, you have Jacinda being basically Paddles and Hogan, you have a couple of decent, hardworking performers but the rest…

          • WILD KATIPO 3.1.1.1.1
            11 March 2018 at 7:04 pm

            And if , by implication you are trying to say National had a line up of ‘decent , hardworking performers’ , well yes you could be right. The fact that they were performing for their overseas masters and not the people of NZ seems to have slipped your notice, however …

            • chris73 3.1.1.1.1.1
              11 March 2018 at 7:38 pm

              and yet the TPP just got signed

              • WILD KATIPO …
                12 March 2018 at 8:47 am

                Then you admit that National works for their overseas masters , then. Or perhaps it would be more accurate that the neo liberals in both National and Labour work for their overseas masters.

                Oh , btw – TINA is no alternative. Look at the destruction of our country after 34 years of neo liberal crap.

                New Right Fight – Who are the New Right?
                http://www.newrightfight.co.nz/pageA.html

          • Pat 3.1.1.1.2
            11 March 2018 at 7:16 pm

            maybe..but National sure as hell arnt Australia

      • mary_a 3.1.2
        11 March 2018 at 5:07 pm

        @ Chris 73 (3.1) … doubt it somehow. What’s there for the government to be jealous about in that murky brown lineup?

        Collins will demonstrate how vindictive and nasty she and Natz are, in comparison to a more caring and progressive government.

        Can’t see she will have anything to throw at Twyford to unbalance him or the coalition. After all she and her party weren’t exactly visible over the nine years National was government, doing anything positive for housing and urban development!

        • chris73 3.1.2.1
          11 March 2018 at 6:18 pm

          You mean apart from Hipkins who can’t count, a deputy leader that apparently can’t (or not allowed to) speak and Clare Curran

          • WILD KATIPO 3.1.2.1.1
            11 March 2018 at 6:53 pm

            I think she means Collins was stood down to the back benches because of her’ conflict of interests’ over Orivida, among other things,…I’m sure you remember that , chris 73 ,… or are you new?…

            L0L… where do these young nat RWNJ’s get their sycophancy from?

            Always a laugh.

            • chris73 3.1.2.1.1.1
              11 March 2018 at 6:57 pm

              She did get demoted and now, through her hard work, shes got promoted again.

              Hard work brings rewards, something most lefties probably don’t quite understand 🙂

              • WILD KATIPO …
                11 March 2018 at 7:09 pm

                She only got promoted because Key and English are no longer there.

                And you seem to forget that this current National mpb – and the last one couldnt hold a shadow to the hard work and legacy of Michael Joseph Savage in bringing the country out of the Depression , and rebuilding our infrastructure including a massive state housing program , a harbour bridge ( Yes , Simon ,- a HARBOUR BRIDGE ! ) hydro dams , the largest man made forest in the southern hemisphere , free education , healthcare , low cost electricity and on it goes…

                And that was initiated under a ‘ left’ Labour govt…

                So much for the work ethics of the far right,…

                Eh.

                • chris73 …
                  11 March 2018 at 7:42 pm

                  She only got promoted because Key and English are no longer there.

                  – and?

                  “And you seem to forget that this current National mpb – and the last one couldnt hold a shadow to the hard work and legacy of Michael Joseph Savage in bringing the country out of the Depression , and rebuilding our infrastructure including a massive state housing program , a harbour bridge ( Yes , Simon ,- a HARBOUR BRIDGE ! ) hydro dams , the largest man made forest in the southern hemisphere , free education , healthcare , low cost electricity and on it goes…”

                  Well you just managed to sneak in under a century ago so thats something 🙂

                  • WILD KATIPO …
                    12 March 2018 at 8:50 am

                    Yes, but what you liberals seem to forget that it had NOTHING to do with Milton Freidman , the Chicago school of economics nor Roger Douglas.

                    You have a problem with history showing up your fallacy’s?

                    Get the drift?

                • alwyn …
                  11 March 2018 at 9:00 pm

                  What Harbour bridge are you talking about?
                  The only well known one I can think of is that one in Auckland.
                  The Auckland Harbour Bridge Authority was set up in 1950. At the time we had a National Government. Construction started in 1954. At that time we had the same National Government. It was finished and opened in 1959. Yes at the time of the opening we had a short-lived Labour Government, elected at the end of 1957 but you could hardly argue that they built the bridge.
                  Which Bridge did you have in mind?

                  As far as Hydro stations go there are, apparently, about 100 in New Zealand. Of these only 5 were opened during the term of the First Labour Government from 1935 to 1949.
                  Not a particularly wonderful record by the Savage/Fraser gang is it?
                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_power_stations_in_New_Zealand

                  • WILD KATIPO …
                    12 March 2018 at 9:00 am

                    And you like the chris character above seem to have the same neo liberal problem. Denial and the rewriting of history to suit your narratives.

                    You seem to have conveniently forgotten that BOTH National and Labour adhered to KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS, – not neo liberalism.

                    You have both walked into the trap admirably.

                    Or do you both deny Bob Jones didn’t set up the NZ party only to topple Muldoon and destroy that system? And that under neo liberalism NONE of those large projects have taken place ? . We even have problems maintaining the few state houses we have left, – let alone a functioning education / health system.

                    So rather than try and quote sites to back up your claims that the infrastructure that built this country all occurred post Douglas and Richardson and Shipley and Clarke or Key or any of these neo liberal ideologues ( an impossible claim no matter how you try to paint it ) – wouldn’t it be far easier to admit your both talking through a hole in your arse and try being honest for a change ?

                    READ THIS :

                    New Right Fight – Who are the New Right?
                    http://www.newrightfight.co.nz/pageA.html

                    • alwyn …
                      12 March 2018 at 9:43 am

                      Did you bother to read what I said?
                      It doesn’t seem possible that you read any of it if you think that I, in your own words, claimed that everything was built post 1984.

                      “So rather than try and quote sites to back up your claims that the infrastructure that built this country all occurred post Douglas and Richardson and Shipley and Clarke or Key or any of these neo liberal ideologues “.

                      Can you please point out where on Earth I made any such claim? The only politicians I mentioned were Savage and Fraser. If you don’t know who they were I shall inform you that they were PMs between 1935 and 1949.
                      Now, will you come clean and admit that you are simply talking through a hole in your arse?

              • paul andersen …
                11 March 2018 at 9:11 pm

                got nothing to do with work, plenty to do with bridges having to keep her satisfied(shudder) and how much yen she promises to bring to the nats…

              • Doogs …
                12 March 2018 at 8:30 am

                Look, I’m really getting a bit tired of all your bluster chris. I take it the 73 is your birth year. Going on that you will be coming up 45 this year. Well I shall be coming up 75 and by rights that should make me a fat cat conservative old fucker who sits around bemoaning the loss of a Tory government. Well, far from it, I get more socialist and environment caring as I age. Then I look at the hugely entitled and selfishly unforgiving young turks of the 70s and 80s and wonder what went wrong.

                Here’s something to stick in your buttonhole, or up your arse, or wherever you find most appropriate – a Labour led government is taking a much more holistic approach to managing the way our people live in the 21st century.

                1. Providing more and better housing for the less fortunate.
                2. Making a purposeful attempt to eliminate child poverty.
                3. Looking to support new parents more directly.
                4. Managing the supply of immigrants in a more careful way.
                5. Trying to filter who buys our property and who is allowed to invest.
                6. Reshaping the education system to make it more relevant and purposeful for people’s lives.
                I won’t list everything. We all know the thrust of their policies.

                This is a government which has shifted the emphasis away from the importance of money as a commodity to what it will do for people. We have now moved away from adulating and glorifying the rich for their fine efforts and hard work which has seen them become insanely wealthy. We are looking more critically at the likes of Fonterra and Fletchers and wondering how we allowed them to become so.

                And yet there is this puffed up, self important, pseudo-intellectual, money worshipping, poor people hating, selfish, thoughtless, nasty and self aggrandising bunch of neo-liberal arseholes who are whining for the return of their blue suited, career minded Nationals who spent 9 years doing nothing that people needed. They were locked in the 50s churning out policies which served everyone except those who needed help.

                People like Shonkey made us an embarrassment to the world. We are well shot of him and his ilk. He is the best advertisement for why knighthoods should be banished for ever.

                Kia kaha Jacinda. More power to your elbow my girl.

                • paul andersen …
                  12 March 2018 at 9:53 am

                  + 100 doogs ..73 sounds like the typical me,me,me nat fanboi. the sort of person who doesnt give to charity, do any community service or think about anybody but himself…should go and live on an island..white island

                • ropata …
                  12 March 2018 at 2:20 pm

                  +10000 doogs
                  There’s a fundamental disconnect in Nat thinking. What is the purpose of government & the NZ economy? Is it to make money for the 1% or is it to promote the wellbeing of scoiety?

                  The typical Nat fanboi’s framing of cost cutting and surpluses assumes that the peons exist to serve the economy. So they don’t give a fuck about neglecting education/health/welfare or making tens of thousands homeless as long as their bankster pals make $$$$

                • exkiwiforces …
                  12 March 2018 at 5:33 pm

                  I’m of the 1973 vintage, but unlike chris73 and likes of the rest of his fellow Muppets, I fully agree with your sentiment their Doogs and like you I wonder even to this day where NZ went wrong? If it weren’t for the Jackass National party in 90’s I might be still living in NZ with a good secure job a roof over my head and some money in bank, shares or both. But I had to overseas to get all that plus a bit more and when I look back at my cohort and my wee brother I made the right decision back in 98 and apart from my work related injuries I feel a lot better than having to put up with the RWJ’s and being kick down the St like a coke can.

                • Anne …
                  12 March 2018 at 5:59 pm

                  Oh wow, this comment @ 8:30am should be a guest post on TS.

                  Thanks Doogs for telling it as it is – no ifs or buts.

                • Ed …
                  12 March 2018 at 6:15 pm

                  Brilliant Doogs.
                  The 73 in chris’s Handle is the key.
                  Born in 73.
                  Formative years in the late 80s and early 90s.
                  Fell for the neoliberal gospel hook, line and sinker.
                  Selfish.
                  Greedy.
                  Sociopathic.

      • Stunned mullet 3.1.3
        11 March 2018 at 5:23 pm

        if you added that top 20 to to the top 20 from Labour and the top 10 from the greens and Winston First you’d still struggle to find an IQ/EQ higher than your average Cro Magnon.

        • Ms Fargo 3.1.3.1
          11 March 2018 at 5:40 pm

          Chris Bishop?

        • AB 3.1.3.2
          11 March 2018 at 5:49 pm

          Cro Magnons are under-rated – can’t imagine Gerry Brownlee knocking out a few Lascaux cave paintings in between barging through security cordons.

        • Incognito 3.1.3.3
          11 March 2018 at 6:01 pm

          Are you sure you’d want to compare with Cro-Magnon? Odd choice IMO. But then again, I assume this comment did not intend to offer or add anything remotely intelligent; it was not even funny.

      • Grey Area 3.1.4
        11 March 2018 at 6:36 pm

        “There’s some talent in there, somewhere, it’s just not obvious.” FIFY

      • Gabby 3.1.5
        11 March 2018 at 8:59 pm

        Not mitch to worry about in that shower.

    • Pat 3.2
      11 March 2018 at 4:52 pm

      no Nick Smith?

      • Whispering Kate 3.2.1
        11 March 2018 at 5:14 pm

        Yes, maybe this will be one of the resignations we are all hoping for.

        • Ed 3.2.1.1
          11 March 2018 at 5:16 pm

          And Gerry looks on the way out.

        • Pat 3.2.1.2
          11 March 2018 at 5:30 pm

          or he can while away his days on the backbench reliving old war stories….maybe Bill will get him a job

        • Grey Area 3.2.1.3
          11 March 2018 at 6:23 pm

          Why WK? The longer Smith sticks around the worse National look.

          • WILD KATIPO 3.2.1.3.1
            11 March 2018 at 7:20 pm

            Cheer up , no bridges Bridges has included Collins , that’ll provide a bit of mirth , all Tywford has to mention is Chinese dinners, swamp Kauri and free water for export and it’ll bring the house down…

      • AB 3.2.2
        11 March 2018 at 5:33 pm

        Nick is there – he has simply redefined how the Arabic numeral system works.
        So even though he sits at ’44’, that is actually higher than ‘4’ on this list because two 4’s are worth more than one.
        This was all in the excellent cause of making our numeric system more ‘swimmable’ than it was before. Great job Nick!

    • AB 3.3
      11 March 2018 at 5:06 pm

      4. Judith Collins, Housing, RMA reform
      LOL – RMA Reform.
      No resource consents required for draining wetlands and extracting swamp kauri perhaps? Or even for digging near vital infrastructure?

      And no minister for “Homelessness Reform”, or “Poverty Reform” or “Tax Evasion Reform”. What a transparent bunch of 3rd-rate ideologues they are!

    • Incognito 3.4
      11 March 2018 at 5:16 pm

      Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue …

      I feel we’re on the cusp of something special!

  4. Ad 4
    11 March 2018 at 5:05 pm

    Not worth worrying about them.

    Labour’s main problem is the same as National’s in the 2014 election:
    Will their support partners survive to enable Labour to form the next government?

    The biggest risk to the next Labour-led government is New Zealand First and the Greens.

    • Fireblade 4.1
      11 March 2018 at 5:35 pm

      And Nationals potential support partners are? Oh that’s right, the Act party, with 0.5% and one propped-up seat in Epsom.

    • BM 4.2
      11 March 2018 at 6:02 pm

      Funny thing is, Nationals lack of support partners could be what actually wins it for them in 2020.

      Right vote no split

      Left vote 3 way split.

      National will get more votes than Labour, Greens and NZ First don’t make it then National wins outright.

      • Fireblade 4.2.1
        11 March 2018 at 6:14 pm

        That stratergy didn’t work for National at the last election, so good luck with that idea.

        • BM 4.2.1.1
          11 March 2018 at 6:19 pm

          It’s not a strategy its fact.

          There are no support partners because they’ve all aligned themselves with Labour.

          NZ First ===Labour
          Greens ===Labour

          You want a centre-right party running the country the only option is National.

          Unfortunately for Labour, those other two parties split their vote.

          • Grey Area 4.2.1.1.1
            11 March 2018 at 6:33 pm

            Ever heard of MMP? Why is National in opposition again?

            • BM 4.2.1.1.1.1
              11 March 2018 at 6:50 pm

              Maori party got wiped out and Peters managed to fool enough elderly and farmers that he was going to go with National.

              • BM …
                11 March 2018 at 7:06 pm

                And that fuckwit Peter Dunne left them in the lurch by pulling out just before the election.

                • Macro …
                  11 March 2018 at 7:15 pm

                  And that was because no one wanted to vote for him….

                • Drowsy M. Kram …
                  11 March 2018 at 9:17 pm

                  What happens when you refer to former friends as ‘fuckwits’? Does that make it easier, or more difficult to find new friends?

                  • Incognito …
                    11 March 2018 at 10:12 pm

                    They weren’t ‘friends’ in the normal sense of the word. They were business partners in a shady business deal to extract maximum (political) profit from the NZ voters. Politics and business are intertwined now more than ever, the voters/consumers come much further down the picking order and always have, actually.

              • Delia …
                11 March 2018 at 9:23 pm

                He said exactly how he felt, he said he was fed up with National, it is National voters who did not get his message..to bad.

              • mac1 …
                12 March 2018 at 9:37 am

                BM, if you had attended a Winston Peters rally before the election, as I did, then you just might have realised that he was going no where near National.

                His speech was pretty clear. I went to the rally to hear Winston, as an older man. (btw ‘elderly’ is a bit pejorative to describe senior citizens with its connotations of being a bit past it and doddery).

                There was no mistake about his strength of language regarding his opposition to National. It confirmed earlier intimations in his speeches to Grey Power audiences where he referred to National’s “corporate capitalism”. Grey Power itself, (these older citizens supposedly duped by Winston Peters), understood the need for change and accordingly advised its membership.

                But, BM, you continue to search for reasons as to why National did not retain the government benches in places where the blame does not lie. Certainly, blaming voters for rejecting National by an 8% margin is not fair, reasonable or good politics. But believe differently. 2020 will go easier for a further term for L/G/NZF with such analysis.

                Understand that National lost. They tried to get a 50% majority, failed in that and suffered the consequences. Get your head around the reality that the majority voted against the government and for the opposition Labour, Green and NZ First parties.

                They voted for change. None of them achieved National’s percentage. But that’s MMP, because a coalition of three parties is stronger in this case.

                Stronger than the coalition that formed and lies within the National party.

          • Fireblade 4.2.1.1.2
            11 March 2018 at 6:39 pm

            “Unfortunately for Labour, those other two parties split their vote”

            Reality Check BM:
            Labour, NZ First and the Greens are the Government today. It’s called MMP.

            • chris73 4.2.1.1.2.1
              11 March 2018 at 6:52 pm

              The Greens and NZFirst are running at 6% each, I wouldn’t bet on NZFirst making it back and at the moment I can’t see the Greens taking too many votes off National or Labour so they’re in a precarious position, at the moment anyway

              • WILD KATIPO …
                11 March 2018 at 6:56 pm

                ^ crystal ball gazing again and wishful thinking, hoping like hec the dreams come true…

                Just out of interest , has Bridges gotten rid of the Chinese spy they had embedded in there as an MP?

                I wonder if that’s taken the ‘shine’ off the Blue Dragons and a big portion of where National was getting its votes from…

        • Tanz 4.2.1.2
          12 March 2018 at 4:51 pm

          But NZ First won’t be there next time, and their new deputy leader will not save them. Toast. So yep, quite on the cards National will win an outright majority. Sooo can’t wait to see a real election again.

    • OncewasTim 4.3
      12 March 2018 at 1:03 am

      Or to put it another way, for Labour to forget the MMP environment and to become as arrogant as those pesky little gNats that failed to understand its nature.

  5. Whispering Kate 5
    11 March 2018 at 5:25 pm

    What is Simon Bridge’s Portfolio? Also who has the Energy Portfolio and the Arts Portfolio – what headers do they come under. Please help.

    • Incognito 5.1
      11 March 2018 at 6:14 pm

      Nicky Wagner Arts, Culture and Heritage

      Paul Goldsmith Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage

      Jonathan Young Energy and Resources

      • AB 5.1.1
        11 March 2018 at 6:22 pm

        “Paul Goldsmith Associate Arts”
        Excellent choice – truly he is the Marcel Marceau of election campaigning. The ‘art of silence’ at its finest.

        • Incognito 5.1.1.1
          11 March 2018 at 7:07 pm

          The contrast with the current Government portfolios is striking:

          Jacinda Ardern Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage

          Grant Robertson Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage

          Carmel Sepuloni Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage

          Megan Woods Minister for Energy and Resources

          • Macro 5.1.1.1.1
            11 March 2018 at 7:18 pm

            National don’t support the Arts (no money to be made there!) – so Paul Goldsmith is an excellent choice from that point of view.

            • Graeme 5.1.1.1.1.1
              11 March 2018 at 10:12 pm

              Kinda odd that the associate is ranked higher than the primary spokesperson. Must be expecting a departure.

              Nicky i’d rather be sailing would just about have a constructive dismissal case if she was a normal employee

  6. Ed 6
    11 March 2018 at 5:27 pm

    Isn’t he infrastructure?
    Building Bridges and all that.

  7. Whispering Kate 7
    11 March 2018 at 9:21 pm

    Thanks guys for filling me in. The energy guy doesn’t even feature in the top 20 – is this saying they will not have an emphasis on oil drilling – can’t see it but you never know, our Simon drives an electric car – sarc.

  8. Jilly Bee 8
    11 March 2018 at 10:54 pm

    Oh darn, trouble in paradise already, already.
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12010781
    I watched the announcement of the shadow lineup on TV news this evening – dear oh god, has Paula Benefit got the hots for Soimun or what. It was excruciating to watch.

  9. Sacha 9
    11 March 2018 at 11:00 pm

    What internal leverage must Coleman have to retain the Health portfolio?

    • red-blooded 9.1
      12 March 2018 at 1:56 pm

      Yeah – that was a real surprise. Coleman was a disaster in Health and evidence of his incompetence is liely to continue to come out over timme.

      • Ed1 9.1.1
        12 March 2018 at 3:49 pm

        Perhaps what he did is seen as competence by Bill English – see: –
        http://werewolf.co.nz/2017/08/bill-english-the-forgotten-history/

        Its all about wrecking the system for a private takeover, without it getting to be a scandal with too many people dying. I know some people were starting to say that private health insurance was the way to go, but that may have been offset by the anecdotal story of at least one insurer refusing further operation costs after a claim, and putting up premiums significantly for people that had claimed.

  10. Cantabrian 10
    12 March 2018 at 3:28 am

    Bennett as Tertiary Education spokesman. What a joke! Looks like National is admitting it screwed up over the earthquakes with the demotions of Brownlee and Wagner – two incompetent ministers.

  11. Tanz 11
    12 March 2018 at 4:53 pm

    Bill English is gone from the political landscape, and still commenters here knock him. Move on. Sad.