Is the definition of stupidity David Shearer going on-air complaining about Labour’s lack of unity and then in the next sentence stabbing David Cunliffe in the back. All of the Labour MP’s currently going on-air to have a stab at David Cunliffe are clearly showing that they are the “insiders” who have been undermining Labour and are the main cause for the 24.7%.
There are other factors for the 24.7%, but when I have spoken to people they always talk about the infighting that goes on in labour as the main reason that they wouldn’t vote Labour. As soon as I heard Nash, Cosgrove and Shearer on air yesterday, I knew, as Winston would say: “Labour are gone”… idiots putting their own ambitions in front of the Party. For the sake of Labour shut the f%$# up.
Agreed. And the loudest should reflect on their own personal performance. If they want a review we should start with why their electorate campaign for the party vote was so bad. A comparison of results makes for fascinating reading …
Time for a new party folks ? this one was hijacked decades back and is no longer capable of representing middle/lower nz.
It’s not possible to purge the shearers, mallards etc so can anyone see it working with them ? Described as too comfortable and not to bothered about the strugglers was how one party figure depicted them to me, sounds about right.
Helen held it together but that was awhile ago now and its easier in power than in opposition. Jones being able to be bought off by the Nats pretty much summed it for me, zero loyalty, maximum troughing and nasty as into the bargain.
Re time for a new party, I wondered the same thing this morning. In fact, this year’s election result is not significantly different from Goff’s. Division is still the undermining factor. The Goff/Shearer team seems to have the blessing of the political/media elite, while Cunliffe largely retains the support of the unions and the membership.
Each morning I listen to Susie Ferguson carrying on about Cunliffe like a high school queen bee attacking some boy for wearing his slippers to the school ball.
Cunliffe can’t effectively stand up to this sort of thing, as Winston does, without his caucus firmly behind him. At the same time, the right-leaning ambitions of the opposing team draw scorn and contempt from the cheap seats, while their beloved tradies go over to Winston and the luvvies to the Greens. If things continue in this way, as they have since Clark left, it will ultimately mean the death of Labour.
Shearer is calling for an independent review. Here’s an independent review: constantly backstabbing the party leader to the media makes the populace not like your party.
Pre-election DC often looked like someone who was preparing for the next beating. As bad as the MSM has been I don’t think they did that to him alone. Well done Labour caucus, leadership coup by PTSD.
I think Cunliffe did remarkably well under the circumstances, but that sense that something was wrong was palpable yet never explained. No wonder so many people don’t trust Labour.
I had the same feeling. But it would fragment the left further. We need an integrating party, to get anywhere. Also Labour are not going to disappear…..but if they don’t get it together…..there will be no opposition.
The labour MPs should learn to debate issues in private in their caucus and not air their differences/views in public or secretly through journalists/bloggers.
After this election, in my opinion, the only people in Labour that should have spoken in public are Cunliffe and Parker and may be Coatsworth. The rest them should have shown better restraint or at least shown unity and loyalty in their utterances.
Yep, been saying that for years. Labour is a centre-right party and probably closer to radical right compared to where we were in the 1970s and a right-wing party is bad for the country.
and another 100% agreement about Shearer ( friend of National and Hooton)
…naked ambition…limited ability…ruthless to opposition ….didnt he get rid of Leanne Dalziel and Charles Chauvel while he was leader?
…both Dalziel and Chauvel were future potential leaders of the Labour Party
….really David Cunliffe did not stand a chance with Shearer behind his back ( imo Cunliffe should stay and fight it out if he has the support of the rank and file Labour Party members…change in the Labour Party has got to come from the bottom up)
…there were huge mistakes in Labour’s election strategy that can not be sheeted back to Cunliffe…but to the whole Party apparatus
And Shearer never had a chance with Cunliffe behind his back.
Maybe the issue are actually bigger than these two men, and the next Labour leader needs to be a fresh face.
Labour got up to 34% (according to Phil Ure) when Cunliffe lurched to the left, and got 25% when they pulled back to the right.
Maybe theres a lesson there, but they also need to factor in that by abandoning the centre, they will be forever hoping that Winston will choose them for Government. Thats a risky strategy for any party to adhere to in my view.
Cunliffe should resign for good of party and nation.
Labour needs to face the question of its leadership, nothing more. If Mr Cunliffe is going to appeal over the heads of his caucus to the membership and affiliated unions who elected him last year, he must imagine he can continue to lead a team that has little confidence in him. This will do Labour no good, as surely its members and unions now see.
It is in the nation’s interest that the party finds a new leader quickly.
Or, if Cunliffe is supported by the party as a whole then how about those disruptive caucus members do their job properly.
I thought Cunliffe did brilliant in the debates. He came across as caring, he made leaps and bounds in dispelling the media painted perception of him with actions and showing just how much he cared about NZ. Given proper media coverage he would have won. That’s the crux of the issue. the only way a Labour leader would get the thumbs up from the likes of O’Sullivan and Armstrong and everyone else in the media except Cambell is if he was a National MP leading Labour.
You know it, you know the press are against Labour, so who will they be even handed too, no one. That’s why you need a man like Cunliffe, he’ll get the bad press for awhile but has the oration skills and brain to dispel them and make the media look stupid. Just like he was doing in the debates.
I for one like Cunliffe a lot. I also liked Shearer, but did not like him when I saw how hopeless he was on media duties or in parliaments debates.
leave Cunliffe there just band behind him and unify and start dispelling the perceptions painted by bad media personalities.
The fight back starts by uniting and dispelling the Labour tainted image. only then will we get the common voter to consider the tick seriously. Until then they won’t even look at labour.
Agree with you Richard, but ideally Labour need to analyse the root cause of Labours’ weakness. Leadership is one of the factors, but there are many factors for Labour struggling including the following:
– Labour funding/campaign revenue
-implementing tough policies such as CGT, Irrigation tax, increasing age of super
-centralised campaign/marketing strategy
-constant infighting and leaks to the media (Lack of internal discipline)
-DC apologising to womens refuge
-Insider attacking Cunliffe for taking 3 days off in school holidays
-Labours marketing strategy versus Nationals marketing strategy
-Is the electorate ready for a change?
-Labour brand weakness
-Dotcom and the affect he had on Labours campaign
-Dirty Politics – did it help or hinder
-Could Labour have presented its suite of policies better?
The point I am trying to make is that Labour need to analyse the root cause of the problem, the infighting that is already happening is in my view the biggest reason Labours brand has gone down the toilet.
+++ And Labour are being played like little docile puppets! Dancing to their tune. Public display of power hungry, naked ambition, disloyalty and chaos.
Someone needs to reign them in.
+1
I used to keep bikes and cars for years, spending more and more on maintaining what had turned into heaps of shit. I belatedly learned that it’s better to get rid of the absolute rubbish and get something else to do the same job. For a long time I thought we had to keep Labour, but I’ve had enough. The Rogernomics cancer has been terminal.
20% vote from lunions is not what got Cunliffe the leadership, it’s mathematically impossible. The Herald is peddling the ABC lines again. Why don’t they jkust simplify their article to
“”wa. wa.wa. I want to be more like National. wa wa wa.” said David Shearer and his pals today
Totally agree Sarbo!! Shearer deserves a huge chunk of blame – he took the leadership with no experience and wasted so much time stumbling and bumbling around – If David Cunliffe had been elected leader straight after Goff, the election result might have looked very different – 11 months is not long enough for a leader to cement themselves into the job and for the public to know them – Helen Clark was leader for a much longer period before becoming Prime Minister and look how that turned out!! NO-ONE else in the party could have performed in those debates better than David Cunliffe – its a pity that certain MP’s only did enough to regain their own seats and didn’t bother campaigning for the party vote – self interest reigns supreme among many in the Caucus! As for Nash, he’s a bit cheeky saying he may go for the leadership when he’s only just got into Parliament – trading on the name of his adopted Grandfather a bit too much I think – and imagine the field day Cameron Slater would have with Nash’s private life!!!! Nash does not strike me as a measured type of man which could get him into all sorts of trouble. Robertson may debate well but he will never have appeal with the public, he’s gay and he just doesn’t look like a Prime Minister should – unfortunately people really ARE that shallow, so looks are important! If David Cunliffe doesn’t stay leader of the Party, then watch all the new members they have gained melt away like snow in spring!
We’re in real danger of doing for Labour what the Tea Party does for the Republican Party: selecting ideologically “pure” candidates that are either unappealing to the wider electorate or are abrasive to a significant portion of the caucus. I voted for Cunliffe. I like him and I like his principles, but I was also very impressed with Grant Robertson and would have been okay with “settling” for him (Jones was out of the question).
Someone is going to have to blink here. I know it feels really good to stick it to the right wing in caucus, but they’re not the enemy. National is. The perfect is the enemy of the good and you can little by being in opposition. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m tired of losing.
For better or worse the Labour caucus is now selected for the next three years. It is chock full of yesterday’s men and women.
The first thing the leader must do is unite this group behind him or herself and the common cause of displacing John Key in 2017.
For me that is the top of the job description for leader of the Labour party.
I am not sure who that person is. But I am fairly certain that person’s name does not begin with David.
Neither Shearer nor Cunliffe have the requisite support of the caucus to effectively carry out the job. Without that support they cannot do the job. Therefore neither should be leader.
My problem with John Key’s Silver Fern is that it looks too much like the ISIS flag from a distance, exposing NZ troops in Syria to being targeted by allied air power.
Saarbo, well bloody said. Do they not engage brain before shooting themselves in ass. No one wanted goff he’d never get in, frankly he has a worse public image than Cunliffe. Shearers background gave him a good standing but he cannot talk. pointless, part of the job requirements are the ability to get ones point across. These two are causing too much infighting the president of Labour need to tell them to can it for awhile. If you have an issue with someone how about growing a pair and talking about it like an adult with the person concerned, or is it more of a case of them blinded by the hint they may be able to get the leadership baubbles back. it’s pathetic. frankly the country would laugh at labour if they threw the truck in reverse in a traffic jam.
Today I joined the labour party, yep on the cheap side at $10 PM but heck I’m on a low wage. I figure every dollar counts though, have to do something I figured I can’t sit here bleating on like a cry baby if I don’t get active. So I am a labour member, well until I get approved officially.
I consider myself pretty fair handed not a rabid commie or right wing neo liberal. I just go for common sense. Good policy is good policy no matter who comes up with it if it improves things. lets hope my 1% can help Labour if even a little.
and because three more years of this lots going to hurt us all big time the way the economy is tanking.
Waikato University’s production line of mediocrity;
They’re right at home on Jim Mora’s light chat show The Panel, Monday 22 September 2014
Jim Mora, Stephen Franks, Duncan Webb
Waikato University has long been the refuge of some of the most bizarre right wing nutjobs in the nation. If you care to visit the notorious “Political Science” [sic] department, you’ll meet the unbelievably nasty professors Dov Bing, an implacable Israeli hardliner who every few years emerges from academic obscurity to write a bloodthirsty Op-Ed piece in the Waikato Times, and Ron Smith, who on Jim Mora’s show once spoke, in a tone of high seriousness, of the “virtue” of New Zealand governments falling in line with U.S. foreign policy. Needless to say, Smith’s party politics are as deranged as his lectures; he ran for ACT in the Hamilton East electorate this year. Over in the English department, dear old Norman Simms occasionally contributes to the public discourse, backing up his friend Prof. Bing by frothing and snarling and tirelessly reiterating the line that critics of Israel are “anti-Semitic”. Up the hill, in Earth Sciences, you’ll meet the bewhiskered Professor Willem De Lange, a global warming denier who foolishly, in 2008, appeared on a risible Prime TV “debate” on the same side as NewstalkZB’s resident loon Leighton Smith; to compound the impression of haplessness, De Lange let Smith do nearly all the talking. But probably the most dismal of all the dismal departments at Waikato is the Management School, which achieved notoriety in 1998 by bestowing an Honorary Doctorate on the ridiculous advertising poseur Kevin Roberts.
Sadly, anyone who listened to Jim Mora’s light chat show The Panel today (Monday) will be all too aware that Waikato’s lamentable production line of mediocrity shows no sign of slowing down. Right now I am listening to one Jacqueline Rowarth, a Waikato University professor—allegedly—of Agricultural Science, asserting that there is no such thing as poverty in New Zealand. It is, apparently, all in the minds of the poor. Except that, according to Prof. Rowarth, the poor don’t exist. Those reports in the media of kids without shoes? Rubbish, according to Jacqueline Rowarth—all the alleged shoelessness is simply kids who just don’t want to wear shoes.
Stephen Franks—like Prof. Ron Smith, an ACT supporter—is warmly supportive of this carefully researched thesis, but Duncan Webb is less impressed. Webb has a go at arguing with Prof. Rowarth and Franks, but Jim Mora cuts him off because time is up.
Earlier in the programme, Franks launched into one of his typically bizarre rants, asserting that Frank Bainimarama is actually a democrat, and has been one all along. According to Franks, only the Great Council of Chiefs was ever opposed to the Fijian dictator. That’s not true of course: the staunchest opposition to the Bainimarama dictatorship has been by the trade unions in Fiji. This has evidently failed to register with Franks. To his credit, Duncan Webb contested what Franks said. Franks also engaged in a lengthy condemnation of the New Zealand government for its failure to support Bainimarama’s coup, which was apparently a coup for democracy. To support his case, he invoked another great hero of democracy, Henry Kissinger*, who claimed that morality had no place in foreign policy.
I flicked the glib, laughing host of this joke of a show the following supportive e-mail….
Morality has no place in foreign policy
Dear Jim,
We support Stephen Franks’s assertion that morality has no place in foreign policy.
Yours sincerely,
Adolf Hitler
Benito Mussolini
Emperor Hirohito
V.I. Lenin
Lev Trotsky
“Uncle Joe” Stalin
Pol Pot
General Franco
Henry Kissinger
(and the disturbing thought that here was a future panel-candidate..she says all the ‘right’ things..)..her semi-orgasmic gasps of agreement as franks laid out his vile-prescriptons for the children of the poor…painted her in exactly the colour she should be..unadulterated far-right..
..and she is a professor..(!)..she gets to teach/preach this shit to gullible students..?..
..whoar..!..)
..and moras’ nodding-along to those (as always) putrid-excretions from the mind of franks was particularly puke-inducing..
..and of course..as noted..never challenged at all by mora..
Prof Rowarth also mixed up the average and median. She said poverty is supposed to be 80% of the median income – and then said that meant it was around $50k. No, it is actually around $20k – which she could probably not even imagine supporting a family on. And then she said that the lack of shoes is just a life style choice for kids!
On the Electoral Commission election results page they have a demographic breakdown of each electorate. For example in Palmerston North 55% live on less than $30k and only about 3% over $100, 000. So as a professor formerly at Massey she is up there with the tiny elite – no wonder she has no idea. Pity they give her airtime as an expert on anything but farming.
Full time work on Minimum wage equals around $29,600pa, are you saying more than half of peple in Palmerston North are on full time minimum wage, part time work or benefit? That is an apalling stat if true!
What was Iain Lees-Galloway’s plan for the region to increase employment opportunities during the election?
“she gets to teach/preach this shit to gullible students..?..”
And that is the problem, until the Friedman and the Chicago School religion is purged from all universities this Noe-Liberal failed crap will go on unabated.
i have worked out what the real metaphor is in that eminem-rip-off rowing skiff ad…
..it actually represents how each party has got to grips with mmp..
..national has nailed it..
..and the progressives/labour/grns etc..
..haven’t got a fucken clue..
..they are the ones in the dinghy..
..all rowing in opposite directions..
..and against each other..
..and labour can angst and leader-fret all they like..
..but until lab/grns progressives learn not to cannabilse/fight each other to the death national will just continue skiffing past them..
..there have been two post-election statements/claims that have particularly ground my gears..
..one was the crocodile tears from cunnliffe on ‘the bad result for the left’..after his successful knee-capping of harawira/internet-mana..(for all the obvious reasons..)
..and the other was from metiria turei..
..with her (to me) smug-claim that the greens couldn’t have done any more to avert that crushing defeat for the left/progressives..
..a look at the result in ohariu-belmont puts the lie to that..
..and the greens have gifted dunne his 11th term in parliamant..(on a mandate for him/his party half the size of that of the aotearoa legalise cannabis party..(!)..)
..because dunne won with a majority of 900+…
..yet the green candidate in that seat..got 2,4000+ votes…
..so had the greens clearly asked their supporters to vote strategically in ohariu-belmont..
..dunne would have been out the door..
..and this disasterous (for the progressives) pattern is repeated up and down the country..
(auckland central…had the greens not competed for the electorate..labour would have won that seat..as just one other example of many..)
..and until labour and the greens work out enough how to not cannabilise each other..
(issuing clear/explaining reasons for.. how-to-vote cards to their supporters..would be one obvious solution..and of course agreeing not to stand competing-candidates in some strategic seats will have to be worked out…)
..until then..labour can shuffle leaders all they like..
..and turei can make that false claim again and again that ‘the greens could do nothing more’..
..but the progressives will just continue to get out-rowed by national/the right..
..this is the solution to the problems facing the left/progressives…
..not fretting over a new leader for labour..
..but sitting down together and actually working out/planning how to win an election..
You did a great job hacking lumps off red/green throughout the campaign, and now, in defeat, you have all the answers to all their woes. Sincere? A big belly laugh at that.
As for lack of nous, I disagree. I managed to suss you out soon enough.
No and labour/national/nzfirts and the maori party did not join together to kill it off.
See here is the problem, and the denial going on – Labour got into bed with national to kill off mana.
Let me repeat that so you understand. Labour got into bed with national to kill mana off.
And you’re going to sit there with a straight face and tell me mana killed itself. Wow another out of touch labour supporter. This is why the working people in this country hate you and why they won’t vote.
Mana did kill itself. Their delusional idiotic behaviour left other parties no choice, but to either sit uncomfortably on the sidelines, or at the close to distance themselves, otherwise the public would make their own decision. Davis had to fight for his life. Labour didn’t owe Mana anything, but it did owe the electorate clarity in saying they would not deal with IMP. Hone is a victim of his own stupidity, and thank heavens we don’t have to listen to that tosser Laila Harre anymore. If hone had stayed away from Dotcom he would still be an MP.
So it’s ok for labour to work with national now Once was Pete? What idiotic behaviour? Your right labour owes nobody nothing, because they are dead. It’s going to hurt, it’s going to take some time, but the beast is dead.
All I see is a party of egoists, slashing and burning all who oppose them. Oh wait they already sold out working people. They just followed that up and destroying any voice working stiffs had, by joining with the enemy. Well done labour, what a wonderful strategy.
David Shearer is calling for a forensic analysis of the election result. I agree. For a start we could do a seat by seat analysis of what happened to the party vote. Here are the worst performing seats and the figure represents the drop in percentage points of party vote:
Mt Roskill -8.21%
Hutt South -7.86%
Mt Albert -7.12%
Here is New Lynn’s result:
New Lynn -1.52%
Of course there will be a multitude of causes and reasons and boundary changes were reasonably significant for each of these seats. But let’s have the debate. The party should have had it in 2011.
Until Nationals vote disintegrates there’s not a lot the left can do.
Thinking about it, for MMP to really be effective the National vote needs to be around 30-35% and has to work and compromise with other parties instead of the other parties just making up the numbers to govern.
In that sort of scenario the possibility of National and labour working together would be quite high.
Currently with John Key at the helm the chances of nationals vote collapsing or a left leaning government gaining power are practically nil.
“..when cunnliffe didn’t deliver on those transformational-policies/promises..is when the labour vote started its’ slow collapse…”
What ‘left’ promises didn’t DC follow through with that collapsed the vote?
“had lab/grns not cannabilised each other.”
I’m missing your text that slams mana voters in Rotorua for not electorate voting Labour to keep Flavell and another out of parliament. Do you have a link?
National have 1 trump up their sleeve to protect from their voter base collapsing, when Peters retires who do you think will pick up the majority of NZ1’s support? Do you think it will be a party that promotes increasing the retirement age, The Greens or any other party that lies on the left of the political spectrum ?
Nice stats there Micky. Goff, Shearer, Mallard should take a look at themselves. Though I would point out that Goff nearly won in 2011.
Cunliffe should stay as leader and should sack/ease out Cosgrove and anyone else who refused to push Labour in their electorate campaigns. He needs to be seen to take control and any bloodletting should be now and then get unified for the following 2 years.
And please can we have party vote labour written as PARTY VOTE LABOUR on the hoardings next time.
Much though I like Hone and Laila it will complicate things less for Labour next time now Mana has gone. Maybe Laila should replace Cosgrove?
To have a fair comparison leaders of a party attract a greater % of support in their electorate than “just anybody” so to compare DC’s loss of party vote when he was just anyone to now being “The One” is a bit IMO playing with numbers, unless you compare his vote with other 1st time leaders in an losing campaign. Say bill English in 2002 as comparing like with like ?
Dunedin South, that Former Red Stronghold which lost the party vote to National by a few hundred votes in 2011, lost it again this time around by 2,300 votes.
Unfortunately Labour (mainly) & Green politicians ego’s got in the way of common sense. I put out a strategy to these idiots but their over inflated ego’s got the better of them. Met & spoke with Cunliffe’s PR men and realised they were amateurs pretty quickly, this was a big disappointment. Rolled out our strategy locally to great effect which was very successful, backed up back by the National snake oil team congratulated us on an effective play.
I would say that one of the reasons is that the anxious classes are now moving outwards from city centres, ( having captured them in the last few decades, particularly in Auckland) because they can’t afford the prices. These suburbs are becoming gentrified.
It seems to me that the right and the corporate is in the ascendency well and truly.
Like it is in the US and most western nations. There is nothing to halt it – the poor / left don’t vote and the right wing vested interests are simply too powerful.
The caucus is the problem not the solution. That some in there don’t see that IS THE PROBLEM.
Boo Fucking Hoo they had to work for someone they dont like, well suck it up princesses, we all have had to work for bosses we didnt like, we either leave or we contribute tot he common goal. At least that is how fgrown ups do it.
The soultion for the ABC’s is right in front of their eyes
United Future
New Zealand First
ACT
National
Go join them and I never thought I would say this but I wonder who Cosgrove and others gave their party votes to?
It seems to me that all the fuckwits that voted for Key now think that by merely voting for Key they have disproved Hagar and Greenwald and Snowden. It is proof of their fuckwittery … if we all say “nyah nyah nyah” at once then we must be right …
Yeah, Richard Prebble tried that one in his “Letter”.
TVNZ, TV3 and state radio called this election wrong. The credibility of our news services has taken a huge hit. Night after night TV and radio told us John Key was a liar. First “Dirty politics” and then claims of mass surveillance were given not just top billing but saturation coverage. The news blogs are going to be the big winners.
It astounds me (not) that Fed Farmers are still in denial about the environment and its place in the world…
William Rolleston this morning claiming that the looming reforms of the RMA are a good thing …. all these reforms will do is allow more pieces of the environment to be taken from the environment and placed onto people’s dinner plates, thereby simply diminishing the environment ….. the dinner plate that is already loaded with roast lamb and gravy, mash potato and rosemary, peas beans piled high, all washed down with a very good sauvignon ….
brainless and greedy
I see the future and it is barren – like the Canterbury Plains are now
the farmers don’t care as essentially they don’t sell to NZ. They sell overseas…so why not pollute here? As long as they have theirs who gives a fuck about those that have nothing?
again, if people complain, tell them to write a letter to the editor and contact their National Party goons.
Eventually – hopefully not too late – global customers will tell NZ farmers that they will farm to acceptable practices of animal ethics, traceability, purity, and sustainability.
Eventually – hopefully not too late – Fonterra will realise that deliberately making itself vulnerable to the bulk commodity cycle with low added value will kill the business and the New Zealand economy with it. How’s that bet on bulk commodities going now Mr Spiering?
Mr Spiering and Mr Rolleston should have a bit of a sit down.
I think part of the problem with their thinking is that they keep telling themselves that they are the best farmers in the world …. sheesh, really? I don’t believe that for one millisecond….
for a start, what makes the best farmers in the world? This lot have been going for around 140 years or so and look at what they’ve done to the land. I understand the Dutch punch out around 5 times the productivity from a smaller area and don’t use nitrates – maybe they are the best. There are farmers all across the globe who have been at it for centuries – maybe they are better, at least they are proven.
Really. What defines the “best farmers in the world”
They need to stop believing their own bullshit as it is their/our downfall.
We must beware of William Rolleston. He is Monsanto’s chief weapon in NZ for introducing GMOs.
Without doubt, he is to Monsanto what Ede was to Key.
And if TPPA is signed, we will be gone the way of every other country and end up flooding our precious food crops with glyphosate and now, 2,4 D — yes, the main ingredient of Agent Orange is now approved in USA for use on crops as glyphosate has failed, rendering millions of acres of farmland completely unuseable and abandoned forever to superweeds up to 8 ft tall. ( Can only imagine the future spread of those seeds by wind and what little bird life remains.)
Do we want this in Aotearoa ? Last chance now to fight it off and prevent the TPPA.
And in terms of improving product and adding value, the cheapest marketing ploy ever is to remain firmly against GMOs and label all our product as such. It actually matters to millions of consumers. And wow, it actually increases prices overseas!
But Wily Willy Rolleston will ensure this truth is never told. This scares me.
1. Doesn’t pollute the water ways
2. Uses sustainable practices
3. Doesn’t use up finite resources
4. Ensures that their local community is fed first and foremost
5. Doesn’t use GMOs
They are not the only ones who are subsidised.
Working For Families (WFF), although laudable, is also a means of subsidising small to medium businesses (SMEs) in terms of their wage bill. The businesses do not pay a fair price for labour (clearly, as the households getting minimum wage are eligible for WFF). I think if small businesses cannot get a business model in which their costs are structured properly, and covered by earnings, then they should not be in business.
The government through WFF is subsidising bad business (if the business truly cannot pay workers), or else subsidising the profits that these business owners make.
This is another reason for middle NZ to move to/stay with/ or move toward National. Increasing minimum wages to a level that would affect them (despite their being effectively subsidised through WFF) was unpalatable for many SMEs.
by the way, I am not against WFF by any means….but I think we need better analysis of the distributional aspects of it – who actually benefits from it besides the deserving working families?
Dirty politics was about abuse of power.
By defination the powerless cannot indulge in it.
Thank you for saying it. It’s been enraging me for weeks – the accusation and the ignorance. And it really pissed me off that none of our “representatives” saw fit to point it out when it most needed to be said.
remember – it is not acceptable to point out the actual nature of the establishment structures of power (of which they are an intrinsic part of); but it is acceptable to criticise some of the worst, most egregious, intolerable aspects of it.
I think the lesson learned for the left this election is Labour are not to be trusted. No matter what rhetoric come out of their collective mouths – they are a bunch of self serving , backstabbing, idiots. When labour opened the door to neo-liberalism, and exposed capitalism in all it’s fury to working people, was the day they died.
We just didn’t get what a bunch of self absorbed egomaniacs were left in the party. We just didn’t get how gutless they were or how much they could justify to themselves doing bad things to people. We just didn’t get how big their ego’s really were.
Once Nash and Co had wrapped the party away from its socialist roots, the next generation would walk it down to the end of the garden and shot it in the back of the head. This is the husk sitting around a table, who are no more than a bunch of sniveling servants of the 1%.
The elites must roar with laughter each time one of the labour apostles try to move this once great party back to socialism. They have their pet commentators, hacks, and stoge munchers all set to destroy any chance of that.
But, please keep talking reform, keep dreaming of a left victory, keep repeating the same mistakes. Who cares, it’s only people’s lives and well being were talking about. Nothing important like who should lead the labour party.
Hey LPrent,
Can I request that you ask Giovani Tiso to post his latest blog on the Standard?
I’m not sure about the Standard rules in regard to this kind of request.
Meantime, here’s the link. It’s well-worth reading imo:
Yes, I support that notion. It’s an excellent post.
Buried in it is a link to a stunning and sober situation appraisal from the editor of the International Socialist Organisation of Aotearoa, bringing some clear analysis couched in the language of class struggle. It’s a delight to read. The link is
The election was rigged hands down, a stolen election by Key, GCSB and America. Key is not the prime minister and we need to march in the streets and take our country back!!
Throughout the campaign I hoped that National’s meme that the ” Labour Party was not fit to govern because it has become too factionalised and lacked unity” was just a media beat up but sadly it sounds as if they were on the button.
If I had just arrived in New Zealand from a couple of months on a desert island and read/listened to the news, I would have wondered why the Labour party bothered to waste the voters’ time entering the race.
I have to say that this is probably not the time or place to criticise a party that is hurt and bleeding – I wish them well in their deliberations. I would suggest that they seek council from the likes of Bryan Gould on how they manage this, because clearly, whoever is running the back office needs to be strong, measured and wise.
For starters though, Shearer, Goff, and the Whale-oil-confidant-Mallard need to take some deep breaths.
“NZ is a poorly unionised and low wage economy with a growing gap between top and bottom earners. Many low paid workers do not even earn subsistence level wages. The state, in effect, subsidises employers through benefits. The balance of power in NZ lies with the employer and this government will further entrench that position over the next term.
60% of those who voted, chose right wing parties; National was very successful in claiming the media’s hallowed centre ground.
But all parties failed to bridge the gap to the 1 in 3 Kiwis who did not vote.
Labour’s failure was NOT that it didn’t win the comfortable centre but that it continued to fail to connect with the 1 in 3 Kiwis who see no point in voting. Moves back to the centre to slug it out with National will leave those people disconnected and, as the social divide widens, vulnerable to extremist politics.”
Well said Whero, that is absolutely one of the crucial missing foundation stones of our society. How can we have a robust and healthy society when the base layer is shot to shit?
I call again for a general strike by all those on less than the living wage … lets see who actually provides the most value to our lives ….
We could have this strike one week and then a strike by the 1% a week later, and run a comparison ….
“In the Invercargill incident, two Molotov cocktails, containing what appeared to be kerosene, were found burning in Dee St near the National Party office about 1am on Sunday, Sergeant Ian Martin, of Invercargill, said. ”
“In the Invercargill incident, two Molotov cocktails, containing what appeared to be kerosene, were found burning in Dee St near the National Party office about 1am on Sunday, Sergeant Ian Martin, of Invercargill, said. ”
Key has always repeated that Ede no longer worked for him, but worked only for the National Party and not in Parliament.
But Key says this to TVNZ yesterday – so why on earth did Ede need to resign with Key’s Chief of Staff ??
“John Key says Mr Ede advised his chief of staff on Friday that he wouldn’t be coming back to work in Parliament or for the National Party.”
and also this explanation:
“Mr Key said it wasn’t unusual that Mr Ede’s resignation on Friday was effective immediately because staffs’ contracts end over the election and decisions have to be made about whether or not they will return once campaigns have ended and before the new Parliament resumes.”
Clearly another lie for Blip’s list.
By Key’s own words, Ede has been employed by Key ( and his office) this whole time. Lying bastard of a leader we have.
Labour’s candidate vote was higher than the party vote in most electorates.
If everyone of these voters also gave labour the party vote, what would have been the electoral outcome?
I suggest that the Green Party vote would have dropped – many would have voted electorate Labour/ party Green. No overall change in the Left block total percentages.
Labour’s candidate vote was higher than the party vote in most electorates.
If everyone of these voters also gave labour the party vote, what would have been the electoral outcome?
Mt Albert: candidate vote was 8,913 higher than Labour party vote
Wellington Central: candidate vote was 8,751 higher than Labour party vote
Rimutaka: candidate vote was 6,702 higher than Labour party vote
Mt Roskill: candidate vote was 6,082 higher than Labour party vote
Hutt South: candidate vote was 5,486 higher than Labour party vote
Dunedin South: candidate vote was 5,404 higher than Labour party vote
Total differential of 41,338
That’s at least 2 more MPs and more than 1/3 of the way to a Labour victory sitting in 6 electorates right there.
Thank you for doing the sums.
And nationwide…..therein lies the problem.
These voters like the candidate, who are the face of the party and represent to the electorate the party values and policy.
But they reject the party itself, which agrees on those values and policies.
I know many posters here have laid out their ideas and theories but it still looks like irrational voting behaviour to me, and the reasons for that will be multi-faceted.
I know, I’m a simpleton. I vote on policy, and the party with the best policies for the future gets my vote and always will. If I don’t like the candidate for that particular party I won’t vote for him/her. There are always other electorate voting options.
but it still looks like irrational voting behaviour to me
This is the KEY
The intellectual academic pol-sci Left cannot get that a plurality of people are not
rational actors’.
A low information public will make their decisions based on emotion, tribal affiliation, brand image, cultural values and other ‘irrational’ factors.
The Left are way way behind in considering this stuff because the activists and pollies on the Left are too socially and culturally disconnected from most Kiwis.
Some parties simply aim to appeal to attitudes that are out there in the public (appeal to public opinion)
others attempt to shift public opinion.
There are pitfalls to simply appealing to popular attitudes – a perfect example is in one of Adam Curtis’s documentaries (I think it was Century of the Self), where the British Labour Party started basing their policies on focus groups and ringing people through out the country.
What ended up happening is the very policies that were formulated on the most popular opinion ended up being contradicted by popular opinion gleaned a few years later. From memory, the example was that people didn’t think [something like] the national railways should be invested in, and then years later the public opinion was that the railway should not have been allowed to degenerate and should have been invested in earlier. (sorry this is from memory, I think it was railways.)
Am I talking about the same approach (appealing to attitudes) that you were meaning, or have I erred in what you meant by your comment?
I’m certainly not talking about politics by focus grouping. I’m talking about understanding that people want a Labour Party which sticks to its guns and advocates for its values, principles and its constituents. Which is exactly what National does all day every day.
The one extra dimension that Labour has to get right, because of its inability to rely on the MSM, is deep community networks which can reach out to the 1.1M non voters out there. At the moment, Labour has sweet F.A. infrastructure which can reach out to those people.
I certainly agree re sticking to one’s guns being something that appeals to people.
I am unclear about this part:
‘and advocates for its values, principles and its constituents. Which is exactly what National does all day every day.
What is the ‘its’ referring to? The parties values?
I thought Labour advocated their policies and values very well this year.
There is a known phenomenon occurring in the Western world – the mix that makes up society has become far more complex than it once was. You talk about the left being ‘out of touch’ with ‘most Kiwis’ but I am unsure whether there is an homogenous group out there that all have similar values. It may be that Labour were trying to appeal to too many, & thereby ended up appealing to very few.
Also, have you considered that NZ might be becoming pretty rightwing, and that is why Labour are struggling? I would have thought the message was very very clear from Labour this time, and that was inclusiveness. It got rejected and ‘each to their own’ was favoured.
I believe the corporate owned media is a big issue in this shift of attitudes and agree the left need to counter this somehow. That may actually be the biggest issue the left faces.
I continue to view some of the issue for the left is that the leftwing approach is more thoughtful, and this makes it hard to present the approach in short sound-bites – I really think Cunliffe did pretty well with this aspect this year. I did spot times where verbosity was present where it didn’t need to be though too.
@ colonial viper
We haven’t been taught critical thinking at school that is the trouble.
We know things happen, but we don’t know why.
We were so impractical at government level that we allowed public television to fall from government hands into a private model. That had been our chance to display factual stuff to the whole country and partially plug the information gap. Now info is a flash of words on a screen the size of a matchbox or perhaps no words just music.
Sadly I think you are correct.
This is a completely unexpected consquence of past labour governments – and the party at large – making what appeared and probably were correct and moral decisions at the time. Whether the consequences should have been unexpected or not, we don’t know. There are not too many far-sighted and visionary people in politics with the ablilty to divine 5-10-15yrs ahead.
However the ability to ADAPT QUICKLY is so important. Values do not have to change, but being able to change the presentation of your values is vitally important to that floating voter who, perhaps cruelly, I call ‘irrational’
The Left are way way behind in considering this stuff because the activists and pollies on the Left are too socially and culturally disconnected from most Kiwis.
I’d say that it’s impossible for rational people to understand irrational people and that there’s no way to bridge the gap.
My Mum is turning 80 soon. Here is her anecdote from Saturday – Shopping at New World – the young woman on the checkout said she didn’t know who to vote for. My mum suggested she vote for the party who would raise the minimum wage……who is that she said?
No one knows what to do anymore.
It’s socially embarassing to admit supporting Labour in the provincial city I live in.
When Cunliffe shaved his beard I thought it was a bad sign.
Labour no longer fits culturally (or socially) in wider NZ society. I find that it is socially awkward to admit that you are a Labour Party supporter in most circles – neither Green leaning nor Blue leaning associates nor the largely apolitical ones (which together make up about 3/4 of NZ adults) know what the hell you or your party are doing.
lol…Labour needed a simple message to sell ..1.) 2) 3) 4) 5)… that showed it cared about wider NZ society
…..( not pages of detail on tax… and threats to up the age for workers super ….and put a capital gains tax on your retirement nest egg property and meager business profits )
How many votes did “Fully Costed Policies” give Labour? Or the Greens for that matter. Sweet fuck all. National didn’t cost two tenths of no policies, and waltzed by.
Nactional did dirty tricks and told outright lies (eg “better teaching”.. the opposite of what they are doing)….but they sold dreams …and they won
On the front page of the Christchurch Press the day before the Election was a shiney blue and white advertising sticker . It read:
5 REASONS TO PARTY VOTE NATIONAL
1 Stable Government
2 Strong Economy
3 150,000 New Jobs
4 Better healthcare & Teaching
5 No New Taxes
[Tick Box ] PARTY VOTE NATIONAL
FEAR and Nightmares was also SOLD to the voters : – Below this National Party advertisement – Half the front page of the Press was titled: ‘Terror plot: Beheading was planned’
and a threatening quarter page picture of an innocent sitting down in their socks and either a short skirt or long shorts and a t-shirt ….and confronted by an armed man in battle gear and a full balaclava head mask and goggles … presumably the innocent civilian who had his/her face blotted was waiting to be beheaded …(included in the graphic was a map of the Australian coast and Brisbane and Sydney)
( nice one Christchurch Press…and great Election timing whoever was responsible )
Key corrupter Ede’s resignation should be a major news story but is buried away by the editor as a small note at the bottom of page 5 in the Christchurch Press.
The fight continues.
.
Did anyone reference Fran O’Sullivan’s column yesterday because it is quite good:
“Where’s the plan?
This is the question for John Key who during the election debates repeatedly promised the country was “on the cusp of something special” – but couldn’t say what it was……
Where’s the thinking for instance that will get us on to a path where 4 per cent growth is the new normal?
….Air New Zealand’s Christopher Luxon makes the point that Auckland has a long-term plan but the Government doesn’t…. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11328976
Does AirNZ Christopher Luxon have a long term plan to provide affordable plane travel and air freight for the provinces? In Nelson we would like to know, and when it will be implemented? Otherwise he can go back to Unilever where he came from and we will get someone who can grow the internal NZ system profitably, with an eye to the future when fuel might be tight. Have new designs for planes giving more gliding impetus and less fuel come out yet Mr Luxon. Is that the government’s long term plan you are wishing for?
In many frames of reference the failings may be true,but the left came close.The greens were expecting a higher percentage of the vote but it never happened they had a extremely and unfairly viewed CGT policy they should have been left to sit with that policy solely while labour deleted theirs or placed it into there second term it may well have been the foundation from which the fruits of social change were going to spring from, the greens may well have asked for the inclusion of CGT if asked to form a government. Increases and more bad medicine in the short term was not required BY NATIONAL VOTERS a tax cut resonates mildly ,far easier to introduce a CGT into a booming market . The left, one wonders did they have a coordinated strategy or were they unfairly denied ,people were hurting but status quo seemed better sitting and hoping the arrow of time would lead upwards. Hindsight is a great thing and many things are entangled..DC will make a good pm just caught in the midst of timing, intentions are honorable .
“The truth about our ‘rockstar economy’
by Brian Easton
A softening of the housing market, falling dairy prices and potential weakening of the Chinese economy do not bode well for New Zealand…………”
Bodes badly over the next year or so. Brian also says,” There were knowing smiles among economists when earlier this year John Key set the election date a couple of months early. He told us it was because there were various international gatherings that the prime minister had to attend. But it also seemed possible that economy growth would be weakening at the end of 2014. The main forecasts – the ones reported – did not show it, but the downside of a weaker economy was more likely than the expansionary upside. Better, a political strategist would advise, to go early…..” http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/the-truth-about-our-rockstar-economy
Well. What will our clever PM do about all this?
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, especially when it comes to explaining market crashes. Six times in the past 50 years US equities dropped more than 30 per cent in 12 months. After most of them investors looked back at glaring warning signs and were baffled that they missed them. If the S&P 500 were to plunge from 2,000 to 1,400 in the next year, what screaming sell signals would future generations gaze at in the history books and wonder at our ability to ignore the obvious?
The entire global economy is about to crash again and this time NZ will be going with it into depression.
My jumbled thoughts:
It is time to dispense with the tiptoeing, pc, inoffensive, worried about what they will say, weak, mild mannered, appeasement based policies and posturing.
The only time Cunliffe got my attention was when he called out key using ACT as a means to introduce hardline right-wing policy, truth for once without sugar coating it.
It is time to face facts, there is a power elite working in the shadows infiltrating all parties and media, putting in place actors who will do their bidding.
It is not a struggle between the left and right, national vs labour, it is power vs the people,
If labour wants to get back to it’s roots and support the people they need to purge the party of those that serve the elite, then ensure the people that vote national are shown that national have been infiltrated by traitors who have betrayed their trust.
Support whistleblowers and investigations into corruption, get behind “MOT” and stand for something, you want the million missing votes, do the above and represent the people, drag across national voters that have been betrayed or misled, and work with other parties,
Don’t attack the National party, attack the traitors that have infiltrated both parties,
Selling out our sovereignty, our assets and burdening us with debt is treason,
Quick idea regarding CGT, with motor vehicles you’re not considered a trader until you sell more than 7 cars per year? do the same with CGT, set the tax not on a second property but the 3rd or 4th, that way you target the speculators without killing the dreams of the working class kiwi.
In a New York Times op-ed published September 18 titled “Errors and Emissions,” economist-columnist Paul Krugman took a swipe at my organization, Post Carbon Institute, lumping us together with the Koch brothers as purveyors of “climate despair.” No, the Koch brothers are not in despair about the climate; apparently our shared error is that we say fighting climate change and growing the economy are incompatible. And, according to Krugman, a new report from the New Climate Economy Project (NCEP) and a working paper from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) show that the falling cost of renewable energy means this is happily not the case.
But in our view Krugman himself is guilty of five critical errors, and three equally serious omissions. First the errors:
Angry Cunliffe is angry, I’m guessing its like being savaged by a neutered little puppy dog but maybe its just that he can’t face where the real anger should be directed towards
Now, the good news. Professor Steve Keen accurately predicted there would be a major financial crisis before the 2008 crash. He explains why the economic ‘recovery’ will be short-lived.
I personally think it is a mistake to personalise this. Things undoubtedly could have been done better but the verdict is in and the rest is up to the internal processes of the political parties making up the governing and opposition coalitions.
I’ve tried to read The Economist but the shear bloody stupidity and illogical assumptions prove that it’s as well connected to reality as National and other RWNJs and thus should be ignored.
A liberal magazine with a liberal ideology judging how a economy is run from a liberal perspective. How very original of you Gosman. Want to bring up something else which is of a same ideology to say how good it’s ideology is, verse another ideology.
Gosmans stupidest argument ever – I will wait for the tears to dry.
They’re just angry because the young women aren’t as desperate as they used to be, and don’t have to subject themselves to all sorts of garbage just to get food.
Oh joy shout the RW troles. The election is over playtime again. How we missed TS.
Back to wiping off the drivel and contentious nonsense that mists my computer screen.
I seem to be able to turn out sufficient drivel myself that I didn’t really notice a gap they would fill. However fair’s fair, it looks like another period of brick wall banging and fun for all for ….more years?
The forthcoming review of the RMA to increase ‘flexibilty’ is the tip of an iceberg that will see a wholesale assault on the environment in favour of economic goals. Part of the unstated agenda about to be rolled out. Expect to see a high-level resignation from the Department if Conservation in the near future.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 40
I am currently banned, so no-one may get to see this. I have done nine months so, on the off-chance that whoever moderates this thinks that that is long enough for my crimes, I thought I would try my luck.
Of course, the moderators’ tolerance for offering opportunities for redemption may be tested by what I have to say next. I am not completely hopeful, as there is a well-documented strong authoritarian streak in left wing circles.
You lefties are going to have to come to grips with being wrong about everything. Viz:
1. John Key is evil. He isn’t. And the more you go on about it, the more you allow yourselves to be painted as deranged.
2. The polls are wrong/rigged. They aren’t. The Labour Party is really that unpopular.
3. The media is biased. No it isn’t. And this talk I hear in some circles that the “problem” should be fixed by limiting the opportunities for those who do not endorse the “progressive” line should be limited is a bit creepy and, once again, makes those people look deranged.
4. Labour has to reject “neo-liberalism” in order to get elected. I am going to ignore for the moment that the way “neo-liberalism” is defined by people that use the term is “acceptance of basic reality”. Labour cannot become government by taking votes off the Greens and Mana. They have to take votes off National. Nor can they win by trying to appeal to people who can’t be arsed voting. Just about everyone who comments here is far left. If Labour does what they want, they will never be elected. Leave those 3,000 people to vote for John Minto and try to convince everyone else you are responsible enough to govern.
5. The constitutional arrangements for electing your leader are just super. No. They aren’t. It means your caucus is left trying to work for someone that, if they do not find repulsive, they think is a numpty.
6. David Cunliffe “won” the debates. No. He didn’t. What you all thought was a brilliant orator, 50% of New Zealanders thought was a smarmy self-important git, pretending he was something he wasn’t.
7. The pubic are wrong. They are never wrong. This is closely aligned to “people are waking up”. No. They aren’t. Key is more popular going into his third term than his second. At this rate, everyone will be voting for him in 2024.
I accept that Labour always starts behind the eight ball. This is because New Zealanders do not readily warm to left wing ideas. They vote Labour when National is in disarray and, generally, when they have no other real option. Clearly, that is not now.
In anticipation: you’re welcome.
Ps. Don’t listen to Bryan Gould.
[lprent: I think you were on the list that got removed from auto-spam on the 21st. You were in good company. Jenny and a few other people were there as well. The next lot is on the 26th. ]
Great-a party that gets 0.7% of the vote and one seat provides us with the new Associate Minister of Education. Watch for more charter schools and bulk funding and vouchers to rear their ugly head. Things that have nothing to do with educating children and everything to do with privatisation and “getting stuck in to those pesky teacher unions”.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 41.1
Yeah a party whose education policies I disagree with got elected. It’s not going to stop me fighting them every step of the way in defence of the children I teach.
Bollix, people knew that if National got in Charter schools would be coming and you know what? More people want National in then last time so I’m going to go ahead and say just do what your told, you work for the government you implement what your employer wants
I’m sorry but as a teacher when I see anything that has little or no educational value for the children I teach and in fact may be detrimental to their learning then I will argue against it and I believe in a democracy I have the right to do that.
That’s not actually democratic as was shown by the referendum for selling assets. 70% of the people didn’t want it but the <government went and sold them anyway against the peoples will.
In a democracy, the people’s will should rule and not the desires of elected servants.
Maybe not but National said prior to the election what they’d do and then did it and then got re-elected with 48% of the vote so I’m comfortable with it
You may not like the fact that National was returned to power or the fact that more people voted for National then they did in 2011 but that doesn’t change that they are facts
A party or two with not enough votes to have a seat in parliament is now part of government while other parties which got more votes didn’t even get in parliament.
Basically, what happened is that the RWNJs proved that our system isn’t democratic.
Essentially I’m commenting on the notion thats quite well-known that the left arn’t really keen on democracy especially when the results don’t go their way, a notion you and others like you are reinforcing
Democracy is for ancient Greeks for myself however I prefer STV as a voting option but if the threshold was lowered to 3% I wouldn’t be at all bothered
Have I missed it here tonight, but on Campbell Live they had finally received the OIAs that they been seeking for months which show that the Pike River Tunnel was safe to enter from nearly a year ago. At least 5 OIA had been refused. What! Lied to. OIAs witheld – again! Key and others lied to everyone re access.
Anyone concerned?
Pike River is an analogy for what has been, and not, happening in NZ. When we erect a memorial statue we should put on the plinth our sorrow at the failure of the NZ government to take responsible steps from whoa to go about everything.
We applaud death defying feats by amateurs. But when the police were afraid to go down the mine, the miners were prevented from doing anything to recover their people. They should have had the right to do a short reconnoitre when they considered it safe after the first explosion. They would have taken the risk to have satisfied themselves that they had done everything they could. They should have been able to inspect and make their own judgement as to feasibility. But suddenly safety was paramount, where it had not been for the trapped miners. That was too late in the piece and very hypocritical.
I am listening to one of these web lectures. The financial problems we see are all because of private debt, not government debt. In the USA two generations ago the level of private debt was 55% of GDP and now it is about 115%. In Europe I think Portugal the rate is over 255%. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvRcQ5Tm6Kw
The Next Economic Disaster – Why it’s coming and how to avoid it – Richard Vague
The real story behind the GFC is the multiplied leverage and debt in the shadow banking system*, and although I have not watched that video, I am pretty sure that that is not included in the numbers that you quoted.
*This is the vast financial system which is not regulated by banking laws and regulations (which the banks themselves helped build to get around banking laws and regulations).
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Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles and that ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
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Is the definition of stupidity David Shearer going on-air complaining about Labour’s lack of unity and then in the next sentence stabbing David Cunliffe in the back. All of the Labour MP’s currently going on-air to have a stab at David Cunliffe are clearly showing that they are the “insiders” who have been undermining Labour and are the main cause for the 24.7%.
There are other factors for the 24.7%, but when I have spoken to people they always talk about the infighting that goes on in labour as the main reason that they wouldn’t vote Labour. As soon as I heard Nash, Cosgrove and Shearer on air yesterday, I knew, as Winston would say: “Labour are gone”… idiots putting their own ambitions in front of the Party. For the sake of Labour shut the f%$# up.
Agreed. And the loudest should reflect on their own personal performance. If they want a review we should start with why their electorate campaign for the party vote was so bad. A comparison of results makes for fascinating reading …
Time for a new party folks ? this one was hijacked decades back and is no longer capable of representing middle/lower nz.
It’s not possible to purge the shearers, mallards etc so can anyone see it working with them ? Described as too comfortable and not to bothered about the strugglers was how one party figure depicted them to me, sounds about right.
Helen held it together but that was awhile ago now and its easier in power than in opposition. Jones being able to be bought off by the Nats pretty much summed it for me, zero loyalty, maximum troughing and nasty as into the bargain.
These are not the pollys you are looking for.
+100 tc
Re time for a new party, I wondered the same thing this morning. In fact, this year’s election result is not significantly different from Goff’s. Division is still the undermining factor. The Goff/Shearer team seems to have the blessing of the political/media elite, while Cunliffe largely retains the support of the unions and the membership.
Each morning I listen to Susie Ferguson carrying on about Cunliffe like a high school queen bee attacking some boy for wearing his slippers to the school ball.
Cunliffe can’t effectively stand up to this sort of thing, as Winston does, without his caucus firmly behind him. At the same time, the right-leaning ambitions of the opposing team draw scorn and contempt from the cheap seats, while their beloved tradies go over to Winston and the luvvies to the Greens. If things continue in this way, as they have since Clark left, it will ultimately mean the death of Labour.
Shearer is calling for an independent review. Here’s an independent review: constantly backstabbing the party leader to the media makes the populace not like your party.
+1
Pre-election DC often looked like someone who was preparing for the next beating. As bad as the MSM has been I don’t think they did that to him alone. Well done Labour caucus, leadership coup by PTSD.
I think Cunliffe did remarkably well under the circumstances, but that sense that something was wrong was palpable yet never explained. No wonder so many people don’t trust Labour.
I love your analogy of Susie Ferguson as the high school queen bee
if you close yr eyes when she speaks..
..she does sound a bit like a bee…
I had the same feeling. But it would fragment the left further. We need an integrating party, to get anywhere. Also Labour are not going to disappear…..but if they don’t get it together…..there will be no opposition.
The Greens will remain a strong opposition party. I expect Mana and IP (or similar) to regroup in the medium term too.
The labour MPs should learn to debate issues in private in their caucus and not air their differences/views in public or secretly through journalists/bloggers.
After this election, in my opinion, the only people in Labour that should have spoken in public are Cunliffe and Parker and may be Coatsworth. The rest them should have shown better restraint or at least shown unity and loyalty in their utterances.
Yep, been saying that for years. Labour is a centre-right party and probably closer to radical right compared to where we were in the 1970s and a right-wing party is bad for the country.
May I suggest Mana, Internet or Greens?
Is not The Greens or Internet/Mana good enough for you? Oh wait, I just mean The Greens.
This aging lefty agrees totally. The history of new parties isn’t that great so far, but these are certainly not the pollies I’m looking for.
shearer is either so thick he doesn’t realise what he is doing is why the vote went the way it did or like other abc members he just does not care.
This confirms the disunity theme Nats ran with as pretty accurate, nice work Dave.
and another 100% agreement about Shearer ( friend of National and Hooton)
…naked ambition…limited ability…ruthless to opposition ….didnt he get rid of Leanne Dalziel and Charles Chauvel while he was leader?
…both Dalziel and Chauvel were future potential leaders of the Labour Party
….really David Cunliffe did not stand a chance with Shearer behind his back ( imo Cunliffe should stay and fight it out if he has the support of the rank and file Labour Party members…change in the Labour Party has got to come from the bottom up)
…there were huge mistakes in Labour’s election strategy that can not be sheeted back to Cunliffe…but to the whole Party apparatus
+1 Chooky. Well said.
Great work in Ohariu Rosie. It’s a shame the Greens and Labour couldn’t work together there…
Agree ++
And Shearer never had a chance with Cunliffe behind his back.
Maybe the issue are actually bigger than these two men, and the next Labour leader needs to be a fresh face.
Labour got up to 34% (according to Phil Ure) when Cunliffe lurched to the left, and got 25% when they pulled back to the right.
Maybe theres a lesson there, but they also need to factor in that by abandoning the centre, they will be forever hoping that Winston will choose them for Government. Thats a risky strategy for any party to adhere to in my view.
chooky 100+
Editorial: Labour needs a new leader, nothing more
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11329493
Or, if Cunliffe is supported by the party as a whole then how about those disruptive caucus members do their job properly.
I hear your opinion, tangled up but disagree.
I thought Cunliffe did brilliant in the debates. He came across as caring, he made leaps and bounds in dispelling the media painted perception of him with actions and showing just how much he cared about NZ. Given proper media coverage he would have won. That’s the crux of the issue. the only way a Labour leader would get the thumbs up from the likes of O’Sullivan and Armstrong and everyone else in the media except Cambell is if he was a National MP leading Labour.
You know it, you know the press are against Labour, so who will they be even handed too, no one. That’s why you need a man like Cunliffe, he’ll get the bad press for awhile but has the oration skills and brain to dispel them and make the media look stupid. Just like he was doing in the debates.
I for one like Cunliffe a lot. I also liked Shearer, but did not like him when I saw how hopeless he was on media duties or in parliaments debates.
leave Cunliffe there just band behind him and unify and start dispelling the perceptions painted by bad media personalities.
The fight back starts by uniting and dispelling the Labour tainted image. only then will we get the common voter to consider the tick seriously. Until then they won’t even look at labour.
Whoops I edited in my opinion of the article at the last minute. I agree with you.
Agree with you Richard, but ideally Labour need to analyse the root cause of Labours’ weakness. Leadership is one of the factors, but there are many factors for Labour struggling including the following:
– Labour funding/campaign revenue
-implementing tough policies such as CGT, Irrigation tax, increasing age of super
-centralised campaign/marketing strategy
-constant infighting and leaks to the media (Lack of internal discipline)
-DC apologising to womens refuge
-Insider attacking Cunliffe for taking 3 days off in school holidays
-Labours marketing strategy versus Nationals marketing strategy
-Is the electorate ready for a change?
-Labour brand weakness
-Dotcom and the affect he had on Labours campaign
-Dirty Politics – did it help or hinder
-Could Labour have presented its suite of policies better?
The point I am trying to make is that Labour need to analyse the root cause of the problem, the infighting that is already happening is in my view the biggest reason Labours brand has gone down the toilet.
Useful agenda for a caucus meeting there
@ saarbo..
..and to say/ask themselves..
..’what were we saying when we ranked at the mid-thirties in the polls..?”
..if they don’t do that..and then act on/follow that signal..
..there is no hope for them
and a +1 to you too Richard
And that’s not going to happen – not while Labour still has the backstabbers in there. Best option is to dump Labour.
the right is making a power-move on labour…
..backed up by the usual-suspects..
..(the herald editorial being just one of them..written by roughan..?..d’yareckon…it reads like him..)
+++ And Labour are being played like little docile puppets! Dancing to their tune. Public display of power hungry, naked ambition, disloyalty and chaos.
Someone needs to reign them in.
NZ doesn’t need a particular party so just let them go their own way and take Labour to the grave with them. There are other, better parties.
+1
I used to keep bikes and cars for years, spending more and more on maintaining what had turned into heaps of shit. I belatedly learned that it’s better to get rid of the absolute rubbish and get something else to do the same job. For a long time I thought we had to keep Labour, but I’ve had enough. The Rogernomics cancer has been terminal.
20% vote from lunions is not what got Cunliffe the leadership, it’s mathematically impossible. The Herald is peddling the ABC lines again. Why don’t they jkust simplify their article to
“”wa. wa.wa. I want to be more like National. wa wa wa.” said David Shearer and his pals today
I saw that and my Tweets back were not that nice. Fucking hacks!
Totally agree Sarbo!! Shearer deserves a huge chunk of blame – he took the leadership with no experience and wasted so much time stumbling and bumbling around – If David Cunliffe had been elected leader straight after Goff, the election result might have looked very different – 11 months is not long enough for a leader to cement themselves into the job and for the public to know them – Helen Clark was leader for a much longer period before becoming Prime Minister and look how that turned out!! NO-ONE else in the party could have performed in those debates better than David Cunliffe – its a pity that certain MP’s only did enough to regain their own seats and didn’t bother campaigning for the party vote – self interest reigns supreme among many in the Caucus! As for Nash, he’s a bit cheeky saying he may go for the leadership when he’s only just got into Parliament – trading on the name of his adopted Grandfather a bit too much I think – and imagine the field day Cameron Slater would have with Nash’s private life!!!! Nash does not strike me as a measured type of man which could get him into all sorts of trouble. Robertson may debate well but he will never have appeal with the public, he’s gay and he just doesn’t look like a Prime Minister should – unfortunately people really ARE that shallow, so looks are important! If David Cunliffe doesn’t stay leader of the Party, then watch all the new members they have gained melt away like snow in spring!
Hami Shearlie +100
Hami Shearlie- agree!
“If David Cunliffe doesn’t stay leader of the Party, then watch all the new members they have gained melt away like snow in spring!”
I’m not a new member but I’ll be joining them if Cunliffe doesn’t stay as leader.
I see that as a major right-wing personality trait and a major failing. Don’t give a fuck what peoples grandfathers did, what are they doing?
They could always try to persuade DC to go with them.
We’re in real danger of doing for Labour what the Tea Party does for the Republican Party: selecting ideologically “pure” candidates that are either unappealing to the wider electorate or are abrasive to a significant portion of the caucus. I voted for Cunliffe. I like him and I like his principles, but I was also very impressed with Grant Robertson and would have been okay with “settling” for him (Jones was out of the question).
Someone is going to have to blink here. I know it feels really good to stick it to the right wing in caucus, but they’re not the enemy. National is. The perfect is the enemy of the good and you can little by being in opposition. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m tired of losing.
Well said
The problem is that the Rogernomes in caucus aren’t tired of losing. If they were, they’d shut their leaking mouths.
For better or worse the Labour caucus is now selected for the next three years. It is chock full of yesterday’s men and women.
The first thing the leader must do is unite this group behind him or herself and the common cause of displacing John Key in 2017.
For me that is the top of the job description for leader of the Labour party.
I am not sure who that person is. But I am fairly certain that person’s name does not begin with David.
Neither Shearer nor Cunliffe have the requisite support of the caucus to effectively carry out the job. Without that support they cannot do the job. Therefore neither should be leader.
“The first thing the leader must do is unite this group behind him or herself”
You seem to be discounting the possiblity that this might not be possible.
It isn’t possible. If it was it would have happened years ago.
“idiots putting their own ambitions in front of the Party”
Unfortunately DC appears to be more guilty of this than anyone.
Where to from here then? Major culling and new blood required. Mallard hanging on to Hutt South has put the regeneration back another two terms.
My problem with John Key’s Silver Fern is that it looks too much like the ISIS flag from a distance, exposing NZ troops in Syria to being targeted by allied air power.
@ raa..
..heh..!
Or whatever war zone Key will send nz troops to help out his good mates America.
.. which leads to the question – are there any All Black fans among ISIS ?
.. or Monty Python aficionados ?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11114677/Islamic-State-You-are-not-even-safe-in-your-bedrooms.html
Saarbo, well bloody said. Do they not engage brain before shooting themselves in ass. No one wanted goff he’d never get in, frankly he has a worse public image than Cunliffe. Shearers background gave him a good standing but he cannot talk. pointless, part of the job requirements are the ability to get ones point across. These two are causing too much infighting the president of Labour need to tell them to can it for awhile. If you have an issue with someone how about growing a pair and talking about it like an adult with the person concerned, or is it more of a case of them blinded by the hint they may be able to get the leadership baubbles back. it’s pathetic. frankly the country would laugh at labour if they threw the truck in reverse in a traffic jam.
Today I joined the labour party, yep on the cheap side at $10 PM but heck I’m on a low wage. I figure every dollar counts though, have to do something I figured I can’t sit here bleating on like a cry baby if I don’t get active. So I am a labour member, well until I get approved officially.
I consider myself pretty fair handed not a rabid commie or right wing neo liberal. I just go for common sense. Good policy is good policy no matter who comes up with it if it improves things. lets hope my 1% can help Labour if even a little.
and because three more years of this lots going to hurt us all big time the way the economy is tanking.
good on you Richard.
I am a Labour member and thinking of resigning, much because of what Lynn said in this article. You are encouraging me to stay.
Waikato University’s production line of mediocrity;
They’re right at home on Jim Mora’s light chat show
The Panel, Monday 22 September 2014
Jim Mora, Stephen Franks, Duncan Webb
Waikato University has long been the refuge of some of the most bizarre right wing nutjobs in the nation. If you care to visit the notorious “Political Science” [sic] department, you’ll meet the unbelievably nasty professors Dov Bing, an implacable Israeli hardliner who every few years emerges from academic obscurity to write a bloodthirsty Op-Ed piece in the Waikato Times, and Ron Smith, who on Jim Mora’s show once spoke, in a tone of high seriousness, of the “virtue” of New Zealand governments falling in line with U.S. foreign policy. Needless to say, Smith’s party politics are as deranged as his lectures; he ran for ACT in the Hamilton East electorate this year. Over in the English department, dear old Norman Simms occasionally contributes to the public discourse, backing up his friend Prof. Bing by frothing and snarling and tirelessly reiterating the line that critics of Israel are “anti-Semitic”. Up the hill, in Earth Sciences, you’ll meet the bewhiskered Professor Willem De Lange, a global warming denier who foolishly, in 2008, appeared on a risible Prime TV “debate” on the same side as NewstalkZB’s resident loon Leighton Smith; to compound the impression of haplessness, De Lange let Smith do nearly all the talking. But probably the most dismal of all the dismal departments at Waikato is the Management School, which achieved notoriety in 1998 by bestowing an Honorary Doctorate on the ridiculous advertising poseur Kevin Roberts.
Sadly, anyone who listened to Jim Mora’s light chat show The Panel today (Monday) will be all too aware that Waikato’s lamentable production line of mediocrity shows no sign of slowing down. Right now I am listening to one Jacqueline Rowarth, a Waikato University professor—allegedly—of Agricultural Science, asserting that there is no such thing as poverty in New Zealand. It is, apparently, all in the minds of the poor. Except that, according to Prof. Rowarth, the poor don’t exist. Those reports in the media of kids without shoes? Rubbish, according to Jacqueline Rowarth—all the alleged shoelessness is simply kids who just don’t want to wear shoes.
Stephen Franks—like Prof. Ron Smith, an ACT supporter—is warmly supportive of this carefully researched thesis, but Duncan Webb is less impressed. Webb has a go at arguing with Prof. Rowarth and Franks, but Jim Mora cuts him off because time is up.
Earlier in the programme, Franks launched into one of his typically bizarre rants, asserting that Frank Bainimarama is actually a democrat, and has been one all along. According to Franks, only the Great Council of Chiefs was ever opposed to the Fijian dictator. That’s not true of course: the staunchest opposition to the Bainimarama dictatorship has been by the trade unions in Fiji. This has evidently failed to register with Franks. To his credit, Duncan Webb contested what Franks said. Franks also engaged in a lengthy condemnation of the New Zealand government for its failure to support Bainimarama’s coup, which was apparently a coup for democracy. To support his case, he invoked another great hero of democracy, Henry Kissinger*, who claimed that morality had no place in foreign policy.
I flicked the glib, laughing host of this joke of a show the following supportive e-mail….
Morality has no place in foreign policy
Dear Jim,
We support Stephen Franks’s assertion that morality has no place in foreign policy.
Yours sincerely,
Adolf Hitler
Benito Mussolini
Emperor Hirohito
V.I. Lenin
Lev Trotsky
“Uncle Joe” Stalin
Pol Pot
General Franco
Henry Kissinger
* Yes, that was a joke.
@ morrissey..
..good spotting..!
i listened to that rowarth with jaw agape..
(and the disturbing thought that here was a future panel-candidate..she says all the ‘right’ things..)..her semi-orgasmic gasps of agreement as franks laid out his vile-prescriptons for the children of the poor…painted her in exactly the colour she should be..unadulterated far-right..
..and she is a professor..(!)..she gets to teach/preach this shit to gullible students..?..
..whoar..!..)
..and moras’ nodding-along to those (as always) putrid-excretions from the mind of franks was particularly puke-inducing..
..and of course..as noted..never challenged at all by mora..
Prof Rowarth also mixed up the average and median. She said poverty is supposed to be 80% of the median income – and then said that meant it was around $50k. No, it is actually around $20k – which she could probably not even imagine supporting a family on. And then she said that the lack of shoes is just a life style choice for kids!
On the Electoral Commission election results page they have a demographic breakdown of each electorate. For example in Palmerston North 55% live on less than $30k and only about 3% over $100, 000. So as a professor formerly at Massey she is up there with the tiny elite – no wonder she has no idea. Pity they give her airtime as an expert on anything but farming.
Full time work on Minimum wage equals around $29,600pa, are you saying more than half of peple in Palmerston North are on full time minimum wage, part time work or benefit? That is an apalling stat if true!
What was Iain Lees-Galloway’s plan for the region to increase employment opportunities during the election?
“she gets to teach/preach this shit to gullible students..?..”
And that is the problem, until the Friedman and the Chicago School religion is purged from all universities this Noe-Liberal failed crap will go on unabated.
+111
i have worked out what the real metaphor is in that eminem-rip-off rowing skiff ad…
..it actually represents how each party has got to grips with mmp..
..national has nailed it..
..and the progressives/labour/grns etc..
..haven’t got a fucken clue..
..they are the ones in the dinghy..
..all rowing in opposite directions..
..and against each other..
..and labour can angst and leader-fret all they like..
..but until lab/grns progressives learn not to cannabilse/fight each other to the death national will just continue skiffing past them..
..there have been two post-election statements/claims that have particularly ground my gears..
..one was the crocodile tears from cunnliffe on ‘the bad result for the left’..after his successful knee-capping of harawira/internet-mana..(for all the obvious reasons..)
..and the other was from metiria turei..
..with her (to me) smug-claim that the greens couldn’t have done any more to avert that crushing defeat for the left/progressives..
..a look at the result in ohariu-belmont puts the lie to that..
..and the greens have gifted dunne his 11th term in parliamant..(on a mandate for him/his party half the size of that of the aotearoa legalise cannabis party..(!)..)
..because dunne won with a majority of 900+…
..yet the green candidate in that seat..got 2,4000+ votes…
..so had the greens clearly asked their supporters to vote strategically in ohariu-belmont..
..dunne would have been out the door..
..and this disasterous (for the progressives) pattern is repeated up and down the country..
(auckland central…had the greens not competed for the electorate..labour would have won that seat..as just one other example of many..)
..and until labour and the greens work out enough how to not cannabilise each other..
(issuing clear/explaining reasons for.. how-to-vote cards to their supporters..would be one obvious solution..and of course agreeing not to stand competing-candidates in some strategic seats will have to be worked out…)
..until then..labour can shuffle leaders all they like..
..and turei can make that false claim again and again that ‘the greens could do nothing more’..
..but the progressives will just continue to get out-rowed by national/the right..
..this is the solution to the problems facing the left/progressives…
..not fretting over a new leader for labour..
..but sitting down together and actually working out/planning how to win an election..
..until they do that…nothing will change..
Labour and the greens lost the election… You can stop now, objective achieved.
yr own words paint you as the fucken unthinking-idiot you are..
..you..who was so eager to kill-off harawira/int-mana..
..you obviously have the political-nous/iq of..i dunno..
..a piece of old vinyl..?
(and no..i am not starting a conversation with you..)
You did a great job hacking lumps off red/green throughout the campaign, and now, in defeat, you have all the answers to all their woes. Sincere? A big belly laugh at that.
As for lack of nous, I disagree. I managed to suss you out soon enough.
Internet Mana killed themselves.
Hurry up with your grief cycle pal; denial is the graceless phase.
Once you’ve fininshed, after all that corrupted idiocy of Dotcom and Harre has been swept aside, we have a government t defeat.
yes..the int/mana defeat was in part suicide..
..but the other part was cunnliffe/labour seeming unable to comprehend the basics of mmp..
It wasn’t even assisted suicide. Mana was a bit careless on a windy road, but Labour/MP/WinstonFirst/NAct cut the brake lines.
No and labour/national/nzfirts and the maori party did not join together to kill it off.
See here is the problem, and the denial going on – Labour got into bed with national to kill off mana.
Let me repeat that so you understand. Labour got into bed with national to kill mana off.
And you’re going to sit there with a straight face and tell me mana killed itself. Wow another out of touch labour supporter. This is why the working people in this country hate you and why they won’t vote.
Mana did kill itself. Their delusional idiotic behaviour left other parties no choice, but to either sit uncomfortably on the sidelines, or at the close to distance themselves, otherwise the public would make their own decision. Davis had to fight for his life. Labour didn’t owe Mana anything, but it did owe the electorate clarity in saying they would not deal with IMP. Hone is a victim of his own stupidity, and thank heavens we don’t have to listen to that tosser Laila Harre anymore. If hone had stayed away from Dotcom he would still be an MP.
So it’s ok for labour to work with national now Once was Pete? What idiotic behaviour? Your right labour owes nobody nothing, because they are dead. It’s going to hurt, it’s going to take some time, but the beast is dead.
All I see is a party of egoists, slashing and burning all who oppose them. Oh wait they already sold out working people. They just followed that up and destroying any voice working stiffs had, by joining with the enemy. Well done labour, what a wonderful strategy.
“..Hurry up with your grief cycle pal..”
fuck off with yr ‘grief cycle’..faux-analysis/pop-psychology….
..i have a 16 yr old dog who is dying..
..as far as ‘grief’ goes..
..the election result is nothing beside that..
You have lost any remaining credibility and should close your computer permanently.
Be useful and hang out with your dog.
That is just plain nasty.
So sorry to hear about your dog Phil. My thoughts are with you.
thanks..
David Shearer is calling for a forensic analysis of the election result. I agree. For a start we could do a seat by seat analysis of what happened to the party vote. Here are the worst performing seats and the figure represents the drop in percentage points of party vote:
Mt Roskill -8.21%
Hutt South -7.86%
Mt Albert -7.12%
Here is New Lynn’s result:
New Lynn -1.52%
Of course there will be a multitude of causes and reasons and boundary changes were reasonably significant for each of these seats. But let’s have the debate. The party should have had it in 2011.
@ m.s..
..as i noted above..
..what you/labour need to do..
..is to examine the labour/grn results in each seat..
..and then do a ‘what if?’-exercise…
..and if you do that..the reasons for yr defeat will become clear..
..and how to turn that around into victory..will become obvious..
..and this needs to be started to be worked on as soon as possible..
..so that you will walk into the next election with a clearly heralded/worked-out plan…
..if you don’t do this..
..labour/the grns will just continue with this disasterous pattern of cannibal-behaviour/election-defeat..
Until Nationals vote disintegrates there’s not a lot the left can do.
Thinking about it, for MMP to really be effective the National vote needs to be around 30-35% and has to work and compromise with other parties instead of the other parties just making up the numbers to govern.
In that sort of scenario the possibility of National and labour working together would be quite high.
Currently with John Key at the helm the chances of nationals vote collapsing or a left leaning government gaining power are practically nil.
@ bm..
..that’s a matter of policy..
..the other fact for labour to remember..is that they peaked in the polls when cunnliffe was most ‘left’..35%-37%..
..do the math..!
..labour 35%..grns 10%..+ nz firs = change of govt..
..when cunnliffe didn’t deliver on those transformational-policies/promises..is when the labour vote started its’ slow collapse…
..so..had lab/grns not cannabilised each other..
..and had cunnliffe delivered on those poverty-busting promises..
..the election result wd have been very different..
“..when cunnliffe didn’t deliver on those transformational-policies/promises..is when the labour vote started its’ slow collapse…”
What ‘left’ promises didn’t DC follow through with that collapsed the vote?
“had lab/grns not cannabilised each other.”
I’m missing your text that slams mana voters in Rotorua for not electorate voting Labour to keep Flavell and another out of parliament. Do you have a link?
National have 1 trump up their sleeve to protect from their voter base collapsing, when Peters retires who do you think will pick up the majority of NZ1’s support? Do you think it will be a party that promotes increasing the retirement age, The Greens or any other party that lies on the left of the political spectrum ?
I reckon once Winston goes, Ron Marks will take over and align the party with National.
But yes I see what you’re saying, the conservatives will pick up most of NZ First vote
You may even find the Conservatives amalgamating with NZ First, they are chasing the same voter demographic.
Nice stats there Micky. Goff, Shearer, Mallard should take a look at themselves. Though I would point out that Goff nearly won in 2011.
Cunliffe should stay as leader and should sack/ease out Cosgrove and anyone else who refused to push Labour in their electorate campaigns. He needs to be seen to take control and any bloodletting should be now and then get unified for the following 2 years.
And please can we have party vote labour written as PARTY VOTE LABOUR on the hoardings next time.
Much though I like Hone and Laila it will complicate things less for Labour next time now Mana has gone. Maybe Laila should replace Cosgrove?
Yep – Whatever genius came up with Vote Positive as opposed to Vote Labour should give himself an uppercut.
To have a fair comparison leaders of a party attract a greater % of support in their electorate than “just anybody” so to compare DC’s loss of party vote when he was just anyone to now being “The One” is a bit IMO playing with numbers, unless you compare his vote with other 1st time leaders in an losing campaign. Say bill English in 2002 as comparing like with like ?
Now who are the Labour MPs for Mt Roskill, Hutt South, and Mt Albert again?
I forget.
Were a couple of them on radio this morning?
Help me out here.
Dunedin South, that Former Red Stronghold which lost the party vote to National by a few hundred votes in 2011, lost it again this time around by 2,300 votes.
And Labour came third in the party vote in Wellington Central – Robertson’s seat if I recall rightly!
Definitely time for a forensic analysis.
Unfortunately Labour (mainly) & Green politicians ego’s got in the way of common sense. I put out a strategy to these idiots but their over inflated ego’s got the better of them. Met & spoke with Cunliffe’s PR men and realised they were amateurs pretty quickly, this was a big disappointment. Rolled out our strategy locally to great effect which was very successful, backed up back by the National snake oil team congratulated us on an effective play.
You can get results by booth and then add/subtract the ones inside/outside the 2011 boundaries and get a pretty accurate measure of the changes.
Nobody on the left has yet said who the mysterious person is who would do a better job of leading Labour than Cunnliffe.
Is that being saved up to be part of the “forensic analysis” too?
I would say that one of the reasons is that the anxious classes are now moving outwards from city centres, ( having captured them in the last few decades, particularly in Auckland) because they can’t afford the prices. These suburbs are becoming gentrified.
How did you calculate that without the Special votes?
New Lynn 2011 Labour party vote = 12,462
New Lynn 2014 Labour party vote = 10,160
That’s a drop of 2,302 or 18.5%. There was however 15% less total votes cast (33,980 to 28,897), which brings it into perspective.
The figure measures the change in the proportion of the party vote.
Don’t forget the electorate boundary changes that were brought in covering West Auckland. Kelston went up by 100% party vote – for all parties.
It seems to me that the right and the corporate is in the ascendency well and truly.
Like it is in the US and most western nations. There is nothing to halt it – the poor / left don’t vote and the right wing vested interests are simply too powerful.
We have just witnessed it here.
+100% vto, sadly.
Obviously we’re past the denial stage and onto the anger stage.
The Labour Party needs to at least change its name. Labouring labour labouring under the weight of labour – its all too downwards.
“Labour Unchained”?
“Labour Unplugged”?
“Neonatal Labour”?
“Postnatal Labour”?
“Hard Labour”?
“Post Labour”?
“Proto Labour”?
“The Socialist Party?”
“Hot Girls and Free Beer”?
“Free Democratic New People’s United Revival”?
“The Robertson and Ardern Society of Friends”?
Plus a new flag.
First to the best appropriate anthem wins.
lolz.
ABC.
xox
Cheers Morrissey
It’s a comedy show, and not a very good one. I’ve tried to tell Mora to get better writers…
Labour supporters, we are in for an almighty fight.
If caucus make this fight about the leadership alone, the left are in trouble long term.
This has to be about the performance and future direction of the Labour Party as a whole.
This will be one hell of a lead up to Christmas. Keep up the fight for the good.
+1
The caucus is the problem not the solution. That some in there don’t see that IS THE PROBLEM.
Boo Fucking Hoo they had to work for someone they dont like, well suck it up princesses, we all have had to work for bosses we didnt like, we either leave or we contribute tot he common goal. At least that is how fgrown ups do it.
The soultion for the ABC’s is right in front of their eyes
United Future
New Zealand First
ACT
National
Go join them and I never thought I would say this but I wonder who Cosgrove and others gave their party votes to?
It seems to me that all the fuckwits that voted for Key now think that by merely voting for Key they have disproved Hagar and Greenwald and Snowden. It is proof of their fuckwittery … if we all say “nyah nyah nyah” at once then we must be right …
Yup, they made the nasty monster go away… by closing their eyes.
Yeah, Richard Prebble tried that one in his “Letter”.
http://www.act.org.nz/posts/the-letter-22-september-2014
Yep, been getting that delusion thrown at me on Twitter.
It astounds me (not) that Fed Farmers are still in denial about the environment and its place in the world…
William Rolleston this morning claiming that the looming reforms of the RMA are a good thing …. all these reforms will do is allow more pieces of the environment to be taken from the environment and placed onto people’s dinner plates, thereby simply diminishing the environment ….. the dinner plate that is already loaded with roast lamb and gravy, mash potato and rosemary, peas beans piled high, all washed down with a very good sauvignon ….
brainless and greedy
I see the future and it is barren – like the Canterbury Plains are now
subsidized by those that only eat grits.
the farmers don’t care as essentially they don’t sell to NZ. They sell overseas…so why not pollute here? As long as they have theirs who gives a fuck about those that have nothing?
again, if people complain, tell them to write a letter to the editor and contact their National Party goons.
+11111
Eventually – hopefully not too late – global customers will tell NZ farmers that they will farm to acceptable practices of animal ethics, traceability, purity, and sustainability.
Eventually – hopefully not too late – Fonterra will realise that deliberately making itself vulnerable to the bulk commodity cycle with low added value will kill the business and the New Zealand economy with it. How’s that bet on bulk commodities going now Mr Spiering?
Mr Spiering and Mr Rolleston should have a bit of a sit down.
I think part of the problem with their thinking is that they keep telling themselves that they are the best farmers in the world …. sheesh, really? I don’t believe that for one millisecond….
for a start, what makes the best farmers in the world? This lot have been going for around 140 years or so and look at what they’ve done to the land. I understand the Dutch punch out around 5 times the productivity from a smaller area and don’t use nitrates – maybe they are the best. There are farmers all across the globe who have been at it for centuries – maybe they are better, at least they are proven.
Really. What defines the “best farmers in the world”
They need to stop believing their own bullshit as it is their/our downfall.
We must beware of William Rolleston. He is Monsanto’s chief weapon in NZ for introducing GMOs.
Without doubt, he is to Monsanto what Ede was to Key.
And if TPPA is signed, we will be gone the way of every other country and end up flooding our precious food crops with glyphosate and now, 2,4 D — yes, the main ingredient of Agent Orange is now approved in USA for use on crops as glyphosate has failed, rendering millions of acres of farmland completely unuseable and abandoned forever to superweeds up to 8 ft tall. ( Can only imagine the future spread of those seeds by wind and what little bird life remains.)
Do we want this in Aotearoa ? Last chance now to fight it off and prevent the TPPA.
And in terms of improving product and adding value, the cheapest marketing ploy ever is to remain firmly against GMOs and label all our product as such. It actually matters to millions of consumers. And wow, it actually increases prices overseas!
But Wily Willy Rolleston will ensure this truth is never told. This scares me.
Truth is the enemy of the psychopaths.
@ vto..
..+ 1..
Good question. I think we should define it:
1. Doesn’t pollute the water ways
2. Uses sustainable practices
3. Doesn’t use up finite resources
4. Ensures that their local community is fed first and foremost
5. Doesn’t use GMOs
Add more.
They are not the only ones who are subsidised.
Working For Families (WFF), although laudable, is also a means of subsidising small to medium businesses (SMEs) in terms of their wage bill. The businesses do not pay a fair price for labour (clearly, as the households getting minimum wage are eligible for WFF). I think if small businesses cannot get a business model in which their costs are structured properly, and covered by earnings, then they should not be in business.
The government through WFF is subsidising bad business (if the business truly cannot pay workers), or else subsidising the profits that these business owners make.
This is another reason for middle NZ to move to/stay with/ or move toward National. Increasing minimum wages to a level that would affect them (despite their being effectively subsidised through WFF) was unpalatable for many SMEs.
by the way, I am not against WFF by any means….but I think we need better analysis of the distributional aspects of it – who actually benefits from it besides the deserving working families?
john oliver has reported on the new zild election..
..it’s very funny..
http://whoar.co.nz/2014/us-show-mocks-nz-over-accent-and-nationals-eminem-stoush/
I love John Oliver – that was good.
@Morrissey thanks for the analysis. Mora’s Panel is puke and sounds like Waikato University faculty is too.
On another note, someone threw a brick through a window at Nationals Michael Woods office last night.
The ODT labelled it “dirty politics”. Another source of information misses the point/looks dumb/follows the meme.
Dirty politics was about abuse of power.
By defination the powerless cannot indulge in it.
Dirty politics was about abuse of power.
By defination the powerless cannot indulge in it.
Thank you for saying it. It’s been enraging me for weeks – the accusation and the ignorance. And it really pissed me off that none of our “representatives” saw fit to point it out when it most needed to be said.
remember – it is not acceptable to point out the actual nature of the establishment structures of power (of which they are an intrinsic part of); but it is acceptable to criticise some of the worst, most egregious, intolerable aspects of it.
I think the lesson learned for the left this election is Labour are not to be trusted. No matter what rhetoric come out of their collective mouths – they are a bunch of self serving , backstabbing, idiots. When labour opened the door to neo-liberalism, and exposed capitalism in all it’s fury to working people, was the day they died.
We just didn’t get what a bunch of self absorbed egomaniacs were left in the party. We just didn’t get how gutless they were or how much they could justify to themselves doing bad things to people. We just didn’t get how big their ego’s really were.
Once Nash and Co had wrapped the party away from its socialist roots, the next generation would walk it down to the end of the garden and shot it in the back of the head. This is the husk sitting around a table, who are no more than a bunch of sniveling servants of the 1%.
The elites must roar with laughter each time one of the labour apostles try to move this once great party back to socialism. They have their pet commentators, hacks, and stoge munchers all set to destroy any chance of that.
But, please keep talking reform, keep dreaming of a left victory, keep repeating the same mistakes. Who cares, it’s only people’s lives and well being were talking about. Nothing important like who should lead the labour party.
Weekend at Bernie’s.
The labour party, there c.v?
Hey LPrent,
Can I request that you ask Giovani Tiso to post his latest blog on the Standard?
I’m not sure about the Standard rules in regard to this kind of request.
Meantime, here’s the link. It’s well-worth reading imo:
http://bat-bean-beam.blogspot.co.nz/2014/09/the-rebuild.html
Yes, I support that notion. It’s an excellent post.
Buried in it is a link to a stunning and sober situation appraisal from the editor of the International Socialist Organisation of Aotearoa, bringing some clear analysis couched in the language of class struggle. It’s a delight to read. The link is
http://iso.org.nz/2014/09/22/lessons-to-learn-from-bitter-defeat/
The election was rigged hands down, a stolen election by Key, GCSB and America. Key is not the prime minister and we need to march in the streets and take our country back!!
Suggest you go and read the latest post at No right Turn. What a stupid, stupid comment.
Throughout the campaign I hoped that National’s meme that the ” Labour Party was not fit to govern because it has become too factionalised and lacked unity” was just a media beat up but sadly it sounds as if they were on the button.
If I had just arrived in New Zealand from a couple of months on a desert island and read/listened to the news, I would have wondered why the Labour party bothered to waste the voters’ time entering the race.
I have to say that this is probably not the time or place to criticise a party that is hurt and bleeding – I wish them well in their deliberations. I would suggest that they seek council from the likes of Bryan Gould on how they manage this, because clearly, whoever is running the back office needs to be strong, measured and wise.
For starters though, Shearer, Goff, and the Whale-oil-confidant-Mallard need to take some deep breaths.
Email to Morning Report: Last para read out:
“NZ is a poorly unionised and low wage economy with a growing gap between top and bottom earners. Many low paid workers do not even earn subsistence level wages. The state, in effect, subsidises employers through benefits. The balance of power in NZ lies with the employer and this government will further entrench that position over the next term.
60% of those who voted, chose right wing parties; National was very successful in claiming the media’s hallowed centre ground.
But all parties failed to bridge the gap to the 1 in 3 Kiwis who did not vote.
Labour’s failure was NOT that it didn’t win the comfortable centre but that it continued to fail to connect with the 1 in 3 Kiwis who see no point in voting. Moves back to the centre to slug it out with National will leave those people disconnected and, as the social divide widens, vulnerable to extremist politics.”
Well said Whero, that is absolutely one of the crucial missing foundation stones of our society. How can we have a robust and healthy society when the base layer is shot to shit?
I call again for a general strike by all those on less than the living wage … lets see who actually provides the most value to our lives ….
We could have this strike one week and then a strike by the 1% a week later, and run a comparison ….
Nat. Michael Woodhouse had a brick through his office window post election.
His office is deliciously located in a building called “Upstart House”….
“In the Invercargill incident, two Molotov cocktails, containing what appeared to be kerosene, were found burning in Dee St near the National Party office about 1am on Sunday, Sergeant Ian Martin, of Invercargill, said. ”
Yikes !
“In the Invercargill incident, two Molotov cocktails, containing what appeared to be kerosene, were found burning in Dee St near the National Party office about 1am on Sunday, Sergeant Ian Martin, of Invercargill, said. ”
Crikey !
Something wrong with this picture ?
Key has always repeated that Ede no longer worked for him, but worked only for the National Party and not in Parliament.
But Key says this to TVNZ yesterday – so why on earth did Ede need to resign with Key’s Chief of Staff ??
“John Key says Mr Ede advised his chief of staff on Friday that he wouldn’t be coming back to work in Parliament or for the National Party.”
and also this explanation:
“Mr Key said it wasn’t unusual that Mr Ede’s resignation on Friday was effective immediately because staffs’ contracts end over the election and decisions have to be made about whether or not they will return once campaigns have ended and before the new Parliament resumes.”
Clearly another lie for Blip’s list.
By Key’s own words, Ede has been employed by Key ( and his office) this whole time. Lying bastard of a leader we have.
http://tvnz.co.nz/vote-2014-news/john-key-i-didn-t-force-dirty-politics-staffer-6088654
…yet another one to add to Blip’s comprehensive list of “John Key’s being-economical-with-the-truth moments”.
Labour’s candidate vote was higher than the party vote in most electorates.
If everyone of these voters also gave labour the party vote, what would have been the electoral outcome?
Also: come back Blip, we will need you.
I suggest that the Green Party vote would have dropped – many would have voted electorate Labour/ party Green. No overall change in the Left block total percentages.
Mt Albert: candidate vote was 8,913 higher than Labour party vote
Wellington Central: candidate vote was 8,751 higher than Labour party vote
Rimutaka: candidate vote was 6,702 higher than Labour party vote
Mt Roskill: candidate vote was 6,082 higher than Labour party vote
Hutt South: candidate vote was 5,486 higher than Labour party vote
Dunedin South: candidate vote was 5,404 higher than Labour party vote
Total differential of 41,338
That’s at least 2 more MPs and more than 1/3 of the way to a Labour victory sitting in 6 electorates right there.
Thank you for doing the sums.
And nationwide…..therein lies the problem.
These voters like the candidate, who are the face of the party and represent to the electorate the party values and policy.
But they reject the party itself, which agrees on those values and policies.
I know many posters here have laid out their ideas and theories but it still looks like irrational voting behaviour to me, and the reasons for that will be multi-faceted.
I know, I’m a simpleton. I vote on policy, and the party with the best policies for the future gets my vote and always will. If I don’t like the candidate for that particular party I won’t vote for him/her. There are always other electorate voting options.
This is the KEY
The intellectual academic pol-sci Left cannot get that a plurality of people are not
rational actors’.
A low information public will make their decisions based on emotion, tribal affiliation, brand image, cultural values and other ‘irrational’ factors.
The Left are way way behind in considering this stuff because the activists and pollies on the Left are too socially and culturally disconnected from most Kiwis.
Some parties simply aim to appeal to attitudes that are out there in the public (appeal to public opinion)
others attempt to shift public opinion.
There are pitfalls to simply appealing to popular attitudes – a perfect example is in one of Adam Curtis’s documentaries (I think it was Century of the Self), where the British Labour Party started basing their policies on focus groups and ringing people through out the country.
What ended up happening is the very policies that were formulated on the most popular opinion ended up being contradicted by popular opinion gleaned a few years later. From memory, the example was that people didn’t think [something like] the national railways should be invested in, and then years later the public opinion was that the railway should not have been allowed to degenerate and should have been invested in earlier. (sorry this is from memory, I think it was railways.)
Am I talking about the same approach (appealing to attitudes) that you were meaning, or have I erred in what you meant by your comment?
I’m certainly not talking about politics by focus grouping. I’m talking about understanding that people want a Labour Party which sticks to its guns and advocates for its values, principles and its constituents. Which is exactly what National does all day every day.
The one extra dimension that Labour has to get right, because of its inability to rely on the MSM, is deep community networks which can reach out to the 1.1M non voters out there. At the moment, Labour has sweet F.A. infrastructure which can reach out to those people.
I certainly agree re sticking to one’s guns being something that appeals to people.
I am unclear about this part:
‘and advocates for its values, principles and its constituents. Which is exactly what National does all day every day.
What is the ‘its’ referring to? The parties values?
I thought Labour advocated their policies and values very well this year.
There is a known phenomenon occurring in the Western world – the mix that makes up society has become far more complex than it once was. You talk about the left being ‘out of touch’ with ‘most Kiwis’ but I am unsure whether there is an homogenous group out there that all have similar values. It may be that Labour were trying to appeal to too many, & thereby ended up appealing to very few.
Also, have you considered that NZ might be becoming pretty rightwing, and that is why Labour are struggling? I would have thought the message was very very clear from Labour this time, and that was inclusiveness. It got rejected and ‘each to their own’ was favoured.
I believe the corporate owned media is a big issue in this shift of attitudes and agree the left need to counter this somehow. That may actually be the biggest issue the left faces.
I continue to view some of the issue for the left is that the leftwing approach is more thoughtful, and this makes it hard to present the approach in short sound-bites – I really think Cunliffe did pretty well with this aspect this year. I did spot times where verbosity was present where it didn’t need to be though too.
+++
@ colonial viper
We haven’t been taught critical thinking at school that is the trouble.
We know things happen, but we don’t know why.
We were so impractical at government level that we allowed public television to fall from government hands into a private model. That had been our chance to display factual stuff to the whole country and partially plug the information gap. Now info is a flash of words on a screen the size of a matchbox or perhaps no words just music.
Successive Labour governments have conditioned the ground against future Labour governments. Sounds absurd, but it is utterly true.
Sadly I think you are correct.
This is a completely unexpected consquence of past labour governments – and the party at large – making what appeared and probably were correct and moral decisions at the time. Whether the consequences should have been unexpected or not, we don’t know. There are not too many far-sighted and visionary people in politics with the ablilty to divine 5-10-15yrs ahead.
However the ability to ADAPT QUICKLY is so important. Values do not have to change, but being able to change the presentation of your values is vitally important to that floating voter who, perhaps cruelly, I call ‘irrational’
I’d say that it’s impossible for rational people to understand irrational people and that there’s no way to bridge the gap.
Some random thoughts…
My Mum is turning 80 soon. Here is her anecdote from Saturday – Shopping at New World – the young woman on the checkout said she didn’t know who to vote for. My mum suggested she vote for the party who would raise the minimum wage……who is that she said?
No one knows what to do anymore.
It’s socially embarassing to admit supporting Labour in the provincial city I live in.
When Cunliffe shaved his beard I thought it was a bad sign.
Labour no longer fits culturally (or socially) in wider NZ society. I find that it is socially awkward to admit that you are a Labour Party supporter in most circles – neither Green leaning nor Blue leaning associates nor the largely apolitical ones (which together make up about 3/4 of NZ adults) know what the hell you or your party are doing.
lol…Labour needed a simple message to sell ..1.) 2) 3) 4) 5)… that showed it cared about wider NZ society
…..( not pages of detail on tax… and threats to up the age for workers super ….and put a capital gains tax on your retirement nest egg property and meager business profits )
How many votes did “Fully Costed Policies” give Labour? Or the Greens for that matter. Sweet fuck all. National didn’t cost two tenths of no policies, and waltzed by.
+100 …agreed !….National sold DREAMS
Nactional did dirty tricks and told outright lies (eg “better teaching”.. the opposite of what they are doing)….but they sold dreams …and they won
On the front page of the Christchurch Press the day before the Election was a shiney blue and white advertising sticker . It read:
5 REASONS TO PARTY VOTE NATIONAL
1 Stable Government
2 Strong Economy
3 150,000 New Jobs
4 Better healthcare & Teaching
5 No New Taxes
[Tick Box ] PARTY VOTE NATIONAL
FEAR and Nightmares was also SOLD to the voters : – Below this National Party advertisement – Half the front page of the Press was titled: ‘Terror plot: Beheading was planned’
and a threatening quarter page picture of an innocent sitting down in their socks and either a short skirt or long shorts and a t-shirt ….and confronted by an armed man in battle gear and a full balaclava head mask and goggles … presumably the innocent civilian who had his/her face blotted was waiting to be beheaded …(included in the graphic was a map of the Australian coast and Brisbane and Sydney)
( nice one Christchurch Press…and great Election timing whoever was responsible )
@ syd..
..”..When Cunliffe shaved his beard I thought it was a bad sign…”
aye..!..it’s way past time we were led again by a man with a full-beard..
..it’s been far too long..
Key corrupter Ede’s resignation should be a major news story but is buried away by the editor as a small note at the bottom of page 5 in the Christchurch Press.
The fight continues.
.
100% Rodel .. see my post #21 for the big lie about it ..
Did anyone reference Fran O’Sullivan’s column yesterday because it is quite good:
“Where’s the plan?
This is the question for John Key who during the election debates repeatedly promised the country was “on the cusp of something special” – but couldn’t say what it was……
Where’s the thinking for instance that will get us on to a path where 4 per cent growth is the new normal?
….Air New Zealand’s Christopher Luxon makes the point that Auckland has a long-term plan but the Government doesn’t….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11328976
Of course this government has a plan. The fact that we don’t know about it is both unsurprising, and worrying.
@ ian mac..
..key just has to find that ‘cusp’..
..so he can show it to us…
maybe another big earthquake somewhere can fix it for them ? sigh …
where would Key would have been without the last one to pad his books ??
Does AirNZ Christopher Luxon have a long term plan to provide affordable plane travel and air freight for the provinces? In Nelson we would like to know, and when it will be implemented? Otherwise he can go back to Unilever where he came from and we will get someone who can grow the internal NZ system profitably, with an eye to the future when fuel might be tight. Have new designs for planes giving more gliding impetus and less fuel come out yet Mr Luxon. Is that the government’s long term plan you are wishing for?
In many frames of reference the failings may be true,but the left came close.The greens were expecting a higher percentage of the vote but it never happened they had a extremely and unfairly viewed CGT policy they should have been left to sit with that policy solely while labour deleted theirs or placed it into there second term it may well have been the foundation from which the fruits of social change were going to spring from, the greens may well have asked for the inclusion of CGT if asked to form a government. Increases and more bad medicine in the short term was not required BY NATIONAL VOTERS a tax cut resonates mildly ,far easier to introduce a CGT into a booming market . The left, one wonders did they have a coordinated strategy or were they unfairly denied ,people were hurting but status quo seemed better sitting and hoping the arrow of time would lead upwards. Hindsight is a great thing and many things are entangled..DC will make a good pm just caught in the midst of timing, intentions are honorable .
“The truth about our ‘rockstar economy’
by Brian Easton
A softening of the housing market, falling dairy prices and potential weakening of the Chinese economy do not bode well for New Zealand…………”
Bodes badly over the next year or so. Brian also says,” There were knowing smiles among economists when earlier this year John Key set the election date a couple of months early. He told us it was because there were various international gatherings that the prime minister had to attend. But it also seemed possible that economy growth would be weakening at the end of 2014. The main forecasts – the ones reported – did not show it, but the downside of a weaker economy was more likely than the expansionary upside. Better, a political strategist would advise, to go early…..”
http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/the-truth-about-our-rockstar-economy
Well. What will our clever PM do about all this?
He doesn’t give a fuck. The rich won’t suffer, only the poor.
Oh, and try this:
The entire global economy is about to crash again and this time NZ will be going with it into depression.
I agree with 90% of the above posts.
My jumbled thoughts:
It is time to dispense with the tiptoeing, pc, inoffensive, worried about what they will say, weak, mild mannered, appeasement based policies and posturing.
The only time Cunliffe got my attention was when he called out key using ACT as a means to introduce hardline right-wing policy, truth for once without sugar coating it.
It is time to face facts, there is a power elite working in the shadows infiltrating all parties and media, putting in place actors who will do their bidding.
It is not a struggle between the left and right, national vs labour, it is power vs the people,
If labour wants to get back to it’s roots and support the people they need to purge the party of those that serve the elite, then ensure the people that vote national are shown that national have been infiltrated by traitors who have betrayed their trust.
Support whistleblowers and investigations into corruption, get behind “MOT” and stand for something, you want the million missing votes, do the above and represent the people, drag across national voters that have been betrayed or misled, and work with other parties,
Don’t attack the National party, attack the traitors that have infiltrated both parties,
Selling out our sovereignty, our assets and burdening us with debt is treason,
+100…well said!
+1111
Quick idea regarding CGT, with motor vehicles you’re not considered a trader until you sell more than 7 cars per year? do the same with CGT, set the tax not on a second property but the 3rd or 4th, that way you target the speculators without killing the dreams of the working class kiwi.
Yep, tax and regulate the crap out of the extreme end of the behaviour you want to desist.
Paul Krugman’s Errors and Omissions
Posted Sep 21, 2014 by Richard Heinberg
http://www.postcarbon.org/blog-post/2362632-paul-krugman-s-errors-and-omissions
In a New York Times op-ed published September 18 titled “Errors and Emissions,” economist-columnist Paul Krugman took a swipe at my organization, Post Carbon Institute, lumping us together with the Koch brothers as purveyors of “climate despair.” No, the Koch brothers are not in despair about the climate; apparently our shared error is that we say fighting climate change and growing the economy are incompatible. And, according to Krugman, a new report from the New Climate Economy Project (NCEP) and a working paper from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) show that the falling cost of renewable energy means this is happily not the case.
But in our view Krugman himself is guilty of five critical errors, and three equally serious omissions. First the errors:
… snip …
I’m sure this must have been posted before – but just in case!
TPP. Wikileaks bombshell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bPIsjH25GHo
Not seen it before but sadly it confirms those leaks. What next?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10531025/Angry-Cunliffe-tells-MPs-to-stay-shtum
Angry Cunliffe is angry, I’m guessing its like being savaged by a neutered little puppy dog but maybe its just that he can’t face where the real anger should be directed towards
Now, the good news. Professor Steve Keen accurately predicted there would be a major financial crisis before the 2008 crash. He explains why the economic ‘recovery’ will be short-lived.
http://www.everyinvestor.co.uk/analysis/2014/05/20/professor-steve-keen-warns-coming-financial-crisis-8104/
I personally think it is a mistake to personalise this. Things undoubtedly could have been done better but the verdict is in and the rest is up to the internal processes of the political parties making up the governing and opposition coalitions.
What’s the world’s worst managed economy at the moment?
And to preclude the hilarious obvious rejoinder from some of you, it isn’t New Zealand according to The Economist.
No it is apparently Venezuela. A country where the main State run petroleum company is struggling for cash despite high prices for Oil.
http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21618782-probably-worlds-worst-managed-economy-oil-and-coconut-water
Hi, Gos. Rubbing it in, are we ?
Not entirely, although I am enjoying pointing out that I basically predicted/warned about this outcome all the way back in 2012.
Well obviously the answer is they’re not left enough
I’ve tried to read The Economist but the shear bloody stupidity and illogical assumptions prove that it’s as well connected to reality as National and other RWNJs and thus should be ignored.
A liberal magazine with a liberal ideology judging how a economy is run from a liberal perspective. How very original of you Gosman. Want to bring up something else which is of a same ideology to say how good it’s ideology is, verse another ideology.
Gosmans stupidest argument ever – I will wait for the tears to dry.
If you dispute any of the facts presented in that article then show how they are incorrect.
They’re just angry because the young women aren’t as desperate as they used to be, and don’t have to subject themselves to all sorts of garbage just to get food.
Oh joy shout the RW troles. The election is over playtime again. How we missed TS.
Back to wiping off the drivel and contentious nonsense that mists my computer screen.
I seem to be able to turn out sufficient drivel myself that I didn’t really notice a gap they would fill. However fair’s fair, it looks like another period of brick wall banging and fun for all for ….more years?
ew..!..brian edwards wants nash to lead labour..
..just..ew!..
..and edwards is all pro-mass-surveillance..(!)
..he has turned into such a rightwing ratbag..that edwards..
..him and his constant property-porn blatherings..
The forthcoming review of the RMA to increase ‘flexibilty’ is the tip of an iceberg that will see a wholesale assault on the environment in favour of economic goals. Part of the unstated agenda about to be rolled out. Expect to see a high-level resignation from the Department if Conservation in the near future.
Hello.
I am currently banned, so no-one may get to see this. I have done nine months so, on the off-chance that whoever moderates this thinks that that is long enough for my crimes, I thought I would try my luck.
Of course, the moderators’ tolerance for offering opportunities for redemption may be tested by what I have to say next. I am not completely hopeful, as there is a well-documented strong authoritarian streak in left wing circles.
You lefties are going to have to come to grips with being wrong about everything. Viz:
1. John Key is evil. He isn’t. And the more you go on about it, the more you allow yourselves to be painted as deranged.
2. The polls are wrong/rigged. They aren’t. The Labour Party is really that unpopular.
3. The media is biased. No it isn’t. And this talk I hear in some circles that the “problem” should be fixed by limiting the opportunities for those who do not endorse the “progressive” line should be limited is a bit creepy and, once again, makes those people look deranged.
4. Labour has to reject “neo-liberalism” in order to get elected. I am going to ignore for the moment that the way “neo-liberalism” is defined by people that use the term is “acceptance of basic reality”. Labour cannot become government by taking votes off the Greens and Mana. They have to take votes off National. Nor can they win by trying to appeal to people who can’t be arsed voting. Just about everyone who comments here is far left. If Labour does what they want, they will never be elected. Leave those 3,000 people to vote for John Minto and try to convince everyone else you are responsible enough to govern.
5. The constitutional arrangements for electing your leader are just super. No. They aren’t. It means your caucus is left trying to work for someone that, if they do not find repulsive, they think is a numpty.
6. David Cunliffe “won” the debates. No. He didn’t. What you all thought was a brilliant orator, 50% of New Zealanders thought was a smarmy self-important git, pretending he was something he wasn’t.
7. The pubic are wrong. They are never wrong. This is closely aligned to “people are waking up”. No. They aren’t. Key is more popular going into his third term than his second. At this rate, everyone will be voting for him in 2024.
I accept that Labour always starts behind the eight ball. This is because New Zealanders do not readily warm to left wing ideas. They vote Labour when National is in disarray and, generally, when they have no other real option. Clearly, that is not now.
In anticipation: you’re welcome.
Ps. Don’t listen to Bryan Gould.
[lprent: I think you were on the list that got removed from auto-spam on the 21st. You were in good company. Jenny and a few other people were there as well. The next lot is on the 26th. ]
Don’t hold back, tell us what you really think 🙂
Great-a party that gets 0.7% of the vote and one seat provides us with the new Associate Minister of Education. Watch for more charter schools and bulk funding and vouchers to rear their ugly head. Things that have nothing to do with educating children and everything to do with privatisation and “getting stuck in to those pesky teacher unions”.
Hey, Tony. Big believer in democracy there, I see. Good for you. Remind me what happened in that election we just had.
Yeah a party whose education policies I disagree with got elected. It’s not going to stop me fighting them every step of the way in defence of the children I teach.
Well make sure you teach the kids what it means to live in a democracy then
You mean the democracy where the experts in the field are not listened to and ideologies are enforced with little or no research.
I mean where the majority of the people decide the government and then the government implements the policies they said they were going to implement
Policies like Charter Schools that were never mentioned before the last election yet were implemented after.
Bollix, people knew that if National got in Charter schools would be coming and you know what? More people want National in then last time so I’m going to go ahead and say just do what your told, you work for the government you implement what your employer wants
I’m sorry but as a teacher when I see anything that has little or no educational value for the children I teach and in fact may be detrimental to their learning then I will argue against it and I believe in a democracy I have the right to do that.
Argue against it all you like but you still have to implement it
You’ve got a National government till at least 2020
You do what you’re told, otherwise leave or be forced to leave.
Hi BM,
I thought it was the left who were meant to be authoritarian.
We’re just filling in till labour gets in again.
Labour lite and all that guff, instead of been skinned alive with a blunt stone, we’ll just beat you with rubber hoses.
That’s not actually democratic as was shown by the referendum for selling assets. 70% of the people didn’t want it but the <government went and sold them anyway against the peoples will.
In a democracy, the people’s will should rule and not the desires of elected servants.
Maybe not but National said prior to the election what they’d do and then did it and then got re-elected with 48% of the vote so I’m comfortable with it
Yes, it’s amazing how comfortable RWNJs are with the anti-democratic actions of their leaders.
Don’t like the government then produce a credible alternative
Hi chris73,
A simple question – is voting a reliable way of determining the truth?
Its a pretty good way of electing a government
That wasn’t actually my question, chris73.
Want to try again?
Ok then no its not
Agreed.
So we can stop talking about the election result when questions of fact and reality are being discussed.
You may not like the fact that National was returned to power or the fact that more people voted for National then they did in 2011 but that doesn’t change that they are facts
A party or two with not enough votes to have a seat in parliament is now part of government while other parties which got more votes didn’t even get in parliament.
Basically, what happened is that the RWNJs proved that our system isn’t democratic.
Just because National has adapted to MMP better then the left is no reason to think the system is undemocratic
Did you pass by what I said because you’re stupid or are you just engaging in the usual RWNJ pastime of distraction?
Essentially I’m commenting on the notion thats quite well-known that the left arn’t really keen on democracy especially when the results don’t go their way, a notion you and others like you are reinforcing
Speaking for myself, I’m very keen on democracy – radically so.
That’s why I’d like our MMP system to be made more democratic.
How much democracy do you favour, chris73?
Democracy is for ancient Greeks for myself however I prefer STV as a voting option but if the threshold was lowered to 3% I wouldn’t be at all bothered
Have I missed it here tonight, but on Campbell Live they had finally received the OIAs that they been seeking for months which show that the Pike River Tunnel was safe to enter from nearly a year ago. At least 5 OIA had been refused. What! Lied to. OIAs witheld – again! Key and others lied to everyone re access.
Anyone concerned?
Haven’t you heard ianmac, there’s been an election.
Apparently the result means that truth and reality don’t matter anymore. e.g., – Key doesn’t lie, apparently, because the election shows he doesn’t.
We have it on the highest authority – right wing commenters on this blog.
Don’t worry you’ll get your turn in 2020
I think I can say this much about my identity – I didn’t stand for parliament.
It’s the truth that concerns me, chris73.
We don’t want a turn at bullshitting the public. We don’t want a turn at what you lot do.
Pike River is an analogy for what has been, and not, happening in NZ. When we erect a memorial statue we should put on the plinth our sorrow at the failure of the NZ government to take responsible steps from whoa to go about everything.
We applaud death defying feats by amateurs. But when the police were afraid to go down the mine, the miners were prevented from doing anything to recover their people. They should have had the right to do a short reconnoitre when they considered it safe after the first explosion. They would have taken the risk to have satisfied themselves that they had done everything they could. They should have been able to inspect and make their own judgement as to feasibility. But suddenly safety was paramount, where it had not been for the trapped miners. That was too late in the piece and very hypocritical.
Help! I need to know where I can purchase a bumper sticker:
“Don’t blame me,
I never voted National!”
I think I’ll need one, or similar.
Seems little has changed really, except the boot was on the other foot but arguments much the same – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/election-2002/news/article.cfm?c_id=774&objectid=2050667
I am listening to one of these web lectures. The financial problems we see are all because of private debt, not government debt. In the USA two generations ago the level of private debt was 55% of GDP and now it is about 115%. In Europe I think Portugal the rate is over 255%.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvRcQ5Tm6Kw
The Next Economic Disaster – Why it’s coming and how to avoid it – Richard Vague
The real story behind the GFC is the multiplied leverage and debt in the shadow banking system*, and although I have not watched that video, I am pretty sure that that is not included in the numbers that you quoted.
*This is the vast financial system which is not regulated by banking laws and regulations (which the banks themselves helped build to get around banking laws and regulations).
cripes- 15 different applicants for leader?
gotta be the last time I vote for this rabble
a couple of weeks out from the 2017 election: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb_qHP7VaZE
@ Newsense
lolz x2!
@ newsense
Brilliant
While you are sparking at high rev do you know any Yes Ministers clips that would fill the Bill?