No brighter future for McGehan Close

66 comments on “No brighter future for McGehan Close ”

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1. Policy Parrot 1

   29 May 2011 at 12:21 pm

   To be fair, it was at least slightly cynical – but it was also fair game considering that John Key should be held accountable for his promises, statements and government.

   And John’s visit in 2007 was also cynical, even more so with hindsight, but the media was all caught up in the rich white guy goes to hear poor brown folk narrative they forgot to check their bullshit radar.
2. joe bloggs 2

   29 May 2011 at 12:23 pm

   The trouble with Goff’s visit to McGeehan Close is not the visit per se, but the way it was handled by Labour:

   – John Key beat Goff to the street by three years – even though it’s in Goff’s electorate
   – Goff spent the entire visit feeding the residents patsy lines bagging Key

   if Goff had used the opportunity to announce well-thought out alternatives to National economic policy, then perhaps there would have been something positive for the media to focus on.

   But no, just kneejerk anti-Key rhetoric in a similar vein to the negative campaigning that lost Labour the last election.

   No bright future for Labour there.
   • Eddie 2.1

     29 May 2011 at 1:06 pm

     “John Key beat Goff to the street by three years – even though it’s in Goff’s electorate”

     Do you seriously think that Goff hadn’t been to McGehan Close before. I would say that he is in every straight in his electorate several times a year.

     “Goff spent the entire visit feeding the residents patsy lines bagging Key”

     This visit with the media was specifically to hold Key to account, so of course Goff asked them if they felt Key had kept his promises. Did any of them disagree with him?

     “if Goff had used the opportunity to announce well-thought out alternatives to National economic policy”

     What National economic policy? Asset sales? Labour just announced alternatives last weekend – ETS to pay for R&D, minimum wage to $15, no holiday highway. Goff reaffirmed those policies yesterday.

     Your lines man, Farrar, was just criticising Labour for announcing too much policy at once.
     • joe blogs 2.1.1

       29 May 2011 at 1:50 pm

       note my comments – well thought out alternatives

       Lumbering farmers with an early ETS as a tax gathering exercise to pay for R&D is a cynical politicking ploy from Labour. No votes from the farming sector so no risk of losing votes from the farming sector. Damien O’Connor has admitted that this will simply push dairy prices up. . Daviod Parker has admitted that Labour will use the ETS as a tax gathering con job. A dishonest con job that one can simply cut carbon emissions and not have it done in a painful way. The pain may be a necessary sacrifice if emissions need to be capped and reduced, but don’t try and con people that you can be carbon neutral and have the same standard of living

       Raising the minimum wage by over 15% while empoloyers fight the negative effects of the recent recession is just plain economic stupidity. It will cost the government at least $200m in reduced tax from companies, and will have a negative effect on employment, particularly youth empoyment, which is currently at 27%.

       As for Goff’s plan to scrap the development of roading to Northland, it’s low-risk for Goff to back-burner this because Labour holds no seats in Northland. But Northland is the most economically deprived region in the country and will continue to be economically deprived for as long as Labour refuses to open up access to the region.

       Don’t you see the irony of Shane Jones claiming that moving freight around Auckland is the more urgent priority when Labour, under Helen Clark, blindly refused to endorse the development of the Waterview extension of the Southwestern Motorway.

       Labour tells us National is selling our assets, yet while the country was in surplus Labour was busy selling assets hand over fist. Labour don’t tell us that between ACC/Kiwisaver Labour’s directed management lost NZ around $30 billion – why sell off assets when Labour can just give them away?

       Labour tells us that squeezing our businesses will create jobs.

       Labour tells us business turnover is really profit.

       No well-thought out alternatives from Goff – just a load more sad-sack superficiality and negative politicking – Labour is fuelled by the politics of envy and that’s why Goff (and Labour) has no credibility with the electorate.
       • Eddie 2.1.1.1

         29 May 2011 at 1:55 pm

         what a pathetic response. you accuse labour of not presenting alternatives and then when it’s pointed out that’s bullshit, you whine ‘but they’re not alternatives I like’. Of course they’re not, genius, you’re a rightie.
         • joe bloggs 2.1.1.1.1

           29 May 2011 at 3:12 pm

           tell that to the farmers, or to the people of Northland or to the electorate who will end up paying more for food.
           • Zetetic 2.1.1.1.1.1

             29 May 2011 at 4:03 pm

             fonterra admitted the food prices are set by international prices. no effect from ets on ag.

             stop spouting key’s lies.
           • Draco T Bastard 2.1.1.1.1.2

             29 May 2011 at 4:20 pm

             Better idea, tell the farmers to cough up for the damage they’re doing and to stop whining like spoiled brats.
       • millsy 2.1.1.2

         29 May 2011 at 4:12 pm

         Right.

         Back from serving my week long ban.

         Hello there Mr Bloggs, I hope you are enjoying your weekend. Personally, I think you are a douchebag, but I will address your thoughts:

         “…politicking ploy from Labour. No votes from the farming sector so no risk of losing votes from the farming sector. Damien O’Connor has admitted that this will simply push dairy prices up. . Daviod Parker has admitted that Labour will use the ETS as a tax gathering con job. A dishonest con job that one can simply cut carbon emissions and not have it done in a painful way. The pain may be a necessary sacrifice if emissions need to be capped and reduced, but don’t try and con people that you can be carbon neutral and have the same standard of living”

         So, you think that farmers should be exempt from the tax code AND dump all their crap into our rivers. Personally I agree that that the ETS and Labour’s R and D policy is underwhelming, but I dont want to let farmers off the hook for poisoning our river, whining about tax (I would love them to go into the local hospital and explain to the patients there about how they should die so the farmers dont have to pay any tax

         “Raising the minimum wage by over 15% while empoloyers fight the negative effects of the recent recession is just plain economic stupidity. It will cost the government at least $200m in reduced tax from companies, and will have a negative effect on employment, particularly youth empoyment, which is currently at 27%”.

         Personally I think people like you have a vested interest in having this recession go on and on for as long as possible, so wages and conditions are held down (of course landlords can hike their rents up as much as they like). Tell me, do you think that workers should have any pay increases AT ALL??!! Or do you want to do what National did and hold down the minimum wage for 9 years while the price of everything went up, forcing families to live in garages. I guess you also want to bring back slavery as a way of eliminating youth unemployment. I bet when you started out working, you had generous award wages, but you want young people today workling hours for a subsistence.

         As for Goff’s plan to scrap the development of roading to Northland, it’s low-risk for Goff to back-burner this because Labour holds no seats in Northland. But Northland is the most economically deprived region in the country and will continue to be economically deprived for as long as Labour refuses to open up access to the region.

         Guess what. There is a railway line there. Maybe Labour thinks it would be better that the North Auckland line get fixed up so some freight be moved up to Northland via rail instead – maybe even get the Marsden Branch up and running, instead of closing it down so more and more trucks pound the road. I bet you, as a typical right winger, you would close down our entire railway network because god forbid, it provides a service, and not have to run at a profit

         Labour tells us that squeezing our businesses will create jobs

         Labour realises that there is a power imbalance between the worker and their boss, and we have labour law to ensure that the worker is protected from things such as harrasement, or unfair dismissal. Unlike you, I dont think workers are expenable, and I dont think workers should have to lose their livelihood without due process

         Labour is fuelled by the politics of envy

         That phrase really pisses me off. If having the rich pay a bit more tax so we have a decent health system, and schools in which no children are left behind, or a welfare system that ensures no one is thrown out on the street to live in a cardboard box because they lose their job, or get too sick to work, is the politics of envy, then so be it. If not having to go down on my knees and doff my cap to someone because they have more money than me, is the politics of envy, then so be it. Tell me joe, how many hospitals did Labour close between 1999 and 2008, and how many did National close between 1990 and 1999? Every rightwinger I have asked this question have been to gutless to offer up a response, because they know that National closed down hospital after hospital, including the mental hospital system to ensure that Bill Birch could deliver his tax cuts in 1996
   • calltoaccount 2.2

     29 May 2011 at 1:14 pm

     Maybe Labour could have used the visit to announce a new policy? Something like the no gst on fruit and veg or $15 min wage?

     You would have got the coverage and it would have been a striking way to announce it, the people who would have benefited get to know first.
     • Jum 2.2.1

       29 May 2011 at 1:48 pm

       Calltoaccount,

       Excellent point.
     • Zetetic 2.2.2

       29 May 2011 at 4:05 pm

       so. now you’re moaning not about the policy and not about goff talking to people about it, but where he announced the policy?

       grasp.
       • calltoaccount 2.2.2.1

         29 May 2011 at 4:51 pm

         To me, it’s not policy (great) or Goff talking to people (great), it’s how it’s done. It just seems there are plenty of holes for lazy journalists to attack this McGehan Close episode on…playing politics, old news, everybody out…etc.

         Releasing some new policy in a circumstance like this where the media are sure to be listening just seems like a good strategy. You could still say Key hasn’t kept his promise, but unlike him, Labour has a new policy that will make a difference.

         Just think the McGehan Close idea could have been done a lot better, that’s all.
3. Treetop 3

   29 May 2011 at 1:35 pm

   McGehan close is typical poverty stricken NZ trying to live as comfortably as they can.

   Are mum and dad investors to be found on McGehan Close?

   Are the residents of McGehan close not as entitled as other NZers to purchase shares?

   Key’s visits to McGehan Close have back fired and he has underestimated the intelligence of the residents as they will not be used as fodder again.
   • Blue 3.1

     29 May 2011 at 1:55 pm

     Yet that is exactly what Goff has just done, isn’t it? Using them as “fodder” and trying to get political mileage out of the street. If his concerns were genuine, why did he call the media to cover it? I see no difference in Goffs visits to Keys visits. Both were to gain political advantage, and both failed.
     • Treetop 3.1.1

       29 May 2011 at 2:22 pm

       Goff can go to any poverty stricken Street in NZ and he will find what he found in McGehan Close. The country is in deep shit with a 16.7 billion deficet and there aint no jobs for those who are struggling the most.
4. Jum 4

   29 May 2011 at 1:45 pm

   Not to mention the objectivity factor completely lost on the TV3 ‘journalist’ stating the ‘sly’ way that Phil Goff stuck it to Key at McGeehan Close when talking to people living there. Funny, I thought he was just telling the truth. The householders agreed with him, and they know more than anyone else what a lying, conniving stunt JKeyll pulled pre-2008 election.

   There’s a pattern emerging: he copies the Labour icon PM Norman Kirk, with the small child; he launches what appears to have been a very dodgy takeover of the Helensville electorate, symbolic in itself about his misogynistic need to control women, so he shoulders his way into representing an electorate in a place that has the first name of then Prime Minister Helen Clark, yet his home is advertised as being in Parnell, when he’s not in Wellington.

   With this government we have to pull up the carpet to see what they’re really up to. Not only are we choosing between a greedy and neo-pinochet government but we are choosing between the Kunning Key construct, America’s man John Key or New Zealander Phil Goff who has run a credible and dignified campaign against the damaging influence of NAct on New Zealand and all New Zealanders.

   New Zealanders cannot afford to make the mistake of voting for NAct this year. The boxes have all been ticked by NAct for immediate selloffs and immediate downgrading of 90% of New Zealanders’ lives. Think our lifestyle can’t get any worse under this government; let them in again and find out our lives can get a lot worse with Pinochet Key and the business rotundtable backers. Women, especially need to watch out. They fell for the Herceptin bribe in 2008; I understood. Fall for a like bribe again; serves them right for what happens to their equal rights and their pay equity rights.

   P.S. – TV3 as an objective news reporter – EPIC FAILURE – but we already knew that, didn’t we.
   • SHG 4.1

     29 May 2011 at 4:39 pm

     he launches what appears to have been a very dodgy takeover of the Helensville electorate, symbolic in itself about his misogynistic need to control women, so he shoulders his way into representing an electorate in a place that has the first name of then Prime Minister Helen Clark

     Whoa buddy, better up the dose on the meds…
     • Jum 4.1.1

       29 May 2011 at 5:13 pm

       SHG,

       This says more about your lack of ability to understand the infinite deviousness of the Hollow Men, than about my ability to say it. Not to mention the fact that Key was heard to state at his old school that the boys should choose their wives carefully. I’m still waiting to find out whether Key thinks he made a mistake with Bronagh (whom I think is actually quite nice but hardly the eye-candy that Key lusts after) or whether choosing women has nothing to do with love, but more about business and whoring oneself to that end.

       Note to the engine room of The Standard

       I also think the NActMUs are upping the anti on The Standard. Could someone please check whether the Crosby/Textor pay-cheques have increased in the last day or so? I wonder how their accountants will write off this time spent? Probably the taxpayers are paying for this as well.

       Someone needs to tell them that John Key and Steven Joyce are using people to attack The Standard and are using taxpayers’ hard earned taxes to pay Crosby/Textor betrayal bonuses.

       How many PR people in Key’s employ now? How many media does he own? What’s with the love match between Key and Fairfax? So many questions. So much corruption from the NActMU government.
       • law 4.1.1.1

         29 May 2011 at 5:31 pm

         “I also think the NActMUs are upping the anti on The Standard. Could someone please check whether the Crosby/Textor pay-cheques have increased in the last day or so? I wonder how their accountants will write off this time spent? Probably the taxpayers are paying for this as well”

         There are six of us on this weekend….
       • SHG 4.1.1.2

         29 May 2011 at 9:54 pm

         Key was heard to state at his old school that the boys should choose their wives carefully.

         Did he also suggest that they hold their breath underwater, look both ways before crossing the road, or anything else that is plain common sense?

         What would you do to find a spouse – throw a dart at a phonebook while blindfolded?
   • law 4.2

     29 May 2011 at 5:29 pm

     “… he launches what appears to have been a very dodgy takeover of the Helensville electorate, symbolic in itself about his misogynistic need to control women, so he shoulders his way into representing an electorate in a place that has the first name of then Prime Minister Helen Clark…”

     Tinfoil hat much?
     • felix 4.2.1

       29 May 2011 at 5:53 pm

       Key and Jum are smart enough to understand the role of symbolism.

       You aren’t.
       • law 4.2.1.1

         29 May 2011 at 7:34 pm

         Yeah, I can see it now… Key in his bunker, hmmm which electorate seat shall I take…. Helensville seems similar to Helen, I want to take Helen out so might as well start with Helensville….

         meanwhile in the real world…
         • felix 4.2.1.1.1

           29 May 2011 at 7:42 pm

           Meanwhile in the real world you’ve confused the pragmatic with the symbolic. Like I said, you’re not smart enough to understand the role of symbolism.
           • law 4.2.1.1.1.1

             29 May 2011 at 7:46 pm

             ahh Felix, arrogant as ever. Still stuck in fairyland where John Key eats babies, the electorate was hoodwinked into voting for National and the fairys live at the bottom of Helens garden… I hear Trav needs some visitors to her site, perhaps you would be more at home with her conspiracy theories?

             [lprent: ah law. I cannot track you on this new ISP, but it is clear that you are a antique troll. Fix the standard of your comments or suffer the fate of trolls again.

             Please refer to the policy about the law around here. ]
             • felix …

               29 May 2011 at 8:09 pm

               I don’t remember saying anything about conspiracies, fairies or baby-eaters.

               I think you have me confused with someone else.
5. Blue 5

   29 May 2011 at 1:51 pm

   “New Zealanders cannot afford to make the mistake of voting for NAct this year.” But if they do, doesn’t that indicate a support for these policies and rejection of Labours policies (such as they are)? You can’t keep calling the voters fools because they don’t agree with you, because someday you may need them too (some time in November I’m thinking). Blaming the media for Goffs failings (its been two years now and Labour have gone backwards) is clutching really. It his total lack of (apparent) leadership and charisma, humour or any other humanistic characteristic that is missing. Personally I think Shane Jones is a better bet as leader of Labour, but it is too late now. At least he comes across with a personality that looks like it is actually his. Goff seems to be trying too hard to connect and in the process, is disconnecting.
   • Jum 5.1

     29 May 2011 at 2:39 pm

     Blue,

     Obviously, you haven’t read about Horizon reporting on the misleading polling numbers; National numbers would go down; Labour numbers would go down too, but the minor party numbers would go up.

     ‘Fools’? I don’t remember using the word ‘fools’. I certainly said ‘serves them right for what happens to their equal rights and their pay equity rights.’ I certainly have a problem with voters not doing their homework; it has always been about making an informed choice. Media has never allowed that to happen.

     BTW, I don’t ‘clutch’. Because media does the American presidential reporting, and Q and A, eg, panellists have been instructed to critique the personalities rather than the policies, of course I blame them. I also think you are extremely narrow in your thinking re just considering Phil Goff. Labour is a party which works as a team; I understand that ambition is and should be alive and well amongst its ranks but essentially, the team is a powerful one. Goff is just one of its number and together Labour/Greens/Progressive will do a better job for ALL New Zealanders than Pinochet Key, America’s man ever could.

     I, personally, don’t need the voters some time in November. They need to do their homework. They need to know what they are signing up to if they vote for Key – asset sales, roger douglas, business rotundtable, both NZ and international, lord ashcroft, exclusive brethren…

     Also, you should have used the ‘Reply’ button.
   • Vicky32 5.2

     29 May 2011 at 6:56 pm

     Blaming the media for Goffs failings (its been two years now and Labour have gone backwards)

     Your words remind me of a conversation I had a with a nutmeg right-wing bus driver about 2 weeks back. (He was driving the bus to Parnell primary, and took a detour to show me John Key’s mansion.) He made similar sneers against Goff but when I pointed out that TV 3 for one, cut Goff off after 10 seconds, sometimes in mid-word, he admitted the point, and changed the subject to his sickness beneficiary brother “the bludger” that he hates…
     There may be someone more telegenic than Goff for Labour, but is that what we need in a leader?
6. Brett Dale 6

   29 May 2011 at 1:58 pm

   There is no way the coverage could of been good, it wasnt a good look, did you want the media to focus on the one person that welcome him with open arms?
   • Treetop 6.1

     29 May 2011 at 2:36 pm

     I have praise for the man in McGehan Close who spent $2,500 on fixing up his HNZ home to make it more habitable. I would have liked to have seen his renovations but I do understand his right to privacy.
   • Zetetic 6.2

     29 May 2011 at 2:55 pm

     there are always angles and journos always have a choice.

     Compare the relatively balanced piece from Marika Hill yesterday: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5069415/Goff-queries-underclass-about-Nationals-track-record

     and how the same reporter describes the same visit in the print version today:
     http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5069895/Leader-Labours-point

     Let’s look at the very first sentence:

     “A publicity stunt by Labour leader Phil Goff went up in smoke yesterday”

     Labeling the visit a stunt is an angle. How many times do we see Key’s activities labeled as stunts?

     The ‘up in smoke’ refers to the fact that one of the people Goff spoke to said cigarettes were getting to be too expensive, but the reporter uses that to try to say the whole thing was a failure.

     The journos could have added some statistics facts to check whether Goff is right for saying Key has failed to live up to his promises. That would have exposed Key as a liar, though, and been inconsistent with the anti-Goff angle.
     • Murray 6.2.1

       29 May 2011 at 3:21 pm

       Oh Dear Oh Dear, Its never Goffs fault he comes across as lame and irrelevant.
       Its always the fault of the big bad media.
       You guys need to wake up that Hes a failure as a leader and labour have no chance while hes there.
       Its pathetic your clutching at straws, desperately trying to find something positive about Goff and Labour
       • Treetop 6.2.1.1

         29 May 2011 at 3:30 pm

         Key would not stand up to the media scrutiny that Goff stands up to.
         • Murray 6.2.1.1.1

           29 May 2011 at 3:53 pm

           Thats because the medis realize Goffs all smoke and mirriors
           • felix 6.2.1.1.1.1

             29 May 2011 at 5:00 pm

             Not sure if you realise what you just admitted to believing there Murray.
           • Draco T Bastard 6.2.1.1.1.2

             29 May 2011 at 5:06 pm

             No, that’s because the journos in the MSM have their orders from their authoritarian, capitalist owners. They’ve been told not to hold Jonkey to account.
             • millsy …

               29 May 2011 at 5:43 pm

               John Key been getting a free ride from the media since he was elected as National leader.
         • Olwyn 6.2.1.1.2

           29 May 2011 at 5:41 pm

           “Key would not stand up to the media scrutiny that Goff stands up to.”

           One only has to look at Key’s BBC interview with Stephen Sackur, in which he seems flummoxed by an interviewer who assumes he is speaking to a grown-up. How on earth would he cope if he was actually put under pressure in an interview.
           • Richard 6.2.1.1.2.1

             30 May 2011 at 9:07 am

             Exactly. Imagine if we outsourced our election media coverage to the BBC? Some real journalists might just focus on the issues, not image.
             • Colonial Viper …

               30 May 2011 at 9:17 am

               Aunty Beeb has drifted more and more into an unquestioning stance over the years. Their passive coverage of Bush/Blair justifying the Iraq War ruined their reputation for me, permanently.
       • Jum 6.2.1.2

         29 May 2011 at 5:30 pm

         Murray, I have never been more sure than I am now, having seen your 6.2.1 comment, that Phil Goff will lead the new Government on 27 November this year. There is so much more dignity and substance to Goff’s persona than your Konstruct Key and the creatures from the black lagoon that back him.
         • Sheelagh 6.2.1.2.1

           30 May 2011 at 2:55 pm

           Jum.

           So this is where you have been hiding, How are you? I have never read this website before.(I wonder why)?

           You and I discussed having a drink on election night. You were going to celebrate a Labour win. I was prepared for a National win.A lot of water has flowed under the bridge and guess what? The honeymoon you predicted for John Key which would not last 6 months seems to be going on forever.

           Fancy a wager on the result in November? My house, in the eastern suburbs, is,in Mayor Bob’s words ,MUNTED. I don’t think it would be worth betting on.

           I would be interested in hearing from you. I have not blogged for several months. It would be like old times. Regards Sheelagh
           • Jum 6.2.1.2.1.1

             30 May 2011 at 4:31 pm

             Well, well, Sheelagh, how lovely.

             If I remember correctly you and I spent time on Colin Espiner’s blog. Yes, unfortunately, I had more faith in my fellow New Zealanders to see what was under the mask of Pinochet Key, America’s man, than they deserved. Never mind.

             Maybe this year, they’ll have done their homework in spite of the fact that your teflon mates Key and Co have got the media in their pocket and Duncan Garner – I have to turn my head away sometimes when I hear his knees scraping along the ground after his master John Key.

             Weren’t you the one who decided it was really bad that Helen Clark should wear trousers when accompanying the Queen until I reminded you that the lovely wife of Sir Ed wore trousers to his funeral, which I never heard back from you about? Now John Key is accompanying the Queen, when the Corgis can’t, at least there’ll be no problem about whether he should be wearing trousers, eh?

             Welcome back to the fray. Once again, I’ll KiwiBank on the people of New Zealand making Phil Goff and his team the Government this year.

             I’m not a gambler like John Key’s followers and I would much rather Bob Parker had been munted (demolished, dear, demolished in the local election) than your house. No doubt in my many donations to the Phoenix of Christchurch coming back to life I probably helped you. I know that John Key’s followers will certainly be trying to help themselves to assets which part belong to me.

             If Key gets back in I hope you have a few mill to buy into the assets he’s hocking off i.e. taking future prosperity off the other 90% of New Zealanders who can’t afford to.

             I do so look forward not to hear from you again Sheelagh, as I still see you as the woman who politically lusted after the rich white moneytrader who has spent the time in government destroying this wonderful country, but I know you won’t be able to keep away from attacking me so let the silly games commence.
             • Sheelagh …

               30 May 2011 at 4:51 pm

               Jum. You look forward to not hearing from me .

               Madame . Your wish is granted . Au revoir.
7. joe bloggs 7

   29 May 2011 at 4:24 pm

   why should we RWNJs fight the good fight when the media does it so much more coherently?

   Publicity stunt up in smoke

   The government insulates their houses, and they bitch about the rising price of tobacco – priceless!
   • Jum 7.1

     29 May 2011 at 5:24 pm

     Joe Bloggs,

     Obviously, you have the attention span of a NAct, Joe Bloggs. Hang your head in shame. Since you cannot handle more than a soundbite, let me print out what else even the normally rightwing Stuff said:

     “I thought [Key] would be a great prime minister and a great leader,” Kumar said. Now he thinks “he just shows his teeth and laughs”.

     He didn’t mind the attention from media and politicians.

     Goff had an easy job convincing many of the residents to support his party in November’s election. Most, such as long-time resident Vao Taupau, had always voted Labour.

     “Labour always helps the Polynesian people,” she said. “[Key] always promises but never delivers.”

     Goff defended his campaigning.

     “This is part of my electorate so we’re door-knocking right through this area. We’re talking to people about the cost of living and how that’s affected them and whether they feel better off.”

     He invited media to McGehan Close because of the earlier interest sparked by Key’s visits.

     “John Key said he was going to do something about the `underclass’ but all he’s done is lift the income of the people at the top while lower-income people have found their income slip behind the cost of living.”

     A spokesman for Key said the government had insulated every house in McGehan Close.
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     “The government has also sought to take the rough edges off the recession by good economic management.”

     – Sunday Star Times”

     KEY UNDERESTIMATES THE EXTREMELY ASTUTE McGEEHAN CLOSE PEOPLE AT HIS PERIL.
     • joe bloggs 7.1.1

       30 May 2011 at 9:34 am

       Jum, you write as if you think I give a shit. You also refer to the only two residents who gave Goff the time of day.

       Go tell it to all the residents of McGeehan Close who told Phil to fuck off. They shouldn’t be hard to find – there were plenty who slammed the foor in his face.
       • Jum 7.1.1.1

         30 May 2011 at 4:47 pm

         Tsk, tsk, Joe Bloggs,

         Having a wee tantrum are you because you got found out telling fibs?

         What’s a ‘foor’? If you must get all excited, dear, at least count to ten and check your spelling before you press the submit button.
8. millsy 8

   29 May 2011 at 5:31 pm

   “A spokesman for Key said the government had insulated every house in McGehan Close.”

   Come Monday 29 November, 2011, each and every Housing NZ resident in McGeechan Close will be served with an eviction notice as preperations are made to transfer a third of the state housing stock in this country to people like JT’s Waiparera Trust. Another third will be sold to private developers and landlords, and the other third will become even more of a mission to get into.

   Housing Corp are just waiting for the court action concerning those ladies in Lower Hutt to take their course, and then the shit is going to hit the fan.

   If/when the National Party wins a 2nd term, you are going to see carnage on a scale never seen before.
   • Jum 8.1

     29 May 2011 at 5:38 pm

     Millsy,

     And they’ll be using the Pinochet Model.
   • Chess Player 8.2

     29 May 2011 at 7:03 pm

     “ladies”

     bit of a stretch, don’t you think?
   • Vicky32 8.3

     29 May 2011 at 7:08 pm

     A few weeks ago, I had builders arrive on my doorstep from HNZC, who told me they wanted to do a complete rebuilding and re-insulation of this house – one of them told me that I had the right to refuse and I did so, because what they described would have made the place unlivable (they would have been knocking down the inside  walls to do it, and one of the guys said “people generally sleep on the living room floor while we work on the bedrooms”) Later  my tenancy manager said “people sometimes go to a hotel” (How can a Housing NZ tenant afford that?) They can renovate to their heart’s content when I am out of here, but I am not camping in the living room for a month!
     Is what you’ve just said the reason Millsy, I wonder?
     (I am in the process of applying for a transfer to a smaller place now my son’s grown up and moved out, and apres moi, le deluge, inasmuch as I have no say in any of it. I would rather have a job, and not need Housing NZ!)
     • millsy 8.3.1

       29 May 2011 at 7:18 pm

       The working group or whatever it is called on social housing recommended that a third of state houses be handed over to groups like iwi, the Sallies, etc.

       HNZ is also intent on selling state housing that it says is not suited to tenancies (ie 3 bedroom, etc), and also announced plans to sell a lot of its Manukau housing stock, and existing tenants can either ‘buy the house, rent privately, or from a charity’. The story was on a discreet part of the NZ herald website.

       As someone ( I think it was Penny Bright — shame she crashed out in the by-election ) said HNZ has also advertised for a ‘Disposal Manager’. Something that we plebs call someone who is going to flog off all our state houses.

       BTW Vicky, I think HNZ has an obligation to rehouse you while those renovations are taking place. I suggest you follow this up.
       • Vicky32 8.3.1.1

         30 May 2011 at 4:52 pm

         BTW Vicky, I think HNZ has an obligation to rehouse you while those renovations are taking place. I suggest you follow this up.

         Oh, I have ‘missed out’ the tenancy manager told me. The thing is, I didn’t say a blanket no, I simply said “I need more in formation, can I have the bathroom done now, the rest later?” The builder said the Tenancy manager would ‘get back to me’ which of course she never did, she’s the laziest cow unhung! Then TPA got involved and then the TM told me that she had not even considered my question, but just moved the schedule to the next street on the list!
         Because I want a transfer, I don’t care! In answer to the TPA woman Housing said I might be waiting years for a transfer, which makes no sense! I want a one-person dwelling. Families want houses the size of this one – so why should it take years?
         • Treetop 8.3.1.1.1

           30 May 2011 at 5:40 pm

           HNZ seem to think that no one requires a one bedroom dwelling so they have failed to build one bedroom dwellings. This is the conclusion that I have reached. Unfortunately all one can do within the HNZ system is to wait years for them to build a one bedroom dwelling. HNZ tend to have 2 – 3 bedroom homes or bedsits. HNZ do not understand the CONCEPT of a person only requiring a one bedroom.

           HNZ has gone from bad to worse and what Millsy has to say about housing stock is so alarming because it will happen.
9. HC 9

   29 May 2011 at 7:11 pm

   When you look at the new breed of journos working for televesion (whether TVNZ or private media), most of them are young career-minded graduates from secure backgrounds. Male or female, they pay more attention to their appearance (immaculate suits, remaining attire, facial make-up, clean, tidy hair-cuts and never ending smiling, “positive” faces) than to matters of substance.

   To me they look like fresh out of uni with otherwise little hands-on real life experiences the average struggling New Zealander and migrant have to deal with.

   I am amazed that they do not walk into areas like Mc Gehan Close, streets in poorer parts of South Auckland or other worse off settlements in the country without mouth-guard, sterilising lotion and sanitary gloves to meet the people there.

   This has been the trend in the media for years now.

   Smart comments, a bit of sarcasm, cynicism, belittling and an over emphasis on whatever impression or affect a presented story may have are becoming the rule, rather than objective, well resourced, factual and investigative journalism that we used to get up to one or two decades ago.

   Standards are dropping. And when I saw that brief news item, I also detected a slight bias against Phil Goff. It is like an ongoing saga based on self fulfilling prophecy that much of the media now spread to us as the public. Phil does not come across, Phil lacks charisma, Phil looks tired, Phil has had his hair dyed, Phil this and that, so logically he is a loser and must lose the election for Labour.

   On the contrary Don Key is always the smiling, smart go getter and great, cheerful entertainer and leader. It is really weird that all his contradictions do hardly get mentioned by much of “the media”!

   As much as I also like to criticise Phil Goff about certain aspects, what I witness goes beyond of what is acceptable journalism. Hence I prefer to stay away from the TV news and read about developments in a variety of media websites, blogs and whatever.
10. Puddleglum 10

    29 May 2011 at 8:15 pm

    According to the article, Key’s spokesperson mentioned that all the houses in McGehan Close had been insulated.

    It would be interesting to know if that was part of a programme to insulate all state houses in that area or if it was ‘targeted’ for receiving insulation (or had ‘jumped a queue’ in some other way).
    • SHG 10.1

      29 May 2011 at 11:39 pm

      Yeah, I’m sure breaking the law to give preferential treatment to the residents of the Leader of the Opposition’s electorate is right up there on government’s to-do list.
      • Colonial Viper 10.1.1

        30 May 2011 at 12:16 am

        Well SHG, in 2008, giving preferential treatment to a little girl who was resident in the Leader of the Opposition’s electorate was right up there on the Government’s to do list.
        • SHG 10.1.1.1

          30 May 2011 at 12:24 am

          And who did she vote for?
          • Colonial Viper 10.1.1.1.1

            30 May 2011 at 12:30 am

            The main question is: who is she going to vote for next, after Key has proven himself a media manipulative prick?
11. doofus 11

    29 May 2011 at 8:59 pm

    Hey,

    um on the question of stunts- didn’t Key give someone from the street a job and then they were fired not long after the election? Media all over that one?

    If a Tory promising nothing but glib phrases visits a street it gets promoted, if a Labour Party leader who worked hard in a government that made wages and conditions much better for working families visits the same street…it’s a stunt.

    sheesh.
    • Draco T Bastard 11.1

      29 May 2011 at 10:40 pm

      um on the question of stunts- didn’t Key give someone from the street a job and then they were fired not long after the election?

      Wasn’t Key specifically but the local National Office. Hired her, buttered her up, took her daughter to Waitangi and then fired her just after the election with the excuse that the office was closing down.
12. Jum 12

    30 May 2011 at 5:00 pm

    Did anyone watch Marae Investigates yesterday. The Budgeter on there – what was his name – Darryl …? I heard he had said that when clients said the changes by NAct had made no difference, when he did a budget for one, found they were losing about $40 per week. Was that correct?

    Because this might apply to McGeehan Close residents that were split on whether this government’s changes to GST, etc. as quoted:

    ‘They were split on whether the politicians had any effect on their lives’ .

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