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6:00 am, November 24th, 2023 - 114 comments
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As we gear up for what I suspect will be a non-sensical three years of slogans and fake reality time to re-watch Adam Cutis's hypernormalization doco.
His 'Century of the Self' is also a good explainer as to how these yo-yos got voted in too.
The rise and rise of the individual to the detriment of community, unions and the family unit.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DnPmg0R1M04&pp=ygUfQWRhbSBDdXJ0aXMgY2VudHVyeSBvZiB0aGUgc2VsZg%3D%3D
Looking at the photo of the Parliamentary Stage with 9 flags a V shaped seating pattern and the lectern/podium, one is reminded of "Let the TRUMPets sound".
So Chief Pirate, Lord Luxon will proclaim.
Let the Raiding begin….
and the tide begin to go back out on his 3 patched raggle-taggle ship of state, as we are presented with the motley crew and a list of their victims.
But Patricia. Peter Dunne says this about our new illustrious PM.
You/we just misread the PM's delivery.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/11/23/luxons-challenge-is-stamping-his-authority-on-new-government/?utm_source=Newsroom&utm_campaign=f4cb0c5c70-Daily_Briefing+24.11.2023&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-f4cb0c5c70-95522477&mc_cid=f4cb0c5c70&mc_eid=88a3081e75
Good coming from someone who "wormed" his way into a coalition.
Notice Dunne didn't say "kind ".
I love the way Dunne quotes Many Rice-Davies, referencing a long forgotten scandal from sixty years ago that accidentally reminds us of what an anachronism he is.
But he would say that though, wouldn't he?
The ugly retreat from modernity begins on Monday. I hope the kids notice.
Doubtful as gen z seems to be the opposite of gen y and lean more libertarian.
If anything politics is becoming for all generations, male vs female.
The left globally have absolutely lost the ability to speak to male voters, but the right still gets enough female voters to win elections.
Labour and the greens got bugger all votes from heterosexual males.
The left have abandoned collectivist equity based universal social democratic economic policies and replaced them with factional oppression Olympics identity politics.
Since the 2016 usa election, all the global left seems to do is scream about patriarchy, all men being rapists (hey marama), decolonization, lgbt+, race, abstract post modern theories of privilege, attack free speech and try to deplatform anyone they disagree with…
Totally unappealing.
And the left has no good male role models anymore, it's all very very very academic wine sipping nerds with no spine.
If the left had any brains it'd have the charismatic, young bogan Kieren Mcnullty as leader of the Labour party and seek out as many candidates like him as possible, he is the only candidate in Labour I can see winning over male voters and Labour needs a lot more of people like him and a lot less upper middle class robot professional student politicians
I think there's a fair bit of caricature and exaggeration in how you say that – but I agree with much of the underlying sentiment. I'd note though that the real poseurs now drink craft beer, rather than sipping wine, and it's the right that are the most notorious cancelers of unwelcome opinion, not the left.
You've drunk all the kool aid produced by the right wing narrative about the left as a feminist project – it's not a surprise that gay men are as vulnerable to it as some working class men (a privileged place in society over – as per women is all they had/have).
The thing is they also connect it to being a feminist socialist project – as per Perigo (the libertarian against a society order in either the personal life or economics) and onto Bridge.
A radio person in Auckland finished today and gets to have a goodbye in the Herald.
Kate Hawkesby comments on the awesome responsibility. "I’ll never forget when the Queen died and my producer just said in my ear, ‘The Queen’s dead’, that was it.It was just this surreal moment of, ‘Whoa, I have to communicate this breaking news’."
Yep, that's up there with brain surgery.
"The media landscape has changed drastically since I began. The insatiable 24/7 demand for clicks and content has, I believe, seen quality suffer," she says. Well, bugger me, that's a surprise. And to give context praises her husband with close reference to the previous government and Covid.
Regularly MediaWatch on RNZ featured his distortions, the 180° switcheroos and all over the shop logic with him. Quality suffer? What?
A victim of a very bad bout of lingering covid, she modified his statements to a degree.
Far Right PVV party leader Geert Wilders good result in the Dutch elections is a worry. Wilders is an Islamophobe, hates immigrants etc. But contrary to the usual stupid headlines PVV has not "won". He has 37 seats where 76 are needed to form a government and most of the other parties have said that they will not work with PVV.
One Dutch expert predicts the final makeup of parliament here:
“Sarah de Lange, professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam, said the most likely outcome appears to be a right-wing government comprised of the PVV, Rutte’s conservative VVD Party, and Pieter Omtzigt’s New Social Contract party, which was formed in August with a pledge to “do politics differently.” This would likely require Wilders to give up the most extreme components of his manifesto, which include proposals to bring immigration to zero, ban the Quran and close mosques, many of which are unconstitutional….”
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/23/dutch-election-what-comes-next-after-shock-far-right-victory.html
The GreenLeft-Labour Alliance did quite well getting 25 seats. One can only hope all the parties shun Wilders and form a coalition government with this alliance.
Agree on that . Common in Europe with proportional party list elections for the largest party to be in low to mid 20% of the vote .
Even then coalition building takes 3-6 months
It's terrifying and happened in Sweeden and is due to happen in Germany where the AFD is polling more than their Labour, green, act coalition Combined.
Not working with these parties isn't sustainable in the long term because they keep growing.
It's deeply insane that this has been going on for the better part of a decade and the establishment, progressive, moderate and conservative parties of the world haven't bothered to try to find a way to combat it.
It's all a symptom of the economic fallout of the working and middle classes and systemic cultural shock from globalization, it's crazy that the mainstream left refuses to seriously address these issues in either a real politik or populist way as these are usually our traditional voters and instead of winning them over we finger wag and talk about how great globalization is because you can get cheap whitewear and "diversity is our strength"
I pray it doesn't happen here.
Praying may be all we can do about it.
Well, John Campbell will be very pleased that we will have a new Government.
I heard a story, although admittedly not from a terribly reliable source, that he has had a camera crew on standby for the last couple of weeks to start filming children living in cars. That was of course part of his stock in trade about 6 years ago.
The problem has been that until the new Ministerial roles have been announced he hasn't been able to waylay the Minister with questions demanding to know what is being done about it. Expect some stories by late next week. There are many more children in the situation today than there were back in 2017 I believe.
Still, John will sort it out.
At least Labour/NZF/Greens did something about it with the Child Poverty Reduction Act.
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2018/0057/18.0/LMS8294.html
They passed a bill. Whoopee. There is no evidence that it actually achieved anything though is there?
77,000 children have been lifted out of poverty under Labour.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/continued-progress-reducing-poverty-challenging-times
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/portfolio/labour-2020-2023/child-poverty-reduction
National’s welfare changes will see benefits $2621 lower by 2028, push more children into poverty
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/election-2023-labour-says-nationals-welfare-changes-will-see-benefits-2621-lower-by-2028-push-more-children-into-poverty/GBCJMJZJZ5FEXKTDGWBWEIP5IA/
It's normal for commenters to back up definitive claims like this with links and stuff.
The number of children living in cars is very difficult to give an authoritative figure for as the Department wouldn't give a firm figure during the Labour years. The closest they would come out with was the number of families who were living in cars.
However here are a couple of stories that were published.
"The number of children listed as may be living in cars has gone from 51 at the end of 2017, to 228 in June this year (2022).
The numbers are pulled when people apply for help from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). People are asked where they're living and if they have children."
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/08/18/number-of-children-listed-as-living-in-cars-more-than-200/
"Shocking figures revealed yesterday when Labour admitted there are now 480 families living in cars compared to 102 when they entered Government in 2017."
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2023/07/21/480-families-living-in-cars-in-2023-compared-to-102-in-2017/
I think it is a reasonable assumption that the number rose during the Labour term.
National refused to measure child poverty.
Labour lifted 77,000 children out of poverty. Links @ 5.1.1.1
"She cast doubt on the use of the figure – 480 applicants for emergency housing living in cars – suggesting because it was “cumulative” and people were not moved off this list until they had permanent housing, so many may not be currently living in cars"
"The figure that the member is putting forth to us and using to assume there's an increase in the number of people living in cars, I'm told, is not an accurate way of capturing that data. What we are doing is building our way out of a housing crisis that we inherited that was created by that member's Government.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132584396/some-480-housing-applicants-including-families-with-children-living-in-cars
I just read a comment from a troll about an unlinked story from an unreliable source.
Still, the Mods will sort it out.
"I heard a story, although admittedly not from a terribly reliable source" So why are you posting a baseless rumour? it makes you appear paranoid.
I see this government is starting out as they mean to continue. It is literally being born with a Friday dump.
Black Friday…fitting indeed.
Bleak Friday
are you meaning a dump of information on a friday, or, the government looks like it is a dump, or, looks the results of someone taking a dump on friday?
NZs first 3 party coalition government….a symptom of a surfeit of elites?
Peter Turchin studies the collapse of societies….and possible opportunities to avoid/delay such.
First review of the coalition talks….
The National flag on the table is bigger than the other two flags, however the NZ First flag is above the other two and the ACT flag whilst lower and smaller has a stand that has three steps instead of two and it is higher. The National flag in in the middle, with the ACT flag on the right and NZ Flag on the left except on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when they take turns at being in the middle. Half way through the term NZ First and ACT flags will swop sides. National's flag is made in China, NZ First's flag came in an unmarked brown envelope along with $250,000 and a box of frozen Hoki fillets, and ACTs flag came in a Zuru box with $500,000 and a thank you note from Nick Mowbray.
According to Seymour, they are going to do "good for ALL New Zealanders ". Is that all rich/white/politicians/landlords he's referring to? Nothing like starting off your term with blatant lying.
The long and the short of the announcement this morning- a spiteful and revanchist government that is going to borrow for it's tax cuts.
Accurate summary.
Seymour went out of his way to mention Firearms and 3 Strikes to emphasise your point Sanctuary.
Acts van Velden has work place relations, workers are fucked.
Almost like they're the shadow opposite of a shallow, feckless, incompetent bunch of d-grade managers who bulk-funded us through a couple of crises, pushed waaay beyond any Overton window then rapidly fell apart in a year, and now sit on the steaming wreckage with not a note of apology.
Describes the previous National-led government.
You mean the one which lasted for three election cycles, and would almost certainly have had a fourth, if Key hadn't resigned.
That's the one and Key was losing popularity and resigned two days after National lost the Mt. Roskill by-election.
So in comparison to a one (arguably, two) term government…..
And, anyone who believed that Key was concerned over National ‘losing’ the Mt Roskill by-election (one of the Labour Red Wall Auckland electorates – until Wood self-destructed amid the Labour collapse in 2023) – is entirely self-deluded.
It wasn't in comparison to a 2 term government. Who is the deluded one here? I just stated a fact, it is irrelevant that you didn't like it. Unlike you, I am not the one dreaming up a scenario that never happened.
How many terms do you think that Adern government had?
You can argue that it was 2 one term governments (given that the coalition didn't last into 2020 since NZF didn't get elected).
Or you can argue that it was a 2 term government (since Ardern was PM both times).
It's one or the other. So, the comparison is absolutely between Key (3 terms) and Ardern (2×1 term, or 2 terms)
You brought up the Key government, in contrast to the Ardern one that the OP referenced.
Seems to me that you're the deluded one, here. And your grasp of 'facts' is rather shaky.
It wasn't about the terms of government though. What I said was that Ad's post describes the key government, which didn't specify 'terms' and you are the one making up a scenario about Key that didn't happen.
If Key had not pulled ponytails….
Didn't seem to affect his popularity.
Those most agitated about it, would never have voted for him in any case.
Key was losing popularity.
Yes he was. Fairly typically for a 3rd term PM.
He was, however, polling *substantially* (like 20%) above any of the other candidates.
And (setting aside the very weird and unlikely to be true Digipol results (in the mid 60s) – his polling stayed around 38-40 for most of 2015 (when the ponytail saga broke) – not showing any shift in the preferred PM ratings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2017_New_Zealand_general_election
For comparison, Helen Clark was about the same (mid 30s) in 2008 when she was in her 3rd term. The problem for her, was that John Key was polling equal or better.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2008_New_Zealand_general_election
John key was losing support. He didn't complete a third term.
"Key's popularity plummets to lowest level"
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2016/06/newshub-poll-keys-popularity-plummets-to-lowest-level.html
Fucking should have though, greasy powerful man gets away with repeatedly making young working girl feel uncomfortable, do to any girl I know and you would need police protection alright.
Not arguing whether it "should have" – just pointing out that it didn't.
Bronagh had the right idea – not everyone did, or does.
Sanc….and for its 13 bloody RONS.
Revanchist policies. Exactly. Undoing all work done in a spiteful nasty way. Those three remind me of a pack of dogs, peeing on each post to mark their territory.
The allocation of portfolios… some who have been in Parliament since 2014 holding none, suddenly with 3 or 4. How will that work? Doocey case in point. Leader of the House.. Chris Bishop. Speaker Gerry Brownlee.Tama Potaka loaded with all things Maori… because Dr. Reti will have Health. This looks like a house of straw rather than a "Strong and Stable Government".
On a religious note Judith Collins has had her prayers answered. Resurrection indeed.
In light of the three clown’s coalition announcement this morning, Community groups, NGOs, unions and ordinary people have to organise and support each other. It is going to be a tougher time for the bottom 50% that have barely 5% of the wealth.
Various public sector unions were happy to take extensive strike action with a Labour Govt. they will quickly expose themselves if they do move on NActFirst promptly to fight cuts, clawbacks and sackings.
Working class people are going to be hit hard, and Māori especially. Bye bye to the incremental reforms from Labour. Unfortunately it “woz Nuzilundas wot dun it to thumselfs” this time. Three years of no winter energy payment, minimum wage rises, or free prescriptions will hopefully give some of the numpties and Jacinda haters time to reflect.
Fully agreed.
It is going to take a lot of people to resist whatever bad they might inflict upon us.
We need to unite against whatever terrible things they may have planned for us all.
If it's got the balls then Labour has just been given a considerable opportunity. Nothing from what clearly is going to be a deeply unserious government will do anything to address the economic, social and climate issues facing NZ.
Luxon looks like he wants to go back to 2017 and stay there, Seymour is determined to cling to zombie neoliberalism with a nasty dollop of GOP style racism, and Peters will do little except bicker with the press and engage in casual corruption. The only thing uniting them is culture war issues.
Labour needs to shed neoliberal centrism & incrementalism, embrace the muscular state to regulate and legislate, and seize the left wing populist policy opportunity that has just been given to them on a golden platter. Take on the monopolies and duopolies. create new agencies to do things if old ones won’t. There is a huge opportunity.
And Labour actually need to treat Greens like a real coalition partner. If the three coalition government NAT/ACT/NZF can do it, so can Labour.
There's no excuses left for Labour to electorally mistreat the Greens anymore.
+100 RoG
Act like a government-in-waiting from the start.
ROG exactly With conviction and purpose.
"There's no excuses left for Labour to electorally mistreat the Greens anymore."
The Greens do their own thing and as they are winning seats off Labour there is no need to give them an inch
Still … Labour need to treat their partners with more respect. I am so tired of Labour historically treating their partners like children and not giving them much to do; and when Greens does something substantial – it's rarely remarked upon or minimised if can't be ignored.
Labour need to realise that Greens (and likely TPM also) will play a role in Labour's future. And it better act like it whether Greens has a higher or lower percentage of votes in the 2026/7 election.
What have communitarians got to complain about? Gumboot Day is in the coalition agreement fully funded. Horse racing is fully funded. Guns will be deregistered.
A good Friday night out in Eltham.
The gangs will be happy , the license holding mates can supply them fire arms with little risk.
As they do now?
Maybe? Not sure what stage the mandatory registry that was being set up was at , as being of sound mind I registered mine voluntarily when asked while redoing my license. !
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/10/fifty-thousand-guns-registered-to-kiwis-since-firearms-registry-went-live.html
Yip it's live, actll kill it and National have completely u turned, gutless dicks.
until a firearms registry tracks the sale of guns and makes it harder for gun dodgy gun owners to sell them on to gangs. when ACT dismantles that register the flow of guns to gangs can flow freely. Makes a mockery of all the tough on crime rhetoric we have heard from them, empty snake oil words.
It seems apparent that most guns used in gang-related crime are not legally purchased/registered firearms. They are illegally imported, just like illegal drugs are.
The current registration process doesn't seem to be hampering firearms related crime in any way – based on the increased number of shootings over the last few years.
We'll have trouble identifying the gangs though because they won't be wearing their patches. And won't be hanging out in groups!
Guns will be deregistered, and cell phones will be banned from schools. This is so fucked-up.
From classrooms
Some schools already do so
Right you are; all good then.
https://www.national.org.nz/100dayplan
https://assets.nationbuilder.com/nationalparty/pages/18431/attachments/original/1696107664/100_Day_Action_Plan.pdf?1696107664
Typical National with ambiguous weasel words and slippery language that’s open to interpretation.
The practicalities of it mean classrooms as the pupils will still bring phones to school and use them on the journey to and from
National actually says use at school so it means some sort of cell phone caretaker to handle the collection and storage !!
https://www.national.org.nz/national_will_ban_cell_phone_use_at_school
in reality it will have to become a ‘choice’ for schools to implement as cant see the teachers union wanting their members to do this job
Just have to say how happy I am that Gumboot Friday will be fully funded.
This is the kind of 'on-the-ground practical solution which makes a difference to youth mental health.
Tiger Mountain, I have read the coalition agreements
The winter energy payment stays.
For the time being Anker. Come April next year when the payment is soon to begin for the winter months, they're going to be taking the knife to everything they can lay their hands on in order to pay for the unaffordable tax-cut bribe. Muldoon did it in the 1970s and he ended up freezing wages and salaries in order to pay for the unaffordable superannuation bribe.
The country came within a whisker of bankruptcy. I bet the same thing is going to happen again.
Well I don't have a crystal ball Anne, so you could be correct.
I think Winston would put up a fight if they tried to take away the winter energy payment, but who would know
Unions went on strike with Labour because they knew it had a better chance of succeeding than under a National government. It was a cynical but successful approach that gave national fodder to message anti-union. Labour however could have just increased pay rates and funding without all the bull-shit but chose not to – just as they chose not to implement WEAG recommendations, just as those chose to allow massive amounts of immigration and the abuse of immigrant workers.
Their failure to implement at times was atrocious – especially where MBIE was involved.
The last 18 months or so they allowed National to control their policies and fell away from ensuring implementation to kneejerk responding. Their struggle to break away from neo-liberalism is real.
Energy Hardship
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/dmsdocument/27802-doia-2324-0860-response-for-publishing-pdf
Employment action plans
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/business-and-employment/employment-and-skills/employment-strategy/
RSE
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/130915844/small-number-of-rse-licences-revoked-shows-government-agencies-and-businesses-burying-the-issue-union-says
A review by the Public Service Commission is under way to check whether processes around the checks and balances of the AEWV scheme have been followed.
The review is expected to be complete by mid-December.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/499394/border-alerts-placed-on-offshore-migrants-with-accredited-employer-work-visas
Time travel would be useful – to be able to go forward and see what breaks, falls down, poisons people or wrecks the environment as a direct result of Seymour's reign as "Minister of Regulation"
For future home buyers, it will be wise to make the avoidance of a Seymour-era house a standard filter on decision-making.
Seymour, Minister for Regulation. What the … does that mean?
It means that David will be this Government’s Manny.
Letting developers ,farmers, builders, and anyone else with money do what they want I expect
He’s spent years saying there’s too much regulation and he’s going to get rid of it. Too many employed in Ministries like Education. So he’ll get rid of people. And all the necessary regulations around Charter Schools.and accountability checks? Who’s to do that?
The easy part is writing up the agreements. The testing bit will be putting stuff into action, especially the need to have the people in support – or not.
The Devil is in the detail, but Big Brains don’t concern themselves with minutiae; they’re about Big Picture stuff and vibes with considerable help from the
Sales DepartmentPR & Comms Teams to create that magical PR woo woo.the new govt cabinet is pretty short on talent and intellectual heft. iy will be a big test for many of them to put things into action. the hypocrisy of act is stunning though
The real cabinet ministers but not on the list will be:
Bill English & Co Ltd
Steven Joyce Consulting Ltd
First thought on the new cabinet: there's only one South Islander (Doocey) in the entire bunch (Simmonds and Patterson are outside cabinet, making it 3/28 across the entire ministry).
1/20 is rather shitty representation when you make up a quarter of the country.
Most will have Queenstown holiday homes so relax you'll be able to hear their jewellery rattling down the ski fields.
And farmers are pretty well covered in all 3 caucuses.
Tough luck for the Dunedin proles.
I was thinking we should all follow the baby boomers and just stop. Take some time to enjoy family and friends. If we not going to be slaves in this new economy.
Anyone know where I can get some used Stop Co-Governance signs cheap?. With Peter’s and Seymour sharing DP I’m over this co governance bullshit already!
Oh.. and some Stop Three Wankers ones too.
I hear you Adrian.
The precursor for meth back on Pharmacy shelves, and an AR15 to facilitate the robbery. The Dairy owners can relax now – this lot have just cut out all the middle men.
And Visubversa the pharmacy will have a lot of extra work distinguishing those who get free scrips and those who don't. All in or all out would be much simpler.
Pseudo-ephedrine is back on the shelf because it gets people back to work more quickly than the alternatives, i.e. it's a sop to employers. Workers feel that if they're not snotting and sneezing everywhere it's less anti-social to turn up at work. More people will get sick overall, but hey, they can just pop some pseudoephedrine as well. Much that this government will do is to provide a short-term boost to business profitability with complete indifference to the long-term consequences.
It is also not advised for people who have to operate machinery. I have a Mast cell allergy and used to take it occasionally. I did not drive, or operate anything complex or dangerous on those days.
And with retained access to smokes and better armed robbers, greater reward with greater risk. One wonders when they take out the insurance of gang protection …
Removing the precursor for meth from pharmacy shelves has made zero difference to the amount of meth imported or cooked up in NZ.
Pharmacy pseudoephedrine was never a major ingredient source. And certainly not in this age of industrialized crime led by major criminal gangs.
And, I haven't had a decent cold-symptom suppressant since it was removed. None of the substitutes are anything like as effective.
Suppression of symptoms – not only makes you feel better, more quickly – you are much less likely to develop secondary infections – and then require antibiotics.
The first policy onto the bonfire was a Key legacy.
Cluxon was determined to be seen as his own man.
It may also have been a sop to ACT as their aim to reduce sickness leave entitlement was not part of the agreement.
The Chief Science Advisor, Professor Peter Gluckman, wrote this in his report to the Prime Minister [John Key] in 2009:
Executive Summary
https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2021-10/pmcsa-Report-to-the-PM-Pseudoephedrine2.pdf
And did the production and/or consumption of methamphetamine significantly reduce once pseudoephedrine was banned from commercial sale?
Given the explosion in the availability of meth – the evidence seems against it.
They're reversing most of the anti-smoking regulations. FFS.
That has a serious stink of corruption to it, hopefully a reporter will follow the money!!
All roads lead to Bishopville hill – Taxpayers Union (they also used to fund WhaleOil).
Back to the future with the Three Stooges.
The cruelty is a feature.
Max Harris
@maxdnharris
National-ACT’s coalition agreement wants anyone going for a “health and disability related benefit” to have to go through a more limited pool of doctors. You have the power to improve lives, and you decide to make life harder for people with disabilities/health conditions?
https://twitter.com/maxdnharris/status/1727849789914595614
This is why I was fearing NAT/ACT so much yesterday.
In other words, anyone with a “health and disability" condition and needs a benefit to survive, is automatically considered to be a malingerer who is trying to cheat the system – not to mention an insult to the vast majority of doctors whose recommendations are made on good grounds and in good faith.
This is a return to the 1990s – the days of Ruth Richardson and co. plus that vile woman, Christine Rankin! The truth is, these right-wing shits feel they have to demonise the less fortunate to assuage their own greedy and self serving guilt.
If memory serves that is very reminiscent of the key National govt's punitive ACC policy.
Oops, that was supposed to be in response to Joe90’s post.