It’s obvious to anyone with a brain that a government that spends half its time on holiday and the rest on PR stunts is never going to get New Zealand to catch Australia by 2025 but having the Reserve Bank Governor say its impossible, that’s hugely embarrassing. Of course, Key is refusing to acknowledge the truth despite the fact that the gap has grown during his time in power.
Who’s going to have an op-ed on changing the flag in the Herald next? The typesetter? John Roughan’s cleaner? Give it up, Granny. There really are bigger things to worry about and there’s no public clamour for change.
Could Cameron Slater have come up with a better way to kill his ‘campaign’ against suppression orders than threatening to endanger judges and their families? Watch the rightwing establishment distance themselves from him. There’s no chance of reform of suppression now. National can’t be seen to be endorsing Slater’s actions.
I’m too hard on Colin Espiner. His print op-eds on Mondays are great, really well thought out and well written. It’s just he provides such easy pickings on his blog.
John Armstrong has labelled Key’s speech from the throne tomorrow as ‘Big Tuesday’. Seems like Armstong has been told to expect all sorts of concrete policy announcements. Well, Key’s going to have to come up with some good stuff that makes a real difference to working Kiwis. Unemployment is still rising, wages are stagnating, crime is up, and people are sick of the over-promise, under-deliver schtick. Nobody is going to buy it this time if he delivers more hype and no substance.
What ever happened to Key’s plan to end whaling? The one with no details and that he hadn’t discussed with the Japanese.
What a remarkable turn-around in the mood of the Left the last few weeks. People are seriously talking about 2011 as winnable. Key’s spark is gone, the media have said ‘enough grins, John, time to actually do something’, Phil Goff suddenly looks much more like a PM in waiting, and his speech, when you see it for what it actually is – the policy/strategy plan for the remainder of the term – has given Labour supporters something they can really get behind. I haven’t seen people this positive in years.
Looks like the Maori Party are going to have their expectations dashed again but this time it’s the big one. Will they settle for some shabby deal on the Foreshore and Seabed that pays-off the big iwi corporates? Or will they hold to their principles? A split is coming, if not from National then internally.