Shearer Says #4

57 comments on “Shearer Says #4 ”

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1. Treetop 1

   31 August 2012 at 1:40 pm

   Being made redundant must be a shock to the system when you have a mortgage to pay and children to feed because the chance of finding another job can have many barriers.

   I also think about those who have undiagosed conditions or are not getting the treatment they need.

   Key does not understand what poverty is or what it does long term, if he did he would not sell the energy assets, he would have a massive housing programme, have cooked meals in schools, increase the hourly rate, sort out NZ Super (high tax once earning more than 25 k per annun) so younger people could join the work force.
2. Rhinocrates 2

   31 August 2012 at 1:50 pm

   Oh wonderful, another memo from the pointy-haired boss. At least he left off the smarmy “warm regards” – piss is warm.

   We’ve had a number of MP’s individual bills come up for debate, including Louisa Wall’s marriage equality legislation

   What does he mean by “we”? That bill was a private member’s bill, as he admits – i.e., not the party’s – now that it’s safely passed it’s first reading, does he want to steal some credit?

   PS – At 2pm next Sunday, September the 9th, I’ll be giving an important speech on education at St Leonard’s Road School, Kelston, West Auckland. It would be great if you could come along.

   Education eh? I wonder if he’ll have anything to slip in about teenaged solo mothers dropping out of school to breed for cash?
   • Kotahi Tāne Huna 2.1

     31 August 2012 at 4:22 pm

     Nah, he’ll be putting bad schools on notice, doing his best to stay within the right-wing narrative. Like a tool.
   • Tom Gould 2.2

     31 August 2012 at 5:45 pm

     No such thing as a “private member’s bill”. Check the standing orders. If you are going to sling the shit, watch for splatter. And such bills are generally discussed at caucus. Not sure about the Greens. That might be too oppressive.
   • David H 2.3

     31 August 2012 at 7:44 pm

     What a waste of space he is. The sooner he is gone the better.
3. quartz 3

   31 August 2012 at 2:05 pm

   We’ve collected 240,000 signatures so far, and with your support we will force a referendum and make John Key listen to the people.

   The Greens are the ones who collected the majority of those signatures!
   • Rhinocrates 3.1

     31 August 2012 at 2:51 pm

     Typical.
4. just saying 4

   31 August 2012 at 2:08 pm

   His letter is primarily about poverty and inequality, so I guess it’s inevitable that he is at pains to only address only the issue of the (deserving) working poor. His silence on the huge numbers of beneficiaries living in poverty says it all.

   Btw this is not to minimise the real plight of the working poor btw.
5. shorts 5

   31 August 2012 at 2:12 pm

   Labour could call the shots on poverty and inequality – take the lead, act like the major opposition party… or respond to the headlines, unfortunately they’re currently doing the latter

   either way its possibly one of the most important issues we face right now, so any action is a good thing

   somewhere, someone without a job is painting the roof – they’re a kiwi battler… a hard worker… whose been let down by the market and the state

   The greens are shining and Labour still looks lost – how hard is it to oppose this incompetent mob?
   • Draco T Bastard 5.1

     31 August 2012 at 4:02 pm

     When you essentially agree with them? Fairly difficult I’d say.

     And this mob isn’t incompetent – they’re achieving exactly what they want – falling wages for the many and more wealth going to the few.
6. Rhinocrates 6

   31 August 2012 at 2:36 pm

   My congratulations though to the ghostwriter who managed to create a facsimile of English out some waffly emails from the Pointy Haired Boss.

   Imagine if it had been verbatim?

   This… ah, I mean… lately… this week, I mean most if it – ah, my point was, I mean to illustrate how people feel… so, you know, stick to the point, I mean this week, the party, I mean the Labour Party and someone… I think it was me… have… ah… anyway, we’ve been , you know, feeling unfair about the bloody disgrace of, the the disgrace of, this government… this government’s disgrace of a record on poverty, I think. Yes, poverty. Anyway, we’re disgraced by this poverty. And inequality. Inequality and poverty. By someone. The government, that is.

   There’s a country – I didn’t say Antarctica, I meant… I mean to say New Zealand, which… who… That. New Zealand has the widest gap between something and another thing. Between poverty. There was this country that had the widest gap ever. And it’s not just the bludgers either – no, the bludgers are doing well, someone told me. They can afford to paint their roofs. I mean the… I mean to say, ah battlers, like professional roof-painters. People who paint their roofs. I mean those who get paid to do it, not those who get benefits to do it. Them, they are having their lemons, I mean incomes squeezed like lemons. Or mangoes. I think it was lemons. I meant lemons. Forty percent of children aren’t bludgers. I mean forty percent of children have parents who don’t paint their own roofs. It’s a disgrace. Forty percent of John Key is a disgrace… ah… I mean its a disgrace that John Key is forty and I’m not going to do anything about it, nationally.

   There’s this bouncing too. I mean I was on a moonhopper the other day, bouncing down my street and it was disgraceful…

   Neither Antonin Artaud nor George W. Bush could do better than Shearer in real life, I’m sure.
   • Jimmie 6.1

     31 August 2012 at 9:13 pm

     Very good – made me snigger as little.

     Might be time for a new term: Shearism

     Definition: To accidently and obliquely state the opposite of what you really meant to say.
     Often accompanied by non linguistic uterrences designed to draw attention to the Shearism.

     Shearites tend to find that after stating a Shearism they then spend considerable time explaining that what they really meant was the opposite of what they said (or what someone told them they thought they said)

     Acute and chronic suffers often end up seeking medical (psychiatric) help for what they see is a major mental liability.

     Background.

     Shearism as a condition has been linked to the virus Shearitis which infects sufferers after the consumption of the mango fruit.
   • Murray Olsen 6.2

     1 September 2012 at 3:32 pm

     Sadly accurate is my suspicion. While National and Labour divide up the right wing vote, let’s build the left.
7. starlight 7

   31 August 2012 at 2:46 pm

   Tumeke has a write up on its blog about a radio interview shearer did, shearer’s
   replies to the radio interviewer are shocking and do not make sense.
   Shearer should put the labour party and its members ahead of himself and stand
   down and the party should install a credible,intelligent,articulate leader that has
   the interests of the labour party first and foremost.
   The tumeke headline is ‘The bbqs are being warmed on shearer’s leadership’
   There is only one person that foots the bill of a decent leader for labour
   and that is Cunliffe.
   Supporters of shearer, inside the labour ranks, should be feeling rather embarrassed
   right now.
   There are those on the list that would like a chance and if those factions inside labour
   that dont like cunliffe,step back and bring forward those on the list,including the likes
   of kelvin davis.
   A change of direction is needed.
   • Ianmac from Vietnam 7.1

     31 August 2012 at 2:57 pm

     I wonder if Mr Shearer is part of a much bigger (riskier) plan? If so they have maybe 6 months to action it.
     • Colonial Viper 7.1.1

       31 August 2012 at 6:02 pm

       Routine leadership vote in February
   • weka 7.2

     31 August 2012 at 4:11 pm

     Here’s the Tumeke link

     http://tumeke.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/the-bbqs-are-being-warmed-on-shearers.html 

     Other coverage of this and links are in Open Mike.
     • Carol 7.2.1

       31 August 2012 at 7:51 pm

       weka, for some reason your link just gives me “page not found”. But when I access the post from the Tumeke blog, the url looks exactly like the one you posted…?

       http://tumeke.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/the-bbqs-are-being-warmed-on-shearers.html
       • weka 7.2.1.1

         31 August 2012 at 9:17 pm

         Thanks Carol. They look the same on TS, but once the URL is opened mine has some extra bits (have had some odd things happening with cut and paste on TS lately).
8. QoT 8

   31 August 2012 at 3:17 pm

   Once again, I am in awe. The genius who decided to cram the newsletter full of waffle – holding the govt to account, also some not-actually-Labour bills happened – and then slip in “oh and by the way I might actually be discussing some serious education policy if you’re free” right in at the end, like it’s an afterthought, like the Labour Party’s stance on education shouldn’t be a clear, defining difference-maker between them and National …

   One can only assume more hilarious anecdotes about bludgers are going to be involved. If it were a speech they’re proud of it should’ve been the topic of the whole newsletter.
   • Rhinocrates 8.1

     31 August 2012 at 3:27 pm

     Yeah, there’s still this dog-whistle:

     One in five of our children are suffering hardship and 40% of children living in poverty come from homes where the parents are actually working… We’re working on a plan to deal with child poverty and to help hard-working Kiwis earn a decent income so they can support their families.

     Notice the emphasis on those who are “actually working” and “families”.

     The Pagani references are a wee, tiny bit more subtle this time around, but that only means that the dog whistle has moved up a bit in pitch.

     I used to think that the man was a buffoon, now I think that he’s an out-and-out bastard. I’m not sure if Winston Peters is really a racist, but I know that he knows that racism is is a card he can play (Peters is the politician I can say that I am sure is a bona fide psychopath – he doesn’t have hatred of specific classes or races, only of people who he thinks have slighted him… which is everyone, and that is expressed as manipulativeness and contempt). I’m not sure if Shearer really hates beneficiaries (or even if it matters that he hates them or not), but he has certainly decided that he can gain advantage by using them in some deeply cynical wedge politics.

     The lesson he’s learned from the past week then is not that he was wrong to attack beneficiaries, but that he was wrong to be seen to be so obviously attacking them in a frequency audible to the rational human’s ear.

     I put it down to a fundamental weakness. He’s not a leader, he’s a willing puppet with a vague, vacuous sense of what he thinks is “good” and that simply not nearly enough – he should go.
     • Rhinocrates 8.1.1

       31 August 2012 at 4:13 pm

       One in five of our children are suffering hardship and 40% of children living in poverty

       Christ, I just realised that even his ghostwriter can’t make sense of his brainfarts. One in five is twenty percent and forty percent are in poverty. Is poverty hardship or is only half of poverty hardship?
       • Clashman 8.1.1.1

         31 August 2012 at 4:24 pm

         Yeah, that would be 40% of the 20% in poverty so 8.5% of all kids.
       • Colonial Viper 8.1.1.2

         31 August 2012 at 4:29 pm

         and 40% of children living in poverty come from homes where the parents are actually working

         that’s the full sentence there.

         Basically, Shearer has little focus on the 60% of children in poverty who happen to be from homes where the parents are not working.
         • Rhinocrates 8.1.1.2.1

           31 August 2012 at 4:42 pm

           Ack, I’m terrible at math. But it’s a disgrace! 60% of their parents should be painting roofs to earn money! That amounts to one leg, one arm and most of the other arm! Provided they aren’t receiving a benefit for it!
     • Socialist Paddy 8.1.2

       31 August 2012 at 7:54 pm

       Christ in a shoebox.

       My daddy always said to me that when you spoke you should speak from the heart. Everything else is a waste of time. It should be the same with newsletters.

       Mixing up dog whistles in a lefty newsletter is beyond contempt.

       Does Pagani still work for the party? If so he should, with all respect to the requirements of natural justice, be sacked.
   • Anne 8.2

     31 August 2012 at 7:55 pm

     and then slip in “oh and by the way I might actually be discussing some serious education policy if you’re free” right in at the end, like it’s an afterthought,…

     I can tell you what that’s all about QoT. About 30 to 40 years ago an American expert came up with the meme : if you have something to say you want to be sure that your readers don’t miss… never put it in the body of the letter/report but add a PS at the end. According to said expert: everybody reads the PS at the end of letters.

     It might work in some instances but this isn’t one of them. But it doesn’t surprise me that the John Paganis of this world still adhere to the practise 40 years after it’s inception.

     I see this as an example of Shearer’s lack of political experience. He’s got to catch up with 21st century politics mighty quickly or he will be history. To add to the already overwhelming feeling on this site at least, the sooner he starts listening to other people other than the Paganis of this world the better it will be for him.
9. r0b 9

   31 August 2012 at 3:52 pm

   Tough crowd!
10. Rhinocrates 10

    31 August 2012 at 3:58 pm

    I’m going to have some more fun because I should be… I dunno, doing serious work, painting my roof or breeding for cash or suchlike.

    There’s this bouncing too. I mean I was on a moonhopper the other day, bouncing down my street and it was disgraceful. Forty John Keys were outraged, they said that it was a disgrace that hard-working people couldn’t bounce. I agreed, remembering something Phil Goff had told me once – “Just say ‘Me too’ and people will see that you’re a responsible leader in waiting.”

    I agreed and he smiled an winked at me. I think he did, but I meant to show him that I got the point by agreeing with him. He agreed with everything, and I should agree too. Paula Bennett agrees with me, so I must be right, I mean Paula Bennet’s right. Sixty John Keys disagreed, preferring to bounce… maybe they bounced. Possibly they hopped, but that’s a diversion. The point I mean to make is that sixty people bounce while forty paint their roofs… the rest are breeding for cash. That equals pi, or three point one four something and Labour is about equality. We equal things. Pi should be higher… it should be higher and have mangoes in it. I mean the basic point is that Labour has a policy on mangoes and that they should be in pies.

    You know the old joke that ‘668’ is the Neighbour of the Beast?, well I’ve address. I told John Key, or forty of them, about it. Addresses…I’ve got forty John Keys at sixty addresses. I mean John Key bounced forty times to get to the address. There was a house there and I lifted it up, fifteen times in an hour, actually. I even married it. Louisa was upset, I mean that Louisa Wall made a slight contribution, I mean credit given where credit is due, thanks to Labour’s efforts we can lift houses fifteen times an hour, but I said that David Clark made it possible. He was very solid, I can assure you, though he’s busy breeding at the moment – he’s united with 240,000 green assets so far.

    Wow, this is making me a bit dizzy, all the roof painting and bouncing, I mean bouncing on my roof. I’m committed… someone is… I mean, ah, the point is that Labour is committed to bouncing on the roof of the Hillside Workshop.

    Do you know we lost 25,000 talented and skilled workers? Maybe they’re down the back of the sofa?

    Are they breeding down there? How much money can we make from that? That’s the sort of initiative… ah, the point is, that’s the sort of initiative, the I mean, we’ll do it. We’re working on it.
    • Colonial Viper 10.1

      31 August 2012 at 4:05 pm

      😈
    • RedLogix 10.2

      31 August 2012 at 5:55 pm

      Very, very droll Rhino.

      I guess they all talk this way because they’re scared shitless they might actually say something real.
11. Ianmac from Vietnam 11

    31 August 2012 at 5:53 pm

    What baffles me is the way in which supposed supporters nit pick away at every little word that David Shearer utters. Key must be laughing his way to his Bank. Imagine if even one of his supporters picked away at Key’s every utterance.
    A bit of Partisanship would be in order here.
    • Colonial Viper 11.1

      31 August 2012 at 5:59 pm

      Ianmac. With all due respect mate, before asking for a show of partisanship from Labour supporters, perhaps we are right to expect some gutsy partisanship from Labour leaders.
      • Rhinocrates 11.1.1

        31 August 2012 at 6:01 pm

        +1
        • gobsmacked 11.1.1.1

          31 August 2012 at 7:08 pm

          +2

          IanMac, the point you’re missing is that Labour supporters and the wider left were more than willing to cheer on their partisan leader, and have spent months waiting for him to say something they could cheer (or at least understand).

          What, exactly, are we supposed to be supporting?
12. Rhinocrates 12

    31 August 2012 at 6:00 pm

    What I find most despicable about the Shearer-Pagani strategy, and why I am so enraged (apart from the fact that I have been in the past on a sickness benefit and brother of mine is currently) is the obviously calculated driving of a wedge between the “actually working” who are at risk of unemployment – and thereby becoming beneficiaries – and the insinuation that beneficiaries themselves, who are supposedly bludgers and not deserving of consideration.

    “You could be unemployed! Vote for me!” followed by “Oh, you’re unemployed? Parasite! Look, see, everyone? I’m tough on the bludgers! Vote for me!”

    Shearer disingenuously claimed in that appalling Radio 1 interview that he didn’t want to tar all beneficiaries with the same brush, but has he ever said that those on benefits are themselves victims and not parasites?

    Methinks the man doth protest too little. Where is the championing of all of the unlucky? Nowhere. He’s preying on fear, insecurity and hatred and showing not one whit of sincere championing of a concept of the people as a community, irrespective of their circumstance. Instead, he’s preying on bigotry, a polarity of fear and aspiration, but not compassion. He’s pursuing the mirage of of a venal, bigoted, jealous “Waitakere Man”. That creature was an illusion and its still isn’t the reality now. Everyone’s vulnerable to unemployment and the abjection of being a beneficiary and simple-minded wedge politics won’t work. I remember posting words to this effect on Beige Alert and being patronisingly told that I wasn’t the target market that the party was aiming at… after which, they promptly lost the election.

    Shearer and the Paganis are jerkoffs – and worse, they are idiots. If the party doesn’t dump then, then they’re McLabour; all brand-name and self-interest and nothing more.
    • Clashman 12.1

      31 August 2012 at 6:10 pm

      “McLabour”- I like it. Hopefully it will catch on.
    • rosy 12.2

      31 August 2012 at 8:18 pm

      he obviously calculated driving of a wedge between the “actually working” who are at risk of unemployment – and thereby becoming beneficiaries – and the insinuation that beneficiaries themselves, who are supposedly bludgers and not deserving of consideration.

      I’ve just got back from seeing the Topograpie of Terror exhibition in Berlin. Now we all know how desperate pre-war Germany was, yet the NatSocs used exactly this strategy (among many others) to garner support – absolutely chilling to see the rhetoric of the workshy destroying society and taking money from the honest hard workers.

      Comparing the political and social settings of then and now is not very comfortable.
13. David H 13

    31 August 2012 at 7:23 pm

    He Hasn’t got a clue…
14. xtasy 14

    31 August 2012 at 8:04 pm

    It looks a bit better than Shearer’s – or shall we say his writer’s – previous newsletters, and it is good to see that he focuses on poverty, indeed a major, increasingly pressing issue.

    Also were Labour and Green MPs performing a bit better during Parliament’s question time this week. Maybe the return of Cunliffe has something to do with this?

    But apart from pushing for the overdue increase of the minimum wage, is see and hear little of alternative plans, and that is what is now needed.

    As one commenter above mentioned, Shearer is still not good during interviews, also still stumbles on problems when raising questions in Parliament, and this shows, he lacks confidence and is not a sufficiently alert, smart and convincing speaker.

    My view remains unchanged, Shearer can only be a transitional “leader”, and hopefully early next year enough of the caucus and membership will see the light and prepare for a change of leader.
15. BM 15

    1 September 2012 at 8:14 am

    Fantastic stuff.
    Keep up the good work David, looking good for 2014.
16. bomber 16

    1 September 2012 at 7:32 pm

    Surely it’s just a matter of time?

    The BBQs are being warmed on Shearer’s leadership – http://tumeke.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/the-bbqs-are-being-warmed-on-shearers.html
    • gobsmacked 16.1

      1 September 2012 at 8:33 pm

      Surely it’s just a matter of time?

      And timing.

      Everyone knows he’ll be replaced, but whether it’s in 1 or 3 or 6 or 12 months is the difference between Grant Robertson and David Cunliffe being the next leader. Cunliffe would take the job tomorrow, Robertson needs to wait (to avoid the “backstabber” tag).

      It’s all very sad. In his heart of hearts Shearer must know he’s not going to last 2 more years to the election, but in the meantime he has to go through the motions. I feel a bit sorry for him – does he have any honest friends, prepared to tell him the truth?
      • Rhinocrates 16.1.1

        2 September 2012 at 3:46 pm

        Save your pity for someone with enough integrity to deserve it. If he wakes up in the middle of the night and wrings his hands, weeping, fine… but the next morning he still walks into his office and asks, “Right, how can I get all of those National voters on my side?” and when he’s told by Svengali/Pagani that it’s by using the vilest wedge politics, he replies “Golly, that’s good! I’ll do that! Mangoes!” He’s not deserving of sympathy. His own delusion that he’s a Prime Minister in waiting is hurting the poor.
    • xtasy 16.2

      2 September 2012 at 12:57 am

      BBQ, umu or haangi, what do you prefer?

      It is getting mighty “warm”, all right, but that is not winning the battle I am afraid.

      I cannot wait for the due and needed “transition”.

      But fate will prevail, I trust. A bit like reading the inevitable to happen out of a horoscope.
17. bomber 17

    1 September 2012 at 7:47 pm

    Come on, look at this for an answer…

    Shearer: Yeah, yeah, I was going around the streets before the last election, knocked on a guy’s door, he walked out on the lawn with me and pointed over and said this guy supposedly – I think he said he had a bad back or a bad something or other – and the point was, I mean, wasn’t actually… whether this guy was right or not I don’t know, but the point is, what I was trying to make is the point about fairness and the way New Zealanders feel about fairness. They don’t want… this guy in particular said look I’m working hard, I pay my taxes, I’m doing all the right things and this guy – in his opinion, and that’s what I said in my thing – is ripping the system off. Now I don’t care if you’re a millionaire not paying his taxes or somebody on the benefit who shouldn’t be getting one. The way that New Zealanders see that is that it’s not fair when somebody is not doing the right thing. That’s the point of what I was saying.

    …that is gibberish folks, if Shearer can’t handle a 10minute interview on a student radio station, how is he going to go one on one with Key in 2014? Shearer is using these Pagani dog whistles to the detriment of the Party.

    Compare Shearer’s performance on Radio with Cunliffe’s on TV3’s The Nation and tell me who should be leader.

    If the amendment to lower the Caucus trigger threshold for a leadership challenge from 67% to 51% is made from the floor at the conference in November – expect the Labour Party BBQ season to start in December.
    • Carol 17.1

      1 September 2012 at 7:53 pm

      Now I don’t care if you’re a millionaire not paying his taxes or somebody on the benefit who shouldn’t be getting one. The way that New Zealanders see that is that it’s not fair when somebody is not doing the right thing. That’s the point of what I was saying.

      [groan]…. beneficiaries getting a few pennies a week (even if you accept the unquestioned assumption of cheating to get it) …. no different from a millionaire really….. level playing field.

      :shakes head:
      • Rhinocrates 17.1.1

        2 September 2012 at 3:52 pm

        Yeah, he looks at the easy targets, the individuals… and in this case, not even individuals but straw men. He’s completely unaware of the structural problems. If you want any explanation as to why the UN is so ineffective, look at the sort of people who promote themselves in it.
18. Jenny 18

    2 September 2012 at 10:49 am

    Our thoughts are with the workers at Solid Energy as hundreds of them face losing their jobs

    David Shearer

    If David Shearer is sincere in his concern for these workers, I wonder if the Labour Party leader will be asking questions in the house about where the large amount of cut price Indonesian coal that is being used to displace the Huntly mine workers is coming from?

    Is it part of this dirty trade?

    3 weeks ago Regent of Kutai Kartanegara suspended permits of more than 15 mining companies for their alledged responsibility in flooding in the area of Samboja, Kaltim. And today who is back on the road? Hundred of trucks continuously causing clouds of dust intoxicating inhabitants, breaking roads repaired by villagers themselves, conveying coal outside of the country for the benefit of the government that suck the wealth of this country. Itulah Indonesia, a few people to denounce the pretty dirty behavior of these companies owned by rich businessmen wandering in BMW in the streets of Samarinda, while the vast majority watches and do nothing. This is time for people in the Kampung to rebel, before Kalimantan becomes a giant open pit where your own children will drown.

    The Samarinda administration has issued some 50 permits for mining activities in area, and activists have blamed the extensive mining operations there for the increasing amounts of flooding.

    Sukisman, the head of the Samarinda mining office, identified the two companies as CV Prima Coal Mining and Graha Benua Etam, with the first having its license revoked and the second suspended.

    ….these companies have had their license revoked, but they are still engaged in mining activities. This is illegal,” Suksiman said.

    The two companies, he said, had been operating on a 155-hectare of mining land in Samarinda since 2008. But because an investigation by the Samarinda regional environmental agency found them to be violating mining procedures and damaging the environment, their permits were revoked after three warnings.

    Sukisman said both miners not only damaged the environment but also created danger for the people living in the surrounding area by leaving holes from their mining activities opened.

    “We will prepare the report on their activities. Then we will report these to the authorities so that such a case is not repeated,” he said.

    The Samarinda mining office, he said, had even seen piles of coal totaling some tens of thousand tons awaiting loading onto a ship.

    http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/east-kalimantan-environmentalists-to-report-illegal-miners-to-police/536015

    Will David Shearer be asking the government if the “tens of thousands tons” of illegal coal that is waiting to be shipped from Indonesia is part of the cheap Indonesian coal shipment that is being brought into New Zealand to take Kiwi jobs?
    • Rhinocrates 18.1

      2 September 2012 at 4:06 pm

      Are you holding your breath? If so, I warn you of the dangers of hypoxia. An e-newsletter delegated to a party volunteer or a post on Beige Alert and actual commitment and follow-up are very, very different things. Blowhards like my local MP, Grant Robertson*, have demonstrated that time and again.

      *Considering a very smug communication he had with a friend of mine, if he said ‘Desperate people come to me!’ my reply would be, “Yes, they must be desperate to come to you.”
    • xtasy 18.2

      3 September 2012 at 8:19 pm

      Jenny – I award to you the honour of being an “informed” Kiwi.

      Yes, indeed, that is what is going on internationally. Cut throat competition at the expense of workers and the environment, and NZ even imports resources like coal and petroleum, while it does not use own resources wisely and process them here.

      The same applies to the manufacturing sector.

      And John Key is exactly the one who represents economics of cost cutting below the lowest level, so it leaves NZ workers out of the opportunity to have meaningful employment and a decent living standard.

      The first item on “Sunday” last night showed, how NZers do very much better in Melbourne or other Australian cities, having much lower living costs there, while this country so good at producing dairy, meat and other essential food products is charging over the top, it is turning tourists away.

      Shearer could set a different pace and agenda, but it is as hollow and vague what comes from him, it is nothing new. So what is his plan, what are Labour going to do? I beg for answers, which will be sensible and likely to work.

      A challenge for sure, but only a strong and competent opposition can face and deal with it. I am trying to find evidence with a magnifying glass, but find too little.
19. The Peanut Monster 19

    2 September 2012 at 11:26 am

    Hold on a minute, is that whole post the extent of the newsletter? I’m sorry, but in a week which saw so much happen legislatively and politically, I would’ve liked to see a little more than just one para on gay marriage, and more waffle on the party line. We need to see more from the party and more from Shearer, this is a token nod to the supporters that is clearly token. He needs to do it properly – or not at all.
    • Rhinocrates 19.1

      2 September 2012 at 3:29 pm

      The fact is that Shearer daren’t shit without the Paganis giving him permission and a focus group telling him whether it should be firm or watery. It’s no wonder that he’s constipated and can’t release anything of substance.

      Mind you, he can still dump all over the easy targets.

      The marriage equality bill? That’s just another opportunity to tentatively try to grasp. The fact that it’s of genuine significance, a turning point for our society, isn’t even comprehensible to such a weak, tepid intellect or heart. There’s nothing that this coward feels deeply or cares about. The tragedy is that he thinks he does.
20. Mary 20

    2 September 2012 at 6:30 pm

    Why doesn’t Shearer put his state of the nation addresses on redalert? Is that because even Labour’s abandoned redalert after finally realising it’s a complete and utter waste of space and the third worst blog of all time?
    • lprent 20.1

      2 September 2012 at 10:48 pm

      Top of my worst political blog in NZ list would be The National MP’s blog. The Red Alert site would be in the top 20.. There are some seriously bad blogs out there. Ones where most of the comments are made by the post author. Ones that have spam all the way through the comments section. My favourite of the incompetency type was from a couple of politics students in otago where it was virtually impossible to leave a comment because the procedure to validate yourself was so complicated that I gave up.
21. Mary 21

    3 September 2012 at 10:29 am

    I’m disgusted with redalert because of how insular and smug Labour MPs have become. They cannot engage in real debate and when things get hot they leave the kitchen. The two worst blogs of course belong to Slater and Odgers but I have a similar level of disdain for redalert, just for different reasons.
    • xtasy 21.1

      3 September 2012 at 8:25 pm

      Could not agree more, sad really!

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