So National DO have a policy, errr sorry…

Written By: - Date published: 3:29 pm, July 30th, 2008 - 9 comments
Categories: inoculation, john key - Tags:

So the news went out! National DID have some policy said Colin James:

…in behind the bland one-pagers lies quite a lot of study, consultation with outsiders and internal shadow cabinet debate. A 34-page paper backed the workplace relations one-pager. Law and order policy was well footnoted…

But no, Colin James seems to have got the wrong end of the stick reports Colin Espiner:

…it appears James didn’t get it quite right – at least according to John Key’s office, which has just told me that there is no 34-page policy document on industrial relations. It is, in fact, a document that simply backgrounds previous changes in industrial law, according to Key’s office.

I’m unsure whether this is supposed to make me feel better or not. Personally I would have been happier to know that National had done more work in this area, even if it wouldn’t release it.

Sure, the vast majority of people won’t be interested in reading the detail, but I’d suggest National tread carefully lest they be accused of taking voters for granted. After all, past comments already suggest that Key doesn’t think voters are that smart:

…explaining is losing [says Key]… If you’re explaining very complex things, in the end you just won’t get there because the public can’t grasp that idea.

I guess he’s just sticking to his guns then. Does that make anyone feel better? Can’t say it’s working for me…

9 comments on “So National DO have a policy, errr sorry… ”

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  1. Quoth the Raven 1
    30 July 2008 at 4:47 pm

    explaining is losing [says Key] If you’re explaining very complex things, in the end you just won’t get there because the public can’t grasp that idea.

    I think all the righties here who call this government arrogant should stick that in their pipes and smoke it.

  2. lprent 2
    30 July 2008 at 5:48 pm

    Bloody hell – so this is policy that is really JUST bullet points and no substance?

    What a pathetic bunch these Nat’s are. What an even more pathetic bunch their supporters must be.

    Would the supporters of the right care to explain why they support a party that doesn’t know what it is going to do if it gets into office? Talk about a vacuum? I suppose the Act supporters expect their policy to fill it?

  3. outofbed 3
    30 July 2008 at 7:06 pm

    Its really odd isn’t it?
    If the Greens leadership suddenly said “to get more votes we are going to adopt most of labours policy platform”(or Nationals as it is one and the same thing)
    They, the Green leadership would be goneburgers in days
    If the green leadership were to announce policy that hadn’t been developed by the members of the Greens the would be gone gone gone

    WTF I can not believe that all National Party members are so unprincipled as their leader. There must be So much tension and anger in their ranks.
    Its so obvious that all Key really cares about is having the title PM he really doesn’t give a flying fuck how he achieves this.
    Labour have won all the arguments and therefore they cannot loose this election even with key as PM.
    Come on Righties don’t defend him vote ACT you know you want to

  4. Felix 4
    30 July 2008 at 10:51 pm

    oob I agree.

    There are many on the right who are actually counting on a secret agenda.

    This comment from Barnsley Bill says it all:

    The point that all you angst ridden blogsturbaters are missing is that before making any radical changes Key has to get elected.
    Labour have done a magnificent job of shackling the electorate to benefits and bribes.
    When people vote they have one hand on their wallets and the other on the pencil.
    Nobody will vote for a pay/ benefit/ bribe cut.
    So stop the fucking bellyaching and wise up. We have to get in first. Principled tubthumping will not win an election. He does not need to compete for your vote. It is the rump in the middle that have been laying under the open spigot of labour bribes that he has to win over.

  5. Blar 5
    30 July 2008 at 11:00 pm

    Felix, you must be on to something. We all know BarnsleyBill is part of the Leader’s inner sanctum.

    The backgrounder would have been like previous backgrounders that were attached to press releases announcing policies – the last one I saw related to the kids in sport announcement and was published on Voxy. Here’s a snippet:

    Sport for young Kiwis: A National priority
    Backgrounder
     
    Kids’ participation in sport and activity is declining
    • Research shows that one in three Kiwis kids are obese or overweight.[1][1]
    • Between 2000 and 2007 total participation in secondary school sport only rose 1.7%.  Over the same period, the national secondary school roll increased by 10%.[2][2]
    • More than 16,000 secondary school students played cricket in 2001.  Last year it was only 13,000.[3][3]
    • In 2006, after-school sport for children in Otahuhu collapsed.  The suburb’s five decile-1 primary schools stopped organising sports at a local recreation centre because families couldn’t afford the fee increase from $2 a head for each game to $4-$5 a head.[4][4]

    …

    [1][1] The 2002 Children’s Nutrition Survey:  http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/obesity-key-facts
     
    [2][2]From “A summary of student involvement in representative sport: http://www.nzsssc.org.nz/index.cfm/Secondary_Schools_Sports_Data/National_Sports_Data_2000_2007.html/
    [3][3] http://www.nzsssc.org.nz/index.cfm/Secondary_Schools_Sports_Data/Census_2007_Part_2.html/Census_2007_Part_2.pdf
    [4][4] Fee rise hits after-school sport (New Zealand Herald, Aug 24 2006).

  6. Blar 6
    30 July 2008 at 11:13 pm

    By the way, I just wanted to say you guys at the Standard are fucking awesome.

    You are pulling lines straight out of the Crosby Textor playbook the Liberal party tried to use against Kevin Rudd last year. The obsession with policy release timetables, the outrage at the opposition party adopting Government policies, the utter, unrelenting vilification of the opposition leader, unhealthy periods of obsessing over the slightest gaffe made by an opposition politician and a fear campaign about shadowy backers are all straight out of the Crosby Textor handbook that led Howard to defeat last year.

  7. Felix 7
    31 July 2008 at 12:02 am

    Blar:

    We all know BarnsleyBill is part of the Leader’s inner sanctum.

    God I hope not.

    But the remark stands as an example of what many National supporters may be thinking.

    I could be wildly wrong, but then why vote National? If they’re only going to keep all of Labour’s socialist policies and programs in place why would any right-winger vote for them?

    Unless of course you think they’re not telling the truth about what they intend to do in office.

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