National is obsessed with dirty politics

Written By: - Date published: 8:14 am, February 2nd, 2021 - 21 comments
Categories: Dirty Politics, Judith Collins, national, same old national - Tags:

Remember Dirty Politics? When John Key’s office and Judith Collins used currently bankrupt Cameron Slater to smear and attack opponents of the government and used weaponised leaks to the media to gain political advantage?

It seems they are still obsessed with it.

This weekend they had their back to school get together.  When faced with the media they had the opportunity to talk about the year ahead and what they were working on.  So what did they say to the media?

From Tova O’Brien at Newshub:

The party’s New Year resolution is focus, focus, focus – don’t fall into any Government traps.

“We’ve seen a few of those recently coming from the Government side where they’re clearly distractions thrown out there so we could take the bait and keep off the things that really matter to New Zealanders,” said Collins.

But she wouldn’t explain how the Government has been baiting them.

“Oh I think you can tell that yourselves,” she said, though not really and she wouldn’t be drawn on any specifics.

Collins left it to her deputy to try and clear things up.

“Well, you have to wonder about some of the testing, some of the things that have come up, I mean you wonder if the dalliance at the hotel with the security worker, was that trying to drive us down a path? Maybe,” Dr Reti said.

So to be clear, Dr Reti is suggesting Winegate – the 20 minute rendezvous at a quarantine facility – was a cunning Government diversion tactic.

Poor National.  They hark back to the glory days where dirty politics dominated their behaviour and they still think that Labour engages in the same sort of activity.  Which is the only rational explanation for their claim.

The problem for them is that to suggest that a possibly romantic engagement in a hotel is part of an all of Government response to distract attention and to undermine the opposition is complete bonkers.

21 comments on “National is obsessed with dirty politics ”

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  1. Barfly 1
    2 February 2021 at 8:47 am

    It appears they are channeling their inner Trump

  2. tc 2
    2 February 2021 at 9:33 am

    DP is what Collins crew are best at. She's not a consensus builder, has little if any empathy and a cabinet of entitled old school national party knuckle draggers and stirrers like Gez, slimon and Goldy to name a few.

    Note the reporter doesn't persist and ask her to be specific OR about what is National policy just allows the DP to stink the place up.

    So the media doing the job yet again for National. Across the ditch is similar with scomo laughing off the questions about his Mp's spreading mis-information via FB.

  3. Anne 3
    2 February 2021 at 9:53 am

    "the party’s New Year resolution is focus, focus, focus – don’t fall into any Government traps.

    We’ve seen a few of those recently coming from the Government side where they’re clearly distractions thrown out there so we could take the bait and keep off the things that really matter to New Zealanders,” said Collins.

    When she made a similar statement on TV a few evenings ago I nearly fell off my chair.

    Pure projection my dear Watson – pure projection is what I thought.

    She knows Labour and the Greens do not engage in the same sort of activity. It's a meme she's trying to sow in the minds of voters to cover their own mis-behaviour.

    So, its business as usual then.

  4. Sabine 4
    2 February 2021 at 9:53 am

    Well i guess we can not expect them to whinge about the housing crisis, or the fact that people don't have the money to get the stuff needed to send kids back to school, or any of that other stuff that is ailing the country, so yeah, a guard having a roll in the hay with a isolation inmate it is.

    National, no ideas, no decency, still.

    However, they are in opposition and thus they can crow until the cows come home, in the meantime what is the government doing to change the narrative?

    Luckily for both, Waitangi Day is only a few days away and that will change the narrative completely for a few days/weeks and thus its all good?

    can you see that can of pressing issues being kicked down the road? can you hear it clinking? Cause i can.

  5. Stuart Munro 5
    2 February 2021 at 10:11 am

    When you have no defense, attack seems like a good tactic. Since Rogergnomics National has been sleep-walking, with scarcely a policy to their name, much less a credible one. But Labour has finally found a policy in Covid response, that the public support, and National will be obliged to become something more than a repository for unemployable sons like Brownlee, Smith, and Bishop. The sooner the better – it is not their bullshit about holding government to account National needs to be onto, but carefully thought out alternative policies that meet the test of public interest.

    Dirty politics is a childish alternative to policy – and the wonder is that a generation of "journalists" have become so debased they swallow it all like dogs eating their own vomit.

    • tc 5.1
      2 February 2021 at 11:04 am

      not so much ' a generation of "journalists"..' but more so a cabal of compliant repeaters and copy/pasters who do as told by their editors or it's down the road with you.

      A senior journo opined to me in the 90's that it's a dying profession as the platforms who required journalism were vanishing under media consolidation/ownership changes.

      And here we are folks.

  6. Maurice 6
    2 February 2021 at 11:36 am

    Spiraling down in to irrelevance … and ACT will rise.

    SHORT climate change!

  7. Tricledrown 7
    2 February 2021 at 12:13 pm

    Collins can't change she is a nasty piece of work you just look at her close up shots her body language exudes nastiness National have to Ditch her even Simple Soimon was nicer.

    Shane Reti lowering himself from a Doctor to a dirty spin doctor isn't a good look he rose up to Deputy leader by being honest and straight up now he is wallowing in Collins swamp.

  8. mary_a 8
    2 February 2021 at 1:14 pm

    DP is part of National's culture and game play. It keeps the party alive. Instead of wallowing in swamp filth, National would be more productive by aiming to assist NZ in becoming a healthier and safer place to live, particularly right now!

    Government trapping National etc? Really? Pathetic! Government has much better things to concentrate on at present than wasting time baiting National.

    • Anne 8.1
      2 February 2021 at 6:34 pm

      Government has much better things to concentrate on at present than wasting time baiting National.

      Exactly.

  9. Incognito 9
    2 February 2021 at 11:29 pm

    I believe Judith is saying that National MPs should show some self-restraint and stop barking at each passing car, especially EVs. In addition, she’s saying that only the Leader of the Party is a true connoisseur who can recognise and appreciate the beauty of the bait. Even the Deputy-Leader is still a dilettante in the fine art of political baiting. Judith has a long career in DP and focus groups to know which muck will stick the most. This will then be selected for further exploitation and baiting of the Government. The National MPs need to be properly trained to obey the Leader’s dog whistle and bark and jump when required; in between, they can chase their tails or practice scent marking in their electorates. This is called teamwork.

  10. Tony Veitch (not etc.) 10
    3 February 2021 at 6:26 am

    And with Goodfellow hovering in the background, what has changed?

  11. Tricledrown 11
    3 February 2021 at 9:02 am

    Nationals whinging about the vaccine not being available immediately has back fired as new variants like the South African variant which existing vaccines aren't as effective .Means NZ can wait till booster vaccines which are quick to develop will give NZ a huge advantage.

    National crying victim instead of taking responsibility shows they have a long way to go before anyone trust's the party that continually cries wolf.

  12. Peter 12
    4 February 2021 at 10:05 am

    For all of any expressed higher ideals, the higher education and sudden emergence, like a cork plopping to the surface from the Titanic, Dr Reti by the utterance on here, labels himself as a total waster.

  13. georgecom 13
    5 February 2021 at 10:53 pm

    maybe the hotel 20 minute man was the homeless man Woodhouse saw sneaking into a quarantine facility. Smacks of the same sort of desperate bollocks from National.

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