The deaf and dumb government

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, October 21st, 2010 - 11 comments
Categories: accountability, activism, national - Tags:

  • 10,000 protesters against National/ACT’s undemocratic Supercity
  • 50,000 protesters against the mining of Schedule 4 land
  • 22,000 protesters yesterday nationwide against National’s attacks on work rights and wages
  • 150 protesters in Levin when Key came to town against his cuts to health services
  • 200 protesters in Christchurch when Key came to town against his sacking of Ecan
  • 100-200 protesting against drilling in the Ruakumara Basin
  • Even 1,000 against Key’s ignoring of the s59 referendum result (that protest cost the pro-smackers $450K!)
  • Protests outside National MPs’ offices and outside Key’s palace against the Supercity, Fire at Will, health and education cuts, the government’s inaction on the economy, and all manner of things.

Has there ever been a government that was so widely protested against so quickly?

Not since the previous National government introduced the Employment Contracts Act, I guess.

In Labour’s nine years the biggest protest was the hikoi on the Foreshore and Seabed, about 20,000. The EFA marches, which were advertised to the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars by John Boscawen, managed a mere 5,000.

In just two years, we’ve had three protests eclipsing anything we saw under Labour. A hell of a lot of people hate this government in a way that very few ever hated the Fifth Labour Government. What will the next year bring? What would a second term (no sure thing at all now) see as the public reacts to an agenda of privatisation and public service cuts that go well beyond the ‘back office’?

Will this deaf and dumb government ever wake up and hear the concerns of New Zealanders? Or will they doggedly pursue their narrow ideological agenda until they are thrown out of office?

11 comments on “The deaf and dumb government ”

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  1. Bunji 1
    21 October 2010 at 10:15 am

    Not to mention the incredible amount of industrial action this government seems to have spawned…

    Teachers, doctors, medical laboratory staff, radiologists, civil servants…

  2. freedom 2
    21 October 2010 at 10:42 am

    the Government may be deaf and dumb, but thankfully the public are not completely somnambulistic with an increasing number [of people you know] casually saying in daily conversation
    “I can’t believe i voted for them”
    “i am not voting National again”,
    and one of my favourites
    “They did what?'”

  3. come get some 3
    21 October 2010 at 11:12 am

    you just have to remind people that they campeigned on change. Change for the worst

  4. Irascible 4
    21 October 2010 at 3:05 pm

    A demonstration that the policies are working don’t you think?
    Key & co are working on the 19th century principle of “Drink this nasty medicine – it won’t make you better but it will distract you from the illness you are suffering.”

  5. Vicky32 5
    21 October 2010 at 3:09 pm

    With any luck some of the zombified “time for a change!” twats are suffering now, when they see what they helped create…

  6. Rex Widerstrom 6
    21 October 2010 at 4:27 pm

    In just two years, we’ve had three protests eclipsing anything we saw under Labour.

    Yay! Our toxic sludge is proving to be less toxic than their toxic sludge! Back pats all round then.

    Will this deaf and dumb government ever wake up and hear the concerns of New Zealanders? Or will they doggedly pursue their narrow ideological agenda until they are thrown out of office?

    No, because they know (and they know the people know) that there’s no real alternative. Not while we have our present electoral and Parliamentary systems; a largely uninformed populace (and much of that wilfully uninformed); a lazy entertainment-obsessed and ego-driven media; and an innate conservatism amongst the very people who are complaining which makes them swing with all the inevitability of a pendulum between two equally discredited and unpalatable alternatives.

    And till people who are genuinely, truly concerned about the future of NZ let go of their “we’re less bad than the more bad lot” party loyalties (of which this post is but one of many examples across the blogophere and MSM) and start looking at the underlying fundamental problems we don’t have a hope in hell of improving things.

    • Colonial Viper 6.1
      21 October 2010 at 4:37 pm

      Perhaps you could consider it a work in progress Rex?

      • Rex Widerstrom 6.1.1
        21 October 2010 at 4:55 pm

        I wish I could, Colonel. But while our big “change” debate revolves round MMP vs FPP and I still hear the same delusions today as I heard 15 or so years ago – that an electoral system which entrenches the power of the old parties (through Lists) while letting a few “minor” parties have a handful of token seats – is a pancea for what ails us, I don’t see much progress.

        Then next we’ll debate becoming a republic. Potentially could change things radically but NZer’s innate conservatism will see us merely fight to the death about how we appoint a powerless figurehead President to replace a powerless figurehead GG while the people with the real power marvel at how easily we can be distracted with shiny geegaws.

        • KJT 6.1.1.1
          21 October 2010 at 5:09 pm

          Time for us to actually have a democracy.

          http://kjt-kt.blogspot.com/2010/10/kia-ora-direct-democracy-may-have.html

          “The biggest obstacle to democracy is the delusion of the masses that we have democracy and the abject terror of the rich least we get it”.

          • Rex Widerstrom 6.1.1.1.1
            21 October 2010 at 11:05 pm

            Hah, direct democracy! We’ll have to pry the levers of power from the cold, dead hands of the politicians first (which actually sounds like a good idea to me 😉 )

            Raise it most places and you get loons coming out of the woodwork talking about vote rigging via Diebold machines (as if we’d use those) etc etc. I’m a long time supporter of BCIR but I always hestitate to raise it lest I have a day of *headdeak* moments.

  7. KJT 7
    22 October 2010 at 9:39 pm

    “We’ll have to pry the levers of power from the cold, dead hands of the politicians first ”

    Where did I hear that before?

    The Swiss seem to manage it quite well though.

    Just because some people did not like the result of one CIR is not an argument against them.